'I don't got this.'

That was the one thought running through Jack's head as he looked at himself in the mirror. It was now the next day; the Wildes left for the city about half an hour ago, and he and Josie were about to meet up at the town square in a little over an hour. They both agreed to dress casual for their night out, so he had picked out jeans, a Furvana T-shirt, and a zip up hoodie. Now, the buck was trying to hype himself up.

It wasn't going very well.

Jack sighed, shaking his head. Why was this stressing him out? It's not like he's going on a date with some random bunny; this was Josie, his best friend!

And that was the problem: it was JOSIE, his best friend, someone he spent so much of his time with. If tonight went well, there's a chance that they might be…MORE than just friends.

And for some reason, that terrified him.

Was it too late to call it off? Maybe he could say something came up, like he needed to help out in the fields tonight, or that he forgot about an assignment that was due tomorrow, or that-

'No,' Jack thought adamantly to himself, 'you told her that you were doing this, so you aren't going to just blow her off.' With that, he took a deep breath and walked away from the mirror, out of his room, and down the hall.

During the trek to the living room, Jack went over the gameplan in his head:

'OK, so you're going to meet up with her at the fountain, then you're taking her to the place, spend a couple of hours there, get a bite to eat, and then walk her home. Piece of-'

"Hi, Jack!"

The sudden greeting caused the buck to jump, and he turned to see a certain cream-colored bunny standing in the doorway. Jack took a breath, calming down. "Hi, Cotton. What's up?"

"Where're you going?" the nine-year-old rabbit asked.

"Oh, you know," he shrugged, attempting to look nonchalant, "just going out."

"Really? With who?"

"Just meeting up with Josie," Jack answered, hoping that would satiate the kit's curiosity. It did not.

"You're going out with Josie?! Like a date?!" Cotton nearly squealed.

Jack's eyes got big as he quickly motioned for her to be quiet, soon looking around to see if anyone had heard the young bunny. "No, no, NO! Nothing like that! We're just hanging out!"

Cotton immediately deflated at his words. "Oh…"

Jack was about to walk away when he noticed the disappointed look on her face. A look that he hated to see. Outside of Judy herself, Cotton was the one out of all of his cousins that he liked the most: her innocence, her cheery nature, the fact that she warmed up to him rather quickly after his 'temporary' stay soon became permanent. Jack saw the downcast look in her eyes, which honestly should be outlawed as a crime against mammaldom.

'Oh, Frith dammit.'

He sighed and looked around again to see that the coast was clear. Once he saw it was, Jack turned back to Cotton and knelt down to her level. "OK, look; yes, Josie and I have a date tonight; it's our first date." The doe immediately perked back up. Before she could say anything, Jack interrupted. "BUT, please don't say anything about this to anyone else; only Judy, Nick, and Skye know, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Cotton's head tilted in confusion, much like two certain vulpines he knew. "How come?"

"Because I don't want there to be a rumor going around here that she and I are dating."

"Well, aren't you?"

"No, we aren't; there's not even a guarantee that we will be after tonight."

"Why?"

Jack opened his mouth to answer…only for nothing to come out. He suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Skye the first time he and Judy visited the Wildes. On the final day of the visit, she had asked him why he and Josie weren't together. What was it that he told her? That he didn't see the brown doe that way?

Jack pushed the thoughts away. That was close to a year ago; a lot can change in that time. In that moment, he wasn't sure if he and Josie could work as an item. Now…well, he still wasn't one hundred percent sure, but now he's at least willing to try. That has to mean something, right?

…Right?

Jack couldn't help but also remember the events from that weekend that had preceded his talk with Skye. It was rather…memorable; not only was it the first time the buck had been in the city, but it was also when Skye found out that she was adopted.

She…didn't take the news very well.

Jack wasn't there to witness it all go down, but he saw the aftermath of it: a devastated Vivian, an angry and bitter Skye, the vixen in question running away, the reunion, the four of them listening to records and eating ghost pepper chips and just hanging out…

Wait, what was he thinking about again?

Oh, right: how there was no assurance that he would be together with Josie. And the fact that Cotton was still waiting patiently for an answer.

Jack quickly shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. "There just isn't, OK? That's why we're doing this: to see if we will be."

Cotton looked a little confused, but said, "OK, I won't tell anyone about this, I swear."

Jack held up his pinky. "Pinky swear?"

The cream doe held up hers and hooked it with his. "Pinky swear."

The buck sighed in relief as he patted the doe on the shoulder. "Thanks, Cotton." He then stood up. "Well, I gotta go; don't want to keep her waiting."

The young bunny smiled. "OK. Have fun!"

Jack smiled back at her and walked down the hallway to the door. As he exited the home, the buck found himself asking a question:

'Can I see myself dating Josie?'

By the time he reached the fountain, he still didn't have a definitive answer.

About ten minutes later, Jack found himself still waiting for the doe at the fountain. He looked at his watch and sighed. Did she forget? Or did she change her mind? He was about to stand up when he heard a voice.

"Hey!"

Jack looked over and saw a familiar brown doe jogging up to him. Josie was wearing a simple purple shirt, jeans, and a light jacket.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized, panting. "Everyone kept asking where I was going tonight; couldn't get away from them."

"No worries, I just got here," Jack lied, not wanting his friend to feel guilty. "You tell anyone what we were doing tonight?"

Josie shook her head. "No, though everyone is suspicious; I just told them that I was hanging out with you. The problem is-"

"-we don't hang out this late in the day," the buck finished.

"Yeah," the doe agreed. "So, they probably figured it out. What about you? Did you tell anyone else about this?"

Jack shrugged. "I mentioned it to Nick, Judy, and Skye, but I know they won't tell anyone."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

Josie gave an unconvinced look, which caused him to add, "Cotton also found out."

"Cotton?!" came her response. "You told COTTON about this?! You know she can't keep a secret!"

"She gave me the eyes, Jo!" Jack justified. "You know no one can resist those!"

Josie stared at him a few seconds longer before sighing. "Yeah…"

"Anyway, she pinky swore that she wouldn't tell anyone about tonight, so there's that."

"So, you're saying that there's a chance?" the doe asked.

Jack gave it some thought. "I'd say about 50/50." Another unconvinced look came from Josie. "OK, probably 60/40."

"In whose favor?"

"Do you really want to know?"

She sighed. "Well, let's hope she keeps that promise."

"Yeah." After a beat, Jack took a breath and stood up as he faced the doe. "So, you ready to get this started?"

Josie quickly nodded her head. "Yeah, let's go!"

Both kits then started walking down the street and by the different buildings and shops, Jack in the lead. Along the way, he asked, "So, you've been living here for about a year now; how well would you say that you know this place?"

Josie's eyebrows rose at the question, but she answered, "Pretty well, I guess." She then took a quick look around. "Not familiar with this part of town, though."

Jack smiled as he suddenly came to a stop. "So, you've never seen this place, huh?" He gestured to a building in front of them. Josie looked and saw a neon, fluorescent sign that read:

"'Remmy's Arcade'?" she read out loud. The doe then turned to the still smiling buck, confused but also growing excited. "We have an arcade here?"

Jack shrugged. "Hasn't been here for very long; opened up about two months ago. I just found it randomly one day a few weeks back. They have games, food, you name it." He then turned to his friend, holding his arm to lead the way. "After you?"

Josie's smile grew bigger as she and Jack walked towards the entrance. Once there, the buck opened the door for her. The doe chuckled. "My, what a gentlemammal," she joked.

"I try to be," came his response, giving a small smile.

After paying for two passes, the two kits found themselves in an open area, surrounded by arcade games. Jack turned and asked, "So, food first, or games first?"

"Games," she answered. "We can get food later."

"Sounds good." They continued to walk through the place, taking in all the sounds and games going on around them. "Any that catch your eye?"

Josie took a quick look around, before her eyes fell on a competitive racing booth. "Oooh, they have Meowrio Kart here. Let's try that one!"

Jack smirked and they both made their way over to the machine. They both sat down at the steering wheels and swiped their passes. After picking their cars, they were ready to start. The buck looked over at his friend. "Ready to eat my dust?

Josie just smirked in response. "You don't stand a chance."

One race later, her claim was proven right, with Jack losing the race. Josie looked over with a smug look on her face as the striped bunny asked, "Best two out of three?"

Another race, another loss for the buck.

Jack shook his head in disbelief. "How- what?"

The doe chuckled at his reaction. "We have this game at home. Granted, we don't have the steering wheel, but the mechanics are the same." Jack just shook his head again. "Alright, you get to pick the next one."

Jack looked around at the games nearby when he saw it. His eyes widened in surprise as he let out an incredulous laugh.

"Oh, that is WRONG!"

"What?" the doe asked. Jack simply pointed at the machine while trying to hold in his laughter. Josie saw it and her jaw dropped.

"'Whack-A-Mole'?" She couldn't help but start laughing, too. "Why does that exist?"

"I don't know; I guess moles don't have a problem with it?" Jack shrugged and looked back at the doe. "Wanna try it?"

"YES."

They quickly walked over to the machine, still trying to hold in their laughter. "So, winner goes first?" Jack asked.

"Sure." Josie swiped her pass and grabbed the hammer. "Watch and learn." Jack just nodded and took a step back. The doe had a decent first attempt, but then Jack took his turn and nearly doubled her score. Now it was Josie's turn to be in disbelief.

"Alright, we're doing that again," she said adamantly.

"Sure," came the buck's answer. Two more games later, and Jack was still victorious. Josie turned and looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"How're you so good at that?" she demanded.

He just shrugged. "I dunno; I just am." Josie rolled her eyes at his answer, though she was smiling. Jack grinned. "Let's do some more."

"Definitely."

They tried a few more games after that. Josie wiped the floor with him in air hockey, while Jack one upped her at the basketball machine. After a rather competitive game of skee-ball, the two decided to take a break and get some food. On the way over to the eating area, however, Josie suddenly grabbed the buck's paw and practically dragged him off in a different direction.

"What the…?"

"They got a photo booth here! We gotta get some pictures!"

Jack smiled, shaking his head. "OK, sure."

"Don't sound so disappointed," the doe told him. "I want to remember this!"

The two kits entered the photo booth, and after swiping the pass for it, were now presented with a lot of options. Josie turned to Jack, who was in close proximity with her inside the booth.

"Should we go for the standard or deluxe?"

Jack shrugged. "Let's go with the standard." The doe nodded and selected it. "So, we doing silly photos or serious ones?"

"How about a mix of both?"

"Perfect."

For the next few minutes, the two of them sat in that booth, going back and forth between making silly and goofy faces and expressions (including both of them doing bunny ears to each other), before finally ending with one with the both of them smiling. Finally, once they were done, the booth printed out a roll of photos. Josie quickly grabbed it and looked it over, giggling at each one. She then swiped her pass again and got a second roll. Once it was developed, the doe grabbed it and passed it to Jack.

"Here ya go," she said.

Jack smiled. "Thanks." He looked at each of the photos and started laughing too. "Frith, these are good." He looked back up to see Josie's smile.

"Yeah, they are," the doe agreed. She then gestured over her shoulder. "C'mon, let's get some food."

"OK. Let me use the restroom first; I'll meet you there."

Josie gave a thumbs up and started walking towards the rows of tables. Jack then quickly made his way to the restroom. Once he entered, he made sure that it was empty before letting out a heavy sigh. What was going on? The night was going perfectly so far: the place was great, the games were fun, Josie was having a great time…

So why isn't he feeling anything for her?!

Jack ran his paws down his face. "OK, OK, calm down; the night is still young," he told himself. "A lot can still happen tonight." As he said it, though, he still wasn't fully convinced.

The buck took a breath and left the restroom, making his way over to the eating area and back towards Josie.

'Regardless of what happens,' he thought, 'I want to make sure she has a good night. She deserves it.'

After getting a quick bite to eat, the two bunny kits returned to the game area and played a few more of the games. Eventually, though, it was starting to get late, which meant that the night had to end. Jack offered to walk Josie home, an offer that she took him up on. On the way back, Jack was running through the events of the night in his head. He had fun, and judging by her smile, Josie did as well. All in all, it was a perfect night.

And yet…

Jack pushed the thought away as they approached Josie's house, and they walked up the pathway to the front porch. "Well," he said, coming to a stop outside her front door, "here we are."

Josie giggled. "Thanks for walking me home, Jack."

"No problem. Did you have a good time?" he asked.

The brown doe nodded her head, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, yeah, it was fun."

The two kits stood there in silence before Josie glanced down at her paws and quietly added, "It also felt a little weird…"

Jack grimaced but nodded his head. "Yeah…"

"It's just…" Josie took a breath and looked back at the buck. "You're my best friend, and we hang out all the time, and I guess I just thought that…"

"…that this was the next logical step," Jack finished.

The doe nodded. "Yeah."

He sighed as he looked away. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be."

Jack's gaze shot back to her, surprised. "It's not because of you; you did a great job putting this together," Josie told him. "Like I said, I still had fun. This is just a 'me' problem, OK? You were awesome."

Jack stared at her for a second before giving a small smile. "Did you just use the 'It's not you, it's me' excuse?"

Josie paused as she thought about it, before letting out a small laugh and running her paws down her face. "Oh Frith, I did, didn't I?"

"What is this, a sitcom?" the buck asked, laughing himself.

The two kits stood there laughing before Josie finally said, "Well, if we were in a sitcom, then this would be the part where I say, 'We can still be friends,' right?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed, nodding his head. "And this would be the part where I agree, and then ask, 'This doesn't change anything between us, right'?"

"And I would say, 'No, it doesn't'."

Silence fell upon them. Then, Josie broke it and sincerely asked, "We can still be friends, right?"

"Yeah," Jack immediately answered. After a beat, he asked, "This doesn't change anything between us, right?"

"No, it doesn't."

"Good."

Both kits stood there silently before Jack spoke again. "Well, um, it's getting late; I should probably head out."

Josie smiled. "Yeah, let's not get you in any trouble. See you at school tomorrow?"

Jack nodded his head in confirmation. "So, uh…" He tentatively stuck out his paw for her to shake.

The brown doe just stared blankly at him before giggling.

"OK, dude, we may not be dating, but we're beyond a pawshake." She shook her head in amusement. "C'mere."

The doe brought him in for a hug, and after a few seconds, Jack was hugging her back. The two stood there for a minute before they finally broke it off.

"You have a good night, Jack."

"You too, Jo."

With that, Jack walked down the path and began to walk home. Along the way, he pulled out the roll of photos they took at the arcade and looked through them. Jack found himself with mixed feelings about everything, mostly feeling…

Relieved? Was that the word he was looking for? Why would he think that? More importantly, why would he feel that?

That question would follow him the rest of the walk home.

Fifteen minutes later, Jack quietly entered the Hopps home. He noticed that most of the lights were out; it was rather late, after all. Closing the door as softly as he could, Jack slowly snuck into the kitchen and to the fridge. He opened it and grabbed his water bottle, taking a long drink from it. Placing it back in the fridge, the buck closed it-

"There he is, buck of the hour!"

The sudden exclamation caused Jack to jump, and he turned to see one of Judy's older brothers, Nate, sitting on the kitchen counter. The striped bunny tensed up, as the gray buck had been one of the notable holdouts on accepting Jack into the family. The first couple of months of staying with them had led to a lot of antagonizing from Nate, so Jack was fine just staying away from him. Over the years, the two of them never had a real conversation between them, and whenever they did talk, it was the usual teasing that would always occur. What was he doing here now?

"Huh?" Jack asked, confused.

"Our little buck finally got home from his very first date!"

'What?! How did he-'

Jack groaned. "Dammit, Cotton…" he grumbled.

"Actually, she didn't say anything," Nate revealed, giving a small smirk. "Where else would you have been, and who else would you have been with?" He jumped down from the counter and shoved his paws into his pockets. "So, did you make any moves on her?"

"What? No!" Jack adamantly told him. "It was just a simple night out with a friend; that's it!"

The fifteen-year-old buck shot him a look of disbelief. "Ri-ght. And I'm sure you two aren't together after tonight, huh?" he asked, having an unreserved smile on his face and crossing his arms.

"No," Jack said with finality. "We're not."

The younger bunny turned away from the older one as he said it, making him miss the smile fall from Nate's face.

"I'm going to bed," Jack continued, wanting to end the conversation with his older cousin.

"Jack, I-"

"Good night, Nate."

Jack walked through the kitchen doorway and downstairs, faintly hearing Nate say, "Good night, Jack." The striped buck made his way down the hall to his room as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake up the younger ones.

Finally, he reached his room and closed the door. Jack sighed as he started getting ready for bed. It wasn't like he hated Nate or anything; more like he hated what the buck represented to him: a reminder that he wasn't truly family to them. He also didn't want to be subjected to anymore teasing from the buck, and something like this gave him more than enough material to work with.

A few minutes later, he heard a small knock on his door. "Just a moment." After getting dressed he walked over and opened the door to find Judy standing there.

"Hey," she greeted. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure."

The doe entered and after closing the door behind her, Jack walked over and sat on his bed. "So, what's up?" he asked.

Judy shrugged, trying to hide a smile. "So…?"

Jack looked at her, trying to play dumb. "So, what?"

"How did it go?"

The buck had a small smile on his face. "It went really well; Josie really seemed to like the arcade, and we had a lot of fun."

Judy's attempt to hide her grin failed and was soon beaming at him. "That's great! And you were scared that you couldn't pull it off." They both lightly chuckled at that before she asked, "So, are you two, y'know, official?"

The buck's smile fell slightly as he shook his head. "Nah, we're not."

"What?!" Judy exclaimed, shocked. "Why the hell not?"

Jack sighed. "Honestly, we both felt a little weird about it. The good news is, we decided to stay friends." He shrugged as he looked away. "At least we tried it, right?"

"Right," Judy agreed, nodding her head. "Still, I'm sorry things didn't turn out how you hoped."

"...Honestly, I'm not as upset about it as I thought I would be," he admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Jack sat there before he quietly asked, "Is there something wrong with me?"

Judy gave him a perplexed look. "What do you mean? Why do you think that?"

"It's just…" Jack paused, then took a breath and continued. "Josie is amazing, y'know? She's funny, she's smart, she's really kind and sweet…anyone would be lucky to be with her, and absolutely crazy to say otherwise." His shoulders slumped as he shook his head. "And yet, here I am, not too upset that we're not, you know…"

Judy stayed silent for a few seconds before quietly asking, "Did you want something to happen between the two of you?"

The buck gave it some thought before softly shaking his head. "I thought I did, but I guess not? I don't know."

"Sometimes you just don't click with someone that way. There's nothing wrong with just wanting to stay friends with someone, Jack," his cousin told him. "And you guys are still friends, right?" Jack nodded. "Then that's all that matters, isn't it?"

The striped bunny thought it over, and soon found himself smiling and nodding. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Jude."

"Well, it's been known to happen occasionally," the doe joked. Judy then looked at the clock, noticing the time. "Well, it's late; good night, Jack."

"'Night, Judy."

Once Judy left, Jack sat there in silence, going over what they had been talking about. On the one paw, he knew he'd be hard-pressed to find someone as amazing as Josie to be with; anyone would be lucky to have her. On the other paw, though, Judy was right: Josie was still his best friend at the end of all this, and that was all that truly mattered.

Jack went over and turned out the light, then made his way over to his bed. As he lied down and closed his eyes, though, he remembered what Judy said. She had meant it as reassurance, but all it did was make him wonder:

'Why didn't I 'click' with her?'

The night kept raising so many questions.

SCHOOL, THE NEXT DAY…

Jack opened his school locker and grabbed his textbook. It was early the next morning, and he and his cousins had just arrived at the school. He put his lunch in there, then closed it and headed down the hallway towards his first class of the day, science. On the way, he ran into other kits congratulating him on the show over the weekend. Although uncomfortable with all the attention, Jack still gave his thanks to everyone.

He then saw Josie across the hall, making her way to her first class. She saw him and grinned, giving a small wave. The buck couldn't help but smile and wave back.

'At least some things haven't changed.'

A few minutes later, the striped bunny entered the science room. Jack sat down at his desk, and a few minutes later, the teacher, Mr. Holland, walked in and did attendance. Once he finished, however, instead of starting with the day's lesson, he then stood from his desk and walked to the door. Opening it, the ram motioned for someone to walk in. A few seconds later, a new kit walked in and followed the teacher to the front of the room, wearing a familiar looking necklace.

Jack's eyes widened in shock. He recognized the mammal: he saw him at the festival! More specifically, it was the raccoon he had had an awkward and rather uncomfortable conversation with.

"Everyone," Mr. Holland started, "we have a new student today. Please welcome mister Corey Atkinson."

The raccoon looked around the room self-consciously as everyone said hello. Then his eyes fell on Jack and widened slightly. The buck groaned silently.

'Oh, great, he recognized me, too.'

Jack realized that Mr. Holland was talking again. "…have any questions?" At the silence, he added, "Alright. Go on and take a seat, Corey." With that, the new kit quickly moved over to a seat near the front and sat down. "Now then, picking up where we were last week…"

The rest of the hour went by in a blur. Despite his best efforts, Jack could only pay attention to the raccoon sitting upfront. Eventually, the bell rang and ended the period. As everyone was packing up and leaving, Jack heard Mr. Holland call his name and…

"Jack, Corey, could you two stay behind for a minute?"

Confused, both kits nodded their heads and walked over to the ram's desk. Once everyone else left for their next classes and new kits were trickling in, Mr. Holland said, "So, you two share a similar class schedule, so Jack, I want you to be Corey's guide and show him around for the rest of the week, OK?"

Jack nodded his head, though he was sure he didn't have much of a choice. "Sure."

"Splendid! Now, run along; I don't want to keep you two." With that, the ram turned and started taking attendance for the next class.

Jack and Corey both quickly walked out of the room and into the hallway. Neither moved any further, though, as both kits just looked at each other. Eventually, the latter spoke.

"…Hi?"

"…Hello again."