"JESSICA!" Nick stood by the hotel door with their belongings. Wandering out of the bedroom, Jess smiled at him and he nodded toward the bags at his feet. "Hey, is this everything?"
"Well, not quite."
Sauntering closer, Nick looked at her questioning when he noticed her hands were behind her back.
He started to smile. "Jess?"
Hands still behind her back, she leaned over the luggage between them and gave him a quick kiss. "You forgot something."
"I did?"
Pulling her hands in front of her chest, she grinned. Nick's eyes drifted downward and took notice of a long box in her hand wrapped in shiny silver paper with a bright red bow, dangling from her fingertips. Nick started to smile and nodded toward her, laying his keys on his suitcase and pushing up his sleeves. A devious grin on her face, she put her hand on her hip and casually waved it back and forth.
"What's that?" He nodded toward her, eyes sparkling.
Jess bit her lip and swayed slightly. "Just a little something special for today."
Nick smiled excitedly and stepped around the luggage. He reached towards her to grab it, but she pulled it behind her back quickly. "Whoa there tiger."
"Jessica..."
Walking backwards slowly, she turned quickly and ran towards the windows, Nick tripping over his feet and following after.
"Hey!"
Giggling, she stopped at the couch and flopped down on it, Nick sliding over the arm into the seat next to her.
Jess laughed and held out the long rectangular box. Nick smiled, taking it in his hands and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
She took a deep breath and grinned at him. "Happy Anniversary, Nick."
"Jess, you didn't need to get me anything." He reached out and squeezed her hand. "We're getting married, that is a present."
She leaned in to kiss him, excitedly. "Just open it!"
He lifted off the lid and stared inside, smiling slowly.
"This is..." He swallowed hard. "I can't believe you..."
"It's for your office door. I remembered there was a spot for one. Do you like it?" Speechless, Nick just nodded. Her face falling a little, Jess frowned. "Oh God, I'm sorry. You didn't want it to say Nicholas, did you? I can get it changed..." She started to reach for the box, but he grabbed her hand. Squeezing it hard, he choked on his words.
"You had this made for me?"
She smiled, relieved. "Of course. You needed one, right?"
He reluctantly let go of her hand to pull it out of the box, tilting it in his hands. The golden sheen of the thin brass plate reflected the sunlight streaming in through the window.
Nicholas Miller, Manager.
Tracing his fingers over the engraved letters, he shook his head. "Jess, you didn't have to do this."
She playfully slapped his arm. "Of course I did."
He reached up and placed a finger under her chin, tilting her face toward his. "Thank you."
Jess' eyes softened and she leaned over to give him a kiss. "You're welcome." When she pulled back to look at him, he had a strange look in his eyes and she let out a lighthearted laugh. "I guess it won't really make sense anymore. When we get the bar...we'll have to change it to Owner."
Jess watched Nick just nod, visibly shaken.
"Nick?" She placed a hand on his arm, concerned. She blinked back the burning tears in her eyes. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, this is perfect. I just..." Nick swallowed hard, the worried tone of his voice apparent to her. "Jess are you sure about this? I mean, with the bar."
"Aren't you?" She shook her head confused. She squeezed his arm gently with concern, scooting closer to him on the couch. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
Pausing for a moment, he smiled at her. "I already have what I want."
"Nick, that's sweet, but... I know how much this means to you." She hugged his arm. "Let's just take it one step at a time. We're going to talk to them again on Monday morning, and if I can't sign for the loan, we'll figure out another way, okay? I want you to be happy."
"I'm so happy, Jess."
"Then what's wrong?"
He smiled weakly, giving her a quick glance. "Nothing."
"Hey," Pressing her body to his, she wove her arms through his, rubbing gentle circles into the top of his hand with her thumb. "talk to me."
"Well, what if..." He slowly turned towards her, taking both her hands in his. Taking a deep breath, he began to search her eyes. "what if this isn't such a good idea. What if they're right, that it's not worth the risk?" He waited for a response as she just stared at him expectantly. His dropped his voice to a whisper. "I thought I might be able to do this, but now...I don't want to start our marriage in some gamble."
"Nick, life is a gamble sometimes." Jess brush her hand across his cheek and gave him a quick kiss. Her voice was even quieter, and she looked him straight in the eye. "Why did you want to do this? When Clyde came to talk to you, what made you say yes?"
"You." He answered her without hesitation. "Us."
"Is this all too much then?" She squinted her eyes, a little confused. Swallowing hard, she asked him hesitantly. "Do you need more time before we think about getting married?"
"God, NO." He shook his head vigorously. "But you are what's important to me. I just want you to know that you come first."
"And I just want my husband to be happy." She held onto his hands tightly, and he couldn't help but smile at the way the word husband rolled off her tongue so smoothly. He still wasn't sure he had completely let it sink in that all this was really happening. Jess nodded emphatically. "No more doubts Miller. I'm here, and we have amazing people in our lives that support us. I believe in you." She smiled, giving his hands a gentle tug. "If you don't want to do this, I would never pressure you. But if you do? Then I'm all in too."
Studying her determined expression, he slowly shook his head, allowing himself to relax with a deep breath. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"It's you and me now, Nick." Placing a hand on either side of Nick's face, she looked deep into his brown eyes. "All in."
Nick tapped the steering wheel gently, matching the beat to a song on the radio he'd never heard before. Pulling up to a light, he glanced over at Jess and couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. Jess was softly humming to herself, with her left hand in front of her face just tilting her hand back and forth in the sunlight.
Breaking the silence, Nick cleared his throat as he pushed on the gas pedal. "I did okay?"
Without her eyes leaving her ring, she replied dreamily. "I've never seen something so beautiful."
"Except you." He reached across the car and gently brushed his finger across the tip her nose, making her smile even wider. Catching his hand in hers before he could retract it, she squeezed tightly and pulled it into her lap.
"It's like you were inside my head, Nick. It's exactly..." She took a deep breath and leaned toward him to kiss his cheek. "It's perfect."
Putting the turn signal on, Nick shook off her hand to grab the steering wheel. Glancing in the mirror, he started to pull off the road. Sitting up startled, Jess looked around frantically. "What's wrong, Nick?"
"Shh..." He smiled and shook his head as they pulled off the exit, turning right into the parking lot of a gas station. He raised his eyebrows. "I need to show you something."
"Nick!"
As the car came to a stop, he shifted the gear into park. Taking her left hand, he slowly slid her ring off her finger. He couldn't help but laugh as she frowned at him.
"Here." Holding it up to the light, he smiled at her as he watched her squint her eyes to see what he was showing her. "Read what it says."
Furrowing her brows, her fingers gently took the ring from his and she spun it slowly. As her gaze settled on the words inscribed on the inside of the tiny band, her eyes began to water.
"Read it." He whispered softly.
"I always knew." Dropping her hands to her lap, she turned to Nick and sniffled. "Nick, that's so beautiful. Really?"
Nick reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek before settling around her neck. "Always."
"Me too, Nick. You have no idea."
Nick watched her close her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she opened them again, he smiled. "And to think, Schmidt tried to talk me out of looking in that tiny little antique shop you kept telling me about."
Her eyes softened, and her voice was in awe. "Is that where you found this?!"
"Yep."
"Nick," She gasped and glanced down once more at the ring. "So this probably has an amazing romantic history and everything?!"
Nick just smiled.
"I can't believe how well you know me, Nick Miller."
He just wiggled his eyebrows and smiled. "I need to keep a few tricks up my sleeve."
Jess threw back her head and laughed, shaking her head as he caressed her cheek and smiled at her.
"Nick, I know we have so much on our plate right now with the bar, but..." Slipping the ring back on her finger, she brought her hand to his wrist as he rubbed his thumb over the soft skin of her neck. "I really don't want to wait too long to get married."
"You know," He laughed. "I wasn't kidding back there when I said I'd elope. Just say the word."
"I know you weren't." Her smile widened and she laughed back. "But our parents should be there. And Jamie, and my sister."
He tilted his head, closing one eye. "You sure about your dad, though?"
"Nick!" She swatted his arm as he yanked it towards his chest, laughing.
"OW, woman. I'm kidding."
They laughed loudly and Jess shook her head. "You're impossible."
"Actually," Looking sheepishly at his hands, he glanced back and forth between his lap and Jess' eyes several times. Jess stopped laughing and looked at him questioningly. "I already talked to your dad."
"Wait..." Jess' eyes flew open. "What?!"
"When we were in Oregon, I..." Nick shrugged and started to smile, locking eyes with hers. "we're actually okay. I needed to make sure we were, after everything that happened."
Dumbstruck for several moments, Jess managed to finally close her mouth and shake her head slowly. "What do you mean?"
"That morning we left? I mean, I hadn't bought the ring yet, and I had no idea all of this was going to happen like this so soon, but...I told Bob that I wanted to marry you, Jess."
Jess, in a raspy whisper, hesitated before responding. "What did he say?"
Smiling, Nick took her hand and leaned against the back of the seat. With his free hand, he reached out to twist a curl laying on her shoulder. Speaking softly, with more sincerity than she had ever heard in his voice before, he looked her straight in the eye. "He told me to never give up on us, like he did with your mom. Not for anything." Pulling her hand towards his lips, he gently brushed a kiss across her ring, his eyes never leaving hers. "I promise you Jess, that you never have to worry about us." He watched her eyes swell with tears, a sharp intake of breath filling her lungs. "This? What we have? I will never stop working at this for you."
"Nick..."
"I mean it, Jessica. I've made a lot of mistakes, and I can be a real idiot sometimes. But this? This little family of ours? It will always come first."