The party was already well under way by the time Nick slipped through the front door.

"Just let yourself in!" Clawhauser had told him the day before. It still felt a little odd, but he quickly understood why that was the policy; the bungalow was packed, and loud.

I shouldn't be surprised, Nick thought to himself. He didn't recognize most of the people there, and Clawhauser was the type that "knows everyone." Speaking of, the cheerful young man was nowhere to be seen, and Nick was beginning to wonder if he should seek the guy out and say hello.

He wondered if Clawhauser was already too drunk to remember who was there and who never showed.

Even in his relative unease, Nick was able to pass off as cool and under control as he made a bee-line for the kitchen, his six pack gripped tightly in one hand and held slightly in front of himself.

"Well look who actually turned up!" A familiar voice pipped up. There was a small group of fellow officers leaning against the counter. He was greeted with several wolfish grins, and one of the broad-shouldered blonds knocked his neighbour with his elbow, "looks like you owe me twenty bucks, bro!"

"Look at you," Francine purred, her voice almost drowning out the boys beside her. She held an enormous glass of wine in her hands.

One of the guys grudgingly gave up a bill, while another man laughed at Nick. "Uh-oh, look out, man! Big Mama's got her eyes on you now!" he teased.

Nick shot Francine a smirk, "got my eyes on you, too, girl." he winked. He was glad to know he'd made the right choice going with a simple white shirt and dark jeans.

Francine let out a single trumpet of a laugh and waved a hand, "oh, stop it! I know you've only got eyes for Judy, you tease." Her words had no bite, and she smirked right back at Nick.

"Pfft!" Nick didn't have a retort, and instead turned his blushing face away to put his beer in the fridge. He grabbed one before closing the door, ignoring the blatant laughter of his coworkers behind him.

"Dude, I saw her dancing in the backyard a minute ago." One of the guys slapped Nick on the back and shoved him towards the patio door with a large grin.

"Go get her, you fox!" Francine called after him, a howl of laughter erupting afterwards.

Nick lifted his drink in farewell before he resigned himself to his fate; locating Judy in this hot mass of bodies wasn't going to be fun. And he wasn't sure he was quite prepared to see her in this kind of setting, either. He hated knowing the guys and Francine were right; he did only have eyes for her. But damn, how was he supposed to pursue her? Her father had sent her into the big city with pepper spray to defend herself against guys like him! And sure, they'd warmed up to each other, and he'd cleaned up his act big time...but there was still something that made it awkward to be anything more than friends – partners – even if he did indulge himself with a platonic "I love you" and variations of...which she reciprocated regularly. On a platonic level, of course.

The song that played over the expensive speakers was sexy. It encouraged the party goers to get close, to touch, to kiss, to tease. It made him feel even more trepidatious about finding Judy. The sway of her hips as she walked down the street could evoke passionate dreams, he didn't need them to have an appropriate soundtrack to match. At that moment Nick decided his best option was to pull off to the side, drink his beer, and wait for a new song to start playing. But then their eyes met.

She was dancing with another officer from work, but when she saw Nick she patted the woman's shoulder while saying something into her ear before snaking her way through the crowd towards him. Snaking, indeed, because she stared him down like a viper, refusing to cease her dancing as she moved through the crowd, her eyes always on him. It felt like he'd been glued down, helpless to defend himself against her sensual movements and sly grin. She looked much different than any other time they'd been together.

She looked fucking hot.

Her hair was down, her makeup was subtle, and the tops of her small breasts peeked out of the low cut of her top, definitely with the help of a well-padded push-up bra. For a split second, he imagined covering those pale breasts with his dark hands. He gulped down a large sip of his beer, swallowing just as she came up to him.

Getting up on her tip-toes, even though it wasn't entirely necessary, she spoke loudly in his ear, "I'm happy to see you!" She was wearing strappy heels that made her almost as tall as him.

He turned his head so his lips were next to her ear, "Same here, Carrots." He pulled away and flashed her his signature grin.

She smiled up at him. They looked into each others eyes for a moment, he unsure of how he should proceed, wondering what she was thinking behind those almost purple eyes. And then she took him by the hand and tugged.

"Come on, then! Let's dance!" She was leading him back towards her friend.

"I'm not really in the mood to dance."

She pouted at him, "you can't abandon your beloved partner, can you?" His defeated sigh was enough response to get her smiling triumphantly as she pulled him the rest of the way to her friend.

Lucky for Nick the song was ending, and his prayer was answered: a generic pop song began to play. Judy turned to her friend and they laughed at each other, as though the song itself was an inside joke. Nick stood there, uncertain of why he'd agreed to this (it was probably the boobs,) until Judy returned her attention to him. She took his free hand in hers and began to sway with the beat. Nick followed her lead, swaying awkwardly, but slowly feeling himself getting pulled into the music. It was hard for him to pretend he wasn't enjoying the moment and the feeling of the bass echoing in his chest. It was easy for him to lose himself in her eyes, in the sway of her generous hips.

His first beer was finished off, and somehow magically replaced (although he vaguely remembered Judy's friend bringing him a new one.) A third beer was consumed, a gift from another officer who came lumbering through the backyard. Once that was done, Nick had a pleasant buzz going, and after he set the empty can on a nearby chair he slipped up behind Judy. His first instinct was to grab her by the hips and press their bodies firmly together. But he instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed – a friendly, platonic hug, he told himself.

"Is this all you got, Carrots?" He wasn't sure where the question came from, but it flowed to his lips as naturally as any other tease or challenge he'd issued the petite woman before.

"Oh!" Judy scoffed, turning her face towards his, "And you can do better?" Her breath tickled his face, smelling faintly of alcohol and artificial fruit.

He shrugged a bit, "maybe."

Judy gave him an incredulous look, and he took that as his invitation to show her what he had.

It wasn't at all what she had been expecting.

He moved away from her, only to grab her one hand and quickly tug her back towards him, placing his other hand firmly on her waist. He'd never gotten into the kind of dancing Fennick and his gang got into at the clubs. He had, in fact, frequently avoided going. But he remembered fondly the quiet afternoons he spent with his mother, just the two of them in the living room, learning and practising the dances she'd loved to perform with her husband.

It was a simple swing dance that he led Judy through. Quick learner that she was, it didn't take long for her to get the hang of the rhythm. At first they didn't take up a lot of room, but in no time a circle formed around them so their movements could become more exaggerated. The dance clashed beautifully with the modern un tiss un tiss of the music blasting around them. Some people began to follow their lead, improvising where they missed Nick's example.

When the song finished there was applause and a boisterous cheer. The partners laughed nervously as they slowly backed out of the cleared circle. The next song started, everyone started dancing as they had before, and the partners made their escape. Nick instinctively kept hold of Judy's hand, even though the crowd wasn't too dense; he didn't want to lose her on his way back to the kitchen.

"There they are!" Francine cooed, and Nick wasn't sure if she was still on the same glass of wine or if she was halfway through the second.

"Twenty bucks," The same man who'd demanded money before knocked his neighbour again with his elbow.

Nick furrowed his brow, "dude, really?"

"You came!" Sang Clawhauser, rescuing the blond from Nick's scrutiny. He wrapped his arms around Nick and hugged tightly, forcing the latter to let go of Judy's hand. "I'm. So. Happy. You. Came!" He enunciated each word very precisely and with extreme exuberance. He was definitely very drunk.

"Yup, I came. It's a great party, Clawhauser." Nick patted his co-worker awkwardly on the back.

"You know, I was worried you'd just stay home, all alone and bored and alone...but you're here and you're having a good time! And you're with Judy!" Clawhauser released Nick in order to embrace Judy. It was a much gentler embrace than Nick had received. "You are just so pretty, Judy! No...you know what? You're fucking hot, girl. I love it, and if he doesn't take you home," Clawhauser gestured vaguely at Nick, "I-I'll take you...keep you..." he furrowed his brow, "I'll spend the night with you."

Nick was fairly certain Clawhauser had about as much interest in fucking Judy as he did a teddy bear, but it still irked him that he'd say something like that.

Judy, on the other hand, blushed crimson and laughed heartily, "goodness, Clawhauser! I thought you were hooking up with Isaac!"

Clawhauser's eyes got wide, "oh my God, Judy...Isaac," he keened, "the man is my Adonis. He is...is just perfect. Omigod, you don't even know. Did I tell you? He totally bought me flowers! No joke, flowers! The sweetheart nearly had me tearing up, it was so sweet. I don't think anyone's been so good to me. Judy, I think I'm in love!"

During Clawhauser's rant Nick had helped himself to another beer, lurked awkwardly by the fridge, and then slowly made his escape.

If I don't take her home, Nick thought bitterly as he took a swig of his beer and stepped out the front door. There were a couple people smoking on the lawn, so Nick sat down on the front steps. How ridiculous.

Or is it?

He ran his free hand over his face, repressing a groan.

He could still feel the heat of her body on his hands. The smell of her perfume lingered in his nose. He'd been half-hard all evening, but what he wanted didn't matter. It was what Judy wanted that mattered.

The door opened behind him, followed by the soft sweet voice of Judy Hopps, "hey, you...why'd you run off?"

He glanced over his shoulder, "it's too hot in there."

Judy sat down on the steps beside him, "are you okay?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her to disguise his shock. She was good at reading him.

"It's not your scene, eh?" She wrinkled her nose in her adorable way, making his heart swell.

"No, not really, but I think..."

"Oh, sorry, I'm just gonna squeeze by here..." One of the smokers was approaching the stairs awkwardly, their friends behind them.

Judy was quick to get out of their way, jumping to her feet and hopping in front of her partner. They watched the small group pass by, and then smiled at each other.

The door closed with a light whack, the music was just a dull thumping, and they were submerged in a comfortable silence.

After a moment, Judy coaxed, "but you think...?" She stood in front of him on the grass, a red dixie cup in one hand, her eyes focused on him.

I think you're beautiful, He thought to himself as he gazed back at her, but what he said was something else that was also true, "I think it's good for me to get out. Learning to get along with people again is important. I'm too old to be holding a grudge against the world."

Her smile was soft as she nodded her head a bit with her eyes focused on the ground. "We all have to push ourselves in some ways, don't we?" She returned her gaze to him.

"Yeah," he returned softly.

After another brief moment of silence Judy spoke up again, "you surprised me earlier. I didn't know you could dance like that."

Nick chuckled, "my mom taught me. I was her only partner for a long time..."

"Do you know any other dances?"

"She taught me how to waltz. 'Every decent man knows how to waltz' she told me." His expression grew sad, "I let her down in that respect."

Judy was there immediately, her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look up at her. Her cup was in the grass, abandoned quickly so that all of her could be dedicated to her friend.

"You may have made mistakes, but you are a decent man, Nicholas Wilde. And you are doing everything in your power to be the best man you can be." Judy was firm with him in a way that made his heart ache. God he loved her for being so good. Not even just to him, but damn if it wasn't extra special to have her directing every ounce of her goodness on him. And then she surprised him with a whisper, "you inspire me, Nick."

His brow furrowed.

Judy released his face, but stayed close, "you've come so far, Nick. And you had to fight the hardest battle, the one against yourself. It's incredible."

He breathed out a chuckle, feeling deeply embarrassed, "you're making it more dramatic than it really is, Judy..."

"No, I think you're incredible. Never forget that."

She was so cute, so strong, so wonderful...what had he possibly done to deserve having her in his life?

"Hey...will you teach me how to waltz?"

"Sure, I can do that." He shrugged.

"No, I mean right now. Can you teach me?"

Nick opened his mouth to say no, faltered, and instead smiled and said, "sure."

He stood up, placing his bottle where his butt had been, and waited for Judy to retrieve her cup. She frowned at it a bit, regretting dropping it earlier, but still put it beside his bottle. He offered her his hand and she took it. They got close to each other, in the position everyone was familiar with from a thousand romantic movies, and then they started.

Nick kept it slow, not just because she was unfamiliar with the rhythm, but because he wanted to savour the moment. Their movements were stilted as Judy struggled to get the hang of moving her feet in the basic square. But as before, it was only a minute or two before she began to pick it up.

"Is that it?" She asked incredulously as they began moving more fluidly.

Nick grinned at her, "not even close, darling. This is just the base of what can be a much more beautiful dance."

"Oh, I see. So you start with this, and then go on to add other stuff?"

"Yeah, like moving around the dance floor and adding a sway to the hips. Stuff like that." He noticed she was a little closer than before, and he wasn't sure if it was because he'd pulled her in or if she had moved of her own volition.

"So what you're saying is that it's going to take a few more lessons to teach me how to waltz properly." It wasn't a question, not even vaguely.

He grinned, "yeah, it's going to take at least a month's worth of classes to get you up to par with me...when I was 12."

"And until I'm on par with you now?"

He winced playfully, "I don't know if you'll ever be on par with me, Carrots."

"I became a cop against the odds...I think I can learn to dance like you, Mister Wilde."

"Your enthusiasm is commendable, Miss Hopps. I just don't want you to be disappointed in the results."

"If it's you, I won't be."

Her eyes had a sparkle in them that was pulling him in. He couldn't stop himself, and he was afraid of what she'd do when she noticed he was pulling her closer, leaning his face near to hers.

Their dancing slowed to a stop, but she didn't do anything to stop what was happening. Rather, her breathing grew shallow like his, her eyes became lidded, and he was certain they were pointed at his mouth.

"You really trust me that much?" He whispered with his mouth hovering above hers.

"Yes," she whispered back.

And so he closed the distance between them. An electric bolt fired through his heart and passed straight through to his guts, igniting a fire there that warmed his entire body.

Her hands gripped either side of his head as she deepened the kiss, opening her mouth to flick her tongue over his lips. The action nearly made him growl.

It was a brief kiss, but they were both panting as Judy pulled away. Their eyes met, "take me home," she told him, leaving no room to negotiate.

"Okay," he replied hoarsely.

They left their drinks on the steps as they went to catch the next train to his place. It was closer.