Why'd, You Do it, Nick?

By JustAnn W

Nick had kissed her. And it wasn't a random kiss. It wasn't a peck on the cheek or a goodnight kiss. It was a strong, passionate, romantic, mind blowing, left her weak in the knees encounter. It was the best kiss of her life. Jess had spent an embarrassing amount of time fondly daydreaming about it, despite her attitude toward the rest of the world that it was an unwelcome stupid mistake that her bone headed, turtle-faced roommate had made for no reason at all. And she acted furious that the idiotic move lost her Sam, the perfect boyfriend. But deep inside she knew, after Nick's kiss, Sam would never be able to satisfy her again.

The question was why did he do it? He had laughed it off as a "nothing kiss." After all, they were best friends and roommates. He didn't think of her that way. Few men did. Most men thought of her as a dork. But Sam, he saw her as a woman. He liked her. Why did Nick have to ruin it? Nick doesn't want her, but he doesn't want her to have other guys, either? WTF?

Argh! Damn it, Nick! Jess thought to herself as she punched her pillow and rolled over in bed. But she couldn't stay angry with him, because he had given her that minute of pure joy.

Realizing she wasn't getting any more sleep this morning, Jess got up. When she ran into him in the bathroom, and they brushed their teeth together, she laughed it off again. Jess commented to Nick about how well they were doing, making the "sucked my face" no big deal. She joked they should go out to celebrate. He joked they should have sex. WHAT?!

Then Schmidt came in with the news of the parking spot, and the issue that wasn't an issue got pushed out of her mind by the possibility of being able to use her car without bargaining with Outside Dave.

But something was still there, just under the surface. Nick looked like he'd showered and shaved this morning. He kept smiling at her and trying to hug her. Nick said Jess could have the spot, and pointed out to her he could be a gentleman.

When Schmidt reminded Nick of the No-Nail Oath, Jess became furious! This was all about sex! She thought the guys didn't see her as a sex object! She thought they were friends!

And when Nick said he regretted kissing her, Jess didn't know why, but she felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. Damn Nick! He can take the damn parking spot!

But when he followed her back to the loft and softly confessed, "It was me, Jess. I couldn't help it," Jess felt weightless as he tenderly gazed at her and leaned closer. Nick's been attracted to her this whole time, since they first met!

Schmidt burst in, again! Rambling on about how "nailing her" was off limits unless it could be turned into a business! REALLY!

That was it! She'd had enough of her male roommates and their oath and their testosterone!

After agreeing that Winston could have the parking spot, Jess went out with CeCe.

"You're not going to believe this! When the guys agreed I could move in with them, they all signed a 'No Nail Oath'!" Jess burst out furiously, after a few sips (well, gulps, actually) of pink wine.

"What?!" CeCe asked, almost spitting out her vodka and soda.

"They all agreed they wouldn't have sex with me, like I would have let them! Like my opinion wouldn't even matter! Can you believe that?!"

"Well, you were pretty vulnerable when you moved in there. You'd just broken up with Spencer. Some guys would have tried to take advantage of that. And it does prove they find you attractive."

Jess thought for a minute. She really wanted to be irate, but it wasn't working. Then she remembered the worst part. "Oh, but there was this clause about 'unless it could be turned into a profitable business!'"

"Oh, my god! I'll kill Schmidt!" Cece was ready to storm back to the loft!

"Wait! Here's the weirdest part!" Jess continued. Cece raised her eyebrows. How could this get any weirder? "Nick said it the pact was because of him. Schmidt and Coach were worried Nick would try to sleep with me because 'he couldn't help it.' Nick wanted to sleep with me when I first moved in!"

"I told you! I told you the first Thanksgiving you were there that he liked you!" Cece gloated.

"But do you think it's that he wants to have sex, or do you think he really likes me? You know, likes me likes me."

"Honestly, Jess. The guy is always there for you, always helps you when you need anything, always tries to cheer you up when you're down, always tries to protect you. I think he's got it bad for you. And you're crazy about him, too!"

"What! NO, no, no! What are you talking about?" protested Jess.

She gave her that 'I know you're lying' look. "You try to cheer him up when he's down. You try to take care of him. You always want to sit near him. You talk about him all the time."

"That's just being a good friend!" defended Jess.

"You have been jealous of every girlfriend he's had since you've known him!"

"I have not!"

"Say one good thing about any of them!" challenged Cece.

"Well, Julia wasn't right for him. She wanted to make him a lawyer, and he doesn't want to be a lawyer. And Caroline, she kept wanting to change him. She really messed him up. And Amelia was just Crazy! And …"

"See!" her friend triumphed.

"Yeah, but that's just because he's a good guy and he deserves better." Jess insisted.

"He deserves you, right?"

"Yes! Well, not me exactly. Someone like me, maybe. But prettier. Someone who likes Zombie stories."

"Jess! Do you think you're not good enough for him?"

"I don't know."

"Then why did he kiss you?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I think he likes you. But why don't you just ask him?"

"Nick, why'd you do it? Why'd you kiss me?" Jess asked.

"I don't know!" he snapped. She stared at him, arms folded. "I don't know," he whined, trying not to look at her.

"Nick," Jess persisted.

"It was part of the game!" Nick argued, knowing that she wouldn't let it go, but it bought him some time.

"No, it was after the game! You said 'I meant something like that!' What did you mean?"

Nick sighed. He wasn't getting out of this. She was his best friend, and he was a rotten liar. "I didn't want our first kiss to be because of a drinking game!"

"Our first kiss? You assumed there was going to be a kiss? And for that matter, more than one? You've thought about kissing me?" Jess asked incredulously.

"Yeah, sure. Don't tell me you never thought about kissing me!" Nick rebounded.

Suddenly it was Jess's turn to feel uncomfortable. "Well, maybe once or twice. But I've wondered what it would be like to kiss lots of guys. That doesn't mean I'm going to do it!"

"Yeah, okay! You see my point. I've thought about it. And I thought that if it happened for real, it wouldn't be because of a game." Nick paused. He hoped that would be enough of an explanation, but judging by Jess's intense eyes fixed on his, he knew he had to be honest. He took her hand. "I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you. And I want to do it again." Nick pulled her close, and Jess wrapped her arms around his neck as they melted into each other.