"Because I had the time of my liiife…. And I never felt this way before… and I swear…. It's the truuuth… and I owe it all to-"
"Okay! That's enough! This needs to stop, Jess!" Jess glanced up at Nick with watery eyes. She had been lying on the sofa for almost 3 days playing Dirty Dancing on repeat and Nick had had enough. He grabbed the remote from the arm of the sofa. Jess made a weak swipe for it before letting her arm fall back onto the couch.
"Put it back on, Nick. It's not finished." Jess mumbled, her voice creaky with overuse. She stared at the TV, trying to will it to start playing again.
"You know how it ends, Jess, you've seen it at least 50 times in the last 3 days."
"That's not true, the film is only an hour and 40 minutes long so I could only have watched it 30 times at the most. So there, Miller. Now put it back on." Jess grabbed at Nick's arm, who yanked it back, taking a step away for good measure. The entire loft knew that Jess could get violent if they tried to stop her watching Dirty Dancing, but Nick couldn't listen to "nobody puts Baby in a corner!" one more time without going crazy.
The guys had tried almost everything. After Jess had broken up with Russell they had let her be for a day or so, hoping that she would snap out of it on her own. When that hadn't worked, Winston had tried being nice, trying to coax Jess into turning the TV off. When that didn't work Schmidt had stepped in, sending Jess a random man because, as he put it, "she needs to get over one guy by getting over another." Nick wasn't sure if Schmidt was more pissed about the 100 dollar jar fine or the black eye he was still nursing from Jess. Now Nick knew it was up to him. It was time for some tough love.
"Jessica I'm gonna give you 5 seconds to get out of your pit." Nick really hoped that she would, he did not want to have to use Plan B.
Jess ignored him, continuing to stare at the TV. Nick sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair. "Jess, get up." With a glare and a mumbled "bite me", Jess rolled over, turning her back on Nick.
It's for her own good. Nick thought to himself. He hoped he wouldn't live to regret this. He had never been one for getting hit in the face, which Jess always seemed to aim for when she was in this sort of mood. "This is your last chance, Jess. Otherwise you're gonna regret it."
"Back off Miller." Jess' voice sounded dangerously like a growl, but Nick was in too deep to quit now. Don't make a threat if you can't carry it out Miller.
"Alright Jess I warned ya." Before he could convince himself otherwise, Nick leaned down and grabbed Jess around the waist, hoisting her over his shoulder.
"Nick?! What the hell, put me down!" Jess cried out as she was lifted suddenly into the air. "Nick?" She started to squirm as Nick ran out of the loft, yanking the door open with his free hand.
"It's for your own good Jess! Stop moving or I'm gonna drop you!"
"Nick I swear I'm going to kill you when I get down." Jess growled, starting to kick around with her arms and legs. "Put me down!"
"I can't, Jess! It's- ow stop kicking me!- it's for your own good!" Nick ran to his car and slid Jess into the passenger seat, before hurtling round the car to the driver's seat before Jess could bolt. He jumped in and locked the doors before Jess could realise that she was upright again. For a while he just sat there panting, while Jess glowered next to him.
"Nicholas?" Jess spoke in a sickly sweet voice which was somehow more terrifying than an angry one.
Uh oh. "Jessica."
"Are you going to tellme what just happened or am I going to make sure that the next time you can have sex will be in 2050?"
Nick swallowed. He hadn't really thought of what to do after he had gotten her in the car. Don't let her smell fear! He thought. Tough love, remember? That means you have to be tough.
"I warned you, Jess. You wouldn't get off the couch." Nick shrugged, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. Jess folded her arms.
"And you thought it would be a good idea to throw me over your shoulder and kidnap me?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Jess I did not kidnap you. And besides, would you have moved if I hadn't have picked you up?" Jess said nothing, determined not to give him an answer, but ruined it by glancing down. "Exactly." Nick smirked. "And now you're up. And you can glare at me all you want-" Jess, despite herself, coloured slightly at that- "but you're not going back to that loft until I've shown you a good time."
Jess settled back in her seat with a sigh, which Nick took to mean acquiescence. He started the car, deciding to go to the bar. He really, really needed a drink.
Jess sat silently, trying and failing to keep the glare from slipping from her face. Like it or not, she was starting to cool off, and the rational voice in her mind was telling her that Nick was right, she hadn't moved in three days and that was excessive. She kept sneaking little glances at Nick, her mind replaying over and over again the moment he had lifted her onto his shoulder like she weighed nothing. Has he always been that strong? She wondered, glancing at him again. Jess blushed as she caught Nick's eye, embarrassed that he had caught her staring at him when she was supposed to be mad.
Nick had definitely noticed Jess staring at him. He restrained a smile, knowing that once he had got her up she wouldn't stay mad for long. That was what was so great about her, she didn't tend to hold grudges. Well, not against him anyway.
"We're here!" He announced, pulling up at the bar. He got out of the car and opened the passenger door, raising his eyebrows at Jess expectantly. He could see that she wasn't sure if she was still going to pretend if she was angry or not. "You coming?"
The corner of Jess' mouth twitched, but she didn't move. "Do I have a choice?"
"Of course you have a choice Jess!" Nick grinned a slightly mad grin. "You can choose to walk in, or you can choose to have me carry you. Up to you." Nick shrugged. "Makes no difference to me."
"You wouldn't." Jess challenged, lifting her chin to look Nick in the face. Nick raised an eyebrow in response.
"Wouldn't I?" He let the question hang in the air for a few moments, while Jess tried to figure out if he was bluffing. When she didn't move he shrugged again. "Oh well, off we go then!" He started to reach towards Jess, who unbuckled her seatbelt quickly.
"I'm going, I'm going!" She scrambled out of the car, refusing to meet Nick's eyes. Nick grinned and took Jess' hand, who raised an eyebrow.
"Let's not pretend you're not a flight risk." Jess sighed and allowed herself to be pulled into the bar, wondering why she was letting him get away with this.