CHAPTER 10

Judy was still sitting in her car, the crying had made her tired. She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned against her seat, her mind racing. What if Nick was hurting? What if he would regret his choice in the morning? What if, what if...

So many question wandered through her mind and though she knew she wasn't his mother and didn't need to look after him, she could feel that he wasn't happy. She knew him well enough. This wasn't him, he wasn't acting like himself at all. Or maybe he was and has just proven to be a good actor?

Once again, she banged her head against the steering wheel.

"This is so hard." she grumbled to herself. She was insanely mad at the fox, but wasn't her intention to make the world a better place? How was life going to get better for Nick if he kept drinking himself into a coma on every possible occasion? He was her friend and she had to help him.

She clenched her tiny paws into tight fists as she sighed loudly.

"Not tonight, Liz. Sorry, boo." she whispered as she started the engine once again and drove back towards the bar.

Arriving at the scene Judy unlatched her seatbelt and focused on the doors of the bar for a few moments. She had to gather all her courage for what she was about to do. She took a deep breath and exhaled a long sigh. She rubbed her eyes once more, they were in a deep shade of red due to the whining, but she didn't care if Nick saw her like this. He knew she was sensitive.

She got out of her car and walked towards the bar. Almost an hour had passed since she first came here and Nick had imbibed quite an amount. Judy opened the door with a sorrowful sigh. Nick was still sitting at the counter, surrounded by three vixens. His goofy laugh echoed through the bar and filled Judy with even more sadness. It seemed like he was enjoying this.

Judy walked up to him and grasped his ear roughly, pulling him from his chair.

"Ow!" Nick yelped as he followed her reluctantly. Lizzy gasped and jumped up from her stool as she grabbed Nick's paw to pull him back, but Judy didn't let go.

"What do you think you're doing, bunny?" Lizzy growled with a fierce expression, but Judy ignored her.

"Carrots, let go!" Nick whined, frowning.

"You're coming with me." she replied in a determined tone. Nick couldn't say anything as Judy pulled his ear with even more pressure. Since fox ears were really sensitive he had no choice but to follow her.

Outside Judy let go of him and glared at him with crossed arms, tapping her feet. Nick held his ear in pain and groaned, before he turned his attention to Judy.

"What is this all about?" he asked annoyed, crossing his arms as well.

"You're coming home with me, I can't leave you alone for ten minutes, it's unbelievable."

"I can handle myself pretty well, Judy." he replied, narrowing his brows.

"Oh, it's Judy now, I see."

"It's your name, no?"

"Just follow me." she said with a sigh, gesturing him to walk towards the car. He cocked an eyebrow and snickered darkly.

"No way." he said coldly with a shrug.

"I have no time for your games! Stop being stubborn and come on." she hissed at him, her face features hardening. She was so pissed. Nick frowned in surprise as he surveyed her closely, making sure she's being serious.

"He is going nowhere." another dark voice chimed, catching Judy and Nick's attention. They both turned around. Lizzy stood infront of them, her expression less than pleased, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"He is coming home, NOW." Judy snorted at the black vixen.

"Did I stutter?" Lizzy snapped, bowing down to be on the same eye level with Judy. She glared at the grey rabbit. "He is staying."

Judy gulped, feeling a little intimidated by the vixen, but she kept her composure.

"I don't remember you being the mayor of Zootopia, honey. Don't tell me what to do, I am a cop after all. It wouldn't be too clever to threaten me, so just leave it. You can see him tomorrow." she snapped right back.

"Ladies, don't quarrel. I am going home, I'll give you a call, Liz." he said with an eyeroll.

"Why would you obey her?" Lizzy asked, coming back to her former posture, glancing at Nick.

"I am not obeying, just giving in. See you around." he snorted in annoyance as he walked towards the car. Judy winked at Lizzy.

"Awh, too bad." she taunted with a mischievous grin, before she followed Nick.

Lizzy watched their retreating figures, completely dumbfounded.

"We're not over yet." she hissed, before she walked back inside.

Judy started the engine and drove down the road. The silence between the two mammals was deafening. Nick looked out of his window with crossed arms and a pout, which was almost adorable - almost.

Judy was concentrated on the road. As she arrived infront of Nick's apartment she stopped the engine with a sigh. She turned to him, thinking of a way to start a conversation, but Nick exited the car wordless. Judy rolled her eyes and got out of the car as well, following him inside. Nick threw his keys aside and vanished into the bathroom.

Judy closed the main door and threw herself onto his couch with a long, thoughtful sigh. She nuzzled her face into one of his pillows and questioned herself. Was it the right decision? What if he's super mega ultra pissed now? She was scared of a fight.

"Explain yourself." an edgy voice erupted and caught Judy's attention. She came to a sitting position and glanced at the door frame, where Nick was standing. She crossed her legs beneath her and sighed, fiddling her paws nervously.

"Nick, look... I am worried about you." she declared timidly, avoiding eye contact. "You've been behaving weird lately and you've been drinking a lot. There must be a reason."

"I am perfectly fine and I do not need a babysitter." Nick snorted, his eyes focused on Judy, but she didn't even look up. Instead, she nodded.

"I know, you are right and I am sorry for invading your privacy. It's kind enough of you that you're letting me stay here, but we're friends and I thought we could tell eachother anything." she said, her voice cracking a little, as she finally looked up to meet Nick's green eyes. There was disappointment written all over them.

"I thought so too, until you decided to investigate on your own, meeting up with scary bucks in the middle of the night without telling me anything, even though you've been threatened. I was worried too, Carrots. But if you insist on cracking this case alone, have fun." he grunted, his brows furrowing as he spoke. Judy's eyes widened and her ears perked up.

"You... how... did you... follow me?" she asked in surprise. Nick crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment, before he spoke.

"It seemed like the most reasonable thing to do."

"What?! How? I have a personal life too, you know." she barked, feeling a little annoyed by the fact that he was actually following her around.

"How is it personal when we're partners on the force? You decided to leave me out of your investigations, because your new friend dislikes foxes. Don't think I didn't hear him talking about us like we're scum. And your attempts on defending me were very poor." he remarked, his voice trailing off at the last sentence. Judy stood up from the couch and approached him slowly, her ears drooping.

"I am sorry... I just..."

"Don't speak. I am very disappointed. I thought I could trust you, but it seems like you're putting your career over everything else - even our friendship. I can't work with someone that doesn't trust me after all we've been through." he snorted, facing the floor. His ears were droopy as well and his expression showed severe sorrow.

"Then why didn't you tell me how you feel? Instead you're hooking up with that vicious vixen, how is that going to solve our problems?" she said accusingly, but Nick just chuckled.

"There are no problems between us, Carrots. The coast is clear." he replied mournful, before he disappeared into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Judy drooped her ears even more, now it all made sense. She felt horrible for lying to him, he didn't deserve it. Of course that wasn't a reason to behave the way he did, but still ... he was hurting. Judy sighed and bit her lower lip, feeling her eyes sting as they filled with water once more. She was going to look like a total mess in the morning, but that was the least of her concerns. She walked towards the only window in the livingroom and stared into the sky, a few tears escaping her eyes.

"I want to make everything right, but end up making everything worse." she whispered to herself, squeezing her eyes shut.

A few minutes had passed. She let out a long sigh, before she sneaked into Nick's bedroom. All lights were turned off and she didn't want to wake him by turning them on, so she used the flashlight on her phone instead. She opened his dresser and searched for a blanket. She found one, a red one, that had - strangely enough - small carrots printed all over it. A sad smile crept up on her lips as she grabbed the blanket and pressed it against her chest. He must've bought it recently, as the price tag was still attached to it. She sighed and closed his dresser again, erasing the bright flashlight. Now the room was filled with darkness and nothing could be heard, except soft snores erupting from Nick's bed.

Judy walked towards his bed side and kneeled down infront of it, resting her head on the matress. She listened to his heavy breathing for a while, thinking he's dead asleep.

"Oh Nick." she whispered softly, hoping not to wake him. "I am so sorry, but why didn't you say anything? We could've talked it through, there was no need to make this a problem. You know I trust you with my life, you're the most important mammal for me. Internally I wanted to chop that rabbit's head off for the way he talked about foxes, especially you, but today I found out that he has some reasons to despise foxes... he had a rough youth. I just wanted to respect his requests and demands, I don't think he entirely hates foxes, he is just scared. This is about a missing mammal.. two to be exact. He is a key witness and I didn't want to piss him off, but it wasn't my intention to neglect you or make you feel left out. I am sorry if I hurt you, I made a terrible mistake. I know I can trust you.. your friendship has become so precious to me and you make me vulnerable... I hate when you're mad at me, I can't take it. I need you so much, I really do... and I want to solve this case together, there was a reason I wanted you as a partner, because I couldn't think of anyone that I'd rather spend my days with.. I am sorry.. so dearly sorry, something like this shall never occur again. I just hope you can forgive me..." she said quietly, inwardly hoping he would hear her, but as his snores got louder, she drooped her ears and slowly got up. She would have to tell him all of this tomorrow, when he's sober. A single tear ran down her cheek as she exited his bedroom and closed the door behind her. She leaned against it for a moment, sliding down the door. She ended up in a sitting position, her knees pressed against her chest, her head resting on her knees, her ears droopy, her eyes wet.

She exhaled a long sorrowful sigh as she allowed those tears to run down her face. Soft sobs erupted as she desperately tried to stay quiet. Waking Nick was the least thing she wanted to do at the moment. She slowly got up and made her way towards the couch. She got rid of her jeans and laid down, covering herself with the cute red carrot-blanket, her head resting on one of the cozy pillows. She faced the wall and curled herself into a ball, before she cried herself to sleep.

Inside his dark bedroom Nick was rolling from side to side, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. It wasn't the same when Judy wasn't laying beside him and it drove him nuts, especially in his drunk state of mind. As he heard the door open, he relaxed all his muscles and pretended to be asleep. He even snored to make it look more convincing.

As he heard Judy opening his dresser he opened one eye to survey her, but she was merely looking for a blanket. It made his heart clench that he left her in his living room without a blanket. As she found it he closed his eye again and kept feigning sleep.

Judy's knee crackled slightly as she kneeled down beside his bed and as she started to speak, Nick melted internally. Every word was wisely chosen and he could feel her voice trail off from time to time, as if she was trying not to cry during her small speech. Her words seemed sincere and honest, but he was too hurt to let her know that he's awake. This was the second time she had disappointed him, but this time felt even worse than the first. This time there was more to it, he felt way more vulnerable. Her explanation saddened him. As she was done talking, she hesitated to stand up, as if she was waiting for some kind of reply, but Nick couldn't bring himself to talk. He had to proceed her words first. She exited his bedroom and he let out a long, mournful sigh.

He heard her lean against his door and for a moment he thought she was eavesdropping, but as he heard her soft sobs, his heart ripped into two. He felt horrible for making her cry, but he felt attached to his bed, his lips glued together. He wasn't sure how to react.

As she finally got up he listened to her getting comfortable on the couch and he released a relieved sigh, but as the sobs didn't stop, he felt his gut twist painfully. His expression saddened and he came to a sitting position.

Damn, Wilde, pull it together, he thought, gritting his teeth. Maybe it would be better to wait until tomorrow, but his mother taught him to never let a girl go to bed bawling her eyes out. So he sighed and got up.

Judy was dozing on the couch, the fur around her eyes still damp. Her mind wouldn't let her sleep, but her eyes wouldn't let her stay awake either. She was somewhere in the middle, so she didn't catch that a door opened.

She sniffled, snuggling the blanket tightly. She was awfully upset about the situation, she hated fighting, especially with someone as important as Nick.

Her eyes shot open as she felt strong arms with a familiar scent wrapping around her waist, cradling her. She relaxed her muscles and inhaled deeply. She turned around to face Nick, who was laying dangerously close beside her now, his arms resting around her waist. She smiled widely and nuzzled her muzzle into the soft fur of his scrag.

"Nick, I-"

"Shhh." he shushed her soothingly. "We will talk tomorrow, rest now."

She smiled into his fur and wrapped her arms around his neck. Now it was way easier for her to fall asleep. Nick sighed loudly before he closed his eyes.

Judy couldn't stop smiling, she knew Nick had a soft side, but she hadn't expected him to forgive her that easily.

She didn't care that they were going to sleep on the couch, she just enjoyed his closeness.

Soon they both drifted off to sleep, tightly snuggled against one another.

There was still a lot to talk about, but right now they just enjoyed each other's presence.

This is way fluffier than the last one, hope it pleases you guys! xoxo

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