This is a short, fluffy one-shot written for childofwolf. She asked if I could write it and as you can see my muse was cooperative. It's set sometime after the Fluffers episode. So here it is. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own them! Unfortunately!

"Oh, good. You're here. It's about time." Jess exclaimed the moment Nick walked through the door. She grabbed him and dragged him over to the couch, pushing him down. He was still wearing his jacket and shoes. She didn't even let him take them off.

"What … what is this all about?" Nick asked stunned, his gaze falling on the couch table and his eyes widened in surprise. The whole table was covered with Halloween candy and chips of all varieties and several bottles of his favorite beer were sitting in a bowl filled with ice cubes.

"Give me your jacket. I'll put it away for you." Nick looked at her bewildered but she was just standing in front of him with her hands stretched out and he took off the jacket and handed it to her, watching her as she rushed to the coat rack and rushed back, dropping on her knees in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked, completely at a loss now.

"Just making it comfortable for you." Jess replied as she slipped his shoes from his feet. He was accustomed to Jess acting weird but this was definitely on the top of the scale. From one to ten this was definitely an eight at least.

Nick leaned forward and grabbed her by her arms so that she stopped shuffling around for a second and looked at him. "Jess, what's wrong?

"It's Monday." Jess said matter-of-factly and Nick furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Yes, I know."

"And yesterday was Sunday."

"Yes, Monday usually follows Sunday." Nick said, afraid that she had completely lost her mind now. "What are you trying to get at?"

Jess raised her hands and pulled his away from her arms so that she could stand up and walk over to her self-made cooler. Grabbing a beer out of it, she held it in his direction. "Here, your beer."

"What did you do?" Nick suddenly asked suspiciously. She had to have gone to such trouble preparing all of this for some reason.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, the innocent expression on her face not fooling anyone.

"This looks like you want to apologize for something." Nick said, gesturing towards the full table. "But I have no clue what you want to apologize for."

"It's not an apology. I didn't do anything."

"If it's not an apology … what is this then?"

"A bribe." Jess admitted, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I know I'm a big girl but ..." Jess trailed off, kneading her hands nervously in front of her body, refusing to look at him. Nick stared at her for a few seconds until the penny finally dropped.

"Oh!" Nick started to grin. "Yesterday was Sunday."

"Yes, Sunday." Jess said quietly, looking up at him expectantly.

"You want me to watch it with you."

"I don't want to watch it alone."

"Okay, Jessica." Nick said, smiling broadly before he patted the couch beside him. "The bribe worked. Start the DVR."

"You are gonna watch it with me?" Jess asked, almost unbelievingly.

"Yes, Jess. I'm gonna watch it with you."

With a big smile on her face she plopped down on the couch beside him and grabbed the remote to start the episode.

~N&J~

"Jess, you are leaving marks."

"What?"

"Would you please ease up on my arm? I think you cut of the circulation already." Nick asked, pulling her hand away from his arm, rubbing over the half-moons her nails had dug into his skin.

"Sorry!" Jess said apologetically, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them close to her body as she stared wide-eyed at the screen. A few seconds later her arm shot towards him again and she grabbed his thigh almost painfully.

"Okay, that's not gonna work." Nick sighed, leaning forward to grab the remote to hit the pause button.

"What? Why did you pause?" Jess' head swirled towards him, looking at him accusingly. "You can't leave me now. We have to watch it to the end."

Nick stood up and walked to the other side of her, sitting down so that he was sitting directly in front of the screen. Propping his feet up on the table, he stretched out an arm over the back of the couch and patted his chest. "Come here."

Jess cocked her head, worrying her lip thoughtfully. "Are you sure?"

"It's not a date, Jess." Nick said, rolling his eyes exasperatedly. "It's just a friends thing. So come here."

"It's kind of a date." Jess replied as she scooted closer and laid her head on his chest, stretching her legs out on the couch. "A TWD date."

"Then let's have a TWD date." Nick said, bringing his arm down to put it lightly on her back and Jess snuggled deeper into him, her arms going around his body, clutching him tightly and Nick had to grin. "Including my strong arms protecting you from the evil, evil zombies."

"Okay." Jess mumbled against his shirt and Nick reached for the remote. "Ready?"

"Ready." Her small voice drifted up and Nick hit the pause button again.

He had to admit it felt kind of weird to have her in his arms, to be so close to her. But at the same time it felt just right. Strangely he didn't feel aroused, he felt comfortable. It felt also good to hold her in his arms while she was flinching constantly, muttering sounds of disgust and burying her face in his chest every time the really gross stuff flickered over the screen. Yes, it definitely felt right.

This was so much better. Watching it while her head was lying on his chest. His arm wrapped around her made it so much easier to watch it. She had to admit it felt nice to feel his hand against the small of her back, to hear his heart beat under her ear. Yes, she definitely liked watching 'The Walking Dead' like this.

~N&J~

As the end credits rolled over the screen, Nick shifted slightly and suddenly laughter bubbled up in his chest.

Jess leaned back and looked up at him surprised. "Why are you chuckling?"

"This reminds me of when I was sixteen and took a girl to see a horror movie hoping she would seek comfort in my arms so that I could grope her a little bit."

"Nicholas Miller, how devious?" Jess smiled, pushing herself up, slipping reluctantly out of his embrace and sitting up beside him.

"I was sixteen, Jess! I had only one thing on my mind."

"Did it work?" Jess asked.

"No, not really."

"She was missing out." Jess said quietly and Nick raised one eyebrow in surprise. Jess gave him a soft smile and put her hand on his arm, squeezing it slightly. "Your arms are a good place to be when you're scared."

"They are?" Nick asked, feeling the mood shift. They were getting close to dangerous territory, he could feel the air crackling with the first signs of the undeniable attraction that always lingered at the edge. He locked eyes with her and for a few seconds they only stared at each other, not being able to say anything before Jess averted her gaze and cleared her throat.

"Yes, they are." She replied, standing up quickly to step to the other side of the couch. She didn't know why she had said it. Of course it was true but saying it out loud only complicated things. Wanting to escape the suddenly tense situation, she looked up at him and said. "Thanks for watching 'The Walking Dead' with me, Nick."

"Anytime, Jess. Anytime." Nick smiled and seeing him sitting on the couch all handsome in his slightly disheveled state, Jess opened her mouth without thinking it through and asked the question she shouldn't probably ask. "So, see you next Monday?"

Nick stared at her for a few seconds before a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he said quietly. "It's a date. A TWD date."

"Yes, a TWD date." Jess replied, turning around to walk to her room, a silly smile spreading out on her face. She couldn't wait until it was Monday again.

I just realized TWD is coming back tonight. So Nick and Jess have something to watch together again. :-) Oh no, my muse is already raising her head. Damn! Yeah, I might probably add some chapters to this story at some point.