Judy

A few minutes ago

"Oh god, sweetie! I just..."

"Mom, it's okay."

"No, it's not! I didn't pay enough attention. I didn't notice Natalie's pain and I just froze when that gun got shoved in your face. I -"

"Mom, listen to me. I'm okay. Natalie is okay."

"She is... Thanks to Nick... Oh sweet heavens Judy, you grab that fox and you never let go. You hear me?"

"Okay Mom. Okay... let's get you to bed."

Gideon

Nick sighed and planted his face in the cushions of the quiet room's couch. "I hate this place... I hate it, I hate it. I hate it."

He turned his head to Judy. "When we get back home, we should convert the storage closet into one."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated this place."

He rolled over onto his back, deflating. "It's like a toilet. Gross, but deeply necessary."

"Does... does that mean you're not dumping me?" Judy managed finally.

Nick sat up. "Of course not. Carrots, all you did was make out with Giddy. That's like, nothing." He shrugged. "The dude is kissable. I should know."

He turned to me. "And Giddy... Look, I'm truly sorry about what I said earlier, okay? You don't deserve to have your actions as a little kit hang over you for the rest of your life. That said," His next words came out in a choke. "It's probably best we just be friends."

I felt like an icicle had been shoved through my heart... But I nodded.

He clasped his hands together. "Whelp, glad that's settled! Man it's late. C'mon Judy, we should get to bed and-"

"Nick stop." Judy cut him off. Her eyes were filled with steel. "Don't just brush this off."

Nick blinked. "Judy, I just forgave you. Problem over, no big deal, can we just-"

"Nick," The tiny rabbit said with startling force. "You are not fine with this. We can't just pretend it didn't happen." Her voice softened. "Please... Just please don't lie about how you feel."

The older fox twitched. "Lie... You think I'm lying to you!?" He snapped. "Carrots, I'm not lying about anything! Okay, sure, I'm a bit pissed at you for making out with another guy behind my back. I'm a bit pissed at Giddy for going along with it."

He threw out his arms. "But if you haven't fucking noticed, I'm stupid in love with both of you and I know that no matter how pissed I get at you... At either of you..."

He sighed. Suddenly he looked very, very old. "Look... I just had to talk a friend down from killing herself tonight okay? I don't want to have this fight. I just..." He looked down. "I know I'm going to forgive you eventually, so why not now..."

He curled up. "I want my Judy... I want my Giddy... And to be totally honest I'm the one that doesn't deserve either of you."

Okay, that was a new one. "What in the hay are you talking about?"

Nick let out a low groan of frustration. "What I'm talking about is the elephant in the room. You two keep beating yourselves up and taking crap from others over stupid little mistakes, when after prison I'm the one who robbed people. I'm the one who lined Big's pockets while he murdered people. I'm the one who let my heart harden into a little tiny pea and forgot everything I learned from... From..." He turned to me.

He fell to his knees. He wasn't quite crying, but the tears were there. "God Giddy... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I let you down."

It was too much. I got right down with him and pulled him into a hug. "Nick..."

There was no hustler in him right then. No smooth talker, no knight in shining armor.

He was just a scared crying kit who needed comfort. And I'd be damned if I wasn't going to give it to him.

He gripped me tightly. "I... I don't deserve this."

I gripped him back. "You listen good. There ain't no one in this world who doesn't deserve a hug when they're crying. There ain't no one in the world who doesn't deserve love."

I poked my head up, and I kissed him on the forehead. "And you deserve so much more than the average joe. If you don't see that, then I will hold you here until you do."

I wrapped my tail around him. He did the same for me. You wouldn't think that little extra bit of fluff would matter, but dang did it warm me up.

But something wasn't right. I glanced over to the side. Nick, curious, followed my gaze.

And there was Judy, standing there with a mix of an adoring look and... well I dunno. It was hard to read, there was some joy and some sadness and I couldn't figure out where one ended and the other began.

She started shifting to the door. "Maybe you two need this space more than me right now. I can-"

"Judy get in here." Nick said suddenly.

The little bunny paused. "Nick?"

The fox in my arms went rigid in fear. He gulped. "We should do this together. I... I don't know what this is, but want you to be a part of this."

He turned to me, questioning.

I nodded.

The little bunny leapt to us in a grey streak, wrapping her paws around us in a flurry of joyful energy, adding her warm, spicy scent to our mix. "Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh. Thank you! Thank you both..."

Her tears started coming too. I shushed her gently and Nick snuggled his head into hers.

There was a long, warm pause.

Judy gave us a squeeze. "Is... are we doing what I think we're doing? Can... Can this actually work?"

Nick looked over to the side. "I... I think this might work really well." He lowered his head. "That is, if I don't fuck it up."

"Or, I don't fuck it up." I added.

"Don't forget me. I can fuck things up too." Came the rabbit...

Honestly, hearing Judy Hopps drop the F bomb was so perplexing it knocked me entirely out of my spiral of self pity. I slid back a bit and put my paws on their shoulders. "Look, absolutely everyone fucks up okay? Odds are, at some point we're gonna get into a row, and we'll have to work it out."

I squeezed their shoulders. "But I think we can handle it. And... I think it's worth it to try."

Nick looked to me, then Judy, and pulled us in tight. "I love you... I love both of you so much!"

It didn't sound stupid at all.

#

Nick

The rush was over, we were out of the room and now, finally, it was time to get some sleep.

We were all half drunk with exhaustion, emotional and otherwise, barely talking as we made our way down the hall. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though, just a drained one.

"Here." Judy said finally, squinting at the door numbers in the dim, winding halls. "Now we can finally..."

She sniffed at the knob, then turned to me puzzled. "Wait... Is that Janet's scent?"

I managed a smirk. "Good sister you've got there."

She smiled back. "I guess so." She frowned. "Um...Nick? Would it be okay if Gideon stayed the night? I mean, if you want to." She added the last part hastily, turning her gaze to the chubby young fox.

I swear, Giddy somehow managed to turn redder. "I... Ah mean..."

I put a paw on his shoulder. "It's okay, you don't have to." I turned to Judy. "Carrots, as much fun as that would be it would be a bit like eating desert before your dinner."

Her ears fell. "I didn't mean like... It's just that..."

Giddy's eyes lit up. "Oh! Y'all want sleepy cuddles."

She nodded.

I made an uncertain noise. I really didn't want to screw this up. "Don't get me wrong, that sounds pretty awesome, but it still seems a little fast."

She shot me the sad puppy dog eyes. "Pleeease..."

My heart fluttered. Dang beautiful bunny eyes...

I thought about it. I guess we had just gone through a massive relationship "juice cleanse". So I shrugged. "Oh fine what the heck. Giddy, you coming?"

He nodded. "Yes sir!

And then we went to bed.