Next chappie. And I have nothing to say. :3


" At last... "

The man said darkly, his gloved finger tracing along the windshield of his beautiful aircraft.

" At last it is complete... "


" So Mantha, I've been meaning to ask you. "

Zeke said softly, a harsh pink blush crossing his face. It would've been blue had he not been wearing his disguise...

The two were on a walk around the park right now, just the two of them, and Zeke was going to say something that had been on his mind for quite some time now. The only reason it was just the two of them right now is because Casper, Thatch, Richard and Jimmy were already out on a walk around Deedstown, and Zeke had admitted he didn't like traveling around the town alone. Made him paranoid even. But this was only part of the reason he'd invited Mantha. No, there was another, much more personal reason behind him asking her specifically out here today.

The zombie girl in question turned to him, obviously oblivious to the alien's current distress. She decided to sit down on the park bench, motioning for Zeke to sit beside her. With a nervous gulp, the Novian complied, twiddling his thumbs as he tried to figure out what to say. He wanted to make sure he said the right thing... one false move, and it was game over... Mishelle and Melody had given him tips how to do this, but as usual, the twins both had very separate ideas. Mishelle said to wow her, while Melody said to just be himself. Be himself, but be sweet too. Now the question of how to do it remained.

Zeke took a deep breath, sighing in an attempt to remain calm.

" Mantha... we're friends, right? "

He asked gently causing the zombie girl to look at him with soft confusion. Why was he asking her this? Was he doubtful of their friendship like Thatch was? Well then again Thatch was a bit of an exception, as everyone once portrayed him as a bully. But Zeke was NOT an exception. So why would he e asking her this?... Was she this intimidating amongst her friends that they had to question their friendship with her?! ' Calm down... ' She told herself softly. ' Who knows? This might lead up to something else. '

" Of course we are Zeke. "

Mantha finally responded, trying to sound 100% confident in her answer. If she even sounded a single percent unsure, then it would only upset the alien.

" Why do you ask? "

" Uh, well, "

Zeke stuttered, his blush growing brighter and he began running a hand through his hair.

" You see... I've, eh, been thinking a lot lately, and I, um, r-realized some stuff. Like... well... remember the night I found out I was a vessel? "

Of course she did. Zeke had been so upset... he'd run off and when she found him, he was freezing half to death, and was fighting his emotions. She easily remembered that night...


Flashback


Hearing a strange sound, almost like a sob, Mantha quickly got to her feet, confused beyond belief. Was that Zeke? And if it was, was he crying? Walking a bit further, trying to find the sound, she soon found it. There, sitting inside a caves opening was Zeke. The Novian was sitting on a rock, shivering violently and tightly gripping the sides of his head. Filled with concern, Mantha immediately rushed inside, quickly catching the others attention.

Turns out Zeke wasn't crying, but judging by his sparkling eyes and sad facial expression, he wanted to. But the violent shaking seemed like it was coming from a different source, like it wasn't because of his emotions. Mantha carefully sat on her knees, right in front of the alien, smiling softly. She really just hoped she could help him.

" Zeke, are you alright? "

She asked calmly, and softly. The softly reason was because the Novian's antenna were twitching, and she figured he heard through his antenna. Maybe they were sensitive right now. Zeke shook him head swiftly and began to scrub his tender eyes before looking at her as if she were crazy.

" Yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? "

' Oh great. ' Mantha thought in minor irritation. ' He's putting up a front. This better not be just because I'm a girl. ' As much as she wanted to pop the alien, she knew she couldn't. One, this was a delicate situation. Two,she had to stay on his good side. And three, the Novian could EASILY crush her. And she knew this. He only HAD super strength.

" Well... "

Mantha started, trying to keep calm.

" You were just told you have an ancient demon in your soul. "

" O-oh yeah! That! "

Zeke laughed shakily.

" Yeah, no big deal! I-I'm great! "

Ugh... wow... this was just SAD. Maybe Mantha SHOULD get tough. After all, Zeke was being kinda stupid right now. Huffing harshly, the zombie girl glared down the alien, crossing her arms.

" Ok, cut the crap man. "

She hissed, shocking the alien harshly.

" Wh-what? "

" There's OBVIOUSLY something wrong here. Just spill it already! "

" Don't yell at me! "

Zeke hissed back. Just then a harsh, cold wind blew through the cave, getting the little alien to shiver violently, eyes clenched shut and arms gripping the other arm. Mantha frowned lightly, placing her fingers gemtly against his pale cheeks, immediately pulling them back.

" You're freezing! "

" Y-yeah... "

He confirmed lightly, eyes opening again and showing the girl how honest he was trying to be.

" This planets much colder than mine... since my people can't produce our own body temperatures, w-we try to keep our planet nice and toasty. B-but this... w-way to cold. "

Mantha frowned, realizing what she had to do. And if she didn't, then there would be a strong chance Zeke could get sick. Slowly, very begrudgingly, the zombie girl wrapped her arms around the shuddering alien, to which Zeke sat ridged to. He didn't object, however, his face turned bright blue upon contact.

" U-u-uhhhh... "

Zeke muttered, worrying Mantha by the action. She almost feared she'd gone to far, but was at least happy to find that Zeke stopped shivering.

" Th-thank you... "

" No worries. "

The two remained silent for a bit, Mantha almost worried she wouldn't be able to get Zeke to talk. After all, it seemed like he was dead set against talking about it. Although... she couldn't just quit either.

" So, uh, can I ask what you DO think about all this? "

Zeke looked down, eyes starting to sparkle in sadness returning to his eyes again. Worse, a light purple liquid even began to outline the bottom of them. The alien clenched his eyes shut and turned away from the other. And that's when Mantha understood. He was upset to the point of tears, and yet, he didn't want to cry. Hell, he was forcing himself NOT to cry even. And Mantha couldn't help but feel insulted. Was he trying not to cry just because she was a girl?!

" Why won't you cry Zeke? "

She said softly, trying not to hiss at him.

" I-I'm not gonna cry! "

Zeke hissed, covering his eyes with his left arm.

" I'm a strong, brave Novian soldier! Soldiers don't cry! "

' So that's it-! ' She thought, truly amazed at the Novian's true thoughts. ' It's a sign of weakness on his planet! He's afraid that if he cries, it'll bring his people shame. ' To be honest, she found this much more noble. If it was just a masculine thing, then she might've flipped out. But it was because he was afraid, and trying to remain brave. It was actually quite admirable.

Smiling, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, Mantha quickly got his attention.

" Zeke, you need to get it out of your system. "

She explained calmly.

" If you don't, it won't go away. And there's a good chance you could have a mental breakdown in front of EVERYONE! Do you really want that to happen? "

Zeke gasped, sitting up ridged. As if this thought terrified him to no end. Finally, Zeke let go, and his purple tears fell like rain. Mantha pulled back slightly at the sudden movement, but carefully hugged him tighter. After all... it was all she could think of. Besides, it looked like it was helping.

" Th-thank you Mantha... "

Zeke whimpered, slowly hugging her back.

" C-could you, um, maybe, NOT tell anyone I was c-crying? "

Mantha giggled slightly at Zeke's adorableness before hugging him tighter.

" No problem buddy. "


" Yeah... I remember... "

Mantha responded faintly, looking at the alien boy again, who was blushing brighter now.

" Why do you ask Zeke? "

Zeke looked down at the hands folded in his lap, biting his lower lip gently.

" Well... ever since then, I've been having these... feelings... and... "

Mantha felt herself blush, feeling like she knew where this was going. If it was... then was Zeke really about to confess his feelings for her? Did he really have FEELINGS for her?! She blushed even further when she felt the boy gently clasp both of her hands with his own.

" I-it's just... nobody's ever cared about me like that before, a-and it felt... amazing... that someone as beautiful and kind as you could care about someone like me... "

The zombie girl felt her heart would've skipped a beat had she had a heart beat at all. But at least she could feel it filling up with a warm, unusual feeling. Something she once felt for her pen-pal Frankie. Was she... was she in love with Zeke...?

" I... I was wondering- i-if you wouldn't mind... if you would like to, um... "

Mantha smiled brightly, trying not to laugh to spare the alien his feeling. And his pride... Flash he had such a massive pride... she didn't think he was stupid to do this- heck her heart was fluttering at the thought of him confessing his feelings to her. She just thought that seeing him this flustered was adorable. He was usually so sure of himself. She watched as Zeke took another deep breath before looking into her eyes.

" Go... out? "

Mantha found herself blushing furiously at this, unknowingly locking the alien into a hug. She felt the boy cringe before he eventually hugged her back. And they stayed this way for a while before they pulled back, leaning their foreheads together as their hands intertwined. Soon, after a few minutes of simply looking into each others eyes, their eyes closed gently and they leaned in for a kiss.

Neither of them noticed the figure bolting from the park with his friends chasing after him nervously. Or the fact that they were being watched by someone else, not amongst the group of friends that had just bolted off.

" I found him... "

The man muttered, his pierced antennae lowering greatly.

" And he's got a little girlfriend now as well... this might just prove to be in my favor... "


Casper slowly walked over to Thatch's coffin, finding said vampire sitting on top of the lid, his face buried in his hands. He looked... miserable, to say the least.

Casper had just returned to Scare School not too long ago after chasing after Thatch. He still had yet to learn why Thatch suddenly took off like that, or how he'd managed to run so fast when he was still recovering. If anything, however, Thatch has currently breathing heavily, so at least Casper knew he might've been able to catch up to him had Thatch not been sprinting like that.

The ghost took a brief moment to regain his own breath before he slowly approached the vampire, careful, as not to startle the poor guy. A loose floor board creaked below him, causing the vampire to jump and let out an aggravated groan, his head throwing back considerably.

" JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! "

Thatch yelled, his head snapping back down to notice the shocked, and slightly hurt looking Casper. The ghost in question felt his lips tug into a frown before taking a few steps back.

" ... I-I'm sorry... "

Casper whispered, turning and heading towards the door.

" ... I'm sorry Casper... "

The ghost froze at the doorway, slowly turning to see how upset Thatch truly looked right now. It looked like he was even upset for yelling at the ghost in the first place. Clearly he hadn't meant to, or hadn't even known it was him.

" I... I just... I-I... "

Casper blinked sadly, any previous hurt leaving and was being replaced with pure concern again. Slowly he sat beside Thatch on the coffin, waiting for him to explain himself. As he waited, he looked down, and almost instantly noticed a soft red color at the other's wrist. ' Oh no... ' He thought sadly, realizing what the other had done. ' At least... it doesn't seem that bad this time... '

" ... Thatch, what's wrong? "

Casper asked, almost afraid of the answer. Yet Thatch never gave him one. So instead, he began to think of what could've set him off in the first place. He had been fine until they got to the park. And then they saw Zeke and Mantha... ooooh... now he got it...

Why hadn't he seen it sooner? Thatch always acted a little different around Mantha... he blushed, he never looked her in the eye,... it was so obvious now...

" ... It's Mantha, isn't it? "

He watched as Thatch cringed, knowing he'd been right.

" I... I've liked her for a long time now... "

Thatch confessed, shuddering and bringing his knees close.

" But back when I realized it, I was a bully... and knew I wouldn't ever have a shot with her... even when I became nice again, the fear of her rejecting me for everything I did held me back... F-Fatch tried to get me to confess, but... I... I couldn't bring myself to do it. And... now... i-it's too late... "

Casper frowned, his heart truly going out to the vampire right now. He knew this us the been really hard on him right now... if Thatch really DID like her for that long, this had to be rough on him. Upon seeing the vampires eyes tearing up, he brought the other into a hug, hoping to calm him down. After all... he didn't know what he could tell the poor vampire to make him feel better.


Poor Thatchy... see you guys tomorrow.