A/N

Hiya! I know, I know. I haven't updated in a while and I usually don't do that. But, if you didn't read this earlier, I have a reason for that! I have been busy practicing my drawing. I hope to be able to draw some important scenes from my stories. I thought you may like that ^-^. So thanks for your understanding. You guys rock and are the most awesome fans ever :D!

A few more weeks passed and the final performance of the musical was drawing closer. Everything was going according to plan until one morning in the Membrane household. It had started out as a usual day for Gaz: wake up, crush the alarm clock, get up after sleeping in ten more minutes, slip on skool clothes, and head downstairs for breakfast. But that is where the trouble began. Gaz skipped down the stairs, expecting to see only her brother at the table. Instead, she saw her dad. Without warning, there he was, sitting at the table and waiting for his daughter. She could tell he was up to something by the odd way he was smiling. Still, she took a hesitant seat and spooned up her cereal.

"Good morning, Gaz!"

She looked up questionably at her dad and half-smiled.

"Morning."

"How has your life been?" he inched forward in his seat at the question. Ever since Romeo and Juliet, her father made it a point to be more involved in his children's lives. After Gaz blew up unexpectedly and yelled at him, telling him how much he had failed at being there for them, he stayed home more often and tried to have heart-to-heart conversations with them. Though, at times, he was at a loss as to how to start a conversation. This time being one of those times. So Gaz simply went along with it, shrugging dully.

"Okay. Busy with the musical and Zim."

"Oh, really?" he asked suggestively.

She blushed immediately, glaring at the table. She all ready knew where their conversation was headed. Just as she had thought, the professor continued.

"So…I have been hearing an awful lot about this Zim. He someone special?"

"Um…" she shrugged, clearly embarrassed, "well, yeah. We've grown pretty close since Romeo and Juliet. We're um…" She felt her entire face redden at the thought of calling Zim her boyfriend. Even if the entire skool had seen her kiss him before, she still could not manage to tell her dad that they were dating. It was so unlike Gaz; plus, even though they had grown close, she was still getting used to the luxury of spending time with her dad and talking to him. Without her finishing her sentence, he knew exactly what she meant.

"Oh!" he smiled and raised his eyebrows in excitement. "I see! Is he the one who got the part as Romeo and the Phantom?"

She nodded sheepishly.

"Well, it sounds like you two are very happy together."

"We are. He's really nice. I think you would like him," she tried to open up more, but that was her mistake.

"That's a great idea, Gaz! I should meet him!"

"Wait, but I—"

"You should invite him over for dinner!"

"But, dad, I wasn't saying—"

"Tomorrow!"

She choked on her spoon and gaped in horror.

"You want Zim to come over for dinner tomorrow?" she nearly hollered.

He nodded excitedly.

"This would be a great opportunity to meet this young man. Tell him to come over tomorrow at six o'clock!"

"Okay, dad…" But all Gaz could think of is how the 'young man' would react.

"Meet your parental unit? Tomorrow?"

She nodded, covering her ears at his high volume, but he either did not notice or did not care.

But Gaz, I do not do this dining or meeting or acceptance ritual you call dinner at your parent's house!"

She waved her hands slowly, trying in vain to shush him.

"It's just for one evening. And I am just as freaked out as you are."

He shook his head.

"What do I do? What do I say? What should I wear?" With each question, his voice grew louder and louder until everyone in the cafeteria was looking at him questionably. Gaz ignored them and went back to the Irken who was currently freaking out.

"Just make simple, polite conversation with him, eat the food and compliment his cooking—"

"I do not even eat Earth food!" he interrupted.

"Shoot, I forgot about that…" her shoulders slumped. "Don't worry. We will figure out something. For now, just prepare to come over to my house tomorrow night at six o'clock, okay?"

He nodded, but she could see the evident fear on his face.

Gaz ran her hand over her skirt, smoothing the creases and nervously picking at the rest of her outfit. She was worried that her father would not accept Zim. What would happen then? They had been through so much together and she could not imagine losing him. She ran a brush quickly through her hair and rushed downstairs to wait. Luckily, she arrived right on time as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," she told her dad before he could even think to open the door. Dib eyed his sister in confusion, not used to her nervous behavior, and took a seat at the table. Gaz opened the door, expecting Zim, but when she saw him, her mouth dropped to the ground and her eyes opened in awe. He wore a sleek suit similar to that of a tuxedo, his body lean and his shape perfectly outlined. He eyed her in confusion at her stunned attitude.

"Um…Gaz?"

She snapped out of it, blushing madly.

"Sorry," she chuckled, "you look great."

He smiled fearfully and stiffly lifted his arm. She smiled and grabbed the flowers he held, seeing how tense the alien truly was.

"Don't worry. It's going to be okay," she reassured, still fighting to tug the plant out of his stressed grip, but even she wasn't sure.

He nodded in a daze and gazed passed her as if he were seeing his own death sentence. She smiled and grabbed his hand, leading him inside and shutting the door behind him. She led him to the kitchen and waited for her father to turn around. He was busy with preparing their meal and when he finally turned around, Gaz pointed at Zim and tried her best to seem cheerful.

"Dad, this is Zim, my boyfriend." She was thankful that she did not trip on the word. Even Dib was shocked. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief before facing the table once more.

"Wow, she really is serious about him," he muttered.

The professor crossed the room and stuck out a hand.

"It is very nice to meet you," he beamed.

Zim stared at his hand as if it were a mutant before shaking it timidly. "Yes, it is nice to meet you too, worm-man." Gaz smacked her forehead with her hand at the ridiculous name Zim had decided to label her dad with. "So, shall we proceed with this 'dining'?" He emphasized the word as though it were a disease. To him, any social occasion was a disease, though. Her dad nodded and grabbed the trays of food to bring over to the table. The pair made their way to the table while Zim quickly rushed ahead of Gaz and pulled her seat out for her. She raised an eyebrow in confusion at his unusual behavior, but gladly accepted it. Her dad nodded approvingly. Luckily, Zim had spent the entire day reading a book called How to act like a human Gentlemen to impress your scary girlfriend's parents. The library really did have everything. Her dad set the tray down and immediately Zim's eyes widened in horror.

"I hope you don't mind. I thought it would be nice to have breakfast for dinner!" her father chirped excitedly.

Gaz watched Zim nervously. She could all ready see his face turning a pale white color. Of all the things, she thought to herself, why did he have to serve waffles? All at once, Zim recalled his last experience with waffles and shuddered at the thought of Gir's insane ideas. Though, he did not have much time to dwell on the thought as he found the urge to vomit growing. He quickly covered his mouth and rushed out of his seat, heading straight out the front door. Gaz sighed as she heard faint puking sounds coming from her front yard.

Oh, my charming little alien…

The professor stared in confusion, slightly disturbed by the noises he heard coming from his daughter's boyfriend, but smiled when Zim entered the room once again. He brought a gloved hand up to his mouth, wiping it profusely.

"I apologize for my stomach's artistc expression, but uh…" he looked around thoughtfully, "the mere sight of this," he picked up a forkful of waffle, "delicacy was just too much for my unworthy, normal eyes." He gagged involuntary as the food slid down his throat and attempted a smile after it was down. Gaz looked at him in disbelief, quirking an eyebrow as if asking 'You seriously just said that'? He replied with an eye twitch. Yet, her father seemed to buy it. He smiled and waved it off.

"Oh, why thank you!" He pointed his fork at Gaz. "Gaz, he has good taste!"

She nodded, shaking her head at the excuse her genius dad had just bought.

"Yeah, he's just a regular Prince Charming," Dib joked.

Zim narrowed his eyes on the big headed boy and hissed. Dib simply smirked and continued chewing. He had a feeling he was going to be enjoying this evening, even if his enemy was sitting less than five feet away.

"So, green child, where are you from?"

Zim was obviously not paying attention as he nearly answered honestly.

"Ir—I mean…Earth! Yes, I am from Earth. I am normal!"

Gaz squinted at the expected yelling, peering curiously at her dad. He did not even seem to notice.

"Well, that's nice."

Zim nodded excitedly.

Gaz was surprised to see him seemingly enjoying himself. After all, Zim was not the most social being out there. She sighed as she remembered the first time he had met Keef and befriended him for a day. Even she had felt bad for him. Dib remained confused, still not knowing how his dad did not recognize the extraterrestrial sitting at their dinner table.

"Gaz tells me you got the lead role of the play and this upcoming musical."

"Yes, that is correct. My love pig knows me well!" He wrapped an arm around her, tugging her close. She was slightly surprised by his extreme Zim-ness, but shrugged it off, glad that he had finally returned to his old self. "You must be very proud of your scary offspring," he smiled. Gaz glanced up at him and smiled as she realized what he was doing. He had known about her father's absence for most of her life and planned to create situations in which her father would show how he truly cared for his children.

"Of course. She is very talented. It seems the skool has discovered that too."

"You should see her perform."

The professor nodded thoughtfully. "I should, shouldn't I?"

Zim nodded.

"When is the final performance, Gaz?"

"Soon. Very soon," she answered nervously. Time had just flown. It seemed like only a few days ago they were auditioning. And even after everything they had been through, the device malfunctioning, the jealousy, Keef's near-death experience, she would not have had it any other way.

To her and Zim's liking, the evening progressed perfectly. Her father seemed to approve, Dib had only freaked out a few times, and so far, he had not suspected him of being an alien. Her dad being a man of science, she did not think it would be wise to tell him what Zim really was. She did not like the idea of visiting him on an autopsy table as her father watched over her shoulder, running tests and experimenting. She shook her head free of the worry and returned back to Dib's story. Another tale about the apparent sighting of a Big Foot baby.

"…and I swear, it must have been this big!" he stretched his arms out to emphasize the size, but when he did, he accidentally hit a glass of water, knocking it over and spilling it across the table. It spread so far that it ended up splattering on Zim. Zim's eyes widened fearfully before he leapt up screaming and wiping harshly at the liquid. Gaz got up and began scrubbing him with a napkin. She glanced at her father to explain as she dabbed at the alien's steaming skin.

"He has a really bad allergy to water?" she hesitatingly asked more in a question than a statement. She could not believe either her luck or her dad's lack of common sense when he bought yet another pathetic excuse. Zim sighed painfully and rested limply in his chair, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He looked up pathetically at Gaz as if saying 'How much longer must I deal with this?'. She nodded and faced her dad.

"Would it be okay if we took a walk really quick?"

"Yes of course. You two have fun," he raised his eyebrows suggestively and laughed when Gaz blushed, tugging harshly at Zim's arm. The pair quickly left and began walking absentmindedly. Gaz peered up at the sky.

"It looks like it is going to rain soon," she observed.

Zim reached his arm into his PAK, retrieved a spray can, and began spraying away. She backed away and gave him a questioning look when he finally finished.

"I managed to create a spray paste. That way, in case I am ever away from my base and I happen to be near liquid, I may use this," he held the can up proudly.

"You have all of that futuristic equipment and you use it to make spray paste?"

He nodded and smiled smugly. She laughed it off and continued their walk. Just as she had thought, rain began lightly pounding the sidewalk. By the time they arrived at the park, it smashed against the ground harshly. A curtain of rain and mist filled the air and no one was seen anywhere. Most people sought shelter during a storm; Gaz sought out the storm. They ran under the shelter of a tree and Gaz laughed.

"I love storms. They are so peaceful."

Zim nodded. "As long as you remembered to apply your paste."

"Most don't have to worry about cooking in it, you know," she chuckled as she leaned her back against the tree.

"True."

Silence fell amongst the pair. After a few moments, Zim turned to Gaz and stared meaningfully into her eyes.

"What?"

He shook his head and smiled in contentment.

"Nothing is holding us back now."

"What do you mean?"

He stepped closer to her, gazing down into her amber eyes.

"When we first met, everything was in our way. It was as if something didn't want us to be together. Think about it. We had to worry about your brother, your dad, our classmates, my leaders, and my…" he gestured to himself.

"…your what?"

"I am an alien, Gaz," he bluntly replied. "And then that whole business with Keef happened. But somehow, we managed to get through it, even though the odds of us ever being together were against us."

He lifted a claw up to her face, pulling her closer, and slowly grazed his lips against hers. He waited for her to want more, which she greatly did as she leaned her body closer to his. He complied, pulling her close and kissing her deeply. The breath caught in her throat as his tongue inched its way into her mouth, slowly sliding across her lower lip. She loved the feeling of his presence, the warmth that she felt radiating from his foreign body, and greatly missed it when he pulled back. He seemed to grab an object out of nowhere and grabbed her hand. Opening it up, he laid it in the palm of her hand. It appeared to be a solid black ring. She looked up at him curiously.

"If you agree Gaz, I will wait for you forever. I want to remain by your side. I want to protect you for as long as we both live. This ring symbolizes my feelings for you and, if you wear it, it will symbolize your feelings for me. It is a promise; a show of our loyalty to one another. If you wear this, it will really mean that I am yours and you are mine." He closed her hand around it to give her time to think. "I do not need an answer right now. I understand if—" But she pressed her finger lightly to his lips, silencing him. A smile graced her face and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"I don't need time to think…" She slipped the ring onto her finger. "I all ready know the answer." As soon as the band rested comfortably, a light flashed quickly across, foreign letters appearing and remaining.

"That is the Irken language. It says Loyalty, Passion," he lowered his face closer to hers, "and Love…"

She did not say any more as she pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands loosely fell to her waist, drawing her closer. They could never imagine anything coming between them. Little did they know, an annoying, high-pitched student whom had recently caused them trouble would soon do just that.

A/N

And in case you didn't know who I was referring to at the end, it is Keef. And trust me, I understand if you want to kill him right now. Heck, I'm the author and I want to kill him XD. I thought Zim was very in-character in this chapter. I was actually very happy with the way this one turned out. Well, I hope you enjoyed it and remember to review! Chapter 10 will be up soon!

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