While Dib would have loved to continue pumping Zim for information, and gently encourage him to eventually come down into the lab, something was coming up to prevent him from doing so. Something he had hoped to not deal with for a while longer.

It felt all too soon, but the week of Spring Break was coming to an end.

Dib almost refused to believe it—he wasn't exactly looking forward to returning to school—but he couldn't deny that it was over when he looked at the calendar. It sucked, but he had to accept the truth...

Most of the week had been taken up by him fighting Zim, and then by him recovering and Zim clinging to him like a paranoid koala. Speaking of which...

"Dib?" Zim yelled for the fifth time, banging on the bathroom door. "Are you done yet!? How long does it take humans to get ready?"

With a groan, Dib shuffled to the door. He had hoped to stall a little longer, maybe consider whether or not to feign being sick, but oh, well. Zim brightened up immediately as soon as the door was opened.

"Finally!" He leapt onto Dib, scurrying up and onto his shoulders. "I'm grateful you're trying not to be disgusting, but you take forever."

"Well, these things take time," Dib said, picking Zim up and putting him back on the ground. The alien pouted, but didn't try to climb him again, instead grabbing his hand.

"Shall we head to skool, then, Dib-Ssnemi?"

"If we have to..."

Zim marched downstairs, still holding onto Dib's hand. Professor Membrane had already left, long before anyone else had woken up (or he had pulled another all-nighter at one of his labs), and they had all eaten breakfast already. Gaz was leaning against the wall near the front door, only glancing up at them for a moment before opening the door and heading out.

Zim and Dib weren't far behind her, Zim still holding Dib's hand and...whistling a jaunty tune. It was a sunny day, not a single cloud in the sky. Still, Dib couldn't remember the last time Zim had seemed so happy about anything related to school.

"You seem...chipper," he said, carefully peeling his hand out of Zim's grip and tucking it into his pocket.

"Of course I am!" Zim said. "I simply can't wait to see the expressions on the worm-children's faces when they see we've finally sealed our bond. I'm sure they'll be delighted for us...and hopefully a little jealous." He smirked.

Dib looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "After all, they've witnessed our courting all these years," Zim continued. "Seeing it come to its natural conclusion, with me as the K'nemi, will be an exciting revelation for them."

"You...you're planning on telling them?" Dib asked, swallowing the lump of nerves in his throat.

"Obviously!" Zim said. "Why wouldn't I?"

Okay...okay. Dib did not want Zim to go around spreading a rumor that they were together, not if he could prevent it. Even if it was technically true. "Maybe because, um...they'd be upset they weren't invited to the...ceremony...?"

Ugh, that was a horrible excuse! He racked his brain, trying to think of something better.

Still, Zim seemed to be mulling over his words. "Yes...your sister didn't have the best reaction...I really should have taken hostages."

He grimaced. "But in all honesty, I don't care enough about our foolish classmates to have wanted them to witness our bond-sealing fight. I just want to rub our bond in all their stupid, greasy faces." He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Dib's waist and pressing his cheek against Dib's forearm.

Dib stumbled on his feet, while Zim just kept walking forward with ease. "Still, could we...maybe wait on telling them?" he said. "Not make a huge announcement about it yet?" Or ever?

Zim threw back his head with a loud sigh. "Whatever you wish, my human-SSnemi."

They continued walking forward, though now it was more of Dib dragging Zim along. Zim, who was thankfully silent for all of five seconds.

"You don't want to rub it in one person's face? Just a little?"

"No, Zim..."

Dib wasn't surprised that he and Zim weren't drawing much attention. At this point, most of the school was content to ignore the two of them, provided they weren't causing a commotion.

At which point both of them had the full attention of everyone, but anyway.

He was at least expecting an eyebrow or two to be raised when he and Zim walked in, Zim clinging to his hand, the two of them not shouting at or threatening each other. But no, they didn't even get a glance.

Though to be fair, Dib shook off Zim's hand as soon as he could, managing to dislodge him before they got to their homeroom class.

It was fine. Things would be normal. He just needed to keep an eye on Zim, make sure he didn't change his mind and announce their "marriage" at the top of his lungs, and things would be fine.

...was what he was hoping, anyway.

They had almost made it to lunch. Zim was leading the way through the hallway, head held high, and Dib was eyeing him warily. Was he confident because he was in the lead, or was he going to make a scene...?

He was jolted out of his thoughts when an arm slammed into the lockers in front of his face, blocking his path and separating him and Zim. His eyes flicked to the owner of the arm—a burly jock with orange hair and green eyes.

"Chunk," he greeted with a scowl.

"Crazy kid," Chunk said back. "You've been pretty quiet today…for once in your life. What's up with that?"

"None of your business." Dib ducked under his arm…but was stopped when Chunk grabbed the back of his collar, yanking him back.

Dib glared at him, slapping his hand off. "Knock it off, I haven't even done anything to you!"

"Yeah, but I'm bored," Cunk said with a shrug. "Besides, no one's going to care if you get hurt."

Dib kept his face neutral, trying to hide how much that stung. Both he and Chunk were surprised when Zim stepped between the two of them, shoving the jock back.

"Back off, you filthy worm," Zim growled. "Use your eyes. Can't you see the Dib is mine?"

Chunk snorted. "Yeah, sure," he said with a roll of his eyes. "You both still look like a pair of freaks to me." He stepped closer, looming over Dib. "Speaking of which…"

Dib glared back at him. Even as he had gotten older, taller, and stronger (thanks to constantly fighting Zim), there was always someone trying to push him around. Chunk would probably hit him, Dib would fight back, they'd both receive a talking-to and Dib's file would grow, again…

"Got anything to say, lunatic?" Chunk said, looking all too pleased to repeat the song and dance.

"Nothing you'd listen to," Dib said. "Not that you'd understand any of it, anyway."

Chunk's eyelid twitched. "Freak!" He grabbed Dib's shoulder, shoving him back and into the lockers.

Dib quickly bounced back, already annoyed and willing to take his bottled-up anger out on someone. But Zim was already standing in front of him, seething with rage as he glared at Chunk.

"Do your ears need replacing, or are you just more stupid than the average human?" he growled. "Dib. Is. Mine."

"So what? What are you gonna do about it?" Chunk tried to kick Zim out of the way.

Zim grabbed his leg…and then swung Chunk over his head, slamming him into the ground.

"What the hell!?" Chunk and Dib both shouted. Chunk was already peeling himself off the ground, and Zim stepped in front of him, hands on his hips.

"Well," Zim said, clicking his tongue. "You've learned your lesson now, haven't—" Chunk leapt to his feet and shoved Zim to the side, marching to Dib with rage in his eyes.

"I'm not beating up the sick kid…today," he grunted. "But that doesn't apply to the crazy one!"

He swung his arm back, and Dib raised his arms to block his face and chest…

But froze when there was a sick snapping sound, followed by Chunk's howling scream echoing down the hall.

He lowered his arms just to see what had happened. Zim was on his feet, standing right behind Chunk and twisting his arm behind his back. Chunk's scream petered out with a hoarse gasp, followed by rapid, shallow breathing.

"Wh…Wha…?" He turned his head to look behind him, but Zim twisted his arm further with a horrible squelching sound.

"I thought I told you," Zim snarled. "He's. Mine."

Some behind Dib gasped. He flinched and looked around. While the hallway had only been filled with a slow trickle of students, now there was a crowd pressed from wall to wall, forming a circle around him, Zim, and Chunk. And it was only getting larger as more students rushed in.

Zim either didn't notice or didn't care, still pulling on Chunk's arm. "What did I say?"

"G-Go to h—" Zim grabbed another part of his arm, and yet another snapping sound echoed through the hall. Chunk howled, his voice dying out much quicker this time.

"He's mine, you hear me!? Don't you ever come near him again!" Zim threw him into the lockers. "Got it!?"

"W-Why—?"

Zim growled and kicked him harshly in the ribs. "GOT IT!?"

Chunk was sobbing now, holding onto his ribs with his good arm. Dib remembered from previous fights how strong Zim was…and even now, he hadn't even broken a sweat.

Dib realized, with terror, that Zim might actually kill Chunk with his bare hands.

He quickly surged forward, grabbing Zim's wrist. Zim whipped around, furious…and his expression immediately softened when he saw it was Dib, his fake pupils growing wide.

"Dib-thing," he chirped. "Just one moment, I'm almost finished here."

"No, you're done now," Dib said, grip on Zim's wrist still tight as he pulled him away from Chunk. Zim was confused, stumbling on his feet and glancing back at his sobbing victim. But he followed behind Dib.

The nurse's voice echoed through the hall, demanding to know what was going on. Dib panicked, and the next thing he knew, he was pushing his way through the crowd, dragging Zim behind him.

They had just managed to turn the corner when the nurse screamed. "My God, who did this!?"

Dib ran faster. Not that there was any point—Chunk and the other kids would sell Zim out in a heartbeat. And probably throw Dib under the bus, too.

"Where are we going?" Zim asked.

"We…" Dib came to a halt. Where were they going? Where could they go?

Well, once Zim was called out, he'd eventually be found, no matter where he was in the building. And Dib wasn't going to risk sneaking out…not to protect an alien that deserved whatever was coming his way.

"It's the foodening hour," Zim said, nudging him. "Why are we not attending the foodening, Dib-thing?"

Lunch…maybe acting normal could actually work. At delaying what was coming, of course. But there was no way to stop it, so…Dib would just have to stick by Zim. Maybe someone would finally realize that he wasn't human (how could a normal human do all that?). And he could (truthfully) blame Zim, keeping himself out of trouble…

He readjusted his grip on Zim's wrist and changed course, heading to the cafeteria. People from the crowd, who had watched the fight, were already there. Several of them shot Zim glares, and many quickly moved out of his way as he strode forward and through the lunchline. Dib held back, warily watching the doors. He was surprised someone hadn't already shone up to give Zim detention—or more likely, arrest him.

But of course, their classmates loved gossip, and seeing the duo made them all start whispering. Dib listened in, and got his answers.

Chunk had accused Zim of attacking him, and some onlookers had backed him up. But of course, the nurse was one who saw Zim as the poor, sick, frail kid who could barely attend school, and Chunk was clearly delirious from pain, so she didn't believe a word of it.

And even though Dib's presence was mentioned a few times, everyone had been so focused on Zim that they couldn't accurately tell what Dib had been doing during the incident.

Dib sat down and dug through his packed lunch, biting into his sandwich. It looked like neither of them was going to get in trouble. Especially since the school faculty would probably forget the whole thing by the time the day was over. He…wasn't sure how to feel about that…

Zim slammed his tray down on the table, sitting across from Dib. "Finally, the inferior meatsacks recognized my superiority and let me take the front of the line!" he said. "It's about time they started doing so."

"Uh huh…" Dib hummed, glancing back up at the crowd. Most were sitting far away from them, which was usual…though they were being stared at more than they normally would be.

Gaz took her usual seat at the table (on the opposite end as Dib), playing a game with one hand, her lunch in the other. Dib continued to nibble at his lunch, attention flicking back to Zim. The alien looked more worried about the lunch he had grabbed than his actions from earlier.

Zim scooped a bit of green…something off of his tray, carefully prodding it with the tip of his tongue. He immediately began to cough and gag, flinging the spoon as far away from himself as he could.

"Do you have to do this at every lunch?" Dib sighed.

"Yes, of course," Zim said, shaking the milk carton before glaring at it and gently setting it back down. "All human larvae eat lunch, especially bigger ones. I MUST try the school lunch to maintain my brilliant disguise!"

…it didn't look like there was anything edible on his tray. And if he started tasting the green goop again, he'd probably throw another mini-fit.

Dib sighed and handed Zim the bag of chips from his lunch. "Here," he said. "Just…try to be quiet, okay? You've drawn enough attention to us for one day."

Zim accepted the chips. He looked between the bag and his lunch tray…and shoved the tray away from himself, hard enough that it slid off the table. Dib sighed, rolling his eyes and taking another bite of his sandwich.

Zim quickly tore into the bag, eating a few chips before his gaze shifted over to Dib. "…why is my human upset?" he asked. "Usually this is the time you yell at me. You are never quiet."

Dib shot him a look. "You seriously don't know?" Zim shook his head, still eating chips.

"Zim…I'm mad because of what you did to Chunk!" he hissed. "You hurt him badly, and you looked like…like you were going to…"

"Oh, please," Zim said, waving off his concern. "I didn't hit him that hard. He'll be fine."

Almost immediately after he spoke, sirens wailed outside—ambulance sirens. Everyone in the lunchroom went quiet, all raising their heads and trying to listen.

In the distance, there was shouting from the nurse, shouting from (presumably) the paramedics, and under it all, someone's pained groans and cries. Almost as soon as the ambulance arrived, it sped off, sirens still wailing.

For a few seconds, all was quiet…and then everyone began to 'whisper' loudly, wondering about what had just happened, new rumors being started and spread.

Dib glared at Zim, who hunched his shoulders and pouted. "…that's unrelated, I'm sure."

Dib's glare grew intense, and he leaned over the table. Zim hunched down further in response, crossing his arms. Dib gripped the side of the table, resisting the urge to yell at Zim, draw attention to him…or maybe just attack.

Then again…was keeping up this charade a good idea? Zim was still dangerous to anyone and everyone else, no matter how attached he was to Dib. Maybe breaking it now would be for the best…

He shook his head and stood up, heading for the exit. Zim perked up and got up, too, but Dib held up a hand to stop him. "I need some alone time," he said. "Don't follow me."

Zim scowled, clearly not pleased with being told what to do. But he sat back down and munched on his chips, glaring down at the table. Dib sighed, rubbing the side of his head as he wandered out of the cafeteria, eventually stopping in the bathroom.

He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. He was mad at Zim, worried for Chunk, but there was…something else, too…

Only when he headed back to class did he realize he had left his lunch behind in the cafeteria…and his stomach was still growling. He groaned, turning and slamming his head once into a locker.

Fortunately, Zim had been thoughtful for once and passed the remainder of Dib's sandwich to him just as class started. Dib was doubly-fortunate that Zim continued to give him space through the afternoon, taking his want for 'alone time' seriously.

And that gave Dib plenty of time to subtly listen to the gossip going around.

Dozens of rumors about the incident had spread through the school by the end of the day. One of the most worrying versions that Dib heard was that Chunk was in a coma and on life support.

Still, that was also part of the rumor that claimed Zim actually threw Chunk through a wall, so he took it with a grain of salt.

But he still worried. And Zim had broken several of Chunk's bones, and what had happened was bad enough that he needed to be taken to a hospital...

The worst bit, to Dib, was that the alien didn't seem the least bit remorseful. In fact, he still seemed put out that Dib had dragged him away, preventing him from doing more harm. Most of the walk home was in silence.

Until Zim turned to him, scowling. "What's the matter with you?" he said. "Why did Zim's actions displease you so?"

Dib stared at him, wide-eyed and disbelieving. "Zim, you nearly killed him!"

"Oh, please," Zim said. "I wouldn't have gone that far! There were plenty more bones that could be broken and leave him surviving the experience."

"Well, it didn't look like you were going to stop there," Dib said.

"An intimidation tactic." Zim crossed his arms and nodded smugly. "All should know that to harm the Dib could equal death."

Dib's heart skipped a beat, his thoughts jerking to a halt for a moment. But he quickly deepened his scowl and got them right back on track. "Yeah, well, that might be an Irken thing, but I don't want you to hurt other people!"

"…not even the ones who are horrible to you?" Zim said. "They clearly deserve it. Zim could even let you take part in the revenge next time!"

"No!" Dib shouted, pushing aside the way his heart reacted again. Zim frowned, crossing his arms, and the two of them frowned at each other. Stubborn wills crashed against each other.

Zim was the first to relent with a sigh. "I did not mean to displease you," he said. "And I won't stop protecting you. But…I suppose others who behave like that can be allowed to survive."

Dib's insides gave a lurch. "…thank you," he forced out. "I'd appreciate you not attacking people."

"Who said anything about that?" Zim said with a chuckle. "As I said, I'm not going to stop protecting you. That's my job, after all."

When was the last time someone had been so…invested in his safety? Dib couldn't remember. And suddenly, the way his innards kept twisting into knots made sense. It wasn't Zim's doing…well, technically it was. But it was him, mostly.

In a sick way, though he knew Zim had gone too far, and there was a chance he would do so again…Dib was glad that someone had protected him.

Clawed fingers entwined with his, making Dib flinch. "Come," Zim said. "We should get started on the homework so that we both stay above the human worms in all aspects."

After a moment, Dib nodded and gave his hand a light squeeze, and they headed towards the Membrane household. He watched Zim out of the corner of his eye, debating whether to tell the alien about his appreciation.

…no. Zim would think it meant he did well, and would keep hurting people. Dib pushed that sick appreciation deep, deep down until he could barely feel it.