As usual, I own none of New Girl. It all belongs to FOX, though in a way it feels like it belongs to all the fanfic roomfriends.
Nick tapped his finger on the steering wheel in time to the music as he and Jess drove down the highway toward the reunion. Together, they sang the lyrics to "How Bizarre" at the top of their lungs. The CD playing in the tinny sound system had been a gift from Jess. She had downloaded all of the songs from the mix tape he made when he was 14. At her insistence, he filled in the commentary between songs.
"Here's to all the girls I'm gonna date in the future…NOT," they cried in unison as AC/DC began to play.
Nick drove with one hand on the wheel, the other finding countless ways to maintain contact with Jess – brushing crumbs from their quickly grabbed lunch off her skirt, helping her unfold a difficult corner of the map, anything to stay close. Ugh. You have it bad, Miller, he thought.
Jess turned down the music. Turning to him, she pursed her lips in her attempt to look serious. "Okay, do you remember who is going to be there?" she asked.
Nick sighed. Jess had been quizzing him on her eclectic group of relatives for days now. "Let's see. Your nana will be there, so don't mention cheese because she misses being able to eat it." Jess nodded intently. Nick continued, "Your mom's second cousins are twins who think they look nothing alike, so compliment them on their vastly different hairstyles. They love that. And your great aunt…" Nick bit his lip. He could never remember her great aunt's name. "Um, okay, I got this." Nick snapped his fingers at the memory. "Your mom has great knees, so…Neely! Great Aunt Neely." He smiled in pride, but instead of the praise he expected, he was met with Jess' raised eyebrow.
"No hitting on my mom, Miller," she said with a slow smile.
"What? You told me to come up with ways to remember!"
"My mom has great knees? Come on, Nick, only one of us in this car has admitted being attracted to my mom," Jess said, though he could see she was trying not to laugh.
"Hey, that was YOUR fault. I was just doing what I was told." Nick remembered the Thanksgiving when her very divorced parents had both accidentally showed up for dinner at the same time. She attempted to pull off one of her many ill-fated attempts to recreate the movie "Parent Trap" and get her parents back together. Agreeing to help, Nick had been assigned to flirt with Jess' mom in hopes of making her dad jealous. "And what did you expect? I was being given free rein to essentially throw myself at an older version of you. It was flirting with a Day over a half-cooked turkey. It was too much!"
Jess burst out laughing. "Aw, Nick, that's the sweetest excuse for finding my mom hot that I have ever heard," she said, looking down at the map. "The turn is up here." She looked down and added quietly. "We're almost there."
Nick looked at her. She chewed on her lip and looked…what…nervous? "You okay, Jess?" he asked, placing his hand gently on her knee.
She nodded quickly. "Sure, it's just….It's nothing." She smiled a little too brightly and began to try and fold the map. Nick watched with an amused expression as she fumbled and huffed in exasperation. "Need some help, there?"
"Ugh!" She clumsily shoved the map in the back seat. "There!"
He laughed as he pulled into a parking spot. He turned off the ignition and turned to see her sitting quietly, staring at the building, looking uncertain. "What is it, Jess?"
She turned to him. "It's just that…You have to understand…." She could not seem to continue. The icy feeling returned and seized Nick. She's got to walk in there with me, he thought. Nick looked down at himself. Nick Miller, bartender and full-time slouch. He thought about all the guys Jess could be bringing to show off to her mom's family. Perfect-haired Russell, violin-playing Paul, friggin' child-saving doctor Sam, even pretty Andrew would probably be preferable to a shlump like Nick. Each time he looked at Jess, he fought with the reality that there would never be a time he was good enough for her. She had told him she loved him. Loved him, but Nick had no idea why. He glanced out the windshield. "Do you want to go?" Do you want to go with me? he wanted to add, but refrained.
"Nick, there is just one thing," she said slowly.
Nick closed his eyes. No good conversation ever started that way. "Okay," he said, gripping the steering wheel a little harder. Was she going to ask him not to tell people what he did for a living? Pretend to be someone he wasn't? Nick didn't think he could handle that right now.
She sighed. "My dad is coming."
Nick froze. "Um, what?"
Jess flopped back in the car seat. "It's my Great Aunt Neely. She's been slipping the past few years, and keeps forgetting my parents are divorced. She made a huge scene at the last reunion, so mom asked if dad would just stop by for this one so she could see him." Jess looked down at her hands. "Dad was always one of Aunt Neely's favorite people."
Now a new panic flooded Nick – a real fight-or-flight response to the idea of seeing Bob Day. "Your dad?" he asked slowly, and wished he was standing so he could surrender to his need to breakdance backward away from the building. There was one thing Nick knew for sure – Jess' dad did not like anyone dating his daughter. The guy had a real protective streak for his only child, and was downright scary about it. That put him somewhere between blueberries and sharks for Nick, things definitely to be avoided at all costs.
"I promise, no 'Parent Trap' this time," she said with a nervous smile. "I just…I just hate having to pretend that everything is hunky-dory with them. It's so wrong."
Nick took Jess' hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, it will be okay."
Jess smiled. Unbuckling her seat belt, she leaned in against Nick. "God, I am so glad you are here. I don't think I could do this without you."
Nick pulled her close and pressed his lips to the top of her head, taking in the scent of strawberries and vanilla. "I'll be right here, Day."
She tilted her head to look into his eyes and sighed. The smile she gave him melted every inch of him. Jess brushed her hand across his cheek as her lips gently pushed to his. "Did I mention I love you?"
He leaned in and returned the kiss that in a way that was meant to let her know he'd be there for as long as she needed him. It was a kiss of promise, of possession. He was walking into that room with Jessica Day, and everyone would know she was his – even her rather frightening dad.
She pulled away reluctantly. "Okay," she sighed. "Let's do this, Miller."