It grips my chest with such ferocity that it knocks the air out of me, again and again. The pressure forces tears down my cheeks in large streams, and yet I am not in pain. My stomach churns as I grimace, sobs finding their way out of my throat. This feeling is relentless, and it grips my chest with its fiery claws, digging deeper and deeper into my cavity; into my being. I can feel my face contorting more as my cries become more frequent and forceful. My whole body is shaking now.
I feel as though I am floating in a vast emptiness.
I cannot tell where I am going, or if I am moving at all. I am suspended darkness, curled into myself as this feeling shakes me, uprooting everything I had once believed in. I can feel my stomach reject me in violent fits, causing me to grip my sides in an attempt not to get sick.
I feel as though I am falling apart at the seams.
I feel as though I am floating in a vast emptiness.
I wish I could understand why I am this way; why I can't seem to just be like everybody else. I curse myself. I hate myself; I hate being this way, I hate being the only one who cares. Why did you have to be here? Of all places, of all people; why you? The tears do not stop, and I cry, knowing nobody can hear me. I wish I could sink into myself and hide. This burning, iron gripped feeling won't ebb away, no matter how much I beg it to. I don't want to feel this way anymore. I can feel the emptiness start to move its way into me, and I can feel myself begin to surrender to it. Surrender to the familiar, twisted faces of my past. Surrender to the immeasurable ridicule I have received in my life. Surrender to the failure of succumbing to the cosmic emptiness.
I surrender to you.
I am floating in emptiness.
Nothing all around me. I can no longer feel the sobs tearing out from inside me, but the tears still flow out of me in a steady tempo. This feeling has clasped down on my heart, and I feel myself burn from the inside out.
Soon I will be nothing but ash.
Floating in nothingness.
Suddenly, I feel your arms snake around me. I feel you pull me into that familiar, slender form. You say nothing as my head rests against your warm chest, the alien fabric a welcome sensation against my cheek. Your gloved claws release me from the white-hot grip that has enveloped my heart in one easy motion. The emptiness flows out of me, and I can feel it be replaced as you hold me close.
Warmth.
I can feel the solid ground beneath me; I can feel myself kneeling before you as you hold me. You caught me when no one else would; you held me when I was sinking into myself and you brought me back. Your warm, soft touch replaces all the fear and emptiness in me, time and time again. Your voice washes over me, and I can only cry as listen to you, my savior. I grip you tightly, afraid of you letting me go, afraid that if you do, I will float away again. I take in your warmth; your solidity.
You caught me when no one else would.
You are silent as I choke out your name between the sobs that tear their way out of me.
I am thankful.
You have seen me at my breaking point, and yet you do not turn away. I look up into those endless, burning, magenta eyes that are soft as they look down at me. I can feel my home is in those eyes.
I feel your gloved claws cup my face gently.
"Dib-Stink," You say, and I feel myself melt with the familiar formality you've come to address me as. Your voice sends, not necessarily unpleasant, chills over me. "Don't give up." You continue. "I need you."
And I know that I am where I belong. I know, with those welcoming words, that no matter how much the world around us shuns me, I have a home in your arms.
I was floating in a vast, unfeeling emptiness.
And you caught me.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope it wasn't too confusing at first whose POV it was in.
This is my first ZADR fanfic, so I hope it was ok. Let me know if you want more! I have some ideas for some longer stories, but I don't want to write them if nobody will read 'em!
Also, DISCLAIMER: I do know own Invader Zim. All rights go to their respected owners.