Limelight

Zeke and Izabelle: Nickname

(I know I promised another Rozeira Limelight as well today but I was very busy and ended up deciding the other Rozeira wasn't 100% necessary to get out before the Christmas fics so :/ But here's some more Zebelle! Now they're ready for Christmas too~

The next chapter of Tattooed Mistakes is also coming tonight!)

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"Why do you only ever call me Izabelle?"

Zeke's head jerked up in surprise at the sound of her voice. He hadn't even heard her footsteps coming. He was sitting on the ground against a fence near the power plant, taking a break from stunts while Fritz and Diaz went on without him.

"Because that's your name?" he answered, confused.

Izabelle rolled her eyes and sat down beside him, "I mean, you're the only person I'm, like... close to," she kept her eyes down but she just knew he was smirking, "Who has never called me Iza. It's always Izabelle."

Looking her up and down, Zeke decided to test just how far he could push her, seeing as his pass clearly went beyond what she allowed from any of the others. He shrugged, resting one arm casually on his knee. He looked straight ahead, like he was thinking, "I like your name. And I like the 'belle' part," he knew he had her attention when he glanced down briefly and saw that she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He gently nudged her leg with his foot and leaned closer, smiling teasingly, which earned him a scowl, "It means 'beautiful', you know. 'Beauty'." her eyes widened, almost afraid, "'Izabelle' suits you. Izabelle..." now he nudged her side with his elbow and she gave up, turning to look up at him with a blank stare. He held up his hands like the words were in the air in front of them, "... Is-a-belle."

As soon as he said it, Izabelle gasped and laughed, immediately trying to hide it by covering her mouth. She clamped her other hand down firmly on his face and shoved him away, "That is so cheesy...! I'm gonna be sick."

Zeke saw right through her, though, and grabbed her wrist to move her hand off him, laughing too when he saw her face, "Wait, are you blushing?" he sat up straight to get a better look, grinning now, and she turned this way and that to keep him from seeing but he still had a hold on her wrist, "Oh, my good Z, did I just make the Izabelle Graves, scourge of all Zombie Town, blush?"

He had to admit, that was satisfying.

"No, get off!" she couldn't even sound mad at him.

He grabbed her other wrist and made her look at him, still with that smug smirk on his face, "What if I just called you Belle?" he suggested, quirking an eyebrow.

Her face fell for a moment, then Izabelle had to bite her lip hard to keep the smile from spreading across her face.

"OK, you're definitely blushing now."

She dropped her eyes, her voice hushed as if there could be someone listening, "Zombies can't blush, Zeke..."

He just smiled even wider when she said his name, "Then why are your cheeks darker?"

"I'm-"

"Blushing?"

He could tell she was internally screaming and he laughed again, then he softened, his voice more reassuring, "Just let it happen, Izabelle. You like me, and I-"

"I don't like people, Zeke!"

He stopped, lowering his hands and loosening his grip on her, just a little. He was quiet as he scanned her face. She looked... scared. Genuinely scared.

"... You're allowed to have feelings, Izabelle."

"Yeah, well, I don't want them."

"Why not?" he let go completely, turning to face her properly while she folded her arms and refused to look at him, "Why can't you let yourself feel anything besides anger?"

"I have a reputation!"

"And I don't? Come on, everybody knows we're the two toughest kids in Zombie Town. No-one is gonna try to say we're not. That doesn't mean I have to hide how I feel, and you don't have to, either," she still wouldn't turn around and Zeke sighed, shaking his head, "You've gotta know how I feel by now."

"... I can't show that kind of weakness..."

Zeke frowned, "You think that's weakness? Do you think I'm weak?"

"No!" Izabelle growled in frustration and sprung to her feet. She paced back and forth, holding her head. Zeke slowly stood up, watching her.

"So what's the real reason?"

"I..." she came to stop in front of him, gesturing wildly, "I don't get it! I don't get all these feelings, I don't get how I'm supposed to know what they are or what to do about them... You know what?" she finally met his eyes, "Every time I do feel something besides anger, it just makes me angry. 'Cause I don't understand it."

"Isn't that just because you're autistic?" he asked and she glared at him. It didn't faze him, though, "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I'm saying it's normal for you to not know what's going on with your own feelings. You don't have to understand all of it. Look..." he took a step closer to her and reached out, lacing their fingers together, "Plain and simple, how'd it feel to kiss me?"

She turned shy, her eyes fixed on their joined hands. She wasn't resisting. She bounced on her heels a little, chewing her lip nervously before she looked back at him, "... Good...?"

That one word almost made him lose his composure. A goofy smile was trying to force its way onto his face and this time it was him biting his lip to stop it from showing, "So, that's a start," he turned serious again, "We don't have to put a label on this if you don't want to. Let's just see how it goes."

"... OK."

For a few seconds, they just stood there in comfortable silence, then Zeke couldn't hold back his laughter, "I am seriously gonna start calling you Belle, by the way."

Izabelle snatched her hand away and stormed off. Zeke threw his arms open.

"What, no kiss after all of that?"

She pointed back at him, not facing him in case he saw how she was grinning, "You blew it, Blakeley!"