I know, I know.

I am so sorry for the late update (again) but I've had a TONNE of crap going on in my life, mainly to do with moving into a new house recently, sorting out boxes, figuring out how we're gonna fix up the rooms, trying to keep the family from eating each other, sprucing up my new bedroom and of course preparing for Christmas. For a while, we hadn't even got the Wifi going yet so I had to rely on my local coffee shop for internet access. Plus I'm still searching for a secure job, attending interviews, working at my voluntary job and whatnot.

So as you can imagine, I've fallen under pretty stress-filled times. But that doesn't mean I'll stop writing to keep my audience happy. Besides I think you guys deserve an early Christmas present. :)

And I'll admit, I wasn't that impressed with my last chapter. I feel like I was just pushing myself to get something out and it just felt like filler. I don't want to write the most rushed and shoddy work imaginable and just conclude "Yep, good enough". So hopefully this one will make up for it.

I do not own the movie Sing. I only own my OC, Jason.

Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! :)

Things could have been going a little better.

Before Jason could even get started on his rehearsal, a spontaneous chain of events had led to some stage lights crashing down and bursting into flame, followed by a swinging sandbag knocking Pete flat. Thankfully Jason had come running backstage after hearing the commotion and hastily phoned the hospital for the poor camel and his injured neck. To top it all off, after having seen the ambulance off, the frog trio's constant squabbling had led to them storming out of the theatre and quitting the show altogether.

Using a paw to massage his temples, the porcupine followed Buster back into the auditorium where the chaos had begun. Miss Crawley was currently helping Meena to put out the last of the fire onstage.

"Alright, we're two acts down. Give me some good news, Miss Crawley." The worried koala pleaded, making his way down the aisle.

"Oh, it's not as bad as it looks, sir." Miss Crawley replied. Just as the piece of stage she was standing on collapsed beneath her.

"Oopsy-daisy." She added meekly. Jason immediately ran up onto the stage to gently pull the lizard out. After a brief sigh, Moon immediately brightened up and pointed to Meena.

"Meena. How'd you like to re-audition for the show?" The teenage elephant's eyes lit up with pure delight.

"Really? Well, yeah…" she replied, her excited tone fading somewhat.

"Great!"

"I mean, no." Buster and Jason both furrowed their eyebrows.

"What?" Meena's fingers anxiously drummed against the fire extinguisher in her grasp.

"I-I mean, yes, I can sing. But no, I get so nervous and… I-I can't do it. I mean, I would totally do it but, uh… no, I... No." Buster just looked at her in contemplation.

"I'm gonna take that as a maybe." He said at last. Jason was about to speak up until the peppy sound of Japanese singing grabbed his attention. A familiar bunch of giggling red pandas whizzed past a gap in the curtains.

"Great! Look, they're back!" Buster cried ecstatically, giving chase after them as Mrs Crawley plodded along behind. "Uh, we're gonna come back to this, Meena!" The moment he disappeared backstage, Jason turned to look up at Meena.

"You didn't tell me you auditioned for the show." He remarked, his tone laced with interest. Meena only glanced down at the broken floorboards sadly.

"Well I-I did, but the thing is…" She sighed. "I just have really bad stage fright." Jason's eyes softened with sympathy as she explained further.

"And I arrived for the auditions first thing in the morning too. But when it was my turn, I just… I got so scared and, uh…" Her shoulders drooped as she let out a defeated sigh.

"I left."

With that, she turned and started trudging slowly back towards the curtains. Jason followed suite.

"Just like that?" The porcupine asked. "You didn't ask for another chance?"

"Well that's just it." Meena replied, placing the extinguisher back on its holder. "My grandpa convinced me to go back and ask Mr Moon to let me re-audition, but… I ended up getting this job instead."

Jason nodded in understanding as all the pieces came together in his mind. His smile quickly came back as he remembered the koala's recent proposal.

"Well on the bright side, he's finally offered you that chance now." That didn't seem to make Meena's mood any more positive.

"Yeah, but… I mean, singing with my family around is one thing," she sighed, staring down at the floor forlornly, "But singing in front of an entire theatre… It-It's just… I can't." Jason wanted to tell Meena what his own grandpa had said about needing to take a chance the moment it's given to someone. But one couldn't just make someone get over stage fright simply by telling them to get over it. These sorts of things hardly ever worked like that. Finally he reached up and gave Meena's giant hand a reassuring pat, snapping out of her sad trance.

"Meena, if that's how you feel, then I won't force you to choose." He said gently. "You've been nothing but kind and helpful to everyone since you got here. And if you end up deciding not to, I promise I won't think any less of you." Looking down at the porcupine for a moment, Meena finally gave him a thankful smile which he returned. Jason then made his way to the stage door leading back to the rehearsal area.

The moment he pulled it open, the red panda group stormed past him with indignant frowns and out of the theatre doors. Standing in the doorway to his rehearsal room, Buster gave up on trying to convince them to come back and picked up his Japanese dictionary from the floor.

"Well so much for that idea." He muttered, rubbing his cheek in pain. "Okay, uh, Jason, you just get back to rehearsing, I'll think of something else." As the koala agitatedly walked off, Jason stopped staring and made his way back into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Ooookay then, back to business." He said to himself, pressing down on the PLAY button and starting his CD over again.

The first few notes of All Star instantly began blaring out of the speakers. Having heard this song countless times, Jason was in no need of a lyrics sheet. For the most part, he powered through the first verse okay. But when it came to the higher-octave repeating of "all that glitters is gold" near the middle, that's where he faltered.

Sadly that was the case with the rest of the songs he whizzed through.

Whenever they had a high note and he tried to hit it, he either sung the wrong note or his voice cracked and it came out as a screech instead. Every time that happened, Jason paused the CD and looked around frantically to make sure no one outside his rehearsal space had heard him.

Especially Ash.

He remembered how she could hit the high notes effortlessly, compared to his own embarrassing attempts. Of course, being a girl made the high notes easier for her but even so, he still couldn't help feeling a tiny twang of jealousy. By the time he'd forced himself through the last song on the CD, he was a wreck; how could he be expected to perform on the night of the contest if he couldn't get even one of the songs a hundred percent right?

Maybe another break would be good. The porcupine thought at last. It was silly of him to keep using breaks as an excuse to not sing anything but at this point, a breather was most definitely welcome. Shoving open his door, Jason breathed a heavy sigh as he stepped out into the barren foyer wearily, looking around hopefully for someone to engage in a conversation with.

Come to think of it, I haven't really talked to the lady pig. He pondered to himself. What was her name again… Rosanne, I think? Rosie? No, Rosita, that's it.

Walking over to her rehearsal space to the right, Jason pushed open the door to be greeted by the sight of Rosita neatly laying many sheets of paper across the floor. It was then he realised they made up a giant dancing diagram, patterned with multi-coloured footprints and directions.

"Dancing, huh?" He asked, breaking the silence. Flinching in surprise, Rosita whipped around to see the young porcupine standing in the doorway.

"Oh, you really gave me a fright there." She breathed with a light smile, placing a cloven hoof on her chest.

"Sorry about that." Jason replied sheepishly, giving the back of his ear a tiny scratch. "Um, you're Rosita, am I right?" Rising to her feet, the pig held the rest of her dancing sheets under one arm and held out her other hoof to him.

"And you're Jason if I'm not mistaken." Smiling back, the young porcupine gladly shook it. "Congratulations on getting into the show."

"Thanks, you too. Do you, uh, need any help laying these out?" Jason gestured to the half-finished dance diagram covering the floor.

"Are you sure you're not too busy?"

"Nah, it's alright. I'm taking a break anyway." Smiling gratefully, Rosita handed him half the sheets from under her arm. The two of them then set to work spreading them out.

"So you and Gunter, duo act?" Jason broke the silence at last, glancing across at Rosita.

"That's right. Something to, uh, spice things up onstage, as Mr. Moon said."

"So I heard. I've talked with Gunter yesterday and he's definitely the spirited type."

"He sure is." The pig replied with a small chuckle. "You won't believe how much his energy wears me down in rehearsals."

"And judging from this sheet we're laying out, I'm guessing you're dancing with him?" Jason asked, waving one of the paper pieces in his paw for emphasis.

"Well he's more of a dancer than I am." Rosita explained, taking on a more determined expression. "This is just to help me get in touch with the steps better. If I can memorise these steps, hopefully singing at the same time won't be too much trouble for me."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Jason placed the last sheet of paper in its place before rising to his feet. "Right, I think that's all of them."

"Great! Thanks for your help, Jason" Rosita replied. She was about to pull herself up but knelt down again to straighten a few of the sheets. "Do you think you could get the music for me please? Track 4?"

"Oh, sure." Walking over to Rosita's own CD player in the corner, he switched it on and instantly the opening guitar from Venus began blaring out. At that moment, Gunter appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, Guten Tag, Jason!" He greeted the porcupine with a wide smile along with a friendly wave.

"Nice to see you, Gunter." Jason replied, making his way around Rosita and her dance sheet. "I was just helping out Rosita." Gunter finally took interest in the sheet spread across the floorboards as his partner made the final touches.

"Oh, vat is zis for?"

"Now we use this to follow the steps." Rosita explained, standing up with her microphone ready. Jason and Gunter watched with confusion as she began singing the first few lines very well and moved across the coloured steps on the sheets. Albeit very stiffly.

Okay, she definitely has a long way to go before she's ready to dance in front of anyone.

"I'll, uh, leave you to it." Jason murmured across to Gunter, giving him a 'good luck' pat on the shoulder before leaving their rehearsal space. He just barely managed to avoid a piglet whizzing past him and into the room, making airplane noises as he speed sent the sheets flying in all directions.

"Caspar! Caspar, no!" Rosita protested as the young one carried on. Gunter watched with interest as Jason gave an amused smile at the chaos before carrying on his way.

Heh, just like Stephanie when she was younger. He thought to himself. Those thoughts quickly evaporated at the sound of two bickering voice coming from Ash's rehearsal space, accompanied by the opening notes of Call Me Maybe. Curious, Jason made his way up the steps and watched from her open doorway as the back-and-forth arguing continued. Ash just stood there in annoyance as Buster moved his body slightly to the song's beat.

"I am not singing this!"

"What's not to like?" Moon asked obliviously. "You're a female and you're a teenager. This song was made for you!" Jason rolled his eyes at this blatant stereotyping.

"Wow, it's like you can see inside my tiny teenage mind." Came Ash's reply, dripping with sarcasm to Jason's amusement. Buster, of course, remained unaware.

"I know, right? You just gotta add some moves and a little bit of…" With that, the koala began dancing and singing along to the chorus, completely unaware of how stupid he looked doing so. Both porcupines just gave the most deadpan stares imaginable until Moon thankfully stopped. "Go for it!"

"Oh, you mean like this?" Ash asked in a faux sweet voice, before giving her own cynical spin on the last bit. Jason was both amused and yet awestruck in that despite her clearly sardonic performance, her voice was still amazing. Striking a pose with a shake of her quills, Ash's phony smile quickly dropped at Buster's positive reaction.

"There ya go! You're a natural! You perform exactly like that onstage, you're gonna blow the whole audience away!" He cried out, excitedly making his way out the door. "Oh, hey, Jason." Finally taking notice of the male porcupine, Ash hurriedly smoothed out the ruffles in her skirt and cleared her throat.

"H-How long have you been standing there?" She asked, flustered.

"Sorry for not knocking." Jason answered awkwardly, stepping into her rehearsal space before smiling in an amused way. "So cheesy pop's not your style, huh?"

"Hey, I didn't expect him to like it." Ash replied with a paw on her hip, still a little annoyed at the koala's demands

"Heh, now that's living proof he's never interacted with a teenager in his life." When he saw Ash was still pretty agitated, however, Jason quickly dropped his jokey manner. Sighing, he shoved his paws into his jean pockets and glanced dejectedly at the wall mirrors.

"Look, if it's of any consolation, my rehearsals aren't exactly going smoothly either. For…" He paused. "…various reasons."

"I guess that koala is really starting to get under both our skins." Ash muttered, looking across at her shimmering guitar neatly upright on its stand. Following her gaze, Jason immediately understood; how she'd be prepared to blow the audience away with her rock n' roll yet got roped into performing a music genre that was the complete opposite of her personality. And here he was on the receiving end of Buster demanding he sing songs with notes way out of his comfort zone. All the stress. The exhaustion. The utter disappointment for both of them.

Before he could stop himself, all the male porcupine's stress finally unloaded in the form of a question.

"You wanna go out for coffee after rehearsals?" Her eyes popping open fully, Ash stopped looking around awkwardly and turned her attention to him.

"Sorry?" She asked, staring at him. Breathing in through his nose as boldly as he could, Jason elaborated.

"Well the way I see it, we're both pretty stressed out about this whole competition and Moon's expectations for it and whatnot. So why not, right? I think we could both do with something to get our minds off this." Ash said nothing, her stare drifting away from him and down towards the floorboards in deep thought.

"Unless you're busy tonight, in which case, that-that's fine." Jason added on awkwardly, beginning to turn towards the door slightly. "What with your boyfriend and music and all…"

"No, no, no, that sounds great!" Jason stopped cold at the feeling of Ash's paw seizing his. Spinning round to look at her, surprised, she realized what she was doing and quickly let go, scratching behind her ear. "I'm in no rush to get home tonight and I… actually haven't been out for coffee in a while." She finally looked up with a tiny smile, her sparkling eyes gazing into his own.

"So… yeah, I'd like that." Lost in her eyes for what felt like eternity, Jason finally gave a grateful smile back to her.

"Okay then, cool." He replied, "Let's carry on through this and I'll catch you after rehearsals are done?"

"You got it." Ash nodded, making her way back over to her CD player. Nodding in return, Jason made his way out the door, content in his expressions but soaring with joy on the inside. At last, a break from all the contest pressure that didn't involve sitting up in his bedroom all evening. Just a nice, quiet meetup with one of his new friends. It couldn't get any better than that.

It wasn't until Johnny almost ran into him that he snapped out of his jubilant thoughts.

"Whoa, s-sorry about that, Jason!" the gorilla stuttered, regaining his balance.

"It's alright, Johnny." He replied, too happy to care. "Hey, me and Ash are going out for coffee after rehearsals. You up for it?"

"Sorry, wish I could but I got some family stuff to take care of, so I'll see ya later." Johnny answered in a hurried state before running out the doors, leaving a very puzzled Jason in his wake.

"Umm… alright then."

The moment rehearsals had ended, Ash had texted Lance about her plans for that evening complete with some reassurance it was just a hangout with a friend. And Jason had told his mother that he'd be home slightly later than usual. Now the two porcupines stood at the front entrance to a quaint little shack on the street corner, animals pouring in and out of its doors. Above was a neon cup with luscious eyelashes and lipstick complete with the name.

"Brew-tiful?" Ash gave an incredulous sideways glance at Jason who responded with an equally amused smile of his own.

"Eh, don't let the dumb name fool you." He said, holding the door open for her. "I promise you, this is the best dang coffee shop I've ever visited." Once the pair of them had entered, Ash took in the charming surroundings. Animals sat at different tables, locked in conversation with one another while the aroma of fresh coffee lingered and the beat of a classic 60s rock song blared from the radio speakers. The entire establishment glowed with the warm orange lights as the staff went back and forth to various customers, different orders balanced neatly in their grasp.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Ash said with a casual shrug, though nonetheless quite enthralled as she glanced at the menu written in chalk above the counter. "This stuff does sound pretty good." Jason managed to give her a nod just as they reached the front of the queue.

"Hi there, could I get a slice of cherry cheesecake and a cappuccino please?" Jason asked the dog behind the counter who quickly wrote down the order.

"Sure thing." The dog then turned to Ash. "And how about you?" Looking back up at the menu quickly, Ash made her choice.

"Uh, yeah, can I get a white coffee with a piece of fudge cake?"

"Alright then, that's $12.70 please." Ash was about to reach into her pocket for her wallet when an arm shot across in front of her.

"Nah, it's alright, I got it." Watching Jason in surprise as he retracted his arm and pulled out his own wallet, Ash contemplated how she usually paid for food whenever she went with Lance to the nearest fast-food joint. But this time was… different, with how willing and casual Jason seemed about doing so.

"Okay, just find a table and we'll bring it over to you shortly." Jason nodded at the dog before he and Ash started looking around for a free table.

"I wouldn't have minded paying, y'know." Ash said once they found a nice spot by the window.

"You kidding?" the male porcupine asked as he took his seat while Ash took hers, settling her guitar case down. "It's my treat, I put the offer on the table in the first place."

"Well… fair point." The two porcupines sat in silence for a moment before Jason's voice promptly shattered it like glass.

"So what are you in for anyway?" Ash stopped gazing around the restaurant and looked across the table at him.

"Sorry?"

"The contest, I mean. Any particular reason you entered?"

"Oh, right. It's for me and Lance." The female porcupine replied, giving her quills a brush.

"Your boyfriend?" asked Jason, grimacing in the inside as he though back to the other porcupine with the awful singing and bad attitude at the auditions.

"That's right." Ash nodded. "We're in our own band, we've gotten a few gigs at some restaurants here and there but nothing really big. But if I win, we could use that prize money to start our own label and build a recording studio. The whole world would know our names."

"Whoa, pretty big dreams." Jason nodded, clearly impressed with her ambitions. "In that case, I hope you win, seeing how I haven't really got my eyes on the prize." Ash raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You serious?"

"Yeah, I entered this competition just to get away from my pain-in-the-neck boss." He replied with a shrug.

"So you're working?" Ash leaned forward slightly with interest.

"Nothing really fancy really." Came the response. "Just a part-time marketing assistant for JEC Insurance. Updating their social media, posting tips on how to be safe, that sorta thing."

"Huh." The female porcupine replied at last after a few moments of stunned silence. She'd never have pegged someone as considerate as him to be working for an insurance company of all places. "Not gonna lie, it doesn't sound all that exciting."

"Eh, it puts bread on the table at least so I can't bellyache too much." Jason stated flippantly. "But my family begged me to put my singing to some practical use, my sister especially, so I thought why not? I needed a bit of a break anyway."

"Oh, really?" The corners of Ash's mouth curled up into an amused grin. "And what are they like?"

"Well my mom's the neat freak and my dad's the typical paper-reading sporty guy." Jason's face contorted in annoyance as he remembered a certain pair of brothers. "As for my siblings, Craig and Alex are possibly the most annoying older brothers on the planet. You can have 'em if you want." Ash couldn't help giving a quiet giggle at that.

"Nah, I'm good." came her jokey reply as Jason's smile promptly returned.

"But my younger sister Stephanie is the social butterfly of the family. She and my Grandpa George are the ones who really love my singing and who convinced me to join."

"Oh, so I have them both to thank then." Jason raised an eyebrow curiously.

"For what?"

"You being here in the first place, of course." Ash replied, giving a pretty genuine smile.

"Heh. Guess so." Jason gave a small chuckle at this as he smiled back at her. It wasn't until a cow waiter practically appeared out of thin air and placed both their orders in front of them that they snapped out of their conversation. Steam from the coffee danced in the air while the glaze of both their cakes glistened in the restaurant's lights.

"Wow, quick service." Ash commented as Jason gave the departing waiter a grateful nod.

"Heh, wait until you taste the coffee itself." He replied. Pretending to look suspicious, Ash blew on her coffee gently before taking a sip. Her whole body instantly relaxed as the hot drink ran down her throat.

"Hm. Not bad." She said after savouring the flavour. Shrugging with an 'told you' look, Jason took a sip of his own coffee before setting the cup back down on the table.

"Any siblings yourself?" He asked.

"Nah, it was always just me and my parents." Ash replied, carving off a chunk of her fudge cake and popping it straight into her mouth. "Until I met Lance, that is. We were just two high-schoolers who had a thing for rock so we built up our own two-person band and here we are." Jason once again tried to resist scowling at the memory of her boyfriend.

"Yeah, it's a, uh, shame he didn't get in." Ash gave a small sigh.

"Yeah, but I did promise him I'd win the contest for both of us." Jason merely nodded as he ate a piece of his own dessert.

"But… I gotta say, for a boyfriend, he doesn't really seem like the… I dunno, caring type." Looking up from her plate, Ash raised one of her eyebrows.

"'Scuse me?" The male porcupine quickly raised his paws defensively.

"Well, y'know, with the way he was criticising your music at the auditions and all." He replied, "It just didn't seem all that supportive to me." Ash merely shook her head calmly.

"Believe me, Jason, you don't know Lance like I do." She stated in a nonchalant manner, taking a sip of her coffee. "He may not show it on the outside a lot of the time but he really does care about me. Plus I do have a tendency to get carried away during our performances so I see no harm in a little critique so I can improve." She may have said those words supposedly in a confident way, but something about her tone didn't sound entirely certain to Jason. He could've protested but remembering his complete inexperience with couples and romance in general, he didn't.

"Sure thing." Came his short reply. The only noise filling the air around them now was the radio's music and the various other discussions going on with the other customers. The two porcupines just sat there and took a sip of their hot drinks simultaneously. Until Jason looked down at Ash's guitar case beside her seat.

"So, rock, huh?" Following his gaze, Ash finished off the piece of cake in her mouth then gave a smile.

"Yeah, my dad introduced me to AC/DC at six." The female porcupine responded with a small chuckle, "Since then, I've always wanted to be the next Malcolm Young." Jason's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of one of his favourite rock bands.

"No way, that was one of the first rock bands I listened to when I was a kid!" Likewise, Ash's smile also grew bigger.

"No kidding!" She replied, starting to go full fangirl mode now. Jason, of course, found that completely adorable. "I mean, say what you want about the vocals but you can't deny the instrumentals are amazing!"

"I know, right?" The male porcupine responded excitedly. "Y'know, Shoot To Thrill was the one I first listened to."

"It was Thunderstruck for me but Shoot To Thrill's pretty incredible too! Oh, and Back In Black." By this point, Ash was virtually a kid hyped up on sugar.

"Well that kinda goes without saying. But hey, while we're on rock bands, you can't forget Led Zeppelin either…" Jason replied in a sing-song voice. Now both porcupines were leaning across the table, practically touching noses as they listed of various bands.

"Ooh! Or Guns N' Roses!"

"Aerosmith!"

"Steppenwolf!"

"Bon Jovi!"

"Twisted Sister!"

"Black Sabbath!"

"Scorpions!"

"And the all-time best…!"

"Queen!" They both finished at the same time. Noticing the total silence in the atmosphere, the two porcupines both looked sideways to see every animal at every table staring in their direction, the music having stopped too. Chuckling in an embarrassed manner, the two of them slowly sat back down, blushing underneath their fur. Everyone else meanwhile went back to their conversations as the radio started up again.

"So, uh, you're into the classics too?" Ash asked, clearing her throat.

"Heh, yep. Can't beat the songs of the 70s to the 90s." Jason stated, taking a chunk out of his cake and eating it, "It's a heck of a lot better than the electronic junk we have nowadays." Ash instantly rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Pfft, I'll say." She replied, "I like to imagine an agent always trying not to laugh as he says 'Don't worry, Mrs Minaj, your music is inspiring, honest!'" Her impression was so ridiculous, Jason couldn't help but laugh. Smiling back, Ash sat up straight and fiddled with her quills bashfully.

"Or that dubstep trash." She added on. It was Jason's turn to look sickened this time.

"Ugh, gag me."

"I mean, it's not even music, it's just noise."

"Like a microphone in a tumble dryer." Now Ash was the one who burst out laughing.

"Oh, man, this feels good." She said once she'd calmed down. Jason cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Y'know, being able to laugh and spend some quality time with someone besides Lance. Especially with all the stress about the competition." Now that comment made Jason's evening.

"Guess it's a good thing I entered then." He replied, trying to look casual.

"Yeah. Really good." Ash replied sincerely. Smiling back, Jason went to take another sip of his coffee only to taste nothing. Looking into the cup, he finally noticed it was all finished, complete with everything else they ordered.

"Wow, that went away quick." The female porcupine commented, looking quite surprised herself. Chuckling, Jason got up from his seat.

"Yep, guess we should get going."

It was completely dark by the time the pair of porcupines made it to Paradise Apartments. The whole journey there, Ash and Jason had done nothing but talk with each other. Whether it was about music, movies, their families or even the most trivial of matters, their conversation never died.

"And you never thought of pursuing singing?" Ash asked, perplexed, as the bright lights of cars whizzed past the sidewalk.

"I guess I just saw it more as a hobby than a life-long profession really." Jason replied with a shrug. "I mean, my job pays well enough so that's okay for me."

"Well I haven't heard you sing yet, so maybe this competition can change your mind." Looking down at the pavement at her reply, Jason merely nodded.

"Yeah…" At last, the two stopped right outside the building, Ash fishing her keys out of her pocket.

"Gotta say, Jason, this evening was pretty great." She stated, smiling gratefully. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem." The male porcupine replied. "I better get home to my own plaaa…" At last, he realised where he was.

"Aw, crud." Ash's eyebrows quickly furrowed in concern.

"What's wrong?"

"Well I was so busy talking to you, I caught the train back to your place without realising." Jason explained, completely embarrassed as he scratched behind his ear. The moment the absurdity of this situation truly sunk in, Ash struggled to hold in her laughter.

"I'm so sorry about that." She managed to get out. Even Jason could help snickering.

"No worries, I can catch the nearest bus back. Shouldn't take too long hopefully." He responded.

"On the plus side, now you know where I live." She cocked an eyebrow with a smile. "And why stop there?" Jason merely looked confused as she lay her guitar case down on the pavement and opened it up, pulling out a pen after doing some searching.

"Stick out your paw."

"Uhh, okay?" Confused, Jason nonetheless held out his paw. Pulling the pen lid off with her mouth, Ash gently took hold of his paw and scribbled something into the metacarpal pad. Once done, Jason looked down at his paw as Ash put the pen back.

"Here's my number." She said, grinning. His eyes dancing over each digit scrawled on his palm, Jason eventually looked at her with gratitude.

"Huh. Thanks, Ash." He replied before smirking. "I'll, uh, call you maybe." He let loose a laugh as Ash gave his shoulder a playful shove.

"Oh, come on, you made it too easy." He defended, rubbing his shoulder as Ash picked up her guitar case with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. Making her way up the steps, she found the right key and pushed it into the lock, turning it and opening up the door. Before she entered, the female porcupine looked back at him, smiling thankfully.

"See you tomorrow, Jason."

"Yeah, see you later, Ash." Both their gazes never left each other's until the door sadly closed. Letting out a content sigh, Jason began making his way down towards the nearest bus stop, visions of Ash dancing in his mind all the way.

What a friend.

And we all know what happens to Ash the minute she goes into her apartment. :(

But how's that for fluffiness, huh? (God, I love writing for these two) Well Merry Christmas!

*I do not own the rights to the movie Sing. All rights go to Illumination Entertainment