Alpaca Comedy Bar, Wednesday, 9:27 pm

Nick was completely miserable. He hated himself for it, but he was. It was all the worst help that he was surrounded by people who were having a great time, Judy included. He didn't want to ruin their fun, but he felt completely isolated, which is an achievement when you're in a room of mammals, most of which are at least three times your size.

The day had started out so well too…

Nick's Apartment, 8:47 am

Nick's shoulder had healed amazingly well, having regained almost all its range of motion. He was also feeling in a much better place mentally, so much so he had decided to call Bogo to talk about going back to work on Monday. He and Judy been away for almost two months as he recovered, and while they enjoyed each other's very pleasant company, they were both starting to get restless. True, they had not gotten bored of their bedroom activities, far from it, but Nick had concluded that there's only so many times you can have sex with a rabbit before you need to stop lest you die of dehydration.

While he was recovering from that morning's session and, pondering if his mentally written porno script ("Dick Wild and the Sucubunny") could be sold, Nick noticed Judy looking at apartments on her phone. After questioning Judy told him that the lease on her apartment was up in six weeks and she was wondering if she could afford to move to a bigger place or would have to renew. She was starting to get sick of the small, damp, noisy place but admitted her prospects didn't look good.

"Crazy thought, why don't you move in with me? I mean, you practically have already," Nick said. Judy was slightly taken aback by the offer, but smiled before replying.

"As nice as that sounds Nick, your place is only slightly less of a hole than mine," she said. Nick found it hard to argue, he glanced around what had been advertised as a "cosy, affordable studio apartment suitable for a bachelor." This translated to "cheap because it's a tiny, damp basement." He hadn't complained as the rent was cheap enough that he could afford things like a decent sized TV and other luxuries, but it wouldn't do as a place for a couple.

"Well…how about we look for a place together?" he suggested. "I have a rolling lease, so I can pretty much walk out whenever I want."

"Really?" Judy asked, her ears rising like along with the excitement in her eyes. She paused for a moment, considering the idea. "That…that actually sounds great!" she finally said. "I'm sure together we could afford a decent place!" With that Judy spent the next hour looking through apartments again, finding half a dozen decent to good places that came to less than their current separate rents combined. She arranged multiple viewings for the weekend.

"Nick?" Judy said after hanging up with the last realtor. "Are you sure you want to move in together? We've only been dating a couple of months…"

"Don't you want to?"

"Of course I do, dumb fox, but at the same time it seems a little fast I guess? Not exactly typical."

"Judy, we're an interspecies couple and the first police officers of our species in, as far as I can tell, the history of Zootopia. We don't do typical. Oh, and did you forget I love you more than I ever thought possible." Something changed in Judy's face when he finished talking, she looked shocked. "Judy, you OK?"

"Uhm Nick, you just said you love me…" she said.

"Yeah…and?"

"You realise that is the first time you've actually said that right?"

"Really?" Nick asked before pausing. He thought back over their relationship and found that yes, she was right. He'd never actually said it before. "Well I've thought it for a while, and I guess I assumed you did too…" Nick trailed off, he felt the beginnings of his nerves flare up as he started to think she may not reciprocate. That lasted about a second when the rabbit launched at him giving him possibly the deepest kiss he'd ever experienced.

"Of course I love you! You dumb, stupid, wonderful, aggravating, sexy, intelligent idiot!" she said in a moment between breathes. She latched on to him again and didn't let go. What started out as an intense make out session turned in to something hotter, wetter, and much louder. Forty-three minutes later, they bathed in the afterglow, utterly exhausted.

"We are going to get so many noise complaints from our new neighbours," Nick said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Too. Bad." Judy huffed. Before Nick could agree, Gazelle's "Try Everything" started blaring from Judy's phone.

"Huh, wonder what Clawhauser wants?" Judy said. She had assigned the song to Ben because it made sense. Nick listened as the bunny rolled on to her side, groaning from the effort, giving him a great view of her butt.

"Hi Ben. Yeah I'm fine. Aw I miss you too Ben, but good news! Nick and I will probably be back next week! Oh, really? Yeah. Hmm. Yeah that sounds fun, hold on." She turned away from her phone. "Nick, Clawhauser says a few guys from the precinct were going to go to the Alpaca Comedy Club Bar tonight. You wanna go? Apparently, Bill Baaley is gonna be there tonight, you always like him."

Nick pondered this for a few seconds and answered "Yeah why not?" He felt it'd been far too long since he last socialised with anyone but Judy and was itching to get caught up with his work friends.

"Great! Hey, maybe we can invite Marian? She could probably do with a night out with some adults."

"Sounds like a plan Fluff," Nick replied. Judy told Clawhauser that they'd be there, and called Marian. It took some convincing but in the end the vixen was persuaded to come after her parents had been wrangled in to babysitting.

A couple of hours after this, and general lounging around the apartment, Nick received a call on his phone.

"Go wild with Wilde," he answered.

"One of these days Nick, you're gonna have to come up with a new way of answering the phone that doesn't make me want to kick your teeth in," a deep baritone voice said.

"Finnick!" Nick exclaimed, genuinely pleased to hear from his friend. Due to his job and recent healing, he rarely got to see his old partner in crime. "How's it going bud? Been too long man."

"Well, things have been better."

"Sorry to hear that guy. Anything I can do?"

"Yeah well, that's why I'm calling. I'm kinda…in jail."

"Oh God, what did you do?"

"Hey I didn't do nothin' alright!" Finnick snapped. Nick had to hold the phone away from his ear as his friend howled down the phone. "I just parked my van outside my girl's apartment…"

"How is Loxy by the way?"

"LONELY BECAUSE I'M STUCK IN THIS POLICE STATION TALKIN' TO YO ASS! JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

"Alright partner, continue."

"ANYWAY!" Finnick said, huffing on the end of the line, trying to bring his voice down. "I parked up my van and decide, you know? It's been a long day? So, I crack a bottle of beer and take a drink before heading in for the night and WAM, some police tiger slaps me with a DUI charge! It was just one beer! And I wasn't even going to drive! But this damn pig…"

"I thought you said it was a tiger."

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT! Just get your dumbass down here and bail me out, would you? I'm at Precinct 99!" The call ended, Nick assuming his pint-sized pal had broken the phone by slamming it down.

"Little guy can be pretty loud when he wants to, huh?" Judy said, obviously having heard the entire conversation. Finnick had been loud enough he wouldn't be surprised if his neighbours had either.

"Your one to talk," Nick chimed back, remembering their work out earlier, causing Judy's ears to flush again. "Yeah I gotta go take care of this, shouldn't be too long, but it's way over in Precinct 99 on the other side of the city. What time is it? Two?"

"Two thirty, we're not meeting everyone until 7 and the stand-up show doesn't start until eight so we should be back in plenty of time to get ready," she said as she hopped off the bed to get dressed.

"Ah no worries Carrots, no need for both of us to go. You just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can OK?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah gotta give you a break from me after these last couple of months, don't I?" he said as he searched for a clean set of clothes. In all honesty, he was feeling much better and felt he could finally face the city on his own for a couple of hours. "Besides, Fin's probably not going to be up to much company after night in the cells," he said pulling his boxers.

"Fair enough," Judy shrugged. "But you call me if you need me OK?"

"Aww, is Cawwots gonna miss her foxy woxy?" Nick said, cupping his hands together and turning on his puppy eyes.

"Cheese and crackers you're incorrigible, you know that?"

"Hey would you change me even a little bit?" Nick asked, knowing the answer.

"No. Apart from you peeing in the shower," Judy said, shuddering slightly.

"Hey the water's already running, it's economical!"

"Lazy and disgusting is more like it."

"Heh, probably," said Nick. After finding a pair of pants a passable shirt and one of his ties, he kissed his girlfriend goodbye. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Love you Judy."

"Love you too Nick," Judy said as the fox left.

Precinct 99, 4:12 PM

Nick sauntered in to Precinct 99 making his way to the front desk. While smaller than Precinct One, it still felt familiar, the hustle of police and perpetrators moving around, someone having an argument and so forth. It felt good to be back, even if it wasn't his precinct. He strolled up to the front desk waiting patiently behind an elephant. Half listening, he started playing with his phone. A few minutes later he heard the mammal in charge of the front desk say "next" followed by a sharp intake of breath. He looked upon…right in to the eyes of Bhrast Akela, former Internal Affairs sergeant.

"YOU!" the she-wolf cried, her eyes locked on to Nick's, her breath puffing through gritted teeth. Nick saw out of the corners of his eyes she was gripping the edge of the desk, as if trying to keep herself from launching at him.

Oh shit, he thought. I thought she was drummed out of the force completely. He breathed deeply, forcing his nerves to calm. Just a simple bail payment. OK, get this over with. Smile #1, sincere enjoyment and patience. Just don't let her goad you.

"Why Sergeant Akela!" he said, throwing his arms out wide. "How you doing?"

"That's Officer Akela now," she said, as she gripped the desk tighter, scratches appearing in the wood work.

"Ah, uh, right," Nick said as his confidence dropped. Hang in there bud, if you can get through this, going back to work and facing down a charging Rhino will be a breeze. "So uh, I'm here to bail out a friend. Finlay Jakkalson?" giving Finnick's real name.

"Lemme guess, one of your fox accomplishes?" Akela said. The comment riled Nick, enough that it caused his nerves to be replaced by anger, but not enough for it to show. He laid on his winning smile. "Why Officer Akela, I am shocked that a representative of the ZPD would make such an accusation! I mean, what would happen if your superiors heard about this? I'm just here to pay my friends bail so I can enjoy the rest of my day with my girlfriend."

The lack of response obviously riled Akela further, causing a small snarl to start. Nick raised his right eyebrow in response, daring her to continue. The wolf huffed and released the desk, allowing Nick to see exactly how deep she had managed to gouge the wood. She retreated under the desk and returned with a document "The bail is $500 and you'll need to sign here, need me to go through the terms of the bail?"

"I'm aware of the process," Nick replied stiffly.

"Yeah I'll bet you've gotten a lot of friends out of jail," Akela said, smirking.

"Actually, it's because I'm a police officer who is out solving crimes every day. Can't get lax when you're not stuck behind a desk" Nick said, signing the form. The twitch in Akela's eyes was worth the subtle dig. He then reached in to his pocket and removed five $100 bills he had gotten from the bank before coming over and handed them over.

"You don't mind if I count them, do you?" Akela said, taking the money, carefully feeling them. No doubt she had assumed they were counterfeit.

Seriously? Nick thought, but out loud replied "Go ahead." Akela fanned the bills out, apparently satisfied they weren't counterfeit. Shen then proceeded to stare at them for what seemed like an age.

"One," she said, placing a bill on the table. She stared at it, then to Nick, then back to the remaining bills. Shen then removed another bill from the fan and placed it down. "Two…"

Keep it cool Nick…

Subway line 25, 6:30pm.

"Well thank you very much for this Finnick!" Nick snarled as he gripped the one of the many poles in the subway car. It was very possible it would have his paw print embedded in this after today.

"What'd I do!?" Finnick barked back lounging in a nearby seat.

"Oh, only got stuck in the same precinct as the wolf who hates my guts, that's what!" Nick was furious as Akela had dragged out the process of retrieving his friend to ridiculous levels. She had recounted the money seven times. SEVEN! Then she did, quite frankly, the best impression of Flash Nick had seen in some time, taking an absolute age to go through every part of the process. It had taken every single inch of Nick's restraint not to reach over the desk and slam her head in to it. She finally got sick of the game and released Finnick. "I'm late for my night out because of you!"

"That ain't my fault fox," Finnick said , glaring at his frustrated friend. "I appreciate it though. I'll get you the cash in a few days OK?"

"Whatever," Nick said, staring out of the window of the subway car, intent on burning through the window with his stare. He'd let Judy know he was running late and to head to the club without him so he'd meet her there.

"Huh, Nick Wilde not caring about money, there's a first!" Finnick said, chuckling. "That bunny really has changed you!"

"Yeah, yeah she has," Nick replied, the mere mention of Judy starting to calm him. He'd been trying very hard to control his mood but Akela seemed to have hit every single one of his nerves.

"Seriously fox, thanks. Hey I'm getting off next stop, since I gotta go pick my van up from the impound lot, you wanna come with and I can give you a ride to the bar?"

"No thanks Fin, if I change trains after the next station I can get to the club only a little late."

"OK," Finnick said, getting up from his seat as the train announced his stop. "I'll catch you later. Thanks again."

"No worries bud, take care alright?" Nick said as his friend exited the car just before the train started up again. He couldn't stay mad at Finnick, it was just pure bad luck that Akela had been there. Anyway, just few more stops and I can start enjoying the day again.

Suddenly the train car's lights went out, causing confusion among the passengers. Then the brakes kicked in, causing some mammals to fall and stumble as the sudden deceleration took them by surprised. Nick narrowly managed to avoid being squashed by a lynx as it fell towards him. Finally the train stopped, allowing everyone to get their footing again. A few seconds later the car was filled with the red glow of emergency lights. A crackling signalled that the trains PA system was coming on.

"Hi there folks this is your conductor; it seems we've suffered a slight technical hitch with one of our engines. Don't worry though, we'll soon have you on your way."

Great, Nick thought. Just hurry up, would you?

Alpaca Comedy Bar, 9:27 pm

And that had led to here. Nick had only arrived about 10 minutes ago, joining Judy and his friends with just ten minutes left in the comedy show. Everyone around him was laughing hysterically, even Bogo was there, laughing alongside his officers. It just made him feel lonely and miserable that everyone except him was having a great time. He turned to Judy and Marian who seemed to be getting along amazingly well, though the alcohol probably helped. Unlike Finnick, Judy was a small mammal who could not handle her booze, all she had in front of her was two standard beers and it seemed like she was acting like a kit who had slammed back half a bottle of vodka. This made the next part easier though as no one seemed to notice as he slipped out, mumbling about having to go to the bathroom.

In reality? He just needed to leave He just had to leave, he exited the bar, passing by the smokers from the precinct who waved to him. He sighed and started walking along the street, staring at the ground, heading nowhere in particular. The cold air ruffled his fur as he walked for ten minutes, passing mammals out having a good time, getting food, or heading home. Eventually he stopped, not wanting to get too far away from the bar. He looked up from the street and found himself outside a church, spotlights illuminating the front door despite it being closed. His eyes drifted downward seeing the graveyard, it's headstones dilapidated and worn. He walked up to the church's gate and found it unlocked. He pushed through it, causing a loud creak of old, tortured hinges, and made his way in to the yard. He stopped next to one gravestone close to the door, too old and faded to make out who it was supposed to be for. He turned away from it and sat down, resting his back against the old piece of stone, which shifted ever so slightly.

And he cried, silently, while looking in to the night sky.

The day had started so well, but had gone to hell, and that's what he couldn't take. He just wanted to get better, to be less of a burden to Judy, less of a pathetic shell of a fox, he just wanted to be normal again. But life wasn't like that, life wouldn't let that happen. It threw curveballs when you least expected it, and there was nothing you could do…

Except keep trying, he thought. It was a thought that had slowly started creeping in thanks to his therapy, and the constant support of Judy. He'd had days like today, but in fact, this was the first time he'd had one without it devolving in to a full-blown panic. Despite his feelings of isolation, despite the weird feeling of being alone yet surround, it made him feel a little better.

He heard the gate scream again and look up, expecting to see some old priest or groundskeeper wanting to shoo away the vagabond vulpine, but it was so much better. Swaying ever so gently, her eyes half closed, stood Judy, her eyes focused on Nick.

"Move over," she ordered. Nicked shuffled along the gravestone slightly. She sat down and laid her head against his side.

No words, just pure silent comfort.

Nick wrapped his arm around her as he looked up again, finding he now had a smile on his face.

"You gonna be OK on Monday?" Judy asked, as she cuddled up to her fox. Nick thought on her words silently his head swimming as so many thoughts and emotions rattled around.

"With you by my side Judy? Definitely."


Notes:

So again, based on something that happened in my life. Got invited to a bar with a load of friends for a Christmas party at the end of 2016, but I had working that day, which was fine, it just meant I'd arrive a little over an hour later…if things had gone to plan. Long story short, after a trying day at my job, due to various roadworks and delays I didn't get to the party until three hours after it started, when everybody else was drunk as all hell, the comedian was just finishing his set, and everyone was having a great time.

Except me.

It's weird how loneliness can strike when you're in a room with nearly 60 people, all of which you know.

I took a similar walk to Nick here, I just had to get out being there, feeling I was ruining everyone's mood. I did sit on the steps of a local church. I would have preferred to do what Nick did hear and sit against a gravestone because I think it just makes a nice image. My wife didn't end up coming to find me as she was WAY too drunk at that point, but she was incredibly concerned when I returned. Even in her drunk state she helped, and made me feel a little better and understood when I felt the need to leave early saying goodbye to her friends and just…being there. Not saying anything, just letting me have my feelings.

Love is a weird thing. I can be in a separate room, writing some shitty fanfic as my wife sews one of her cosplay costumes. Or we can be in the same room, some trash movie on Netflix, reading our phones or tablets, and be perfectly happy. Sometimes words aren't needed.

I considered ending this here, but I think we need some proper closure…and an introduction to my next story. Yeah I got another one in the pipeline, drafted out the outline, got some characters together. So, I think one more chapter here, and then we're good to move on.