Dib wasn't sure when it happened, but it did.
He and Keef had become, well, friends in 8th grade, however, just after their 9th grade year; Keef had left on a summer vacation with his parents and little brother, Meef…
When he came back on the first day of Skool, he had changed.
Dib was sitting in science class when he first noticed it. Keef had walked in, sat down, and got to work without jumping all over the place. There was no over-excited 'Hello!' or anything. The raven frowned and moved to sit next to the ginger.
"Hey, Keef... What's up?"
Keef jumped a little, turned to Dib, and then smiled gently, almost shyly, "H-Hello, Dib… How was your summer?"
Dib pouted a bit, "My summer was boring… What about yours?"
"I went on a trip with my family. Why was yours boring?"
"Well, it started with Gaz…"
They ended up talking throughout the entire class, verbally and by passing notes. Dib smiled as they got to know more about each other, until class ended.
"Ugh… What do you have next?"
Keef held his books to his chest and looked down, "Gl-Global History…"
"Really? Who's your teacher?"
"Ms. Grotesque…"
Dib smiled wide, making Keef blush faintly, "We have Global together… Do you have Math with Mrs. Bitters' husband after that?"
A slight nod.
"Awesome."
They went through the rest of the school day in all the same classes, Zim and Tak having not been in Skool all day long. Dib had invited Keef over to his house afterwards and was happy when the shorter boy agreed.
They walked to the Membrane house, chatting the entire way. He set his arm of the ginger's shoulders, which received no objection as they continued on. When they arrived, Dib took Keef's books and bag, putting them away with his own.
"Hey, Keef… How about you pick out a movie or something? I'll buy us some pizza..."
"N-No... I couldn't…" he stammered, looking at his feet and blushing as he wrung his hands behind his back.
"Hey! It's my treat, don't be shy~..." he teased, waving a pizza delivery menu from the kitchen.
"O-Ok..."
"What kind of pizza?"
"I-I like any kind... Why don't you pick?"
"Awesome, now go pick a movie…" Dib smiled and called the pizza joint.
In half an hour, they were on the couch watching Stardust as they nommed on pizza.
In another half hour, Dib's arm was around Keef's shoulders. Keef gently rest his head on Dib's shoulder, snuggling up to him a bit in the dark room as the movie continued. The smaller boy's hands were folded on his lap as he tried to watch the movie.
Ten minutes later, Dib's cheek was pressed to the plush, ginger curls, his arm curling around Keef as the movie continued.
By the end of the movie, Dib had fallen sleep, his arms holding Keef in such a way he couldn't escape, even if he wanted to. He gave in, without even trying to move, and snuggled against Dib again. He smiled gently, blushing faintly.
"Th-Thanks, Dib…" he whispered. "I-I like you, a lot…" he hoped the raven didn't hear and hoped he was really asleep. Then he leaned in and pressed a butterfly kiss on Dib's cheek. Blushing harder now, he glanced away, then looked back to kiss Dib's lips before using his arm as a pillow.
In the morning, Gaz went downstairs to find her brother and a ginger, 'Oh, damn, What's his name?', cuddling on the couch, fast asleep. She shrugged and grabbed the last of their pizza, walking away like she didn't see anything.