Okay, so I had mentioned in the first place I wanted this to be a three-part story (after I had changed it from a one-shot) and I managed to do that. I hope you all enjoy the conclusion to this angsty little fiction.

Please read and review. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own New Girl.

She kissed him.

And for a few brief moments she let everything else around her fade away. She threw herself completely into the kiss. In doing so, she tried her hardest to forget about feelings and emotions she had been denying herself. She pushed away realizations she had just recently made, and instead she focused on the task at hand. She concentrated on losing herself to the warm embrace of the man that held her.

And that's when she realized Nick was indeed holding her.

His arms had wrapped around her and he had pulled her body up against his. He was kissing her back, hotly responding to what she had initiated. She tried to wrap her head around it. As their tongues battled with each other, she tried to pull some kind of reasoning into the situation, but as he backed her up against the cold bathroom wall she lost her train of thought and instead let herself fall into the kiss once more.

He broke away from her mouth and she sighed frustrated, but her sigh turned into a soft moan as he trailed a line of kisses gently down her neck. When he whispered her name against her skin, she shuddered at the feeling, at the sound. Something in the back of her head was telling her to stop, demanding she break away from the spell she was currently under, but she refused to listen and instead ran her hands up his chest and to his face that was still buried in her neck. His mouth was doing delicious things against her skin, but she needed to kiss him again, she needed the intensity, the passion, she needed to forget why she was here in the first place. Without his mouth firmly pressed against hers, she was able to think too clearly. Pulling his face up from her neck, she forced his lips to meet hers once again.

He kissed her, enthusiastically, passionately, maybe a little roughly, and she welcomed it, savored it, needed it.

He pushed her blazer off her shoulders and she barely noticed as it fell to the ground. She tore at his flannel, unbuttoning it with fast clumsy fingers and when she felt his hand skim up her thigh, her breath caught and her skin began to tingle. A warmth spread through her body and when his name tumbled from her lips, it came out ragged, she could barely recognize her own voice.

She knew that they were moving fast. The voice in her head was screaming for her to put a stop to it, trying to remind her that there was something very important that she was forgetting. But she was too caught up in the kiss, too emotionally drained...to think about any possible repercussions. All she wanted to do was feel, feel anything but what she had just discovered lurked in her heart.

She wasn't strong enough to stop. And as he hitched her leg up and began wrapping it around his waist, she realized that neither was he.

That was until something came along and forced them to stop. And that something, came in the form of Caroline, calling out his name from somewhere in the hallway.

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on them.

She pushed him away from her. Chest heaving, eyes wide. She stared at him and he stared back at her. His dark eyes were looking at her, with an expression...an emotion she couldn't place. His shirt, was hanging open, his hair messed up more than usual. As she smoothed her skirt back into place with shaky hands she could only imagine what she looked like at that moment.

She glanced down at the floor, feeling the weight of what had just occurred between them slowly begin to crash down on her and she felt her control begin to slip from her grasp.

"Jess." He spoke her name softly, his voice hoarse and full of emotion.

She swallowed she couldn't speak. Her throat was tight, and her eyes were filling with tears again. She flinched slightly when Caroline called Nick's name out again.

Caroline.

Nick was with Caroline.

Nick was with Caroline and he was leaving.

Nick was with Caroline and he was leaving to move in with her.

She shook her head furiously at the thoughts.

"Oh God." She whispered, her hands slowly coming up to her mouth. Her lips were tender and felt slightly swollen from their hot and intensely passionate kiss. She shot her gaze to his; he was still watching her, his hands clenched into fists at his side. "Oh God."

"Jess…" He said her name again, his voice full of apology.

She couldn't, wouldn't listen to him apologize for the kiss they had shared. She couldn't bear it.

"Don't." She said in a small soft voice, stopping him from speaking further. Bending down she picked up her blazer that had been tossed to the floor in their moment of passion and straightening, she gave him a small pleading smile. "Please don't."

She went to walk past him, she could feel a sob bubbling up in her throat, she needed to get as far away from him as possible, but he reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Please." She said, her voice coming out in a quiver. "God Nick. Please...she's right outside...and I can't deal with this. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I kissed you."

And before he had a chance to respond, to answer her, she pulled her arm from his grasp and ran from the bathroom, barely able to mumble an apology to Caroline as she practically collided with her in the hallway.

"Have you seen Nick?" The blonde asked her, as Jess rushed past her.

"Bathroom." Was all she was able to choke out, before running into the safety of her own room. Closing the door behind her she slid to the ground, and holding her head in her hands, she let herself cry for the second time that day.

Like before when she had let her emotions consume her, she lost track of time. She wasn't sure how long she sat on her bedroom floor crying, but when the last of her tears had fallen, when the last sob had escaped her lips, she felt exhausted. Standing, she walked over to her dresser and with heavy arms pulled open a drawer and picked out her most comfortable set of pajamas. As she peeled her clothes off, she tried to push away the images flashing in her brain of Nick pushing her against the wall, of his mouth kissing her hotly, of her name whispered from his lips against her skin. When she was dressed again, she shuffled her way over to her bed and threw herself onto it, wondering how long she could stay in her room without one of her roommates barging in to see what her problem was.

As her door swung open and crashed into the wall behind it, she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips; apparently it wouldn't be long at all. When Nick strode into her room and slammed the door shut behind him, the smile quickly fled her lips and she stared at him, mouth hanging open slightly, not sure what to say.

He pinned her with his dark gaze, he looked tired, drained. He studied her, his eyes roaming over her, and she felt self conscious at his blatant perusal.

"You've been crying again." He stated it; his voice was clipped, gruff, maybe even slightly accusing.

She wiped at her face self consciously, not sure what to say. He seemed on edge, he seemed furious. She wondered if he was angry with her for kissing him. And then she remembered Caroline, who was probably still somewhere in the apartment, and she bit her lip. Of course he was angry with her.

"Just a little." She knew it was pointless to deny it. She was sure her face was still red from her tears.

The anger vanished from his face and he took a step towards her, she wanted to tell him to stop, beg him not to come any closer, but she doubted he would listen, so her mouth remained firmly shut.

"Why?" He asked her, his eyes still on her, searching for answers.

Her chin quivered and she bit the inside of her lip. She was a complete mess. Shrugging, she shook her head. "I don't know."

"Liar." He whispered, coming to a halt in front of her.

She stared up at him from her place on her bed. She wished he would leave. After her little display in the bathroom, didn't he realize how difficult it was to be in the same room as him, so close to him.

"Nick…" She said in a trembling voice. She hated how weak, how defeated it sounded. "Please…please just leave."

"No."

He said it simply and she wanted to hate him for refusing. But his refusal, his stubbornness, it was one of the reasons she had fallen for him. No matter how bad she wanted to muster up resentment towards the man that refused to back away from her and leave her alone, she couldn't. So instead she stared up at him helplessly.

"Why…why won't you just leave?"

"You kissed me."

She felt her face heat at his words; her back went up a bit. "You kissed me back." Her tone was somewhat defensive and accusing, maybe even slightly childish.

He nodded. "I did."

She sighed, she was still so so tired. "But I started it and…and I'm sorry."

He stared down at her, those dark eyes practically burning her with the intensity of his gaze. "Are you?"

She nodded slowly, unable to tear herself away from his stare. "Yes. No…I mean…yes."

"Why did you do it?"

She dropped her gaze to her hands; clasping them together, she pursed her lips. She couldn't answer that. How could she tell him?

"Please don't ask me that." She whispered.

"Jess." His voice was gentle.

She shook her head at her name softly spoken and focused on her hands. "Please Nick…you don't have to ask. You know why." Her voice was barely audible, but she was sure he had heard her.

He didn't say anything, and silence engulfed them. As she stared down at her hands, her chipped nail polish, she wondered if he expected her to say something more. But really, what else was there to say? She had thrown herself at him and she had kissed him. And she had done this shortly after finding out he was leaving, and on top of all of that...she had cried in front of him. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. He must know why she was upset, why she kissed him, why she couldn't bear to look at him.

"Why didn't you say something…do something sooner?"

His voice startled her out of her thoughts, and she glanced up at him. He was still staring down at her with those dark penetrating eyes.

She shrugged. He was so stubborn. "I don't know." She got up quickly and brushed past him, relieved when he allowed her to walk to the other side of the room to put some space between them. Turning around she shrugged again. "I don't know if I realized it…my feelings…until I knew you were leaving." She paused, took a steadying breath. "Actually that's not true. I think I've always known…I've just been denying them."

Don't cry.

She silently begged herself as she let him take her words in.

He ran a hand down his face and then back up again before directing his attention back to her. He looked so tired, she wanted to walk over to him and give him a hug, but that would be no good for either of them.

"I'm not moving in with Caroline." He said it suddenly, and because she wasn't expecting it, she could do nothing but stare at him. "In fact, we…we aren't together at all anymore."

She swallowed, letting his words sink in. She wanted to feel happy. But all she could feel was crushing guilt. She had run into his girlfriend…or his ex-girlfriend in the hall. She had been a mess then too. And although she wasn't sure what she had looked like exactly when Caroline had seen her, she knew she had been clearly upset. And she had directed her to the bathroom, where she had obviously just come from and where Nick had been, with his shirt unbuttoned and hair messed up. She wondered if Caroline had caught him looking like that. She wondered what conclusions she had drawn.

"I'm sorry." She said in a strained voice. "I'm sorry if I…if…well I'm just sorry if I messed things up for you." She didn't know what else to say.

He took a step toward her, his eyes never leaving her face. "You didn't. You just put things in motion that were bound to happen anyway…I never would have moved in with her...when it came down to it. I never could have left this place."

She bit her lip as he came closer to her. "Because it's your home?" She inquired, watching as he continued to close the space between them.

"Because you're here." He said it simply.

She blew out a shaky breath at that. "Oh." She couldn't believe that was all she could manage to say.

He smirked at her, and stopped when he was just inches from her. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and held it in his. "Even if I had made the mistake and left, I would have come back. Because of you. You, Jessica Day...have managed to completely turn my life upside down."

His hands felt secure, strong, and comforting. "Um I'm sorry?"

He chuckled at her, the sound made her feel warm inside. "Are you?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure…I'm still trying to process the fact that you're not moving out."

He slowly pulled her to him. "Like you, I've been denying it for awhile. I thought moving in with Caroline, starting a relationship with her was for the best, but really it was because I was...I was scared. Ever since you moved in I've been trying my hardest to keep you at arms length. It's kind of embarrassing to admit it, but you scare the hell out of me Jess."

As he wrapped an arm around her waist, all she could do was barely utter the question. "Why?"

He smiled down at her. "Because you make me feel things that I thought I'd never feel again…that I've never felt before. And…and I knew that if I let myself fall for you that there would be no going back…that…that would be it for me."

Oh she was going to cry. How could she not?

Looking up into his eyes, her vision slightly blurred by tears, she gave him a tremulous smile. "We are two very stupid people."

He laughed and lowered his forehead to hers. "The stupidest."

She suddenly felt so free, all of the weight she had been carrying around only moments before had been lifted from her, and she could feel happiness slowly start to sink in. "So now what?" She whispered to him, closing her eyes as he lifted his head to place a soft kiss in her hair.

"You let me kiss you…and then we go from there."

She grinned, her heart felt so full, and the tears that were flowing down her cheeks had nothing to do with sadness, or guilt, or shock at her feelings. She was so happy, so very very happy.

Tilting her head back, she looked up at him and felt her smile widen. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

And when he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her softly, tenderly this time, she sighed, feeling lighter than she had in months, because she knew in her heart that like Nick…this would be it for her too.

The End

Who's excited for the finale tonight? Can't wait! :)

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