If there was one observance that Nick made, it was that expressing love for someone was a partially complicated task. It wasn't anywhere near what he read in novels or saw in cheesy romantic comedies. In his case, actually, it was a long shot away from being what he originally planned. But if Nick had to explain how he said his first literal "I love you," he would probably say that it started with a message. A voicemail, to be a little more specific. One in which he was glad he sent, even if it was not exactly how he originally planned things would go.

The day that it happened, Nick was just outside of Bug-Burga, one of the few notable fast food chains in the city that made good burgers. He had been attempting to catch up with his pal Finnick, and he was waiting for him to show up so they could catch up with each other over a quick bite.

Despite making the complete transition from con artist to cop, Finnick was surprisingly accepting of his overall decisions. Even though a few of his old friends and acquaintances basically told him to get lost at the fact that he was now a police officer, the fennec fox didn't seem to make that big of a fuss with Nick's complete transformation in life. In fact, Finnick himself, thanks to Nick entering the police force, ended up going away from the old path of con artistry and entering a legitimate line of work, too. It was fair to say that both foxes, in a sense, were now changed mammals when it came to what their new occupations were.

It had been a fair amount of time since disaster struck with the dreaded and now infamously remembered incidents with the nighthowlers. Bellwether was behind bars (and was definitely going to be for a long time), the city was no longer gripped with the false fear it previously had, and everything was back to the way it originally was. While the city was making its way back to how things used to be, there were some different changes occurring within the lives of both Nick and Judy as well.

While nothing ever occurred in their police work that was as humongous as the case involving the nighthowlers, there was never a dull moment when it came to working with the team of the ZPD. Especially when it came to working alongside a certain sly bunny. Over time they came to a big realization, that perhaps the two of them made a better team than they originally thought. Soon they had formed an even stronger friendship that, through thick and thin, was practically inseparable.

But Nick was feeling something more for Judy, and he wasn't exactly sure how to admit it. What if she's not thinking the same as me? his mind more than often tended to worry.

Deciding to bite the bullet, however, the fox reached in his pocket for his iPaw and dialed Judy. Putting his phone on speaker for the time being as it dialed, he patiently awaited the sweet voice of Judy to greet him. He attempted to ready himself for what he was about to tell her over the phone, but was interrupted by the sound of a prerecorded audio clip.

"Hey, it's Judy! Leave a message."

After the tone went off, he quickly gathered up his senses, starting to speak as casually as he could despite being a tad nervous. "Hey there, Officer Fluff. Your good friend Nick here—I mean, who else would it really be calling you? Anyway, there was something I wanted to say, and it just couldn't wait until you got done for me to tell you." The fox cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Carrots, you have changed my life in so many ways, and I honestly don't know where I'd be if you wouldn't have followed me into that ice cream shop. The thing I want to tell you is that I lo-"

"Yo, Nick!" Finnick called out as he walked over to the small outdoor table was sitting at.

Nick nearly dropped his phone upon his old friend unexpectedly appearing out of the blue; him suddenly popping up like he did seemed to startle him slightly.

"Oh, hey," Nick greeted, setting his phone down on the table and taking a small bite of the burger from the meal he bought himself. "What's up?"

"Not much," Finnick simply replied. "How 'bout you?"

"Oh, uh..." The fox was hesitant for a quick moment before he came up with a way to respond. "Just, you know, police work and stuff."

After shortly exchanging conversation regarding the most recent happenings at the ZPD, as well as some small talk from Finnick on a few other things, the subject shifted into a different discussion.

"Becoming any more popular with the ladies?" Finnick questioned out of the blue.

Nick cocked his head at the fennec fox's inquiry. "Why would you ask that?" the vulpine replied.

"Oh, I dunno…" The fennec fox tapped his claws on the table. "It was just was somethin' that came to mind. How about that bunny you work with over at the ZPD?"

Upon the fennec bringing up Judy in their discussion, Nick tugged at his shirt nervously and started to act a little bit jittery. Finnick crossed his arms as a wide, uncanny grin took form on his muzzle.

Nick looked at him rather confused. "Fin?" he inquired. "What's with the creepy smile?"

"Admit it, Wilde," Finnick muttered. "You caught the love bug."

"I don't even know what you're talkin' about," Nick replied, denying the fennec's allegations.

"You gotta get up pretty early in the mornin' to fool me, Nick. I can just tell that you caught the love bug for that bunny."

Nick face-pawed and shook his head, sighing heavily. "Yeah, you're right," the vulpine huffed.

"Ha! And when have I ever not been right?"

"Don't start, Fin! It's just… I really like her, and we're such good friends." Nick paused a moment, seeing if his friend was still listening to him. "Ya only get one chance to say 'I love you' for the first time, you know? I just don't wanna screw it up."

"Hey," Finnick replied. "I totally get it, and I'm gonna help ya out 'ere. What I'd suggest is to just tell her how you feel; she seems like the one for you, Nick."

"Yeah, but how do I put it in words? What do I even say? I had something ready to tell her, but I'm not quite sure. I want it to be honest and completely from the heart, you know?"

Finnick wasn't necessarily an expert when it came to love or romance, but he seemed willing to help his friend with whatever assistance he could provide. "Well, what is it that you like about her?" the fennec asked.

"There's many things that I like about her. I mean, she's kind to just about every mammal around her, and she's just so optimistic. Basically everything about her is just perfect, in a nutshell." Nick paused a moment to catch a breath before carrying on. "Well, I guess you could scratch the veggie lasagna she whipped up a little bit ago off of that list. She made that for a potluck dinner that some of the other officers and I went to, and I was honestly just not a fan of it. I just didn't have the heart to say anything about it, though, so I just ended up eating a little bit and scramblin' some of it around on the plate to make it look like I-"

Finnick held a paw, gesturing for Nick to stop talking. "Don't go off on a tangent with me," he interrupted, "I don't care 'bout no lasagna."

With that, Nick stopped his sudden discussion regarding the presumably unappetizing dish that Judy made on that day that he was talking about. "Sorry," the fox said. He took a long sip from the remaining soda that came with his meal and cleared his throat. "But I think you get the picture, Fin. I just wish that I could-"

Beep!

Looking over to his left, Nick realized where the sound was coming from. "For more options, press one," an automated voice on his phone said in monotone.

Upon hearing those robotically-said words, the vulpine's eyes widened with a slight sense of horror coursing through him. Good lord, he thought in that very moment. Did it seriously record and send everything I just said by accident?

"Oh no," he murmured, picking up the phone that was still on the table and hung up. "Oh my gosh, I'm a freakin' idiot!"

"What happened?" Finnick replied.

"Ya know how I just said about having something ready to say to her?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well I was trying to call her a couple of minutes ago and it went to voicemail. I started talking a little bit just before you showed up, and I got so caught up in our conversation that I completely forgot to turn the phone off. It recorded us talkin' the whole time!" Nick grunted, shaking his head at his new misfortune. "Dang it, this not the way I wanted things to go. She's gonna hear us talkin' and-"

"Not to mention that she's gonna hear you dissing the food she made for that potluck," Finnick added, pausing a few moments before going into an uncontrollable state of heavy laughter at Nick's expense.

"It's not funny!" Nick snapped in reply.

Finnick seemed to completely ignore his friend's sudden seriousness, still continuing to laugh out loud. It was a good thing that they were at the fast food joint at a not-so-busy time of day, or else they would have been getting a few strange looks from others regarding the fennec's guffawing. "You just dun goofed, Wilde!" he remarked, catching his breath.

The fennec fox wiped the tears that came with his previous fit of laughter and got out of the chair he was seated in. "Anyhow, I gotta get goin'," Finnick said, putting his sunglasses back on over his eyes. "Was good gettin' to talk with ya. Ciao!"

Nick waved as his pal went wherever it was he was heading to next for the day. Turning his head back around, he ate what was left of his meal and sat there for a few brief moments. What do I do now? the vulpine pondered to himself in silence.

The Next Day...

"That was amazing today," Judy remarked as her and Nick finished up whatever work was left before leaving the precinct for the night.

"Hey, you deserve all the credit, Carrots," Nick replied. "Couldn't have solved that case if you didn't find that big clue."

"Well, I hate to toot my own horn, but..." the doe murmured slyly, getting a chuckle out of Nick.

After another eventful day at the ZPD, the two exited Precinct One and made their way down the streets illuminated by the array of signs and buildings in the nighttime.

"The team in Little Rodentia finally solved that other case they've been working on, too," Judy said informatively.

"Yeah?" Nick replied. "They finally found out who was responsible those burglaries in that apartment building over there?"

"Yep. Officer Darwin and Juarez got that case all wrapped up. They can sleep soundly now that they finally caught the guy doing it all."

"That's good, Fluff," the vulpine said, politely nodding his head as Judy continued to inform in on whatever was happening between other officers that he didn't hear about yet.

Nick and Judy strolled their way down the crosswalk to the other side of the city street, walking their way down as the looked at some of the smaller shops that appeared to be closing up for the rest of the night.

Judy took a deep breath, looking over at Nick. "Hey, so I got your message the other day," she said.

At her words, Nick seemed to freeze. "Y-Yeah?" he said, hesitating.

"You wanna know, somethin', Slick? the doe replied. "I don't care how cheesy it sounds, but I feel the same way about you, Nick. I love you, too, and I honestly think that meeting you was one of the best things that have happened in my life."

The vulpine started to smile as he strolled down the streets of the district, gazing at some of the notable skyscrapers in the distance. "That's great to hear, Fluff," he murmured, feeling happier than ever. "That's great to hear."

"Anyhow," Judy breathed after a short moment of silence between the two of them. "I'll see you tomorrow. Leftover lasagna's on the menu for me tonight." The doe's face changed to a serious look that seemed to taunt the fox. "You know, the veggie one that you made a few remarks about? Yeah, don't think I didn't hear about that."

Nick sighed at the rabbit's remark. "Uh-huh," he murmured under his breath, feeling a tad bad once again for making the mistake of mentioning that over his voicemail. Yep, he told himself, I just knew that you weren't gonna be able to get away with that slip-up.

Judy ended up breaking into an innocent smile. "You're just lucky I love you, you dumb fox," she remarked.

Once they both made their way a little bit closer to Grand Pangolin Arms, Nick remarked, "See ya tomorrow, Carrots."

"Goodnight," Judy simply replied, waving goodbye as she stepped inside of the building and went back to her apartment.

Grinning happily, Nick walked back down the streets with a spring in his step.

Author's Note: Hey, everyone! So this little story I had typed up awhile back and, after finding it again, decided to share with you guys today. Thought this would have been a silly idea of how Nick first said "I love you" to Judy, with things not going as he wanted them to go.

I know that it's probably not as good as some of the other stories I've done in the past, but I hope you enjoyed it anyhow. Also, there's a couple of references that I've hidden within this story.

And, as always, let me know what your thoughts were on this ridiculous little story of mine. Your thoughts, good and bad, are always gladly appreciated. Also, want to give a big "Thank You" to every single one of you who have been reading my other stories I've written. It means a lot to know y'all are enjoying them! :)

'Til next time, everyone! :D