Later That Day

"To Nick and Jess, my best friend and my second best friend, getting married at long last!" toasted Schmidt, raising his glass.

"I'm third?" whispered Winston, looking dejected.

"Quiet, number four." Schmidt murmured, then louder, "To Nick and Jess!"

"To Nick and Jess!" Everyone repeated.

"Thanks everyone! I'm so glad we could all get together and celebrate." Jess beamed. Nick had suggested that everyone go out to a nice restaurant (Winston had said anywhere was fine except Picca), but Jess insisted that she just wanted everyone to get together at the Griffin.

"So let's start planning!" Cece set her sparkling cider down. "The baby is due Thanksgiving day, so are you thinking…Christmas wedding? Next spring? Summer?"

Jess and Nick silently exchanged knowing smiles.

Cece looked back and forth between them, confused. "Not next year? What, this fall? Oh my gosh I'm going to be a humungous bridesmaid..."

"I don't think that's going to be an problem, Cece," giggled Jess.

Everyone stared at Nick and Jess, looking puzzled. "Is Cece…not a bridesmaid?" asked Winston.

"I don't think that's the issue, Winston," Aly narrowed her eyes and stared Nick and Jess down. "When exactly is this wedding going to be?

Nick and Jess once again exchanged glances. "Tell them!" Nick urged her with a grin.

"Next week." Jess took a drink, trying to look casual.

"Next week?!" rang out four voices in unison.

"Friday." Jess added.

"Friday?!" Four voices again.

"Okay, you guys have got to stop doing that," Nick complained.

"Not even I can plan a perfect wedding in nine days, you buffoons!" cried Schmidt.

"Isn't that a little fast?" asked Cece.

"It's not soon enough," Nick stated, eyes never leaving Jess.

"Awwwww!" Four voices in harmony.

"Seriously, stop." Nick moved his eyes from Jess' in order to stare down them down.

"We want it to be really small and simple, but still have our best friends and immediate family there. We figured that's the absolute earliest we could do it but still have everyone make it. We've already called my parents, Nick's mom, and Coach. They said they're going to do everything they can do make it. "

"Hey, it's early enough that I'm not showing yet so I'm in." Cece joked. "But seriously, I guess that means I'm in full matron of honor mode as of this minute! So where's this wedding going to be held?"

Jess looked at Nick. "That's the part we haven't totally figured out yet. We thought the loft would be perfect since that's where we met and fell in love and all that-"

"But then you two thieves had to go and steal that idea," Nick muttered under his breath gesturing to Schmidt and Cece.

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry, Nick," started Schmidt, seemingly genuine. "You know, you could have been the first to use it, if it hadn't taken you FIFTEEN THOUSAND YEARS TO FINALLY PROPOSE TO HER!"

"You're a stinkin wedding thief and your hair looks absolutely preposterous right now!" Nick yelled back.

"It doesn't matter! It's doesn't matter!" Jess put both her hands up as if to hold back Nick and Schmidt, whose shouts were escalating. This got the two of them to calm down, as Jess continued. "We know we could do the loft, or even the roof was one idea we talked about, but I've been thinking about it more, Nick, and I do think I want a place that's just for us, different from Cece and Schmidt."

"No worries then, my bride, I've got another idea up my sleeve." Nick reassured her.

"What? You didn't tell me that!" Jess was surprised.

"Well I thought you really wanted to get married in the loft, but now that I know that's for sure off the table, I've got the perfectly back up spot for us." He took a drink.

Everyone stared expectantly at Nick. He stared back.

"What?!" He scowled.

"Aren't you going to tell us?" Aly urged.

"I'm not telling you all before I tell Jess first." He answered back as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Everyone groaned.

Jess grabbed Nick's arm and lugged him over to the other side of the bar, out of earshot of the rest of the gang. "Spill, Miller!"

"Right now?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. You ready?" He rubbed his hands together, clearly excited. "The beach." He revealed with a twinkle in his eye.

"The beach?" Jess paused for a moment to think. "Yeah…the beach could be nice." She pondered the idea some more. "The beach. Sure. Let's do the beach." She nodded, smiling.

Nick studied her eyes for a moment, before looking down. "That's okay, Jess, you don't have to say that. You obviously don't love the idea."

"No, no, that's not true!" Jess insisted. "The beach sounds beautiful. I guess I've never thought of myself as a beach wedding person, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. Especially if it's important to you! I'm good with it. I promise."

"It's not that it's important to me, it's just a dumb idea I've had in my head for a little while now. "

"A little while now?" Jess questioned. "Like how long are we talking?"

"You know, like five years." He answered matter-of-factly with a shrug.

"Five years? What happened five years ago to make you think of that?"

Nick looked back down again. "That's how long ago my cancer scare was, remember that?" Jess nodded but stayed quiet. They had never talked about that night ever since it happened, and Jess was stunned that he was actually bringing it up.

"Remember how everyone stayed on the beach all night, before the ultrasound? The first part of that night is still super fuzzy since I was so high on those pain pills, but the first moment I can remember clearly is realizing you were laid out next to me, fast asleep. You were using my coat as a pillow, and I was glad that I was must have been something of a gentlemen, even when completely wasted." He gave a small chuckle, and Jess smiled. "I never slept the entire night. I was terrified that I had cancer, that I was going to die. I thought about my life, the things I had done so far, the things I wanted to do but was too afraid to. Then I started listing all the things I would do if I did was sick, if I only had a few months to live. Lots of ideas came to me. Sky diving. Eat my way out of a sandwich house. Go sled dog riding." He looked up and made eye contact with her for the first time since starting his story. "But you know what I decided was the number one, most important thing I wanted to do, Jess?"

"No." The words left her lips as a whisper.

He continued staring right in her eyes, right into her soul. "I wanted to marry you on that beach. That's what I wanted more than anything else. I looked down at you asleep next to me, and thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in my life. You were kind, and warm, and sexy. I pictured the whole thing. Me dressed in a suit. You walking down the beach to me in a pretty white dress. I wanted to marry someone I loved before I died. I wanted to marry you." He cleared his throat and looked down again. "I can't believe I just told you that. I never told anyone."

"Nick." Her voice cracked. "You already made me cry earlier today with your proposal; you're not supposed to do it again!" She started wiping away the streaks that were trailing down her cheeks.

"Sorry, honey." He gave a small smile as he used his thumb to help clear away the tears. They were quiet for a moment. "But then I didn't have cancer, and I went back to being typical Nick Miller, too afraid and too dumb to tell you how I really felt. But I never forgot it. I never forgot that image of you on the beach in a wedding dress."

Jess cleared her throat. "So get ready to see the real thing, Miller, because we're doing it."

"Jess, I promise I didn't tell that story to make you feel bad or pressure you into changing your mind. I want to get married wherever would make you the happiest."

"Nothing would make me happier than making that idea a reality. The beach it is. No arguments, mister," she commanded with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am. The beach it is." Nick repeated as he leaned in to capture her lips in his.