A/N PHEW. I'm glad you guys enjoyed those 4 billion chapters like I did ;D Now onto normal stuff...

Well, sort of.. xD

*Chapter 137*

"Zed," Tessa inquired softly over the sound of the buzzing by her left ear.

Zed had materlialized a buzzer, so to tidy the patches of hair on Tessa's scalp; uneven strands that he was positive weren't apparent in the arcade. He tenderly stroked the buzzer clean over her scalp, his methodical hands were careful. He raised his eyebrows softly, though he kept his eyes honed to what he was doing.

"Hmm?" He mused, he straightened the towel draped over Tessa's left shoulder. She was dressed in nothing but his baggy t-shirt and a pair of her own clean underwear. Zed's clean skin glistened in the hard bathroom lighting, he was comfortably dressed in only his black boxer-briefs. They stood calmly in their now aired out bathroom, in front of the mirror.

"... Can you tell me, exactly how Penny killed Selka?" Tessa wondered as gently as she could; she practically felt her heart stop as he recoiled from her words. He beamed her a curious smile and shut the buzzer off.

"We go from talking about what we're going to have for breakfast tomorrow, straight to how Penny single-handedly murdered someone?" Zed set the buzzer down and crossed his arms. Tessa leaned forward, to the mirror, tilted her head, and assessed Zed's job well done.

"I-I just can't wrap my mind around it," Tessa shook her head, "I can't imagine Penny doing anything like that."

"Yeah, I can't either," Zed looked down to his feet, "She saved my life... I'm sure it was the last thing, she wanted to do, considering... Everything I've done."

"So, to recap," Tessa suddenly faced Zed, which caused him to flinch and set his gaze straight into hers. She crossed her arms and leaned the side of her hip into the counter, "Radex wants Sugar Rush, lies to you and tells you it's an alliance... You find out it's actually a game-take over, try to get out before you're in too deep, though he sabotages your brain coding with his own, programs you to fall in love with me, so you can one day code swap with me and take over Sugar Rush... From the inside out."

"Perfect, now let's edit that, put a title on it, and it'll be a best seller," Zed said in a dull tone as he lazily slumped his arms to his sides, his hands slapped his bare thighs, "We'll call it 'Whoops!'"

"And then, there we are, all cozy in Sugar Rush's most beautiful, greenest city, Stonecrest," Tessa continue to droll on, though her inquisitive gaze hooked hard into Zed's, her scheming smile was delightfully mature and playful, "Two star-crossed lovers deciding whether to take the plunge, or sit back and continue to be so painfully patient."

"I didn't think a code-source placement would do any harm to Sugar Rush," Zed urged, mostly to himself, as he rubbed the entirety of his face with his palm, "I'll have you know, I may have been partially brain washed, but I still tried to save you from Radex. Whether it was subconscious or not."

"Can't tamper with emotion?" Tessa snarky tone was balanced with a kind smile, though Zed gave her a furrowed, frustrated beam and took a step closer to her.

"Nope," Zed smirked as he eased into her bubble, an aura he finally had the proper taste of, though he was certain he wouldn't be able to resist for too long, "I'm pretty sure I made that clear, not twenty minutes ago."

"You kept your word," Tessa eased with all the kindness in the world, though her eyes glossed with guilt, they traced the masculine sculpture of Zed's strong chest as his tender hands found the sides of her hips. He tilted his head down a little and immediately caught on to her sinking demeanor. She heaved a shaky, silent breath and shook her head, "Zed, I'm so sorry for all the mean things I've said to you..."

Zed's stern frown held effortlessly to her face and cheeks, he steadied his growing playfulness, for a second, and held leveled with Tessa. He assessed her beautiful face, the clean, buzzed hairs on the left side of her head; even in the real world, she was an imperfectly perfect bundle of energy he so wished he could just bottle and save for an eternity. He finally let a sorrowful smile grace his cheeks, though he spoke with the softest, most understanding tones.

"Tess, I'm the one who should be apologizing, for the rest of my life," Zed uttered quietly, though he frowned harder and noticed Tessa desperately try to hide the billowing of tears in her eyes, "I never meant for any of this to happen... None of us did... But yknow what?"

Zed cued to her, kindly, as he hooked his gentle finger under her chin and made her slowly look up at him, so to gain eye contact.

"I'm glad Radex put you in my head... I'm glad he made me seek you out," Zed's deep, kind voice was near irresistible, "I fell in love with you... And now we're a team against his awful plans."

"You've endured so much pain, y-you were nearly killed," Tessa quietly complained, her voice remained still, though Zed could easily tell she was on the verge of crumpling right into his arms, "Th-those bruises-"

"Yeah? These bruises on my neck, because Selka tried to suffocate me?... But not before that awful kick to my nuts, in which... I was certain I'd never walk right, ever again," Zed shook his head, though his eyes quickly scanned Tessa's eyes; he bought the split second of time she allowed him to rushingly carry on, "A bruised tail bone, bruised elbows, my mind is exhausted..."

Tessa shook her head, with his long list, though her sorrowful gaze shot to the gnarly bruises all over his neck. Tears finally slipped down her cheeks as she opened her mouth to begin to protest, though Zed hurried to interrupt her.

"I'd do it, all over again, just to make sure this moment stayed real," Zed urged quietly, his kind smile set firmly into her eyes, "We all did a lot of crap we probably regret, and some things we don't! Penny panicked and killed Selka, but something tells me, she won't regret that in the morning."

"She beat Oliver to it," Tessa nasally giggled and let her fingertips find Zed's upper chest.

"Oliver swapped codes with Emery, your dad shook me until I confessed Tron's existence, and Penny is the last person to bring harm to anyone... Yet she permanently ended someone's life, for my well being, when I clearly didn't deserve it... We single handedly almost destroyed the biggest, most successful game in the arcade," Zed carried on, though he laughed, as if all of it put into tiny perspective, out in the real world, made it all seem so small. He shook his head, in disbelief and quickly lifted his hands to her cheeks, "We left the game...! Tessa, you realize how huge that is?"

"I-I still can't really think about it too hard," Tessa smiled through her tears.

"If we can do all that," Zed furrowed his eyebrows and sighed, "We can do anything."

"I don't hate you," Tessa urged quietly, as if she had to repeatedly remind him, even after the fiasco of passion they had traipsed into, just earlier.

"That much is obvious," Zed's bashful, handsome smile looked down to the tiles under their feet, though he lovingly hooked his hands to the sides of her hips and pulled her body closer to his, "Don't suppose you yell the name of people you hate, to the ceiling, hmm?"

"Shush," Tessa giggled, though her smile only broadened as Zed lugged her body into his and hugged her around the dip of her waist. His strong hands and arms curled around her in the dregs of their passionate, lingering want.

"We both said and did hurtful things... I think it's safe to say we're a pretty well rounded couple," Zed inquired with a small nod, Tessa lightly peered down at his chest, though he furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head down softly, "We... ARE still a couple, right?"

Just as Tessa opened her mouth to reply to him, they both flinched as suddenly a loud, reverberating boom could be heard outside of the building. Tessa tensed as she could feel Zed's loving grip suddenly become protective and tight; the two eagerly peered into each other's eyes in floored nervousness, though before they could get any words out, they began to scramble out of the bathroom. Just as they barged into the room and got a glimpse out their rooms' balcony, through the lazy curtains, Tessa beamed a wide, excited smile.

"Fireworks!" Tessa urged, though just as the two were about to happily rush the balcony, Tessa largely grappled for Zed's arm, "Zed, put on your clothes!"

"Tess, it's night time on a private balcony, it's not like I'm naked!" Zed uttered in playful annoyance, though he began to step closer to the balcony.

"You're in your underwear!" Tessa giggled as she swiped Zed's pants and shirt, that lazily hung on the edge of the bed.

"Oh my God, what if I'm seen! What will they think of me? How dare anyone go shirtless in their own hotel room!" Zed loudly mocked in a nasally, girly voice. He largely flinched as Tessa rocketed his clothes at him, though he barked a hard laugh and swiped them off of his head and face.

"C'mon, we're missing it," Tessa urged as she wobbled to get into her jeans.

"Okay, okay," Zed muttered through an excited smile as he finally began to put his legs into his lazy jeans.

Tessa was first to dress, because she was already wearing a shirt. She pushed closer to the balcony, sliding glass door and swiped away the curtains. She beamed an excited smile to the glass, as the fireworks came into view. She quickly began to fumble with the lock on the door, though she grunted an annoyed noise and felt the strangeness of trying to unlock something with such tiny fingers. She shook her head and added that to the list of things she thought she could live without; her wrecking hands always seemed to get in the way, though now that she was without them, she felt continued sadness fall over her. She swiped away her feelings and finally pushed out into the cool, nighttime air. The booms of the powerful fireworks grew much louder. As the core shaking pops pierced the atmosphere. Tessa beamed and found the railing of their balcony; her eyes scanned the glorious city lights below, as well as the gorgeous displays of colored lightning cracks that soaked over the light smog.

"I wonder what it's for," Zed's voice was soft through the gaps of bangs. Tessa leaned forward, to get comfortable on the railing. She glanced at Zed before she refocused her attention on the colorful show far before them.

"Who knows... Maybe a celebration of some sort?" Tessa wondered, though Zed squinted and peered down to the land underneath them.

"Looks like a game, maybe," Zed gently pointed, though Tessa beamed and wrinkled her nose.

"A game?" Tessa wondered.

"Yeah, like a school football game," Zed shrugged.

"They have Academy, here?" Tessa's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I believe so," Zed gave her a warm smile, "I-I think they call it just... School. High school? Or college? I forget what the book said, about it."

"I forgot, you studied up, didn't you," Tessa beamed as she shook her head and thought nothing much of it, though the way Zed fell sorrowfully silent cued Tessa back to his line of attention. She furrowed her eyebrows and assessed his demeanor carefully, "... What DID you do all that studying for, anyways?"

"Well," Zed said through a hard sigh, "I found out Tron's existence, found the light cycle and the light disc... I was studying because... I was going to game jump, for good."

"You were going to come to Earth, and stay?" Tessa gawked, "Y-you were planning on never returning to Litwak's?"

"Mhmm," Zed humbly confessed, his eyes held to hers in such a way that assured her that these were simply thoughts of the past. He scoffed a laugh and shook his head, "Y'wanna know what stopped me?"

"What," Tessa wondered.

"The day I met you," Zed eased as his eyes lulled to a warm gaze of nostalgia, though they held to Tessa's small hands, "Sure, it was the inner workings of Radex's plan, to seek you out and ultimately end Sugar Rush, but... The day I had packed my bags and was about to leave for good, I was stopped by Tammy in Game Central Station... You, Penny and Oliver were with her."

"I remember," Tessa's warm voice melted with his, "We were headed to EZ Living, for the day... You had a backpack on."

"Tammy knew I had been considering ditching Dead Zed, though to where, she'd never know," Zed chuckled, "... She knew what I was up to. If she hadn't have told me to drop my stuff and come to EZ Living with you guys, I'd... I'd probably be here, on Earth. Without you... Without any of you guys. Without the love I needed."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in growing, painful surprise and slowly averted her attention back to the firework display out before them. Each pang, each core trembling boom was enough to match the emotions that slapped her brain, over and over. She shook her head slowly and, as easily as her now knowing gaze could, she gave Zed her warm eye contact; it was clear he had been holding his eyes to her face. She frowned and lulled her eyes closed in a slow blink of realization.

"How small, all this is," Tessa whispered as they stood close; they remained solid with warmth, "Hindsight is so... So surreal. I was even too little to understand just what was going on, that day."

"You were like my new best friend, that day, too," Zed chuckled and shook his head, he gave her a confused smirk, "You didn't talk to anyone but me. Tammy was so floored."

"I was a weird one. I didn't have friends outside my game," Tessa rolled her eyes, "Kind of hard being around your family all day every day... It was nice having someone to talk with, that was different from someone I was used to living with."

"Now you're stuck with me," Zed uttered playfully, though his tone lead Tessa to believe he maybe figured she would be unhappy with said realization. He shook his head and threw his gaze to the distance far below, "Well... Nothing really is keeping you with me, I guess... I don't know why I said that."

"You're right, I'm not legitimately stuck with you," Tessa started in a dull tone, as if to suggest to sarcastically agree with him. She crossed her arms tight across her chest and looked out to the dark horizon as well, "We're not married, we don't have children together, and we don't even share codes... There is literally nothing holding me to you."

Zed nodded softly and peered out to the world in growing anxiousness, as if he knew this was bound to happen; one night of endless, heated passion, only to fall off the edge of the Earth once they set things right. He furrowed his eyebrows and kept his composure. He inhaled a solid breath and steadied himself for anything that was to come of this. He tried his ultimate hardest to blink back light tears that welled in his eyes, as if to remind him that everything he had ever hoped for, dreamed of, was bound to come crumpling to the ground before him; like dead pixels that ceased to exist.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to leave you, Zed," Tessa's voice was calm, deep and sweet.

She finally tore her eyes from the last firework that exploded in the sky and gave him life through her dominant stare; he furrowed his eyebrows and scrunched his face a little. He didn't dare look her in the eyes. He knew that was enough to lose his strict, solid composure. He knew not to rock the boat.

"Radex may have hard wired a purpose in your brain coding, to seek me out, pursue me for his own selfish reasons," Tessa carried on as she kept her loving, stern stare on him, "But with that, he inadvertently made Sugar Rush stronger... Because not only did you fall in love with me, but I returned the sentiment. That's not something I can just take back."

Zed scoffed a breath, as if he was on the verge of wanting to break down, though he finally gave Tessa his solid gaze; she could easily tell he was hiding an overload of fear. Tessa gave him a fierce look of loyalty and grabbed his lower arm for emphasis. She squeezed his skin and just barely shook her head.

"And with that, I AM stuck with you," Tessa urged quietly, "I could end our relationship right here, right now, and we'd go back to the arcade like strangers... I wouldn't talk to you ever again... But y'know what would STILL be holding me to you?"

Zed closed his eyes tight and just barely shook his head, as if to inquire her to keep talking; to keep pushing through the pain he only thought he was sinking into. Tessa let a small smile sprawl her face.

"The fact that I would still be in love with you," Tessa said softly, her gaze softened as she shook her head, "No amount of coding, status or unplugged games could change that. I'm stuck with you... And, you're stuck with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Zed croaked, he looked down to their feet and, as softly as he could, he wormed his arm from Tessa's grip and slipped his strong hand into hers.

He cleared his throat and let his hard gaze pierce the railing they were next to, he almost felt alien in this moment. He felt his heart jump in a nervous way, with a small secret he had been harboring, something he was certain would never see the light of day. He felt a wave of certainty hit him, as if presenting the fact that, if he didn't act now, he'd be way too late. He scoffed a small noise, as if to somehow even begin to prepare himself to take this leap of faith he had been prepping for, for awhile now, beyond Tessa's knowledge. He let his mind get lost in the 'what if's' and, while weighing the pros and cons of his sudden spark of decision making, he could feel Tessa's confused stare on him. He lightly caught serious, yet loving eye contact with her.

"You okay?" Tessa warmly prod as she lovingly squeezed his hands, though he let his free hand pat his left, back pocket, then his front left pocket.

When his slightly shaking hand finally found the small secret he had been slyly harboring, he raised his eyebrows in a small bout of surprise, as if to wonder if he was sat in a daydream. He scoffed a small breath, yet again, wrinkled his nose, and shook his head, as if to rid himself of his sudden bout of bravery. He finally caught eyes with Tessa again, inhaled a shaky breath and long blinked, to better assess her demeanor, as if to wonder if, perhaps, his curious wonderings would come to an end. He let a kind, nervous smile peak from his mouth, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow, purely out of kind curiosity and glanced down at their conjoined hands; his began to lightly shake. Tessa finally gave him her full attention and felt a wash of delightful anxiousness come over her.

"I'm great," Zed chuckled as he looked down to their bare feet and scanned the ground, as if it maybe held the proper cues for him. He caught a shaky breath and cleared his throat with growing, bumbling uncertainty. He gave her a longing look of growing, unsure passion as he nervously continued on, "... I have a question."