Work Text:
If there was one thing Jess loved, it was Christmas. Well, okay, Jess definitely loved more than one thing. She actually loved most things. But this year she wasn’t going to get to see either of her parents on Christmas and no one else was going to be around. Most of her teacher friends were heading out of town and even those that were staying didn't feel close enough to go invite out.
However, there was one person Jess knew would definitely not have any plans for Christmas: her next door neighbor. He was Jewish, for one, for two he hated anything that brought people happiness. Okay, this might be an exaggeration but it certainly felt that way to Jess who had only ever seen his bad side. That, of course, was assuming that he did in fact have a good side.
All that aside, Jess doesn’t want to be alone. So she decides that inviting him over for Christmas isn’t the worst plan. That is how she found herself standing outside his apartment door waiting for him to answer. When he opened the door he looked her up and down and said, “What?”
“I wanted to see if you wanted to come over for Christmas! I’m going to be alone and, well, I thought you might want to come over to have dinner with me,” she blurted.
He begrudgingly accepted her offer for dinner and while Jess was surprised she was also delighted. Moving to LA had been lonely at times and having someone over made it feel a bit more like home. They had a lot more in common than Jess was expecting and they were in the middle of a deep conversation when she heard a knock at the door. She wouldn’t typically be concerned about it, but it was Christmas and she knew no one in LA, so who would be at her door? The only person she kind of knew was sitting across from her, so she wasn’t thrilled with the phantom knock. “I’ll be right back,” Jess said, as she slid out of her seat and headed over to answer the door.
When she opened the door she saw the one person she didn’t know she’d been waiting to see. “Cece!” She squealed as she threw the door open as wide as possible and wrapped her arms around the other woman’s neck. “I’ve missed you so much. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be on a shoot in New York?”
Cece had burrowed her head into the crook of her best friend’s neck and whispered, “I missed you. I couldn’t let you spend Christmas alone.”
They stood there wrapped in each other for a few more moments before they were interrupted by Schmidt in the background clearing his throat. “I thought you were supposed to be alone for Christmas?” He asked in a tone that would sound accusatory if you didn’t know him.
“Obviously this was a surprise,” Cece said, turning on her heel to face him down. “Who are you anyway?” She wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, but she did spin around to look at Jess when she asked.
“This is my neighbor! He’s sad and lonely, so I invited him over for dinner.”
“Um, hello? I’m right here and could you not describe me as sad and lonely to the very hot woman that is currently standing in your living room?”
Cece stared at him up and down before humming to herself. “You do seem sad and lonely, but I trust Jess is making up for it?” The tone is almost suggestive but Schmidt knows better than to question it. There is absolutely no way a supermodel would be hitting on him.
“We’re having a nice time,” he managed to choke out.
She smirked as she walked into the kitchen to help herself to some whiskey. “Want a drink?” She asked, nodding in his direction.
He gulped and said, “Uh, yeah. That’d be nice.” He was all of the sudden feeling like he’d landed himself in a fever dream. Cece fixed drinks for the both of them and then took a seat next to Schmidt at the table. Jess joined them and eventually they all moved to the living room. They started in different areas, but somehow ended up on the couch together with Cece resting her head on Schmidt’s shoulder as Jess laid across her having already fallen asleep. A Charlie Brown Christmas was playing in the background and something about the situation seemed right. They had all needed tonight and sometimes moments without labels or discussions were the best moments.