Disclaimer: Zootopia and all Canon characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

…..

"What's all this?" asked Nick, staring at a pile of Lambazon boxes stacked against his front door.

"More decorations for our apartment and a couple of things you're not allowed to know about until Christmas," replied Judy, making big eyes at Nick.

"What about all the stuff we already have?"

"Christmas is always huge at home, and I wanted a few more decorations to liven the place up."

"How many are in your family now? Like 500?"

"No, that's silly, 362 last count. Unless you count cousins and in-laws, then it's probably closer to—"

"500?"

Judy started to shake her head, then thinking for a moment as she did some mental math, she stopped unlocking the door, made a face, and said, cutely, "Nope."

Nick quickly covered Judy's paw with his and, with a big smile on his muzzle, said, "How many?"

Judy turned her key in the door lock, despite the big red paw on hers, and pushing the door open, she huffed, "503, if all my grandparents show up."

Nick strutted in behind Judy and, setting down the bag he was holding, did an elaborate fist pump and yelled, "Called it! I am so the fox, and you thought bunnies could count."

Judy let Nick dance, strut some more, and do some victory tail wiggle that was actually kind of alluring, but after the appropriate amount of celebration was had, Judy, using Nick's tie, pulled his muzzle to hers and said, "I'm going to change, please bring all the boxes in and no peeking."

Nick's smile widened, "Inside the boxes or inside the bedroom?"

"Harrumph," said Judy, letting go of Nick's tie, "Neither. Fake girlfriend, remember."

"Thhhppppt."

"And no getting spit all over everything," was followed by the bedroom door closing.

And boxes being moved.

And dinner being started.

And finally, Judy coming out in old shorts and a faded pink t-shirt.

"I thought we were going for a walk in the park to see the light displays after dinner."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay in tonight and do our decorating and maybe watch a movie. I'm tired of going out, you know, after last night, and at the mall…"

"No more hanging out with rowdy diners or top-heavy store clerks?"

A throw pillow was, and hit Nick in the snout. "You said you weren't into that kind of thing."

"What, being rowdy at dinner? Not usually, but those wolves dissed my fake girlfriend, and no way am I going to let something like that stand."

Judy stood with her hands on her hips and pouted. "You know who I was talking about."

Nick wiped the smile off his face, or most of it, slowly walked over to the pouting bunny and, leaning down so he was muzzle to muzzle with Judy, said, "I'm not buying your jealous rabbit shtick, not for one second."

"Wha—"

Then Judy melted in place as she felt Nick rake his claws through her tail fur.

"My turn to change, so once you're done being wrong about what turns this fox on, turn off the heat to the noodles when the timer goes off. I'll be out in five to make the sauce."

Judy, on her knees now, whisper-groaned, "No fair, dumb fox with his dumb claws, just you wait…"

"I heard that!"

"Dumb ears…"

Nick was much quicker in the bedroom changing, even after hanging Judy's uniform and tossing her other discards in the laundry basket.

Judy was great, but she was a little messy. Smiling to himself, Nick wondered if a few more weeks of her being his fake girlfriend would help her in the neatness department. Sighing, he tossed another pair of Judy's underthings into the hamper and chided himself for negative thoughts. He liked having her around, a lot, and when this hustle was over, he was going to hate it when she moved back into her place. And really hate it when she upgraded from fake boyfriend to real boyfriend and left him high and dry.

Out of the bedroom, with negative feelings about Judy leaving shelved for now, Nick got busy with the veggie spaghetti sauce while Judy fixed a couple of salad bowls.

"Blue cheese?" said Judy. "Do you know how fattening that is?"

"Pfft," chuckled Nick, "Like you have to worry about calories with that bunny metabolism of yours. Try being a fox keeping up with his rabbit partner every day, then you'd understand why I have to keep a hefty stash of snacks in the cruiser."

Judy smirked as she put her paw on Nick's stomach and fake jiggled it, "Feels like there's a workout or two in your future."

"Pure muscle, my Dear. Pure muscle."

Judy laughed as she patted Nick's firm stomach again and said, "Not if you overdo the snacking."

Dinner eaten, two helpings for Judy and extra veggies for Nick, dishes loaded into the dishwasher, no ice cream yet for Nick because that's a treat for later when they're watching a movie, and decorations unpacked. After Judy made Nick cover his eyes while she hid something where no one, and she meant no one would ever find it, ever.

"Where's the stool? I can't reach the top shelf of the closet without it. And no looking, it's a surprise."

Nick pointed at the stool, then caught Judy when she stepped back without thinking. "You're cute when you're being clumsy."

"Am not, and you're not a rabbit, so you're not supposed to call me cute."

"Well, you're a fake girlfriend, so how come I can't be a fake rabbit?"

"Because… well, uhmmm, because you just can't."

Nick raised a brow.

"Okay, fine, you can be a fake rabbit."

Still holding Judy in a bridal carry, Nick nodded, then hopped his way over to the couch and dumped a laughing bunny on it.

"Gimme your rabbit card," huffed Judy, holding out her paw and trying hard not to laugh.

Nick sagged, reached into his nonexistent shirt pocket, and put his imaginary rabbit license in Judy's paw.

"I see that, according to this, you're new to being a rabbit. So, after a long discussion with my supervisor, I've decided to let you off with just a warning. Any more short jokes, bunny math jokes, or not letting your fake girlfriend pet your floofy tail, I'll have to rescind this license and return you to just being a fox."

"Floofy?"

"It's a technical term only true bunnies understand."

"Oh, okay. Deal," said Nick, putting out his paw.

Shaking Nick's paw, Judy licked her lips and said coyly, "Can I pet it now?"

Pulling Judy off the couch by her paw, Nick shook his head, "Nope, no ice cream for the fox means no tail petting for the bunny until all the decorations you bought are hung up and sparkling with Christmas joy."

First up was the tree. Nick imparted the sage wisdom he remembered from his dad that putting together the Christmas tree was to be done with reverence and hot chocolate, if possible. So, pausing to make some canid-safe hot chocolate, Nick took a sip and got down to it.

Judy, on the other paw, relayed the stories of her family walking the treed areas of the farm until just the right tree was found, cut down, and carried back to the warren great room for decorating. There was also hot chocolate involved, a lot of hot chocolate with marshmallows and for those who liked it, peppermint candy cane stirrers. Judy didn't like peppermint so much, so she doubled up on marshmallows. She especially liked the mini ones because they got melty faster.

Nick waited for a verbal opening and injected an 'Okay.'

By the end of the next Judy story, the tree was done, the lights lit, the tree skirt installed, and—

"No," said Judy, snatching the Angel out of Nick's paw, "This goes up last."

"Oh, okay."

Judy opened two packages of tinsel and handed one to Nick. Who grimaced, "Do you know how hard this stuff is to get out of your fur?"

Judy tossed a few strands onto Nick's head fur and ears. "Yup."

Nick decorated Judy's closest ear with blue and silver strands. "Oops."

Nick's muzzle was dripping in strands. "Sorry, I was aiming for the tree."

Judy's nose had new floppy red whiskers.

Nick's tail gained some shiny color.

So did Judy's.

"Done?" asked Judy.

A few more strands on Judy's undecorated ear and… "Yup, I am now."

Judy took a few selfies.

Nick and Judy both transferred their tinsel decorations to the tree.

A careful fox inspection of Judy's fur verified that all tinsel had been successfully transferred.

Judy just giggled and took another picture of Nick.

Certain he was more Christmasy than he intended, Nick and Judy finished hanging all the decorations, including the mistletoe, over the space in front of the laundry machines and…

"Yes, you can put the Angel up now," said Judy.

Nick approached the tree. The height wasn't as tall as the top of his reach, but the width of the tree kept him from getting close enough to put the Angel on.

What to do? What to do?

The step stool had already proved unreliable, so, pacing now, Nick went over a lifetime, well the last ten years, of hustling to think of how to get this Angel on top of the tree without ending up in the hospital.

"Nick."

"Carrots?"

"Bend down."

Nick bent down so Judy could climb onto his shoulders. "Angel me," she said, holding out a paw.

Nick grunted, "Remember that part about how bunnies burn calories fast?"

Judy pinched the nearest fox ear and said quietly, "Choose your next words… wisely."

"No spinal disk compression here. Light as a feather, you are."

"Good. Not perfect, but good enough that you'll live to see another day."

Angel installed. Cold compress requested and denied. More hot chocolate poured, no peppermint for sure, and it was time for the movie to go in. But which movie? There were so many Christmas movies to choose from…

Ho Ho Ho, just kidding.

"The perfect Christmas movie, no doubt about it," said Nick, pressing the play button on his remote.

Nodding as she passed Nick his bowl of ice cream, Judy smiled big, "How many times did we watch 'Die Hard' last year?"

"Just counting in December, eight."

"Yum."

…..

"My favorite part," laughed Judy. "I love how that chainsaw cuts through all those wires so easily."

"Mine's the part where the moose cop drives backward as his whole car gets riddled with bullets," said Nick. "It kind of reminds me of something you would do.

"Ow!"

"Take it back. I drive better than that," said Judy, tickling Nick. "And any Twinkies in the car would be yours."

Laughing now, too, Nick tickled Judy back, "Tell that to the motor pool guys who have shocks and struts for our cruiser on auto delivery for all the times you catch air during your high-speed chases."

The movie went unwatched for a few minutes until the tickle fest ended due to Judy's phone ringing.

"Hi Mom," said Judy, putting her phone on speaker.

"Oh, Judy. I'm so excited for you! I heard you finally have a boyfriend, that's so terrific. Are you with him now? Can I see him?"

"What?" said Judy, getting up from the couch and walking towards the kitchen, "Who told you that? I don't have a boyfriend."

Nick smirked as he watched Judy pace.

"But Grandma Grazer swore to me that the arthritis in her left knee knew for a fact that you'd recently moved in with your 'special fella.'"

"Mom, no. Grandma's arthritis is just acting up. I don't have a boyfriend…"

Nick chuckled silently.

"…I don't even know of anyone I'd consider good boyfriend material. The pickings are pretty slim for a rabbit here in the City."

Nick's smile fell.

"But Grandma Grazer's arthritis has been 100% right over the last ten years."

"Mom, I swear, her arthritis is wrong. I mean, I'm helping out a friend who's been going through a dry patch with girls, but there's nothing even remotely boyfriend-girlfriend going on between us, and we are so totally different that there's a zero point zero chance we could ever get together for real."

Nick sagged.

"That's nice of you to help your friend, but don't you think you should be finding someone for yourself?"

"Mom, I'm fine for now. Besides, I'm getting a couple of strawberry pies out of helping, so it's a win-win, right?"

The apartment door silently opened and closed.

"Okay, if you're sure," said Bonnie.

"Yup," said Judy, "and be sure to tell Grandma Grazer not to waste her flare ups worrying about me, I'm fine. Nick and I have the whole next week planned out. We even put up a Christmas tree in his place.

"Here you want to say 'Hi' to him.

"Nick.

"Nick?"

"He must have gone outside or something."

"That's okay, dear. Nicholas is a very sweet boy, and you should give him a hug for me."

Judy chuckled, "Sure, mom."

"I'm serious. He's handsome, you both spend almost all your free time together, and whenever we all muzzle time together Nicholas seems genuinely taken with you. So, why don't you ask him out?"

"Mom, that's crazy. Nick and I are best friends, nothing more. I'm a bunny, and he's a fox. There's no way he could ever be interested in me. Vixens are gorgeous and sleek, with long fluffy tails and a lot less in the ears than me. I'm just a boring grey, muscly rabbit who's all about being a cop, no bunny curves, nothing soft and fluffy, I can't cook and I've never even been in a relationship that lasted longer than two dates."

"I hear a lot of denial there. Are you sure you aren't even a teensy weensy itty bitty bit interested in Nicholas?"

"Mom, it doesn't matter what I think or what I want. Nick's a great guy, and he's going to find an amazingly lucky girl that's not me and have tons of kits and… and be real happy… without having to stand up for me all the time… or waste his dating time being my best friend showing me around the City on his days off, or teaching me how to cook, or just being the super handsome, sweet, kind, loving, really great guy he is… because he deserves a girl whose a lot prettier and better at girl stuff than I am."

Bonnie chuckled, "Maybe you should ask Nicholas out and let him decide what he thinks about you for himself."

"Goodnight, Mom," said Judy, shaking her head. "Tell Grandma she's wrong, and I'll talk to you on Christmas after our shift is over."

Slipping her phone in her pocket, Judy checked the bedroom and the balcony for Nick, and not seeing him anywhere, she huffed, "Where'd he go?"

Opening the door, Judy checked up and down the hallway, and still not seeing her fox, took the elevator down to the lobby and continued her search.

Still no Nick.

Pulling out her phone again, Judy texted Nick.

No response.

She walked outside to look around.

Still no Nick.

Huffing, Judy took the elevator back up to the apartment, mumbling, "Where the heck are you, you dumb fox? You'll blow the whole hustle if your grandmother decides to show up right now."

Judy sat and tried to watch the rest of their movie, but it wasn't the same Christmas movie without her partner there to pick apart the bad-guy side of the plot.

"Seriously," Nick would always say, "That's not how C-4 works."

And in response, Judy would always raise a brow and ask, "How, exactly, do you know that?"

She never got an answer. Most of the time, she'd get a foot rub as a distraction instead. Judy shivered pleasantly thinking about Nick's foot rubs, his back rubs, and basically everything he did with his paws to her. For her. No, with her. Getting a dreamy look on her muzzle, Judy decided it was "to her."

With the movie long done and a Howlmark romance under her belt… seriously, how does Nick watch those sappy romances and not go crazy? There is so much relationship drama. Just put the third wheel in your sights, kick some tail, and claim your mate. How hard does it all have to be?

Judy looked at the apartment door with a worried look on her muzzle. Did something bad happen? It's not like Nick to be gone so long and not text her.

Padding to the bedroom, Judy didn't see Nick's t-shirt where she had left it, so she stripped down to her underwear and slipped under the covers.

It was dark. And it was chilly.

She didn't like sleeping alone and not wrapped up in a warm, fuzzy fox tail.

Sitting back up, she sighed. Lying back down, she stared at the ceiling, then she turned over onto her stomach and plopped her face into the pillow. It was a little better because it smelled more like her fox, but not good enough.

Up again, Judy went over and searched through the laundry hamper. Dumping everything out, she decided she needed to work on Nick so he'd let her clothes lie so they'd air out properly. Finally, seeing what she needed, Judy grabbed Nick's t-shirt from yesterday.

It was much better, warmer, and it smelled right. Still not as good as being wrapped up in the real thing, but enough that Judy finally fell asleep. Ish.

Millenia of being hunted by handsome predators, endowed rabbits with a sixth sense about said predators, so when the apartment door opened silently, it might have been fox silently, but it wasn't bunny silently.

Judy listened as quiet footsteps crept into the living room and stopped. She heard a shirt come off, and Nick's pants land on the couch. Then she rolled her eyes as she heard the pants and shirt being folded. Then, a creak from near the couch followed by silence.

Five minutes later, heavy fox breathing.

"Why is he sleeping out there when he could be sleeping in his bed with me?" whispered Judy.

Bunny-silently making her way out to the living room, Judy could just make out the couch enough to see it was empty, except for the folded clothes. "Where is he?"

More heavy breathing.

Judy tip-toed past the couch and found a red-furred ball of fuzz sleeping in the corner where the sofa and the wall met.

"Nick?" Judy whispered.

No response.

Judy knelt and, putting her soft paw into the fur ball, pet Nick's head fur. "Nick, it's me Carrots. Why don't you come to bed?"

A quiet whine was the sleepy response.

Judy pet Nick's head fur and gently scritched behind his ears. Nick always liked that, and it made her feel warm inside whenever she could get him to purr.

He didn't purr, he unconsciously flicked his ear at her paw like a fly was biting him.

Why did he do that? He'd fallen asleep with his head in her lap plenty of times, and he'd always relax and root around in her lap after a session of bunny ear scritches. He smiled more, too, even asleep. But not now, he looked like he was having a very bad, very sad dream.

"What happened?' whispered Judy.

Reaching back toward Nick, Judy paused. She'd been joking with him about being fake boyfriend-girlfriend a lot lately, and last night, when they were dancing, Nick got all weird when they were trying hard to act like a real couple. Judy chewed at her lip, thinking, 'Maybe he freaked because the thought of having a bunny as a girlfriend, even a fake one, is a bridge too far. Or, in her case, a bridge not worth the 'grief' toll.'

Judy's ears drooped, her breathing hitched, and the paw she was holding out toward Nick trembled a bit. It's not like she hadn't been here before all both times she'd ever been interested in a guy. Except in those cases, it was after one or two real dates that she got 'the message' that she wasn't bunny enough to be good girlfriend material.

Pulling her paw back, Judy sagged onto her haunches and whispered to herself, "I thought I was bad at guys before, but this is so, so much worse. You are such a dumb bunny that you can't even figure out how to make it through a couple of fake dates before even your best friend, ever, can't stand being around you anymore."

Judy teared up. Maybe it wasn't too late, maybe…

"Come on, dumb fox," whispered Judy, holding Nick's paw in hers, "wake up and tell me you know I love you. I promise if you tell me why you're sleeping out here, I'll tell you yes, of course, I love you…

*sniff*

"…and, and I'll promise I mean it… No crosses *sniff* count."

Nick let out a whimper as he kicked a hind paw.

A tear rolled down Judy's cheek.

She thought only for a second about wiggling her way into his arms and sleeping out here with him, but it was obvious that wasn't something he wanted.

Getting up, Judy went into the bedroom, pulled the blanket off the bed, and used it to cover up her friend so he wouldn't catch a chill. For her, she put on the stupid onesie pajamas Nick had bought her and tried to fall asleep without a fox wrapped around her.