After parking his car in his secret parking spot and covering it up with disassembled cardboard boxes, Nick comes across Jess standing on the sidewalk in front of their building next to a sign reading, "FREE HUGS". The sign is hand-painted a glittery blue, which throws reflections everywhere around them..
"Jess, What the hell are you doing?"
"Um, what does it look like, Nick?"
"It looks like you're trying to get sexually harassed by a bunch of lonely, dirty men. Because those are the only people who will take you up on this weird offer of yours."
"Come on Nick, we've talked about this. People are good if you give them a chance."
"No way, Jess. I thought we came to the opposite conclusion after Remy tried to have a threesome with us."
Jess sighs. "Okay, Nick, I admit defeat on that one, but I was watching this documentary on the Discovery Channel-"
"Oh, well, there you go."
"What"?
"You always do dumb things after watching documentaries on the Discovery Channel."
"Like what?"
"Like that time you decided to keep bees on the roof to 'help keep them from becoming extinct' and Schmidt got stung and almost went into anaphylactic shock."
"Oh, yeah. Not one of my best ideas. But anyway, I was watching this documentary about how human touch is essential to a person's physical and mental health. And then I was thinking about all of those people out there who don't have families, or who are in a new place and don't have any friends yet, or maybe are just friends with people who aren't huggers." She stares pointedly at him.
"I hug, just not all the time."
"Try 'never', mister grumpy-pants."
He puts his hands on his hips and gives her a warning glare.
"Hey, maybe you should be my first customer."
"No," he says, putting his hands up in front of him and backing away.
"Come on, it'll chase away that gray cloud above your head."
"I like the gray cloud."
"I bet you'll be happy when it's gone. Come here." She approaches him with her arms wide, and he ducks under one of them, turning to see a little girl waiting patiently at the sign, her mother a few feet away.
"You have a customer," he says, nodding towards the girl.
Jess drops her arms and turns, her smile growing even larger as she says hi to the girl.
"Can I have a hug?" the girl asks shyly.
"Well, of course you can! That's what I'm here for!" She crouches down and wraps her arms around the little girl. The sight of it does something to Nick's heart that he doesn't understand.
After the girl and her mother continue down the sidewalk, Jess turns back to Nick with a wide, glowing smile. "See, Nick? This was my best idea yet."
"I don't get it, though. She has a mother who I'm sure hugs her all the time. Why does she want a hug from you? And her mother just stands there and lets her kid hug a stranger? It's just weird."
"Ugh, Nick, you just don't understand, okay?" She turns back toward the sidewalk, standing primly next to her sign. Nick stands back a bit and watches as people look back and forth between the sign and Jess as they pass by. He's surprised at how many people actually stop for a hug. He watches how so many of them approach her with just a polite smile, but after she hugs them, they leave with this genuine happiness on their faces.
After a number of people have come by for hugs, an old man approaches, gray hair, weathered skin, walking with a cane. His face is downtrodden and he stops in front of Jess, silently looking at the sign.
"Sir, would you like a hug?" she asks sweetly.
He nods and leans into her as she wraps her arms around the man. He still leans on his cane with one hand, but his other hand tentatively touches her back.
Nick watches as the man's eyes grow watery. When Jess steps back from the man, she asks him if he is okay.
"Oh yes," he says. "My wife just passed away a few months ago, and we never had any children, so I haven't been hugged in a very long time. I just needed it. Thank you." He takes her hand in both of his, patting it once before letting go and walking away with a smile in his eyes.
Jess looks back at Nick and it's the absolute worst timing because her watery eyes catch him blinking back tears of his own. He tries to give her his best scoffing frown, but she comes to him, arms open. This time he doesn't dodge her. She wraps her arms around his shoulders, and he slides his arms around her waist, letting himself take one deep breath, feeling some of his darkness scattering as he lets some of her light infuse him.
"Okay, Jess," he says softly, placing his hands on her hips to gently and reluctantly put her away from him. She studies his face, smiles slightly as if she's proud of her handiwork, and points her finger at him. "I'm not finished with you," she says, turning back to where a small line has formed at her sign.
He stands and marvels at her, this woman with this huge, pure heart for people, the way she genuinely wants to help, the way people are just drawn to the sunshine and optimism in her. He continues to watch, always protective, looking out for any men in line who may want to use her generosity and naivety for their own impure needs.
After a while the line has dissipated and it's only the occasional person approaching Jess for a hug. That's when Nick notices the approaching man staring lustfully at Jess, opening and closing his fists as Jess finishes hugging the person in front of him. Nick is on alert, coming a bit closer, and then the guy reaches for Jess' arm, spins her around into him so that they're chest to chest, and he reaches around and grabs her ass. Jess yelps and is pushing on the guy when Nick's fist comes flying into the assaulter's face, grabbing his arm to yank him away from Jess. Pedestrians walking by gasp at the commotion as Nick slams the guy against the brick wall of the building.
"That is my friend over there," Nick grits out between clenched teeth. "If there weren't so many people around, I'd be doing much worse to you right now than holding you up against a wall." Nick pulls the man back by his shirt and then shoves him away so that he stumbles down the sidewalk. "Now get away from here and don't come back!"
He turns to see Jess staring at him wide-eyed, her arms wrapped defensively around herself.
Nick wordlessly walks toward her, grabs the "FREE HUGS" sign, and softly asks Jess to come with him. Ever the strong one, not wanting to admit defeat, she stands her ground for a moment until she sees the crowd has dissipated and there is no one left waiting for a hug. Nick places his hand on her lower back, gently coaxing her. "Come on."
She follows him inside, and the ride up in the elevator is quiet. Her sign is leaning up against his leg, and glitter is all over his hands. When the elevator reaches their floor and they exit the lift, Jess speaks up.
"Just say it. I know you're thinking it."
"Say what?" he asks.
"'I told you so'?"
They're outside their apartment door now, facing each other. "Jess, I am not going to say that." Her eyes meet his, questioning, clearly having expected him to say something different.
"Except for that last part, I can say what I witnessed today was not what I expected. What I expected was to see thirty more guys like that last one. But what I saw was really... special." He shrugs, not sure how to put into words what he'd witnessed.
She smiles at him, her hand coming to rest at his elbow. "Thanks, Nick. For everything."
He unlocks the door and follows her inside. When she says she is going to go take a shower, he calls out to her softly.
She turns to him, the questioning gaze of her blue eyes causing his heart to skip a beat.
"Free hug?" he says.
She smiles wide, her eyes becoming an even brighter shade of blue. He takes that as her consent and steps forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She immediately plants her face in his chest, her arms looped tightly around his waist. He rests his chin on her head and feels the way she breathes deeply against him. His breaths naturally fall into sync with hers and he finds himself drawing little circles on her back with his fingertips. He feels her take a deep, shuddering breath and then steps back from him, her usual hopeful smile having returned to her face, with something else in it that makes his heart stutter again. Her eyes linger on his eyes before she turns and heads down the hallway.
He watches her go with the startling realization that he is in love with her.