None of the characters are mine, but I sure would like it if they were.

His fists were still clenched as he paced his room like a caged animal. Okay, caged animal might be a little dramatic, but he was feeling dramatic. Dammit, why hadn't he just admitted the kiss meant something? He could have avoided all of this if he'd just grown a pair and told her how he felt.

"Ok Miller, you can do this. Breathe in, breathe out." He slapped his cheeks trying to pump himself up. "You're a writer, a romantic. All you have to do is come up with some grand gesture to sweep her off her feet. Get to it man!"

It felt like he'd been tasked with the planetary solution for the impending zombie apocalypse. He made notes, he drew pictures. He scribbled and erased. His garbage can was overflowing with crumpled pieces of note paper and in the last hour he was pretty sure he'd cursed more than his entire life combined.

Feeling defeated he collapsed onto his bed and rubbed his hands over his tired eyes, as Jamarcus mocked him from his computer screen. Why was this so hard? He'd known Jess for almost 2 years now, better than some random guy on the internet. He should know exactly what to say to her to get her to go to dinner with him.

He heard Jess's door close and then the pipes squeal as the shower turned on. As soon as he heard her start singing in the shower he slipped across the hall to her room. Spotting her phone on her nightstand he quickly sent Cece a text. "Cece, this is Nick. I don't know if you're doing what I think you're doing, but make sure Jess doesn't miss Jamarcus Armstrong's message. Text me, I have a plan 323-555-1212"

Quickly deleting his message to Cece, he put the phone back exactly as he'd found it and raced back to his room. There was no turning back now.

The next two days were agonizingly slow. He'd written his message to her immediately after he'd sent the text to Cece, but neither she nor Jess had responded to him. He silently hoped Cece was working her magic, because it had taken everything in him to keep his mouth shut when Teddy had come to pick Jess up for their "date".

Finally, on the third morning he got a response. Before he could even log into Soul Searchers, his phone beeped with an incoming message.

"a. you're welcome, b. don't seem desperate and respond right away, c. she prefers Italian food when she's nervous"

A huge smile broke out on his face and he yelled down the hallway. "Hey Winnie, I need a haircut and a favor."

Winston stood in the kitchen eyeing Nick over his cup of coffee. "Nick, are you sure about this?"

With a smirk Nick asked, "When have you ever known me to put this much effort into anything?" Seeing that his friend was not amused, he grew serious. "Listen, I know it might not go the way I want, but honestly, I'm ready for whatever happens. I really am and I have to take this chance with her. For the first time in my life, I believe in myself and she's the reason I feel this way."

During his rant Nick hadn't seen the look of satisfaction – maybe even a little pride - lighting up Winston's face. He took Nick by the shoulder, steering him back on track and said, "Alright, go get your big boy pants on and let's start setting up. And by big boy pants I mean, your black slacks, olive button down and dress shoes."

Nick all but ran towards his room when Winston called after him. "White undershirt and black socks too, Nick." He laughed and shook his head when he heard the groaned reply. "Our little Nicky's all grown up."