CHAPTER ONE

"Because she left it in her trunk!"

Clawhauser's paws immediately found themselves over his mouth, attempting to hide his laugh. He quickly looked around the sprawling reception area of the Zootopia Police Department to see if anyone noticed and let out a sigh of relief when none of the officers peppered around them batted an eye.

"Good one, right?" the cheetah looked down at the smaller officer leaning casually on his desk, an irritatingly smug grin plastered on his face and a cup of Snarlbucks in one paw.

"O-M-Goodness Nick! You can't just say jokes like that out loud, someone here might get offended!" Clawhauser whispered, attempting to give the fox a stern lecture. The constant fits of guilty giggles didn't make him sound very convincing, though.

"You wound me Sprinkles," Nick frowned, placing a paw over his chest and feigning offence, "I told that exact joke to Madam Chokehold last week and she laughed so hard she almost blew my hat off my head."

"…Really?"

Nick opened his mouth to respond but was immediately sidetracked by the sound of the ZPD's massive sliding doors opening. Nick eagerly turned his head, expecting to see a familiar face. However, after seeing no one of any importance walking in, the grin on his face temporarily faltered. He looked back at Clawhauser.

"Yep," Nick took another sip of coffee and looked down at his drink. He would've bought an extra-large cup if he knew that he would be spending more than a minute in the front desk all alone, "she loved it, actually wanted to hear more."

Clawhauser visibly relaxed. The cat's round ears perked up and it was clear that he was putting less effort into hiding his giggles. Nick wanted to chuckle at the big cat's naivety but controlled himself. There's no way he'd tell that joke to an elephant, the fox valued his life way too much.

"Well if Francine laughed at it then it must be okay!" Clawhauser paused for a moment as he recalled the joke in his head before letting loose a loud laugh, the guilt from before completely gone. Suddenly, as if the previous conversation never happened, the cheetah bent over his desk, eyes wide as if whatever he was going to say next would change Nick's life forever.

"OH! Did you see Gazelle's interview last night on Jimmy Feline?! It was so amazing when- "

Nick tuned out immediately upon hearing the pop stars' name. One of the first things he learned when he became an officer at this station was to never enable Clawhauser during one of his Gazelle talks unless you had a spare couple of hours. Nick liked the cat well enough but he was incapable of keeping up with him when he started acting like an obsessive fan. The only animal he knew that looked even remotely interested during his ramblings was, surprisingly, Chief Bogo. His grin turned into a smirk.

Hmm… Maybe Clawhauser and the Chief have a thing going on?

He brushed off the thought as he turned his back towards the still talking cheetah, putting all of his attention on the entrance. Whether it be early mornings or late nights, this particular station was rarely ever quiet. Every few minutes it would open and in would come either one of his fellow officers, one of his fellow Zootopians, or one of his fellow officers ready to book one of his fellow Zootopians. Nick clicked his tongue, so many animals coming in and none of them were the animal he'd been waiting for. He took an extra-long sip when an intoxicated pig was literally dragged past him. He looked up at the patient Rhino cop holding on to one of the pig's ankles and lifted his cup at him

"McHorn."

The towering officer let out a tired groan when the pig inexplicably started oinking. Without missing a beat, the Rhino grabbed the other ankle and continued walking to the temporary holding pens. He glanced at the fox briefly and nodded his head, "Wilde."

Never a dull moment in the city.

As entertaining as the morning theatrics were, Nick honestly couldn't care less. He fished his ancient phone from his pockets and frowned at the lack of any notifications. He'd sent that dumb bunny a text asking for her whereabouts the second he walked in the station and realized she hadn't arrived yet.

Come on now, Carrots. Least you can do is tell me if you're not coming in.

He glanced at the time displayed on his phone. Judy usually arrived at the station around 6:30-ish, running all over the place doing paperwork or prepping for patrol before most of the other officers even managed to turn on their computers. Nick usually came in around 7:00, groggy but nothing a few minutes hanging around the energetic bunny won't fix. He shook his head as he put his phone away. It was 7:45 and no bunny in sight. If she didn't get here in 15 minutes for morning briefing the Chief will surely put them on parking duty for the rest of the week.

He'd never say this out loud but he was also starting get a bit worried. Nick always took pride in his work ethic and hustle, 200 bucks a day for the past 20 years can attest to that but that partner of his was something else. In the 5 months he'd been in the force he'd never arrived at the station earlier than that overeager bunny and, in the rare occasion that she had actually missed a day, she'd text practically the entire force the day before to warn them. What sane animal does that? Heck he'd wager bucks to donuts that she's never even been close to being late to anything in her entire life.

Speaking of donuts…

Nick turned his head to look at Clawhauser again.

"-and then she started singing and I could not help but get out of my chair and- "

My God. This cat is still talking…

Clawhauser stood up and danced as he hummed a tune Nick recognized as Gazelle's new hit single, "Hooves Don't Lie."

What a horrid way to start the day.

The sensory overload of early morning ZPD escapades combined with his nocturnal biology and quickly diminishing caffeine reserves meant that without his faithful sidekick's overflowing energy to feed on, he felt practically incapable of performing any of his duties. He tried to rectify the situation earlier this morning by looking for a "replacement-bunny" but, after remembering that there was only one of those in the ZPD, decided to settle with the station receptionist. Nick's eye twitched at such a foolish decision.

Clawhauser sat down after a few seconds of shockingly adept dancing, "and then I decided to download that new app she put out where she'll actually talk to you and wake you up with a little song! Isn't that the best thing ever?!"

Nick stared blankly at the smiling Clawhauser, debating whether or not he should humor the cheetah. A few seconds of silence passed between the two.

"…Yep."

Nick took a large swig and turned his attention back to the doors.

I swear to god Carrots, I'm gonna break this cat if you don't show up now.

"Anyway, I can't believe that Judy isn't here yet! She knows the Chief hates it when officers are late for briefing. I hope she's not sick or anything!"

Nick's ears perked up at the sound of his partner's name. Finally interested in participating in a conversation, he turned around, pursed his lips, and shrugged coolly at Clawhauser. He tried to be as nonchalant as possible lest Clawhauser catch on that the enigmatic Officer Wilde was slowly losing his fur in worry over his partner's tardiness. The fox had a very cool reputation to uphold here.

"She's probably trying to run some early morning errand and lost track of time," Nick laughed lightly, "she was fine on Saturday when we watched 'Batmammal V. Supermammal', terrible movie by the way, so I'm sure she's doing alright." Nick scoffed internally. As if Judy would ever be so unprofessional as to lose track of time.

Clawhauser nodded understandingly, leaning forward with both of his paws underneath his neck fat. His long tail swished in the air and scratched at the top of his head, "Hmm… Are you sure she was fine on your date?"

"Yeah, she was practically bouncing off- Date?"

…Date?

Nick stopped dead in his tracks and gave Clawhauser a look like he just called his mother a savage. Nick scanned Clawhauser's face, searching for any sign that the receptionist was teasing. His eyes widened when he realized that Clawhauser was one hundred percent sincere with his implication, a look of worry was even evident on his face. Nick could feel his mind running into maximum overdrive. Teasing he could handle, teasing was easy to control and redirect but complete sincerity was something he rarely ever prepped for… especially when those sincere statements also imply that he would be romantically involved with easily the most important animal in his life outside of his mother.

WAIT. That might be a bit much. Come on, Nick.

Nick's shook his head. He looked Clawhauser straight in the eyes while his mind scoured for the right words to say. Unfortunately for the fox, the search was taking a bit too long for his liking and the cheetah took full advantage of the momentary pause to go on the assault.

"Right! Sorry if you two wanted to keep it on the hush-hush but it's kind of hard not to notice, you know? I just think it's so great that you both have time to romance even with all the police work the Chief gives you two," Clawhauser smiled warmly and gazed off into the distance, "Aww… you two remind me of Maddie and David from Moo-Lighting…"

Nick's jaw dropped at the insidious words coming out of Clawhauser's mouth. He managed to scramble together a half-decent retort but the cheetah was on a rampage.

"Don't go sneaking into any of the custodial closets now, you hear? Not even the secluded one on the second floor behind 201B that animals rarely ever walk past." He gave Nick a suggestive nod and waggled his eyebrows.

"We're not- "

"Oh don't worry, I won't tell the Chief! He won't care as long as you both keep resolving those cases," Clawhauser giggled

"We're not- "

"An inter-species office romance! So sweet! So spicy! So exciti- "

"WE'RE NOT DATING!"

Nick shocked himself, along with the rest of the ZPD in the nearby vicinity, at the volume of his voice. Dozens of eyes stared at him and a few worried murmurs skittered around them. He laughed out loud.

Clawhauser looked even more surprised, "eh wha…?"

"What makes you think that we could possibly be dating?" Nick's laugh started growing more indignant by the second. The fox looked to nearby officers hoping that they'd have his back on the matter but the others had already recovered from his outburst and returned to their own conversations. Nick decided he'd have to school this cat himself, "Judy is a fox- I-I'm a fox and she's a bunny, you do know that it'd be kind of hard to penet… C-come on now, Sprinkles. Just because two individuals happen to be close and spend lots of time together on and off work does not mean that they're dating. I mean, yes, I can see how some folks can misconstrue our incredibly witty banter as flirting but I can assure you, Officer Clawhauser, that it is one-hundred percent completely platonic."

Clawhauser was frozen in place, still stunned by Nick behaving so un-Nick like. The cat could do nothing but nod dumbly, mouth slightly agape.

The fox took a deep breath and rubbed his temples hoping his little speech stamped out all of this dating talk before Clawhauser, in his infinite wisdom, inevitably blabs it to the entire department. Nick placed his coffee on the edge of the reception desk, ready to use both paws to emphasize what he was about to say.

Let's spell it out for him.

"Got it, Sprinkles? Carrots and I? We are J-U-S-T- "

As an added measure, Nick started to recall in his mind all of the time he spent with Judy, prepping them like pieces of evidence of their completely platonic relationship. The second anyone casted even a twinge of doubt and resistance his way he'd present the memory and show them just how wrong they were.

"-F-R-I- "

Evidence #1: Friends get drunk together.

Nick started on the night after his graduation ceremony. He and Judy had joined up with a group of other officers, new and old alike, at the nearby cop bar to celebrate. He offered to be the group's designated driver but Judy had managed to talk him out of it. Nick remembered finding his bunny best friend's eagerness irresistible as she dragged him by his tie to the nearest open seats, proclaiming to the entire force how he was gonna get drunk with her whether he liked it or not. Sure enough, after "a few" drinks he and Judy had started seeing doppelgangers of one another everywhere they looked.

Near the end of the night, a random weasel had walked up to Judy and started drunkenly flirting with her. Judy, obviously uninterested but unable to find the right words to stop his horrid attempts, looked to Nick, her friend, for some help. In his drunken haze he stood from his seat and hugged his best bunny friend from behind, kissing her ears as he told the weasel to, "step off pal, this beautiful bunny is mine." The two decided to continue the charade the rest of the night so they wouldn't garner anymore unwanted visitors during their celebration. Sure their fake boyfriend-girlfriend ploy had felt more real than his last couple of flings but he attributed that to the fact that he'd never really had a friend as close as Judy before.

"-E-N- "

Evidence #2: Friends visit each other's homes…

Next stop for the fox was the time Judy invited him to her place for a movie. He could recall seeing the forced smile strewn on the bunny's face as she gave him the grand tour of her dinky apartment. He couldn't help but scowl when he saw how cramped everything was. "You're the hero of Zootopia," he remembered saying, "how are you not being treated like one?" His musings were interrupted by the sound of her neighbors arguing, shaking a few of the pictures that hung on the wall. He jokingly asked her if he wanted them arrested and remembered the smile on Judy's face instantly turn genuine at his obvious concern for her well being. At that point of their friendship, making her smile had become one of his favorite hobbies.

Nick sat down on her bed and watched as Judy opened her laptop and put on a random movie. When she sat down next to him he remembered blurting out if she'd like to live with him, rapidly explaining how much larger his place was and how amazing it'd be for two best friends to live together and how she'd never have to be bothered by noisy neighbors again and how he was going to be the best roomie she'd ever had. A long moment of silence passed between the two at the end of his blabbering until a blushing Judy looked back at him and declined his offer, reasoning that she didn't want to be a bother to him. Deciding not to pry, Nick told her that the offer would be open if she ever changed her mind. Sure he was disappointed that she didn't take him up on it but what best friend wouldn't be?

"-D-"

Evidence #3: Friends… do stuff together.

After a particularly tiresome case was finally solved, Judy decided to celebrate in the most unusual way. She took him grocery shopping. Nick offered to buy dinner but Judy had set her mind on cooking for the both of them, over at his place of course. She might not be living in his apartment but with the amount of time she'd recently been spending in it, she might as well have. Nick asked Judy what made her want to do this but she kept changing the subject immediately as if she was hiding something. His previous life taught him that poking your nose in someone else's business rarely ever ended well for both parties so he decided not to press the matter further. A meal was a meal after all.

He learned soon after that he should've poked his nose in her business.

He remembered laughing at the sound of clattering pans and utensils in his kitchen as he prepped the table, she obviously had no idea what she was doing. A barrage of "sweet cheese and crackers!" and, "oh moldy milk and toast!" could be heard erupting from her mouth in exasperation. Still, he couldn't help but admire his best bunny friend's tenacity. After watching Judy struggle with cleaning the cicadas he remembered finally intervening, sneaking directly behind the fuming bunny, his head placed firmly in between her ears and arms extended around her. The close contact calmed Judy and the two got into a comfortable groove soon after. Nick had prepped the insects while Judy sliced the veggies as both relished in the warmth of one another's bodies.

Their one-hundred percent completely platonic spooning was interrupted when Judy let out a tiny squeak after accidentally getting too comfortable and cutting herself. Without a second's hesitation Nick turned Judy around, took her paw into his and, without thinking, placed a few soft licks at the tiny wound. After he opened a nearby cabinet for a Band-Aid and put it on he looked back at Judy and smirked at the state she was in. Wide-eyed, radiating red, frozen in place, and panting like she'd just sprinted in a marathon. Still holding on to her paw, he joked that, "a cop shouldn't be so flustered after a teensy-weensy cut like that. You've been through much worse right, Officer?" He remembered the redness on her face spread up to her ears when he shot her a playful wink. Sure, Nick could admit that he was reluctant to let go of her paws after their little moment but who wouldn't be? They were so soft and warm.

"-S."

Evidence #4: Friends... umm…

Nick stopped at his most recent memory, last Saturday's night out at the movies. Judy insisted that they watch Batmammal v. Supermammal, despite Nick warning her that early reviews for it had been horrid. Judy, never one to be swayed by the opinion of others, had literally dragged him by the tie to the nearest theater. He had to admit though, as boring as the movie was, Nick had thoroughly enjoyed himself. Halfway through the movie he felt Judy lean into him, not realizing that she'd put the arm rest between them up. It was a common occurrence for them whenever they watched a movie and he always looked forward to it. That night, however, something new happened.

Nick remembered looking down at the small bunny next to him after he heard a small mewl from her. They locked eyes for a second until Judy closed them and shivered.

"I'm really cold."

Nick grinned down at her, about to give Judy one of his famous quips but, surprisingly, decided against it. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were in a crowded theater or maybe it was because the bunny leaning into him, staring at him, had never smelled so alluring. Whatever the reason, Nick kept his mouth shut, wrapped an arm around his partner's shoulders and pulled her into his chest. Judy gasped at Nick's sudden action but, never one to be outdone, immediately placed both of her paws over his and rubbed her digits over his soft fur. They stayed in this position for the rest of the movie, Nick occasionally nuzzling the space in between her ears and Judy occasionally running her tiny nose over the top of Nick's paw. Anyone looking at them would immediately think they were a couple but Nick knew better…

They left the theater in silence, walking alongside each other in closer-than-normal proximity, their paws brushing together sporadically, the brief contact sending intense shivers up the fox's tail. When they reached her apartment building Nick walked her up and stopped at the door. Nick watched Judy uncharacteristically fumble with her keys. It looked like she was stalling, waiting for something to happen. A wicked thought materialized in the fox's head as soon as the door opened. Before she can step in, Nick grabbed her paw and pulled her into a warm embrace. He felt Judy relax in his arms and her tiny paws grab tightly at his shirt. This was also not a part of their usual routine but there was something in the air that urged him to hold her. They stood in the middle of the hallway embracing for what seemed like hours, relishing in the feel of Judy's chest heaving calmly up and down.

"Despite my earlier protests, I had a pretty good time."

He felt her smile into his chest, "So did I…"

Judy looked at him but immediately turned away, a blush evident on her face. Nick could practically smell the nervousness on the bunny.

"S-so… umm… do you want to- "

Before Judy can finish her sentence, Nick inexplicably ran a paw up the length of one of Judy's ears and lightly caressed the tip, effectively shutting down the tiny bunny's brain. Even looking back at it, the fox had no idea what supernatural force propelled him to do that. He squeezed Judy tighter, eliciting a pleasured gasp from the bunny. He leveled his face with hers and tilted his head as the happiest smile he'd ever conjured up graced his face.

"But for our next little outing, I get to choose the movie."

A comfortable silence descended between the two animals, neither one willing to cut off their body contact. A soft sigh escaped past his lips when he felt one of Judy's claws draw what felt like crude shapes over his chest. He looked at Judy inquisitively only to be met with an intensely heated look. The fox was mesmerized. He immediately felt the temperature in his body rise and his heart rate quicken. Nick watched his partner's half-lidded gaze disappear as she closed her eyes …

"Nick…"

He remembered his tail wagging erratically hearing his name said in such a sensual tone. He remembered locking on to Judy's soft lips and licking his own. He remembered how inviting they looked, slightly parted and glistening. He wanted…

"Carrots…"

But the rational side of his brain kicked in. He smoothly let go of Judy and stepped back. Judy opened her eyes at the loss of contact and surprise marred her face at the sudden distance between them. He flashed an extra smug grin topped with a playful wink as he glided off to the nearest exit.

"I'll see you Monday."

Nothing weird about that, he remembered telling himself. Just a bit of flirting between two one-hundred percent completely platonic fox and bunny best friends. His mind had conjured up masses of X-rated images involving Judy and himself on her tiny bed but Nick shrugged it off. Sure, he needed a very long and very cold shower after that interaction but he was certain that lewd thoughts and suggestive actions like that were normal between two people who considered themselves…

"Just… Friends…"

Nick froze as the weight of his actions finally dawned on him.

…You must be kidding me…

On the outside Nick looked like the bastion of calm but on the inside Nick was panicking.

...YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME.

The fox furiously scrambled through all the memories he'd just prepped, attempting to rationalize his now suspect behavior.

No that's fine, that was just a game of pretend between friends… o-okay, maybe I laid out the roomie stuff a bit too thick… and friends lick each other's paws, r-right…? ...…oh no, now I can't stop thinking about how soft her paws are… wait... oh god… OH GOD… that night… Judy and I wanted to ki-

His jaw dropped. A question he never thought he'd ever have to ask popped up in his mind.

…Are we really just friends?

Fortunately for Nick, his short spelling lesson must've seeped through Clawhauser's squishy head. A loud gasp interrupted his train of thought. He looked at Clawhauser, both paws covering his mouth. The chatty cheetah bent down low and stretched out his arms to the fox.

"I am so sorry! Me, Benjamin Clawhauser, the guy everyone thinks is dating Chief Bogo just because he and I love talking to each other about Gazelle so much, assuming you two are together oh…"

Nick forced out a grin, making sure to pour on an extra shot of smugness in the hopes that it'll mask how much their little talk had gotten to him.

"It's okay… just… I'm just glad we cleared all of the confusion." Nick grabbed his drink off the desk and put it to his mouth trying to wash off unwelcome realizations currently plaguing his brain but groaned when the flow of liquid stopped abruptly. He was about to head straight to the break room when he heard the familiar whoosh of the sliding doors opening and the unmistakable lack of heavy footsteps. He rapidly twisted his head and his sensitive eyes zoomed in on a tiny bunny sauntering in.

Hallelujah!

He looked at Clawhauser, saying a hasty goodbye and immediately rushed towards Judy. At the sight of his partner, Nick decided to lock away all the questions he had about their friendship deep in the back of his mind. The thing he had with Judy was already better than anything he could've ever hoped for, there was no point in dwelling on what could've happened and wondering if they could be more than just friends. That line of thought could potentially lead to actions that could ruin their already amazing dynamic. Nick did not want that to happen. Besides, it was way too early in the morning and Nick was already spent. He needed to get to Judy, restore some energy, and get ready for work.

Clawhauser tried to respond but the fox officer was already halfway to his partner. He smiled to himself as he watched Nick practically run towards Judy.

"Aw… that poor little fox totally wants that bunny."