Here is chapter six. Thank you guys so much for your patience. Sorry if this one is kind of short or poorly edited, I was kind of rushing. If there are any mistakes, let me know and I will fix them. But enjoy!

Ch. 6 – With Everybody Here, Friends So Dear

JFK – December 30th

Schmidt had no idea how he had survived the last six days surrounded by his mother, aunt, cousin & various other relatives. Each day seemed to be longer than the last. He couldn't wait to get back home.

Sitting all alone at the near empty waiting area by the gate his flight boarded at, Schmidt found himself feeling anxious. He couldn't wait to see her again and ask her all about how she spent her holiday. He had once said that he couldn't go three days without Cece. After six days, he was going through some serious withdrawals.

He pulled out his phone and swiped through the copies of the pictures Cece had taken of them during their tour around the city. The day after they said their goodbye's she sent him an email with a folder attached that held duplicates of every single one they'd captured, recalling the memory it was associated with.

Words couldn't describe how gorgeous he thought her smile was. Every time he came across a photo of her beaming her full teeth-showing grin, he had no control to stop himself from matching it. Scrolling through, one by one, Schmidt found a picture that rendered every muscle in his body completely motionless. It was one of the photos he had taken of the both of them in Times Square. Schmidt had held the camera at an upward angle, making sure to get the lit up billboard in the background. They were smiling for the camera, but Schmidt noticed he was the only one actually looking into the lens. Whereas Cece's eyes were locked onto him. It reminded him of the photo they had taken on the cruise ship in Mexico after they were rescued from being trapped in their room for three days. He didn't notice her gaze until Winston had pointed it out in front of everyone. When he took a closer look, he too saw it and smiled to himself, but then he denied it to avoid embarrassing Cece.

In this picture, she was giving him that very same smile. He didn't know what to think of it. Naturally, the first thing he felt was genuine jubilance. The first time, he convinced himself that her look was nothing more than a side effect from starvation and cabin fever, but there was no way this time was a coincidence. There had to be some kind of meaning to this. Thousands of thoughts swirled through his mind all at once. Does he ask her what it means? What if it's just a friendly, appreciative glance? What if he asks her about it and she denies it? Would she break off their friendship?

Just thinking of that hypothetical situation, Schmidt's stomach went from butterflies happily fluttering to twisting and turning into the most intricate of knots. He couldn't lose Cece as a friend. Especially not after the amazing progress they had made in only a matter of two weeks. It doesn't mean anything Schmidt, he thought to himself, she has made it perfectly clear several times that she only wants to be friends & you've accepted that. You can't ruin it now.

He admired the picture for a few moments longer then continued on swiping through the rest. Giving his eyes a break from the screen, he looked up just as a small group of people rode up on the escalator. He didn't want to strain himself searching their faces in the off chance Cece was among them, because if she was, he knew he would look desperate as hell. Casually, he glanced over and scanned the crowd. Once he saw her, he quickly directed his gaze back down at his phone. Knowing she was there caused his heart to start beating faster and harder than it ever had before. Struggling to regain his self-control, he was forced to fight himself, trying to keep his smile from pressing through.

Schmidt's ears were honed in on her footsteps. That sharp click-clacking of her heels somehow brought him so much comfort. Without seeing her, he was still entirely aware of every move she made. She was getting closer and it was getting more and more difficult to pretend he hadn't noticed. He brought the phone closer to his face to make it seem as though he was fixated on anything else.

Cece made a beeline straight for him, practically powerwalking faster than she ever had before. It had been the longest six days of her life, but she endured it all and was ready to claim her prize of his company. "Hey." She said to him not bothering to hide the excitement in her voice.

Schmidt looked up and succeeded at acting as if he hadn't noticed her presence. "Hey." Before he could even attempt to stand to greet her, she had already taken the seat next to him, leaning over the armrest to hug him tight with enthusiasm.

"How long have you been here?"

"A little over an hour."

"Really? What, were you trying to beat the New Year's rush or something?"

"No. I was trying to keep my sanity. I had to get out of Queens as soon as possible. Any second longer & I would have committed myself into the psych ward." His tone was lighthearted, but he was dead serious, his family could push his buttons.

"Okay, I need to meet your mother one day. I think it might shed some light on so many things."

"Trust me…that is never going to happen."

Cece looked over at him playfully. "Oh come on. What's the worst that could happen? What, are you afraid she'll embarrass you with humiliating stories from your childhood?" She was genuinely surprised she had never met his mother after all these years.

Schmidt shook his head. "No….well maybe, but that's not it."

"So what then?" She asked sincerely.

"Truthfully…She's very critical and judgmental and overbearing. She always has an opinion on every aspect of my life that she doesn't approve of, which is pretty much everything."

"Well she can't be any worse than my mom."

"How was your family Christmas celebration by the way?"

Cece rolled her eyes at the mention of her family. "Probably about as aggravating as yours seemed to be."

"Well, hey, at least it's over. And we're still standing."

"Amen!" she said as they both laughed.

Their shared chuckle died down allowing them to hear an announcement over the intercom of the airport. "Flight 268 from London has just arrived and will be disembarking at Gate J14!"

"Isn't that Jess' flight?" Schmidt asked hearing something familiar about that flight number.

"I think it is." Cece looked down at her watch. "We don't board for another half hour, you want to go meet her?"

Schmidt nodded and stood up to grab both his and Cece's bags. "Yeah, let's do it."

Schmidt and Cece stood at the gate watching as several people walked out of the tunnel and reunited with their friends and loved ones. Finally, after what seemed like a hundred people left the plane, Cece spotted Jess through the crowd.

"Jess!" She screamed raising her hand and waving it for Jess to see over everyone. "Over here!"

Jess followed the sound of her best friend's voice and weaved through the mass of people until she reached them. "Hey guys! How the hell are you?" She gave the both of them a hug, nearly choking each of them.

"How was London?" Schmidt asked once she let go.

Jess' smile only grew as she threw on a fake English accent. "Oh I had a merry ol' time in London! Ryan's family was so wonderful." Schmidt and Cece share a look at how horribly she was butchering the manner in which the British speak. "We went to Buckingham Palace and saw Big Ben...It was truly a magical experience."

"Is this fake British accent an all-day thing? Or…." Schmidt didn't care if he sounded rude.

Cece agreed with him, though. "Yeah that's gotta stop."

"You guys are not fun at all." Together, the three of them waked back to their gate to wait for the flight back to LAX to board. As they sat down in the passenger waiting area, Jess was so happy to see them for the first time in nearly two weeks and wanted to know everything about their holiday vacation.

"So, Cece…how was New York? You have fun?"

Cece's smile grew wider than she had ever seen it. "So much fun! I learned to ice skate, we went to Coney Island, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty…"

"Really?" Jess asked shocked. "I thought your mom hated going to all those crowded places."

"Oh I didn't go with my mom…Schmidt and I did all that stuff."

"Wait…what?" Jess was taken aback. She knew that they would both be in New York, but she assumed that they would spend their time there separately.

"Yeah." Cece continued, not even noticing her friend's confusion. She was too busy reliving all the glorious moments she had shared with her ex. "Well, we were having lunch one day & I told him how I never really experienced New York, so he took me on a tour and we did all kinds of fun stuff."

"Wow. It's cool that guys spent a lot of time together."

As they told Jess all about their time together touring around the great city of New York, she just watched on in amazement at the way they interacted with one another. It was almost as if she wasn't there. Schmidt and Cece replayed everything they did, sharing little laughs while doing so. Jess didn't know what to make of it. She knew their history better than anyone and had hoped they would find a way to move past it and be friends, but what she was watching unfold in front of her looked like they were getting ready to repeat the past.

When the conversation slowly died down, Jess stood up rather abruptly. "Hey, I'm gonna go to the gift shop and get one of those neck pillows for the flight & maybe some magazines to read. Cece will you come with me?"

"Yeah." Cece responded then turned to Schmidt. "You okay to watch the bags for a while? Do you mind?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You guys go ahead."

Cece stood up and turned to him one more time "Okay…Do you want me to grab you anything?" They shared a sweet and somewhat flirtatious smile that was not lost on Jess.

"No, I'm good." Schmidt said appreciatively. Jess felt like they were in high school watching two kids with a crush on each other. At that, she got a little worried.

At the gift shop, Jess was looking through a stand of assorted neck pillows varying in color, comfortability and other attributes, but the entire time, she was contemplating how to approach her best friend with a sensitive subject. She wanted to be subtle, but still gauge where her head was at.

"So…You and Schmidt seem to be getting along a lot better than you used to. Sounds like New York was really fun."

Cece was perusing through a spinning rack of keychains, but once she heard Jess mention Schmidt and New York, her voice took on a dreamy and loving tone. "It really was." She said without realizing what she sounded like.

"It's really nice to see the two of you actually being friends."

"Yeah. We talked about giving this friendship a real shot. I've missed hanging out with him. We've always had fun together."

"That's good." Jess looked over at Cece, who was still smiling as she thought about Schmidt. She figured there was no indirect way to ask the next question, so she just went for it. "So if this whole friendship things works out, do you think you guys will give the whole dating thing another shot?"

Cece's head whipped around so fast, she almost got whiplash. "What?" she asked trying her best to contain herself. "Wh-why would you ask that?"

"Just 'cause…I've seen the way you two are around each other now compared to how you used to be, and it seems like there's something that might be starting up again."

"The only thing that's starting up is a new kind of friendship. I care about Schmidt, but we are just friends now."

Jess knew that wasn't the whole story, but chose to let it go for the time being. She had known Cece long enough to know that if she wasn't ready to admit to anything, it was mainly because she wouldn't admit it to herself. "Okay. If you say so. But, if you do start to feel that way about him again, just know that you can always talk to me about it. I've always thought you guys were good together." Jess grabbed one of the neck pillows off of the shelf and headed to the checkout counter to pay for it, leaving Cece there to think about what she had said.

With a million things running through her mind at once, she looked over and saw a postcard with a picture of a couple skating at the Rockefeller Center hand-in-hand. Cece smiled at the memory, also remembering what else had happened on that ice rink. She knew her feelings for Schmidt had come back, but she had decided that she would let it be for now and not say anything to him for a while. She had to stand by her decision.

On the plane

At thirty thousand feet up in the air, Cece was struggling to get comfortable. For some reason, the short conversation she had with Jess was still weighing on her mind. It was causing her to second guess everything.

Sitting next to her, Schmidt was reading on of the magazines Jess had purchased from the gift shop earlier. Every once in a while, he would read something that would make him smile or nod in agreement and Cece would just watch him out of the corner of her eye, completely mesmerized. As she shifted in her seat for the millionth time, she breathed a heavy sigh of annoyance. Schmidt looked over at her and knew exactly what was troubling her. He reached underneath his seat to his carry-on bag and pulled out the pillow she had stolen for him from the first class lounge and handed it over to her.

When she saw it, she smiled at the sentiment. He was always so thoughtful. She graciously accepted the pillow threw it behind her head, suddenly finding contentment to fall asleep for a short while.

After a few hours of pleasant and uninterrupted sleep, Cece woke up just in time for Schmidt to tell her they would be landing soon. She felt the plane slowly decrease in elevation, but the knotted uneasiness she had normally felt churn in her stomach wasn't there. She closed her eyes and thought back to the ride on the Ferris wheel, and how Schmidt had calmed her down enough to completely forget where she was.

With her eyelids tightly shut, she was back on that Ferris wheel, her face in his hands, lost in his gorgeous hazel eyes. Everything else seemed nonexistent. She was brought back to the reality when she felt his hand clutch hers. She looked over at him.

"Scared?" He asked her sincerely.

"Y-Yeah." That was a lie. Her fear had completely disappeared, but that warm feeling that spread through her had been present the second their hands embraced. More than anything, Cece wasn't ready to break that connection just yet. So she decided to pretend she was scared. Just for now.

At LAX

After landing, it took the three of them about an hour to fight through the baggage claim area to locate all of their luggage. Schmidt tried to carry most of it for the ladies in an effort to be chivalrous, but their bags were heavier than his.

Walking past the exit towards the cab stand in the direction of long-term parking, Cece made a joke to Schmidt about there not being any limo's to steal which caused the both of them to erupt into a fit of laughter. Jess felt out of the loop at their little inside joke. "I can't believe we have to come back here tomorrow to pick up Coach, Nick & Winston." She said somewhat irritated.

Once they located Schmidt's car in the airport's parking garage, they loaded up all their suitcases and piled in heading home. Pulling up to Cece's apartment, Schmidt and Jess both got out to help her unload her bags and say goodbye until tomorrow. Jess had pulled her aside to speak to Cece privately for a minute, leaving Schmidt the perfect opportunity to sneak his Christmas gift to Cece into one of her bags. He thought it would be quick, but as he went to close the suitcase, he struggled a bit.

Jess noticed how long he was taking and yelled at him to put a pep in his step. Finally, Schmidt was able to zip up the bag and pulled it and the rest out of the car, setting them down on the sidewalk. The two got ready to say their goodbyes to one another. As Jess looked at the two of them, she caught on to the energy they were giving off and excused herself to allow them some privacy, hoping like hell one of them would admit their feelings towards the other.

Cece was the first to speak. "Listen, I just wanted to say thank you again for everything. I had a really great time with you. I hope we can have another adventure like that again real soon."

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you had fun. And I fully intend on keeping our promise to doing something adventurous every now and then."

"Right. I'll hold you to that." They shared a caring smile for a few seconds before Cece's impulse took over and she pulled him in for a hug. This one was similar to the one they shared in Times Square on their last night together. Neither of them wanted to let go. Cece moved her head slightly to speak into his ear. "You're the best." She said to him quietly.

Schmidt smiled at her voice in his ear and moved his head to do the same. "What are friends for?" He whispered to her. At the mention of that word, Cece's face fell. The butterflies in her stomach went from fluttering a full speed to a quick and sudden halt. Now she knew what he had gone through in the airport food court almost two weeks ago.

Schmidt pulled out of their embrace and Cece put on a fake smile to save face. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked her hopefully.

"Right." She tried to hide the disdain in her voice. "Yeah, tomorrow." Schmidt turned around and headed back to the car, hoping into the driver's seat and pulling away from the curb. Once again, Cece stood on the sidewalk, staring after the car that held the only guy she ever truly cared for, wishing for their current situation to be different.

Two hours later

Cece toweled off her wet hair after a much needed hot shower. Traveling always left her feeling pretty icky and exhausted. She threw on her pajama pants, a soft tank top and tied her hair up into a messy bun. She figured now was a good a time as any to unpack her bags and wash all her clothes.

Turning on the T.V. for background noise, Cece tossed her suitcases onto her bed and unzipped the tab, flinging in open. The first thing her eyes saw was the perfectly wrapped gift box sitting atop all of her belongings. For a second, Cece thought she had grabbed the wrong bag, but seeing all of her clothes and personal item underneath it put that thought to rest.

She picked up the gift and savagely tore the wrapping off and threw it to the floor. What was left in her hands, was a grey Tiffany's box around the size of her phone and a card along with it.

Cece, we'll always have New York, and every memory we shared. -Schmidt

Cece smiled to herself. It was no wonder her feelings for him never went away, he was so caring and thoughtful. Setting the card down carefully, she opened the box, immediately growing breathless as she saw what was inside.

Resting in it was a Sterling silver charm bracelet. Each charm on it had been sensibly picked out to reflect a memory the two had shared during their citywide excursion throughout the Big Apple. There was an ice skate, a penguin, a camera, a snowflake, a tiny Statue of Liberty, a Ferris wheel and even a carousel.

She couldn't contain her smile and truthfully, she didn't want to. This was, without a doubt, the greatest Christmas gift anyone had ever gotten for her. She wanted to hop in her car, drive over to the loft and jump into his arms, kissing him passionately. But she convinced herself not to, somehow. Instead, she put the bracelet on her wrist and lied down on her bed staring at it and smiled. She closed her eyes to replay every moment they had spent together in New York, and before she knew it, she had dozed off, dreaming about the love of her life.

Hope you liked this. The final chapter will be out soon. Until then please review and let me know what you think. And thank you to all my fellow Schmece fans out there!