HAI HAI ! ! I am also posting chapter 11 today because chapter 10 was SUPER short lol ^_^ ! ! So , this chapter is told from Dib's perspective . It is LOADED with his innermost thoughts so some of the themes can get ever so slightly dark because I mean . . . It's Dib we're talking about lol . Other than that , Dib is just finding time to talk to his sister and his dad about the upcoming trip . This chalet is titled after " A Sky Full of Stars " by Coldplay because it describes how Dib is realizing he feels about Zim in this chapter . It also makes it even more symbolic how sitting on his roof and watching the stars is his happy place . I hope you enjoy this update ! ! ^_^ Reviews are greatly appreciated ! !

In a Sky Full of Stars

I'm not surprised. My house is totally empty. But I did need to talk to dad and I know he's never home this early but I was just hoping. Then again, he probably wouldn't even notice if I were gone for several months and Gaz wouldn't care. Zim is right, I probably don't have to tell them because they won't care. And since no one is home, I guess I'll start figuring out what to pack. I could take half of all the snacks we just bought but I'll be gone for a while and Gaz will have to do the shopping on her own. The least I can do is leave the snack cabinets full. I'll go pick up whatever I want later in the week. I actually have no idea what I need to pack for this trip so I decide to let that be a problem for future me to deal with.

It's only 10:00 PM but I am completely exhausted. I head upstairs and root through my dresser for any kind of clean pajamas. The only option I see is a navy blue shirt with a smiley face on it. Other than that, clearly I need to do laundry. I set my shirt along with my towel and a few other shower essentials on the bathroom counter and then go back into my room to retrieve the white shirt from my backpack. Then, I pick up the hamper in the bathroom and carry it down to the basement to load the washing machine. There's a door underneath the staircase that leads down there. I click on the light and then tug the door open, carefully descending the old wooden steps. There isn't much in the basement aside from some old antique furniture, a washer and dryer, and tons of boxes of things Gaz and I grew out of like clothes, toys, bassinets and playpens. Oh but that's just the front part of it. There's yet another door right next to the washer dryer unit that looks like it would lead to any regular closet or boiler room but no. It leads to dads home lab. I do the laundry every two weeks since it's only Gaz and I, there never really is much to wash. But after two weeks, I usually run pretty low on options. My wardrobe could probably use some expansion. Gaz on the other hand, I have no idea when she accumulated so many clothes! How could one person own so many of the exact same shirts?

After the laundry is done, I fold it all up and leave Gaz's on the shelf near her closed bedroom door. I have definitely learned my lesson about going into her room whether she's here or not. Then I take my own and set it all on top of my dresser. Among clothes, I'll probably bring regular toiletries, my phone, computer, the usual stuff.

After I shower, I jump on my bed and stare at the ceiling. Waiting for sleep to take me. It doesn't of course. Even when it feels like my eyes are burning and my head is heavy on my pillow. All my limbs are weighted down and the exhaustion is pulling at me but sleep refuses to accept me. I stare at the ceiling for a long time and by 2:00 AM, I'm still not asleep but I hear the door downstairs and I sit up. Gaz is downstairs and it sounds like she's on her phone. I tug on some black basketball shorts over my boxers and decide to head downstairs. When I get there, she's at the kitchen table eating a vanilla ice cream cup and she doesn't even look up.

"I'll fix it for you by then but it's a rush job so that's my fee." She states. Of course. My sister has always had a real knack for gaming systems. When we were little, people used to beg her to pass certain levels for them on their games and she would only ask for small things in return like five bucks or a slice of pizza. Now that we're older, she still helps people pass levels but she also fixes broken GameSlaves, broken video games, she also sells cheat codes and God knows whatever other shady business she's paid for..

I decide to get a chocolate ice cream cup out of the freezer and sit down across from her, waiting. She eyes me suspiciously and when her call ends she just stares.

"How was Cara's house?" I ask.

"Fine." She replies.

"That's cool." I nod. She squints at me.

"Did you go into my room?"

"No! No I didn't. I was trying to sleep but I couldn't and then I heard you come in." I reply and the look of realization crosses her face.

"Insomnia?" She asks, continuing to eat her ice cream so I nod and do the same.

"There's also something I wanted to talk to you about." I say and she arches an eyebrow.

"Does this have to do with your little date today?" She asks.

"How did- what- no! What date!?" I ask, my voice betraying me by deciding to come out several octaves higher than I intended.

"The one you were rushing off to? After the groceries?" She says.

"That wasn't a date!" I insist but I feel my face heating up because there actually was a date.

"Whatever you say." She shrugs.

"It does have something to do with the reason I met up with Zim, though." I sigh.

"Okay."

"He's going on a trip. And I'm going to go with him."

"Okay."

"Like in a few days."

"Okay."

"Yeah." I say, drumming my fingers on the table.

"Dad know?" She asks.

"No. I have no idea when to tell him but I need to. I'll be gone for a while. I'll be back by your birthday though." I reply. She raises her eyebrows and blinks at me a few times before squinting again.

"Long trip." She states.

"Yeah well…" I don't actually know what to say at this point.

"Alright. One. You need to tell dad. Two. I hope for your sake, you actually are back in time for my birthday with my gift because if not, I don't care where you are. I'll find you and I'll make sure you don't have any limbs left to hold your little boyfriend with. Are we clear?" She asks.

"Crystal." I swallow. She stands up and tosses her empty cup into the trash and walks over to the living room. I hear the tv come on and her game console powers up.

Well, one down and one to go I guess. I just have no idea when I'll get to talk to dad next. World famous man of science. It's a wonder he even had time to have kids at all with how busy he always is. And it isn't a wonder why mom has never been in the picture. We don't know anything about her and dad doesn't bring her up. I can't actually blame her. Maybe they were happy once but when dads career really took off, I doubt he had any time for her just based on what little time he has for us.

I stand from the table and decide to head up to the roof. A place where I've always spent a lot of my time. It's a clear night with a slight chill in the air but I don't mind it. The moon isn't full tonight either. I'm not up here to study anything, though. It's just comforting. Especially knowing I won't be able to do it for a little while. I move to the middle of the roof and sit down, focusing my gaze upwards. They say that more than 80% of our ocean is unexplored. Unmapped. Unknown. Almost like a deep dark, endless abyss. Full of all the secrets we'll probably never know. That's what I see when I look up at the sky. Especially at night. For people to truly believe Earth is all there is, blows my mind. There's so much out there. So much we don't know about. Things I've dealt with all on my own because it was in Earth's best interest. I have actually saved the planet more times than I can count and I'm not even old enough to sit in a bar and have a drink yet. But my God, do I need one.

It's my passion. It's my life's work but… It takes a toll. I don't know how my dad does it. How is he so incredibly intelligent yet so adamant about the nonexistence of extraterrestrials? I would say he's lucky. If I could just be more like him, maybe people would like me the way they like him. They'd look up to me and respect me just like they do him. He's never alone, it's pretty much impossible. Being so smart, it can really alienate you.

I focus on one star at a time, letting a new one catch my attention each time I spot a twinkle in a different direction.

When I was 11 years old, I was already tired. I was weighed down by my own understanding of things no one else cared enough to give a second thought. I was already being crushed under the weight of this feeling of responsibility to care for people who I already knew were too ignorant for their own good. Ignorance doesn't mean that people deserve to suffer or die, though. Ignorance means people need protection. And that's something I already understood when I was 11. Something I was willing to dedicate myself to, not because I wanted to, but because no one else was going to do it. I gave up my entire childhood and got nothing but knocked around in return. I've never let people convince me that I'm crazy because I always knew I wasn't but isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results? Ever since I could remember, I've been caring for, protecting, and nurturing this rabid Rottweiler society, everyday allowing it to tear away at me but I keep coming back to take care of it no matter how much it destroys me.

By that age, I was already so done. So exhausted. And I was sitting right in this spot on my roof when it happened. All the chunks of me that were missing were filled in and it was all because of that transmission I overheard. I got confirmation that they were coming and it was like a new passion took over, pushing all the exhaustion out. I had been living on the ledge until Zim got here and pulled me down.

I'm sitting on my roof for such a long time, the sun actually starts rising and it serves as a reminder that I feel like absolute crap. I could try to go to sleep again. It might actually work this time. Being up here is really calming for me. As much as dad has always supported me in getting everything I need, I have constantly declined any sort of sleeping medication. The excuse I give him has always been because I just don't trust it. That is the excuse he always meets with very long scientific explanations about why it's perfectly safe and I pretend to listen every time so long as he never figures out that it isn't the medicine I don't trust. It's myself.

I hear a car approaching and peer over the edge. It's a huge white van being trailed by a handful of smaller black cars pulling into the parking space of our house which means Dad actually did come home! Well, not last night as I had hoped, but he's here. As exhausted as I am, I don't know when I'll have another chance to do this. And what better way to go into an exhausting conversation when you're feeling equally exhausted? I stand up and dust off my clothes a bit before climbing down the side of the house, awkwardly waving to all the security guards stationed around the house, and going inside. Dad's in the kitchen and I can hear water running. When I step within view, he looks up at me through goggled eyes.

"My son! Where have you been? You know better than to miss curfew without sufficient notice" He asks as he starts making coffee in one of his latest inventions, The Bean. It looks like a typical coffee maker but it has the ability to adjust the amount of caffeine in your coffee, somehow. I wasn't really paying attention when he explained it. And I haven't paid very close attention to all the commercials about it either. It's selling well though.

"I was on the roof. I was home by curfew, I swear." I reply. Gaz definitely wasn't but that's not my business. I have enough going on including the fact that I'm only now remembering that I'm freezing because I was hanging out on the roof for hours in my pajamas.

"Ah. I see. Coffee?" He asks, turning back to the machine.

"Please." I reply. "High caffeine." He nods and sets to work. "Is Clembrane with you?"

"Of course not, he's at Membrane Labs. We've been very busy lately." He calls over his shoulder. It's actually really great that dad finds him so helpful. Otherwise, that poorly made clone of my dad would be here all the time driving my sister and I up the wall with his stage one clinginess.

"Oh okay. That actually reminds me, Foodio needs maintenance." I say.

"I have another upgrade prepared, I will look into it." He replies. "You didn't sleep well, I see." He continues, turning around and setting the cup in front of me as I sit at the table. He grabs one for himself and sits across from me.

"Uh, no, I did. It's just, I had some things I was… Doing, er looking into." I say and he just stares at me because, let's face it, I'm a bad liar. "Actually," I start, taking a few scolding gulps of my coffee. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Of course, son! I live for these conversations with you! Just as long as it only takes about ten minutes, I've got to get back to the Labs. Is this about College?" He asks, taking a few sips of his own coffee.

"No." I sigh. "No, this isn't about college." It could almost be completely undetectable if I weren't already watching for it. That very slight drop in his shoulders.

"Very well, what is it?" He asks. I take in a breath and try to figure out exactly how I'm going to spin this. With Gaz it didn't really matter. She knows pretty much all there is to know about Zim and she's not in denial about any of it. She just seems to not care at all. Dad on the other hand. He's still convinced that Zim is a human with a skin condition.

"One of my friends is going on a vacation and offered to take me with him." I say slowly. He furrows his brows, probably in confusion and I sigh. "My… Only friend?"

"That's right! Your little green friend!" He exclaims.

"I keep telling you, he's not green anymore." Well he is but not with his disguise on.

"Yes, I'm glad his skin condition has cleared up. Now where is this vacation going to be?"

"Uh… It's more like…" I need to think of something fast. I should have used my time up on the roof more wisely, I should have planned for this, I- "Water exploration. Yeah it's going to be on a ship. We want to check out the Bermuda Triangle. We heard weird stuff used to happen there before it became a vacation destination." That works, right?

"Oh. Parascience." He says dejectedly. "That's pretty far from here though."

"It is. And he's actually leaving in a few days. But I decided I am going with him and I just wanted to make sure you knew it would be kind of a long trip. I already let Gaz know that I'll be back in time for her birthday though." I reply and he's just staring at me. Watching me very closely even as my own gaze wanders around the room.

"Well… What do you need for this extensive trip?" He asks carefully.

"Not much. Mostly just food, water, clothes, the usual. We don't leave until Friday" I say. I've gone on trips before, solo trips. He's not a huge fan of it but unbeknownst to him, I was never alone on those trips. I was at Swollen Eyeball retreats. Not that he'd want to hear about any of my 'parascience' anyway.

"Son, are you looking into the colleges I've discussed with you?" He asks. I bite back a groan and try to force myself to nod. "If you'll be away until the new year, there's no way for you to start in January."

"I won't be gone that long and even if I was, I don't want to start in January. We agreed that I could take a gap year."

"It's a waste of time and a waste of your intellect. What if you cut your trip short-"

"I'm not cutting it short. It's not even my trip!" I sigh in exasperation. "And even if it was, even if I did cut it short, I'd still take a gap year."

"I just want you to-"

"I know dad, I know what you want. I'm trying so hard to work with you. I agreed to go to college under the condition that I'd have a gap year. I need this year. There are things I'm… I'm just…I have a lot of things I'm figuring out right now and… I could just start college when Gaz does. You can send us both off, it'll be way less confusing for you, one less graduation date. Just give me this year."

"Dibromide, I know very well how a gap year can turn into a gap of three years and then suddenly it's indefinite. You can't take part in the family business if you don't have the proper qualifications, I'm looking out for your best interest." He replies. I just sigh and continue sipping my coffee. "That said." He continues with a sigh of his own. "Here's my credit card. Take it with you. I'll need daily reports confirming your continued safety and exact coordinates at all times." He says, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the card, sliding it across the table.

"Thank you so much, Dad! You have no idea wha-"

"Professor Membrane, it's imperative that we return to the Labs now." I hear a voice call through the walkie-talkie attached to his lab coat.

"I'll be right out, Simmons." Dad says, holding down a button as he speaks. When he lets go, he sighs heavily. "It's unlikely I'll be able to see you off on Friday." He continues. Hey, that's totally fine. Wouldn't want anyone to call me out on being a lying sack of sh-

"That's okay dad. I'll be with Zim." I reply. It was meant as a comfort to him but I think it served as such for me more. He nods and stands from his seat.

"And please tell your little foreign friend I said hello. Actually!" He exclaims, "I currently have an opening in my schedule this Thursday, I'd like for you to invite him over for dinner! It'll be a send off dinner! Sounds great!" He says, already heading for the door.

"Wait! I don't-" I start but he's already out the door and I'm still sitting at the table, listening as all the cars pull off. I shrug and drain the rest of my coffee. That could have gone worse. Then I realize, I still haven't heard the shower start.

I jog upstairs and stop near Gaz's bedroom door.

"Gaz, you're going to be late for school. Get up." I call through the wood. No response.

"Gaz!" I call again and there's a loud slam into the door from the otherside because, of course, she's thrown something.

Oh well, I did try. And now I'll try something else. Again. I am going to sleep.