Zed's alarm clock annoyed Addison on a whole different level. It meant more than 'Hey! It's 5 o'clock! Time to get ready for school!'

Zed's alarm clock meant getting out of the warmth of her boyfriend's arms and the covers that smelled just like him. It meant they had to go to school and only see each other a few periods out of the day, and still they were in class and couldn't talk or snuggle.

Zed's alarm clock meant having to share him with the rest of the world, something Addison didn't want to do but knew she'd have to.

But on the bright side, Zed was adorable in the morning. He left his alarm clock on the other side of his room so he'd have to get up to turn it off. For a few minutes, he'd just lay there and try to hide behind Addison. She wouldn't even turn around anymore.

"You gotta get up, Babe," she said with a small laugh.

"I fucking hate Mondays," Zed grumbled. "I wish we were still on winter break."

"It's the first day back," Addison pointed out.

Zoey came into the room, still dressed in her pajamas and rubbing her tired eyes with Frankie "Puppy" Necrodopolus trailing her heels. Addison watched her pull a chair up, climb up and turn off the alarm clock.

"I'm using the bathroom first!" she called as she left, closing the door as she went.

"Would you look at that," Zed said, his words muffled by Addison's shoulder. "Seems to me like we've got a few minutes to ourselves."

Addison giggled as Zed moved over her. They made out in bed for what felt like a few seconds, but was actually close to a half hour, before Zoey came in and announced that the bathroom was empty.

Every day for the past few days, Addison took Cymbalta—her antidepressant—along with her birth control. One tablet equaled to 60 mg, which meant she only had to take it once a day.

For the first few weeks the dosage was low. Dr. Janikowski said it was to get her body to adjust to the medication. At her visit the previous Thursday they had increased it to 60 mg. It was harder to swallow but she managed.

The new year provided lots of changes in Seabrook. One of the most notable changes were the amendments to the The BROCA-S68 Gene Mutation Clauses—the section of laws pertaining to Zombies.

"Someone looks handsome in his street clothes," Addison noted as her boyfriend came down the stairs Monday morning.

Zed grinned and did a little spin, showing off his all pink outfit. He then went over and kissed the top of his sister's head, then Addison's. "Something smells delicious," he noted as he sat in his usual chair.

"Daddy's making bacon," Zoey said, practically vibrating in her chair. "He said no more after today though, because we still have a budget to keep to."

"That's right I did," Zevon said as he brought the still steaming pan to the table. "I let you kids eat whatever all break. Just because you're all out of season, doesn't mean you shouldn't be concerned about your diet. Addison is the only one who consistently eats healthy."

Addison grinned and lifted up her bowl of fruit.

"She's human," Zoey argued. "How often do we get to eat bacon? And how often does she?"

Zevon laughed and slid into his chair. "So what are your plans for today? It's hard to keep up with all your after school activities since it's not just football and cheerleading."

Addison grinned slightly. "I'm meeting Chief Dale after school for some driving practice," Zed said. "He wants me to try and get a license like the day after my birthday."

"Bree and I are making plans for her half birthday," Addison said. "It's not a real thing but it's the only way she could get her parents to fund a sleepover this weekend."

Zevon pointed his fork at Addison and asked, "Can you walk Zoey home after school?"

Addison nodded. "Is it okay if Bree comes over? We could just work here instead of going back to her house."

"That's fine with me," Zevon said with a shrug. Then, to Zed he said, "I should get off early enough to make dinner tonight."

Zed nodded with his mouth full. They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then there's a loud and insistent knocking at the door, to which Zed gets up to answer.

"Bucky?"

Addison turned at that, seeing her cousin duck under Zed's arm and walk into the house. "It's freezing out there," he grumbled under his breath.

Zed doesn't waste a second, asking the cheer captain, "What are you doing here?"

"A duh, I came to take my baby cuz to school," Bucky stated.

Addison cleared her throat and nodded her head at Zed. "And her boyfriend, of course!" Bucky added. Zed raised an eyebrow. "And…and his friends too?"

"May I ask why?" Zed asked. "Like, it's a little weird that you're here…in Zombietown where you never go."

"I've come here before!" Bucky said defensively.

Zevon chuckled heartily. He got up and walked over to the cheerleader. "You don't have to prove yourself to us. Would you care for some breakfast?"

"My mother would kill me if I ate Zombie food." After a second, Bucky added, "That was insensitive. I apologize."

"Uh," Zevon said, glancing nervously at his son. "You're trying, I guess."

"To be fair, Aunt Janet would actually kill him," Addison said with a shrug. "She's kind of a nutty geez if you know what I mean."

The Zombies laughed at her joke, making Addison grin slightly. "We'd better get going," she said as she got up. "See you guys later."

"So is there a reason Bucky offered to pick us up?" Zed whispered to his girlfriend.

"Stacey got a car for Christmas and the Aceys dropped him as their ride to school," Addison stated. "He doesn't want to tell Aunt Kitty that all his friends dropped him."

"I thought your aunt was Janet?"

"She's my aunt. I can call her whatever I want." Addison said with a shrug. "Anyway, Bucky is being a big baby and pretending like he's picking up the Aceys."

Bucky just rolled his eyes. "I can't do something nice for my cousin and her friends?"

"No," everyone in the car said in unison.

Bucky sighed. "You guys, I'm trying to have this huge personal growth this semester," he said. "It would be great if I could get a little support."

"His parents would never support him in a conquest like that," Addison whispered to Zed.

Zed nodded in understanding. "You know how you can grow? You can work with Eliza, Mayor Missy, and City Council on revising The BROCA-S68 Gene Mutation Clauses."

Eliza shot him a threatening look.

"What's that?" Bucky asked curiously.

"It's the Laws about Zombies," Addison explained. "You know how over break, they stopped funding Zombie Containment to issue uniforms. In layman's terms, Zombies could buy their own clothes."

"I don't need his help," Eliza stated.

"You asked for my help," Zed pointed out. "But I can't, because Addison's dad is teaching me how to drive. I give you Bucky."

Eliza groaned and Bucky just shook his head. Addison looked over at him, seeing his cheeks red and his fingers tapping at the wheel. "It's okay, you don't have to take me on as your pity project, E," he told her.

"Are you okay? You don't look so hot."

Addison bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. "Ouch," she mocked.

Zed cracked a smile but remained serious. "I'm serious," he told her. "You're all pale—paler than usual, at least."

"I'm not pale." Addison closed her locker and turned around to face her boyfriend. "I'm okay, I guess. My stomach kinda hurts but it's nothing to worry about."

Zed raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I don't wanna let it slide and then come and find out you're dying."

Addison nodded and took his hand. "Don't worry. Just walk me to class."

"Why do you guys hate me?"

Addison raised an amused eyebrow. "Is that a serious question, Buck?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Please don't call me 'Buck'. It sounds stupid. And yes, it's a serious question."

"Bucky, you've been taught to hate Zombies since you were born. I know you're trying to change—be more open minded and accepting. Zed knows you're trying to change. But to Eliza and Bonzo and literally every other zombie, you're the same guy who hacked their Z-Bands and nearly cost them their lives. The same guy who 'purified' his cheer team. The same guy—"

"I get it!" Bucky interrupted.

He sighed and Addison just looked at him sadly. She reached up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I don't think you should help them on the rewriting project," she told him honestly. "You don't really get Zombie politics. But you should try to connect with them. They're like us, with a little gene mutation. Eliza can be really nice, if you pick apart her words."

Bucky just shrugged childishly.

Addison sighed. "This weekend, we're having a girls' weekend—me and Bree and Eliza. Maybe try connecting with Zed and Bonzo."

"Zed already likes me though," Bucky argued.

"Zed tolerates you because you're my favorite cousin," Addison stated. "I'm pretty sure he still kinda hates you for ruining his life."

Bucky sighed defeatedly. "Win over Zed and Bonzo, Eliza won't be so hard," Addison told him. "I know you can do it. You're the man."

Addison punched his shoulder when he didn't respond. "Who's the man?" she demanded.

"I'm the man," Bucky grumbled.

"Say it loud and proud!"

Bucky grinned slightly. "I'm not gonna scream 'I'm the man', Addy Cat."

"Whatever Buck, I need to go to class." She closed her locker and turned away. "See you later!"

"Why are you squinting? You're like five feet from the board."

"I have a headache," Addison stated in a pained voice.

"Did you take some Advil or something?" Zed asked.

Addison shook her head. "I'm not supposed to take anything other then my birth control and the antidepressant."

"So you're just gonna spend the whole day with this headache?"

Addison nodded. She looked over at him and shrugged. "It's not so bad, it's mostly just a pressure headache. Not a pounding one. I can make it until I get home."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded again, smiling slightly. "Stop worrying, it's just a headache," she told him.

Zed just shrugged cheekily. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "It's good I worry, you get a little reckless sometimes."

"Hey!"

All the athletes had the same last period class—gym—in case they needed to leave early for a school event so as to not miss any core classes. The class was split into two groups that typically met in separate parts of the class—the first semester sports and the second semester sports. Bucky had rounded up every cheerleader he had kicked off the team in a blind rage that afternoon near the end of eighth period.

"As you all know, you were all…dismissed, from cheer for slightly unfair reasons."

"Slightly?" Addison asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bucky just shot her a look before continuing. "I…I want to apologize. I was acting out of anger and you all are amazing cheerleaders. I want to invite all of you back to the cheer squad."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Addison pointed out. "If I know you, there's always a catch."

"Addison," Bucky said in exasperation.

"What's the catch Bucky?" Jessica asked.

Bucky rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Uh…I need a team for a surprise pep rally Friday," he admitted. "We haven't done one of those since the beginning of the year so I figured I could go a few more months without having to apologize."

"Look, you guys are awesome cheerleaders," Lacey chimed from beside Bucky. "You may hate Bucky for being a dick to you all, but this is a huge pep rally. And plus, if you guys come back, you get to go to the championship banquet next weekend."

Addison felt her nasal passage tighten like she was congested. She touched the skin under her nose and pulled her finger back, seeing it covered in blood. 'Oh,' she thought.

"We'll let you think it over," Tracey added. "Come see one of us tomorrow with your decision. Or show up at practice tomorrow."

"But the longer you take, the longer we'll have to practice and less free time you'll have this week, so I'd decide fast," Stacey added. "If you all decide now, we can start practice like, now."

Addison left the cheer lounge after that. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she didn't feel right. Her head felt fuzzy and full with thousands of throats racing through, completely out of nowhere; she was a little lightheaded and nauseous and moved quickly through the halls.

She could vaguely hear someone calling her name—Bucky, maybe. It sounded like she was in water, his voice warped and distant. She turned and felt her head spin and her lunch rush up her throat. She hunched over and vomited right there in the hall, her stomach twisted and her hair falling in her face, blood droplets falling from her nose. It was all bile and nothing more.

Who she presumed was Bucky ran up and held her before she could fall to her knees. The sound came rushing back to her at an alarming speed and sound. Everything was too loud, too fast, too bright. Bucky's voice was too loud for her to distinguish anything he was saying. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears overbearing it all.

The hallway was too bright and her eyes stung in the worst way possible. Her face was wet and she couldn't figure out if it was her nose still bleeding or crying or bile that had dribbled onto her chin.

Addison found herself turning and hiding her face in her cousin's chest, where she blacked out a minute later.

Bucky noticed when her nose started to bleed, a little dribble of blood in the middle of the Aceys coming to his rescue. Not even a minute later she ran out.

Bucky excused himself from his own meeting, much to the confusion of the Aceys. He found Addison stumbling down the hallway, muttering to herself and holding her stomach.

"Addison!" he called.

She heard him for sure, and when she tried to turn to him she vomited. Bucky's eyes went wide with panic and he ran over. He collected the falling strands of hair and pulled them back. Then when he felt her knees wobble like she was about to fall, he wrapped his arms around her torso and eased her to the ground.

"Bucky!" He looked up and saw the Aceys and Bree rushing over to him.

"What happened?" Bree asked in panic.

"Call for help!" Bucky demanded. Tracey nodded and pulled out his phone, dialing for emergency services.

Addison turned her head into his chest, sobbing into his shirt. "And find Zed!" Bucky added after a second. Bree nodded and ran off down the hall in search of the Zombie.

Bucky tossed his phone to Lacey. "Call her doctor too," he said. "Uh, Jankowski."

Bucky looked over at Stacey and told her to go back with the cheerleaders. "I don't want them seeing this," he said before she left.

"What happened to her?" Tracey asked.

"Um, she was complaining about a headache earlier, and she had a nosebleed," Bucky said. "And she left and I think she got dizzy. She threw up and—oh my god she's blacked out!"

"Lay her on her back," Lacey instructed.

"Her nose is still bleeding, she might choke on it!"

"Do the nosebleed-thing then! I don't know!"

"Lay her on her side," Tracey instructed. "Pinch her nose to stop the nosebleed but make sure she's breathing through her mouth."

Bucky nodded and moved Addison off of him and onto her side. Her nose was still dripping blood but not as much as before.

"I need a mirror," he said. "Tracey? Lacey?"

Lacey nodded and pulled out a little mirror from her backpack. She passed it to Bucky along with his phone. "I called twice and there was no answer."

Bucky cursed under his breath. He put the mirror in front of his cousin's open mouth, watching it fog up with her breath. "She's breathing," he said with a sigh of relief.

Lacey got down on the floor next to them. "Ten minutes," Bucky told her. The blonde nodded and pinched the soft part of Addison's nose just as Bucky set the timer.

"Shouldn't we call her parents?" Lacey asked.

"We can't, they don't have guardianship over her anymore," Bucky told her. "I need Zed so we can call his dad."

They sat in a tense silence for the next few minutes. Bucky was glad Lacey was holding her nose and not him. He was freaking out on the inside and out, practically shaking and worried about what was going on with his cousin.

As the time ran out, Zed came running from down the hallway. Stacey and Bree were a few paces behind him.

He skidded to a stop in front of Bucky, taking a second to catch his breath before asking, "What happened? What did you guys do!"

"What did you do!" Lacey exclaimed. "She's living in your house!"

"Stop!" Bree shouted. "This isn't the time to throw the blame! Addy's sick." She came up next to Zed and told him, "She threw up and she passed out and her nose is bleeding."

"Bucky says she was dizzy," Tracey added.

Zed muttered in Zombie what sounded like a curse. He reached into Addison's pocket and pulled out her phone, tossing it up to Bree. "Call Dr. Jan," he told her.

"We tried, she didn't answer," Lacey said.

"She'll answer if she thinks Addison is calling," Zed said. He looked at the hallway floor in disgust.

"Did you call 9-1-1?" Zed asked.

Tracey nodded. "They're on their way."

Zed got down on the ground near her head. Bree passed him the phone once the psychiatrist answered. Zed and Bucky relayed the information over the phone. Zed hadn't realized he was stroking her hair and her cheek. As they finished, Addison started to stir from her unconscious state.

Zed ended the call and put the phone in his shirt pocket a moment later. "What happened?" Bree asked.

"Her body's is reacting badly to her meds," Zed stated grimly. "Dr. Jan said to take her to the hospital for an official diagnosis."

"We're gonna have to get Addison through the gym and into the parking lot," Tracey told them, though he was looking at Zed. Zed was the only one strong enough to carry Addison long distances without any help, and they all knew that.

Zed put his arms under her knees and her upper back. Addison, in her hazy state, managed to wrap her arms around his neck and hold on as he carried her out and into the faculty parking lot as the ambulance pulled in.

Addison wasn't in the hospital for long. "It's a side effect," the doctor had told her. "Your body is reacting badly. Considering you took two tablets instead of the prescribed one, you got out really lucky. We'll return you to your prescription from last week for the time being. We've already contacted Dr. Jankowski to inform her of the change."

Zed had heard this part through the grapevine. The hospital hadn't let him inside because he was a Zombie. They were so strict with their policy, that they sent a security guard outside with Addison's discharge papers for his dad to sign, even though both Dale and Missy had shown up. Zevon was her guardian at the moment, to the point that her parents weren't even allowed to see her.

Later that day while her parents went to the garage to get their car with Zevon in tow, Addison and Zed and Bucky sat on the curb outside the front.

"That was terrible," Addison muttered.

"All that matters is that you're okay now," Bucky told her.

Addison just hummed in acknowledgement. "Sorry about your shirt."

Bucky shrugged. "It's what I'm for," he joked. "I'd rather you bleed on me anyway."

Addison sighed and leaned against her boyfriend's side. "I was supposed to pick up Zoey today," Addison said plainly.

"Eliza and Bonzo and Bree already went."

"I wish I was at home," Addison said miserably. "I've ruined you guys' day."

"No you didn't," Bucky told her. "I've lost a day of cheer practice. Which means that I can tell Principal Lee that we didn't have enough time to prepare for Friday, and we won't have to perform."

Addison lifted her head at that. Bucky never passed up an opportunity to shine. "Um, we're gonna perform on Friday," Addison told him. "We'll figure out an amazing routine in three days."

"We?" Bucky asked. "You aren't performing. You nearly died today."

"I have to agree with Bucky," Zed said. "You shouldn't cheer on Friday. I didn't even know you were cheering again."

"I'm fine, I just experienced multiple side effects to a strong drug," Addison stated. "I will be cheering, okay? And I'll help you come up with a perfectly amazing routine too. Pinkie swear." Addison lifted her hand and wiggled her pinkie at him.

Bucky sighed. "I don't want you working too hard, Addy," he told her. "I'll let you cheer, but don't even think about stunting or flying or anything crazy like that."

Addison wiggled her pinkie again and Bucky reluctantly reached forward and linked their pinkies. "No hard stuff," he reminded her.

"We've pinkie sworn, it's etched in stone now," Addison told him with a slight smile.

For the first time in the last few minutes, Zed spoke up. "It's moments like this where I don't doubt for a second you two are related."