Some quick notes: Thank you so much for your warm response to this story! It was really great to read everyone's thoughts! It really is motivating and very appreciated.

One of the guest reviewers said they wouldn't mind a rating change. That probably will happen at some point, I'm not sure when, but I've already written one scene for later in the story that might push it up to "M," so yeah…I'll be sure to let everyone know when that happens.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy chapter 2, and thank you again!


Twenty-Two.
Chapter Two.

Jess was already awake by the time Cece stumbled out of her bedroom, clutching her head. She didn't even have her eyes open, and she was a little pale. Without a word, Jess poured her roommate some fresh coffee. She was in the middle of making veggie omelets for breakfast, although she wasn't at all sure Cece would be able to eat hers. She was definitely in the grip of a massive hangover. It was only Tuesday, but while Jess did have a class to attend, Cece probably had the day off.

She'd made Sam take her back to her apartment last night. They'd gone to his place and made out, there had definitely been some heavy petting, but in the end she said she needed to be up early. Sam had grumbled a little bit, but only a little bit. Then he'd taken her back to her place. After that, Jess had gone to her room and lied down, but she hadn't slept. She had a lot on her mind.

Typically, at this point in one's law school career, there were less courses to take…in fact, she was definitely going to need to find some sort of internship or something, so she could do some practical work in preparation for the Bar exam. She hadn't even looked yet, and she was starting to feel very, very guilty. Her father was helping her a lot with the tuition, and while they had definitely had to take out loans to cover costs, she was still wasting what cash he could spare. She needed to get serious. She couldn't procrastinate anymore.

Decision made, she'd gotten up way too early. She'd already showered, dressed, gone for a walk and rewritten the notes from her last lecture, and when she thought Cece might be close to waking, she'd started breakfast.

"How are you so perky?" Cece's words were more of a groan than anything else.

"I left that party way earlier than you." Jess was trying to speak quietly, but her friend still winced. "Looks like you had fun, you crazy party animal."

"Yeah...Schmidt kept feeding me shots." She managed to get one eye open to peek at Jess. "I didn't even know there was such a thing as a monkey brain shot, but there is. It's good. I had waaaayyyyyyy too many of them."

"So Schmidt has some bartending skills? I mean, it's good he's diversifying because his parkour isn't very good."

"Noooooo, Nick made the shots. He knows a lot of drinks, actually. Seriously Jess, I've never seen anyone drink like Schmidt before. It was like he just couldn't get drunk."

"Oh no, oh noooooo…Cece, you didn't try to out drink him did you? You know that you have the body mass of a swan…there's no way you're going to win against anyone but a fourth grader, and that's illegal."

Cece tried to swat at her, but she still only had one eye open and she missed by a mile. Jess pushed the mug into her limited field of vision and Cece made a noise of deep gratitude.

"Well, I'm happy you had fun."

Cece made a noise of agreement from deep within her coffee mug, and Jess grinned as she turned back to her skillet. She'd kind of wished she'd stayed at the party longer. A shot or two more and she might even have tried the mattress surfing, although she was generally pretty clumsy. She'd had a good time with Sam, but she didn't go to parties very often and she kind of felt like she'd missed out. She didn't usually want to go to them, especially the frat versions, but when she was tempted she usually had a great time. She needed that sort of chaotic fun, especially after deciding she'd be looking for an internship.

"Maybe we could go to another one," she said offhandedly. Cece moaned in protest, but that was probably due to her hangover. Without Jess to remind her to drink water, she usually overdid it.

"That guy, Schmidt…he's in two frats. He kept calling me his Shakti, so I'm sure he'll let me know when the next party is." She dragged herself to the coffee pot to refill her mug, mostly feeling her way to the correct counter. "Ughhhh but I hope it's not for a week or two."

"Okay, awesome. Good." Then she grinned devilishly at her best friend. "His Shakti, huh?"

"Stop it."

"I mean, he looked up Hindu goddesses to impress you."

"He glanced at a Wikipedia article. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Okayyyy…but you guys would be a cute couple…"

"Ugh, Jess, please. I'm begging you, stop."

"Schmidt and Cece, you wanna touch his pee-pee…" Jess sang, and then ran into her bedroom as Cece erupted in rage behind her. She was still grinning when she headed to class, with Cece's vehement denials trailing after her.

-22-

Nick woke up in degrees. He knew he should get ready for class, but he really, really didn't want to. There were days when he wasn't sure what the hell he'd been thinking when he'd enrolled here at UCLA. Usually all he had to do was think about his father and that firmed up his resolve, but there were times when that wasn't enough.

Well, one thing was for sure: he couldn't leave Schmidt here unchaperoned. God only knew what LA would do to him if Nick wasn't around to keep him grounded. And Winston had followed him here all the way from Chicago, so leaving without him would be the biggest dick move he could think of. He couldn't do that to a man he considered a brother…he couldn't do that to either of them. When Walt Miller wasn't motivation enough, Schmidt and Winston were. For now.

He opened his eyes with a deep frown, then heaved himself into a sitting position. Schmidt was already up and showered, and he was typing away on his laptop. He probably had some…marketing classes (Nick wasn't really too sure what kind of thing a marketing major studied) or else some theater thing going on later. He looked surprisingly perky for the amount of alcohol he'd consumed the night before. One of the first things that Nick and Schmidt had bonded over was Schmidt's ridiculous alcohol tolerance.

"How do you do it?" Nick asked, wincing as his slight headache caught up with him. "You had so many shots."

Schmidt shrugged, flashing a huge grin at his friend. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

"What does that even mean?" Nick covered his eyes for a second, trying to shut the light out. Why had he had so much to drink last night?

Oh yeah. For some reason, seeing Jess and her boyfriend tickle each other's tonsils had put him in a foul temper, and he'd spent the rest of the party drinking beers and making fancy shots for Schmidt, Cece and some of the other girls at the party. Between his drinks, Winston's relative fame as a basketball player and Schmidt's need to be the center of attention, they'd gathered quite a crowd. It should have been a lot of fun, but he'd stayed in kind of a funk the whole night.

He just couldn't understand why Jessica Day was getting to him now. He'd noticed her long before this. In fact, he'd noticed her on their first day of class three years ago. With her constant cheerfulness and penchant for bright colors and pretty dresses, she was impossible not to notice, especially in a crowd of buttoned up and self-important law students. She still wore ribbons in her hair. He hadn't seen a girl do that since elementary school. So yeah, he'd definitely noticed her, but he hadn't really paid too much attention because, before this summer, he'd been with Caroline. And when Nick was with a girl, he had this habit of making her the center of his world. It sounded romantic, but it usually just led to arguments about him being too clingy.

He dragged a hand through his hair. Caroline had left him and Jessica Day was dating someone. He needed to get his shit together.

Before he could 'get his shit together,' however, a thought occurred to him. Schmidt was in two frats. He knew a lot of different people on campus…he probably knew Sam, or at least someone else who knew Sam. He didn't know why he was so curious, but he didn't question it too closely.

"Hey, Schmidt…can I ask you a question?"

"Why Nick, you know I love it when you seek out my expertise. What can I help you with? Your hair? Clothes? Please tell me clothes, I can help you so much with those plebeian rags you wear—"

"I don't need help with my clothes, Schmidt." He was already regretting opening his mouth, but in for a penny… "That guy that Cece's friend was with last night…the tall one. Do you know him?"

"Oh, Sam? Yeah, I know Sam. He's a med student. I think he's in his final year." Schmidt shrugged. "His cousin is in one of my frats."

"Sam, yeah. He's a med student?" Nick could feel himself frowning, but he couldn't stop it. He wasn't sure why he was so certain that Sam was a douchebag, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he would not like the guy if they got to know each other better.

"Yeah. Popular with the ladies. I personally don't see the appeal. I mean, sure: he's tall and has great teeth, but a med student? I'll be making twice as much money as him in marketing, just watch. And I won't have to expose myself to disgusting sick people to do it."

"You're a real humanitarian, Schmidt," Nick said with an eye roll. Schmidt didn't seem to catch the sarcasm, or else he ignored it.

Nick stood and wandered over to their snack drawer, looking for something to tide him over until he could find some breakfast. He glanced back at Schmidt's computer and then did a double-take.

"Why are you researching Hinduism, Schmidt?" he asked, although he thought he might already know the answer. His friend straightened up and lifted his chin, already defensive, and Nick knew before Schmidt spoke that his assumption was correct.

"I'll have you know that I've always had a special interest in Hinduism, Nicholas. I really appreciate how they respect cows, and how they, uh…how they believe in reincarnation and enlightenment and…"

Nick's look of disbelief was legendary. If looks could be sarcastic, this one was for sure.

"Sure, buddy. And it has nothing to do with Cece at all, right?"

"That's what they call a happy coincidence, or serendipity, if you will."

Nick wouldn't. "Whatever you say," he replied with a snort, and he went back to rummaging around for food. "Well, good luck, man. You're definitely going to need it."

Schmidt didn't even seem insulted, he just accepted his friend's well wishes and continued his research of Hinduism.

-22-

Nick caught up with Winston at the dining hall. He was considering his fruit choices a little more carefully than he probably needed to, and his lip was swollen from wiping out while mattress surfing. He was dressed for basketball practice, but then he was pretty much always dressed for basketball practice.

"I'd stick with the green thing," Nick said as he joined his friend.

"You mean the apple, Nick?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. That."

"Man, you have been eating way too much instant soup," Winston said, shaking his head in dismay at Nick's poor nutrition. He plunked the apple down on Nick's tray. "You need this more than me."

Nick didn't argue with him. They wandered over to the selection of baked goods together. "We should hang out later, you know? Do something fun. I'm bored of all this school stuff."

Winston laughed. "The semester literally just started."

"School is for fools, man." He had a pretty impressive grumpy face going on. "Come on, basketball season hasn't kicked off yet."

"Hey, man…are you okay?" Winston asked. Nick never suggested going out. Not unless something was wrong. He'd known that Nick had been pretty lonely lately, in spite of his and Schmidt's best efforts. Over the summer, Nick's long-term girlfriend had broken up with him. He'd thought that Nick had finally started to get over her, but he was looking edgy and anxious again.

"Yeah man, I'm fine." Nick shrugged off Winston's concern way too quickly, but one thing Winston had learned over the years was not to push his friend too far. If pressed on emotional topics, Nick had two go-to moves: he either shut down or blew up. It had been that way since they'd been in middle school, when Nick's dad pretty much stopped coming home.

"Alright. Hey, I believe you. But…you know…if this is a Caroline thing…"

At the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name, Nick's face shut down completely. It was like watching a shutter snap closed. He turned his head away. "It's not a Caroline thing," he said shortly.

"Got it. Message received. Listen, if practice doesn't go too late, we'll go do something. Alright?"

Nick nodded and Winston relaxed a little bit. If he handled the situation carefully, he'd get to the bottom of what was bugging his friend tonight.

-22-

Jess had spent most of her day in the law library, poking old volumes at random and trying to ignore the fact that she definitely had not sought out some sort of internship. She wasn't sure what was holding her back, except maybe that once she was an intern it would all be too real. The door to her career dreams was rapidly closing, but she wasn't ready to give them up yet.

She'd texted Sam to see if he wanted to have dinner and hang out. She couldn't help but feel a little lonely when she considered her academic and professional future, and hanging out with him would definitely help her get her mind off of her troubles. She waited for two hours and then she'd been forced to accept that he was busy and she probably wouldn't see him that night.

It had been happening more often lately. She knew medical school was incredibly demanding so she did her best not to read into his long silences…and yet, despite her best efforts, she was feeling a little disappointed as she wandered to her car and drove home. Sam always texted her goodnight, and she knew as soon as he had some time he'd let her know.

Well, maybe she and Cece could open up a bottle of pink wine or have an impromptu dance party/sleepover in their living room. Sometimes they did that just for fun, especially when life was getting a little too adult for them.

Her hopes in that regard were dashed too. As soon as the door swung open, she heard voices and realized that her best friend already had company. What she was not prepared for was to walk into the living room and see Cece and her model friends surrounding Schmidt. He was grinning like he couldn't believe his luck, and he beckoned Jess in eagerly when he spotted her.

"Jess, welcome. Cece and her delightful friends were just telling me about their favorite underwear shoots. It's a show-and-tell. You're more than welcome to join!"

Jess just stared at him with wide blue eyes. His giant grin never faltered, and after a moment she shook herself.

"Hi everyone," she said, and then she disappeared into her bedroom. Okay, so tonight wasn't going at all like she'd hoped...but she was probably way overreacting to her problems. All she needed to do was go back into the living room, have some drinks and help the models tease Schmidt. It could be really fun! And most nights, she probably would have joined in without a second thought.

But tonight she couldn't. Instead, she changed clothes, grabbed her keys and left again with a quick, "Gonna go meet Sam! Don't be too hard on Schmidt!" as she walked out of the door. She didn't know where she was going yet, but that didn't seem all that important anymore.

-22-

She ended up at a local bar, one of the ones that was packed with her classmates more often than not. Tonight wasn't an exception: there were several people she recognized sitting around the room, usually grouped around TVs that were playing sports highlights from the day. She pushed her way up to the bar and ordered a sex on the beach, because it was one of the six drinks she knew the name of, and then glanced around the room. She wasn't sure what to do now that she was here. Maybe she should just drink her sex on the beach and then head back home and join Cece and her friends…

The bartender finished her drink and slid it toward her. She was paying for it when a large hand wrapped itself around her glass and pulled it away from her.

"Hey!" She whirled to face the alcohol thief and found herself eye to eye with Nick Miller. Her heart slammed into her rib cage.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, tearing his eyes away to look at her drink. He wrinkled his nose at it, but his lips were still curled up in the corners. He sniffed it. "Yikes."

"Give me my drink back, Miller," she growled, but when she lunged for it he pulled it high out of her reach, chuckling.

"I had you pegged as more of a daiquiri drinker, myself," he said. He held her drink out of her reach for a few more seconds, then passed it to her when she started to pout. Jess flushed and didn't answer: she did enjoy the occasional frozen daiquiri, but she was not going to admit it to Miller, who probably drank bourbon straight or something like that.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, wrapping both hands securely around her glass. Nick's face soured for second and he turned slightly away.

"I was supposed to meet a friend, but…something came up. So it's just me tonight." He lifted his beer in a sad sort of salute, then blinked when Jess clinked her glass to his.

They drank in silence for a few moments, neither sure what to say to the other. It should have been more awkward than it was, but Nick was a good guy to be silent with. He looked over and shook his head as she scooted the little paper umbrella out of her way with her nose before drinking.

"So, law school, am I right?" she said at last.

He let out a long sigh. "Yeah," he replied, looking as unsatisfied with the prospect as she felt. He mussed up his hair with both hands. "Not as glamorous as everyone thinks."

"Do you have an internship?"

His response was a bitter laugh.

"Yeah." She stirred her drink. "Me either."

He gave her a sidelong look, no doubt surprised that she wasn't completely on top of and maybe a few steps ahead of curriculum. "You'll find something," he told her.

"Not if I don't start looking. Which I'm not. Looking, I mean." She tilted her head as she considered him. "I don't know why…I just keep putting it off and putting it off. But on the bright side, I am almost done with reorganizing my knitting supplies."

"I'm sorry, did you just say knitting supplies?"

"Oh yeah! I crochet a lot. I'm teaching my friend Cece. She's not very good but we just started."

"Wow." He blinked at his beer. "I'm not sure how I feel about that. I don't know anyone who knits that's under seventy."

"It's making a comeback," she informed him. He didn't look like he believed her.

"Knitting," he muttered under his breath, still sounding a little flabbergasted, and they went back to drinking for a while. Jess was just finishing her sex on the beach when a guy slid up next to her and ordered her a second one without asking.

"Hey," he said. "I've seen you around."

"Hey," Jess replied, smiling up at the stranger despite feeling mildly annoyed by the intrusion. "I'm Jess."

"I'm David." He paid for the drink. Jess hesitated to accept it. She could feel Nick's gaze on her and tried to ignore it. She didn't really feel like talking to this David guy, but he'd already paid for it…

"After you finish that, do you want to get out of here?" he asked, interrupting her internal debate.

"Uh, no I don't think so. Thanks…but…I have class in the morning and…"

"Oh come on, honey. Don't be like that. I bought you a drink…let's have a little fun tonight." David's smile was still plastered on his lips, but there was an edge to it now.

"No thanks." She tried to push the drink toward him, deciding now to turn it down. David's expression had finally shifted to annoyance.

"You're at a bar on Tuesday night. You let me pay for your drink. And now you're acting like you don't know what signals you're sending out? Don't be an ungrateful bitch—"

He barely got to finish the word, because at that second Nick's fist crashed into his mouth. Jess hadn't noticed him getting up and circling around, but her heart leaped with relief as he moved between her and David. He was breathing hard, and she could see his fists were still balled, ready to punch the guy again if he hadn't gotten the picture.

"What the hell?!" David's lips were bleeding and he'd stumbled back into the people behind him.

"Call her a bitch again." Nick's voice was glacier cold. Jess realized that he actually wanted to hit the guy again and it made a shiver run down her back.

"Hey, take it outside!" The bartender already had a phone in his hands in case he needed to call the cops. Jess put her hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Come on, let's just go. I'm done anyway," she said. Nick reached into his pocket and then slapped down some cash on the bar top for his drink, but his eyes never left David. Finally, urged on by her gentle tugs, he nodded and they walked out.

"Bastard," Nick snapped. "Jesus, some guys are just…I'm sorry Jess, I just couldn't let him—"

"It's okay." She was examining his swelling knuckles. "Really, thank you. No one's ever…it's okay."

She looked up from his hand to find him staring at her, and a strange whirling, falling sensation swept through her at the intensity in his eyes. Her lips parted a little and his gaze dropped to them, just for a second. Did he want to kiss her? Because she wanted him to, wanted it more than she'd ever wanted a kiss before—

Sam. Sam didn't deserve that. She dropped her gaze and the spell was broken, at least a little bit.

"You should ice that hand," she told him.

"Yeah." He flexed his fingers but didn't move.

"I should go." If she looked up into his eyes again, she might forget why she'd hesitated. She stared at his boots instead.

"Okay. You okay to drive?"

"Yeah, I…I can call Cece, so…"

"Great. Okay. Yeah. See you around, Jess."

"See you around, Nick," she replied. He hesitated, just one long pause that felt like it lasted a year, and then he turned and started walking away.

"Thank you!" she yelled after him, wishing she had some better way of expressing her gratitude for his actions on her behalf. He lifted a hand in acknowledgement but before she could call out anything else, he ducked around the building and disappeared into the shadows.

With a huge sigh, Jess turned to her car. She climbed into the passenger side, locked the doors, and called Cece for a ride. While she waited, she couldn't help but wonder just what the hell was happening in her life? And how was she going to get herself back on track?


AN: This chapter went wayyyyy longer than I thought it would, and though I had definitely planned to get to Schmidt and Cece and to do at least one more scene with Winston explaining why he couldn't make it to meet Nick, I realized around page 9 that it just wasn't all going to fit. It'll have to wait for the next chapter.

In the meantime, I hope you liked chapter two! I had a lot of fun with writing punchy Nick! Let me know your thoughts and see you for chapter 3!