Hi everyone, sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy this chapter.

6 days before Christmas

"So remember to straighten the curtain after a shower, scrub the plates properly when you wash up and never, in any circumstance touch my hair products," Schmidt ordered while he zipped up his suitcase.

"You say the same thing every year do you think I would forget?" Nick asked.

"Well every year I come back to a dirty apartment so I will keep reminding you until you listen to what I am saying," Schmidt fired back.

Nick did not know how to reply to that one so he turned his attention to Winston.

"Have a great Christmas man," he smiled giving him a man hug.

"You too," wished Winston, reciprocating the hug.

"And Schmidt have a good Hanukkah," Nick said.

"Have a good stupid pagan holiday," Schmidt muttered back before grasping Nick in a weird boa constrictor hug that Nick always hated. As Nick squirmed out of the hug he felt Schmidt put a wad of cash in his trouser pocket that Schmidt probably thought was in a subtle way. Normally Nick would be too proud to accept it but if he was gonna make Jess like him, a little cash to buy her a gift or take her to lunch somewhere might somewhat help.

They then turned their attention to to the noise that was coming out of Jess' room:

I knew you were trouble when you walked in, so shame on me now

"Oh God I am leaving now," Schmidt declared before walking out the flat, closely followed by Winston who couldn't help singing along a bit as he walked out. Nick couldn't believe his luck that he had Jess to himself for two whole weeks, enough time for her to start to like him maybe.

No you have a girlfriend, stop thinking about cheating on her, you were never a cheater Nick Miller, so don't start now. Nick's brain ordered him.

"I guess your right," he replied to himself, sighing. He decided to give Jess a little space as he could tell she was probably crying into a bottle of wine right now while listening to Taylor Swift on a loop and so wanted to be alone. He'd been there before with Caroline, well minus the Taylor swift and replacing the wine with whisky.

He took Schmidt's money out his pocket and counted it gleefully, it added to $500 dollars plus his share of the money from the full douchebag jar which he estimated must have $400 in it. $700 dollars! That was a hell of a lot of money he couldn't believe his luck. He couldn't remember the last time he even managed to save up $400 let alone $700. That meant Jess would be seeing a very generous side to Nick during those two weeks.

Perfect, he thought grinning to himself.

::::::::::::three hour laters

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale. I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, lead her up the ain't Hollywood, this is a small town. I was a dreamer before you went and let me down. Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around.

Oh god, Nick thought to himself as he went to check on her, she's taken a turn for the worse. He quickly turned around and went back into his room.

::::::::four hours later.

Losing him was blue like I'd never known, missing him was dark grey all alone. Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met. But loving him was red.

Getting slightly better, Nick observed. He slowly opened the door and peeked into her room.

"Jess just to let you know I've gotta go to work," he explained.

"That's fine," she replied not looking directly at him.

Aah so she's now in the holding back tears but not quite crying stage, that's better than before, Nick thought.

:::::::::

The next morning, Nick was woken by the loud noise that suddenly started bursting out of Jess' room.

We are never ever ever getting back together.

She's on the road to recovery, Nick thought with a smile as it did sadden him greatly before when he knew that she was really upset.

He could hear her singing along which confirmed her slightly happier mood. He decided to see if she wanted to go out for breakfast somewhere using the money Schmidt gave him.

"Jess," he called knocking on her door. "Can I come in."

"Yeah sure," he heard her say, so he cautiously opened the door and went in.

Oh god, while I was at the bar last night she must have got to the comfort eating stage, he thought anxiously. Her room was an absolute mess of chocolate, ice cream, chip wrappers and pizza boxes, as well as a couple of empty jars of salsa and peanut butter.

"Sorry about the mess," she apologised. "Normally I'm quite neat."

"It's fine, your room is probably tidier than mine," he laughed.

"Really?" She asked, her nose wrinkling up and he could tell she was thinking: gross.

"No not really," he lied while laughing probably somewhat hysterically. He never was any good at lying.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you fancied going out somewhere, maybe get a little breakfast," he asked.

"Yeah I'd love to, probably just a coffee for me though as I'm not exactly that hungry," she smiled gesturing towards the wrappers.

"That's fine," he replied. "I'll just brush my teeth."

::::::::::

"So if you don't mind me asking, how are you feeling," Nick said gently, not wanting to push her back to the dark side. They were strolling along Venice beach, on the way to Starbucks for breakfast and he started to regret his choice of route because it was very windy and cold by the sea.

"I'm ok I guess," she started. "It's still a bit raw, I mean you don't just get over someone you've been with for six years suddenly. I need a bit of time to heal and lick my wounds, but I'll be alright."

"That's good to know," Nick gave a small smile.

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be," she said quietly and stopped walking. She looked so sad that Nick couldn't resist giving her a hug there and then.

As she reciprocated the hug, he rested his chin on the top of her head like he usually did.

I could kiss her right now, he thought, the moments right and who knows she may kiss me back.

The wind whipped past him and blew a scent of jasmine and honey into Nick's nose, Jess' perfume. It must be a different one as that wasn't how she normally smelled. However this scent was familiar and he liked the scent.

Oh my god it's the same perfume Layla wears, he realised.

As he realised this he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt wash over him, she'd been gone only two days and he was already thinking about kissing Jess.

Oh God who to choose, he thought anxiously. Layla or Jess?

Thanks for reading and as always any feedback is appreciated greatly.