The loft was quiet. Winston was out with Bertie, Coach had dragged Schmidt out to some party, despite Schmidt's protests that girls on Valentine's Day were too easy and not any fun to chase after, and Cece was out with the models. Jess was waiting for Nick to finish up his shift at the bar, putting the finishing touches on the evening she had planned for them.
Jess had moved the coffee table to the wall and laid a quilt on the floor pillows in a pile for them to lean on. She had set up candles all over the room, not yet lit, but ready to fill the room with their soft glow. Jess was finishing packing up the picnic basket. She had packed some fruit and cheese as an appetizer, chicken salad sandwiches on croissants for the main course, and chocolate covered strawberries for desserts. To wash it all down she had packed some pink wine and a beer for Nick. She knew putting it in the picnic basic was almost pointless, as they were eating in the living room, but Jess didn't care. It was a part of the ambiance she was creating.
She set the basket down on the blanket and worked on lighting the candles, keeping watch on the clock to make sure she left her enough time to freshen up and change out of her jeans and t-shirt. As she lit the candles, she remembered her first Valentine's Day in the apartment. She had tried to have a one night stand with Oliver, the guy obsessed with lunch. He was definitely a hot piece of meat, but she just couldn't do it. And then she even tried to sleep with Schmidt. She was even more grateful that hadn't happened. She remembered that Nick had found her at Schmidt's door, she now understood that underneath his shock and disgust, he was also jealous that she had gone to sleep with Schmidt first and not him.
She finished lighting the last candle and ran to her room to change. She put on a little black number that she had found at a vintage shop downtown. It had a sweetheart neckline and empire waist that flared out slightly into an a-line, ending just before her knees, thin straps keeping it up. She let her hair down from the loose ponytail that she had, running her hand through her soft curls. She looked herself in the mirror and let out a soft sigh of relief. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but it was her and Nick's first Valentine's together.
She went over to her nightstand, opened the top drawer, and grabbed Nick's present from inside. Nick had been complaining about his laptop for the last few months. It kept dying on him in the middle of doing whatever he did on the computer, but he refused to buy a new one. Jess decided to buy him a Macbook like Schmidt had, since Nick usually just took that to use when his died on his, and preloaded a her favorite photograph of them from her birthday party as the background. She grabbed the wrapped package, and went to wait in the living room for Nick to come home.
Just as Jess went to sit down, she heard keys in the doorknob. She shot back up as Nick walked through the door.
"Hey Jess, I," He stopped dead in his tracks, losing all train of thought. Jess's heart fluttered when Nick gave that lost in love smile of his. "Wow, Jess." He tried to collect his thoughts, "You look amazing. Beautiful!"
She smiled and went to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "You were about to say something?"
"I just wanted to tell you I was sorry for being a little late. We were swamped tonight and I barely made it out at all." He couldn't take his eyes off of her, making Jess blush, "You just look so beautiful Jess." He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. She stopped the kiss before it went too far; the night was just beginning and she was excited to share the evening she had planned with Nick.
Nick looked around the room, after finally looking away from Jess. "Jess this looks great! You did this all yourself?"
She nodded and took his hand, pulling him towards the blanket.
"I thought we could have a little indoor, candlelit picnic," They sat down on the floor and Jess took the food from the basket and set them out in front of them to eat.
"Basket and everything, huh?" Nick chuckled.
As they ate they joked about their day and whether or not Schmidt would take end up with some lonely girl who would call him every day after.
"I still can't believe you were going to try to sleep with Schmidt," Nick laughed.
"Oh come on! You know pink wine makes me twirly!"
"I know Jess, but I probably would have punched him if you had," he grabbed a grape and popped it in his mouth.
"Is that so? But you were with Julia!"
"I was only with her because I didn't think you would ever feel the same way," he gave her a faint smile, "the way I felt about those other women couldn't compare to the way I felt and feel about you."
Jess blushed for the millionth time that night. "I have a present for you Nick." She turned around and grabbed the wrapped up laptop from the side table. "This is for you."
"It's pretty heavy," he unwrapped it, his eyes bugging out when he saw what it was. "Wow thanks Jess! This is incredible!"
"Open it up!" She said excitedly.
Nick booted up the computer, a picture of him and Jess at her birthday party. Jess had played around with the photo a little and added the words "Love" on the top left hand corner and a quote around the bottom. "Love is like a friendship caught on fire," Nick read aloud through the smile on his lips. This background was very Jessica and that made him happy.
He set the computer on the floor next to him, leaned over and gave Jess a kiss, "Thank you," he said pulling away from her, "I love it, I have something for you too, let me just go get it."
He stood up and went into his room. He came back shortly after, a small rectangular box in hand. He handed it to Jess as he sat down next to her, letting her lean into him. As Jess opened up the box she could hear Nick try to sneakily smell her hair and sigh contentedly to himself. Inside the box was a thin silver chain, connected in the middle by a tiny silver arrow.
"Oh my," she was amazed. "This is absolutely beautiful Nick!" she took it out and handed it to him so he could help her put it on, moving her hair so the chain didn't get caught in the clasp. He finished putting it on her and kissed the back of her neck softly.
She turned around and looked at him, "I don't understand. Why the arrow though?" she asked a little confused.
"Because when you first walked in, it was like cupid shot me with his arrow," this time Nick blushed, "I know it's stupid and cheesy."
"No Nick, it's wonderful," She leaned in and kissed him, "you keep surprising me and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I love you."
"And I love you Jessica."
She kissed him more, bringing him closer to her, needing to show him how much she really loved him.
Hours later they were woken up by Coach and Schmidt storming into the apartment, and giving them a hard time for making a mess on the floor, and not taking things to their room. Food was everywhere and the wine had spilled at some point, but Nick and Jess didn't care, they had each other and that was all that mattered.