Author's Note: Hey guys! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you like it!

"Explain," Jess orders, speaking more gently that she had been before.

"I kissed you for a reason," Nick tells her. "I just don't know what the reason is."

This stings Jess. It shouldn't. After all, they're just friends. Why should she be upset that Nick didn't kiss her because he's deeply in love with her and he's never been more sure of anything in his life? He doesn't owe her that and she doesn't want that, right?

"Every time you and I go down that path it's like we're putting a band aid on it and just solving it for the moment, you know?" Nick explains, looking up at her helplessly.

She nods. This makes a lot of sense to her. Every moment between them seems to just patch up the situation at hand and never seems to fix whatever is bubbling beneath the surface between them.

"Maybe part of me thought the kiss would solve it," he admits.

"If anything it tore it open," Jess tells him.

"Yeah, I get that now," Nick laughs at himself. "Are you going to let go of me?"

"If I do will you run?" she asks.

"Maybe,"

"Then I'm not letting you go," she smiles at him, unable to hide her genuine affection for him. No matter what was going on, she cares about him.

She shakes her head, trying to focus on the task at hand rather than the roommate she was straddling.

"What could it be, then?" she asks him.

"What?" he asks, also having trouble concentrating with Jess siting on top of him.

"The thing between us," Jess did her best not to focus on his lips as he talked. But it wasn't easy.

They both awkwardly looked everywhere but at one another.

"Wasn't this easier when we were just putting band aids on this and not really dealing with it?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I never had to pin you to the ground back then."

"It's not the worst..." Nick smiled at her, making her blush.

"Stop it!" she yelled at him.

"What?"

"Stop being... all..." she searched for words "I don't know. Stop being cute and making me laugh. We have to talk about this! We have to figure it out before it starts affecting the loft dynamic!"

"Why?" Nick asked. "I kissed you. You kissed me back. We don't know what it means yet and we're not going to figure out until..."

"Until what?" Jess asked, leaning in.

"Until we kiss again and see if it was a one time thing or not."

Jess blushed. She let go of his wrists, letting him sit up beneath her. Was he serious? Kiss again? Could that help?

"Okay," she mumbled.

"Okay?" Nick asked.

"Okay, let's kiss." Jess said.

"Okay, then," Nick looked at her.

They look at one another, sizing each other up. Nick leans in a bit, but second guesses himself and pulls back. Jess puckers her lips before frowning.

"This is awkward," Jess says.

"It really is," Nick says.

"We can't just kiss on the spot," Jess says.

"Right," Nick agrees.

"So maybe we just... surprise each other," Jess suggests.

"Surprise each other?" Nick asks.

"Sometime this week... one of us will kiss the other one." Jess says. "That way, it's spontaneous, but not out of nowhere. Sometime this week, I'll kiss you or you'll kiss me... and we'll know."

"Sounds good to me," Nick replies, smiling.

"Great," she extends her hand to him and he shakes it.

"You should probably get off my lap now," Nick tells her.

"Oh, right."