dreadfully sorry, dears. i'm not dead, you know. i'm just busy with the end of the school year. anywho, here's an apology chapter for you guys. sorry it's short.

POV: Astrid:

Astrid gnawed her lip thoughtfully and regarded the humans. The woman sitting at the table ran her fingers through her thick brown hair. Astrid couldn't help but envy her hair. All her life she had wanted to be different from her aunt, but recently she had realized that they were exactly alike. Cold and calculating with thin, ice-blond hair. Zidra, however, used her intellect to control the citizens of Iders. Astrid wanted nothing more than to help them. And if that meant killing her aunt herself, she would do it.

"What's your name?" Sam was bashfully asking the woman sitting at the table. Astrid smiled. Wasn't she a little too old for him?

"Tobel," she answered, running her fingers through her hair. "And that's Dr. Ray," Tobel continued, gesturing at the older man at the table.

"And I'm The Bear," the hugely muscled man said.

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "Is that your real name?"

"No," the Bear answered with a sad smile. Astrid raised her eyebrows, but didn't ask why he didn't use his real name. She didn't want to pry.

"You three will need fake Ids," Dr. Ray said suddenly. Astrid blinked, and he began explaining. "If you guys are going to be staying on Earth for an extended period of time, people will have to know who you are if we get in trouble,"

"Hm," Isaac commented, "that may just work. We should start immediately."

With that, him and Dr. Ray rose from the table and disappeared into the house. Astrid stared blankly at them before turning to Neil.

"I told my aunt that she shouldn't expect any news for two weeks," she explained. "What do you think we should do until then?"

Neil blanched. "Only two weeks?"

"How long do you think it'll take us to alert the governments?" Astrid retorted incredulously. "I don't think it'll take longer than that."

Tobel raised her eyebrows. "Tell the governments what, exactly?"

"That the Iderians are coming," Neil replied automatically. "We want to convince them that we mean no harm and that if we all work together, we can stop Zidra from invading."

Tobel paled. "And if you don't inform them in time? What if they don't believe you?"

Neil's tone was serious, and he looked over at Sam as he said, "Then we fight back."

POV: Iggy:

Iggy sighed and turned around slowly in his chair. The Iderians had been living with them for almost six days, and already he was drawn to Astrid's personality. It scared him, but only a little. His bookish, introvert personality always drew determined, strong people to him.

He wouldn't mind it at all if it weren't for Miranda. For years now, he had been convinced that he was in love with her. Now that Astrid was here, he didn't know. She was beautiful, of course. She was just barely taller than Iggy, and he found her solid black eyes mesmerizing and intimidating at the same time. Her personality definitely matched her eyes. Sharp, calculating, but vulnerable. Guarded, intimidating, and completely extraordinary.

Iggy had also not even had a real conversation with her. He swallowed a lump in his throat. He wanted to talk to the Iderian princess so badly, but he could barely look her in the eye without blushing and stammering excuses to leave the room.

He groaned and pushed himself out of the chair. His socks muffled his already quiet footsteps as he wandered down to the living room. Hopefully someone else would be in there; he was sick of being alone.

Iggy was completely immersed in his thoughts of love and the future, and Astrid was the last person he was expecting to see. Or bump into. Literally.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," he gasped at the blond alien. Astrid smiled gently.

"It's okay, doll," she replied. "What were you thinking about?"

Iggy blushed. "You, actually," he mumbled. He tried to sidestep around Astrid, but she blocked him with her pale but slightly muscled arm.

"Oh, no you don't," she laughed, grinning mischievously. "What, exactly were you thinking about me?"

Iggy blanched and took a step backwards. "Um…" he stammered. "I-I was thinking that… you're beautiful."

Now it was Astrid's turn to blush. Iggy tried not to notice how it highlighted her dark eyes and high cheekbones, and instead concentrated on a point to the right of her head. He was expecting a sarcastic retort, or worse.

"That's sweet," Astrid murmured. "That's really sweet of you to think that. You've got guts, kiddo, to say that to me."

Iggy cocked his head to the side. "I've got guts?" he repeated. "How?"

"Well," Astrid admitted. "Not many men our age would be brave enough to say that to my face. On Iders, most men in general are intimidated by me."

"I wonder why," Iggy said sarcastically, but not unkindly. Astrid beamed, and leaned forward.

Iggy sucked in a breath; Astrid lightly kissed him on the cheek. It was just a sweet, feathery thing, but it made Iggy feel weak.

"Dinner?" he asked almost inaudibly. Astrid raised her eyebrows.

"What?"

"I was wondering," Iggy paused and cleared his throat, "if you'd wanted to go out to dinner with me."

A flash of confusion crossed Astrid's face before she replied. "You want to... oh… what was that word? Court me? I'd be delighted!"

Iggy blinked; he hadn't expected Astrid to agree suddenly, or at all. Then he laughed at her use of the word court.

"What?" Astrid asked, looking genuinely confused. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing bad," Iggy chuckled. "It's just, no one says courting anymore."

Astrid's face fell. "Oh," she sighed. "Damn it, Sam!" she muttered under her breath.

Iggy smiled crookedly. "Olive Garden at seven?" he asked. Astrid looked confused, so he clarified, "For our date. You did want to go, right?"

"Of course I want to go, silly!" she laughed, pinching his cheek endearingly before kissing his other cheek.

Iggy grinned. "Do you want to, er, take this conversation into the living room?"

He glanced around Astrid's head into the other room. Mitch and Conor were walking in to start playing their video games or do whatever it was that they did all day. Mitch waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Iggy. Iggy raised his eyebrows, and Mitch rolled his eyes, gesturing at Astrid.

Astrid turned around. "Hello, boys," she said cheerfully, walking out to the middle of the living room so she could see what they were doing. Conor had thrown himself on the couch and was casually flipping through channels, and his twin was leaning against the arm of the couch, staring blankly at the television. Astrid ruffled Mitch's hair playfully and sauntered out the back door.

Iggy didn't follow her. He wanted to, though. He so desperately wanted that girl to be a part of his life. Sighing, Iggy fished a piece of gum out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, chewing slowly.

Suddenly, Miranda burst in through the back door. Iggy looked up and smiled thinly at her.

"What the fuck?" She demanded. "I kissed you, and now you're going on a date with Astrid?"

Mitch and Conor both looked up with identically shocked expressions on their faces. Iggy shifted on his feet and looked Miranda in the eye.

"I'm an asshole," he stated. Miranda threw her hands up in the air.

"Whatever," she spat. "You know, I don't really care. We weren't even dating!"

"I'm sorry," Iggy mumbled, looking away from Miranda. She sighed and stalked past him and to her room.

Mitch clicked his tongue. "My, my, Iggy," he said. "I have to say that I'm proud of you. You're usually the one not involved in drama, and now you're the one causing it. Bravo, my good man. Bravo."

Iggy scowled and followed Miranda's lead, retreating instead to his own bedroom. The room itself was cluttered, and had an air to it that it was empty a lot of the time. Papers and books were strewn about the floor, mixing with old clothes and food trash. An abandoned coffee cup rested on the shelf that was full of old paperbacks.

Iggy took his glasses off and pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. Mitch was right- he had created a lot of drama in mere minutes. It almost made him want to cancel his and Astrid's date. Instead, he resolved to talk to Miranda and explain everything. She was a sensible girl- hopefully she'd understand that Iggy really didn't mean to hurt her feelings.

mehh. reviews are love! *sigh* i was reading looking for alaska and... yeah. this happened. the two aren't even connected, but i wanted some relationship drama. i've also been working more on time, so you know, check it out if you want to.