Dib pulled away. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, Josh. When I'm alone with a gorgeous guy, I kind of loose all self-control."
She wrapped her arms around Dib's neck and kissed him again. This time Dib has no where to back up. The under-padded arm of the couch dug into his back. He tried to push her away, but she was more determined than ever. With one huge shove he sent her flying to the other side of the couch.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I get a little carried away, I guess."
"A little?" Dib said, raising an eyebrow.
"I know. I'm so sorry. Would you like a cup of coffee?" She said, stiffly standing up and walking to the kitchen.
"Um... sure, I guess."
She boiled some water and dropped a few spoonfuls of instant coffee mix into some mugs she pulled out of the sink. She didn't say anything to Dib except to ask how he liked his coffee. She sat the mug in front of him and sat as far from him on the couch as possible. Holding her mug right in front of her face, trying to avoid looking at him.
Dib took a sip of his coffee. It was too bitter, and yet there was a taste as if she added too much sugar. Jane had stayed quiet except for slurping on her coffee. Dib felt kind of bad for her. She looked like she was feeling so sad that he pushed her away.
"Jane," Dib said, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."
"It's OK. I understand," She said, saying every sentence as quickly as she could.
"I'm just not used to people caring like that." Dib leaned back, crossing his arms tightly under his chest.
"You've never been kissed before?" Jane said, wide eyed.
"Not really. I'm the crazy kid. No one even wanted to get close to me."
"I want to get close to you," Jane said, inching closer to Dib. She didn't try to kiss him again, but she pressed herself close by his side.
"It's just that this whole day has been really overwhelming. One second I'm escaping an alien space ship, and the next I have more friends than I've ever had in my life and you're trying to kiss me. It feels as if my head is blowing up."
"I understand," Jane said, carefully wrapping an arm over Dib's shoulder.
"It's just so much so soon."
"I know. I'm sorry. I guess I should have realized you need time to adjust."
Dib nodded. "I'm glad you understand. I'm just not used to all of this, you know?"
Jane gave him a hug, nuzzling her head into his chest. "Yeah, I know."
She stayed cuddled up to him for a while. Dib slowly started to hug her back. He set an arm over her shoulders. He never realized how warm another human being was. He pulled her a little closer, and she happily squeezed him tighter. She felt so nice next to him.
One time, when he was younger, he filled up a hot water bottle and cuddled up with it to feel better when no one would even acknowledge him. He always thought that it was like what holding another human being would feel like. But feeling of Jane holding him was better than any hot water bottle.
"Josh," Jane said so softly it was almost a whisper, "It's getting a little late. I really need to go home soon."
"So, does that mean you're leaving now?" Dib asked.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"Not really."
"You're really nice to be with, Josh, you know that?"
"Not until now."
"It's so sad that people were mean to you. You're such a smart, nice, handsome, guy. It's their loss that they didn't take the time to see that."
She looked up. Her eyes bore into his head, it was almost like she could see all of his thoughts, and she wasn't scared of them. It was a comfort, but at the same time it terrified him. What if she started seeing something she didn't like? Would he have to count one of the first friends he's ever had in his life as one of the many people who hated him?
"Josh," She said, her eyes fluttering, "I know you're probably still overwhelmed with everything that has been happening and I know you're probably scared. But..." She leaned in closer, "I really do have trouble controlling myself around someone as wonderful as you." She was so close she was already kissing him already. "And I really want to kiss you."
As soon as she finished her sentence, Dib kissed her. She pushed herself into his lips and started kissing harder than he was. He thought that it was just going to be a gentle kiss, but she seemed too enthusiastic. He almost wanted to push away from her. But he had already pushed her away once, and he didn't want to make her feel bad. He didn't want to ruin anything.
Jane pulled away for a quick breath, "How are you feeling?"
"Umm... OK, I guess."
"Good," She said, kissing him again.
Whenever Dib wasn't preoccupied with following Zim, he would wonder what these sorts of things really felt like. Kissing was a little different than he imagined it would. It wasn't completely unpleasant but it was wet and weird feeling. There was the slight taste of extra sweet coffee on her tongue as she snuck it into his mouth, which made the kiss feel even weirder.
After she pulled away for another breath, Dib took the opportunity to wipe all the spit off his mouth and get up. He grabbed the coffee mugs to put them back into the kitchen. He just wanted a little break before kissing again. It wasn't that he hated it, but he didn't need to be kissing all the time and the coffee would stain the cups of they weren't washed out.
Just outside the kitchen, there was a small breakfast table with four chairs crammed under it. The table sat under a dirty window. As Dib walked past it, he saw something green move past it and duck out of sight. He sat the cups down on the table and tried to see what it was, but the green blur was already gone. Dib wondered why Zim was following him so much.
Dib left the cups on the table and walked back to Jane. In the corner of his eye he could see that Zim was in the window again. It was sort of weird having Zim follow him around like this. It was usually Dib who did all the sneaky watching, but at least back then Dib had a reason for it. Why was Zim so interested in following him?
Jane watched Dib the entire time. An eyebrow was raised a little higher than needed as Dib sat back down.
"Is everything alright?" Jane asked.
"Oh, yeah." Dib said slowly.
"You know, Josh, if there is something that's bothering you, we don't have to keep going."
"I'm fine."
Jane leaned in to kiss him again, then she pulled back. "As much as I want to go on, I don't want to ruin things again."
"I'm fine," Dib repeated.
"No, I think I should go."
She got up to leave, but Dib grabbed her wrist and pulled her down and started kissing her. She kept trying to stand up, but Dib just stood up with her. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. Dib hoped that this would show her that everything was fine.
His eyes opened a little and he could see Zim at the window again. Even against the dirt clouded window, Dib could see that Zim was pressing his face against the window while his fingers dig against the glass, making the faintest trails from the dirt on the outside being scraped off. It felt so weird being watched like that. How is it that so much has changed in a day?
Not only is he free of his father, but he's finally getting back to his original paranormal investigating rather than being the hero of Earth. He actually has friends who like him for him, despite the fact that they've only been with him for a day and think his name is Josh, but he can tell that all the things he loved, they love as well. And not only does he have friends, he has a girl who is kissing him. And now that his Zim hunting days are over, it seems that Zim has started following him. It's like he had fallen into an alternate universe where down is up, and everyone wants to be with Dib.
Trying to go over all the things that have suddenly changed in his life was making Dib dizzy. He pulled away from Jane to catch his breath and make sure his head wasn't spinning around on his shoulders like he was in some sort of cartoon or the Exorcist.
"I'm sorry, maybe I'm still a little overwhelmed," Dib said, rubbing his eyes. Not because they were sore, but it made him feel better.
"Don't worry about it. We have as long you want to get this sorted out." She patted his shoulder.
"Thank you, for, you know, actually liking me."
"It's no problem. You're a very likable person."
"Yeah," Dib said slowly, still not quite believing that someone would actually say something like that to him.
Jane leaned over to look out the window. Dib followed her gaze, thinking that she might have seen Zim, but the window was empty, just the dark night.
"Do you mind walking me to the bus stop? There are a lot of crazies at this time of night."
"Bus? Didn't you tell Japlin you were taking a taxi?"
"Yeah, well, I just realized I didn't have money for a taxi, so I'm taking the bus."
"OK, I guess."
Jane found the keys to the apartment for Dib, and led the way to the bus stop. She managed to keep to herself as they waited for the bus to come. It took a long time. So long that Dib started to think that the buses weren't running anymore, but eventually the bus rolled up to the stop. The buses looked a little different than the ones back home. Back home they had been replaced with super sleek and fast buses his father made. But these were still the boxy shaped buses he remembered as a kid.
"Thank you for coming," Jane said as she got on the bus. She leaned over and gave Dib a kiss on the cheek. Even though he had been kissing her for a bit earlier, this kiss was just so sudden, it made him blush. "I'll see you tomorrow."
The bus doors closed and the bus drove away. Dib stood there until the bus was out of sight, and then his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed on the bench. It was so quiet as he sat there. There wasn't a sound except for the rantings of a hobo that danced down street with a coat rack. Dib sighed and leaned back. A smile couldn't be kept off his face. He almost felt like giggling that he had kissed someone.
When the hobo started screaming at a tuna can, and throwing off his glasses to battle it, Dib decided it was time to leave. He looked up at the sky. He sort of hoped he would be able to see some stars, but all he could see were clouds. It looked like it was going to rain tonight. Dib always loved the smell of rain, mostly because he knew it meant that Zim was trapped under whatever shelter he could find.
Dib laughed as he remembered all the times he and Zim had been in the rain. The first time Zim had seen rain, which prompted Dib to create a water balloon sling shot. It would have worked too, if Zim hadn't fought back with a water balloon half the size of the county. Or that time a few years later when he caught Zim under a tree when it started raining. Zim couldn't get away and resorted to using the lasers in his pak. Dib felt a little bad he didn't see it coming, but the lasers took out the tree and Zim ended up running away screaming. That was a great victory.
Dib chuckled a bit at the memories. But he also remembered how draining it was to chase Zim and how lonely it was that there was no one else to fight with. He was glad that all of that was over and that things have finally turned around in his favor. It was about time too. Dib felt like laughing as he realized that this was just the beginning of a better and easier life.