The Anatomy of Nick Miller

Summary: The anatomy of Nick Miller, as experienced by Jessica Day. Not nearly as weird or as dirty as it sounds.

It's not that she hates Nick's feet, it's just that she's a little bit grossed out by them. They're hairy and a little bit smelly and though his toenails aren't as bad as Schmidt's, they're still sharp as daggers. Sometimes when their legs are tangled up in bed together, his toenails will scrape against her legs and leave little white scratches on her skin. Jess hasn't had the heart to tell him.

But then they're on the couch one day and he lays back and props his bare feet up in her lap. She cringes involuntarily and he sees. "What was that face for?" he demands.

"Nothing, what face? I didn't make a -"

"You're making it right now! Still!"

"I am not, Nick."

"You are so," he says, and as he says it, he shifts his legs slightly and her eyes get drawn to his feet and how they now rest even closer against her stomach. He notices this, too.

"Uh-huh! Is it my feet? You don't like my feet?"

"No I just -"

He doesn't let her finish, instead lifts his legs up so his feet are just about level with her face. She shrieks and pushes them away, quickly scooting off the couch. "Okay, your feet are gross, Nick! They smell and your hairy toes freak me out."

"It's just hair. And they don't smell, here take another sniff." he says, pushing his feet towards her again. She bolts away from him and suddenly he's up and chasing her around the apartment. She escapes to the bedroom but he follows her through the door before she has a chance to close it. He trips on an old pile of clothes and tumbles back onto the bed. Before he can do anything but register what happened, Jess pounces on him. She positions herself on top of his shins, effectively pinning his feet down against the bed.

"Ha," Jess declares.

And he could probably kick her off or squirm out from under her if he really tried, but the struggle has gone out of him. Instead, he's leaning back and taking in the sight of her above him. She's still catching her breath and her cheeks are tinged with pink from the exertion and her hair is fanning out crazily and she looks positively kissable. "This," he says. "I'm okay with this."

She looks him up and down, submissive beneath her, and gets the idea immediately. "If I get closer to kiss you, you promise to keep those feet down and not anywhere near my face?"

"First of all, I'm glad you think I'm that flexible," Nick says. "But yeah, I promise. But only if you kiss me." His smile and eyes are soft, and there's something to the way he's looking at her that makes her heart flutter in his chest.

She hopes he can see the same look in her eyes, the one that says she'd take him as he is, gross feet and all.

And since she can't be sure that he does see it, she makes extra sure that he can feel it in her kiss.