A/N: I am completely blown away by the reception this story has gotten! I mean wow! You all must really love high school stories. Now, there have been several people commenting that they want me to continue this story and not be just a one-shot. I can assure you that it will continue and it was never a one-shot. You think I, of all writers, would leave them at just a secret kiss in the woods? No way!
This week I am in Disney with my family so writing will not likely be happening at all. Now because of that, I have decided to launch this chapter a day ahead of schedule so everyone isn't waiting extra time. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Finally! I have my foot in the door. Now to steal the rights to Zootopia and have everyone grant me boons! Like Zootopia 2 with WildeHopss! Muwhahahahaha!


Chapter 2 - A Rocky Start

With the end of summer nearing and fall looking to take it's turn enveloping Bunnyburrow, there was a distinct chill that would sweep through the field in the dead of night, a time when most mammals were in bed beneath warm blankets. The few in the Burrows that were awake during the night were those who worked late-night shifts or farmers trying to get ahead of their crops. They were all quite used to the chill, usually working inside or hard enough to stay warm. For two others, that slight drop in temperature was barely noticeable in the embrace of the other.

"Hey Nick, look." Emerald eyes tracked along a gray furred arm pointing up into the sky. "There's Orion. See the three stars of his belt?" The tod watched the bunny pointing out each individual star. Familiar with some of the more major constellations, Nick could see the image form.

"Ah yes. The famous fox hunter, tracking his prey." His father had always told him that Orion was a fox and made up fantastical tales for his son to fall in love with, although they both knew he was in fact a lion. He purposefully called out the wrong mammal to cause her a slight confusion, however. Using that time, he got into position, waiting impatiently for her to correct him as he knew she would. The moment she opened her mouth, he struck. "And then the fox attacked his prey!" he cried out, lunging towards her throat. "Nom nom nom nom," he teased, pressing his lips to her fur all over making her squeal with delight.

"Stop Nick! You're getting slobber all over me!" she managed to say in between laughs. She loved when he would kiss her neck, the feelings it caused in her were intense. However sneaking back into the burrow and grabbing a shower before anyone could see her matted fur would be a challenge that she couldn't afford.

Laying back down, Judy snuggled deeper into her fox's side, relishing in the warmth of him as his tail wrapped over her like a blanket. Sighing happily the bunny gazed up through the leaves, taking in the moonlight that trickled down to the forest floor. Every now and again a leaf would succumb to the light breeze and break away from it's branch, scattering the moonlight as it passed through the silvery rays. When she looked up to see if the beams were dancing along his muzzle, she found him looking down at her with a soft smile.

Blushing so that the inside of her ears turned pink, she turned her gaze down demurely. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He never lost the comforting smile that graced his lips. So much different than the smirk he showed to the outside world, it was enough to enchant and entrance her.

"I'm looking at the most beautiful bunny in the whole wide world. Lavender eyes that reflect the moon while it's light dances across her wiggling nose." Entwining their digits, he raised them into view. "One with such gentle but strong paws. With black tipped ears much like a vixen would carry but oh so much more delicate and lovely." He raised her paw to his lips and pressed a light kiss to the back of it causing Judy to giggle.

She flopped her head down onto his chest while he wrapped his arms around her tighter. "How did we get to here, Nick?"

"Well, I snuck out of my room and you snuck out of yours..." he started, laughing when she thumped him lightly.

"Not that, you goof." Settling back down, Judy nuzzled into his chest before pushing her head up underneath his muzzle. "I mean how did we end up together? We hated each other last year. And now, well I can honestly say I had left the burrow maybe once or twice a month before and now I've been out every night for the past three months, wrapped up in the arms of a smug, arrogant fox."

Deciding to reveal a bit of the smug arrogance, Nick whispered into her ear. "You know you love me."

"Do I know that?" Tilting her head upward she pressed her lips to the underside of his muzzle. "Yes. Yes I do."

"To be honest, Carrots, I never hated you. I didn't even dislike you." She gave a start of surprise at that. "Sure I enjoyed tormenting you a bit since we were basically rivals according to the rest of the school, but I never once held any negative feelings for you. In fact, I rather admired you."

"You...you did?" This was a story she hadn't heard before. Even in all of their nights together, sharing bits and pieces of their lives with the other, she had not been told this. It made her feel slightly ashamed of having admitted she really had not liked the tod.

"Of course I did. A bunny like yourself? Ethereally beautiful, yet you never once let it go to your head. Amazingly brilliant, yet rather than show-off you use it to help other students. Heck, you tutored an entire class after school on AP Algebra on your own. Not to mention how fast you are on the track but spend a lot of time helping to train your teammates instead of hogging all the glory." Tilting his head down so she could see the sincerity in his eyes, he kissed the top of her head. "There's no one else in the world like Judy Hopps."

Her blush now spreading throughout her ears and over her cheeks, the fur threatening to burst into flame, Judy pulled her ears down in an attempt to hide. Nick chuckled again before leaning down to nuzzle her. "I could say the same things about you Mr. Wilde," came the muffled voice from behind two large and gray ears.

"Oh?" While amused, he couldn't help but be curious at what she had to say. "Pray tell, Fluff. I thought you hated me?"

"I did. Sort of," she mumbled, unable to look him square in the eye. She waited for him to make some snarky remark but he simply sat with a small smile on his lips, motioning her to continue. "Okay so I didn't hate you at first. I was impressed at how smart you were. I hadn't really experienced having competition in the classroom but it actually helped me learn since I was now trying to keep ahead, or sometimes up with someone. I would get so upset with my siblings making any noise when I was studying just to make sure I would beat your score on the history test or get a better grade on the science exhibit. But I started to take it too far. I started to dislike you always knowing the answers, always ahead no matter how hard I tried."

"Blame my mother. Having a retired college professor living with you means pop quizzes during breakfast, taking out the trash, sometimes even while getting out of the shower." Judy shook her head letting her ears bat playfully at Nick's nose.

"I know that, Slick. Well now anyways. But back then it was a lot harder to deal with. Perfect looks," Nick waggled his brows at her, "perfect grades, and then you also come out as this incredibly talented athlete, played first board on the chess team..." She trailed off while trying to find a way to put her thoughts into words. "I guess I just didn't like being upstaged. Now I know that's not what was happening," she reassured him when he opened his mouth to protest, "I know you were just being you and I'm very glad you were. Took me a while to understand that I never really hated you, Nick. That I actually hated losing the praise I would always receive. I never even realized I took so much joy in it." Her eyes began to tear up as she thought back to how cold she had been towards him all last year. "I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time over something so pathetic as wanting attention."

"Hey now, Fluff. No tears, okay?" Reaching up to brush her cheek, wiping away the tracks down her soft fur, Nick gave her a light kiss between her ears. "It's not shameful to admit you like attention. Everyone does. It's pretty natural to seek approval from those around you even. I imagine the looks from some of the more handsome bucks didn't hurt either," the vulpine noted with a sly smirk on his lips.

"Oh gods no. No, I absolutely loathe the leers and comments about my ass. Had to deal with that a full year before you even showed up. I enjoyed the attention from my teachers. Being a cop is the only dream I have ever wanted so badly and my grades have to be exemplary." She didn't want to admit that she had modified her dream somewhat in the past few months because she wasn't sure how well it would be received since she did not know if Nick would want to become a cop like her. To be her partner. No, better to let that rest for a while, she figured.

Nick could understand that aspect. He too enjoyed the praises from his instructors. It was something he guessed was common among most kits, preschool up to senior year alike. "So... When did you realize this? The whole 'don't actually dislike the new guy, just don't like losing the attention' thing? Obviously it was sometime before we got together I'm guessing, since you haven't brought it up before now."

"Umm..." Judy's ears turned bright red while her gaze dipped in bashfulness. The tod was amused by her embarrassment, which was something he had devoted a lot of energy to causing over the last year. "It may have been a revelation, umm...that night."

That night, Nick mouthed to himself but he was drawing a blank. "What ni-." A spark of inspiration and recognition struck his mind making him pause mid-word. "Wait. That night?" Judy nodded her head, once again not letting their eyes meet fully.


'That' Night: A few weeks before end of the school year

Time had no meaning for one small mammal nestled beneath a large oak just on the edge of the forest. There were days and nights that existed in fractions of a second or a year in the setting of one sun. On the rare occasion however, there was no difference between dusk to dawn, where the darkness and the moon existed at every point and the face of a clock vanished from consequence. It was on one of these nights that young Judy Hopps lay under the thick branches of an old tree only a few miles from her family's farm. It was a place she came to think and reflect on the changes in her life. Gone were the times in the sun, however, for Judy found the best time to contemplate was when the world around her was quiet, something not likely to be realized when her siblings would be awake.

So instead she had taken it upon herself to leave the safety and warmth of her room in order to search inside herself for answers. Lately these nighttime excursions had increased in frequency by an alarming rate. The risk of being caught each time was something she considered but ultimately would dismiss. She was one of the most trusted offspring in the Hopps Warren. Her parents would never think to check on her in the middle of the night.

So lost in thought beneath the large tree, Judy almost didn't notice her ears perking up at the sound of cracking twigs. Her sense of smell was of little help to her with the strong surrounding scent of the forest around her and while the moon made it easier for her to see, she was still limited when it came to peering into the shadows of the trees. Instead Judy swung her ears toward the sound and used her superior sense of hearing.

With each scuffed leaf and broken twig, Judy learned something new about the approaching mammal. They are not trying to be stealthy and they aren't running so either they haven't seen me, which is unlikely, she thought while looking down at her surroundings and how she was bathed in moonlight, or this is not a mammal that was expecting to see someone else on their stroll and they don't want to startle me. A few steps later had her gaining a bit more insight. Large hindpaws, dragging against the leaves and multiple twigs cracking at once. Thicker branch, Judy heard a much sharper snapping sound than before, heavier than a bunny would be. The sound of something brushing against the bark, about two feet off the ground I'd say, gave her pause for a second before realizing what the soft sound meant. That's a tail. A large and long tail. With there being only a few varieties of mammals in Bunnyburrow with a tail like that, she knew that a feline species would never approach as they were, which meant it was most likely a canid.

Not a wolf, that's much too large. So that would make this a fox. And with only two fox families around here now...Casting her gaze towards the edge of the wood, she caught a beam from the moon striking the black tip of a russet orange tail. "Wilde?"

"Well, well, well..." The smugness of his voice made the doe want to roll her eyes. "What brings you to the woods at this time of night, Carrots?" Nick was indeed a bit shocked to find the gray bunny sitting beneath the tree. He hadn't known many rabbits that liked to be up at night and even those who did never wanted to be outside. Then again, this was Judy Hopps.

"Just taking some time to myself. You know, busy warren, empty moonlit sky...you do the math. You could probably could do it in Sanskrit, mister 'Perfect GPA'," she muttered just below his hearing level. "What are you doing out here? Couldn't go to sleep so you came out here to outdo Van Gopher's 'Starry Night'?"

Taken aback by her hostility, Nick could only manage a shrug and a soft smile. "Not much of a, uh painter, Carrots. I do a pretty mean woodcarving but if you want one of those you'll have to wait for me to go get my knife."

"Oh of course you do. Totally makes sense. You are Nick Wilde after all." The tod frowned heavily. This wasn't at all how he had wanted this interaction to go.

He had not expected her to be out in the woods at all. He made these nightly excursions to find a little bit of freedom from his days. While he had grown to love the countryside and made a good amount of friends out in the Burrows, the excitement of being out in Zootopia after dark still was something he missed. He had taken to exploring the world around him instead since staying in bed for a nocturnal mammal when they weren't tired was akin to torture. When he had spotted the doe laying in the moonlight, a thought of how to finally approach her and find out exactly why she was always upset with him began to form. However it didn't seem to start off so well.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that." He was hurt a little by the flippant roll of her eyes. "Look Carrots. I just want to talk." The slight scoffing sound from below made him a bit nervous and he was sure she would get up and run off at any moment, but after a few seconds she waved an arm towards him in a vague 'say whatever and then go' manner.

"Did I...ever do or say something to you that would make you dislike me?" The softness of his words and the nervous hesitation in his voice made Judy's ears spring up and rotate towards him. "If I did, I am truly sorry and I will do anything to make it up to you." He waited patiently for her to respond, minute after minute crawling past. When it seemed as if there was no hope and he would have to go home without any answers from the pretty doe, a small sigh caught his ears.

"Why do you have to be so...so damned perfect?!" Whatever Nick had been expecting, it certainly was not those words. It hit him so hard that he was physically rocked as well causing him to fall on his rump. Judy meanwhile had stood and was now hovering over the grounded vulpine. "Why did you have to show up and start wowing everyone with your skills and how you know so much everyone else doesn't? Mammals like you don't exist in high school except in tv shows and crappy novels."

It was hard for it to happen by this point, but Nick Wilde had become even more confused. "Mammals like me? TV shows? What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't play dumb with me, fox. You know exactly what I mean. Killer athlete, star pupil, ridiculously hot-" Judy's eyes widened making her violet eyes glisten in the moonlight before she slapped a paw over her mouth. The visage of confusion that Nick had shown had gone, replaced with a surprised brow raise which quickly turned into a grin.

"Ridiculously hot, huh?" Pushing himself up to his own standing position, he took several steps closer until he was looming over the lapin. "Why Carrots. Are you saying you find me a bit...Foxy?"

"No! No. I never said that!" Judy, who had tried to take an intimidating pose by forcing him underneath a tree, suddenly found herself the one who was being intimidated, but for nowhere near the same reasons. While she had not called the tod 'foxy', it didn't mean she wasn't thinking it. Since day one she had been admiring his looks. It was impossible not to, it was simply biology screaming about a perfect physical specimen to join with. She had forced herself to stay out of all conversations about the vulpine's looks so as to not lose herself in them, but that didn't mean she never glanced over at his fit body and amazing eyes. Now with him standing over her, those same eyes boring into hers, his fur catching the moonlight making the edges glow, it was all she could do not to lick her lips at the sight.

Seeing her chest heave while her eyes dashed around catching every inch of his physique, Nick couldn't help the smug look crossing his face. "It's alright to think it, Carrots. I'm totally thinking about how cute you look right now."

At any point in her life, Judy would have quickly, and probably angrily, told someone off for calling her cute, but right then she was having difficulty pulling her thoughts together. "You can't just...call a bunny cute. It means something very dif-"

Nick cut her off as he placed two paws on her cheeks. "I know exactly what it means, Fluff." A sharp spike in her scent made the tod bolder, the spiciness of it causing his head to become light. Bringing his head down, he quickly captured her lips with his own hungrily and he soon found himself slipping his tongue past her lips, though he wasn't sure if it had been his idea or not. Two small paws had long ago grasped his ears while very strong legs wrapped themselves around his waist, his own clawed paws resting under her behind.

It may have been minutes or just moments, but the kiss was ended quite suddenly when Nick was pushed back and holding a paw to his stinging cheek. "How dare you?!" Judy cried out angrily. "You don't just kiss someone you aren't in a relationship with! It's not appropriate or respectful. Do you understand me?" Nick nodded, a slight wince flashing across his features. "Good." With that, Judy grasped his ears again and hauled him towards her. This time, when their lips met, it was her tongue forcing it's way along his fangs.


Present night

"So I ended up stumbling through the woods right after you came to the conclusion you didn't hate me just in time for us to get together. That's quite a stroke of good luck huh, Carrots." Nick laughed heartily while Judy smiled awkwardly, forcing through a few giggles which did not escape his notice. "What? Was there something else?"

"Well..." Judy glanced up at him sheepishly. "I didn't exactly come to that conclusion before we ended up kissing." Emerald eyes stared at her incredulously. "What? I mean you were just so damn hot I had to at least give it a try once."