SUGAR KANE ━━━━━━━ NICK MILLER

16. NICK'S SUCH A TINKLE!

16. NICK'S SUCH A TINKLE!

APRIL SAT IN BETWEEN NICK and Jess at the dining room table. With Schmidt sitting at the head of it and Winston standing on the other side of them, his hands on the table and in front of him, laid out the collection of bells Jess had brought into their home. The kids had all gone off to their own homes not long before April came back. She had been disappointed to learn that this wouldn't have been the one and only day that Jess was going to be entertaining this horrendous idea. And now, she seemed adamant to get Winston involved after having heard him play. Wanting him to help her teach the kids.

"Winston, please help me," She pleaded, "Just hear me out. Two things women love," She lifted a finger, "Alternative percussion players and..." She lifted a second finger up, "...Role models..."

April made a face.

"...The kids would love it, and we'd get to spend time together."

"You gotta do it," Schmidt spoke up, surprising April that he seemed to be on board with this idea, "It's a mitzvah, bro."

"Are you sure you've never rung before?" Jess asked Winston.

"Believe it or not, Jess. I have never played handbells before," Winston said looking serious, "I just pick things up easily, that's all."

"I know handbells aren't the coolest instrument in the world, they might not even be fifth coolest, but the kids would love it, it would really mean a lot to them," Jess told him, doing her best to change his mind, "And if they saw how good you are, I think they'd really get into it and maybe try a little bit harder."

April scoffed. Shaking her head, "Doubtful," She commented as she took a sip of her beer. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nick nodding, clearly agreeing with her.

Jess simply ignored the pair, still focusing her attention on Winston, "Also, there's, like, a lot of potentially cool, like, bell shorthand we could use to talk about..." She lifted one hand up to block the view from Nick before she pointed at him, "Nick..." She whispered. 

It was obvious that he clearly heard her no matter how hard she tried to mask the sound of his name.

"...Whilst he's right there, we'll be, like, 'Nick's such a tinkle!' or 'I think he's more like a tonkle'."

Everyone stared at Jess. Confused as to why she said that as if this was the best outcome for Winston helping out.

Jess grinned, "'Tinkle' and 'tonkle' are potential bell talk we could use."

"I get it. Just be cool, please," Winston told her.

"I am cool," Jess shrugged, not noticing the look of disbelief that crossed everyone's faces, "Before you make your decision, I'd only need you til the concert on Sunday."

Winston picked up one of the bells. Weighing it in his hand before he tinged it, "I dunno. I think I could be into this." 

"Great," April muttered sarcastically.

"Yay!" Jess cheered. Throwing a fist in the air.

"And with that statement, he never had sex again," Nick commented.

"Winston and me are playing bells everyday..." She began to sing before stopping, "Until Sunday. I'm cool."

"Sure you are," April nodded, she sent Jess a pointed look, "You better buy me noise cancelling headphones in this case."

"Sure!"

APRIL LEANED AGAINST THE DOORFRAME of the bathroom, her arms crossed over her chest, an amused smirk resting on her lips as she watched Nick trying (and struggling) to fix their toilet. Whilst Schmidt stood beside her, looking exasperated with the whole situation. Having been trying to convince Nick to just let it go and call a professional plumber. 

"Nick, look, I don't mean to nag you, but how long is this gonna take?" Schmidt sighed.

"Fancy fix, fancy amount of time," Nick shrugged, a smug look on his face as he laid on the floor next to the toilet bowl, fiddling with something behind it.

"'Cause I would like to use my own bathroom now," Schmidt added, a dark look as he thought about all the bathrooms in restaurants and cafes he's had to use lately, "If only there were some sort of pipe and...And water expert that we could hire to come and fix this problem," He added sarcastically.

Nick scoffed, he glanced at April, "Can you believe him?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Of course I can. We need a plumber."

"I can't afford a plumber," Nick shook his head.

"A plumber!" Schmidt cheered sarcastically, "That's what it's called."

Nick turned back to look at Schmidt, "You really wanna do this? You want to have this fight with me? You wanna go down this path, Schmidt?" He asked, sitting up.

"I dunno, is this a path you recently fixed?"

April snorted.

"It's called self-reliance. 'Cause unlike you, Schmidt, I don't just throw money at my problems."

Schmidt rolled his eyes, "All I'm hearing is that I can't use my bathroom 'cause you're poor. Look, it's your lucky day, buddy. I'm gonna pay for the plumber."

April clapped her hands together, looking between the two men, "See, all sorted. Are you gonna get up off the floor now, Nick?"

Nick shook his head, "No," He said, then gestured to Schmidt with the wrench in his hand, "Schmidt, I don't want your charity."

"Well, you seem very happy using my emergency tools."

"Oh yeah?" Nick challenged. Dropping the wrench and grabbing some pliers, holding them up for Schmidt to see, "Do you even know what this is?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Doy, it's a scissor."

"Yeah, that's exactly right," Nick said, throwing it into the toilet bowl before he finally stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans. He walked past Schmidt, shaking his head, "A scissor. Really, Schmidt?" He asked, slowly walking out of the bathroom.

Schmidt shrugged, "Yeah, a scissor that you just threw in the turdlet."

April turned to look at Schmidt, shaking her head as she patted his shoulder, "Oh, Schmidt," She then turned around and walked away, no longer interested or entertained with standing in the threshold of the bathroom.

He furrowed his brows, watching her walk away. He let out a small scoff and stepped forward, going to take a look in the toilet. Watching the tool swimming in the water, "Yeah, a scissor."