This fandom kills me sometimes. This one was inspired by a post I saw begging the question of 'if Nick makes two hundred dollars a day why was he living by a bridge'. They had a fun little art to go along with it too. Thus this happened.
Also I might go back to the meeting the parents plot in the future or at the very least have the pair return a second time. It should be fun. It might be a bit though. Enjoy!
Judy walks down the street with a fire to her step. She pokes her head into ever establishment as she passes and swiftly moves on each and every time, her irritation rising by the second. She wishes she had pried a bit more, asked Nick what he meant when he said he was going 'Out' like he did at the end of every month and sometimes on a weekly basis, depending on his stress level, but she never did. She supposes she was too nice, giving him the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming this would be an issue. According to Finnick, however, this was most definitely an issue – one that has been a habit of Nick's for years. How she never knew about it until now she'll never know, but she certainly did not know.
Unfortunately not even Finnick knew the exact place. He never bothered to ask. Because of course he didn't. Judy groans and hits her palm against her forehead. She really is a dumb bunny. Stupid Nick probably laughs at her each and every time he manages to get out without her realizing the truth. She grinds her teeth together and seethes. That dumb fox is so gonna get it.
She peeks into another bar and nearly leaves to continue her search when from the corner of her eye she spots it – a patch of orange among a sea of other animals. There. She narrows her eyes and stomps through the building toward her target. She comes to a hard stop next to him, her arms crossed and her foot beating against the floor. She doesn't say a word, waiting to see just how long it will take his drunk ass to realize she is standing there.
"Hey, miss." Before Nick does, the bartender sees her. "Whatcha up for?"
Judy blows out a breath. She forces a smile and an air of calm. "Nothing, thanks. I'm only here to pick up this mangy mutt." Her voice is stiff though despite her efforts.
The bartender grins as he glances at Nick. "Good luck with that one." He laughs. "He doesn't ever leave until he bleeds himself dry of money." He walks away, toward a beckoning customer.
Judy's anger flares in response to the man's words. Clearly Nick isn't going to notice her either, so she has no choice. She punches him in the arm – hard.
"Ow." Nick twists around, his face set in a glare before his eyes land on the culprit. "Oooh, Carrots. It's you. Hi, Carrots." He gives her a salute. The movement is far too high on his head, up against his ears.
Judy does not return his greeting. "So this is where you go." She clenches her fists. "Every month when we get our paycheck, you go to a bar."
Nick grins from ear to ear, a sentiment that turns out very lopsided. "You know," He slurs. He props his head in the palm of his hand. "You're cute when you're mad."
Judy jumps onto the stool next to him. Once level with him she stares at him for a long moment before she lets her fury loose. She rears her hand back and smacks him across the face.
Nick starts and blinks at her. The smugness dripping from him evaporates in an instant.
"Enough." Judy points a finger in his face. "I am going home and you are coming with me."
"Aw, but come on, Carrots." He frowns. "I've still got some green- some drink, no," He shakes his head. "Money, money left."
Judy growls deep in her throat. "Good." She seizes his wrist and hauls him to his feet. "I won't have to beat as much sense into you then." She leaps from the stool and drags him after him. "Now let's go."
Nick stumbles forward. His world spins and he swears there are two Judy's in front of him. One foot after the other, one…he missteps and nosedives into the floor. He groans. "My face…" Yet his face breaks out in a grin and his eyes sparkle with life as he lifts his head up.
Judy's cheeks redden and she isn't sure if it is from sheer rage or from heavy secondhand embarrassment. Stupid Nick. "Get. Up." She hauls him to his feet. How many drinks did he have? She always imagined him as very tolerant since the times they go out to celebrate he would put away six or seven and be perfectly fine while she only managed one or two before feeling a bit of a buzz. It scares her to think of how many he must have downed today.
"Dunno." Nick sways on his feet. "Dunno about walking today."
"Yeah, well, you should have thought about that before you decided to drain the bar dry." It is a struggle, but she manages to drag him out to the street to hail a cab. One arrives quickly and she shoves him into the back. She jumps in next to him and prays that this ride ends fast. It really can't come fast enough as he keeps pulling at her ears on the ride home. She very nearly smacks him again for being so ungodly annoying and intrusive, but thankfully they arrive just before she loses her cool and she drags him out, all the way up to her apartment.
She tosses him on the bed and jerks the chair by her desk out in front of him. She plants herself in the chair and crosses her arms as she glares a hole through him.
Nick moans in protest to her rough treatment. "Come on, mom, you're not my Carrots."
Judy wishes she could say he did that on purpose, but she has the feeling he doesn't even realize he mixed the words up. So she doesn't laugh or even smile. She is just so done with him right now. "I would ask you what in the world you thought you were doing, but you probably don't even know your own name right now."
"I-I do." Nick jerks up into a sitting position. He shoves his finger in her direct, putting so much energy into it he nearly topples off the bed. He just barely catches himself. "It's Nick P…Nick P..." Shock and devastation twist his expression. "P…P…"
Judy looks at him as if he is stupid. She can say with certainty she never thought of him as stupid despite the countless times she called him a dumb fox. Now though, now she really thinks of him as a moron.
"No." Nick throws his hand up. "I got this. The P stands for…ah, uh…"
Judy shakes her head. "Well, I can't help you there. Since you refuse to tell me when you're sober."
Nick groans and flops over onto his side. "P…P…" He mutters over and over again to himself. He keeps at it until he passes out. He never does figure it out.
Judy gripes at him every moment afterward, but she dutifully takes care of him and watches over him to make sure he doesn't stop breathing sometime in the night. The idea that he allows himself to pass out like this without anyone around – and has been doing it for years – rattles her.
Eventually he wakes up and despite her concern and attentiveness she reverts back to being very irritated, now with the added displeasure of being exhausted. Nick groans and sits up slowly. He knows this feeling all too well. Hangover. He massages his temple. Looks like he overshot his limits this time around. But…the rest is wrong. He blinks through bleary eyes at his surroundings. "Where…am I?"
Judy picks her head up off the edge of the bed and supports her face with her knuckles. "My apartment." She glares at him.
Nick starts. "Ah, Carrots." He smiles with a nervous edge. "W-What are you doing here?" Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Judy blows out a breath. "Again. My apartment."
Nick swallows hard. "How…how'd I get here?" Did he seriously wander all the way here from that bar? He sure as heck doesn't remember doing that. Then again he doesn't remember much of last night. Except…someone…smacking him.
"How do you think?" Her voice is suddenly sharp. "I dragged your sorry butt back here."
Nick groans and covers his face with a hand.
"Yeah," She mimics his groan. "Is right. What the hell do you think you were doing?"
Nick pulls together his mask and puts on his best nonchalant expression. "Just drinking a bit. Having fun." He shrugs.
"A bit?" Judy shoves herself to her feet. "You were drunk out of your mind when I found you. And I hear tell that this is a regular occurrence." She beats her foot on the floor.
"Damn it Finnick…" He grumbles under his breath.
"Don't you dare go blaming him." She shoves a finger in his face. "He did nothing wrong. You on the other hand, I'm about a hundred percent done with you."
Nick rolls his eyes. "Yeah, ok, mom."
"Why in the world do you waste your whole paycheck on getting drunk every month instead of buying yourself an apartment." Her gaze sears him.
Nick scoffs. "Why would I?" He crosses his arms. "I made plenty of money as a hustler to have a place and didn't bother, so why would I change now? It's what I want to do with my money so I do it. Why waste it on something stupid like rent."
Judy quakes. "Because you're killing yourself."
Nick snorts. "Yeah, ok. I've been doing this since I was eighteen and I'm not dead yet. I think I'll be just fine."
Judy knows better. She knows she'll regret it. But she can't stop herself. She slaps him.
Nick flinches and can only stare in disbelief in the aftermath. He lifts a hand to gingerly touch his burning skin.
Judy's emotions well up and her anger dissolves into the hurt she has been suppressing all this time. "Why would you do that?" Her voice cracks. "You're smart Nick. Yet you'd throw it all away for some drinks and 'fun'." A sob escapes her despite her efforts.
Nick's ear fold down as he watches her steel resolve crumble. "Come on, Carrots." He raises a hand as if to reach out for her, but in the end his limb only lingers in the air. "It usually doesn't get that bad. I just…" He bites his lip and averts his eyes. "Some of the cases lately…they've hit a little too close to home."
Judy wipes at her eyes. "Then talk to me. Don't drown yourself in alcohol. I know you don't like to talk about your feelings, but I'm your friend. I can help you. I want to help you."
Nick shakes his head. "Some things just hurt too much, Judy." He sighs. He clenches his fists to hide the trembling of his hands.
Judy crawls up on the bed and sits next to him. She slides her hand over his and squeezes. "At least take me with you from now on."
"Carrots…" Nick frowns.
"I just want you to be ok." She leans over against him. "I don't want my next case to be…to be…" You. Found in a ditch and dead – stopped breathing from alcohol poisoning. She bites down hard on her lip.
"I don't want you to see me like that." Depressed. Nick refuses to meet her eye.
"I don't either." Of course she doesn't. "But I don't want to see you self-destruct more."
Nick lets out a long sigh. "Alright. Fine. When I go I'll bring you too." He feels like this is the worst thing in the world – to be seen so vulnerable – but it might be nice to save a few bucks and stop a handful of hangovers.
Judy smiles and the tension floods from her body. Still, she isn't completely done here. Sure, she can now keep a sharp eye on him, but ultimately she wants so much more than that. She wants to break him of this habit, or at the very least get it down to a responsible level. "Also you need to get a place."
Nick groans. "Carrots, look, I know you worry about me and being 'homeless' or whatever, but I'm fine – really. That bridge is perfectly cozy."
Judy shoots a sharp look at him. "Would you let me finish?" She waits for his acquiescence and continues. "And I've been thinking, it's be nice to have a nicer place than this dinky old apartment."
Nick raises a brow as he side eyes her.
"I could never afford it on my salary of course." Judy laughs. "But with someone else…" She grins.
Nick snorts but smirks despite himself. "Are you asking me to share an apartment with you?" He won't lie, he is a little surprised. They do all sorts of things together, but they still have parts of their life that are separate. Boyfriends and girlfriends being the most glaring example.
"Sure, why not?" She shrugs. "We're best friends. And we both make decent money, enough to pool together for rent and food and all that. It's perfect." He face lights up.
Nick sees clearly what she is doing. Sure, she probably would love a bigger place and to share with him, but her ulterior motives can't be hidden. She intends to cut into his spending money so he can't go drinking, or at least can't as frequently or extravagantly. "I dunno." He stretches out the words.
"Come on, Nick." She clasps her hands at her chest. "Pleeeeease." She gives him a puppy dog stare.
Nick chuckles at her display. "Alright, alright. We'll look around."
"Yes, yes yes." She leaps at him and throws her arms around his neck.
Nick hugs her in return. His cheerful display falters, however, once she is no longer looking at his face. He doesn't want to disappoint her, he wants to be able to get through pain without drinking himself into oblivion. Still, he has a sinking feeling that he'll screw it up anyway. He tends to do that. Old habits die hard after all.
Judy senses the shift in him, especially as he unwittingly tenses against her. He's trying to hide his emotions from her again, just like always. She could call him out on it, maybe even should, but she lets it lie. "Things will work out." Instead she offers this encouragement. She believes in him. And just maybe, with enough faith, he will come to believe in himself too.
It is ridiculous the amount of pleasure I get out of these one shots. I hope you all feel the same. Review!