Boys Like You
—
"So Juju," Fru Fru drawled off-handedly, picking up the salt shaker her chef had packed in her lunch. "Are you going to winter formal?"
Hand still on her fork and fork still in her mouth, Judy nodded. She'd (conveniently) forgotten that winter formal was in just a month until she'd walked into school that morning. There wasn't an inch of wall space that hadn't been plastered in some kind of advertisement for the yearly event, and for Judy, the realization brought a whole slew of other realizations, like that she needed to get a dress. And also buy tickets. And figure out if she was going to hitch a ride with her date or just meet him at the venue.
"Oh yeah?" The shrew's voice was deceptively casual. In fact, her indifference was a little too forced, in Judy's opinion. But she let her friend have her fun. "Taking anybody of interest?"
Ah. So that's what this was. Judy laughed. "Next time just ask, Fru."
"What?" Fru Fru continued to feign confusion, mixing her salad with wide, innocent eyes.
"Judy's going with me, like always," Ben answered, shimmying his shoulders a little.
That made Fru Fru's face crumple. Her frown was almost comic, and Judy snickered, which made Fru Fru narrow her eyes at the bunny before turning to look at Benjamin accusingly. "You? Don't you have a boyfriend?" Clawhauser started to reply, but Fru Fru overtook his voice with her own. "What about Nick?" She pointed her silverware at Judy like it was a weapon of execution, and the rabbit had to bite her bottom lip to keep her laughter at bay.
When she thought she could safely speak without falling into fits of giggling, Judy said, "What about him?"
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!" Fru Fru scolded, jabbing her fork at her target. "Nick Wilde! Why aren't you going with him!"
"He didn't ask," Judy replied flippantly.
Fru Fru was clearly not pleased with the lazy response, and she looked at Judy like her best friend had a few screws loose. "Um, then make him?"
What was Fru Fru trying to imply? Smiling uncertainly, Judy shook her head. "He's already asked someone else."
"Um, what?" Fru Fru exclaimed, placing her utensil down with a little more force than normal. "What do you mean he's already asked someone else?"
Ben clucked his tongue and nodded his head. "Oh, I heard about that. Kristie, right?" Judy mhm-ed at him. "That's pretty cute. How'd you find out?"
Truthfully, the topic had come up when she'd been dragging Nick back to her apartment, but Ben and Fru Fru didn't know what had happened last Friday. "Furbook," she replied simply, focussing on stabbing a broccoli floret so that she wouldn't have to look either the shrew or cheetah in the eye. Ben always said Judy's tell was that her pupil's would shrink just enough.
"Kristie? Kristie Renardo? God, I hate her." The last part Fru Fru muttered under her breath, and Judy laughed.
"What is the big deal, Fru?" Judy guffawed, putting down her own fork. The riot Fru Fru was making was hysterical. And anyways, Judy knew the arctic shrew didn't hate Kristie. In fact, just yesterday Fru Fru had been going off about how much she liked Kristie and what a shame it was that the vixen didn't spend more time with them. Ultimately, Fru Fru had very little room in her heart for hatred, and Judy knew the shrew was only acting out in a moment of impatience (something that Judy was sure she'd gotten from her dad).
"She thinks you and Nick were made for each other," Ben cooed, taking a lick of his pudding before shrugging at Fru Fru and addressing her directly. "But you shouldn't get so worked up. You know how Wilde is with girls. They're all over him and he couldn't care less. He's such a flirt, whether he knows it or not. Those are the worst, honestly," Ben rambled. "'Cause there you are thinking they're into you, and bam, you tell 'em you like them and they're all, 'oh, I had no idea? Oh, I was leading you on? No way, I totally didn't mean to, I thought I was treating you how I treated everybody, blahblahblah'." The way his tone became increasingly agitated gave away that he was clearly speaking from personal experience. His hand had also progressively tightened when he'd been quoting the stranger in a whiny voice.
"Anyways!" The linebacker threw his hand up. "I digress. Kristie's probably just a little thing to him. Maybe Judy'll have a shot at junior prom." Clawhauser smiled wickedly at the rabbit. "I think you're his favorite."
That sobered Judy up, and she wondered if Ben had somehow been listening in on her exchange with Nick that other day. She glanced between both her friends and tried to fight the heat climbing to her face, scoffing and looking down at her food for a distraction. "Please. We barely know each other. And I can't go to this year's prom anyways, my parents are hosting the town's harvest festival that weekend." She didn't catch it, but Ben and Fru Fru exchanged a look.
Fru Fru opened her mouth to give her two cents on Judy's relationship with Nick, but Ben beat her to it. And instead of commenting on the remarkable amount of time she'd clocked with Nick since the school year had started, he chose to close the conversation, shooting a warning glance at Fru Fru. "Judy can go with whoever she wants, and she picked me. Stop trying to take my date away from me, Fru!" He griped jokingly, pretending to be insulted.
Playing along, Fru Fru sniffed. "I'm just looking out for Jack!"
"Oh, he doesn't want to go to winter formal," Ben waved his paw as if that resolved the entire situation. "He said he'll go to prom though."
"You're so lucky," Fru Fru sighed. "I have no idea who I'm going to go with."
"Go stag," Ben suggested, picking up the cup of pudding so that he could swipe his fingers around the sides and clean it out thoroughly.
"Maybe. But it's so fun to have someone to match with," the shrew sighed again.
"Oooh, that reminds me, help me choose the color for our bowties–"
The conversation devolved into Ben scrolling through photos he'd saved onto his phone while Fru Fru sat on his shoulder and looked on, alternating between squealing and gagging. Judy participated distractedly, the idea of girls and Nick lingering and buzzing in the back of her head like the stupid mosquitos around her farm lake over the summer.
—
Judy grit her teeth as she stretched her arms behind her, reaching for the stubborn zipper of the dress she was trying on. The zip evaded her fingers, and Judy whined a little. Eyeing Fru Fru helplessly, she pleaded, "Help?"
Fru Fru scampered up her friend's side and down her arm, tugging at the zipper, which finally gave way. Judy grasped the pesky thing and pulled it the rest of the way up until the dress was secure on her. Dropping her hands, she gave a little swish and then looked expectantly at Fru Fru, who shook her head as she sat herself back onto the ottoman in the dressing room. Sighing, Judy went to work taking the seriously embellished dress off.
As the rabbit pulled the next dress (this was the fifth one, and she was honestly about to give up) over her head, she heard Fru Fru ask rather unexpectedly, "So why didn't you ask Nick?"
Through the many layers that effectively muffled her speech, Judy replied, "We're not like that, Fru."
"What are you guys like then?" The shrew questioned, sounding like she'd already decided on the answer herself.
Sighing, Judy looked at her friend without glancing at the mirror. "We're just friends, Fru Fru. Nothing more, nothing less. I mean, he's a fox, for crying out loud."
Sniffing a little, Fru Fru shrugged. "And?"
Letting out a disbelieving laugh, Judy furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm a rabbit." As if that was all the explanation anybody needed. As if maybe, if she repeated it enough, it would finally sound half as convincing to herself as it did coming out of her mouth.
Furrowing her brow, she shook her head. It wasn't like she really had feelings for Nick. And even if she did, it was only because he was kind of (really) good-looking and paying her a little bit of attention. After all, plenty of girls worked themselves into a tizzy when an attractive individual paid them mind– and even if Judy had never thought she was one of those girls, she wasn't above believing that maybe she could fall victim to that sort of thing.
Well, actually, she kind of did believe she was above that. But just once didn't really mean anything, right? And this was definitely a one time thing that would die out in a month or something.
"Ok," Fru Fru said casually, nodding her head slowly, as if she agreed. Judy left her thoughts and tensed a little, knowing Fru Fru had more to say than just that. Sure enough, the arctic shrew followed up with a blunt, "So what?"
God, Judy groused to herself. Why did Fru Fru have to be so caring and nice and love Judy so much that somehow, a fox and rabbit being together– in high school! Valedictorian! Delinquent!– wasn't so ridiculous and just "so what"? The whole thing was everything but "so what"! Judy almost stomped her foot in exasperation.
"It doesn't work like that," Judy murmured, avoiding her companion's keen stare. Her own violet eyes moved to her reflection, and she startled a little at what she saw.
Cooing, Fru Fru voiced her appreciation. "You look beautiful, Judy. I think we've found you're dress!" Her voice climbed an octave at the end, bubbling over with excitement. "And it'll be a steal, too."
She was right– the dress lacked the usual adornments that characterized formal dresses. It was just a simple, cream gown that fell to the floor in a soft heap of cloth. Nothing complicated, but bright and comfortable and very Judy. And ultimately, the minimalism of the dress reflected itself in its reasonable price.
"I can have my tailor hem it for you," Fru Fru commented, clapping her hands together. "You're lucky you found a dress so close to the dance… and it's lucky I have a tailor. Three days, Judy! It's unlike you to put things off… almost like your head is filled with something else entirely, you know?" The look she pinned Judy with was filled with something the bunny didn't want to put a name to. Honestly, it was like Fru Fru knew everything. And while it was rather awe-inspiring, most of the time it unnerved Judy– now being one of those times.
Feeling a little awkward, Judy tugged the skirt of the gown up until it just brushed the ground. The alteration would take off a good four inches, she observed before blithely replying, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Of course not," her best friend answered, her mouth curling to one side as she looked ruefully at Judy. "And that's ok. If it's meant to be, it'll happen, right?" When Judy looked at the shrew in disbelief, Fru Fru just laughed exuberantly, eyes sparkling with love and admiration and just a little bit of mischief.
Ben barged in in that minute, a fresh bag of caramel corn in his paws. Squealing, he raised his arms in the air in victory, showering the room enthusiastically with sticky popcorn. "Perfect! And I have just the bowtie to match," he gushed, tail practically wagging. "I'll go get the car and bring it to the curb outside of Mousey's. And… could you get me a cinnamon pretzel from Auntie Ram's on your way out? I'll pay you back."
"Sure!" Fru Fru tittered, chipper. "Anything to make you happy!"
"Aaaw, you're just the greatest, Fru. I love you!"
Ben turned tail and left, keys jingling from his finger. He hadn't noticed Fru Fru's unwavering stare at all, but Judy could hardly blame him. After all, Ben just wasn't one to pay much attention when things didn't involve him, and Fru Fru's meaningful look definitely hadn't involved him.
Her clear, blue eyes been pinned on Judy the whole time.
—
"A bunny, huh?" Finnick took a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke into Nick's face.
Nick shot the fennec fox a dirty look, waving away the cloud that burned his eyes. As much as he hated admitting it, Judy's stringent "smoke-where-you-want-but-not-around-me-buddy!" attitude was getting to him– which probably meant he was spending a lot more time with the rabbit than he could fathom… but he shook the thought from his head, preferring to rest in the blissful ignorance of not understanding Judy's influence on him.
"Not you too," Nick mumbled, words working around the blueberry sucker in his mouth, coming out muddled and sloppy as a result. "How'd you even find out?"
They were kicked back behind Sweet Fang, relaxing (well, at least Finnick was. Nick was a little tense right now) against the brick wall that made up the exterior of the candy store. A cigarette dangled from Finnick's lips, and Nick pulled the lollipop out of his mouth to examine it so that he wouldn't have to acknowledge the way his companion was analyzing him.
In a deceitfully disinterested manner, Finnick shrugged and said, "Emerson told me about it."
"Dumb timber wolf," Nick muttered darkly, squinting his eyes at the jewel-blue candy before sighing. The canine had been particularly interested in Nick's interest in Judy, to a degree where his persistent questioning– you gonna do something about it? You done anything about it yet? You bringing her to the dance? What about prom? Has she met Mama Wilde yet? You gonna introduce 'em?– and sly side-eyeing that he thought Nick couldn't see (dumb wolf, Nick thought again) had become extremely, extremely irritating, and Nick did what he could to not be alone in the same room as Emerson anymore.
"Your mom met her yet?"
"Who, Judy?"
"No, the other bunny," Finn bit sarcastically. "Yes, Judy. That her name?"
"Yeah. Judy Hopps."
"Huh, suits her."
"You think?"
Finn snickered. "Look at you, getting all excited! Wanna talk about your girlfriend some more?"
Nick scowled at him. "She's not my girlfriend." And she would never be, which was fine by him. 'Cause he really, honestly just wished everybody would lay off. As far as Nick was concerned, he was just trying to make it out of life alive, and Judy was an over-achieving, overly-enthusiastic blip on his radar.
A blip that smelled like sunshine and daisies, whose sweater he'd tossed haphazardly by his pillow that he'd occasionally wake up to with his muzzle pressed into. A sweater that had been waiting for the past few days to be washed and returned because he was reluctant, for some reason, to do either of those things, but… whatever.
The shorter fox made a noise of disdain. "Huh, that's right. You're bringing that Renardo girl to that sappy school dance."
"She asked me. Something wrong?" Nick raised an eyebrow at Finnick. Kristie was an upstanding student and fox, so what could be wrong with her? Sure, she was no Judy Hopps (valedictorian extraordinaire, deliverer of justice, and protector of all that was good and right, as the bunny had not failed to mention constantly the first few times they'd talked), but for a vixen, she was well on her way to a comfortable life– as comfortable as it could be for a fox, anyhow. So unless there was some shady situation going on with her or her family, Nick had no idea why Finnick looked so put out about his date with her.
"Nothin'. Nothin' at all." He said the next part as if it were the exact opposite of "nothin'". "Just a little boring, don't you think?"
"Boring?"
Finnick shrugged and had the decency to look a little uncomfortable. "Seems like the kind of girl to get married and pop out a few kids. Is that what you want? You wanna settle down before you've got the time to start anything?"
"Cream and cheese, Finn!" Nick blurted, eyes wide as the moon and clearly appalled as he spluttered, "It's a school dance, not some– some– cult engagement ritual!"
"Eh, same thing."
"No! It's not!"
Calm as the ocean after a storm, Finnick sent Nick a heavy look. "What are you now, a junior? You've got, what, one more year of school?"
Grumbling, Nick replied, "Five if you count college."
The glance Finn shot Nick was nothing short of scathing, and his following remark was equally as caustic. "How many foxes you know go to college?" Silence ensued. "That's what I thought. But you know what usually does happen? You know what happened to my ma and pa? And yours, too? And the Renardos? They all hooked up sometime in high school, came out and found some local job, and popped out a few kids. That's how it is, Nicky."
Nick clenched his jaw. "Yeah? And what if that's not what I'm planning on?"
Sighing, Finnick flicked the ash off his cigarette. "Then do me a favor and don't get too tied up with Kristie." He gave himself a moment of deliberation, taking one last, long puff before dropping his smoke and crushing it into the gravel. "Hopps is… good."
"She's a rabbit."
"I said good, you idiot. Not easy."
"What does that even mean?"
"You'll figure it out."
—
In a crowd of sweetly swaying couples who were infatuated with each other and whispering into each other's ears before staring deeply and meaningfully into each other's eyes, Judy was pressed to Clawhauser's stomach, giggling in maniacal fits as he pranced and twirled them around. Her arms wrapped as far as they could around his happy belly, hugging him tightly to herself under the atmospheric lights of the dance.
"You're tickling me, Judy!" Ben whined, trying to tug Judy away from him. "Stop laughing!" Judy fastened herself more tightly to him and giggled harder.
Somebody had spiked the punch. Normally, she would've been a little miffed, but she was a little too… far-gone to be in anything but a good mood. It was only an hour and a half into the school event, but already her body seemed to be moving apart from her mind.
Time was moving too quickly for her as well, because she found herself sitting by the snack table, the slow song long over. Ben had placed her in one of the seats, telling her to sit and don't budge an inch, mister! because he was going to get her water. Which was a shame, really, because they were playing Ariana Grounde's most recent single, which happened to be Judy's favorite right now (last week had been Hyena Gomez). But she really should listen to Ben and just stay in one place for a little.
Oh! That was Nick!
… Wow. That was Nick.
"You own a bowtie?" Judy beamed up at him, steadying herself against the table behind her. Nick grinned lopsidedly down at her, cup of punch in hand. That smirk paired with his fancy-shmancy dark, fitted suit (why did he have a fitted suit?) had Judy's heart beating in time to the beat.
"Something tells me I shouldn't drink this."
"Mm," Judy agreed. "I really wouldn't suggest it."
"I'm not surprised you have sound judgment even when you're less than sober, Carrots."
"What can I say?" She raised her shoulders almost to her ears and smiled even wider. "Goodness is deeply ingrained into me."
Nick laughed out loud.
"Where's Kristie?" Judy asked, cocking her head and squinting a little so that Nick's figure would stop wobbling at the edges.
"Bathroom."
"Aaaah," Judy replied, full of intelligence and wisdom and coherence (clearly).
Maybe it was a little morbid curiosity, maybe it was just a genuine shot at small-talk, but Nick couldn't help but ask, "What about your date?"
"Ben?" Judy looked up at the ceiling, contemplating where the cheetah might be. She completely missed the way Nick's body seemed to sink in relief. "He went to get me water– shoot! I wasn't supposed to move! I have to get back." But her eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes stared glassily through the crowd. "Cheese and crackers," she murmured, more to herself than to Nick. "Where is 'back'?"
Chortling, Nick set his glass down, tweaking Judy's ear. "You'll be fine with me, Hopps. Relax." Just as he said this to her, the current song phased out, and another slow song was introduced. And for some stupid reason, he asked without thinking, "Wanna dance?"
The question dangled in the air. Judy looked concerned, and Nick hit himself over the head mentally as he waited to be shot down. Instead, however, the bunny asked, "What about Kristie?"
Glancing above Judy's ears, Nick lifted a shoulder. Kristie was standing in the hallway outside the venue, looking deeply engrossed in a conversation with someone he didn't know. "I don't think she'll be back for a while."
Judy stepped away from the table, dropping her hands to her sides while looking straight ahead at Nick's tie bar. "I'm a little… short for you."
"Not a problem, fluff."
Grinning, Nick pulled her close enough to him so that her toes stepped over his. "Tiptoes, sweetheart," and she raised herself obediently as Nick gently pressed his paws into her sides. Judy instinctually looped her arms around his neck, and he found that his nose just brushed the top of her head like this. "It's a bit of a stretch–" Judy snorted at his pun, "But it works, doesn't it? You good?"
Humming in agreement and nodding to show she was fine, Judy let her friend maneuver them. "This is pretty cute, Wilde. Do you have a little sister who you let dance with you like this?"
He shook his head, muzzle knocking into her ear. Judy let the appendages drop down. "No siblings. Just practical, charming me."
"Charming, huh?"
"Yeah, my portrait is right by the dictionary entry."
Judy snickered, and he could feel the vibrations running through her body. "Alright, slick. I'll be sure to check the next time I've got a dictionary on hand." The next few moments were quiet and comfortable, just Nick leading them as Judy hung comfortably from his neck, looking pleased and a little sleepy. She was peering at him with a look filled with something as her mouth quirked to the side. "I'm glad we met. And I'm glad we got to be friends."
What was it in that look? Fondness? Wonder? Well, whatever it was, it made him want to… test out kissing a rabbit. What an awful, nagging curiosity that had been plaguing him these past few days, and he'd definitely have to satiate it at some point. So why not now?"
"Oh, there's Kristie!" Judy whispered, pulling herself away from Nick. He noticed then that they'd been dancing for a good two and a half songs– that must've been someconversation Kristie had had, Nick thought in a jumble, re-familiarizing himself to a world without something warm and soft flush against him. He blinked as Judy waved goodbye to him as she stepped back into the crowd until she disappeared.
"Was that Judy Hopps?" Kristie asked conversationally, standing by Nick's side. "I didn't know you guys were friends."
"Yeah. We're friends," Nick answered a little bemusedly, as if he was realizing it for the first time himself.
"That's cool!" She chirped. A second later, she tugged his elbow. "Well hey, there was something I wanted to ask you. Could we go somewhere a little quieter?"
—
a/n: So, funny story (not really): this chapter was so hard to write aND THEN I HIT MY STRIDE AND I HAD SO MUCH FUN. Also, I DON'T MEAN TO BE A TEASE IT'S JUST HOW IT IS. Can't do nothin' about it! It's like I have control over Nick and Judy cause dis mah story, but actually… I don't really… because their characteristics don't really allow for me to rush things?! Aaaaawww yis, dat character consistency that I gotta stick too, aay. At least, in this situation and setting, I imagine Nick and Judy being in denial and pining away for a little bit. I love a good denial and pining, yuss I do!
(Also do you like how my author's notes become progressively more casual as the chapters progress LOL u r seeing me as i truly am now eek it is a terror and a sight to behold ain't it)
Leave a review if you wanna, I always love hearing from everybody! I read every single review (usually like… three times. The feeling of reading everybody's thoughts is euphoric HAHAHA), and they always mean so much to me. Thank you times a thousand, you guys! It makes me so happy that these chapters make you guys so happy. :")