Special thanks to BrokenHeartedWriter for helping me with this chapter.

TIMESKIP : NEXT DAY

"Agggghhhh!" you groan.

Pulling on your ears, you think: "What could he be getting roses for? Are they for me? ...Or someone else?"

The anticipation made you restless. You had a hard time focusing on anything! Instead, you were just running questions and scenarios through your head.

Ever since lunch with Nick yesterday, you couldn't let go of the thought of roses.

Were you happy that they could be for you?

...Maybe a bit jealous that they might not be? But if they were for you wouldn't he have said so? And if they're not for you why did he kiss you? Is he just a player or something??

came from the door of your apartment, the noise completely stopped your wild(e) train of thought.

You froze in place. You weren't expecting anyone... it's gotta be him. What's he doing here?

The fur on your neck stood on end as you edged lightly towards the door.

*Knock Knock Knock* came again, startling you. I'm going I'm going!

You approached the door and quickly looked through the peephole.

It WAS Nick. You knew it! Did you tell him where you lived..? Oh yeah. He picked you up before.

Opening the door, you saw Nick standing with a beautiful bouquet of roses in his hand. They were all sorts of colors! There were red, yellow, white, blue, and purple roses! Your heart soared and a huge smile rose on your face.

...Until you noticed a fox standing next to him. A girl.

"Heyyy, if it isn't my favorite animal in Zootopia," Nick said as he opened his arms wide.

"Oh, heyyy! Didn't expect you to stop by!"

You felt a little guilty right after saying that because you did want Nick to come by. Just... you'd rather he came alone.

Realizing you were just staring at the pair in your doorway you jumped out the way--motioning for Nick and his friend to enter.

Nick may have picked up on your annoyance, but he didn't show it. The girl fox, however, sure did. And she seemed to want to annoy you. She had a smug grin on her face as if she knew you liked him.

She walked past you and fluffed her tail in your face. This made your blood boil. But you tried your best to keep your cool.

"So... Nick. What's with the roses and your friend?" you ask, hearing yourself sound a little venomous towards the end of the question.

Nick, sensing the tension, stepped forward and smiled at you before clearing his throat.

"I apologize, I haven't introduced you two. Jade, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Jade."

"Nice to meet you, 'fluffy,'" Jade snickered.

How did she know he calls you that!?

"Same to you," you replied with a glare.

"Well," Nick stepped between the two of you, "Y/N, my dear partner in crime, today we are doing some rose selling!"

He twirled the bouquet in his paw.

"Simple really: Jade and I will walk up to you as a couple," Nick started off, "Then I'll ask you for a rose," he pulled the bouquet close and smelled them, "and you being the wonderful rose merchant you are, will say something about how they're sourced from the far reaches of the world!" Nick continued as he tossed it into the air and caught it.

But it was really hard to pay attention considering he just said that they would be a hypothetical couple while you just stood and sold roses at a premium.

"...Now hopefully: someone will want to buy roses too." He glanced towards Jade, "We can try to make a scene so people will see."

For the first time, Jade spoke up. "And they'll want to buy some too." You hadn't really been overly observant, but you studied her as she spoke. She was a grey-ish fox, "and you'll be able to sell them for a lot," she finished.

Nick nodded. "Exactly—and, sorry for the spontaneousness; but we need to head out soon."

You grabbed your phone and stuff before heading out the door with the two foxes.

Was Nick insane? Was he oblivious? Obviously, he knew this would upset you...

You continued to run questions through your head. You became more frustrated the more you thought about it.

But the last straw was when Jade got into the passenger seat. That was your spot next to Nick!! But Nick didn't even protest!

Your fur stood up and your heart stopped as he got into the driver's seat.

'This sucks. I don't think I can go through with this...' you thought to yourself.

"Hey um, Nick? I'm gonna pass on this one actually..." You didn't want to sound hurt but you couldn't help the small breaking in your voice when you spoke. Walking away from his van, you felt numb and heavy.

'I guess it was too good to be true,' you thought. 'Was all this just a game to him?'

"Hey Y/N! Wait up, will you?"

Tears began to well up in your eyes at the sound of his voice. You heard the snow crunching beneath his feet as he ran over.

"I just want to be alone," you say over your shoulder as you turn a corner of your apartment complex.

Nick slows down as he reaches you. He matches your walking speed and continues to walk with you for a little bit.

You hold your head low and slightly away from him so he doesn't see the beads of tears in your eyes.

"So, anything you want to talk about?" He asked.

"Yeah. I want to know why you think it's okay to play with my feelings." You say in a low tone as you stop walking.

Nick stopped walking a moment after you. He frowned as he turned to face you, "I didn't realize I--"

Your anger started to swell as he spoke. Oh, so he was oblivious??

"You didn't realize?!" You lifted your head to look at him, "You didn't realize bringing some hot girl with you to my house and then setting up a plan where she's your girlfriend would upset me?!" You started off strong but you heard your own voice crack towards the end of your sentence.

You saw Nick cringe from your words. He lowered his head a little and broke eye contact. Even though he upset you, seeing him sad did still hurt you...

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way," He said quietly as he softly kicked some snow, "I rushed everything that happened today and I haven't explained it properly to you..."

Seeing him like this was very out of character. It took you by surprise, but hearing his apology lifted your spirits.

"R-really?" You asked softly.

The handsome red fox looked back up at you. He then moved forward quickly, wrapping his arms around you. His body was immediately warm and you melted into his embrace. He smelled so nice.

You reached your arms around him to complete the hug. He held you tight as you rested your chin on his shoulder.

"Gosh, Nick," you sniffled, "This was all preventable, you know that, right?"

He chuckled as he hugged you. His low pitch vibrating your ears. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

As you both pulled away from the hug, Nick began to explain in more detail what was going on.

He explained that Jade was an old friend from his childhood. She's helped him every now and again on projects like these. This rose plan was actually discussed many months ago when Nick still had his old partner: Finnick. Finnick was going to be the vendor while Jade and he posed as a couple. Now that you're Nick's partner, things are a little different...

Ohhh. This makes more sense. But he could've done with saying this earlier...

"Sorry I didn't just explain this earlier. I've been, uh, busy with some stuff. Short on time, you know."

Ah. Well, good. Glad he realizes that.

He then reached out and held your shoulders and looked you straight in the eyes. His face was very close to yours, which made you heat up.

"So, Y/N. We can switch the roles if you want to. Jade can easily be the rose vendor instead..."

Upon hearing this, you couldn't help but form a huge smile. You happily jumped forward and connected your lips to his. You saw his eyes widen before closing and returning the kiss.

Pulling away you said, "That sounds great. Let's go!"