#i need to take care of the bunny. but i sorta suspect i might just like. break as soon as im in the house.

[pizzapizzadickz]

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[zootopiathingz]

Between the Odds

Part Fifteen: Confession

(A/N: Bet you know why I’m skipping 14. To sum it up, Judy and Nick were “fooling around” at work and Clawhauser happened to hear it, and he made sure that no one else would hear so they wouldn’t get in trouble)

As the sun was setting, many police officers left the ZPD while a few just arrived for the night shifts. Clawhauser sat at the front desk watching everyone come and go, waiting for the hour to end so he could call it a night. He didn't get much work done today, since his mind was pre-occupied with other thoughts. But considering he spent over half an hour this afternoon covering for Judy and Nick while they finished their "activities" in the storage room, it was understandable he would have trouble focusing.

He didn't mind watching out for them. They were his closest friends at the ZPD and he would never want them to lose their jobs. But he just couldn't see them everyday from now on pretending nothing was going on. He had to be honest with them, and he had to express his concern. Dating another police officer was risky and if Chief Bogo were to find out, then their days of working for him would be over.

When he saw the bunny and the fox walking toward the front doors, he saw it as an opportunity to come forward and confess. It was only fair that they knew their relationship wasn't completely secret.

"Bye Clawhauser!" He heard Judy call out as they both waved. Whatever he needed to say, he knew he had to do it now, since it would keep him up all night if he didn't.

"Hey guys! Uh, can we talk for a second?" He said, which caused them to stop and turn around.

They looked at each other and shrugged, approaching his desk. "Sure, but make it quick. We're heading out for that stake out." Nick informed him, but Clawhauser already knew, since he was the one who told them about the assignment.

"Right, it'll just take a second." He nodded, but then took a quick glance around the room. There were still a lot of mammals around that could eavesdrop at any time. He'd have to talk quietly, then. "Uh, you might wanna come on this side." He gestured for them to walk around the desk, so they could be closer to him.

They were a bit confused, but nonetheless obliged and joined him behind the desk, sitting in his chair to make better eye contact with the cheetah. "So what's going on?" Judy asked curiously.

Clawhauser took a moment to get his words together. How to even begin explaining was a challenge for him, he was already feeling awkward and he hadn't even said anything yet. "Okay um, before I start, I just want you guys to know that we're friends and anything we say right now stays between us, okay?"

"Okay?" Judy chuckled, having no clue as to where this was going.

He scratched his nose as he spoke, "Alright, well..earlier today I was walking by the storage room and I maybe, sorta happened to hear something."

Judy and Nick's bodies grew tense all of the sudden, their eyes widening slightly. It was easy for someone like Clawhauser to tell that they were nervous, and he began to feel guilty for doing this to them. "Don't freak out, but I know it was you guys, and I know what you were doing." He went on, noticing the fear increase in their expressions. "B-but don't worry! I was the only one who heard, I swear. In fact I made sure no one else was around so you wouldn't get caught."

Even though he was trying to be assuring, it only made the couple even more discomforted. The fact that someone heard them was far more humiliating than they would've imagined. Sure, they suspected that they were loud enough to be heard from outside, but actually being confronted about it was filling them with shame.

"Oh god," Judy cringed, covering her face with her paws. "Please tell me you weren't listening the whole time."

"It was kinda hard not to." Clawhauser admitted with a grimace. "I would've put in headphones but I figured that would look weird if anyone saw me."

Nick sighed wearily, rubbing the side of his head with his fingers. Now he wished he hadn't let Judy convince him to do it, especially seeing the way she was reacting. Her face was heating up with embarrassment and she couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with either of them. Nick could practically feel her nerves, and he didn't like it any better than she did.

"God, I'm so sorry you had to hear that." The fox said, attempting to hide his stress better than his partner.

Clawhauser shrugged, batting his paw dismissively. "It's fine, that's not really what I wanted to talk about, though."

"Wait, then what did you wanna talk about?" Nick furrowed his brows, while Judy slowly lifted her head.

"Well, to be completely honest, I suspected you guys were a thing for a while now." He said with a small smile to ease their worries. "I didn't think you wanted anyone to know, but I just wanna say that you can tell me if it's true. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

The two exchanged a glance, silently agreeing on wether or not they should tell him the truth. There was no point in denying it now, since he obviously knew. Besides, they could trust him. He was the most honest and loyal mammal they knew, and like he said earlier, they were friends.

Judy nodded, gently touching her boyfriend's arm as she confessed, "It's true. Nick and I are dating."

Saying it out loud for the first time wasn't as scary as she thought it would be. In fact, she felt a small weight being lifted from her shoulders as she spoke, like she felt no need to keep it to herself any longer. Instead if receiving hate and judgment like she feared, what they got was an excited gasp from the cheetah—who was attempting to hide his enjoyment the best he could, but ultimately failed.

Clawhauser brought his paws up to his cheeks as a wide grin spread across his face. He always knew the two of them had chemistry, and secretly he had hoped they would end up together, so having it actually confirmed made his heart leap with joy. "I knew it!" He squealed, but not too loudly to alert anyone else. "How long??"

"Five months." Nick answered, feeling a bit of pride in his statement.

"Awww!" Clawhauser cooed, bouncing on his feet. "I'm so happy! I've been waiting for this to happen for so long!"

The couple laughed and shared an amused expression. Not only were they glad to have moved past the awkwardness from before, but now they knew they had someone who was supportive of their relationship. If only there were more mammals like Clawhauser in Zootopia.

Once the cheetah managed to calm down from his fit of enthusiasm, he sighed and leaned against the desk, knowing he had to wrap up the conversation to let them get to their stake out. "Although, as your friend I do have to tell you guys that you probably shouldn't, you know, do that at work. I would hate for you to get caught by Bogo." He said with a concerned frown, which made their smiles falter.

They knew he had a point, the risk they took every time they made love at work, or just in public in general, could get them into actual trouble one of these days. It almost would have earlier if it weren't for Clawhauser.

"You're right. We'll be more careful from now on." Judy nodded.

Clawhauser grinned once again, "Good. Alright, I'll let you two get to work now. I'm glad we had this talk."

Judy looked up at Nick, noticing them both donning a soft smile of relief. "Yeah, us too."