Judy blinked, clutching her books a little tighter as Nick huffed and walked away, his tail flicking angrily behind him. The doe sucked in a breath as she stared after his departing back, her ears sinking downwards. Judy had just been trying to help since her friend had seemed quite down, but it had ended quite badly.

"Nick! Wait up!" she cried, racing up to fall into step next to her best friend. The fox eyed her, flashing her a quick smile which slipped back into a frown.

Judy smiled at her friend, her ears perking up in determination. "So," she coughed, looking ahead to the bench they were walking to, "how's your mother going?" The question was meant to be harmless, but despite that Nick froze up, flinching at the word 'mother'.

"Normal," he muttered, fiddling with his collar.

"O-oh?" Judy cleared her throat, her foot shifting on the ground. "Sorry, I was just asking. My parents asked if, if you needed anything, and I said I would ask, because we know you're struggling and-"

"I said it's fine, fluff," Nick warned, sitting down on the bench and bringing up his legs to hug protectively. "Just. Leave it,"

"Are you sure? Because you've been so down the past few days, and I thought-"

"Rabbit! I said drop it," the fox growled, inhaling sharply. Judy stared at her friend's sharpness, digging her claws into her hand. Nick was never this angry before, and if he was it was just a joking composure, nothing serious.

But he was serious.

The friends sat in silence for some time, Judy's appetite blowing away with the chilly wind. The doe snuck a glance at Nick, who's gazing was sadly following all the playing children, envy pricking at his eyes. He realized Judy was looking at him and sighed in irritation.

"I'm fine, Carrots. Stop worrying," he tried to use her nickname, but the sentence died on his tongue.

"You don't seem fine," she said softly, resting her hand on his shoulder. Nick squirmed uncomfortably, the tears stabbing his eyes. He never felt this sad, and could usually keep his composure but when Judy confronted him, he just wanted to breakdown sobbing, as if she melted his walls. He never should have given her that power.

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped at her, jerking away as he stood up from the chair. It felt suffocating, letting himself believe it would be fine, they would be fine. Everything was not fine, and letting Judy comfort him wouldn't help that.

"Nick! I'm trying to help you! Could you please just let us help you!" Judy cried, holding his arm tightly. "Running away from the truth isn't getting you anywhere!"

"Yeah, I know that! But false hope isn't helping any much than running from the truth! So, kindly stop telling me that it will be alright when it clearly isn't!" he yelled out, his patience thinning as his panic set in again. It was stupid, but it was there, and talking about it was just going to inflate it more. He needed to leave. Now.

"Talking about it relieves it!" Judy tried, blocking his path before he could storm.

"Talking about it reminds you off it!"

"Well not remembering it and ignoring it won't help your mum!"

"Don't you dare talk about not helping my mum! You're not the one wagging school to look after her on those bad days, you're not the one who must live with that empty house! You're not the one that needs to grow up before you're ready! You're not the one who has to live with this!" Nick choked out, towering over her. Judy stared at him in shock, her nose quivering in fear.

This wasn't her friend.

"And this is why you don't talk to me about it," it was Nick who seethed these words, his eyes filled with rage.

Judy's ears lay limp behind her head, suddenly tightening as she realized her attempt at comfort had gone horribly wrong. Nick's departing back showed that. The doe shook off the astonished stares of the other cubs and kits, and quickly hurried after Nick.

"Nick please! Don't leave…" Judy cried after her friend, who was had started to sprint away, whipping around a corner of the school building. The bricks blurred through Judy's tearful lenses as the fox didn't stop, rushing away into the classrooms and slamming the doors in her face. The doe's nose twitched in alarm, as Nick running away blurred into her reflection. "I'm just trying to help," she whispered hoarsely, mostly just to her reflection which gazed back at her in despair. Nick disappeared around a corner inside the school, and with that so did Judy's friend and hope, yet still the bunny didn't pursue. It would just make things worse, and she didn't want worse, she wanted better, but clearly whatever she was doing wasn't working.

"Nick," she whimpered to herself, blinking away a stray tear. The breeze wrapped around her, the leaves taunting her. A chill set inside the bunny, and it wasn't the breeze that froze her heart.

It was the thought of losing her friend.

*Crawls out of ditch gasping* ALIVE! I'm ALIVE. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand so SO SO SO SORRY. Just survived exam block, blargh barely. THIS STORY ISN'T DEAD I PROMISE! I WILL FINISH IT AND SHOCK AND COLLARS.

Okay, so apology for the minuteness of this chapter, buuuuut I felt guilty and wanted to post something for you guys. I also realized I needed a chapter on Judy's point of view, soooo yeah. I hope this'll satisfy you until I write a longer, more-worthy-of-being-called-a-chapter chapter.

Until then, Floof Out!