Nick slowly dragged his feet through the front entrance of the campus infirmary, feeling gloomy from how the day had gone so far. He had expected some rough patches in the study group with everyone's different schedules, but he never thought things would sour so quickly and so early into the semester. The fox now faced the difficult task of trying to bring everyone back together on top of his already busy schedule.

His ears picked up Fru Fru's voice calling his name, "Nicky,"

He turned in the direction of the voice to see Troy sitting on a bench and holding Fru Fru. Nick gave an exhausted smile and walked over to them. "Hi Fru," He then glanced around. "Where did the others go?"

"They took off as soon as we stepped outside. How'd it go with Judy?"

Nick sighed heavily, standing in front of the two mammals with his paws in his pockets. "She's resting up thankfully. Poor doe was out when I stepped away for a moment."

"That's good," Fru Fru was glad for the health update on Judy. "Did you see the other rabbit in the room? Natalie?"

He nodded, "I met her. She's very caring. Have to thank her later for reigning in Judy."

"So then why are you still feeling down if she'll recover?"

He pointed with his right thumb. "Walk with me to Finnick's and I'll explain."

She understood and looked up at her polar bear. "Troy?"

The bear complied, and the three began walking to the Tavern.

"It's just…well," Nick began. "Between Ben losing his outline, Judy getting hurt, and Jack and Skye being at odds with each other…"

"I understand," Fru Fru said. "So how are we going to fix all this?"

He let out a chuckle, knowing the difficult task. "Where do we even start? I do know that future meetings are on hold until we can bring everyone else together again. The hard part is getting them to agree to another one."

Fru Fru started thinking of a solution, stroking her chin with her paw, "Hmm, talking always works. If Benji, Jack, and Skye can calm down, I'm sure they can help each other out. Right now they feel as if it's every mammal for themselves."

"I noticed," Nick chuckled. "Ironic since I formed the study group to avoid that. This would be easier if Judy was here, but the two of us will have to do."

"Let me talk to Skye. Some girl time to relax could just be what's needed."

"Alright then, I'll talk with Ben and Jack. What about Judy?"

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow for her, but I have a feeling that Natalie may help us."

"You know what? I feel the same." Nick took a moment to check the time, "Oops! I gotta get back to work."

"Okay, see you later, and I'll let you know how it goes for me."

Nick got on his bicycle and waved goodbye to Fru Fru and her polar bear before pedaling off. He arrived just as his lunch break ended. When he rushed inside, he was greeted with the sight of Clawhauser prowling around and approaching any student. The fox had an idea of what was going on and could only shake his head at the cheetah's desperation.

Before going to work, Nick shot Jack a quick message, saying to meet him at the Tavern near the end of his shift. He could only hope for his response before then. Setting his phone on vibrate, Nick went behind the counter and started carrying trays to their respective customers. With Judy absent, he volunteered to do her work and collect her share of the tips, intending to give them to her after she recovered.

When he finished serving the tables in his section, Finnick called out to him from behind the bar. "Yo, Nick! I need you to make the drinks for a bit."

"You got it big guy."

Before tending to the bar, Nick stopped to retrieve a textbook from his backpack. In his spot, he set the book to the side and opened to where he bookmarked the page. One benefit from working the bar was that Finnick allowed him to study as long as it didn't interfere with work. There have been moments when he was doing both simultaneously, nearly drawing the ire of Finnick one time when Nick overmixed one drink and had to start all over.

While working on another order, Nick picked up the sound of Ben from the following nearby conversation with a law student sitting nearby.

"Hey, are you in my Property class?"

The surprised and confused student turned to the frantic cheetah. "Y-yeah?"

"My name is Benjamin Clawhauser. Have you seen my outline? It's about fifty pages long."

The student quickly rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Pal, you couldn't pay me to look at a fifty-page outline."

Nick couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange, sharing the student's sentiments. Who in their right mind would want to look at such a large outline? He heard the chair in front of him move and looked up to see the depressed cheetah sit down in front of him. Nick quickly put on his mask, erasing any evidence of his amusement from the recent conversation. Despite the lingering feelings over the library confrontation, keeping the group together was more important.

"Can I get a drink?" Ben moaned.

Nick knew better and grabbed the soda gun, "Club soda only."

Ben nodded, and Nick proceeded to fill a glass for him. The fox placed the soda in front of the cheetah who quickly chugged it in one gulp.

"How's the search going?" Nick asked.

Ben sighed heavily, "I've spent every available hour searching every available area. No Clawhauser on Property. The only place I haven't checked is the library where I first lost it."

Nick narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not getting me involved. You already got Carrots kicked out of the library, and I refuse to take that risk."

"But I need your help!"

The fox motioned his arms out, "Ben, I can't. I am swamped in work and school."

But the cheetah folded his paws and pleaded to him, "Nick. If you'll help me, I'll do anything."

At this, a smirk formed on the fox's face, and he raised an eyebrow, "Anything?"

"Wilde!" Finnick yelled. "Quit the chit-chat and get back to work!"

Nick quickly turned to his boss and acknowledged him. "Sorry Finn!" He turned back to Ben, "We'll talk more after my shift. You can either wait here or keep searching. If you do wait here, get yourself some food so Finnick doesn't kick you out."

"Thanks, can I get a menu?"

Nick reached under to grab a laminated menu and place it in front of him. Before resuming his tasks, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Nick snuck a glance to read the message before Finnick caught him.

"Fine."

Nick let out a huge sigh of relief and resumed his work, happy for the progress on bringing the group back together. He had gone back to waiting tables after the next bartender switched with him.


The end of the shift came, and Clawhauser had ordered his food before taking off again. Nick reserved a table for himself and Jack and took the liberty of buying a basket of fries and two glasses of beer for him and the buck.

Nick drank half of his glass before helping himself to some fries. His mind was on the upcoming conversation with Jack. He couldn't fault him for feeling that way. He would be frustrated too if he took his time out of his day to meet with mammals only to find out that not everyone was prepared.

His thoughts dissipated when he heard Jack's voice, "Nick."

The fox looked up to see the buck sit down across from him. "Hey, Jack." He pushed the second glass of beer and the basket of fries forward. "Glad to see you here."

"Thanks," Jack took a sip from his glass and helped himself to some fries.

"Listen Jack," Nick began before Jack held up a paw.

"I'm going to stop you there, Nick. Your reasons for this meeting are different from mines."

"Huh?"

Jack took another drink before staring at a confused Nick, "I'm done with your study group."

It took a moment for the pin to drop. "Wait, what?!"

"You heard me. I'm finished."

"Come on Jack! Don't do this!" Nick kept up his wall, but panic was threatening to tear it down and openly display his desperation.

"Come on nothing! I'm already having to work these meetings around my schedule, and when I do show up nothing gets accomplished? I would have rather slept in this morning or catch up on a few cases at lunch than have wasted my time." Jack downed the rest of his drink and started getting up, "Good luck Nick. You're going to need it."

"Now Jack will you wait!" To his fortune, Jack stopped a moment to gather his belongings, giving Nick one last chance. "Look, I'm just as frustrated too, and I'm sure everyone else is also. But we've been doing well so far. Are you really going to quit on us because of a few ill-prepared meetings?"

As much as the buck wanted to refute the tod, he spoke the truth. When reflecting on their past successes, Jack conceded that it would be petty for him to quit. "Fair point," But he narrowed his eyes at Nick. "But that doesn't mean I have to tolerate the mistakes."

The fox returned the gesture, "Neither do I. Why do you think I'm trying to fix this?" Nick took a deep breath to calm down from the tension. "Just one more try please."

Jack sighed heavily as he stepped out from the booth with his bag. "Fine. One more. That's it." He then got an idea while grabbing a pawful of fries. "How about this? Schedule the meeting tomorrow night after at nine? No one has an excuse not to attend because of school or work."

Jack took his leave and Nick was alone again at the table. The fox glanced at the remainder of his beer for a few moments before polishing it off and the remainder of the fries. He plopped his head down onto the table with a thump.

That could have gone better…


Fru Fru first called Skye to ask where she was. After a few rings, the vixen answered.

"Hi Fru!"

"Skye, how are you doing?" She noticed how the vixen raised her voice and can hear the loud noises in the background. "And where are you?"

"I'm at the gym. Taking a break from studying right now."

"Neat! Mind if I join you? I need to talk to you also."

"Sure! I'll be waiting near the concessions. See you soon!"

With that, the shrew made a quick stop to change into her gym clothes before heading to the gym. Inside the building, she scanned her student ID to gain access and then went to the concessions where she found Skye sitting at a table and drinking a protein shake.

The shrew strolled up to the vixen and yelled her name, "Skye! There you are!"

The vixen heard her friend's voice and lowered her muzzle to see the shrew. Skye smiled and bent down to pick up Fru Fru. The shrew jumped up onto her paws and was carried up onto the table.

"Hi Fru." Skye greeted.

Fru got herself comfortable on the table. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, a lot less stressful than from this morning. I decided to take Jack's advice to relive my stress through exercise."

"He asked us if we wanted to go exercising with him earlier in the library. You two seem to be patching things up from what we saw in the library."

Skye sipped on her shake. "I don't like his attitude, but he still deserves some help...for the first year. After that, he can do whatever he wants."

"That's good. Jack was the reason I wanted to come here and talk."

"You want me to give him another chance?" She deadpanned.

"Well yeah! Nick wouldn't have asked him to join if he felt Jack couldn't do a good job. Look at how well we've been doing in Torts because of Jack's work."

Skye started sipping on her smoothie, using the time to think while Fru Fru silently watched. The shrew felt she was acting like a lawyer pleading her case to a judge, in this instance Skye. The longer the vixen took to make a decision; it increased the likelihood of her saying yes.

The vixen finally let out a huge sigh, "Oh alright,"

"Great!" A relieved Fru Fru exclaimed. "Nick will let me know how his conversation with Jack goes."

"Okay," Skye stood up and stretched before picking up her bottle and laying out her paw on the table. "Ready to join me?"

Fru Fru giggled and climbed on. "I thought you never asked."


The next morning before class, Nick arrived at the campus infirmary to check on Judy. If she needed to remain in bed, he would stay briefly and promise to return later. If not, he would happily escort her to class.

He was surprised to see Judy and Natalie walking out together when approaching the door. It was Judy who spotted him first. "Nick!"

"Carrots, good to see you up and walking!" He then looked over to the white doe. "But what are you doing here Natalie?"

"Same as you from what it seems," She said. "I'm also giving Judy a ride to her class."

"Thanks for the offer, but I can walk," Judy said.

Nick crossed his arms and stared at her. "Carrots, you just got out of the infirmary so I wouldn't push yourself. Besides, Bogo's class is in 20 minutes, and we'll be late if we walk."

"He's right," Natalie said. "You're limping, and I had to help after you nearly fell over."

Judy slouched her shoulders and groaned, knowing it was the truth. "Fine, I'll ride to class."

"Great! Nick, could you help her to my car? You're welcome to join us."

"Absolutely." He walked over, and Judy let out a squeak when he suddenly swept her up and held her bridal style.

The surprise turned to anger as Judy slapped Nick's chest with her paws. "Nick!"

"This is faster than walking. Don't deny it."

As much as she wanted to wipe the smirk off his face, she couldn't deny the truth. She gave an irritable huff and crossed her arms. "Fine!"

Natalie could only giggle as the three began walking to the parking lot. They moved fast and did not talk, knowing that distractions could cause Nick and Judy to be late. All three mammals knew that was not a good idea for Bogo's class. They promptly arrived at Natalie's car and got in. The white doe started driving to the building where Bogo's class is held.

Safely on the road, Nick finally started talking. "How are you feeling Carrots?"

"I feel better."

Nick and Natalie knew that she wasn't currently focused on her health, judging from the tone of her voice and her body behavior. They could see her ears drooping and her nose twitching, and hear her foot thump on the bottom of the car.

"Judy," Nick said. "I know what you're thinking."

She flailed her arms in the air before lying back in her seat with her arms crossed. "I just can't get my mind off of it alright! I could have done some research while I rested, instead I got nothing done and wasted nearly a day!"

"You needed rest Judy," Natalie said. "Besides, you have plenty of time. Even if you do a poor job, you still have the rest of the semester. Trust me there is no need to take it so seriously."

Judy didn't respond, and so neither did Nick or Natalie. The conversation remained quiet for the rest of the drive.

It wasn't until the car made a turn and rode up to their destination that Judy spoke up again. "Maybe Bogo will give me an extension. I did get into a car accident."

Natalie pulled up into a parking space and was about to comment when a particular mammal caught her attention. "Why don't you go ask him?"

Nick and Judy turned to where Natalie was looking and saw Bogo walking towards the building. Knowing this was her chance, Judy promptly left the car and ran over to him, as fast as her feet allowed her. "Professor Bogo?"

He slowed down to allow the mammal speaking to him to catch up. "Yes?"

Judy came up alongside him and started making her request, "Professor, I need to ask you about the report you assigned me."

"And what is the matter Miss-?"

"Hopps, from your Contracts class. You asked me to write a report on specific performance. I was working on it yesterday, but then I got kicked out of the library. I was heading over to the public one to do the research there when a car hit me."

At that moment, Bogo stopped and turned to face Judy, "Miss Hopps, I am sorry that you were injured, but is there any reason you feel the need to recount yesterday's event? I need to be heading to class and so should you."

"Sir, all I'm asking is that you please give me an extension to answer your question."

"Your question Miss Hopps."

The response surprised her, but she remained composed. "Sorry sir. I'm only asking for another day at least. I want you to know that I tried and did a good job. I don't want you to think that I'm a disappointment—"

"Miss Hopps my opinion of you is irrelevant, and whether you appear in my office or not with the report is your own decision. See you in class." Bogo continued walking ahead, but his response left Judy behind, staring ahead at him until he disappeared into the building.

Seeing the conversation play out from afar, Nick and Natalie could only look at each other with pity as Judy placed her paws on her hips and kicked the ground, her ears drooping.