Ness as Parents- New Girl Fanfiction

Pepperwood Returns

"Chug, chug, chug, chug!" Schmidt eggs on Ruth, who's standing on top of a beige ottoman. She's downing a frosty can of root beer, and finally finishes it with a cheer.
She chucks the can into a box filled with other empty cans, and exclaims, "All hail the Western Warrior! Scatter!"
Jacob and Charles jump from the couch to the nearest chairs, and Jacob's bright yellow striped fish hat falls off and into the "lava". Frances attempts to jump onto a footstool, but doesn't make it all the way.
"Fran, you're in the lava!" Reginald scolds her, and she pouts.
"The British are coming!" Jess screams, and uses two chairs to reach Frances, and quickly scoops her up and sets her on the coach.
"Guys night! Bye FDR!" Winston declares, and him, Nick, Schmidt, Dan Bill, Charles, Malachi, Lucas, Reggie, and Jacob scamper over to the dining room.
"FDR!" Frances gives a little battle cry, and Cece laughs.
***
"Hey Miller, I saw that you have a Pepperwood reading next week!" Jess comes up behind Nick, who's making coffee by the counter. Nick turns around and gives Jess a quick kiss.
"Ya, I'm excited, there's supposed to be a pretty big turnout," Nick smiles in anticipation.
"No pre-read jitters? I don't think there are any mini houses you can crawl into there." Jess teases Nick.
Nick laughs and asks, "Does it say where the reading is in the calendar?"
"No, where is it?" Jess says, pouring the rest of the coffee into a bright pink "#1 Mom" mug made by Reggie.
"...It's in New Orleans." Nick relays hesitantly, glancing at Jess with apprehension.
Jess looks up abruptly from her coffee, but then plasters on a smile. "Cool bro, what about it?" She goes back to her coffee in an attempt to appear unbothered.
"Did you just call me bro?" Nick stares at Jess.
"Ya bro, you don't like it?" Jess tries to laugh.
"No, I hate it, you're my wife, not some random surfer dude." Nick cracks a smile, but then pulls Jess to face him. "Look, I know it's a sensitive topic for you, and I understand why, I was a jerk."
"Nick, you weren't a jerk, I pushed you to be with Reagan. It's not your fault I didn't tell you how I felt." Jess finally makes hesitant eye contact with Nick.
"The point is, I don't have to go to New Orleans if you don't want me to. We both know what happened last time I went. You were home, hurting, and I didn't even know."

Jess walks through the loft door, setting her purse on the hallway table.
"Hey, Crawdaddy's home!"
Jess gasps in surprise at the voice, and freezes when she sees Nick sitting in the living room. His chin is a lot more scruffy than 2 months ago, and he's munching on a bowl of cereal. Her heart catches, and her mouth instantly gets dry.
Nick coughs on his cereal, clears his throat, and says "I had a whole crawdaddy thing, but I... the point is, I'm home."
"Heyyyy, Nick." Jess snaps herself out of her daze. "You weren't supposed to be home for, like, a month. Are you guys doing ok?" She tries to breathe, knowing her voice sounds an octave higher than usual.
"Yeah, uh, Reagan's drug company is moving her up to Seattle, so we're doing the distance thing." Nick stands up and heads over to where Jess is standing, still too stunned to move.
Jess smiles nervously, trying to act normal. "You know what they call Seattle in Portland? North Portland. Or, uh, Vancouver's Shoe." She starts to ramble, fidgeting with the buttons on her shirt.
"What?" Nick looks at her with a confused smile.
"Vancouver's Shoe." Jess repeats, laughing awkwardly.
Nick continues to stare at her, but then grins and holds out his arms. "Get in here! Give me a hug!" He steps closer, and Jess gulps.
Nick moves closer to Jess, and wraps his arms around her. He didn't realize how much he missed her until she was in his arms.
Jess feels tears threatening to spill down her face when Nick wraps his arms around her. She hesitantly hugs him back, breathing in his smell of whiskey, old spice, and warmth. Jess nestles her face in his shoulder, realizing how much she missed him.
Nick releases Jess, and beckons her to the couch. "Come on, sit down. I haven't seen you in months! I need some Jess." Jess tries not to let his words effect her, but she feels her heart warm against her will. She smiles shyly at him, shrugging her shoulders.
"I also have something very important to tell you." Jess' breath hitches, and she stares wide eyed at Nick. "Is everything okay?" Nick questions, looking concerned.
"Umm... I have to, um... It's just, I have to meet my friend. I mean, I have to go to the zoo." Jess stammers, and starts to back away from Nick.
"The zoo? You hate zoos. What's going on, Jess?" Nick steps closer to Jess once more, confusion and worry painted all over his face.
"Um, I was supposed to meet her in the lemur section of the parking lot like ten minutes ago, so..." Jess continues, breathing heavily. Her heart is a confusing dark pool, she doesn't know what she wants. Jess misses Nick so much, but as soon as she tries to talk to him, her tongue swells up and gibberish spews out.
"What friend?" Nick asks skeptically.
"What why...? Deedee. I have to meet Deedee. She's like a good friend, we borrow each other's hats all the time." Jess splutters, and runs over to the door.
"Deedee? That's not a name." Nick quirks an eyebrow at Jess. "You have one friend! It's Cece." He yells as she slams the door shut. Nick sits back down, his cereal forgotten. He was puzzled, why was Jess acting so weird? Nick missed her so much, and all he wanted to do was sit down with her and catch up. He was really looking forward to telling her about the Pepperwood Chronicles, she was the first person he wanted to read it. Jessica Knight played a major role in Pepperwood's life, and he was excited to reveal the book, and the dedication to Jess. He knew she would be so proud that he finally finished it. And, if he was being honest, he was a little worried about the long distance situation. Things with Reagan were fine, but he felt like something was missing. The only reason he finished his book in New Orleans was because of all the free time he had. Reagan spent the whole trip either at work or hanging out with her friends. He had known it was supposed to be a work trip, but he thought they were going to do some things together. Jess was always there for him when he needed it, and he really wanted to talk to her.