Huge thank you to You-drive-me-nuts-miller who helped with this chapter.
Hope you guys like it :)
Nick watched as Jess zoomed around the loft for what seemed like the hundredth time that day; plumping cushions, rearranging furniture, wiping countertops. This nervous energy, that only someone like Jess could possess, radiated from her and gave the loft a strained atmophere as she once again completed the circuit of the common areas.
Finally, exasperated, Nick laid down his beer on the coffee table and turned to her, "Jess, calm down would ya. I don't know why you are getting yourself so worked up."
Turning to face him, Jess planted her hands on the hips and gave him her sternest expression, "You don't know her Nick. Erin will find the smallest thing to pick on, she already scoffs on the fact that I have roommates. And guy roommates at that." Jess sighed as she flopped down on the sofa beside Nick. She loved her older sister, of course she did. It's just their relationship was well... best described as difficult.
Erin was five years older than Jess but the gap seemed bigger; she'd always seemed so much wiser than other kids her age and so sure of herself. To make matters worse, the two sisters were each others opposites. Jess loved being a teacher; it was the only thing she ever wanted to do. And damn it she was good at it. But even she had to admit the pay in teaching was not all that great. Erin, on the other hand, was always aiming for the top. Straight out of college she'd been offered a job with one of the best tax firms in the country. To be honest, Jess didn't have a clue what her job actually involved; not that she couldn't understand that industry, it was simply that if she were to ask her sister about her job she would turn it into a whose job and/or life was better competition and Jess was always going to be the loser in that game. She knew from the information given to her by her parents it paid well...very well in fact. Erin had bought her first property when she was only 25, which was then sold a few years ago to move into a bigger place. And here was Jess, five years older than that and still a million miles from even the deposit on her first place.
As well as being the more ambitious sister, she had also been queen bee when they were growing up and this continued into adulthood. Always the social queen, Erin made friends wherever she went, people loved her instantly - charmed by her gregarious personality and her ability to make everyone feel like they were special. She was always surrounded by friends. Jess, however, had subscribed to the quality not quantity school of thought when it came to friendships. At school she hadn't been an outcast, but she certainly had not been what you could call 'popular'; she was the girl who lurked at the side lines of social activity, occasionally participating but preferring to stay out of the spotlight.
Jess alway felt so small and insignificant when her sister was around. Although she loved her life right now, especially since moving in with the guys - more importantly with one flannel wearing, turtle face pulling guy - just thinking about Erin visiting and being in her space, judging her, brought her right back to the days when they used to share a bathroom. Erin just had a way of making Jess feel inadequate - that her life was paler in comparison to her sisters - a feeling she didn't relish in. She was Jessica Day, happy go lucky, always singing type of gal who didn't let anyone get her down.. except her sister.
Unfortunately, when Erin rang Jess to let her know that she would be in town for a few days at a corporate event, Jess had tried and failed to come up with a reasonable lie. How could she possibly miss the opportunity to see her baby sister, Erin had cooed down the long distance line. Yes even at 30, Jess was still described as her baby sister.
Instantly, she had felt bad for not wanting her sister to visit - after all this was her only sibling. So the words, "Sure Erin, would love for you to meet everyone," had tumbled from her lips and were quickly succeeded by directions to the loft from where she was staying.
Jess had never mentioned a sister to the guys; even when her parents visited she had managed to avoid that topic of conversation. This was her Thanksgiving with her parents and she had wanted it to be just about the three of them.
The moment she finally told her loft mates that Erin was coming to visit happened in true Jess style. She had made her way into the kitchen whilst the three were eating breakfast and slurping cups of coffee. She stood nervously, fiddling with the clutch she had over slung her shoulder. "So just to let you all know, I have a sister who is coming to visit in a few weeks times. Hope that is ok with you all. Okay, great, thanks for your time. Off to the store I go. Bye. See ya," she had blurted out in one breath.
The guys sat, frozen, at the breakfast table, all with similar looks on their faces. Mouths gaping, eves bulging, heads cocked to one side as if they hadn't heard properly. Nick had even paused his spoon halfway between the bowl and his mouth while eating his cereal, milk was now dripping from it, splashing on the countertop. Thinking back to their faces at the time it was quite funny. Not that she appreciated the funny side in that moment.
Without waiting for them to respond, she raced out the door before they could ask any questions. Unfortunately for her the elevator chose that exact moment to work as slowly as possible, giving Nick enough time to consider her words and run after her.
"Hey Jess wait up. How did we not know that you had a sister. Hell, forget those idiots, how did I not know?" He took hold of her arm as she tried to turn away from him, spinning her back so they were face to face.
Then, the elevator pinged open - all of Jess' instincts were telling her to get in it, escape from this conversation and deal with it all later. But the hurt look on Nick's face kept her stood, rooted to the spot with her mind racing for ideas as to how to explain why she had kept her sister a secret.
They had been dating a few months now after they had both finally managed to admit that friendship wasn't enough, both wanting to give a relationship between them a real chance. Not much had changed for them really. It meant Nick kissed Jess when he wanted and she got to snuggle with him on the couch. Oh, and the crazy passion filled nightly activities that made her blush at the memory. But much to Schmidt's relief the loft dynamics had stayed almost the same.
"It's complicated Nick, looonnng story. You won't be interested in hearing it,"Jess shook her hand in front of her face as she spoke, trying to bluff her way out of talking about it, "Yawn fest!" she sang, as she disentangled herself from his grasp.
Pre relationship this probably would have worked, but the improved, more attentive, intuitive Nick picked up on his girlfriend's tone right away. Reaching for her hand he pulled her back back towards him. "Nick the store.. really must get to it before they run out of, umm milk."
"The store can wait Jess, I am sure there will be milk later on."
She swallowed and looked up at him; she couldn't avoid the truth, "Okay," she acquiesced, "I have an older sister - to be honest we don't have the best relationship, she's like the anti me. She lives on the East coast and I hardly ever see her. It's kinda like she doesn't exist. Which is why I don't talk about her."
"Not talking about her is one thing Jess, but not mentioning the fact you have a sister is something else - I mean, I thought we had something special here, but now I see you are keeping that kind of things from me..." his voice trailed off as he looked at her with a pained expression.
"I'm sorry Nick," she told him, reaching out to touch his stubble covered jawline, "It was stupid to keep it a secret, but I promise that's it. No other skeletons in this closet." He gave her a smile and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Okay, I forgive ya, but no more secrets," she nodded, "Come on, let's go back inside." He placed an arm over her shoulder and they turned to go back into the loft.
As soon as they reentered, Schmidt and Winston both pounced on Jess. They had obviously discussed this subject whilst she was out of the room and they instantly began bombarding her with questions. "So your sister old or younger?" Winston got in first.
"Never mind that Winston ... Is she hot? Or is she more like you?" Schmidt said, directing the last part to Jess. He maybe with Cece, the love of his life, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a good level of hotness. Not quite realising the meaning of what he had just said, he glared expectantly at Jess. It was only when he noticed the shocked look on her face, the glaring of Nick behind her and Winston shaking his head, that it clicked.
"Not that you aren't hot Jess, just a different kind of hot, you know..." he finished rather lamely, starting to feel a little bad for his words he continued, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me," he added as he pulled a note out of his wallet and walked over to the jar.
Nick felt his annoyance grow at Schmidt's insensitivity: for someone who thought of themselves as a ladies man he could be an idiot. Couldn't he see how upset Jess was about this subject? Was he really the only one to notice these things? She wore her heart on her sleeve it didn't take a genius to work out her emotions, a little attention was that was needed. He would have to find lots of ways later on to show Jess just how hot she was, never mind beautiful, smart and God her eyes... his mind began to veer of the subject at hand and he had to snap himself back to reality by shaking his head.
Jess' eyes were starting to glaze over with tears. She knew Schmidt didn't mean what he said - he would never intentionally hurt her, he just tended to speak first think later. The fact that Schmidt didn't think that way about her was good. Over the time she lived with the guys, Schmidt and Winston were more like brothers to her. It just this particular subject struck a nerve with her. "How about you start from the beginning," Winston said gently, breaking the tense atmosphere that had began to grow in the loft.
Jess took a deep breath, "Ok well, Erin, is five years older. Currently residing in New York working as something with a fancy title making rich people richer, whilst earning a fair bit herself - and yes Schmidt she is what you would call hot. Are we done now?" She sounded so un-Jess like that it scared the other two into silence. They very wisely nodded their heads and returned to their breakfasts.
Jess turned to walk away from the guys, into the safe space of her room, where she could ruminate further over the differences between herself and her sister and how she was going to survive a few days in her company. Flopping down on her bed, she spread her arms wide and dangled her legs over the side, letting her mind go blank.
Nick watched her leave the kitchen and before he made his way after her he turned towards his still dumbstruck roommates, "There you go you have the information you wanted. Oh and Schmidt we'll talk about that comment later." Finished, he walked after Jess, knocking gently at her door he heard a faint, "Come in in," before pushing on the handle and stepping through the doorway.
"Jess, forget them. It's just you and me, talk to me." he joined her on the bed, pulling her upright. Placing both his hands on either side of her face, so she had no where to look other than his eyes, his thumb gently stroked her soft skin in a soothing manner that he knew she would find hard to resist.
Not that she didn't try, "It's nothing Nick, just me being silly." She was lying through her teeth and they both knew it.
"Jessica." He spoke in a calming whisper, giving her a tinkling feeling all over: the one she always got when hearing him using her full name the only way Nick could, "I am here for you. Silly or not." She pulled away from him, and stood up pacing backwards and forwards in the small floor space she had; if she was going to think then she needed the distance from him. He distracted her too darn easily.
"Fine. Erin is just perfect ok. Perfect job. Perfect house. Perfect looks and just about everything else perfect. Perfect. And you all are going to fall instantly in love with her and realise that you have been living with the wrong, boring Day sister," she took a deep breath, feeling the release of finally letting out feelings that had been bottled up inside her for so long.
Nick let out a small laugh at her speech, which he instantly regretted when Jess glared at him, her eyes filled with fire. Reaching out to her, her gave her a pleading look, "Jess, I am sorry but you. Boring? You are most definitely anything but boring." Standing up to face her, he continued, "I don't care what your sister does or where she lives or what she looks like or how she acts. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could ever convince me that I have the wrong Day." He wrapped his arms around her, gratefully she accepted the hug, pulling herself closer, sinking into his strong arms even more.
"Good save Miller," she replied with a smile, "I know I'm being silly, I know. It's just that is the way she has always made me feel, ever since elementary school when she won all the first prize ribbons and all I ever got was seventh place in the science fair. The 2nd class Day. That was who I was," Jess spoke quietly against his chest.
Tightening his hold on her, and placing his chin on top of her head, he spoke softly, "Jess you don't have to hide the way you feel from me. And may I remind you elementary school was a long time ago, You are a smart, strong, intelligent, sexy woman. When Erin arrives I will be here. Reminding you, you are anything but the 2nd class Day." Jess didn't say another word, instead a soft smile spread over her lips as she continued to enjoy their embrace. She was definitely happy with her life and she would show her sister that.
