Chapter 23:

Need Her

It was lonely around the house without Judy. Nick didn't realize how much he had gotten used to snuggling with her, playing around, and making love with her all the time. When she was gone he found himself at a loss for what to do.

The first day she was gone he spent most of his time at home just relaxing waiting for that text letting him know she had gotten there. He had planned to come visit her every other day, or depending on far away she was every weekend at the very least. There was no way his Judy was going to be away from him for that long if he could do anything about it.

But by the end of the day no text. By the end of the day the next day he was starting to get really worried. Had she made it okay? Was something wrong? He texted her multiple times throughout the day.

Did you make it to Clara's house?

Are you okay?

Come on carrots, this isn't funny anymore.

Judy seriously, I'm worried…

A few days later he walked into the ZPD with his usual sunglasses and coffee but under all of that he was deeply worried about his girlfriend. Judy was a strong girl, she could take care of herself, but he would have thought she'd text him at the very least.

"Have you gone to visit Judy yet?" Clawhauster said stuffing donuts in his mouth as usual.

"No, not yet," Nick replied. "I haven't heard from her."

"What do you mean you haven't heard from her? Is she alright?"

"I'm sure she's fine. It isn't like Judy to not stay in contact with me."

"Do you think something went wrong? Maybe they got into a car accident? Or maybe the house was robbed…?"

"Clawhauster stop!" Nick exclaimed. The bad scenarios weren't helping his mindset at all. "You're not helping."

"Sorry," Clawhauster said. "But really though, I'm sure Judy is fine. She's probably just distracted."

"I hope so Ben, I really do."

Being on patrol without Judy was also weird. He'd been working at the ZPD for nearly a year and he'd always been on patrol with her. It was very odd to say the least when she wasn't there. He took down the criminals on his own, solving the missions, trying to think like Judy when he was stumped. He was doing fine on his own, he was certainly capable. But it was definitely easier, and of course more fun, with Judy around.

He texted and called Judy multiple times a day. He tried calling her parents thinking they could tell him something but their phone line seemed to be disconnected. The whole situation was bizarre and it didn't ease his worries any less.

Four weeks passed and it was time for Judy to come home. He waited for her at home all day. By the middle of the day he was pacing back and forth across the apartment impatiently. He was constantly looking out the window trying to see if Clara's car was going to show up. By the evening he was going mad with worry, even a drink didn't help. He wasn't able to sleep that night. He went into the ZPD exhausted. He was distracted all day trying to call or text Judy and checking to see if she would let him know what was going on but he heard nothing.

More weeks passed. He didn't know what to think. Why had Judy not contacted him since she'd been gone? He hadn't even gotten any letters from her. He was starting to wonder if Judy wasn't talking to him on purpose. He felt awful for it, but it was either that or something terrible had happened to her and he didn't want to think of that either. Had Judy really left and found someone else without any intention of coming back to him? After all they had been through and all they had promised and worked hard for? The thought made his heart ache.

He loved Judy more than anything in the entire world, she was his life. Now that the most important person in his life was gone, he was at a loss for what to do. It was definitely starting to weigh on him. He'd be like a zombie going through the day, the life that she brought to his gone in her absence. When he'd come home to the apartment he'd had the pleasure of sharing only two days with her, he'd lay in their bed where he desperately clung to her scent and cried himself to sleep.

His friends were starting to notice. Bogo and the rest of the officers looked at him with pity. The usual smart ass Nick Wilde had become quiet and visibly depressed and everyone knew why.

Clawauster and Maribel were at the station one morning discussing their concerns about Nick. The more time went on they became more and more worried about him. They knew he hadn't heard a thing from Judy and the whole situation was deeply concerning.

Suddenly the door opened and Nick walked in. He looked exhausted. His eyes were red. It was obvious he had been crying, he didn't even try to hide it anymore. He dragged his feet. He had a cup of coffee in his hand as usual but his expression seemed to be elsewhere.

"Hey Nick," Maribel said gently.

He nodded at her. "Hey."

"How are you doing?"

"Alright I guess," he said with a shrug.

Maribel and Clawhauster exchanged a concerned look. He was definitely not alright.

"So, um, there's a Gazelle concert tonight," Clawhauster said enthusiastically. "Do you want to come with us?"

Judy loved Gazelle. If he went he knew he would just be thinking about her the whole time. "Thanks, but I'll pass."

"Are you sure? It'll be fun," Maribel said.

"It'll help you forget about Judy," Clawhauster said trying to be helpful.

Nick glared at him but he didn't have the energy to yell. "I can never forget about Judy." With that he walked off.

*WW*

Nick and Finnick were under the bridge in their usual spot sitting in lawn chairs and smoking cigars. It had been three months since Judy left. Three months. He hadn't heard a single thing from her since then. It was weighing on him heavily. He had never been so depressed in his entire life. All he wanted was his Judy back by his side.

Nick finished up the cigar and began to light another one.

"Damn Nick, how many of those have you had?" Finnick said. Nick usually smoked two at the most.

Nick thought for a moment. "Five."

"You're going to die of lung cancer."

Nick just shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

Finnick looked at him for a moment his expression turning angrier by the second. "That does it!" he exclaimed.

Nick looked at him surprised. "What?"

"I'm sick of this!" Finnick said. He threw his cigar on the ground and stood up. "I'm fucking sick of this!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Finnick gestured to him. "All of this! This moping around feeling sorry for yourself thing! I can't take it anymore!"

"Why do you care?"

"Remember what we said when we were kids? We're not gonna let anything get to us, people aren't worth that type of shit."

"Judy is different!" Nick said. He sighed. "She has my heart. No matter what, she's going to get to me whether I like it or not."

"Then fucking do something about it Nick!" Finnick practically shouted.

"What am I supposed to do? I've been calling her nearly every day, I can't get in contact with her parents, I don't know the address to her sister's house."

Finnick grabbed his collar. "God damn it man, you're a police officer! You have access to records normal people wouldn't be able to dream of. Find her! Get her back! Bring her home!"

Nick realized Finnick was right. He had overlooked the best resource he had and he needed to use it. It was time he got off his ass. It was time to be a man and get his girl back. He put out his cigar and stood up. "Out of my way Fin, I need to find Judy."

He went to the ZPD with a renewed sense of determination.

"What are you doing here?" Clawhauster asked. It was Nick's day off, he was never there on his day off.

"I need to look up something very important."

He spent hours looking up records in the police datebase. It wasn't easy but eventually he found what he was looking for: 35 Lake View, Bunnyville Valley.

He left his office and went to the car. It was late. He didn't care. He programmed the address into his GPS and took off. He didn't stop anywhere. He was exhausted but he wasn't going to stop until he found Judy.

He drove for ages, eventually driving through the familiar Bunnyville. The place tapered off until there were no houses in sight. Where the hell was Clara's house? Eventually he came to a house in the middle of the valley. He wasn't sure he had the right place until he noticed Clara's car in the driveway.

Nick got out of the car and went up to the front door. He rang the doorbell and within seconds Clara answered it. She looked horrified to see him there.

"N-Nick? What are you doing here?" She was barely able to talk through her shock.

"I came to see Judy. Is she here?"

Clara shook her head quickly. "No! She's not. Judy is not here…" She tried closing the door but it was too late. Judy had heard voice from upstairs.

"Clara, who's here?" Judy went to the top of the stairs and her heart nearly exploded when she saw him. "Nick?"

"Hey Judy," Nick said with a smile.

"Oh my god, Nick!" Judy ran down the stairs.

Clara tried to get in front of her. "No, wait…!"

Judy barely noticed her. She pushed her sister out of the way and jumped into Nick's arms. It felt so good to finally be in his arms again and be able to kiss him. They kissed over and over elated to finally be able to feel each other and holding each other.

"I missed you so much Nick!" she said with tears pouring down her face.

He wiped the tears from her face although his eyes were overflowing as well. "I missed you too Judy." He had finally found her and he was never letting her go again.

"Alright, great, you two got to see each other! Nick, can go now…" Clara said trying to get between them again.

"I'm not going anywhere," Nick said holding Judy tighter.

"But…"

"You can stay for as long as you want," Judy said to him.

"No…!"

Nick hugged her close to him. "Good, because I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again."

"Let's go upstairs. It's getting late," Judy said. The two of them then went upstairs to go to bed.

Clara was starting to panic. After they were out of sight she ran upstairs to her room, closed the door behind her, and picked up the landline phone next to her bed. "Dad, we've got a problem."

"What's wrong dear?" Mr. Hopps said on the other end.

"Nick is here."

"What?! How did he find the place?!"

"I don't know! I don't know what to do! He won't leave!"

"I'll come over tomorrow and deal with the situation Clara, don't worry."