A/N: I am SO GLAD you guys noticed Taffyta break the fourth wall xD I was looking for the perfect opportunity and I'm glad it didn't go unnoticed haha.

Also, sorry if I update slowly for the rest of this week/into next week. I currently have the flu and, it's at this point, I wish I had a code room I could control cause this SUCKS. Dx

*Chapter 51*

"Lickity!" Penny exhaled a hard, choke of a laugh and shook her head around in dismay. Lickity largely dipped her nose in EZ Living's fluffy, white sand and let her snout easily spray sand all over the beach blanket Penny had finally spread. Zane and Tessa easily joined in on her laughter and slapped their arms to their sides in a fit of dismay.

"I don't think she's ever been around sand, this fluffy, before," Zane softly laughed as he shook his head and raised one corner of their bright, beach blanket. He gently began to wave it a little, as sand finally began to dribble away.

"I'm pretty sure this beach day will tire her out, hardcore," Tessa said softly as she finally stood, from wiping sand away as well. She shook her head lightly, her full ponytail flicked about a little, "Dunno how we'll get her home, quite frankly."

"She'll hobble," Zane beamed Tessa an adorable smile, in which grew into a grin alongside Tessa's.

"I hope they get a beach umbrella that properly opens, this time," Penny inquired lightly as she eagerly peered down her shoulder and down the beach, to where Tammy, Emery and Oliver had vanished to. The six had found their proper spot towards the end of the beach, which was hung close to a sudden, sloping cliffside that hugged their side of the sand with golden tan, open waved coves; the perfect little escape from the business of the beach.

"Yeah, last time, it took four of us to wrestle it open," Zane complained lightly as he stood up as well; he was dressed in a usual, white, Dead Zed t-shirt and blue surf shorts. He lightly looked up from the blanket he managed to clean free of sand, though he flinched as he noticed Penny's sharp, curious gaze to his. He furrowed his eyebrows in question and smiled a curious, half smirk as he raised his eyebrows. He exhaled a small laugh and questioned gently, "What?"

"I wish I could have seen what your hair actually looks like, yesterday," Penny said in a twinge of a playful whine; Tessa and Zane both beamed knowing smiles at the same time, though Zane gently averted his attention to Tessa.

"It's definitely different," Tessa smiled to Penny, though she caught eyes with Zane and quickly continued, "In a good way."

"Pretty unconventional, how I revealed it all to her," Zane muttered with a small, annoyed smile as he rubbed the back of his head and looked down.

"Was it romantic?" Penny pined vicariously as she tucked her fists under her chin, though Zane and Tessa both exhaled a sudden, hard few laughs and gave Penny apologetic smiles.

"Anything but," Tessa barked, which caused Penny to flinch nervously.

"What? Why!" Penny complained.

"He was too chicken to come out with it, so he forced me to make him game over, so he could regenerate to how he actually looks," Tessa rushed in a dull tone, though her delighted smile never faltered.

"You killed your own boyfriend?!" Penny hissed loudly as she stepped closer to Tessa; Zane followed suit and closed their gentle bubble.

"It was fun," Tessa sheepishly laughed, though Zane lightly looked down and shrugged, as if he would probably agree if he were in her shoes.

"Match made in heaven," Penny said sarcastically as she wrinkled her nose and side eyed the two playfully. Zane exhaled a gentle laugh and bashfully looked down, as did Tessa, though she was quick to hold her attention to Zane, as if the three were in a secret club.

"So, can you change your hair color at will?" Tessa wondered as her and Penny held their attention on him.

"Well, not really," Zane tenderly explained, "In my code room, I've made it so, when my hair is this color, I don't have all of my 'core' powers."

"Don't you feel helpless?" Penny suddenly, and nervously, wondered.

"No, not really," Zane gently shrugged, "The only way I can lift these restricted settings off of me is if I either change it with one click, in my code room, orrr... If, say, Tessa's glitching powers come in contact with me. I'll have to demonstrate it to you when it's just us three, and no one else is around."

"You planning on telling everyone, soon?" Penny lightly wondered, though Zane exhaled a faltering breath and lightly looked down.

"Yeah, I will," Zane eased softly, "I'm sure they'll react in a way similar to you two, but I'm just so wary about who I let in, really."

"Understandable," Penny lightly shrugged as Lickity lightly nuzzled her snout into Penny's loose hand, rested by her side. She gave Zane a kind smile and lightly shook her head, "You know, though, that you're in a tight knit crowd, right?"

"I-I know," Zane said in a gentle, apologetic tone.

"Us Sugar Rush selfie's are pretty careful about who we let in," Penny reminded gently, "Our game and our family holds its own secrets and things we only trust certain people with. Your secret is safe with us, Zed," Penny concluded kindly, though in a lovingly stern and quiet tone.

Zane tenderly peered at her and felt a sweep of happy confusion hit his skin, as if he was slowly melting into a comfortable lull with Sugar Rush's precious brood. He only hoped that, one day, he could truly feel like he had some sort of family unit to call his own. He knew, all the time he had spent in solidarity probably didn't do any good for his trust towards others, though he knew he had to take baby steps somehow.

"She's right," Tessa eased to him kindly, she inhaled a gentle breath and braved her very first display of affection towards Zane, in front of her peer. She lightly gripped his hand in hers and held her confident gaze on his nervous one.

"Aren't I always," Penny said through a wistful sigh.

"Don't feel pressured," Tessa said, her honey soft voice was coated in care, "Just do it when you're ready... But know, when you do, it'll stay in our circle."

"I trust you guys," Zane smiled gently, he squeezed Tessa's hand and let his gaze fall into hers, after gratefully glancing at Penny, "Thank you."

"Of course," Penny giggled, "Now, c'mon... We should do cannonballs off of Lickity."

"What!" Tessa and Zane exhaled at the same time, with amused gapes; Penny flinched.

"You think we'd get in trouble for having a dragon hovering over the ocean, dropping bodies into the water?" Tessa tried her hardest to get through her full sentence without bursting out laughing.

"We hardly got into the game with her!" Zane chuckled as he largely gestured his hand towards Lickity, though he glanced over his shoulder and noticed Tammy, Oliver and Emery returning with a proper beach umbrella.

"No one will see her," Penny complained as the three, with the umbrella, strolled up.

"Don't tell me you're planning on taking Lickity for a joy ride around EZ Living," Tammy heaved her complaint as she shoved the tip of the umbrella stem firmly into the sand.

"Just do weird tricks off of her into the water," Tessa said in a dull tone, to insinuate it wasn't her idea; though, the more she thought about it, the more appealing it sounded.

"EZ Living's officials would kick us out so fast," Emery said with a wide smile as she covered her face.

"I used to get into so much trouble, growing up... Not like I wouldn't be used to it," Tessa said gently as she peered over at Lickity in curiosity, "Maybe if we hide around this cliff top, no one will see us."

"You guys have fun, Emery and I are going to tan," Tammy said in a tone as if it lead to suggest they were bound for trouble, no matter what they did.

"I'm sort of hungry, though," Penny eased as she threw her attention down the blinding, white sand of EZ Living's largest beach, "Should we grab lunch first?"

"Yeah, but whatever we do, let's not get anywhere near my old job," Zane said with bulged eyes and a nervous glower, "I'm pretty sure my boss would throw a bunch of tasks on me, even though I don't even work there, anymore."

"What happened with that?" Tessa wondered softly after her, Zane, Oliver and Penny said their kind goodbyes to Tammy and Emery; Tessa lightly returned her gaze to Zane, her auburn hair flicked over her shoulder lightly.

"Yeah, your job sort of fell off the face of the Earth!" Penny said with a curious smile as Lickity bounded ahead a few steps to chase some lazy seagulls.

"Well," Zane started tenderly as he lightly glanced at Tessa in his peripheral, "I quit my job when I told Tessa that I'd teach her to dance."

Tessa gently shot Zane a surprised, almost delightful frown and raised her eyebrows in mild shock. She glued her eyes to Zane and studied his figure, though his tender blue eyes were trained to the hot sand underneath their bare feet. She could see Penny and Oliver shoot the two knowing smiles in her peripheral, though she scoffed a noise of appreciative anguish and looked ahead, towards the approaching boardwalk.

"You really didn't need to do that, for me," Tessa said through a giggle of disbelief, though her heart swelled with gratefulness.

"Yes I did," Zane disagreed with a furrowed expression and a knowing smile, "Otherwise, none of this would have happened and Selka would probably still be pining after you."

"I forgot about Selka," Oliver said in a mildly annoyed tone as he clenched his fists.

"Just be careful," Penny warned softly, "Just because you two are a couple now, doesn't mean he won't still try to pursue you. Some guys are nuts, and will stop at nothing..."

"Just peachy," Tessa glowered, though she jolted and gave Lickity a loud, kind hello as she suddenly shoved her snout into Tessa's center; she was a lot more hyper than usual.

"Well, he'll see you coming home with me, after Academy," Zane dared with a sly, gentle smile as his electric eyes pierced Tessa's, "and there's nothin' he can do about it."

"So it begins," Penny said quietly as she teasingly side-eyed Tessa. Tessa glanced at her and immediately felt her face burn up.

"I just hope he doesn't try to harm either of you two, when you're outside your game," Oliver worried, though mostly to Tessa, who spent a large majority of her time in Dead Zed.

"Maybe you can be coded to Dead Zed!" Penny suggested, though she raised her eyebrows and immediately ate her words; Oliver furrowed his eyebrows and beamed an annoyed smile.

"Well, if you guys find Zed, then maybe... And even then, you'd have to convince him," Oliver chuckled gentle; Penny nervously shot Zane and Tessa a knowing, apologetic, wide eyed frown and felt her skin freeze.

"I doubt Zed would want my code clogging up the game, anyways," Tessa said outward as she kept her gaze forward, though she could feel Zane's curious gaze land on her.

"I-I don't think it'd be an issue," Zane dared nervously, though he felt his face turn bright red as his stomach dipped in tender delight, with the thought of Tessa kindly trusting him with her code, though he forced his mind not to go beyond that, "I mean... Dead Zed is a pretty large game, it's mostly land, really."

"Well, whatever happens," Oliver urged gently as the five slowly let their feet meet the loved, sandy wood of the boardwalk, "I just hope you keep your eyes peeled, for Selka. Sounds like he has a bit of a possessive issue, over Tessa."