Chapter 2: The Park

Nick waited eagerly in the shop. Every time the door opened he looked up hopefully, his smile falling when he realised it was only a customer looking bits and bobs for their DIY projects. He helped them as he was paid to do.

As he waited on seeing the short bunny, he clocked a police car racing down the street outside, sirens blaring. He closed his eyes, remembering the thrill of the chase. He missed cruising around the city, pulling up animals who thought they could get away with speeding – the amount of times he had to write Flash a ticket was absurd – but there was nothing like it. There was something so freeing about doing good. Maybe it was because he had been so sleazy for so much of his life. Or maybe he liked it because he always had a certain someone by his side, fighting their battles together. He felt the familiar ache at the thought of Judy, having to remind himself that she wasn't dead, nor was she living her dream in the city. That she was a lot closer that she had been for so long.

Just then, the door opened, as Nick was about to give up hope on her turning up, he had been sure that she had forgotten about their secret signals. She had probably gotten a new partner as soon as Nick was forced to leave. She probably barely thought about him, right?

Judy could still hear the beat of her small heart as it thudded loudly in her chest. Nick was behind the counter, trying to look as though he was not watching the door to the tiny store. She smiled to herself, realising he hadn't changed one bit. He still loved to be the cool guy.

Nick wasn't sure what to do, now that she was standing in his place of work, sunlight hitting her fur, making her glow like an angel.

"Hi." Judy said softly, taking small steps towards the counter.

Leaning on the counter to stop him from falling and looking like an idiot, Nick grinned, trying his best to not look like every emotion he had felt for Judy was rushing back to him. Every hair on his body stood on edge and he realised he hadn't greeted the bunny as she had him.

"Hey there, Carrots." It felt so good to finally say her nickname again. They stood awkwardly for a moment, staring at each other across the small space that divided them. Nick wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hold her close to him. But was he allowed to do that now? Now that she had a significant other? And now that he had a fiancée?

Not being able to hold herself back any longer, Judy sprinted forward and jumped over the counter, putting her arms around Nick and squeezing him tight.

Suddenly, she was home again. The last five years of her life dissolved, and she was cuddled up on the sofa in Nick's living room, with his safe arms around her whilst the world continued outside. Judy didn't want to open her eyes again, she didn't want to face reality, but she knew she couldn't stand there, in the cold store, clutching her ex-partner like he had just returned from the war.

Nick was warm for the first time in years. Feeling Judy on him was something he has fantasised about since their goodbye, and he felt the urge to pinch himself to see if he were dreaming.

Judy took was the one to break them apart, pulling back from the embrace as her desire to kiss him was overpowering, and if she continued to hold him she would not have been able to resist. When they pulled apart, Judy hopped up onto the counter and sat on it, making her eye-level with Nick.

Nick cleared his throat, his heart hammering at how cute she looked, at how she had barely changed over the years.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods then, Officer Hopps?"

Judy quickly looked around herself at the mention of her name.

"First thing's first, you can't call me that anymore. I should probably explain." Judy said, violet eyes wide.

"Not here." Nick said, "The cameras pick up sound." He pointed at the corner of the small space, where a camera was positioned, it's red light flashing, watching.

"Oh." Judy said, looking disappointed.

"I go for lunch in an hour, we can talk then. Think you could meet me at the park in the centre?"

Judy frowned for a second, "Nick I've been in this town for all of three hours- "

Nick handed Judy a map, with the park circled on it in red marker.

"You just keep a map of the town with the park circled on it on you all the time. Where did the old Nick go?" Judy joked.

Nick looked down, suddenly embarrassed. "I bought that map the day I got here. I circled the places I wanted to show you when you got here." He said quietly.

Judy looked closer at the map, seeing small annotations and asterisks with notes saying "good restaurant" "interesting museum" "Judy would like this".

Feeling her heart melt, Judy looked at Nick, but he was rustling about with some of the stock, clearly trying to avoid eye-contact. Nick hated to seem vulnerable, Judy knew that, and this gesture had taken him being vulnerable.

"I'll see you there." Smiling, Judy made her way out of the store, even though she really didn't want to leave him, she knew it was what she had to do.

As she left, Nick took one last glance at Judy bouncing out into the sunshine, looking perfect as always.

(Scene Break)

Victoria had made her way back to the home that she shared with Nick, an uncertain feeling lying in her stomach like spoiled milk. Her home felt cold and empty, and she regretted taking a sick day to look after her husband-to-be, since he had so rudely abandoned her.

Something wasn't right. She could feel it. Nick had looked like a had seen a ghost the moment he met the bunnies, and it was typical of him to make excuses to get himself out of tricky situations. She began to panic, a voice loudly shouting in her head that Victoria truly knew nothing about Nick's past. She could be living with a criminal for all she knew. Of course, Nick had told her countless times that he just had a messy family past, and had come to the small town of Critter Ridge. He had mentioned that he had lived in the city for years and years, and when he left he travelled as far as he could. He was the first and only animal that Victoria had ever met from Zootopia, and she counted herself lucky to be marrying a native of the amazing city.

She tried to push the sickly feeling down, and Victoria told herself off for suspecting the one she loved of being a fraud after all this time. Maybe Nick truly was just better, and all he needed was a little fresh air. That must have been why he had acted so strange.

Feeling better about herself, Victoria went to the bedroom to make the bed, and noticed Nick's personal box sticking out from under the bed. He had tried to hide it at first, but when Victoria had clocked it in the back of the closet one day, he came clean, saying it was what he had left of his past, and he kindly requested that she did not look in it. Victoria was the one who had insisted that Nick leave it out in the open, so that he would know that she trusted him, and would resist temptation and respect his wishes.

But now, with the strange feeling in her gut, and the sudden emptiness she felt in her own home, she wondered if she really would be able to resist the temptation of looking in the box. Especially since she had noticed the way that the female bunny had looked at Nick. Victoria could swear that was the same look that she herself gave Nick. So, her main question was, why on Earth was a bunny looking at a fox that way? And worse, why was she looking at her fox like that?

(Scene Break)

Judy was seated at a bench beside the large circular pond in the park. A few cyclists whizzed past her while she waited. There seemed to be some sort of company picnic happening at the other end of the pond whilst the sunlight glinted on the murky water. It was peaceful, Judy thought, and she could see why Nick had picked it out for her. She was nervous once more, as she looked around herself, waiting for the fox to show up. A couple passed her, two otters wrapped in each other's arms. Judy watched them longingly, thinking of how she never really had the chance to experience that with Nick, and any attempt at dating after Nick had left had never been as thrilling or fun as it had been just to spend time with Nick. That's why, when she met Buck, they moved fast. They had only been together for six months when the incident happened, and she hadn't expected Buck to move so far with her. For some reason, he did. Well, not for some reason, Judy knew the reason, and it pained her to imagine settling down with anyone other than Nick. Buck desperately wanted children, and had been hinting for them to reproduce since the first date. She had told him to slow down, but she had never considered having children with anyone other than the handsome fox. And she didn't even want to entertain how that would be possible or how the children may look. She had even gone so far as to imagine adoption as a viable option for the couple, yet she couldn't even bring herself to imagine that for her and Buck. It was wrong, and she knew it was wrong. But she couldn't help the way she felt.

Finally, Nick appeared, a cup of coffee in each hand. He grinned as he plopped down beside Judy, handing her a warm cup.

"Hey" Nick said, seemingly cooler and more brought together than he had been earlier on.

"Hi" Judy said, taking a sip from the coffee.

"So, you mentioned that you have something to tell me?"

Judy took a deep breath, her ears flattening slightly, "Yes, yes I do."

And with that she delved into her account of the last five years, whilst Nick listened intently, watching as her lips curved and moved, breathing life into the story. While he was listening he couldn't escape the resurgence of his feelings, or the knowledge that he was still very much in love with the bunny beside him.