Hello!

Sorry for the delay, life, life, life...

But we're moving on with the story and I hope that you'll enjoy it as much as I had fun in writing it.

Thank you so much for your reviews, favs and follows. I am happy if this story makes you happy :)

IMPORTANT QUESTION!

I was thinking of adding a bit of drama in later chapters, but wanted to hear your opinion first. Should I do it or just stick to pure fluff? PM me or leave a review with an answer.

Chapter 7

Judy was only half surprised when she found a new set of clothes for her in the bathroom. Still, she felt embarrassed by the fact, that Nick kept spending so much on her and promised herself that she'll return the money. However, her ears drooped miserably the instant she remembered the price of the dress itself. She'd have to work several months for free to pay him back. And the new clothes on the shelf also didn't look second hand. With a sigh of defeat, the doe half hopped, half crawled into the tub and turned on the hot water.

.

.

Thirty minutes later Judy left the bathroom, her body nicely warmed up by the water and the clothes were doing a fine job in preserving that warmth. From wool socks to a thick and comfortable turtleneck, every piece fitted perfectly. For a second Judy thought that the fox secretly measured her body while she was asleep and that suspicion has grown, when she recalled that it was the second time she got size matching clothes from him. How did he know the proper size?

With that thought in mind the doe directed her steps towards the kitchen, where she could hear someone bustling around.

Coming around the corner, Judy saw Nicholas by the kitchen worktop , his paws busy with preparing food. To the doe's surprise, he really was wearing an apron, but since he was standing with his back to her she couldn't tell if there was something written on the front.

"And the sleeping beauty awakes! Good morning, princess," he suddenly said out loud with a small cheer in his voice, no doubt his sense of smell informing him of her arrival.

Judy smiled at this welcoming, but didn't intend to fall behind. "Well dhere was no charming prince around to gibe me a wake up kiss, so I had do drag my royal backside from dhe bed on my own," she replied, even with the clogged nose.

She got a chuckle in response. "Well, while I'm no prince, I could easily fit in the 'charming' category," he winked at her over his shoulder. "Please, sit down. I'm almost done here."

Judy allowed herself a small laugh and was happy to register that it caused only a little discomfort in her head, in contrast to the numbing pain she experienced yesterday. Either she was getting better on her own... She glanced up at the back of her fox host. Or Nicholas was just the medicine she needed.

"Nicholas-"

"Just 'Nick' is fine," he cut in smoothly and gestured for her to continue.

"Oh? Is dhat what your friends call you?"

The fox chuckled. "No, only my mother," he glanced at her over his shoulder again. "And now you."

The way he said it, along with how he looked at her, made Judy feel pleasant warmth spreading over her body that had nothing to do with the hot bath. It was just a way of addressing the fox, but even if this was a small thing, it made her feel a bit... special.

"If you're thirsty there is carrot and apple juice, help yourself. Or water, if you prefer."

Judy couldn't hide the surprise in her voice when she saw the bottle of orange liquid on the table. "Carrod juice? Do you dring id regularly?"

Nicholas made the finishing touches on the dish before him. "No, but after I left Michael at school I thought that you'd like something proper to drink. I apologize if it appears somewhat stereotypic, but the hare lady that owned the store assured me that rabbits and hares alike enjoy this drink," he took the plates in his paws.

"She's righd, we do like id," she admitted with a smile and poured herself a glass.

"Glad to hear that," the fox turned around and Judy almost choked on the juice.

Nicholas was wearing a white apron with a big, red sign 'Kiss the cook' along with a picture of a heart. He grinned seeing her reaction. "I told you I have one."

"You're impossible!" she stated, coughing and laughing at the same time. "Ow…" the doe grasped her head with one paw. "No, don'd worry," she reassured her host when his smile faded and his face adorned a worried expression. "I just can'd laugh too much…" she coughed at the end of this sentence. "Or talk…"

"Oh?" the fox approached her and placed both plates on the table. Right after that he leaned towards her and gazed at her with a tease in his eyes. Judy blinked, unsure how to react in this situation. "Then how about," his muzzle reached the side of her head, "I make you speechless?" he whispered. The bunny felt a slight shiver from the sensation of his warm breath tickling the inside of her ear. And at this point, she wasn't too surprised to realize that she would like to feel it again, even with how hot her cheeks were burning right now. Her reaction didn't escape the fox's attention.

"Well, seeing that you're nicely warmed up," her blush deepened at his words, "how about eating breakfast, hm?" he indicated the dish before her.

Thankful for the distraction, Judy focused on the meal on the table, which looked like a sandwich packed with a pile of vegetables. She wasn't prepared for such a turn in Nicholas' behaviour and it caught her off guard. The doe couldn't exactly put it into words, but even with his more than friendly attitude towards her so far, she faintly felt that there was some thin barrier between them. Like there was a miniscule part of him that was reluctant to take a step forward, but now that resistance was gone. His new demeanor was more open and warmer, making her own body heat up with the thoughts of a new level of relationship that this could take them to.

"Mmmm! Dis is really good!" she said to him over the table, where he was eating his own portion. "You bade it all by yourself?"

Nicholas offered her a smirk. "Of course I did, one hundred percent."

"Wow, whad exactly is id?" she asked after she swallowed another bite.

"White bean avocado sandwiches with extra vegetables. There is spinach, carrots, cider vinegar, sunflower seeds and other stuff," he finished his meal already and poured himself a glass of water.

Judy opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated and bit her lip. The fox noticed this and lifted his brows. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no… It's jusd…" she eyed him cautiously before casting down her eyes, "aren'd foxes predators? I thoughd you'd prefer eating mead… sorry."

Hearing her explanation, the vulpine couldn't hold back a chuckle. "You are not wrong in assuming that," he put an elbow on the table and used a paw to support his muzzle. "However, you need to know that foxes are omnivores and while I occasionally enjoy a bit of fish, I mostly eats fruits and vegetables," Nicholas gestured towards the door to one of the rooms. "And so does Michael, since I'm preparing our meals and I'll be damned if I let him go to school without lunch, so he would be forced to buy those low grade dinners they sell there, to have anything to eat. Deep fried french fries? Pizza? Burgers dripping with fat and heavy sauces? Over my dead body. He's going to eat healthy and proper, as long as I have a say in this," when he finished talking a small giggle from the bunny made him frown. "What?"

She waved a paw. "Sorry, seeing you in 'daddy mode' is… kinda sweed." Judy gazed at him with a beautiful smile.

This time it was Nicholas who felt warmth gathering in his body. This little bunny was doing something to him that made his knees soften and lips to smile on their own. It seemed to occur with more intensity after his recent talk with Michael. Could he interpret it that his heart has already gotten over Sylvia? Was he ready to take another step?

"Nick?"

He blinked, brought out of his thoughts. "Hm?"

"Sorry, you seemed… absend."

The fox smiled at the doe. "Absent?" he reached out and took her paw in his own. "I feel very much here and now."

Judy returned his smile with her own and gently squeezed his fingers. "Yes, I can feel dhat," Her thumb brushed the fur on his paw. "It's funny when you think aboud id," she spread her fingers and pressed her open palm to his, Nicholas mirroring her actions. "Look how different is dhe size of our paws," the doe mused, comparing their fingers. "And speaking of size…" now she stared at him with narrowed eyes, "where did you ged my size for dhe clothes?"

Nicholas laughed at her question and tried to pull away, but found that Judy shifted her paw upwards and closed her fingers, effectively grabbing his own paw. "Oh no you don'd, misder fox," she stated with a smirk. "Come on, led me hear dhe answer to dhat."

"And incriminate myself? Not a welcoming option."

"Oh? Do I hear dhat you habe something on your conscience?" the doe leaned forward.

"A great many things, but nothing that you're suspecting me of," Nicholas chuckled. "I saw the tag on your clothes from the time you went swimming in Tundratown," now he also leaned over the table. "Consider these clothes as a replacement for the ones I had to cut to warm you up."

Judy blinked at the memory. "Oh, righd… I never god those back…" she sat back on her chair.

The fox glanced over her attire. "Do you like them?"

"Yes!" she nodded vigorously and placed a paw on her chest. "Dhey are very nice and warm, though I had a sweater in my suidcase. You could habe checked id before going shopping."

The fox attorney already stood up and took the dirty plates to carry them to the sink. "Rummaging through a lady's luggage without permission? Preposterous!" he gasped dramatically, sending her a wink at the same time. "What would my mother think of me?"

He got a giggle from the bunny and he walked up to her chair. "Alright, now you need to rest a lot," and before she could say a word, he scooped her in his arms. She let out a small, surprised yelp.

"Hey, I can walk!" She scolded him and slapped the fox on the chest, but the grin on her face betrayed the doe's real feelings.

"I won't accept it," Nicholas replied and carried her to the living room, "you're my guest and it is my duty to take care of you."

His words, his closeness, the way he gently held her body… All those things did spectacularly well in accelerating her heartbeat and pushing her to make a move of her own. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose up enough to place a delicate kiss on his cheek. "Then please do." She purred into the fur of his neck.

This caused the fox to almost trip over the carpet, but he managed to steady himself and the doe sported a smirk, satisfied that she was able to score a point.

The vulpine shook his head with a smile. "Young lady, you are a very naughty bunny to spread germs like that. I sentence you to a house arrest for the rest of the week."

Judy puffed her cheeks in mock anger. "Hmph, I demand a lawyer!"

Nicholas got to the large couch and placed the female rabbit on the soft surface. "And you'll get one, but for now," he pulled a thick blanket over her, "the lawyer needs to do some work." At that point the kettle on the kitchen started whistling, signalling that the water was boiling. Nick got back to the kitchen while untying his apron and picked a mug from the dryer. A minute later he returned with a cup filled with a warm drink and set it on the white tea table by the couch.

"Drink up," he said. "It's tea with ginger, honey and a drop of lemon. It does wonders for a sick body. If you want to, you can use the TV," he pointed to the device of a size almost as big as the wall in her own apartment, "to your heart's desire or I can give you a tablet if you wish to see something in the internet. Now if you'll excuse me, I really have work to do," with these words he turned around and was about to go, but turned to her again. "Almost forgot," the fox fished out the doe's phone from his pocket and handed it to the surprised bunny. "Your boss called, so I took the liberty of telling him where you'll be staying for the week," he said this with a smirk.

Judy's ears flopped down and her eyes widened in horror, when her imagination formed a picture of chief Bogo hearing this from the fox. "You didn'd…" she whispered hoarsely.

But Nicholas was already heading towards his office. "Tell him 'hi' from me, ok?" he said without turning back and a moment later his tail disappeared in a different room.

Judy groaned and fell on the pile of pillows stacked next to her. Deciding that it would be better not to let her superior think too much about this for too long, the doe dialled the right number.

"Uh, hey chief…" she mumbled to the phone.