A/N So hey guys, it's been a while. Um, some stuff happened and I haven't been able to write properly in a while due to an accident. I'm alright though. Mostly. I'm going to try and get back on to regular updates, until then, enjoy this small chapter.

Dib was the last one to leave the fair, the parking lot was quite and empty, the rain was pouring down on him now. His normally untamable hair hung limply down into his face. Zim wasn't here, that much was made clear.

He threw himself into the car. He was wet, his clothes were soaked and sticking to his skin, and now the car seat was also wet, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that Zim was somewhere, and also probably wet.

Which was a very bad thing.

Later, Dib couldn't remember much about the drive back, only that he tore down the empty streets at twenty over the speed limit, flying through puddle after puddle as he went. The only other place Zim would have gone would be home. So that's where he began his search. He careened the car around the corner corner and into the parking lot, coming to a screeching halt next to the stairs that led up to the second level.

Dib flung the car door open and too the stairs two at a time, eventually running up to the Irken's door. He pounded on it wildly, hoping beyond hope that Zim would be safely inside. Too his disappointment, Gir opened the door instead. "Is Zim here?" His eyes were wide and his breathing labored.

The tiny robot shook his head lightly. "Noo, master said he was going out! So I got myself a pizza!" Gir Squeaked.

The human slumped over, visibly deflated by the news, worry being kicked up a notch. He poked his head in anyway, just to make sure. No sign of Zim. "Oh. Okay. If you do see him, tell him to call me. Or something, alright?" The robot nodded, before slamming the door closed. He headed back to the car, ignoring the rain. He flopped down and shit the door, trying desperately to recall places he would have gone.

Dib checked in with his work next, getting very little information out of them however. "No, they hadn't seen him, and no, they weren't going to let him in to check looking like that. Please just leave before we have security make you." They'd said.

Dejectedly, he walked back to the car. And this happened again, and again, and again, and once more, before he finally gave up. Nobody had seen Zim and he'd run out of places to look. Not the school, the park, the cafe, the diner, or even the hot dog place him and Gir used to go to. Eventually, he settle for driving around aimlessly.

But he was tired, wet and worried and all he wanted was to find the other and then cuddle up under a warm blanket. And as much as it pained him, he decided to head home. Despite his reaction to water, Zim could take care of himself' Dib just hoped that he had.

He parked and locked the car before walking up to the front door of his house. The tv was on and Gaz sat on the couch, she watched as Dib kicked off his shoes and peeled off the soaked coat, and then his shirt in turn.

"What happened to you? Someone kick your puppy?" Dib turned and shot her a look.

As he walked by he mumbled an "I don't want to talk about it." Gaz narrowed an eye and watched him retreat upstairs. Later, she told herself. Later she'd bug him about it, but he just needed some moping time

He swung the door open and then proceeded to shed the last of his wet clothing. Dib grabbed a lose pair of pj pants and slipped them on, before going to drop his things in the washing machine downstairs. This time Gaz didn't ask him anything, which he was silently grateful for. But on the way back up he paused on the first step, before turning to look at his sister.

"Have you seen Zim?"

Gaz shook her head. "Plenty of zombies though." As if punctuating her words, a zombie appeared on screen before proceeding to chew someone else's face off. The purple haired teen snickered.

He was silent a moment. "Oh. Alright then. Just, if you do..." he waved an arm as he spoke. She nodded. "Good. Dib gave her a slight nod. "Good." He repeated to himself more quietly, before turning and heading back up to his room.

He closed the door before crawling into bed, the sound on raindrops hitting the room comforting, and unnerving.

He hadn't even realized he's been sleeping until he heard a small tapping on the window. Dib looked up, his curtains were closed. When he didn't hear it again right away he passed it off as a tree branch or an animal. Dib laid his head back down.

But there is was again. Tap, tap, tap, taptaptap. Dib shot up this time, now sitting straight up in ed. He fixed his glasses, which had fallen askew on his face, before pulling back the curtain. Zim hovered outside the window, tapping lightly with one claw. He was in different clothing from last night. "Are you going to let me in, human?"

Dib hesitated a moment. As much as he wanted to grab him and hold the small alien close, he was pissed. "You don't get to do that. To do this." he crossed his arms, shooting a glare at the Irken.

Zim tilted his head. "Do what.?

Dib snorted. "Do what?You seriously have to ask that? How about don't run away from me and not tell me why, or where you're going? Or how about not picking up a phone to let me know you didn't die in the rain? Or how you think showing up here now makes up for any or that?" It all just seemed to flow out. Dib never thought of himself as an angry person, but right now the anger coursing through him was not about to stop.

The alien avoided Dib's gaze. He knew the human would be mad, but he didn't have a choice. "I had to go. Urgent business needed Zim's attention. Zim needed to go straight back to the base-"

"See, I thought that may have been it, but I checked there Zim. You weren't there."

The Irken kept his gaze anywhere but at Dib. "I had to go Dib, I-"

"You what Zim? You think just showing up with a half assed lie about what happened makes up for it It doesn't. Now tell me the truth or I'm shutting the curtains."

"C-can Zim come in?"

Dib paused to think about it. Half of him wanted to open it, to comfort the other. But the other, more vindictive part of him wanted to refuse. He waited long enough to see panic flash in the Irkens eyes, but eventually he undid the lock and slid the window open. The Irken climbed through, retracting his PAK legs as he curled in. Dib stood up, looking down at the other. He might have let him in, but he wasn't happy with Zim, so he'd use the height to his advantage.

Zim took a seat on the bed, moonlight drifted in through the open window and a cool breeze followed close behind it. Outside, it smelt of rain.

Dib always like it, it was something that comforted him in times of absolute despair. He took in a deep breath, letting the scent of nature fill his lungs. His eyes slipped closed for a minute and when he reopened them, he felt a tad bit better. Calmer.

Zim watched with intrigue. He'd heard about stuff like this before, but never really understood it. Watching Dib made him want to understand it, want to see more of it. He took off the disguise, setting both the wig and contacts on the windowsill. His antennae danced, adjusting to not having the extra weight once free.

"Okay look." Dib said, tone softening a bit. "I'm pissed. You left, you freaked me out, I looked for you afterwards." He paused. Anger still burned behind his eyes. "Just...don't anymore. Okay?"

Their eyes met and Zim wanted to tell him, to explain it all. But he couldn't, instead he nodded. "Okay." It was a lie. A promise he couldn't keep. But he would make the promise if it got the human to stop looking at him like that.

Silence seemed to fill the room, not leaving much room for more conversation. Dib watched the way the moonlight hit the pale green skin, making the alien look even more exotic and enticing then he already did. Similarly, Zim could see the exhausted look on the humans face. He had been worried, Zim could tell, but he didn't know how to fix it.

He resorted to what he knew, smartass comments. "You should start keeping your window unlocked. You know, in case I want to visit while you're here."

The human shot him a glare. "We'll see." He paused before lightly massaging his temples. "I'm going to sleep downstairs. You can have the bed." He let out a small sigh before grabbing an extra blanket and a pillow. "I'm still pissed. But we'll talk in the morning."

Zim's eyes widened. The human was leaving him alone? But, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't want to be alone. He wanted to be in the others presence. He'd come here to spend time with the Dib

Dib could read the slightly fearful expression in the Irken's eyes, but misinterpreted it. "There's a lock on the door. Lock it when I leave and you'll be left alone." He walked over to the door. "I'll see you in the morning." Without another word, Dib left, softly closing the door behind him.

The Irken was left alone with his thoughts, but got up to lock the door as directed. Alone. In the Dib's room. Where he slept and... did other things. A small shiver ran through him at the thought. He didn't know how to admit it to the other, but he wanted the Dib. Wanted to posses his thoughts and his heart and everything else that made the human. He thought that Dib also wanted the same thing, but in the back of his mind he wondered if maybe he'd messed it all up.

Zim opened the closet and found Dib's favorite shirt, the blue one with the face, before slipping into it. He wrapped himself in the Dib's blanket, surrounding himself with the human's scent. The aching in his chest wouldn't stop, until he eventually drifted into some sort of restless sleep.

The couch wasn't the most comfortable of places, but Dib was too tired to care. Being with Zim was like being on a roller coaster that didn't stop. Up then down then up the down then back up again. It was getting too hard to keep up. But despite that he couldn't help himself. He felt like an addict, going back to get his next fix. But what was one to do when he was piratically in love with the guy?

His eyes shot open. What. Was. That.