Hey guys! Sorry for the late-ish update. I know I said I wanted to have this chapter done by Monday, but it ended up taking me a bit longer due to school and work and everything. I'm thinking that it's usually going to take me about 1 1/2 weeks to 2 weeks to write each chapter, so I hope that's okay with everyone! This chapter is a little more serious, but also kind of fluffy. I hope you like it! Thanks for all the support with this story; it honestly means the world to me!

-Haley :)

P.S. let me know if you have any ideas for future chapters! I'd love to take the fandom's ideas into account, especially since I'm writing this as I go.

Jess stood in her kitchen later that night, powdered sugar and bits of icing glazed over her cheeks and nose. Splotches of cupcake batter were splattered all across her red apron. She had her favorite Taylor Swift album playing (Red, of course!) as she swayed around the kitchen island, holding a mixing bowl in her arms.

"Jess, are you sure you need to bake three different kinds of cupcakes for this guy that you literally just met yesterday?" Cece sat at the counter, suspiciously eyeing the batch of cupcakes cooling on the counter by the sink and the batter Jess was mixing.

Jess turned her IPod speakers up as she started to pour the yellow batter into the cupcake tin, "Cece, the day I agree with that statement will be the day Taylor Swift finally releases the ten-minute version of "All Too Well," and you and I both know that is sadly never going to happen."

Cece rolled her eyes and reached over to turn the speakers down again. She stuck her index finger in the batter and Jess swatted her hand away, "These are for Mr. Miller, Cece, aren't you on some crazy butt diet or something right now anyway?" Jess asked as Cece licked the batter off of her fingers.

Cece sighed, "Jess, I haven't booked a gig in a month. My last commercial was for a wrinkle removing cream and I was the before picture. I don't know what I'm doing with my life anymore. I need your cupcakes," she paused to wipe her hands and mouth on a napkin, "Jess, you haven't even baked these and I think they might be your best yet."

Jess grabbed the cupcake tin, put it in the oven, and set a timer for twenty minutes. As she grabbed her frosting and pastry decorating accessories, she looked over at Cece. "Ceec, have you thought about maybe trying to do something else, other than modeling?" she asked quietly. The subject of Cece's career had been a touchy subject between the two of them over the years. Jess didn't approve of all of the weird diets, crazy parties, and sketchy agents sometimes but it had always been what Cece wanted to do the most—and she was good at it. Ever since Jess had filled in for her at a shoot after a particularly nasty hangover when Cece had been at her old agency, she had a newfound respect for everything that supermodels had to put up with at their jobs. It wasn't Jess' cup of tea, but she knew Cece was tough, beautiful, and confident enough to succeed in it.

Cece sighed, "I know I can't really stay in modeling forever, but I've never done anything else! Who's going to hire a thirty-five-year-old model with no job experience anywhere?"

Jess set her cupcake decorating supplies down on the counter and took a sip of her tea from her favorite mug thoughtfully, mulling over the options she thought Cece had, which, even Jess had to admit, were slim. "Well, you've been dating Schmidt for quite a while now, and you did say that you two might want to take that next step…maybe since he has a steady big-shot career of his own, he could help you out." Jess' eyes grew wider than usual and she started talking more enthusiastically, "Awe! Maybe this will be your first big step toward the next level of your relationship! You guys can have a new level of intimacy from him helping you change careers and working together to do it and it'll help you start creating a life together!" Jess was smiling from ear to ear now, "Oh, Cece, this is wonderful! You should seriously talk to Schmidt about it." Jess took another sip of her tea, "Maybe you wouldn't even have to stop modeling altogether. Maybe you could do the more business-y part of modeling, since you've been in the industry for so long, 'ya know?"

Cece smiled slightly and leaned over to hug Jess tightly. "You always know how to make me feel better. Thanks, Jess, and hey," she pulled away and looked her in the eyes, "don't worry about Mr. Miller. I'm sure he'll come around. He'd be crazy not to like you or your cupcakes."

Cece stepped away from Jess to check her phone for the time. "And speaking of Schmidt, I told him I'd come over for dinner tonight. He wants to make me curry vindaloo." she said laughing.

Jess laughed along with her, "To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou!" she sang with much more gusto than Cece cared for.

She looked at Jess and rolled her eyes, smiling at her. "I can always count on you to make me feel better and then work a showtune into it somewhere." she said grabbing her purse off of the island counter. "I'll be home later. Maybe. Don't wait up." she said and glanced over at the oven and back to Jess. "And don't spend all night baking for a guy you're not dating, please. I'll see you later, babe!"

Jess heard the door to their apartment close and she took out a deep breath and looked over at her cupcake timer. She still had about five minutes left on it and decided to start decorating her chocolate ones that had more than likely cooled by now.

Pshht. Who cares if I spend all night baking for a guy I'm not dating? Jess strategically started to put hazelnut-flavored frosting roses on the chocolate cupcakes while humming the opening chords to the next song that came on her IPod. "Took a deep breath in the mirror, he didn't like it when I wore high heels, but I do…"

"Nicholas, are you mad? Do you want this woman or not?" Schmidt asked Nick as he seasoned the raw chicken breasts on the counter. "You can't just yell at her on the first day and accuse her of witchcraft!" Schmidt tore his eyes away from seasoning the beginnings of his curry masterpiece and looked Nick in the eyes, his face turning serious and slightly annoyed. "Well, you have found my flabbergast button, and guess what? You've pushed it. You mean to tell me you went out of your way to make sure you got roomed with her, going so far as to bribe the principal with free booze at the Griffin for the school year," Schmidt paused to turn to check the potatoes and peppers on the stove, "and what do you do when you're finally alone with her? When she finally notices you?" Schmidt turned back to Nick, looking at him incredulously. "You criticize her school supplies, her baking, her teaching ideals, and her crafting." Schmidt pointed at Nick accusingly, "You are the dumbest boy in school!"

Nick sat across the kitchen island from Schmidt with his journal, his head in his hands leaning on the counter, and groaned. "I don't even know what I'm doing. It's like, she can be so irritating, but she looks like a flower and smells like cinnamon! She's always tartin' around in these little dresses. With sparkles on them! I am a man, Schmidt, I am a human man!" Nick ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've had maybe two conversations with her in my life, but I've always noticed her since she started working here." Nick took a long swig of his Heisler and set it back down with a thud, "She's the only one who cares about the kids. She's the only one who tries to do anything to make their shitty lives a little better—the only one who tries to make that shitty school better[HB1] ."

Schmidt nodded thoughtfully as he sprinkled the whole spice cabinet into the pot of potatoes on the stove. He turned back to the chicken breasts, took a large knife out of the drawer of the island, and began to cut them into fours. "Look man, I don't know what to tell you that I haven't already. Just don't be a douche to her." Schmidt's eyes met Nick's as he continued to expertly cut up the raw chicken without pausing. "And you know that means something coming from me. Jess is like a cartoon-drawing of a best friend an eight-year-old would make. She's not hard to charm, but she's a good one, honestly. It's not hard to tell from the times I've been around her. As long as you don't actively self-sabotage your relationship as co-teachers this year, you'll have nothing to worry about, no matter how much of an imbecile you can be. Jess is one of the good ones, and as much as I hate to admit it, so are you, whether you believe it or not. Now, if you're done being a pubescent Nickelodeon protagonist, I have bigger news than the cute new girl at school." Schmidt took a deep breath and paused after sticking the chicken into the pot with the potatoes and peppers, "Nicholas, I'm going to ask Cecelia to marry me." He couldn't help but grin while he said it.

Nick gaped at Schmidt. The first thought that came to his mind was the image of an awkward, obese eighteen-year-old Schmidt in a candy-striper uniform, pining after the hot nurse. Now here he was, nearly seventeen years later, a ripped, marketing success planning on marrying a supermodel. Then there was Nick: having lost passion for his job, pining after a girl whom he barely knows (and screwing it up) and living in the same little loft with Schmidt and Winston, who were both going to be moving on to the next stage of their lives with their girlfriends/fiancées before he knew it. Nick blinked a few times to shake the feelings of inadequacy and insecurity from his mind. He focused on Schmidt. It had been a long time since he had seen him so genuinely happy. Nick smiled, his eyes crinkling at the sides. Schmidt was his best friend after all. He couldn't help but be happy for him.

"Wow," Nick let out a deep breath, "Married, huh?" he chuckled, "Is there a bug going around the loft or something?" Nick gestured toward their other roommate, Winston's room, who had just recently gotten engaged to his girlfriend and police partner, Aly.

Schmidt walked over to Nick and put his hand on his shoulder, "I'm not going to ask her quite yet, but I bought a ring and I'm just waiting for the right time now." He grinned at Nick and went to check on the curry.

Nick looked back at his notebook that he had been neglecting since he had gotten home. He was only a few pages into the second chapter of The Pepperwood Chronicles. He scratched his head, trying to think of what to write next.

Julius Pepperwood looked through the back alleys, the store windows, the parks—still he could find no trace of Ms. Night. He buttoned his trench coat, a shiver running down his spine at the thought of not being able to find her. He sat down on a bench outside of the library, staring into the sunset, a glum expression on his face. Julius wrung his hands together and pulled out the picture he kept of her in his wallet. The sun was starting to set, turning the clouds into cotton candy. He sighed deeply. He knew he'd lose her sooner or later.

"Hey, Nick?" Schmidt's voice startled him. Nick looked up to see Schmidt carrying his curry dish to the table. After setting it down, he turned to look directly at him, "Jess would be lucky to have you. Just don't be in your head so much about it all. Not every girl is Caroline—especially Jess. Believe me."

"Thanks, man." Nick replied earnestly and looked back to his notebook.

Losing her didn't mean that he wouldn't fight to get her back, though-Pepperwood was sure about that.

The next morning, Jess walked into school much more cheerfully than she had the day before. With a basket of cupcakes in tow, along with her laptop case, purse, and craft bag, she strode into her classroom confidently, although it looked more awkward than confident with her arms so full. There's no way I'm going to let Miller sour my mood today, she thought as she set down the bundles in her arms on the desk.

As she sat down at the desk in the front of the room, she began to eat a strawberry cupcake with chocolate icing. Who cares if it's seven-thirty a.m? Not this girl. She began humming to herself and turned on her Spotify playlist on her phone on shuffle.

"I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight, on a bed of California stars. I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight, on a bed of California stars…"

Jess started singing along quietly as she set her cupcake down on a napkin and took out her folder of lesson plans and started to work on her plan for next Tuesday's sixth grade class on the book, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. She had read it when she was in middle school and she figured it would make for a good first book report for the year for the students. She wondered if Nick might want to collaborate on their lessons. She made a mental note to ask Nick how much he knows about Native American history.

She stopped singing when she heard a throat clear. Jess looked up from her lesson plans startled, her eyes even wider than they already were, and her hand shot to her heart. Nick stood in the doorway holding a few folders, a laptop case, and two coffees. His dark hair was a bit tussled and he had a light shadow of stubble on his face. His eyes looked a bit sleepy, like he'd woken up late but didn't really mind. The sleeves on his button-up were rolled up to his elbows, showing off the slight definition of his biceps. He looked at Jess, an amused grin on his face. He's actually kind of handsome when he's not insulting my teaching style, she thought absently.

Jess ran a hand nervously through the ends of her hair, "Oh my God, Nick, you scared the daylights out of me," she laughed.

Nick walked over to the desk and set one of the coffees down in front of Jess and looked at her smugly, "Daylights? What are you, an old-timey movie starlet?" he chuckled, "I, uh, got you a coffee on my way," Nick scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, "I didn't know how you take your coffee, but I got it with crème and sugar, I hope that's okay. I just drink mine black, so I wasn't really sure how much to ask for," he rambled and then cleared his throat, "I figured I should make a better impression than yesterday, you know, since we're going to be teaching together all year."

Jess beamed at him sweetly, "Thank you, Nick, that was very kind of you," their eyes lingered on each other for a second too long. Jess' crystal blue irises mesmerizing Nick, his pupils dilating a bit. Jess blinked rapidly and shook her head slightly, "Uh, I made cupcakes. I was just baking last night and thought you might like some," she said trying to sound nonchalant, and smiled, "There's chocolate with hazelnut frosting, strawberry with chocolate frosting, and vanilla with vanilla frosting, if you want any."

Nick gestured at the half-eaten cupcake on the desk, "Cupcakes for breakfast? Hell yeah," he eagerly grabbed a chocolate hazelnut one, "Thanks, Jess," He crammed the cupcake in his mouth, "Oh my god, can you bake for class every day?" he sounded muffled with his mouth full.

Jess laughed heartily at him and pointed at his face, "You've got some frosting on your nose, Nick," she handed him a napkin, "Maybe not every day, but I'll be sure to bake a cake if you do a unit on Marie Antoinette."

Nick wiped the frosting off of his nose, but there was still a little smudge of it on the tip of it and the corner of his mouth. He set down one of his notebooks and began quickly scrawling haphazardly onto a page, "I'm making a note so I can hold you to that." he chuckled, "We've got to get through the entire Renaissance first, though."

Jess giggled quietly, "You still have frosting on you," Nick wiped his face again, but the frosting was still there, "Here," she said and grabbed another napkin and dabbed at the traces of hazelnut icing on his skin. She could tell he was holding his breath the entire time. His eyes watched her intently, as if he was trying to keep himself calm. She couldn't read his suddenly stoic face. Wait, is it weird to wipe frosting off of your coworker's face when they can't? It's not that weird, right? she thought as she leaned back, crumbling up the napkin in her hand. She cleared her throat, "There," she whispered.

Nick chortled after a moment, breaking the tension, and Jess laughed along with him and they settled into a comfortable silence. They shared the desk as they worked on their lesson plans and snacked on a cupcake or two every now and then.

Maybe this year won't be so bad after all, Jess thought, looking over at Nick. He sat hunched over the same notebook from the day before, deep in thought as he took a sip of his coffee.

Done. Nick thought triumphantly as he took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee. He flipped through the pages in his notebook, feeling accomplished, having finished the second chapter of the first installment of The Pepperwood Chronicles. He glanced over at Jess, hard at work on next week's lesson plans, her raven curls spilling over the page she was furiously writing on, like the ink from her pen. Nick made a note in his journal under the list of ways to describe various parts of Jess for the descriptions of Jessica Night.

Hair: shiny, raven-colored, probably silky and soft like….silk?

He flipped back to his last page and reread it to make sure it made sense.

Pepperwood walked into the mystery section of the library on the fourth floor. He hid behind a shelf and peeked between the books and finally spotted her. There she stood, quietly singing to herself as she browsed the books. In a post-zombie world, not many people used libraries anymore. Most of them, including this one, were abandoned after the epidemic took hold of New Orleans.

Jessica Night, of course, still used the libraries. She always told Julius that all the dust on those abandoned books just made them smell better than they already did.

He stared at her, the sun's rays coming through the window behind her, making the dust mites in the air float around her like stardust, as if she were an angel. Pepperwood felt all the air in the room disappear, as if it were suckerpunched out of his lungs, like stepping out of a spaceship. Her red lips shone and her eyes lit up when she spied him through the bookshelf. They were like two astronauts, the books separating them like the glass of helmets. They were content to just look through the books at each other for a few moments, soaking up the silence of the lonely space.

"Are you going to come over here, or are you just going to ogle me all day?" Jessica asked giggling. Her laugh ripped through the quietness of the room like a sunrise breaking through the dark to wake up the world.

Julius snorted at her, "Why don't you come to me for once?"

Jessica rolled her eyes at him, "Did you ever think that maybe I'm not running from you? Have you ever thought that maybe it's your own damn self keeping you away from me?" She raised her eyebrows at him, "Are you going to man up, or are you going to just keep waiting around for me to come to you?"

Julius looked at the beauty in front of him, separated by only the edges of a bookcase. Her crystal-blue eyes stared into his brown eyes directly, challenging him.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, willing his nerves away. She always had this effect on him. After a moment, he nodded determinedly. "I'm going to man up." he said, suddenly gaining confidence, "You're right, Jess, I've gotta start doing things."

She smiled at him sweetly. Neither of them made a move from their respective sides of the bookshelf.

Soon, Julius thought, Soon.

Nick looked up from the journal at Jess, thinking maybe he could steal a glance at her. She lifted her head and her eyes met his at the same moment. She gave him a small smile at him, her blue eyes squinting a bit and her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as she let out a little giggle.

Nick smiled back at her and immediately put his head back down into his journal, his heart speeding up a bit. He let out a shaky breath, trying not to let Jess see the effect she had on him.

Maybe this year won't be as easy as I thought.