"Who is SHE?!" Sarah screeched, stabbing her finger in Jess's direction.
Nick stood up, searching for his shirt. "Sarah, this is Jess."
"Jess? As in your pregnant ex-girlfriend Jess? Why is she here?" Sarah spat.
Jess began to button her shirt, perplexed by Sarah's question. "Um, I live here."
Sarah turned to Nick. "She LIVES with you?"
Nick sighed. "What are you even doing here?"
Sarah glared at Jess. "I got worried when you didn't answer, so I found your mom on Facebook., "
"you stalked my mom on Facebook?" Nick interrupted, taken aback by Sarah's admission.
"I messaged her, when she told me you had to work and weren't coming home, I came to surprise you. Your door was unlocked, and then I heard you in here yelling. I thought you were in trouble Nicky."
"Wait, you told her you had to work? There wasn't really a snowstorm?" Jess asked, processing what Nick had actually done.
Nick turned to Jess. "I couldn't leave you alone. Not on Christmas."
"You couldn't leave her alone? What exactly is going on here Nicky? I thought she meant nothing to you." Sarah said angrily.
Jess tried to hide the disappointment on her face but she couldn't. She glanced at Nick, her eyes full of heartache.
The pain apparent in Jess's face was enough to send Nick over the edge. "That's enough! First thing, stop calling me Nicky! I don't like being called Nicky. Second, I don't even want to date you. Your freaky, and I don't mean 'bow chic a wow wow' freaky, More like 'Swim fan' freaky. I mean Facebooking my mom? Who does that? And third, Jess and that little baby are everything to me!"
Jess looked up at him, her mouth a perfect "O". She stood up, walking over to the door. "I think you should leave."
Sarah gasped. She glared at Jess, boiling over with rage. "Nick, we can work this out! You're going to regret this. If you let me leave I'm not coming back." She stuck her hand on her hip.
Nick half waved at her. "Bye Sarah."
She stormed out of Jess's room, moving through the loft like a hurricane. Neither Jess nor Nick spoke until they heard the door slam.
Nick awkwardly stuck his hands in his pockets. "Talk about crazy huh?"
Jess stood at the door. "I think you should leave too."
"Jess, Jess don't do this. Let's talk this out some more, let's. . ." Nick pleaded.
Jess remained silent, scowling at Nick.
Nick stared at Jess, his eyes bleak, and filled with regret. He stalked over to the door, stopping in front of Jess. He kissed her head gently. "Jess, I'm sorry." And then he walked out.
Jess slammed the door behind him, barely holding it together until he left. She slid down the door, collapsing into a puddle on the floor, and began to cry softly.
…
"It's New Year's eve! You know what they say, whatever you're doing on New Year's Eve is what you'll be doing the rest of the year. . . you don't want to be sitting at home, alone, longing for Nick all year do you?" Cece asked, sprawled across Jess's bed.
Jess fake gagged at Cece's statement. "That's absurd. It's just an old wives' tale. Besides, I am NOT longing for Nick."
Cece rolled her eyes. "uh huh. You two mope around here, all brooding and angsty, Schmidt's started calling you guys Edward and Bella."
Jess fell back on the bed. "Noooo, no, no! you know how I feel about that movie. She's seventeen, he's like one hundred! Not to mention, he doesn't let her do anything for herself. She's. . ."
Cece laughed. "Have you even talked to him?"
Jess sighed. "What do I say to him Cece? I know the silent treatment is harsh, but I don't know what to say. He's avoiding me."
"How do you know he's avoiding you?"
Jess shrugged. "He's been holed up in his bedroom, singing landslide when he thinks everyone is asleep, and eating cereal out of bowls fashioned from aluminum foil, so he doesn't accidently run into me in the kitchen."
"Well you should go tonight. He's going, you'll have to interact right?" Cece suggested, flipping through a magazine.
"What would I even wear Cece? I hardly have any maternity club apparel."
"I can help you with that, just say you'll go! Did I mention they'll have a taco truck out front?" Cece teased.
Jess arched her eyebrow. "Tacos. You know that's baby bean's favorite food."
Cece smiled at Jess. Jess sighed. "Ok."
…
Boulevard3 was loud and obnoxious, packed to the brim with people ringing in the New Year. They had been in line for over an hour waiting to get in and Jess's feet were already killing her. She secretly loathed Cece for making her wear heels. Nick suddenly appeared, out of breath. "Sorry we're late! Schmidt was arguing with the parking attendant. He ran his eyes down the length of her body. " Jess you look amazing."
Schmidt appeared behind Nick. "Jessica is that a new dress? I must agree you do look amazing."
Jess glanced down at the gold sequined dress. It was snug, hugging her every curve, and accenting her growing bump. "thanks. Cece found it for me."
Cece smiled at Jess. "It was an old maternity dress of Nadia's."
Schmidt stared off into space. "Ah Nadia... . "
Cece rolled her eyes. "Come on we're next." She tugged Jess's hand.
Once inside, the music was ear splitting. "I'm getting a drink. Do you want a ginger ale or something?" Cece yelled over the loud dance beat.
"I'll go! You go ahead and dance! Vodka Cranberry, right?" Jess screeched back. Cece nodded, and blew her a kiss before heading to the dance floor.
Jess maneuvered her large stomach through the crowd. She approached the bar, and waved at the bartender. "I'll have a water on the rocks, and the little guy inside me will have a Vodka Cranberry." She joked, pointing to her stomach. The bartender stared at her unamused. "I'm joking! It's for a friend. He doesn't drink yet, Yet? I mean not for 21 responsible years."
The bartender sighed. "A water and a vodka cranberry?" Jess nodded the bartender went to work on her drinks, when Jess felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, coming face to face with an older man, with a handlebar mustache, in a white Miami vice style suit. "Hey doll face, I'd love to buy those drinks for you." He said winking at her. Jess sighed, and turned around, framing her stomach with her hands. His eyes widened as he took in her expectant form. Jess looked at him. "You can run away now." The man quickly left.
…
Nick glanced at his phone, 11:15 p.m. , forty five minutes until midnight. He had searched the club over, searching for Jess. He was determined to make things right with her. He decided to scour the dance floor one more time, when he stumbled across Schmidt, his arms wrapped around Cece, their bodies moving in perfect time to the music. "Cece!" He yelled. "Where's Jess?"
Cece shrugged, and held a pretend phone to her ear. "Want me to call her?"
Nick shook his head and motioned towards the door. "I'll go!" Cece nodded and continued to dance with Schmidt.
Nick pushed his way through the crowd, escaping into the crisp, December night. He pulled out his phone and began to dial Jess's number when he heard a familiar voice. "Get low, get low, get low, get low. To the windowssssss. . .. to the walls. . . .to the walls, till the sweat drop down my. . . "
"Jess?" Nick called.
Jess turned around. She was sitting on the curb, her shoes next to her, singing Ying Yang Twins to her bump, a taco in her hand. "Hey Nick. I'm waiting for an Uber, but talk about peak times. . . '
He sat down next to her. "No New Year's Eve Kiss?"
"Who would want to kiss me? I mean look at me, I'm wearing a very angry Russian model's maternity dress, stuffing my face with tacos on a street curb, shoeless because I can't get my swollen feet back in my heels."
Nick smiled at her. "I would."
Jess snorted. "Stop. I don't want to do this."
"And I don't want to start the year that our baby comes into the world mad at each other."
Jess sat her taco on her lap. "I'm not mad at you Nick. I'm mad at me. I'm mad that I let it get that far. I've told you from the start I just want to be friends. Just friends. It's what's best for all of us."
Nick scooted closer to her. "And I'm ok with that. I want to be there for you. I want to be friends too. Not this awkward whatever that we've been doing this past week, back to the way it was before I screwed it up. But Jess, we're having a baby together. I'm just as much that baby's dad as you are its mom. We're parents. I want to do those crazy breathing classes with you, I want to sing Salt-N-Pepa's 'Push It' to you in the delivery room. I want to hold your hand while you scream at me and tell me you hate me as the baby comes out of a place that I never want to think about because I still think about the times we used to have sex and that would just ruin it. I want to do it all Jess. Maybe I'm not pretending to grow up, I am growing up, because I'm no longer the child. Jess, if you want to be just friends, I'll be just friends. I just want to be in your life. I miss you."
Jess dabbed at her eyes with the taco wrapper. "Hormones are making me a little misty there Miller."
Nick laughed. "I don't think it's the hormones."
Jess grinned. "It's the hormones."
He offered Jess a handshake. "Friends?"
Jess took his hand, and pulled him into a hug. "Friends."
"Jess? Jess is that you? There you are!" A masculine voice called. Nick and Jess turned to see Russell standing behind them.
"Russell? I thought you were in Aspen?" Jess said, suddenly self-conscious of her taco stained dress.
"I couldn't let you not have a New Year's Eve kiss." He said, helping Jess up. "What on earth are you wearing?"
Jess ran her fingers over the smooth sequins. "It's a bit gaudy, I guess."
Russell chuckled. "Gaudy is one word for it. Come on, their getting ready to count down."
Jess glanced at Nick, a hint of regret crossing her face. "Bye Nick."
Nick glanced up at her, his eyes pleading with her to stay. "See you later Jess."
