Hi again everyone! Hope you're still sticking with the story because this is the longest chapter yet, and I cannot wait to see what everyone thinks! I've worked my tail off here (literally) and I'm pretty satisfied with the end product. But like usual, all constructive criticism, suggestions, and corrections to make the story better are greatly appreciated. Also... THANK YOU! 70 followers in just 2 chapters! You are all the best! And a special shoutout to those authors out there who reviewed, you know who you are, so thank you too!

To everyone who left suggestions, I've taken them into consideration, and I will continue to consider suggestions that are issued in future chapters.

I really hope you enjoy the chapter, because Nick and Judy are going for one emotionally WILDE ride. ;)

The Next Evening

Nick brushed his ears back as he stopped to examine himself in the mirror, humming cheerfully as he combed his hands through his fur. The fox wanted to look somewhat presentable for Judy on her big night, while avoiding anything too flashy. His police uniform would suffice for the occasion, but might remind his partner of her duties as a cop, and that was the last thing he wanted on their night off.

"What to wear..." Nick muttered silently as he ran his paws over a messy pile of clothing. The fox could wear his usual attire, a light green Hawaiian shirt, a dark indigo necktie with red-and-blue stripes, and a pair of brownish-gray pants. Judy never had a problem with it, and he'd always liked the way it looked.

He clutched the tie in his right paw and slid it over his neck. "Okay, just like Mom taught." the fox mumbled rather blankly. " Take the end over to the left, up into the neck loop, and down to the left." He firmly secured the loose ends around the back near the neck loop before proceeding to slip on his shirt and pants. He checked himself in the mirror once more, carefully analyzing both his outfit and overall appearance.

He felt satisfied enough, and a with a quick splash of cologne, he grabbed the car keys and left the house.

Nick had been living near a quiet meadow just outside of Zootopia, a bit North of Anamalia, and a bit East of the burrows. After landing a job hustling with his best friend Finnick, the fox found a place that he could live in relative solitude. Here in a run down cabin without electricity and running water, for almost fifteen years his location was completely off the grid. It certainly helped with tax evasion, that was for sure, but his actual address, 1955 Cypress Grove Lane, had only recently been added to the map due to the fox's new career with the Z.P.D. Now with enough money to actually call the place a home, Nick could afford to legally keep a house.

As he approached his new vehicle, (also courtesy of the Z.P.D.) Nick noticed that the evening sun was just setting on the horizon. As it cascaded into the night, his heart ached for a brief moment, but quickly ceased without recurrence. He shook his head and sighed. The fox had been having consistent flashbacks of his childhood, so much that other people had began to notice. And to be honest, that was the last thing that he wanted. He clenched his fists and looked down from the sky. "Just don't let em' get to ya Nick... you've moved past that, she's already gone..."

The vulpine anxiously glanced at his phone. "It's 7:45 already?!" He absolutely didn't want to keep Judy waiting, and hastily unlocked his car. He quickly threw a mint in his mouth and flipped his sunglasses onto his muzzle before turning the ignition. the vehicle roared to life, and Nick began the drive to downtown Zootopia.

Meanwhile

Judy eagerly paced the length of her tiny apartment as she waited in bitter anticipation for her ride. "I swear, if we are even a single minute late to meeting Gazelle at the concert hall, I'm gonna wring that fox's neck."

She anxiously strutted over to her second story window, looking down to the bustling streets below. "They're all probably making their way to Animalia now," Judy grumbled, while face-pawing herself. "Dumb bunny... Why would you ever let Nick take the car, or let alone trust that he could make it here on a decent schedule?" She whipped out her phone to text the vulpine, before her fingers went flying across the screen in a fury of typing.

[JH: Where R U? U were supposed 2 B here 10 minutes ago!]

Nick of course, didn't immediately reply which sent Judy into even more of a rage.

[JH: Nick U better not B ignoring me!]

[JH: Nick!]

[JH: U dumb fox! The concert starts in an hour!]

[NW: WHAT?! The concert's today? OMG I TOTALLY FORGOT!]

Judy nearly dropped her phone when that message came in. "H-he forgot?!" she stammered in utter disbelief. "How in God's name could he forget?!"

[JH: WHAT DO U MEAN U FORGOT?!]

[NW: Im so sry Judy! I completely missed the date!]

[JH: NICK!]

[JH: WHEN IM THRU WITH U YOU'LL WISH YOU'D GONE SAVAGE!]

[NW: Haha calm down carrots. look outside.]

Judy's eyes darted up from her phone and down to the parking lot, where Nick sat chuckling against the hood of his car. "Hey Carrots! Did ya' really think I would forget a backstage meeting with Gazelle?!" Her jaw dropped wide open. He had been in the parking lot the entire time. "Y-you sly fox!"

"Well what are you waiting for?" Nick hollered. "Let's go see a concert!"

Judy rolled her eyes and giggled. She could never really be angry with him. After all, he was a fox, a natural jokester by heart. She sprinted out of the room, down the stairs, and out the main doors, before hopping into the passenger seat. Nick removed his glasses and laughed. "Well well well... Here she is... Officer Judy Hopps."

"Oh shut it ya' dumb fox!" Judy exclaimed while playfully slugging him in the arm. The vulpine grinned sheepishly. "Hey, you look good carrots."

Judy smiled and looked down. She wore a casual light blue T-shirt with a pair of black pants. "Why, thank you Nick... You don't look to bad yourself." She sniffed the air. "And is that cologne you're wearing?" the fox chuckled. "Ya' gotta smell good if you're gonna impress the ladies."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Uh... you don't mean Gazelle, do you?" Nick smiled. "Well, who else would we be going to see?" He replied jokingly.

Judy punched him in the arm. "Ow!" Nick yelped. "I was just kidding Hopps!"

She smirked unapologetically. "Yeah... I know." He sighed and grumbled something under his breath. "Whatever... Let's get going, I wouldn't want to miss flirting with your favorite pop-star." He flipped his aviator sunglasses down onto his muzzle as he turned the ignition. "Hey Nick?" Judy asked while observing his dark shades."Where'd you ever get those sunglasses anyway? It's almost like you never leave home without them."

"Oh what, these?" He replied, holding the glasses in his paw. "I got these aviators right before we met."

"But where'd you buy them?" Judy continued. "I mean, It's not like they popped out of thin air." Nick shook his head. "Well, that's where you're wrong Carrots..." Her ears shot up in surprise. "Wait what?! They DID pop out of thin air?!" The fox laughed. "No no no, I meant that I didn't buy them."

Judy dropped her ears. "Oh..." It was safe to say she felt pretty stupid. "S-so, you stole them?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that..." the vulpine replied. "I mean, back then if I felt the need to buy something, I'd just hustle someone into getting it for me."

She crossed her arms. "That's stealing Nick. Regardless of how you put it."

The fox sighed in annoyance. "Anyway, I just happened to be strolling around the supermarket of downtown Zootopia when suddenly out the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of these great pair of aviator glasses."

Judy rolled her eyes. "I don't care how magnificent they were, it still doesn't justify you taking them."

"Whatever Judy, They were just glasses." Nick replied somewhat irritably. "Anyway, I walked over to these aviators right? and I'm thinking in my head, that these look just like the pair of shades that my old man had before he left for the service."

"Do you think he would have approved you hustling someone for them?"

Nick shot a cold look at his companion. "Okay Hopps... I'm not who was then, and you know it... so drop it."

"But your Dad-"

"Don't use my father as an excuse for my life choices." Nick hissed. "And seriously, I'm nocturnal." The fox retorted. "Most of the population consists of diurnal mammals that don't even need glasses for the daytime. Their eyes work just fine."

The vulpine seemed to be getting rather fired up, and she decided it was time to tone things back a bit. "I'm just saying that it's morally wrong Nick." the bunny explained softly. "It shouldn't matter that you're nocturnal."

"Well Judy, I was never raised with the best morals that life had to offer in the first place!" The fox snapped. "My life isn't all peaches and cream Smalls! It's been hard! But of course, it appears that some ignorant bunnies wouldn't know that!"

Judy shrank back, quite startled by his harsh change of voice. Was he trying to tear her down? It sure seemed as if he had a talent for making her feel bad about her fortunes in life. Her little pink nose began to twitch as the tears welled up in her normally bright purple eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as she shielded her face from him.

The fox sighed sadly and rubbed gingerly between his eyes, before slowly halting the vehicle.

"Look, I'm sorry Carrots... I really didn't mean to snap at you like that, I just-." She could see that he felt awful. "I've just been struggling since that talk we had about the sunsets... You know, with my mother and everything..."

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "You have nothing to apologize for Nick..." Judy sniffed and placed her paw on his. "I'm sorry for being such a pest."

Nick smiled softly. He loved it when she would touch his paws. "I'm gonna work this out Carrots. But it's mine, and mine only to work out." The fox replied gingerly. "Can you please just let me solve this on my own?"

"Well, the thing is..." Judy hesitated. "You don't have to solve this on your own..."

He turned to his companion and grinned softly. "Yeah... I know."

Judy sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Y-You know you love me... Right?"

The fox's ears shot straight up as the skin underneath his fur turned bright red. "What? D-do I love you?" He choked.

She blushed and looked down. You could always tell when Nick would get nervous just based off how he talked.

"Yes... Y-yes I do..." The vulpine sighed. "Here."

Judy's eyes shot up. "Nick?"

"Go ahead Hopps." He was holding out his sunglasses in his palm. "I want YOU to have them."

"M-me?" She stammered. Nick nodded.

"But I can't jus-" He held up a paw. "Don't worry. I'll buy my own Carrots. I'm officially starting over, and I'm wiping the slate clean. So just take them as thanks for putting up with my attitude for the past few days."

She hesitantly received them from the fox, and gingerly slid them onto her shirt collar. "Thank you Nick. I-I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything." The vulpine replied smiling. "We're almost there."

Zootopia's Concert Hall

The concert hall was jam packed. thousands of the city's residents had come together to celebrate the mending of bonds between both predator and prey, as well as the end of the dread night howler outbreak. Every possible animal was there. Elephant and mouse, dog and cat, even fox and bunny.

Nick locked the car.

"It's not like anyone is going to take it Nick." Judy said innocently.

The fox chuckled. "Well it's a good habit to get into Carrots. Here in the big city, you just never know who might take advantage of an unlocked car"

She looked at him. "You sound like you speak from experience."

"I am." his ears dropped slightly. "But i'm not that person anymore."

Judy smiled warmly. "I know. Let's go inside."

The panther swiftly unclipped his gun holster. "Halt! state your business, you are in a restricted area!"

"Woah woah woah! Easy man!" Nick exclaimed before flashing his badge. "We're Z.P.D. just like you."

The weary guard eyed the fox suspiciously before holstering his weapon. "State your business then, Officer..."

"Wilde." the vulpine replied quickly. "Officer Nicholas Wilde."

"Nicholas Wilde." the panther continued. "Then I reckon you must be Judy Hopps?"

Judy nodded. "We're here to see gazelle before the show starts... Unless, there's an issue?"

"There's no issue Lieutenant Hopps. The chief's just got us on high alert amidst a rumor being passed on the streets."

"Rumor?" Judy asked with concern. "What rumor?"

The guard shook his head. "I wouldn't want to worry you with it now. Bogo will probably let you know on Monday anyway." He quickly opened the door. "Gazelle is prepping for the show down the hall. Take the first doorway on your right, unless you wanna get chewed out by the chief, He's a bit further down shouting at the other officers."

"Roger that." she replied. "What's your name recruit?"

The panther smiled. "Deputy James Barrington. But you'd probably be more familiar with my uncle, Renato Manchas."

"Mr. Manchas?!" Nick yelped.

"Yeah." James continued. "I heard that you guys had quite the encounter during this whole night howler thing."

"We almost died!" the fox exclaimed.

"Be nice." Judy whispered.

The panther sighed. "No, It's alright. But he sends his sincerest apologies."

"He better have."

"Shut up Nick." Judy hissed.

James checked his watch. "Well, the show starts soon, so you might wanna get going. I Hope to see you two at the station sometime."

She grinned. "As do we, Mr. Barrington."

They quickly strutted through the doorway and began their walk down the long hall. Just as the panther had explained, Chief Bogo could be heard shouting at the other recruits a bit further down. "Let's avoid that entire commotion." Judy spoke anxiously. "Chief sounds pretty irritated."

"Heheh." Nick grinned nervously. "Fine by me Carrots."

A bit further down, a black metal door appeared along the right wall. "I-is this it?" Judy stammered.

The fox cocked an eyebrow. "James said the first door on the right, and I don't exactly enjoy the idea of receiving parking duty as punishment from Chief, so yeah. I'd assume this it'd probably be it."

Judy apprehensively brushed her ears back. "I'm so nervous Nick. What if I make a complete fool of myself in front of Gazelle? What would she think?"

The vulpine slung his arm around his companion and gave a re-assuring smile. "Look Smalls. I'm just as nervous as you are. Trust me. But I know that you won't make a fool of yourself."

She looked down. "How could you know that? You wouldn't know how I act when I'm nervous."

Nick chuckled and shook his head. "No, but I certainly know how you act when you're not yourself. Last time, you almost lost me as a friend."

"Yeah." She sighed. "The press conference. I remember."

"But that's not the point." The fox continued. "The point is to be yourself. Don't let anyone speak for you. Because tonight is your night, and it's yours to enjoy."

Judy smiled and hugged him. "Thanks ya' dumb fox."

"Sly bunny" Nick replied with a smirk

"Well... Here goes nothing." She slowly twisted the door handle.

So I really wanted to get this chapter out on a weekend, and to save time, I decided to split my idea into two chapters. Nick and Judy's actual meeting with Gazelle will begin in the next one. Sorry to those of you who thought that'd be in this chapter.

Like usual, please review, follow, or favorite, BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE THE ONES THAT KEEP ME WRITING.

Thanks so much, and I'll see you on the next one. -Wilde, Out.