Seriously, thought Jess, I couldn't have at least hugged him when we said goodbye?

Of course she couldn't have. It was one of those times when any physical contact would have meant too much, and when none was just as painful. The loft felt empty and sad since Nick's departure, though he had barely been gone an hour. She felt strangely weepy and alone. True, she had given him her blessing, essentially white-fanged him, tried to set him free, but that didn't mean she wouldn't miss him. She imagined that Schmidt would feel the same about Cece, had she not refused to be white-fanged. It was not the kind of sensation that she would have expected, having known Nick for a little less than a year, but living together does enhance and maybe even artificially create intimacy - thus the reason for Nick wanting to live with Caroline in the first place.

"I'm going to bed, guys," she mumbled to her remaining roommates.

"Jess, it's 7:30," said Winston.

"Yes, Winston it is," she replied, "and sometimes a girl just needs to get thirteen hours of beauty sleep."

"Jess, we all know that I've been telling you about how much beauty sleep a person needs, and you have never once listened to me," said Schmidt.

"Okay, fine, Schmidt, you got me. I'm just going to go mope in my room, because it doesn't feel right us hanging out in the living room without Nick, okay?"

No one stopped her. Nick was always the one who stopped her. She knew nothing would be the same without him. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling until it actually became dark outside, and then forced herself to get up and close her curtains before climbing back into bed in her too big pyjamas.

Then she saw the truck. The moving truck Nick had driven all over the city, and the desert for that matter. Nick was back! She was going to be all right again. Unless, maybe he just forgot his toothbrush.

She heard the loft's front door open, then shut. She flung her own door open in response.

"Nick, if you just came back because you forgot your toothbrush, I may have to hurt you."

"What, Jess, toothbrushes are like three bucks, even I can afford a new one."

"Yeah, but you haven't bought a new one the whole time I've lived here, and I've gone through three."

"Okay, fine do you want me to get a new toothbrush?"

"Nick, this is not about toothbrushes right now!"

"You're the one who started the toothbrush thing!"

"Look, are you back for real, or not?"

"I'm back."

"For real?"

"I'm back for real, Jess, I swear. You were right, Caroline wasn't going to make me happy."

"Okay. Then welcome back you crazy clown."

They smiled at each other, and went back into their own bedrooms. Nick cranked his super awesome mixed tape and separately, but together, they danced. Schmidt did all kinds of crazy back flips and Winston begged for Nick to just turn it down, but really they were all happy that Nick was back.

Eventually, the music died down, and Winston was finally able to sleep. Schmidt calmed down and tried to fully process what had happened between him and Cece. And for the second time that night, Jess climbed into bed in her too-big pyjamas. She turned on her sleepy playlist and was just about to drift off to sleep, when there was a soft knock on her door.

"So, Jess, I, uh, may not have forgotten my toothbrush, but I did kind of forget my bed... Well, I forgot that I sold my old bed, and that guy Neil is still sort of on the couch."

"Is that so Nicholas?"

"Jess, c'mon, help me out. You have ninety quadrillion pillows. Can I just borrow a few until I can get a new bed? I can sleep on the floor."

"I guess so, Nick, but no being naked or self-completing within arm's reach of any of my pillows. I like to cuddle with them sometimes."

"Hardy har har, Jess. Just hand em over."

Jess took that as the opportunity to throw several of her throw pillows at, not to Nick.

"What? They're throw pillows, you have to throw them!"

"Jess! We are not having a pillow fight right now!"

"Whatever you say, Nick," she said, throwing yet another pillow. Because it was them, this quickly escalated into a full-blown pillow war. Jess decided that she would run out of pillow-ammo too quickly if she kept throwing them, so she thought she would be better off with a more up close and personal kind of attack. She started relentlessly hitting her favourite roommate with a pillow. That is, until Nick, who despite it all, was stronger than he looked, wrestled the offending pillow from her hands, and Jess ended up in Nick's arms for the second time in less than 24 hours, breathing heavily once again.

"Nick?"

"Yeah, Jess?"

"I'm glad you came back."

"Oh yeah, Jess? Why is that?"

"I just -"

He cut her off like he had earlier, by covering her mouth. This time, however, instead of using his hand, he covered her mouth with his own. The kiss was filled with passion, and things that had needed to be said for awhile. He pulled her close at the waist, and she threw her hands around his neck. When they finally broke apart, Jess' eyes were huge.

"Nick, did that really just happen?" she gasped.

"Yeah, Jess, I think it did. Before you ask, I don't know what it means. I just felt like it was something that I needed to do."

"Okay. I get that. Neither of us are in the right place for a relationship right now. But sometimes, feelings happen. And it's okay..."

"Jess, seriously, can we not talk about this right now? I think we both need to process what just happened a little bit. I'm just going to go sleep on the floor in my room."

"No, wait, Nick, we don't have to talk about it. Stay. Don't sleep on the floor. My bed is huge, I'm sure we can both fit comfortably."

"So, you're saying that we don't have to talk about the kiss that we're both processing, but you want us to sleep together?"

"Nick, we're not going to sleep together, sleep together, we're just going to be two people, who happened to have kissed, and who happen to be sleeping in the same bed. Nothing has to happen. Nothing will happen."

"Okay, Jess, but this is just because I'm afraid of the state my back will be in if I sleep on the floor. Don't you have any bigger pyjamas?"

"Nick, I'm fully covered. Now help me pick up these pillows and come to bed."