Confessions
It had been over a year since Nick had joined the ZPD to work with his partner and best friend, Judy Hopps. They have used their unique set of schools to solve a lot of big cases such as the Night Howler case a year ago. The duo were becoming the new face of the ZDP with their powerful influence on Zootopia. In the bullpen, Chief Bogo was giving today's assignments to every officer in the room.
"Officers McHorn, Rhinowitz, and Grizzoli to the Rainforest District for the Missing Bears Case; Francine, Fangmeyer, and Anderson to Tundra Town for your undercover case of the Mushroom Deal; Johnson and Warlord to the Marshlands for intel on the Cotton Ball Case." He instructed.
The officers that were called stood up from their chars and walked out of the room to fulfill their duties. Chief Bogo turned his body toward the last two officers in the bullpen.
"Nick and Judy. I have reports of suspicious activity down in Savanna Central. I need you two to check it out."
"Yes, sir." Nick and Judy said in unison.
"You are dismissed."
With that, the two left the bullpen and proceeded to the garage to retrieve their patrol car.
"Let's just hope this suspicious activity is actually worth investigating." Nick sighed.
"I'm positive it'll definitely be worth it, Nick." Judy said.
Judy started the car and drove out of the garage to move to Savanna Central for their mission. The drive there was taking forever because of the intense traffic on that Friday morning.
"I'll make a bet with you, Carrots." Nick offered.
"What kind of bet are we talking about?" Judy asked raising an eyebrow.
"Just a small one, I suppose."
"Alright, sly fox, what is the bet, then?"
"i bet that when we get to Savanna Central, there will be no sign of any suspicious activity at all."
"Well, then I bet that there will be some signs of suspicious activity for us to find and if I win..." Judy paused.
"...You buy dinner."
Nick grinned and thought about her wager on the bet.
"Alright, Cottontail, sounds good to me, but if I win, it'll be the money coming out of your wallet to have food in my empty stomach."
They both giggled, looking into each other's eyes and smiling for along time, just enough for Nick to take in the color of Judy;s gorgeous purple eyes. Nick could spot how beautiful Judy was in the sun's natural light. He could feel his stomach tying a knot and his forehead drip with sweat. He didn't know what was happening. Was it the donuts he had that morning? When they arrived at Savanna Central, they changed into their normal clothes to avoid being seen by any criminals lurking the area. Savanna Central was crawling with all kinds of markets with animals ranging from all types.
"No sign of any suspicious activity yet." Nick started. "Looks like I'm winning this bet already."
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that yet, Nick."
Judy looked around the whole market with Nick to see if any miracle could come out of nowhere to present itself to her. The day began to die out with no signs of any suspicious activity. Nick was winning on this small, useless bet until Judy spotted a Zebra dressed in a black suit and tie walking down a dark alley across the market."
"Nick, look." Judy said pointing in the direction that the zebra went.
"Do you think it's suspicious?" Nick asked doubtfully.
"I do think so and it looks like I'll win this bet if it turns out to be a crime."
"Whatever you say, Carrots. Let's follow this guy."
Judy stood still, thinking of an idea to not blow their cover.
"Nick, I think we should hold hands while crossing the road to avoid our cover being blown."
"Alright...uh, yeah. Sounds like a...uh...good plan." he blushed.
Nick's face felt hot and his hands were sweat. His heart began to race and fell short of breath. Why would these things suddenly be happening to them? Could he be falling for Judy?"
"No, I can't be falling in love with my best friend." Nick thought.
He pushed the thought out of his head and focused on the small investigation. As they reached the other sidewalk, they noticed that the alley was dark and hard to see in. this made Nick the perfect option to scope out the area for the zebra. When he peered around the corner, he saw the zebra and a wolf talking, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying.
"Pst. Hey, Cottontail, I need your ears for a moment." Nick whispered.
As told, Judy perked her ears up and listened to what the two individuals were discussing. Nick took a look to see who was specifically talking.
"Look, boss. I need more time to have the shipment ready." the wolf pleaded.
"I need my supply of 'the stuff' soon or it will be off you go. Understand?" the zebra demanded.
"Yes, Mr. Wayne."
This was enough information for both of them to figure out that it was a drug operation at hand.
"Stop right there you two!" Judy shouted holding her badge in front of her.
"Oh, no! It's the ZDP, run!"
"Hey, get back here!"
Nick began sprinting after the wolf while Judy went after Mr. Wayne. Both Mr. Wayne and the wolf split up, leading Nick and Judy to split up as well to keep up with the pursuit. Mr. Wayne had taken the chase with Judy into the busy streets where traffic was intense, dodging cars left and right. The wolf headed to possibly every alleyway in downtown trying to throw off Nick. He soon hit a dead end with a brick wall blocking any means of escape.
"Paws behind your back!" Nick yelled.
The wolf, realizing it was over, turned around and put his paws behind his back and had it cuffed.
"Only one to go."
Nick soon heard a thunderous sound coming from the streets. Horns were honking everywhere and people were screaming, running around in a frenzy. He ran out of the alleyway to see what all the commotion was about. There Judy was, chasing through the streets of Savanna Central. He ran parallel to the chase to look for a good time to intercept. A perfect opportunity opened up two blocks ahead where there was no traffic to be seen. An opening cleared for nNick as he jetted across the street and tackled Mr. Wayne to the ground. Judy stopped to take in the sight that she just saw.
"Woah. That was so hot." she thought.
Judy shook the thought out of her head and proceeded to doff the struggling Zebra.
"Nice catch there, Nick." Judy complimented. "Where is the wolf?"
"Oh, he is in an alleyway on the ground in cuffs not too far away from here." Nick said as he pointed out the direction the wolf was in.
Nick and Judy took both criminals to the patrol car and headed straight for the ZDP to turn in the hooligans. When they walked in, Clawhauser greeted them with a warm smile.
"Hey, you two. Seems like you caught some more baddies."
"We sure did. Well, mostly Nick did." Judy smiled. "We'll take him to Chief Bogo right away.
When they got to Chief Bogo's office, his door was slightly open. Going inside, that saw Chief Bogo sitting at his desk reading a news paper. He heard Nick and Judy come in and put down the paper.
"Auh, I see you two have caught some criminals. Nice work!"
With that out of the way, they made their way to the lobby and out the front doors to the parking lot. Judy turned to nick and grinned.
"Looks like I win this bet."
"Well, a win is a win in my book. Where would you like to go for dinner tonight?"
"uh...let's go to that fancy restaurant downtown."
'You mean The Great Bite?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, well, I will pick you up around eight at your place."
Nick walked off towards his car only to turn his head to give Judy a wink before chuckling, getting in his car and driving off towards his apartment. Judy stood there motionless, blushing like mad. She tried to hide her blush from Nick as he drove away, but failed to realize that Clawhauser was right next to her holding his face in excitement.
"Are you blushing, Judy?" Calwhauser asked.
"Judy jumped in shock by his sudden presence.
"Uh, what? No, I'm not blushing." Judy denied.
"Yeah you are, i know one when i see one."
Clawhauser stood there and focused on what was happening. He then widened his eyes and gasped in surprise about the assumption in his mind.
"You like Nick, don't you Judy?"
She couldn't try to lie to him any longer as he could see through her like a transparent window. She had to confess.
"Fine, I do like Nick. I have for a very long time after he joined the ZDP a year ago as my partner. He's just so smart, handsome, kind, and knows how to make me feel better when I'm feeling down. Judy confessed in defeat.
"Don't worry, Judy. I won't tell a soul about any of this." he said with promising eyes.
"Thank you."
Clawhauser looked down at his swatch as it read "7:00".
"You better get home soon to get ready for your 'date'."
"Oh, right! See you later, Ben!"
"See you later!'
Judy ran to her small, blue car and quicky sped off down the street to her apartment. Whenshe got there, she dashed upstairs to her room and opened the closet to search for the perfect dress.
"Huh, I wonder which dress Nick will like." Judy questioned putting two dresses in front of her.
After about ten minutes of figuring out which dress to wear, she put on the purple dress she picked out and checked the clock she had hanging on her wall. '7:55'. Nick would show up in five minutes. There was a knock at the door and Judy sprung out from her bed, walking nervously towards the door.
"I really hope he likes my dress."
She opened the door to reveal a handsome, slightly muscular Nick Wilde in front of her. He was wearing a black suit and slacks with the usual indigo tie with red and blue stripes. Nick's eyes landed on Judy's bright, purple dress. He was stunned, more like speechless to where he couldn't form real words from his mouth for a moment.
"You look...beautiful Judy." Nick said dumbstruck.
"Aw thanks, nick. You look handsome."
"Thanks. Are you ready for dinner?"
"Yes I am." she said enthusiastically.
Nick escorted Judy outside of her apartment and into his orange car that was parked on the side. He started the car and began to drive towards the downtown area in the heart of Zootopia. Lights began to brighten up the city and restaurants filling the open air with its exotic smells. The drive took about thirty minutes to get to their destination. The Great Bite was finally in view as Nick pulled into the parking lot. The two stepped out of the car and walked inside the restaurant. As soon as they walked in, they were greeted by a female cheetah.
"How many people are with you tonight, sir?" the woman asked.
"Just a table for two, ma'am." nick answered.
"Alright, follow me this way to your table."
They followed the woman to a table in the middle of the room where they would be seated.
"I see you still hung on to your manners, Nick" Judy joked.
"Well, you know, being raised right has always proved to work well, Judy."
The two let out a small chuckle before a waiter came up to them.
"What would you two like to have?"
"Let's see here." Nick started. I guess I'll have the Ultimate Supreme."
"And I'll have the carrot stew." Judy ordered.
Judy straightened up in her chair and looked directly at Nick who was playing with his fork.
"Nick, thank you for taking me out tonight, even if it was because of a bet."
"No problem, Carrots. I don't mind taking you places, even if it was because of a bet.
"Now, I usually would never ask you this, but how is your family doing? Do you know?"
"Honestly, I wouldn't know how they were doing. It's been such a long time since I've personally seen them after I became a conman at twelve years old and a cop at thirty-two." Nick replied slightly frowning. "I hope your family is doing alright."
"They are doing very well for themselves so far. They haven't contacted me in a while." Judy reached out her paw and put it on Nick's. "But I mostly care about how you are doing in life."
"Thanks, Judy." Nick blushed.
Soon after their conversation came close to an end, their food was brought out by their waiter. Nick's Ultimate Supreme consisted of a 20oz steak topped with BBQ sauce. Judy's carrot stew was only a hot soup with chopped up carrots in it. Nick and Judy were enjoying their night so much, that they didn't realize that the restaurant was about to close. The waiter then brought out their ticket to, occurring to the bet, Nick paid. The pair walked out of the restaurant stuffed. The drive back to Judy's apartment seemed to take an eternity which Nick actually liked since he could spend more time with Judy. When they finally reached her apartment, Nick opened the passenger door for Judy and escorted her to the front door.
"I had a fantastic day with you Judy. Chasing down criminals, laughing, eating dinner together. Everything is better when I'm able to do them with you." Nick admitted.
"Aw, Nick. This day couldn't of gone better. Watching you tackle Mr. Wayne was the coolest thing I ever saw, but having dinner with you was obviously the best."
Nick and Judy laughed together until seconds flew by to where the laughing died down a bit. They were now staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever until Nick spoke again.
"Judy, I never thought I could have such an amazing girl and partner such as you. You are so awesome, kind, caring and..." Nick paused. "Cute. There is one thing I have to confess though."
"And what is that, Nick?" she asked blushing.
Nick stared into Judy's eyes for a brief moment to take in hoe gorgeous they were under the moonlight. He stepped a little closer to Judy, cupped her face, and planted his lips right onto hers. Judy clenched up in excitement, taking in all of what was happening at this moment. Her best friend and huge crush was finally kissing her. She was beyond happy at this point. Wrapping her arms around Nick's neck, she kissed him passionately. The two were now in a full on make out session with none of them wanting this beautiful moment to end. nick ended the kiss by slowly pulling away.
"I love you, Judy. I always have from the first time I met you." Nick confessed.
"I love you too, nick. I loved you all this time, but was actually too afraid to show it." Judy also confessed.
Nick and Judy shared on final kiss for the night before heading inside the apartment building.