Jess practically ran through the door of the loft. She'd gotten the job despite her distracting thoughts of Nick and last night. The school was pleasant and the kids were lovely, so she was feeling good. Nick and her dad had spent the day together, so they probably didn't have a terrible time, everything was looking up. She was terrified Nick might have told her dad though so as soon as she got in she would have to separate them immediately. Nick was terrible at keeping secrets and they both knew it.
"Okay!" Jess called as she ran into the door. "Okay, conversations over! Nick, hands up back away! What is this?" She'd noticed spilt fruit that looked like it had fallen or been knocked off the fruit bowl on the table. She chooses to take that as a bad sign.
"Dad! You're coming with me now!"
"What? You wanna get rid of me? So you two can do it again?" Bob snipped back. Jess felt anger boil up inside of her.
"WHAT!" she turned to Nick. "You told him? God, I knew you were blurt it out."
"Shows how much you know, I didn't blurt it out, I told him on purpose." Nick coaxed back. Man, she really wanted that smug look to disappear of his face.
"What would you do that?! What is wrong with you?!"
"I wanted him to like me. In fact I want al fathers to like me. I wonder what that's about." Jess automatically felt horrible. Still angry, but angry at herself too. Jess' dad interrupted there little argument.
"What, do you owe money on the rent or something?" WHAT? "I mean what is going on?"
"I don't know what's going on yet dad, we haven't had a chance to talk about it."
"Well when did this happen?" Bob looked about ready to kill Nick.
"Last night." Nick blurted.
"Nick!" Jess muttered.
"Why am I telling you this?" Nick asked more to himself than Bob.
"Why are you picking him? He's a lazy, drunken, cable thief. What's wrong with Wilson?"
That little sentence broke her heart, and what hurt it more was the little half nod Nick was nodding in the corner of her eye. Was that how Nick saw himself? And who was her father to judge Nick.
"Dad, there's nothing wrong with Nick, you don't even know him."
"I know him. He's me, and I'm not good enough for my little girl."
Jess felt livid. He two most important men in her life were agreeing on something and it just so happened to be the wrong thing.
"Dad! Please. Maybe Nick isn't perfect, maybe he is lazy, and drunk and maybe he stole the cable, but that doesn't make him worse than Winston. He gets the job done. He's fun when he's had a few beers, and I like the cable. I get good channels dad. Nick is great, and I can see that. I slept with him dad, it's not a big deal, I'm a grown woman. I can make my own decisions, and I want you to respect them." Her dad looked shocked. So did Nick in fact. But then he stepped forward.
"Bob, I like your daughter. She's helped me through a lot of stuff, a hell of a lot of stuff and whatever this is…" He used his hand to gesture between him and Jess. "Whatever this is, and however it ends, I promise to not hurt her intentionally. You have my word, man to man, I will protect your daughter from stupid Nick Miller."
Bob came closer to Nick and Jess. Jess was touched by Nick's speech and hoped her dad wouldn't kill him. Bob reached down and hugged his little girl.
"You are all grown up, and I guess this might be a mistake you have to make in order to be happy, and that's all I want for you. Your happiness. I'll leave you two alone to talk. But no…funny business. Okay?" Jess nodded and her dad let her go, he went to walk off but stopped in front of Nick. Nick made a very high pitched noise and Bob leaned in towards him.
"You keep your promise, or else. Maybe she likes you, but I'm not convinced so I'm keeping my eye on you." Bob said it in a way Jess knew he wouldn't definitely oppose of them being together, or whatever they were doing, but he would protect his daughter. Jess smiled slightly, glad of the improvement. When she heard the door shut behind her dad she turned to face Nick, taking one step back just to be safe. He tried to smile, but it came out a little frightened.
"So… how'd the job interview go?" Nick began. Jess grinned.
"I think I got the job!" She let her excitement show for the first time since she'd stepped in the door.
"Jess, that's fantastic!" Nick stepped forwards, and Jess wanted to hug him. Like, big, wrap your arms around each other bear hug, like they might have done before if she'd got good news, but she stopped herself. Nick noticed her little waver.
"Not really normal, is it?" Then he bent down and hugged her. She tensed up for a fraction of a second then allowed herself to relax and enjoy the hug. He felt warm, and he smelt nice. He smelt like Nick, a familiar scent that made Jess feel cosy and safe. The hug went on for a little longer than normal, and Jess remembered the last time they hugged like this was when his dad had just died. She released him but neither of them moved away very far. There heads were very close and she could still feel the heat from his body. She remembered how his body had felt last night, and how they'd connected in the hours of the night. Something had felt perfect about it, and even now she felt like she still needed to catch her breath. Jess noticed Nick gulping like he was also nervous or remembering the happenings of last night. He leaned forward and Jess braced herself for a passionate kiss like most of the others had been, but it never came. Instead, he slightly pressed his lips against hers. They felt gentle and soft and then he moved away again. She instantly felt colder.
"That's fantastic news Jess, I'm so happy for you. You deserve something good to happen to you." What was that supposed to mean? Was last night not good for him? Was this feeling completely one sided? Maybe he'd hated last night, perhaps she wasn't as good in bed as he'd thought. Jess worried that she'd been completely terrible.
"What do you mean by that?" she stepped away, moving more into the kitchen and Nick frowned. "Was last night not good? Was it not good enough for you?"
"No, Jess that wasn't what I meant!" He looked hurt and confused.
"Then what did you mean?" Jess raised her hands in exaggeration.
"It meant… well, your dad's right I'm not a good thing am I? I drag you down. I'm a lazy drunk Jess, you deserve better and you deserve something good."
"That's what you think? Nick, I decided what's good. If I like it, it's good enough for me. You are far better than good enough, I feel like I don't deserve you. You could get some 21 year old smoking hot girl who has the same interests and can satisfy you in bed, which clearly I can't!"
"You're so infuriating Jess. Why don't you get how good you are? You're better than any 21 year old, and I don't know if you were there last night, but from my end it was amazing."
"Amazing?"
"Freaking Mind blowing Jess." She giggled. Maybe they could work things out.