Hey- this is my first attempt at a New Girl fic, but I felt inspired by the finale, so here ya have it. This takes place after the time jump/Nick's absence (obviously assuming that he left). T mainly just for mild cursing at the moment. Hope you all enjoy! Please review!
The usual disclaimers: I don't own New Girl, but desperately wish I did. Please don't sue me.
Jess, Winston, Cece and even Aly lounged around the loft casually, trying to look blasé about the fact that Nick was finally returning from his 3-month trip to New Orleans. Jess in particular was trying to play it cool, but was silently struggling under Cece's near-constant knowing glances her way. Aly, ever the perceptive one, caught on at Cece's third look, so Jess turned to Winston, her only oblivious ally, suggesting they work on a puzzle. However, in seeking a distraction, she'd seemingly forgotten how frustratingly bad he was.
"Winston, I love you, but swear to god if you try to stick that blatant corner piece somewhere in the middle I'm gonna lose it," Jess sighed.
Winston only grunted in slight acknowledgement. Then, biting his lip in concentration, tuned Jess out as he picked up the piece and stared at the barely-started puzzle on the table (no thanks to him). Taking a slight breath, he dove in, jamming the corner piece into the center.
"WINSTON," Jess shrieked in frustration, slamming her fists down on the table in a manner that made some of the pieces go flying.
At that very moment, the door opened, revealing Schmidt and Nick, with Schmidt carrying Nick's bags because "he was a husband now" and had insisted. Jess was surprised that her distraction tactic had actually worked after all, as she mused over the small pieces now littering the floor.
Cece, Winston and Aly cheered a greeting and immediately turned their attention to him, while Jess had to take a second to adjust her glasses and frazzled post-puzzle appearance.
"Nick!" She exclaimed a little weakly and a beat after everyone else.
"Hey guys," Nick chuckled. He reached for his bags but Schmidt wrestled them away, still refusing to let him lay a hand on them.
As Schmidt went to deposit the bags in Nick's room, Winston and Aly gravitated to his side, making light chit chat with him. Meanwhile, Cece sidled over to Jess.
"Are you guys ready to do it?" Jess whispered to her best friend.
"Yeah," Cece nodded with wide eyes, squeezing Jess's hand.
Jess squeezed in return and then Schmidt reemerged
"Hear ye, hear ye- the time for banal chit chat is later," He chided, putting a stop to all other conversations. "Nick, we have an announcement for you, since you've been literally impossible to get in touch with over the past three months."
"Oh yeah, I suspended my service, didn't wanna pay for the extra charges," Nick shrugged. "Did find a few Internet cafes though."
"Where the hell did you think you were? Studying abroad?" Schmidt asked exasperatedly as the whole group looked at Nick with half-astonishment, half-concern.
Nick muttered incomprehensibly as Schmidt pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Anyway, back to what's important- Nicholas while you were living in sin with Big Reags in the Big Easy"- everyone else grimaced- "Cece and I were doing some living in sin of our own."
"I don't think it's technically living in sin if you're married," Jess added, pursing her lips while Aly and Winston nodded in agreement.
"Oh god this could go on forever," Cece muttered under her breath, then cleared her throat. "What he's trying to say, Nick, is that we're gonna have a baby!"
The entire vibe of the room softened, despite Nick being the only one who was learning the news for the first time. Both Schmidt and Jess beamed over at Cece, Schmidt crossing the loft to stand by her side.
"Wow- congrats guys!" Nick said with genuine enthusiasm. "This is amazing news."
"I wanted to tell you sooner, but the whole phone thing-" Schmidt shrugged.
"You coulda tried one of my burners," Nick shrugged, pulling about 5 burner phones out of various pockets.
"What is-" Jess began in confusion, but Cece cut her off with a swift "Oh trust me, you don't wanna know babe."
"But anyway, what's important is that there is a cake in that oven," Nick yelled, pointing to Cece.
"It's bun, Nick. Bun," Aly corrected gently. Then again in a whisper tone, "Bun."
"Bun? Really? Huh. I'll have to look into that one," He narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
"Um, anyway, I think what Nick and we all mean to say is it's time to celebrate!…Again, for the rest of us!" Jess offered, knowing that this 'bun in the oven' debate could continue for hours.
They all did a toast (sparkling grape juice for Cece) and sat around drinking and catching up with Nick for hours. Jess, for whatever reason, couldn't find that much to add. She wasn't sure if she was more relieved or anxious that nobody had flat out asked him about Reagan.
A few hours passed and Schmidt announced that it was time to "take his wife and beautiful bean spawn to bed" since it was getting late, and Winston and Aly weren't too far behind, citing work in the morning. Slowly, Jess began collecting herself, deciding to head into her room to get into her pajamas, though a bit reluctantly.
She peered back into the living room to see Nick still sitting on the couch, staring straight at the table in thought. Hesitantly, she shuffled back out, the alcohol in her system only making her a tiny bit bold.
"Hey," she greeted quietly.
"Hey," Nick offered her one of his small smiles.
"How's it feel to be back in the loft?" She rubbed her hands on her pants to distract herself from the awkwardness in the room.
"Good- really nice," he nodded.
"So, uh, how were things with Big Reags?" Jess laughed nervously, mentally kicking herself over the oddness of her wording.
"Oh yeah, good 'ol BR," he chuckled dryly in response to her weirdness.
Jess felt internally annoyed at how she was holding her breath in anticipation of his response.
"It was good, nice. Lots of great sex, not gonna lie," he shrugged his shoulders and Jess was surprised that she found herself laughing at that.
"Eh I figured as much," she nodded slowly.
"But we, uh, decided to end things," Nick admitted, suddenly turning his eyes toward her somewhat intensely.
"Oh! Why? I mean, you don't have to answer that- I mean, I'm sorry. Me and my big nosy mouth!" Jess scolded herself and animatedly made a show of smacking herself on the forehead.
At the mention of her mouth she noticed Nick's eyes flick to her lips for a split-second, and suddenly they felt on fire. She was kicking herself for even saying it.
"Nah, it's alright. I mean, we had a great time, but ultimately realized we couldn't really see it going anywhere," he shrugged, averting his eyes toward the coffee table.
"I'm sorry, Nick," Jess lightly patted him on the shoulder.
"It's alright. I think I'm gonna, uh, call it a night," he nodded in the direction of his bedroom.
"Good to see you remember where your room is!" Jess said in her default cartoony voice when trying to diffuse an awkward situation.
Nick just chuckled and then pursed his lips at her bad joke, standing and making his way toward his room.
Now it was Jess's turn to marinate on the couch- she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, dramatically as if she was emerging from being held underwater. She immediately reached for any unfinished drink within her reach, which didn't result in much of anything, but provided a small comfort. If she was lucky, she'd at least forget that god awful joke.
Meanwhile, Nick was standing in the middle of his room, hands on his hips as he appraised the place. It looked exactly as he'd left it and he wouldn't deny that he missed it dearly. After changing, he tried to get comfortable in bed with a few different positions, ranging from fetal to yoga, until he simply flopped down flat on his back. His hand immediately flew to his neck as he felt something small prick him.
"What the-" when his hand emerged with the offending object it turned out to be a small diamond stud earring, which he recognized immediately as Jess's.
His lips curled into a smirk as he crossed the hall, noting that Jess was no longer on the couch. He knocked on her door quickly.
Jess still sat against the door where she had dramatically slid a few minutes before.
"Jess? You awake?" Nick asked softly through the door.
Jess shot up immediately, ruffled her hair and opened the door a crack, theatrically masquerading a yawn.
"What's up, Nick?" She tried to play it cool.
Still smirking, he held out his hand, the earring sitting in the middle of his palm. Busted.
"Damnit," she cursed herself, glaring at the small piece of metal that had outed her.
Nick still remained silent, the same dumb smirk on his face, moving only to cross his arms.
"Okay, so maybe there were a few times I slept in your bed while you were gone- but there were some nights when Coach and May visited and then sometimes my room was too cold and Cece and Schmidt-" Jess rambled in a panic.
"Jess. Jess, Jess, Jess," Nick shushed her, lowering his voice as though he was some type of sage. "I'm not mad. It's okay."
"Really?" Jess cocked her head with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it doesn't bother me one b- wait, what is that?" Nick's eyes were caught by something beyond Jess's door.
"Shit," she swore under her breath.
After momentarily debating trying to shove him out, she relented, sighing in exhaustion and opening the door to further let him in.
"Okay, so I made another grapefruit Nick- NB freakin' D," Jess rolled her eyes while Nick looked smug. "But you were gone for a long time and left a damn Nick-shaped hole in the loft! And the couch! Which you've clearly wasted no time reacquainting yourself with already!"
"Jess," Nick tried to calm her down. "It's cool- I'm not mad. Or weirded out. Or whatever."
"Really?" She eyed him suspiciously.
"Really. In fact I am a little insulted that grapefruit Nick is better looking than me," he shrugged.
Jess laughed. "Welcome back, Miller."
"Happy to be here, Day," he nodded, maintaining eye contact with her for a few extra seconds before offering a small salute and retreating back to his room.
That's all for now! Reviews are greatly appreciated and chapter 2 should be up by tomorrow!