Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I took Christmas off to be with my family, which is why this chapter is a lil late, but my present to you guys is the longest chapter I have written so far! Like seriously, damn. I don't even know how I wrote this much. Hope you guys enjoy!

Edit:

Not much changed in this chapter, but I just better explained why Zim suddenly became fixated on human anatomy after he caught Gaz in his room. Anyways, enjoy the updates!

Zim and Gaz were lowered to the large room where Zim's bedroom was and rounded the corner to the teleportation chambers. They took the one on the left and were transported to the room where human experiments were most likely to have taken place. Zim walked towards a monitor in the room and pressed a few buttons on the dashboard below it to turn it on. After a moment of silence filled with beeping from the computer, a clipboard and pen shot out of a slot on the desk. Zim picked them up and turned back to Gaz.

"Sit on the table please." He instructed.

"Why?" Gaz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We could also do this standing, up to you."

Gaz sighed and sat on the metal table, Zim stood in front of her. "So I want to understand how human physiology is similar to Irken physiology. I've always been curious. For instance, those things on your chest… what are they?"

"Boobs?" Gaz asked tiredly.

"Is that what they're called… what are they used for?"

"Did you skip health day or something, Zim? Why can't you just look this stuff up on your own? If I'm not home soon Dib's going to think you kidnapped me."

"Silence human! Zim asks the questions! Answer Zim!"

"They're used for things like feeding babies or something... I guess." Gaz replied, blushing while avoiding eye contact with Zim.

"Ah, and do male humans find them attractive? I have caught them staring at these flesh sacs many times. It confuses me."

"I guess so… and don't call them that!"

"Interesting. This all sounds similar to some aspects of old Irken mating traditions before DNA merging was used as a more efficient method of reproduction. I find it interesting to see these 'boobs', as you call them, since no such things on Irk exist anymore."

"For the love of God Zim, please stop saying 'boobs'. I can't take it." Gaz growled, blushing profusely.

"If Zim could, I would like to inspect these things on your chest for further data collection." Zim explained, moving his hand toward her breast. Gaz smacked it away.

"Fuck no! Don't touch me Zim." Gaz seethed, covering up her chest with her hands.

"But why? It's for research!"

"You just can't. The only people I let touch me like that are guys I date."

"Date?" Zim asked, clearly confused.

"Yes. Date."

"Oh! You mean courtship! I see, so the goal of courtship on Earth is to touch these 'boobs' as you call them?"

"No, dating is about more than just… that. Maybe to some guys it's just about sex, but for me it's about… I dunno. Connection and respect or whatever. At least it should be!"

"What do you mean Gaz-human?" Zim seemed to have forgotten about Gaz's rule about nicknames, but Gaz had given up correcting him at this point.

"Nothing. I liked this guy but... he was only using me for sex. He didn't want a relationship." As Gaz said this, a look of realization overtook Zim's face.

"...His name wasn't Jake Ryan was it?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Zim may have… overheard some things he said in the lunchroom… a while back."

Gaz's eyes widened before a look of anger reached her face. "What?"

"Yes. This Jake Ryan guy started telling everyone how you were an 'easy lay' or whatever that means. He also said some other things about making you 'come' a billion times? I don't see how that is something to brag about. I made you come down to my lab just now, but perhaps that's because I am such a strong and capable Irken. I bet I've made you come far more times than that Jake Ryan guy has!" Zim ranted.

Gaz would have stormed out of Zim's base, drove to Jake's house, and murdered him for what he said about her, but Gaz was too busy trying to contain her laughter from Zim's confusion about the word 'cum'. She finally burst out laughing, confusing Zim.

"What's so funny Gaz? Zim hasn't said any jokes."

"Ha! No… no you didn't." Gaz replied, wiping tears from her eyes. "You really need to watch some porn or something. I don't feel like explaining this stuff to you."

Gaz hopped off the table and left the room, still giggling. Zim watched her leave in confusion. He had no idea what he said that made her laugh so hard. In fact, he couldn't recall having ever seen her laugh before. It was what the humans called, "cute". Zim smiled thinking about Gaz's face all scrunched up from laughing, but shook his head as he tried to stay focused on the task at hand.

"Computer, look up this... porn thing." Zim commanded as soon as he heard Gaz leave his lab.

"Searching… here are all search results for 'porn'." The computer replied, pulling up various images and videos on the screen. Zim recoiled back in disgust.

"Ah! What on Irk is that?! Computer, explain what is happening to these humans!"

"Ugh… fine. According to scientific articles focused on human biology and reproduction, female humans have something called a-" The computer's voice was cut off by the shrill screams of a familiar voice.

"Zim! Where are you? Why was Gaz at your base so late! I know you're up to something!" Dib's voice bellowed through Zim's house. Zim rolled his eyes and stood up, staring at the computer screens again before leaving and heading up to the main floor.

"Why are you here human?" Zim asked, crossing his arms. He looked around for a moment, trying to find Gaz.

"She's not here, I got here just as I saw her drive off." Dib replied, noticing Zim's eyes searching for Gaz, "It's almost midnight! Why was she here so late Zim? Tell me!"

"Why don't you ask her yourself, worm-monkey? It's not my business to tell you."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." Dib threatened, walking over to Zim's trashcan and jumping inside to get to the lower levels of Zim's base. Zim's eyes narrowed as he ran after him, but caught up to him quickly when he saw Dib stop dead in his tracks, staring at the computer screens.

"Dib?" Zim asked, moving closer to Dib cautiously.

"Zim… why do you have porn up on your computer?"

"I am trying to understand human physiology."

"This better not have anything to do with my sister."

"It doesn't."

"Good, because if it turns out that it does, I'm going to kill you." Dib said through clenched teeth, turning around and grabbing Zim's shirt, pulling him close.

"Relax Dib, no harm will come to your sister..." Zim smirked mischievously, "unless you give me a reason."

"You stay the fuck away from her! I ought to kill you for whatever sick twisted experiment you did on her tonight!"

"I did no such experiments Dib-stink. She wouldn't let me anyways." Zim's grin widened.

"That does it!" Dib cried, releasing Zim's shirt before punching him in his already bruised eye. Zim cried out in pain, clutching his eye, before standing back up and returning the favor. This sent Dib flying across the room. Dib hit the back of his head hard against the floor. He gripped it in pain.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Storming in here and accusing me of things I have yet to do! Do yourself a favor and get out of my base before I break something." Zim seethed, clenching his teeth while holding a hand up to his now bleeding eye.

"Fine, I will, but only because I have a math test tomorrow and if I don't do well, I'll have to repeat the unit!" Dib replied angrily, standing up and wiping off blood from his nose. "Fucking alien scum." He muttered as he passed Zim. Zim glared in response, but let Dib leave the base in peace.

"Computer, tell me more about this human mating ritual!" Zim exclaimed loudly so that Dib could hear it on his way out.

Gaz sat in science class with a dark expression on her face. She knew Dib had gone to Zim's after she left since he immediately began banging on her door once he returned home, demanding to know if Zim had done anything bad to her. Gaz laughed in Dib's face as she recalled Zim not understanding what 'cum' meant before firmly telling Dib to go fuck himself. Gaz was satisfied that Dib didn't pry further, but she could definitely tell it bothered him not fully knowing what happened that night.

Currently, Gaz was plotting her revenge on Jake now that she knew he told the whole skool about their hookup. She wanted him to fear her very existence and knew she'd have to do way more than just punch him in order to achieve that.

From across the room, Zim was watching Gaz intently. His damaged eye was covered by a bandage of some sort.

While having Gaz tell him about human anatomy in the first place was just as payback for her snooping around his base, Zim had actually become fascinated by it. At first he had trouble understanding before why female body parts like butts and boobs were so appealing to human males, but now Zim was starting to get the appeal.

He noticed how Gaz's butt and thighs were accentuated by her sitting on the seat. Zim also noticed how everytime she leaned forward, her breasts would push up against the table. He was curious to know what boobs felt like against his own hands. If they were as squishy as they looked.

Gaz suddenly dropped her pencil which rolled behind her seat. As she turned around to pick it up, she met Zim's stare. She looked at him for a moment, inspecting his face which looked more beat up than yesterday before swiftly picking up her pencil and turning back around. Zim felt his face heat up in response. Did she notice him staring at her body? Was she mad? Zim still wasn't sure how openly sex was talked about amoung humans, but judging by Gaz's reaction to his questions about her chest and Dib's shocked reaction to porn, Zim assumed it was a tabboo subject.

Once class ended, Zim picked up his things and headed for the door before Gaz stopped him.

"What's wrong with your eye?" She asked. Zim tried to read her face and tone to see if she was angry, but couldn't tell.

"Oh, nothing… Gir scratched it. That's all." Zim lied. Gaz saw right through it.

"I know Dib went over to your base last night. It was obvious." Gaz stated.

"Oh, yes. The Dib-child… he came in making all of these wild accusations that Zim had no part of."

"That's what I thought." Gaz lowered her head angrily before sighing. "By the way… why were you so interested in human anatomy all of the sudden? Not that I care, but it's kind of weird. Was it just payback for-"

"It's for a perfectly normal reason, I can assure you! I.. um… oh yes! I joined the football team!" Zim quickly lied, not wanting to get into the whole anatomy thing again with Gaz since it was clearly a touchy subject.

"Oh yeah, Dib told me about that. I thought he was lying- wait you actually made the team?"

"Indeed, Gaz-human. Only someone as strong and intelligent as myself could make such a team. Oh yes. With my leadership, this skool's football team will destroy any team in its path. Soon, all humans will kneel before the almighty power of the Squirrels!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot our skool's mascot was the squirrel." Gaz noted, smirking. Zim's eyes narrowed.

"You dare taunt Zim? Soon my name will be feared among other Hi Skools as we conquer each one. No one will stand in our way! MUAHAHAHA!" Zim laughed triumphantly. Gaz sighed and left, knowing that he'd keep laughing like that for hours.

Later that afternoon, Gaz found Jake in the parking lot on his phone. Now was the perfect opportunity to end him once and for all. However, as she rolled up her sleeves and prepared to storm up to him and ruin his life, she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She whipped around angrily and suddenly found herself facing Keef.

"Oh." Gaz sighed, relaxing.

"Hey. Couldn't help but notice you were about to beat the crap out of Jake again." Keef joked.

"Clearly he didn't understand the dangerous situation he put himself in when he decided to spread rumors about me to the entire school."

"Fair point, but didn't you get detention like yesterday?"

"Yeah, why do you care?"

"Look, I know we're not that close… and I doubt you even see me as a friend, but if you beat him up you might just make things worse."

"How would you know?" Gaz asked angrily.

"Because I've been in your situation before. Not exactly the same, but I've had some shit spread around that I wasn't ready for people to hear. Trust me, if you fight back, people will just assume the rumors are true. It's better for people to just forget about them on their own. People have probably already forgotten. It's been a few months anyways, right?"

"Yeah…"

"I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but beating the crap out of him isn't going to fix the damage that's already done. Destroy him in the summer or something. He'll probably do something else that's shitty then, so he'll deserve it." Keef suggested. Gaz sighed and thought for a moment. He had a point and detention was a waste of time anyways. She nodded, sending Jake a death glare before seeing Dib pull up with their car.

"Hop in!" Dib called, rolling down the window. Gaz rolled her eyes, but looked back at Keef.

"Thanks." She said quietly before running over to Dib and getting in the car. Keef nodded and waved before getting into his own car. As Dib pulled away from the skool, Gaz looked out the window and saw the football team practicing, Zim among them.

Late at night, Gaz lay in her bed deep in thought. Normally she gave absolutely zero shits about what Zim was up to, but even for him, his behavior had been odd. Zim had never really expressed interest in human anatomy or physiology before, so why was he so intrigued now? Was it payback for her snooping around his lab? He did seem pretty ticked off about her checking out his room. Gaz suddenly remembered touching Zim's antenna. Was that what set him off?

Gaz still had no idea what his antenna was in terms of Irken sexual organs, but she could take a guess. However, Zim said that Irkens didn't reproduce the way humans did so maybe his antenna wasn't the equivalent of what she was thinking. She frowned, puzzled. And why did Zim suddenly join the football team? That felt like it came out of nowhere. Gaz sighed and looked at her clock, it read 1 am. She couldn't sleep so she decided to go for a walk.

Gaz had gotten into the habit of taking night walks, ever since the incident with Jake, to try to erase parts of that bad night from her head. Plus, everyone in the neighborhood knew to fear her, so she knew no one would try to mess with her. Gaz brought a baseball bat with her just in case though.

As Gaz stepped outside, the cool night air greeted her, sending chills up her arms. Gaz rubbed them to keep warm and headed out into the night. She wasn't sure where she wanted to walk. Usually she just stuck to the block and would walk in a circle until she grew tired, but tonight Gaz felt more adventurous. She walked across the street, making sure to stay within the neighborhood at least, but venture out a little further. She walked along the sidewalk, absently gazing at the houses that resided there. A little dog emerged from a dog house and began yapping at her, but Gaz sent it a chilling look that caused the dog to whimper.

After a good while of walking, Gaz decided to head back. She hadn't been paying much attention to where she was going, but figured she was near her house. Gaz crossed the street that she thought would lead her the right way, but suddenly realized she didn't recognize where she was. Anxiety started to set in as Gaz searched for any recognizable landmark. Gaz also remembered how she didn't even have her phone with her, so she was screwed. She picked up the pace walking faster, crossing more streets while glaring at anyone who was out that night so they knew not to mess with her.

More time went by and Gaz began to feel cold. She clutched her sweater to herself in hopes of warming, but to no avail. Taking a break, Gaz sat on the front steps of a random house so no one would think to bother her. She hoped no one would kick her off their steps as she sat, thinking of directions to get home. Suddenly from the corner of her eye Gaz saw a garbage bin jerk to the right. She watched it intently before it moved again. Gaz walked towards it and decided to tap it with her bat. Once the bat made contact with the metal bin a green dog jumped out.

"Ah!" Gaz yelled, backing up quickly.

"Hi Gazzy!" Gir yelled, eating a random can of corn from the trash.

"Gir?" Gaz asked, confused as to why he was there. She stared at the robot who was badly disguised as a dog for a moment before she heard what sounded like a car drive by.

"Gir! What are you doing in there? Are you trying to blow our cover?" Zim's voice called from behind Gaz. She turned around to see the alien, with his terrible disguise on, riding some kind of hover pad.

"Zim?" She asked, equally as confused. Zim froze when he saw her, jumping off the device and chucking it in some nearby bushes suspiciously.

"Gaz?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the bat she was holding.

"Couldn't sleep." Gaz explained.

"Irkens don't need sleep." Zim gloated before motioning to Gir. "Gir, come." Gir obeyed, knocking over the trash can loudly before running over to his master.

Gaz watched the pair for a moment before sitting back down on the steps. Zim noticed this as he began rustling through the bushes to find the hover pad he stupidly threw away.

"Lost little-Gaz?" Zim asked absent-mindedly as he searched.

"N-No! What were you even doing out here?" Gaz asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Oh, much. You couldn't possibly understand the complexities of an exiled Irken soldier. Every day provides new possibilities for global conquest."

"So you're trying to take over the world again?" Gaz asked boredly. Zim stared at her in silence for a moment.

"You can't prove anything!" Zim yelled, pointing at Gaz intensely. Gaz smirked in response.

"How are you going to take over the world without a ship, Zim?"

"Why else do you think I'm out here collecting materials, little-Gaz? Ah, you have much to learn human. Much to learn." Zim shook his head disappointedly as he said this. Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Good luck with that." Gaz replied, standing up and stretching before walking toward the alien and pulling his hoverboard out of the grass behind the shrub, handing it to him.

"Oh. Thanks." Zim took the board and powered it up, standing on it. He was about to leave when he looked back over at Gaz, who didn't look as if she knew where she was going.

"Do you- er… need a ride?" He asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Gaz turned to face him.

"Does it look like I'm lost?" She asked dangerously.

"Yes."

"... fine." Gaz trudged over to Zim and got on the back of his hoverboard. Gir sat at the front of it and waved enthusiastically. Gaz rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, but as soon as the trio took off, Gaz squeaked and grabbed onto Zim's waist for dear life, eventually wrapping her arms around him. She could tell Zim was probably enjoying himself seeing her like this, but tried her best to ignore her urge to punch him in the gut.

Zim was indeed smirking which only made him fly the board faster.

"Zim, I swear. If you mention this to anyone I will end you." Gaz threatened as she held onto Zim tighter.

"Zim makes no promises." He teased as they sped down an alley to stay out of sight from passersby. Gaz gasped as they made a sharp turn, closing her eyes and scrunching up her face in anticipation before opening them again and breathing a sigh of relief. Zim chuckled lightly at this.

Before Gaz knew it, they emerged from an alley across from her house. She stared at her house for a moment. It looked so peaceful at night. The city was lit up in the distance, Zim stared out at the city too. To him it wasn't as beautiful as his own home planet, but it was still nice to look at. He powered off the board to allow Gaz to get off with ease. Gaz stepped off before realizing he had lost her baseball bat on the way there. She muttered a curse to herself before turning back to Zim, debating what to say.

Zim watched her for a moment. She was wearing sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt. Her hair was messy from the wind and her cheeks were reddened from the cold. Zim had never inspected the features of her face before but found himself staring before he could stop himself.

"Thanks… for saving me at that party." Gaz said suddenly, averting eye contact and catching Zim off guard.

"Eh?" Zim asked.

"Don't make me say it again." Gaz stated quietly, staring down at her feet.

"Oh. You are welcome… human."

"I've realized I'm not as good at taking care of myself as I thought." Gaz continued, staring out at the city.

"Look human- Gaz… I am not good at this whole 'feelings' and 'advice' thing, but if it makes you feel any better, that Jake guy is a jerk and… you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened."

"But what if it is my fault? I could have said no… there were moments where I wished it could have stopped, but it didn't and- he kicked me out at four in the morning in the middle of the street… I didn't have shoes… underwear… god-" Gaz let out a shaky breath as tears formed in her eyes. She didn't know why she was telling all of this to Zim, but for some reason it felt right to let all of this built up tension and emotion out. She wanted someone else to know the weight she had been carrying for months, even if the person who heard it would never understand it or give any helpful advice. Gaz didn't expect him to or even want advice. She just wanted him to listen.

"I'd never had anxiety before until after then. If I hear a song that he had playing that night, I start hyperventilating. I feel sick to my stomach if a guy even touches me unless I'm drunk… I just- I just wish I had listened to myself. I knew this was going to happen and I let it happen." Gaz let out more shaky breaths as tears streamed down her face. While she hated crying, especially in front of other people, in this moment she didn't care. It was too late to hide anything anymore.

Gaz felt that she couldn't speak without risk of bursting into tears, so she stopped and sat down on the curb. Gir sat next to her and leaned against her to comfort her. There was nothing but silence for a few moments before Zim sat on Gaz's other side and sighed.

"Human courtship confuses me. On Irk, no one even knows what love really is or how dating even works. Everyone is independent from each other and when I came to Earth I assumed that would be the way it is here too..." Zim commented, still staring ahead, "...but it's not. Human companionship is complicated. Apparently humans do this thing where they give each other rocks and then promise each other that they will stay together for the rest of their lives. But then there are humans who 'date' and never do this strange ritual. Or in your case do everything but date? Zim is still unclear on how love is formed or how humans decide to stay together or not to stay together." Zim added, suddenly laying back against his Pak and staring up at the sky.

"Humans also have no idea how love is formed." Gaz replied quietly, sniffling before laying on her back next to Zim. They stayed like that for a long time before Gaz started to feel her eyelids grow heavy. She groaned as she sat up, forcing herself to get back to her room to sleep. Gir stood up with her.

"Are you sad?" He asked, tugging on her sweatpants.

"Yeah, but I'll feel better tomorrow." Gaz replied, patting the robot on the head. Gaz looked over at Zim who looked like he was asleep on the ground. "Take Zim home, okay?"

Gir saluted her before walking over to the alien and kicking him in the head.

"AH!" He groaned, clutching his head in pain.

"Time to go home master!" Gir yelled, grabbing the hoverboard and turning it on. Zim muttered something incoherent and sat down on the board tiredly. Gaz stared at him for a moment, wondering if things would change between them now that she had told him everything. She felt herself moving closer to the alien, as if her legs were moving on their own. Before she knew what she was doing she leaned down and gave the alien a quick peck on the cheek.

"W-What was that?" Zim asked, seeming to have woken up immediately, touching his cheek.

"Er… nothing. Good night Zim." Gaz answered awkwardly before turning on her heel and heading into her house, mentally slapping herself for doing that.

Zim watched her leave, a small smirk growing on his face as he touched his cheek again. "Take me home quickly, Gir. I have some more research to do."