A/N: A quicker than usual update cuz I was excited for some reason, while writing this chapter!

Also, need y'all to know that in this version/story, only Jess has read the Pepperwood Chronicles so far, for proofreading of sorts. Not even Reagan has read it (based off her response in the SOCALYALCON) episode. I find it unbelievable that Nick's bestfriends read it but couldn't figure about the Jessica Day/Night connection. Even Reagan for that matter; she's a smart cookie - you'd think she'd figure it out (Hence, in this version, she hasn't really read Nick's book either.)

Chapter 6 - Of Stupid Mark and Abby Day

Their chatter came to an abrupt halt when they heard the front door unlock. Winston was already on his feet, Aly on his heels. Nick merely stood up, his breath hitching, as Reagan looked at the door expectantly, with a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"HEY GUYS!" yelled Jess enthusiastically, as she walked in, dropping her bag to hug Winston and Aly, greeting Reagan over their shoulders.

"Ah, I see nothing has changed," remarked a familiar voice from behind Jess, and Abby walked in behind Jess, a suitcase in tow, trying very hard not to glare at Nick Miller.

"Abby!" exclaimed Winston, surprised.

"Ah, so Abby has some work in L.A. Something Mom put her up to. Sorry I didn't tell you guys about that," laughed Jess nervously, "She er, wanted to surprise you all!"

"So, back in that loft by noon today, huh?" Abby asked flippantly.

Jess sighed. "I know where this is headed, and no, you cannot come with me Abby. I can handle myself."

Abby rolled her eyes. "I know you can handle yourself. I don't want Nick Miller handling you."

"What!? That doesn't even make sense!?" frowned Jess.

"Of course, your English sensibilities would try to-"

"Abby!" groaned Jess. "That's not the point! I just-"

Abby held placed both her hands on Jess' shoulders and sat her down next to the suitcase she'd been packing. "I know, Jess. I just... It is hard for me to get the picture you'd been when you came last month out of my head. Even Dirty Dancing hadn't cheered you up!"

Jess put her head on Abby's shoulder, sighing, not wanting to think back to that day.

"Let me just come with you... For a week or two, at most," plead Abby. "I need to be sure you'll be okay. And I am sure Dad will calm down a LOT more if you let me come with you."

"Fine," Jess mumbled softly. Secretly, she was relieved that Abby was coming with her. It gave her a sort of confidence that she didn't know she needed.

"I'll just tell the guys-"

"Oh, no no. Let it be," said Abby excitedly. "It'd be fun to surprise them."

Cece had flown past Winston and Aly, tackling Jess into a hug. "God, I've missed you!"

Schmidt and Abby merely nodded at each other, as Winston gave her a hug and introduced her to Aly and to Reagan who had walked up to the group, smiling warmly at Jess, still being hugged by Cece.

Cece caught Abby throwing Nick dirty looks every once in a while as Nick still stood near the couch, staring, oblivious to the poison coming from Abby. Immediately, she realized why Abby was here, and could not help but smile a little. As much as Abby and Cece didn't get along, and Jess and Abby for that matter, she knew that Abby was protective of Jess. Abby's presence in the loft made her a little less worried about leaving Jess in the loft while Nick and Reagan were still there. As she tore herself away from Jess, she whispered quickly, "You sure she's here to work and not kill Nick?"

Nick couldn't help but stare at Jess. He'd seen her every once in a while on Skype of course, but seeing her in person, back in the loft made him feel like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. She was hugging Winston and Aly, then explaining why Abby was here and as she hugged Cece, he caught the small exchange between them and wondered what caused Jess to throw a furtive glance at Abby. The more he looked, the more he could see subtle changes in her. She had lost weight and looked paler than usual. Her eyes looked tired and didn't sparkle the same way as before. He started to frown when she finally met his gaze. "Hey, Miller."

Smiling, Nick ran his fingers through his hair. "Welcome back, Jess. I missed ya," he said, adding, "We all did."

...

"Hi, Mark," she said softly into the phone at 2 a.m., curled up on the couch, staring at the TV. Pretty Woman was on, and for almost an hour now, she had been watching it on mute, staring only at the colours.

"Hey, Jess," he said, sleepily. "What is it? Everything alright?"

"I'm sorry... It's just... I couldn't sleep. Just a little strange to be back, that's all."

"What do you mean? Is it Nick?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"No, not really. I mean, I don't know. It feels like something's changed over the last few months. There's a shift in the loft dynamic and I can't quite put my finger on it," she sighed.

"You've been gone a month, Jess. It's probably just taking you some time to get used to it... Hadn't you said that Schmidt had moved out? And that Aly had moved in, and-" he hesitated for a second before adding, "-Reagan?"

"Well... Yes."

"Maybe it's just that...? Different people, different dynamic?"

"Hmm, maybe it is," said Jess, starting to smile.

"Don't worry, babe. You'll learn to adjust and adapt in a matter of time. Nothing is-"

"Unlearnable," she finished with a laugh.

Mark chuckled too, and Jess sighed. "Thank you, Mark."

"Anytime, Jess," he said sincerely. After a small pause, he asked, "So how was your day?"

Jess giggled. "It's only 2 in the morning!"

"Well, then how was yesterday?" asked Mark.

"We literally spoke about yesterday five hours ago!" exclaimed Jess, grinning.

"Okay, then I'll tell you about mine again. Maybe then I can bore my girlfriend to sleep, which I assure every human being needs."

Jess started to laugh in earnest, when the door unlocked and Nick walked in, exhausted after overworking at a shift. He paused when he saw Jess sprawled on the couch, laughing. She hadn't noticed him walk in, so he stood there staring at her laughing form. He looked at the time, and realized the only person she could possibly be talking to at this time was Mark.

He started to feel a little annoyed.

When Jess had sleepless nights, they'd watch some silly movie till Jess fell asleep on the couch and he'd carry her back to her room.

Stupid Mark.

He wasn't really jealous, no, he just missed doing those little things with her these days, what with her having become so withdrawn these days. They still spoke of course, and even had light banter every once in a while, but she had changed. Everyone had noticed it. She was distant from everybody except maybe Abby and Cece, to some extent, but she was definitely subdued; not to a conspicuous degree, but it was evident in the small things. She was still quirky as ever and laughed a lot, but the laughter never quite met her now tired eyes. She was quieter and preferred to spend a lot of time by herself, sometimes just gazing out of the windows, or reading her books in her room rather than sprawled on the couch like she used to before. She spent at least an hour everyday speaking to Mark, during which time she would seem more at ease.

He sighed, as he quietly walked to his room, careful not to wake Reagan, and heard Abby's mild snores from Jess' room. Despite Schmidt's old room being empty, Abby had insisted that she would sleep in Jess' room and Jess had not put up much of a fight either. This meant that he couldn't even catch some late night conversations with Jess. With that, another thing that'd been bothering him came to his mind. Abby was being weird around him, not talking to him much except in curt nods. Initially he just attributed to it to her mood, but she was great with everyone else. Even Schmidt! The last time he'd seen her, he'd had the impression that she actually liked him.

...

The next morning, Nick woke up and headed to the bathroom. He heard the shower running through his sleepy haze and he'd just turned the knob when-

"And where do you think you're going?"

He turned around to see Abby standing behind him, arms crossed, eyebrow quirked.

Rubbing his neck, he said, "Well I just woke up and I fully intend to brush my teeth."

"Then you're going to have to wait for a while, aren't you..."

Annoyance started to prick through his sleep. "What do you-"

"Seriously, Nicholas? Are you so sleepy that you can't hear the shower running?"

"I can! Of course, I can! But that's never been an-"

"That is Jess in there," said Abby, as if that explained anything. It should have, but it didn't.

"So what?" groaned Nick, "All of us walk in and out irrespective of who is the shower. The shower curtain exists for a reason!"

"My little sister... Your ex-girlfriend, is in there. Naked," said Abby slowly. "I'm not letting you in there!"

"You're not letting me?" asked Nick incredulously, sleep out of the window.

"Yeah. I'm not letting you," said Abby calmly.

"Okay, that's it," said Nick, throwing his arms up. "What's your problem!?"

Winston poked his head out of his room groggily. "What's going on guys?"

He was ignored of course.

"It's quite simple, actually," Abby continued. "Anyone would be able to tell, but you-"

"You got a problem with me, Abby? Then just say it! You don't like me? Then say-"

"Keep it down y'all," Winston tried again.

Abby let out a guffaw. "Ha! Of course I don't like you!"

Nick looked at her surprised. "What? I thought you... Why!?"

"Because you broke my si-"

Oh. OH! Abigail damn Day, thought Winston and retreated to his room.

"Abby!"

They were interrupted by Jess, who had just emerged from the bathroom in her soft pink robe. She stood between both of them, looking wary and perplexed.

"What's going on?"

"Your sister does not like me very much!" said Nick, accusingly.

"Ahhhaha," Jess laughed nervously. "She doesn't like anybody in general, you know-"

"Especially not him," she grumbled.

"But why!? What have I ever even done to you?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all. Just my-"

"Abby..." said Jess, softly, holding her sister's arm, a silent plea.

Relenting, Abby muttered, "-just... I wanted to go to the bathroom first. That's all."

"What!? That's what this was about?" asked Nick, disbelief writ on his face, as he looked between the two sisters.

"Haha, you know Abby," laughed Jess, twirling her finger at her temple. "Crazy!"

Rolling her eyes Abby pushed past them and went to Jess' room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"I thought you wanted to use the bathroom!" he called after her annoyed.

She responded with an obscenity from the room, making Jess cringe. "Abby!"

"What's her deal!?" asked Nick, turning to Jess.

Jess chuckled nervously in response. Thrice, each more nervous than the preceeding one. "You know... ahhaha..."

Nick raised his eyebrows.

"You know... Abby... She's just... ahhahaha." Letting the last of her laugh trail, she slinked away slowly to her bedroom, leaving Nick standing perplexed.

As he stared down the hallway, he fleetingly wondered if Jess had changed her shampoo. She didn't smell like strawberries anymore. It was a mild vanilla, butterscotch scent. He couldn't decide if he liked the old scent or new scent better... After debating for a moment, he decided he liked the old one better; it reminded him of sunlit, warm mornings in his room and waking up to-

Shaking that thought off, he sighed and headed towards the bathroom.

...

Schmidt, Aly and Winston were at Griffin's, chatting with Cece as she worked. Nick flitted in and out of their conversations, as he catered to the customers while also going back to his office every once in a while. On one of these occasions, Winston lowered his voice. "You guys will not believe what happened this morning."

Aly nodded. "Drama, drama!"

Cece nodded knowingly. "I know, Winston. Aly told me. As did Jess and Abby."

Cece, Aly, Abby and Jess had met during lunch. They had all wanted a guys-free afternoon.

Winston looked at Aly, feigning betrayal. "Aly! How could you! It was my story to tell! You done stole my thunder..."

Aly laughed, but Schmidt cut her off. "Wait, what is happening! Drama, what drama? And Cece, how could you keep such a thing from me?" he sighed dramatically.

"It never came up!" Cece said, murmuring an apology to him.

"What are you buffoons waiting for! Tell me!" said Schmidt loudly, slapping the bar top.

Winston and Aly relayed the incident to him, albeit a slightly exaggerated version in which Jess had to pull Abby and Nick off of each other.

"I don't understand it, man. Abby wasn't this protective of Jess the last time she was here. Ever since they've come back from Portland, it's like Abby won't stop hovering around Jess," mused Winston.

Cece and Schmidt exchanged a look, and once again, Aly noticed. "Okay, you guys. What is going on?" asked Aly, relenting. She did consider them her friends now, and had in fact grown quite fond of them. She wasn't insecure about their fondness for her either; she knew they liked her.

"What?" asked Schmidt.

"That... That thing you do sometimes when our conversations have Jess and Nick in the same sentence..."

"What thing?" asked Winston, curious.

"That... thing... With their eyes," pointing at both of them.

"Oh come on, you're imagining it," said Cece dismissively.

Aly quirked her brow. "I am a cop. I'm actually quite good with this kinda stuff. My job happens to depend on it..."

"Is this true?" Winston asked again.

"I- Well, we-"

"It is, isn't it!"

Cece sighed. "We want to tell you, Winston. We really do but... It's not our story or "secret" to tell."

"So it is either Nick's or Jess'?" asked Winston, narrowing his eyes.

"Good going, genius! Given that was the context of this conversation, it must've taken enormous intelligence to put that together," said Schmidt, rolling his eyes.

It seemed to click into place suddenly; Jess' sudden departure to Portland from SOCALYALCON where she'd been with Nick and Reagan, her cutting off from them for a while, her subdued demeanour and the perpetual exhaustion, Abby's protectiveness and even her hostility towards Nick.

"Whoa, did Nick get Jess knocked up!?"

He figured it out eventually of course, having exhausted the craziest of his guesses.

...

Reagan had observed that she didn't have to talk to Jess about Nick. With her arrival, the strain between her and Nick had already repaired itself; he'd become easier to talk to and didn't seem edgy all the time. Instead of the relief she had expected, she only grew more uneasy. They only saw each other at night now, kissed each other good night before going to sleep. At other times, Nick would be in the living room, hanging out with everyone else. She could not shake off the strange apprehension that had begun to take root in her ever since she realised that without Jess' help, she wouldn't have given a second thought to Nick; that they wouldn't have made it this far without her, because only she could tell how to diffuse every form of tension between them, and she was the one who provided a ladder to them when they needed to peek a little beyond the walls they had built around themselves. They had both agreed to not even tear that wall down, but...

As she sat on Nick's bed thinking on a Saturday morning, her eyes wandered around the room and paused on a copy of the Pepperwood Chronicles. Guilt washed over her immediately; she hadn't read it, simply because she was not much of "books person". She had time to kill anyway, she thought, looking at the clock. Besides, she wasn't sure how long her pretense of having read the book would last. And tucking the book under her arm, she headed to the living area. Preparing a cup of instant soup for herself, she sat on the couch and began to read.

A few chapters in, she stopped reading. She stared at the pages of the book, realization dawning over her. She heard Winston's door unlock as he stepped out yawning, obviously just woken from his sleep. As he mumbled a greeting to her and walked towards the kitchen. "Yo, Raisin! Whatchu doin' out here by yourself?" he asked through another yawn, as he fixed a cup of coffee for himself.

"Nothing, just reading Nick's book," she said distantly. "This Pepperwood guy is a lot like Nick," she stated.

Winston chuckled, reminiscent of the day that had started this and the student Nick had thought that was out to kill Jess. "Ha, Pepperwood is Nick," he said, joining her on the couch.

"Pepperwood's love story is my favourite kind... Star-crossed, against the odds. On the edge of becoming something, but never really becoming anything... " she continued, while Winston stared at her confused, wondering where she was going with this. "Did you know his love interest is called Jessica Night?"

A/N: Also wanted to clarify this part, just in case it is too confusing - Cece knew about Jess' feelings towards Nick, Winston Aly felt Reagan-Nick won't work out while slightly suspicious about Nick's feelings towards Jess and lastly, Schmidt knew of Jess' feelings and suspected the existence Nick's feelings towards Jess.

PHEW. THAT. WAS. HELLA. LONGER. THAN. I. THOUGHT. wow. Sorry lol :')