Nick and Wolfe arrived at a bar nearby their apartment. Upon entering, they found that only a few other animals were in the establishment, mostly they were scattered about. They grabbed a seat at the bar and immediately began ordering drinks. Nick ordered a Guinness snout and Wolfe followed his lead.

"You definitely look like you could use a drink." Wolfe stated looking up and down Nick. "So what's going on with this ZBI stuff?"

Nick sighed and leaned up against the bar facing the backside of the building. "My partner and I have been working a case for the past few months. We finally felt like we were making some leeway before a Bear in a suit came in claiming our case." Nick exasperatedly put a paw on his eyes.

"I see, most of the ZBI is scrambling the past few days. It's unlike anything I've seen. They say they found a connection to one of ZBI's most wanted criminals, I'm not sure which one though." Wolfe said as the bartender returned with their drinks. Wolfe took a sip and immediately started coughing. "How on Earth do you drink this?" He frowned staring at the drink in disgust.

Nick smirked, "It isn't for everyone but it can grow on ya." To be fair, Nick wasn't in the mood for talking but Wolfe going out of his way already was making him feel a little bit better. And the alcohol, that definitely lightened tensions.

Wolfe gave up on the beer and ordered a hard cider instead. He then began staring at Nick intently. After a few awkward glances from Nick, he finally spoke up. "I can see the gears turning in your head. What's on your mind?" Wolfe asked.

"Nothing of great importance, just stupid thoughts and what ifs." Nick lied. There was a lot going on in his mind. He was afraid of what might happen if he gave his feelings any daylight or thought. Wolfe was not satisfied with this answer and shook his head.

Wolfe leaned in a little closer, squinting as he inspected Nick. "Naw, I can see it in your eyes. It's a girl ain't it." Nick's eyes widened. He wanted to leave. Just abandon the wolf and pretend this conversation never happened. He never told anybody about his inner thoughts. But for some reason, some extremely odd reason. Nick trusted Wolfe and knew he could tell him anything. As if Wolfe already knew him.

Finally giving up on hiding Nick responded, "Yes, its a girl." Wolfe perched he head onto his paw supported by the bar top, giving an interested look. Nick sighed, "She happens to be my best friend and quite honestly my best friend. I'm great with people but have only had a few close friends. She by far out weighs them all. She brought me out of the darkest times and makes me feel happier than I've been in a loooong time." Nick began scratching the back of his head and continued, "I feel like I want more. She makes me happy and it pains me to be separate from her. But I'm worried that she doesn't feel the same. I'm worried that if I tell her my true, new feelings that it will make our relationship awkward or ruined." Nick's ears splayed. "Then I won't see her ever again. Or at least never speak with her." After pouring our his heart, Nick chugged the rest of his beer.

Wolfe sat with his paws interlocked and on the tip of his muzzle. His eyes were closed and thinking intently. "That is quite the sticky situation there." Wolfe opened his eyes and placed a paw on Nick's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me this, I appreciate it." He returned to his hard cider, took a sip and continued. "I really wish I had some advice to give you, but there is no right answer here. The important thing is to ask yourself, are you happy. If the answer is yes then why try to ruin it. If you can see her with someone else and be happy for her, then let things be. If you are miserable and this is eating away at you," Wolfe eyed Nick as if he already knew the answer, "then its best to be open and honest. Honesty is one of the most important elements of a relationship."

Nick sat in thought. Was he happy? Yes, he was happy. But he could not see Judy with anyone else, that might kill him. He wasn't miserable, but this was definitely eating away at him. But then there is policy. Stupid policy! Both the city and his work stands in his way. Wolfe was right. This is definitely a stick situation. "So Wolfe," Wolfe eyed Nick curiously, "what is you opinion of inter-species couples?"

"Well, all of my relationships have been homospecies relationships." He shrugged, "But its not my life who other people choose to date and fall in love with. So I have no quarrel with it."

At least someone is on my side, Nick thought. I just hope that the rest of Zootopia could think more like Wolfe. They continued to chit chat and talk about mundane topics before eventually leaving the bar. Nick was grateful, as this allowed him to get things off of his chest and distract himself from all of his woes. Once they returned home, Nick laid on his bed deep in thought about the day. He could not come up with a solid answer to his question and hoped that the date tomorrow with Judy could answer some questions. Wait. Nick paused deep in thought. Is it a date?

Nick eventually succumbed to sleep and awoke the following morning at 9 am. It felt great to sleep in. He checked his phone and saw his screen saver. It was a picture of him getting his police badge with Judy having the honor (With express permission from Bogo) of being able to pin it on him. This gave him a sudden courage to call Judy. She answered:

"Hello, Nick?"

"Hey Fluff, I just realized we didn't hash out any times for the movie today. I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch before hand?" Nick asked.

"That sounds good Nick, what time do you want to meet up?"

"How does noon sound? I'll pick you up. Also, do you still have the movie in mind? You're picking remember."

Judy chuckled, "noon sounds perfect and yes I have the movie in mind and there is nothing you can say to change my mind."

Nick smiled, "Great, then its a date!" As soon as he said that he slapped his forehead and his face began heating up. Its never been this hard before. What did this rabbit do to me?

Judy paused for a moment, "Its a date, see you in a few."

The call ended and Nick collapsed on his bead. I know she said it was a date. But is it a date date or just a joking date? Am I overthinking things? What is wrong with me!? Nick covered his face with his paws. He sat for a bit of time fighting with his own mind before getting up, eating breakfast and getting ready.

He spent a considerable more amount of time getting ready today than he usually did. He made sure his fur was completely dry and brushed thoroughly. He inspected his teeth to make sure no food was left behind. He debated between multiple outfits before settling on simple shirt and a sports coat with slacks. And of course, his signature sun glasses.

He checked the time and saw he had 30 minutes to get to Judy's. Perfect. He trotted out the door waving to Wolfe on his way out. He walked up to his car. It was a brand new car that he was quite pleased to own. Although Nick always had a license to drive, he never really did. He always relied on Finnick and his van for all of their misadventures. He might have splurged a little bit on this car, but it is indeed a luxury in the city.

He made it to her apartment with a few minutes to spare. He shot her a text and after a few moments the bunny made her way into his car. She smiled and had a rather "farmer" look to herself. She wore tight jeans and a red plaid shirt. Nick thought she looked cute in her, what he assumed, hometown outfit. He also knew that cute was apparently a rude word to describe rabbits, but it just fit so well. They drove to a local diner, sat down and ordered food.

"So Nick, are you still willing to come with me to the Hopps Harvest Festival tomorrow?" Judy asked.

He gave a pondering expression, "That depends. Are your millions of brothers and sisters going to kill me?"

She laughed, "No, my family is not going to kill you." Nick sighed with relief. "My parents however..." His ears flattened and eyes widened causing Judy to laugh again. "It will be fine, just show them how great of a guy you are. I'm sure of it."

Nick laughed nervously, "whatever you say Carrots." Nick knew that her family had no reason to kill him. But this didn't stop him from imagining every worse possible scenario.

Judy clapped her hands together, "I'll stop by tomorrow morning at 9. I think that should give us enough time to make the train." Nick nodded in agreement as the waitress arrived with their food. As per usual, Judy got a salad and Nick tried to spice things up with tacos.

She began, "There will also be a birthday celebration for every Hopp that was born in January since there are just so many of us bunnies. All one million of us." She smirked at Nick's horrified expression. She paused. "Now that I think about it Nick, I don't know your birthday." His horrified expression grew. His eyes widened and his ear splayed and he started to sink below the table. "Nick! Don't run from this; when is your birthday!"

He began fiddling with his thumbs suddenly becoming very interested with his fork. "It's uh . . . the twelfth." Judy glared at him.

"The twelfth of what?" Her glare intensified.

"J-January." He sputtered.

Her mouth fell open and she rushed to check the date. She screamed, "NICK! That's in two days! Why didn't you tell me!"

"I just forgot. That's all." He refused to make eye contact with the rabbit that was practically on top of the table at this point. He was sure that she was about to climb over and attack him.

She threw herself back into the booth. "Ugh. A likely story. I don't know what is so embarrassing about your birthday."

He shrugged, "Its just another day, I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal about it."

She threw her paws in the air, "Its a whole day about you, why wouldn't you want that."

Nick looked towards the ground still not making eye contact with her. "My mother could never afford to make days just about us. The last birthday present I remember getting was a Junior Ranger Scouts outfit." He sighed, "you know how that went. Kind of killed the mood for birthdays."

Judy calmed down. She sat there opening and closing her mouth looking for something to say. Nick had no idea where this courage was coming from, but his mouth just moved without thinking. 9 times out of 10 when this happens it rarely turns out well. "So Carrots, can I ask you something?"

She gave him a puzzled look. "Sure what's up?"

His eyes wandered around the diner. "So I plan to see my mom on my birthday and I uh. . . am wondering if you would . . . want to come along. I think she would love to meet you."

She smiled, "of course I would want to come along, what kind of a question is that."

"Well its only fair that since I'm meeting your family that you should meet mine." His suave charm began slowly returning back to him after hearing her answer.

She chuckled, "I guess you are right, its only fair."

"Is there anything I need to worry about when I meet your family?" He questioned.

She shook her head, "Other than getting trampled by my little siblings, I think you will be fine."

"I thought you family was scared of foxes? I still wonder how anyone can be afraid of such a devilishly handsome specimen." Nick smirked warranting an eye roll from Judy.

"They were scared of foxes," she put emphasis on the word were. "Now I would call them more apprehensive. So as long as you don't go savage on anybody, I think we will be fine."

That didn't really make him feel much better, but it made him at least a little more optimistic. They finished the rest of the food and Nick paid the waitress. The movie theater wasn't too far away and they began walking over. Even though today was her day off, Nick noticed she was looking around suspiciously trying to find any criminals. He smiled, "what movie did you pick out?"

She began hopping on the balls of her feet smiling brightly. "I'm glad you asked it is called the Lion Pride and Prejudice. It is a movie based on one of my favorite books by Crane Austen."

He rolled his eyes, "I thought I said not too much Fluff?"

She waved her paw, "this is nothing. What is really important is the message behind the movie. you see the lion is prideful but the swan is-" Nick cut her off plugging his ears.

"La. La. La. No spoilers Carrots, I don't want to ruin the entire movie." He said in protest.

She frowned, desperately wanting to share the story. Nick smiled at her frustration. Seeing how happy she was going to this movie only confirmed what he had been debating. Even though he wasn't a huge fan of the romantic types of movies, he was happy doing so with Judy. So far he has enjoyed every second with her an did not want it to end. He made up his mind. After the movie, he was going to tell her how he felt.

Eventually, they made it to the theater. Nick bought some popcorn for the both of them and they found their seats. They were just in time for the 2 o'clock showing. The theater was packed with a bunch of other animals. Nick had noticed that the majority of them were females and some males that looked absolutely trapped.

Nick thought the movie wasn't that bad. He was not able to understand half of the movie since they spoke in a thick accent, but he thought that he understood the gist of it. Judy on the other hand was bawling. She kept muttering to herself, "How cute. How sweet." Throughout the movie. No body died and it had a happy ending. He didn't understand but these types of movies don't do to much for him. He was more excited to be spending the day with Judy. He completely forgot why he promised to take her to the movies, but at this moment he didn't care.

Once they were out of the movie theater he asked Judy, "Hey, can I ask you something?" She looked at him, here violet eyes were red and glossy from crying and the look she gave him nearly melted him.

"Sure Nick, what's up. Do I need to explain the movie." She chuckled choking with a couple sobs trying to regain her composure.

Nick got choked up himself but not for the same reason. "I wanted to ask you. Well more tell you. But uh. . ." He lost his train of thought. His mind went blank and he didn't have a clue what to do. For the first time in his life he felt speechless. He always knew what to say and when he didn't, his mouth moved for him. "Do you want to grab dinner?" He finally finished.

"That sounds great, I'm starving." The aspect of dinner seemed to wipe away all of her worries. Nick inwardly smacked his head against an imaginary wall. Come on Nick! Just spit it out. At least you can still ask over dinner. Stop being such a scardy fox and just do it!

Dinner was awkward. He was trying to find the best time to tell her how he felt. He didn't want to show her that she got to him. He didn't want to show what a confused mess he was. His life has been hard, but Judy had made everything better. Could he risk losing her? Finally he mustered up the courage.

"Judy, I've gotta tell you something." She stopped dead in her tracks, she was eating and nearly dropped the food on the table. He never calls her Judy. She looked like a kid that was about to be disciplined.

With slight worry in her tone, "you can tell me anything." I sincerely doubt that. Nick thought to himself. Just as he was about to speak her phone dinged. She waved it off as if saying she can get it later.

"No, don't wait for me." Nick said. Judy looked at her phone message. Her ears turned pink and she smiled.

"I can't believe it." She muttered. Nick gave her a quizzical look. "An old friend of mine is returning back to town. He wants to see me. Gosh it has been a few years, I wonder what he has been up to."

Nick's ears flattened and he closed his eyes. The. Perfect. Timing. Judging from her reaction and the look on her face. They had a history. She quickly put her phone away and looked back at Nick.

"Sorry, what did you want to tell me Nick?" She looked at him with wide and interested eyes.

He sighed, "The truth is, I have had feelings for you for a while now. I know you are my partner and friend, but since you have become a part of my life it has only been better. I get depressed when I am at home alone and you are not by my side. I feel like . . . I want to be more. Than just friends."

She laughed. Nick's ears were still flat on the backside of his head. Her eyes were beginning to water from laughing. Not quite the reaction I expected. "You are so funny Nick," she said while wiping tears from her eyes. "I mean, you are not even the same species. You are a predator too! With all of the protests in the streets and us being partners, Nick that could never happen. Right? Nick?" He didn't respond. "Nick?" Still no response. "Nick!" He shook his head snapping back to reality.

"What did you want to tell me Nick?" She asked looking at him still with wide and interested eyes.

He blinked, not entirely sure what just happened. All of his courage from before has just been thrown into the deepest depths of his innermost thoughts. He had no idea what to say. His mouth just moved, "I - I . . . uh . . . I really like . . .liked." Judy sat closer even more interested. "The movie we just watched." Nick sinked into his chair trying to disappear from the room.

Judy busted up laughing. "I never knew you are such a romantic Nick!"

He shot up glaring at Judy, "I'm not! I just thought it had a great message."

She started laughing harder. "The message of the movie was romance!"

He threw his paws up in frustration, "It just made me think Carrots. What is your opinion of interspecies relationships?"

She looked at him confused, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, "The movie's main premise was the relationship between a lion and a swan. It reminded me of my . . . friend."

She smirked, "Oh really? Your 'friend'" She made air quotes with her paws. "Last time I checked I was your only friend."

Nick put his paw on his heart feigning offence. "I have plenty of friends Fluff."

"Outside the precinct, I don't think so." She leaned in closer supporting her head on her paws. "So what's your fix Wilde? Wolves? Sheep?"

Without thinking he responded, "Elephants. How do you think Toot-Toot came to be." She chuckled. "Seriously Carrots, I'm talking about my friend. He's a wolf and he is a fan of . . . foxes."

She sat back with an eyebrow raised, "Since when do you have a wolf friend?"

"Yesterday, he's my new roommate." He responded.

Judy snapped her fingers, "Oh yea! I remember you saying that you were looking for a new roommate." She shrugged, "I don't know Nick. It doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't affect me. Do I think it should be illegal like it is now? No. Do I see myself in an interspecies relationship." She paused then shrugged again, "I don't know, maybe if the right mammal came along."

That put Nick at ease. "So what's your fix Fluff?"

She smirked, "foxes, how can anyone resist that tail." She teased. He chuckled just as the waitress came by and put down the check. Judy instinctively reached for it, but Nick swiped it from under her paw. She smiled, "sly fox."

After leaving the restaurant, Nick drove Judy home. She stopped before getting out of the car. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7 am so we can get there early." She said. Nick tilted his head in confusion.

"Get where?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. "The Hopps Harvest Festival tomorrow?"

His mouth gaped open, "Ohhh yea! I almost forgot about that. Sure thing see you at 7!"

She stepped out of the car and saying to him before closing the door, "great then its a date!" She winked then trotted off to her apartment.