A/N: REAL QUICK so you guys don't get confused - From here on out, there are a few times where Zed will disguise himself as Zane. If you see Zane written, it's NOT a mistake! Wherever you see Zane written, it means his hair is black. Wherever you see Zed written, it means his hair is blue. I hope that makes sense!

Also! Just wanted to say a quick thing, hopefully to get you guys prepped for what's to come. I am working my very hardest to make this story, the feel, the pace etc., to be different from Wrecking Limits. I have never truly written for two original characters, if you can believe it! All my fanfictions have been of characters that have already exist. And it's always been a walk in the park for me.

My true goal here, is to hopefully make Tessa and Zed just as lovable, if not more so ;), than the characters in Wrecking Limits. You guys might think I write this fanfiction for funsies, but I am actually trying to hone my skill, as an animator. Animating isn't just about making a picture come to life... It's about involving a gripping story.

This whole journey, with Defying Code, has actually been pretty difficult. I am going to warn you guys now, Tessa and Zed's relationship unfolds slowly - they are both pretty bashful, timid people ( except when Tessa is mad xD ) and that's exactly how I planned it to be. There are a lot of chapters coming up where they delve into their relationship, and things do get passionate, and they learn about each other, but the key to this story truly is Defying Code - As you've learned, now they have to dip their toes in slowly, instead of diving in head first, like Ralph and Vanellope. I'm aiming for different, and it's a good different - a lot of stuff happens that will explain why the pace of their relationship isn't as quick as all the relationships in Wrecking Limits.

Will there be some steamy scenes? Bet your ass! xD Just be patient with me - I am extremely careful, with character development, and I don't want to rush the development of two fragile characters that technically don't exist in any fandom. It's sort of a test of my will-power, if you will xD This whole time, all I've wanted to do was shove them into a room and let whatever unfolded, unfold! xD But I have to be careful; I want this story to be believable, and I want you guys to enjoy it all the same. This story is extremely precious to me, and dare I say, I might be enjoying this story a smidge more than Wrecking Limits xD There's LOTS more drama, surprises and adventures to come, so I really hope you guys stay tuned, cause it's all going to get good - and won't stop getting good! xD

Thank you guys SO MUCH for reading and reviewing. Your guys' reviews ALWAYS have me beaming ear to ear. I crave your guys' energy, and what you guys have to say. I truly do have the best group of readers. You guys don't understand just how happy you make me, and it pushes me to continue, and to better myself as a story-teller! So THANK YOU!

*Chapter 50*

Tessa sat up with a jolt and widened her eyes. The first sight that came into view was Starkrem's gorgeous, morning skyline. She shoved her palm to her forehead and shook her head lightly as her cheeks flushed. A million and one memories came flooding back to her, in a fit of delightful anxiety that crawled her skin. She flinched as she suddenly noticed her arms were lightly tattooed with her curious, purple code. She furiously furrowed her eyebrows and silently cursed herself; she wondered just what her circuits were doing, forcing such lovely dreams into her head. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, as if all this new information, about Zed, was too much to handle. Her mind desperately tried to hold onto it's true thoughts, bumbling ideas that hovered near Tessa, as if they begged to be delved into, though tortured her when she fell asleep. She quickly got out of bed and straightened out her spaghetti straps and comfortable, black sweats. She heaved, yet another, hard sigh and ran her fingers through her messy hair. She let a curious smile sprawl her face as she tempted with the idea of delving into said forbidden thoughts, though she gazed long and hard out her bedroom window, at her kingdom, somehow hoping something would distract her.

She finally began to move to her bathroom, the wood underneath her feet just lightly creaked. Even though she had gotten in late, when everyone was asleep, she knew her cousins and friends were planning a fun, early summer Saturday to EZ Living. As last night came to a close, she invited Zed to their party, in which she was happy he agreed to. She let her bathroom door just barely hang open as she pushed inside and turned a light on. She felt her room remain eerily quite, though she was gently reminded that she left Lickity with Zed for the night; she knew the two missed each other, and she was thrilled he was happy to take care of Lickity, as well. She finally changed into a pretty, red swim suit and threw a grey tank top, which had two black racing stripes down the side, and white surf shorts on. She lulled her hair into a higher ponytail, one that mocked her mother's hair style. She finally packed a small bag, for the day, and gently head towards her bedroom doors. As soon as she opened it, she harshly gasped and cursed herself for not already knowing that Penny would be clinging to her door like a lifeline.

"Get in here!" Tessa hissed in hard annoyance as she gripped Penny's arm and dragged her inside.

"Tell me-tell me-tell me,"Penny urged quietly as she softly closed and locked Tessa's door; Tessa heaved a hard, quiet laugh and shook her head.

"Penny, how long have you known?" Tessa wondered quietly as she lightly grabbed her cousin's arms.

"Not that long, oh please don't be mad at me," Penny urged, though Tessa wrinkled her nose.

"How did you find out Zane was Zed?" Tessa asked kindly, though she almost felt bad that Penny was the first one to know.

"It's sort of easy to see, all signs pointed North, really," Penny shrugged, "You and Zed were just so involved, I can understand how it'd be harder to see the whole picture. I'd probably be the same way, if I were in your shoes."

"Whatever you did, Penny," Tessa eased softly, "Thank you so much..."

"It involved practically destroying his loft, all over again," Penny quietly giggled.

"So I was told," Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and gave Penny a surprised, gawking look, "You managed to get ol' nerd for brains out of the game?"

"I channeled my mom," Penny said in a dull tone as she gave Tessa a knowing look; Tessa's eyes bulged as she nodded a little.

"That'll do it," Tessa giggled, as did Penny. She lightly gripped Tessa's arms and exhaled a sigh of dainty relief, "I'm so happy everything got solved... So... You and Zed are alright, now?"

"Yeah," Tessa smiled, "He's coming to EZ Living with us, today."

"He is?" Penny chimed in excitement, Tessa lightly slid her hands into Penny's.

"Yes," She eased as her tone became more serious, "But, his secret stays between us three... He's not prepared to tell everyone, just yet."

"That's okay," Penny nodded confidently, "My lips are sealed... Though if you don't tell me all the details, right now, I swear to User, you will not like the Taffyta Muttonfudge in me."

"Alright, Penny, alrighhht," Tessa beamed in an annoyed way as she squeezed her hands, "He asked me to be his girlfriend."

"And?" Penny's brilliant eyes lit up, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and wrinkled her nose in a sudden whirl of confusion. She exhaled a hard laugh and shook her head.

"...And I said no!" Tessa barked through her continuous laughter, "What do you mean 'and!'? You know exactly what my answer was, you really think after all this crap, I'm going to deny him being my boyfriend?"

"I'm so excited, I'm so excited!" Penny hissed in a quiet squeal, so not to draw attention to Tessa's room; Tessa breathed a happy laugh and shook her head.

"That's something you CAN tell everyone," Tessa assured gently, "Just... Let Zed come to everyone, about who he actually is. He's still getting used to you, let alone me, knowing. It's just a sensitive topic."

"Gotcha," Penny nodded gently as the two finally made their way towards Tessa's bedroom door, they finally eased out into the hallway and could hear normal chatter carrying from the Great Hall and the kitchen corridor. Penny slyly leaned closer to Tessa, "So did you guys kiss again?"

"Penny," Tessa lulled her eyes closed and lightly slumped her bag to the wall of the entrance of their hallway, as they stepped into the Great Hall, "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to give you a play by play from here on out."

"You kissed, didn't you," Penny stated dully as she looked away from Tessa, though she rushed Penny lightly and cupped her fists under chin.

"No, but we almost did," Tessa hissed quietly, Penny wrinkled her nose and gave her cousin a sly smile.

"Still shy Zaney? Hopefully soon he becomes Daring Zed," Penny dared with a happy smile.

Tessa gently rolled her eyes as the two girls slowly began to mosey towards the corridor of the kitchen. Tessa felt a lump gather in her throat, with nervousness. She knew, eventually, she would have to spill to everyone that her and Zane were finally a couple. She had to wonder just exactly what her mother and father would think, though she furrowed her eyebrows in growing grief at the fine fact that she'd have to eventually tell them just exactly who Zane was. She tucked her bag closer to her shoulders and fell gently into a calm silence. She could tell Penny was feeding off of her worries; she tenderly nudged Tessa's arm and gave her a kind, warm smile.

"Don't be nervous," Penny eased tenderly, her brilliant blue eyes held true to Tessa's, "I know you're worried about coming out about your new boyfriend, but trust me... Everyone will be excited."

"You sure?" Tessa worried quietly, "Should I wait to tell them?"

"Well," Penny lulled her head nervously and furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation, "If you're going to be seeing Zed at the beach, today, and... You'll be in a bikini... I'm certain everyone is going to immediately catch on."

"You think I'm going to be hanging all over him?" Tessa hissed as they grew closer to the kitchen, though it was noisy with life, "I-I had a hard time dancing with him in front of people, as it was."

"Just, rip it off, like a bandaid," Penny assured kindly with a gentle wink.

"Bandaid," Tessa hissed lightly as she slumped her shoulders; the two slowly moseyed into the kitchen, and Tessa could swear her heartbeat was in her throat.

Stood around the kitchen, sitting area and by the wide open patio doors was everyone Tessa was worried to talk to. Emery, Tammy and Oliver sat at the kitchen table with wide smiles and excitable conversation; all three of them were dressed and ready for a fun day at the beach. The four heads of Sugar Rush hung around the kitchen as Taffyta and Vanellope traded off cooking, stirring and preparing a yummy breakfast for their husbands. Rancis and Ralph relaxed for the morning, though Ralph ran through a few morning routines for the game on his digital pad. Tessa nervously assessed the situation and lightly clung closer to Penny's comfortable bubble. She felt her heart sink as Emery, Tammy and Oliver's eager eyes laid on them.

"Tessa!" Tammy beamed a wide smile as she stood and approached Tessa, in a curious manner, "Did you and Zane make up?"

"Uh," Tessa exhaled a small, nervous breath and could feel her mother and aunt Taffyta eagerly peak over their shoulders, as if to wonder the exact same thing. She nervously peered to Emery and Oliver and wondered just how she would make it out alive, "Yeah, everything is fine."

"I hope everything is okay, between you two," Vanellope said softly, in a genuine tone that was almost apologetic. She peered at her daughter curiously as a mysterious twinkle held in her eye, as if Vanellope could see right through Tessa and could easily sense that something had switched.

"Yeah, everything is much better," Tessa breathed as her father slowly peered over his shoulder, through sleepy eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Emery wondered as her and Oliver finally approached Penny and Tessa, "You were really upset all week..."

"Yeah, we had a huge misunderstanding, but..." Tessa trailed off nervously and could practically feel her confession on the tip of her tongue, "We're totally fine, now. H-he's going to meet up with us in Game Central Station, to go to EZ Living with us for the day."

"Awesome," Tammy nodded lightly, though she could tell, by the nervous twinkle in Tessa's eye, that Tessa was not prepared to tell Ralph and Vanellope her dying secret, just yet. She quickly got the hint, and for the sake of her tender cousin, she gently waved her hands, a little, "Alright, everybody ready?"

"Ready!" Oliver chimed as Emery, Tammy, Penny and Tessa began to slowly mosey towards the exit of the kitchen.

"You guys be safe," Ralph urged gently as he peered over his other shoulder, towards the five quickly vanishing beach bums.

"We will!" Penny chimed with a girly smile as everyone said their goodbyes. Once they were long gone, and loudly chatting in the great hall, Vanellope raised an eyebrow and caught eyes with Taffyta.

"Looks like someone changed their relationship status," Taffyta softly blurted out, which caused Vanellope to heave a gentle laugh.

"I was just going to say that," Vanellope beamed a wide smile as the two continued to work.

"It definitely sounded like something was up," Ralph grumbled as he rubbed his face nervously, "When should we talk to Tessa?"

"About what?" Taffyta furrowed her eyebrows, "You gunna give her the code swap talk?"

"That's my job," Vanellope eased gently, "Ralph gets his turn, with Oliver."

"I think they're a lot sharper than we all think," Rancis chimed in quietly as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Just think about all of us, how we were."

"User," Taffyta furrowed her eyebrows, "We're horrible examples. Every last one of us... You read Wrecking Limits, right?"

"Alright, spill," Tammy dared gently, to Tessa, though she wrinkled her nose and shot her a curious look.

"Spill what?" Tessa wondered, though just as the words left her mouth, she knew exactly what Tammy was referring to.

"You know exactly what," Tammy beamed kindly as the five gamers slowly strolled through Sugar Rush's game wires, in which lead to Game Central Station, "Zane just rushed you away to Dead Zed and nothing came of your guys' make up?"

"Well, we made up, he explained a lot of things going through his mind and everything," Tessa eased gently, though she could feel Tammy's, Emery's and Oliver's hot stares on her. She slumped her shoulders and gazed down towards the end of the tunnel they trekked down. She beamed a gentle smile and shook her head, as if tip toeing around it was futile, "Fine, he asked me to be his girlfriend."

"I knew it!" Emery cupped her fists just under her chin, in girly glee, and beamed the proudest smile towards Tessa.

"Saw that coming from a billion miles away," Oliver chuckled as he crossed his larger arms.

"Yeah, yeah," Tessa chuffed through a bashful smile as she looked down, "Long time coming, why not sooner, when's the wedding, I get it."

"I think it's sweet," Penny chimed confidently as she linked her arm with Tessa's.

"I think Zane is out to steal the King's crown from me," Oliver laughed softly, though he gazed at Tessa gently, with a kind smile, so to convey he was purely teasing. Tessa wrinkled her nose at him and gave him a lovingly annoyed face in return.

"You both are two dude-bros," Emery gawked at Oliver, "You'd both share it, and you know it."

"True," Oliver lightly shrugged with a knowing, annoyed smirk.

"Day two of our relationship, guys," Tessa lazily whirled her finger in the air, "Not really there, yet!"

"Yet!" Penny repeated slyly with a proud smile.

The five slowly moseyed out of Sugar Rush's wires and into the cooly lit, interior box of their outlet. Tessa felt her heart nearly jolt as she could see Zed and Lickity, far beyond Sugar Rush's golden hub, patiently waiting with each other. She scrunched her shoulders as a rush of butterflies lined her stomach in girly glee, she wondered how he could get such a reaction out of her just by purely existing. She could practically feel everyone's bumbling thoughts about the two, and she could quickly feel her face heat up. As if coming out with their humble beginning wasn't nerve-racking enough, her and Zed now had to find a balance in the group. She knew it'd be no issue, though to finally be down this path, with Zed, was something she could hardly wrap her mind around.

As the five neared, Lickity perked up and set her bumbling, excited sights to Tessa. She looked very well groomed and cleaned, as if her scales had gotten shinier. She eagerly bounced over to the group of five and made a bee-line for her owner, her large wings were tucked tight to her body. She grumbled a happy noise and lovingly nuzzled her snout into Tessa's center. Tessa beamed a wide smile and eagerly pet Lickity's head and cooed down to her gently, as if she hadn't seen her in weeks. She giggled softly and looked up, though she felt her heart jolt at the plain fact that Emery, Penny, Tammy and Oliver were stood, almost painfully trying to avoid facing Zane with their obvious, bumbling thoughts. Zane furrowed his eyebrows and gave everyone a wide, curious smile.

"Hey, everybody?" Zane worried, "Did I miss something?... Why are you all acting so squirrely?"

"We know about you and Tessa," Emery blurted out shortly before she covered her mouth with her bashful hands. Tammy, Oliver and Penny softly laughed at Emery's kind outburst, though Zane nervously raised his eyebrows and inquisitively peered at Tessa.

"Yeah?" Zane bashfully wondered with a kind, curious smile, "Y-You... You guys aren't mad?"

"Mad!" Tammy laughed softly as she lovingly swung her arm around Zane's neck, "We've all sort of been expecting this, dude."

"We almost pushed you two into a room and locked the door, just to see what would come of it," Penny agreed gently as she gave Zane a knowing smirk.

"I'll beat you up, if something goes wrong, though," Oliver barked as he clenched his fists, in a protective way; everyone continued to laugh.

"Rightfully so," Zane eased gently, though he knew there'd be at least a dozen angry gamers after his hide if he ever brought any harm to Tessa. He heaved a gentle sigh and let his bashful eyes tenderly meet Tessa's, as if he was relieved it was immediately out in the open, "I'll take care of her, like I promised."

"Aww," Penny chimed in girly glee as Tessa gently approached Zane, though Lickity remained practically glued to her side. She beamed a gentle, kind smile into Zane's eyes and shook her head lightly, as if to seem mildly annoyed by the attention.

"Alright, show's over, nothing's changed," Tessa argued, though she held true to her bashful smile as Lickity just barely nudged her closer to Zane, in which he welcomed with ease.

"Oh, the show's just beginning," Tammy laughed softly as she rolled her eyes, "C'mon. Hopefully our favorite spot, on the beach, isn't taken yet."