Perfectionism in Pink | A Zombies FanFiction

56

A small packet dropped onto her desk in front of Josephine during her last period that day. Josephine took out her earbuds and looked up in confusion to see a smiling Alan in front of her desk.

"...what the fuck?"

"Read it."

Josephine almost argued, but it died out on her lips with a sigh. She grabbed the pieces of paper and her eyebrows pinched closer together with every word until she hit the final page and her eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

"Holy shit." She whispered out in awe, looking up at a still smiling Alan who hadn't moved an inch from his spot. She held the papers up and shook them. "How? Where? Why?"

"You were concerned about your career and education a few weeks ago after we spoke about my designated job on the mothership. I spent a long time thinking about it - 45 seconds - and then hopped on your primitive internet system to research." Alan walked over to the open seat beside Josephine, gracefully setting his backpack down and sitting on the chair while Josephine watched him in shock. "I found this."

"...holy shit." Josephine replied meekly, looking back down with a racing heart.

The small stack of papers were very nearly an essay that basically proved that refusing to put Josephine on the team was discrimination and that she could sue them for false advertising an all-male team when in reality there were no bylaws that made the team all-male.

This was her way into her top school.

"Alan, I don't... I can't believe this." She stared a second longer before realizing how rude it was of her to just ignore Alan. Josephine looked over at Alan earnestly and the tears in her eyes were a little real. "Thank you Alan. I-I don't know how I could ever repay you..."

This was what Alan was expecting.

A favor to get one of Seabrooks most beloved to get them access to the Moonstone. Addison was the first option, but she was too close to the wolves. Then Zed was considered, but he wanted very little to do with the aliens. Eventually they landed on Josephine who after doing some simulations could potentially get them the moonstone.

Josephine had been the first human that he had acquired memories for and while they had entered all of their mind data, there was something almost intimate about it as he witnessed her struggles and excitement. All the way from growing out of her fear of being herself to liking zombies to biting a werewolf to heartbreak... Alan felt like Josephine was....

He didn't have a word for it yet.

Judging by the look on her face, all he had to do was ask to see the moonstone privately and she would be more than happy to oblige. She was grateful beyond words for this information that seemed so trivial to him, but for some reason meant the world to her.

All he has to do was ask.

But... Alan's frown dropped and so did his gaze into his lap.

She looked happier in this moment than he had ever seen in her memories.

Why did that make his heart feel like it dropped from the largest mountain?

"...You, me... a square piece of fabric on the grass and whatever food you desire underneath the stars. I could tell you stories of my travels and then after the competition." Alan repeated the words from all those weeks ago, but this time it wasn't an attempt to fluster an enemy. Instead... he swallowed, looking up at Josephine and continued reciting to a wide eyed Josephine, his voice cracking lightly. "I'll be only a distant memory like the nebulas above us."

They stared at each other with too many emotions, not enough emotions, a plethora of emotions... Josephine was starting to get overwhelmed with the intensity that Alan stared at her and it crossed her mind that this was the first time he was without a smile for longer than a minute. His words were familiar to that time when he was a jackass, but now... now.