Disclaimer - I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

((This is a sequel to my one-shot collection Limelight, about my characters for the background zombies (BGZ), which is still ongoing, so make sure you've at least read the chapters involving Alonzo, Zephyr, Zach, Roz and maybe Rizzo!))

The "future fic" begins! And unlike Tattooed Mistakes, this Zephzo angst is actually canon! (as in on my canon timeline that runs through most of my fics) I'm going to try and get chapter 1 done in just a few days or so and then it'll be weekly updates from then on

Watch the trailer for this fic (and Limelight and others) on krut09's YouTube channel, Kreatable23!

Prologue theme songs: High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup and Pictures by Emma Blackery

~ We're too busy having fun for anything to destroy what I have with my boy ~

Prologue

"Four years, you'd think for sure that's all you've got to endure..."

Alonzo Morgan was doing what he did best – singing his heart out to his friends at a zombie mash. This time, however, was different. This would most likely be their last zombie mash. For some time, at least. And, for some time, it might even be the last time Bowling For Zoup played together.

"All the total dicks, all the stuck-up chicks, so superficial, so immature! Then when you graduate, you take a look around and you say-"

Zephyr, Zach and Roz shouted from behind him, "Hey, wait!"

He couldn't help but grin at how enthusiastic they sounded. Almost as enthusiastic as he sounded. Graduation had come and gone. He was done with high school, and he was heading off into the world.

"This is the same as where I just came from, I thought it was over!"

The human world.

"Oh, that's just great...!" Zephyr delivered his line so perfectly that Alonzo laughed, turning to lock eyes with him as he playfully smirked back. Zeph winked at him and Al's face flushed. Almost three years later and it still gave him chills. But he didn't have time to drool over his boyfriend now – he had a song to perform.

"The whole damn world is just as obsessed with who's the best dressed and who's having sex! Who's got the money, who gets the honeys, who's kinda cute and who's just a mess! And you still don't have the right look, and you don't have the right friends. Nothing changes but the faces, the names and the trends... high school never ends!"

Despite the craziness going on around him, there were hundreds of thoughts going through Alonzo's head in that moment. Surprising for him, perhaps, but there really were.

Things had changed so much in the last three years – there were no uniforms anymore, though most zombies did still prefer darker, customised clothing, curfew now just prohibited them from leaving Zombie Town after dark, and their Z-bands had been continuously updated until they were pretty much the same as smartphones.

The most recent change was the long-awaited announcement that zombies would be permitted to leave Seabrook without humans needing to escort them. Under certain conditions, of course. There were specific reasons for leaving, and living outside of, Seabrook that zombies would have to apply for. If a zombie's reason wasn't permitted by the city council, they would have to stay. Luckily, leaving for education was acceptable. Encouraged, even. They would have to have their Z-band logged into a new system so that they could be tracked, to some degree, by the patrol and any warnings or other activity would be recorded and monitored.

The process of applying was long and overly complicated but Al had made sure to get a headstart. He knew exactly what he wanted and he was going to get it.

"Check out the popular kids! You'll never guess what Jessica did! How did Mary-Kate lose all that weight? And Katie had her baby so I guess Tom's straight. And the only thing that matters is climbing up that social ladder. Still care about your hair and the car you drive, doesn't matter if you're sixteen or thirty-five!"

Al had been working part-time at the music store since he was sixteen, then he'd gotten into music class at school along with Bonzo the following year and stayed there until graduating. And who would have thought Alonzo of all people would end up with a scholarship? It wasn't surprising in the slightest what Al wanted to study: music performance. He'd been playing guitar since he was about fourteen and it had become such a serious passion, he knew it was all he wanted to do.

"Reese Witherspoon, she's the prom queen. Bill Gates, captain of the chess team. Jack Black, the clown, Brad Pitt, the quarterback. Seen it all before..."

Zach came in with "I want my money back!"

The downside was that his friends, and more importantly, his boyfriend, were all staying in or near to Seabrook, so they'd still be seeing each other on a regular basis. Alonzo was going to be hours away. The others loved their music, too, but it was more of a hobby for them, and they weren't about to take such a risk as leaving the region. Sure, they were allowed to, but that didn't mean they had to. Not when they found good enough schools for themselves close to home.

Zach, unsurprisingly, was going to a dance school in the next town. Roz had taken an interest in media and editing ever since they had started making videos for YouTube. Zephyr, being a year older than the rest of them, had taken a gap year so he could keep playing with the band and figure out exactly what he wanted to do, while Rizzo had joined Zane in studying psychology still within Seabrook; the three of them couldn't leave town yet when they had graduated high school. Zeph was still stuck, though, and he was running out of time. There was a lot that he could do; he loved music, football, dance... but none of them enough to prioritise above the rest. And Alonzo wouldn't be there with him all the time like he was now. That fact was a constant weight on his shoulders these days.

But they had the summer, and they had right now.

"And I still don't have the right look," Al's eyes shone as he cast his gaze over the crowd. Everyone was there, cheering for them. For him. This was what he wanted. Almost. The crowd in his head was so much bigger, "And I still have the same three friends," taking the mic from its stand, he slowly spun around to smile at Zach, Roz and Zephyr in turn, then faced his audience again, putting the microphone back and raising his arms in a shrug, his guitar hanging from his shoulders, "And I'm pretty much the same as I was back then..."

He closed his eyes, losing himself in the music. One hand gripped the mic stand, the other punched the air as all four of them sang out.

"High school never ends!"

He wanted this feeling to last forever.

"High school never ends!"

He wished it really wouldn't end.

"High school never ends!"

But his future was looking bright. And it was so, so close...

"And here we go again...!"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Half an hour later, Alonzo was alone with Zephyr in the light garden. And Zephyr was kissing him like he could disappear at any moment, his lips trailing down to his jaw and neck every now and then.

"I love you, Alonzo," he mumbled, pulling away for a second or two to meet Al's eyes, "So much."

Al smiled as Zeph caressed his face and pecked his lips once more, "I love you, too."

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I know. I'll miss you, too," Alonzo sighed but his smile never faded, "We've got a few months left together, though. And we'll still see each other."

"You swear to me?"

With a teasing smirk, Alonzo slowly leaned down and brought both hands to cup Zeph's face, his thumbs grazing his cheeks, fingers grazing his neck. Zephyr had grown a little more in high school but Al was still taller than him. He paused right as his lips brushed against Zeph's, "I swear on my life. D'you think I'd let you get away that easy?" He laughed a little at the way Zeph's eyes flickered down to his mouth and back up again.

"Would you just kiss me already?"

He did, laughing again, and Zephyr couldn't help laughing, too.