The chiming of bells rang as a signal for all students to get inside, otherwise they'd be late. Dib Membrane walked at a fast pace, trying to get to class as quickly as possible, not wanting to invoke the wrath of his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Wrath. (A/N: funny, no?) Dib was in High Skool now, and things had generally evened out throughout the years. His peers finally found things to occupy themselves with, instead of staring at his head. Gaz wasn't as… scary. And Zim – well, nothing has really changed there.

Zim and Dib were still mortal enemies, but they had learned to keep their behavior toned down in more public areas. It was almost laughable to Dib, how Zim had been there for nearly 6 years and has accomplished nothing at all. It could be described as fun, the relationship those two had. Dib found it impossible to imagine a world without Zim's constant threats or stupid insults… it was almost as if Dib had grown dependant on it.

Dib quickly shuffled into the classroom before the late bell rang, to his great luck. He took his seat by the window and sighed, thinking over the years – so much had changed. He was now a senior in High Skool, six foot 5, and his head was no longer considered 'spooky'. Zim had changed, too. He had grown taller – much to The Tallest's dismay. Lucky for them, Zim was determined to complete him "mission" on Earth.

"Alright, class, the bell means shut up and sit down. Be silent for the whole 10 minutes you suffer here and I won't boil your intestine for breakfast tomorrow." Mrs. Wrath said as she took a seat at her desk. Dib rolled his eyes and sat back, scanning over the room until his eyes landed on the Irken Invader. Just as Dib began staring at him, it seemed that Zim sensed it, and looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at Dib. Dib immediately looked elsewhere.

Zim growled to himself as he caught Dib staring. What was with the Dib-human? Earth-stink! Zim had noticed that, lately, Dib had been backing off more, not trying to expose him… as if he ever could. It seemed as if Zim finally had a chance to capture the PUNY planet known as Earth. But what if it was a trap? What if the Dib-human was lulling Zim into a false sense of security? Zim quickly scribbled down a note and tossed it at Dib's head.

Dib-stink!

Keep your eyes to yourself or I'll melt them from your face!

PS: We need to discuss the STUPID earth-work you call "project buddy"… thing.

We were assigned together and I want NO PART OF IT, FILTHY WORM-BABY!

What were we supposed to be doing again?

Dib sighed, irritated, and crumpled the note in a ball in his hand, shoving it in his pocket. Every year it seemed that Zim and Dib had every class together… it had occurred to Dib that Zim may have arranged it to keep an eye on the enemy… Either way, this year, Dib had needed to get some kind of art credit, so was forced to take Drama Performance… and Zim did as well. Their teacher assigned pairs to write a small skit and perform it in to weeks. So far… they had nothing.

The bell rang to excuse students form their homeroom. As Dib stood, he noticed Zim approaching him. "Dib-human!" He barked, though now standing right in front of him. "Hey, Zim." Dib murmured a greeting. "Going to class?" Zim snorted slightly in amusement. "Of course, DIB. I, like you, am a normal human filth-monkey. I do not skip class."

Dib smiled at Zim a little as they now walked across the campus together. "We really need to get this project done, so when do you want to work on it?" Dib asked, adjusting his backpack slightly. "I wouldn't be caught DEAD with you in public, Dib, so I would prefer somewhere in private." He said, a tad insulting. Dib shrugged his shoulders. "You're not coming to my house. Gaz has never let you step foot near our house since that time in the 8th grade… remember?" Dib asked, his voice a little bored but taunting.

Zim shivered. "Yes… oh, how I despise nachos..." He murmured, shaking his fist in the air with fury. Dib gave him a funny look, but simply shook his head. A few moments of silence took over, and Dib looked around, noticing how gray the sky looked. "Hmm… looks like it's going to rain." He said, mostly talking to himself. Zim twitched slightly as they entered the building, leading them to their next class.

0-0

It was now lunch, and Dib sat outside, leaning against a tree while he read and ate a sammich. He looked around and smiled, noticing how empty the skoolyard seemed to be. Lunch has been much more pleasant when the Skool decided to separate freshman/sophomore lunch from the junior/senior lunch. One of the only sensible things the Skool system had done.

Dib took a sip of his Poop Cola, and thought how rather pathetic it was… the frosh/soph lunch was so crowded, but by the time they advanced to a junior they had dropped out or become pregnant. He sighed, not really feeling like reading. He set the book down and closed his eyes, just listening to the sounds around him. He quickly fell asleep due to recent lack of sleep, and soon slept through the ending bell.

Dib only awakened to the slow, but increasing tap-tap wetness of rain on his face, and the lone screaming that followed. Dib immediately sat up, knowing who the voice belonged to. Across the yard, writhing on the ground, was none other than Zim, the self-proclaimed All-mighty Irken Invader. Dib quickly gathered himself and ran over to Zim as quickly as he could, wishing that he couldn't hear the screaming… the heart-wrenching sound tore and pulled at Dib's heart, he couldn't stand it.

As he approached Zim he whipped off his long trench coat and draped it over Zim's body, making sure to protect his Face the most. The shouting died down and Zim soon quieted. Dib stared down at him, hoping that Zim was alright… He sat there for a good few minutes, hours, however long it was, until Zim's eyes opened and stared up at Dib. It seemed that Zim's contacts had fallen out when he was convulsing, and now his large, ruby-colored eyes were causing Dib's face to heat up.

"Z-Zim…?" Dib asked softly, the look of worry quite obvious across his features. Zim blinked slowly, feeling his face heat up a little as well. He suddenly sat up, shouting "Get away from me Earth-stink!" And almost immediately began convulsing from the rain. He pulled the trench over his head once again and glared at Dib. "Get out of my way so I can get out of the rain!" He said, standing, walking quickly (though trying to make it unobvious) as to not get wet. Dib blinked, confused, but stood and followed him, picking up his belongings while passing by.

They stopped under a small spot the roof left dry, and Zim shoved the trench at Dib. "I don't need your help, HUMAN!" He spat, looking to the ground, away from Dib. Dib simply watched Zim, holding his Trench coat in his arms. He frowned when he noticed Zim began to shiver, and was still sizzling from his wet clothes. Dib sighed slightly and stripped off his shirts; he always wore layers, luckily only the long-sleeves shirt got wet. He still had his T-shirt underneath.

Zim, hearing the rustling of clothing, glanced at Dib, wand was taken aback to see him pulling his shirt over his head, leaving him quite shirtless and half nude. "What are you doing, DIB?" Zim demanded, trying to add malice with his enemy's name, though mostly surprise came through. "You're shivering and roasting a little. You need dry clothes." Dib said as he dug in his backpack for something. "I was bringing my gym shorts home to wash… but at least they're dry…" He said to himself, handing the shirt and shorts to Zim. The Invader looked utterly flabbergasted!

"I don't NEED you're disgusting germ-clothes!" Zim spat, eyeing Dib cautiously. It seemed the Puny Human wasn't quite as weak as he seemed… Zim shook his head slightly, tearing his eyes away from his enemy's naked chest as Dib audibly sighed. "Take them, Zim. I won't look or anything…" Dib said as he turned his back. There was silence as Zim held the clothes, then muttering, then the sound of moving cloth. Dib tried to swallow a dry lump down his throat, suddenly feeling very… hot. Which was odd, considering how cold it was outside. When the noises stopped, Dib figured it was okay to look and turned around.

Zim was glaring at Dib, catching him by surprise. But, boy, how cute Zim looked in baggy clothes.

…………..WHAT!

Dib shook his suddenly impure thoughts away and took the wet clothes from Zim, stuffing them in his bag. "C'mon, Zim, we should probably be getting to your base. We were going anyway, but you need to be treated now…" he said, a tint of worry still in his voice. Zim scoffed, but made no real argument. "And just how do you expect me to do THAT, earth-monkey?" Zim asked. "Wear my coat… it'll be okay." Dib said, handing it back to him. He stepped out from under the building's protection and immediately regretted it. It was freezing! He kept this from his enemy, for he did not want to seem weak.

It wasn't fooling Zim at all. He was surprised to realize Dib was offering him protection when Dib should have been using it for himself… and, for once, knew that this was not the time to argue. Zim quickly took charge and strode with too much pride in front of Dib. "Alright, my lenses are in! We may depart to the base!"