Chapter 8

Jess and Nick laid together, tangled up in each other. The empty pizza box had been thrown unceremoniously on the floor. When Nick had dropped some pizza on himself, Jess had ended up licking it off him, which had led to other things.

They both giggled, their eyes locking together. They talked for a while, caressing each other gently with their hands as they did so. Nick glanced at the clock on his bedside table.

"Did you want to stay over, Jess? You should get some sleep if you've got work in the morning."

Jess had completely lost track of time. She had gotten so wrapped up in Nick and the unexpected stuff that she rather appreciated his thoughtfulness. She was torn - she didn't have anything with her so she'd struggle to get to work in the morning, but equally she didn't want to leave.

"I'd really love to stay over," Jess told him sincerely.

"But..." Nick supplied.

"But I didn't bring any clothes or anything. I'd struggle in the morning."

Nick nodded, with a smile. He'd guessed as much. He didn't quite know when it had happened, but he had become rather addicted to Jess at some point. He didn't want to let her go and didn't even want to stop touching her.

They managed to get dressed with only a few diversions and Nick walked Jess down to her car. He waved her off and trudged back inside, missing her touch already. He decided to text her, so that she had the message for when she got home.

'Hey Jess. Can't wait for Friday. Tonight was amazing and you're incredible.'

He must have rewritten the message ten times before finally sending it. A nervous knot formed itself in his stomach. He wondered if he was being an idiot or being too keen. He wished he could unsend it.

"Miller, you're an idiot," he murmured to himself softly.

Nick wandered out to the kitchen to grab a beer. His three friends looked up at him, grinning.

"She seems nice," Coach said with a massive grin.

"Not very talkative, but really pretty," Winston chipped in, smiling.

Nick's cheeks flamed bright red. "Sorry I didn't make proper introductions, but we were uh..."

"Horny?" Schmidt supplied.

"Jar!" they all chorused.

Before he could reply, Nick's phone made a chirp to indicate that he had a message.

'Hi Nick. Can't wait for Friday either. Wish I didn't have to go home.'

Nick grinned at his phone, reading the message over and over. His eyebrows raised in surprise at the second chirp.

'Can't believe I've only known you a week. You're great!'

He giggled, forgetting he was surrounding by men. They proceeded to mock him for making such a girly noise. He managed to run away, escaping with his beer and his phone to his room.

'Sweet dreams, Jess. I can tell this is going to be the start of something great.'

'Sweet dreams, Nick. Glad we're on the same page!'

Jess laid back on CeCe's couch, sighing with a mixture of happiness and fulfillment. She hugged a pillow tightly and fell quickly into a peaceful sleep.

XxxxX

Friday finally arrived. Jess practically sprinted out of work to get home and get ready to meet Nick. They'd been texting and calling each other on a pretty much constant basis since they had seen each other on Tuesday. They found that their banter was just as easy by phone and messaging as it was in person.

Jess put on the electric blue dress that she had bought what seemed like a lifetime ago. She twirled in front of the mirror, checking how she looked before slipping her matching pumps on her feet. She put the finishing touches on her makeup and brushed her curly hair before she skipped out the door.

Nick had decided the day before that he would surprise Jess by taking the night off work so that they could spend the whole evening together. He had done so many extra shifts at the bar while since he'd split up with Caroline that they didn't mind at all. In fact, they seemed pleased for him that he had a date.

He had excited, nervous butterflies in his stomach. He got ready quickly, leaving himself plenty of time but not so much that he drove himself mad. He had learned from the previous misfortune. He put on his favorite jeans and black shirt, rolling up his sleeves and slipping on a jacket before he left.

On his way to the Cloud 9 tearoom, Nick diverted to a flower cart and grabbed a huge bunch of brightly colored tulips. The seller wrapped them carefully in bright blue paper, covered it with matching cellophane and secured it all with an orange ribbon tied in a big bow. Nick thanked her and carried on along his way.

As he rounded the final corner, he saw Jess as she dashed into the tearoom. She was obviously happy as she was practically skipping with every step. Nick beamed and ran the last few hundred feet, taking a deep breath before heading through the door.

Jess stood up to greet him. He thrust the flowers at her with a smile and then grabbed her in his arms, pulled her up in the air and kissed her deeply.

"I missed you, Jess," he whispered in her ear, giving her goosebumps.

"Missed you too, Nick," Jess murmured. "Thank you for the beautiful flowers."

They sat down together, grinning like idiots. They held hands and ordered a big pot of tea and cakes to share. When it arrived, they chatted amiably, laughing at each others' terrible jokes.

"I'm not going to make you late, am I?" Jess asked, trying to hide her reluctance to let him leave her.

"I have a little confession to make," Nick said, his eyes sparkling. He leaned in conspiratorially. "I took the night off so I could take you out."

Jess gave a little yelp of delight and clapped her hands together.

"Only if you want me to, of course," Nick said. "If you have plans already or whatever, that's fine too."

"I'll tell my other boyfriend that Nick Miller wants me to hang out. Who am I to say no to that guy?"

Nick laughed. The word 'boyfriend' hung in the air between them and for the first time ever, he was pleased about it. He pushed half of that thought to the back of his mind, deciding that he would have to make his peace later with having never been entirely happy with a relationship that spanned six years and hadn't realized it.

Jess worried for a split second about having called Nick her boyfriend. They hadn't labelled it yet and she didn't want to scare him off. She was always the one that loved first and loved most, so she tried to rein it in a little bit.

"I thought that we could drive out to a little diner I know just out of town. It does the best barbecue."

"It's not Uncle Joe's, is it?" Jess asked, wide eyed.

"Damn, Jess," Nick laughed. "How did you know?"

"I love that place! I was going to ask you how you knew I went there too."

"I used to go there to get away from Caroline. She hated barbecue. Who hates barbecue, right?"

"What's to hate?" Jess said with a chuckle.

They finished up their tea and headed outside. They walked along hand in hand back to Nick's apartment building to collect his car and head out to the diner. He had managed to get some cheap tyres to replace his slashed ones that morning.

"Hey, Jess," Nick said, feeling suddenly awkward. "I don't want to be forward or weird or anything..." he trailed off, not quite knowing why he'd brought it up.

"What's wrong, Nick?" Jess asked with concern in her voice.

He scratched the back of his neck and felt his forehead crinkle. He frowned.

"You're making a weird turtle face, Nick," Jess said, half laughing, half concerned.

Nick laughed at himself. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come back here after dinner. If you did, I'll take ya home to get an overnight bag." He blushed a bit as the words tumbled out in a rush.

"That's really thoughtful, Nick," Jess replied, genuinely touched. "That would be really great, actually."

Nick smiled. He seemed to be able to make her happy really easily. He had never experienced that in any relationship and it was a great feeling. He pulled away, heading towards Jess's apartment. He went indoors with her and met her friend CeCe.

CeCe was intimidating in a leggy model kind of way. Nick wasn't totally sure what to say to her, so he made awkward small talk. He almost felt as though he was a teenager, meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time. She asked him where they were going, what they were doing, when they might be back.

"Don't give the poor guy a hard time, CeCe," Jess called from another room. "You're being scary again."

Nick laughed, looking down at his shoes as CeCe shot the doorway an outraged look.

After a few moments, Jess reappeared with an overnight bag and quickly put her tulips in water. She hugged her friend, who seemed to be getting ready to go out herself, and she and Nick left shortly after.

They listened to music as they drove, leaving the lights, noise and heavily populated areas behind them. The road got more and more open as they drove. Jess kept bursting into song and Nick couldn't help but laugh. He thought that she was being extremely cute!

They talked about the following day and their new rules mini-golf rematch. Jess had managed to convince CeCe to join them and Nick had persuaded Schmidt, only after he had told him that Jess's friend was a model. Coach and Winston had a meeting at the bank to secure funding for their gym, so they had assured Nick that they would come next time.

Nick pulled up in the parking lot of the diner and they both grinned. Uncle Joe's had a big sign on top of it showing its name in huge lit red letters. It was a bit old and careworn, but to Nick it meant an oasis of brief spells of happiness.

"Hey, Jess," he said, not yet leaving the car. "Can I ask you something? I don't want this to sound weird, but it's about my ex, Caroline."

"Sure," Jess said simply. It was probably a little odd to keep discussing their exes, but it seemed to do them both good.

"The more time I spend with you," he began slowly, trying to find the right words, "the more I realize that I was unhappy for pretty much my whole relationship. Why do you think I didn't know how miserable I was?"

Jess could tell that it had taken a lot for Nick to bring this up. He had told her when they had spent their first night talking together that he didn't feel totally comfortable talking about Caroline and especially about the bad bits. She had told him that he needed to get it out of his system so he could start his healing process.

"I think I was the same with Spencer, actually," Jess said quietly. "You just go through the motions. Sure, you liked them to start with, but gradually, with all the judgement and telling offs and craziness, you start losing your confidence. You don't actually realize you're not you any more."

"I feel like I've lived another life," Nick replied softly. "It's like, I was a kid, then at college, then life stopped for Caroline and now you're helping me to restart it."

"That's so sweet, Nick," Jess said with her eyes full of tears. "I was trying so hard with Spencer. I wanted to try to get it back on track because I knew we both weren't happy, deep down, and he didn't even want to bother trying. He just wanted me to pay his rent while he screwed around."

A big fat tear slipped down her cheek and splashed on to Nick's wrist. He brought his big, warm, work roughened hands up to cup her face gently. He moved his thumbs across her cheeks to dry her tears and looked deep into her eyes.

"We're quite the pair, aren't we, Jess?" Tears rimmed his eyes as well. "We're so screwed up, but it's almost like we wouldn't have ended up with each other if we weren't. It's made me hate Caroline just a teeny bit less." He shot Jess a watery smile.

"Can you promise me something, Nick?" Jess asked.

"Anything." His eyes were unwavering.

"Promise me you'll always bother trying with me." She looked so small and vulnerable sitting there with her eyes shining with tears.

"I will always bother trying with you, Jess. I promise."

"Thank you, Nick," she replied with the beginnings of a smile.

"Can I ask for a favor?" Nick asked, also beginning to smile.

"Sure."

"Can I go to Spencer's house tomorrow and get your stuff back? That butt hole will probably sell it or something if it's there too long."

"I don't know, Nick," Jess said, breaking eye contact. "I'm not sure I can go through with it."

"You can keep it all at my place," he said calmly. "I've got, like, nothing in my bedroom to speak of so you can bung it there until you get your own place sorted. With Caroline, getting my stuff back and cutting ties was the only way I could start moving on."

Jess chewed her lip thoughtfully.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Nick tried, moving one hand to her chin to encourage her to look into his eyes again. She did and was surprised by his determination.

"Ok, but take CeCe with you. She scares the crap out of him." Jess laughed, swiping the tears out of her eyes.