ELECTRIC FEEL ↝ Schmidt

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

DESPITE ELISE'S STRONG fear of water due to the inability to swim, she had always liked boats, mostly because when she was younger, her father often took her fishing all over the country. But she also really liked cruises, even if there was some kind of a fear living in her heart and growing with time, and although she couldn't swim and hated water, she was rather happy when Nick and Jess came into the living room on one lovely morning, informing their friends that they would have to join them on a cruise.

Elise had learned that Jess and Nick were dating, but apparently, they had now broken up and the cruise they had reserved couldn't be taken back and therefore, they had to take part in the experience. However, they could take their friends with them, and that was exactly what Jess and Nick were planning on doing in order to avoid the romantic, intimate moments alone — along with a relationship package Schmidt offered to take care of with Elise. Frankly, Elise was nervous about taking up all the romantic couple activities with Schmidt, even if he was her boyfriend, but she agreed nonetheless and tried to convince herself that it was going to be fun.

"I love this", Elise admitted as she stood by the side of the ship with Jess and Schmidt by her sides, looking over to the sea and the strong waves. Everyone else seemed to agree, except for Coach, who turned out to be scared of water as well and therefore, ended up clutching onto the railing in utter panic and praying for a quick death. In a way, it saddened Elise, but she was also somewhat glad since for once, she wasn't the one with a fear she struggled to get over. However, she did promise to help Coach if necessary, because she knew the feeling of raging fear inside her.

"I love you", Schmidt replied with a smile on his face, taking Elise's hand and placing a soft kiss on the back of it. Elise thought she was going to swoon, so to avoid such fate, she left Schmidt's side to go to Coach and attempt to calm him down — though not before she had returned the three special words, and given Schmidt a careful, shy kiss on the lips.

Whilst Elise glanced at the waves as she knelt beside Coach and smiled fondly at him, Jessica ended up changing company from Schmidt to Cece. As the two women conversated, Nick was searching for the bar and Winston approached Schmidt, because even if Winston knew how to stay out of other people's business, he didn't carry enough control to stop himself from questioning his friend about something he had seen. Because perhaps Schmidt thought he was being sneaky, but Winston had definitely noticed him fiddling with a small box in his pocket, and there was no way in hell Winston was going to let that slide.

"Wanna tell me what you're up to?", Winston asked quietly, looking around as if to not bring any attention to them, but the way the two men were avoiding eye contact with each other and trying to have a conversation on the side, didn't work. If anything, it only made them look suspicious, but at least none of their friends approached them about it and they could be left in peace. With a thick gulp, Schmidt shrugged and looked around, pretending like he didn't know what Winston was talking about, but it was foolish of him to lie because they were both aware he had something in mind.

"Fine!", Schmidt spat, cracking under the pressure but the stern look on his features soon faded into a proud grin. "Well, Winston, you see... I've been thinking lately, and I realized that I am, in fact, completely in love with Ellie. I think I have been ever since I first saw her, really. And let's not lie to ourselves — I am no longer the young flower I once used to be, and therefore I consider myself ready and mature enough for the next big step, right?", he began explaining, finally looking over to Winston, who was growing mixed feelings, because in one way, he was totally supporting the thought of Schmelise, but on the other hand, he wasn't sure if he was ready for so many big changes.

"So, after Elise's dad visited and I asked for his blessing, which he granted, I went downtown and, well, I bought Elise this ring", Schmidt breathed out in excitement, taking out the small velvet box he had been twirling around his pocket and smacking the breath out of Winston by opening the box and revealing a glimmering, gorgeous diamond ring. Eyes widening, Winston took a step back and his jaw downright dropped as he engaged in a staring competition with the classy ring that definitely earned all of his attention.