(A/N) Look at this, another chapter and it hasn't even been a month yet! XD

I'm planning on making Wednesday the regular upload day for chapters of this story, since I generally try to update my other two stories on Thursday and Friday for each one. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with a weekly upload schedule though (as a matter of fact, I'm quite a bit behind on my other stories...) but I plan to update on whatever Wednesday comes after I finish writing a new chapter. Maybe it'll end up working, who knows?

As January turned into February, Judy found herself feeling more cheerful than she had in quite a long time. The tutoring sessions with Nick were going better than ever—both in terms of Nick's grades and him getting along with Judy—and she was finally feeling optimistic about the future.

She still thought often about her other friends, but tried not to dwell on them too much. Maybe sometime she would try to seek out Mark and make sure he was still doing ok, but she didn't have much hope that the rest of them would come back. Even so, she wasn't too upset about it. She still had Sharla, and now Nick again, and everyday she felt less alone than the last.

It was a cloudy February morning and Judy was getting up to prepare for school. Today was Monday, and she'd just had a tutoring session with Nick the day before, so she was in a pretty good mood. Even James complaining about her alarm for the thousandth time wasn't enough to dampen her spirits.

After getting dressed and ready, she hurried to the kitchen for breakfast. As usual, she was the first one in her room to get ready for the day.

Everything seemed to be going well. Judy reached the kitchen and went to prepare her breakfast, thankfully not having to weave through too many bunnies since most of her siblings were still in bed. Just as she sat down to eat, her mom came in from the living room.

"Judy," she said, "I need to talk to you about something before you go to school today."

Judy shifted uncomfortably. Her mother didn't seem upset with her—she would have made that obvious—but the way she spoke sounded like something serious had happened.

"Um...ok?" Judy answered. "What about?"

Bonnie sighed.

"Come outside when you finish your breakfast," she said. "I don't need the little ones listening in."

With that, she left the table and started outside, leaving Judy even more confused than ever. With how well everything had been going lately, she couldn't imagine what her mom wanted to talk about that was so serious.

"Maybe it's not something bad?" Judy thought. "Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. But if it was good news, then that's a really weird way to act about it…"

She ate her breakfast as fast as she could, not wanting to put off the talk any longer. Whatever it was, she needed to know. Once the bunny was done eating, she got up from the table and hurried to the front door.

Outside, Bonnie was waiting for her on the porch, wearing that same serious expression on her face that she did when Judy's grades were slipping. Judy had been doing better than ever at school in the last month, so this only confused her further.

"So…" Judy said nervously, closing the door. "What did you want to talk to me about, exactly?"

Bonnie paused for a moment, sighing again.

"It's about that shed you've been tutoring Nick in," she said.

Judy frowned, confused. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it definitely wasn't that.

"Oh no, is Dad gonna use it for some new project?" Judy guessed. "Well, we're only in there every few weeks, so we shouldn't get in the way too much—"

"No, that's...not the reason," Bonnie interrupted. "Your father and I talked it over, and we're just not comfortable with the two of you being by yourselves that far away. I wouldn't have let Chloe do that at your age…"

"Chloe already goes out there to hide blueberries," Judy blurted out. "Or...well, she used to. And we can take care of ourselves! Both of us know the way, and—"

"Judy," Bonnie sighed, "I know you can take care of yourself. That's not what I'm talking about."

"Then...what?" Judy asked, suddenly feeling very lost.

"Do I really have to spell it out?" Bonnie replied. "Judy, you're almost thirteen. I don't mind if you need a quiet room for the two of you to study, but staying across the farm for hours at a time?"

"Mom," Judy said flatly. "Are you concerned he's going to eat me? Because I think we've had this discussion before—"

"This isn't a predator/prey thing, Judy," Bonnie said. "My parents wouldn't have let me go that far away with your father when I was your age."

"Wait," Judy said. "Are you...are you thinking we're going there to...make out or something?"

"I'm not saying that's what you're doing," Bonnie replied. "But it wouldn't be responsible of me to let you both stay over there that long."

"See? What do you think? Am I going crazy?" Judy asked.

Across from her, Sharla hesitated for a moment, fiddling with her wool as she often did when she was nervous.

"Well, I mean, that's the kind of thing my mom does all the time," she said. "I guess your mom doesn't?"

"Well...I don't know, I don't remember anything like this," Judy replied. "But I just don't understand. Why does everyone suddenly think I want to make out or whatever?"

Sharla, again, didn't respond right away. Judy hadn't meant to sound accusatory, though she realized it probably came across like that anyway.

"At least you're actually almost a teenager," she finally said. "My mom's been telling me to stay away from boys since I was barely out of the womb."

"It's not the age thing that bothers me," Judy corrected. "It's just...why is she even thinking about that in the first place? Have I ever shown any signs of wanting to go kiss boys in a secret room?"

"So, you and Nick…" Sharla said slowly. "You're...not...you know?"

"What?" Judy asked.

"You're not…together?" Sharla inquired.

"No, we're...he's just my friend," Judy answered. "But even if we were, it still seems weird."

"I mean...usually mammals tend to...you know, kiss and stuff...when they like each other," Sharla said, barely audible at this point.

"I guess, but why would anyone spend hours doing that?" Judy replied. "We stay out there for a while."

Sharla paused again; she looked like she was trying to retreat inside herself.

"Can we...maybe talk about something else?" she asked nervously.

"I...yeah, that's fine," Judy agreed.

The rest of lunch period, she was able to distract herself while talking to Sharla. For a while, she had almost forgotten about the talk with her mother that morning, until she'd recalled it again in the middle of class and couldn't stop thinking about it.

"How am I supposed to forget about it when I still have to think of another place to do our tutoring sessions?" she thought.

Part of her was upset because she had gotten used to the room in the shed, and had actually come to like studying with Nick there, but it also bothered her because she still couldn't make sense of her mother's reasoning. She had never shown any interest in making out or anything like that, so why was that even on her mom's mind to begin with?

By the time she got home, Judy's chest tightened as she followed her siblings inside. Just being here after that morning's conversation made her very uncomfortable. Not wanting to talk to anyone right then, she headed back to her room and got started on her homework, eager for anything to take her mind off this.

After about an hour, she was tired and needed to take a break. Stuffing her notebooks back inside her backpack, she left the room and started towards the kitchen and the front door...when another idea occurred to her. Backtracking, she walked back down the hallway until arriving at a different door, and then knocked several times.

The door opened to reveal two of her sisters, both of whom were light gray rabbits like Judy herself.

"Hey, Hannah, Emily," Judy said. "Is Chloe in here?"

"Nah, she went outside again," Hannah answered.

"Probably hiding in that secret spot she won't tell us about," Emily added.

"Ok, thanks," Judy said. "I'm gonna go see if I can find her."

She waved goodbye to her other sisters and headed back towards the front door. She passed by her parents and several other siblings in the living room and kitchen, but didn't say anything. Thankfully, no one spoke to her either as she made her way to the door and out into the chilly air.

Judy sighed and started off in the direction of Chloe's 'secret place.' She was pretty sure she remembered where it was, and that seemed like the best place to start if she was looking for her sister.

As she walked, she kept trying to make sense of what had happened, but didn't have any success. Admittedly, it would have been one thing if her father was the one to say he didn't want her and Nick off on their own, but even that would have felt kind of strange.

"Just what exactly do they think we're going to do out there?" she thought.

Thankfully, she correctly remembered where Chloe's hideout was, and to her relief the older doe was sitting right there.

"Judy!" Chloe exclaimed, standing up. "Thought you'd be busy with homework or something. Did you come to talk to your favorite sister again?"

"There's, uh...something I wanted to ask you about," Judy answered.

"Oh?" Chloe said. "Come on, take a seat! I've got nothing else to do."

She patted the ground next to her as she sat back down, and Judy took a seat next to her. She paused for a moment, unsure how to explain it. Besides, how did she know Chloe would be able to clear anything up?

"So, uh...you wanted to ask your sis something?" Chloe pressed. "I mean, no pressure or anything! But really, you can tell me anything you want to."

"Mom told me this morning that she doesn't want me to go out to the shed to tutor Nick anymore," Judy explained.

"Oh," Chloe said, nodding. "Yeah, I'm surprised she let you go out there for so long in the first place. She'd never have let me do that…"

"But why?" Judy asked. "She even said it wasn't because he's a predator, so it's not like she thinks he's going to eat me or something like that…"

"No, she thinks you're gonna get too heated in there," Chloe said bluntly. "Kinda weird concern for you, but I guess she's trying to make sure nothing happens."

"What would happen, though?" Judy pressed. "Because she made it sound like she's afraid that we're going to...you know."

"Not sure she actually thinks it'll happen, she's not Sharla's mom…" Chloe said.

"But why is she even thinking about that? One, Nick is just a friend, and even if we were a couple, why would she just assume we want to do that?"

Chloe paused for a moment, as if she was trying to choose her words carefully.

"Mom's raised...a lot of kits already," she said. "And more than a few of us—myself included—started thinking about that when we were about the age you are now."

"Wait, really?" Judy said.

"You haven't noticed?" Chloe replied. "Oh, right, I don't talk about that around you since you're an innocent baby. Well, I guess you're old enough now."

"But...wait," Judy said, her mind spinning as she tried to make sense of the new information. "You're not dating anyone right now?"

"Ah, you don't have to remind me!" Chloe said.

"What was it that made you start thinking about that, then?" Judy asked.

"Well...just getting older, I guess?" Chloe answered. "Is this really that confusing for you? I mean, no offense or anything! It's just that you usually understand everything really well and you learn stuff quicker than, like, almost any of the rest of us."

"I mean, Mom explained how it works a while ago—"

"I don't mean that, I just mean...I don't know, maybe I shouldn't overwhelm you with this. It'll probably make more sense when you're a little older. Mom thought I was weird for thinking about it at your age."

Somehow that didn't reassure Judy very much, but she nodded anyway. She still felt like something wasn't clicking, but she didn't know how to explain it so she wasn't sure what else to ask. Feeling a little exhausted, she decided to change the subject...slightly.

"Well, either way, I've gotta find another place to tutor Nick," she said glumly. "I don't even know of another place that'll work as well as the shed. Of course, even if I did, Mom probably wouldn't let me go there either…"

Chloe chuckled.

"Yeah, I'd offer to let you use my room, but it's no less crowded than yours," she said. "Hmm...I'll think about it. When's the next time you guys meet up?"

"Not until the week after next," Judy answered.

"That gives us time to figure something out," Chloe said. "Try not to worry about it too much, ok? You should focus on your schoolwork. I'll see if I can find somewhere for you to go that Mom won't hate."

"Thanks," Judy replied. "Don't you have homework and stuff to do too, though?"

"Oh, yours is way more important than mine!" Chloe laughed. "You still wanna be a police officer, don't you?"

"You remembered!" Judy exclaimed, almost startled.

"Well, yeah," Chloe said. "I always thought it was a cool dream, and if anyone in this family could do it, it'd be you."

"You're...sure about that?" Judy asked. "I haven't thought about that in a while now…"

Chloe put an arm around her and pulled her into a hug, startling the younger bunny at first.

"I'm absolutely sure," she answered. "Now, should we head back to the house? It's getting close to dinner time, and you know how Mom is if we stay out too long."

"Yeah…" Judy agreed. "Let's...let's go back."

Pulling out of the hug, both sisters got up and started back out of the hideout, taking their time as they walked back to the house. Neither of them said much, which was just as well since Judy's head was still spinning.

Before long, they arrived back at the house just as Mom was finishing up cooking dinner. The smell of vegetable soup, as well as the noisy chatter of her siblings, signified they had gotten here just in time.

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Judy didn't talk to anyone much except Mallory during dinner—the younger bunny had apparently been spying on James all evening and decided to report his escapades to Judy—and then quickly headed back to her room when she was done eating. She read up a little more on some of her schoolwork, just to make sure she'd be ready for the next time Nick came over, and then went to bed a little early.

Over the next few weeks, Judy tried to focus on her schoolwork as Chloe had suggested, and not worry too much about the tutoring sessions. However, this turned out to be quite difficult, as Sharla kept asking her for updates every day at lunch.

"I told you, Sharla, I'll tell you if I hear anything at all," Judy had said one day.

"Well, Chloe's gonna have to figure something out soon!" Sharla replied. "Your next session with Nick is in a few days, isn't it?"

"Let's see...yeah, it's the day after tomorrow," Judy confirmed.

"Then you've gotta tell her to hurry up!" Sharla shouted.

"I know, I know!" Judy said. "But what can I do? If Chloe hasn't found a solution yet, I doubt me pestering her is going to help."

Sharla sighed.

"I guess you're right," she said, disappointed. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"I mean, I can always tutor him in my room with James and the others…" Judy said unenthusiastically.

Sharla slammed her hooves down on the table.

"No! Are you crazy? That's a terrible idea!" she protested.

"Well, unless you have a better idea…"

The rest of the day, Judy found it next to impossible to concentrate on school. She was trying to think of any other place on the farm that would work as well as the shed, and the only one that seemed even mildly plausible was Chloe's hideout. But even if Chloe was ok with them using it, she couldn't exactly tell her mom where they were going, so it was no more of an option at this point than the shed.

The next day, Judy decided on the way to school that she was going to have to tell Nick what had happened. She knew she should have told him already, but since they didn't share a lunch period or any classes anymore, she hadn't bothered to mention it yet. A part of her was probably just hoping the issue would go away or resolve itself in time, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

By lunchtime, she had decided she'd try and catch Nick after school and let him know before they went home. Then she got to the table and saw Sharla with a wide, mischievous smile on her face.

"Hi, Judy!" she said, waving cheerily as Judy sat across from her.

"Sharla…?" Judy replied slowly. "What's going on? Did your secret crush notice you?"

Sharla flinched.

"No, not that!" she said suddenly. "I thought of an idea to help you tutor Nick!"

"Really?" Judy said. "You mean, a place to go?"

"Well...not exactly a new place," Sharla explained, her mischievous smile returning. "Your mom's worried about you and Nick being out there by yourselves, right?"

"...Yes," Judy answered slowly. "Sharla, what are you thinking?"

"I can come over to the shed with you guys!" Sharla said excitedly. "If your mom thinks it's more of a group thing, then maybe she'll let you go, right?"

"Well, I don't know, honestly," Judy admitted. "None of it makes any sense anyway—"

"We can still try!" Sharla insisted. "I can come over to your place after school today and we can ask her together; how about that?"

"I guess it's worth a try," Judy agreed, shrugging. "But do you really want to come over every time I tutor Nick? Isn't sitting there listening to us gonna be kind of boring?"

"Nah, I'll bring my homework and work on that downstairs," Sharla said. "Let you guys have your own space, you know?"

Judy was about to reply, but Sharla leaned over the table and whispered, "And no one needs to tell your mom that!"

"Alright, if you're sure about it," Judy said. "I'll have to let Chloe know so she won't worry about finding somewhere else for us to do it."

The rest of the day, she forced herself to focus on school. She told herself it was just a few more hours, she'd have her answer by the end of the day. She could put the issue out of her mind for a few more classes.

After school, Judy met up with Sharla and they sat together on the bus ride home. Instead of waiting to get to her house, Sharla got off with Judy at the Hopps' farm.

"Are you sure you shouldn't go tell your mom about this first?" Judy asked as they stepped off the bus.

"Nah, I won't be long," Sharla said. "Besides, you're one of the few mammals at school my mom actually likes."

"Really?" Judy asked, surprised.

Sharla chuckled. After getting off the bus, they started up the driveway towards Judy's house, letting the rest of the Hopps kits on their bus run ahead of them.

"I don't know why," Sharla said. "Maybe because you get good grades and never seem to get into trouble or anything."

"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or concerned," Judy replied.

"Maybe both," Sharla laughed.

They made their way inside the house, just as Judy realized she still hadn't told Nick about what happened. Hopefully, if all went well, the only surprise he would get would be Sharla tagging along with them.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to locate Bonnie, as she was already working on dinner in the kitchen. She looked up when she noticed Sharla with Judy.

"Are you staying for dinner, Sharla?" she asked.

"No, we just had something we wanted to ask you about," Sharla said.

"Mom, um…" Judy started. "We were wondering...um…"

"Would you let Judy tutor Nick out at the shed if I go out there with them?" Sharla asked flatly.

Judy was both frightened and relieved now that the question was out there. Bonnie sighed, waiting a moment to speak.

"You're going to go all the way out to the shed just to sit with them while they do homework?" Bonnie inquired. "And you're going to do this every time Nick comes over?"

"Yep," Sharla said, her confidence not wavering at all. "Actually, I figure I could probably learn some from Judy too, so why not? My mom's been on me about my grades lately…"

Bonnie paused again, not saying anything for a long while. Judy wanted to say something, but she kept quiet, hopeful that it would go over well.

"Alright, you can do this for now," she finally said. "Sharla, does your mom know?"

"Yeah, I asked her about it this morning," Sharla answered. "She said it was fine."

Bonnie sighed again, clearly not enthusiastic about the idea.

"As long as she's ok with it," she said. "But only until we find another place for you to do it."

"Understood, Mrs. Hopps," Sharla said. "Thanks for your consideration."

She turned to leave, and Judy followed her back to the front door. Once they were outside and out of Bonnie's earshot, Judy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Sharla," she said. "I kind of froze up in there."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Sharla replied with a smile. "Well, in any case, I should probably get back home before my mom freaks out too much. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you then," Judy agreed.

The two friends waved goodbye again, and Sharla headed back down the driveway while Judy stepped back inside. Sharla lived very close to the Hopps' farm, so walking back wasn't a huge deal. Still, Judy doubted the sheep's mother would approve. She just hoped Sharla would be allowed to come over after all.

At dinner, Judy found Chloe and sat next to her, explaining that she had already found a solution, at least for now.

"I was thinking of something like that!" Chloe whispered loudly in Judy's ear. "I was going to see if Peter could follow you out there, but he's too busy lately. I'm pretty sure having me there wouldn't reassure Mom of anything…"

That night, Judy went to bed pretty early; she didn't have much homework to do, and she wanted to make sure she was well rested for tomorrow. Still, she couldn't keep herself from lying awake in bed for a few hours, her mind still trying to make sense of everything. Thankfully, she was tired enough that she fell asleep before too long.

The next morning, Judy awoke early and got out of bed while her siblings were still fast asleep. She almost tripped and fell on the floor, but caught herself before making a loud crash. She chuckled to herself as she checked to make sure no one had woken up.

"That was a close one," she thought.

Carefully, Judy grabbed her backpack and left the room, headed for the kitchen. Both her parents were already awake, as well as a few of her siblings. Judy quietly made breakfast for herself and, after eating, went outside to wait for Sharla and Nick.

Sharla arrived first, though when her mother's car first pulled up, the two sheep spent a few minutes talking about something before Sharla's mom finally let her go. Sharla came running up to the porch as her mom drove away.

"Haven't heard a list that long in a while!" Sharla laughed as she sat next to Judy. "So, still waiting for Nick?"

"Yeah," Judy replied. "He should be here any minute. I didn't exactly get a chance to explain that you're going to be here, though, but he should be fine with it."

"Hey, don't worry!" Sharla said cheerily. "It's not like I'm gonna be in the room with you; it'll be just the same as normal!"

Judy frowned.

"You're...not...going to be there?" she repeated. "But wasn't the whole point—"

"Of course I'm going to be in the shed!" Sharla explained. "But I'll hang out downstairs, so you and Nick can have your privacy. I'm pretty sure I told you that yesterday, didn't I?"

"I guess you did," Judy said. "But I don't want to leave you out or anything."

"Honestly, Judy, it's perfectly fine with me!" Sharla insisted. "I get to hang out somewhere besides my crazy house, and you and Nick still get to have your time together. Perfect, right?"

Before Judy could answer, another car pulled into the driveway, one she recognized as Nick's parents'. Unlike Sharla, Nick hurried over almost as soon as the car stopped, pausing right by the porch when he noticed Sharla.

"Hey," he said. "Are you tutoring Sharla now too?"

"Nope, I'm just here so Judy's mom doesn't get suspicious," Sharla answered with a smile. "I'm not gonna bother you guys, though. I'll just be downstairs, trying to get some homework done. It'll be so much nicer than trying to concentrate at home…"

Judy and Sharla got up and stepped down from the porch, and then started off towards the shed with Nick. Nick's parents were already driving away.

"What do you mean about her getting suspicious?" Nick asked as they walked. "Wait...does she think I'm going to eat you?"

"No, it's not that, thank goodness!" Judy replied. "But it, uh...doesn't make much sense, either."

"She means it doesn't make sense to her," Sharla clarified.

"I thought you didn't like it either?" Judy said.

"I don't like it, I'm just saying I know why your mom tried to stop you in the first place!" Sharla explained.

"Uh...anyone mind explaining what's going on?" Nick said.

"Mom said we can't be in the shed—just the two of us—because she thinks we'll...you know, the thing married couples do," Judy said awkwardly.

Sharla burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, Judy, but you sound like my family when you describe it that way," she said.

Nick, however, just looked confused.

"Why would she think we'd be doing that?" he asked.

"Honestly, you guys!" Sharla said. "I know it's kinda weird she'd think that since you're not even dating and everything, but you act like it's some alien idea. I'm sure she doesn't think you're gonna go all the way, but if you guys were a thing, it'd make sense for her to think you might be...getting a bit physical, while you're out here by yourself for a while."

Neither of the others replied. Judy wanted to say that she didn't feel like she would be 'getting a bit physical' regardless of her relationship status, but she didn't want to get into that right now. She felt relieved to know that Nick thought it was odd too, though.

When they arrived at the shed, Judy asked Sharla once more if she would rather study with them, but the sheep declined.

"You guys go ahead," she said with a wink.

"Ok, then, suit yourself," Judy replied.

Leading Nick up the stairs and into the other room, she set her backpack on the bed and started pulling out her books.

"So…" Nick started. "Your mom thinks we're…?"

"Well, she doesn't really think that," Judy explained. "I guess she just thinks it could happen…? I don't know, I don't understand it. And every time I talk about it with anyone, I just get more confused."

Nick nodded, pulling his own books out of his backpack.

"I don't blame you," he said. "Maybe it's better if we don't worry about it, then. We can just...pretend nothing happened and it's just another study session, right?"

"Well, nothing did happen," Judy agreed, smiling, "so I see no problem with that. Now, did you work on any of the stuff we talked about last time?"

(A/N) Bonnie currently doesn't realize that Sharla is essentially Chloe in training XD

Also, does anyone have a more concrete idea on how bluntly I can refer to 'adult things' in a story rated T? I feel like some of the talk around it is starting to sound a little unrealistically euphemistic, but part of me is still paranoid about getting too specific in case it's considered too adult to be T. I...don't exactly do well with vague guidelines.

In other news, aaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'm so excited to finally be writing about the teen years!

I hope to return soon. Until next time.