Ok, I understand that a lot of people thought that the last chapter was way too short and I agree, so I'm going to try and make them longer this time! I will try and update as quickly as possible, but there is school, and I have a lot of coursework. I was planning this to be a short story, but I'm not sure what's going to happen just yet!

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Chapter 2

Lost

Zim had thought for some time about this, 'lonely' feeling. He would definitely have to find someone to confide in.

He knew he could not return to Irk, somehow he knew the failure in transmissions from The Tallest were deliberate, somehow he knew he was not wanted. In a way, he had always known somewhere deep down, but his high ego had covered it. With that taken away, the revelations in a failed mission had not hit him quite as hard as it felt they should have done.

So, the only alternative he could think of was a human friend. Normally the mere thought of it would have made him gag, but now it looked like he was going to be staying on Earth for quite some time. And besides, he had changed- it didn't matter as much anymore.

But who was the main problem. Grappling at his belly, he tried to fight the empty space inside of him, which seemed to be eating his tender irken organs. But he could not fill this space alone; he needed someone to fall back on, to fill that cold space.

No one in skool would even look at him, and even so, he needed someone who he could really trust with the truth (although he had considered suicide, he still did not fancy being dissected by humans).

Then an insane thought flickered across his mind.

'What about the Dib-human?'

Zim shook his head, trying to shake the idea from his mind. His soul goal was to show Zim for what he really was, surely he would only laugh and celebrate at his failure and continue to make his life a living hell.

He was out of options. Maybe he was not meant to find anyone; maybe it was his destiny to live the rest of his life in misery on this spinning ball of filth until the loneliness completely consumed him.

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The next day Zim hesitantly trudged into skool, his head hung low. He didn't even know why he had come to skool, just to sit in that filthy building listening to Ms Bitters drone on about space imploding in on itself.

Dib immediately added this to his suspicions list. He had never seen Zim like this before. Was it a trick? There was no doubt it looked dodgy, but Dib was burning with curiosity to find out what could make Zim like this.

His usual spirit was unbreakable- he would cover his every mistake just to keep his ego intact. But there was something about him, the way he slouched in his seat, and how his eyes seemed to be missing that bright spark of confidence.

It would need investigating, but he would have to be cautious.

"Class take your filthy seats." Dib's attention turned to the door as Ms Bitters slithered in. "Today we will continuing your lecture on the upcoming DOOM of the unniverse!"

He sighed. It was going to be a long day.

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By lunch Zim still seemed to be acting oddly. Dib glared at him questioningly from across the hall, but he could not meet Zim's eyes.

"What's wrong with Zim today?" Gaz questioned, her eyes never leaving her Gameslave.

"Huh?" Dib suddenly realised that Gaz had asked him a question (she normally would never talk to him when she was playing her game).

'Man, Dib's even stupider than usual today' She thought irritably. "Zim? What's wrong with him?"

Dib was amazed she had even noticed Zim's odd behaviour. "I...don't know. But it's odd...he must be up to something..."

Gaz sighed, annoyed at her brothers pathetic answer. "He's not necessarily up to something every single time you know. I mean look at him! If you want to know what's up why don't you just ask him?"

"Just ask him? Gaz! I can't just ask him!" Dib was astonished at his sister's stupidity.

Gaz stormed off- she had had enough of this conversation. That was enough talk with Dib to last at least a week.