Well, I caved. I was just enjoying writing this too much to just let it end. I may include a few other chapters too, but it won't be very long. I just thought the episode didn't go into depth with what had happened. For most people, getting stuck in a closet whilst being claustrophobic would be traumatic. So I'm just elaborating on what I would have maybe liked to see, the darker less humorous side to it, while still being warm and including bonding moments. I'll mark this as incomplete for now, I'll probably have just one other chapter after this the way things are going.

Thank you for reading, and to those of you who have reviewed, thank you as well! I'm honoured to have joined the New Girl community, and I can't wait to write more for this fandom. I have lots of ideas.

Keep Writing!

-Reyna

Jess woke up several hours later. Nick was in his room, trying to pass the time, but Winston and Schmitt had gone to bed.

"How are you feeling?" Cece whispered to the raven haired girl.

"Okay," Jess muttered. "How long have you been up?"

"It doesn't matter," Cece smiled, running her fingers through Jess' hair. Jess yawned and sat up, so that Cece could move her legs again.

"You should have gotten some sleep!" Jess exclaimed, worried about her friend.

"Jess, I'm fine." Cece jumped a little. She hadn't expected Jess to be so adamant.

"Cece.."

"Jess, really, I'm fine," Cece laughed. "I'm used to not getting a lot of sleep. Besides, I had more important things to take care of." She smiled at Jess, overjoyed to see the young girl acting more like herself.

"I'm sorry…" Jess trailed off, appearing to be fixated on the bed sheet's patterns. "I didn't mean to worry you, or make you lose sleep over me," She sniffed.

"Jess…" Cece pulled her into a hug. "You shouldn't have tried to prove that to Winston, no," she started. "But you don't have to apologize. You can't help it."

"I thought I could," Jess muttered. Cece glanced at the disheveled girl, sorrow coating her bright eyes. "I thought I had gotten better…"

Cece laughed lightly, causing Jess to look up at her. Confusion written across her face.

"Jess, this isn't a problem you can fix." Cece explained. "But that doesn't mean you haven't gotten better! How long has it been since your last episode?" She asked. "You've been a lot better, better enough that Nick and the guys didn't really think you had anything wrong with you besides your random bursts of singing."

Jess chuckled, and Cece was delighted to have cheered up the woman.

"I guess you're right," She rasped.

Cece grinned, "Do you want anything to eat?" She asked.

"I guess so…" Jess glanced at the clock. "But it's so late, you need some sleep."

"Jess I'll be fine, let's go get you some food," Cece sighed, sliding off the bed. Jess followed her, swaying a little bit at the contact with the ground.

"You okay?" Cece asked, worry hinted at through her tone.

"I'll be fine," Jess nodded. However, that didn't stop Cece from gripping the girl tightly as they made their way to the kitchen.

"How do pancakes sound?" Cece questioned, pulling out some of the supplies.

"Perfect, thank you."

Cece grinned, and started turning on the mixer when Schmitt's door burst open.

"Cecilia, put that mixer down," He snapped, grabbing it from her hands before she had the chance to do anything. "If you're not going to use the tools properly, then you don't get to use them at all. Let me do it," He insisted.

"I was doing just fine-"

"That's bullshit, I know how you cook Cece. You make a mess, and the next thing you know I have to clean up burnt pancake from the top of the stove." Schmitt rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Jess would rather have delicious, golden pancakes than blackened ones." He sneered, not intending to be rude. Schmitt was controlling over the kitchen sure, but he also really wanted to do something to help out his roommate. He felt awful that he hadn't been able to do more, and wanted to make it up to her.

"Fine, you make the pancakes," Cece relented. She glanced at Schmitt when Jess wasn't looking, and watched as he silently mouthed thank you. She smiled, knowing how pure his intentions were this time. Cece was relieved to see Jess had such good people looking out for her, even if they were a bit cocky sometimes.

"Is there anything else you need Jess?" Cece questioned, noting how silent the brunette had become.

"I think I'm going to go shower," she mumbled. Cece nodded, still unsure as to why she was being so timid. Jess stood up from her seat at the bar, and started to walk back to the bathroom. Cece got up to follow her, but Jess shied away from her contact.

"I can go myself, but thanks," She whispered. Cece scrunched her eyebrows as she watched Jess stumble towards the bathroom. Once she had shut the door, Cece allowed herself to sit at the counter and groan.

"What's wrong Cece?" Schmitt questioned, mixing the homemade batter together.

"I'm worried," Cece muttered. "Jess has struggled through this before, but she's acting different than normal. Normally she enjoys seeing me try to help her, it makes her feel like she's not alone. But for whatever reason, she keeps jumping at my contact, and refusing any help I offer," Cece ranted.

Schmitt nodded, appearing to be lost in thought.

"I'm sure she's just embarrassed. If it's been a while like you said, maybe she just doesn't know how to treat the situation. I'd just give her some space so she can figure it out," He shrugged.

Cece grinned at him. "You know, for being so ridiculous, you can offer some good advice every once in a while," She chuckled.

Schmitt rolled his eyes.

"Of course I can, I am the master of all things women," He smirked. Cece grumbled to herself, pointing at the small glass jar resting on one of the tables. Sighing, Schmitt placed a few dollars into the container, before resuming cooking.

Jess grimaced as she turned the water all the way on hot. She wanted the liquid to heat up as soon as possible, so she could return to Cece and Schmitt for an early morning breakfast. If 2:30 was considered morning. Once steam started to accumulate, Jess slipped off her clothes and started to step in. She would turn the water down once it started getting too hot, but for now she just wanted to be clean.

Jess sighed as she stepped into the warm water. Her body felt sticky, and filthy from all the dried sweat, and she was more than ready to wash it all off. Running her fingers through her hair, she waltzed into the stall.

Immediately her breathing hitched, and Jess' eyes widened. It hadn't bothered her before, but the small area of the shower was terrifying. Her knees wobbled, and before she fell and hit the hard tile, she sunk to the ground. Pulling her knees to her chest, Jess tightly closed her eyes. The warm water slowly turned hot, but Jess was too absorbed in her own fears to notice. The small walls of the shower stall seemed to press against her, limiting her movements.

Jess' body shook with every breath she took, tears blending in with the hot water. Her shoulders and back started to turn red from the constant slap of the burning water, but she didn't mind. She hadn't started sobbing yet, and was trying desperately to get her breathing back under control.

Back in the kitchen, Cece glanced at her clock. Jess had been in the shower for over fifteen minutes, and while the girl was known for long showers, she knew Jess was wanting to eat.

"I'm going to go check on Jess," Cece announced, not like it mattered. Schmitt was in his own world. He just nodded, and continued following his recipe.

Cece strode towards the bathroom, and was alarmed to see steam leaking out the bottom. Opening the door, she glanced around. Steam covered the mirrors, and the walls were starting to get moist from the heavy amount of water vapor.

"Jess?" She questioned, approaching the stall. "Are you decent?"

It didn't matter to her that much if she wasn't, they were best of friends. But that didn't mean Jess wanted her to see that, especially with how she'd been acting.

Cece pulled open the shower curtains, and quickly reached to turn off the water. Jess was huddled on the floor, her shoulders and back a bright red from the near boiling liquid. Her whole body shook, and Cece could see she was struggling to regain a normal breathing rate. Grabbing a towel from the rack, Cece ran it under cold water. Once it was soaked, she draped it over the timid girl.

Jess hadn't even noticed Cece come in, her eyes scrunched as tight as possible. However, she felt the cool cloth, and knew somehow it was Cece's doing.

"Hey…hey, you're okay," Cece cooed, sitting next to Jess. She didn't mind if she got her pants wet, she needed to be here for her.

"I…I don't know…what.." Jess could barely manage a full sentence, but Cece knew what she was attempting.

"It's okay," She whispered, pulling the smaller girl against her. "This is a pretty small shower."

Jess shook, and closed her eyes, trying to slow her breathing.

"Just breathe with me," Cece muttered, taking overly exaggerated breaths. Jess nodded, and within a minute, her rate had slowed.

"I don't know what happened…" Jess trailed off, leaning into the model.

"It's okay. It's been a while since you've faced a serious episode, your body is just not used to it." Cece attempted to explain the best she could. "Your mind is just on overdrive, and so while the shower didn't bother you before, your hyped up brain is bothered now."

Jess hummed, agreeing to Cece's statement.

"I'm sorry…" She mumbled after a while. "I didn't mean to worry you, I'm sorry your pants are probably wet."

Cece chuckled. "I don't mind, I have plenty of other clothes. Besides, it's not your fault. Don't apologize. I'm just sorry I didn't get here sooner."

Jess shrugged. "How would you have known?" She stated.

"Are you okay Jess?" Cece questioned. "I'm worried about you. It's not like you to be so distant, and not share your feelings," she pointed out.

"I'm okay…" Jess nodded, but Cece knew she struggled to say it. She wasn't doing so great, but for some reason, she was refusing to admit it.

"Okay," Cece relented, not wanting to argue with her. "Do you want to put some clean clothes on so we can eat?" She asked.

Jess nodded, and Cece helped her stand. Her legs were still a bit wobbly from her event, but once she was up she was fine. Cece grabbed an old t-shirt from Jess' closet and handed it to her as the girl finished drying off. The model frowned at the red blots on Jess' back, wondering how Jess could have been oblivious to them earlier.

Jess winced as she slid the shirt on, a searing pain spreading through her shoulders.

"Jess, do you want me to get something for that?" Cece placed a hand on her shoulder gently, as to not irritate the slight burns.

"I'm okay," Jess grimaced. Her face gave away all pain she was feeling, but Cece didn't argue, and the two of them waltzed out into the kitchen.

"Finally!" Schmitt exclaimed. A big smile coated his face, as he set out two plates of gorgeous pancakes.

"Thank you Schmitt," Cece nodded to him. He glanced at her, confused, before he looked down at Jess. She muttered a thanks to him as well, but it was inaudible.

"Hey Jess, I'm going to go talk to Schmitt and Nick for a second, will you be okay out here?" Cece questioned.

"Of course," Jess mumbled, already fitting pancake into her mouth. Cece nodded, and lead Schmitt back to Nick's room. He glanced up at the door being opened, and panic flew through his face as he saw Cece's expression.

"What's wrong?" He demanded, getting off his bed. However, Cece urged him to sit, and Schmitt sat next to him.

"Okay. I'm not sure what Jess is going through right now, and I know you aren't either. Only she knows what's happening, however, I need the both of you to promise to watch her okay?" Cece insisted.

"Of course, why? What happened?" Nick asked.

"Nothing, she just freaked out a little," Cece muttered.

"Is she okay?" Nick fought the urge to get up and check for himself.

"She's fine, she's eating right now. She just is having a hard time returning to her normal schedule, her brain is almost on hyper-sensitive mode," Cece explained.

"The shower…" Schmitt trailed off, coming to a realization. Nick's eyes widened, and he glanced up at Cece.

"It is kind of tight in there isn't it?" He mumbled more to himself than anything.

"She'll be fine," Cece huffed. "I just need you two to be more sensitive than normal. Promise me you'll look out for her, without treating her any different? She's already turning down my help, so I doubt she'll want much of yours."

"I promise," Nick relented easily, willing to do what he could to help the girl.

"Me too, of course," Schmitt nodded furiously.

"Good. I'm going to put on some dry pants, but why don't the two join her while I'm changing," Cece suggested. Nick nodded, and was out the door as soon as Cece left. He approached the kitchen, and was relieved to see Jess eating away like any other normal morning. If you considered 3:15 morning, it was still dark out.

"Save some for me," He chuckled, loading up a plate with some of the extras. Schmitt hadn't made many this time, really only enough for Cece and Jess.

Jess smiled, and Nick felt his heart soar at the sight. He was helping a little.

"Is there anything you want to do today?" He asked. "It's a Saturday, so you don't have to worry about work."

Jess shrugged. "I don't know, I kind of just want to hang out and watch movies."

Nick grinned. "That sounds awesome," he replied. "Would you be down for a game of True American?" He asked. "I know Winston and I were thinking about playing."

"Maybe," Jess muttered. She wasn't sure she was wanting to embark down that struggle. "I was thinking about going for a walk around the park."

"That's fun," Nick grinned. "Could I come with you?"

Jess glanced at him like he was crazy, but nodded. "If you want."

Nick turned as Schmitt walked by, followed by Cece. Her clothes had completely changed.

"Are these things any good?" She questioned, glancing at her plate of pancakes. Nick could almost feel Schmitt's eyeroll from across the room.

"Yeah, they're great," Jess mumbled. Nick frowned, normally she was so much peppier. He wondered what had made her so quiet.

"Jess was saying about how she wanted to watch movies today," Nick told Cece, hinting that it was something they should do together- something Nick would not enjoy.

"That'd be awesome," Cece grinned. "Do you want to start?"

Jess nodded, and set her plate by the sink as she stood up. Cece watched as she made her way to the couch, and waved the guys off. It was time for some girl on girl movie marathoning.

The two of them sat on the couch, Cece clicking on the first movie from Jess' to watch list.

"Ready?" She asked, glancing at Jess. The girl had remained mostly silent throughout the morning, and Cece was beyond worried. However, when an eager smile graced Jess' face, Cece's worries melted away.

"Let's do this Cece," she grinned. "I'm ready."