So they had called it. And it had sucked. But after a couple of hours, a few beers, and sheer exhaustion setting in, neither of them had the strength to avoid each other for long. It was just easier to pretend they had never "happened". So when leading him onto the dance floor was like tugging a yak through mud, it felt like nothing had changed. He didn't want to dance, she knew that. But damned if she wasn't going to dance at her best friends wedding, even if Cece had ultimately backed out.

"Jess, come on, I just wanna go home and forget this day ever happened." Nick sighed at her, moving not so smoothly behind her.

"No, I'm the maid of honor and I'm not leaving until I get one dance!" she exclaimed. "How am I gonna live with myself Nick, the rest of my life knowing I not only ruined Ceces wedding, but didn't even get a dance out of it?"

"Ugh, okay fine, one dance, and then I'm leaving." Jess rounded on him, and suddenly his arm was wrapped around her waist while she brought her hands up to his lapel, tugging while she looked over his noticeably clean shaven face.

"Really? Is it so terrible that you have to hold me while we move around to music?" she asked.

It's terrible that the music won't last forever. Looking into her eyes, those eyes, the answer formed on his lips but luckily died before he could speak it. So he opted for resignation. "I guess it's not so bad."

Instantly regretting such a flippant line, his embarrassment faded as he watched a delicate smile form on her face.

"So..."she sighed heavily.

"So."

"Today was..."

"A disaster!" he chuckled.

A low giggle escaping her lips, she agreed, "Yes, most definitely a disaster. And mostly your fault."

Taken aback, Nick guffawed at this. "Me?! None of this would have happened if you hadn't thought I was scheming with Schmidt! No, if this is anyone's fault, it's yours, Day. As Ceces best friend, you should have known she didn't want to marry the guy."

Jess's eyes widened in surprise. "Ha! No way, mister. As the best friend of the lovestruck ex-boyfriend, you should have been on him like frosting on cake. Like syrup on pancakes."

"Wha - syrup, what are you even talk - "

"Like gum on a shoe."

"Alright, i get -"

"Cause they're sticky."

"Alright!" he exclaimed.

As they slipped back into silence, their smiles faded into thoughtfulness, each one holding the other and not really thinking of anything other than how comfortable they were. And like that they stayed, softly and slowly moving on the dance floor, not noticing that one, then two, then three songs had passed them by. By song four, Jess had settled her head snugly onto Nicks chest, while he rested his head atop hers. Feeling the effects of a long day, their eyes fluttered in and out of wakefulness, and neither noticed when they were the only two left on the floor.

"Jess." Nick whispered.

"hm?" she breathed.

"Jess?" He said, just as quiet, but more firmly. "Jess - we have to go."

Not ready to come back to the world, Jess only nuzzled deeper into him. "No, I'm good."

"No, Jess, I mean - we HAVE to stop".

"What, why?" She looked up at him then, and saw a strange look on his face. It was unfamiliar to her, but all at once she knew. Knew what he was about to do, what he'd been putting off saying. She hadn't been ready when Nick Miller kissed her. She wasn't ready when she realized she wanted him. Nothing could have prepared her for their first night together. And when they called it - when HE called it – she wasn't prepared for the pain that washed over her. And now, when she should have readied herself for what was coming, instead she looked into his eyes and knew her guile wasn't going to hold.

"Come on, you know why. What are we doing? We called it. We can't pretend everything is ok. It's not. And it won't be, not if we stay like this. I can't..." He was struggling to find the words, to find a way to salvage what strength he had.

"What, Nick? What, now we're not friends anymore?" Getting angry, she pulled back, looking him in the eye. "You think that because you've got some hang-up about being a failure – or whatever your excuse is – that you get to be the only one who decides this? No, Nick. You're gonna have to suck it up, because things are going to have to get back to normal somehow."

"We can't be what we were. I'm not just your friend, I'm not your just roommate. There's no word for what we are, and it's confusing as hell. I don't know what to do from here, and it's driving me crazy! I can't look at you without wanting to kiss you and now - "

Jess pulled him down to her, pressing her lips to hers, quietly letting her kiss speak for her. Breaking away, Nick closed his eyes and rested against her forehead. Heavy breaths steadied him, and waiting for the buzzing in his ears to subside, he took her hands into his and sighed heavily. He could feel her looking at him, her gaze burning into him, but he didn't dare look up. He had to keep going.

And then she spoke.

"Nick, I don't know where to go from here either. I don't know if this is a mistake. I don't know if you're too much of a mess. How about I tell you what I do know? I know when I come home and you're not there, it feels empty. I know when I have a drink that you didn't make, it doesn't taste as good, and I know that sounds stupid, but... I know that when you kiss me, I'm not thinking about loft dynamics or stupid arguments, because all i can see and hear are bright lights and electric pops that make me want never stop kissing you. This can be something...amazing. If you can trust me."

Finally opening his eyes and looking into hers, Nick knew he had failed. Failed to keep up that wall, failed to keep the resolve that would have prevented what was about to happen. He was going to trust her.

And with that, he pulled her into another, deeper kiss, letting go of the last bit of doubt, letting the feeling of her pressing into him wash over his body. With her he knew it would be different. This was it, and he was ready.

The ride home had been a bluster of noise. If Nick ever had a hard time expressing himself to a friend, he seemed to have no qualms about talking to his... well... they'd talk about that later. But for now, he was, as Schmidt would put it, a "Chatty Cathy". He breezed easily from topic to topic, and while Jess was all for getting to know this new side of Nick, she kind of had planned on this night going a different direction, with less talking and more doing.

Little did she know that this new found desire to share his thoughts was less out of a need to communicate and more out one to calm his nerves. That first night with Jess had been unexpected. Amazing. Unsettling. With other women, sex had been basically a function of moving forward, a step he had to take to reach the next level, always fun, sometimes awkward, but a means to an end. None had made him feel so vulnerable, so exposed, while making him feel like he was home. It was this way with Jess, and now with that first release of passion extinguished, it seemed like the only place to go was down.

And so rather than dwell on that thought, he yammered on about his brother's upcoming wedding, the overly friendly guy at the bar, and the weird smell coming from Schmidt's room of late.

"I mean, it smells like eggs rotting in a diaper, but I can't find the source! Sometimes I think maybe he finally snapped and is hiding the bodies of the badly dressed in there."

Jess scrunched up her face at this thought, both out of disgust and consideration, and dismissed it while Nick moved on to the next subject. As they pulled up to the loft, Nick shut off the car but kept his hands on the wheel. Jess moved to get out when he spoke.

"Jess, before we go up, I gotta tell ya something, and it's gonna sound crazy, but could we just pretend, you know, tonight, that I don't know you sing to yourself and you don't know I can't take care of a cactus? I just mean that, can we pretend for tonight that we don't know everything about eachother already?"

Eyeing him toyingly, she took the hint. "Oh! You mean like role play? Why Nick Miller, didn't know you were so creative. So what's the angle?", then adopting her best 1940's voice, "Out of all the gin joints in the world... wait no, that's Bogie. You be Bogie"

Nick's eye's widened at not only the misunderstanding but also the quickness with which she was ready for anything. "What?! Jess, no that's not what I – look, I just mean, we've lived together for 2 years. We already know everything about each other, good, bad …. singing... but tonight I want it to be different. Unknown."

"What's so bad about knowing everything? Are you saying you're already bored?" Lightly teasing him, she lightly tugged on his tie, and pulling him close, whispered, "You don't know as much as you think you do, Nick Miller." Breathing into his ear, she caught his eyes, seeing in them a curiosity she was eager to feed. Letting go of his tie, she got out of the car and after a moment to catch his breath, Nick followed her into the building.

They rode the elevator in silence, and making his way to the door, Nick fumbled for the apartment key. Making this task harder was Jess, who seemed to have a vice grip on his eyes, holding his stare with cerulean orbs. Stepping into the dark loft and softly closing the door behind them, they continued to hold each others stare as they walked towards their rooms, which is why they didn't see Bob sleeping right where he had promised, between their doors, in the middle of the hall. And why they fell in a heap, for the second time that day.

"Ow, what the, WHO'S THERE? Oh God, I knew i'd die here, don't go to LA they said!"

"Oh, dad, omigod, are you ok?"

"Jess? Jess, is that you? Jess, what are you doing, what – wait, that's not your face..."

Nick was petrified, rooted to the spot where he fell, his face scrunched up in the hands of Jess's father. "Hi, Bob."