Judy stood, shivering and dumbfounded, staring at her flaming apartment building. It had been about a year since she moved to Zootopia, and this was the apartment she had gotten when she first came. Luckily, over time a few of her belongings had made their way to the ZPD office and her partner Nick's apartment, but most of her things were still lost. Nick, she remembered suddenly, pulling out her phone from her pocket and dialing his number. He yawned into the phone. "Carrots? What are you doing up at this hour?"
"My apartment's on fire!" she replied frantically.
"What?" he demanded, voice full of concern. Then, there was a pause as Judy heard a plop and the jingle of keys. "Ok, I'm on my way now."
Judy's landlady had called the ZPD and the Zootopia fire department. To Judy's surprise, Chief Bogo himself showed up on the scene. "Are you alright, Officer Hopps?" he asked in his gruff voice. She nodded shakily, nose twitching. "I'm fine, thanks."
A thought seemed to dawn on Bogo, and he asked, "Where will you stay tonight?"
At that moment, Nick's beaten-up car pulled up to the curb, his window down. "She's coming with me," he responded, addressing Bogo.
Judy blushed, her ears folding back a little. "I didn't—we didn't arrange—"
Bogo nodded at both of them. "Okay, looks like it's settled. Take care of her, Wilde," he said, then left them to discuss the accident with Judy's landlady.
Judy turned to Nick awkwardly and stammered, "You didn't have to—I didn't expect—"
He cut her off with an eye roll and a smirk, then opened the car door and helped her in. "Let's get you home," Nick said, glancing at the frightened bunny.
As she dozed off, she thought, he called it home.
Judy's eyes fluttered open as they pulled up to Nick's apartment. The clock read 1:39 AM.
"Here we are," Nick yawned, smiling at her.
The fox suddenly cursed under his breath as he unlocked the front door.
"What is it?" Judy asked.
"I still don't have anything in my spare bedroom," he groaned.
Judy sighed a little in relief; she'd been afraid something else bad had happened. "No, its fine," she replied quickly. "I can sleep on the couch."
Stepping into the apartment, Nick spun around, his palms up in a stop gesture. "Whoa, hold up here. You're not sleeping on the couch. I'll take the couch, and you can sleep in my room"
"Are you sure?" Judy mumbled sleepily, but she was too tired to really argue.
"Well just for tonight," he said slyly. "Tomorrow we'll get you a bed for the spare room."
"What? I won't be—"
"You didn't think you're leaving anytime soon, did you?" Nick interrupted with a smirk. Then, his smile turning softer, he said, "come on, let's get you settled."
When Judy crashed onto Nick's bed, she figured she'd be too shaken to sleep, despite her exhaustion. After a few minutes, however, she noticed that the blankets had Nick's scent on them. Strangely, she found this fact comforting, and she soon fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Nick sat restlessly on the couch, thoughts running through his mind. He wished he had been there to help Judy when the building went ablaze. He was concerned for his bunny, of course, but—wait, his bunny? Why had he thought that? Suddenly, revelation sank down on him. "No, no, no, no!" he muttered.
He was in love with a bunny.