Nine

This is another doozy. I get way too carried away sometimes. I got the idea for this from the movie 'Nine', which are basically the nine women that change this guy's life. I loved the idea of it and people shaping/changing you, and decided to give this one shot a crack! It turned out okay-ish I think? It's up to you guys to decide! I listened to the song 'Dead Hearts' by Stars a lot through the course of writing this, I well recommend it! Also, I recommend that you watch Nine because it's fantastic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think!

There were nine men that shaped the course of Jessica Day's life. And one man that changed her life forever.

Bob Day

What Jessica Day first learnt of life was from her father. As all little girls do, she idolised him, reciprocating his every move, taking every piece of advice he ever gave her to heart. She worked tirelessly to impress him, spending hours colouring in pictures oh so carefully between the lines, strumming her guitar to practice for her recital until the little tips of her fingers bled. Bob Day was pessimistic, lazy and notoriously hard to please. But that didn't mean that Jess would ever stop trying.

When Jess was eleven, she developed her first crush. His name was Joe, and he had pretty blue eyes and always wore a shirt with a funny slogan written on it. Joe was the best at drawing in her entire grade, as well as having an accent that made Jess swoon (rumour had it that Joe had movie star mother that travelled all over the world, and had been living in England to film.)

"Daddy, there's this boy at school. And he's totally cute, and British, and everybody totally thinks he looks like one of the guys out of Hanson. And I really like him. What should I do?" Jess blurted quickly, eyes shining with excitement. Her father stared at her for a minute in silence, an expression that rivalled one of a stone statue planted firmly on his face. He then let out a long, exasperated sounding sigh, and ran took his glasses off so that he could rub his eyes in a tired manner. Jess felt uncomfortable. She shifted from foot to foot anxiously, gnawing on her lip in anticipation at his answer, staring at him with an expression full of trust, hoping for advice on how to best win Joe's affection. If anyone could help, it would be her daddy.

"Jessica, come and sit down." Jess pulled a chair out and sat in front of her father, so that she was directly facing him, and he sighed once more before continuing. "Jessica, I'm going to be straight with you here. In life, there are Joe's and then, there are Jessica's. And it's very rare that Jessica's end up with Joe's. The chemistry isn't right. I think its best you give up on this fantasy before you make a fool out of yourself." Then nobody spoke. All Jess could hear was the sound of her mother humming to herself as she dried the dishes in the kitchen, and the quick inhale exhale of her own lungs. Her lip trembled as she desperately tried to hold in the tears that were threatening to fall, but no matter how much she tried, they ended up falling anyway. Her father turned away and re-opened the newspaper in front of him, not even acknowledging his devastated daughter.

"No need for tears, Jessica." Bob said sharply, still not looking up from his reading. "There's no point sugar coating it, the world is cruel so I'm looking out for your best interests, really. Now, stop with the silly crying."

But his words only made her cry more. She leapt from her chair and ran quickly from the room, sobbing uncontrollably, running into her bedroom and collapsing onto her bed, slamming the door behind her. Her mother's voice shouted after her in concern, and Jess listened as the low grumble of her father's voice mixed with that of her mother's, then she listened as both voices increased in volume before the voices turned into screams directed at one another. Jess got up from her bed and put on her Carpenters record, putting the volume to full and partially drowning out the voices of the screaming voices below. Sometimes the screams from below broke through the smooth voices belting from her stereo. Bad father. I hate you. Get out.

When Jess awoke the next morning, she found herself still fully clothed, and with extremely sore red eyes. She's obviously cried herself to sleep. Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed to find her mother sat at the kitchen table, clutching a mug of coffee that looked several hours old, staring blankly at a wall.

"Mom?" Jess enquired quietly, moving to sit in front of her. Joan started, quickly moving to turn her melancholic expression into one that could pass as happy, a tight lipped smile on her sad mouth.

"Sweetheart," She took Jess' hand in her own from across the table, "I'm so sorry about what your father said to you last night. Don't you dare believe a word of it. You're my Jessie bear and any boy would be lucky to have you." Jess smiled softly and shook her head.

"And you don't need to worry about your father anymore. You, well all of us, will be seeing a lot less of him." It was then that Jess noticed her father's absence, and a feeling of dread started to creep up on her.

"Where is Dad?" Jess asked, and her mother directed her gaze away, retracting her hand from Jess' and placing it in her lap.

"Gone. Me and your father…" She stopped momentarily, trying to shape the phrase in her mouth. "We're getting divorced Jess."

Jess being Jess, forgave her father quickly for the 'Joe incident'. Bob Day was a good man really, and every Sunday he came to pick her up, drove them to the ice cream parlour and bought Jess the biggest Cherry Garcia sundae and listened to her endless teenage chatter about parties and pop quizzes and the newest hair styling products. It wasn't much, and both of them were aware that it didn't make up for the years of almost apathy on Bob's behalf, it was just nice, their ice cream Sundays. (Jess made up the nickname, and laughed solidly for two hours at her stroke of genius.) But it meant the world to Jess.

One day at the ice cream parlour, when Jess was sixteen, Bob interrupted one of her hilarious anecdotes of what happened to her and Cece in Spanish class. Jess was momentarily shocked, in five years her father had listened to every single little thing she had to tell him, without ever interrupting to talk himself.

"I'm sorry, Jess. About Joe. You know that any guy would be lucky to have you right? And I'm sorry I'm such a terrible father, but I'm trying, you know. Really trying. I'm… I'm so proud of you. Of the woman you're becoming. I love you, Jess. My little girl." By the end of his little speech, Bob Day was crying. Really crying. His face was red and blotchy and he kept making this hiccoughing noise into his spoonfuls of hot chocolate fudge sundae and Jess waited quietly until he'd calmed down, taking miniscule bites of her sweet cherry ice cream. The whole situation was profoundly strange, and Jess found herself itching to break into a song to alleviate the tension. When he stopped crying Jess took a scoop of her ice cream and tapped it against his spoon of hot chocolate fudge in a toast.

"Here's to the meantime, Daddy." That was the first time Jess saw her father really, truly smile.

The first man to change Jessica Day's life was her father, who taught her that sometimes people mess up, but that's okay.

Jake Wood

"Cece, this is dumb. All of the popular kids are here and this skirt is too short and the bra you lent me is like super tight and this stupid make up is making my eyes itch." Jess complained, wrinkling up her nose like a bunny in an apparent attempt to satiate the itchiness of her eyes. Cece groaned, and turned to put her hands on Jess shoulders, shaking her lightly.

"Babe. This is the biggest party of the year! High school is over, woo! And I want to spend the night with my best friend, getting mind numbingly drunk, and dancing until my feet fall off okay? Okay. Let's go." Jess groaned again as Cece grabbed hold of Jess' hand and dragged her into the party, muttering under her breath as she went.

Music was loud. People were everywhere. Cece was gone. Jess was alone. She sighed into the cup of punch she was drinking in her perch of a vacant window frame, attempting again to cross her legs in a way that didn't cut off her circulation. Parties were not her forte. Cece had begged and begged endlessly for months to get her here, only swinging it because she promised that she would drive Jess to the knitting gala in the city next month, when her mother was spending the weekend away with the cat protection society at some sort of convention. Jess hummed quietly to herself, a Carpenters song, as she appreciated the lovely colour that Maria Marcher's mother had decided to paint the kitchen walls. A kind of pale yellow that looked golden when the light hit it in just the right way. Jess' attention diverted to the large group of people that were congregated close to her, a feeling of being watched drawing her eyes. A boy with blonde hair and nice green eyes was staring at her over the cup of punch he was holding, and Jess caught his gaze just as he looked away. Her heart rate increased rapidly, butterflies erupting in her stomach and combining with the alcohol in her blood to make her feel appropriately woozy. The next thing Jess saw was him begin to walk over to her, and she fixed her gaze on a picture on the wall of the Marcher family, a blush creeping up her face.

"Hi," a voice said, occupying the space next to her on the window frame. Jess started and fumbled with the cup she was holding, nearly dropping it. "Whoa, be careful." Two hands covered hers and she gulped, finally lifting her gaze up to meet his.

"I'm Jake." He grinned. Jess had never seen more perfect teeth.

"I'm, umm I'm…" Jess fumbled, her name slipping her mind.

"Jess?" He questioned, and she nodded rapidly. "Yeah, your necklace told me." Jess glanced down at the necklace of her name that her dad had bought her for her seventeenth birthday and blushed.

"Do you want another drink?" Jake asked, and she nodded mutely, he flashed another smile at her and Jess felt her heart dissolve into liquid as he turned away.

Later that night, after much more alcohol had been consumed, Jess somehow found herself pushed up against a wall with her legs wrapped around Jake's waist, his hands grabbing her ass and his tongue down her throat. Her head felt like it was full of stars. His touch felt electric and in her drink addled brain everything was perfect and right and she'd kiss him forever and ever. He tore his mouth away from hers and grinned at her dumbly.

"You're really hot." He slurred, moving to kiss her neck and she nodded mutely, unable to respond. He removed his mouth from her again. "Want to take this upstairs?" Jess felt blissfully wanted, full of stars and invincible, so she kissed him languidly on the mouth again before grinning at him in a way she hoped was seductive.

"Yes."

xXx

"Do you love me?" She whispered from her position on his bare chest, tracing circles on his stomach.

"Sure babe, sure. Whatever." He sighed groggily, turning away from her and immediately falling asleep. Jess was left under unfamiliar scratchy sheets, feeling cold and used and unwanted, and oddly like she would of rather he hadn't answered her question at all.

When she woke after a few hours' sleep, Jake was gone. Jess cried for a little while, feeling sorry for herself, and incredibly stupid. She texted Cece to come and pick her up and numbly moved to put on her discarded clothes.

Cece came a little while later, and Jess collapsed into her best friend's arms, sobbing and sobbing and Cece whispered words of comfort in her hear, rubbing her back warmly, swearing that she'd perform illegal surgery to remove a certain part of Jake's anatomy and sew it on his forehead so that he accurately looked like the prick he was, which made Jess giggle.

The second man to change Jessica Day's life was Jake Wood. He was the first man to show her what love felt like.

Spencer

When Jessica Day first laid eyes on Spencer Shaw, she thought he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He had long brown hair, fair skin with an adorable sprinkling of freckles dusted across his nose and deep brown eyes. It was love at first sight, for Jess anyway.

Spencer was her first, proper boyfriend. The first guy that took her on dates to the movies and out for romantic meals and surprised her with little gifts and wrote songs about her and kissed her in the way she liked the most. Spencer gave her everything she had ever dreamed of, and in return she gave him everything she had. Her heart belonged to him.

They were lying on his beat up couch one lazy afternoon, him with his head on her lap and her playing with the ends of his hair. Jess really loved his hair. Abruptly, he sat up and turned to face her, and she smiled.

"Hi," She murmured and moved to kiss his lips. He put his hand up to stop her and she furrowed her brow in question, but he continued.

"Move in with me, Jess." Jess' big blue eyes widened even further and she let out a happy squeal of joy, launching herself onto Spencer with the force of a train and grinning into his long, beautiful brown hair.

"Of course." Jess had done it. She had found the one.

xXx

They found a sweet little place in a nice neighbourhood close to where Jess used to live. It was spacious, but still had the cosy kitsch homely glow Jess so desperately craved. Spencer painted all the walls and Jess bought new furniture. They would wake up together and she would make them breakfast while he showered and they'd eat together, sat in happy silence. They were happy.

The change happened just shortly after Spencer's best friend, Paul, got married. When she made them breakfast on a morning, she imagined what it would be like to hear the pattering of little feet on the floor, what one of the spare rooms would look like painted pink or blue, with little ducks on the walls. Often she found herself gazing longingly at the space on her fourth finger met her knuckle, fantasising about what it would look like with a gold band placed on it.

"Spencer?" She asked one day when he came in from work, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello there cupcake," He muttered tiredly, placing his briefcase down and removing his coat.

"Spencer, I need to know. Do you think we have a future?" It was abrupt and presumptuous she knew, but her mind could not seem to shake the image of floating down the aisle in a long white gown with daisies twined in her hair and her Daddy holding onto her arm. He floundered for a second, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, before laughing uncomfortably.

"I'm just having fun, Jess! Living in the moment. This is fun, right? Us?" Jess laughed along with him, hoping it would mask the snapping noise of her heart in her chest at his careless words, and she felt the dream she'd so gently formed disappear, as if it were rain dissolving under the hot blush of the sun. He patted on her head and trotted off to go and have a shower, still chuckling. Jess collapsed against the front door, sliding down it and wiping away any tears that had escaped her eyes.

It was the beginning of the end. Spencer began to stay out later and later after work, and Jess found that she didn't mind. She still loved him, of course, loved him wholly and completely and couldn't imagine life without him. Her heart was invested in him, but at the same time she was not in love with him. It was as though she was in love with the thought of him.

When Jess tried to surprise him with her naked debacle to find him sleeping with someone else, she felt her world shatter around her. She was upset, of course, but more upset that her lovely normal routine had been destroyed. Everything would have to change. She'd loved and she'd lost. Heartbroken. But she knew she had to move on.

The third man to change Jessica Day's life was Spencer Shaw. He was her first love, and first heartbreak.

Schmidt, Winston and Nicholas

Schmidt

"Good morning, Schmidt." Jess beamed, floating into the kitchen in a yellow sundress with a wide, sunshiny grin planted firmly on her lips. Schmidt was on the phone, chattering endlessly to a business associate in a language Jess didn't understand. 'Business jargon' Schmidt had told her when she questioned him about it, 'nothing for you little people to concern yourselves with.' There was a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea sat waiting for her on the counter, and she grinned appreciatively. She and Schmidt were the only early risers in the loft due to their jobs, and Schmidt had quickly learnt that Jess liked a cup of tea in the morning, and always thought to make her a cup as he filled his flask with coffee for the day.

"Good morning, Jess," Schmidt sighed wearily, hanging up the phone and placing it in his pocket, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Freaking Bob messed up on the report again, and guess who has to clear up the whole fiasco? That's right, me! It's been like this for centuries you know, sending the Jews to clear up man's mistake, well; we're people too, Jess! We're people too!" Jess sighed and moved round to him with open arms.

"Does someone need a hug?" Jess questioned, and Schmidt nodded solemnly.

xXx

Though often a douchebag, Schmidt was probably the guy that Jess could most relate to. He sat up with her watching reality TV shows after all the other guys go to bed: 'swear you'll never tell Jess, but god damn it I have to know how Kim's surgery went!' He made her teain the mornings and bought her ice cream when she had the red devil in her belly. Mostly, Jess loved Schmidt because of how much he loved Cece. Seeing her best friend truly happy with a guy was not something Jess has ever been familiar with, and seeing the way her and Schmidt seemed to love each other, how Schmidt openly looked at Cece with such adoration in his eyes, it never failed to warm Jess' heart.

Winston

"Jess, these god damn eggs will not mix with this freaking butter so help me god!" Winston yelped, throwing down his spoon in disgust and staring at the lumpy, unmixed goo that resided in his bowl that should by now have a 'smooth, velvet like texture.' Sighing, Jess set down her own mixing bowl and moved to observe Winston's, tutting slightly at the contents.

"Winston, what did I tell you? Stop the aggression and move with the butter, like you're making sweet love to it." Jess winked and Winston shuddered, moving again to pick up his spoon and attempt to blend the mixture, which end product should turn out to be chocolate cake for Shelby's birthday. It hadn't been his idea, but when Jess heard the guys talking about it she got way too over excited and went into overdrive, planning a cake and party and music and decorations, to which Winston tuned out and went back to watching TV, thus, led to him being stood in a dramatically frilly apron, blending together ingredients on a Sunday afternoon.

Winston was the guy Jess was the most worried about getting along with, due to the fact that he was the 'late arrival.' He and Nick had history going way back, and he seemed acquainted with Schmidt well enough, and she worried he would cause mutiny among the ranks, who would ultimately decide her an outsider. But instead, she found Winston to be warm, and funny, and a genuinely good guy that she eventually grew to care a great deal about. He was crazy intelligent, and incredibly competitive, which ultimately led to him and Jess having a seriously intense quiz battle one idle Wednesday afternoon, whilst watching: 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?'

"How many bones are there in the human body?" asked the TV presenter of the show.

"206!" Winston answered immediately, and Jess widened her eyes in surprise, before retorting sharply.

"Actually, dear Winston, as a fifth grade teacher myself, I'll have you know there are 213 bones in the human body." Winston sneered at her answer, dismissing it with a condescending chuckle.

"213, correct Sammy!" The voice echoed from the TV and Jess literally watched as Winston's smug expression dissolved into pure anger. He rose suddenly from his seat and stormed to the door.

"I'm going to the library to check human anatomy records, don't wait up!" Jess was howling with laughter at his words, and he chuntered as he left the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Nick

"Nick, you asshole!" Jess screeched from the shower, grasping around blindly for a towel. "What the hell have you done with my towel?" She poked her head out from the side of the shower curtain to see him leaning against the doorframe sipping on a bottle of beer, smug expression planted firmly on his face.

"Well, Nick?" She demanded angrily, and he laughed, a slow deliberate chuckle that made her blood boil in pure fury.

"Call it payback, Jess." He said, grinning, "For yesterday when you used the last of the almond milk when I specifically told you to save me some." Then he slunk off, leaving Jess cold, naked and towel-less in the shower, cursing his name with PG rated curses.

xXx

She peeked over the top of her snuggly pink blanket, eyes wide in terror, just as a zombie made its vicious attack on an innocent civilian, causing her to scream and dive quickly under her blanket again drawing her legs up to her chest and wishing there was some way to shut off the TV without leaving the same confines of her blanket, where she would be safe from all zombie attacks.

"Jess?"

Jess screamed at the sudden calling of her voice, her heart rate bypassing fast and moving straight to supersonic, grabbing her blanket closer to her in the last futile attempt to protect herself from the hungry, greedy hands of a zombie.

"Jesus, it's Nick Jess, calm down." She lowered her blanket to see a sleep rumpled Nick stood in front of her, blocking her view of the television screen, and she felt her heartbeat begin to return to its normal rate. He ran a hand through his sleep rumpled hair and yawned, and Jess realised guiltily that she'd woken him up with her screaming; obviously he'd been catching up on sleep from the long run of night shifts he'd had to work that week.

"Sorry, Nick. I know you told me not to watch Walking Dead on my own but I thought I could handle it. Obviously not." Nick laughed at Jess' embarrassed blush. "I'm sorry I woke you." He shrugged nonchalantly and collapsed into the seat next to her, stretching out an arm to bring her terrified body closer to him, tucking her in neatly at his side.

"It's 'kay, couldn't sleep anyways." He then proceeded to press play, and as Jess relaxed into his body, she realised that there wasn't really much to be scared of after all.

xXx

"I don't want to talk about it, guys!" Jess sobbed from her position on the bed, clutching her teddy bear to her chest and sniffling sadly.

"Come on, Jess, open the door!" Winston coaxed, tapping lightly on the wood.

"Yeah, Jess, what happened? Did he hurt you?" Schmidt questioned worriedly.

"Jess, open the damn the door!" Nick demanded, pummelling his fist onto the wooden surface.

"Do you want me to beat him up, Jess? I will kick his ass." Schmidt threatened and Winston snorted with laughter.

"What Schmidt means is that he will hire someone to kick his ass." Nick replied, and Schmidt shot him a look of venom.

"Guys, I'm not going to open the door! Leave me alone." Jess shouted, and the guys sighed. Winston and Schmidt both floated away, Schmidt retiring to his room to work on a project and Winston called Shelby to go out for something to eat. All that remained was Nick, Jess, and the door.

"Jess, the other guys have gone. It's just me." Nick slid down that door so he was sat with his back against it, knees drawn up to his chest and head leant back on the cold wood. Jess sniffled once more and crawled down so she sat in the same position, on the opposite side.

"I don't want you to see me like this, Nick." She whispered into the crack of the door, and Nick furrowed his brow in concern.

"Jess, I saw you after the toughest break up of your life. I saw you after that time you got so blind drunk you drew a moustache on your face in permanent marker. I held your hair back while you puked all night because you ate some of Schmidt's nasty ass sushi. I saw-"

"Okay, Nick, I get the picture." Jess snapped back angrily, blushing at his words.

"Why won't you let me in then, Jess?" Nick whispered quietly, and Jess sighed.

"Because this time you can say I told you so." Nick reeled from her words as she gently pulled the door open, and he felt his heart soften at her pitiful appearance, red eyed and rumpled hair. He didn't say anything; he just wrapped her up in his arms and held her close to him. They stayed like that for a while, him slightly taller so that she had to stand on her very tiptoes to reach him, swaying gently.

Nick Miller was an anomaly in Jess' life. He didn't fit. There were days she would look at him with rumpled hair and strong arms and dark hair and she had to screw her hands up really tight into fists so she wouldn't just walk up to him and totally jump his bones. Then there were other days, where he would steal her towel or drink her milk or sleep with the wicked witch Caroline and she just wanted to rip his eyes and run them down a cheese grater. He was persistently pessimistic, grumpy, and short tempered. He was also sweet, and protective and a down right good guy. Nick Miller was her turtle faced roommate, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

(…at least, that's what she told herself.)

xXx

Schmidt, Winston and Nick fell into Jessica's Day life by accident. Well, it was more like Jess fell into theirs. Like a tornado she whirled into their life, into their home, a blustering storm of tears and Dirty Dancing and cupcake frosting and glitter. Begrudgingly, they came to accept her quirks, embrace them even. They didn't throw the colourful flowers she insisted on placing on every available surface away, or refuse to eat any of her glitter dusted (edible, of course) baked goods. She became a face they saw every morning, bleary eyed just like the rest of them, that (though they would never admit it) they were thankful to have in their life. Like a cartoon princess, everything was brighter when she was around, like she sprinkled it with fairy dust. And they made her better too, somehow, through games of late night True American and Walking Dead marathons and Douchebag Jars; they managed to put a broken Jess back together, piece by piece.

The fourth, fifth and sixth guys to change Jessica Day's life are Nicholas, Schmidt and Winston. The three best guys she met in her life.

Paul

Paul Genzlinger. Sweet, Paul Genzlinger. Paul, the good guy with sweet brown eyes and honeycomb heart. Paul, the guy who filled Jess up with love and filled in the cracks left by Spencer with sweet treacly words and soft kisses on her skin.

Jess really liked Paul, she really liked the way he was basically her in male form, and he made her feel comfortable and at ease and just generally happy. But that's as far as it went. She liked him.

"I feel like we really have something amazing here, Jess." Paul sighed one night, lying next to her in bed and twining his fingers tight with hers.

"Yeah." Jess said, quietly. "Me too." She rolled over and screwed her eyes up tight wishing that somehow the bed could come and swallow her up.

It ended, inevitably, in a sticky, messy way full of tears and ugly crying. Jess felt awful, seeing how much she hurt him, not used to being the inflictor compared to the inflicted. She was silent the car ride home, head leaning against the frosted up window silently. Nick kept shooting her concerned glances from his position in the driving seat, and quickly swerved to take her down candy cane lane. When the lights came on and her friends cheered and hugged her she felt happiness sparkle around her, and catching Nick's eyes she mouthed a silent 'thank you', acknowledged by a small smile on his behalf.

It was then she realised. She'd hurt someone and that's okay. Life carried on for her, and for Paul. They weren't supposed to be together. That's all.

The seventh guy to change Jessica Day's life was Paul Gezlinger. He was the only guy that fell first.

Russell

Jess had never really matured. She still blushed and giggled when people openly discussed sex and cringed away when people talked about taxes. She loved Disney movies and musicals and pretty dresses. So when she got involved with Russell, her whole world was put out of kilter.

xXx

"Hey," She said, knocking on his office door happily with a picnic basket hung on her arm. He grinned at her but mouthed 'later' pointing at the phone in his hand. Jess nodded and raised a hand in farewell, sighing and turning away.

xXx

Russell did good things for her. He taught her all the grown up stuff like interest and how banks work and even took her golfing. He bought her expensive dresses and took her for nice meals and treated her like she was a princess. When he kissed her, she smelt his cologne and it felt like slipping into a hot bath at the end of the day. Comfortable. Soothing.

And that was okay for a while. Exactly what she needed. She even convinced herself that he was the perfect guy and that she was being silly, that the nagging voice at the back of her was wrong and immature and that Russell was exactly what she needed to grow up. He was security.

But she craved it. Electricity. Fire. Kisses that were clashing teeth and tongue and hungry hands roaming everywhere. There was no spark, nothing.

xXx

Stood in the kitchen one morning, she poured milk into her cereal just as Nick brushed past her to grab a cup of coffee, and she fumbled a bit with the milk, causing it to fall crashing to the floor.

"Sorry, J-"

"Nick, you jackass! Why are you always such an inconsiderate asshole all the time!" And there it was, all the pent up rage and anger sent boiling to the surface, literally over spilt milk. Nick regarded her with a comical expression, but there was fire in his eyes.

"Calm down, Jess. Just milk!" He shouted back, and she stepped closer to him.

"No, Nicholas, it's not just milk! It's you being a selfish bastard as usual!" Nick audibly gasped at the curse word she used, normally her language was at a PG level, but she raised her eyebrow in challenge and he stiffened his face.

"Jeeze, Jess! What the hell is wrong with you?" He bellowed, and she got closer to his face, so that they stood inches apart. Abruptly, both became aware of their close contact. They both stared at each other, silent, heavy breaths mingling. Nick's dark eyes darted from her eyes to her lips, and she hitched her breath, sure he was going to kiss her. He leaned it, closer, and her eyes fluttered shut, just as his mouth came to rest at her ear.

"Sort things out with Russell, Jess." Then he was gone, leaving Jess out of breath, confused, and stood in a puddle of spilt milk.

xXx

It ended soon after. Calmly, obviously, and Jess was left feeling as though a piece of her heart had been removed. To resolve the emptiness in her chest she ended up having another explosive argument with Nick, but he was with Caroline again and that hurt a lot more than she expected it to, even more than the break up, and she didn't know why; so she satisfied herself by listening to 'The River' on repeat, Schmidt bringing her cups of tea on an hourly basis. The pain numbed, and Jess was left with a feeling of new found maturity, her first properly adult relationship had given her a new perspective of life. One that she was entirely thankful for.

The eighth guy to change Jessica Day's life was Russell. He made her grow up.

Nicholas Miller… again.

It was an odd day, the day Jessica Day realised that she had feelings for Nick Miller. And it started like this.

She woke up later, muttered a string of mild curses as she quickly threw on her work outfit, neglecting the shower in the favour of having breakfast. Schmidt had faithfully left her mug of tea out for her, but she sighed as she noted that it had gone stone cold, and she'd have to make herself a new one.

"Damn it where's my briefcase?" Jess grumbled, stomping round the apartment in frenzy, .haphazardly throwing pillows around the room in her desperate search. Just as she was going to give up, she noticed it perched on the kitchen table, accompanied by a little white note.

'I found you asleep on top of these last night when I got in from the bar. You were halfway through grading them so I did the rest. Just a couple of ticks here and there, gave them all B's. Except that one kid, Ernie, because his drawing of a robot was awesome. Gave him A+. Have a good day, Jess. Nick."

So that's why she was so tired, she thought to herself, filling her flask with coffee. Her stomach erupted into little butterflies as she read Nick's note over, appreciating the fact that he cared about her enough to finish up grading papers on the Solar System (why had Ernie drawn a dinosaur?) and move her into bed was such a sweet action, such an un-Nick-Miller-ish action that it surprised her.

With her thoughts busy in hear head, she grabbed her briefcase and headed out to work, a smile planted firmly on her face and Nick's note safely held in her pocket.

xXx

When she got home that night, she let the door swing shut behind her, sighing as she removed her coat and shoes, before promptly bursting into tears. She had no idea why, but whenever she closed her eyes dark hair and flannel shirts and Chicago accent filled her senses, and she had a niggling feeling it had something to do with one Nicholas Miller.

All of it suddenly made sense. Like she'd been living behind a steamed up widow and somebody had finally had the good sense to wipe it clear. It was Nick. All of this time. That's why it didn't work out with Paul, or Russell. Why there fights were so bad compared to the spats she had with Schmidt or Winston. Why it hurt so much when he got back with Caroline.

She was in love with him.

"Hey, Jess have you seen-"Winston started, but noting her tear stained appearance he sighed.

"Schmidt, get your ass in here, we have a crier!" Schmidt appeared immediately and ushered Jess to take a seat, with himself and Winston perched in front of her.

"It's Nick, isn't it." Schmidt asked, and Jess spluttered indignantly.

"What… you guys… no…I do no-"But then she noticed there knowing expressions and nodded glumly.

"Don't worry. We've known for a while. All the arguing and eye sex and god knows what else. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife." Schmidt continued, and Winston shivered in disgust.

"What should I do guys?" She barely whispered, and Winston put his arm her shoulders comfortingly.

"Tell him."

xXx

The drive to the bar was the longest of her life. She was so nervous she felt like she was going to puke, her vision spinning and heart rate racing.

When she saw him, standing there with a rag in his hand, wiping down the bar surface, everything else seemed to melt away, her vision centred on him. With deep shuddering breaths, she tried to calm her heart not jumping frantically against its ribcage prison, like a frantic bird from a cage.

Then he lifted his gaze and saw her. He had this expression on his face, dark and knowing, and it made Jess tingle with excitement. He knew. The universe had aligned perfectly and destined this to happen, happen tonight. It was a way that he had never looked at her before. He threw down his rag as she moved forward on shaky legs, and, a feeling of new found confidence growing with every shaky step she took, climbed onto the bar in front of him, and sat cross legged, arms wrapped defiantly across her body.

"I've got a bone to pick with you, Miller." Jess said, eyes glinting. Nick moved closer to her, a laughing expression on his face, as he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her forward so she rested on the edge of the bar.

"And what would that be, Jessica?" He whispered, just next to her ear.

"You made me fall in love with you."

She then grabbed the lapels of his hoodie, pulling him closer still, and finally, finally crashing their lips together. It felt like coming home. His hands tightened their grip on her hips and she clutched tightly onto his hair, messing it up in a way she had dreamed of doing every morning when he came out of his room, deliciously sleep mussed. Nick bit gently on her lower lip and she instinctively opened her mouth, their tongues twining in a way that made Jess' stomach flip over. When they eventually parted, they rested their foreheads together softly, looking into each other's eyes, identical grins on their faces.

"Well, to be fair, you made me fall in love with you first." Nick whispered against her lips, his voice low and gravelly, and Jess crashed her lips on his again. The few patrons in the bar whooped and cheered and catcalled at the entwined pair, and Jess smiled against Nick's lips.

xXx

"Jerk, I am not watching Ice Road Truckers again!" Jess shrieked from her position on Nick's lap, turning around to wrestle the remote from his hand. He lifted it out of her reach and stuck his tongue out, and she wriggled against his grip.

"Seriously Nick it's the final of So You Think You Can Dance tonight give me the remote!" She whinged and Nick laughed gruffly, throwing the remote behind him, and using both free hands to pin her arms above her head.

"Make me." He grinned, and her eyes darkened as he gently brushed his lips against hers…

"NICHOLAS, JESSICA, NOT IN THE LIVING AREA!" Schmidt bellowed, appearing from his room and taking a seat on the opposite couch, eyeing them with disgust. Winston came out from his room sighing and mumbling and took a seat next to Nick and Jess on the couch. Nick rolled his eyes at Jess and pulled her back up into sitting position on his lap, wrapping his arms securely around his waist and dropping a kiss into her hair as she snuggled into his chest.

"What we watching?" Winston asked, taking a sip of beer.

"SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!" Schmidt grinned happily, and went to retrieve the remote. Jess grinned smugly and Nick turtle-faced and the whole world felt perfect.

The ninth, well eighth guy to change Jessica Day's life was Nicholas Miller. Her soulmate.

Oh, by the way I have a new story idea coming up, hopefully a multi-chapter eek! But I'm terrible at them so you'll have to forgive my for my inevitable procrastination! Please review!