The old saying goes, good things die young, and that good thing was Nick's ability to continue living life in private.
About a week had passed since the ZooGala, which Nick admitted was probably one of the best nights of his life, aside from the stereotyping security, aggressive paparazzi, and snobby celebrities. But other than those things it was a great night, Nick felt as though his and Judy's relationship wouldn't have to change in order for Nick to be happier, just being around her was enough to make the fox feel better. But that didn't mean his feelings for her had changed, oh no, if anything they had gotten stronger.
The bond that the two of them had was unlike any other bond that had ever been seen. Other mammals noticed it quickly, the duo's chemistry was incomparable to any other dynamic duo that the city had seen. And the city as a whole were quick to share their feelings to the world.
The pictures and events at the ZooGala were all over the headlines the next day. Some of the stories were strung up with lies and over-exaggeration, but some of them actually held some semblance of validity to what happened that night.
The Daily Zugle's main headline "Zootopia's Star Studded Night Featured a Visit From Everyone's New Favorite Dynamic-Duo". The story was about how Judy was an absolute angel on the red carpet while Nicks first time on the carpet was an overwhelming success. They stretched the truth by saying, "the fox was rather talkative but his overall charisma kept us all engaged through his answers".
When Nick and Judy read that they both had broken out into fits of laughter. The fox had only answered one or two questions, and his answers had been extremely short.
"Yeah plus you were the least charismatic mammal out there, with your hands in your pockets the whole time and your silly glasses" Judy said punching the fox playfully in the arm.
"Pssht, I'll have you know that I am a mammal of many talents, and being charismatic is one of them" Nick said, his head held high and turned away as if Judy's comment was below him.
"Alright Slick, settle down, I would say you're only marginally more charismatic than Jack Savage" She quipped to the fox.
Now the fox looked at her with a bit more of a seriousness on his face, but he was still joking nonetheless, "Okay now that one hurt".
Both mammals immediately broke out into laughter once again before going on to read more of the news articles. Some of them didn't paint the fox in a good light though, some of them said he was rather commanding of Judy and seemed to hound over and listen in on everything she was saying. Others continued to say that he was a perfect bodyguard, ready to go at all times. The mixed reviews would show their true colors whenever the fox would leave his apartment.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to leave without being recognized by other mammals. His early morning runs had to be made even earlier to avoid the morning crowds. If he went out at his normal time he would be stopped for pictures or when some curious mammal looked at him and 'could've sworn that they've seen him somewhere before'. It was debilitating and it honestly made Nicks whole daily process a tad bit more difficult.
As far as his feelings towards the attention, Nick couldn't tell whether he liked it or not. There were some cases when it was flattering like when a young raccoon had stopped him and asked for his autograph on his hat saying:
"I want to be just like you when I grow up"
Nick had signed the kids hat before saying, "You can be whatever you want to be kid, as long as you put the work in to get there".
He then waved off the kid who ran off to his mother while he continued on his way.
There were plenty of occurrences like that which Nick enjoyed. Then there were the ones where mammals didn't know how to react to seeing him, some stopped him just to talk about Judy, which he understood because Judy was a megastar, although he never told them anything important.
Then finally there were the ones that just didn't like him. There were several reasons for not liking him but the overall consensus was that the mammals were biased against him because he was a fox and they thought he was just doing it as some sort of trick. When he had brought it up to Judy she had told him,
"Oh there are going to be mammals that don't like you even if you were a wolf. Although being a fox won't help mammals to like you" She said while they relaxed in her apartment, she then realized what she had said and turned to the fox who was seated next to her, her ears tucking behind her head, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry that sounded really insensitive"
Nick broke down in laughter at the rabbits realization. She had come a long way from the snarky and rude rabbit that he had met well over a month ago. Back when he had first met her she probably wouldn't have realized just how rude she had sounded, but the fact that she instantly knew caused Nick to laugh.
"It's alright Fluff I know what you meant, and that's honestly the reason I wanted to stay out of the spotlight" Nick stated. He worded his sentence to sound a little passive aggressive, he turned to face her now, copying the same look that she had just had on her face, "oh my gosh that sounded so ungrateful I'm so sorry" He said in an identical falsetto tone to the rabbit to which she smiled before punching him playfully in the arm.
With Nick's newfound fame he often reflected on just how he had gotten there, and it would cause him to think about things he didn't want to.
And of course when his mind started to go to the past his mind would begin to race and he would feel himself losing his grip on reality as he went into a panic attack like state, which was one of the lasting side-effects from his drug overdose. He would always be be able to get out and come back to reality, but the memories of his past would always haunt him.
His family.
His life experiences.
How much of his life had changed.
Whenever things started to turn south, the thought of one mammal brought him back down to reality. A mammal who was important to him right now, someone who he wanted to hold onto for the rest of his life.
Judy Hopps…
Even as just her friend, he enjoyed all of the time he spent around her and would go out of his way to be with her.
It was bizarre to him just how far he had come.
Just about 15 years ago he was selling drugs in HappyTown. Now he was a bodyguard for a celebrity, living in a high-end apartment in Savannah Central. It certainly hadn't all been easy, but through all the adversity he had stood tall. That is why none of the mammals that hated him ever got to him. Also there was the fact that many mammals had hated him most of his life for being a fox, so how was that any different now?
The week had been an interesting one, what with all the articles, the news broadcasts with his and Judy's face on it, and of course the fame that followed.
Nicks daily life was much the same, but it had to be rearranged to make up for the newfound fame that he had attained. Before he would have to wake up at five in the morning to begin his day, but now he had to wake up much earlier, about and hour earlier at four. If he even tried to wake up any earlier his body would rebel and he would feel like absolute death the rest of the day. At least at four he didn't feel like his stomach would want to empty itself.
Why did he go through all the hassle of waking up so early. The truth was that he always wanted to stay in prime physical shape, and forcing himself out of bed to workout was a great way to start the day. Without the exercise he would need at least five cups of coffee just to feel something, but with the exercise in the morning he would only need a strong two cups to get him going for the rest of the day.
Judy had heard about his routine while he had explained it to Clawhauser, and she thought he was an complete lunatic for submitting himself through such torture. She had even called him a caffeine addict…
Which was entirely true, but it didn't hurt any less.
Either way, he would run in the darkness of the early morning, he would run wherever he wanted to. He loved going around the city because the city itself was stunning. Sure there were definitely some parts that were a bit of a fixer upper to say the least, such as Nicks home district of HappyTown, but outside of the slums it was a marvel to look at. And seeing it in the early hours of the morning, with the sun rising up near the end of his run made waking up ridiculously early all the more worth it.
This particular morning was interesting.
Because the weather was controlled through most of the city, the climate would be similar day in and day out. But there was one thing that the engineers still couldn't control, and that was storms. It hardly ever rained, but when it did it would pour.
It was about 4:30 and Nick was about four miles into his run. Feeling good, feeling strong. But a few drops hitting his head caused him to stop and look up at the early morning sky. Through the valley of skyscrapers Nick could see an oncoming rain storm, accompanying it was tall dark storm clouds that blocked out the sky and would flash with long bolts of lightning.
The sight was rather terrifying, it was practically just him out there that early in the morning, and being alone during a storm as mean as the one he was looking at was not something that Nick wanted to be a part of. He was only about three miles away from The Flats, but even if he turned on the jets now he would still not be able to make it back without probably getting drenched.
'But getting drenched is certainly better than getting struck by lightning, now run Foxtrot!' the female rabbit voice of Judy's echoed in his head.
He didn't have to be told twice, he immediately turned around and began running in the direction of his apartment. The sound of the rain followed him, and for just a moment he thought he might have been able to outrun it. But his thoughts were soon doused, literally and figuratively, as he began to feel more drops of rain hitting his fur.
What really got him moving was a bright flash of light followed by the clap of thunder that followed, the sound of which echoed throughout the city. If he wasn't awake fully before, he certainly was now. The closer he got the harder the rain fell, and by the time he got back to the front door of the building it was pouring and the lightning was almost continuously flashing throughout the sky.
It took him 18 minutes to make it back, which when you broke it down, meant that Nick ran a 6 minute mile at the end of his already intense run.
'I guess a bit of bad weather is better than any physical trainer' he thought to himself as he entered the building.
Of course waiting for him at the front desk was Manchas , as soon as the panther locked eyes with Nick he smiled.
"Good morning Mr. Wilde, awfully wet out there today hm?" he said with a laugh looking at the soaking wet fox.
"Yeah, ha ha Manchas laugh it up, if this wasn't such a nice apartment building I would shake myself dry right here" he said hunched over, allowing the water to drip off of his body. His fur was soaked through, not to mention his tank-top and gym shorts, and now with the air conditioning hitting him he was freezing.
"Here" the panther reached under his desk and pulled out a clean towel, most likely one of the towels that was kept at the apartments swimming pool, "whenever I know it is going to rain a lot I make sure to grab a few of these for any poor mammals caught out in the storm" he said handing the towel to Nick.
Nick took the towel graciously, "thanks Manchas", he used the towel to dry off most of his body, although his clothes were still dripping when he was done. While he was drying off a few of the panthers words echoed in his ears, "say buddy, you said it was going to rain a lot. How long is this storm supposed to last?"
The panther shrugged his shoulders in response, "not sure, the weather-mammal just said off and on thunderstorms all day".
"Well that's not good, there's that big annual charity concert that's supposed to be outside tonight" Nick said thinking about the days event that Judy (and he) had to go to. Judy was one of the last acts to go on which meant she didn't go on until later in the day, but the thought of the major event being rained out did not bode well with Nick.
The two mammals finished up their conversation before Nick waved goodbye to Manchas and went up the elevator. The whole way up he was thinking about the rabbit and what her reaction would be if the event was rained out. It was an important event to her, and one that she was looking forward to for awhile now. The charity that was being supported was one that she loved and supported whole-heartedly, it was titled Paws for Cause and helped underprivileged children live their dreams as well as give them the chance to live a successful life. The thought of making kid's dreams come true excited her, which is why it would be tragic for the event to be rained out.
Eventually, he reached his floor. The hallway was quiet, which he expected at such an early hour in the morning, the only sounds being the soft blow of the air-conditioning and the thunder that was rolling outside. It was all normal…
That is until he put his keys in the lock of his door to find that his door was already unlocked. Nick was a very attentive mammal, his career required it, and he definitely remembered locking it before he left on his run.
'Someone else is in there' he thought to himself. He knew that no one else had access to this floor except those that lived here and the few housekeeping staff that worked at the complex.
'Judy is probably playing a trick' he thought to himself. He quietly pushed the door opened and stepped inside. He waited for his eyes to adjust, knowing that if Judy was in there that if he could let his eyes adjust to the darkness he would hold the advantage.
He was about to step in when he heard a feeble noise, it sounded like someone calling out but it was quiet.
"Judy?" Nick asked into the darkness. He reached over to a nearby lamp and flipped it on, the room was instantly bathed in a soft orange light, including a small rabbit curled up on his couch.
"Nick" She said quietly.
"Carrots what are you doing up this early?" Nick asked putting his keys, phone, and other stuff on the counter. As he got closer to her he could see that something was off. She was clutching her legs close to her and she was visibly shivering.
"The… storm" she let out.
"The storm woke you up?" Nick questioned. She nodded in response but didn't say anything as he kneeled down in front of her. She was wearing her usual silk pajamas, although they seemed damp, like she had been sweating in her sleep. Her eyes were all out of wack as well, her pupils constantly dilating, unable to adjust to the dim light. He easily connected the dots, there was more happening that she didn't want to tell, or maybe she just couldn't. He gently placed a paw on her shoulder, he could feel the tremors moving throughout her entire body but with his paw there he could feel her noticeably relax, reading the situation he made a guess at what was going on.
"Alright Fluff, don't move too much just use your eyes to answer, blink once for yes and twice for no. The storm woke you up right?"
Blink.
"Okay, but I can tell that you are going through a withdrawal episode, is that right?"
Blink.
"Alright, I think what will help is if you get back to sleep, do you want that?"
Blink.
"I gotcha Fluff, just relax" he finished getting up from his knee. He carefully gathered up the shivering bundle that was Judy, keeping her close to him as he walked down the hallway towards his bedroom.
The windows were slightly opened, revealing the now slightly lighter grey sky thanks in part to the sun coming up. The rain was still pounding and the lightning was still flashing away, but the sound of the thunder had calmed down and was now simply rolling through the sky.
Nick set the rabbit down, bringing the blankets up and tucking her in like a parent would do with their child. Nick found it quite humorous that he was having to baby her, but he would never let it show because he knew what she was going through.
"Alright sleep up Carrots, I will be right down the hall if you need me" he said before stepping away from the bedside and towards the hallway.
He turned around and began to shut the door behind him when he heard her say something, stopping him in his tracks. It wasn't even a word, more of just a sound to gain his attention, which it did, he turned his head and peaked out of the corner of his eye wondering if he had heard anything at all.
"Stay" she whispered.
Nick turned all the way around stepping back towards the bed so he could hear her better.
"You want me to stay?" He asked.
She hummed in response, but one that was indicative of a yes.
"Sure thing" he grabbed a chair that was situated at his desk nearby and pulled it up right next to the bed, taking a seat and relaxing back into the leather material.
He was getting comfortable in the chair when she spoke up again.
"No… here…"
Nick looked back at the rabbit who had paw laid out at her side showing that she wanted him to lie with her. The thought of it made him freeze, his fur prickled at the idea. He knew he wouldn't do anything, he would never do anything bad, but the thought of getting into bed with her still made him nervous.
"Uh, are you sure Fluff? I kind of smell like wet fox right now" he reasoned. It was true, he was still partially damp from the run in the rain, plus he still could smell the sweat on him from the run itself.
He figured the wet fox excuse would be enough, but she surprised him. Her purple eyes were pleading and her shivering had returned full force.
"Please…"
She was desperate and Nick knew it. He moved quickly and silently, stripping off his wet tank-top and slipping on a dry, grey t-shirt. His shorts were dry enough, and he didn't want to cause the rabbit any more pain by not being near her so he left them on. Back at the bed he pulled up the covers and slid into the bed, staying close enough to Judy so that she could feel his presence but not really enough to touch. But she had other ideas, with what little energy she had she pulled herself into his side and curled up against him, she was hugging his arm with her back to his side. The shivering was still there so to try and help her relax he reached his other paw over and puller her in close.
Her shaky breathing quickly changed to relaxed-full breaths, her shaking died down, and she drifted off to sleep. Now Nick was basically stuck there, so with nothing better he figured he might as well catch up on his own missed sleep, so he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, making sure the rabbit nestled up against him stayed close as he himself was brought to sleep.
Meanwhile the storm simply continued to roll on as both mammals lay in the comfort of each other's arms.
A knock at the door woke Nick from his peaceful sleep. Checking clock he realized that only four hours had passed as it was only about nine in the morning. He had been in a light sleep the entire time, fading in and out of dreams so he even questioned if the knock he had heard was real or not. He sat in silence for a few moments waiting to hear if the knock would come again.
Knock Knock Knock
Nick sighed when he heard the noise, he was so comfortable and wrapped so snuggly into the covers. Not to mention the still sleeping rabbit who was just next to him. And with the storm still raging outside he couldn't think of a more perfect morning.
One more set of knocks caused Nick to get up, this time they were at a much quicker pace as if the mammal outside was getting more and more anxious. He did the best he could to move away from the rabbit without moving her too much and without making to much noise in hopes that she would remain asleep. Once he was untangled from the blanket he tiptoed out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him, just in time for a fourth set of knocks.
'Gosh this mammal is persistent' he thought to himself. He already had a good feeling as to who the mammal was on the other side fo the door, so without looking through the peephole he opened the door.
As soon as portly cheetah made eye contact with him he let out a sigh of relief. But the relief was short lived as he took a deep breath,
"Oh thank goodness you're here Nick. I went into Judy's place to wake her up like I normally do but she wasn't there, she didn't text me, she didn't leave a note, her bed is undone like she had a struggle. I think she got kidnapped" the words tumbled out of his mouth as he went on to describe how they should call the police and report the missing rabbit, Nick had heard enough at this point and tried to interrupt. But the cheetah seemed to be just to on a roll and didn't notice the second time either.
"Clawhauser!" He said aggressively shaking the cheetah, finally getting his attention, "breathe".
The cheetah did as he was told and took a deep breath not realizing that he was about to pass out until the fox stopped him.
"That's it, in and out buddy" Nick said patting the cheetahs arm, "and go ahead and stop worrying about Judy. She is in my bedroom sleeping right now".
Clawhauser looked at Nick in shock for a moment before his face lit up and a smile began to develop as well as a high pitched squeal. When the crescendo reached its peak he reached out and grabbed Nick on either side, shaking him back and forth.
"She finally told you! Congratulations!" He said happily, pulling the fox in for a hug.
Nick was confused, 'she finally told me?' he questioned to himself. It took him a few moments to figure out what the cheetah had reacted to, and it took longer than usual due to the sleep that still laced his brain, 'I just said that she is sleeping in my… oh', he face palmed himself in his mind for wording it how he did.
"Ben relax. She just woke up because of the storm and got scared, so she came over to my room, when I got back from my run I put her in bed and went to sleep on the couch" he explained to the cheetah, leaving out several details such as Judy's withdrawal problem, and the fact that he had actually slept in bed with her. But that was it, nothing else had happened.
Clawhauser stopped after hearing the fox's statement, letting out an embarrassed "oh". He let go and stepped away from the fox, his eyes avoiding Nick's.
Now it was Nicks turn to think about what Ben said, some of the words still echoing in his head.
"Wait hold on, what do you mean 'she finally told me'? What does Judy have to tell me?" He asked, his voice full of suspicion as he eyed the cheetah. Ben looked him in the eye for just a moment before quickly looking away once again,
"Oh nothing, just tell Judy to come see me once she's awake" and with that the cheetah quickly walked down the hall, opened the door to his room, and then shut it before Nick could even get a word off. The fox simply stared down the hallway at the now shut door wondering what the heck the cheetah was referring to.
'He seemed awfully excited at the thought of me and Judy sleeping together' he thought to himself, 'and he said that Judy had something to tell me that she hasn't said yet'. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots as to what was going on here and Nicks brain figured it out after a few moments of silent thinking.
'Wait, is Judy in love with me?'
He stood there, eyes wide, thinking in his mind if he was missing any important parts to his story. Then the more realistic (or cynical, which ever way you look at it) part of his mind took over.
'Relax foxy, you're just misunderstanding everything. Just relax and wait for Judy to tell you whatever she needs to tell you, it probably isn't that important anyways. Maybe she just actually wants to keep you around'
Yeah, that made sense to the fox. It had been a few months since he had joined the team and he figured that eventually Judy would tell him whether he would be staying around or not. Or maybe she wouldn't, things were going so well maybe she just figured he knew he would be staying.
Whatever.
He still had sleep lacing his mind as he closed the door and went into the kitchen. He continued to think while his coffeemaker went to work brewing his usual cup of the dirt flavored brown liquid. When the machine stopped making noise he took the mug from its stand and sniffed deeply into it. The aroma of the fresh coffee was intoxicating, and taking a sip only made things better. Besides the burning sensation he felt from drinking the still hot coffee, the taste was indescribable. It wasn't good, but it was that kind of bad that was oh so good.
Nick was pulled out of his coffee induced state by the sound of a door opening down the hallway in his apartment, there was only one other mammal in there so he didn't have to guess at who it was. And when a small pair of black-tipped ears peeked around the corner he knew that his guest had woken up.
"Good morning Fluff" he said, alerting Judy of his awareness of her presence. Knowing that the jig was up she stepped around the corner, her ears tucked behind her head.
"Are you feeling better?" He asked, she certainly seemed better. She was no longer shaking, her eyes were a normal size, and she was clearly able to walk so that certainly helped.
"I think so, I still feel a bit out of it, but that extra sleep certainly helped" she said walking over and taking a seat on a bar stool next to the counter.
"Good, so how did this whole thing happen in the first place?"
"The storm really, it woke me up at around four in the morning and it kind of shocked me into that state that you found me in. When I realized what was going on I came over here, I even forgot that you normally are out at this hour, so when I knew you weren't home I just sat on the couch and waited, hoping that I could either fall back to sleep or that you would get here eventually" she said thinking back on her early morning start.
Nick nodded in understanding when a new thought entered his head, "wait. How did you even get in here?"
Judy seized up at the question becoming very still and avoiding any and all eye contact, "uhm… well I just so happen to have a copy of your main key, no other key, just the main one. And its uh… only for emergency's" her voice progressively got higher as she clearly continued to fabricate her story.
Nick simply shook his head in response, although he couldn't quite hide the smirk that graced his face. "Come on Carrots, you know how I feel about surprises" Nick said sternly.
"I know" she said getting up from the bar stool and approaching Nick who was leaned up against his counter, "and other than that one there aren't really any others. I promise, unless I forgot about them, which is possible"
Nick sighed, once again shaking his head at the rabbit who now stood in front of him.
"Oh Judy, you are going to be the death of me" his words were serious but his smile contradicted his serious tone. He then pulled the rabbit into a hug, he didn't even realize that he did it until her arms were wrapped around him. Both mammals were surprised by his move, but both enjoyed it through and through. Nick wanted to bring up what Clawhauser had mentioned about Judy having something to say to him but he didn't want to ruin the moment.
'I'll just ask her tonight' he thought to himself.
"Thank you Nick" she whispered into his chest.
"Of course Fluff…
Of course''
The rest of the day flew by, the storm lightening up sometimes before coming back full force. Luckily, Nick didn't have to go anywhere until later in the evening. He spent the majority of the day planning out all that he needed to do for the event that evening.
He had his clothes already selected (as usual), he also had to map out the venue for hazards, which wasn't a huge deal considering the place would be crawling with celebrities as well as their bodyguards, not to mention the heavy presence of police and security. Nicks main purpose like most of his last events was simply safe entrance as well as a safe exit for Judy. It was much nicer working for a very famous client, almost every event would have a lot for all the celebrities there or even if it was just Judy which meant there would often be a heavy security presence. It made his life easier, but he didn't let his own presence be hindered by the other muscular mammals out there, and if the lion from the ZooGala was anything to go by some of the security can easily be swayed by their own bias's.
He knew that he had a totally different goal in mind, it was one that had developed soon after his feelings for the rabbit had formed. 'Keep Judy safe at all costs', otherwise known as, 'keep the mammal you care about safe, because you know that if anything happens to her you will hate yourself'. It was a simple goal in theory but not a simple one to keep up. The rabbit was always busy and threats came in all shapes and sizes, although since the run in with the lynx there hadn't been a major attempt to harm her (other than Jack Savage of course). Nick figured it was simply because the rabbit was too high class to try and mess with, it would have to be professionals to make a move which no one felt like doing. No random passerby would try and kidnap the most famous rabbit in Zootopia, unless they were crazy of course, like the lynx.
Slowly but surely the day slid by until it was time to depart for the event. Nick continued working on his various tasks and reflecting on his decisions while continuously debating his feelings for the rabbit, it was gradually becoming easier to ignore them as the female voice in his head became quieter and quieter, but certain things that the rabbit did certainly didn't help. Either way his emotions were in check, he was dressed finely for the occasion (in a nice grey suit with a black undershirt), and now he waited just outside his door at 3:58, approximately two minutes early. Of course he wasn't out there alone for long, because after a few moments of silence Clawhauser's door opened revealing the cheetah who was dressed in a black vest with a light purple button up and black slacks.
The events earlier in the morning didn't slip Nicks mind as the cheetah approached him, the image of instant embarrassment that the cheetah had felt when he let out too much information was locked in Nicks mind. He had stopped thinking about it but he was still curious as to what the cheetah had referred to. Even if the cheetah did remember it he didn't let it show as he walked up to Nick with a smile.
"Are you ready for this?" He asked clearly giddy about the upcoming event. Nick simply looked at the cheetah perplexed, sure it was probably the biggest concert of the year but Nick didn't see how it would be any different from any other event he had been to.
"Yeah?" Nick responded with a questioning tone hoping that the cheetah would elaborate which he didn't have to wait long for.
"Not only is this concert big, it is also just so well put together that it isn't just a joy for the celebrities but also for the staff that works for them. It is basically a big party in the front and the back!" Clawhauser stated.
Nick was about to respond when the door next to them opened revealing a more casually dressed rabbit, she wore a simple pair of blue jeans with a loose purple blouse. Her stage clothes were currently waiting at the arena where the concert was being held.
"Are you telling him about the event?" She asked, her large ears made hearing things easy so she didn't struggle to hear the bubbly cheetah talking outside her door.
Clawhauser nodded eagerly in response.
"Yeah my favorite thing to do at this event is drink just a little bit of alcohol so that when I go out on stage I am as loose as possible" she said. Sure sometimes it was more than a little but it only helped her performance.
"Hmm sounds like a good time" Nick said as he led the group towards the elevator.
"Oh it is, and its even better because now we have you to keep all the crazy mammals away from Judy" Clawhauser added. The group piled into the elevator and rode the box down to the bottom floor where the usual car was waiting, the rain was still coming down but luckily the thunder had stopped so Nick took the lead and led the rabbit out to the car under the safety of an umbrella, Clawhauser followed close behind with an umbrella of his own.
"Wait" Nick stated as they got comfortable in the car, "what do you mean by crazy mammals?"
Clawhauser and Judy eyed each other, clearly once again knowing something that he didn't.
"Have you looked at the performance schedule at all?" Judy asked which Nick responded with a quick shake of the head, "well just before I perform, there is our favorite hare doing his set".
'Favorite hare… oh' he thought silently as the mammal in question came into his memory.
"Jack fricking Savage" he said out loud.
"Yup, and I meant it when I said that if he touch's me again you can have at him" she said thinking back to the black and white hare trying to touch her.
Nick sat back and smiled, "I will gladly teach him a lesson if he tries to pull anything"
The rest of the ride consisted of idle chatter for about 30 minutes until they eventually arrived at the stadium which was located just outside the city on the coast bordering Sahara Square and Savannah Central.
The concert was massive, it was held in the Zootenial Stadium, the stage being pushed up to one end of the big rectangular stadium allowing the audience to fill up the rest of the field as well as the seats surrounding the front side of the stage. The event was entirely sold out which meant that about 75,000 mammals were inside the stadium watching their favorite artists perform.
Nick didn't know how but each event somehow got bigger and bigger than the last, this being by far the largest event he had partaken in. And according to everyone else, the best run event he would go to.
The car pulled into the back of the arena where the group left the car. Nick doing his usual thing and stepping out first where he was met by a formally dressed wolf who had a tag on him labeled "celebrity guide", as soon as he was out of the car he opened his umbrella and awaited the rabbit. Once they had piled out of the car the group made their way through the madness that was the backstage area, being led by the wolf.
The back stage was crowded with at least 20 trailers of varying size and an impressive amount of food and drinks including an entire bar setup to one side. The trailers were the dressing room / green room / relax area for each celebrity and their posse. Judy's trailer was smack dab in the middle of the area and one of the smaller ones (as she was a smaller mammal). The bass coming from the actual stage and the stadium behind it was so strong Nick could feel it reverberating through his body. The sound coming from whoever was performing (not to mention the massive audience) was equally as deafening. Once they were inside the trailer things got a lot calmer, the deafening sound and commotion outside was shut out as soon as the door closed. It was strange, the music had been so powerful outside how did this tiny trailer block out all of that sound.
Although it wasn't really tiny, it may have looked small on the outside but he inside was rather spacious with everything a mammal could need. A small kitchen with all of the appliances, a couch in front of a good size tv that was currently showing a livestream of the concert, a full bathroom that even had a shower, and a whole bedroom in the very back with a queen sized mattress.
"Wow each performer gets one of these trailers?" Nick asked to which Clawhauser nodded his head, "this must cost a fortune to put on".
"Oh it does, but a lot of outside sources send in money to put it on, and the charity ends up making money even after all the fees" Judy said getting comfortable on the couch.
Meanwhile Clawhauser grabbed Judy's specific schedule, which was placed on the counter, and clipped it to his usual clipboard. "Alright Judy, your dress time is six and your stage time will begin exactly at 7:20, it is currently 5:14 so you have about 45 minutes to relax and prepare yourself. I'm gonna go and get some food. Nick you do what you gotta do" he said pointing to the fox before leaving the trailer with his umbrella leaving Nick and Judy alone.
Nick decided to relax next to Judy on the couch while they watched the performance on stage. Currently performing was the hound Anderson Pack, he was bouncing around the stage and the audience was absolutely loving it. With the rain coming down the hound was getting soaked when he came out from under the cover of the stage to approach the audience but he clearly didn't seem to mind as he kicked the water that was beginning to collect on the floor, meanwhile the band behind him was well protected from the rain as they jammed, completely enthralled with their performance.
Each set was a different amount of time based off what each artist had to play, and their overall popularity. Judy, considering she was very popular and had a lot of music that she wanted to perform, had a time slot of 45 minutes, while Anderson had only about 30 minutes.
It was so strange to the fox, there was no hectic paparazzi hounding them down, there were no crazed fans to deal with, and everything seemed to run like clockwork even in the rain. It all made sense what the other two had been talking about.
"This is insanely nice" He thought out loud. Judy looked at him from across the couch with a smug grin on her face.
"Told ya so", she then got up from the couch, stretching out her body and popping her spine in the process, "I'm going to go get some refreshments, would you care to join me Mr. Bodyguard?" she asked holding a paw to him.
Nick smirked at her question, because they both knew that he had to go whether he wanted to or not. But it was a good thing that he wanted to, but he wouldn't let her know so he huffed in mock frustration and stood up, taking her paw in the process, "fine but only because you asked so nicely"
He grabbed the already wet umbrella and once again led the rabbit to her destination, leaving the trailer empty.
Outside Judy reached into her pocket, feeling for the small container that she knew held the energizing powder within it. She didn't want to use it but would if she had too, she had made a lot of progress but if her performance would suffer without it then she may have to give in. She then looked up at the fox who held the umbrella over the both of them,
'I just hope he doesn't find out'
The rest of the night drifted by, with a lot of rain, and a lot of alcohol. Like usual, Nick didn't drink, but Judy on the other hand, Nick soon realized that there was no such thing as "a little bit of alcohol" for the rabbit. Somehow a mammal smaller than him could drink three times as much, and even though she had drunken that much she was still almost cognitively able to walk around and talk, even if she stumbled around and none of her sentences made any sense. If Nick had drunken half of what she had he would probably be dead.
And just like Judy's nonstop drinking, time didn't stop either and soon enough 6 o'clock was upon them while they were standing right by the bar, becoming good friends with the bartender.
"Hey Hopps, its time to go get dressed for your set"
'And for you to sober up' he thought to himself. There was no way the rabbit could go out on stage in her state, she would fall flat on her face.
Said rabbit turned to face him, turning a little too fast and causing her to lose balance for a moment. "Sure thing… Nick… I was just about to ask you to take me to my… trailer" she said between hiccups. Nick rolled his eyes and gently led the rabbit to the trailer and away from the bar with a paw on her shoulder.
Eventually they made it to the trailer, not before Judy would slip and stumble several times due to the copious amounts of rain water on the ground. But they made it nonetheless.
Clawhauser was still no where to be seen, which left Nick with the responsibility of getting her ready for her performance.
"Alright Fluff, first things first you need to get changed into you outfit" He said, looking at the clipboard that the cheetah had conveniently left behind.
"You… got it Nicky"
Nick didn't have enough time to compute what the rabbit did next until it was too late. The rabbit reached for the bottom of her shirt and pulled it off. When Nick noticed he was in shock for just a moment before quickly turning around and shutting his eyes.
"Judy! I meant go change some where in private" he said awkwardly. He didn't really see anything but the thought of the rabbit stripping down in front of him was not something he was ready for quite yet. But it would definitely make for a good story the next day.
The rabbit giggled mischievously, "oops" was all she said as she grabbed her garment bag before disappearing into the bathroom. Nick didn't turn around until he heard the door click shut, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
He shook his head once again wondering how the heck the rabbit was to perform on stage as drunk mess.
'Who knows maybe she has the magic ability to sober up or something' he hoped to himself. After a few minutes of waiting the door reopened, and just in case the rabbit forgot how to dress Nick once again shut his eyes, not wanting to see anything he shouldn't see.
"Relax fox I'm dress now… well mostly" she said smoothly.
The articulate nature of her sentence surprised him. It had only been like five minutes and the rabbit sounded completely fine.
"What do you mean by mostly" he quirked his head questioningly.
"Mostly as in I need help with the zipper on my back"
Nick opened his eyes, and what he saw caused his jaw to hang open. Judy was standing just in front of him in a skin tight sparkly body suit. When he noticed her eyes were on him he snapped his mouth shut and put on his usual smirk.
The suit was practically the same color as her fur but covered in light catching sequins, the way it hugged her body made Nick feel butterflies in his stomach, but he ignored them. That is until she turned around he saw her tail sticking out of the suit. Now that he wasn't looking at her, he took a moment to compose himself before he reached for the zipper, which was practically near the bottom of her back right next to the tail he had just been ogling. Without thinking about it he reached down and pulled the zipper up all the way to the back of her neck, once again letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he put his paw back down to his side.
"Say Fluff, how did you sober up so fast?" He asked curiously, she wasn't swaying side to side, her speech was practically perfect. It was the complete opposite of what he had seen before she went into the bathroom.
Judy simply shrugged in response, resisting the urge to check her nose for any remnants of the cocaine she had just used in the bathroom. The energy she felt surging through her was impalpable and made her feel good, as well as canceling out most of the alcohol that was still working through her system.
"You do know that rabbits have a really fast metabolism right? Plus Im definitely not entirely sober" She said convincingly. While true, her statement didn't mean that the alcohol would go through her any quicker, she hated lying to him but she didn't want to risk the quality of her performance.
Nick stood there dumbfounded, not sure whether to buy her answer or not. It made sense to him, but alcohol doesn't work like that, he knew that much. Which meant the rabbit was once again hiding something, and considering the last few times they had been relatively harmless he decided to just drop it until later.
"Come on, I got a show to put on" she said bumping her hip into his side as she past by, Nick couldn't looking back down at her tail as she walked past him and out the door. When she was gone he shook himself of his thought and followed her out.
When he went outside he was met by the the same wolf that had lead them in earlier waiting with Judy. "I will take you both to the stage entrance, Mister Wilde you can wait off to the side of the stage if you would like while Miss Hopps performs" he said in a monotone and authoritative voice.
Nick nodded, knowing that Clawhauser would find his way to the same spot somehow. "That works for me".
The walk wasn't long and was in relative silence, its not like they could have talked even if they wanted to, the sound of music and the fans screaming made talking impossible. The wolf himself had an ear piece in that he used to communicate with other people over his radio. Soon they found themselves at the side of the stage where all the stage hands waited for their next task. One of them quickly hooked Judy up with a mic, one that wrapped around the base of her ear and continuing down the side of her face to the side of her mouth, and in-ear monitors, just in time for the mammal on stage to finish their performance.
"Thank you Zootopia!"
He recognized that voice easily, even he had only heard it once. He was quickly reminded of who was performing before Judy, and sure enough the white hare came bounding off the stage slowing down just in time to stop in front of Judy, a little too close for Nicks comfort.
"Might I say Hopps, you look astounding" Jack said clearly. Now that the performance was over the loud music from before had been replaced with slightly quieter filler music while the stage hands cleared Jack's setup before moving the stuff needed for Judy's performance. The motion of the hare running towards her caused her to stumble back a bit, most likely due to the alcohol that was still running through her system. "And it seems you have prepared for the performance like you do every year".
Nick couldn't help but growl at the hare, he was practically right on top of her and Nick could tell by the look in his eyes that he clearly didn't remember what happened at their last encounter. The growl was unheard by both smaller mammals, but luckily Judy seemed to have the situation taken care of.
"Well I'm sure my performance will be better than yours with or without my 'preparations' as you say" she snapped back at him, getting into his face and pointing a paw at him.
The hare was surprised by her sudden closeness and took a small step back but he quickly recovered with a smirk that could rival Nicks. "A childish claim I must say. But I am no mammal to back down from a challenge, I suppose I'll wait right here and watch your performance myself to see just how good it is. Although considering how you are dressed I'm sure it will be a good performance whether you sing or not"
'That's it'
Nick reached out and grabbed onto the hare, spinning him around to face him. "Listen here Savage, you better-" he was then cut off when he felt a large paw grip onto his shoulder.
"This fox bothering you Mister Savage?" the low gruff voice was familiar to Nick, although he hadn't heard it in a long time. Nick turned his head to see a grizzly bear, the same one that he had met at the Zoozies those many months ago, the same one who was completely against him for no reason, the same one that Wolford had socked in the face.
"No Mr. Claw I believe Wilde here was just being a little protective of his food" Jack said with venom in his voice, "isn't that right Mr. Wilde?"
Nick thought about all the ways that this could roll out. He could take out the bear no problem, if Wolford could take him so could he, but the fact that he was in a public place just out of view of thousands of other mammals who may or may not know who he was made him rethink his move. He then looked at Judy who was now out of the center of attention, she saw the tension in the fox and knew what he wanted to do. Nick could tell just by looking at her eyes that she was telling him to just let it go, so he took a deep breath and let go of the hare, the bear then in turn let go of him.
Just then footsteps could be heard approaching the group, they all turned to see Clawhauser running up, stopping short to catch his breath. "Sorry… I'm… late" he said in between gasps for air. Both Jack and Claw laughed at the cheetahs display, which he ignored. The cheetah then approached Judy offering his paw in a high-five which she gladly accepted. "You ready to go out there Judy?"
"Absolutely, I think I'm more ready for this performance than I have been for any other" She said happily. Somehow Clawhauser had diffused the situation and brought it into a complete 180 from what it had been.
The hare and bear were now being entirely ignored, although Nick made sure to keep track of them, and now all the attention was on Judy as she psyched herself up for her show.
On stage the intro sequence that she had planned began to roll, screens displayed videos of Judy doing what Judy did best combined with snippets of some of her songs. The increase in volume as well as the increase in pitch paired with the intensifying chords caused the audience to freak out as they knew who was about to come out. The energy in the arena somehow kept getting higher as the video continued to roll. The rain continued to pour, maybe even harder now but with no lightning to be seen the show went on. Meanwhile Judy bounced around, hyping herself up for the show she was about to put on, in her mind going through a checklist of she was gonna do and the songs she was going to sing.
Cloaked in darkness the members of her band crept on stage taking their places while the audience was oblivious to them as their attention was wrapped onto the video board. Just as the video reached its peak with lights flashing and music blasting the video cut off and the arena was clouded in darkness for just a few moments, the band on cue came in playing the intro to Judy's first song. The lights then came back as the music lead to Judys entrance, one that she was ready.
"Here goes nothing!" She shouted as she took off onto the stage. The second she stepped out she was practically already soaked from the rain, but she didn't care, the sound the crowd made caused her energy to increase, that and the cocaine surging through her body.
"ZOOTOPIAAAAAA!" She screamed, hyping up the audience even more.
Judy's performance was electrifying and Nicks point of view allowed him to see just about everything. The audience adored her and her energy, the band was having a great time selling up their performance, and of course Judy was amazing. Nick had seen her perform before, but nothing like this. It was quite the opposite of what he had seen from her, on stage she had energy but never anything like this.
Song after song her energy never faded, which was impressive considering how much choreography she did and how demanding her vocals were. Nick found himself bobbing his head along to some of her songs, and when he looked over he even saw Jack and his grizzly bear bodyguard vibing to the music a well. Clawhauser would have danced even if the music was terrible.
Eventually the end of her set approached, 40 minutes had flown by in an instant and at the conclusion of her current song there was just one left. Judy was soaked at this point from both sweat and rain, the water only helping her outfit as it turned a slightly darker shade of grey, bringing out the sparkles that were on it.
At one point she had gotten close to the side of the stage and made eye contact with Nick, he offered the rabbit a wink and a thumbs up in response. Judy smiled back at him before turning back to the audience. No one knew but she was exhausted, the cocaine was starting to wear off and the alcohol was starting to come back to take its place. She found herself growing loopy and thinking strange things, and at the sight of Nick she began to hatch a plan. Of course no one watching would have known any of this, she was a trained actor after all.
Once the song finished she took a moment to catch her breath and revel in the applause from the audience. The sea of mammals before her cheered her on demanding another song from the beloved rabbit.
"I have one more for you" she said causing the audience to roar in excitement. She waited for the sound to die off before she continued, "but before that… I've got someone special I want to show everyone" she then stepped over to the side of the stage where the group was watching. She used one of her paws to cover up the mic so that no one could hear next words.
"Nick!" She yelled, although to the fox I was practically a whisper. At first he thought he misheard her, but when she looked at him and signaled with her paw that she wanted him out on stage he knew she was talking to him. Nick shook his head, he did not sign up to go on stage. "Come on!" She shouted again. This time Nick didn't have a choice as Clawhauser stepped behind him and shoved him out onto the stage, just like he had done at the ZooGala.
He quickly recovered from his shrug just in time for Judy to grab a hold of his wrist and lead him further out on stage. At the sight of the fox there was a mixed reaction in the audience, a good amount freaked out at the sight of the fox, but it was overall a lot quieter than the reactions that Judy got. Many of the mammals were perplexed for the fox's reason for being on stage, as was he.
The rain didn't slow down if anything it might have picked up even more, completely soaking Nick after a few moments fo him being out of cover, but still no lightning or thunder could be seen or heard.
"Many of you may already know this wonderful fox, but for those who don't this is my bodyguard Nick Wilde" she said, her voice once again being picked up over the microphone.
"Hopps what are you doing?" Nick asked, but his question was lost to the sea of sound that surrounded him. The sight of all these mammals made him extremely nervous, they seemed to go on forever, and when forever ended it went up towards the sky as the arena sloped up.
"Now Nick has been working for me for quite a while now and he doesn't know it but I actually have a surprise for him" she said, the audience hollered and shouted in response, it seemed they would do that no matter what the rabbit did.
"Judy!" He yelled trying to gain the rabbits attention to no avail, and he couldn't just walk away because she had such a tight hold on his wrist. Nick hated surprises and she knew that, and a surprise in front of a crowd this size meant one thing in his mind.
'Embarrassment' he thought that she was going to somehow make him look like a fool, he didn't know how, but he knew that the rabbit was as much of a sly fox as he was.
"Y'all want to see the surprise?" She asked, the audience responded with an increase in volume.
"JUDY!" He called one more time, hoping to stop the rabbit, but it seemed her mind was already made up whether she could hear him or not.
"Well here it is!"
Whatever he was thinking was going to happen did not happen.
In fact it was probably one of the last things he had been expecting.
In one swift motion Judy let go of his wrist, turned around, grabbed a hold of top of his grey suit jacket, pulled him down, and planted her lips right onto his.
The audiences reaction was one of utter shock and confusion, and for the first time that night the volume of the crowd quieted down considerably.
Nick didn't notice though he was too in shock at the rabbits actions to react. The whole world could have ended and he would have no idea. The only thing that mattered in that moment was him and the rabbit kissing him.
It was a good kiss, one that he had been wanting for so long but never thought he would get. It wasn't just a chaste kiss either, it was passionate, as if the rabbit had been wanting this for awhile as well. Once Nick snapped out of his shock he completely ignored everything around him and wrapped his arms around the rabbit, accepting the kiss which caused Judy to only deepen it.
So many things ran through his mind, questions that only she could answer, thoughts of how the audience would react, and wondering what the kiss meant, but all of these thoughts took the back seat to the rabbit that he now held in his arms.
The kiss wasn't even that long, maybe a few seconds but to them it was everything, and it would have continued if they weren't interrupted by the heavens.
A streak of lightning shot through the sky, followed close behind by an extremely powerful crack of thunder. The bang caused Nick to pull back, breaking the kiss. Some of the audience screamed in surprise and began to run for cover.
He had no idea what was going on as the chaos ensued around them. Once Nick was brought back to reality he took a look at Judy.
Her face was unreadable, like she had just been snapped out of some sort of trance. Or in her case, she had just entirely sobered up from all her adrenaline and now her heart pounding out of her chest. Her body couldn't take much more as it searched for energy, the cocaine had almost worn off and as the adrenaline slowly faded she could feel her body draining. Not only that but she just realized what she had done, her mind had been elsewhere as she pulled the fox onto the stage, but now that her head was clear she realized the weight of the actions she had just done.
This was not how she wanted to tell him, she felt horrible. She had wanted it to be small and only the two of them, not thousands of mammals watching.
'He probably thinks this is just a publicity stunt' she thought to herself, her mind raced as it tried to catch up with her body. But in the moment everything was beginning to fall apart, she felt like she was shutting down. She needed one thing in that moment.
Drugs.
She floundered out of Nicks grip much to his surprise.
To Nick the rabbit had been staring at him with her unreadable expression until she snapped out of it and pushed herself away from him. Once again her actions surprised him as she took off towards the stages exit.
"Judy wait!" He screamed chasing after her.
BOOM!
Another bolt of lightning crashed down somewhere outside the arena, eliciting yet another crash of thunder that nearly knocked Nicks heart of his chest.
He took off running after the rabbit, but by the time he got to the backstage entrance she was no where to be seen. But what he did see was a bear, a hare, and a cheetah with their jaws hanging open.
"Where did she go?" He asked hastily. When no one responded Nick grabbed Clawhauser by the shoulders and shook him, "Where is she!?" He asked the cheetah more directly.
He didn't like the look that she had on her face when she had left, it looked almost like she was going through a withdrawal event but there were other things going on that he couldn't quite read.
"She went uh, towards her trailer I think, why?" the cheetah responded slowly, still trying to wrap his head around what he had seen.
With the location in mind Nick took off running, not bothering to answer the cheetahs question, he didn't want her to do something she was going to regret, so the quicker he found her the better. It seemed that every single mammal backstage was watching him as he ran through the maze of tables, mammals, and then trailers. It wasn't a long run, but with the pounding of his heart, the heaviness of his wet clothes, and the thoughts running through his head he was out of breath by the time he got to the trailer.
When he got there the door was already opened.
"Judy" he called out as he stepped inside. The place had been turned upside-down as the rabbit had clearly been looking for something. From where he was standing he could see that no one was in the bed room, but the bathroom door was closed and locked from the inside.
Nick stepped up and tapped his knuckle against the door, "Carrots, are you in there?" He asked gently this time, not wanting to frighten her.
…
No response.
Nick knocked again, this time harder, "Hopps? Please respond to let me know you are okay at least!" He yelled this time.
…
Still No response.
His heart rate began to increase again as memories started to flash through his mind.
Ambulance sirens.
A bedroom door.
Mom…
He banged his fist against the door one more time, hoping that this was all just some joke that she was playing as tears began to run down his face.
"Judy please say something!"
…
Instead of waiting Nick stepped back before running straight into the door with his shoulder, shouting all the while.
"JUDY!"
After a few hits the door began to budge, instead of wasting time with another shoulder hit Nick took another step back and raised his foot, using all of his energy to send it into the door. With his adrenaline pumping through him the door caved in easily.
The sight he saw practically broke him the moment he saw it.
Judy's body was leaned up against the wall directly across from where the bathroom door had been. She was hunched over, the purple snuff bottle on the ground right next to her open paw. Her head was leaned to the side her mouth left open, her nose covered in a white powder, and her eyes half lidded and lifeless.
"Oh my god" Nick said as he broke down in tears in front of her.
The image of the rabbit almost exactly matched the form of his mother when he had found her after she had overdosed.
The thought of it all caused his mind to begin to race and he could feel himself slip into one of his PTSD episodes. He did all he could to keep it from consuming him as he focused on the rabbit in front of him.
He gently but quickly scooped her up and got up from the ground. Without second thought he took off towards the entrance to the trailer.
Outside a small crowd had gathered wondering what all the banging and screaming was about. At the sight of the crying fox carrying a limp rabbit many mammals froze in shock letting out audible gasps in surprise.
Nick knew that time was of the essence and that every second mattered if they were going to save the dying rabbit in his hands.
"Please we need help over here!"
That was all he could say before his whirlwind of an anxiety attack took over, sending the fox to his knees.
The last thing he remembered was clutching the rabbit close to his chest,
and the sound of those same ambulance sirens.
Hey.
I know, I disappeared again for like two months without saying anything. And I'm sorry. But hey I got an extra long extra spicy chapter here for you, now don't I?
Where did I go? I traveled around the nation playing music, it was sick. But I am back now and things should (hopefully) become a little more normal. This chapter was partially written before I left and then I just finished it up now. I hope you enjoyed it, things will continue into next chapter of course, gotta solve the cliff hanger somehow…
Or do I…
If you enjoyed this please let me know with a review. If you like how this story is going give it a follow so you know when future chapters will be out.
I love each and every one of you and I will see you next chapter!
DAG