A/N: Just so you readers know, this chapter is basically going through episode 2 of season 1. There's changes of course, but just so you know...
Jess glanced behind her to the closed door of her apartment. She told Huxley that she was just going across the hall to get her casserole dish back from 4D. He was to stay at the table finishing his homework.
He would most likely be in the same spot when she came back. That didn't mean he stayed in that same spot the entire time. There was a good chance something would be destroyed while Jess was out, but she needed the dish back.
Plus, it had been four days since she left Huxley with Nick. From the way Huxley talked about Nick, she would've thought he would make himself more available. But her neighbor made himself scarce.
No matter. Jess had a knack for breaking the shyest of turtles out their shells.
Jess knocked on the door and waited, starting to hum to herself while waiting.
The door opened only a few moments later. It was Winston. "Oh, Jess, right?"
Jess smiled. "That's right! And you're Winston!"
He furrowed his brows, but still nodded.
"So…how'd you guys enjoy the lasagna?"
Winston closed his eyes, bringing up the memory of the lasagna they finished in an hour. "Perfection. If that's what you pay for watching your kid, bring him over anytime you like,"
Jess laughed. "Oh perfect! I'll make sure to keep my pasta supply well-stocked. You never know when a stomach bug might pop up again. But I'm actually here to get my dish back,"
"Right, uh, go ahead and come on in. Schmidt probably put it away thinking it belongs to us."
Jess followed Winston into the loft and saw Nick and Schmidt tossing a basketball back and forth. "Oh hey, guys! Playing a little b-ball?"
"Well what do you know? Jess is here. Again," Schmidt started off smiling at Jess, but then gave a pointed look to Nick.
Nick ignored him. "You play?"
Jess opened her hands in time to catch the ball from Nick. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a pro or anything, but I was pretty good at defense," she began dribbling the ball and singing something about defense .
"Schmidt, where's her dish?" Winston stood in front of the open cabinets, hands on his waist as if expecting the dish to come floating out on command .
"You mean the one with flowers on it as if it belonged to a grandmother? I put way in the back of the cabinet, out of sight completely," Schmidt said as he moved to sit on the couch.
Jess ignored the comment. "Hey Schmidt!" Jess called out before bouncing the ball in his direction.
But she missed and hit the TV, destroying it completely.
"Found it!" Winston declared as he pulled out the dish, unaware of what just happened. But once he turned around, he saw the TV and everyone else standing in shock.
Jess took a step back while the guys moved closer to the recently departed member of the loft. Nick sat down and buried his face in his hands. "That was my TV, Jess."
"It's kind of all he had." Schmidt threw in, heaping up the guilt.
Jess balanced the murder weapon on her hip. "I'll get you a new one. I just can't afford it right now."
"If you don't mind me asking, what's the plan?" Nick demanded.
Winston stared her down. "You don't know me like that, but I need a TV."
"I have an extra TV at my ex's…" Jess mumbled.
"You left a TV there?" Schmidt asked, hoping for more details. About the TV. Not about the relationship.
Jess sighed. "Yeah, I do, it's just really big and thin and bright,"
"Go get it!" they chorused.
"No, I can't. I broke up with this guy almost five months ago already and I can't just call him up out of the blue to get my TV back,"
"Uh, yes you can. That TV is yours and you can take it back," Nick persisted.
Jess would not make eye contact with any of them.
Schmidt sighed loudly . "But what I don't understand is why you took everything else except your TV!"
Jess let her head fall back on her shoulders and she let out a loud groan. "Okay, so I never went back to get anything from him! I sent Cece to grab stuff for me when he was gone and I just …" Jess finally looked up at them. "He cheated on me with this ho! Actually, that's not fair. She might be a really nice ho…I just don't want to get in a big fight with Spencer. I want to be friends with him eventually ."
"Is he Huxley's father?" Nick asked.
Jess blinked, taken aback by the straight-forward question. "What? No. I met him when Huxley was two,"
"So then why do you still want to be friends with him?" Schmidt asked.
Jess shrugged, taking a seat on the edge of the couch.
"Jess, people aren't friends with their ex-'s. I don't want my ex to be my friend because all she did was rip me open and tear out my heart with her perfect, perfect hands," Nick said, his face falling with every word .
"Look, Spencer has a power over me. It's like he's a wizard and I'm his mage, and I think it's his hair. He has this, like, really beautiful hair and whenever I see it, I get the whoo whoos," she ignored their cries of disgust. "And plus, he was the only guy that took interest in me after knowing about Huxley. Do you guys know how hard the dating pool is for single mom's?"
"Look, Jess, I know," Schmidt moved to the spot next to her on the couch. "Closure…ouch…am I right?"
"I don't know at all what you're saying right now."
"Okay, Jess, think about it-"
"Schmidt, it's not that complicated. Jess just get the TV back." Nick exclaimed.
"It's important. It's a television. It's what brings all of … just get us the TV!"
"Okay, it's not a big deal," Jess said. "I'll do it. I'll call Spencer and I will talk to him. And I will talk to him. So…yay," Jess grabbed the dish and walked to the door with all the confidence she could muster. "And thank you for washing my dish. It's totally grease free and it takes me half an hour sometimes to get rid of all the grease,"
Nick held out his phone, focused completely on the game playing on the tiny screen. He could survive a few hours without a TV. And tonight, he would be watching the game on a beautiful TV and this whole thing would dissolve into the past and then they can go back to normal neighbors who don't interact with each other at all .
But someone started knocking and Nick had to stuff his phone back into his pocket to answer the door. It was Jess. With no TV in sight. "So where's the TV?"
Jess gave him a tight smile. "I am on my way to talk to Spencer right now. But…I kind of don't want to bring Huxley. They never really got along and there was this whole thing with his backpack and after Huxley found out that Spencer cheated on me…it just wouldn't be the best environment for him,"
And this was the third time Nick would have to watch Huxley. He pushed out Schmidt's comment about her taking advantage. "All right, I'll watch him,"
"Thank you so much, Nick! He doesn't know I'm going to see Spencer, so just don't mention anything about it. He's supposed to be doing homework right now, but if he finishes before I get back, he gets half an hour of TV time and that's it,"
"I can handle it. Just go get the TV,"
Jess gave him a thumbs up before heading to the elevator.
Nick shook his head as he went to Jess' apartment.
Yes, there was a spiral and a few worksheets out on the dining table, but Huxley was not there. Instead, he was in the kitchen with a bowl of ketchup in front of him and a tomato and knife in his hands.
Nick furrowed his brow as Huxley stared at him with surprise. "So…I'm pretty sure six year old's aren't supposed to be messing with knives," Nick said as he walked up to Huxley and took the knife away.
"Don't tell Mom?"
"What were you even trying to do? Your mom said you're supposed to be doing homework right now,"
"I wanted to plant tomatoes in ketchup,"
Nick tried following the thought process that lead to that idea.
And oddly enough, he followed it and understood it completely. "Because you want to grow some extra tomato-y tomatoes,"
Huxley looked up with a wide smile. "Yes!"
Nick nodded. "All right. I'll cut a slice or two and stick them in here, but you gotta finish your homework,"
"I'm done already. Mom just didn't stop to check it because she's acting weird. Do you know why she's acting weird?"
Nick froze as he brought the knife halfway through the tomato. "Uh, what? What do you mean your mom's acting weird?" Nick laughed, finishing the slice he was cutting. "You're acting weird!"
Huxley frowned at Nick. "Now you're acting weird,"
Nick swallowed hard. He would not say anything. He would not say anything. He would not- "Your mom is going to talk with Spencer," Nick shut his eyes and slammed the counter. "Damnit, Miller! You couldn't even keep it together in front of a six year old!"
Nick looked up at Huxley to see him staring at the bowl full of ketchup. "Stare at that thing hard enough and you'll make it catch on fire," Nick teased.
Huxley gave a small huff before turning away and plopping down on the sofa in the living room.
Nick scratched the back of his neck and muttered a quick encouraging thought to himself before joining Huxley on the couch . "So…I heard you don't really like Spencer,"
Huxley shook his head.
"Don't blame you, kid. From what your mom told me, he sounds like a total bastard," Nick winced. "Wait, no, don't…don't repeat that word. At least not in front of your mom,"
Huxley smiled a little, but didn't say anything.
Nick was fine to just leave him be. Those tomato slices weren't going to plant themselves…
"He made Mom cry. And he threw away my backpack," Huxley said before Nick could get up. "And he still has a lot of our stuff and Mom won't go get it because she doesn't want to cry anymore. And she was crying a lot but not anymore but now she's going to see him again and she's going to start crying a lot again and I don't like it and she always has this sad movie on about people not wanting to dance and I don't like it," Huxley said in one big breath.
Nick did not do this kind of things. What was he supposed to tell the kid? Hug him and tell him don't cry? "All right, here's what we're gonna do," Nick stood up and rubbed his hands together. "This is something I like to call a junk punch. And you have my full permission to use it anytime a stupid guy makes your mom cry,"
Jess came back two hours later. Nick wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he was not expecting to see a tear-stained face. He glanced at Huxley and could see the rage building in those young eyes.
Nick quickly escorted her to his loft so she could explain to him and the guys what exactly happened. And just like Nick had taught Huxley how to junk punch, Nick taught Jess how to get angry.
She was finally riled up enough to get into her car and drive to Spencer's. Of course, with backup from the guys and Huxley with them, reminding her why she was doing this in the first place.
After driving around the block four times and almost finishing Winston's pre-game mix, Jess finally stopped in front of Spencer's house.
The guys waited in the car with Huxley and watched as the door opened.
"That's the wizard? He's wearing a scrunchie," Nick said.
"Looks like he juggles clubs on the beach,"
"He doesn't. He stays at home all day and uses Mom's TV,"
"Didn't you just kind of assume he's have a handlebar mustache?"
"Come on, Jess, just go in there and get that TV,"
"Ugh, Mom," Huxley groaned as Spencer hugged Jess and Jess returned the affection.
The guys joined Huxley's groaning. But they stopped as Jess moved away from the hug and stared at a dried plant. She picked it up and the guys cheered as she threw it, smashing the pot and destroying the plant.
Jess stormed in the house with a yell and Spencer running after her.
"She going to be okay in there?" Nick asked after hearing several things crashing and breaking.
Jess finally came out, her hands full of bags and hats and the coveted TV.
"We created a monster."
"She kind of looks like Helena Bonham."
Jess stopped to look at Spencer. She wobbled, trying to hold everything and continue arguing with Spencer.
"Don't drop it. Jess, don't…don't, don't drop it…don't…"
She continued trying to regain her balance, but the TV slipped out of her hands.
Everyone in the car quickly unloaded to help.
Nick grabbed Jess and pulled her away from Spencer as she tried clawing a shirt off of Spencer. "Sorry, don't mind us, pal. We're just here for the TV."
Jess yelled and tried getting out of Nick's grasp.
"Who are these guys?" Spencer asked as they started picking up the things Jess dropped.
"They're my neighbors from down the hall,"
Spencer and Jess continued arguing while the guys loaded up Jess' things into the trunk. Nick paused as he listened to Jess demand the shirt Spencer was wearing. "Give her the t-shirt, man."
"No, I don't want to, you know. And I gave her this hat, too. So I'm gonna take it back."
"This one? You want that?" Nick picked up the red hat and put it on. "Then I dare you. Come take it off my head, pal."
Schmidt followed his lead and Huxley grabbed a hat too.
"Look man, give her the shirt back. I bet she worked hard on that jamboree." Nick continued.
"They made a lot of jam, Spence," Schmidt said, walking towards Spencer slowly. "You know how time consuming that can be? You need a jar funnel, a canner, some fresh fruit. Strawberries. Raspberries. Maybe a tayberry. Maybe a ripe-"
"No more fruit, man."
"These people are your neighbors? Seriously Jess?" Spencer gestured towards them. "Have you even thought about what's best for Huxley? You can stay here until you find a better place to live with safer neighbors."
"You know what? I don't like you, stretch," Nick stared Spencer down. "I don't like anything about you, and I'm not afraid to-"
Jess held up her hand. "I got this," she took a deep breath. "I've got a place to live, Spence. It's over. I spent four years trying to figure you out, but all you are is a guy with really beautiful hair. I'm happy you cheated on me. Thank you, because if you hadn't, I would have married you. And then you would've hurt me all over again. But don't you dare tell me to think about what's best for Huxley. He never even liked you! Yeah, I live down the hall from three guys that I just barely met last week and have already left Huxley with them three different times. But I love these guys. I barely know them, but I love them,"
There were murmurs from the guys for her to stop with the 'love' language and it's only been a week, but Jess still had more to say. "And I know they're going to watch out for Huxley and me."
Winston had joined them during Jess' speech. And when she finished, he picked up a hat for himself and put it on. "Give her the shirt back, man."
"What happens if I say no?"
"You know what happens?" Schmidt stepped forward. "Schmidt happens!" he slapped Spencer right across his face.
"Ouch! What was on your hand?!"
"Thumb ring, bitch!"
Jess winced. "Language," she said, glancing over at Huxley.
"You got some Schmidt on your face!"
Winston puled Schmidt back before he could attack Spencer again. With Jess' things in hands, they handed back to the car, letting Jess have her final words alone with Spencer.
"You know what? Fine! Here, take it!" Spencer tossed it at Jess. "You know, I thought we were gonna handle this like adults, Jess."
"Yeah, well I thought you were the love of my life, so…suck it Mr. Crabs." Jess turned to walk away, but waited as Huxley stepped towards Spencer.
"Do you feel safe with these guys, Huxy?" Spencer asked, bending down to his level.
Huxley stared at Spencer for a few moments, before punching him right between his legs. "That's what you get for giving away my backpack. And I hate that name," Huxley left Spencer moaning on the lawn.
Nick gave Huxley a proud smile and held out his hand for a high-five.
Huxley jumped up to give him one, a wide smile on his face too.
Jess watched with a hopeful smile on her face. The last time Huxley interacted with Spencer, he didn't talk for a week. It was right after he found out what Spencer had done to his backpack. Huxley was part of the reason why Jess never tried talking to Spencer again.
But seeing him walking next to Nick, actually laughing, Jess knew that he got his own closure too.
Jess sat on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table and taking her first sip of rosé from the brand new bottle. Today was a step in the right direction. She felt as if she could finally move on with her life. And Cece didn't have to go to Spencer's anymore while he was gone to grab more of her and Huxley's stuff.
She had everything back. And it was thanks to her neighbors. Jess smiled to herself. She was definitely worming her way into their hearts.
There was a knock on the door. Jess held back a groan. She just wanted to have the rest of the night to herself. Why was someone knocking on her door right now?
She summoned the energy she needed to get up from the couch and answer the door. "Oh," It was Nick. "Did you forget something?"
Nick pursed his lips. "No, I just…wanted to drop this off. It's for Huxley,"
Jess looked down. It was a red backpack. No design, no flashing lights. Just a simple red backpack. Exactly like the one Spencer had ruined.
"It's probably not the same as his old backpack, but I just thought Huxley would still want a backpack for school," Nick said as he handed it to her. "He explained to me what Spencer did to his last one,"
Jess couldn't stop staring at the backpack. "Nick, it's…" she looked up at him. "It's perfect. It's the same exact one that he had."
Nick smiled. "Kid has good taste then."
"He didn't actually picked it out. I just grabbed it when I was shopping one day and told him it was like his real dad's when he was a kid. He was nervous about going to school and I just…I told a 'mom' lie. But he loved it and…well, you can imagine how upset he was when Spencer tossed it,"
"Might not be as special to him then, but at least he won't be walking around school like an idiot without one," Nick winced. "Sorry, that's not…he's not an idiot,"
Jess laughed. "I know. I get what you mean,"
Nick took a step back. "Good night, Jess,"
"Night, Nick," Jess shut the door, looking back down at the backpack. Huxley was going to be thrilled in the morning.
Her mind quickly jumped to the question she forgot to ask Nick. Why the hell was there a bowl of ketchup with tomato slices by the window?