Winston shook his head as he approached the chapel holding Natalie's hand.

"Don't you two have a room you can do that in?"

Jess pulled back from their kiss and smiled up at Nick, answering Winston without breaking eye contact with her fiance. "You should be used to this by now."

Nick laughed and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, before glancing over at his friend walking through the doorway of the chapel. "You get the text too?"

"I thought we'd be late." Winston nodded, wrapping his arm around Natalie's waist. "They're not here yet?"

Jess just shook her head, Nick's hand trailed down her left arm and grasped her hand tightly, sliding it behind her back. Stepping in closer, she just looked up at him with a smirk plastered across her face.

Winston stared back and forth between the two of them, raising an eyebrow. "I take it everything's good with you two?"

"Absolutely." Leaning against his chest, Jess smiled as he kissed the top of her head.

Nick squeezed her hand and looked over at Winston. "What's taking them so long?"

"Here," Jess pointed to Nick's pocket. "Let me use your phone to call up there. See what's going on."

Reaching into his pants pocket, Nick pulled out the phone and handed it to her. She started to scroll through the phone when Nick stepped in front of her and spoke between his teeth. "Ring, Jess..."

Glancing up confused, it took her a moment before she realized what he said and quickly pulled her arm close to her body. "Oh." She nervously glanced around as Nick nodded, relieved that Winston and Natalie were too absorbed in their own conversation to notice. She shrugged her shoulders quickly, a short laugh escaping her lips. Dialing as she walked out into the hall, she found herself staring at her ring and smiling as she waited for Cece to pick up. She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard Cece answer on the other end.

NICK?...NICK!

"Hey, no. Cece, it's me. Are you guys on your way, we're all here."

"Schmidt had some hair gel crisis, but he's on his way now. I couldn't finish getting ready with him in here."

"Do you need me to come back up?

"No, just give me another five minutes and we should be good. Is the officiant there yet?"

"No, but...wait, yes. I think he just walked in." Jess watched as a short man with balding hair walked into the chapel and started talking with Natalie and Winston.

"Okay, I will be RIGHT THERE."

The phone clicked on the other end and Jess ended the call. Before she could even turn around, she felt Nick's hand on her back.

"Everything okay?"

Holding the phone out to him, she smiled. "Yep. Schmidt's on his way down and she'll be ready in five minutes."

After dropping the phone back in his pocket, he grabbed her hands in his. Squeezing her left hand, he winked. "You better do a better job hiding this if you want to keep it a secret." He smiled coyly at her, and his eyes had a brightness to them that she had never seen before.

"Well," Letting out a little laugh, she shook her head. "I don't want to keep it a secret."

Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss, lowering his voice even further. "I understand why we should. I just..." He paused, shaking his head slowly and smiling. "I want everyone to know."

"Everyone to know what?"

They both snapped their heads as Schmidt stepped up beside them, too busy straightening his tie to look at either one of them. Nick and Jess just glanced at each other silently.

Schmidt's eyes traveled between the two of them when there was no reply. Repeating himself, he asked. "What do you want us to know?"

"Nothing, Schmidt." Jess cleared her throat. "I just talked to Cece and she said give her five more minutes."

"Good."

Nick slapped his hand on Schmidt back and smiled. "You ready for this, man?!"

"Oh, what do you know!" Schmidt pretended to be stern with Nick, but it was clear by his expression that he was enthusiastically awaiting the arrival of the woman that would soon be his wife. Schmidt took a deep breath and smiled. "Maybe you two will understand someday, huh?" He gave Nick a wink and Jess just looked at them both strangely. "I need to go talk to the minister."

Just that quickly, Schmidt was gone and Jess stepped in front of Nick reaching up to straighten his tie. She gave him a questioning look.

Nick laughed. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I saw that wink of his." She slapped his chest. "Does Schmidt know?"

Nick smiled broadly. "I may have let something slip out earlier."

"Oh." Jess just nodded, laughing.

"Come on," Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, they turned toward the chapel. "Let's go wait for Cece."

Jess sat next to Nick on one of the pews, head resting on his shoulder while she dreamily stared at her ring. Nick kissed the top of her head. Jokingly, he spoke in a very low, playful voice.

"You know, if you wanted to make this a double ceremony, I'd be game."

Jess lifted her head, eyes wide in shock. "Are you serious?!"

"Wait...no." He gave a little laugh, surprised at the thought that it could be a possibility. What had made him want to say something like that? He had felt so overwhelmed and excited since they had gotten engaged only a few minutes ago, that he had no idea how to try and keep it all a secret through this ceremony. His shock at her response was evident in his voice. "Would you really want that?"

"That's crazy!" She froze for a moment, before biting her lip and giggling. "Right?"

"Yeah." Nick shrugged and took her hand gently in his. He smiled, bumping his shoulder into hers. "You probably always dreamed of a big wedding, huh?"

She sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "I used to but..." She shrugged and smiled back at him. "things change."

Leaning over to kiss her softly, he squeezed her hand. "Whatever you want."

Jess was about to say something when Natalie tapped her gently on the shoulder, startling her. "Cece's in the hall. She wants to talk to you."

Smiling at both Nick and Natalie, Jess stood up and slid her ways past Nick into the aisle. "She must be so nervous. Thanks." After giving Nick's hand one last squeeze, she smiled at him and made her way back to the vestibule area outside the chapel.

"Cece?" Hesitantly, Jess laid her hand on her best friends shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

Turning around with tear filled eyes, Cece smiled. "Jess..." She took a deep breath, words too difficult for her to formulate in that moment. Recognizing her friend's anxiety, Jess wrapped her arms around her shoulders and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"It's going to be okay. You know that right?" Jess squeezed tighter, feeling Cece breathing heavily against her chest. Pulling back, Cece could only nod as Jess gently rubbed her arms. "Schmidt's loved you for so long. You're going to be really happy together."

Cece just smiled, nodding slowly. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she locked her gaze once more on her childhood friend. "Jess, I don't know what I would've done this past year without you."

Tears filling her eyes, Jess nodded. "We're so lucky, Cece. They..." Jess choked back her words and swallowed hard. "They really, really love us."

Simply nodding, Cece turned toward the doorway and stepped forward just far enough to see Schmidt standing at the end of the row of pews. She expected him to look like his normal, confident self. What she saw though was something very different. When she saw Schmidt standing there, nervously clasping and unclasping his fingers in front of him, she saw a man that had repeatedly tried to deny his feelings for her. A man that had spent so many years trying to shake off any glimmer of his former self, that he had LOST that part of him that made him the man she could fall in love with. When he had finally let go, finally embraced all the parts that had made him the person he became? When he had finally let down his guard and let her see the real Schmidt? That's when she knew that she would spend the rest of her life with this man.

Reaching out to squeeze her hand once more, Jess smiled warmly at Cece and kissed her cheek.

"I love you, Ceece. I'm always going to be here for you."

Swiping her hand across her cheek, Cece took a deep breath, only able to nod as Jess lingered a moment before walking down the aisle and taking her place next to Nick.

Jess watched Cece walk down the aisle toward Schmidt and thought to how far they had come to get to this moment. Closing her eyes for a moment, Jess leaned into Nick, whose warm arms wrapped around her waist and held her tightly. How had they all gotten here? The past year had been such a crazy whirlwind of change and the unexpected. Jess had never dreamed standing outside that hotel last year, that a year later she would be here witnessing her best friends' wedding with an engagement ring on her own finger. Taking several short breaths, she sunk into Nick's embrace, feeling his warm cheek pressed to hers.

How quickly life gave you everything you could ever want, especially when you were finally able to recognize what was right in front of you the whole time.

Standing next to Cece, Jess smiled as the officiant began the ceremony.

Today, we gather in the presence of our closest friends to join these two as one.

Standing behind Schmidt, Winston reached down to take Natalie's hand in his. Turning towards him, Natalie smiled warmly and slowly ran her thumb back and forth across his knuckles. Spending so much time dedicated to her career and her growing practice, she had been surprised by how quickly Winston had found his way into her heart. His craziness for life never stopped making her laugh, and although they had never said it out loud, she knew that she really did love him. When he turned to her and smiled, she couldn't help but feel that maybe he felt that way about her too.

Marriage is sacred. It is a commitment between two people that they will always be there for one another. That in life's darkest hour, there will always be this one person that will hold you up and keep you from falling.

Tightening his arms around her waist, Nick pressed a soft kiss to Jess' cheek and whispered softly in her ear. "That's always been you since the day we met."

As she heard the words, Jess pulled his arms even tighter and smiled. Closing her eyes against the dizzying feeling in her head, she felt herself focused on her breathing, barely hearing the ceremony. When she felt Nick softly run his fingers across her knuckles, she opened her eyes. Grasping her tiny fingers between his, he found her ring and gently twisted it back and forth. She was overwhelmed at how happy and content she felt thinking about being Nick's wife. Watching the ceremony play out in front of them, she realized just how much she had been wanting all of this for herself. The idea of being married had crossed her mind so many times, especially in the past few months, but she had never dreamed it could feel this way to finally be engaged. She was suddenly aware of how anxious Nick must feel anytime he needed to keep a secret, because she was overwhelmed with the desire to blurt out their news.

The minister nodded toward Schmidt and Winston stepped forward to place Cece's ring in his palm. Taking Cece's left hand, Jess watched Schmidt's face as he swallowed hard with tears in his eyes. Glancing from the ring to Schmidt's eyes, Cece smiled and slowly nodded her head. Schmidt returned the grin and a small gasp escaped her lips as he slid the ring on her finger and she saw it for the first time.

A symbol of your vows today, these rings represent a love that has no beginning and no end. Please repeat after me; with this ring, I join myself to you, Cecelia Parekh. Promising to love, honor, and cherish you, all the days of my life.

As Cece placed a ring on Schmidt's finger and repeated the same vows, Jess took a deep breath. She couldn't remember a time when Cece had been so happy. Even though she never wanted to admit it, family and tradition had always been such a huge part of her life. Jess knew that when she had walked out on her arranged marriage to Shivrang last year, she had confronted a lot of the questions she had come to have when it came to her family. Although her mom had warmed up to the idea of Cece going a less-than-traditional route when it came to her marriage, she knew that this elopement was going to be a hard hurdle to navigate when they returned to LA.

As Jess stood there and watched Schmidt and Cece, her own happiness was momentarily clouded by the realization that Bob Day may never approve of Nick. She wanted so desperately for Nick to feel that her dad supported them, especially with Walt gone. The only thought holding her back at the moment was the idea that her dad may not want to be at her wedding. Almost as if Nick could read her thoughts, she felt his right arm loosen it's grip around her and soothingly rub her arm. Closing her eyes as the words of the minister "you may now kiss the bride" echoed through the chapel, Jess pushed away any and all thoughts of her dad's disapproval, focusing only on her friends' happiness.

Pausing for a moment, Schmidt squeezed Cece's hands and smiled. When he leaned in to kiss her, the room was filled with sighs and cheers.

With tears in her eyes, Jess embraced Cece as she turned around and smiled at Schmidt. Feeling Nick's strong, warm hand on the small of her back as Cece held onto her tightly, all she could do was let out a small laugh...

Because she really did find a great deal on Craigslist...and she'd be grateful for the rest of her life.

No, it's not over...that's crazy. :-)