Chapter 2

Nick woke up in his own bed the next morning to the sunlight beaming down on his face. He pulled the covers up over his head and groaned. This was going to be one of the worst phone calls he'd made in his life. He hoped Julia wouldn't be so pissed at an eight a.m. break up call. There would be more important things for her to be pissed about.

"So this is why I don't date men with female roommates," Julia sighed over the phone.

"Why would you think it had anything to do with Jess?" Julia was quite perceptive; no getting away with anything with her. Such a lawyer.

"C'mon, Nick. I've seen the way you look at her. Whenever she was around it felt like all your attention was focused on her. It was only a matter of time before you'd go running to her," she said. "I was just hoping maybe you'd come around and get over her, but I guess not…"

"Look, Julia, I'm really sorry…"

"Oh, just stop, Nick. I seriously don't want to hear it." she said. Nick could tell she was getting choked up. "Now she can finally tuck you under that blankie and tell you everything is okay."

And then there was dead air. Nick figured there was no use calling her back. The damage was already done. He felt just horrible about letting her go, but it wouldn't have been fair to either of them to keep going in a relationship when he had these feelings for someone else.

A few minutes later Nick could hear Jess's door close behind her and he knew she was on her way to work for the morning to teach at her middle school. He was relieved that he had a mid shift at the bar. A perfect way to avoid Jess. He'd be gone before she got home from work, and she'd hopefully be asleep by the time he got back.

Confusing feelings were starting to cloud his brain and he had no use for anything before work but to lie in bed and obsess on them. These feelings that would inevitably change his life. For the better or for the worse? Would the roommate situation get awkward? Was he ready for the love of his life? What could he even offer Jess? He was a loser bartender who could only kind-of fix things around the house, not to mention he could dance naked to reggae music. And what if she didn't even reciprocate and he would be forever alone, treading an empty lonely, life without her.

But that kiss, he thought to himself. Even under those awkward circumstances, it felt like in that moment he was closer to anyone else in his life. He never received that kind of kiss with Julia. Not even with Caroline, who he had dated for four years. Getting over Caroline was pure torture. He couldn't even imagine if Jess rejected him. He imagined he would turn into Remy, sad and alone waking up with animal blood in the forest.

That amazing kiss felt like everything would end up okay in his life, that every day would be filled with comfort hugs and cupcakes and smiles. A kiss that felt like home.

All in one fucking kiss. God, was he thinking too much into this?

Nick got into the shower around two pm reluctantly washing the Jess scent off of his body.

Work was interesting. It was a busy Friday afternoon. Everyone was ready to let loose, except for him. A few cute girls came up to him to flirt, and Nick just played an aloofness which made the ladies want him even more. The flirty girls bought Nick so many shots he was pretty tipsy by the time his shift was over, a good way to bury the feelings that felt like they were going to explode from his chest.

After refusing many offers to go out with other women, Nick stumbled home alone. Nick reached his apartment door with what felt like butterflies fighting in his stomach, a feeling usually reserved before getting his hair cut at a salon.

When he walked into the apartment, he scanned the common area, but could only see Schmidt working on his computer at the kitchen table.

Schmidt looked up at him. "Hey man, how was work?"

"Oh, it was totally fine," Nick answered, slurring his words. "Tons of hot ladies, you should have been there, babe."

"Well, that just sucks, had to work late with my boss…." he trailed off, and cleared his throat. "and by work I mean working my pelvic area."

"Oh gross," Nick said, "I don't want to hear that. So where's the rest of the roomies?"

"Oh, you want to know where Winston is?" he asked, "Or could you mean Jeeeesssss?" in a sing-song voice.

"Why are you saying her name like that?" he asked, moving into the kitchen to get himself a much-needed cup of coffee.

Schmidt turned to winked at Nick. "Oh, I think you know why, Buddy."

"No, I do not…" he said, rubbing his forehead. He was starting to get a headache. What did Schmidt know?

"Winston walked by Jess's room last night and heard some very interesting things…"

"Winston didn't hear shit," he lied, but could feel his cheeks burning.

"Whatever man, for once I'm not going to pry," he said, "I'll find out sooner than later, anyway. Oh, and Jess is in her room sleeping. I guess she needed to catch up on her sleep after your busy night last night."

Although annoyed at Schmidt, he was breathing a sigh of relief inside of his body.

"How did Jess seem anyway?" Nick immediately regretted asking that question.

"Not the usual Jess," he said. "She didn't sing once today."

"Okay well, I'll leave you back to work. It's time for that extra gut in my stomach to get its beauty sleep now," Nick said.

"Details if she shows up in your room tonight!" Schmidt yelled after him.

"Jar," Nick said and pointed to the douche bag jar as he walked towards his room.

There was a part of Nick that wanted to knock on Jess's door right then and there. For once in his life he wanted to talk his feelings out. But no matter how much liquid courage he had it would just not be enough.

Instead he tip-toed into his room and quietly closed the door behind him. He pulled off his shirt and stared at himself in the mirror and unbuttoned and slid down his jeans so he was only in his underwear. Would this be enough for Jess? He asked himself. His mind went straight to Spencer, to Paul, her ex-boyfriends.

Oh yeah, Nick could definitely compete with them.

With that feeling of confidence, Nick got into his bed expecting to have sweet dreams about the beautiful girl sleeping across the hall.

Nick was about to doze off to sleep when he heard a light knocking at the door.

"No Schmidt, you may not borrow my slow jams mix!" he yelled.

The door creaked open and Jess popped her head in. "Slow jams, eh?"

"Oh, hey, Jess. C'mon… everyone has a slow jams mix for uh… winding down."

"Well hey," she whispered. "I'm definitely not one to judge."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, you're the one with the show tunes mix."

"May I come in?" she asked. Nick responded by patting the bed next to where he lay.

Jess smiled and came to sit next to him. Instead of wearing her regular turtle pajamas, she had on a small pink strapless night shirt with tiny cotton short shorts. The kind of sleepwear that didn't leave much to the imagination.

"I've got a problem."

"Anything I can help you with?" he asked.

"Maybe. I've been trying all night but I can't sleep. Maybe you could give me some tips on how to fall asleep quick."

Nick gulped. "Well, I've heard cuddling can help someone fall asleep." He reached his hand over to rub her thigh. She surprisingly didn't flinch away.

"I don't have any stuffed animals to cuddle with!" she exclaimed. "Spencer got rid of all of mine. He said the teddy bear eyes were always staring at him and it freaked him out."

"I could be your stuffed animal, Jess," he said, "For the night."

"Oh really, so if you were a stuffed animal, which one would you be?"

"A skunk, I think."

Jess laughed. "Well with your dirty towels and underwear, you wouldn't be so far off!" Jess's excited face turned to serious in a split second.

"What about Julia?" she asked.

"Jess, I broke up with her today."

"Oh no, Nick," she said reaching to rub his arm. "It wasn't because you felt guilty about last night, was it?"

"It was a lot of reasons, but mainly I just couldn't handle the fact that she wasn't a dessert person. I've often thought of myself as a tasty treat… how could she not want to lick this lollipop up and down?"

Jess moaned and then giggled.

"It was because of last night, wasn't it?" she said quietly, and he nodded. Nick just couldn't lie to Jess. It wasn't possible. He cared too much about her to keep anything from her.

He pulled her closer to him and she lay down next to him as he shared the covers with her. They snuggled close together and Nick put his arm around her shoulder to hold her tighter. He could feel Jess's cold nose rubbing up against his scruffy neck. She lightly rubbed his chest and circled her dainty fingers around his chest hair.

"I think I could get used to this thing you call cuddling," he whispered into her ear. Jess snorted a bit at that. She burrowed her head into the crease between his shoulders and chest and wrapped her arm around his waist.

Nick normally liked sleeping alone, except for the post-coital cuddling that was expected of him. But Jess's body seemed to mold to his so perfectly, like his missing puzzle piece had been found. Nick started to stroke her hair and used his other hand to softly caress her shoulder down to her hand, where Jess interlocked her fingers in his. Nick listened to Jess's breathing until it went from a deep breath into a light snore.

The last thought before he drifted off to a deep sleep was that he was determined to make himself a better person for Jess. She deserved everything in a man and he was desperate to give it to her. Jess was the only motivation he needed.