Judy had a difficult time opening her door. In her left paw she held four bags of leftovers from her date with Nick, and in her right were another three. Actually, she considered herself lucky; Nick had over a dozen bags of his own he had to lug back to his place.

At least I have a fridge to put these in. She finally managed to open her door without having to set down any bags, and made her way inside. The clock at the far end of the room read 9:35, and a part of her regretted staying out so late with her alarm set to go off at 5:00 the next morning.

But it was worth it to spend an evening with Nick. She pondered the evening as she put the boxes of food in her mini refrigerator. She thought about Nick's uncharacteristic nervousness as she tried to find a place for the oatmeal box. Even though Nick usually hid his emotions behind a mask, he had shown his true self to her enough times to know he wasn't the nervous type. She didn't know if she had ever seen him nervous at all, let alone the levels he had shown this evening.

Maybe he's worried about being seen in public with the shock collar, she reasoned, shoving the blueberry muffins to the back. Or maybe he didn't like the waitress all that much; they did bicker quite a bit.

Her paw paused above the remaining boxes as another, much more plausible thought entered her mind. Or maybe he really did want for us to start dating.

Her final question to him had been said almost as a joke. She didn't really believe he would say yes. And he didn't. This was a one-time thing. A casual date between two friends. And it was a nice first date—for her at all, and for her and Nick. They had dinner together, just the two of them, and talked about stuff for over an hour and a half. They even put their phones away the whole time—

"Phone!" Judy hurriedly put away the rest of the boxes, somehow finding room in her refrigerator to hold it all, and ran over to her desk. She flicked on the lamp light, pulled out her phone, and typed in her password as fast as the screen would allow.

She gritted her teeth at the notification that she had missed seven calls in the past hour, all from the same phone number. Wednesday night. She hit the "Call Back" button and watched the phone give a visual indication that the call was starting. Of course it's Wednesday night. I can't believe I forgot this…

There was a single ring before the video started. Judy forced a smile as the phone lit up with the faces of Bonnie and Stu. "Hey, guys!" she tried.

Neither of them were smiling back. "Judy, do you know what time it is?" Stu asked sternly.

Not waiting for her to answer, Bonnie said, "It's Wednesday night. You promised us you'd call every Wednesday night at exactly 8 o'clock."

"I know, I'm sorry," Judy started.

"So that we would know you were okay," Stu continued, not letting her finish. Bonnie was the one holding the phone; Stu was too busy having his paws on his hips, tapping a foot feverishly. "You have never missed this before."

"We were worried about you," Bonnie chimed in, her voice a little less stern than Stu's. "Especially after we called you so many times."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Judy started. "I was busy and lost track of time, and I—"

"Wait a minute…" Stu's face filled the screen as he leaned closer to the camera. "Judy… Is that smoke?"

Judy started and whirled around. "Where?" Her eyes darted across the room, trying to find the smoke her father might be talking about; the last thing she wanted was a fire in her apartment.

"It is!" Stu started rubbing Bonnie's shoulder uncontrollably. "Judy's been in a fire!"

Judy kept looking around, not sure what he was talking about. "I don't see any…" Her voice dropped as she realized what he was talking about. She reached behind her ear and rubbed her fur a tiny bit, before looking at her paw. Sure enough, there was traces of smoke, darkening her pink paw pads.

I really hope Nick didn't see that. After she had come back to her apartment, she had been in such a rush that she didn't have time to take a shower. She instead had wiped down her fur in a wet washcloth as quickly as possible. She had claimed that she had showered to Nick, but she was too embarrassed to tell him the truth.

Obviously she had missed at least one small part of her fur, tucked behind her ear. Somehow her father had seen it on a small phone screen from hundreds of miles away. Either Nick was blind as a bat, or he was too polite to bring it up.

Bonnie and Stu were freaking out on the other end. "What happened, Judy?" Bonnie called. "Are you okay?"

"Were you trapped in a building?" Stu exclaimed. "Is that why you didn't call? Were you unconscious?" He gasped in terror. "You didn't try and save a little girl like that one guy in Spider-Mammal 2, did you?"

Judy rolled her eyes. "Dad—"

"You're not a superhero, Judy!" Stu interjected. Bonnie tried to push him back, murmuring his name once or twice, but he grabbed at the phone and kept talking. "You're not Spider-Mammal! You're just a small bunny."

"Dad—"

"How hurt are you, Judy? Do we need—not now, Bonn. Do we need to come see you? We can be there in less than an hour if we take the express train. When does that leave, Bonn?"

Judy growled. "Dad!" she yelled, finally silencing him. "I'm okay." She circled the phone around her, showing off her arms, torso, legs, and the back of her head. "See? No burns. I'm fine."

Either Judy's insistence was enough to convince Stu to drop the subject, or the fact that Bonnie snatched up the phone and pushed him away. "Please excuse your father, Judy," she said apologetically. Stu began speaking in the background, but Bonnie shot him a look and he finally quieted down. "He's just concerned for you. We both are. We've heard about the predator attacks on the news and…" She paused, knowing that Judy would finish the thought herself.

Judy could certainly appreciate her parents' worry, especially after she had already gotten injured during the night howler case a year prior, but she did not want to think any further about the current predator problem. Trying to change the subject, she forced a smile and asked, "So, how's everything going back at home?"

Bonnie seemed to welcome the topic change. "Well, let's see." A smile appeared on her face. "Cotton brought home a report card today and she's gotten all As again. You've really inspired her to do her best."

Judy's smile transitioned from forced to genuine. Cotton, her favorite niece, had recently started going to school, and after hearing Judy talk about her job over their last get-together, she had decided that she, too, wanted to be a police officer when she grew up. "Well, be sure to tell her I'm proud of her, then," she replied.

Stu appeared back in frame, this time ready to talk about things on a more calm level. "Oh, Charlie and Graham got the old mower working again. You remember the alternator belt was broken?"

Judy nodded. "Yeah, that's going to help speed up harvest quite a bit this year."

Bonnie's ears perked. "Your big sister Isabelle just got engaged to that nice buck from down the road. What's his name, again?"

Stu's expression turned stern. "Roger." The faintest smirk appeared on his face. "I gave him my blessing to propose, but I also said whatever he did to her, I'd do to him." There was a not-so-subtle glow in his eyes, even visible to Judy on the phone screen. "Boy, I'll tell you, the look on his face…"

Hoping to once again change the subject—quickly—Bonnie spoke back up. "So, how was your day, Judy? Anything interesting going on that you can talk about?"

Judy contemplated for a minute about what she wanted to talk about. Her day had definitely been chock full of interesting things, but they weren't things she particularly wanted to talk about. She didn't want to tell her parents she had been in a chase that almost turned deadly, and in the case of her interrogations, she didn't even think she was allowed to talk about it, since they were technically part of an open case.

That only left her date with Nick. The very thought of telling her parents about it flooded her mind with images of her father tasing Nick, so she immediately dismissed it.

But her mother, as all-knowing as ever, saw the moment of hesitation in her eyes. "What is it, Judy?"

Judy shook her head. "Nothing, Mom. You wouldn't want to hear it."

Stu's face filled the screen again. "Wouldn't want to hear what, Judy?" It was a demand, not a request.

Even so, Judy fought it for a moment. "It's no big deal. I just…" She sighed, knowing her parents would pester her until she gave in anyway. "I went on a date tonight, that's all," she mumbled, hoping it wouldn't go through.

Her parents heard her loud and clear, and their eyes widened in shock. "A date?" they exclaimed in unison.

Judy sheepishly nodded. "That's why I was so late calling you two."

After a few seconds of shocked silence, Bonnie cleared her throat and asked, "Well, who is it?"

Judy slumped in her chair, and she felt her ears droop far down her back. She didn't understand why she was suddenly so embarrassed about it—especially after she had been so casual with Nick during their date. For some reason, talking to her parents about dinner with Nick was harder for her than it was to insist with Nick that it was okay to call it a "date" at all.

In fact, as she thought about it, she figured talking to anyone about the date was embarrassing. Anyone except Nick himself.

Why is Nick so different? What is it that makes him so different to me? Her mind wandered on the thought. He's just a fox, after all. Foxes and bunnies are natural enemies, so why am I so at ease with him? Why do I feel so connected with him?

…And why can't I stop thinking about him?

"Judy?"

Bonnie's voice snapped Judy's mind back to the present. Bonnie and Stu were both looking at the phone, as if her next words would determine the course of the future itself.

Once again knowing they would never stop pestering her otherwise, Judy sighed in defeat and admitted, "I went on a date with Nick."

There was a painful moment of silence on the other end, and Judy prayed it was just lag from the phone call. "Nick? Your partner, Nick?" Bonnie finally asked.

Yes, my partner, Nick. My best friend, Nick. My fox, Nick. I went on a date with Nick. For some reason, it made her feel happy when she said it to herself—but she didn't dare say any of that out loud to her parents. All she could bring herself to do was simply nod.

To her utter surprise, her father smiled. "Oh, okay. Your partner on the police force, right?"

Confused as to how he could be so casual about the idea of her having gone on a date with a fox, Judy slowly nodded. "Yeah, Nick Wilde. He's been my partner ever since he joined the force."

"We know, Judy," Bonnie replied. Both of her parents had contented smiles on their faces. "You've told us all about him."

"Yeah, he seems like a pleasant fellow to work with," Stu pitched in.

Judy blinked, still confused as ever. "So…" She cleared her throat and asked for clarification, "You're not mad?"

"Mad?" Stu blew his lips. "Jude, you're an adult. It's not like we could stop you anyway."

"And if you're dating someone on the work force," Bonnie added, "then that's perfectly fine with us. Especially if it's your partner."

"Absolutely." Stu nodded his head. "It's better than dating that Roger kid Isabelle got engaged to." He smirked, a joke popping in his mind. "But then again, anything's better than dating a predator. I'm just glad you're not doing that."

Judy felt her heart stop. "Oh…" She opened her mouth to clarify, but no words came out. The realization that her parents had no idea that Nick was a predator—much less a fox—was just too much for her mind to fully process. Even though they had become good friends with Gideon Grey, she was sure they would not be so welcoming of the idea of her potentially dating—

"Look at her, she's so surprised," Stu exclaimed, smiling in amusement.

Bonnie chuckled. "As if we'd be so offended by her dating a raccoon." She spoke back up. "Well, it's late where you are, Judy. Get some sleep."

"We'll talk to you next Wednesday." Stu winked and gave her a thumbs-up. "Don't get too busy with Mr. Wilde next time to skip it, okay?'

Judy's mouth was too dry to articulate words. A noise emerged from her dropped jaw that could have sounded like, "Uh-huh."

Bonnie waved. "See you then, Judy! Good night!"

"Later, Jude the Dude!" Stu added, before pushing the screen on their end. The video paused on their faces for a second, before it faded to black, leaving Judy staring at her own stunned reflection in silence.

Judy dropped the phone on the desk, her fingers having gone numb. For the next several seconds—actually, it could have been hours for all she knew—she was unable to come up with any comprehensible thoughts. Her mind had slowed down to a crawl, leaving her scared at the thought of her parents finding out Nick was actually a fox. She came up with all sorts of scenarios—all of them ending in Nick lying down on the ground in a smoking heap, with her father standing on top of him like he was a trophy, blowing the top of his taser like it was an Old West gun.

She was only able to snap out of it when she heard a muffled voice coming from the wall behind her. "They don't know he's a fox, do they?"

Judy groaned. As usual, Bucky and Pronk had heard the whole conversation. She sat up in the chair and rubbed the space between her eyes. "No, they don't," she whispered.

Pronk responded this time, his voice just as muffled as Bucky's. "So, you're dating him now?"

Judy quickly turned to the wall. "No!" She immediately felt silly, yelling at the wall and not to the two bucks behind it, and quickly cleared her throat. "I mean…" She spoke more calmly. "No, we're not dating. We just went on a date."

"Oh, giving it a trial run," Pronk guessed. "Smart move."

Judy rolled her eyes, ready for the day to finally be over. She stood up and got to work setting her alarm for the next morning and changing into her pajamas.

"So, how did the date go?" Bucky inquired. When Judy refused to reply, he asked, "Did you kiss him, at least?"

"Hey, you don't have to kiss someone on the first date," Pronk retorted.

"Yes you do," Bucky insisted. "Do you know what year we live in?"

"What if she didn't want to kiss him? Have you seen how many teeth foxes have?"

"Well, maybe foxes have bad breath or something."

"How do you know what kind of breath foxes have? Have you been kissing foxes?"

"Oh, shut up."

"No, you shut up."

"No, you shut up!"

"Oh, just shut up!"

Judy grabbed her toothbrush, walked to the bathroom, and firmly closed the door behind her. Usually that was her cue for the two to really shut up, and tonight was no exception. Within seconds, the only sounds that filled her ears were the bristles brushing across her teeth.

It was just a date, she told herself over and over, in rhythm with her brush strokes. Just a date. Just a date. Just a date. She spat into the sink and went back to brushing. Nick is my best friend. Nothing more. He probably wouldn't want to date me anyway. What would he want with a bunny? There are plenty of perfectly good vixens in Zootopia. I'm no more to him than just a work force partner and someone to spend extra time with.

Even as she talked to herself, her brush strokes slowed. Images swam through her head of how obviously uncomfortable and nervous he was throughout the whole evening. In particular, how long he pondered on her final question to him: were they actually dating?

He had wanted to say yes. She could see that. And when he didn't, she had expected to feel relief; the thought of committing to a relationship, especially with Nick, was just too much for her to consider at the moment with how much being a cop was a part of her life. She just didn't have time for a relationship. She never had in her life before, and she felt she wouldn't now, either.

And yet…

Judy's paw fell from her mouth. She stared at herself in the mirror for several moments, her thoughtful amethyst eyes staring back at her. A quick grin revealed that her teeth were not going to get any whiter; apparently she had been here longer than she thought.

She spat out, guzzled some mouthwash, and left the bathroom. If she had to be honest with herself, instead of relief, she had felt disappointment. She found it hard to believe, but deep down, she did, indeed, want to be in a relationship with Nick.

She shook her head at the thought. What's wrong with me? She stored her toothbrush, flicked off the apartment's lights, and slid into bed. I mean, sure, I like Nick. But I like him as a friend. I'm a bunny. He's a fox. What would my parents think? That thought alone made her heart sink once more, and she decided not to think about that particular one any further.

Suddenly, she felt exhausted, and it dawned on her for the first time just how tiring her day had been. She closed her eyes, welcoming the sleep that awaited her.

Still, she couldn't help but think one last thing as her mind drifted away. We're just too different. And besides, why would he want to be with me?