It was around nine when Judy and Nick had finished setting up the barn. They had gotten the chairs out of the shed and put the decorations up around the walls. The stage was left undecorated for now, since the performers would be the ones bringing in the decorations and props for their acts.

When they returned to the booth, Gideon was putting up his sign, while Stu was trying to assemble a standard metal food cart.

"Hey, Dad. Need any help?" Judy asked as they approached, while Nick took the opportunity to watch Gideon a bit. He seemed to be having trouble finding a nail that he'd dropped in the grass.

"Uh.. I don't think so, Judes. You could help with the hay maze, though." Stu replied, looking up from the mess of parts laid out before him. Nick looked back at him. "I could help with that, Stu." he then commented. "I haven't helped with much so far."

Before Stu could reply, Gideon came over. "Well, my booth's ready fer action. All it needs is the pies." he said, looking proud of himself. "Anythin' I can help with over here?"

"Sure, Gid. You could help Nick set up the hay maze, If you'd like." Judy's father replied, pointing next to the barn, where a ton of hay bales were stacked. "Mr. Bleaton will tell you what to do." He then pointed to a sheep standing next to the bales and counting them, clipboard in hoof.

Nick nodded and set off, Gideon following him.

"I've never set a maze up before." The taller fox commented.

"I- I haven't either." Nick replied as he glanced back at the baker. He then wondered why he'd stuttered.

They approached the sheep, who was jotting something down with a pen.

"Hello, Mr. Bleaton. We'd like to help with the hay maze." Nick said after the wooly mammal noticed them.

"Well sure thing! Ya can start at the rightmost corner over there." Mr. Bleaton replied, pointing over to the far corner of a large square patch of dirt. "There's tape on the ground that'll show ya where ta put the hay. "

Nick nodded and thanked the sheep before going over to the stack of hay bales and picking one up, struggling a little with its weight. Gideon, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble lifting his bale. Nick went to the corner and looked at the ground, dropping the bale down. Gideon put his bale down next to Nick's, lining it up along the line.

They continued to work, slowly putting the corner of the maze together. Nick found that the hay was a bit of a hassle since it kept clinging to his fur. When the first layer of the maze was finished, the easier work began, since all they had to do now was to add more layers.

"Nice t' finally be helpin' out with settin' up." Gideon commented as they both went to get another bale.

"You haven't helped out before?" Nick asked, glancing at the other fox.

"Nah, this is the first year I've been allowed."

Nick looked at him in confusion and almost tripped, carrying the bale back to the corner. "Why weren't you allowed to help before?" he then asked, setting the hay down and straightening it.

"Well, Mr. Hopps is sorta in charge of who gets ta help, and he didn't really trust me 'till recently." the baker explained, starting back to the hay stack to retrieve another bale.

"Oh. Because you're a fox, right?" Nick asked after sighing a little, remembering how it took a while for Judy's dad to warm up to him.

"Nah. Er, maybe a bit. But it's mostly 'cause, well.." Gideon stopped walking, looking at Nick. "I- I dunno if Judy's told ya, but we.. sorta had a fight when we were kids, an' I hurt her pretty bad. Since then, Mr. Hopps has been wary 'bout me.. an' I don't blame 'im."

He started walking again, Nick following him while trying to process this information.

"Wait... You're the one who gave her those scars?" he then asked.

Judy had told the whole story of the incident to Nick, but she hadn't mentioned names, so Nick had been assuming it was some asshole of a fox who'd hurt her, not someone as kind and humble as Gideon.

"Yeah.. I- I don't think I'll ever forgive myself fer that." the other fox replied as he picked up a hay bale, his tail drooped close to the ground and a more serious expression on his face.

Nick watched him walk back, thinking. He really didn't want to dislike Gideon, but.. after knowing that he was the one who had given his partner claw marks, it was hard not to feel a bit of anger towards him.

Nick sighed and picked up a bale, bringing it back to the corner, now in a significantly grumpier mood than he was in a minute ago. He continued to build up the second layer wordlessly, even though he could see Gideon glancing at him from time to time, probably waiting for him to say something.

After about a half hour, they were building up the fourth layer, and silence still hung between them.

Nick had set down a bale and was about to walk back to the pile to get another when Gideon stopped him.

"Look, Nick.. I can tell that yer mad at me, an' I understand why, but Judy already forgave me. We're friends now." he said, looking at Nick, his ears slightly flattened.

The fox was silent for a bit. "... I'm not going to say that what you did wasn't stupid." he then grumbled, moving around Gideon and walking to the pile.

"I ain't sayin' that, either. It was stupid. It was a stupid decision an' I regret makin' it." the baker said, hurrying to walk next to the other fox.

Nick was silent for a little while again, picking up a bale.

"She was just trying to stand up for her friends and you clawed her." he snapped, giving the other fox a short glare before starting to return to the corner of the maze. "Then you decided to rub it in her face."

Gideon followed after him, not bothering to pick up a hay bale this time. "I-I know that what I did was.. was small-minded. I'm not sayin' that me bein' friends with Judy now makes what I did right. I- I'm just askin' for forgiveness."

Nick set the bale down, then looked at Gideon. "Unfortunately, that's a bit hard for me to give you right now." he spat.

"Nick, please, I've changed."

"That doesn't get rid of the fact that you gave my girlfriend scars!" Nick shouted.

"Judy an' Mr. Hopps know that I've changed. I've gotten help an' I've become a better mammal. How can I prove it to you?" the baker begged rather desperately, his ears flattened down fully.

Nick didn't respond, staring at the ground.

Gideon waited a bit before gently putting a paw on Nick's shoulder.

"Nick, I'm sorry. I've said it a hundred times before, an' I'll say it again, nonstop if I have to; I'm sorry. I- I was a mean, cold-hearted jerk, and I took my aggression out on her without thinkin'. I don't deserve Judy's friendship, an' I'm surprised she gave me a second chance, but she did."

"Please forgive me, Nick."

Nick stared at the ground for a bit longer, then sighed. He knew that Gideon was being sincere, and that he was hurt by his attitude. He wanted to like the baker, but he couldn't stop thinking of the incident with Judy. However, if she forgave him and was willing to look past his actions, then maybe Nick should as well. In all honesty, he was making a bit of a scene out of this. Gideon was young at the time, and young mammals tend to sometimes make bad decisions. He knew that he had definitely done a lot around that age that he ended up regretting. Nick could tell that the fox had changed his ways since then, and was making a goal of redeeming himself, and he knew that if he was in the baker's place, he'd want forgiveness as well.

"I... I'm sorry." Nick said softly, closing his eyes. "I was.. overreacting. I can see that you're not a jerk any more, I was just being a little protective of Judy because I can't stand her being hurt."

He opened his eyes and looked up at Gideon.

"I forgive you."

Gideon stared at the fox for a moment, then smiled gently, and before Nick knew it, he was being wrapped in a tight hug. He was a bit surprised, but he hugged back, a smile breaking out on his face as well.

Neither of them noticed Nick's tail curl loosely around one of Gideon's legs.

Eventually, they went back to finishing the corner of the maze. Nick was feeling very different from when he started a few hours ago. His heart was beating hard in his chest and he felt like his balance wasn't as good as it usually was. The most prominent thing, though, was that strange feeling, the one that had been popping up more and more frequently. It confused the fox beyond all end. Once again, he tried to find connections between the times he had felt it.

It wasn't essentially a new feeling, it was just different somehow than before. Normally, he would get a similar feeling when he was around Judy, watching her talk to other mammals and hearing her voice or feeling her body against his when she was cuddling with him. Now, though, he got a different version of the feeling seemingly randomly. However, when the fox thought about it, he found that he usually got the feeling when he was looking at Gideon working, or watching that bushy tail swishing, or seeing his kind smile, or looking into those blue eyes and hearing that slightly stuttering voice, or..."

"... Shit."

"You alright?" the baker asked, looking over at the fox, who had dropped the hay bale he had been carrying.

"Y- Yeah, just.. stepped on a rock." Nick replied, hastily picking the bale back up, his mind reeling.

He now knew what that feeling was, and why he was getting it:

He had a crush on Gideon Grey.