Schmidt sat in his office, typing away lazily at his computer. He checked the clock in the corner of the screen—only three o'clock, he still had two more hours of this monotony. Glumly, he opened up his web browser to check his email for what felt like the millionth time. When he saw two new messages, he thanked the heavens above for giving him something to do for the next few minutes. He opened the first email, which was just a junk offer for some watermelon vanilla bean body lotion that was on sale. Even though he already had his own moisturizer, he went on to read even the fine print of the email out of boredom. He then deleted the junk mail and opened the next message in his inbox. It was sent by an online company that Schmidt frequently bought suits from. He read the email to himself, "Hello! We've noticed that you are a loyal customer and because we value your business so much, we are attaching four tickets for a cruise to the Caribbean to this email. Enjoy your vacation and we hope to do business with you again soon!" He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He opened the attachment and sure enough, the tickets were legitimate. He hastily printed them out and turned back to the clock, anxious to get home and announce the news to his roommates who would more than likely be overjoyed by his charity; alas it was only 3:15. Would this day ever end?

Winston, Nick, and Jess were all sitting at the table playing an intense game of go fish when Schmidt came bursting through the door with a wide grin plastered across his face. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it friends?"

Nick raised one of his eyebrows and cocked his head toward his roommate who had clearly lost his mind, "Someone got into Jess's secret stash of happy pills."

Schmidt dusted off Nick's comment, too excited to care that the others were snickering at it, "I just got four tickets to go on a cruise!"

Winston rolled his eyes, "You're not supposed to click on those things, Schmidt, they're riddled with viruses."

Schmidt half-skipped over to Winston and dropped the tickets in front of him, "Read 'em and weep, boys." He noticed Jess giving him a look and quickly added, "And girl."

Winston inspected the tickets closely, determined to find an imperfection in them, but he failed. "How did you…?"

Schmidt looked pleased with himself, "One of the perks of having impeccable taste in reasonably priced suits."

Jess placed her cards face down on the table and grabbed one of the tickets. "So this is for real? Are we going on a vacation—just the four of us?"

Schmidt nodded. "That's the plan."

Jess squealed and began jumping up and down. Winston joined her and they began talking eagerly about the trip.

"I'm going to spend the week on the upper decks working on my tan; maybe I'll try shuffleboard, I've always wanted to play." Jess said elatedly.

"Yeah, they have a bunch of stuff to do and I bet the food is fantastic! Night after night of endless buffets, I'm already drooling!" Winston added.

Nick watched the two and shook his head, rearranging the cards in his hand as if they were still playing. "Well, enjoy yourselves. Send me a postcard from Jamaica or wherever it is you're going."

The smile dropped from Jess's face instantly. "You're not going, Nick?"

"Was I not making that clear?" Nick continued to fidget with his cards.

"But, you have to go, Nick! I have four tickets!" Schmidt said desperately.

"Well, give mine to someone else," Nick stated plainly.

"What's wrong with you, Nick? Don't you want a vacation?" Winston asked.

Nick shrugged, studying his cards intently, "I can't get the time off from work."

"Nick, you're a bartender, I think you can get the time off." Winston stared at him. "Come on man, what's really going on?"

Nick sighed, finally looking up from his cards, "I don't like boats."

Winston stared at him blankly, "This isn't a boat though. It's a luxury cruise. It's like a hotel on waves!"

Nick frowned, "And what happens if it sinks while you're sleeping in your luxurious hotel bed? You die. Count me out."

"Nicholas, it's one hundred percent safe, I promise. You're more likely to die in a plane crash than sink on a cruise ship." Schmidt said, trying to be helpful.

"And now I'm never going on a plane ever again. Thanks, Schmidt." Nick walked over to the fridge to get himself a beer. This conversation was way too stressful for him to have while sober.

Jess put her hands on her hips, "Well, if Nick's staying, I'm staying."

Nick popped open his beer and wheeled around to face her. "Jess, what are you doing?"

"I don't want to go if you aren't going to be there. It won't be any fun without you." She looked at him sympathetically before crossing her arms and withdrawing into herself to let him know that her decision was final.

Nick sighed and turned to Schmidt, "Sorry man, looks like you've got two extra tickets."

Schmidt started to protest, but Winston interjected, "If they aren't going, I'm bringing Daisy!"

Schmidt grumbled. "Great, looks like I'm going to be the third wheel. Thanks guys."

Jess patted his shoulder, "You should invite Cece."

Schmidt wanted to laugh, but the pain in his chest kept him quiet, "She doesn't want to go anywhere with me, let alone a romantic cruise to the Caribbean."

"Who says it has to be romantic? I think you both could use some time away."

Schmidt hung his head, "She's going to say no."

"She won't say no." Jess countered, "Call her."

Cece was watching TV with Nadia when her phone rang just as the Russian supermodel's latest infomercial came on. Cece sneaked into her room to answer it. She saw that it was Schmidt from the caller ID and couldn't help but smile before saying hello.

"Hey, Cece, is this a bad time?"

"No, it's actually the perfect time. Nadia's watching her latest commercial and reciting her lines in sync with the TV; it's pretty annoying. What's up?" She sounded cheerful.

"That's rich; classic Nadia. Listen, I have an extra ticket to go on this cruise and it's yours if you want it."

"Yes!" Cece shouted into her phone.

Schmidt wasn't expecting such enthusiasm and he certainly wasn't expecting her to say yes. "What, you mean you'll go?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Of course I'll go; Nadia is driving me crazy. If I don't get out of this apartment I'm going to go crazy."

Schmidt could feel a smile begin to grow across his lips, "So the ship leaves Monday at noon; I'll pick you up at eleven?"

"I'll be ready. Thanks, Schmidt."

"No problem, I'll see you then."

"Goodnight, Schmidt."

"Goodnight, Cecelia."

After she hung up the phone, Cece had to restrain herself from throwing it in the air in triumph. She needed a vacation so bad.

Just before noon on Monday, Nick and Jess were saying goodbye to their friends before they boarded the cruise ship. Cece pulled Jess aside, "Are you going to be okay? I know you've always wanted to go on a cruise."

Jess nodded, "I'm positive. It'll be nice to have the loft all to ourselves for a change." She started to laugh, but she noticed Cece looked nervous, "Are you going to be okay?"

Cece seemed distracted, "Huh? Oh me? I'll be fine. I need to get out of the apartment; I can't watch another infomercial about that diet pill, I'm going crazy just thinking about it."

Jess could sense she was still on edge, "Cees, if this is about Schmidt..."

Cece almost played the dumb card, but she knew Jess wouldn't have any of it, "I'm just worried. What if I do something stupid?"

"You won't; and he won't do anything to provoke you doing something stupid because he's just as nervous." Jess reassured her.

The horn on the boat sounded and people started filing onto the ship. Jess hugged her friends as they departed. As the boat launched, they waved at Nick and Jess from the railing. When the ship was well out of sight, Nick took Jess by the hand and they walked back to his car and drove home.

When they got to the loft, Jess walked over to the table and sat down. Propping her chin up on her elbows, she looked at Nick and asked, "What now?"

Nick sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, "You want to watch a movie or something?"

Jess sighed. "Actually, I'm kind of tired; I think I'm going to go take a nap."

Nick turned to face her and noticed the look of disappointment on her face. He wasn't sure exactly how to respond so he just said, "Okay."

Jess let out another disappointed sigh as she walked to her room. Nick watched her slink away and cursed himself for being so thick headed. He turned his attention back to the television, flipping through the channels absentmindedly since his mind was in another place entirely. He knew he had to do something for Jess; after all, she had given up the trip of a lifetime to stay home with him. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that a wonderful woman like Jess was so hung up on a deadbeat like himself. He flipped through a few more channels, not really paying any mind to what was on them, before switching off the television entirely and heading out the door. He had to do something to prove to Jess that he was worth staying behind.

Once the ship had set sail, Winston and Daisy checked into their room and then went off to explore the decks together leaving Schmidt and Cece standing awkwardly by the railing. Schmidt looked extremely uncomfortable, so Cece spoke first, "I guess we should go put our things in the room."

Schmidt nodded. "I suppose that would be best."

The room was just like any hotel room; two single beds, a tiny bathroom, and a small TV. Cece sat on her bed and stared down at her feet. Schmidt stood a safe distance away and twiddled his thumbs.

"Well, I'm going to check out the rest of the ship; you're welcome to join me." Cece got up and walked toward the door. Schmidt followed her reluctantly.

They walked around for a bit, but the air turned sour fairly quickly. Cece kept turning to Schmidt and making comments about things and he would either nod silently or ignore her completely. "What is with you? Why did you even invite me if you were going to act this way?" Cece asked in a cutting tone.

"I'm sorry, Cece, how do you want me to act?" His words were colder than he intended, but he went with it by staring at her harshly.

"I want you to act normal." She didn't appreciate the way he was looking at her, so she met his gaze with even more intensity.

"You want normal, Cece? You want me to make stupid jokes and pretend like being around you without actually being with you doesn't kill me inside? That's normalcy and I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore."

"Oh please, don't act like you're the victim in all this. I told you why we can't be together right now. You knew what you were getting into when you invited me." Cece stalked toward the railing, staring off into the setting sun.

Schmidt followed her, "I didn't want to invite you, but Jess twisted my arm and convinced me to."

Cece scoffed.

"It's true," He leaned against the railing, "Truth is, I would have preferred to have come alone, but I actually wanted to see you. I've missed you, Cecelia. I lo-"

"Don't say it." Cece's brown eyes met his and warned him not to finish his thought. "I can't hear you say those words again. You say them so much that they're starting to lose all meaning."

Schmidt nodded, frowning slightly, "Fine, I won't say it; but there's nothing stopping me from showing it." He parted his lips and leaned forward, kissing her full on the mouth.

Cece recoiled. "Schmidt,"

"Shhhh," he whispered, kissing her again. This time she didn't pull away. She wrapped her arms around him and didn't object when he suggested they head back to their room.

"Looks like someone made up." Daisy was only a few feet away when Schmidt and Cece started making out and then scampered away, presumably to their room. Winston walked up behind her, grabbing her by the waist and pressing his face into her warm neck.

"Those two are off and on so much I'm beginning to think they're a light switch." Winston chuckled at his own corny joke and even Daisy stifled a laugh.

"You gotta admit though, they're kinda perfect for each other." She turned her head to look at Winston, who smiled in turn.

"Not as perfect as us." He pursed his lips and gave her a light peck on the lips.

"I wouldn't say we're perfect," she smirked at the nervous glint that appeared in his eyes, "but we're pretty damn close." Winston kissed her again, more forcefully this time.

"I'm starved, what do ya say we hit the buffet?" Winston asked.

"Lead the way, Winch." Daisy linked her arm through his and they went off in search of food.

Jess was lying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't gotten much sleep seeing as she was too angry for that. She didn't expect much from Nick, but he could have offered for them to do something fun or romantic. Instead he'd just turned on the TV and started flipping through channels like a mindless zombie. And it wasn't as if he didn't know what he did wrong, she saw the way he was looking at her over the back of the couch, she had all of his looks memorized by now. He could have come into her room and apologized or offered to talk about it, but he didn't even do that.

Now Jess sat in her bed, seething mad because she knew he had left her all alone in the apartment. She had come out of her room hours ago to find him gone. He hadn't even bothered to leave a note. So she settled back into her bed and prepared for a fight whenever he returned home.

"Jess, are you awake?" Nick knocked on the door softly, hoping that by waking her up he wasn't about to wake a sleeping dragon.

Jess sat up in bed, a stern look drawn across her face. "Come in."

Nick opened the door slowly; he was smiling until he saw her face. "Is everything alright?"

Jess took a deep breath, "Actually, Nicholas, I-"

"Jess wait, before you say anything, can you just come with me for a second?"

Jess raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I promise it will be worth it." He looked so hopeful that she couldn't say no.

He led her up to the roof. The minute she walked outside, her breath hitched in her throat. Nick had really outdone himself. The roof was lined with wicker torches. There was a small plastic pool to her left with lounge chairs around it. Beside the pool, Nick had fashioned a hammock out of bed sheets. To her right was an air mattress, made up with a large sleeping bag. In the middle of the roof, a table was set up with two luau style meals waiting for them: some random fruit skewered together with chunks of beef jerky and a jug of Hawaiian Punch. Jess turned to face Nick, who had a humble smile on his face. "I know it's not a luxury cruise, but I think it's pretty close."

Jess pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tightly. "It's perfect."

Nick pulled a chair out for her and offered for her to sit down to their luau feast when thunder suddenly clapped overhead.

"Um, Nick? Is it supposed to rain tonight?"

Nick stared at her and shook his head. "I don't think so."

As if on cue, rain started to pour down all around them. Nick made his turtle face and nodded as if this was typical for them. Jess laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer for a passionate kiss in the rain.