True to his word, Nick brought Skye to his apartment when his shift ended. It was far enough from the precinct that they had to take the subway, but it was still a relatively short trip, and before she knew it, Skye found herself following Nick into his home.

Nick led her past the living room, which had a sofa facing the TV mounted on one of the walls, and into the small kitchen area. He quickly showed her the pantry and refrigerator, both overflowing with food, and told her that she was welcome to eat anything she wanted. When she tried to decline, he politely held up a paw to quiet her, and insisted that she was his guest, and he did not want for her to go hungry while she was in his home.

After that, he excused himself so he could change out of his work clothes, though he patted a loaf of bread sitting by the toaster on his way out and suggested she make herself a sandwich. He disappeared down the hallway on the other side of the living room, and Skye decided to do just that. She only needed a few seconds to put together a peanut butter sandwich, and she ate it much faster than she intended; she must have been hungrier than she thought. Nick had still not returned when she finished eating, so she made herself a second sandwich, this time taking her time to savor every bite.

She had just licked the last of the residual peanut butter off her fingers when Nick emerged from his bedroom. She had expected him to come out wearing something more casual than his police uniform, but to her surprise, he was dressed in something even more formal: a green tuxedo, so stunning that it made him look like royalty.

And confusing her even more, he appeared to be in a rush. He ran to the bathroom to quickly groom his fur, hollering to Skye that, once again, she was welcome to eat anything she wanted and watch as much television as her heart desired. She started to walk down the hallway to ask if she could help him with anything, but he dashed out of the bathroom before she reached him and pointed at the two doors at the end. He informed her that the door on the right, which was currently open a crack, was the guest bedroom, and she was free to go to bed whenever she felt like it.

With that, Nick bolted to the door. Skye followed him as far as the living room to see him off. "Can I ask what the tux is for?" she asked.

"It's for a very important meeting," was Nick's quick response as he threw open the door. "Don't wait up for me!" And then he shut the door behind him, leaving her alone in his apartment.

For the next several minutes, Skye was not sure what exactly she should do. Even though Nick had given her permission to practically treat his home like it was hers, she still felt uncomfortable with the idea. She stood in the middle of the living room and spun around in a slow circle. The furniture looked so nice, she worried that shedding even a few hairs would leave them permanently scarred. The television was so big it practically took up the entire wall, but she was scared her claws might scratch the remote control. She considered going to the kitchen and eating something else, but the two sandwiches had filled her belly as it was.

Her eyes landed on the bathroom, and she decided that a shower was the best place to start. She walked inside, closed the door, and stripped off her filthy clothes. Then she turned on the water inside the shower, ran her paw under it until she was satisfied with the temperature, and stepped inside. Within seconds of submerging under the steaming waterfall, she knew it was the right decision.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the hot water soaked her fur from head to toe. It had been weeks since she had taken a shower, and even longer since she had had a warm one, so to Skye, this felt like heaven. All of the muscles in her body relaxed, and all negative thoughts left her mind. The dirt and grime that had accumulated in her fur over the last several days washed away, leaving the natural cream color behind. She opened her eyes and glanced down at her body, and she wondered if she had ever been as clean as she was this very moment.

Even after her fur was properly cleaned, Skye remained standing in the shower for a long time, her thoughts wandering aimlessly. All her life, she had been forced to take care of herself, and never rely on anyone to help her. As far as she could remember, no one—not even her own father—had ever offered her any assistance in times of trouble. She had never allowed herself the luxury of growing emotionally close to anyone; her life was spent constantly looking over her shoulder, always moving from one town to the next at a moment's notice, and she did not wish to burden anyone else with those kinds of problems.

And yet, for some reason, Nick was different. Maybe it was because he was a cop. Maybe it was because he was a red fox, instead of the arctic foxes she was used to dealing with. Maybe it was the way he looked at her, or spoke to her, or went out of his way to make her life better even though she never asked for it. Whatever it was, she was allowing herself to accept his help. She was allowing herself to grow closer to him.

She was allowing herself to fall in love with him.

The thought still made her heart flutter. Love was an alien feeling to her, but she had no doubt that it was exactly what she was feeling right now. Nick had done more for her in a single day, than everyone else she had ever met in her life put together. He had selflessly brought her into his home, provided her with all the food she could eat, and had even promised her a job the very next day. She was not used to such generosity—and, more than that, Nick had made it clear that he expected nothing in return.

She was sure she could never repay him anyway. No matter how many times she said thank you, no matter how many times she expressed her eternal gratitude—no amount of words could ever be enough to make up for all that the fox had done for her.

Words aren't the only thing that tell people what you're thinking.

The saying seemed to come to Skye out of nowhere. She had heard someone say it a long time ago—so long ago, she could not remember when or where, or even who had said it. But it came back to her now, and she once again felt her ears start to burn from the thought.

If words weren't enough, then perhaps she could make her feelings clear through her actions instead.

Skye's heart pounded as she contemplated the idea. She had never felt this way about anyone before—infatuation, desire, romance, it all felt unfamiliar to her. But she did know one thing: whatever it was, it was real. Every time she thought about Nick, her cheeks began to burn. Every time she looked at him, her breath caught in her throat. Every time she heard him speak, her heart leapt inside of her chest.

She refused to ignore her feelings. She was smitten with Nick, and she wanted to prove to him just how much he meant to her. Her mind was made up.

She gave her fur one final rinse, then shut off the water and grabbed a towel from the hook just outside the shower. She spent a good amount of time drying off her fur as much as she could, before finally stepping out of the shower and standing in front of the bathroom mirror.

She picked up the hairbrush resting on the edge of the sink and began to groom her fur. Normally, Skye would not bother brushing her fur like this, since it was a process that took a long time, but this was for a special occasion, and she wanted to make herself as beautiful as possible. She took her time, making sure every single hair was properly groomed from head to tail. Finally, after losing track of time for so long that her fur had dried completely, she set the brush back on the sink and admired herself in the mirror.

Unlike the weary, depressed face that she had seen in the mirror this morning, the arctic fox that greeted her now looked like a whole new person. Her creamy-white fur glistened in the bright light, which gave her reflection a certain glow. Her icy blue eyes stared back at her with a giddy twinkle. Her lips were curled in a cheerful smile, which she did not even realize she was doing until she saw it for herself.

She could not remember the last time she had seen herself this happy, and it only made her smile grow all the wider. All because Nick Wilde had come into her life.

Satisfied with her appearance, Skye hung the towel back on its designated hook and gathered her dirty clothes off the floor. Instead of putting them back on, however, she bundled them together under one arm, opened the bathroom door, and carried them into the apartment. A thrill rushed through her veins—the first of several tonight, she had no doubt—as she walked through the living room, down the small hallway, and into the guest bedroom with absolutely nothing covering up her body. She dropped her clothes on the floor beside her bed, then turned around and walked back into the living room.

She had no idea when Nick would be back home, so she had to prepare the room quickly just in case. She turned on the TV using the remote control, and navigated to a EweTube video that played mood lighting and soft music on repeat for several hours. Then she turned off all the lights in the apartment, sat down on the couch, and began to wait for Nick.

The thrill and anticipation helped the time fly by. Skye was sitting on somebody else's couch, in the buff, with the intention of pouncing him the second he opened the door. She had never done anything like this before—she had never dreamed of doing anything like this before. She was nervous, but also excited, but also scared, but also exhilarated.

More than anything, though, she was certain of one thing: she loved Nick, and she wanted to prove it to him.

A distant sound caught her attention. Her ears perked up, and a second later, a closer noise followed. It sounded like the residential door opening down the hall outside. She strained to listen for other sounds, and her heart raced when she heard the unmistakable noises of pattering footsteps approaching the apartment door. They stopped there, and then there was a much louder clatter as a key jiggled into the lock.

Skye fought off the instinctual panic that overcame her. She had mentally prepared herself for what was sure to happen next, but now that Nick was actually here, it suddenly felt all the more real. For a split second, she second-guessed her plan, and considered fleeing to her bedroom while there was still time and pretending this never happened. But as the apartment door started to crack open, she took a deep breath, reassured herself that she was up for this, and ducked down behind the couch.

She could no longer see the door, but that was on purpose, because it meant that Nick would not be able to see her, either. She heard the door open fully, and then there were a few quiet footsteps as Nick entered the room. She peeked around the corner of the couch, and though the room was dimly lit, she could see his darkened form close the door and lock it behind him.

He turned around and examined the room. "I guess she went to bed."

Skye lunged at him as soon as the words left his mouth. Before he could react, she tackled him into the carpet, lay on top of him, and aggressively pressed her lips against his. He struggled against her, no doubt caught off-guard by the sudden attack, but she persisted. She pinned his arms against the floor so he could not hurt her, and let out a loud, sensual moan to properly let him know who she was and what her intentions were.

Nick managed to pull his face away long enough to get out, "Skye, wait!"

She brought a finger to his lips, silencing him. "It's okay, Nick. Consider this my thank-you." She closed her eyes and lowered her head to kiss him once again.

A click sounded nearby. The light turned on.

Skye's eyes snapped open, and when she saw the animal responsible for turning on the light, she froze in horror. A gray bunny doe was standing there, wearing a gorgeous red dress that looked like it must have cost a fortune. The bunny was staring at the scene in front of her: Nick lying on the floor, with a naked fox vixen positioned on top of him and kissing him passionately. Her expression was impossible to read, but one thing was for sure: she was not happy.

It only took a second for Skye to realize what was going on. She let out a gasp and jumped off of Nick as fast as she could, barely managing to rise to her knees and back away. "Oh, fiddlesticks!" She threw her paws up defensively. "I am so sorry! I didn't realize that you…" She looked to Nick. "I mean, you…" She turned back to the rabbit. "I had no idea that you—"

The rabbit remained frozen in place the whole time, her expression unchanging. Nick, however, sat back up and calmly smoothed the wrinkles in his tuxedo jacket while Skye struggled to find her words. "It's okay, Skye. It's my fault. I should have explained things better." He raised a paw and held it out to the bunny standing behind him. "Skye Frost, meet Judy Hopps, my partner in the ZPD."

Skye's heart sank down to her stomach, which felt like it was tying itself up in knots. She had never felt as foolish or embarrassed as she did at this very moment. Her ears lay flat against the back of her skull, and she turned to Judy apologetically. "I am so, so sorry, Miss Hopps. I thought…" She hung her head, unable to finish the thought.

Judy remained still for a few more seconds while she continued to process what had just happened. Finally, she walked forward. Skye feared for a moment that she was about to come over and physically punish her for throwing herself at Nick like she had, but to her surprise, Judy stood next to the red fox instead and punched him lightly on his shoulder. "Dumb fox," she mumbled.

Nick let out an exaggerated whimper and rubbed his shoulder. He shot Judy an offended look, but said nothing in return.

Judy turned her attention back to Skye. To her amazement, the rabbit did not look the least bit angry at her. Skye would not have blamed Judy if she yelled all kinds of nasty things at her, or came over and started beating her up; she had endured such punishment before for far less. However, Judy looked upon her now with an expression not of hatred, but of…

Kindness?

Judy smiled warmly at the arctic fox. "Males." She huffed playfully. "You give them one job…" She glanced back at Nick and narrowed her eyes, but her smile remained. "And they go and blow it."

Nick crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue, but once again said nothing.

Skye turned to Nick. "So, that very important meeting was…?" The red fox stared at the floor and nodded, and she wondered if he was even more embarrassed than she was at the moment—and she wasn't even wearing clothes. She had somehow forgotten that particular fact, and now that she remembered, she felt all the more self-conscious. She quickly stumbled back to her feet, curled her tail to the front of her body, and grasped it with both paws in an attempt to at least partially cover herself. "I should probably go now, I've already ruined your evening and—"

Judy held up a paw, both silencing her and stopping her in her tracks before she could run away. "Skye, wait." She waited to make sure the arctic fox was listening to her, then she continued, her friendly smile still on her face. "It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

Skye stared at her in disbelief. "But I—"

"You. Did. Nothing. Wrong." Judy flicked a thumb behind herself, pointing at Nick, who was just starting to rise to his own feet. "He invited you here, and as long as you are here, you are our guest." She leered at him again. "And it's not your fault that he failed to clarify things."

"I said I was sorry already," Nick finally said. He shoved his paws in his pockets and gave a defeated sigh. "What more do you want from me, Carrots?"

Skye blinked in confusion. "Carrots?" Before either of them could respond, however, she realized something about what Judy had just said. "Wait a minute, our guest?"

She had expected a quick reply in clarification, but to her further puzzlement, both Judy and Nick suddenly seemed uncomfortable; Judy averted her gaze, and Nick awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

Skye blinked again at the sight. "Wait, so…" She looked back and forth between the two of them. "Are you two together, or…?"

Finally, Nick found his voice. "Absolutely." He rested his arm on Judy's shoulders and pulled the rabbit in for a small sideways hug. "After all, we are partners on the force. We're always together." His smug smile appeared. "That's why I was her date this evening: she just loves hanging around me."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go," she mumbled.

"Last time I was in the hospital?" Nick pressed his free paw to his chest melodramatically. "Four days straight, never left my bedside. When I bought my first car? She personally negotiated the price. Won a free stay at the Palm Springs Hotel this weekend? She gave it all up just to come home with me tonight instead." His face winced in pain as Judy elbowed his ribs at that last one. "And our special guest, of course," he added with a squeak.

Judy gave him one final look, then stepped away from him and walked up to Skye. "Listen.…" She took one of the vixen's paws in her own and gave it a small squeeze. "Nick already told me all about you—including that he invited you to stay here. I know what it's like to be all alone in Zootopia, and I know what it's like to need friends." She locked eyes with Skye and offered another friendly grin. "Let's just forget about tonight, okay? I know you didn't mean any harm."

The unexpected kindness from the rabbit left Skye dumbstruck. Judy had not only caught her red-pawed trying to seduce her date for the evening—or, she suspected, much more than that—but she was apparently ready to forgive her over it. She was even consoling her over it, when she was the mammal most deserving in the world to be angry at her right now.

A tug on her arm brought her out of her thoughts. Judy was leading her away from the living room. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"Oh! That reminds me!" Nick ran over to the front door and flung it open. "I left it in the car!" He closed the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone.

Skye was intrigued by the red fox's declaration, but as Judy led her down the hallway and to her bedroom, her mind flooded with fresh embarrassment over her situation. "Judy, I can't begin to tell you—"

Judy cut her off before she could finish her apology. "We'll buy you some new clothes tomorrow before you start your job." They reached the end of the hallway. Judy pushed open the guest room door and led her inside. "You won't survive the winter in Zootopia with that outfit you were wearing last night."

Skye blinked. "Last night?" Her mind raced to think about the events from the night before, trying to remember if she had seen any gray bunnies that looked like Judy, but she drew a blank. "You saw me last night?" If Judy had seen her without her noticing, then maybe someone else had as well…

"Yeah, when Nick brought you into the precinct." Judy finally let go of Skye and busied herself grabbing an extra pillow from the closet. "You were really out of it, so I'm sure you don't remember me." The explanation made Skye let out a quiet sigh of relief. Judy didn't seem to notice, and the energetic bunny hopped from the closet over to the bed to place the new pillow in its appropriate spot. "And if you zonked out last night in one of those beds…" She stood back up straight and proudly patted the bed beside her. "Then you're going to sleep like a kit tonight in this one."

This was Skye's first time giving the bed a proper look. The one she had slept in the night before was barely better than a cot. This one, however, had a thick mattress, soft sheets, a plump blanket, and thanks to Judy, three fluffy pillows near the headboard.

Exhaustion flooded Skye's mind just staring at it. Judy lifted the edge of the blanket and held it up in the air, enticing the arctic fox to lie down. Before she knew it, she found herself crawling underneath the blanket, spreading her body out along the length of the mattress, resting her head on one of the pillows, and allowing her arms to lay on top of the blanket. She was not sure she had ever slept in a bed this comfortable before. The mattress was made out of memory foam, which perfectly meshed against her form. The thick blanket rested on top of her body, providing her with an extra layer of warmth against the cold winter air outside. Her head sank into the pillow, and when she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine that she was resting on a cloud.

Judy leaned against the nightstand beside her. She saw how tired Skye looked and let out a chuckle. "You look comfortable." She patted Skye's shoulder playfully. "But don't fall asleep yet. Nick will be back soon, and you'll love what he's bringing with him."

Skye wasn't sure she wanted to sleep anyway. Her mind was still racing with the events from the day, and at the mention of Nick, she felt her guilt return to her. "I really am sorry, Judy…" She let out a long, slow sigh. "For everything."

"I know you are. And like I said, let's forget about it. No harm, no foul." Judy's answer was casual, and Skye really did believe that she had forgiven her over it.

And Skye found that odd.

"You seem awfully calm about all of this." Judy raised an eyebrow quizzically. "I mean…" Skye raised an arm and waved it at the open bedroom door. "You and Nick are together, right?"

It was her second time asking the question, and just like last time, it seemed Judy struggled to provide a straight answer. She spent a few seconds staring off into the distance while she tried to think of the best response. It did not appear that she was afraid to answer, though, simply that she had a hard time finding the proper words.

"Is it complicated?" Skye asked.

Judy blinked, taken out of her trance. She shook her head. "No, we're together. Kind of. It's just…" Her voice dropped to barely louder than a whisper. "It's not something we advertise."

Skye had not meant to cause the bunny any unease, and she felt a tinge of remorse seeing her reaction. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable," she quickly said. "I've just never heard of a relationship between a fox and a rabbit before, and I was curious."

Judy folded her paws in her lap, and there was a sound of material straining as she tightened her grip, perhaps a bit more aggressively than she had meant. "Yeah, a lot of people haven't," she murmured. "And they usually don't like it when they do."

Her voice was quiet enough that Skye was not sure if she was meant to hear the words or not. She decided not to push for clarification, and instead dropped the subject and circled back to her original question. "So, why are you so nice to me? If I had watched another girl pounce my fox, I would have lost my mind."

"I mean, it did surprise me," Judy admitted, but a chuckle quickly followed. "Can't say I've ever seen Nick at such a loss for words before."

"Can you blame him?" Skye did not find the situation as amusing as Judy clearly did, and she struggled to maintain eye contact with her. "What would have happened if you hadn't come in with him? What if he was alone? How far would it have gone?"

"He would have stopped you before things went too far."

"But how can you know that for sure?" Skye felt tears begin to form in her eyes, and she quickly threw the blanket over her head in shame. "I almost ruined everything! After all Nick did for me, I almost ruined his life, and I—"

The gentle touch of Judy's paw against the top of her head quieted her. "Ssh," she whispered. She rubbed her fingers through Skye's fur, starting at her forehead and moving past her ears. With her other paw, she slowly pulled the blanket away from Skye's face so she could once again look at her. The fox could not understand how, after all of this, the bunny could still smile upon her—much less run her paw across her head to comfort her like she was right now. She repeated the motion, and after a few seconds, the tears stopped, and Skye could only shamefully avert her eyes once more.

"Skye?" Judy coaxed the fox to look into her beautiful bright purple eyes again. "I trust Nick. I trust him completely. There is nothing you could have done to break that." She cupped her paw against the fox's cheek. "You're just going to have to believe me, okay?"

It was a big request, and Skye was not entirely sure she was convinced, but she weakly nodded in acceptance. Judy began rubbing her head again, and her mind was once again overcome with sleepiness. Her inhibitions lifted enough for one of her thoughts to escape her mind and out of her mouth as a whisper: "Nobody has ever touched me like this before."

Judy let out a small chuckle and gave her head one final pat. "Bunnies are affectionate creatures. You'll have to get used to this if you want to stay here for a while."

Skye's eyelids grew heavy, and she struggled to reply. "A while…?"

The distant sound of the front door opening back up shook her from her stupor. A second later, Nick walked into the room, carrying a big paper bag with one paw. "Who's the birthday kit?" he called theatrically. He walked up to the bed and shot an exaggerated grin at Skye. "Are you the birthday kit?"

Perhaps it was just because she was so sleepy, but Skye had a hard time understanding what he was doing, and she could only stare at him in confusion.

Nick set the paper bag down on the floor. "Let's see what we have in here!" He shoved his arm inside the bag, searched around for a second, and then pulled it back out. "You wouldn't happen to know any vixens around here who could use a new set of PJs, would you?"

Skye's eyes widened. Nick was holding up two clothes, one in each paw: a pajama top and matching bottom, sized perfectly for her. They were bright blue and looked like they were made of silk—a rather warm material, but that was fine by her, since she preferred to sleep as warmly as she could. How they could have guessed that, she had no idea—and more than that, she was shocked that they had gotten her anything at all.

Nick lay the pajama set across the top of Skye's blanket. "For you!" He placed a paw over his eyes and turned around. "Go on, I'm not looking."

Judy smirked in his direction. "Oh, now you stop looking?"

Despite the quip, though, Skye had noticed throughout the evening that Nick had not stared at her body a single time. He had not so much as glimpsed at her exposed form even once; instead, he had mostly averted his gaze, and when he had looked at her, he had locked eyes with her in a respectful manner.

Judy must have known that as well, because she dropped the subject immediately and grabbed the shirt off the bed. "Do you need any help?" she asked.

Skye was still flabbergasted that they had bought her clothes in the first place. Part of her wanted to decline the gift, but right now she was so tired, she could not put up a fight. "I've got it," she insisted. She sat up in her bed, took the shirt from Judy, and pulled it over her head. "I'm not a kit, you know."

She only needed a few seconds to put her new pajamas on. Just as she suspected, they fit perfectly, and they were so comfortable, they felt more like an extension of her body than sleep attire. She ran a paw over the fabric on her shirt, which not only proved her suspicion correct that it was silk, but some of the smoothest she had ever felt in her life. Skye did not know much about clothing prices, but she was sure these pajamas could not have been cheap. She wanted to ask her two hosts how much they had paid, but she worried that the question could come across as rude and decided to keep her mouth shut, at least for now.

When she was done dressing, she sat on the bed, her legs criss-crossed on top of the blanket and her paws laying in her lap. With the sound of her shuffling gone, Nick turned back around and took a look at her. A satisfied smile crossed his face. "Nailed it," he proudly proclaimed. He turned to Judy and lowered his eyelids smugly. "See? Size 32. I called it."

Judy rolled her eyes at that. "Look, I told you, bunny sizes must work differently."

"Yeah, but Size 67?" Nick gave Skye a quick look and turned back to Judy. "That's huge for a fox."

"Well, lucky for me, a certain knight in shining armor was there to save me from a giant blunder." Judy's smile turned sly to match Nick's.

"Giant is right. You know Al Boarland's mom? Even she isn't Size 67."

Any other time, Skye probably would have been amused by their banter. However, right now, her mind was weighed down with other things. She was still embarrassed and ashamed for pouncing Nick the way she had, but right now, the thing she was feeling the most was a sense of bafflement. Even after she had done something like that, Nick and Judy were both treating her with kindness and generosity, almost like she had done nothing wrong at all. It made no sense to her; Skye was used to screwing up regularly, and when she did, she had always been punished for it—harshly punished. But her two hosts had not only forgiven her, they continued to show her gentleness, selflessness, and compassion.

Skye could not imagine anyone acting this way, at least not without wanting something in return. Every mammal who had ever been friendly to her in the past had all turned out the same way: they got what they wanted from her, and then turned their backs on her. Most had harmed her—some physically, including her father.

But not Nick. And not Judy. They had given her so much, practically enough to start a brand new life, and they had not asked for anything in return.

Her weary mind struggled to find an explanation. She lifted her head, looked to the two of them, and decided to ask them directly. "Why are you doing all of this for me?"

Nick and Judy stopped talking and turned to face her. The smug grins were wiped off their faces in an instant, replaced with mild confusion at her sudden question. "The PJs?" Nick asked. "It was kind of obvious you didn't have any, so—"

"Not just that. Everything. My new clothes, this bed, your food, a new job tomorrow…" She lowered her gaze in shame. "Your forgiveness…" She dug her claws into her blanket, struggling to contain a wave of strong emotions. "You have both been so kind to me, even though I don't deserve it." She looked back at Judy and stared straight into her purple eyes. "Why?"

"Because it is our job to make the world a better place," she replied simply.

That wasn't enough. "But nobody has ever shown me so much kindness before. You've given me so much—more than I could ever repay. And I doubt you'd do this for just anyone." She turned to Nick, and asked again, "You've done so much for me. Why?"

The bunny and fox turned to each other and exchanged a look. Skye had no idea what the look meant, but the glance did not last long before they nodded at each other in understanding. Nick took a deep breath before answering her question.

"Skye…" He gazed into the arctic fox's blue eyes, and spoke with a sincere tone of voice. "There's something about you. I don't know what it is, but I sensed it the moment I saw you. So did Judy. There's more to you than you let on. We're cops. We're used to dealing with hoodlums and delinquents. We know what they look like. We know them when we see them."

"And when we look at you, we don't see that," Judy spoke up. "You're not a troublemaker. You're not a criminal who's here to ruin lives and take advantage of people." She drew her head closer to Skye's. "No. The girl I am looking at right now is a good person—but she is a good person who is running from something, and she needs our help."

They both spoke their words gently, but Skye felt almost like she was being interrogated. They were right, of course: she was running, and she had been running her whole life. The memory of Marble Jade flashed in her mind, especially her final day there, and she felt her breathing become shallow as the recollection played itself over and over again.

She shut her eyes tight, blocking out the horrific memory, and shook her head aggressively. "I can't talk about it," she responded, her words leaving her mouth almost faster than she could speak them. "Please don't ask me to talk about it."

To her relief, she was greeted by silence. She opened her eyes again, and found both of them staring at her, their expressions unreadable. She worried that they would press her for more information, but after a short pause, Judy looked at Nick and silently gestured to the door. He nodded in acknowledgement, then turned and walked away.

"All right," Judy promised. "You don't have to talk about it." She leaned forward and patted the top of Skye's paw reassuringly. "Nick will wake you up in the morning. If you need anything, please feel free to ask us. We're both here for you."

She walked over to the door and joined Nick there, who turned off the light to the room, plunging it into darkness. Judy exited, and Nick grabbed the door and began to close it. Just before he did, he called to her in a whisper.

"Remember, Skye: you're not alone."

The door closed.

Despite her fatigue, Skye's brain raced with thoughts from the evening. She still felt a tremendous amount of guilt for jumping Nick the way she had, but both of them had forgiven her for it, so she tried to push those feelings out of her mind. Instead, she focused her attention on the conversation she had with Judy, just before Nick had arrived with her new clothes.

Somehow, the knowledge that Judy, like Nick, had known about her all this time gave Skye a warm feeling in her chest. It was as if she had two guardian angels watching over her. Neither of them had said it, but it was obvious that they talked with each other about her; after all, from the moment Judy had started talking with her, she acted like she already knew everything about her.

And besides that, they had bought her new pajamas. She absently felt the hem of her new shirt with one paw and rubbed the material between her pads. She never encountered this level of generosity in Marble Jade; most of the foxes there treated her with cruelty, and she was used to going to sleep cold and hungry. And now here she was: she was warm, she was well-fed, and even though she had given her hosts every reason to hate her, they continued to treat her not only as their guest, but as their…

Friend?

Skye had never had a friend before, so she could not be certain. Then again, even if she was certain, she had also been certain earlier today that she was falling in love with Nick—a feeling that was long gone by now. But nonetheless, despite all of the mistakes she had made today, Skye wondered if she had, in fact, just found two new friends.

The first friends she ever had in her life.

A fresh wave of drowsiness rushed over her. Her mouth opened wide and let out a huge yawn against her will, alerting her that it was time to lie back down and go to sleep. The soft clothes felt amazing against the fur all across her body, and the warm blanket and form-fitting mattress made her feel like she was being embraced by an angel. It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep, but right before she did, one final thought caused a happy smile come to her face.

Nick. Judy. My friends…