Judy had never exited a cinema screen so fast, even when she and her little sisters had gone to see the third Twilight movie then found out they were giving Jacob Black posters out for free in the lobby. She, Genevieve, Ruth and Elsie had all but sprinted past the other moviegoers so they could be their first to get their hands on said postered version of their favourite werewolf, but it was nothing compared to how quickly Nick was pulling her out. She had no choice but to follow him seeing as his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. Why was he so eager to leave? She didn’t really fancy taking an IT poster home if that was why he was dragging her towards the lobby.
Nick bypassed the lobby completely and pulled Judy right out into the street, only letting go over her when they stood in the pool of yellow light granted to them by a flickering streetlight. Judy clutched onto what was left of her popcorn bag and shivered, the night-time breeze that whipped around her making her wish she’d had the foresight to bring a jacket.
“But, Nick… we kinda have to walk home in the dark,” she reasoned, leaning closer to him to soak up the warmth his body emanated. Nick was always super cosy.
The buses had stopped running an hour ago, neither of them had a car and Uber drivers in Cherry Grove were super unreliable. They were mostly college students looking to earn some extra money but sometimes they were too caffeinated to operate their vehicles or they accepted a lift then realised it meant they’d have less time to complete an assignment whose deadline loomed dangerously close, so they cancelled the ride. Judy knew her and Nick’s only option was to walk, even though it didn’t seem like Nick was crazy about that idea. He seemed kinda shaken up and she narrowed her eyes at her best friend, wondering if the movie had scared him more than he let on.
She stuck her hand into her popcorn bag, scooping up a handful of caramel corn while Nick nervously glanced around them. She wanted to reassure him that they were only in the streets of Cherry Grove and not the sewers of Derry, but her mouth was too full of popcorn to say anything and by the time she swallowed it, he had stridden off down the street and she jogged after him.
She skidded to a stop as Nick whirled around with wide, frantic eyes.
“What?” she huffed. “It was a perfectly reasonable theory. I thought that maybe he was just keeping Georgie in this really fun circus because he was lonely and wanted friends and that he’d let him go at the end and the Losers Club would visit him and stuff.” She wanted to write to Stephen King and tell him that she, rather narcissistically, thought that her ending was just a little bit better than the one he’d wrote. But that wouldn’t really help Nick calm down, would it? A cheeky smile played on her lips and she tilted her head up at her friend.
“Nick, are you scared?” she asked, teasingly. With a fond shake of her head, she slipped her hand into his and lead him the opposite direction down the street. “I think we should get you home first. You shouldn’t be wandering the dark in your own. Just in case you see any red balloons floating around.”
The closer that Judy shuffled towards him, the less anxious Nick seemed to feel. Though he felt nervous and ridden with stress after that cinematic experience, and there was no way he was going to forget about it any time soon, he still felt a sense in comfort in having her close by. Besides, it was kinda cold, and Judy was always cuddly and warm. Hooking his chin over the top of her head, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a cuddle, lapping up her body heat and enjoying the warmth that spread through him. Burying his face in her hair momentarily, he left a fleeting kiss to the top of Judy's head, before pulling away and making his way down the street.
“C'mon, Carrots, it's... cold, and, y'know, dark...” he called out, opting for an anxious glance over his shoulder. As nervous as he felt, he'd still never leave Judy behind, so he made sure she was still close behind him before he completely abandoned her.
As soon as his best friend came jogging towards him, eagerly trying to keep up as he strode away from her, he breathed out a sigh of relief. No matter how nervous he was, or how ridiculous she was being, he was happy to have her back at his side. Even if she was talking complete nonsense.
When the two of them stopped, standing stock still in the middle of the street, Nick twitched uncomfortably, his bones itching with discomfort at still being out in the open. There was no real, justifiable reason for him to be afraid – not that he was, of course – but that didn't change the way he felt, and he couldn't escape the flashes in his vision as he stared around him, convincing himself that he could see dear ol' Bill Skarsgard lurking across the way in some dimly lit alley, all decked out in his Pennywise getup.
“Judy. He ripped his arm off within the first ten minutes of the movie!” he cried out, his tone coming out in a far higher pitch than he'd anticipated. Shaking his head, squeezing his eyes tight shut momentarily, he blew air from his cheeks in a petulant huff. “I'm just sayin', Hopper, even if he was keeping Georgie in some kinda underground circus, like you say, he still ripped the damn kid's arm from its socket.”
Even uttering the words aloud made him feel sick to his stomach, and he cringed at having to make himself and Judy relive it, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Not when Judy was accusing him of being scared.
“Wh– what? Scared? You think i'm scared, Hopper?” he scoffed, shaking his head wildly in protest. Looking at her with complete, and total utter disbelief, he whirled on the spot, turning his back to her. What a ridiculous notion. He wasn't scared, not by a long shot. Nick Wilde did not scare easily.
Before he knew it, though, Judy was slipping her hand into his own, and he let out a childish groan at the action. Shooting her a sidelong glance, the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips, he shrugged, before giving her hand a tight squeeze in return.
“Whatever, c'mon. It's cold, and we'd better get in out of it before we catch something,” he insisted, still sticking to his halfassed story. Besides, the idea of even so much as the sighting of a red balloon made his whole entire body shiver. Shaking a little, he edged in closer to Judy, dropping his head against her shoulder momentarily, and nuzzling his face gently against her neck. “See, told you. I'm cold.”
The two of them kept walking, Judy keeping up a constant stream of conversation where Nick scarcely could, before eventually coming to a halt outside of his tiny bungalow. More often than not, he opted for heading home and helping his mom out where he could, knowing that she liked the company, as well as wanting Nick to keep an eye on Todd where he could. Even so, he liked the privacy of having his own home, and he didn't like traipsing guys and girls into his childhood home after a late night out, so it was nice having his own space. Even if it meant Judy showing up whenever she so wished, befriending his one night stands, and fixing things that were perfectly fine.
“Alright, uh... home sweet home,” he muttered, furrowing his brow as he stared around him. With his free hand, he fished his keys out of his pocket, never wavering or releasing his hold on Judy's hand. Awkwardly hovering, he finally dropped her hand, if only to wrap an arm around her waist, reeling her in and pulling her alongside him as he strolled towards his front door, Judy firmly pressed into his side.
“Y'know, it is late... And cold... and dark... You sure you wouldn't prefer to just stay over?” he mused, his key dangling from the lock as he made no real attempts to turn it, his gaze on Judy instead. “I don't want you walkin' home on your own, y'know, it's late, and...”
He trailed off, realising it was much too late to bother elaborating. Judy wasn't an idiot, she knew him better than most. Not to mention, she's a cop, and walking into far more dangerous situations than Cherry Grove on a school night kinda came under the job description.
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