Him and Her
Chapter 1
A/N: As part of this enormous hiatus in front of us, here's some AU Schmece that I've been writing. While the proposal (!) scene was actually perfect, I still wanted to share this multi-chapter fic because I just love Schmece dialogue. I take over around Christmas time of Season 4 and in this universe, Cece has an extended family (who I'll introduce in later chapters) and Schmidt was very much a part of it in their past relationship attempts. Hope yinz enjoy and be sure to review! Thanks!
Cece was 30 years old. She had been to almost every country, partied with every random celebrity, and modeled for every fashion name out there. She was 30 years old yet she was still scared of thunderstorms and sleeping in her apartment alone.
It was Christmas Eve, so naturally all her exotic roommates were abroad in their exotic homelands. In true L.A. style, the 24th of December brought rainless thunderstorms, ringing through the masonry walls of her room. Her immediate family, originally from Oregon via India, was scheduled to convene for the holidays in San Diego where her grandmother, parents, brother and sister all lived. Since it was just a 2 hour drive, Cece opted to take a nice soothing Christmas morning drive down the coast, but right now she wanted to be anywhere but her large, empty 5 bedroom apartment.
Weren't the storms forecasted for all night? Why is my bedroom full of windows? Don't burglary rates go through the roof during Christmas? Questions raced through Cece's head, unable to put her at ease. So she paced her apartment trying to come up with a solution. As if on cue, her phone buzzed:
Just landed in London Town...it's so pretty! Ryan says hi! Merry Xmas love u!
Damn Jess. Damn her and her adorable British boyfriend and her London Town that propably wasn't producing grade-A thunderstorms right now. Cece then remembered that Jess wasn't the only one away from the L.A. Christmas Eve thunder. Nick and Winston had returned to Chicago, and Coach was hanging out in Florida with his girlfriend. But most importantly there was one loft-mate who was staying in L.A. and it happened to be the man who, for better or for worse, had managed to wrangle his way into her heart forever.
Schmidt didn't have any family around, and even though he sometimes took trips back to New York, he usually opted to channel his Jewish heritage and ignore the Christmas fever that struck America. Laughing to herself remembering her ex's scrooge-esque behavior towards Christmas, Cece finally had a plan. She grabbed her keys and headed to the loft where at least she wouldn't be alone to battle the thunderstorm.
Trying her best to avoid noise at 11 pm, Cece turned the key to the loft with her honorary loft-mate key. She tip-toed inside and set her bag down on the unoccupied couch. Accent lighting draped over certain areas of the room and she saw a light beam under Schmidt's door, indicating that her ex was still awake and in his room. She thought about not even opening that can of worms and just slipping into Jess' bed to sleep and get out on the road to San Diego early in the morning. But something pulled her to Schmidt's door, knocking twice and then opening it.
"Schmidt?" she asked quietly as she slowly opened the door.
The door eventually opened enough for her to see Schmidt, propped up in bed, looking through photo albums splattered across the expensive sheets that she had spent so many nights in.
"Am I dreaming?" he immediately asked, clearly confused.
Cece sweetly smiled. He could make her laugh no matter what, it was one of the things she loved most about him. Love. There was that word. She hadn't thought about love in the longest time, but whenever she did, it only seemed to come up when Mr. Schmidt was involved. They had so much history that sometimes she had to convince herself that they had managed to build the relationship they were meant to have: platonic, honest friends who cared about each other...nothing more and nothing less. That was what they both wanted, right?
"No, you're not dreaming." she rolled her eyes playfully. "All my roommates are gone and it was really creepy over at my place, and it's time for high-crime so I hope you don't mind I was just gonna sleep in Jess' room before I head to my brother's in San Diego tomorrow for Christmas…"
"And does it have anything to do with the fact that it's thundering outside?" he coyly smiled.
Cece leaned against his door frame, biting her lip to prevent the sure-fire smile that was growing on her face, "How do you remember that?"
"Cece, please, when we were together you would literally tense up like a board whenever it thundered and you would grab onto me," he demonstrated as he chuckled by hugging himself tight, "and hold on for dear life."
"Okay so maybe they still freak me out." she laughed, getting ready to walk back into the living room and get ready for bed, "It's electricity flying through the air, I don't know how many times I have to tell you that's not okay."
"See, look, here's proof." he smiled, turning a picture towards her. Cece walked closer to his bed and saw the evidence firsthand. It was when the whole gang went camping a few years ago. Jess was obviously the photographer, and the photo showed the couple in a tent where Cece, eyes locked shut, was attached to Schmidt and held onto his torso like her life depended on it. Schmidt looked into the camera and sweetly smiled, as he comforted his girlfriend by rubbing her back.
"Oh my god." Cece burst out laughing, "I look like I'm possessed!"
"No, no." Schmidt brushed it off, still gazing affectionately at the photo and the memories it held, "I always thought it was adorable."
Cece smiled gratefully at him. The smile was a thank-you for the compliment, but also a much deeper thank-you for the months he put up with her possessed thunder fear.
"What are you looking at anyway?" Cece asked, leaning on his bed to get closer to the action, "Convenient embarrassing photos of Cece or…"
Schmidt looked at her softly with a smile, and then mustered up the courage to explain, " Every Christmas Eve I like to go through my photos and old albums you know, so its kinda like I have my family around."
Cece thought that was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard. All the years they were together...or whatever they were….she never realized how hard it must be for him, especially around the holidays, with no family on the West coast and nobody to share it with.
"See here." Schmidt smiled down at a photo, turning it to show Cece, "Here is my father, Schmidt Sr."
"Ahh, Mr. Schmidt!" Cece leaned into Schmidt to see the picture and her arm brushed up against his. It was the most juvenile form of contact, yet it was more than they had in months, so even a minute touch generated the abundant chemistry between them.
"And is that you, oh my goodness!" Cece cooed, pointing out a little Schmidt standing next to his father in New York City. He was the cutest little boy, about four years old. His hair was the same sharp black masterpiece, and it was gelled how he wore it to this day. He was cheesing a smile at the camera, wearing a tiny Yankees t-shirt. His father, around mid-thirties at the time, looked like a mature, and more serious version of the Schmidt she'd fallen in love with a few years ago.
"Dad was all business, and I was a ham in my younger days, I guess." Schmidt laughed fondly.
"You're still a ham." Cece leaned into him playfully and then looked up under her eyelashes. Schmidt caught her glance for a minute and their eyes managed to fall into rhythm with each other until Schmidt shook himself out of it.
"Hey, I know you gotta leave early tomorrow morning, I'm sorry I'm boring you with all these stupid pictures, you can go to slee-"
"Schmidt." Cece grabbed his arm in gratitude, "You've put up with my family more times than I can count. I want to get to know your family."
Schmidt seemed shocked by her admission, and he bowed his head humbly, "Really?"
Cece paced over to the other side of his bed and hopped on, "Really."
So Schmidt fondly went through his family photos, explaining every last detail to the woman who stole his heart. They laughed and listened, and even cried at the part of the timeline when the Schmidt's father left his life. Cece was so moved by the photos and Schmidt's story that she held out her hand and he firmly grasped it, their hands clamping together like two magnets destined for each other by some force greater than gravity. Their hands didn't move from that position. It was unspoken between the former couple that maybe, just maybe, that's where their hands belonged the whole time.
Cece loved that Schmidt was showing this side of him, especially with their rocky past. Most people saw a self-built facade of the junior marketing executive, but it was that rocky past that allowed her to see beyond the kimono-wearing centaur-boot clad loftmate. He was so modern and tech-obsessed on the surface that no one would guess he actually printed out photographs and kept them... Cece's heart swelled with pride knowing that she was one of the very few who knew this side of him. Eventually the pictures transitioned to modern times, where people like Nick, Winston, Coach, and eventually Jess started to come around in photos.
There was one box of photos left. Schmidt breathed heavy, exhaling to finally let go of her hand and retrieve the final box. Cece wondered what was so nerve-wrecking about this box, she'd already seen his entire life story played out in picture format. The second he took out the first photo, she knew why.
It was him and her.
