(A/N: I am sorry my friends, I was gone for a bit longer than I expected. Oookay, so I'm glad that people seem to like this story, since I don't really get along with flames all that well, they tend to burn. Jhonen, I'm still sorry. Still ZaDr and I'm not changing that at all. And I definitely still don't own Zim or Dib…or anyone else in this story, yet.)

Chapter 4—Resounding Maybe

"You don't usually indulge Zim's rants Dib. Tell me, why is it that you know so much about these feelings that go along with this practice?" Zim said with a sense of superiority at having observed the oddity. Were he not also busy being concussed there would have been an equally superior look on his face, his new nose upturned with smug satisfaction. But moving his head made him wobbly and he knew that Dib could easily drop him if he didn't do things as politely as possible. So he left it where he had instead of pushing things, his head already hurt, he didn't need it smacked off the pavement again.

"Zim, look…I…" Dib was still bright red as he sat Zim and himself on a park bench. They weren't far from Hi Skool but he felt that he wouldn't be able to face the other students and the rest of the day if Zim was staring at him from across every class pondering the question. Honestly it wasn't that difficult to answer it, why didn't he have a girlfriend? To the kids in Skool it was pretty obvious that he was different, that he had different tastes than most of the students. But differences like homosexuality didn't tend to make you popular, if he was to guess he would say that perhaps there was one lesbian couple in the Skool. They were on the outcast spectrum like Gaz, Zim and Dib.

"This is difficult for Zim to understand. I am still getting used to these human emotions, but you look embarrassed Dib," Zim said, going sympathetic as his head began to throb and ache once more, with renewed vigor. He felt the bruising on his chest more prominently when he leaned back on the bench, and did his best to ignore the pain. Dib was moving his lips slowly, as if trying to reason out what it was that he ought to say to Zim.

"Maybe, a little, I mean, it's not often you have to explain something like this. I am gay Zim, but it's my life and I don't let the brutes at Skool have a say in what I do with it. They shouldn't be messing with you just because I'm your friend," Dib let everything come out rapidly, afraid that if he took too long he would trip over his own words and never be able to say it. He didn't have to admit that it was Zim that made him realize what he felt, or why he felt it, hopefully once they went to College he could find a guy on his own. No part of him wanted to drag Zim down with his problems, not once the semi-Irken had made the effort to act and appear human. It had taken a few years once the changes started to even get Zim to admit that they could be friends, so he didn't want to jeopardize that friendship.

"Oh…Dib does not have a mate?" Zim found himself asking the question before he really knew why. All that he understood was a sense of jealousy and possessiveness maybe fear that he would lose the human. He couldn't comprehend his emotions and without the Pak attached to monitor and filter such reactions he was at a loss. He missed his Pak, and though he still wore it sometimes when he was alone for comfort, he knew that it wasn't a part of him anymore. No, he was more human than Irken, and it wouldn't make sense for the Pak to govern his life anymore, he didn't need it to keep him alive.

"No…I don't. But I wouldn't call them a mate. He'd be a boyfriend Zim; mate makes it sound cold, animalistic. When you love someone and they love you they are your partner, you've got to remember that; you might fall in love one day," Dib said, softly admonishing yet another of his friend's misunderstood concepts. Zim liked to believe that he had a good grasp on human culture and personalities, but he got his information from the internet and often times they used terms that did not apply to everyday life. Dib almost considered it his job to make sure that Zim was not going to offend certain people and, well it made sure that his friend stayed close.

"Zim is better than this love thing, Dib. Zim does not need someone to make him feel like he belongs…"

"Then what are Gaz and I? You treat us like family, and you say we make you feel human. I swear you have a crush on her," Dib felt himself being retaliatory as the thought once again undermined his self-worth. He always worried that Zim was going to fall for Gaz and that he was going to take her away from him, leaving Dib all alone in the world. It was, perhaps irrational, given that Gaz didn't have a bit of interest in Zim, but the human teen couldn't help being afraid of the truth.

"You talk of the family kind of love, yes? I can understand that, and you are like Zim's family, though he is still learning how to have one. But Zim does not feel this romantic love as humans call it. Zim has no one to love in that way. And Zim most certainly does not feel this sort of love for Gaz. Dib, you are worried about me?" Zim turned his head to see the bespectacled teen beside him, it hurt but that didn't bug him. "Why? It is yourself that you should worry about. If you know what sort of love it is that you are looking for then you should find it. Zim does not know, so he cannot look," Zim explained, patting Dib on the shoulder confidently. He smiled through the pain and allowed himself to faint once more.

(A/N: Well, reviews are love. I hope you liked it. I never do very well with Zim's speech pattern and working emotions into his personality is difficult. Sorry for ending it like I did, but I should be back with another chapter soon.)