Hello readers, Last here

Do please get in touch and let me know how I'm doing :)

On another note, I present to you, Movie Night

Chapter 9

Nick stood at the doorway to his apartment. He liked his apartment. To him it was like a physical representation of how his life had changed. This was his first accommodation since graduating from police academy, paid for with money he earned working to protect and serve Zootopia. It meant a lot to him, actually, more than he would ever admit. However right at this moment as he looked at it, Nick wished it was a little… better.

He really didn't know why; the place was exactly the same as he left it this morning. He stepped inside and hung his tie up on the coat rack by the door as he often did. He shut the door but didn't lock it as Judy would be coming around at some point later. Walking down the little corridor everything was still the same, a single toilet to the left, the entrance to the kitchen to the right and the living room dead ahead.

Unsure as to what exactly was wrong, Nick decided vague feelings like that could wait while preparing for movie night could not. This was a two-step plan. Step one being to prepare the fox and step two being to prepare everything else. Nick found that most things could be boiled down to a two-step plan if you tried hard enough.

Nick changed out of his uniform and carefully put it away in his bedroom. Nick made sure to keep his apartment tidy enough and especially so with anything to do with his new career. It didn't come particularly easily to the fox, he'd never really lived somewhere that warranted such care, however this apartment meant a lot to Nick and he wasn't going to let it get out of hand.

Especially not with Carrots coming round thought Nick as he grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom located next to the bedroom, sadly not an en-suite. There was a toilet, a sink with a mirror and a suitably large shower. Nick tossed the towel onto the sink and turned on the shower from as far away as he could get. The water was always freezing when it first came on. Nick hummed to himself quietly, while the shower was cold at the start it did have its good points, it always warmed up nice and quick.

Stepping into the flow of hot water Nick hurriedly adjusted the temperature before he boiled himself. He relaxed as the water lowered to a suitable heat, the shower often heated itself too fast and too much. The water quickly drenched the fox entirely, his fur running down and sticking to his body. His muscles, which were normally well hidden on his lean frame, could easily be made out now. The police academy had been good for the fox, he was now in the best physical condition of his life. If Noct were to see this he'd be a bit surprised, the panther had specifically taught the fox a few self-defence techniques years ago that revolved around the fact he was not in peak fitness.

Thinking of the time Nick grabbed the shower gel and began to lather himself up. Thankfully there was still a ways to go before his winter coat started to grow in otherwise he would be here all evening. The warm water helped to wash away all the stress that had been piling up from the day. Just the off chance that Night-howlers were involved in some way still set the fox on edge.

The day had obviously gotten to the fox as the steamy warmth of the shower started to make his mind drift. He thought about the great times he was going to have now that he had his brother back, they still needed to go catch up with Finnick. Life was looking pretty good right now, Mr. Big no longer hated him, he'd seen Albert again. And it was all down to a small, grey bunny. As it often did, Nick's thoughts turned towards Judy without him noticing. If anyone had been looking they would have found a dopey looking smile on his face.

A beautiful grey doe in a ZPD uniform appeared in his head. She had sultry look on her face, her purple eyes half-lidded, as she came towards him. Slowly she slipped out of her uniform as the fox's jaw dropped and she stepped into the shower with him.

FFFWWWSSSHHH!

Nick had slammed the tap and freezing water poured down from above sending him shivering almost instantly. Not caring about the mess Nick leapt out of the shower and grabbed hold of the sink staring at his reflection in the mirror as he took several deep breaths.

"Not cool Wilde" he said to himself.

What? Because you were fantasising about one of the most gorgeous mammals we know?

"She's my best friend, and she's a-"

Rabbit? So what, you still think she's damn fine

"I'm not thinking about this, I'm not thinking about this, I'm not thinking about this"

I guess that's why you felt bad about the apartment too, didn't think it was good enough for her?

"Judy's been round hundreds of times for Movie Night"

Well maybe this is the first time that you've thought about the fact that you lo-

"SHUT UP!" Nick shouted over the sound of water falling from the shower "I don't get to think things like that" Nick's voice dropped to a whisper as he crawled back into the shower, he didn't even bother increasing the temperature as he sat there with his eyes closed "I'm a fox, a sly trickster in the eyes of the public, even if I am a cop. There's no way I'd ever deserve someone as wonderful as Judy"

Sigh, Zootopia certainly isn't a paradise for that sort of thing. We saw enough of those scandals while we were at Broken Clockwork.

Nick sat there as the cold water poured over him, it almost felt like he was sat out in the rain like he had done many times in the past. Or when he was struggling with the Tundratown section of the obstacle course at the police academy.

Oh look, and that brings us back to thinking about Judy again

Nick groaned and forced himself out of the shower. Thankfully sitting in the water like that had finished washing all of the suds out of his fur. Nick stepped onto the floor dryer in one corner of the bathroom, you had to be staying in a particularly run-down place for it not to include one. Meaning that this was the first time in what felt like forever that Nick had access to one. He savoured the warmth and feeling of air passing over him that most Canids had a fascination with.

Finished in the bathroom he returned to his bedroom to get dressed. He picked a plain black t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He had gone off wearing those Hawaiian shirts he used to have. Still had, they were in a drawer somewhere, he didn't want them as they reminded him of his old life but couldn't bring himself to throw them away.

In suitable attire now for a relaxing evening with a friend Nick moved on to step two of his two-step plan. First stop was the kitchen. Rummaging through the cupboards and the fridge Nick found what he wanted eventually. He dumped it on the living room table and went through it counting off a tick list in his mind.

"Scorpio-crisps (Extra Spicy), Cicada chips, carrot sticks for Carrots' snacks, mixed salad if she gets hungrier, plenty of different dips" Nick had gone through about half of the rations so far "and popcorn" that covered the other half "You can never have enough popcorn"

Nick was just about to start sorting through the collection of DVD's that sat on and around the TV stand when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Judy was sat on her bed with her head in her hands. For one of the very few times in her life she didn't know what to do. It was like a vast, gaping chasm had opened up before her, taunting her, a challenge that she had never expected to have to face.

She didn't know what to wear.

She had been to Nick's hundreds of times, especially for Movie Night, and she'd never even stopped to consider things like this before. So why now? What was so different about this time?

Judy thought back over the past few days, both her actions and Nick's, mainly Nick's, that kiss... As she ran through it all in her head Judy shuddered as she came to a conclusion.

This is all Clawhauser's fault!

Judy slumped back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Everything had been going just fine, Nick had become a cop and her partner and she couldn't be happier. They hung out, they solved cases, work was even more enjoyable now having him around. Okay, so her parents had started to badger her about whether she'd found a boyfriend yet but it's not like that was the first time they'd tried that.

It wasn't like Judy was against the idea of a relationship. It's just that she'd never met the right person. Hell, she still hadn't been living in Zootopia for that long. As a bunny who wanted to be a cop she had always been a bit of an outcast growing up, most of her friends were sheep and other species, not rabbits. This had followed her all the way to adulthood as she still found it a little hard to make real friends despite her optimistic and hard-working nature. So she still, even after all this time, didn't actually know that many people in the city. Especially not anyone she felt was suitable.

Judy wanted someone who could complement her, support her, cover for her flaws. She wanted them to have her back as much as she'd have theirs, someone she could trust with anything. She shook her head chuckling to herself, just where exactly was she going to find someone who could fit with her so perfectly?

A familiar figure with red and cream fur, a devilish smirk, deep green eyes, muscles she was starting to notice, and a ZPD uniform strolled into her mind. Judy shook her head a bit harder this time as she tried to think about something else. But she couldn't help going back over what she wanted from a relationship and comparing it with Nick.

"Sweet cheese and crackers" whispered Judy to herself, her eyes widening.

This was uncharted territory for the bunny. She'd never even had a crush on someone during her time at school, she'd always been so focussed on her dream.

Do I like Nick?

Well, he ticked off against pretty much all the criteria I just listed, he's handsome too

But it's Nick! My best friend! Who is a fox!

Well it's not like a rabbit has ever made you feel like this came a tiny little voice

Judy groaned as she lifted a pillow over her head and dropped it on her face. She was extremely grateful that her neighbours weren't home yet, their noise and opinions may have been too much for Judy to cope with right now. After a few minutes sat under the pillow Judy realised this wasn't doing anything to help. She sat up and scooted off the bed.

"Okay" she said to herself "so I seem to have a crush on my best friend. That's fine, lots of people have crushes on their best friends. I can cope with this"

As if coming to terms with this had taken a huge load of her, Judy suddenly found her problem about clothes to be rather silly. She got changed into the pink plaid shirt she had worn when they had foiled Dawn Bellwether's plot. With quite a bit more perk she left her tiny apartment. It sort of said something about the place that her room hadn't been filled despite Judy being away from Zootopia for about three months during the Night-howler case.

Still, Judy had gotten used to it despite all of its flaws and on the plus side it was reasonably close to both Nick's place and the police department. Judy glanced at her car before deciding to walk to Nick's. It was still pretty early so the streets were rather empty. Judy waved to a few animals she saw regularly when she went for morning jogs. Other than that, nobody reacted to her which she was thankful for. While nothing like the Burrows, there were bunnies in Zootopia and unless she was wearing her uniform most mammals didn't recognise her as Judy Hopps. For once she was grateful that some mammals found it difficult distinguishing between animals of another species.

The sun was still quite high in the sky when Judy arrived outside Nick's apartment block. She wandered up the steps, Donald was still sat in his security booth as usual. He looked up as someone entered, he raised an eyebrow at the rabbit, he hadn't been expecting her for a while.

"You're early aren't you Judy?" he asked as she skipped through the foyer.

"We got dismissed earlier today" said Judy with a smile "and it is a Wednesday after all so…"

"Movie Night?" asked the ram, though he already knew the answer.

"Movie Night!" said Judy as she disappeared up the stairs.

Donald smiled to himself and settled down to read his newspaper again. Judy was still talking to him more naturally. The ram could tell how anxious she had been last time so he was happy that she had seemed to accept him at least a little bit. He quite liked the little bunny.

Nick stiffened at the knock on the door. He knew everything was ready, well everything but himself, he'd been half hoping Judy would take a little more time. Not that the waiting wasn't grating on him, he really didn't know what to do. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. It was just Movie Night, they'd done this hundreds of times, and this one would be a great success just like the others. Putting on a mask, which he rarely did around Judy, Nick smirked and went to open the door.

"Hey Carrots you're late" he said as he opened the door "I was starting to think you weren't co… ming…"

Nick stared at the vision of loveliness in front of him. She was wearing the pink plaid shirt from when she had found him under the bridge. He remembered how, just like now, the sight of her had completely blown him away. He hadn't been able to put on a mask and had to turn away to keep his emotions from running over his face. And then, before he could sort out his feelings, she had given that tearful apology.

There was never any chance I wouldn't forgive her Nick thought looking back.

Judy had been psyching herself up for seeing Nick but when he actually opened the door she found herself panicking.

I'm not sure I can cope with this she thought how do other mammals deal with having a crush on their best friend?

Now that she had admitted to herself that she had some sort of feelings for the fox it was as if she was looking at him for the first time. Only this time she wasn't instantly suspecting the sly fox sneaking into the ice cream parlour, this time all she could think was that he was roguishly handsome. He had that smirk of his which now sent her heart beating faster but as she watched it faded from his face. She started to go slightly red as Nick just kept staring at her intently.

"Can I come in?" she asked slightly nervously.

Nick came to with a start and hurriedly moved out of the way to let Judy in. She saw him scurry off into the kitchen as she shut the door behind her.

"Make yourself comfortable Fluff" came Nick's voice from the kitchen "Carrot Juice for you?"

"You're learning Slick" said Judy as she walked into the living room.

Judy hopped up onto the sofa, grabbing the carrot sticks and a pot of humous to dip them in. Nick returned with their drinks to find her nestled in her seat with no obvious intention of setting the DVD up. He put the drinks down with a sigh and moved to the pile of movies he had been going through when Judy arrived.

"What shall we watch then Carrots?" asked Nick with his back to her.

"Well, since we have time, how about a marathon of something?"

"Hmm, not a bad suggestion, let's see" Nick plucked out a few different movies "Star Paws? Harry Pawtter? Lord of the Purrings?"

"Choices, choices" grinned Judy from the sofa as she watched Nick's tail swishing back and forth "we watched Lord of the Purrings recently so how about Harry Pawtter?"

"Your wish is my command" said the fox as he managed to take out a disc and put it in the DVD player dramatically.

Judy giggled slightly before catching herself. Nick plonked himself down on the sofa next to her and grabbed some popcorn. The movie began and Nick was glad that the evening was settling into a usual Wednesday for the two of them. He hadn't watched this one in quite a while and Nick soon lost himself in the film.

Judy was watching too for quite a while but when she finished her carrot sticks she reached out for some popcorn as well and she caught a glance of Nick. She was entranced by the simple joy written on the fox's face. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest as she just watched Nick. The fox leaned forwards to grab his drink which startled Judy, she sat back looking at the screen hoping he hadn't noticed anything.

Nick showed no sign that he had, he was too engrossed in the movie, the main character was about to be sorted into his house. Judy shook slightly, she had a good idea; while reaching out for more popcorn she knocked some over and had to scoot closer to Nick to reach more. Nick was still watching the movie and didn't seem to notice that Judy was right next to him now.

Judy could feel her heart beating in her ears as she tried to stop her nerves. Slowly she slumped into Nick's side. The fox suddenly tensed as he felt a soft warmth pressing into him. He couldn't bring himself to look and just glanced down from the corner of his eyes. Judy was snuggled up beside him watching the movie as she leant against him.

Nick struggled to get his eyes back on the movie with such a terrible distraction next to him. It felt like every part of him was on fire.

A rabbit can't put out that much heat, right?

He really didn't want to do anything to spoil what was happening but at the same time his injured arm was rather uncomfortable. Suddenly a sneaky thought wormed its way into his mind.

Let's see how she likes this

Nick shifted slightly first, when Judy didn't move away he figured he was safe, stretching out his injured arm, Nick gently put it around the rabbit's shoulder.

Judy could feel Nick move his arm, she knew it was injured and she felt a little bad with what she'd done. She hadn't thought about his injury when she cuddled up next to him. The next second though all those thoughts disappeared as she felt his arm wrap around her. Her breath caught in her throat and the only thing she could think was that she never wanted to move again.

Nick was sure she'd shrug him off and had prepared a whole host of one liners to distract them from what he'd done. But his partner made no indication of doing that which sort of took the wind out his sails.

So the two of them sat there like that, both of them intensely aware of the other's actions though not their thoughts. The movie was nearing the end however neither of them were paying much attention anymore. Not that they were outright looking at each other, just sneaking a small glimpse every so often. They didn't even notice when the movie finished, Nick and Judy just couldn't bring themselves to move and break the atmosphere.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

The moment shattered. Nick and Judy both stared at the door as if their eyes could burn through it and into whoever was interrupting. Feeling terribly regretful Nick made to get up but was halted by a small, grey weight attaching itself to his arm. Looking down Nick could feel his resolve melting as he lowered himself back down onto the sofa.

"The door's open" shouted Nick with gritted teeth.

The door, which was currently not in either of their good books, was slammed open, shaking some dust from the corners of the hall. A panther in a black shirt and red tie stepped into the apartment carrying a duffel bag on his back. Judy could feel an anger growing inside her, someone had interrupted such a wonderful moment and then barged into Nick's place like he owned it. Looking at Nick however she felt herself deflate, the fox actually had quite a happy expression on his face.

"So, this is where you live?" said Noct icily as he walked slowly towards the living room, eyeing up the apartment as he went.

"Yup" said Nick happily standing up to greet him "rented entirely legally with nothing but legitimately earned money, I'm quite proud of the place really"

Noct looked into the kitchen area and shook his head in disgust. Judy could feel herself getting extremely irritated with the stranger.

How dare he act like this to Nick she thought clenching her fists.

Nick however was still happy to see this panther despite how they were acting which confused Judy somewhat. The joy in his eyes was starting to falter however as Noct kept being so cold.

"You only got this place once you finished the police academy" said Noct his eyes full of ice and anger "and before that you spent a lot of time homeless, living under a bridge or in and out of shady dives"

Nick scratched the back of his head ruefully, he had indeed spent quite a few years living rough so to speak.

"Ten years Nick" said Noct his voice slowly starting to build in volume and passion "Do you know one of the things that kept me going? It was knowing that, at least, you would be able to live comfortably!" he was shouting now "and do you know what I found when I returned to Broken Clockwork?"

Nick's expression was turning slightly ugly, he had a horrible idea where this was going. Seeing that Nick was not happy to see the panther anymore, and confused by the conversation, Judy started grinding her teeth as she resisted tackling the guy.

"I found everything!" Noct roared "You! Did! Not! Take! A single! Penny! And you would rather live under a bridge? Is that all Broken Clockwork meant to you!?"

"That's it!" shouted Judy "Nobody walks into my partner's house and starts insulting him like this. Now I suggest you make yourself scarce or I will you arrest you for breaking and entering because you are not welcome here. What gives you the right?!"

To Judy's surprise her words did not seem to have any effect on the panther who just turned away from Nick to face her. If anything, he seemed even angrier.

"I'm his brother!" shouted the big cat "now shut it, Short-stack!"

Judy was going practically purple with rage and was about to verbally tear the panther a new one when a feral snarl tore through the room. Both she and Noct turned to Nick from which it had originated, even the fox himself seemed shocked by the ferocity of it.

"Don't you ever call her-"

Another snarl interrupted him, this one from the panther. Despite how surprised Noct was at Nick's reaction, Noct glanced at the rabbit that he guessed was the cause, the panther's anger had been stewing overnight and nothing was going to interrupt it.

"Zip it Wilde" he growled "Gear 1 doesn't get to talk now, I'm still royally pissed off with you! Now, tell me why didn't you use any of the money?"

"Because it wasn't mine" shouted Nick back, a surge of anger bubbling up inside him "That money belongs to Broken Clockwork and I refused to touch any of it without you!"

The panther stared at Nick in shock, his mouth hanging open, sadness, confusion and disbelief running across his face. Judy actually found herself feeling a little sympathetic for him. She hadn't pieced together exactly what was happening, but she'd heard enough and the more she heard the more she realised that Nick's actions had hurt his brother.

"We, Nick" Noct almost whined "We are Broken Clockwork! Did you think that I'd get angry about you spending money we earned together? What do you take me for you… you… you…"

Noct's brain was still trying to comprehend the sheer childishness that the entire problem had originated from and he couldn't for the life of him think up a suitable insult.

"Dumb Fox?" came a voice from the sofa.

"Yes!" said Noct turning to Judy "Thank you, Short-stack!" he turned back to Nick "You bloody, fucking, stupid, DUMB FOX!"

The panther stood there panting, his chest heaving like a pair of bellows as Nick stood in a daze. The fox barely reacted in time as Noct threw the duffel bag he had been carrying at him.

"Now I'm not planning to look at you again till I've managed to calm down a bit" said Noct in a low voice "and if I find you later and you still haven't used that share, I will literally force feed you whatever remains in that bag!"

Having said his piece and with a "Goodnight, Short-stack" to Judy, Noct turned and stormed out of Nick's apartment slamming the door shut behind him.

There was silence in the apartment. Judy was very confused with how she was feeling right now, this evening had been quite the emotional rollercoaster, but mainly she was worried about Nick. The fox was just sort of standing there in the middle of the room, a blank look on his face as he stared at the duffel bag in his hands. Nick let out a small sigh and walked back over to the sofa. He dropped the duffel bag on the floor and damn near collapsed backwards to sit next to Judy.

"I fucked up" he whispered holding his head in his hands "I knew he'd find out, he always does"

Judy could feel her heart aching at the sight and burrowed her way into Nick's side, wrapping her arms around him. With how low he was currently feeling, the warmth he felt looking down at the beautiful doe seemed all the more overwhelming.

"Look, Nick" said Judy gently looking up at him "I'm sure everything's not as bad as it seems. This brother of yours did seem to be overreacting a bit"

"Perhaps" said Nick gingerly bringing his injured arm around her as Judy shivered happily at the touch "you don't quite get how close we are though, when I thought he was dead and gone it felt like the world had just stopped. Noct probably wasn't kidding when he said 'knowing that I was safe kept him going'."

To be honest with herself Judy was rather annoyed with Nick as well. She'd seen what he used to do to make a living and she'd seen him living under a bridge personally. Now that she found out that he never actually had to do any of that, it hurt thinking about what he put himself through.

"I'm not saying I like the guy so far" said Judy begrudgingly "but I do sort of agree with him, why didn't you use the money?"

"Noct" said Nick quietly feeling Judy snuggle a little closer "his name is Noct. And I thought you two would get on well when you first met, strange how things work out" Nick let out a sigh "I'm too proud Judy"

Nick and Judy were very open with each other, she was one of the few mammals that got to see the real Nick, the one behind all his masks. So she knew that what he was telling her came straight from the heart and this made her a little giddy.

"When Noct 'died' I didn't want to see anything that could remind me of him. I never went back to any of our old haunts, not for years, and I never went back to Broken Clockwork. I would have been fine if that money had sat there hidden till the end of time. I preferred to live in some of the roughest parts of the city than face the fact he was gone, I'm too stubborn sometimes"

"Nick" said Judy with those amethyst eyes that seemed to melt his soul "If you two are as close as you say you are, then he'll get over this soon" she was reluctant to leave nick's side and stifled a little groan as she leant forwards off the sofa "I mean, he still came to give you this, even if he ranted while doing so"

Nick had been so entranced just watching the grey doe as she genuinely tried to comfort him that he didn't really take in her current action. Before he realised it, Judy had pulled the duffel bag up onto the sofa between them.

"No, no, no wait" Ziiiiiiiiiip "God dammit Carrots"

Judy stared uncomprehendingly at the sheer amount of bank notes that filled the duffel bag. She had picked up on the fact that Noct had brought a share of the money for Nick but she had never considered how much that might be. She tried to count how much she could see but she was slightly dazed and just couldn't keep track of it all.

"H-how much is this?!" she asked looking at Nick in shock.

"We would keep three duffel bags worth of cash on hand at Broken Clockwork, one each for me and Noct and one spare, for various reasons" Nick winced, he wasn't sure how Judy would take the next part "each one should have 500,000 bucks"

"500,000!?" Judy stared blankly down at the duffel bag once more.

Nick could see the emotions running across the bunny's face, sure enough she was starting to get mad. He could see it building up, she was probably going to berate him for not using this money before, he could have lived like a king and never hustled again. And then would come the questions about Broken Clockwork and the rest of his past. Right as he braced himself for the coming onslaught however Judy shook. A look of horror and guilt spread across her face making Nick go cold. Judy almost looked like she was about to cry and turned away from Nick.

That's not the Judy I know he thought worriedly.

Nick shoved the duffel bag onto the floor, cash spilling everywhere, before grabbing Judy and pulling her into his chest. The rabbit stiffened in surprise, still looking like she was about to cry, before she burrowed into his chest in return.

"What's wrong Judy?" asked Nick in concern "If it's something I did, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so set in my ways"

"No!" gasped Judy "no, it wasn't you, I-I thought of something that… that I shouldn't have"

"What could that be, to get my sly bunny in such a state?"

Judy felt herself blush at the thought of being his sly bunny. Luckily her face was in no way visible to Nick at that moment. Nick's ears perked up, Judy had mumbled something into his chest that he couldn't make out.

"What was that?"

Judy sat back away from Nick on the sofa, she looked over at him bashfully, her ears giving away her embarrassment.

"I said I was glad you didn't touch the money because otherwise I would never have met you"

Nick felt his heart thumping in his ears, the rush of emotions was rather overwhelming. How did he, an ex conmammal, possibly deserve the company of such a kind-hearted, wonderful, beautiful animal. Not to mention that she was right, Nick felt cold for a moment when he considered that if he had ever not been so stubborn in the past then he would never have met Judy. Nick didn't even notice as he reached out a paw and gently traced it down Judy's cheek.

Judy felt suddenly light, like she was floating, when she spoke her mind. She watched Nick's face, which was normally so hard to read, as his emotions appeared in plain view. The tenderness in his eyes as he gazed down at her made her feel things she'd never felt before. It was a little frightening actually.

Judy stiffened as she saw Nick reach out a paw. Her eyes were wide as she felt the gentle touch. It was ever so soft yet her cheek felt like lightning was rolling down it.

"N-Nick" said Judy softly as she trembled.

Judy's voice cut right through the muddle-headedness that had settled on Nick. Glancing down he realised what his paw had just done, acting as if it had a mind of its own.

What are you doing! She's a rabbit! She's your best friend! You don't just, argh!

His mind reeling at how he may have just ruined the greatest thing to have happened to him in the 32 years he'd been alive, Nick sat bolt upright and coughed while glancing away.

Judy felt a little pain at Nick's sudden change in behaviour but at the same time what had just happened really sank in. She was quite glad Nick wasn't looking at her, it gave her a chance for the blush to fade from her cheeks and for her to calm down.

Cos you wouldn't manage that if he looked at you with that gaze again…

Nick jumped and looked round to see Judy thumping one of her paws into the side of her head. She stopped embarrassedly when she noticed him looking. There was a long drawn out moment of awkwardness as Nick looked down at his phone to distract himself.

"Huh, it's only 9:30" he said half to himself "almost forgot we had extra time tonight"

"Well, it is movie night" said Judy perking up "and there's still more night left"

"Right, right" nodded Nick glad their usual atmosphere was returning "so more movies?"

"I'll get more snacks" said Judy with a grin as she bounced over the back of the sofa and headed for the kitchen.

"Check the fridge" Nick shouted after her as he started to go through the collection of DVD's again.

Out in the hallway Noct had never left and was leaning back against the door to Nick's apartment. He seemed to have calmed down a lot, no more anger in his expression, in fact there was a small, sad smile on his face. He listened for a few more minutes as Nick and Judy continued as they normally did around each other.

"A bunny huh?" he said to himself as he pushed off from the door, went down the stairs and headed out of the apartment block into the darkening night "well, not like I can talk"