Edit:
Just updating chapters :) Enjoy this error-free-ish chapter!
Zim helped Gaz take the ship home, teaching her how to operate it despite her protests to figure it out herself. When they flew it back to her house, Zim explained how she could cloak it so Dib wouldn't see it and freak out. Gaz nodded and hid it in their backyard, planning to unveil it to Dib later on.
"Thanks." Gaz said coldly, walking with him to the front of the house.
"Eh, whatever human. I wanted to get rid of it anyway." Zim lied.
"So when do you want the favor or whatever?"
"I will choose the date of when your favor will be necessary, little-Gaz, don't you worry about that." He said as he smirked, showing off his zipper-like teeth.
"Stop calling me that, Zim, or I swear you'll regret it." Gaz threatened, tightening her fists.
"Eh? Calling you what? Zim is great at calling people things! Why you're complaining?" Zim asked, placing his hands on his hips confidently.
"Just call me Gaz. Not Gaz-human or Dib-sister. Just Gaz. It's getting on my nerves."
"Fine, Zim accepts this condition… Gazzz." Zim said, drawing out her name for emphasis.
"Whatever, Zim." Gaz sighed, entering her house as Dib walked down the stairs to the kitchen, suddenly seeing Zim outside.
"Hey! Is that Zim?" Dib asked angrily, pushing Gaz out of the way. Gaz growled, but stayed back, curious to see what would happen since the pair hadn't seen each other in months.
"Ah, if it isn't the Dib-stink. Hello, human." Zim greeted, narrowing his eyes while smiling.
"What the hell are you doing here? Why were you talking to Gaz?" Dib demanded, closing the door slightly so Gaz was kept out of sight from the alien.
"Hmm, I find it interesting how you only take an interest in what I do when it involves your sister…"
"Don't do anything stupid Zim, I'm warning you. If you even think about going near her I won't hesitate to do what I've been meaning to do for a long time."
"And what is that Dib-worm?"
"Exposing you to the world as the alien you are!"
"Oh, I highly doubt that. It's taken you this long and still, no one believes you. I doubt anything you plan could actually work against a superior Irken soldier."
"Can you even call yourself Irken after your own race abandoned you? Huh?" Dib jabbed. His question made Zim's face darken. From behind the door, Gaz could tell that her brother had struck a nerve.
"How dare you say that." Zim growled, glaring at Dib. However, Dib held his ground.
"Stay away from me and my sister, or I won't hold back, Zim. I mean it."
"Oh, you too have been warned human! You try to fuck with me, and you very well know I could destroy your entire planet at any moment."
"So why haven't you? Huh, spaceboy?"
"Oh, you're just asking for it now!" Zim spat back, clenching his fist, raising it to throw a punch. Dib backed off, not wanting to get into a full-on fist fight. Zim scoffed. "That's what I thought. Don't start something you can't finish."
Dib glared as Zim flipped him off before walking back towards his base. Dib slammed the door and began muttering curses to himself before turning his attention back to Gaz.
"You stay the fuck away from him, you hear?"
"Shut up, Dib. I don't take orders from you." Gaz retorted, heading up to her room.
"I mean it Gaz, he can't be trusted. He's a wild-card now that he doesn't have an agenda. Zim could take over the Earth at any minute." Dib followed her up.
"Really? Then why did you stop stalking him for two months?" Gaz asked rhetorically before slamming her bedroom door.
"Because I thought he was depressed and would have left the Earth by now!" Dib called back, kicking the door.
Gaz sighed as she laid down on her bed, pulling out her new Game Slave 2, since Dib broke her old one a while ago. She wished she could have seen a fist fight between Zim and Dib, but she knew Dib was too chicken-shit to actually go through with it.
Gaz also began to wonder what Zim's favor would end up being. Hopefully it was something simple like her babysitting Gir for a night or doing some of his homework. Gaz didn't mind helping other people with their homework since some harder subjects, like science and math, came easy to her.
Later that evening Gaz found herself oddly stricken with boredom. After watching some bad television and going through a bag of popcorn, Gaz heard the painful noise of social media coming from her brother's bedroom. Screams and loud music could be heard which meant that someone from their school was throwing a party and posting about it.
Gaz thought back to her conversation with Keef and how he had invited her to come to his party. She had gone to a few before, but most of them were pretty boring. However, based on the noise from her brother's phone and the fact that Keef was the only person she knew he followed that was throwing a party… maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to go.
Was Gaz really this bored? Didn't she have better things to do? After a moment of thought, Gaz decided against her better judgement to go to Keef's party out of sheer boredom and the appeal of free alcohol.
Not long after she announced that she was leaving, Dib asked if he could come too and while normally Gaz would say no, she couldn't help but feel nervous about going to a party by herself. She still assumed the worst in guys at her school and didn't want to be caught off guard or have no one there to take her home. Gaz could tell Dib was excited by this as he raced to his room to get ready.
Gaz got ready too, pulling on black ripped jeans and a dark blue tube top with a denim jacket. She redid her eyeliner and put on a pair of black combat boots. After admiring herself in the mirror, Gaz headed downstairs where Dib was waiting and the two siblings took off in Dib's car. Dib hated the taste of alcohol so he wasn't planning on drinking that night which meant Gaz could get super fucked up if she wanted to.
When they pulled up to Keef's house, the siblings could hear music blasting from inside. There were a few kids on his front lawn, smoking and talking amongst themselves. Dib parked the car and they walked up to the house. Dib looked slightly intimidated by the kids loitering on the front porch, but when Gaz gave them an intimidating look back, they averted their gaze from the pair.
Gaz led the way inside, music blaring as she entered the crowded house. Beer cans, cups, and garbage were strewn about the floor where drunken teenagers were either dancing or waiting in a ridiculously long line for the bathroom. Gaz inched her way through the crowd with Dib close behind, holding onto her arm so they didn't get separated. Once they were past the entryway, Gaz saw the DJ at the back of the large living room which had been converted into a dance floor of sorts. Everyone was dancing in this room as the 'DJ', who was a kid Gaz recognized from her English class, played a remix of a popular song.
Dib let go of her arm as he noticed a pretty girl, who was in one of his classes, nearby without a drink in her hand.
"I'll be right back, Gaz." Dib said quickly, running to the kitchen area where people were pouring drinks. Gaz knew he wouldn't come back, at least not for a while, so she decided to go find Keef. Luckily, it wasn't too hard to find him when he jumped up on the raised platform next to the DJ. Gaz pushed her way through the sea of drunk teens until she finally made it to the stage.
"Hey!" Gaz called up, tugging on Keef's pant leg.
"Oh, shit! Gaz you actually showed up!" Keef called down, jumping off the platform and hugging her. "I don't think I've ever seen you at a party before."
"Yeah well, don't get used to it. I got bored." Gaz replied, crossing her arms.
"Don't we all. Can I get you a drink?" Keef asked, noticing Gaz's empty hands.
"Sure." Gaz replied coolly despite drinking being one of the only real reasons she actually came. Gaz typically hated parties, preferring to stay home and play video games, but when it came to alcohol, Gaz was always up for drinking. She liked letting go of her stress and anxieties for one night. She wanted to forget her pain and start trusting men again, even if it wasn't real trust. She liked getting to that drunken state where she felt like nothing could hurt her. When she was drunk she could talk to anyone or dance to any song without feeling judged. It was liberating.
Keef handed Gaz a beer. She looked at it and smirked.
"My brother's the designated driver tonight. You got anything stronger?"
Keef chuckled at this. "I'm assuming vodka? I think I have some lemonade and orange juice in the fridge if you want to mix it."
Gaz smiled and followed Keef to his fridge where he pulled out the juices. Then he turned to the pantry where he pulled out a giant thing of vodka. Gaz's eyes widened.
"Don't drink too much of the stuff, you'll be puking for hours. Trust me." Keef warned. Gaz rolled her eyes. She'd had it a billion times before, not that she hadn't had her bad moments with it, but at this point she knew how much she could drink.
"Thanks Keef, I got it." Gaz replied, taking the bottle from him to pour a little bit of it into a cup before dumping lemonade on top. Keef smirked.
"I'll see you out there."
Gaz nodded, taking a sip of her drink. It was pretty strong, but she drank it anyways.
An hour or so had gone by and Gaz was feeling pretty hammered. She was still able to somewhat make conversation, but that was about it. She found herself talking to pretty much everyone at the party. When she danced, she allowed guys to grind on her, forgetting all about her fears. However, that all went away when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Gaz spun around only to find herself face to face with Jake.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you at a party." Jake teased. His hair was messy. He wore a green bomber jacket over a thin white tank top which showed off his toned body.
"Fuck off Jake." Gaz spat, turning away.
"Look I'm really sorry about last semester…" Jake started, gripping her arm and turning her around to face him again, "but I don't like dating the girls I hook up with. If you're easy… there's no point. I didn't even have to ask, yet you still put out for me, so if anyone took advantage of anyone, it was you."
Gaz ripped her arm away angrily, tears forming in her eyes.
"You still look hot though. I didn't lie about that when I took you to the dance. I like a girl who's a little thick." Jake complimented, even though it was implying her weight. Suddenly Gaz lost her balance and leaned on Jake's chest for support. Jake chuckled.
"Hey, let's go somewhere more quiet so you can sober up, for old times sake." He suggested, wrapping his arm around her and helping her stand.
"N-No!" Gaz ripped out of his hold before falling to the floor. Jake chuckled again and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. Gaz didn't struggle, she felt too dizzy to fight. Some of his friends noticed and gave Jake words of encouragement, clapped, or gave a thumbs up.
"Yeah, get it man!" One of his friends called, pelvic thrusting the air. Jake laughed and carried Gaz across the room.
"Stop. Put me down." Gaz drunkenly mumbled.
"Hey!" A male voice called out. Jake stopped walking.
"Put. Her. Down." The voice commanded. If Gaz wasn't so fucked up she would have craned her neck to see who was talking.
"Dude I was just helping her, chill out." Jake responded, putting Gaz down on the floor. Gaz felt really sick.
"She said no. Who the fuck touches a drunk girl after she says no?"
"What? Are you implying that I was gonna assault her? Is that the kind of person you think I am?!" Jake yelled, squaring up to whoever was calling him out. Gaz's vision was really blurry.
"Just leave her alone. She clearly doesn't want you to touch her!"
Gaz suddenly puked on the floor, just pure liquid. Everyone backed away quickly. Slowly, her vision went dark.
Gaz awoke to the feeling of her arms being pressed against something cold. She could tell that she was sitting on her knees, leaning against something. Her eyes slowly opened as she saw the toilet she was leaning against. Gaz suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit her, puking again. Someone stoked her back. Once she was done, Gaz wiped her mouth, slowly turning around to see who was helping her. Her eyes widened when she saw Keef.
"Oh, hi." Gaz said quietly, weirdly expecting it to have been someone else.
"You seem surprised, were you expecting Dib?" Keef asked, handing her a towel to clean herself up.
"No, I... I don't know who I thought it was going to be."
"Well I was the host of this party so I need to make sure my guests are still alive by the end of it." Keef joked. Gaz smiled weakly. "But oh man, you should have seen what happened after you blacked out."
"What do you mean?"
"You know that weird kid? Zim? We were best friends in middle school."
"Zim?"
"Yeah. He was here and freaked out at that guy, Jake, for grabbing you. It was crazy! They got into a huge fight in the front yard. Beat the crap out of each other. The cops were called! You should have seen it!"
"Oh my god. Did they get arrested?"
"Not sure. I think they may have gotten off with a warning, but I'm not sure."
"Shit." Gaz sat in thought for a minute. Keef watched her curiously before she stood up, holding onto the sink counter for support.
"You sure you don't want to take a minute? You threw up a lot."
"No, I'm fine. I just have a headache." Gaz began rubbing her temples. Keef ran out of the bathroom and came back with water.
"Drink this." He handed the glass to her.
"Where is everyone?" Gaz asked between sips.
"Party ended a while ago after the cops were called. Dib's still here. I think he's asleep on the couch." Keef left the bathroom again and returned with Dib a few moments later.
"I swear to god Gaz, you need to watch how much you drink. You could have gotten in serious trouble if Zim-" Dib cut himself off, horrified to think that it was Zim who saved Gaz.
"Whatever, just take me home." Gaz moaned, walking out of the bathroom slowly while holding her hand up to her forehead in pain. Keef helped her out of his house and to Dib's car. Dib would have helped too, but everytime he tried, Gaz slapped his hand away.
"Thanks." Dib said to Keef as he got into his car; Gaz slumped over in the passenger seat. Keef nodded.
"No problem, you guys can come to my parties anytime."
"Seriously? Didn't we just ruin this one?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah, you guys made it more interesting. Everyone knows the best parties are the ones the cops get called to." Keef joked, winking.
"I don't think that's right… but what do I know about parties?" Dib shrugged, rolling up the window and putting his car into gear before driving off into the night.
Gaz was awake during the ride home but pretended to be asleep so Dib wouldn't talk to her and start judging her for drinking too much. Gaz didn't even know how she wound up black-out drunk. She tried to remember how many drinks she had, but it got fuzzy and hard to remember toward the end. She assumed three, maybe four. God she was going to have such a bad hangover tomorrow.
As Gaz let her mind wander, she suddenly remembered Jake's conversation with her. The hurtful words he spewed at her in an attempt to make excuses for what he did. She cringed as she recalled leaning into his chest and him thinking it was an invitation. Then she remembered being picked up and slung over his shoulder before Zim's voice called out to him.
Gaz's stomach did a flip as she imagined Zim sticking up for her and fighting Jake in the front lawn. It must have been an intense fight to have the cops get called. Gaz wondered what Zim looked like in the fight. His eyes narrowed and his teeth bared as he threw the first punch. Her thoughts were cut off by Dib opening the car door. They were already home and Gaz hadn't even realized it.
"Can I help you out of the car or are you going to hit me again?" Dib asked tiredly. Gaz sighed and held out her arms so he could help her stand. Once up, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and the pair slowly made their way to their house.
When Gaz finally made it to her room she fell on the bed. Zim was the last thing on her mind before she drifted off to sleep.
Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than usual but it felt like a good place to end on. Also sorry if Zim wasn't in this chapter as much, but I like slow build ups to romance, it makes it more fun to read in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong? Either way it's fun to write.
