Thank you so much for the reviews!

I don't want to bore you with details so I will just say that real life kicked my ass over the last few weeks and I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. Having a new addiction (a.k.a. House M.D.) isn't helping either.

I realized after I read a review that my A/N at the end of the last chapter was a little misleading. I meant the ending of the chapter not the ending of the story. I would never leave you all hanging like this. This story isn't over yet. I have way too much fun writing it! :-)

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5

Nick had dreaded to leave his room, hoping that he could avoid a confrontation with Jess as long as possible because judging by her outburst last night when she'd thrown him out of her room, it wouldn't be pleasant. He was pretty certain the storm wasn't over yet.

He'd tried to get some sleep since he hadn't slept at all during the night and had to go to work this evening. But his brain hadn't given him any rest. Every time he'd closed his eyes he could hear Jess' moans in his ears, could hear her saying his name in that hoarse whisper that had driven him crazy. He could swear he could still feel her skin against his, slick with sweat, her fingers digging into his ass.

Rubbing his hand over his face he shook his head, trying to get rid of the memories that were still haunting him even while his eyes were wide open. He prayed that it would go away, that the desire would just stop at some point and that Jess would forgive him sooner rather than later.

He hated to fight with her. He didn't mind their bickering. It was just something Jess and he were doing. It was their thing. But a full-blown fight where they were saying things to each other that they didn't really mean just to hurt the other ... no he didn't like to fight with her.

But he couldn't stay in his room forever. His stomach was growling for the last two hours and his bladder was telling him that he really needed to go to the bathroom. He contemplated for a brief second if he should just 'water' the plant to stall the inevitable but he knew he had to face her eventually.

Nick opened the door carefully, almost expecting her to jump out and hitting him with a baseball bat. He snorted silently when he realized how ridiculous that thought was. Jess would never hit him. At least not with a baseball bat, though he wouldn't be surprised if she would slap him. He hoped it wouldn't get that far. But if she needed to slap him to stop being angry with him he would gladly take one or two slaps.

He pushed his hands into his pockets and walked slowly towards the living room. He could hear the television but he didn't hear the sounds he had expected. No rumba music but screams and shouts and rapid gun fire.

Furrowing his brows he rounded the corner and saw Jess sitting on the couch, balancing a bowl of ice cream on her propped up knees. She didn't even throw him a glance, her eyes fixated on the screen as she shoved a big spoon of ice cream into her mouth. Nick stopped at the edge of the couch, waiting for her to look up but when she still didn't take notice of him, he turned his head, wondering what she was actually watching.

"What are you watching?" Nick asked curiously.

"I am watching 'Resident Evil'." Jess replied dryly without looking up. "You know, woman slaughtering everything that comes in her way. I can completely relate to that."

"Listen, about last night..." Nick began to speak, though he wasn't really sure what he wanted to say. But Jess didn't even let him finish the sentence as she interrupted him with an irritated hand wave as if he was a fly that bothered her.

"No need. I totally get it." She said without even making eye contact, her ice cold voice causing a shiver to run down his spine. "Now if you'll excuse me. I want to watch this movie."

"Jess, I'm ..." Nick almost bit his tongue when she swirled her head around and gave him a look that froze him into place. "I swear to God, Nick, if you apologize one more time I'm gonna castrate you."

Nick stared at her with his mouth wide open, afraid to make any move. He would have preferred it if she would have slapped him. With her hand, not with words. This verbal slap hurt a lot more than any physical slap ever could.

"Schmidt?" Jess yelled towards Schmidt's room, shooting daggers at Nick while she was waiting for Schmidt to come into the living room.

"What's up?" Schmidt asked as he strolled into the room.

"Would you please tell Nick that he should leave me the hell alone?" Jess elaborated.

"Aehmm, why aren't you telling him yourself?" Schmidt asked slightly confused. "He is standing right in front of you."

"I don't want to talk to him. So you have to tell him."

"Jess, this is ridiculous." Nick said, finally able to come out of his stupor. "We need to talk. Obviously!"

"Schmidt, would you please?" Jess huffed out an annoyed breath.

"Okay, yeah, sure." Schmidt said completely baffled now and he walked towards Nick, grabbing his arm. "Come on, man. Let's give her some space."

Schmidt was leading Nick towards his room, throwing a quizzical look over his shoulder before he turned around to his best friend, pushing him into his room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"What the hell did you do this time to piss her off?"

"Why do you assume I was the one who did something to her?" Nick shot back, not able to keep his guilty conscience completely out of his voice.

"Because I know it has to be you." Schmidt stated matter-of-factly.

Nick crossed his arms defensively in front of himself and glared into Schmidt's eyes for a few seconds before he suddenly slumped his shoulders. Averting his gaze, he said barely above a whisper. "We slept together."

"Terrific." Schmidt exclaimed, rushing forward to slap Nick on the back. "It's about time."

Nick raised an eyebrow and waited until Schmidt would realize that the scene he'd just witnessed in the living room was definitely not terrific. Nick could see the exact moment it dawned on Schmidt as his smile faltered and he furrowed his brows.

"Wait a minute. Why is Jess pissed off at you then?" Schmidt asked before a sudden sympathetic expression appeared on his face. "Was it that bad? I'm sorry. I can give you some advice if you ..."

"No, Schmidt." Nick almost yelled, interrupting him before Schmidt could give him some weird sex advice. "It wasn't bad."

"So what's the problem?" Schmidt asked, puzzled.

"The problem is that it shouldn't have happened." Nick told him quietly. "And I told her that."

"You know I love you, man." Schmidt replied, squeezing Nick's shoulder slightly before he turned to leave the room. When he reached the door, he turned around to Nick and looked at him with sad eyes. "But you are an idiot."

~N&J~

"Nicholas Miller, what did you do?" Nick's head shot up when he heard the hissed question right beside his ear. He had propped his head on his folded arms on the kitchen counter, after he hadn't been able to stay in his room for long. He hadn't dared to sit on the couch beside Jess but he couldn't stay away either, so he'd chosen to sit at the kitchen counter instead until he had to go to work. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the front door opening and Cece's voice made him startle.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Nick grunted, immediately put into a defensive mode when he saw the angry expression on Cece's face.

"Schmidt called me." Cece replied sharply and Nick looked over to his friend who was sitting at the kitchen table, hacking into his laptop. He looked up when he heard Cece call his name but he only gave Nick a reproachful look before he turned his gaze back to his computer. He apparently couldn't hope getting help from his side. Reluctantly Nick looked back at Cece, waiting for her to shoot her accusations at him.

"So what's going on?" Cece said quietly, not wanting Jess to hear what they were talking about.

"I have no idea." Nick said stubbornly. He didn't need another person telling him what an idiot he was. They just didn't understand. He was doing it for Jess. But no one seemed to realize that he had Jess' best interests in mind.

"Do you have a death wish?" Cece hissed, punching his upper arm with her fist.

"Excuse me?" Nick asked incredulously, rubbing with his hand over the stinging sensation in his arm.

"I guess this is your fault." Cece pointed towards the couch where Jess was shouting at the television. "Yeah, give it to him. Yup, and off with the head."

"I can't believe it." Cece growled angrily. "I told her to jump. I told her you would catch her. You are such a coward, Nick Miller."

"I ..." But Cece didn't let him say anything before she interrupted him. "You better get going before I rip your head off or other parts of your body."

"I have to go to work anyways." Nick grunted, slipping down from the bar stool before Cece would really make good on her promise.

Cece waited until the door fell shut behind Nick before she walked slowly towards the couch, sitting down beside her best friend. Schmidt hadn't told her any specifics, just that Jess had a fight with Nick and that it would be better if she would come over and try to talk to her.

"Jess, honey? Can we talk for a sec?"

"Sure." Jess replied without looking at her. Cece grabbed the remote and pushed the pause button, waiting patiently until Jess sighed heavily and turned her head towards her. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened. Everything is peachy." Jess replied sharply, her voice indicating that she was extremely pissed. "Now can I get back to my movie?"

"Come on!" Cece grabbed her hand and howled her up from the couch. "Let's go to my apartment and get drunk. It looks like you need some stiff drinks. You are fuming."

Jess didn't say anything on the way to Cece's apartment and Cece began to worry in earnest. This wasn't at all like Jess. Cece risked a look out of the corner of her eye to gauge her current mood. Jess' body was ramrod straight, the tension radiating in waves from her body. Resolving this was going to take a lot of alcohol.

The moment they stepped into the apartment Jess went to the couch, slumping down on it. Slipping out of her shoes she pulled her legs up on the couch, hugging them close to her body and lying her head on her knees.

Cece stared at her hunched form for a few seconds before she decided it would be better to start this conversation with alcohol in their systems. This looked definitely not as if it had been a normal Nick/Jess fight. This was serious.

Cece mixed some strawberry margaritas, heavy on the tequila, before she joined Jess on the couch, putting the glasses down on the table.

"What did he do?" Cece asked softly but Jess didn't give her any reaction and Cece pressed further. "Jess?"

Cece rubbed her hand over Jess' back, wondering what had happened that had made her best friend that angry. She'd expected a tear stained face when Jess looked up but her eyes were dry when Jess met her gaze, her mouth set to a straight line.

Spotting the drink in front of her Jess grabbed the glass and downed half of its content in one gulp before she let her head drop back on her knees.

"Jess, talk to me." Cece said calmly and it took a few seconds before Jess turned her head so that she could look at Cece.

"I had the most amazing sex of my life, Cece." Jess said quietly before her voice suddenly took on an angry tone. "It was freaking awesome."

"Okay." Cece said carefully. "And why are you mad at him?"

"Because this bastard apologized for it." Jess yelled, jerking her head up from her knees before she jumped up from the couch, pacing frantically through the apartment. "He fucking said that he is sorry that it happened."

Cece let her vent, Jess needed to get it out of her system. Being a model she was very well acquainted with almost every derogatory name possible but Jess' colorful expressions topped everything she'd heard before. For all the time she knew Jess she'd never seen her that upset. But she also detected the hurt behind her rant and decided to approach the whole subject a little unconventionally.

After thirty minutes of shouting Jess had exhausted herself and she slumped back on the couch, clearing her throat and Cece thought it was as good a time as any and addressed the issue. "Jess, let me ask you a question."

"Sure." Jess said hoarsely, pressing her fingers against her temples. "Shoot!"

Cece hesitated for a second but then just went for it. "Do you want him to suffer or do you actually want to have sex with him again?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Jess stated exasperatedly, staring at her, her eyes wide open with shock. "I will never ever have sex with him again. Never."

"Jess, it's me. Your best friend." Cece stated calmly. She had seen the flicker of uncertainty in Jess' eyes. That flicker was all reassurance she needed to press further. "So, tell me the truth. If you want to beat him to a pulp I can arrange that but if you want to make him suffer in a whole different kind of way I'll help with that, too."

"What do you mean?" Jess asked cautiously, sitting up straighter, pressing her hands firmly against her thighs.

"If you want to have sex with him again you will have sex with him again." Cece stated plainly.

"How so?" Jess said disbelievingly, realizing too late that she had just answered Cece's question. Apparently being pissed at Nick didn't mean that she didn't want to sleep with him again.

"Jess, you're a woman. And he is a man." Cece chuckled slightly as she saw the dumbfounded expression on Jess' face.

"I think you need to explain it to me." Jess said, furrowing her brows. "I don't get it."

"It's time that you are pulling out the big guns." Cece explained. "But believe me if you push his buttons it can get a little rough. He might lose control."

"I like it when he loses control." Jess whispered, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Oh!" Cece said, a big smile spreading out on her face. "It was that good?"

"Yes, Cece." Jess replied, almost reluctantly. "It was that good."

"Perfect." Cece clapped her hands, her eyes shining with hardly suppressed excitement. "He won't stand a chance."

"What do you have in mind?" Jess asked, getting slightly excited herself.

"You are gonna knock him off his feet." Cece told her with a sly grin on her face. "He won't know what hit him."

"Sounds great." Jess said eagerly, the sparks back in her eyes. "What do I have to do?"

Curious about the plan? I hope so. :-)