First of all, thank you all so much for the positive feedback! I love this movie; it's instantly become a new favorite of mine! I thought I'd be lost in the explosion of the fan base as I've noticed that Zootopia has hundreds of fanfictions on our site after only two weeks. In light of recent requests and a feeling of incompleteness, I decided to extend this story beyond the confines of a one-shot!

Second, I may change the rating of the story based on how it develops.

This chapter was longer than I anticipated, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just kept going and going! I'll let you all get on with it now. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Spending the Night

By the time Nick was at Judy's front door, he heard her crazy neighbors yelling at each other. The fox said to the rabbit, "You know, when you said they were loud, I thought you meant that they just liked to party a lot."

"Eh. I get used to it. Never fully, but…" Judy trailed off and simply shrugged as she did. She flashed Nick a smile and pulled out her apartment key. Putting the key into the keyhole and turning it, she unlocked and opened the door and stepped in.

"SHUT UP!" Pronk, one of Judy's neighbors, yelled at his roommate.

"NO, YOU SHUT UP!" the other one, Bucky, hollered back.

"Well, uh, good night," Nick bid Judy farewell, but she grabbed his paw before he could leave. He looked into those sparkling amethyst eyes of hers.

"It's getting late. Why not spend the night?" Judy offered with her voice filled to the brim with sincerity and concern.

"Carrots, it's not that late," Nick tried to politely decline. "C'mon, I can handle myself." The refusal was getting more difficult by the second. Judy's gaze seemed to be growing ever cuter and more heartfelt. "Well…I-I guess one night couldn't hurt. Thanks, Carrots."

"Thank you, Nick," Judy thanked him as she hugged him, "for walking me home and for that nice poem."

"That poem is probably the most sincere thing I've ever done," Nick sighed and stepped into her apartment. He wiped his paws on a doormat she had that said 'Home Sweet Home' on it with a carrot embroidered on either side of the phrase.

"Don't say things like that. Nick, you and I both know that you are so much more than that, especially since you have so much more to show for it now," Judy tried to console the orange furred fox, hugging him tighter. "I hate it when you say things like that, especially… because I meant what I said in the patrol car the other day."

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked curiously, not knowing what she meant by that.

"Don't you remember? 'You know you love me.' 'Do I know that? Yes. Yes, I do'," Judy reminded him of their little exchange when they were tracking down the street racer. "That was more than just playful banter."

"…Clever bunny," Nick complimented with a smirk and wrapped his arms around her. He started humming.

Nick's humming prompted the bunny to ask, "What's that you're humming?"

"Oh, you mean this little tune?" Nick asked rhetorically and soon provided an answer: "It's something my mother used to sing to me. The exact wording escapes me, but the tune is etched into my memory."

"FINISH THE MILK IF YOU'RE GOING TO DRINK IT!" one of the rabbit's neighbors, presumably Pronk, continued yelling. "DON'T JUST LEAVE THE DREGS! IT TAKES UP SPACE IN THE FRIDGE!

"YOU GET WORKED UP TOO EASILY!" the other one, Bucky by process of elimination, responded loudly.

"…How do you sleep at night?" Nick questioned.

"Huh. Good question. I just manage it somehow," Judy replied nonchalantly for reasons Nick may have never grown to understand.

"I, uh, I like your doormat," Nick complimented her on the doormat.

"Thanks. My parents…sent it…to me…" Judy said cautiously, eyes gradually widening.

"What? What is it?" Nick asked, crouching so they could be at eye level with each other.

"They're the ones who gave me the fox repellent when I first left home…" Judy admitted and bit down on her lower lip nervously, her large ears drooping to the back of her head.

"…Oh," Nick took a moment of silence and then spoke.

"Nick, I—" Judy started to panic, but Nick cut her off.

"They just care about your safety, Carrots. I get it," Nick assured. "That's all water under the bridge."

"I-I threw it out! I got rid of that fox repellent as soon as I decided to go home!" Judy insisted, trying to hold back her tears. "It represented nothing more than painful memories and my own faults!"

"Carrots," Nick spoke up; hugging her even tighter. "Don't sweat it. Real life is messy, remember? So you and I can clean it up a little together. That was one mess we cleaned up, right?" He saw her nod under his nose and grinned.

"I don't have a guest room, but I can blow up an air mattress for you," Judy informed the fox and went to the narrow hall to get it. She yanked a bag out of the closet and pulled it over to the wall opposite of her bed. Opening the bag, she pulled out the deflated air mattress and plugged it in. She pressed a button on the controller that manipulated the amount of air in the mattress and thumped her foot impatiently as the portable bed grew to life on the floor.

"Thanks, Carrots. Listen—" Nick began, but the rabbit cut him off this time.

"I don't want them to discriminate against you! You're a great guy!" Judy suddenly blurted out. "I mean I know that they're aware the baker they partner with is a fox, but I think they're only comfortable with him because he grew up in Bunnyburrow and he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm worried they wouldn't react well to you."

"Well, that didn't take very much prompting. How did they react when you went onto be a cop?" Nick asked curiously.

"Not well. They worried nonstop," Judy answered.

"And you didn't care. That didn't stop you. So what's the problem this time?"

"I guess you're right…"

"I try to make a habit out of it," Nick told her slyly.

As the air mattress was nearly full of air, Judy let go of the button and made her way over to the fox and said, "Don't push it, sweetheart." She then kissed his nose, and the fox instantly felt his cheeks heat up. "You want first shower?"

"You go on ahead…" Nick said slowly, trying to bounce back from the shock and pleasure he felt from her kiss. "I'll…test out the air mattress and see how it feels."

"Good thinking, clever fox," Judy complimented and hopped over to her dresser. She retrieved some clothes from her dresser, grabbed a towel from the closet, and made her way into the bathroom.

Nick sat on the air mattress, and then deflated it a little bit to adjust it. He questioned himself. Why couldn't he remember how that song went? His focus drifted from that when he heard Judy turn the shower on. He focused on the sound of the hot water hitting her fur and the shower floor. It was a relaxing sound to focus on. That is to say until Pronk and Bucky resumed yelling as usual. Then all of the sounds became a garbled mess. Nick collapsed onto the bed. He couldn't help but wonder still how Judy could sleep restfully with the kudu-oryx pair as neighbors, and then get up early in the morning and be as caring and perky and wonderful as she was.

"Nick? Nick, the shower's open. Nick," Judy called his name several times. She lightly clapped before his eyes, snapping him out of his daydream. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm fine. I was just thinking," Nick assured her, seemingly putting her at ease. He was about to tell her what when he got a good look at her. She was wearing a black tank top and navy blue short shorts. What he really took notice of was a scar on her leg. "That's from that night at museum isn't it?"

"The scar? Yeah," Judy replied, smiling as if one of the most terrifying experiences of their lives—if not the most terrifying experience—was a childhood memory that she looked back upon fondly. "This scar reminds me of more than just being pushed into a corner once we realized Bellwether was behind everything. It reminds me of how we were able to pull through thanks to quick thinking and each other. Thanks for never leaving me behind."

"I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I just left you there with that psychotic, fluffy sheep lady," Nick informed her, the very idea horrifying him. "Besides, it was your case to see through. I was just a cop by sticker-based association."

"I don't think sticker-based association is the right phrase for why you helped me," Judy giggled and told him. "I think…we're a match made in heaven."

"YOU GUYS SHOULD KISS ALREADY!" Bucky and Pronk hollered from the other side of the wall.

"…Have you ever considered moving?" Nick asked the bunny, who simply shook her head.

"It's getting late. I should get started on dinner," Judy decided. "Shower up."

"I'll help you once I'm out of the shower," Nick offered. "And thanks again for letting me spend the night, Carrots."

"It's my pleasure, Nick," Judy insisted. It was true. She loved and craved his company. As Nick got into the shower, Finnick came by—much to Judy's surprise—and dropped off a set of pajamas and a spare uniform for Nick. When had Nick called on Finnick? Had he predicted this? Accepting the red fox's clothing, Judy said to the fennec fox, "Thank you, Finnick." As the small fennec left, Judy closed the door and muttered under her breath, "Clever fox…"

Soon enough, Nick was out of the shower. Together, the two of them whipped up a great meal of vegetable fried rice with added protein supplements. A glass of water accompanied each of their portions. The meal tasted even better with each other's company. The food was good, but they were having so much fun just talking to each other that they had to make a conscious effort to eat. They generally talked about the positive aspects of their childhood. Many of Nick's childhood stories connected to his mother, which prompted Judy to ask, "When was the last time you two talked?"

Nick's smile faded and he answered, "Not for a while. I guess I get my skill of being able to lay low from her side of the family. No one ever called me out on tax evasion before you did."

"Nick, you should call her at some point. In all honesty, I'd love to meet her," Judy urged.

"Well, I'd like to meet your parents," Nick countered.

Biting her lower lip for a moment, Judy said, "I'll cross that bridge when we get to it." She picked up her water glass. "Cheers to the ones who raised us."

"And to the ones we love," Nick added and lightly tapped the edge of his glass to the edge of Judy's.

Soon after, they were both in bed. Judy was lying down on her side so she could face Nick on the air mattress. Nick, in turn, was lying on his side to face Judy. The two were smiling at each other.

"I'm starting to see why you like this place. It's cozy," Nick commented.

"Yeah. It is," Judy agreed. "Thank you for coming onto the police force, Nick."

"Hey, we're too good a team to let it just end. And you were right; it is nice having a partner. It's just nice to have someone who cares about you and believes in you," Nick told her, sighing contently. "I have a second chance because of you. You're a great cop and an all around great person, Carrots."

"You're not just a predator."

"You're not just prey."

"You're the best thing I could ever ask for," they confessed simultaneously, and then grew flustered at the unified speech.

"That was cool," Nick chuckled.

"Yeah. It's like we read each other's mind or something," Judy giggled. A yawn followed suit. "Good night, Nick." With that, she closed her eyes and began to let her dreams take over.

"Good night… Judy," Nick bid the rabbit good night. He realized that that was the second or third time he had ever called her by her first name. "Maybe I should stick with Carrots. It's kind of become our thing."

"Mm-hmm…" Judy agreed, already half asleep. Nick rose from the air mattress and crept over to her bed. Her ears faced his direction. A huge smile grew onto her face one more time when he kissed her between the ears. With that, Nick receded to his own bed in hopes of falling asleep quickly. However, Judy's unsociable neighbors started blasting an album by the band Guns N Rodents.

"How can she stand it…?" Nick muttered as he gritted his teeth and covered his ears with his pillow.