FOUR MONTHS LATER...
As the sun started to seep through the chink in her curtains Jess lay awake, pressed comfortably against the hard warmth next to her She sighed impatiently and loudly in the hopes that she could wake him up without getting into trouble. She had no such luck. When twenty minutes had gone by she gave up waiting and poked him in the nose, firmly enough to wake him but not so firm that she would make him grumpy, she could usually smile and kiss her way out of that one anyway.
"Morning sleepy head." She chirped.
"Mmmmm morning sweetie." His raspy voice was still tinged with sleep.
She smiled at the greeting, glad she hadn't annoyed him.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you." She lied without an ounce of remorse evident on her smiling face.
"No you aren't." He laughed and rolled over, pinning her underneath him with his body, his hands coming up to cradle her face. "But I'll let you make it up to me if you want to." He drawled suggestively as he kissed her hard without give her a chance to answer. She kissed him back with no argument, dragging her hands gently up his smooth back before resting them on his firm shoulder blades pulling him closer to her. They made love slowly and lazily, revelling in the sensation without hurrying to the finish line until Jess became acutely aware she might be running late for work and rolled over until she was on top of him to take matters into her own hands and bring them both home.
Sated and satisfied with a warm, tingling sensation running through her body Jess leaned forward to kiss him sweetly on his open mouth before climbing off him and disappearing to the bathroom to shower. She hadn't heard anything of Cece so she figured she had left already, she hoped momentarily it wasn't because of the amorous noises coming from her bedroom, both of them had a tendency to get a little vocal when things got heated. Jess shrugged it off and continued to squirt toothpaste on to her brush, her and Cece had heard each other a million times and they had never made a big deal out of it. Why would she start now?
Jess had been living with Cece for four months now and she was definitely happy, she loved Cece and their nights in together watching movies, laughing and eating ice cream. She had never had any doubts that her a Cece would make their living arrangement work, they knew each other well enough to completely be themselves which was a rare thing that Jess didn't take for granted. But she missed her boys desperately. It had taken some adjustment going back to living with a girl again. She realised how much she had got used to that very distinct boy smell that would now hit her whenever she went back to the loft, it was so comforting. She missed the hustle and bustle of the loft, people coming and going at all hours, how a Wednesday night could turn into something completely random. She smiled at the memory as she climbed into the shower and let the hot water run all over her, relaxing her even more. Ten minutes later she wandered back to the bedroom room clad only in a towel with another spun strategically on her head. She saw that the big lump on her bed hadn't moved a muscle as he lay like a starfish on the bed with very little covering his modesty, the way he usually did after they'd had sex. As she saw him threatening to fall back asleep she grabbed his foot and jiggled it to rouse him.
"Don't go back to sleep buddy, I gotta go to work."
"Mmmmm just another twenty minutes."
She smiled at him as his eyes drifted back closed and shook her head and she began to put on her makeup. She let him have his extra twenty minutes but the sound of her hairdryer blasting soon had him out of bed and dragging his naked butt to the shower. Now she really did hope Cece had left otherwise she was possibly about to have the pleasure of seeing her boyfriend naked - yet again. Jess carried on with her hair and makeup without out even thinking about what she was doing, her morning routine simply flowed after years of practice. But her fluid rhythm was soon broken as she caught sight of him in her mirror, dripping wet and wearing nothing but a low slung towel, his pelvic bone teasing her with what lay under the white cotton. She was only human and she had a very human reaction to it as she turned, stalking towards him with a playful grin on her face, her hands finding their way around his waist with no care for the droplets of water that were sinking into her dry clothes. Glad of the impromptu embrace he kissed her and smiled, patting her flirtatiously on the behind and she returned to her dresser. He threw on a shirt and some pants and headed off to the kitchen to make them some breakfast.
After the smell of fresh coffee lured her out of the bedroom and into the kitchen she rested against the kitchen counter casually and watched him cook breakfast, it was a rare sight to see him doing it instead of her. She loved to watch the look of pure, unadulterated concentration on his face like he was working on quantum physics rather than eggs. As a natural silence befell them she took it upon herself to resume the conversation they had started the night before until he had conveniently fallen asleep.
"Soooo, about Saturday?..."
Nick sighed light-heartedly at what he thought was a resolved conversation. "I thought we decided you and I were just gonna hang out."
"Come on Nick we hang out every night, we should do something special."
Nick scrunched up his face as he tipped the eggs from the pan on to the plates. "You know I'm not real big on birthdays."
"Well I am, why don't you just let me organise everything." She moved to loiter behind him as he dished up their breakfast, snaking her arms around his waist, adding a nasally whine to her voice and faking the odd pout so Nick would give in to her.
"Everything? There's an everything?" He glanced over his shoulder at her feigning exasperation when really he couldn't help but smile at her.
"Ok it doesn't need to be something huge...just something."
"Ok, ok...but just something with the guys ok. I don't want some big party."
"Deal"
He turned to her and she took a step back holding out her hand for him to shake it and seal the deal but instead he pulled her in for a kiss, his arms curling comfortably around her waist. He pinched her sides mischievously making her her squeal and hit him on the chest playfully before she hopped up on the chair at the counter. He handed her a plate of the 'Nick Miller special' which she accepted with wide eyes and a quizzical smile on her face making a mental note to herself to give him a lesson in food portion control.
Nick watched her eat her breakfast and laughed internally every time she took a deep breath and waggled her waistband for more room, too polite not to finish everything he had put on her plate. That last few months of their relationship hadn't exactly been simple but she had taken care of him through all of it regardless, so it was time for him to start returning the favour. She was too good to him and he needed to start behaving like the man she deserved. The man he thought he should be. Somehow she had taken all the complexities out of his life, helped him forget everything that had gone wrong which was no easy task. He wasn't sure he could claw himself up from rock bottom, and sure maybe he was still climbing, but he was almost at the top. He didn't know what they were really, or where they were going but they were going somewhere, they were moving and that's what mattered.
After breakfast she kissed her still sleepy-looking boyfriend goodbye and headed towards her car, her mind immediately switching to the day ahead. She had a busy schedule and she wondered when on earth she was going to find the time to get Nick's present without getting caught. She had left it a little later than she usually would but after what he had pulled out the bag on her last birthday she was stumped to say the least and it wasn't like she could return the favour, they weren't where they had been a year ago. She had some ideas but she wasn't sure what was most appropriate and the fact that she had a very inquisitive boyfriend, with a childlike curiosity about gifts he found 'lying around' didn't help. She had an hour on her lunch break, one hour to solve the problem or she would be out of time. It was his birthday tomorrow. As the word 'tomorrow' made her nervous she started the ignition with a frustrated sigh and headed for school, Googling her gift options on her phone at every red light.
Her and Nick were in a good place but they were still fragile it had taken a lot of strength from both of them to get to where they were but they had done it and she was proud of them. She was proud of him. She had never had someone fight so hard to stay in her life against the odds and it made her realise that her and Nick were something special, they always would be. She had to get him something to show him what he meant to her, something that reflected them and what they had overcome.
Nick worked his hand towel repeatedly over the smudges on the bar and contemplated his upcoming birthday festivities, wondering how he had been talked into celebrating it. He meant it when he said he had never been big on birthdays, he figured it probably had something to do with his Dad never being around for them when he was a kid but he didn't want to dwell on that too much. He was usually quite happy with a six pack of beer and a pizza but his girlfriend was a pretty persuasive woman when she wanted to be and deep down he kind of liked that she wanted to go out of her way to celebrate with him.
Truth be told he kind of liked the idea of having everyone together, it had been a while, longer than it should have been. The group dynamic had been a little out of sync since Jess had moved out and although they would never admit it the guys were still a little sore about her leaving even though they still saw her as much as he did. It was only after she left they realised how much she held them together. That crazy girl who they were certain they wouldn't be able to live with for more than a week had become someone they found it very difficult to live without. A night out together might be exactly what they all needed.
Nick and Jess' problems had put a lot of strain on the group and they both still harboured guilt about it but they were working hard to fix it. Things weren't one hundred percent back to normal so for that reason there was always potential for drama. Walking the line between friendships and relationships had got the best of all of them over the last year and they were all a little battle scarred but the fractures were slowly healing and they had all managed to lean on each other for support which Nick would never be able to show enough gratitude for.
As the din of her classroom faded in her ears Jess bolted for her car with Rose in tow. She checked her watch and rambled incessantly as she realised she had 58 minutes and 15 seconds to find the perfect gift for Nick. No sooner than Rose had clicked her seatbelt in to place, the tyres of Jess' car screeched out of the parking lot to the astonishment of some of her students who were watching from the canteen window. Half an hour and eight shops later Rose trailed behind Jess examining all the rejected gift options Jess was leaving in her wake.
"What's the big deal Jess I mean it's just a regular birthday right...not one of the big ones...can't you just get him a sweater or something."
"A sweater? No...no it's got to be something more special."
"Why?"
"It just does ok. We've been through a lot this year and I just want to let him know that...you know...we're good."
"Ok, just don't get him anything too special you know."
"What do you mean?" Jess knew exactly what Rose meant but told herself she needed to hear it.
"I mean you don't want to give anyone the wrong idea. He has a girlfriend Jess. He's spoken for...so are you."
"Yeah I know that." Jess moaned with a mildly frustrated edge to her voice.
Right on cue Jess pulled her vibrating phone from her bag to find Lauren's name lit up on the screen. Gritting her teeth slightly she pressed the necessary buttons to open the message.
'Hey Jess, I've organised a little get together for Nick's birthday tomorrow night. It's at Ernie's (Nick's fave!) at 7.30pm. We would love it if you could make it x'
Glossing over the fact that Ernie's wasn't Nick's favourite restaurant San Carlo was and the casual use of 'we' Lauren has started to slip into her messages, Jess closed the text and threw her phone back in her bag with a little more force than she intended. She would reply later when she had spoken to James.