Falling for her

Nicholas Wilde had never been particularly good at expressing emotions. Yes, he had feelings. But did he show them off to the rest of the world? No.

Because that would be a sign of weakness and Nicholas Wilde was not weak.

Ever since that day, back when he was just a 9 years old kit, Nick refused to have innocence at his disposal. At the time, It didn't seem possible that someone who loved the world so thoroughly and heartedly for what it was could just be shattered like that. Nick had emotionally hardened. He separated his feelings with his personality, never mixing two together. And as time went on, Nick began to forget he even had emotions anymore.

Finnick and him certainly didn't need them. They had everything they needed in life, so he thought way back when. Money, a nice van, a reputation... Even with all that cash, people still made their comments. "Let them" Finnick would always say, in his typical gruff demeanor. "Every idiot in this city's just jealous they don't got what we got. Let them be pissed! We could have easily swung them down with our van. But did we? No!"

Nick chose to listen to that, forcing the faint childhood memories back deep into his mind like they should. He never had told Finnick why he always took so much offense to it all. Fortunately, after years of scamming, his cares lessened and pretty soon, when someone mentioned how of course a fox would be living in a van, or of course a fox would be scamming innocent people out of their money, it suddenly didn't bother him so much anymore.

Judy was the first friend he told his past too. He didn't quite know why. If anything she owed him, after that save in the RainForest District. But something about that rabbit was trustworthy and after all, Nick still knew well enough to trust his instincts. And after awhile, being stuck with her on that case didn't seem that bad anymore.

It certainly wasn't bad now. Looking back, it was one of the greatest things that ever happened to him. Who would have guessed that a fox, a master scam artist, would become a cop, partners with Judy, a rabbit of all animals.

Most would say he was lying. That even though predator and prey were somewhat alright again, it would still be ridiculous for a rabbit and fox to be partners. Nick knew a lot of people like that. On a weekly basis, he heard animals mummer comments about Judy and his relationship.

Judy always told him to ignore it and he did so. There were a few times where Judy had gone so far to tell the whisperers off, but that was a story for another time. A story Nick did not feel like being reminded of once again.

Judy and him had grown a lot over the past couple years. To friends, to partners, to best friends, and now, he didn't even know what they were anymore. Yes they were still best friends, yes they were still partners, but things change rather quickly. And change always seemed to come towards Zootopia at one point or another.

It was weird but the more time they spent together, which was nearly every minute of every day, (work combined with hanging out could last a while) there seemed to be more pauses. Not awkward pauses, when your afraid to talk, but small little moments that were worth mentioning. Like last week, when they went out to get coffee, Judy had handed him the cup, like always, but their paws touched and for a full minute, Nick felt like fainting.

Judy couldn't determine whether or not he was sick, but made sure to question the fox thoroughly as soon as they were finally seated. Are you dizzy? How do you feel? Are you sure you want the coffee? Were just a few. Nick had promised he was fine, but Judy had always been able to read him like a book. And before he knew it, Nick had confessed his entire life story to her.

Even though it revolved close to nothing with what Judy was asking him, the rabbit officer listened closely. Nodding every second and proving she generally cared about his well being, Judy even went so far as to hug him by the time Nick finished ranting.

However once again, his senses acted up and he froze, bringing Judy's original questioning back up.

Now that he thought about it, he had been freezing up a lot around her lately. The winks she'd send him made him feel warm enough to melt snow. And her large violet eyes would always seem to light up after every playful tease.

He loved seeing her laugh. And she did so a lot. Judy was generally happy, most rabbits were but he never failed to notice when he was the one to get her giggling.

Nick blamed the new feelings on Clawhouser. According to a handful of officers, Clawhouser had been 'shipping them' since Nick and Judy's first case together. Though Nick never asked him about it, he never failed to notice the cheetahs excited squeals when Nick did anything relatively kind towards Judy and the other way around.

The partners would just eye Clawhouser with curiosity, but never asked why. Perhaps they didn't want to know.

Nick remembered one time, a few months back, around the time feelings began coming into play. Judy and him had spent a week or two on a mission in Tundra Town. Their assignment was to dismiss suspicions about a mass dealer who was poisoning innocent animals by slipping the venom into food at the supermarket. The poison seemed to have relatively the same affects of the Night Howler, however comparing on turning predators savage, this poison would make prey fear everyone around them.

Of course both Nick and Judy were on it within a second and after tracking down the crook in a bakers shop, the floorboards snapped (perfect timing for the bad guys getaway, unfortunately) And they fell down below the shop into a tunnel of snow. Though snow covered them, Judy insisted she was prepared for anything and had enough scarves to wrap around their necks. Unfortunately the warmth didn't last very long and before they knew it, the partners had to follow the tunnels in order for a faint change of escape. Shaking and shivering, they had to stay closely together in order to stay warm. It got so bad they could barely speak, but fortunately the rest of the ZPD got there in time.

When they got back, Clawhouser would not shut up about it. It was like he knew something they didn't.

Well now Nick was beginning to realize exactly what Clawhouser had long before and after discussing it with the cheetah, well making a quick zoogle search, Nick realized maybe, he had small feelings for Judy.

Not the kind where you feel like you can't stand someone and have to get away -He had had that before too. With Judy, he enjoyed being around her. He enjoyed hearing her burst into laughter and smiles.

Now he just needed to work up the courage to tell her. With a nervous skip in his step and flowers in his arms - flowers he knew wouldn't determine the rabbits answer - he was going to finally ask Judy out. Months of questioning his feelings for his partner had finally led up to this one big, perfect moment. He was going to ask her out! Now he just needed to knock on her door..

Nick took in a deep breath before stepping forward. With a gentle knock, he stepped back, placing the flowers on the Welcome mat and darting off behind the curb of the wall.

With a creek of the door, Nick immediately knew his best friend had seen the flowers. Judy was most likely looking them over, with a soft smile on her features. He knew she'd be putting them in a vase soon enough and the next time he came over, he would have to ask who had given them to her.

Next time, he'd work up the courage to actually stand at the door and ask Judy out. Next time, Nick wouldn't panic.

He said that every time he tried.

A/N : Updated a little with more descriptions and detail. Hope you enjoyed.