Just Another Day

XX

Feelings and thoughts race through my head so fast I can't analyze or react to them. Nick's just sitting there, watching me with a sad half smile. When he sees the bewilderment on my face, he leans a bit away from me.
"It's okay, Carrots." He says, soft and gentle. "I never expected you to want me. I just hope that you won't hate me altogether."
A voice, mine, trembles out to answer him. "Nick, I-"
"It's alright. I understand if you don't want to see me anymore. You can leave, if you want." He twists so that he's laying on his side, facing away from me, feigning sleep. But I know him well enough to see the thoughts that race between his ears.

I know him. I know him as well as I know myself. His laugh, the way his eyes sparkle after giving Clawhauser a hard time, his little smirks.

I know him. And at that moment, when he is trying to let me go, I realize that I want him to hold on.

I don't know if I'd always loved him. I don't think so. At one point, he was just another mammal trying to get me to quit.

But I love him now.

That fact makes my voice steadier when I reach out a paw to touch his elbow.

~~•~~

A gentle paw touches my elbow. I'd hoped that she would fall for the sleeping act. But she wouldn't.

Her voice is steady. "Nick. I-I think that I might have fallen for you, too." I've got to be dreaming. Maybe my act was so good that I actually drifted off.

But if this is a dream, why not enjoy it?

I spin around, ignoring the pain in my shoulder as I lay facing her. Judy.

My voice is low. "Say it."
The tips of her ears are red with a blush, but her eyes dauntlessly hold my gaze.

"I love you, Nick."

I lean forward, pushing myself on the uninjured arm to study her face.

"Say it again."

She leans forward as well, so that our noses almost touch.

"I love you, Nicholas Wilde. And I'm not going to let you walk out of my life without a fight."

I close the gap between our muzzles, kissing her softly. I pull back. She's got a gentle smile on her lips. "I love you, too." The smiles on both of our faces grow bigger. At least, until they disappear on the others mouth.