Jess climbed the stairs to Nick's new apartment clutching a bottle of wine with a spotted ribbon tied round the neck of the bottle. She hadn't quite got used to calling 'their' apartment yet, it still didn't sit all that comfortably with her. She hadn't seen him much over the past couple of weeks, he was taking time to get settled in she supposed. She had only seen him at the bar which in a way she kind of liked, it was familiar and she could pretend for a couple of hours that nothing had changed. That was until she had to say goodbye to him at the end of the evening rather than a simple goodnight at she crossed the hall.
Truth be told she hated these types of apartment blocks, they were so cold with no character. In fact she wasn't a big fan of this whole neighbourhood, it lacked soul, it was all food chains and shopping franchises, there was no individuality. She never imagined Nick in a place like this. She always saw him in a cozy loft above the bar that she knew he would one day own, somewhere full of books with sloping ceilings and old leather chairs. She sighed and tried to plaster a smile on her face as they reached his front door, she could tell that Schmidt and Winston were no more enamoured by being here than she was but Nick was their friend and they had to support him. Nick answered the door with a smile on his face which they had to admit seemed genuine.
"Hey, they you are, now it's a party." Nick almost yelled, but as they scanned the room it seemed like anything but. The room was full of a bunch of sedate looking strangers that they guessed were Caroline's friends.
"Hey man, the place looks great." Winston offered as a formality to which Schmidt and Jess nodded and mumbled in agreement.
As Caroline appeared Nick pulled her into a hug without his smile cracking. Jess had never seen him smile this much, she wondered whether or not it was real but shrugged it off as she handed Caroline the bottle of wine. She watched as Caroline pulled the ribbon off nonchalantly and threw it in the trash under the table as she placed the wine with all the other drinks. Winston placed a hand on the small of Jess' back and smiled at her, apparently the action didn't go unnoticed by him either. They made their way over to the window as Caroline disappeared over to another group of friends. As Jess passed through the apartment she looked around and she could see nothing of Nick, none of his stuff was anywhere, everything was beige or eggshell and there seemed to be wicker hearts hanging from various places all over the room. She considered the irony of that and then chided herself for being bitchy.
Nick followed behind them clutching a hand full of beers which he placed down on the table for them, quickly placing coasters underneath. As Jess, Schmidt and Winston glanced at one another they said nothing and waited for Nick to start the conversation so they could follow his lead.
"So it great to finally have you guys come see the place, we wanted to do this last week but there were still boxes everywhere and Caroline didn't want everyone to see it looking like that so..."
After a brief uncomfortable silence they could always count on Schmidt to pipe up.
"Well the view is mediocre and the decor is a little beigey for my taste, but if we're measuring on a Nick Miller scale this isn't bad." That was the best Schmidt could offer as he looked around judgmentally. Nick was actually glad he was being somewhat normal and with that they started to sink into a more comfortable conversation.
"So second time around...how's it going with Caroline." Winston asked tentatively, someone had to and it was probably best it was him.
"It's great, it's uh...yeah it great." Nick hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets nodding his head repeatedly as he spoke. "You know we're just taking it slow and seeing how it goes."
Taking it slow? Jess sneered in her head. This was the opposite of taking it slow but she kept quiet as she allowed Nick to continue.
"It's great that we've got straight back to being so comfortable with each other you know...we can just pick up where we left of...well not exactly where we left off but you know what I mean." Nick aimed his conversation at Schmidt and Winston as they quizzed him but he kept stealing glances at Jess who had been very quiet, uncharacteristically so. This wasn't like her an it made him uneasy, he knew she wasn't the biggest fan of him moving back in with Caroline but he thought they had gotten over that hurdle. He had always been able to read Jess but not tonight, so he made a move to force the issue.
"So Jess...what do you think?"
She cleared her throat taken aback by his direct approach. "It's nice...it's uh...it's cozy and um...clean."
"Well I guess you know I can't take credit for the clean part." He laughed off nervously. He tried to keep her gaze but she kept looking down at the floor. Why was it so weird between them? Just as Nick opened his mouth to speak to her again Caroline called him over as some more guests he didn't know turned up at the front door. He looked quickly back at Jess but she had already turned her back and re-engaged in conversation with the guys.
As the night rolled on it had become clear that the majority of the alcohol on offer had been consumed by Schmidt, Winston and Jess, other guests had either left early to go home to their kids or had switched to coffee after failing to get remotely intoxicated in the first place. As Nick and Caroline saw more and more people out the door and Caroline became locked in conversation with her newly engaged best friend, who never approved of Nick incidentally, Nick stole the chance to go back over to the guys who were laughing fairly raucously now.
"Hey guys, what's so funny?"
"Oh we were just laughing about the girl Winston brought home last weekend."
"Ok, ok so she took of a bit of shine to Jess...it's no big deal...I still managed to close the deal first didn't I?"
"What? She was into you Jess?" Nick tried to join in with a hopeful tone.
"Yeah well you know, it is what it is." Jess joked gesturing up and down her body with her hands.
Nick missed this. A lot. but he kept that to himself as he carried on laughing and joking with them.
A while later as Winston passed out on the couch and Schmidt had engaged himself in an extremely drunken phonecall with Cece, Nick sat alone with Jess. Nick could feel the alcohol taking effect on him now and the firm bite on his tongue was slackening. Jess had talked and laughed with him like old times but there was sadness in her eyes. After a long pause between them he found himself once again staring intently at her.
"Jess, we're ok right?"
Jess met his gaze "Yeah of course we are."
Another silence.
"Nick...you are happy...aren't you?" Jess spoke tentatively, searching his eyes as she spoke.
Nick inhaled sharply and opened his mouth to speak when he felt two hands press reasonably firmly down on his shoulders.
"Hey what are you guys talking about?" Caroline chipped in knowing all too well this was a conversation she shouldn't be interrupting.
"Oh you know, just reminiscing about old times in the loft." Nick smiled and stroked the hand resting on his shoulder. Caroline swung herself around so she was sitting on Nick's lap, her legs coming in between Nick and Jess' knees which had been touching without them even realising. Jess leaned back in her chair as she offered a half smile to Caroline and exchanged awkward glances with Nick who didn't looking entirely comfortable with the situation.
"Well it's late, I guess I should attempt to get those boys home to their beds." Jess gestured towards Winston and Schmidt as she rose out of her chair throwing her purse over her shoulder. "Thank you for inviting me Caroline, this place is lovely, you've done a great job."
"Thanks, we should get together for a drink or something and get to know each other a little better don't you think?" Caroline suggested insincerely as she had already turned her attention to some other guests.
"Sure, why not." Jess agreed and made a start for the door picking up and ushering out the other guys. As she pushed them through the door frame which they had both attempted to fall asleep on standing up, she turned to Nick who was standing behind her resting his hand high on the door.
"So...it was nice to see you." Jess said quietly as their gaze suddenly locked again.
Nick nodded not quite finding any words.
"I'll see ya." Jess said breathily and with that she stood on her tiptoes to plant a small kiss on Nick's cheek which caught him by surprise. His face suddenly went hot and his pulse started racing as he rested his hand on her hip and kissed her back on the opposite cheek.
"See ya." he choked out quietly.
As she turned he stared at her back as she disappeared down the stairs.
