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So... upon waking up, you immediately sat up and yawned. The lights were still on, but at this point, Zim was missing.

'What time could it be?' You wondered. You got up from the couch to take a peak out the window. It seemed as if the snow was still piling onto the ground.

The earth was barely visible, all you could see was a soft white sheet of snow.

At that moment, your phone buzzed.

It was your mom calling you. You fretted, picking it up immediately.

"Hi, mom!" You tried to sound like you've been awake this entire time.

"Hey, sweetie, I'm so sorry. At this point, I can barely drive in the snow. Can you check with your friend's parents if it's okay for you to sleep over? I'll come pick you up tomorrow evening." Your mom spoke quickly through the phone.

You knew your mom had no idea about Zim, she had just assumed you were with some girl from school. But you figured now wasn't a good time to tell her.

"O-oh, sure mom! I can ask, I'm sure they'll be fine with it!" You lied.

"Oh, good. Well, stay inside, I don't want you to get hurt out there. Bye sweetheart, love you." With that, your mom hung up.

You sighed, relieved. Now all you had to worry about is convincing Zim to stay even longer now.

"Hey! Zim? You still here?" You shouted. Just then, Gir ran into the room.

"Oh! You again!" You pointed at him. He looked at you and cheered. "YOU STILL HERE? HOORAY!" Gir spun around. "Want some waffles!?"

You shook your head. "No, not right now. I need to know where Zim went." You asked calmly.

Gir tilted his head. "Master's in his lab! I go get him for you, lady!" With that, he ran off before you could protest.

"Ah... well, I didn't really want to go back there anyway..." you told yourself.

Meanwhile...

"Master!! The girly upstairs is looking for you!" Gir shouted to Zim as he walked into the lab.

"Gir, silence! I'm very busy." Zim snapped. "...wait. She's awake? I better take care of this later, then." Zim walked away from his computer and followed Gir upstairs.

You were sitting on the couch, waiting. You turned on the TV, except everything on seemed like utter nonsense. You settled for whatever was on the channel Gir was watching.

It was some cheesy romantic comedy. You hated to admit it, but you were kinda into it.

"(Y/n)! I demand your attention." Zim announced, walking into the room. You jumped, and quickly turned off the TV.

"Y-yeah?" You replied.

"Yes. Gir said you were looking for me. So here I am. BASK IN MY GLORY!" Zim emphasized.

You laughed. "W-well, I just have to ask you something."

"Yes, yes, ask away." He replied.

"My mom just called- uh, to you, my 'parental unit'-"

"Ah, yes, I understand. Carry on." Zim interrupted.

"-yeah, and she wanted me to stay here until she can pick me up. Which isn't until tomorrow... because, well, the snow is blocking the roads, and she can't drive, and-"
You continued to explain, and Zim stopped you.

"No need to explain, (y/n). You may stay. After all, I am still examining your illness. It should be for the best." Zim reassured you.

This kind of made you suspicious of him.

"So, it's okay?" You asked, calming down.

Zim nodded. "Yes yes. I know, I'm so great, blah blah. Now go back to watching the TV or whatever. I have stuff to take care of right now."

"Stuff?" You asked.

"It is not important to you!" He defended.

"Ah... o-okay." You smiled. "Uhmmm, actually..." you began.

Zim turned to look at you.

"...would you like to hang out with me for a while? I mean, I am in your house, and we haven't gotten to do much since I got here. Right?" You asked.

Zim stared at you for a moment and thought about your offer.

"We don't have to though. It's just a friend thing, so I thought you might want to." You scratched your head.

He thought for a moment longer.

"A friend thing, eh? And perhaps I could collect more data on your cold..." Zim spoke to himself. "Okay. We shall 'hang out'."

You smiled. "Then would you like to watch TV with me?"

He shrugged, and joined you on the couch. You flipped the TV back on. The same rom-com from before was still on. You squeaked in surprise, forgetting you were watching that from before.

You quickly switched to another channel. Zim glanced at you with a confused expression.

"Haha, that's weird, how'd that get on there, hahahaha." You told Zim nervously, your voice shaky.

He didn't seem to catch on. "Gir is always watching these stupid things. It was probably his fault." He crossed his arms.

"Haha, yeah..." you giggled nervously.

"Well, anyway, do you ever watch TV, Zim?" You asked. He shook his head.

"Oh, well... neither do I. Not all the time, at least. But when I do, I usually watch funny things."

"Funny... things? I see. Is that all TV has?" He asked. You thought for a moment.

"Well, not always. Sometimes there's scary things... I try to avoid those. I tend to get spooked easily..." you admitted.

Zim appeared to take mental notes of everything you told him about TV, and yourself.

"You get scared easily, so you stick to watching funny shows?" Zim asked.

"Yep." You confirmed.

"Interesting. According to the Dib from previous conversations, he seems to prefer scary things. Does this mean humans have their own preferences?" Zim asked you.

"Well, yeah! I kinda thought you'd pick that up right away..." you muttered.

You and Zim continued to go on about yourselves. Zim persisted in asking questions about you, which is understandable. After all, you are a human. But these were more personal.

"So, you are saying you didn't have many friends before?" Zim asked. You nodded.

"Until I moved here, I didn't have friends. I wasn't very outgoing. People in my old town were sort of rude, so I figured it would be best to keep to myself." You explained.

"But eventually, when I came here, I met Dib and you. There was something welcoming about the both of you, so I decided to open up." You continued.

Zim appeared almost shocked. "So, you're saying, I, the amazing Zim, have helped you?"

"And Dib helped too." You added.

"But more importantly, ME?" Zim yelled. You smiled and nodded.

Zim seemed impressed with himself. "So I've mastered this friendship thing. Right?"

"Uhmm, yeah! I'd say so." You agreed.

Zim was almost touched. "Well, (y/n), I think I can say, you... aren't as bad. Y'know, as the other humans."

"...You really think so?" You said softly, blushing a bit.

Zim was taken back a bit, here he thought you were almost, cute. Almost. "Eh? Yes! I said so, did I not?"

"Thank you, Zim... You're not as bad as Dib says you are. You know?" You complimented him.

"Well, yes! I know." Zim tried to shake off the fact that he was a little bit flustered. "I- eh, better get back to my studies. Alien stuff, y'know? Eh, goodbye!!" Zim ran off, nervously.

You didn't bother questioning it. He heard you shout, "bye Zim!" Before he left the room.

"What is going on here?" Zim muttered to himself, holding his head. "I'm beginning to feel things."

'Perish the thought, Zim. Emotions are for degenerate poop-heads, like Dib.' He thought to himself.

'No emotions for this ol' alien. Just- (y/n) is very likable. That's all.' Zim reassured himself, walking off to his lab.

Oh, boy.