Dib was fifteen years old, almost sixteen. School had just ended for the day, but he and Zim were still in the classroom. He was glaring across the room at the alien, daring him to make the first move.

It was a little surprising that Zim wouldn't meet his eyes, an unreadable expression on his face.

But then again, Zim had been acting weird for the past few weeks. He had been shockingly quiet through the school days, and whenever Dib tried to pick a fight with him, he would scream about 'needing to think' and run away. He was avoiding Dib, but Dib could still feel the alien's gaze on him whenever Zim thought he wasn't paying attention.

It was starting to get on his nerves, and today was the day that Zim wouldn't be able to run.

He was fully ready to get up and go over to Zim, but Zim took a deep breath and marched over first. He paused a few feet away, paced a little while mumbling to himself, and then continued on his path, coming to a stop in front of Dib's desk.

"You must think you're so clever," Zim growled. "Getting such a big head-start because you knew ahead of time...thinking that it's going to make you the superior one!"

Dib furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me," Zim said. "Foolish Dib-human...you're sure you'll keep pursuing Zim? I'm far too superior for you to handle."

Dib still didn't understand what was going on, but he could tell when he was getting belittled, and he hated it. He scowled at Zim. "I'll always be here to stop you, no matter what. You aren't getting rid of me."

Zim took a step back, antennae flicking as he frowned in thought. But the moment quickly passed, a wide grin breaking across his face. "...perhaps you can prove your worth, human," he said.

He pulled something out of his PAK and lobbed it at Dib's face. Whatever it was exploded into pink glitter, absolutely covering Dib. He flailed backward and out of his seat, blind and coughing.

Zim cackled loudly, and Dib launched himself at the sound, tackling him to the ground. Though blind, he still managed to get in a couple of good hits, and the two of them were locked in a fistfight...

And after that, things were back to normal. Sure, Zim seemed to be making the fights a lot more personal and hands-on, but it made more sense than Zim's standoffish behavior.

It was better. It was good.

Dib was lying in his bed, feeling ill. He groaned and turned over, huddling in on himself.

"Poor Dib-worm," Zim cooed, emerging from around one of his weird alien preservation tanks and placing a hand on Dib's forehead. Dib sighed, leaning up and into the cool touch.

"Here, Zim can make you feel better..." Zim said, holding some pills out to Dib. Dib grabbed the bottle and eagerly drank the glowing green liquid inside. He was already feeling better, leg as strong as ever.

Zim was petting his hair, and Dib leaned up and into the touch.

He had just gotten what was probably the worst haircut of his life. Cutting off the scythe of hair that made everyone think of his Dad had seemed like a good idea at first, but that just made him look and feel...so weird. And continuing to trim the rest just seemed to make everything worse.

And unfortunately, he didn't even have any good hats to cover it up, since it was hard to wear them with his usual cowlick...which was now missing.

The best he could do was wear an old hoodie and pull the hood up in an effort to hide his horrible hair. It got him a few odd looks, but the longer he could delay the mocking, the better.

And of course the one to take immediate notice was Zim.

The alien trailed behind him for most of the day, and despite Dib's efforts, he got cornered after lunch. "Why are you wearing...that instead of your stinky coat?" Zim asked, pointing at his hood.

"No reason." Dib grabbed the hood and pulled on it, making sure it was secure.

Zim blinked...and then grinned. "You're hiding something."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are, you LIAR!" Zim tried to reach up and grab the hood. "Show Zim! I want to see!"

"No way!" Dib shoved him back. "You're just going to laugh, why would I show you?"

"Because if you don't, I'll rip that hood off and show the whole school," Zim threatened, grin as wide as ever.

Dib knew that Zim would do that. There was only a small chance that he would actually succeed, but even him trying and failing would draw attention to the fact that Dib was hiding something.

"Ugh, fine," Dib said. "I'll kick you if you laugh, though." Scowling, he brought his hood down, showing his awful-looking hair.

Zim just stared for a few moments...and then pointed and laughed. Dib immediately responded by kicking him in the shin and pulling his hood back up.

The next day, he found a beanie crumpled on the ground right in front of his locker. It was black and looked like it would fit perfectly.

Though he didn't know where it came from, he pulled it on, and it worked well to hide his haircut for the next few days. In hindsight, it seemed almost obvious that it was a subtle gift. It was new and didn't belong to anyone else, after all.

It was the day of the science fair. Dib had made sure to look as presentable as possible, brimming with excitement as the awards ceremony came closer. Sure, he had scrapped his idea of a poster about werewolves to focus on plain old biology instead, but it meant his Dad had been pleased and showed up!

All he had to do was win, and get his Dad's praise, and everything would be perfect.

Names were announced, one by one, none of them clear enough to be recognized. Finally, his own name was called, and he walked onto the stage to accept a blue ribbon as big as a dinner plate. The crowd cheered as he held it up and turned to face them.

Front and center was his Dad, smiling, clapping, and illuminated in a bright spotlight. The only thing that mattered in the crowd. Dib smiled back, clutching the ribbon tight to his chest, careful to not wrinkle his buttoned lab coat.

He stepped off of the stage, moving to his Dad. The spotlight then wobbled, swiveling around to focus on someone in the very back of the crowd.

Instead of his dad, it now illuminated Zim...Zim, whose smile was full of pride.

The rest of the crowd melted away into shadow. Dib's feet seemed to move on their own, carrying him on a straight path right to the smiling Zim. His favorite black coat flickered dramatically behind him as he moved faster.

As soon as he was in front of him, Zim pulled him into a tight hug, lifting him up into the air. "I'm so proud of you," he said. "My incredible Dib-thing."

Dib beamed, feeling lighter than air. Perfect.

They were at the beach for some sort of school trip. Dib had threatened to shove Zim into the water, and that threat soon spiraled into them fighting. They rolled in a heap across the sandy beach, throwing punches at each other with wild abandon.

Everyone else had moved to another part of the beach to get away from them and the sand cloud they were kicking up. But that wasn't going to keep Dib from trying to throw Zim into the lake.

"Just give up, spaceboy," he hissed, pinning Zim and pressing his face into damp sand. "I'm going to win, and everyone is going to see what you really are."

Zim snarled, pushing back and managing to shove Dib off. He leapt forward to throw a punch at Dib, but Dib rolled out of the way.

Then, it was all in slow-motion. Dib kept rolling, and Zim's eyes suddenly widened. He ran forward, leaping over Dib and placing a hand just behind Dib's head. It only took a second, but the motion stretched out like taffy.

There was a loud crunch as Dib's head slammed into Zim's hand, and time snapped back to normal.

Dib jumped to his feet and whirled around. Their fighting had carried them over to the concrete boat ramp on the far edge of the beach. There was a spot of pink blood where Dib's head had nearly collided with the structure…and Zim was holding one hand close to his chest, hissing in pain.

"What…did you just do?" Dib asked, confused.

Zim glared at him, scowling. "I just kept your big head from splattering against this thing," he hissed. "The least you could do is be grateful."

Like he was going to thank Zim for an accident on his part. Though now, his actions had clearly been intentional.

Dib just scowled at him, and Zim hissed at him. He turned and power-walked away from Dib and the water's edge. Dib had only gotten a glimpse of his hand, but it had seemed…pretty mangled. More of a pink pulp than a healthy, clawed hand.

He almost felt guilty. Almost. But he knew from experience that Zim was a fast healer. His hand would probably be better by tomorrow.

Still, he threw a wrapped popsicle at Zim's head later. He wouldn't say 'thank you', but he figured that was enough to even the scales.

Dib was in space. Not in a spaceship, but in space itself. The sky was a swirl of every color that Dib could think of, with a thousand stars scattered through the infinite kaleidoscope. Dib floated weightlessly through it all, his breath taken away.

"Amazing, isn't it?" a voice whispered into his ear. A warm presence was right behind him, slowly wrapping their arms around him. "Only the best for you."

"Yeah..." Dib sighed, relaxing back and into the warm embrace. They smiled, chirping quietly and nuzzling his cheek.

Space swirled around him, beautiful but cold. He felt a sense of vertigo, and turned to face the warm presence, letting it ground him.

Zim nudged his forehead gently when he was turned around. "Does the Dib need something?"

"Just...hold me," Dib muttered, nuzzling close. Space was cold and empty, and Zim was warm. Zim holding him like this soothed some unknown ache he didn't understand the origin of.

"Whatever you want." Zim's antennae entwined with his hair. Dib tilted his chin to look at Zim's face.

The beautiful space around them was reflected almost perfectly in Zim's eyes. So inhuman, but so beautiful...they held all of space, captivating Dib completely.

The light in his eyes changed, now focused solely on Dib. "Hmm?"

"You're amazing," Dib said, words somehow clear even though it felt like his head was full of cotton. "I think I love you."

Zim grinned, his eyes shining with so much delight that they became brighter than the space around them. "And Zim loves his Dib…very, very much."

His clawed fingers gently gripped Dib's chin, tilting it upwards. Dib needed no convincing to lean forward, pressing his lips against Zim's. His Zim chirped in response, clearly pleased as he returned the pressure of the kiss, claws running through Dib's hair oh-so-gently…

Dib jolted awake, staring up at the ceiling as a confusing soup of emotions swirled in his chest.

"...oh, fuck."