Nick slowly woke up, his clock read 4:00 AM. He was completely comfortable, an extra ball of warmth on his side, the only thing making him move was his urge to use the bathroom. He separated himself from the warmth of his bed and was greeted by the cooler air of his not too shabby apartment to relieve himself. Moments later he came back and found that this ball of fuzz was splayed across the bed. Nick didn't care enough to contort himself so he just lay over her outstretched arm to make himself comfortable again. The greeting warmth of his bed made it simple for him to sleep once more.

Natural light poured into the room onto Judy's eyes, causing her to squint as she rose from her sleep. She stretched herself as far as she could manage and put her head back on what she thought was her pillow. Her ears twitched when they were greeted with a beating noise. She looked up to find that she was using her fox friend as her pillow. It was then that the memories flooded back into her mind of last night. She sat up and started re-absorbing everything she saw last night, her trashed apartment, the claws. She shuddered at the thought of what kind of animal made those, or why. She was scared, but upon hearing a small snore and shuffle from the sleeping Nick, she snapped back into now. She stared blankly at Nick, an unnerving feeling eating away at the back of her mind. She was determined to move on and tried pushing back the nervous feelings and forced herself out of bed.

She did feel refreshed, and she was already used to the smell of his apartment. She explored it a bit, checking the cabinets in his little kitchenette that had all the essentials. She pulled up a chair to get herself to the height needed to explore. She found his pots and pans, his ingredients, an open bag of chips, and his silverware. She opened his fridge and looked around for something she could hopefully call breakfast. She found milk which was closing in on its expiration date, but still smelled fine, some soda, a few cans of beer, some cheese, miscellaneous condiments, and all the way at the top she eyed a cardboard carton of eggs.

Aha! She thought, ready to get some good breakfast going. She was just barely able to slide out the carton of eggs and pulled it down. On top of it was the plastic bag from the store they visited last night. She set down the eggs and looked in the bag. She grew a fantastic grin as inside the bag was her favorite thing. She pulled out the orange vegetable and took in the scent. It wasn't like the carrots back home but it was still something. She took out some pans, started up the coffee machine, and starting making some breakfast.

Nick slowly rose to the smell of coffee and the sizzle of something being cooked. The smell of it all just barely more tempting than the warmth of his bed, Nick eventually rose up. He walked out of his room and saw something that he never thought he would ever see. Stood upon a chair, Judy, a bunny was there, in his apartment, preparing breakfast. My mom would never believe this, he chuckled to himself.

Judy turned to Nick with a smile, "Morning, sleepy head."

"Morning, bed hog" Nick responded. Judy tilted her head in, confused. "Don't worry about it," Nick laughed. He walked over to Judy and scratched her head in between her ears, "So, what're you making?"

"Hmmm... oh," Judy faded back to reality, "what?" Nick gave a smirk and scratched her in between her ears once more. She responded by pressing her head into his paws before she jolted away, realized that she had started purring.

She swatted his hand away, "I'm making us breakfast, thank you very much. I hope you like cheese with your eggs." She was desperate to change the subject.

"You know..." Nick started, "I'm never gonna let you live that down."

Judy gave Nick a look as though she'd just been betrayed. "Please don't tell anyone," she begged. "Man you're cute when you're desperate" Nick laughed as he poked her nose. She was a mix of flustered and annoyed, shooting Nick a cold look unable to think of a response.

"Your omelet is burning" Nick noted rather smug-like. Judy turned and saw the edges of her carrot omelet beginning to turn brown on the edges. She quickly flipped it and turn the heat down, getting plates ready.

Nick made them both coffee as Judy set the table and served the two of them. Judy sat at the table and waited patiently for Nick, who pulled a paper bag out from over his fridge and set it on the table. "What's this?" Judy asked him.

"What breakfast is complete without some kind of sugar intake" Nick quipped, taking out two donuts, handing Judy the one decorated in orange, keeping a glazed one for himself.

"When did you get these?" Judy asked, taking a bite of the carrot donut.

"I got them yesterday but forgot 'em on my fridge," Nick responded.

"Nick... Thank you," Judy said, smiling warmly at her friend. The fox, the one she stumbled upon, who teases her, who helps her, who scratches her head, the one who believes in her, her natural enemy, her best friend, the one who took her in when things... She felt her eyes get watery, but closed them to try and stop tears from forming.

She couldn't.

Drops of liquid started falling down the side of her face, her lip bit holding back sobs. "N-Nick... I'm scared," she managed to choke out. Nick watched as she broke down, unsure of what to do. He got up and pulled his chair next to hers and grabbed Judy and pulled her in. Her face buried in his chest he squeezed her as she silently sobbed.

Nick searched for words in his head, "Judy, I'll always be there for you. Whatever or whoever is out there, I'll stop them, we'll stop them, I promise. You are the strongest mammal I know, you did what no one else has done before. You proved me wrong, you proved an entire city wrong and I am so, so happy to know you. You've overcome so many things, and I am sure this will be no different." He stroked her ears, and Judy began to calm down. Nick looked down and watched as Judy lifted her head up and looked at him. He wiped off her fur under her eyes, leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. All of her previous thoughts were being washed away by the warm wave coming from her chest like water from a waterfall spilling through the ice melted by the spring sun. The feeling of warmth was cut by the cold daggers of Nick's next words, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to it... It just kind of happened," said Nick with a worried look etched on his face.

Judy wanted nothing more than to say how much she liked it, how much she wanted another kiss, but it felt as if her desires were buried beneath the ice of instinct, and with nothing but her bare hands she felt void of hope to reach in and pull from her depths the will to speak them. Nick noticed Judy's expressions changing ever so slightly over time, becoming more and more worried as the seconds stretched out.

"It's ok," Judy lied, "don't worry about it." She smiled a sincere but untrustworthy smile. While she felt happy and warm, the pain of fresh wounds forged from the cold grips of Nick's words kept her suspended in a reality, a reality she held dear for what she had, but despised for what she wanted to have.

Nick changed the subject, "we should eat before it gets cold." The two sat across from each other and indulged themselves in their omelets, coffee and donuts. "Man, you make some great eggs," Nick smiled.

"Thanks," replied Judy, "my mom used to treat me and my brothers and sisters to omelets once in a while, and if you think these are good, you have got to try hers."

"Oh I plan to," Nick laughed.

Judy finished up a lot quicker than Nick and hopped down. "You better hurry up, we can only be so late to work," Judy ordered. Nick just laughed. Judy raised her brow.

"I guess I forgot to tell you, I talked to Bogo last night and he said to take the day off, but to pop in in the afternoon for a meeting if we could."

Judy tried, "I mean, can't we just-"

"He told me to watch you, you know what that means?" Nick said, cutting her off, "that means you have to listen to me, and I think it's time for a day off." Judy raised a paw in protest, but before she could speak Nick took it and pulled her onto the couch, plopped her down, and sat down next to her.

"How does a movie sound?" Nick asked with an excited grin.

Judy started, "I mean..."

Nick leaned into Judy and showed her his phone, "I have a pretty cool app that lets me search movies and watch 'em on my TV." Judy couldn't fight the idea anymore, a day alone with Nick, not having to worry about work. She was sure that the feeling she got with Nick right up next to her wasn't helping her with her decision making, but she didn't care.

"Fine," she tried to act annoyed, but the idea of being next to this fox in his apartment watching movies and lazying around grew on her every minute.

They scrolled through his phone, laughing at each of their crappy suggestions until settling on a classic comedy movie. The two laughed and laughed at jokes that shouldn't have been that funny. Whenever Judy laughed Nick couldn't help but laugh along, her bright, toothy smile lifting his spirits, making him happy every time he saw it. He loved her buck teeth.

Whenever there was a lull between jokes Judy would think about how happy she felt, how safe she felt, but there was the desire at the back of her mind. She wanted things to stay like this forever, yet she wanted to lean in closer, she wanted him to hold her, she wanted him to want her. But she felt happy enough being where she was, she knew that Nick was something special, her friend, her partner, and she would never let that get destroyed, and she felt bad for thinking it. Sure they became best friends, but anything more than that was unheard of. She shouldn't want Nick, and she shouldn't want Nick to want her. However, she was still happy and treasures Nick like she does family.

Once in a while Nick would glance over at Judy, studying her face, looking for any signs he was doing something wrong, but her content look dismissed any of his worried thoughts. He wished it could always be this way. Her smile, her floppy ears, her buck teeth, the paws that touch her necklace once in a while, all of these things he wanted to protect. He knew that things won't be easy, something, someone, is out there who doesn't like Judy, someone who wants to hurt her. Nick knew that he might not always be there for her, and it hurt. He wanted right now to hold her, to apologize for all the times she could ever get hurt again, but he couldn't. Especially after what had slipped before, he didn't want to bring that up again. He felt deep down that no matter how good of friends they were, a bunny couldn't be with a fox, it just wouldn't make sense. But if Judy was happy, he was happy.

The movie went on, and they laughed some more.

After it ended they as silence fell upon the room Nick flipped out his phone, "Want to watch another?"

"Actually," Judy responded, "I was wondering if you wanted to help me buy some new stuff for my apartment."

"Sounds like great fun!" Nick smiled. He hated shopping, but he was more than ok with doing it now.

Nick stretched his legs, heading over to grab his coat. Judy Hopped up in excitement, running over to the door.

"You know, it's really cold out," Nick noted, "why don't you take one of my coats for now." Judy walked up to his closet and picked out the cleanest one she could find, only it was about the size of her entire body. "Hmm," Nick hummed, "let me try something else." He reached into a bin at the bottom of his closet and pulled out a red scarf and handed it to Judy.

Judy twirled it around herself three times and it draped down like a warm shirt, going below her waist line. "It's perfect," Judy said, reveling in its warmth.

Nick couldn't help but smile at the over sized scarf around Judy, "Alright, lets go," he said opening the door.