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Nick Wilde had been in love before. He knows this because he knows the feeling of terror that comes with it. He knows how it feels to be sick with admiration and devotion; but most importantly, he knows how it feels to care about something so much that he would die before he let it go. He discovered, rather early in his life, that it’s easy to fall in love, and you can fall in love with pretty much anything.
Nick has fallen in love with many things in his lifetime. He’s fallen in love with late nights and coffee in the afternoon because he never quite figured out how to love mornings. He’s fallen in love with movies and books and the color green because it compliments his fur so well. He’s loved many men and women over his thirty-four years on this great big planet. So, no, love was not new to the great Nick Wilde.
However, being in love with a bunny, his "natural enemy", certainly was.
He’s never been in love with a bunny. He just learned what it’s like to be friends with one a little over two years ago. How was he supposed to handle this?
Well, thankfully, the answer came to him rather suddenly one night at 2:00AM while he was overthinking the problem.
He would ignore it.
That should make it go away, right?
…
It did not.
With each passing day, each new case he was assigned to work with the bunny in question, each dinner they shared, and each morning car ride to work, he grew more and more enamored with her.
He knows she's out of his league, she's too young for him, she's just supposed to be a good friend who helped turn his life around completely, and several other reasons why they would never work. But he just couldn’t help it. Judy Hopps is everything to him and more. He’s smitten.
Judy is quite easy to love. He found that out very quickly.
She’s kind, compassionate, ambitious, smart, she matches him in wit, she laughs at his jokes, she makes him feel young again. He isn't old, exactly, but he definitely isn't getting any younger, and Judy makes him feel like he’s a teenager again.
So, once he realized that ignoring his feelings didn’t work (it never did) it was time for Plan B.
He confesses and hopes that she isn't disgusted by him.
They’re sitting together in their apartment that they rent together because “it’s cheaper and easier this way” and because they love spending time together even though neither of them is brave enough to say it in the way they really mean it, when Nick breaks the comfortable silence between them.
“Carrots?”
Judy’s ear twitches at the sound of his voice, and she looks up from her book, some murder mystery, and looks over at him. “Yeah?” She smiles at him and tilts her head like she always does when she’s curious.
Nick thinks he’s going to explode, but nothing happens so he continues, “I… I just—“ he takes a deep breath to calm his nerves and tries again, “Just hear me out before you say anything, okay?”
Judy’s face scrunches up in confusion and skepticism before she slowly nods, “...Okay...”
“I… I think I have feelings for you. I— well, I know I have feelings for you. Strong feelings. And I don’t want to freak you out or put you in a tight spot— but I can’t keep this to myself anymore. And I wish I didn’t sound like a fifth grader right now, but I’ve never been good with words when it comes to my feelings.” He chuckles dryly before swallowing and continuing. “I just… you’re a wonderful bunny and I didn’t mean to fall for you, but it happened before I could really stop it. I know you’re out of my league and I don’t deserve you. And I know you’re a lot younger than me, but I really care about you. I really like you, and I tried to ignore it, I really tried Jude, but it got the best of me. I’m… I’m sorry.”
His head falls so that he can’t see her face which has been blank since he said the first sentence of his pitiful monologue. He couldn’t bear to look up and see how disgusted she most likely is with him.
“Nick?”
His ears twitch but he doesn’t look up, he stays quiet. Then she speaks again, firmly this time, “Nick.”
“Yeah?” His voice cracks as he speaks.
Oh God, is he really going to cry? Jesus. Why did he think this was a good idea? He should just tell her to forget it, then bolt out the door before she has the chance to stop him and lecture him on the matter.
He feels two incredibly soft and gentle, gentler than he deserves, paws reach out to cup the sides of his face and tilt his head up.
She tilts his head up to face her and—
She’s smiling.
She’s smiling.
Judy begins to speak, and he prepares for the worst. Even if she’s smiling, it could just be a way to let him down easy. “I don’t really know what my feelings are for sure just yet.” His eyes return to the couch as disappointment settles across his face. “But,” she continues, sternly, bringing his eyes back to her, “I wouldn’t mind trying to figure it out together.”
She’s still smiling and Nicks heart stops at how gorgeous she is, and how happy he is to hear those words, and oh my God does she know how long he’s wanted to hear that!?
He holds his excitement in for a moment because he’s not sure if she just feels guilty after he confessed, and she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings or if he’s pressured her, so he asks just in case. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured—“
She cuts him off with a paw to his lips. “I’m sure. And I don’t feel pressured, I’ve been trying to figure this out for a while and if we went out on a date or something I think that would help.” She moves her paw from his lips to his paw and squeezes it. “I know for sure that I like you, and I know I find you attractive,” She eyes him up and down in a way that forces him to suppress a shudder and the idiotic noise that would accompany it. “I just need a little nudge in the right direction.”
“So, you really want this, huh?”
“Absolutely.” Her smile is so bright it blinds him. She’s glowing in the warm light of the TV that’s playing some crime drama from the 90’s that only airs this late at night, and he's just so in love with her because how could he not be?
Then, she leans in to plant the lightest kiss on his lips. It’s soft and chaste and so purely Judy. His heart feels like it’s going to burst.
Once she sits back on the couch (after scooting closer to him and leaning on his arm, wrapping herself around it.) he can feel his lips burning from where she kissed him just moments ago and he’s smiling like the biggest dork on the planet, but he can’t help it.
He relaxes into the couch and her embrace and he’s at peace for the first time in months.
Nick Wilde has been in love before, but it’s never felt as good as this.