Tilt- emotional upset, mental confusion, or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in poor play and poor performance.

As soon as Jess left the hotel room, she ran down the hallway in an attempt to put some distance between them. She heard Nick call out to her, but she closed her eyes and desperately hoped he wouldn't follow her. She needed time to think, time to sort out all of these feelings that had been building since they arrived. So many emotions had started to slowly creep into her consciousness over the last few months and now that he might not feel the same way, she needed some way to figure it all out.

As much as she wanted to go to Cece, she just couldn't. The last thing she wanted to do was bring her best friend down on her wedding day. Cece had been through so much this past year, and she was trying so hard not to get involved. She had already resisted pointing out to her how fast they had come to the decision to elope here in Vegas. No, this time she was going to stay out of Cece's relationship with Schmidt. She was sure he was just nervous and over thinking their fast engagement. After losing her twice already, she wanted to believe in the back of her mind that this was it for them.

But what about Nick? Why would he let something like that slip out if he wasn't already thinking about it? How long had he been doubting their future?

She started to pace back and forth in the small lounge area at the end of their hallway, nervously twirling her hair through her fingers as she bit her lip. Nick had given her so many signs, said so many things, that she had built up this hope that they were headed towards something more serious. Permanent. She thought back to the moment in the room where he had said it would be too late once he proposed. She wanted so much for Nick to want marriage for them, but what if he didn't?

Nick had seemed so confident back in Chicago that once things had settled with their jobs, an apartment together would be the perfect next step. Here they were, weeks away from the end of the school year and everything had worked out just like she had imagined they would. Her teaching job had become permanent, he had really embraced being the new manager at the bar, and they had felt as strong as ever these past few months.

But what if Nick wasn't really happy? What if he had done all this because he thought it was what she wanted? She had been so encouraging, so supportive of his move to manager, that she couldn't recall if he had ever said it's what he wanted. He had been excited at the prospect when they had offered him the job, but maybe he wasn't really happy.

Slowly, her footsteps stopped their pacing and she collapsed on a small couch, rubbing her tired eyes. Glancing down at herself, she let out a laugh. In all the craziness, she hadn't even realized she was still in her robe from her shower, as well as barefoot. She leaned back and felt her damp hair press against her skull. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around herself and took a deep breath, tears beginning to once again pool behind her eyelids.

Nick had shown her so much love on this trip. He seemed excited about their anniversary, she had felt so relaxed and happy in his arms as they fell asleep on the couch last night, and their sex just now in the bathroom had been so raw and exhilarating. Surely, if something was wrong, and Nick was beginning to have doubts she would feel it, wouldn't she? Her heart ached at the thought of losing him, of him not wanting the same things as she did. This crazy trip had given her a glimpse into what a future with him could be, what living on their own would be like and she craved it now more than ever. She wanted a real future with Nick, but more than that, she wanted him to want it too.

If they didn't want the same things, at what point was she just hurting him more by staying?

Taking a deep breath she stood up, nodding decisively to herself and brushing the tears from her eyes. This was her best friend's wedding day. She was going to go back to her room, grab her things, and be the supportive friend that Cece deserved. Turning on her heels she walked quickly back down the hall to her room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a door open.

At the other end of the hall, Jess saw Schmidt exiting her room and she scowled. For a brief moment, their eyes locked, until Schmidt turned away ashamed and walked quickly in the opposite direction.

"Coward," she muttered, waiting for him to disappear from view.

When she reached the door, pushing down on the lever she realized that it was locked and she didn't have a keycard. Throwing her head back, she squeezed her eyes closed. "Damn it." After several deep breaths she raised her hand and gently rapped her knuckles on the wooden door.

Schmidt closed the door behind him and Nick was left sitting in the room alone. He leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees, running his hands through his hair. Wishing that there was a way to take back his words, he thought to how hurt Jess must have felt to hear him say what he did. They had been doing so well the past few months, and it was only a matter of time until he heard about the loan and the bar, and they could have everything she wanted.

He just needed a little more time...

He was startled out of his thoughts by a soft knock. He rushed to the door and opened it, his heart pounding in his ears when he saw Jess standing there. Her face was red and her eyes puffy.

She glanced up at him quickly, then looked away. "I didn't have my key."

He tried to open his mouth, but no words would come out. All he could do was stare, wanting to grab her but afraid that she would just push him away. He nodded mechanically and stepped to the side, feeling his mouth dry and unable to speak.

She stood there for a moment as her chest rose with a deep sigh. The corners of her mouth turning to a frown, and she shook her head before running past him into the room. He closed the door silently and watched her race around the room. She snatched her purse from the chair near where he was standing and threw it over her shoulder.

What could he say to her to make this right again? How could he explain that he just wanted to be sure he could give her what she deserved?

"Jess..." She ran past him just brushing against his outstretched fingers on the way to the bathroom. He shook his head, swallowing hard as he followed her. He leaned against the door frame, watching her grab her makeup off the sink and aggressively throw it into her bag. Her lips were pressed tightly together and she was blinking quickly to delay the tears from falling.

"Jess, please. I need to explain..." She glanced into the mirror and her eyes locked with his. He saw the pain and sadness in her eyes and all he could do was look at the floor. She watched him avoid her stare and shook her head. Spinning on her heels she breezed past him once again to grab the large bag with her dress and shoes, her arms now full.

"At least let me help you..." He stepped forward only to be met by an icy stare. He froze in his tracks, the breath catching in his throat and his pulse pounding in his ears. Suddenly the anxiety in his body was rising so fast, he no longer felt like he was breathing.

When she reached the door, her hand hovered momentarily before wrapping around the door handle. She took a deep breath and looked straight ahead, fixating on the wood grain of the door. Her words cut into his heart like a knife, as he listened to her voice come out so broken and sad, his eyes squeezing shut at her painful words. "If you didn't think this was going anywhere, Nick, the least you could have done was told me."

"Jess, that's not..." His head snapped up to look at her, but he felt like he was stuck to the floor. How could he have said something to hurt her this much? His head was reeling and everything was happening so fast. All he could do was stare at her, as her eyes glistened with tears.

"Nick, I love you more than you can even imagine, but" she closed her eyes and pushed down on the lever, the gentle click of the latch echoing loudly across the room. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep hoping that..." Clearly pained by the thoughts running through her head, she simply stopped talking mid-sentence and shook her head. Her last words came out followed by a flood of tears that she didn't want him to see. She quickly opened the door and started running down the hall.

Before he could even register what she had just said, she was gone. He stepped toward the door, but for the second time that day, he stopped himself and he didn't know why. What could he say to her? How many times over the past three years had she looked at him and given him the opportunity to say what he was feeling and he had just stood there.

Walking to the bathroom, he reached into the shower to turn on the water and stepped over to the sink. As he leaned onto his hands on the cold marble surface, he watched as the steam swirled into the room and creep it's way up the mirror.

"You really screwed up this time, Miller."

Turning around in disgust, he stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower. Not caring that the water was scalding his skin, he closed his eyes and let the water cascade over his face.

He had to make this right.

He wasn't going to lose her.

A/N: I know, I know...I'm killing you slowly. We're getting to a happy ending, I promise. ;-)