A/N: I'd like to make an excuse for why this took so long to get out. And I easily could. There were many factors. But really, just no drive. Too much shit going on and no time to sit at the computer. And even when there was the inspiration just went (in the words on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) "Bye-bye, Wooo see ya!" So yeah. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: So I read in a 'Fair Use' article for school that I could be sued for using any of these characters, disclaimer or not. So I would just like to say this: Disney. You are amazing and have created a beautiful story with Zootopia. We all love Nick and Judy and, while I do not own ANY of the movie characters, I love to write about them. Thanks and please don't sue me.
Now the other disclaimer in invisible ink: I am soooo totally stealing those rights to Zootopia on my next trip to Disney. I have it all planned out. I'll need five dozen eggs, a large bald man in green body paint with weird shaped ears, a woman who can play coma/dead while in a glass coffin, and a clown. For distraction purposes of course.
Oh crap. This only saves in black ink.
Chapter 11 - Insecurity or too much security?
As a teenager, Judy was a spectacular disappointment in one of the few things other teens cared about. Judy loved school. Learning was one of her biggest passions. The doe would spend hours every week absorbing literature from every facet of life. Every genre would interest her and every story would educate her. Even on the mornings where she was virtually exhausted from spending all night with her fox, Judy would normally hop out of bed with a smile on her face and a drive to meet the day with enthusiasm.
If it were not for the stormy gray fur and white underbelly, nor the brilliant violet eyes peeking from between half-closed lids, the bunny that was half dragging/half rolling herself out of bed that Monday morning would never have been recognizable as Judy Hopps.
A miserable groan was all that greeted the sun shining into her room. It was not that she was tired from the weekend or even staying out late the night before. She had more than enough energy to be her normal self. No. The lethargic appearance of the bunny had more to do with a certain date she had to attend that evening.
"Can't believe I agreed to this." Straightening herself out as much as she was able, Judy stumbled over to her small desk where a vanity mirror rested on the wall above it. Grabbing a brush she began her morning grooming.
You did it so that mom would get off our back.
"I know that. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."
At least it's only one dinner. We never promised anything else. And we'll be back in time to see Nick!
"There is that," she admitted. If there was one thing that never failed to brighten her day was her cuddle time with her fox.
Scooping up her backpack, she shoved the few books she would need for the day into it and headed for the hall. She was up early enough for breakfast and by the smell she could detect pancakes were on the menu.
As Judy passed by Sarah's room on the way to breakfast, her ears caught a faint giggling coming from inside. As it was still relatively early and Sarah was known for not exactly waking up at a reasonable hour, the sound of her laughter was a rather unusual noise. Curious, Judy carefully cracked the door and peeked inside.
"Oh stop it. You are so bad." Sitting in front of her laptop, the spotted doe was shaking with muted laughter. Because of how Sarah's bed was positioned, Judy could only see enough of the screen to note it was a video chat. Now her interest was piqued. She didn't figure her sister for being one to chat online.
"And don't you forget it, cutie." That brought Judy's ears from partially erect in curiosity to standing full in earnest. For her sister to have someone calling her cute in such a flirtatious manner was one thing, and the sweet and sultry voice belonging to a female was another, however in Bunnyburrow that was not so uncommon that she had never witnessed it before, even with her sister. What caught her attention though was that she knew that voice.
"So do you think you'll be able to come up for the Carrot Days festival? It's the second weekend in October," Sarah said cheerfully. Judy was sure the smile on her sister's face must be blinding to the other mammal.
"Ugh. October. It's so cold in October. What's with you farmers and not ever being cold?" Sarah started laughing again.
"We're not on the ocean like you are. It's Bunnyburrow, you goof. It doesn't get cold here. Heck, half the year we practically live in bathing suits."
"Bathing suits, you say..." A smattering of high pitched squeaks and giggles coming from the monitor mirrored her sister as she rolled around in mirth. "I think I can be persuaded to come up. Gotta promise to show a girl a good time though."
"Oh I'm sure you two will have tons of fun." Sarah let out a shrill 'Eep!' and fell off the bed in her shock as Judy strode into the room.
"Who is that? Is that Judy?" The gray doe approached the bed and peered over at the screen. "It is! Hi!"
"Hey Trisha." Judy gave a rather reserved wave to the chocolate brown doe who looked like she was trying to crawl through the screen. "Haven't talked to you in a while. I didn't realize you and Sarah were still pen pals." Though it had been nearly two years since she had last talked with the dark-toned bunny she could easily remember her voice and especially her mannerisms. She didn't know a single bunny quite like her.
"Right. 'Pen Pals'," Trisha said while making quotations in the air and a devious smirk on her lips. "I gotta go get dressed for school. I'll see you later, sweetie," she called out to Sarah who was only now crawling back up on the bed, her white cheek bright red in embarrassment. Trisha blew the multi-colored doe a kiss and gave Judy a quick wink before signing off.
Watching as her sister slowly closed her laptop without so much as sparing a glance in her direction, Judy couldn't keep a grin off her face. "So. You and Trisha, huh?"
Sarah began tracing abstract movements in her bedspread while keeping her eyes downward. "Maybe," she murmured.
"How did that happen? I knew you two were pen pals in ninth year for that school project but I didn't realize you two kept in touch."
"Yeah. We talked a couple of times a week for a while. Just comparing school days and gossip. Which Avenger we thought was the hottest. Normal stuff." Judy cocked a brow at that.
"Oh really. And who picked who?"
"Well...she likes Robert Howley Jr."
"A wolf?" Judy thought she should be shocked but she remembered what her sister had told her of her pen pal a couple years ago and decided it really wasn't that far out there. "And who did you pick?"
She was surprised Sarah's comforter didn't begin smoking with how intensely she kept her eyes focused on the bed. "Scarlet Johansson."
"The vixen?!" Sarah's whole body flushed red. "Oh-ho! Well. That's certainly unexpected. I would have figured it was a bunny but-"
"Yeah. There's no does in that movie."
"Not exactly where I was going with that but duly noted." She laughed as Sarah went to an even deeper shade under her white fur. "Don't worry, sis. First off, I would never judge who you wanted to be with. Heck, my boyfriend has fangs and is part of a species that used to eat us. And not the fun way! Second, you're not the only doe who wants another one in her bed in this family. I think like twenty of our sisters swing that way? And another fifty swing both ways."
"It's not that. I just...I want to keep this between us. Okay? I've never felt like this about anyone before and I'm worried I might ruin it somehow."
Judy crossed the rest of the way and sat down next to her sister. Placing an arm over her shoulder, the older bunny pulled her in tight. Sarah in turn laid her head onto Judy's shoulder and nuzzled against it.
"Sarah. I don't think you need to worry about messing up anything. You are the sweetest, most caring bunny in the whole world. And I know you are going to make some mammal so ridiculously happy someday. And," she said while watching her sister's rosy pink eyes focus on her laptop, "I bet Trisha could be that mammal. So don't fret so much. And I will definitely keep your secret."
Sarah wrapped her arms around her tight. "Thanks, Jude." Squeezing her sister back, Judy nuzzled the younger doe's cheek.
"Alright now. You gotta get dressed for school. All this girl talk is gonna make us late."
There were many things Judy had envisioned happening at school that day. Before she had even entered the front doors she was already expecting to hear a significant amount of gossip about her upcoming date that night. She imagined there would be more than one doe coming up to her and offering advice or cooing and asking if he really was as handsome up close as they thought. But her what she had envisioned didn't happen. It was worse.
During the weekend her sisters had pleaded and begged and pressed for information from her about her date. They wanted to know where they were going, what she was planning to wear. Was she going to sneak him into the house? Was she going to sneak into his? Eventually the questions turned into rumors and before long the word was going around the house that the two of them had snuck off into a side room to make out. And no matter how many times Judy would refute them, the rumors would simply grow.
She had not even considered how well-known Theodore was. She had never kept up with the sports teams from other schools beyond Deerbrooke for rivalry reasons, and even then she really only focused on the track team. So finding out that the buck had been the star forward and captain of the basketball team, as well as very skilled first base-mammal with a near perfect hitting record came as a bit of a surprise. Now the attention seemed to make more sense, though she still didn't want it anywhere near her.
The first thing that happened when she got to school that morning was a bombardment of voices all ringing out around her at the same time. The problem with one of the more famous teenage rabbits asking someone out on a date was that someone being made famous themselves. It was bad enough that Judy already held many school records, was seductively beautiful, and could intimidate a buffalo into leaving or beat one down if she needed to instead. Now she was in the sights of every female, and several males, who hadn't cared about those qualities before.
"You're really going out with Theodore Bounderson? Oh my!"
"He's soooo dreamy."
"His ears are perfect!"
Surrounded by a practical mob of bunnies, Judy found it impossible to push away from her locker after depositing her books. Even with the second bell ringing and everyone now in danger of being marked tardy for class, they continued to swarm around her.
"Alright already!" The strong voice caused a silence to fall. Judy's strong ears could now pick up the slightly elevated heartbeat from each rabbit around her and also the clacking noise walking towards them. "Second bell went off. Anyone here got Thomson for first period?"
The result was almost comical. Nearly half the students were trampled by the sudden stampede of rabbits walking, running, and even hopping down the hallway. Mr. Thomson was the AP Biology teacher and the gazelle was extremely strict on attendance. Too many tardies equaled a reduction in grade and with his curriculum being as tough as it already was, a dropped letter could easily result in failing the class.
Judy breathed a little easier at seeing the crowd around her break apart and move on towards their own classrooms. "Thanks Sharla."
The black ewe that had come across her friend nearly buried in bunnies grinned widely. "No problem, Jude. Now I get to ask you all those questions myself." Judy groaned.
"Why am I not surprised?" Sharla chuckled heartily, shaking her head at Judy while the doe rubbed a paw over her face.
"Because you know me all too well, probably? Now," she clapped her hooves together and rubbed them mischievously. "Let's start easy, shall we? How long have you been hiding Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?"
Judy scoffed. "He's not that tall. He's like my height."
"So you admit he's handsome."
"What? No!" Judy practically yelled, her eyes going wide. "I never said that. And I'm not hiding him. I never met him until Friday night when my parents had his over for dinner."
"Huh. With the way the word is going around the school I wouldn't have been surprised to get an invite to your wedding." Judy stopped dead in the hallway.
"W-wedding?!" The doe was horrified. If something like that was being spread around then she needed to find a way to end it quick. "I'm not getting married! I only agreed to one date because my mother practically forced me into it. And you better tell everyone that talks about 'marriage' that Theo and I are not getting married!"
"'Theo', huh?" Sharla's brow waggled in the bunny's direction. Judy shoved the sheep while turning into her classroom. The ewe's laughter along with the ewe herself followed the gray-furred rabbit to the back.
"Morning, Carrots. Big date tonight I hear." While unloading her backpack of her math book and a notepad with a few pens, Judy's ears swiveled towards the voice next to her. It was calm, smooth, and controlled. The perfect aloof attitude. She could tell differently however. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she could just see the minuscule twitch of Nick's black-tipped ear. It took her many weeks to learn to read the tod who was a master of deception when it came to his true feelings, but she knew. Even with the joking they had done over the weekend about how awkward the dinner would probably be she could see he was still upset about it.
Could he seriously be jealous? He knows I would never abandon him. Especially not for some...lawyer buck.
"Oh don't I know it. According to half the population of Bunnyburrow, at least it feels like it, I'm apparently meeting my future husband." She couldn't help but put a small scoff into her words, as if the very idea seemed ludicrous to her.
"Oh? Well, bunnies do move that fast sometimes. Didn't your sister marry that mechanic on her first date?" Nick's smile still seemed genuine and to others it probably fooled them, but Judy could see the strain behind it.
"And divorced the next morning." Sharla snickered on Judy's other side. "Holly has never been the best judge in character when it comes to males," the bunny finished. Sadly she wasn't embellishing anything. When it came to Holly, the revolving door of marriage and divorce was constantly spinning.
"Don't worry, Nick." The two mammals turned towards the black ewe. "I doubt this date will last ten minutes before Judy throws a drink in his face and storms out. That's what happened last time she went out with someone. You still have a chance," she cooed while sending a wink Nick's way.
Right then Judy had an overwhelming urge to just tell her friend about her and the fox's relationship, more to ease what she felt was Nick's apparent and concerning jealousy than it was to end the speculation, but Nick surprised her.
"Hey Gid," Nick waved towards the classroom's door. Sharla let out a tiny bleat in panic before whipping around to face the entrance only to see nobody there. Nick and Judy both laughed heartily while Sharla sulked in her seat.
"Hate you guys. Sooo much."
You really shouldn't be doing this.
No shit, thanks for sharing. You think you can ace the finals this year with those brains?
Oh her har. You think Judy is going to be happy about you sneaking into the restaurant? For following her on her "date"?
It's NOT a date! It's just two mammals going out to dinner at the same time, in the same place, eating at the same table. Besides it was her mother's idea, not hers.
Obviously it's not a real date. But she's still gonna be pissed.
If Nick could list out his top ten most brilliant plans he had ever come up with, the one he was currently trying to execute wouldn't even be close. In fact, if he could rank it, he doubted he could even assign it a number.
The only thing worse had to have been that hustle last summer.
Hey, making dozens of small pawpsicles from that one giant one was a brilliant idea. Wasn't my fault Finnick didn't count on Tundratown being so cold that everything got freezer burn.
Yep. Not only was it fifteen bucks wasted plus the extra four and change for the sticks, but you had a pissed off fennec with you all day.
Still a great sleep-over, though.
Nick chuckled at the memory of that weekend. It had been near the end of summer and just before they were set to move to Bunnyburrow. Finnick had recently learned his own family was going to be moving as well, but he was headed overseas, not just a couple hundred miles south of the city. The smaller tod's father had just been given transfer orders to a different airbase. Quite a few curses had come streaming from the fennec's mouth when he found that out. He loved his parents dearly and was extremely proud of his Airforce Colonel father, but that didn't stop him from being pissed about it.
They had decided that they would have one last bit of rebellion together before their contact would be limited to video calls at random hours. The idea had been simple and born from a chance encounter the day before where they had witnessed a hippopotamus child and young squirrel sitting together enjoying milkshakes. When the squirrel's had accidentally spilled, the much larger mammal had given part of his to his sad friend to try and cheer him up. While it worked just fine, Nick and Finn had been astounded to suddenly realize that the eight dollar shake the hippo had would have made a hundred squirrel sized ones that cost three dollars a piece.
"We could make bank on this, Nick! How has this never been figured out before?" the small fox had been ridiculously excited at the idea. It wasn't illegal he argued and while his dad would be furious if he ever found out, he could at least buy a really good laptop or tablet so they weren't talking to each other on tiny screens. Nick had ridden the creative high with his friend and formulated a plan which they put into use the very next day.
Unfortunately the brilliance of their not-quite-on-paper plan refused to cooperate with their imagination. It had taken them nearly an hour to find a single large-mammal vendor that was willing to sell them an extra large popsicle, and even then they only got it because Finnick decided to use his size to his advantage for once and threw a tantrum looking like a toddler and they mainly just wanted them to get out.
Then they had needed to find a place to melt the popsicle down. Finnick had an idea about that which would have been brilliant if they had their own set of wheels. Instead they had needed to stand on the bus to Sahara Square, all the while trying to avoid becoming horrendously sticky while the juice pop dripped down their arms. When they had finally gotten to the place Finnick had noted, Nick was already aggravated by the whole thing before he had learned he was going to have to scale the pipe with a thirty pound melting popsicle on his back. And then to add insult to injury, after letting the sugary liquid to melt down and slide into the gutter, they discovered there was some dried sand still left inside the drain.
Nick had all but given up and was ready to go home but Finnick was adamant that once they froze the smaller popsicles then everything would be smooth sailing. He had neglected to inform Nick exactly where it was that they were going. Going from one suffering temperature extreme to the other did not help Nick's mood. Coincidentally, the moment they discovered the quick freeze of the juice ruined the product was the same moment when he could no longer feel his tail. A disgruntled red fox had headed for the bus stop while leaving behind a small and struggling Snowfennec behind him.
Fortunately for the two of them they had failed before getting any further. They learned later that they had violated several food laws in just acquiring the popsicle. Both had sworn off hustling from that day on. They just weren't cut out for the wrong side of the tracks they supposed.
"Are you ready to order, sir?"
Nick was so startled he nearly jumped out of his fur. Out of instinct he raised his head and scanned quickly left to right looking for the threat that would have caused his adrenaline to spike. A forced clearing of a throat had him instead turning to his elbow. Nick flushed in embarrassment upon seeing the face of an amused elderly otter. Normally the fox would have gotten a chuckle out of being called 'sir' by someone so silver-furred as the water mammal before him, however he had been so spooked he nearly forgot where he was.
"Order? Oh! Right, order." Running his eyes over the menu but not really reading the words, Nick gestured at what he thought was the seafood section and deciding to go with what he had the last time he had been there with his parents. "Grilled trout with baked potato."
The otter arched his brow at seeing the flustered tod point towards the Chicken Marsala dish but rattle off a seafood one instead. Noting the way his brilliant green eyes kept flitting over to the other side of the restaurant, the aging mammal took a slide glance in that direction. To say that he was surprised by the fox eyeing a pair of rabbits would have been an understatement, but the otter was not worried by it. With age comes wisdom and a knowledge the young rarely understood. He knew the look in that canine's eye all too well having seen it in many pairs over his lifetime and chose to leave him be for the moment. "Trout it is, sir. Very good choice." Scooping up the menu, he left the fox trying to duck behind a narrow-stemmed flower sitting in the center of the table.
Oh god this is so stupid.
That's what I've been trying to say all night!
While trying to keep his head down as much as possible, Nick made sure at least one eye stayed on Judy in case she suddenly needed his help. He was finding it hard to watch as his bunny tipped her head back and laughed at something the other rabbit had said. He wasn't worried about her intentions on 'the date', he knew he had her heart. It still hurt though to see her enjoying someone else's company when it could just as easily have been his.
It seemed as if only moments had passes but the next time he looked down there was a steaming trout laid in front of him. To distract himself, he cut into it and lifted a forkful to his lips. I am paying for it after all. Shouldn't let it go to waste. Once the meat hit his tastebuds the rich flavor certainly helped take his mind off things enough to relax.
And then it happened.
As his gaze went back to the fair doe he winced to see her smiling and shaking her head fast enough to let her ears flop in front of her shoulders, the long, silky appendages framing her face making her even more cute. It was perhaps his favorite thing to see about her, but until then he hadn't been forced to share that particular vision. And just when he decided that he should probably just leave before he did or said something moronic, Judy's eyes flashed around the room before meeting his.
Widening pupils told him she was stunned to see him there and were it not for the buck finishing his own bite of salad and turning back to his 'date' she most likely would have continued to stare. Thankfully she caught the motion in the corner of her eye and swapped her attention back to him. Nick was astonished to see how easily she went from laughing to shocked to casual laughter again without missing a beat.
Nick kept telling himself the rest of the night to just pay the check and go home. Leave before anyone catches him and figures out their secret relationship, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Every so often Judy's and his eyes would meet and a silent understanding would flash between them. But unlike the first look, every other one showed her silent anger, something that confused Nick greatly. He kept watching hoping that the next time she looked his way that it would be love or sympathy in her eyes, but no. It was always anger.
Soon enough the night came to an end. Judy and Theo stood with the buck leaving a small stack of bills on the table. She allowed him to drape her sweater over her shoulders before the two exited the restaurant. Nick felt as if a spell had been broken. Leaping to his feet, he pulled several bills of his own from his wallet and dropped it on the table. Halfway out the door he realized he most likely had just left a one hundred percent tip or more but he wasn't going back in. Thirty seconds later his car was out of the parking lot and headed for home.
"That stupid, dumb, idiotic…ARGH!"
With her tiny fists balled up and face beet red, the look Judy was giving her unyielding bed post was unnerving. Her foot throbbed from where she had kicked the stiff wood in anger. It was not the smartest move she had ever done but when she was upset her sense of recklessness tended to skyrocket.
Stripping off her light blouse, she flung it towards the hamper in disgust. "I can't believe he would spy on me like that!" Her jeans soon joined the shirt which left her hunting through her drawers for something else to wear. Still fuming, she grabbed the first pair of shorts and light t-shirt she found, not caring what they looked like or even if they fit properly. The shirt ended up being a bit too large and hung off her shoulder but it went ignored for the time being. "Does he seriously not trust me? After all these months does he think I would just abandon him for some…some…rabbit?!"
Maybe he wasn't spying?
Oh and he just happened to be at the only ritzy restaurant in town at the same time as me?
Okay, fair point. Why not just ask him?
Oh I will. The minute I see that smug-faced sneak I'll be doing more than 'talking.'
A tap at her window told the doe that minute she was waiting for had arrived. Gritting her teeth together, she stepped over to the exterior wall and stopped. Staring at the figure just on the other side of the glass, she had a strong urge to yank the curtains and ignore the fox even existing for the time being. Instead she flicked open the lock and let the red-furred mammal tumble inside as he normally did.
At first a smile had graced the Tod's lips but, at the sight of such a severe scowl adorning his bunny's own, that expression quickly vanished in favor of a timid one.
"Nicholas Wilde I cannot believe you! You followed me?!" The sheer venom in her words caused the fox to rock back on the bed, his motions almost looking like he wanted to flee. "I am so furious with you right now!"
"Carrots-"
"Oh no, don't you start. You knew what you were doing and I am-just-ARGH!" Her foot which had been rapidly thumping against the floor suddenly turned into a hard stomp as she let out a low growl with the intensity of all of her pent-up anger. She was not good at handling emotions like this. She never knew what to say or what to do and so she normally waited until she was ready to boil over and her body did what it could to release the tension.
Breathing heavily, Judy kept her eyes on the floor for almost a minute. It does no good to speak in anger, she reminded herself. It was a saying her mother would tell all of her children and now was the time for Judy to use that.
"I will give you one chance to explain yourself, Nick." Lifting her head, she met the fox's gaze. It was filled with fear and dismay and it nearly broke her heart. But she had to remain strong on this. "Why did you follow me?"
"To protect you."
Those words stunned the doe. They were not at all what she was expecting. And the way he said them, without any bit of sarcasm or humor, told her he was completely serious. "Protect me? Protect me from what?"
"Everything."
Once more she was shocked by what he said. She wanted to understand but she was now more lost than ever. "Everything? Like what? Theo? You think you needed to protect me from him? I am capable of defending myself, you know."
"I know you are, Carrots. It's not like that. It's-…" He cocked his head trying to think of a way to explain. "It's a predator thing. Specifically male predators. And canids worse than others." He held up a paw to halt her response while he tried to carefully craft his words.
"Judy," the use of her name immediately caught her attention. It was something he rarely uttered, especially in private. "I want you to-…No. I need you to understand this, okay?" Nothing the pleading tone in his voice, Judy nodded slowly. Something between a snort and a sigh rushed from the Tod's nose while he worked up the nerve to speak. "My father taught me this a long time ago. It's…it's not exactly flattering to us. Canids, I mean."
"Just tell me, Nick. I'm right here. I'm all ears." She realized what she had said just as the grin reached his lips and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Laugh about that later, Nick. Now talk."
"Right. Um…god this would be so much easier if you were a vixen." He said those words under his breath while rubbing his the top of his muzzle. However the ears he was just grinning about easily caught them.
"Oh so being a bunny is now a problem?" she stated angrily.
His eyes widened in fear while his heart-rate skyrocketed. This was getting out of hand. "No! No, Fluff that's not it. I just meant that vixens are given this same speech by their mothers like tods are by their fathers. So you would already know if you were. But you're not. And that's not a bad thing! Not at all! I love everything about you, from your tear-shaped cottontail to your long velvety ears-"
"Nick!" He stopped short his rambling and stared at his rather irate girlfriend. "Explain. Now."
"Male canines get overly protective during new relationships they feel are becoming serious like serious serious and being so young I kind of have a hard time controlling it since the hormones are like crazy strong and I'm not used to it so I followed you because I was worried that you could get hurt and I could never forgive myself if that happened and I'm really sorry I followed you it wasn't right I should have talked to you about this but I was scared about how you might react about the whole thing."
Judy blinked. The whole explanation had come at her in nearly a single breath without pause leaving her brain to try and catch up. "So…if I…wait…" She put a paw to her head and closed her eyes, trying to visualize the words in front of her. "If I understood that, at all, you were worried I might get hurt so you followed me because your instinct told you to?" Nick nodded. "That doesn't excuse your behavior, Nick. Spying isn't okay. Especially on your girlfriend!" When he had bowed his head in shame, she asked the question that had been burning in her mind for the past hour.
"Were you thinking I was going to leave you for Theo?" It wasn't something she thought would have ever come up between the two of them but she had seen it happen with her own siblings in the past.
"No. Of course I didn't." As he had never lied to her before and judging by the sincerity in his eyes she gathered he was not this time either, she allowed herself to relax slightly.
So it's not because he thinks I would cheat on him or dump him. Okay, major concern number one dealt with.
"What was with the sad look? I wasn't hurt and you didn't fear me dumping you, so why did you look miserable." Nick cast his eyes away from hers.
"I was jealous."
"Jealous?" The doe scrunched her brow in confusion. "What could you possibly have been jealous over? The whole dinner was to get my mom off my back. You knew that."
"I know. But he got to be out there with you. He got to take you to dinner. He got to be seen with you. The closest I could get was to sit half a restaurant away and pretend it was you and I at that table," he muttered dejectedly. "I wish we had never decided to be so secretive. I know why, Carrots so we don't need to go into that right now. I just would like for that to be us."
"Oh Nick." Stepping forward, she climbed up on the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm still upset that you didn't talk to me about all of this, but at least I understand why you were there."
Nick let his tail wag slowly as his gathered her into his own embrace. He had been so worried after seeing the anger she had been projecting at him, and now he had her back in his arms.
"Nick," she breathed softly into his ear. "What did you mean by 'serious serious'?"
"Uhhh…" He pulled back to see a supremely confident grin on the bunny's lips with a gleeful shine in her eyes. He cursed himself. Nick wasn't exactly ready to have this conversation yet. He was about to explain when a loud chime went off along with a vibrating sound from Judy's phone. Saved by the freaking bell. "Oh would you look at that. A text message!"
She gave him a look that practically screamed that the conversation wasn't over before glancing at the sender. "Oh. It's Theo."
Nick scrambled to look over her shoulder while she unlocked the phone and brought up the text screen.
Theo: Hey Judy. I hope u had a good time tonight.
Judy tapped the keypad though it took her a couple tries when Nick's breath caught her ears and made her shiver.
Judy: I did, thank you.
Theo: So I noticed something was off when I left ur house the other night. Guess I kno why.
Judy: Huh?
Theo: The fox.
Judy widened her eyes while Nick did the same. Her thumbs went across the screen so rapidly there were several typos but in her panic she didn't even register them.
Judy: Fpx? WhT flox?
Theo: U kno what 'fpx'. The one that was sneaking around the restaurant.
Judy: Rlly? I didnt c anyone.
Theo: O? Must have been my imagination then. Cuz I coulda swore I saw u looking at him every like 2 minutes.
"Oh crap, oh crap. He-he can't know, can he?" Judy's chest started heaving as her breaths came faster and faster to the point she was near hyperventilating. Nick wrapped his arm around her and hauled her in close, letting the doe press her cheek to his chest. The scent of her fox tickling the inside of her nose had her breathing slower and deeper, chasing the scent to get as much of it as she could.
"Carrots. Even if he does know, we just proved that nothing can drive us apart. Not this buck, not your family, and not stupid fox instincts. And if he drags us out into the spotlight, oh well. We can say we managed a secret in a town full of tens of thousands of rabbits for nearly four months. That's still gotta be a record."
Slowly letting her panic recede while nuzzling into Nick's fur, Judy realized he was right. They had known it wouldn't last forever. It would just be a matter of time before they were found out. Sure they had talked about revealing it on their own terms but with all the close calls they had had in public, maybe this way they could at least control the way they might be exposed. The two were so wrapped up in each other's comfort that they had missed a text coming in and only when a second chime went off did they turn towards the phone.
Theo: Guessing the lackluster response to when I kissed u on the cheek is because my muzzle isn't long enough huh?
Theo: I hope I'm not being too nosey but I AM right, aren't I. U and the fox?
Judy: His name is Nick! He's not 'the fox'
Theo: Whoa, chill. I only called him fox cuz I didn't know his name. So u and Nick?
Judy sighed and looked up at the tod who was leaning over her shoulder reading along with her. He shrugged leaving it up to her on where she wanted to take the conversation and confirm or deny it. "He's got enough of the picture already to try and get away with it, I guess. Maybe we can get him to keep it quiet?" This time it was Judy's turn to shrug before tapping at the screen.
Judy: Yes. Nick and I are a couple.
Judy: But we want to keep it a secret for now.
Theo: So I gather u want me to keep it quiet?
Judy: Please
Theo: I can do that
"I wish we could trust that," Nick lightly growled. "I don't trust his kind."
"His kind?" Judy said with a frown. "What, you can't trust bucks?"
"Nah. Lawyers," Nick's snarl turned into a smirk before he rubbed the spot on his arm where Judy just slugged him. "Oh look," Nick gestured to the phone, "guess hare-brain is ahead of us."
Theo: I kno u prolly don't trust me, and I don't like making others feel uncomfortable about their relationships, so I'm gonna tell you something about me that you can 'hold hostage' against me. Like trading hostages I guess
Judy cocked her head, confusion marring her face. Nick on the other hand suddenly became very giddy. Clapping his paws, he rubbed them together evilly before grabbing Judy's phone. "Oh this I gotta know."
Judy/Nick: Hello lover boy. This is 'The Fox.' Put ur paws up over your head and turn over the classified documents u got
Theo: LOL. Nice to make your acquaintance. Wow, thank god for spellcheck, I wasn't even close to that.
Judy/Nick: These are not seeeecrets.
Theo: I gotcha. Just…
Theo: Don't tell my mother
"Oh now I have to get in on this!" Nick cried ecstatically. Judy for her part was now lost to her own curiosity and huddled closer around the small screen.
Judy/Nick: Yeah, gotcha. Now spill!
Theo: Okay. Umm…First of all, u know u have nothing to fear from me, right Nick?
Judy/Nick: I don't fear anyone when it comes to my bunny.
Judy looked up at him appraisingly. Just a few minutes ago they were arguing back and forth with her accusing Nick of being jealous and worried she was going to dump him for someone else or potentially cheat on her only to find out he was hopelessly devoted to her, trusting her intentions in every way and only there in case he needed to protect her.
Theo: I'm engaged.
Judy snatched the phone back, completely turned on her head by that reveal.
Judy: Ur engaged? Why did u even ask to go on a date with me then?
Theo: To a skunk.
Nick's jaw dropped. It took Judy a few moments but she put the pieces together and shook her head sadly.
Judy: And I'm guessing ur mother doesn't like skunks
Theo: Not exactly. She feels the same way about every mammal that isn't part of our family. No one is good enough for her kits
Theo: so. Deal? you don't talk about my predator and I don't talk about urs?
"Ain't gonna get a better deal than that, Fluff." She smiled up at her fox, making a mental note to turn that smirk of his into a pleased smile for at least the next hour.
Judy: Deal
Theo: Alright, so that's done. Now, a question for u since inter relationships especially bunnies aren't known around here
Judy: Uhh okay?
Theo: Does ur pred get a little too…nibbly under the sheets? Cuz I keep having to hide these bite marks and Im running out of excuses. Do u kno any?
Nick started laughing into his paw to keep from waking anyone on that floor up while Judy clapped a paw over her eyes.
"Oh carrot sticks."
POST A/N: A little Sarisha fun for those who have followed my past stories. Big thanks to Bluelighthouse for the use of Trisha in this story. It won't be going further than just some video chatting but I was glad I got to introduce the pair so that my sweet little Sundae had someone to love, too.