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"Jess, do we really need all this protective gear? We're going skating, not to North Korea." He says, adjusting the straps on his impossibly high ice-skates. As much as he hates any contact with the ice, or any form of cold, wet substance, seeing Jess' face light up every now and again makes his day just that bit better. Ever since they started their secret relationship, he'd found himself being a lot more relaxed, but not so relaxed that his other roommates would suspect something. As for Jess, she tends to not be as dolled-up around him. Which, hopefully, was a sign she's getting more comfortable around him, as well as him around her. They'd always been that way, from day one, but this was different. It feels different.
"Safety first, Nick!" She says to him in regards to his retort about North Korea. "Safety first!" She chimes again, standing herself up from the cold bench, just a few feet from the opening of the indoor rink. Jess is cold, but she tries not to shiver.
He smiles over at her. As much as she looks not too far off from some kind of S.W.A.T member with her arm pads, he can't help but find her positively stunning in her festive green and red dress decorated with holly, tied at the back with some kind of sash. Her eyes are beaming back at him as she outstretches her arm to help him up. "Woah, God." He breathes, almost losing his balance on the razor-thin blades beneath his feet. "If I can't balance myself on carpet, then I really don't wanna know what I'm like on the ice." He huffs, allowing Jess to lead him out onto the huge white patch, littered with young children and their parents, freely gliding along without fail.
Jess laughs as she sees Nick fumbling to regain his balance. "You'll be fine! I'll hold your hand, yeah!" She gives him the brightest smile she can, hoping to show him that he was going to be alright. She then grabs his hand and begins to walk towards the rink. "Just remember: Toe pick! That'll stop you from falling over. It grips the ice so you can regain your balance. But don't worry. I've got ya, buddy!"
Feeling already like a six year old, Nick manages to get onto the ice, only slipping ever so slightly. Jess keeps her word by catching him by the elbow any time he looks like he's a goner. His biggest concern is that he will fall, taking Jess with him, and they'll both end up being stabbed by the treacherous blades of the ice skates. "Okay.. baby steps Miller." He mutters to himself, linked securely onto Jess' arm, proceeding to launch into miniature glides. After about ten minutes on the ice, Nick had learned one thing about himself. He cannot multitask. Repeatedly, Jess, having been skating since she was little, has it with ease. She tries endlessly to get him to do those romantic-movie-type montages on the ice to add essence to the night, much to her disappointment. Nick is thankful for his protective gear at this stage.
It isn't until about forty falls later that he finally manages to match the NASCAR-like speed Jess is going at without cheating death from the children behind him.
"Hey look, I've got it!" He says happily, letting go of Jess' arm to test his new found skill. "Now we can practice all that romantic stuff." He smiles, grasping her hand in his, guiding her for a change. "Okay, what are the moves?"
She smiles at him. "Well, we can skate holding hands," she nods eagerly. "I've always wanted to do that, just holding hands and talking and skating," she giggles. She speeds off in front of him, doing a little twirl as she does, using her toe pick.
"Look at you go!" She says, twirling again to turn around and look at him. He is gliding on his own. Jess grins, proud of her teaching skills. "Lets see if you can keep up!" She accelerates a good ten more feet off ahead of him. She chortles as she sees him slowly begin to pick up speed too quickly and almost slapping off the ice. Again. "Come on, Nick! You can do it!"
Later that night.
The rest of the night consists of Jess playfully stealing Nick's fries, exchanging cute, enthusiastic comments and looks and just general talking, like old times, before Nick realizes what time it is.
"Crap. It's eleven fifteen. I told Schmidt I'd be working 'til eight. We better go." He says, stuffing the remainder of his hotdog into his mouth and helping Jess with her coat. Both of them pick up their pace as they walk back to Nick's car, pondering excuses they could come up with.
"We can say I had to take you to the emergency room, 'cause you.. you tripped! And you hurt your foot." He suggests, turning the key in the ignition. "Or would it seem suspicious that I'd have to take you? What about Cece? I'm interrogating myself over this. Jess, help." He turns to her. She doesn't seem even slightly phased by the situation, but seems more interested in just staring at Nick, with her goofy little grin.
"Or we could tell him that we are in love and I'm havin' your baby." She nods, obviously joking. "Kidding. But we could do the foot thing. I'm a good actress, watch this." "haaaaylp, Haaaaylp, mah foot mistah butlah! mah foot!" Jess, still on a high from the frenzy of the night, puts on a fake southern gone-with-the-wind style accent.
"Ta-da!" She says, twirling her hands around. "Lets just do that, we could say Cece was busy. She'll cover for us. She knows we're being scandalous~"
"Okay, but without the accent." He emphasises. "Maybe Schmidt'll be asleep by the time we get home. He's got a weird sleeping ritual where he literally cries himself to sleep sometimes." The topic of sleep leads Nick to wonder about his own sleeping arrangements. Now that they're kind of a couple. Does that mean they shared beds now? And more importantly, would they have to sneak back to their own rooms at 5am before they got caught? Bringing it up seemed a bit far-fetched, seeing as they only started being, as Jess put 'scandalous.' But at the same time, he has to sleep and so does she. He turns to face her, unsure of how he'd ask the question. "So Jess. What.. Or, where are we sleeping tonight?"