Rosalee poured their drinks and sat the bottle down on the table. The clank of it almost hurt Nick's sensitive ears, and he thought about saying something.

Fortunately, Juliette was always easier with her words.

"Is something wrong, Rosalee? You seem a little tense."

That brought a nervous smile onto their friend's face, and she looked down. "I'm just a little nervous. Monroe's off finishing arrangements for the honeymoon now. I'm not really looking forward…" She took a deep breath. "What we'll run into there."

"Oh?" Juliette leaned forward, hair falling on her shoulder as she picked up her own glass to sip.

"I just… sure, there are plenty of things to see, plenty of romance… The hotel is nice. But it's not like we'll be the only ones there. I'm not really looking forward to being surrounded by…" A nervous woge washed over Rosalee's face, turning her fair cheeks orange for a moment.

"By…?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"By a bunch of shambling, lost things who would tear us apart if they knew what we really were. My idea of a vacation isn't being surrounded by glassy stares and peeling faces, a throbbing mass of mindless people. I don't want to be grabbed out of nowhere by some… some thing who can't even tell me what he wants." She sighed heavily, big brown eyes staring into her glass.

Nick tensed, though he could feel his heart rate stayed the same, and forced his mind to stay in the moment.

"It sounds dangerous…"

"It's not, not really, not unless you take stupid risks." Rosalee looked out the window, at the silver crescent moon through the warm, gauzy curtains. "But he doesn't always think about things like that. That's one of the things I love about Monroe; he really believe in fairy tale happy endings."

"This doesn't sound like a happy ending, Rosalee." Nick suggested. He thought he saw a smirk on Juliette's face, but he continued. "It's both your honeymoons, not just his. Put your foot down."

"But he wants it so much. And I'm sure it won't be as awful as I think. Those people aren't that bad, and there are some amazing things to see there."

"It sounds awful." Juliette muttered, voice falling flat.

"I guess." Rosalee leaned back on the couch, curling her legs up next to her.

With the faintest of memories nagging at him, Nick tried to use the word, but couldn't bring it to his lips. "What is it you're afraid of, really?"

"I guess I'm afraid of ending up like them."

"Rosalee… if you… why the hell would you let Monroe drag you on a vacation where there are zombies?'

He wasn't prepared for the shrieking laughter that issued from either side of him.

He really wasn't prepared for the brochure the giggling Fuchsbau slid across the table.

By the time Monroe returned, round-eared hat perched over glowing red eyes and an ear-to-ear grin, Nick's face was as red as the mascot's pants.