Nick POV

Judy dropped me off at my apartment a little after two in the morning. She wanted to walk with me up to my unit but I insisted I was fine. At this point, I was too exhausted to feel anything but fine. I felt like I could sleep for a week straight.

Before I crashed on my bed I sent a quick text message to Finnick.

Pick me up at eight tomorrow?

I plugged my phone in and set an alarm, not bothering to wait to see his response. Normally if we are working, Finnick will pick me up a little earlier in the morning but I needed to sleep in a bit.

As I was drifting off to sleep I saw the screen light up and a faint buzzing filled the room for a second. Not bothering to read the message, I closed my eyes again.

*O*O*O*

My alarm went off at seven thirty in the morning and I considered throwing it across the room. When I yanked my phone off the charger to silence the alarm I saw the text from Finnick last night.

k.

There was no going back now. I would have to face Finnick in half an hour whether I was ready to or not. I didn't have a plan for a job today so I would have to come up with something before he picked me up. I hadn't changed my clothes from the club last night so I took a quick shower and found something clean to wear.

Looking for something to eat, I came up empty. Instead I sat down in the living room to brainstorm ideas. By the time eight o clock rolled around I realized I was too exhausted to come up with anything solid. Fortunately the 'buying something from a large mammal shop and reselling it to smaller mammals' plan always works.

We were at the end of the summer so there was a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables being sold at various shops. That would be what we would focus on today. I should have come up with a solid plan of what I was going to say to Finnick but I was more focused on coming up with a plan for the day.

Knowing him, he would be more upset with me if I didn't have a solid plan for business than if I didn't have a solid apology. With one last, longing, glance at my bed I left the apartment and made my way toward the elevator.

We couldn't make a move on the Nite Bite case until tomorrow and Judy said she had some research to do at the precinct today so I had the whole day free. She made me promise to spend the day resting. This wasn't exactly resting but if Judy was going to be busy today, she wouldn't really know.

When the elevator doors opened up, I tried to glance out the lobby windows for his van before I stepped out. Sure enough, the van was parked right out front. My stomach was in knots as I left the building.

Finnick was sipping a cup of coffee and staring straight forward when I climbed into the van. Without looking in my direction he pointed at another cup sitting in the center console. I muttered a quick thank you and picked it up, sipping it slowly. Coffee on an empty stomach only made my nerves worse but it was worth it.

"Where are we going?" Finnick asked, still not looking at me.

"Um, Thomas's Produce on 53rd in Rainforest." I wanted to add something else but opted to wait for the time being. It would be easier to have the conversation I was needing to have after we got to work. Honestly, I was hoping that he would initiate the conversation but Finnick is not very chatty so I knew that wouldn't happen.

Outside the market Finnick dug a costume out of a box in the back of the van. Eventually the father and son bit wouldn't work, businesses would catch on, but for now it was perfect.

Despite having not spoken in a while, he and I fell into the job like clockwork. I didn't need to give him any direction. As we walked into the market I grabbed Finnicks hand and dragged him across the lobby to the counter.

With an exasperated tone to my voice I knelt down and rested my hands on his cheeks. "Okay, buddy, stay here."

Standing up and turning to the counter tried to sound as panicked as I could. I made up some quick sob story on the spot about looking for a large fruit platter for my son's birthday party. The giraffe behind the counter gave me a look and I tried to think of a way to twist the story when Finnick pulled a very convincing fake cry.

We were in and out of the market in less than ten minutes after that. I thanked the man multiple times before we left the shop. Before I set the platter in the back of the van I checked the wrapping over the top of it to make sure it was tight.

We drove in more awkward silence to a secluded spot in a cooler climate to prep the fruit for sale. It was only nine in the morning but was already warm enough in the city center that we couldn't be prepping something like fruit outside without it going bad.

We had just barely parked when Finnick left the drivers seat to go chop the larger pieces of fruit smaller and separate them into tiny paper boats. He seemed to have that task under control so I opted to trek through the snow to get a few bags of ice.

By the time I made it back, Finnick was done chopping the fruit. I tossed the ice in the back and began helping him load the boats and secure them safely. Once we were sure nothing would slide around I locked the doors, and joined Finnick who was already in the front of the van.

It was early afternoon so we were right on track for lunch sales. We wouldn't have much time to set up but we would most likely be able to sell everything and turn a pretty good profit.

The drive back to the city centre felt like the perfect time to have a conversation but I could not get the words out no matter how many times I tried. Finnick didn't even have his normal music blaring, it was just painfully quiet. Instead I stared out the window until we found parking off to the side of the main business park.

Without a word, Finnick jumped out and began dragging the worn wooden cart out of the van. I stayed in my seat for a second. I had reached out to Fin in the first place because I was hoping to talk to him and apologize but we had been working together for hours today.

I was pissed off at myself for being a coward and pretending like nothing was off. Finnick was obviously angry or upset, I couldn't quite tell which. While he wasn't very chatty, it was unusual for him to almost not talk to me at all.

"Nick, you coming or what?" Finnick yelled from behind me somewhere. I sighed and went to join him. We had a stack of poster boards and bright coloured markers in a large tote. I pulled a poster out and picked a bright blue marker.

Doing some quick math for how many bowls we had, I quickly wrote "fresh fruit $6" in large block letters. Finnick had already set the cart up in a good spot so I jogged to join him with the poster.

We had only been set up for a matter of minutes when the clock tolled twelve pm and mammals poured out of businesses in groups. I only had to announce our fresh fruit sale once before we were swarmed.

Unfortunately there wasn't much we could do with the paper bowls afterwards like there was with the popsicle sticks but after being off work for over two weeks, I really didn't care. If Finnick had issues with it he didn't say anything, at this point I doubted he would say anything if he did.

By twelve-thirty we were fully sold out. Finnick went back to the van to change his clothes while I cleaned up. I dumped the slightly melted ice into a patch of grass and crumpled the poster into a recycling bin. All that was left was moving the cart back to the van.

I threw the doors open to put the cart back right as Finnick was climbing out. He flicked his sunglasses out of his pocket and went to wait for me near the front of the van. Finnick always picked me up for work in the mornings but only drove me home whe I specifically asked. Locking the double doors, I went to join him.

Usually the weather in Zootopia was nice enough that I could just walk home. And Fin lived downtown so he would have to go out of his way to drive me home. I joined him near the front to count out our earnings for the day. It wasn't as much as we usually made but it was an okay profit.

I handed Finnick his stack of bills. Before he turned to go I took a deep breath, it was now or never. "Wait, uh, Fin. Can we talk?" He stopped walking but didn't turn around. "I'll buy lunch."

Finnick stood still. I sighed, "and beer?"

"Fine." He turned around to unlock the back of the van again. Content that he wouldn't leave, I jogged across the street. There was a decent burger place just a few doors down from a convenience store. I've known Finnick long enough that I didn't need to ask what he would want to eat, or what kind of beer to buy.

When I got back to the van, Finnick was reclined back against a pile of clothes and some old towels. His eyes were closed but I doubted he was actually asleep. His nose started to twitch when I joined him on the warm metal floor of the van. Handing him a bag of food and a can, I turned to dig into my own food.

I knew it would be up to me to start the conversation even though I still didn't know how to. I supposed the best way to start was probably, "Fin, I am so sorry." I fixed my eyes on the dirty floor of the van.

Finnick took a few slow sips of his beer before he said anything. "For what?" I was unsure if he meant it like he was confused or if he just wanted me to explicitly say what I was sorry for.

"For what happened when you picked me up from the hospital. And for missing so much work." I tacked on the last part in case that was why he was actually mad. There was a pretty good chance of that.

"Okay. So, what happened?" I looked up to meet his eyes. "Nick, what is wrong with you?"

I almost wanted to laugh. 'What is wrong with you' was the most Finnick way of asking if I was okay. He has been my closest friend for most of my life. We've never lied to each other and I wasn't about to start now.

"I don't really know, man. I know I got shot with that night howler stuff multiple times and I think the orb that was in my pocket might have also broken open when they arrested me, but I don't know that for sure. I just know that I got hit with a whole lot of that shit. And my doctor said that they gave me a ton of the antidote, double what everyone else got, and it definitely did something to help because I am back to myself for the most part. But it didn't completely fix it, she said that there was still some serum in my blood when I left but it shouldn't be a problem and I didn't think it would be but it fucking is. When I am really mad or upset or stressed or whatever it feels like when I first got shot and it's scary and I can't control it."

I thought about the few times I had felt the serum take over. It felt like I completely lost control but I never actually hurt anyone and I somehow got myself back under control pretty quickly every time. "Or maybe I can, I don't really know."

When I started to talk it seemed like everything on my mind just spilled out at once and I couldn't stop it. When I finished I was out of breath. I had to bite down on my tongue to keep tears from my eyes.

Finnick nodded and took another slow sip. "I suppose that makes sense. I went to the hospital when they first called me, when you got brought in. When I saw your eyes in the van the other day I thought maybe you had been shot again or something but it was different. You weren't snarling or necessarily acting savage but the look on your face was the same."

I nodded. Part of me really wanted to keep going, to tell him about the new case I was working on with Judy but it might not be a good time. He spoke up again before I could decide. "So right at this moment, you're good? I don't have to worry about you ripping my head off or anything?"

The last part was obviously a joke but it still sent a shiver up my spine. "I think so. I can usually feel when something is about to happen but most of the time I just feel like myself."

I decided to test how he might react to me bringing Judy up without mentioning the police case. "Judy has also helped me control it and stay calm."

He crushed his can and tossed it into a small grocery bag taped to the back of the van. "The bunny? Of course she has. I'm sure you know that she's a cop again?"

My immediate thought was to ask how he knew she was a cop again but I remembered that Judy said she visited Finnick after she left my apartment the first time. "Yeah, she is. She's actually working on another case that's pretty similar to the one I worked on with her."

I didn't tell Finnick that Judy had asked me about joining the ZPD weeks ago but I would have to tell him at some point if I was still considering it. That would be a conversation for another day. If it even needed to be a conversation.

Finnick laughed. "Well, make sure you tell her to keep you as far away from it as possible. I still don't like her on principle since she's a cop but I do have to admit that she's sweet. And she cares a lot about you, it's kinda weird."

I smiled. That was the closest thing to approval I could hope for from Finnick. He would still be pissed off at me if I did join the ZPD but maybe he wouldn't be as pissed as I expected.

Before I could add anything to the conversation Finnicks phone started to buzz. He typed out a quick message and shoved it back into his pocket. "Damn, I gotta go man. You good walking home?"

I gave him a thumbs up and stashed the rest of the case with the other boxes in the van and crumpled our trash into one bag. That way it would be easier to throw away when I found a trash can. Finnick locked the doors again behind us.

"Same time tomorrow or do you want to start earlier?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder at me. I should have told Finnick I would be unavailable tomorrow much earlier in the day.

"About that." I kicked a dusty rock across the parking lot. Finnick narrowed his eyes at me. "I'm helping Judy out with something tomorrow morning."

His expression told me that he wanted to say something mean but instead he took a deep breath. "Fine, just tell me when we are working together again. And you had better have a better plan than the one you had today." He slammed his door shut but the window was still down.

He started the van. Before he pulled away he added one more thing. "Nick, I'm glad you're okay man."