Please don't hate me! Next chapter is almost ready, so it'll be up soon.
Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!
As Jess returned to her table, Nick went back behind the bar and ignored Big Bob's knowing looks. They would ocassionaly glance at each other and smile, but immediatly break eye contact. It was indeed a pretty busy night, being Friday, and people were starting to get drunk. The dance floor was crowded with sweaty bodies grinding into each other. Supressing a chuckle, Nick threw a cloth over his shoulder and turned around to take yet another order.
"Nick Miller? Is that you?"
Oh, God, no. "Alison?". Alison Daniels. The very first girl he ever...
"Oh, my God, Nick! This is unbelievable!", the young woman said, leaning across the bar and forcing him into an awkward hug. Letting go of him, she kissed his cheek and shook her head.
"Who would have thought... This is unbelievable!", she repeated, clapping her hands together in excitement.
"It sure is... What are you doing in LA? I thought you said you'd never leave Chicago!", Nick said, his eyes going back and forth between Alison and Jess. Had she noticed her? Of course she has, Nick thought, as a pair of piercing blue eyes stared at him from the distance.
"Well, you know... That was years ago! I got this amazing offer at my job that required me to leave the city, you know? Higher salary and stuff? So I thought...why not? It was either here or Boston, and I decided to come and see what this whole California fuss was about. And now...here I am. What about you, Nick? What brought you here?"
Jess was staring intently at her now empty drink, trying to stop herself from staring at Nick and the beautiful woman who was currently and blatantly flirting with him. The few glances she had casted towards them had made her cheeks blush, and she feared either Winston or Schmidt would notice. Playing with the napkin, she pretended to be interested on what her friends were discussing- something about a soccer player?-
"Oh, My!", Winston exclaimed. "You guys, look at that", he said, pointing at Nick.
"Well, hello there!", Schmidt raised a tipsy finger. "Why would such a beautiful lady show any interest on Nick?"
"No, Schmidt, that's the girl. She's Alison Daniels."
"Ohhh", Schmidt widened his eyes and turned his head back.
"Who?", Jess said, hearing her own trembling voice.
"She's the girl Nick lost his virginity to. They dated for a while before we moved to LA. You know, right before he met Caroline", Winston explained. "I wonder what she's doing here...", he mumbled, more to himself than to his friends.
"Well, if I were Nick...I would definetely try to get back into her pants!", Schmidt chuckled, clearly amused.
"Looks like he got her number...", Winston smiled, his eyes fixed on Alison's hands, fastly typing in Nick's phone. When she handed it back and smiled at him, Schmidt clincked his glass with Jess'.
"Yeah, bro! Toast to our beloved brother, who might get back to having sex with someone other than his hand!"
As Winston protested, Jess stood up quickly. "Bathroom", she muttered.
"Again? Jess, you OK?", Winston said, a concerned look on his face.
"I just need to freshen up a bit. I'm fine", she said, and left the booth in a rush.
Schmidt shrugged his shoulders and drank down his glass, slamming his hand on the table. "Time to go. I have a meeting next Monday and I'm planning on rehearsing tomorrow morning."
"Rehearsing? You rehearse your meetings?", Winston rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I think you need a girlfriend." Standing up, he ignored Schmidt's protests and approached the bar.
"Hey...Nick?", he said, his eyes back and forth between Alison and him. "We're leaving. Here you go", he handed him a couple bills and arched his eyebrows.
"Already? I thought you guys would stay a little longer..."
"Nah, man. Schmidt's being a pain in the ass, so we're taking him home."
"Oh, right. Well, you remember Alison?", he said, smiling in her direction. "He's Winston."
"Right!", she exclaimed, hugging him. "Wow, you have changed a lot since I last saw you. Nick told me you're living together?", she said, smiling brightly at him.
"Yeah...", Schmidt's voice popped up from behind Winston. "I'm Schmidt, I live with them too." Shaking her hand, he winked his eye at Nick and was met with a frown.
Watching Jess push her way through the crowd, Winston nodded his head. "It was nice seeing you, Alison."
"Wait! Can't you guys stay here and have a drink? I came here with some friends, we could have a few laughs."
Schmidt grinned and was about to reply when Winston cut in. "No, thank you. We better get going, I think Jess might be sick to her stomach", he said, looking at Nick. "She's our other roommate", he explained, as he pointed at her approaching figure.
"Hey!", she said, joining the small group. Ignoring both Nick and Alison, she smiled at Winston. "I take it we're leaving?"
"Hi! I'm Alison", the girl interrupted, smiling at Jess. "I'm an old friend of Nick's. You're Jess, right? Nice to meet you!", she rambled, shaking her hand strongly.
Ugh! Why does she talk that much? And why does she smile all the time?. "Yeah, nice to meet you", she said, faking a smile. Turning her attention back to Winston, she widened her eyes expectantly.
"Uhm, yeah. Sorry, Alison. Maybe we could hang out some other time?"
"Sure! Nick's got my number!", she said, winking her eye at him. Jess felt an urge to punch her in the face and rolled her hands into fists. Nick tried to meet her eyes, but she was purposely avoiding his gaze as she stared at some point behind his back.
"Okay, then", Schmidt smiled and waved his hand, as his two friends followed him towards the exit.
Soon after Jess was sitting on the back of Schmidt's car, her eyes closed as she breathed slowly. Listening to the guys chatting animatedly about Alison only made her want to jump out of the car. Why the hell does it bother me that much?, she thought. It's not like this was going to last. Maybe it's better this way. As she stared out the window, she wondered how she would confront Nick.
Sitting inside her closet, the sound of the front door closing made her jump to her feet. Buttoning up her pajamas, she walked to the bed and sat down, grabbing her book just as Nick knocked on her door and popped his head inside.
"Jess? Winston said you were not feeling right..."
"Nah, I just... Had to make up an excuse", she said, her eyes not leaving the page she was pretending to read. I have to end this right now, she thought, feeling a heavy burden on her chest.
Frowning, Nick pushed himself inside her room and closed the door behind him. Just keep the conversation away from Alison. It might kill the mood. Not that she would care, though, he thought, feeling a prick of sadness.
"You're OK, then?", he said, sensing something was off.
"Sure. Everything's fine", she said, closing the book and placing it on her nightstand.
"Sooo... It was nice earlier, right?", he kneeled on the other side of the bed. "That was a great dress you were wearing." He started to kiss down the line of her jaw until she pushed him back roughly. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?", he exclaimed. "What did I do?"
"Are you kidding me?", she repeated. "Winston told me about Alison."
Shit. "So what? She's an old friend, she moved here a couple years ago. We were catching up!"
"Right. I'm sure she just wants to catch up", Jess said, spitting the words. "I can't believe you really think that."
"Hey! Why do you care so much? What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing, Nick. I mean, we're not exclusive, but one would think you would at least wait to button up your pants before you tried to move on to another woman."
Realization hit him as he widened his eyes. "We're not exclusive? You think I want to sleep with her?"
"Well, what else would you want? She's the girl, isn't she?", Jess said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.
"Jess, I don't know what has gotten into you, but I'm starting to get tired of this shit", he stood up too and folded his arms across his chest. "I don't think I have to apologize or give any kind of explanation to you. We're just friends, aren't we?". Lie, lie, lie, was their thought. "Or am I getting something wrong?"
"No, Nick, you're right. But I'm the one who's tired. I think we should stop doing this." There. I said it, she thought. But the heavy burden was still there.
Silence fell around them as her words sunk in. "Are you serious? You want to stop this because of her?", he asked, staring at her in disbelief.
"Yeah. I mean, we knew this wasn't going to last, right? We were just fulfilling our needs until someone better showed up. And now... That someone just showed up. We can go back to being regular friends", she said, the words cold and bitter.
"You can't be serious", Nick said. Watching her pale face completely lacking any emotions, he felt as if her room had suddenly darkened.
Rubbing his nose, he sighed. "That's what you want?"
Watching her nod, he cracked his knuckles. "OK, then. It's been a great couple of weeks, partner", he said, chewing on the last word. "Thank you for that", he said, slamming the door close. And just like that, Jess was left alone on her room feeling worse than ever. Falling down onto her bed, she buried her face between the pillows and cried, still not believing what had just happened.