A/N: Hey guys, real quick! I just got a new full time job working at a hospital (Mayo Clinic hospital! Never thought I'd be saying that!) And my set schedule is a late night shift, which is good in the sense that I'll be making 5 dollars an hour more than I do where I am now (Starbucks) but bad because I'll be getting home at around 1AM, when I do most my writing xD This probably won't hinder anything, because I am a night owl anyways, and stay up usually until 4am anyhow, but if you notice anything different or sporadic within the next month, that's probably why, but this story isn't going anywhere, so don't be worried!

I got two shots today/blood drawn for my drug screening to begin orientation at Mayo, so I'm super grumpy and exhausted. This chapter is seemingly perfect for the mood I'm in~ I've taken like 2 naps today xD

Songs Listened To:

Up Up Up - by Givers

You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins, (Tarzan) movie version

*Chapter 62*

"Alright, next one," Tessa urged lightly; her left hand carefully held a small, crystal code box, in which illuminated a small picture of a hologram before her. Her and Zed were safely tucked away in his loft. Tessa easily picked at and deleted the crazy, riddled coding that was intruding on Zed's brain coding, all while in the comfort of his living room. Zed's code room allowed for code boxes to be moved within his loft, but no further.

"Mkay," Zed nodded as he held up one of Tessa's messy, thick notebooks, "RAM."

"Random Access Memory," Tessa lightly pointed, though she merely glanced at Zed before she honed her eyes on the hologram before her, of Zed's brain code.

Tessa was comfortably sat with her legs criss-crossed on Zed's large, white couch. It was billowed with loved, flawless cushions and scattered with big, grey pillows that were oversized on purpose. Tessa was wearing a pair of comfortable, peach colored, cotton shorts and a clean, white spaghetti strap; her hair was down and a light mess. She came over to Dead Zed's with the mid morning sun, aboard Lickity, who was lazily sprawled by Zed's large windows. Zed was comfortably sat on the couch adjacent from Tessa; he wore a comfortable pair of black and blue plaid pajama pants and a lazy tank top. His blue hair was equally as messy, though he figured the two were beginning to become more comfortable with each other.

"Good," Zed eased gently as he remained lazily laid into the cushions of his couch, on his back. He held Tessa's notebook above his head, as his other arm was draped back and over the armrest of the couch, in which his head was rested on. He waved his finger around a little and carried on, "What is a motherboard?"

"It is the heart of a computer," Tessa eased, hoping her answer was good enough; she continued to pick at the thin, hair like strands that hooked in Zed's coding.

"What does it do?" Zed wondered as he lightly eyed Tessa with a curious, knowing sort of smile.

"Things," Tessa uttered stubbornly, which caused a hard chuckle out of Zed.

"What kinds of things," Zed breathed through a laugh as he lazily waved his hand around.

"Iiiit... Receives power from hardware components?" Tessa squinted lightly and side eyed her work, as if to suggest she could be wrong.

"It distributes power," Zed softly corrected, though he lightly glanced at her, as if to hope she would continue on.

"Watch me fail these midterms," Tessa urged in a deep, furrowed sort of way as she honed in harder on what she was doing, "I know exactly what goes on inside a computer, but the anatomy of it all has me doing donuts."

"Tess," Zed laughed softly, "You're doing just fine, this is only the second one you, sort of, got wrong."

"My brain hurts," Tessa uttered, though she immediately ate her words once Zed's body tensed and he half sat up in a fit of sarcastic rage. She flinched and beamed a wide, bashful smile.

"YOUR brain hurts!" Zed hollered with a loud laugh as Tessa scrunched her shoulders and held the hologram closer to her face. He gently sat up and largely slumped her notebook to his low coffee table, "Mind if I pick 'round your brain for a half an hour, then your brain will hurt, m'tellin you," Zed muttered in slurred, annoyed, combined words, though his playful smile to his girlfriend never faltered.

"Shush, I'm helping you," Tessa hissed; Zed rolled his eyes.

"And I'M helping YOU," Zed pointed to her notes, "Wow, thank you Zed! My wonderful boyfriend, I passed my midterms! What would I do without you."

"I'd probably be asleep," Tessa lightly shrugged, Zed furrowed his eyebrows and knew the two were on a banter streak, though he had to wonder who would win.

"I don't know how you can sleep for so long," Zed heaved gently as he readjusted his sitting position and lightly eyed what she was working on; she made the tedious act look so easy, her larger fingers worked like magic. She easily was able to delete the information lying on the cusp of his important brain code, though she had a long way to go, still.

"I don't either," Tessa eased, though she lightly glanced at Zed with a curious smile and wrinkled her nose, "My favorite part, though, was when your hair bent into that one whacky position, and stayed there."

"What," Zed furrowed his blue eyebrows, though he lightly shoved his hands to his hair and realized that his messy faux-hawk was bent in weird ways, from sleeping on it wrong. He slumped his shoulders and gave her an annoyed look, "You are NOT one to talk. You have hair for days."

"I teased my hair this morning," Tessa started, though she could hardly finish her sentence without laughing, "I wrote it a dirty letter, and then I took it away!"

Zed and Tessa erupted with hard laughter. Zed firmly rubbed his face, through his laughter, in a sleepy manner and shook his head in utter disbelief.

"Oh my User, you shouldn't study with me anymore," Zed continued to lightly laugh, though he peered at her through sleepy eyes, "Nothing gets done."

"Hey, I'm getting a lot done, over here," Tessa pointed to Zed's brain code, though she shot him a sly smile, "Hmm, I might even be able to see what you're thinking!"

"That actually is a thing, y'know," Zed said in a dull tone as he aimlessly gestured towards her, "You're on the wrong screen, for that... But uhh, yeah."

"Really?" Tessa furrowed her eyebrows, "Oh... I was totally kidding."

"I think we should study with Penny, more often," Zed heaved gently, "She keeps us focused."

"Yeah, I think I get distracted, easily," Tessa sighed with a small smile, she kept working on her project. She lightly glanced at Zed, in mild curiosity and frowned, "Does... Does this really hurt you?"

"No," Zed scoffed with a smile as he peered towards the windows, in which Lickity was asleep before; Dead Zed's morning light shone through his marvelous loft, the whole room was warm with light and ease, "I was kidding. I can feel you poking around, which is bizarre, but it doesn't hurt."

"Good," Tessa said softly as she refocused her attention, "Sooo... You can feel when I do this?" Tessa lightly wiggled her finger around.

"Yes," Zed winced with a wide, almost annoyed smile.

"...How about this?" Tessa poked around farther, which caused Zed to duck his head lightly and eagerly scratch the back of his scalp.

"Augh don't, that really tickles," Zed harshly furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head lightly, he heaved a hard chuckle and squinted his eyes shut, "It's the worst kind of itch, the one that's under your skin."

"Ah yeah?" Tessa beamed, she bit her tongue with a wide, mischievous smile as she sunk into the couch and largely prod her finger in a safe area of the back of Zed's coding.

"That's it," Zed laughed as he largely stood and took a few quick steps over to Tessa.

Tessa exhaled a hard, knowing laugh and delicately set Zed's code box on the table before her, as a sign of defeat, though Zed continued to push closer to her. She squealed a high noise of defense, through a girly laugh as she quickly swiped for another notebook of hers, that was on Zed's coffee table. He largely shoved on her shoulders and pinned her down, his strong fingers began tickling her sides. She choked a handful of hard, choppy laughs as she swat Zed's arm with her floppy notebook. She begged him to stop as they both squirmed; Zed pinned her and tried his very hardest to keep her still while Tessa nervously pushed and shoved on his chest and arms, all while nearly crying with laughter. Zed exhaled a hard few chuckles as well, through biting his bottom lip in hard determination, though before Tessa could escape, he gently eased himself closer to her and, with a simple thud, he plopped his body atop hers and went completely limp.

Tessa choked a hard noise and felt her eyes bulge out of her head. She finally settled with a wide, annoyed smile and a few reviving breaths of giggles. She firmly rubbed her forehead before she allowed her body to go limp, as well. She felt her face flush with the fact that Zed was largely slumped on top of her, though she rested her arms on the middle of his back and sides, as if to seem nonchalant, though her racing heart proved otherwise. She exhaled a final breath of annoyed relaxation and looked up to Zed's lower, pearly white ceiling, which was lined with a few lights, tucked away into sockets, here and there. She inhaled a breath to speak, though he beat her to it.

"Next, we will study the art of napping," Zed mumbled into her neck and shoulder, in which his face was slumped to.

"I'm game," Tessa uttered softly as she largely rubbed her right eye with her fist.

"Good, I was hoping you'd say that," Zed eased through a gentle grunt as he pushed himself up and off of Tessa.

He tenderly stood near the couch and, with a single, easy swipe, he gestured for the hologram of his brain activity to dwindle. It zipped in a knowing way and flickered away, in a fit of understanding. What was left was the small, crystal clear, solid box that suddenly turned into a paperweight. Zed fixated his eyes away from it; he knew it'd be safe in his home. He gently turned back to Tessa and outreached his hands to her, to help her up. She curiously peered at him and slipped her hands into his, as if to kindly ask a few dozen questions in the moment. Their eyes caught in a string of innocent want, though Tessa remained baffled.

"Wait, you're serious?" Tessa suddenly beamed a bashful smile, though Zed harshly furrowed his eyebrows and gave her an equally bashful smile in return.

"Yeah?" Zed laughed as he lightly pulled her to her feet, "I take my naps very seriously," he teased as the two lightly lulled a foot or two away from each other.

"I can stay out here, if you want," Tessa wondered lightly, she was curious as to just what the two were traipsing into, though she flinched once Zed scoffed an annoyed noise and gripped her hand in his.

"Yeah, I'm going to make you nap out here while I go lay in my huge, comfortable bed, bye!" Zed joked as he gently began to lead them out of his living room. They took a few steps up and moseyed closer to the kitchen; his open floor plan made it so everything was in the same room, though the illusion of it all seemed as though it weren't.

"A nap does sound good," Tessa muttered as her fist rubbed her eye and bashfully blushed cheeks. She furrowed her eyebrows lightly and realized this would be the first time she'd be setting foot into Zed's bedroom.

As the two pushed closer to the looming, large doorway that Tessa knew nothing about, she began to feel tender butterflies line the inside of her stomach. She gently gripped Zed's hand and softly peered to the back of his wrist, as he slowly led her towards the beautiful archway that lead to his bedroom. It was crowned with dark grey molding, and tucked away in light secrecy. Just as he opened the door, she was surprised to see that it only lead into a hallway, in which was only lightly illuminated by tender blue lights on the ground, to only light the walkway. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows lightly and tried to readjust her eyes. At the end of the long hallway hung a door to the right, and much to the contrast of everything, sunlight sprawled from the doorway. She immediately felt a smile come over her face, and hoped the warmness that seemingly eked from his bedroom wasn't false.

Zed only lightly glanced back at her, as if to silently question if this was too bold of him. He knew the two were lacking sleep, from the obviously difficult attention spans and lazy demeanor. His eyes only briefly caught hers as their string of eye contact held too much intuition, too many questions and concerns. Zed inhaled a silent breath and pressed on, as if he was aware they both knew their harmless acts of love were just that. He knew they were both traipsing around the sticky topic of their defying code, though somehow, he was determined to cheat the system, whether it meant building onto innocent notions of romance, as if to hope that one day, overfilling the cup would make perfect sense.

Tessa inhaled a breath and held it as they slowly rounded the corner into Zed's bedroom. She let him step in first, though she squinted as the warm sunlight hit her eyes. Zed let his hand slip from hers as he pushed farther into the room, and she hung back to take it all in. Zed's room was large, and shared the floor to ceiling wall of windows with his living room and kitchen. His secretive bubble of divinity atop his jungle mountain was as if he picked a perfect hiding spot, a massive game of hide and seek he was ultimately winning at. His bedroom was sprawled with his usual massive, white, glossy tiles. She dared to turn to her right, and was more than delighted to see his large bed, which was rather low to the ground, though it was billowed with the ultimate, puffy comforters; the purest of whites against stark, charcoal grey sheets. His bed was housed in a dark wooden frame that hugged his bed about a foot or two from the ground. It was almost tucked to his far wall, though with only enough room for a nightstand on each side.

"You're so lucky," Tessa hissed in an annoyed whisper as her eyes ogled his massive, fluffy bed. It practically begged her to lay down.

"Why?" Zed smiled softly as he fiddled with a few things on a desk, which was directly across the room from his bedroom door. He tidied a little, in a nervous antic.

"Because," Tessa said through an annoyed chuckle, "You get to just... Stay here, and not worry about a game day, or Academy. The ultimate pit of lazy. I'd kill for this."

"Well," Zed furrowed his eyebrows in growing kindness as his blue eyes pierced hers once more, "You have it. You know you're welcome over here, anytime, Tess... You told me that I have a family within Sugar Rush, but... You have a family within Dead Zed, too. Sure, it's just... Me, but," Zed bashfully smiled with a shrug as he peered across his room.

"Maybe it'll be easier to study after a nap, anyhow," Tessa said through a teary eyed, exhausted yawn.

"I'll make lunch, when we wake up," Zed nodded gently as he stepped closer to Tessa, "Then we can hit the books. We can't go out to the Dead Zed tracks, until game day is over, anyhow."

"You...You sure you don't want me to just crash on the couch?" Tessa wondered bashfully, though she didn't want to step on his toes. She gently gestured to his bed and gave him a genuinely concerned look, "I-I don't want to, like... Intrude."

"Stop," Zed snapped in a loving tone as he approached her, "You're staying with me."

He gave her a bashfully annoyed smirk and, with one quick, strong swoop, he bent over and scooped Tessa into his arms, bridal style. She exhaled a hard, startled meep of a noise and slapped her arms around Zed's neck, though she widened her eyes in surprise as he began to step over to his bed. He knelt on his bed and, as tenderly as he could, he laid her down on the far end of the bed, closest to the wall. Tessa nervously laid poised, in a frozen sort of sense, as if she had run over, in her mind, how to act normal in this situation a million times over, though now that she was sat in it, the gears in her mind stopped turning. She eased up, however, once Zed stood and slowly moseyed over to a small pad on the wall, right next to his door. Much to Tessa's surprise, with a few gentle nudges of his finger, on the pad on the wall, Zed's opposing wall, that was purely all windows, quickly gained a tint, as if to act as curtains. It dimmed the room only slightly, for a comfortable sleeping environment.

"You're digging yourself a deeper hole, here, dude," Tessa giggled softly as she finally braved her feelings and wormed under his cool, comfortable downs. She heaved a relaxed sigh and buried into his delightful scent, "Now I'm never going to leave."

"Not like I would complain," Zed dared, he lightly shut his bedroom door before making his way over to his bed, where Tessa patiently waited.

"You'd get tired of me, eventually," Tessa said through a long, exhausted sigh and let her eyes lull closed. She felt her face get hot as Zed's slow, tender presence made itself known on his heavily padded and pillowed mattress.

"Highly unlikely," Zed breathed in a whisper as he, too, situated himself close to Tessa.

With an almost unsure demeanor, Zed patiently scoot himself as close as he could to Tessa without seeming too pushy. He lightly laid half a foot from her and, as if he was still heavily catering to a new house guest, he lightly draped the two with his thick, cool blanket. The air in the room was still with morning air, as if it were merely hung in paused wait from Zed's sleepless night prior. He felt his face get hot and, much to his surprise, he felt Tessa's warm hand slide to his chest, in a dainty, unsure manner, as if her fingers were testing the surface of something to see if it were too hot to the touch. Zed studied her beautiful face with delightful inquisition; with blue, furrowed eyebrows and tired eyes to match, he wondered if the way his arm came around her waist was a safe move. The two lightly laid in each other's lulling, gentle silence, as if the stillness of the room was slowly begging them to get closer, to shoo away the butterflies, as if their opposing codes were silently pleading to get over their internal differences.

Zed gently studied her face farther and was delight to see her lull her eyes closed, though he knew it wasn't for good. As tenderly as he could, he slid his hand from her waist and just barely swept the long, crazy strands of her auburn hair from her eyes. He relished in the softness of her skin as he gently tucked her hair behind her ear. He continued this notion a few times, in slow sweeps, until her face was free of it. With one final brush, he tenderly rested his hand on the side of her cheek and jaw, in which to allow his thumb to just barely stroke her cheek, as if he had discovered the most precious of gems, all his for the taking. He squinted his eyes lightly and wondered just how lucky he could be, how fortunate one lonely soul could get. With the utmost of subtly, he scoot closer into her warmth; he was surprised to feel Tessa's warm fingers curl into the chest of his shirt, a little, as if he had finally answered to her silent plea. Zed inhaled a readied breath; he knew he wanted to overload her with all of his feelings, and he was certain she'd reciprocate in a positive manner, though his bashful heart continued to shy away from being daring. He opened his mouth, anyways, and steadied his curious thoughts.

"I can't tell you how much I care about you," Zed eased gently, as if the notion almost confused him; his heart dipped into a vat of molten intimidation once Tessa's eyes lightly opened and peered into his soul.

"Y-You mean it?" Tessa wondered as a gentle smile graced her face; Zed couldn't help but smile, as well.

"Of course," Zed whispered, "I don't know what it is, but... For some reason, after last night, I feel as though I've known you since the beginning of my time."

"What happened last night?" Tessa asked above a whisper, her eyes held a massive amount of delightful curiosity.

"Your dad and I had a good, long talk... H-He gave me a lot of insight on what happened to you, before you were born," Zed said in a sorrowful tone.

"Yeah, I was taken from my code room," Tessa eased with a gentle, knowing frown, "My uncle Rancis saved my life... He reintegrated himself, but, Aunt Taffyta says they brought him back through Penny's coding, because she was pregnant with Penny at the time."

"Quick thinking," Zed scoffed, "I don't know what this world would be like, without you or Penny. Pretty boring, if you ask me."

"Pshyeah," Tessa lightly rolled her eyes and gave Zed a playful look.

"C'mon, I mean it," Zed finally dared his bashfulness and hooked his arm around her small, warm waist.

"...You knew Radex, didn't you," Tessa wondered tenderly, "I remember you mentioning him, the very first time you met my uncle Rancis."

"I did know Radex," Zed furrowed his eyebrows, as if knowing the very person that nearly took Tessa's life was enough to make him want to throw himself out a window, "He wasn't my friend... I really don't know what he was. All I know is, he wanted to take over Dead Zed, and I stopped at nothing to get him out of my game. "

"What were his motives for Sugar Rush?" Tessa lightly wondered.

"I don't remember," Zed frowned, his honest eyes peered into Tessa's, "I feel as if the coding that I found, on the cusp of my brain coding, is hindering my memory... I can't remember anything, from that time. Little snippets of memories come back to me, every now and then, but nothing tangible... Nothing I can piece together with another memory and make one solid thought. It's like looking into a shattered mirror and trying to decipher just what you're looking at."

"With the hour of work I put into deleting that nasty code, today, I still have a long way to go," Tessa said through a long, dreadful sigh, though Zed furrowed his eyebrows and gave her a look of pure appreciation, "I'm sure once it's all gone, you'll have a lot more clarity on what happened."

"I can't thank you enough," Zed frowned, "I-I would do it myself, but..."

"You're welcome," Tessa lightly gripped his shirt a little harder, though she began to feel her eyes grow more and more lazy, "Y'know I'd do anything for you."

"Likewise," Zed agreed to her as he could feel her warm body relax more and more.

Zed felt his brain gently continue on with a train of thought, though just as he was about to open his mouth to sleepily press on, he was surprised to feel Tessa brave both of their insecurities and push into his chest. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as she largely snuggled into his warm arms. She tightly latched her right arm around his center, as her left arm remained tucked between the two, and the bed. She heaved a hard, silent yawn into Zed's upper chest and closed her eyes once and for all. With a surprised look of bashful delight, Zed warmly scooped her into his arms and squeezed her to his chest, with all of his sleepy might. He tucked his chin to the top of her head, though he eagerly buried his nose into her messy hair, after a few moments. He inhaled her sweet scent and lulled his eyes closed in a dreamy haze, as well. His strong hands gripped her around her back, over her clothes and intertwined between thick strands of her soft hair, which draped her back. He furrowed his eyebrows in lovestruck anguish, his heart ached with how badly he wanted to spill every last ounce of love he had, a confession he knew he wanted to save for the perfect moment. With brave intentions, he opened his mouth to finally speak the words he had rehearsed for weeks now.

"I love you," Zed eased in deep, tender, quiet confidence.

He shut his eyes tight and prepared for whatever was about to come his way; his heart pounded hard in a rush of wonder, though he lightly flinched once he heard Tessa's breathing even out, once and for all. He raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise as he just barely pulled away, to get a good look at her face. Her head lulled in such a way, Zed felt his whole inner being sigh with relief as the innocently exhausted facial expression, on Tessa's face, made clear to him she was fast asleep. He exhaled a small chuckle of relief and wondered if this was the universe's way of telling him that there would be another opportunity to reveal his tender, oozing secret. He pushed a few, warm kisses to her cheeks and forehead before he, too, eased into her once and for all, and followed her wonderful idea.