NOTES: In this AU fic, Nick Miller graduated from law school and married Caroline. The two of them had a son named Daniel after being married for almost a year, but decided to divorce a few months before this story starts. Daniel is one of Jessica's brand-new 6th grade students.
The story title comes from the song "Back to Bed" by the band Lydia.
Toast To It.
Chapter One
Nick Miller had woken up that morning feeling as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Because somehow, without his quite knowing where the time had gone, it was the first day of sixth grade. And that meant his son, Daniel, was now officially a middle schooler.
How the hell had that happened? He was hardly old enough to take care of himself yet, but Danny was halfway through his grade school years. It was amazing and insane to realize how quickly the years had slipped past them.
Middle school. He shook his head, then ran his hands down over his face and sat up in the bed. Around him, the loft was quiet. His roommates were still sleeping. Not for the first time, he thought about the house he'd lived in until last summer, a beautiful little home in one of Los Angeles's numerous suburbs. He should miss that house: he'd worked hard to be able to afford it and to fill it with the things that he and Caroline had decided they needed to make it home. But he felt far more comfortable here, sharing a living space with three other friends.
He hauled himself up and yanked on some sweatpants before padding out to the kitchen to fix coffee. He'd have to rush a little if he was going to make it to see Danny off to school, but at least with his new bartending job he could be there. If he'd kept on as a lawyer, he'd already have been heading toward the office by now despite the fact that dawn was still an hour or so off.
When things had gone wrong between him and Caroline, they had gone wrong fast. Years of frustration had boiled over out of nowhere, and in a way Nick had found it cathartic at the time. He hadn't realized how unhappy he'd been because he'd shoved it all away while working hard to provide for his family. He'd gone numb to his own lack of joy. And Caroline…well, Nick was pretty sure that she hadn't ever really been happy. Not since the day after their wedding, anyway.
So when it had come time to fight over the details of their shared life, and when they had to decide how they were going to divvy up their belongings and responsibilities, Nick hadn't fought her demands very hard. In a way he felt bad, he felt like he owed her something as their marriage collapsed around them. So she took the house and she took most of what was in it, and he didn't put up much of a fight. She responded by accepting a very reasonable alimony payment which had, back when he was a lawyer, hardly touched his income at all. Even now, as a bartender, it was a manageable expense. Although that was because he was now splitting rent four ways instead of paying the mortgage by himself.
In fact, the only time he had fought Caroline at all during the entire process of getting divorced was when it came time to decide custody rights. Nick had fought savagely for his right to have access to his son, as much access as possible. At first, knowing that he was moving in with three other single men in their thirties, Caroline had put up an almighty amount of resistance. But Nick had never given up, never backed down, and now he spent nearly as much time with Danny as she did. And this week was his turn with his son.
He grabbed a package of pop-tarts and tucked himself into them, leaving the coffee to brew while he walked back to his bedroom to grab some clothes. One quick shower later, and he was pulling on a fresh t-shirt and jeans. He snuck some of his roommate's fancy hair-goo and styled his own hair a little, then he brushed his teeth and dumped the coffee he'd made into a travel mug.
He wasn't late when he got to the school, but he also wasn't surprised that Caroline's SUV was already parked there. He ignored a pang of annoyance, because what did it matter anymore? Then he climbed out of his sedan and headed over, smiling widely as Daniel slid out of his mother's vehicle.
"Dan the man!" He embraced his rather sleepy-looking son. "You ready for middle school, bud?" he asked.
"I guess so." Daniel looked up at his father, his eyes almost identical to Nick's. His hair was a bit lighter, but it had Nick's slight curl too. He was a good looking kid, and smart too. Also sarcastic, but he was a Miller and that was to be expected. Nick was absurdly proud of him.
"Mom says I can try out for baseball and football."
"Hell yes you can try out. Let me know if you want any practice, because I'm not to old to get out there and play a few games. I bet I could talk the guys into it too."
Daniel laughed. "Last time we played football, Uncle Schmidt got really upset that his shirt got stained."
"Yeah, well, your Uncle Schmidt is a pretty weird guy." He offered Caroline a friendly wave, then slung his arm over Daniel's shoulders and steered him toward the school. Caroline got out of the SUV and followed them after returning Nick's wave, but Daniel noticed that neither of his parents really spoke to each other.
Nick and Caroline helped their son through the whole first-day process, ensuring he had his class schedule and had completed the necessary health and safety paperwork. Lastly, both of them snapped lots of pictures with their phones. Daniel put up with it with good grace, but when the bell rang he quickly disappeared toward the school's interior, looking for his friends.
Nick watched him go fondly. Then, saying a quick and civil – if not overly warm – farewell to Caroline, he headed back to the loft to wait out the long hours until he could pick Daniel up again.
Everyone was awake when he got back to the loft, but only one of his roommates was in the common areas. Schmidt was dressed, his shiny slacks and blue shirt both ironed to perfection. He was delicately sipping at some frothy espresso drink he'd made and waiting for his omelette to set in the pan. He glanced up as Nick entered the kitchen and a knowing look passed across his face.
"Hmmm…no hood obscuring your face and a smile. Did Caroline even show up?" he asked. Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he leaned against the counter.
"Yeah, she was there," he said, knowing that he should have a wittier comeback.
"She truly is the wicked witch of the West, you know. I have no idea what you saw in her, but I wish someone would dump a house on her pretentious ass," Schmidt said, and Nick grinned in spite of himself. After all, his friend was only trying to be supportive.
"I'm pretty sure it was the wicked witch of the East that got the house dropped on her. West got melted, remember?"
Schmidt waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever. They were both far too high maintenance. And really, sparkly red shoes and black pointy hats? Who designed that costume? They must have been blind."
Nick felt as though he could safely tune Schmidt out at this point. He grabbed another cup of coffee and headed for the couch. He fit himself into his little niche in the cushions and wondered what to do with himself for the rest of the day until Daniel was done with school.
"Nicky, I'm ashamed of you." Schmidt had followed him into the living room, still keeping a watchful eye on his omelette.
"What did I do this time?" Nick wasn't even sure he wanted to know, but his friend continued.
"You haven't even asked me about the party I went to last night."
"I really don't care about the party you went to last night."
"I met a goddess, Nicholas. A real goddess." Schmidt paused to smile at the heavens and Nick threw a pillow at him. Schmidt dodged and stuck his tongue out at his old friend, then he scurried into the kitchen to finish cooking.
"I'm serious! She was beautiful and brown…legs for miles and miles and the most amazing breasts…"
"So happy for you, Schmidt."
"You don't appreciate me. But I love you, Nicholas Miller, and I don't care if you take advantage of me."
Nick contemplated hanging himself with the string from his hoodie.
The day passed slowly, although he'd agreed to a pick-up game of basketball with Winston and Coach. They'd easily found a few more guys to play once they'd gotten to the court, and that killed most of the afternoon. He rushed home to shower and then he headed out to the school again.
He was there early, and he parked on the street and waited for his son to head out with the rest of his classmates. Soon there were so many kids and cars in the three square blocks around the school that Nick wasn't sure how they'd crammed so many people in the buildings. They must have been piled up like sardines in the classrooms. But he was safe in his parking spot, so he ignored most of the chaos and kept his eyes out for Daniel.
After fifteen minutes, he decided he'd better find his kid himself. He got out of his car and headed into the hallways. Inside the school, all the afternoon chaos of pick-up time died down immediately. He knew he could stop by the office and have the administrators there page Daniel, but he was kind of curious. Danny had never elected to stay late at school before, and if he'd gotten in some kind of trouble, Nick would have heard by now. So he tucked his hands in his jeans pockets and strolled through the hallways, trying to look as though he belonged there and not like some kind of creep.
It took a few minutes, but he finally heard Danny's laugh drifting out from the open door of a classroom. Nick smiled at the sound: the divorce had been rough on Danny, so laughter was more than welcome.
He headed toward the door, a wide smile plastered on his face at the thought of spending the whole week with his son. He was even down to help with homework. The years were flying by too fast, but Nick was determined to make the best of the time they had.
He looked into the classroom, anticipating the look on Danny's face when Nick told him he'd voluntarily stayed at school for an extra half hour. But he was completely unprepared for the sight of Danny's teacher.
She was…perfect. Nick froze in shock as he caught sight of her. She was still focused on his son, and she burst out laughing at something he had said. She had stunning blue eyes, eyes he could fall into even from all the way in the doorway. Her long, dark hair looked sinfully soft. She was perched on a desk with her long legs crossed at the ankle, and her dress was pretty and form fitting and a vibrant, happy yellow.
Clearly, Nick wasn't the only one effected. Daniel was as enchanted by his teacher's smile as his father was, and Nick couldn't fault the boy for taste. Realizing he'd been gaping for several long moments, Nick forced himself to close his open mouth and knock on the open door.
"Dad!" Daniel burst to his feet all at once, a wide smile still on his lips. Nick grinned back at his kid, still stunned sometimes that this kid – this young man – belonged to him.
"Hey there, Danno. I wasn't sure if they'd locked you up and thrown away the key yet," he said, stepping into the classroom.
"Not yet," Danny said.
"Clearly the Miller reputation hasn't preceded you then." Nick turned his gaze to Daniel's teacher, wondering if it was her that smelled like clean laundry and cupcakes. He stretched out his hand with a polite smile. "I'm Nick Miller."
"Jess." She seemed a little flustered herself. Her eyes were wide and locked on his face. Even her glasses couldn't diminish their beauty. "I mean, Jessica Day, I'm Jessica Day. Daniel's new English teacher."
Lucky Daniel, he thought. "Nice to meet you," he said out loud, shaking her hand and wondering how in the hell anyone could be so soft.
"You too. Daniel's really great. He was just telling me that you're a writer."
Nick shot his son a quick smile. "Well, I that sounds a bit more professional than it is, but yeah. I guess you could say that. I'm also a bartender." It wasn't as impressive as 'lawyer,' but Jessica didn't seem fazed by his less-than-glamorous job title.
"Lots of writers had other jobs," she said. "Don't give up."
"Thanks. I…uh, I won't." There was a pause and Nick realized there was no reason to drag this out any further, though he really didn't want to leave. He turned to Daniel. "You ready to head out? Coach and Winston are hoping you'll want to school them at Madden again."
"Sure, I'm ready to go." Danny grabbed his backpack. "See you tomorrow, Miss Day!"
"See you tomorrow, Daniel," Jess sang back, and Nick smiled, a little bemused but…well, intrigued by her too.
"Good to meet you, Nick," she said to him, and he nodded and gave her a quick salute.
"You too. See you around, Miss Day." He put his hand on Danny's back and guided him out of the room, still feeling completely thrown but somehow, better than he had in months.
"You okay, Dad?" Danny asked, looking up at him.
"Sure, kid. I'm great. Let's head home, okay? I'm pretty excited to see you make two grown men cry in despair over a video game."
"You're weird, Dad." Danny was laughing, and Nick laughed with him and ruffled his hair.
"Yeah, I probably am." Weird enough to be wondering if fate would give him the opportunity to run into Jessica Day again, that was for sure.