You guys are an impatient bunch, really. But I hear your pleas for more New Girl fanfiction. There simply isn't enough here! I'm enjoying these few chapters, it's been fun to write. Thanks for the reviews, means the world to me. *Hugs*

Jess threw the door of the handicap bathroom open (thank god, it was a nice one), dragged Nick in, and locked it decisively.

They were silent for a few seconds, and then they both exploded.

'Why would you even do that!'

'Do you normally KISS over menus when you go for dates with Rebecca?'

'What does 'take a little walk' even mean?'

'Taking a walk, what else? Now, taking 'a couple of rounds in the car' has lewd meaning!'

'What's with the creepy finger thing?' Nick imitated, crawling his fingers up his arm with a disgruntled look on his face.

Jess opened her mouth to retort, and then shut it, deciding to glare at Nick fiercely. Nick seemed to be taking a cooler approach than she did, and that annoyed her. She glared at him even harder.

'You know, Jess, you started it,' Nick said quietly.

'NO I DIDN'T-' Jess yelled back, but then she realized- she did. She had done the whole finger-toying thing first… But, but Nick had been so… touchy-feely with Rebecca!

'You-' she pointed a finger at Nick, '-you were being all cosy with Rebecca.' She put her hands on her face and made a kissy-expression. 'Look I'm Nick Miller, and its so on with my girlfriend Rebecca!'

Nick looked amused.

'Rebecca is super affectionate. She's always like that, competition or not.'

Jess flushed. She knew where this was going. And the embarrassment, the whole humiliation and absurdity of it all, welled up inside her.

'Rebecca isn't my competition,' she said in a small voice.

And the atmosphere changed. It was suddenly much, much warmer.

Nick tugged at his shirt collar. He wasn't sure if he was ready for where this conversation was headed.

'You sure were acting like the PDA was a competition,' he said stubbornly.

'It wasn't!' Jess protested. 'You mean a girl can't get unprovoked sexy with her boyfriend?'

Nick made his turtle face.

'You know, maybe you were just jea-' he cut off.

They both knew once the j-word came up, there'd be no going back. And that was a scary realization.

'Have you even gotten cosy with Greg until today when Rebecca and I were here?' he asked accusingly.

Jess flushed an angry scarlet, and she shoved him in the chest. However, Nick caught her arms mid-shove, and they glowered at each other for a whole 3 seconds, until they became painfully aware of how close their faces were to each other. Jess' eyes widened a little as she realized just how close their faces were- their noses were barely 2 inches from each other.

'Oh fuck it,' Nick sighed.

And he closed the distance between their lips.

The temperature shot up 30 degrees.

They melted into each other.

Grabbing each other's hair and pressing themselves hard against each other, it went on until Nick had to come up for air. They separated and fell back on opposite walls.

They breathed heavily at each other.

Jess rubbed at her smeared lipstick.

'That-' she heaved, '-was unexpected.'

Nick rubbed the back of his head- had he knocked it against the wall? It was throbbing- and nodded.

They stared at each other- Jess backed up against the door, Nick against the wall.

Had anything changed?

'That was pretty hot,' Nick managed.

Jess' eyes lit up with humor. 'Yes, it was,' she agreed.

'Any regrets?' Nick asked quietly.

Jess' blue eyes met his brown ones, and she shook her head slowly.

'No.'

Nick tried to stifle the smile that was threatening to overtake his face.

'Your boyfriend, my girlfriend- they're both waiting outside. What happens now?'

What happens now? Between Greg and her and Nick and Rebecca? Or just between them?

Jess looked at him questioningly, and the question floated in the air for a few seconds. Nick grinned at Jess, simply pleased by the night's events, seemingly unaware of what Jess was thinking.

'What do you suggest?'

'I say we sneak out, skip dinner, get back to the loft, and do some more of this-' he gestured, '-in my room or yours.' He grinned.

Jess couldn't help it. Her lip upturned a little.

But. Greg was still her boyfriend... right? And Nick was her roommate- and one of her best friend. She liked Greg. She did. And Nick mattered. He mattered a lot. There was so much risk there. She didn't particularly want to lose Greg- he didn't deserve it at all- and more importantly, she didn't want to lose Nick.

To get with what Nick was saying would be a huge game changer- and was she really ready for that?

She lifted a finger to her lip. It still tingled.

'Nick-' she started, '-I'm going to go out and pretend this didn't happen. I'm going to have a civilized dinner with Greg, go for a walk, just a walk, and then I'll go back to the apartment, where I'm sleeping in my bed.'

Nick's jaw dropped.

'Wha-what?' he said hoarsely.

'You matter, Nick. You're one of my best friends, and my roommate.'

The wrinkle between Nick's eyebrows came back and straighted and cleared his throat.

'So… I'm going to go out there and say that I washed my hands clean, and I'm ready for dinner. And not that I just made out with my roommate- whom I've been crazy about for ages. That suits me fucking fantastic. See you at the loft.'

And he slammed the door behind him.