unedited

two.

"THERE WE GO," JESS SMILED AT STEVIE BEFORE SHE THREW THE THIRD MAKEUP WIPE IN THE BIN. She then reached for a tissue and wiped the blonde's watery eyes. "You okay?"

Stevie sniffled and adjusted the hoodie that Jess had given to her. It smelled like cologne and parmesan, but she couldn't complain; she was being taken care of by an aggressive ray of sunshine, who she couldn't thank enough. "I think so. Thank you, Jess. It means the world that you're letting me stay here."

"Of course!" Jess exclaimed as she headed into her closet, returning with a pair of Union Jack socks. She held them out for Stevie to take. "Some socky-wockies for you British toesie-woesies?"

Stevie's eyebrows knitted together, but she didn't question the strange behaviour. "Um, thanks. Whose hoodie is this?"

"Oh, that's Nick's," Jess waved her off, gathering a few DVDs and putting them inside a large blue polka dot box. "Don't worry, it's the one he always forgets he owns, so he's only worn it twice. Now, why don't we kick the guys out of the main room, watch Dirty Dancing and knit friendship scarves? I invited my best friend Cece over, she's great at relationship stuff."

With that, Jess swung her bedroom door open and marched down the hall. "You guys wanna watch Dirty Dancing?"

"God, no! Not that again," one yelled, while the other two shouted in protest. Footsteps increased in volume, and before she knew it, Stevie was face to face with two of the three grown men. The two men stopped in their tracks at the sight of her, and their jaws dropped.

"Hi," she held up a sleeve-covered hand in a wave, smiling slightly awkwardly.

"I told you it was 3B, I knew it!" one muttered under his breath, nudging his peer, who swatted him away.

Stevie pretended she didn't see or hear anything. "Um, which one of you is Nick? Jess lent me his hoodie, and I'm not sure he knows."

"Oh my God, dude, she's British," the bearded one muttered under his breath, turning his head towards the taller one. "Oh my God, oh my-"

Stevie cleared her throat.

The same bearded man raised his hand. "I'm Nick. Miller. Nicholas Miller. Nick Miller."

"And I'm...I'm, uh, Winston," the other man stuttered, before throwing his arm out. "Enchantey."

"Enchante?" Stevie said the word correctly in a soft voice, not really sure what to make of the two men. Winston grinned uncomfortably and nodded, shooting finger guns her way. Nick glanced over, then did the same. She looked between them and tried to think of words to say, but gave up quickly and settled for finger guns as well.

"Uh, what's going on?" Jess turned the corner to see her roommates in an awkward standoff with her new friend. They all turned to look at her, who was holding a large bowl of popcorn in one hand and the television remote in the other. "Guys, c'mon."

"You know what?" Nick spun around on his heels and forced a grin on his face. "I'll watch the movie with you."

"If he's watching it, then I am too," Winston raised his hand. Jess cheered, spilling a few pieces of popcorn. Nick reached to the floor and scooped them up, muttering something about wasting good food. Winston turned back to Stevie and offered his arm. Stevie hesitated, before accepting the strange gesture and letting him lead her to the large leather couch.

The quartet set themselves up just as the final roommate burst out of his room dramatically, a fresh suit tight against his body and a strangely perfumed scent lingering in his wake. "I'm going out!"

He slammed the door just as Jess, Nick and Winston shouted confused goodbyes. Jess then exhaled. "Thank goodness. Cece would've killed me if she saw him here."

As if on cue, a tall, beautiful woman stepped inside with wide, shocked eyes. "I just saw Schmidt."

Jess smiled sheepishly. "He's going out?"

Cece glared at Jess as she walked across the room, dropping her purse on the coffee table and settling herself between Jess and Winston. She looked over and saw Stevie uncomfortably sat on the edge of the couch, so she reached over and smacked Nick. "Move over."

"Hey!" Nick complained, though he tucked his legs in so that Stevie could properly find a space.

Cece leaned over Jess and hugged her tightly. Jess made an 'aw' sound and wrapped her arms around both of them, joining in on the embrace. "Hi, sweetie, I'm Cece. I heard what happened to you, and I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," Stevie couldn't help but smile at Cece's kind words.

"What happened to you?" Nick asked as they sat back. He stared up at Stevie curiously, his jaw slacked to the side. He clearly didn't care about how he presented himself.

Stevie didn't answer for a minute. Then, she looked over at him and her eyes widened. "Wait, you're seriously asking me that?"

"Yeah, should I not?"

"Probably not-" Jess interjected.

"My boyfriend proposed to me and I ran away," Stevie said, and Nick's eyes widened.

"Woah! That'll do it," he laughed, before covering his mouth. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to laugh like that, I'm sorry."

"Nick," Jess buried her head in her hands.

"Yeah, you can get out now," Cece said, pointing towards the hallway. Nick groaned.

"I said I was sorry!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands out in front of him.

"Out," Cece demanded, and Nick huffed, pushing himself up and dragging his feet out of the room. The girls then looked at Winston, who was shovelling popcorn into his mouth. It turned out that he hadn't been paying attention to what had just happened. "Winston, anything to say?"

Winston stared at them as if it were a test of some sort. "I just want to watch the movie..."

"Good answer," Jess said as she pressed play on the remote. She reached behind her and grabbed a blanket, throwing the ends over her friends. She saw Stevie was sat up quite straight, and she reached for her hand. "You can relax here, Stevie. It's okay."

Stevie smiled and let her shoulders settle.

★☆

Four hours later, Stevie was curled up into Jess, fast asleep. She, unlike many people they knew, was even prettier when she was dreaming. Jess was remarkably jealous, but also quite infatuated with her new friend. "Oh my gosh, she's so beautiful."

"She is," Cece hummed, her head resting on Jess' shoulder.

"Can we keep her?" Winston asked, causing the two women to look over at him. He shrugged. "Not like that."

"I wonder if she has a criminal record," Jess muttered, looking down and moving a strand of hair that had fallen in Stevie's face. "You know, everyone thought Ted Bundy was good looking, and he killed heaps of people."

"You're kinda ruining the moment here, Jess," Cece sighed, before getting to her feet. She reached for her purse, and stretched her arms out in a yawn. "I should probably go before Schmidt gets back."

"You can't stay the night?" Jess pouted, and Cece shook her head with a smile. "Okay, well, drive safe."

"Will do," Cece called over her shoulder as she walked out the door. The main room grew silent, so Jess gently shook Stevie's shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. 

Stevie stirred after a moment, and slowly rose, rubbing her eyes. Jess made an 'aw' sound, watching as the corners of the woman's eyes crinkled as she tried to remember where she was. "Where am I?"

"You're in our apartment," Jess said just as Nick wandered out of his room and towards the kitchen. In all honesty, part of him had forgotten they had a guest, but when he saw the pretty blonde woman sitting in his second favourite hoodie, he froze and looked at Winston in absolute panic. "Remember? I'm Jess, the one who gave you cupcakes and shelter."

"Oh shit, yeah," she groaned, sitting up. She felt around for her phone, only to remember she didn't have it. "Can I use your phone? I should probably call my sister to apologise for ditching the reception."

"Sure," Jess handed her mobile over, and Stevie tried to recall her sister's number, but she couldn't. So, she regretfully dialled her mother and held the device up to her ear. 

Diana Neward picked up the call after the first ring. "Stevie, where the fuck are you?!"

"Hi, mum," Stevie ran a hand down her tired face. "Can you drop my purse off to the apartment building please?"

"Your poor sister is heartbroken you left! So is Scott. God, you really are a bitch for leaving him like that," Diana hissed, but Stevie had no reaction whatsoever. It was frustrating to her audience, especially Jess, who was trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Nick and Winston were muttering to each other by the kitchen island, the former intensely gripping a handful of almonds because he was panicking and needed some sort of sustenance if he was going to be in the presence of the pretty woman from the floor below. "You need to get your ass into gear and apologise to the both of them!"

"I'll apologise to Clara, but not Scott," she crossed her legs beneath her, looking up at the wide-eyed Jess. With an amused smile, the Brit put the phone on speaker to satisfy her new friend's curiosity. 

"But what about the engagement?!" Diana was practically yelling. "At the rate you've been going, you're not going to get another proposal for the rest of your life and you'll end up a lonely old spinster-"

"Mum, no one says spinster anymore," Stevie sighed. "And it was time for Scott and I to break up, anyway. He only got down on one knee because he over heard you talking shit about us at the family Christmas party last year."

Jess' jaw dropped. Even Winston and Nick perked up. 

"Stevie Neward, how dare you," Diana wheezed, but Stevie was still completely unbothered. She'd had twenty-something years of this, and it no longer made her angry. It was just...her mother. "I would never-"

"Yes you would," Stevie exhaled. "Listen, I've got to go. Can you please just drop my things off, or get Clara to do it? I've got to talk to her anyway. Please, mum?"

Diana hung up, and Stevie closed her eyes for a second. 

It was only when Nick decided to speak up did she look in his direction. "Phew! And I thought I had mommy issues. You know, that makes me feel a lot better about myself."

Jess went to snap at her roommate, but was interrupted by bubbling laughter. She looked back and saw the woman beside her giggling at the statement. Soon after, she began to laugh, and Nick started to grin at the fact that he hadn't made a complete dick of himself in front of 3B. 

★☆

hey team! this is more of a book that i'll update when i feel like it since new girl is the kinda show that doesn't have a single coherent storyline soooo yeah! it's more of a comfort book for me to turn to when i'm not focusing on the angsty shit i've been writing ooooooo

but thank you so much for the amazing response to the book!!! we've already hit 1k and i'm just WOW ya know

thanks guys!!!