The One I Hate (With Love) (Completed)

CW: Mentions of attempted suicide

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Dib looked down at his grass and dirt-stained jeans as Gaz drove them home. They stopped at the traffic lights and Gaz tapped on the wheel, looking at her brother worried. "So, what happened?"

Dib sniffled "I don't wanna talk about it." Though he normally would, he didn't want to think about anything. He just wanted to go home, curl up in a ball in his bed, and cry himself to sleep. "Come on, Dib. You look horrible. Is it Zim?"

He didn't answer. Just hearing that name made him want to break down and scream. Gaz sighed as the traffic light turned green and she continued to drive "What happened this time? Did you two have a fight? I can talk to him for you if you want."

As they parked in their garage Dib started to sob. Gaz quickly unbuckled herself as Dib shakily spoke "It's funny you say that, Gaz. Because none of us can ever talk to him again. He left."

"What do you mean he left? Did he move?" Dib shook his head "No, I mean left. As in he got into his ship and left Earth." Gaz was taken aback "What?"

"We had a fight, Gaz. He was in a tube and he wanted to remove his emotions to stop feeling what he felt. I stopped him and he freaked out, saying that he wasn't supposed to be defective. He's gone, Gaz."

Gaz looked down then back up at her brother. She sighed and suddenly Dib felt two arms around his body hugging tightly. "I'm so sorry, Dib." Dib slowly wrapped his arms around her "It's...fine."

Gaz frowned and separated from him "No, it's not fine. I'm not gonna have you shut me out. I want to help you out." Dib sighed "Why do you have to care about me? Why can't you just let me suffer like you used to when we were kids?"

"First of all, I only let you suffer when you were doing something stupid and getting bruises. Second of all, you're my brother. I can't let you die on me. Even when we were kids I protected you from too much harm and when you were more of a sad sack than usual I tried to make you feel better. Like when we were put in jail at Moo Ping Ten. We have to stick together, man."

Dib teared up. "Thanks, Gaz. I'm glad you're here." Gaz smiled "Of course."

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Many months passed and Zim still hadn't come back. Everyday the human hoped to see him sitting next to him in class but he never did. It was making him lose hope and soon enough he was losing sleep. He was sitting on his roof dozing off trying to get some kind of signal out of his machine but nothing was heard but the cold spring night wind and crickets.

"Dib, come on. You're gonna get sick up there. Go to bed." Dib shook his head "I can't do that, Gaz. Zim's gonna come back. I know it. I just have to be patient." She sighed and climbed onto the roof. She put a blanket around him. "Dib, please. I've never seen you this bad. You have bags under your eyes, you haven't eaten in days, and your grades are dropping. We graduate in a few months. I don't want you to fail."

Dib sniffled and held the blanket close "He always comes back, Gaz. He can't be gone forever. He's just taking a break. H-He..." Dib put his head between his knees and pulled on his hair "Fucking damn it! Where did I go wrong? I tried so hard for him, Gaz. I should've never confessed to him. Never..."

"Don't be like that, man. You know it's not your fault." Dib was getting frantic "It was! It was my fault! He was already dealing with enough shit as it is without some confusing confession from me. I just made everything worse for me so he left."

"You saved him from changing who he really was. He was going to remove all of his emotions and you stopped him. I'm not exactly sure why but he feels as though he isn't worth anything. Maybe it's because of his Tallest. Maybe it's because of the years of grueling Irken training he had. I don't know. What I do know is that he cares about you."