Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 30: Ex-Girlfriend

Chapter 30: Ex-Girlfriend

Closing the door from the courtroom, Nick knew that he would be immediately attacked by Judy who would ask a mass of questions about what had happened in the room and what they had talked about. That night the rabbit was terribly curious which worried and annoyed the fox at the same time, who would have been most happy to relax by drifting off into a deep sleep.
"What were you two talking about?" Judy asked when she saw the fox approaching. She got up from the bench, then walked at an even pace along with Nicki. They were both heading towards the car so they could finally go to their house to rest. Rest however was in the background especially for Fox who had promised to explain everything to Judy, if he could he wouldn't say anything but he didn't want to break the promise he had made.
"We'll talk about it at home, okay? I want to have peace and quiet at least for a while," replied Nick calmly. Judy's curiosity knew no bounds that night, but seeing the tiredness and embarrassment on her partner's face, she decided that it would be a good move to let it go and wait until he had the strength to tell everything.

In the car they both didn't speak to each other. Judy leaned against the car window staring out at the warm yellow lights of the lamps scattered on the sides of the road illuminating the area around them, while Nick's thoughts drifted back to the conversation he had recently had with Caroline. To be honest, he had hoped he would never have the opportunity to meet her again, and here she suddenly turns out to be the police chief! Their relationship Fox did not remember as a happily successful one, it was more of a toxicity-soaked relationship that ended at the first opportunity. Fox never told anyone about how it really was (apart from Finnick of course), the school they attended was completely indifferent to what went on there, so it helped for Nick to forget the whole thing. But now it's coming back with double force, he's been through too much of the breakup to be indifferent to it now. Even though he is now with Judy and they have a happy relationship, seeing Caroline caused him some kind of pain. It wasn't because they had broken up, it was just that the distaste of that relationship remained and it wasn't something that Fox wanted to dredge up after so many years of separation. He didn't want to go back to that.
"I have to get over it. I can't go back to it all the time" thought Nick. Through his musings the fox drove very slowly, which surprised even Judy, who curiously glanced at the odometer, which showed only 30mph, which surprised the rabbit. Usually the fox would bend the rules of the road just to go faster. She often then admonished him that he was a policeman and shouldn't do that.
"Why are you driving so slowly?" Judy asked.
"I'm tired, it's slippery and dark...I know I'm going faster, but at the moment I just want to get there" replied the fox, to which Judy giggled quietly.
"I would already be going faster" replied Judy between breaths while laughing.
"You'd have to reach for the pedals first" laughed Nick pushing the accelerator harder.

After 25 minutes of quiet and calm driving, the partners arrived at the high-rise building where they lived. Despite the large number of cars parked in the underground car park, they did not have to worry about not having a space because they had one reserved just for them. This way they were always sure to find a space for themselves and there was no need to circulate the square several times to find a spot. After parking, they both got out, touching the asphalt wet from the melted snow with their shoes. The fatigue on their faces was evident, indicating that they had had a long shift in their tiring work. As they entered the corridor leading to the lift, the cool white lights were already fired up, the corridor filled with white was glaring to Judy and Nick who had spent most of the night by the warm lights of the houses, flares or beams of lamps on the street. It took a few seconds for their eyesight to adjust to this frosty beam. Entering the lift, the fox chose the floor with the number 8, the machine closed the doors and started up.
Riding up the lift, Nick noticed Judy spasmodically slapping her foot on the lift floor. Over the time of their acquaintance, he had managed to notice that she only did this when she was cranky or stressed. This amused the fox a little as he figured out another mental rabbit play. Nick loved the moment when he proves to be cleverer than his partner, making her feel dumber and a fiery blush appear on her face.
"What are you nervous about?" Nick asked. Judy's ears twisted in the direction of the fox, reacting to the sound of it, then she herself turned away making a sound that asked for an explanation.
"When you stomp your foot you get nervous or stressed" Nick remarked pointing with his hand to his leg. When the rabbit laughed she delivered her right leg to the normally standing left laughing nervously.
"I'm just excited about what's to come."
"And what is to come?" Nick asked ironically. He knew perfectly well what it was about, but he always liked to take advantage of moments where he could play with Judy.
"Nick..."
"I know what you mean, take it easy," retorted the fox, seeing that the rabbit wasn't in the mood for his jokes.
"I'm glad you don't want to tire me out more than this night" replied Judy with relief.
'Too bad it doesn't work the other way' thought Nick. Soon the lift stopped making its distinctive sound. The doors opened revealing a white filled corridor in front of them.

The moment Nick opened the flat door letting his girlfriend in first, the fox felt instantly calm and relaxed instantly. His own four walls gave him a sense of security and relaxation. He would have most gladly changed into his night clothes right away and gone to bed, but he expected that Judy had not forgotten his promise. He wasn't even deluding himself, because when he even went to the bathroom, and came back after 5 minutes the rabbit was sitting at the table and with his eyes pointed for him to sit by her inviting him to talk this time. When Nick sat down a sly grin appeared on his face which meant he knew what Judy was about to say which was no great surprise to the rabbit.
"What did Caroline want from you?" Judy asked as Nick sat down beside her.
"Well, you see...it's a bit of a funny story," replied Nick staring at the night skyline as if he was looking for something. Judy also began to stare at this magical Christmas landscape that was filled with red and white neon lights.
"A few years ago when I was in high school I met a girl...she was quite pretty, nice, we liked each other a lot. Maybe too much. After a while it got to the point where we were in a relationship together..." Nick sighed. The smile disappeared from his face and was replaced by a slight grin, characterised by sadness.
"Is that her?" Judy asked.
"Heh, I thought you were going to let me develop a thread" laughed Nick.
"I'd love to listen" replied Judy.
"Well...when we were together she changed beyond recognition...she went from being a nice, cool girl to an aggressive, arrogant lady, although she claimed it was me who changed..."
"Have you not tried to talk?"
"It doesn't matter! I fell in love with a completely different girl back then! She wasn't the same anymore, I'm glad I ended that relationship, it didn't make sense...now that I have to work for her I feel strange...you know, personally I don't have anything against her, but the distaste still remains, I didn't want to meet her under those circumstances" Nick replied. Judy felt a little strange about that as well. On the one hand, she felt jealous when Nick told her that he was in love with her, but on the other hand, she was glad it had turned out the way Nick had told it. She felt safe about her partner in a way.
"I'm sorry..."
"You don't have to be, I have you now..." Nick replied. He grabbed Judy's delicate hand rubbing it delicately causing Judy to blush softly.
"I'm sorry Nick..." Judy said, which surprised Nick. What would she be apologising for? She hadn't done anything wrong after all, his surprise painted on his face.
"I shouldn't be putting so much pressure on you, I shouldn't be asking you everything and insisting you answer even when you don't want to..." Explained the rabbit seeing the puzzled look of the fox.
"Ekh...I know you're doing this for my sake...however, please don't make me mention something I don't want to" replied Nick to which Judy nodded with a shake of her head.
"To be honest, I guessed from the start that you two had something in common"
"What do you mean?" Nick asked.
"From the beginning when you two saw each other she stared at you the whole time, her gaze said you knew each other, I didn't want to pre-empt the facts" explained Judy. Nick's laugh caused Judy some embarrassment, she didn't know why he was laughing.
"Why couldn't I have guessed that's why you were cranky" added the fox as he calmed down.
"I wasn't jealous... I just didn't like her very much" replied Judy trying to sound as truthful as she could, but the problem was that she couldn't. The look in the fox's eyes that said he knew she was lying caused the rabbit to give in blushing more nodding her head.
"Ekh, well well, you got me. Why don't we go to bed now huh? I'd like to get some more sleep before the day arrives."
"A very good idea" nodded Nick with a motion of his head. They both headed to their bedroom where they grabbed their nightwear. While Judy changed in the bathroom, Nick did so on the bed. As he did so he thought about Judy's behaviour, who suddenly backed away from what she wanted to hear. He didn't hide his satisfaction, but he was curious as to what compelled her to behave this way. Maybe the story of the unhappy relationship had convinced him to let it go. While he was thinking about it he didn't even feel Judy jump on the bed and pull him back to the pillows squeezing his hairy head with her hands and kissing him tenderly on the head.
"Are you that tired lisa?" Judy asked, seeing the fox's helplessness. Nick laughed, then in one strong movement he took Judy's hands off his head and rolled the rabbit over onto the bed so that he was above her. The feeling of the fox's dominance over the rabbit caused Judy to flood with a red blush as she stroked the fox's chin.
"Not yet," replied Nick exchanging a laugh with Judy. She pulled him into another kiss which they exchanged for several seconds , then she let him go cuddling into his fur once he had laid down next to her.
"Good night Nicki" said Judy falling asleep on his chest.
"Goodnight..." Replied Nick stroking her head affectionately.