WARNING! LONG CHAPTER AHEAD!

Chapter 8 (Final)

Dib sighed, pulling on his trench coat. He hadn't gotten that much sleep, even after Zim had left. The boy had never had a Valentine before, so he spent a few hours researching what he was supposed to do. He already knew the basics since he explained it to Zim but he didn't know specific behaviors he was supposed to have. Plus, he had been working on a small project at the same time, so that took away two hours of sleep Dib could have had.

Sighing again, Dib grabbed his backpack and looked through it, making sure he had everything. When he was sure he did, he zipped it up and threw it onto his back. His feet dragged across the floor as he made it over to Gaz's room. "Gaz?" he asked, knocking on her door lightly. "You ready to go yet?" "I'm not going," her voice from behind the door mumbled. Dib groaned. "You can't skip Skool, Gaz!" He knocked on the door a bit harder.

The door swung open and Gaz glared angrily at her brother, clutching an ice pack to her head while standing there in her pajamas. "Don't knock, don't speak, just shut up and listen," she snarled. "Your little alien friend woke me up last night with his stupid, loud voice. And then you kept me awake with your constant typing and all the noises you make from doing that small 'project' of yours. I don't care why Zim was here last night, nor do I care what you were doing, but I do care about the fact that both of you gave me a bad migraine!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dib waived away her complaints, still half-asleep, causing Gaz to silently fume. "Can you do me one favor?" Dib twisted his head towards Gaz, giving her a good angle of the side of his face. "Right here...?" He muttered, poking his cheek thoughtlessly. Almost instantly, Gaz's free hand swung around and smacked Dib across his face, knocking him over and causing him to skid across the floor.

Getting up, Dib shook his head, snapping out of his sleepy faze and feeling wide awake, not even noticing the pain in his cheek. "Thanks Gaz! " he said. "No problem," Gaz grumbled. Dib jumping up from the ground, and as he started running down the stairs, yelled, "Wish me luck with my Valentine!"

"Wait, you have a Valentine?" Shock was clear in Gaz's voice. "Who would be Valentines with you?"

"Don't worry, it's only Zim! Hope you feel better, sis!" his voice called from downstairs before the sound of the front door slammed. Gaz stayed motionless under the door jam for a moment before sighing and returning to her room. She shut the door behind her and crawled back onto her bed where her Game Slave 2 was waiting. Balancing the ice pack on her head, she returned to playing her game, all while muttering to herself.

"About time, you idiots. About damn time."

"Tell me!"

"No, GIR."

"TELL ME!"

"NO, GIR!"

"TELLL MEEEE!"

"LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!"

Zim ran into the living room, grabbing his wig and contacts that were waiting for him by the door. He tried to put them on fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough; GIR came running after Zim and latched onto the Irken's leg. "Please tell me!" he cried, keeping a tight hold onto Zim's leg. The Invader hissed, trying to shake the robot off his leg without succeeding. "GIR, let go of me!"

GIR shook his head wildly. "Not till ya tell me who ya Valentine is! Ya been up all nigh', workin' 'n' readin' stuff 'bout Valentines! TELL ME!"

"You don't need to know, GIR!"

"Ya don't tell me, ya don't go ta Skool!" GIR frowned. He lifted up one of his robot legs before kicking it into the floor, securing it tightly within the foundation, before repeating the action. The robot locked his arms around both of Zim's legs, rendering him immobile. Zim growled, trying to jump out of GIR's arms. "TELL ME, MASTER!

"NO!"

"TELL ME!"

"NO!"

"TELL ME!"

"ALRIGHT, FINE! IT'S DIB-THING, OKAY?"

Silence fell over the room. GIR gaped up at Zim. "B...Big Head is ya Valentine?" Zim glared sternly at the robot before straightening his wig and putting in his second contact. "Yes, the Dib is Zim's love-pig. NOW FREE ZIM!" Slowly, GIR unwound his arms from around Zim's legs, falling onto his metal knees since his legs were still stuck. Zim huffed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to leave. Fix the floor while I'm gone." And with that, he left the house, slamming the door behind him.

GIR stayed silent for a few minutes. Finally, he giggled, wiggling his legs out of the floor's grip. Jumping up, he walked over and sat onto the couch, humming contently to himself.

"I always knews it wud work out wit' 'em!"

Zim arrived at Skool momentarily after he left the house. He used his robot PAK legs to carry him fast across town, afraid that GIR would come outside again and demand more information out of him. Looking around the outside of Skool, he saw many couples sitting and talking, but he didn't see Dib. Zim let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure he was ready to be a Valentine to Dib yet. He did not want to make himself look like an idiot in front of his mortal enemy. Sure, he spent hours of studying what couples did after coming home from Dib's house, but was that enough? Still lost in thought, Zim walked into the building.

Zim froze underneath the doorframe. He looked to the right, then he looked to the left. He quickly ran outside and looked up. The familiar "SKOOL" sign was still their. Zim went back inside, eyes wide with confusion. Am I at the right place?

The hallways were completely decked out, layers after layers of paper and lacy hearts, covering almost unseen layers of red, white and pink. The normal, boring green color of the Skool was completely hidden, the floors covered with an odd red rug and the walls and ceilings hidden under the absurd amount of decorations. On every heart were various romantic sayings, such as "Kiss Me," "I Love You," and "Be Mine."

It was awful.

Zim clutched his squeedly spooch in agony. Every little saying that Zim read sickened him beyond belief. Sure, he may have only known of this emotion for a good eighteen hours, but this was ridiculous.

Other students looked around with shocked expressions also. However, most of them were in complete awe of what they saw. Zim scowled. I can't believe HYU-mans actually like all this junk. Taking a deep breath to calm his squeedly spooch, Zim started walking down the hallway. The rug underneath his feet seemed to suck his feet in as he walked. Zim made a face. "How disturbing," he muttered. Quickly as he could, Zim made his down the hall until he found his class.

The classroom was just as bad as the outside hallway. The ribbons and hearts were everywhere on the walls and ceilings. Every desk was draped with red, white and pink lace and they were separated into pairs, a set for each Valentine's Day couple. Fortunately, it lacked the red rug.

Zim looked around. Even though he was still very early, practically everyone was seated at the desks. The couples were laughing, hugging, holding hands, all things that Dib said couples did. Zim's eyes rested on the pair of desks where his used to be. Seeing as it was the only pair that wasn't taken, he walked over and sat down in one of the chairs.

Ms. Bitters was no where in sight, but you could hear the sound of hissing and clawing from behind her lace-draped desk. Zim guessed that she was hiding underneath it and he didn't blame her; if it wasn't for the fact she could easily destroy him, he would join her.

Zim looked in confusion at the lace on his desk. Removing one of his gloves, he stroked the odd decoration. It felt odd, some areas being rough, others being smooth. He pulled back his hand and hissed at the weird touch.

"I take it you find all these decorations awful as well?"

Zim snapped his head up to see Dib, standing in front of him with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. The human walked towards the alien, reaching out an arm. As soon as he was as close as he could get to Zim without running into the desks, he gently took hold of the Irken's un-gloved hand. Before Zim could protest, Dib flipped his hand palm down and pressed his lips against the green skin in a soft, gentle kiss.

Zim could feel his antennas press against his head underneath his wig and a small blue blush crept onto his cheeks. A shock traveled through every part of his body until resting uncomfortably in the middle of his squeedly spooch. Dib broke apart the kiss to glance up at Zim and smirk.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Zimmy."

Snarling, Zim yanked his arm away Dib's grasp. "Don't you dare call the mighty Zim that!" he snapped, inspecting his hand for any signs of burns or melting. His hand looked completely normal with no signs of damage whatsoever, but Zim could still feel a tingling feeling from where Dib had kissed him.

Dib chuckled lightly at Zim's reaction. Zim snapped his gaze back at the human while pulling the glove back onto his hand. "What's so funny, meat-sack?"

"You don't seem to understand, spaceboy. I have the right to call you whatever I want. Part of our deal was that you couldn't kill me, nor plan world domination for the entire day, remember?" Dib's grin grew wider when Zim's face flushed blue with anger, hatred in his eyes. Shrugging it off, he walked around and sat down next to Zim, placing his backpack against the leg of the desk. Zim scowled and turned the back of his head towards the human. "I hate you," he muttered.

"Then why did you agree to this?"

Zim's eye twitched. I'm going to kill him. "Shut your noise tube, vile monkey." Dib smiled contently at Zim's lack of a witty response. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out an object and placed it on Zim's desk. Curious, yet feigning reluctance, Zim turned his head to look at it.

It was some sort of heart-shaped tank, a heart-shaped piece of glass connected to a red, heart-shaped piece of metal through a strip of red metal (Zim guessed it was the same type of material) welded onto it. Zim couldn't see what was inside it since the piece of glass was completely pitch black. Picking it up, Zim observed it, twisting and flipping it around to get better angles, until he noticed a button on the side. Flipping it right-side-up, Zim pressed the button. Instantly, a spark of electricity went through it and hearts started lighting up in the background, while in the foreground five words lit up, alternating between pink, red and white:

"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, ZIM! --DIB."

Zim stared at it, fascinated. Dib smiled. He likes it. "It was something I threw together last night after you left. I'm glad you like it." Zim turned his head towards Dib. "Did...did you make this for Zim?" he asked, dumbfounded. Dib smiled sincerely and nodded. Zim turned back to look at his gift then puffed out his cheeks. He hit the button again, turning off the lights, and set it on the table. He reached into his PAK and fished out a small gadget.

He reached out a hand, grabbed Dib's arm and yanked it over to his side of their small table. Before Dib could say anything, Zim pressed the gadget against Dib's thumb, holding it steady. "Don't move," he instructed. Dib narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but complied. After a few seconds, the gadget beeped and Zim let go of Dib's arm. Grabbing another item out of his pack, Zim turned his back towards Dib and started working. Dib tried to peer over Zim's shoulder, but he still couldn't see what the Irken was doing. Sighing, Dib sat back down and waited for Zim to finish. Sure enough, Zim turned around, having finished whatever he was doing. "Here," he muttered and tossed a metal item onto Dib's desk.

At first sight, it looked like nothing more than a pink-purple colored, heart-shaped piece of metal. But Dib noticed that it had the small gadget he had seen only a few moments ago attached to it, figuring it out now as a fingerprint scanner. Dib looked at Zim, as though asking for silent permission. "Well, don't just sit their and gape at me, pig HYU-man!" Zim snapped, reading his look.

Taking that as a "go ahead," Dib pressed his thumb against the scanner. It beeped again and the contraption started opening as soon as he lifted up his finger. The contraption split in half, revealing a small compartment inside. On the left side of the opened cover, a hologram of Dib popped up. The hologram turned towards the human counterpart, smiled and waved at him. On the right side of the opened cover, another hologram popped up, this one being an undisguised Zim. Turning towards the real Dib, the hologram rolled his eyes and crossed his arms him. In the middle, a larger hologram came up. This one was a giant heart with undisguised GIR sitting on top, waving at Dib. Seven large words popped up on the heart:

"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, DIB! --THE ALMIGHTY ZIM."

Dib blinked, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. He had never had a Valentine before, thus he had never received a Valentine's Day gift. And the last person he had ever expected to give him one (a really awesome one at that) would be his alien archenemy. What the Invader didn't know was that Dib had planned on using his gift to trigger some emotion inside Zim, such as appreciation for the present or guilt for not getting Dib anything. The human hadn't been prepared for Zim to return the favor. Speaking of Zim, the Irken had reached over and closed the gadget, shutting off the holograms, snapping Dib out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Zim. "No one may see that," the Irken hissed, a dark blue blush on his cheeks. Dib blinked again, then smiled at the alien, who was refusing to look at the human. Without warning, he grabbed Zim's arm, pulling the alien against him, and wrapped his arms around the green body tightly.

"Dib-HYU-man!" Zim yelled, his blush only growing darker as his antennas pressed harder against his skull. Dib ignored him and nuzzled his head against Zim's softly. Suddenly feeling very embarrassed, Zim let out a small sound, a cross between whimper and a growl, and grabbed Dib's arms, trying to pull them away from him. "You know, worm- baby, you're ruining my reputation by doing all of this," Zim hissed.

"And I'm perfectly okay with that," Dib whispered back smugly, "since I don't have a reputation for you to ruin."

At that exact moment, the Skool bell finally rang. Only then did Dib break away from Zim. Ms. Bitters slithered out from underneath her desk, still hissing wildly like a snake. She slammed the door shut and locked it. "Children," she growled, sounding even more angry that usual, "I do hope you're all happy. You finally got a normal Valentine's Day so you celebrate by putting up decorations a day early. However, that wasn't enough for you, was it?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she continued to glare at everyone. "The student President and all of the teachers just had to go overboard with these horrible decorations. I'll remember to give you all extra homework tomorrow for putting me through all this." Ms. Bitters' gaze rested on Dib and Zim, both who swallowed harshly.

"Dib, you do understand these desk pairs are for Valentines, right?"

"Yes, I do," Dib replied, trying to act confident but actually failing.

"And you do know you're sitting next to Zim, correct?"

"Yes, I know."

Zim turned his head slightly. Every eye in the classroom was on him and Dib, staring intently. Many students gaped while others just stared in shock. Zim noticed that the Rob and Sara couple from yesterday were especially quiet, probably shocked that they were somewhat right about what they said yesterday. Zim shifted uncomfortably in his chair while still under the intense gaze his hands gripping the side of his chair tightly. He never liked it when people stared at him. He was afraid that they would finally snap out of their stubborn faze and realize that Zim wasn't human if they observed too closely. Dib caught the moment out of the side of his eye and carefully placed his hand over the aliens one, squeezing it gently. Zim flinched at the sudden touch and glared at Dib, hissing.

"So, in other words then, the two of you are Valentines."

"That would be correct."

"Why are you doing this?" Zim hissed quietly for only the two of them to hear, pulling his hand out of Dib's. "There's no point in me acting like I hate you now, is there?" Dib responded just as silently.

"I'd prefer it over this weird couple thing you're trying to pull over Zim's eyes! Don't forget, you agreed that nothing would come of this!"

"Will you shut up?" Dib snapped, losing his patience. "I'm trying to make it through this day just as much as you! The least you can do is be helpful for once in your life!"

"Help you? In case you forgot, Dib-idiot, I despise you more than the Meekrob despise my very own race! I have no need to help you!"

Before Dib could respond to that remark, one of the girls in the back jumped onto her desk, letting out a victory cry. "I KNEW IT! Retch, you SO owe me ten bucks!"

"What?" a boy, probably Retch, turned around to glare at another boy in the class. "Billy, you said there was no way I could lose this bet!"

"Aw, come on, dude! How was I supposed to know the two would hook up before the end of the year?"

The entire class broke into an outrage, some people fuming while others yelled in victory. Money was dropped onto different tables, high-fives as well as punches were exchanged. Zim and Dib looked around, utterly confused and completely oblivious. "STUDENTS!" Ms. Bitters screeched, halting all the ruckus and drawing the student's attention back to her. "In case you're forgetting, I was the one who put the idea in your worthless heads." Half of the class groaned in unison before getting up from their seats and making their way to the front of the class. Disdainfully, they all placed their victory money on Ms. Bitters desk in one large pile before returning to their seats. Ms. Bitters chuckled darkly, picked up her large wad of cash and started counting.

"STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, MONEKYS!" Zim yelled, snapping everyone's attention towards him, including Dib's. "What in the name of Irk is going on here?"

"We all placed bets on when you two would hook up," Zita said, groaning sadly as she watched her teacher count what used to be her money.

"WHAT?" Zim and Dib screeched in unison. Zita waved them away. "Oh, stop yelling. It was too obvious, especially since both of you are obsessed with each other." Before either of them could respond, Ms. Bitters slammed her money onto her desk and stood up. "Enough of all the excitement! Turn to page 4539 in your textbooks!" Instantly, everyone pulled out their textbooks and started reading as though nothing had happened. Zim glared at everyone before turning back towards Dib who, to his surprise, also pulled out his textbook and was intently reading the page,a light blush on his cheeks. "Dib?" Zim whispered, raising an invisible eyebrow. Dib ignored him and continued reading. A small, yet still sharp, pain stabbed at Zim's squeedly spooch, but Zim ignored it, instead growling at and pulling out his own textbook.

"Dib-thing, you should eat. You are a HYU-man after all," Zim said.

The two were seated in what used to be a lunch room, but was now looking like a romantic restaurant. The weird, reg rug was back on the floor, the ribbons and hearts still everywhere, however this time, all of the ribbons were white while every heart was red. All the grimy old lunch tables were replaced with small tables for two. Lunch trays were replaced with expensive china and on every table was a white tablecloth and a scented candle. Zim sat across his table from Dib, who was looking at everything with disbelief. Zim really didn't blame him.

"It's fine, Zim,," Dib grumbled, continuing to observe the lunch room. All the decorations were making him lose his appetite anyway. How the hell did they manage to afford all of this...? he thought.

Zim glared at his Valentine, not liking being brushed off, especially by Dib. "Does it look like a care what you think?" he snapped, standing up in his chair and dropping his own plate in front of Dib. "You will EAT. I don't want an advantage when I murder you tomorrow for putting me through all of this!" he scowled, sitting back down into his chair, crossing his arms.

Dib whipped around, glaring at the Irken. "In case you forgot, Zim, I wasn't the one to agree to this! You were!"

"You forced Zim to accept your offer!"

"How?"

"By forcing Zim into submission, that's how!"

Dib was about to respond, but stopped himself halfway through. "Wait, I forced you into submission?" he asked, confused. He searched through his thoughts, trying to remember what had happened late last night. Zim growled, uncrossing his arms to clutch the tablecloth. "Yes, you did! You played a weird mind trick on Zim, making a spark of electricity travel through my superior super-organ while you enjoyed offering me the chance of being your Valentine!" He paused to point his finger accusingly at Dib. "And in return, you would perform your disgusting human ritual with Zim!"

The human blinked at Zim's outburst. "Mind trick?" "Spark of electricity?" What the hell...? Suddenly, the thoughts came flooding back to him, how Zim had fallen over onto his bed when Dib advanced toward him and how he tilted the alien's head up to look at him in a dominate fashion. Dib blushed.

Oh, yeah.

But he had only been doing that stuff to mess with Zim! He hadn't actually meant it!

"Hey, Dib!"

A voice interrupted Dib's thoughts. Whipping around, Dib caught sight of the largest and most muscular kid in his class, Chunk. He gulped, afraid, and quickly turning back around to face Zim, who was looking at the large kid behind him with a mixed look of curiosity, confusion, and maybe a bit of intimidation? "What do you want?" Dib muttered.

Chunk grabbed and turned Dib's chair around in an instant, forcing him to look at him. Dib cowered In his chair, not even trying to hide the intimidation he felt for the larger boy. "So what?" Chunk raised an eyebrow as he spoke, "At first you're an insane freakshow trying to destroy Zim because he's an 'alien,' and now you're a fag with him?" Dib looked down in both shame and embarrassment, a small amount of anger forming inside him. Chunk snorted. "You may not know this, Zim," he started, looking over at the alien, placing one hand on the table and leaning on it, "but I know what's going on; Dib forced you to be his gay Valentine in order to satisfy his sick and twisted fantasies about you. Isn't that right, faggot?" he smirked as he forcefully grabbed ahold of Dib's shoulder, causing the boy to wince. "He's been obsessed with you ever since you came to this Skool. I'm guessing he threatened you into doing this didn't he, Zim. Probably said he would kill your parents, right? You're one of those sick-minded homos, aren't you?" he chuckled darkly, addressing Dib.

Zim's grip on the tablecloth tightened. He understood what that word Chunk was using; he had found it while searching homosexuality. Zim had never understood how cruel humans could be to each other, but he was getting an up close and personal example. There he was, witnessing Dib hanging his head in shame while Chunk verbally abused him. Is Chunk one of those HYU-mans who doesn't accept homosexuals, like Dib mentioned? It actually didn't matter; seeing the paranormal investigator like this was unsettling to Zim, and he didn't like it.

Fury burning inside him at the larger boy's words, Dib finally glared up at Chunk, clenching his fists. He knocked off the hand on his shoulder and stood up in his chair, coming face-to-face with the boy. "Shut up, you disgusting bastard. That's not true and you know it. So go away and leave me and Zim alone, you idiotic fatass," he hissed through his teeth.

Chunk stared at Dib as though he had just been slapped across the face. However, after a few moments, he snapped out of it and his shocked expression was replaced with a furious one. He grabbed the collar to Dib's shirt, lifting off the seat and leaving him dangling in the air. Zim's grip tightened even more, his claws starting to rip holes in the fabric. Dib swallowed harshly, knowing the price he would pay for speaking out like that.

"Wrong answer, fag," Chunk growled. In one swift motion, his closed fist lifted up and collided forcefully into Dib's cheek. The impact sent Dib through the air, landing harshly and sprawled out on the floor. Groaning, he slowly attempted to pick himself up, but gave up shortly and sunk back into the carpet.

That did it.

With a battle cry, Zim lunged at Chunk, latching onto his neck and knocking him to the ground. The entire lunchroom turned to gape at Zim while he dug his knees into Chunk's ribcage, the room silent except for the gasps of breath the larger boy was making, trying to breath.

"Now listen closely, you worthless piece of Earth filth," Zim snarled, his grip on the humans neck tightening a fraction as Chunk's face started turning red. "Never, under any circumstances, touch or talk to my Dib-beast ever again. Understand?" Still gasping like a trapped fish, the larger human nodded his head vigorously. Content with his response, Zim let go of his neck, getting up off Chunk. Once standing, he grabbed the human's collar, pulling him to his feet. Without a single warning, Zim's fist bashed into his nose with a loud CRACK. Chunk cried out in pain, clutching at his nose, blood running down his face and hand, looking at Zim with an expression of pure, untainted fear. Zim simply gazed sternly back, pointing his finger towards the door.

"Get the hell out of Zim's face."

Without having to be told twice, Chunk ran running towards the door, opening and running through it without hesitation. The entire room turned to stare at the Irken intently, completely shocked. Zim ignored them grinned evilly. Another flawless victory for Zim. He looked down at his glove, noticing a small amount of blood from Chunk's nose. "Ick," Zim stuck out his tongue in disgust. He walked back over to his table, grabbing a napkin off it and wiping his glove off.

"Did you seriously just do that for me?"

Zim jumped a little before turning to face Dib, standing in front of him. He was looking at Zim with the most dumbfounded expression he could pull off. Zim noticed the large bruise starting to form on the boy's cheek. Frowning, he reached into his PAK, and pulled out the bruise lotion he had used the day before, squirting a small amount into his hand before returning it to his PAK. "Hold still," he instructed, grabbing Dib's shoulder and pulling him close as he gently rubbed the lotion into the bruise.

Dib did as he was told, a small blush forming on his cheeks. Of course, Dib had known Zim was violent and extremely possesive, but to go that far for someone like Dib was almost absurd. Zim removed his hand from Dib's shoulder as he finished tending to Dib's bruise. He tool a step away from the human, a small blue blush on his own cheeks.

"Don't get used to it," Zim grumbled, practically reading the boy's thoughts. Dib blinked at the Irken, then smiled appreciatively. Taking a step towards Zim, Dib took ahold of the Irken's head with both of his hands. He tilted the green head down and pressed a light kiss against Zim's forehead.

As soon as he broke away, Zim lifted a hand to his forehead and stumbled back against the table, his whole face a dark shade of blue. Dib chuckled at the sight, causing a growl and a glare to come from Zim.

"Shut your noise tube, Dib."

Zim sat on the steps to Skool outside, holding Dib's gift in his hands tightly, as though he was afraid to drop it. He was watching the student couples as they walked away from the building. Almost all of them were holding hands, but their were a few pairs that had their arms over each other shoulders, pulling each other flesh against flesh. Zim watched them all with fascination, not even noticing the running footsteps coming up behind him or when they abruptly stopped.

"You waited for me?"

Zim jumped, quickly tossing Dib's gift into his PAK before turning to look at the Dib himself. He stood their, an eyebrow raised in amusement. In his hands was the small gift Zim had made him, though he hastily shoved it into his backpack as soon as he caught Zim staring at it. The alien stood up. "There's no real point in Zim just leaving you here while we're under truce, now is there?" Dib shrugged in response. "Yeah, I guess not."

Dib walked down the steps past Zim, somehow missing the glare that was given to him. The Irken ran out in front of him, stopping the human from continuing. He held out his hand, still glaring at the boy. Dib looked at the hand and then at the alien in confusion. "Hold Zim's hand and walk Zim home," he explained. Dib's eyes widened. "Wh-what?" "Well, we're still technically Valentines. Isn't this what Valentines do?" Zim snapped, eyes flicking at his outstretched hand. Dib blinked, before slowly grinning. He reached out his hand and took hold of Zim's wrist, gently letting his fingers run down into Zim's hand before forcing their fingers to intertwine with one another. "Yeah, that's precisely what they do," he answered smugly, tugging Zim along as he continued walking.

The two continued to walk down the road, hand-in-hand. Zim glanced off to the right, then to the left. There was nobody in sight. Sighing with relief, Zim used his free hand to hit a button on his PAK. Instantly, two robot hands came out. The first took off Zim's wig and pulled t back into the PAK, while he second held Zim's contact case. Carefully, the Irken removed his contacts and placed them in the case.

Dib watched him, perplexed. "You're taking off your disguise here?"

"Of course I am. My antennas don't like to be under that stupid hair piece."

"But aren't you afraid of people seeing you?"

"Foolish HYU-man! You seem to forget that your species is practically blind to the obvious and lacks crucial common sense skills." Dib shrugged. He couldn't deny that logic.

Soon after, Dib and Zim arrived at Zim's home base. The two stood at the end of the pathway. Zim removed his hand from Dib's and turned to face him, scratching his head awkwardly. "Well, what do I say here...?" he mumbled. "I guess... your company was very much appreciated toda-"

Zim was unable to finish. Dib had grabbed the Irkens arm again and pulled him into another hug, trapping the Invader arms between them. Zim froze, his face completely flushed. Finally, a low growl emitted from his throat. "What are you doing, Dib-filth?" Dib ignored him and nuzzled his face into his neck, placing a soft kiss on his throat. An involuntary tremble traveled through Zim's frame as his blush grew bluer. He growled again and tried to push the human off him, ultimately failing.

After a few moments, Dib pulled back enough to look into Zim's narrowed, red eyes. "Thank you."

The alien's widened, caught off guard. "What for?"

"So many things. I've never had a Valentine before, male or female, I've never been given a gift before, I've never been able to kiss or hug someone before, and I've definitely never had a person beat the crap out of someone for me," Dib answered softly, pressing his forehead against Zim's. "Yeah, we haven't necessarily acted like the perfect Valentine's Day couple, but overall, this has been an unforgettable day for me. So thank you."

"...You're welcome," Zim finally answered sincerely after a moment. He looked away from Dib's gaze and down at the ground. "And, uh...the same to you, Dib. Zim probably won't forget today either," he added, embarrassed. Dib laughed, causing Zim to puff out his cheeks in fake annoyance, before hugging Zim again. The alien returned the favor, sliding his hands from their trapped position up and around Dib's neck, hugging him back.

"Zim?"

"Yes, Dib-thing?"

"I hope you don't mind, but this is usually the part where we kiss."

Zim pulled back instantly and gaped at Dib, his blush a deep navy blue. Before he could say anything, Dib lifted his hand to Zim's chin, tilting it towards him, causing Zim to lose his words. The human looked at him seriously, but with a slightly questioning look in his eyes. Zim saw it and understood it immediately. He wants to kiss me. Zim stared back into Dib's golden eyes, the wheels in his brain turning. When Dib had kissed Zim on the hand, he had felt sparks from his lips when the connected to his skin. The same feeling happened when Dib had kissed his forehead, only it was stronger. What was weird, however, was that Zim's body acted as though it liked the feeling of Dib's lips on his skin. To hell with acting, Zim knows he liked the feeling! Coming to a decision, Zim tightened his arms around Dib's neck, bringing their faces closer together. Zim let a small smile fall onto his face and nodded at Dib. The human beamed, moving the hand from his chin up to Zim's cheek, causing a small tremor to travel through Zim. At this point, he and Zim's faces were close enough that if Zim had a nose, his and Dib's would be brushing. Heart pounding against his chest, Dib closed his eyes, Zim quickly following, and tilted Zim's head up. With one movement, Dib leaned over and captured Zim's lips with his own.

Sparks flew.

All thoughts of hate and doubt exploded into smithereens. Zim's squeedly spooch lit on fire while Dib's stomach did multiple flips. Gently, Dib pressed harder against Zim's lips, poking at the alien's mouth with his tongue. Hissing pleasurably at the slight sting of the saliva, Zim complied, opening his mouth and letting Dib's tongue explore. His flat, human tongue wasted no time in ravaging his mouth, prodding Zim's thin, ridged one to life. Zim hand made it's way into Dib's hair, grabbing it gently, while his other hand clutched at Dib's trench coat. The hand on Zim's cheek made it's way over to the back of Zim's head while Dib's other hand hooked around the small of Zim's back, pulling him closer. Dib's hand slid over the back of the alien's head until it accidentally came into contact with Zim's antenna. "Mmm!" Zim groaned into Dib's mouth, momentarily surprising him. Gingerly, his fingers glided across Zim's antenna, extracting more moans out of Zim's throat. The Irken's hand gripped Dib's hair tighter while his tongue wrapped around the humans. Moaning himself, the human did the best he could to pull Zim closer against his body.

Eventually, the lack of oxygen was too much of a problem to avoid, and the two broke apart, both panting heavily. Dib let his head rest on Zim's shoulder, his heart thundering hard in his ribcage. "I...I thought you said...you had never experienced that ritual before..." Zim said between his deep breathes. Dib turned his head to look up at Zim. "I hadn't," he replied, slightly confused. Zim growled and pulled up Dib's head to face him, his hand still clasped tightly in his black hair. "You lie. There is no possible way you're telling the truth."

"Why, am I that good?" Dib smirked. Zim's antennas pressed against his skull as he playfully pushed Dib. The human laughed, letting his arms fall off Zim and down to his sides. Zim did the same and the two were left standing there, facing each other, awkwardness falling on them. "So..." Dib started, averting his eyes down to the ground, "I guess I'll go home now..." He turned and was about to start walking away when a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. Perplexed, Dib turned around.

Zim stood there, glaring down at his feet, face blue and his free hand clenched into a fist. He refused to look up at Dib, even when the human sighed in slight annoyance. "Dib-HYU-man," he muttered, practically burning holes into his feet. "Zim...Zim doesn't think he wants to try and destroy you tomorrow." He glanced up at Dib. "In fact..." he paused to grit his teeth, not understanding why saying simple words suddenly became so damn hard. "In fact, I would like to repeat this!" he finally blurted out.

Dib blinked. Did Zim just say...he wants this to happen again? he thought. Smiling, he reached over his free hand and lightly patted Zim's head. "You know, Zim. You're kinda cute when you act like this." Zim snarled, slapping Dib's hand away while releasing his other arm. "The mighty Zim is not KYOOT, stupid worm-baby!" he growled. Dib just laughed and took Zim's hand. Carefully, he removed the glove and kissed the back of his hand as he did that morning. Zim stopped snarling and watched him, a warm feeling filling his squeedily spooch. Dib removed his lips and placed the glove in the Invader's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" he said, smiling. Zim found himself smiling back a little and nodded. Dib beamed. "Alright, see you later...Zimmy." And with that, he turned and started walking away.

"Yes, you shall...Dibby."

The paranormal investigator's entire face flushed dark red as he whipped his head around to face the alien. "Don't call me that!" he yelled, childishly, before turning back around and running away. Zim smirked, turning himself around to face his house. "Even when extremely confused by his own emotions, Zim still wins," he said to himself smugly, snapping his glove back onto his hand before striding up his walkway to his house. His head held high, Zim opened the door, walked in, and closed it, only to immediately trip over the two holes in the floor made by GIR that morning. Growling, Zim pushed his head off the ground and looked up to see the little robot grinning wildly at him. Zim quirked a non-existant eyebrow. "What is it, GIR?"

The robot giggled. "You 'n' Big Head LUUUUUUUUUVE eachoder!"

Zim flushed blue, standing up immediately, glaring furiously at the still grinning robot. "We do NOT!"

"Yes, you doo~."

"No, we DON'T!"

"Then why were ya two makin' out in fron' of 'da base?" GIR asked, pointing his robot hand out the window, signaling where he and Dib stood a few minutes ago. Zim flushed bluer, for the first time lost for words. "You guyses luve eachoder! Admit it! Oooh, 'dis is so KEWL! Just wait till we tell 'da Tallest! They'd be sooo exci-"

"NO, GIR! We will NOT tell the Tallest about this!" Zim screamed hastily. He picked up the robot in his hands and walked over to the couch, dropping GIR onto it. "The Tallests must never know about this! Understand?"

"Aww, but why not?" GIR cried, disappointment evident in his voice. Before he could continue, Zim quickly ran over to the television set, hitting the power button while internally begging his plan to work. Sure enough, almost instantly, Zim was face-to-face with the Scary Monkey he despised. Grumbling about it, Zim turned to look at GIR. The robot was absorbed into the TV show already, completely oblivious to the alien in the room. Mentally patting himself on the back, Zim strode out of the room and into the kitchen elevator, humming contently to himself while pressing the button to his floor.

The elevator binged and the door opened, revealing a purple hallway. Zim was on the unused middle floor, where he couldn't contact the computer by voice command. GIR almost never came up here either. Looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone there, the Irken rushed into one of the rooms, shutting the door and locking it behind him. He looked around and saw that he was in a dark, empty closet with no windows. Relaxing his shoulders, Zim reached into his PAK and pulled out Dib's gift. Sitting on the floor, he pressed the button on the side, grinning happily to himself.

Dib slammed the door to his room, locking it. Gaz was passed out on the couch downstairs and his father wasn't home as usual. Running over to his bed, he shut the (now repaired) window and draped a blanket over it. Shutting off all his computer monitors, Dib was bathed in darkness. Sitting on his bed, Dib dropped his back pack on the floor and pulled out Zim's gift. Placing it gently on the covers, he pressed his thumb against the scanner, waiting for it to beep. As soon as it opened and the holograms popped out, Dib smiled at Zim's hologram, unconsciously poking it with his finger.

"All because of you and your stupid curiosity, Zim," he whispered, laughing to himself.

The End

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^.^