Zim kept running but couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. He looked back to see Dib watching him from behind.

Dib continued to watch Zim as he ran, even when the other looked back at him. It was kind of hard not to when Zim was only a little farther ahead of him. The gap between them, however, soon began to grow as Dib started to fall behind. He was getting tired and couldn't keep his regular pace up for much longer. With the pummeling his body had taken, he had to admit he was having some trouble breathing. The pain of fresh bruises forming along his torso made it hard for him to concentrate on much else.

The teacher blew his whistle for them to stop. "Alright! You can all take a five minute break to get some water if you need to, but then we'll be moving on to doing jumping jacks!" he called out in a loud voice to catch all their attention. Dib nearly collapsed as he came to a complete stop, his legs shaking slightly. Bending over to rest two hands on his knees, he tried to catch his breath again.

     The five minutes passed far too quickly as their teacher blew his whistle again. "Okay! Breaks over! Line up for jumping jacks!" he ordered. Dib sighed and reluctantly joined the formation of boys for jumping jacks. "Fifty jumping jacks on my mark! Go!" their teacher said out loud. All the boys instantly began doing jumping jacks, trying to just get them over with already. As Dib did his, he only reached about thirty before the power went out, casting the room into darkness.

Zim stopped and came with a, "WHAT THE IRK?! What's going on here?! I’M BLIIIIIIIIIND!!!!" He tried to see in front of himself but couldn't.

Dib just rolled his eyes as the Irken began to freak out. "Geeze, Zim. It's just a power outage." he said in a truly unimpressed voice. Dib looked toward the front of the class as a small light flickered on.

     Their gym teacher stood near the front row of boys, shining a flashlight on them. "Is everybody alright?" he asked, shining it on each student there to make sure nobody was missing or hurt. When he got through counting each boy to make sure none of them had wandered off in the dark, he flashed the flashlight more on himself to get everybody's attention. "Good." he nodded. Nobody was missing. "Now, everybody, just remain calm while I go check with the principal about what's going on." he said before leaving to figure out why the power had gone out.

     Everybody remained in their spots as they waited for their teacher to return. Several minutes passed before he finally returned carrying a few candles as well as some matches. "Alright, everybody. We've got a bit of a problem right now so we're going to end class a little early today and get dressed in your normal clothes. Follow me to the locker room." he carried the flashlight over towards the entrance to the boys' locker room.

     Everybody followed him, entering once he had lit a few candles and placed them in there. "Everybody get changed then come back out into the gym and find a place to sit on the bleachers. The principal has decided to hold an assembly to address the entire skool so hurry up." he left the room to let them get changed. The candles set throughout the changing room allowed just enough light for all of them to get changed. Dib pulled his shirt off to retrieve his sweater and trench coat, all the while trying to get a better idea of how badly bruised he was in the dimly lit room as he gingerly passed fingers over his marred skin.



     Zim was also doing the same to change his clothes, but he couldn't POSSIBLY not look at Dib. He was blushing again and had this strange feeling in his squeedly spooch. He was now shirtless as he continued sliding down his shorts and watching Dib.

     Dib pulled his hand back with a hiss of pain. His skin was still sensitive to touch. Deciding to just ignore his injuries for now, he proceeded to continue getting dressed. He stopped short, however, when he felt familiar eyes roaming his body. Perhaps he was just paranoid, but he didn't dare turn around to face the other. He didn't want what had happened earlier to happen again. Pulling on the sweater he had in his hands as quickly as possible, he began searching his locker for his black pants. When he found them, he didn't hesitate to pull his shorts off and slip into his pants.

     He didn't want the other to know he realized he was watching him. So he threw his gym clothes back in the locker before slamming it shut and running out of the changing room. Upon entering the gym, he could see students from different classes crowding into the room and taking their seats among the bleachers. Dib noticed Gaz in the crowds of students and made his way over to sit with her. The gym had been lit with several flashlights and candles set all over the place. Dib took his seat next to Gaz and waited. The principal was at the front of the gym waiting for all the students to be seated. As they waited, Dib listened to the wind outside growing louder as it whipped against the side of the skool in a fury. The storm had come and it didn't sound friendly.

After 10 minutes, Zim had joined the others and sat near....someone. He tried not to think about Dib and what was going on. He almost forgot it because the smell of the children's sweat made him dizzy. But he was still sitting and blushing with a slightly sad face. But he wasn't sad. He was confused.

     The students grew silent, conversing among each other ceasing when the gym teacher blew his whistle to get everybody's attention. When everybody looked up to the front of the gym, the principal cleared his throat to speak in a loud, booming voice, trying to reach those in the far back since he didn't have a microphone. "As I'm sure all of you have realized we are in the middle of a power outage. However, for those of you who weren't in classrooms during the last hour or so of skool, you may not have realized the snow building up outside. It did not come to my attention that it had began snowing that heavily until after the power had gone out. I'm sorry to inform you that because of this the doors to the skool have been blocked off and it seems as though we are all stuck until the weather either calms some or we are able to get help. Thankfully, the skool has prepared for just such an emergency. You are all to report to your last period classes so your teachers can pass out blankets to each of you. Unfortunately, we do not have enough blankets for everybody so you'll all be paired into groups of two to share one blanket. But they're big, so don't worry about not having enough blanket to keep warm. In the meantime, we'll do all that we can to get a hold of your parents and let them know the situation as well as try to get out heating system back online. That is all." he turned to leave the room as all the students began talking all at once to each other about the situation.

     Another teacher walked to the front a few moments later to tell them all to return to their next classes with their teachers. Dib located his English teacher quickly, Zim coming up behind him about a minute later to follow their teacher back to their English classroom with the rest of their class.

Zim thought in his mind, "What the Irk. Now I'm STUCK HERE with these children....and the Dib....Somehow I don't feel anger towards the Dib though. Straaaangeee." he thought as he followed them.

     The hallways were lit with candles that had been set along the tops of lockers. When they reached the classroom, everybody took seats in the desks they would normally sit at while the teacher read names off a list in pairs. As she read each person's name off her list and handed out the blankets to share, Dib wondered who he would be paired with. Nobody really liked him so he guessed it really didn't matter. It would be hell no matter what the results. He listened closely for his name until the teacher had just about reached the end of her list. "And Dib Membrane will be paired with Zim." she finished.

     Dib nearly fell out of his seat when she called his name with Zim's. He really shouldn't have been so surprised with the way things had been going for him today, but nonetheless, he freaked out. "W...What?! You can't possibly be serious!" he looked at her with wide eyes.

     She gave him a more serious look as she passed him one of the blankets. "I'm sorry, Dib. But these were the pairs I decided on and I can't change them for one student. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair to the other students." she said as she stood up straighter to address the other students. "Alright. Listen up, everybody. We're not having English today because it's too dark to see the board. Instead, you may either head over to the cafeteria or back to the gym. Both will be open for the night to sleep or eat in. The bathrooms will be open also but the classrooms are off limits to you. We'll be locking them for the night, so grab anything you may need and take it with you before leaving the classroom. You're free to leave as soon as you're ready." she said before taking a seat to wait for everybody to leave.

     Dib just stared at the ground for a few long moments before slowly turning his attention to where Zim was sitting. At first, he couldn't move at all but finally he managed to drag his feet to the other. He couldn't bring his eyes to meet Zim's as they stood a few long moments in complete silence. He thought he'd never find his voice until he finally managed to force out a weak question. "So, where do you want to go? The gym or the cafeteria?" he asked in a silent whisper.

Zim slowly widened his eyes when Dib was still able to talk to him. He wanted to say, "HAH! Like I would share anything with you, you pathetic earth monkey! You STINK!" but he felt that his throat was frozen and he couldn't speak. He didn't think it was cold, but he still felt frozen anyways. He just grabbed Dib's collar, shadows over his eyes. Their faces were very close now. He wanted to at least say, "The gym." but he couldn’t. Their faces were still very very close and Zim was blushing....again.

     Dib's eyes widened as the other grabbed him. Reluctantly, he brought his eyes up to meet those fake, purple irises the Irken had. Dib's cheeks lit up to a bright red as he could feel the other's warm breathe on his lips. "Z...Zim?" the name left his lips in a breath as he brought shaking hands up to try and push the alien's away. It was hard to read the expression on his face. Dib half felt the Irken was going to hurt him in some way but that feeling was edged with uncertainty that made his heart skip a beat before beating faster than was normal for him.

     He could practically hear his own heart beating in his ears. But surely Zim wouldn't try anything in here of all places with the teacher in the room. Right? Right?! He kept on screaming it over and over again at himself in his mind. He tried to even out his breathing so he could speak again, this time with more confidence. "Zim, let me go. Please. Don't make this any more complicated than it already is. I just want to get through the night with as few problems as possible." he said in a firm voice. It was hard to tell if he was getting through to the alien or not. Zim seemed to be in that same hypnotized state he had been in earlier today.

He still looked hypnotized. He just stood there holding Dib's collar, face to face. He wasn't smiling. He didn't know what he was doing. It was like he was possessed. Someone needed to wake him up before it was too late.

     Dib tried to pull away but it was too late. Zim had already closed in what little gap there was between them to just barely brush his lips up against Dib's. Dib's eyes shot wide open at the Irken's actions, his glasses steaming up from how hot his face and body had suddenly become. It had only lasted a second, but to Dib it felt like a lifetime before their lips finally parted. Dib gasped as he pushed the other away and stared in horrified disbelief. What had Zim just done?!

     The Irken blinked his eyes open slowly to look at Dib. Dib backed away a few steps, never taking his eyes off of Zim. Covering his mouth and nose with one hand, he turned and ran, dropping the blanket to the ground at the Irken's feet and leaving it and him behind. He ran and ran, not bothering to look back even once. He wanted somewhere to be alone. He couldn't believe he had let Zim just do that. Hell, he couldn't believe Zim had even WANTED to do that! He finally came to a stop in one of the deserted hallways. Pressing his back up against one of the lockers, he slid down to sit with his knees up to his chest. Burying his face in his arms, he sat there in the darkness, the only sounds being those of the storm outside.

Zim was confused. He didn't know what he had just done. He slowly looked down to the blanket, his eyes widening as he realized what had just happened. He was shocked and slowly picked the blanket up from the ground. "What....What have I done...?" He slowly walked to the gym through the hall, carrying the blanket. He didn't want to meet Dib. He wanted to fall asleep somewhere so nobody would touch him.

     Hours passed and for a while, Dib was convinced he could last the night in the hallway but when the temperature began to drop, he started to think otherwise. He had had enough time to recollect himself and think, but he still didn't feel ready to face the Irken any time soon. But what other choice did he have? The temperature would just continue to drop each passing hour, and he had left the blanket behind with Zim. There was no other choice.

     Unless the power came back on and they managed to get the heating system back online, he was left with no other options. Pulling his trench coat on tighter around himself, he slowly began making his way back towards the cafeteria and gym. He could see his breath as he approached closer to the cafeteria, wondering exactly how late it was. Although he hated the food here, he hadn't eaten anything since lunch and would happily take anything they might be serving. Thankfully, a few students were still sitting at tables and eating hotdogs when he entered, though not a lot. Checking the time on the wall, the clock in the room read about 10:00 p.m.

     Looking around curiously, he noticed Gaz sitting at one of the tables, playing her handheld video game. The person supposedly sharing a blanket with her was hiding under a table, obviously terrified of her. Making his way over to her, he took a seat right next to her and sighed. The room was at least warmer than the hallway had been but only slightly. He had no idea what he'd do to keep warm tonight. Deciding he wouldn't be able to come up with any solutions to his problem on an empty stomach, he got up to grab himself something to eat before he sat down to consider every possibility he could think of.

Zim entered the gym and sat on the bleachers. He lied down tiredly, shaking. It was mostly because of the temperature, but he didn't feel like that was it completely. He hid himself with the blanket as he hugged it from the inside and closed his eyes tightly. "What have I done....?" he whispered again. Then his eyes grew wide as he stood up faster than you can say "bench" and gave a loud scream that lasted for at least 4 seconds and everyone in skool could hear it. He was so shocked. What was happening to him that he needed to let it all out? Children were staring at him confusedly, but Zim then saw the kids who had beaten Dib and locked him in the locker. He wanted to punch someone so BADLY that he just came from behind them and gave one of them an atomic wedgie. He was full of so much fury, anger, and confusion that he beat them EASILY. After all, he WAS trained on Irk on how to fight.

     Dib was coming up blank on ideas of what he could do for the night. He considered asking Gaz for advice but that would involve telling her exactly what had happened and there was no way she would let him live that down if he told her. Besides, he already had a pretty good idea of exactly what she would tell him. She would tell him to stop whining and just share the blanket with Zim, whether he or the Irken liked it or not. But Dib had already tried that once and look what happened.

     After what the Irken had done to him, he didn't want anything to do with Zim. But it wasn't just the Irken's actions that made him mad. It was how he felt when it had happened. How could something that had only lasted a second make his heart stop so suddenly, making him unable to breath? How could a simple brush of the lips make his chest tighten and hurt worse than any physical wound he could receive. As he sat there contemplating all this, another student burst through the doors to the cafeteria and ran up to his friends sitting behind Dib. "Hey, you guys! That weird Zim kid just started beating up a bunch of students in the gym! Let's go watch!" he said excitedly.

     Dib's eyes widened at those words as the others left to go watch. Dib should have stayed there. What should it matter to him what Zim was doing? He kept on telling himself that, but something made him leave to go and see for himself what the alien was up to. He could hear yelling as he approached closer to the gym and he broke into a jog.

     When he finally reached the entrance, the first thing he laid his eyes on was Zim beating the hell out of those three jerks from before. Two teachers were trying to pry him off of them but to no avail. At this rate, he would kill them. Dib stood back watching, telling himself they deserved it and that it wasn't his fault. But as he continued to watch, refusing to do anything to help them, he began to feel as though all his work throughout the years would mean nothing if he just sat back and let Zim have his way.

     He already knew nobody else would be able to calm the furious Irken. Nobody except him. Clenching his fists tightly, he charged at the Irken yelling for him to stop. "ZIM! STOP IT ALREADY! YOU'VE WON!" he screamed, pouncing on top of the alien and pinning him down to the ground underneath him. Zim continued to struggle and snarl wildly so Dib held him down tightly by his shoulders, yelling until Zim snapped out of whatever cloud his mind was in. "Damnit, Zim, just stop struggling and I'll let you go! Now, snap out of it already! Beating the crap out of them won't solve anything! This is between you and me so if you have to beat up somebody then beat up me!" he glared hard down at the Irken until he began to calm some.

Zim had his teeth showing as he stopped thrashing about. His frustrated face slowly turned calm and soft. "Get OFF me, Dib-stink." were the only words that came from the Irken's mouth. He was now looking into Dib's eyes.

     Dib kept his gaze fixated on the Irken's as he remained holding the alien down a few moments longer just to make absolutely sure the other wouldn't attack again the second he let him up. Zim had a few cuts along his face, probably from one or two of them managing to get a few punches in while trying to defend themselves, but nothing serious. Dib reached forward cautiously to wipe away some of the blood before letting Zim get up. Never letting up on his serious stare, Dib pulled away but only enough to allow the other to get back to his feet. Before Zim could do much of anything else, Dib grabbed him by the back of his uniform shirt and dragged him along behind him.

     He had a few questions for the Irken and he wanted answers. The teachers didn't even take notice of their leaving as they were too busy helping the other boys, screaming for somebody to find the skool nurse. Disappearing into the boys’ locker room, Dib slammed Zim up against the lockers and held him there. The Irken struggled but Dib just dug his nails deeper into the fabric of Zim's shirt. He wasn't going to let the alien escape until he got some answers. "What the hell, Zim?! What the hell was all that out there?!" he pointed in the direction of the gym. "What the hell was it that you were trying to do to me earlier today in the locker room, and why the hell did you kiss me earlier?! I want some answers, goddamnit!" he screamed at the other in desperation, hanging his head in defeat once he had calmed some.

     He just wanted some straight answers, some explanations as to why in the course of one day everything seemed to have changed between Zim and him. The Irken remained silent for a few long moments, glaring off to the side stubbornly, making Dib just that much more frustrated. Zim refused to look at him which just plain upset Dib as he tried to grab back the Irken's attention. "ANSWER ME, DAMNIT!"  he breathed out heavily after yelling at the other. He wished things would just go back to normal. He was tired of feeling this way every time he looked at Zim with absolutely no explanation as to why. Sighing tiredly, he loosened his grip on Zim's upper arms, the lack of sleep over the past couple of days catching up to him.

Zim looked to the side before turning his eyes on Dib. He looked confused and tired "I....I don't know....BUT if I did know, I wouldn't tell you, DIB-SLEEP! And you should know BETTER than to treat me like this! No one can do this to ME! ZIM!....And don't say 'Hell' or 'goddammit'....Those are not nice words...." Zim then looked as if he realized what he had done to Dib and the students. He sank down to the floor and covered his face with his hands, starting to shake lightly.