Today was Cece's wedding, and Jess still had a million things to do. And the fact that she set her alarm for the wrong time did not help. All that Jess could think about was Nick. He had set up a romantic breakfast on top of the roof. She was pretty pissed that Schmidt interrupted them again, but Jess saw the breakfast as a sign. Nick had been so confusing to her lately, what with the mixed signals from their so-called date. Jess had decided that she was going to ask Nick to be her date to the wedding.
Jess walked into the kitchen to get a quick breakfast, probably some cereal. Only to her surprise did she see that breakfast was already made for her. Jess was shocked, but happy. Nick had cared about her enough to make her not one, not two, but three breakfasts.
"Good morning Jessica. I thought maybe the third time'd be the charm. Would you like to join me for breakfast?" Nick asked.
Jess glanced around and saw that he had gone all out with making this breakfast. She replied to him, "Aww, Nick. I really have a million things to do to get ready for the wedding." Nick's face began to show sadness and slipped into a slight frown. Jess felt really bad about this. Nick began to clean up the breakfast. He went to go leave the kitchen area, but Jess stopped him. She said, "Hey, Nick. I was thinking, how would you like to be my date to the wedding?" Nick perked right up and his brown eyes became very puppy-like. And for a second, Nick was going to lean in and kiss Jess, but he felt the timing was not quite right. Jess awkwardly left, making an excuse- it was no excuse, I suppose- that she had to put her sari on and get her hair done.
As soon as Jess finished getting ready, she came out into the living room. Bob, being the embarrassing parent that he was, was taking pictures of the gang. She kind of like it though, to be honest. Nick stared right at Jess when she came out into the room. He was smitten. For a moment, he stood there speechless. Winston said, "Jess, you look astonishing." Jess gave a slight smile and bobbed her head to the right. A captivated Nick still quietly stood there.
Jess looked back at Nick, only to see that he was wearing a very wrinkled and laid-back beach styled suit. It looked awful, but Nick was still smoking hot. "Nick, what are you wearing?" Jess asked.
"A suit. What's wrong with it? I didn't think Indian weddings had a certain dress code," Nick replied.
"Will you please change?" Nick sighed. He did not want to change. But then Jess gave him a look, one that said please, for me and he nodded. Nick went to leave for his room, only to be stopped by Bob.
"Wait, I need some more pictures!" Bob said. Nick begrudgingly came back for a few pictures. And of course, Jess had to join in for the pictures. Nick wanted Jess so bad. She looked stunning to him. He couldn't help it and wrapped his arm around her waist. For a second, he started regretting this movement. But then he saw that Jess was enjoying it. As soon as the round of pictures were over, Nick went back to his room to change. He came out in another god-awful suit. This one looked like it was thrown out of the 70's.
"What do you think?" Nick asked. At this point, Jess was the only one who had not yet left for the wedding. She shook her head.
"Here, let me come help you," she said as she placed her hand on his back. The two walked together to Nick's bedroom.
Jess started digging through Nick's closet. After looking for a few minutes, she finally found a nice suit. Upon finding it, she exclaimed, "See, now Nick, you'll look really sharp in this. Why did you not pick this in the first place?" Nick shrugged. Deep in side, he did not feel like he deserved to wear a fancy suit; he felt unworthy. His entire life was a failure: he dropped out of law school, could barely afford rent, and knew he was within words of screwing things up with the girl of his dreams. Jess gave a pleading look, but Nick kept silent. Jess walked over to Nick to hand him the suit. Of course, he was undressing slower than slow and they were already running late for the wedding.
"Ugh, Nick! Hurry up! We are going to be late for the wedding!" Jess yelled. She was frustrated with him. He was acting like such a child.
"I'm a grown man. I will dress myself at my own damn pace," Nick replied. By this point, Jess was ripping the ugly 70's suit off of Nick. One of Jess's hands was stroking the back of Nick's head. Her hand was slowly slipping down his neck and back. The other hand kept undressing Nick. At the same time, Nick was leaning in to Jess. He wanted her.
"Nick, we don't have time for this! We need to get to the wedding!" she said as she pushed him away. But she couldn't help it. There was something about his neediness that just turned her on. Jess pushed Nick down onto the bed and started pulling his pants off. All of a sudden, Jess's phone started ringing. A look of disappointment came over Nick. Jess mimicked one second with her fingers and picked up the phone.
"Yes, Cece, I'll be right there," Jess said into the phone. She also made some uh-huh noises and then hung up. "Nick, I need to go. There are some issues at the venue. Apparently some badger is loose in the air duct, and Cece says that apparently it's my job as maid of honor to take care of it. I don't have the time to stay here and get you ready. Just meet me over at the wedding," Jess said as she left the loft.
Nick didn't want to get to the wedding too early and engage in awkward social situations, so he decided to stay at the loft for a little while. No one was home, so he just decided to kick back on the couch in his birthday suit and click on a White Sox game. After sitting down, he realized that he wanted a beer. He walked into the kitchen and saw that Jess's purse was on the counter. What if she needed a womanly item from her purse? He knew that he had to get the purse to her. Nick got dressed quickly and headed out the door with Jess's purse.
Nick arrived at the venue with Jess's purse in tow. He walked down the hallway and peered into each room as he passed, hoping to find Jess. Finally, he came to a large, open room. The ceremony was already underway and Cece and Shivrang were walking hand-in-hand in a circle. It was a bit strange, but Nick didn't mind. His eyes fixated on what they had been longing for: Jessica Day. She was standing there, looking gorgeous. Nick, quietly and slowly, made his way over to her. He did not want to cause a disturbance.
Nick came up to Jess and whispered, "Jess, here, your purse. You forgot it at the loft," as he handed her the pink purse.
"Nick, that's so nice of you. Thank you," she whispered back, as she smiled. She gently touched her hand to Nick's forearm. He was finally dressed in a nice suit, and he looked pretty damn fine. Nick looked around, and saw Schmidt and Elizabeth. However, he could not find Winston.
"Hey, Jess, where's Winston?"
"Oh, he's up in the air duct capturing a badger. Ugh, I can't believe he tried to sabotage the wedding."
"But why would Winston want to sabotage the wedding? Does he secretly have a thing for Cece or what?"
"I really don't care. It's just my job to make sure that this wedding goes smoothly. And all I really care about is that badger being gone." Jess noticed that she said that a little louder than she should have. Panic broke out amongst the crowd.
A woman cried out, "Oh my God! There's a badger loose!"
Jess made a loud whistling noise and screamed out, "Calm down everybody! I've got this under control. I have my best people on it. Continue with the wedding." Aside to Nick, she said, "Nick, Winston's been up there far too long. Go get that badger." Nick nodded his head and was very take charge. He left to hunt down a custodian to get a ladder and went to another room to enter the duct. There were to be no more distractions from the ceremony. This take-charge side of Nick was almost too much for Jess to handle. She was massively turned on right now and could barely focus on the ceremony.
After a little while, Winston approached Jess. He said, "Jess, Nick is stuck in the air duct." Jess glanced down and saw that Winston had the caged badger I hand. She was relieved.
Jess replied, "What do you mean stuck?"
"He's just stuck. I don't know."
"Well, I guess I'll just go up there. Do you have anything that could help loosen him up?" Winston shook his head.
Schmidt must've overheard the conversation and came to Jess's aid. As he handed Jess some lubricant, he said, "Here, this lube should do the job." Jess wasn't quite sure what to say, so she grabbed it and nodded. And so up into the air ducts she went. She was on a mission: to rescue Nick.
After searching around the ducts for a few minutes, she finally found a trapped Nick. It appeared that he was stuck at the sides. Jess approached him and started opening the lube.
"Jess, what are you doing?" Nick asked.
"I'm freeing you with lube. What else would it look like I'm doing?" Jess said in a very unpleased voice. She climbed on top of him and started spreading the lube around. It was not working. Matter of fact, Jess also happened to get stuck right on top of Nick.
"Great. Now we're both stuck," Nick said as he slipped in to his infamous turtle face. But before he could say anything else, Jess was already starting to kiss him. He was there, in a suit, and Jess just could not help herself. She had to have him, right then and right there.
Nick wanted to stop her, but his arms were stuck at his side. He knew that things could not continue on like this. He interrupted her by saying, "Jess, wait. What are we?" Jess could not think of anything and was just lying there on top of him. Nick gave her a moment, but she still said nothing. "I mean, I know I can't be your boyfriend. I'm too much of a mess. We're too much of a mess." Jess shook her head and Nick continued onward, "Ok, then look me in the face and tell me that there isn't a part of you that's scared, and that thinks it's a mistake. Me and you." Before she could reply, the weight of their bodies caused the bottom of the duct to give way and they fell straight onto the mandap. The wedding stopped and all eyes were on both Nick and Jess.
"Cece, Shivrang, I'm so sorry, but do continue on with the ceremony," Jess apologized as her and Nick walked towards the doorway.
Some family member of Cece's stopped Jess briefly. It was Cece's nana. She said to Jess, "Oh, darling, you look stunning. And who is this fine young man that you have with you?"
Jess responded, "Oh, it's just Nick, my boyfriend." Jess instantly realized the mistake that she had made. Nick's face became a pale white. Jess didn't want any more squabbles and tried to play it off. She awkwardly put her arm around Nick in a couple-like manner.
"Excuse me, Cece's nana, but Jess and I need to have a little talk out in the hallway. Don't we doll?" Jess nodded, and the two walked out into the hallway.
"Your boyfriend? What the hell was that about Jess?" Nick angrily asked. Jess shrugged. She honestly did not even know what it was about.
"Jess, is that what you want? For me to be your boyfriend?" Jess was silent. She didn't know what she wanted. What if Nick didn't want to be with her? Honestly, she wanted whatever her grumpy mystery wanted.
Jess looked deep into Nick's eyes and asked, "Nick, tell me. What do you want?" Nick stood there, in silence. He was looking right at the woman he loved, unable to express his true feelings. On one end, he wanted to tell her how much she meant to him. He wanted to be hers. And then on the other end, he knew there would be someone better out there for her. Someone who wasn't a complete mess. Someone who could support her and give her all that he couldn't. Nick just couldn't bring himself to say it, and so he let out a silent sigh.
Jess teared up with emotion and looked away, wanting to hide her tears from Nick. She wanted Nick to come clean and confess his feelings. He was something that she had wanted. She was tired of him bottling everything up. Jess glanced back at Nick real quick and saw that he was in emotional agony. She could not do this right now, especially amidst Cece's wedding. More importantly, Jess did not want to seem weak in front of everyone. Without muttering a word to Nick, she began for the hotel across the street.
Nick instantly knew the mistake he had made. Those tears were obviously a sign that she wanted him too. Nick peered out the window, only to see Jess sitting on the curb in front of the hotel. She looked absolutely stunning to him. She looked ravishing in her sari, and despite the crying, her eyes were even more beautiful than usual. Nick knew what he had to do. He had to tell her that he loved her. Nick dashed out of the venue and started heading for the hotel. He was not thinking. After all, the best things in life happen when you aren't thinking, right? Running out the door, he felt a sense of joy and adrenaline. His undone tie was blowing in the wind. It was muggy outside, so he pushed his crisp dress shirt sleeves up as he ran. He was completely focused on his Jessica; she was sitting there, and she was just three little words away from being his.
All of a sudden, Jess started yelling out to Nick. All that Nick could hear was Nick, no! Nick turned around, only to see that a car was right there. And just like that, it was already too late. He had been hit. Devastated, Jess dashed to his side. By the time she got there, he was already dead. His head was bashed in, and his blood was smeared everywhere. The street was a crimson red. The man that hit him came out, hoping that everything would be okay. He saw Nick's body, and was in shock. The man was able to let out a brief apology. Jess wanted none of it, and yelled out, "Just go!" The man left, still in shock. The police were there with handcuffs to take him away.
The police gave Jess a moment. She was kneeling next to him in the middle of the road. She was sobbing and stroking his head. Jess could not fathom the idea that the man she loved was dead. At first, she refused to believe it. She kept saying, "Nicholas! Nicholas, can you hear me?" And of course, there was no response. She continued to sit there, crying. The police and medics were being kind to her; they had let her sit next to him an unusual amount of time. Finally, they had to move Jess. The road needed to be reopened. A shocked Jess went back to the venue. The wedding had been cancelled due to Nick's death. Cece was waiting in the doorway for Jess with open arms. Jess collapsed into her best friend's arms. She rested her head on Cece's shoulders and just let it all out.
Cece continued to be there for Jess, saying, "Shh, shh, it's all going to be okay." Schmidt, Elizabeth, and Winston (with a caged badger in hand) sat on a bench near the doorway. They could not believe what had just happened.
Schmidt said to Winston, "Hey, I think you can get rid of that badger now. The wedding's not happening."
"I don't know, I kind of like him," Winston replied.
Jess woke up, just like any other ordinary day. Except today was no ordinary day. It was Nick's funeral. Jess had taken over the planning for the funeral since Nick's family was so incompetent. Winston and Schmidt had helped her a little, but they couldn't make it through the planning. To be quite honest, neither could she. However, she was the only one who could do it. Of all the people in the world, Jess was still the one Nick could count on, even after death. Jess wanted everything to be perfect for Nick. After all, his funeral's his time to shine.
Jess was ready, but Winston and Schmidt were running behind. Cece was more than likely already at the funeral, along with Nick's family. "Schmidt! Winston! We have to go!" Jess yelled from the kitchen. She was impatiently waiting for them to get ready. She heard no response and decided to go knock on Winston's door. Still no answer. Jess decided to just open the door. Winston was in there, broken down and crying, and Schmidt was dozing off in a chair in Winston's room.
"I can't do this!" Jess cried out. She had been strong for far too long. She'd pulled everything together in a few short days, and was bound to crack. Especially since this was her Nicholas's funeral. Not only did Jess have to deal with the funeral, but she also had to deal with the cancellation of Cece's wedding. Jess was the maid of honor, and it was her responsibility to deal with the fall out. Jess collapsed onto the bed next to Winston and cried next to him. Exhausted, she had unintentionally fallen asleep right there.
Jess awoke to a knocking noise. Looking around, she saw that Schmidt and Winston were gone. She got up, wiped her eyes, and tried to straighten out her dress a bit. Her black dress was now wrinkled and her hair a mess. Jess got up and opened the door. It was Mama Miller. Mama Miller let out a sad little smile, and hugged Jess. After a minute or so, she said, "Come on Jess. We've got to get going. The funeral's about the start."
Jess pulled out her phone and looked at the time. It said 10:40 am. The funeral was to start at 11:00 am, but she still had so much to do. Jess upsettingly said, "Crap! I slept too far! There's still so much to do. Everything has to be perfect!"
Mama Miller began consoling a deeply depressed Jess. Mama Miller said, "Jess, the boys and I finished the last preparations."
"You? You did that? Just so I could have a little sleep?" asked a stunned Jess.
"Of course. He's my son. Jess, you've done so much for him. I just want to thank you for taking care of him." She smiled and wiped away the last of her tears. The two walked out the door and headed to the funeral.
Upon arrival, Jess noticed that her and Mama Miller were the last ones there. The funeral was actually waiting for them to arrive to get under way. As Jess walked in, feels began to overcome her. She was not at all prepared for this. She walked slowly, hoping that stalling would help overcome her feelings. It did not help though. Jess sat down in the front pew, right next to Cece. Mama Miller sat directly behind her. As soon as Mama Miller sat down, Jamie put his arm around her and briefly put his head on her shoulder in assurance. The priest got under way with the ceremony.
The ceremony was nice and simple. It outlined Nick's life, both his high and low moments. Everyone took turns going up and telling his or her stories about Nick. Schmidt told of the time that Nick bought him a cookie, and how close they were. Cece went up and just talked about how she thought Nick was a nice guy. To be quite honest, her and Nick never really spent any time together. Winston had a whole speech written out, but he couldn't manage to say any of it. He ended up losing it, just as he did at Pop-Pop's funeral. During the planning, everyone decided that Jess should be the one to close out the funeral. Jess didn't want the task, but no one else was willing to undertake it.
Jess walked up there, filled with nerve and emotion. She honestly had not prepared anything and was still unsure of what to say. After a short pause, she began, "Umm, I'm a bit at a loss for words right now. Sorry, it's been a hard day," she said as she wiped tears away. "Nick was an amazing guy, and," she started crying again. She could not bring herself to do this eulogy. Instead, she stood there and let her eyes tell the story. At that moment, everyone got a glimpse into Jess's soul and the love she had for Nick. The room got quiet. After she thought she had been standing there for long enough, she went over to the casket. Nick was in a suit, and damn did he look hot to trot. Jess took a card out of her purse and wrote something down. Without anyone seeing what she wrote, she placed it in the pocket of Nick's suit. She then leaned down and kissed his forehead. Alas, she whispered in his ear, "Goodbye Nicholas."
