No Betas, oh well. Here you go. Feedback is always welcome.
"Hey Cece." Nick exhaled as he jogged back towards the bar and slammed his hands down onto the bartable.
"What's up Nick and why are you all out of breath?" Cece asked as she approached Nick, flinging her towel over her shoulder.
"Jes... Jess and Teddy... I... I tried to chase them... but they... they got away." Nick stammered as he tried to catch his breath. "Is Schmidt home? I need to borrow something."
"Ahh... yeah he finished early tonight. I think he should be home by now."
"OK great. Tell Javier I've gone home. He can text me if he needs me."
Nick was just about out through the heavy door when Cece called him back, "Nick."
"Yeah, Cece." he answered, jerking his head around and pausing at the exit.
"Just tell her how you feel." Cece wanted to tell him so bad about Donovan, but she couldn't betray her best friend, even though she knew the whole thing was stupid and that both Nick and Jess belonged together.
"That's my plan."
Cece could see the pain in his eyes. "It will all work out, Nick. You'll see."
"I hope you're right Cece." And with that he nodded goodbye and left.
"Schmidt. Hey Schmidt, are you home buddy?" Nick called as he entered the loft.
"Yeah, Nicholas." Schmidt shouted angrily. "I'm over here."
Nick peered over the couch to find Schmidt on the floor all contorted into some kind of life-size pretzel. "Ahh.. come on dude. This is a common area. Can't you do that in your room?"
"Why all the commotion? You're completely throwing off my vibe, man!" Schmidt chided as he looked up at Nick.
"Give me a break Schmidt, you look like you're in pain right now."
"I do not need you to come in here shouting like a banshee while I'm practicing my yoga and meditation poses; they help me unwind after my hectic workday and aid in my preparation for sexual intercourse with my beautiful Cecelia."
Nick grimaced. "We seriously need to reconsider the jar man, that is just gross. I don't want to hear about how you prepare to have sex."
"Nicholas, my body is my temple. How do you expect me to be able to satisfy my lady, if I do not take care of myself first." Schmidt began to unwind himself and pushed up into a seated position on the floor, crossing his legs one over the other and closed his eyes.
"You know, you should really consider encorporating some selfcare into your routine Nick, I'm sure Jessica would appreciate the benefits."
"Seriously Schmidt, Jess and I do not have any trouble in the bedroom." Nick shook his head, "Why am I even telling you this, it's none of your business anyways." Nick huffed as he proceeded to walk towards Schmidt and Cece's shared bedroom.
"Listen Schmidt, I need to borrow some dress pants and a shirt. I should be gone in about 5 minutes, so you can resume your weird sex ritual, when I'm gone."
"Wait, what?" Schmidt began as he rose from the floor. "Let me help you at least, you don't even know the difference between a suit and a tux."
"Fine." Nick griped as he moved forwards into Schmidt's bedroom.
"What is the occasion, Nicholas?" Schmidt asked excitedly as he pushed past Nick and made his way over to his closet. "Is it a casual event, or perhaps something a bit more formal?"
"It's nothing fancy Schmidt, I just need something nice to wear." Nick indicated.
"Ok, ok, so not too formal. So would you say it's business casual or do you need something more flashy."
"Jesus Schmidt, what is with the third degree? I just need some pants and a nice shirt!" Nick shouted. "and maybe some shoes to go with it." he muttered under his breath.
"You know, you're lucky you lost all that weight, because now you can pretty much borrow anything you like."
"Just give me a pair of pants and a shirt Schmidt. I'll be out of your hair in a minute and you can resume doing whatever god awful thing you were doing before."
"At least tell me where you are going Nick." Schmidt asked as he handed a pair of black slacks and a burgundy button up to Nick.
"Erg... Schmidt you're killing me here." Schmidt stood his ground and just stared back.
"Fine. Alright. I'm going to the Pink Flamingo to break Jess' date up with Teddy. And I need something nice to wear."
"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Schmidt stated. "Wait Teddy, the guy who took her flower?"
"Yes Schmidt, that Teddy." Nick grumbled.
"Why is Jessica out with Teddy?"
"Argh... She's upset, because Reagan wouldn't stop texting me this morning... also I met Reagan for lunch the other day and I wasn't exactly clear that things were over between us." Schmidt shook his head disapprovingly.
"But nothing happened Schmidt, I swear. All we did was talk. And I made it crystal clear with Reagan earlier this evening that things are over between us."
Schmidt nodded sympathetically, "You know Nick, you will never get in on your own there, even if I dress you in my best suit. Give me half an hour to get ready, I'll make a call to get us on the guest list."
"Really, you'd do that man?"
"Well how else did you expect to get in?"
"I don't know... I thought I'd just wait in line or maybe sneak in a window... or just hover around all night until Jess leaves."
"Don't be silly man, that's what friends are for." Schmidt slapped Nick on the back. "Now here, take these instead, you are going to need to up your game if you want to get into the Pink Flamingo." Schmidt exclaimed excitedly as he handed Nick a new pair of black dress pants with a matching jacket and a white button up. "And go put some of my gelato in your hair."
"Ok man, thanks!" Nick said excitedly, grabbing the clothing and bounding off towards the bathroom.
About 20 minutes later...
"Ok, so I managed to get us on the list." Schmidt called out to Nick as he made his way into the shared washroom. "Are ready to go?" Schmidt asked as he pulled on his cuffs to straighten them out under his jacket.
"Just about."
"Whoa! You look fantastic, man. A real catch." Schmidt observed as Nick turned around from the sink. "I don't think you're going to have any trouble wooing the beautiful Jessica Day out of the arms of her gentleman caller tonight. And if you do, you certainly won't have any problem finding a new lady friend to bring home with you."
Nick frowned, "Maybe it's too much."
"No, no, no. It's fine, you look great."
"Alright, well then let's go."
"Wait! Do you even know what you are going to say to her."
"Umm... no, not really. I was just going to wing it."
"Nick, this is Jessica. You cannot just go barging in on her date and not have a plan of what you want to say to her." Nick frowned again.
"Ok. look... You've known Jess for a long time, right?"
"Ahh... yeah Schmidt. We all met her 6 years ago on the same day in our living room."
"No need to get snarky, Nicholas. My point is... you know that she is a very sensitive, sweet naive girl... I mean woman, who believes in fairy-tales and pixie dust. You need to sweep her off her feet. You cannot just go in there all caveman like and expect her to dump her date and come home with you. You need to have a plan."
Nick contemplated Schmidt for a moment, "Yeah, ok you're right. Tell me what to do."
"Well first off Nick, you need to admit how you truly feel about her to yourself. You can't keep holding in your feelings, because you're going to lose her, man. It's time to be honest with yourself."
Nick nodded, "OK. I think I can do that."
"Alright, but first tell me this... Why on earth do you think that you are so okay with this Reagan breakup?"
"Reagan and I are at different places of our life."
"OK. And you and Jess are pretty good friends, right? But if you remember correctly, you didn't even want Jess to move into the loft. Nick, why do you think that is?"
"I'm pretty freaked out by sanitary napkins." Nick stated, clearly trying to avoid the question.
"Why don't you think you wanted Jess to move into the loft?" Schmidt asked more seriously this time.
"I don't know, 'cause I... 'cause I was afraid."
"Nick, you have been in love with this girl from the moment you opened the door and you first laid eyes on her. I have never seen you look at anyone else like that in my entire life. Except maybe, on a few occasions, me."
"I've never looked at you the same way I look at Jess." Nick was furrowing his brow in confusion.
"There's been a few times."
"I... there's never been a time." Nick affirmed.
"You looked at Coach maybe once or twice like that. Me, several times. Winston, never. Let's table it." Schmidt declared.
"You're wrong. The first time I saw Jess... was when I was standing in her empty room, and I was looking out the window. She was trying to get in the building."
"Okay." Schmidt's mouth dropped at Nick's omission; he couldn't believe it, finally after 3 years Nick was opening up. The day Nick and Jess broke up, was the day that Nick had clammed back up into his miserable shell and had begun harbouring all his feelings. It was like Caroline all over again, but ten times worse.
"Pretty hilarious. She didn't have her glasses on, and she was bumping into stuff." Nick giggled to himself as he recalled the pleasant memory.
Schmidt stayed silent as he listened to his friend ramble on about his first encounter with the lovely Jessica Day and how he knew in that moment that she was the one, even before speaking to her.
"Will you listen to yourself? For once in your life, don't be afraid and just tell her everything you just told me." Schmidt urged excitedly.
"Ok, yeah you're right." Nick smirked as he uncomfortably tugged at his collar. "Can we go now?! I'm starting to sweat through this jacket."
"Yeah, buddy let's go get your girl."