Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?
Act II-The Burrows
Chapter VIII-Coming Out
(Author's Notes) Hi. The new chapter is finally here after two weeks, sorry about that. I don't really think I have much to say right now so enjoy the chapter!
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."— Dr. Seuss
Judy POV
8:15 a.m. Tuesday
"Judy, Dear, are you alright?"
"Hmm," I looked up at my mom who was staring at me from across the table, concern etched into every feature of her face, "Oh, yes, Mom," I told her. We were sitting at the dining table for breakfast—a meal which was almost over. A pit had formed in my stomach which only got bigger as each second ticked by, bringing me closer and closer to the meal's end.
"Are you sure you're ok?" my mother asked again. I knew that she that she had every right to be worried about me considering how anxious I no doubt looked but that didn't stop me from wishing she would stop asking. Constantly being reminded of the source of my nervousness was doing nothing to lessen its effect on me.
"Mom, I'm fine." That was a complete lie. I felt anything but fine sitting in my seat at the dining table. Even all the hard days on the job at the ZPD and the academy didn't even come close to making me as scared as I was now. I wasn't normally the type of bunny to be scared about things but I felt that my current situation more than warranted my worry. Nick and I had agreed, before we went downstairs for breakfast, that we would tell my parents about our relationship after the meal was over.
My mom still looked worried but she didn't say anything else after that. I glanced at Nick who was sitting beside me. He gave me a quick smile before turning his attention to the food in front of him. Just being near Nick and seeing him made me feel slightly better but he couldn't completely make the feeling go away. Yes, he was going to be with me when I finally told my parents but the fact that I was with him, or the reaction other people would have about us being together, was sort of the whole reason I was nervous in the first place.
Clean-up came all too quickly for my liking. It seemed like it was only seconds after I had sat down when my siblings got up to finish getting ready for school or work in the fields for those who had graduated.
I spared one last look at Nick who gave a slight nod before I said, "Mom, Dad, can Nick and I talk with you guys?" That was the easy part but now I had forced myself into a position where I would have to follow through with the harder part. That was probably for the best though because I probably would have chickened out if given the chance.
My mom's worried look which she had retained for most of the meal turned into one of slight confusion, her ears dropping a fraction of an inch, but she quickly put on a cheerful smile. "Of course, Dear. We can talk once all your siblings leave for school. Why don't you two wait in the living room."
I nodded and Nick and I went to the living room—where rabbits of all ages were running through, hurrying to get ready—and sat down on a three-rabbit couch that comfortably fit Nick and I together seeing as he was larger than the average rabbit. We were silent, sitting their in the living room, only giving each other occasional glances, glances full of semi-encouraging looks and partially reassuring smiles.
The wait was killing me, all it did was give me more time to think of all the ways this could go wrong. I just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible now that I was committed to doing it. Then at least I could stop worrying about which reaction my parents would have and start trying to work on getting them to accept my relationship with Nick.
There was a lull in the activity of rabbits in the living room momentarily and I realized that Nick and I were completely alone. Nick quickly grabbed my tiny paw in his relatively large one and gave it a quick squeeze before letting it go again as if nothing had happened. As small as the gesture was it meant a lot to me. Maybe the reaction others had to me being with Nick was why I was so nervous but I realized that that didn't matter. What mattered was that Nick loved me, I loved him, and we were going to get through this together no matter what others thought. If they wouldn't accept us it didn't matter because I knew what I wanted and I wanted to be with Nick. My resolve hardened, I'm doing this.
The kits that were heading off to school began to file into the room while my parents entered and stood by the door to see them off. Every rabbit that walked through that door brought me one step closer to the talk with my parents and I felt the pit in my stomach growing again—I may have psyched myself out enough to tell my parents but that didn't mean that it wasn't still nerve-racking as all hell.
Before I knew it, the last of my siblings were out the door and my parents were waving goodbye at them from the doorway. They closed the door and moved to stand in front of Nick and I before my mother spoke up, "Now, what did you want to talk about, Jude?"
Here it was, this was it. I was going to tell my parents that Nick and I were mates. I suddenly found the floor extremely interesting and stared at it without really focusing on anything in particular. Every horrible outcome I had imagined rushed through my head at that moment delivering a hard blow to my already not-very-strong confidence. I suddenly wanted to just run away, back to Zootopia with Nick, but that wasn't an option. Zootopia was too dangerous for Nick and I for the time being now that everyone had learned about our relationship. Also the newspaper was due to arrive in Bunnyburrow any time now and then my parents would find out regardless. I knew I had to just go for it. It was like ripping off a band-aid; the longer I drew it out the worse it would feel, I had to do it quickly. Ok, deep breath. 1...2...3...GO! "Nick-and-I-are-mates" I blurted out, my words blurring together into an incomprehensible mob of sound.
"What was that, Hon?" my mother politely asked, a kind smile on her face. My father was silently chuckling at me as well. They hadn't understood what I said. I was speaking too fast.
I took a calming breath, "Nick and I," another breath. I looked up at my parents, "Are mates."
Absolute silence, not even the sounds of birds chirping or the rustle of leaves in the wind. It was like time had decided to stop just to add more awkwardness to the situation. I could only guess what my parents were thinking based on their facial expressions. My mom's kind smile had changed to one of shock, her eyebrows raised so high it looked like they might fall off if they went any further. Her nose was twitching furiously and I knew that Nick would normally call it cute if the situation weren't so serious. My dad had stopped chuckling so abruptly I wouldn't have thought it possible. His eyes and mouth appeared to perpetually opened as wide as they could go as they hadn't changed in the slightest since he heard what I said.
I found myself hoping for an end to the silence, anything, so long as the unbearable quiet ended. I just wanted my parents to say something, yell, scream, anything so that I would at least know what they were thinking. Perhaps I should have been more careful what I wished for.
I felt an unexpected paw grab onto mine and looked to see that Nick's paw had enveloped mine once again. The movement seemed to snap my dad out of his trance as he finally snapped his mouth shut at the gesture. This was only momentary however as he quickly opened his mouth back up except this time a look of outrage adorned his face rather than one of surprise. "What!?" he cried, "You're joking, right!?"
My mom broke out of her stupor upon hearing the voice of her husband. She grabbed onto his arm, "Stu, don't overreact—"
"Overreact!?" my dad interrupted, wrenching his arm free from my mother's grasp, "I'm not overreacting! My daughter's dating a fucking fox!"
"Dad!" I scolded, "Don't you dare say that about Nick!" I jumped up angrily. I had never actually heard my father curse before and I sure as hell wasn't happy that I was seeing this side of him directed at Nick.
My dad rounded on me, "You!" he jabbed a finger roughly into my chest, "How could you let yourself be seduced by this conniving piece of filth? I thought I raised you better than that."
I saw Nick wince out of the corner of my eye but it was only for a second and he soon adopted a stoic expression. He was obviously hurt by my father's words just as much as I was surprised by them. I wasn't expecting this from my dad. Sure, I expected him to be against me being in an interspecies relationship but I definitely didn't expect my dad to say such speceist nonsense. "First of all," I began, taking a step towards my father, who stubbornly held his ground, "he did not seduce me, if anything I seduced him so don't you dare blame him for that," I growled at him before continuing, "And second of all, how could you call Nick that? I thought you got over your stereotypes. You liked him just fine yesterday. Has everything just been a lie from you for the past year?" I thought my dad had been able to get past his prejudices but now I was able to see the true side of him that he had tried to hide from me and I hated, no, despised it.
"That was before I learned he got you into a disgusting interspecies relationship. Obviously I shouldn't have been so kind," he spat, "He's the worst kind of fox there is! An ex-criminal, a liar, he even tricked you into being okay with eating beetles. Prey aren't supposed to do that!" his voice rose incredulously as he said the last sentence.
"You don't know him like I do, Dad!" I snapped angrily, "He's a cop now and he's the nicest guy I know. He's saved my life before, you know, if it weren't for him I wouldn't even be here. Instead I'd be dead and you would have lost a daughter and we wouldn't even be able to have this conversation."
I could see the pain in my father's eye as that truth set in. "NO! I refuse to see my daughter with—with some fox that has a fetish for rabbits," he turned away from me leaving me in a slight shock that he had just said that and I could see that my mother was shocked as well. Coward, I thought bitterly, Stubborn piece of shit. He's avoiding what I said because knows I'm right but he won't accept it.
Nick, for reasons known only by him, chose this as the perfect time to speak up, "W-with all due respect, Sir," my father turned to look at him again, "I don't have a fetish for rabbits, I only have a fetish for Judy," Nick grinned weakly at his joke but a scowl crossed my father's face; he was not amused.
Perhaps any other time that comment would have gotten a laugh from me but now was not the time. He could very well have ruined any chance we had of getting my father to accept us with that little remark of his. I sharply turned to look at Nick, shooting him daggers, "Nick. Shut. Up," I forced as much anger into my words as possible without screaming; my quarrel wasn't with him. I looked back at my father again, "It doesn't change anything just because we're different species. I love Nick and he loves me and it doesn't matter whether you refuse to see your daughter with some fox because Nick and I are already mates."
My dad's shock returned tenfold and he began pacing before he yelled, "That's even worse! He's a fucking fox! He'll leave you and break your heart," he gesticulated wildly with his arms. "It's in his nature," another wince from Nick, and this time his ears folded as well, "it's bound to happen. Then where will you be? Us rabbits, we mate for life. You'll never be able to have another mate once that happens."
I was getting sicker and sicker of my dad's speceist comments the longer this argument went on. "Dad, listen to yourself. 'It's in his nature'," I mimicked disgustedly, "do you have any idea how speceist that is? Or how untrue that is? Nick won't leave me just like I won't leave him. Foxes mate for life too, he can't leave me just as much as I can't leave him—not that either of us want to—and we're going to be together until we die. We've both made this decision and there's nothing anyone can do that will change that."
"So you're saying that you and that...that fox," he nodded in Nick's direction, "are going to continue your...relationship," he forced the word out with apparent difficulty, like it made him want to vomit.
"Yes," I dared to let in a shimmer of hope that maybe my dad would give in.
"Well in that case…you're going to have to leave," he said rather calmly as he stopped pacing.
"What!?" I was shocked. My father was just going to kick me and Nick out. To hear those words actually come out of my father's mouth was like something out of one of my worst dreams. Actually, it sort of was something out of one of my daydreams about this moment. I had gone through plenty of scenarios in my head about how this could go down but this was one I had deemed too severe to be the outcome.
"Stu!" Apparently my mom agreed that my father was being rather harsh.
My father, however, remained unmoved by his wife's attempt at a reprimand, "I refuse to play host to an interspecies couple, it's unnatural, unethical, and I will not let that into my house. OUT!" he finished, yelling once again.
It took me a few seconds to regain my composure but when I did I moved with a purpose. If my father wanted Nick and I to leave his speceist thoughts than I would gladly do so. I grabbed Nick's paw and began tugging on it to get him to stand up, "Come on Nick. We don't have to listen to this speceist bastard any longer."
"Judy!" my mother scolded, "Don't talk about your father like that!" Great, Mom too, I thought.
I paused at my tugging and stared my mother dead in the eye. "What father? I can assure you, this rabbit is in no way related to me," my mother looked horrified and I was very pleased to see that my father's mouth was once again wide open. I didn't give them any time to say anything though as I finally managed to get Nick to stand up and dragged him to the door. I felt a sick sort of pleasure from disowning my father. After the things that he had said about Nick and our relationship it felt good to toss him away like garbage he was. Perhaps it could be seen as a little harsh but considering the things my father had said and the fact that he had kicked Nick and I out of the house, I thought it was only fair.
"Uhhhhhh, Judy," Nick said meekly from behind me so only I could hear as I reached for the door handle.
"What, Nick?" I snapped at him. I didn't mean to sound so angry but I was still riled up from the argument with my father and I really didn't want to talk about it right this second.
Nick seemed to shrink at my voice but he still responded, in an even quieter voice, "We need to grab our bags."
I groaned. This was just my luck. Of course, I had to make a big deal of making an exit only to have to walk back in immediately afterwards. I would have been embarrassed if I weren't so angry but instead I only found it annoying.
I turned and dragged Nick back through the living room. Unfortunately, there was no way to get upstairs other than the stairs in the living room, which meant I was walking right by my parents to get to them. "Bags," I grumbled at them without sparing them a glance.
Together, Nick and I trudged up the stairs. Neither of us said a word as we made our way to the guest rooms to retrieve our stuff. It was probably a good thing I wasn't speaking since my anger might come out when speaking to Nick and the last thing I wanted to be at the moment was angry at him. In the past few minutes, Nick had become the most important thing in my life now that my parents no longer held that spot and if one thing was for certain, I did not want to lose Nick as well.
Nick and I split up and entered our separate rooms. I began haphazardly throwing my possessions, which were distributed unevenly about the room, into my suitcase, not paying any attention to neatness.
Now that I was alone I found myself focusing entirely on the argument I just had with my parents. I just couldn't believe that their reaction had been so strong, although my mother didn't seem to feel as strongly about it as my father did. I knew that my parents had told me that interspecies relationships were wrong when I was younger but I had hoped that their minds had been changed on the matter since that time. I had been a very large advocate of being accepting of everyone and it had at least seemed like I had gotten my parents to believe that in the past year as well. Obviously I was wrong.
I slammed my suitcase lid down and violently zipped it shut. I carried it out of my room and found Nick leaning against the wall, on foot flat against the wall as well. His suitcase lay at his feet. As soon as he saw me, Nick kicked himself off the wall and began talking. "Carrots, I was thinking. The Chief wants us to stay out of Zootopia for a little so things can settle down," I nodded, wondering where he was going with this, "and now we don't have a place to stay. We need to find somewhere to stay until we can go back to Zootopia." He was right. Until it was safe for us back in Zootopia we needed to find a place to stay. I was about to suggest that we find a motel or something when a voice from down the hall grabbed my attention.
"I can help you with that," It was Tris, "Mom just told me what happened. You two can stay with me at my place."
"You don't have to do that Tris," I began, but she cut me off.
"Maybe I don't have to, but I want to. You two shouldn't suffer just because you love each other." I smiled, Tris always did have a good heart.
"What about your husband?" Tris may be fine with having Nick and I stay over but I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable for our sake, especially if we were to be living with them.
"He shouldn't have a problem. You should know that I wouldn't marry a speceist."
Before I could say anything, Nick answered for us, "We would love to stay at your place, Tris. Thank you," he told her.
"Okay, great. We should probably go now before Dad tries to talk to you again."
"Yeah, let's go," I agreed. I found myself wondering what would happen between me and my parents in the future. Would we never make up? Would they finally learn to accept interspecies relationships? What if I never talked to my parents again? I wasn't sure how I would handle being forever removed from my parents. My whole life up until when I left for the police academy and then Zootopia, my world revolved around my family. Although Nick was my family now, perhaps more so than my parents in some ways, I wasn't sure if I could be fine with losing all contact with those who had been my family for all of my life. Such were the thoughts that ran through my head as Nick, Tris, and I walked down the hallway of the old Hopps family home.
Nick POV
9:47 a.m.
A light, pleasant breeze blew through the exposed fur of my head and limbs, ruffling it slightly. The dirt path I was walking on was well worn with obvious tire tracks from the many trucks farmers no doubt drove on the path with. To the left of the path lay an extremely overgrown forest that no one obviously took care of as it was more vines and large shrubs than actual trees. The right side of the trail opened up to an impressively sized field, one half of which contained newly sprouted carrots while the other half was empty.
Beside me, Judy walked in silence, we hadn't said a word since we left her parents' house. After we left, we had quickly stopped at Tris' house to drop off our stuff before we decided to take a walk through the fields while she set up a guest room for us. I had hoped that the walk would help calm her after the argument she had with her parents but she maintained a troubled look.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by a tiny paw that placed itself in mine. I looked down at Judy who was looking at me with tears in her eyes. I abruptly stopped my walking and wrapped my arms around her small frame in a comforting gesture as Judy started sniffing and sobbing. "Hey hey hey. Calm down, it's okay. I got you," I told her, placing a tender kiss upon her brow. I didn't like seeing her like this. While we were friends, seeing Judy upset like this had upset me as well but now, as mates, that connection had only deepened. It was hurting me to watch Judy like this. I couldn't blame Judy though, having her parents act the way they did would be hard on anyone. I wished there was a way fix everything so Judy would be happy again but I couldn't do anything to change a mammal's views or beliefs if they didn't want to change. So instead, I held onto Judy and whispered encouraging words that I could only hope to be true to her until she calmed down.
Once she had calmed down enough to speak, she spoke up. "I can't believe my parents. They didn't listen to a single thing I said," she sniffed, "I thought they loved me."
"Carrots, don't say that. They do love you. No matter what, they're still your parents," I hoped this was true, for Judy's sake. "Besides, your mother seemed to be more open about us. She didn't seem to agree with your dad when he decided to kick us out," I pointed out. I noticed that when Stu was...calling me speceist names, Bonnie had tried to stop him. It seemed to me that she would have been perfectly fine with myself and Judy being in a relationship had Stu not been there but, instead, Stu had shut both her and Judy down.
Judy was silent for a few seconds, besides a stray sniffle, before responding, "You're right. Maybe we do have some hope left after all."
"There's the optimistic bunny I fell in love with love," I said cheerfully, glad that Judy was looking up.
I was leaning in to kiss Judy between the ears when I heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked. "Put yer paws in the air an' step away from the lady," a voice with a country accent sounded from behind me.
I felt my ears fall back flat against my head and my tail tucked itself between my legs. Judy tensed in my arms, her ears sticking up ram rod straight. I didn't want her to be scared but there was nothing I could do with my back turned and a shotgun being pointed at me that wouldn't get both of us killed. So, fearing for the well being of Judy as well as myself, I did as the voice said and raised my paws above me head before slowly sidestepping away from Judy. As I stepped, I slowly turned myself as well until I was facing the mammal speaking. What I saw was literally the epitome of a stereotypical rabbit farmer.
The buck wore a straw hat with two holes in it through which his ears protruded. He had on overalls with a long-sleeve white shirt beneath, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Out of his mouth hung a piece of wheat. The thing that really held my attention however, was the double barrel shotgun pointed straight at me.
The buck kept his shotgun trained on me and slowly walked over to Judy who had also turned around but otherwise remained completely still, fear evident in her face. "Are ya okay? Did that fox do anythin' to ya?" the buck asked Judy with steel in his eyes as he glared hardly at me.
As Judy comprehended what the buck had said, the expression of fear left her face to be replaced by an absolutely livid one. "'That fox didn't do anything to me," she seethed, "but I am not ok."
The buck was obviously confused at Judy's statement, "Whaddya mean by tha'?" he asked, keeping his head facing me.
"Well," Judy said with false sweetness in her voice, "Generally, a mammal wouldn't be ok if someone was pointing a gun at their mate."
The buck lowered his gun an inch and turned his head to look at Judy. "Mate?" he asked incredulously, though his confusion was short lived as he quickly turned back to face me, straightening the gun again. "Ya forced 'er into this, din'cha. Don' worry Missy," he said, talking to Judy again, "I'll protect ya from this Son-of-a-Bitch."
Judy grinned maliciously, "How about instead, you put the gun down and raise your paws above your head."
The buck completely lowered the gun this time and turned to face Judy, "What!?"
Judy, still smiling, reached into her pocket and pulled out her badge, which I didn't even know she was carrying. The buck's eyes widened in fear at the badge before Judy said, "You're under arrest for threatening an officer."
"Yer a police officer?" the buck asked, shocked.
"Officer Hopps, ZPD. You've just threatened my partner, Officer Wilde," Judy continued to smile innocently at the buck who stared back with ever increasing fear. I was just glad Judy was on my side, she could be scary if she wanted to be.
"H-he's an officer too!? He's a-a fox!"
"Very astute observation, Sir" Judy replied and I couldn't help but snicker, "Now, let me ask you again: Please drop the gun and lie facedown on the ground." The buck complied, allowing Judy to pull pawcuffs out of her pocket and cuff him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you if you wish," Judy droned off the buck's rights.
After Judy was done, she came over to me and wrapped me up in a big hug. "Are you alright?" she asked me.
"I'm fine, thanks to you," I hugged her back, "What about you?" She wasn't physically harmed but I wanted to make sure he was fine mentally, especially after what had just happened with her parents on top of this.
"I'm fine. I can't believe this guy though," she said, nodding at the buck who was still lying on his stomach.
"Yeah," I didn't want her to dwell on the buck though, she needed to be cheered up. "Do you always carry your badge and cuffs in your pocket?"
"Yeah," she said defensively, "I have to be prepared for anything even if I'm off duty."
"You take work way too seriously," I said, chuckling. It was a running joke between Judy and I, she almost always had work on her mind, even when off duty and I would often tease her because of it.
"You know you love it," she teased back.
"Do I know that? Yes. Yes I do," I gave her a quick peck on the lips but was interrupted by a gagging sound.
I pulled out of the hug and looked at the buck. "You two really are mates then?"
"Yes," Judy said, "We are."
"You two make me sick," the buck said disgusted. He spit in the ground next to his face.
"You can be sick all you want in jail," I told him. He wasn't worth getting worked up over. He was already going to jail and nothing I could say would change his mind anyway, he was already too invested in his crooked beliefs.
Judy however, was extremely bothered by the buck, it was painfully obvious. If there was a way to fix everything for her, I would, but things weren't quite so simple. Some people just wouldn't ever accept an interspecies relationship, it was too far ingrained in their heads as wrong and disgusting. If the reactions so far were any indication, the future would be very hard for both Judy and I and I knew that I would have to do my best to protect her and get her through unscathed. I knew it would be difficult but I knew I would do it. Because I loved her.
(Author's Notes) I know that this chapter is a day late but I was just having some trouble while writing so it took me a little longer than normal to finish the chapter. I wish it didn't happen like that but it did and there isn't much I can do about it soooooo, yeah.
On another note, Judy told her parents about her and Nick! And Stu was definitely not happy to learn that his daughter was dating a fox. Please tell me what you guys thought of the argument scene, as I am so eloquently naming it. Could you feel the emotion? If not, write a review or send a PM telling me what I could do better next time. I want to make sure that my writing makes you feel what the characters are going through and I can only do that with the help of your guys' input.
We've still got time left in Bunnyburrow for Nick and Judy before they head off back to Zootopia. I'm thinking at least two chapters although there is a good chance it could go over if I get an idea for a chapter in Bunnyburrow that I decide to write about so I'll see what happens.
Any questions any of you have can be directed to me via a review or a PM, whichever suits you better. If you guys have any criticism or advice on any part of this chapter or just my work as a whole, don't be afraid to tell me. Like I said, I want my writing to be as realistic as possible and I can only do that if you guys point out my mistakes and flaws (of which I am sure there are many) so I can get better. Then I will be able to write better material for you guys to enjoy since, really, this I for you guys, the ones taking the time out of your day to read what I write. Thank you all for the wonderful support so far, I hope I continue to satisfy your WildeHopps cravings.
For now, this is Jay, signing off.
