"Jess! JESS! Wait up!" yelled Nick.

"No, Nick. Go away! Go away, Nick!"

"Jess, I'm sorry! It's not what you think!"

"No, Nick. I can't, I just can't! Please!"

"Jess!"

Nick caught up to Jess, who had stopped walking. He gently her elbow and turned her to face him. "Jess, please. What you saw wasn't what you saw!"

"Nick, please! I saw her kiss you. I saw you smile at her. I can't do this right now. I can't do it."

"Jess, please. Just listen to me. Just listen to me for a minute!" pleaded Nick. "What you saw, what you think you saw, Jess? Yes, she kissed me, but that kiss . . . it was a thank you . . ."

Angry tears welled in the corner of her eye as she yelled in disbelief at her roommate. "Oh, my gosh, Nick. That's gross. Why would you tell me that?" Jess yelled.

"NO! Not like that. It was a thank you and a good bye. Jess, two weeks ago, I told her I couldn't see her anymore, and yeah, we kind of had a thing, but it's over. It's OVER! And she's moved on."

"And what about you, Nick? I mean, gosh, I didn't even know you were seeing someone. Why didn't you tell me, Nick? You kissed me!" she yelled. Jess tried to turn her body away from him and closed her eyes. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"I didn't tell you because it wasn't even really a thing. It was one time, and it was a mistake, and I was too afraid to tell you because I'm too afraid to lose you, Jess," Nick yelled, pleadingly. Nick considered what he just said, and dropped his hand from her elbow. "I'm afraid to lose you, Jess," Nick said, softer.

At his tone, Jess turned back to face him, hot and angry. "Don't you dare, Nick Miller. You think you can just flash a little vulnerability and get me to forgive you. Well, you can't. YOU. CAN'T!" she yelled. "You are a giant, grumpy mystery, who never, ever shares his feelings, and I am so tired of not knowing how you feel or where I stand with you!"

Hearing Jess' criticism, Nick turned defensive and angry. "You never know how. I. feel? Or where YOU stand?" asked Nick. "I KISSED YOU! On the MOUTH. With Tongue! I practically suck your face off, I want you so bad, and what do you do? YOU MAKE ME DO CHORES AROUND THE HOUSE FOR A MONTH!" he yelled. "What am I supposed to think? That I'm good enough to fix things around the house for you, but I'm not good enough to be your boyfriend? How do you think that made me feel?"

"I didn't know how you felt! I didn't know how I felt! You're my roommate, and my friend. I care about you Nick, and I didn't just want to throw away our friendship over some kiss that, yeah, was hot, but maybe didn't mean anything. Or maybe, seeing as how all we do is YELL at one another, we'd get together but it would be awful. AWFUL!" she yelled. "I was scared, Nick! I'm scared."

"Well, I'm scared too!" yelled Nick.

"Well, fine!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"Well, WHAT ARE WE YELLING ABOUT THEN?" yelled Nick.

"I DON'T KNOW, MILLER!" yelled Jess.

Standing in the parking lot outside of Nick's bar, Jess and Nick looked at each other. They were breathing heavily from their shouting exchange, and their blood sang loudly in their ears. Nick looked at Jess, her face flushed and eyes glittery from anger. Unbidden, Nick's adrenaline and anger turned to arousal. Willing away the desire to take her lips with his mouth, Nick clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and counted to thirty. Around them, in the parking lot of Nick's bar, a few confused patrons tried, surreptitiously, to either watch or get into their cars and drive away.

Nick ran his hand over his face, counted another 10-count, and opened his eyes. "Look, Jess, I'm not good at this. I'm not good at talking about my feelings. In general. But the feelings I have . . . for you, Jess . . . they scare me. They SCARE me, Jess."

Jess looked at Nick in confusion. "Nick?"

"Yeah, Jess?"

"Why did you kiss me?" asked Jess.

"I kissed you because I couldn't help it, Jess. I couldn't help it! There was that stupid game, and yeah, I've thought about kissing you, but it wasn't till afterward, when I saw you with Sam . . . I thought, "Nick, what if that was your only shot? What if that was the only chance you'll get to kiss Jess, ever?" And then afterward, in the hallway, there you were, needing me, and smiling at me . . . and I couldn't help it. It was dumb, and stupid, and a mistake. And I'm sorry." Nick looked up at her with a pained expression. "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat if you'd let me."

Jess inhaled sharply. She felt her face flush and her body grow warm at his words. "What?"

"The closer I get to you, Jess, the more it scares me. The fact that I can hate that you sing about everything while also finding it adorable makes no sense to me. The fact that I know that you smell like Vanilla is both weird and arousing. And even though I hate when people call me Nicholas, from you, it sounds like a damn poem," confessed Nick. "Jess, I'm happy living in the loft with the guys and you, working at the bar. But the feelings I have for you make me think about . . . houses with fences and, I don't know, maybe a yard . . .they make me want a life different from the one I have now, a time when I won't be in the loft with you and the guys. But to be honest, even though part of me wants that, I'm not ready for it, not now, and so those feelings, they scare me."

Jess looked at Nick thoughtfully. "Nick?" she asked.

"Yeah, Jess?"

Jess walked toward Nick, and looked him in the eye. "I'm really sorry. I should have told you how I felt, afterward. I should have told you that I liked the kiss, and that it meant something to me." She took his hands and held them between their bodies. "And I get where you're coming from, Nick. I like being one of the boys with you, Schmidt, and Winston. I like what we have now. But I also like you, Nick. I'm scared too, but I like you, and I want to see what it's like to be with you."

Nick exhaled shakily. He suddenly felt tired and exposed. "Jess, you chose the wrong guy."

She smiled gently at him, "Why's that, Nick?"

Nick looked at her with a pained expression. "I'm going to screw up. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but sometime in the future, I'm going to get scared again, so I'll do something, again, that will hurt you. And if that happens, WHEN that happens, I hope you'll be able to forgive me."

"And sometime, in the future, Nick, I'm going to get scared. Then I'll put up a front and pretend that something doesn't matter when it does. A lot. And my cold shoulder will hurt you. When that happens, I hope you'll be able to forgive me too," said Jess. "Nick, will you go out with me?"

Nick looked up at Jess. She gave him a soft smile, one that crinkled the corners of her eyes. Still slightly flushed from their argument earlier, Jess' cheeks were tinged pink, and her lips were soft and full. Her eyes were soft and open, inviting him to kiss her. Nick looked at the happy, smiling, kissable woman in front of him, and saw his goofy, sweet roommate that sang a lot, baked cupcakes, and always needed company to watch TWD.

"Yes, Jess, I'll go out with you," said Nick, and then he leaned in and kissed her.