Hey guys, it's me! Because it's Easter break, I have a lot of spare time on my hands. The outcome? A little one shot for you guys! I'm also working on a longer fic, which might very well be posted by the end of this week...
Enjoy!
Tap. Tap tap. Nick slowly worked his way through his seemingly never-ending report. It had been an uneventful day, with the biggest action being when one very upset ferret had come in complaining about her husband's parking ticket, which she thought was thoroughly undeserved. Judy had tried convincing the poor woman that parking without paying indeed was deserving of a ticket, but to no avail. The ferret persisted, with Judy giving up and asking her to take it to traffic court. With a huff and a puff, the middle-aged mammal left the precinct. Other than that, the day had consisted solely of office work.
"Nick?" An excited voice broke through his thoughts. He looked up and saw a certain grey doe leaning against his cubicle. As always, her presence made his heart beat just a little bit faster. "Nick are you finished? We ended three minutes ago, and I want to go home so we can watch a movie," Judy complained.
With a sly smile, Nick replied. "Oh? Can't get enough of me at work, need me at your place too? Why Carrots, I didn't know you cared that deeply for me." His response was a blush, a slight laugh and an unnecessarily hard punch to his arm. "Hey! Okay, I get it. Gimme a second."
After finally finishing up his report and turning off his computer, he rose from his chair and stretched his arms and legs. After a few satisfying 'pops', he smiled and turned to the rabbit.
"Well then, Fluff. Let's go." Together, they made their way out of the precinct and out onto Zootopia's streets. They said hello to a few passer-by's, with one or two even wanting a photo. Ever since the Nighthowler case, Judy had been extremely popular in the city, and was even considered the unofficial face of the ZPD. People looked up to her, trusted her. Or, most did, at least. A few predators still held grudges because of the chaos she had caused through the infamous press meeting. The memory made Nick grimace.
The pair had quickly decided upon Nick's apartment. After all, it was way bigger than Judy's, and most importantly, actually had a TV. It didn't take them all too long to reach it, either. Only a twenty-minute walk from the precinct.
Reaching the door to the apartment complex, Nick absentmindedly pressed in the code and let Judy in first. She excitedly ran ahead of him to his door two floors up and was quickly out of sight. The fox laughed to himself at that. My cute little bunny.
Nick calmly made his way up into his apartment. The door was already unlocked, meaning that Judy had used his spare key. Or 'hidden' probably wasn't the best word for it. Judy kept insisting that keeping one's key to the door under the rug probably was the most cliché thing you could do, and certainly not suitable for a member of the police force.
Judy was hanging her light bomber jacket on a coat when Nick entered. Without a word, she made it into his bedroom and collected her spare clothes she always kept there on days like these. Going into the bathroom, she left Nick alone by the entrance. He too switched into everyday clothes, and then went back into the kitchen to quickly prepare some food. It was mostly just finger foods such as chopped vegetables, dip, and bread, but he had no energy to prepare anything else. Sighing, he slumped down onto the sofa and yawned.
"What movie are we watching?" Judy stepped out of the bathroom, instantly making her way to the sofa. She was wearing shorts and an oversized tee. It really was nothing special, but it still managed to take Nick's breath away.
"I…" He began. After a second or two, he managed to collect himself. "I don't know. Any suggestions?"
A frown adorned Judy's features as she sat down next to the russet fox, thinking intently. "Wrangled, maybe? Or do you want something more serious? The Pugfather?"
Nick shook his head as an idea entered his mind. "No, I have a better suggestion." Without saying anything, he pulled a CD out of his collection. When Judy saw the cover, she quickly sprinted over in an attempt to stop the smirking fox.
"No! Absolutely not!" She exclaimed, quickly taking it from his grip and putting it back in his collection. "I am not watching horror tonight, Nick." Suddenly, Judy got an idea of her own, and gave Nick his very own signature smirk. "But you're watching a chick flick. "
Nick knew that there was no point in arguing. So there he sat, ten minutes later, eating blueberries and muttering to himself. Judy only laughed at him, eyes trained on the screen. Nick had never gotten her fascination with them, but he didn't mind half as much as he said he did, purely because of Judy's reaction to them. As it was, he was painfully aware of how close they were sitting. He was also painfully aware that Judy's leg was lightly touching his. The whole world could have imploded, and he wouldn't have noticed. All he could see, smell, and feel, was Judy.
"…Nick?" The voice of said bunny was the thing that finally broke him from his thoughts. "Nick are you alright? The movie ended five minutes ago, but you haven't said a single word." Turning his head towards the screen, Nick finally noticed the end of the final credits. Had he really just blanked through the entire movie? He couldn't remember one bit of it.
"I…" Once again, Nick was without words. Looking over at Judy, his Judy, he gulped. He wanted to tell her. He really wanted to tell her. But was this the right moment? Shouldn't he wait? Piercing her gaze with his own, he realised there probably would be no right, perfect moment in which he would just know that it was the time to tell her. After all, how do you explain to your best friend that you've loved them for an entire year? Steeling himself for the only outcome he saw plausible, he started talking. "Judy, I… Judy there's something I need to tell you."
Tilting her head to the side at the use of her actual name, the bunny scooted closer to Nick, worry clear on her face. Should not have done that. You should not have done that, Nick thought to himself, his breath hitching in his throat. "Please, tell me what it is. I won't judge, I promise."
Good luck with that, Nick thought to himself bitterly. Now that he had come that far, he had no idea what to do. Just out with it, god dammit!
"I love you."
Three words. One breath. Simple as that. There. Said them. Did that. As the seconds crept on, worry built up inside Nick like a volcano on its way of erupting. Judy just looked at him, dumbfounded and with wide eyes.
"Love as in… Love-love?" Was all she managed to say.
"Yes." Nick said, bitterness and sadness laced together as one. Judy's cheeks flamed a bright red and she looked down onto her lap. "And I get that you probably don't feel the same, and that this is very sudden, and if you want to pretend as if this never happened I get that, it's just I had to-"
He cut himself off as he noticed Judy smiling into her lap. Her cheeks were still flushed as she looked up. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I've been sure for so long I doubt there's anything I'm surer of." Laughter erupted from Judy, making her shake and double over where she sat next to the now very confused predator. "…Judy? Are you okay?"
Another laugh escaped her lips before she stilled and answered. "Yes. Yes, I'm more than okay. Nick…" Now it was her time to look nervous. She bit her lip before she continued. "I, I don't know how long I've waited for you to say those words. I… I had started to think you never would. I had practically given up."
Wait… Nick thought to himself, slowly understanding what his partner had said. "You… feel the same?"
"Yes!" The now hyper bunny crashed into Nick's chest, pulling him into a big embrace. Nick could feel both heartbeats beating quick as he held the bunny closer to him. My bunny, he thought with satisfaction.
"You know you love me." He said after a while, grin wide on his face. They had said it so many times before, but this time it held a deeper meaning, he could feel it.
"Do I know that?" Judy pulled away, thinking. Then she smiled. "Yes, yes I do."
And she kissed him.
And that's that fluffy little one shot! Did you like it? Leave a review! Didn't you like it? Leave a review and tell me what to improve! As this is my first one shot, I'm not sure how I did capturing the fluff and all. Do you guys want me to continue making these little mini-stories?
Until next time!