Darkness

Chapter 8

I DON'T OWN THE ARTWORK!

"Hey there, Slick Nick." She approached him, feeling awkward. Judy had resolved to find out if he had feelings for her, but now that she stood before him, her resolve was faltering.

Telling someone how you feel, shouldn't be this hard, she thought to herself.

"Sup, Fluff?" He replied, wiping the dirt off his paws onto his pants.

"Can I talk to you, alone?" Her voice came out small, and scared.

This didn't go unnoticed by Nick. Well, this can't be good. It's never good when a girl asks to talk to me alone, he thought to himself.

"Sure." He said.

She lead him to the very edge of the Hopps farm, out of ear shot of nosey rabbits. They sat down in the plush grass. The sunset was beautiful. Varying shades of violet, pink, golds and orange painted the sky. Judy had forgotten how majestic sunsets looked in the country.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Nick asked, looking into her eyes.

She felt a heaviness in her chest. "Nick, up until recently, I've had one dream, to be a cop. But lately, I'm finding that that isn't enough."

"Ok?" Nick said, unsure of where she was going with this.

"I think I'm falling in love with someone. I never meant for it to happen, it just did. I just now realized I've been falling." She paused. "And it's made me realize that, as much as I love being a cop, my life is incomplete." She broke, starting to cry. "I want to tell him how I feel, but I worry he won't feel the same way. A-and if he doesn't, it might ruin everything." She sobbed. "And...and it's too far to fall."

Nick felt uncomfortable, he was almost certain she was talking about him. But then again, what if she wasn't? He watched the small, sparkling tears roll down her cheeks. It was more than he could handle.

"Oh, you bunnies, so emotional." He said, scooping her up and sitting her in his lap. "What guy could ever turn you down?" He tilted his head down so he could look into her eyes. "He'd be pretty foolish not to love you back." Their lips were mere centimeters apart.

"Nick, I..." she trailed off, tempted to close the gap between them. Her lips throbbed, desiring to feel his against them. She found herself slowly closing the gap. "Nick, I..."

Yes, say it, Carrots, say it. Please. Tell me it's me you love, so I can say it back. So I can kiss you without worry. He thought.

Their lips barely grazed each other.

"Judy! Bun Bun! Where are you?" Her mother called out, startling her.

Scared, she scrambled out of Nick's arms and ran off towards her mother's voice. "Coming, mom!" She answered back. I'm so sorry, Nick, she thought.

"Sly bunny." He sighed under his breath.

As dusk rolled in, Judy got ready for the Carrot Day Festival dance. They really should have the dance the night of the festival itself, but they've always done it the night before. She pulled on the soft pink sun dress that Fru Fru gave her. The top hugged her small frame before it fanned out into the skirt. She admired herself in the full body mirror that was nailed to the wall. It was a perfect fit.

A knock on her bedroom door snatched her attention. "Oh, Carrots, you ready yet?" Nick asked.

"Yeah." She answered the door.

Standing in her door way, wearing a nice pair of jeans and a green plaid shirt was the most handsome fox she'd ever seen.

"Like what you see?" He teased. "Your dad borrowed this outfit from one of the neighbors."

"You look handsome." She said.

"I feel ridiculous." He snorted, finally making eye contact with her. She looked beautiful in pink. "You look beautiful." He said.

She blushed, "Thank you."

"No problem, Fluff." He smiled. "Care to accompany me to this shindig?" He faked a Southern drawl.

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Not at all." She linked her arm with his.

They walked out of the house, and wandered down the road to the Binks' barn, where the dance was being held. The Hopps and the Binks were long time family friends, and as of recently, in-laws. Two of Judy's brothers, Larry and Mark, recently married two of the Binks' daughters, Sally and Molly.

Before walking into the barn, Nick pulled his arm away from Judy, figuring it would cause chaos if they walked in together. "Here we go." He said. "Yee-haw!"

She chuckled at the awkward, dumb fox.

They walked in, and were awestruck. Pendant lights decorated the rafters overhead, softly lighting the spacious barn. Weasels, rabbits, sheep, foxes, and all mammals alike danced their cares away.

"Bun Bun!" Bonnie chimed, pulling a couple of reluctant young bucks behind her. "You look beautiful." She smiled at her daughter. "I want you to meet Joseph Small and Doug Nelson, two of the burrows finest bachelors. Boys, this is my daughter Judy, the finest cop in all of Zootopia." She bragged.

"Oh, mom." She blushed.

"Howdy, Judy." Joseph introduced himself. He was chocolate colored, with big hazel eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Judy." Doug said. He was of peculiar color, he was dark grey, almost black, with white paws and green eyes. She figured he must be new to the burrow, she'd definitely remember such an unusual looking rabbit.

"Nice to meet you." She shook both their paws.

A flash of rusty orange fur caught her attention. "Gideon!" She said excitedly. Grabbing Nick by the arm and dragging him over to the other fox.

"Hey, there Judy." Gideon greeted her.

"I want you to meet Nick, he's my partner at the ZPD." She boasted. "Nick, this is Gideon Grey."

Nick stood up straighter. "Oh, so you're the infamous Gideon that I've heard so much about."

Gideon's ears flattened against his head. "All good things, I hope." He chuckled.

"Gideon makes the best blueberry pies." Judy said.

"Actually, I have a new blueberry short cake that's become real popular." Gideon laughed.

"Sounds yummy." Nick said.

"Alright, folks, grab a partner and hit the dance floor." The DJ, a weasel named Eric announced. "It's square dancing time."

"Nick?" Judy put out her paw.

"Oh, no, Fluff, I can't dance." He declined.

"It's easy, I'll teach you." She said. "Or I guess, I could always go dance with Doug or Joseph."

She was baiting him, and he knew it. But he couldn't risk it. He put his paw out, and she took it.

They took the dance floor, not caring if other mammals judged. Nick felt ridiculous, jumping and hopping around, but it was one of the best times of his life. Square dancing turned into line dancing, and that turned into slow dancing.

Nick didn't consider himself to be an emotional or sentimental fox, but that night was one of the most relaxing and magical nights of his life. It helped him forget the rough case they still had to solve.

The Festival came and went, before they knew it. Stu and Bonnie hugged their daughter goodbye. Stu told Nick it was nice getting to know him. Then they boarded the train for Zootopia, still high on the fun they'd had. Blissfully unaware of the pandemonium that was about to sweep Zootopia.