Author's Note: Hey there! This is kind of a flashback story to the first time NIck and Jess met. I thought it would be fun if they had seen each other a bit before their first interaction in the pilot. I hope you like it. I might continue it with a flash forward if there's interest.
"Hold it! Please!" a girl with huge blue eyes screeched as she sprinted towards the closing elevator doors.
Nick Miller did not hold the door. But some how this girl made it through just as the doors closed behind her.
Nick looked down at his shoes, avoiding her gaze. She must be mad at him for not holding the doors. He snuck a peek at her but she wasn't glaring at him, she was talking on her cell phone.
"No, Cece, I'm fine. It's not Nadia. It's just time for me to go."
She looked at Nick and mouthed "I'm sorry", pointing at her phone apologetically. Nick shrugged taking in this loud girl wearing a bright red dress.
"Seriously, I'm fine. No, I haven't called Spencer today and I'm not going to. Yes, things have been hard and he has most of my stuff but... I'm okay."
Her voice broke. Great. Now Nick was stuck in an elevator with a crying girl who he had never seen before. He pressed the fourth floor button again as if that would take them there faster. Who was this girl visiting? Or was she new here? She could have been living here for a while. It wasn't like Nick was incredibly observant about all the tenants in the building. Still... he can't help but feeling like he would have noticed her.
"I have to go, okay?" the girl wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'll see you tonight. Bye."
Nick averted his eyes, pretending to be very interesting in some graffiti keyed into the elevator wall.
"Sorry about that," the girl mumbled.
"No problem," Nick told her, thankful that the elevator had stopped on his floor. The girl followed him out of the elevator, walking down the hall a few feet behind him.
What was she doing? Was she following him? Was he about to be mugged? Nick didn't know if he could hit a girl, even if she was mugging him.
If I turn the corner then she's definitely following me, he thought to himself. He made a left, and so did she. She was definitely following him.
But, he thought. She doesn't know that I know she's about to mug me. I have the element of surprise on my hands.
"Ahhh!" Nick screamed as he turned around to face her.
"Ahhh!" Jess screamed back throwing her hands in front of her face instinctually.
"Nice try," Nick told her. "But you're not getting my wallet!"
"Your wallet?" the girl asked, lowering her hands.
"Yeah," Nick responded, starting to think that he might have been wrong about her. "You were following me... weren't you?"
"Not unless you're going to apartment 4D. I'm supposed to meet my new potential roommates..."
"Shit," Nick ran his hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry," the girl said.
"Why are you sorry?" Nick asked her. "I'm the one who almost karate chopped you. I'm Nick. Nick Miller. I live in 4D. You're here to meet me. And my roommates."
He offered his hand. She looked at him a little warily but eventually offered him her hand.
"Jessica Day," she told him.
"Well, I'm sorry for meeting you so weirdly, Jess."
"Don't apologize," she told him "maybe this will be a fun story we tell people some day."
Nick couldn't help but smile at her, he kind of hoped that was true.
"Can you give me any tips about your other roommates? How to smooth talk them into letting me live with you?" she asked, poking him in the side with her ribs.
"I don't know..." he answered, put off by how instantly familiar she made herself with him.
"Come on," she looked up at him with her huge blue eyes. "You kind of owe me, Miller."
"Fine, Schmidt is a self proclaimed baller and ladies man and Coach is a fitness guru. That's all the advanced information I can give you."
"I can work with that," Jess told him.
Nick opened the door for her, watching her strut into his apartment as if she already lived there.
"Hello, Schmidt. Coach. Nicholas has been telling me all about you." Jess smiled at him secretly like they were both in on some joke. And if thinks about it, they kinda were.