Author's note: What? Another chapter already? Thank my severe insomnia, because I had to get this scene out of my head before I could finally sleep. In this chapter, we finally learn what Zed has been planning. So much Zeddison fluff, ahead!

I will correct any typos later this morning, after I hopefully get some rest. Please follow, like, and review!

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Addison smoothed out the hem of her dress as she looked at the mirror. She was wearing a light denim dress, with three-quarter sleeves and a light brown leather belt at the waist. Thanks to the large side pockets (a huge bonus for any girl's dress attire) she didn't even need to bring her purse. She had put on a pair of well-worn flats, since she was planning on walking barefoot once she got to the beach. An hour ago, Zed had sent her a text, asking her to meet him at the beach that evening for a walk along the shoreline. She was ecstatic, because between the fire in Zombietown and the ongoing moonstone dilemma, it had been almost two weeks since their last date.

It was Sunday afternoon, the day after the City Council meeting. Eliza and Willa were compiling a list of the buildings they thought were most likely to match the one they had seen in Charon's mind. Bree had promised to talk to her mom, who worked at the Clerk's office in city hall and had access to all of the building records in Seabrook. And as for the Lunites, Mayar, Qamar and Aruna had promised to explore the tunnels, in order to see if any of the places they scouted from underground could be a possible match.

All of that led to Addison, Zed and several of their friends sitting and waiting, until they had a place to start searching. Whatever Charon had planned, they would hopefully be able to thwart it all by simply finding and securing the moonstone before he ever got the chance to use it. They may not have found out what he hoped to do at the meeting, but with any luck it wouldn't matter.

Addison was optimistic. It wasn't much, but having some kind of clue to guide them made it seem like their odds of defeating Charon were so much higher. She believed in her friends. Most of the time, she believed in herself, too. If they tried hard and put their minds to it, there was basically nothing that they couldn't achieve, in her mind.

She smiled at the reflection in her bedroom mirror as she strode out of the room, noting the slight shimmer of her hair as she walked. Swiftly descending the stairs, she stopped as she walked past the living room, where her mom and dad were watching a sitcom together on the couch. She grabbed the car keys and deposited them into her pocket.

"I'm going to go meet Zed at the beach for a walk, guys. I'll be home in a bit."

Both of them looked up at her. For a second, she could feel the strange combination of love and concern sweeping over her. These were emotions that she was now learning were very constant in parenthood, at least in the case of her mom and dad. But this time, there seemed to be something different in the feeling. More depth and sincerity. Her mom was looking at her like she wasn't going to see her again for a year, and her dad felt a twist of worry in his gut that actually made Addison wince.

Addison paused, hand frozen in the act of reaching for the door.

"Um... Everything okay, guys?" She asked.

"Oh, honey, everything is fine. You just... You just look so grown up right now." Her mom said, gifting Addison with a smile that was both sad and proud. "Sometimes your dad and I forget that you aren't a little girl anymore."

Chief Dale put a hand over his wife's on the couch, patting it gently.

After another short pause, Addison crossed the room, and gave each of them a quick kiss on the cheek. "Well," She replied, "I may not be a little girl anymore, but I'll always be your daughter!"

Addison smiled at them. They were acting so melancholic, she wanted to cheer them up, somehow.

"Go have fun with Zed." Her dad said, waving her away with his free hand. "Call us if you need anything or if you're going to be out late."

"Will do, sir." Addison grinned, giving her dad a mock salute as she turned to head for the door.

Parents were so weird, sometimes.

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When Addison reached the beach about twenty minutes later, she was surprised to see Zed, standing with his feet in the waves and his hands stuffed into his pockets, watching the sun as it dipped lower, closer to the line where sky met water. She took of her shoes near the sidewalk, setting them quietly along a small dune of sand as she tiptoed towards him. He seemed so distracted, and his brain a tangled, agitated mess as she approached him from behind. She was pretty sure he didn't even hear her coming, which was surprising, since she knew for a fact his hearing was stronger than a human's.

But when she was about to pounce, he surprised her by twisting his head over his good shoulder and gracing her with one of his fantastic smiles.

"Nice try, Ads." He said, a half-chuckle escaping him as he looked down at her with those big, dark eyes. "But I heard you coming a mile away."

"Sure you did, zandgrome (handsome)," She replied with a wink.

Despite his jovial words, she could feel stress emanating off of him so much that she had to push up her own shaky barrier inside her mind to block some of it out.

"Are you okay? You seem... Stressed." She looked up at him, feeling her own concern etching itself across her face.

Taking a deep breath, his thoughts seemed to settle. His agitation suddenly stilled as he locked eyes with her, and she felt an overwhelming sense of peace flowing from his heart and into her.

"I've never been better." Zed stated confidently. "Come here, I want to show you something."

He stepped towards her, removing his bare feet from the waves to stand in front of her, partially blocking the view of the ocean behind him. Zed reached out, taking her hands in his. Addison looked up at him, expectant but slightly confused.

"What do you want to show me?"

"Well, I... Um, this is kind of difficult to explain, but... I wanted to find a way to show you how much you mean to me, Addy." His expression softened, one hand reaching out briefly to touch her cheek before returning to grasp her hands in his once again. "I thought about it a lot, last night and this morning, and I think I've finally figured out how to do it. But you need to close your eyes."

She giggled lightly. "Close my eyes? What for?"

"Just... You trust me, right?" He asked, eyebrows raising in question, though his light grin told her he already knew the answer.

"You know I do."

"Then close your eyes." He winked.

Addison sighed, allowing her eyes to slide shut as she waited.

For a moment, she could only hear the sound of the endlessly crashing waves and the cries of seagulls flying over nearby.

Then, her head filled with light and color, as Zed began to show her a memory.

It was his first day at Seabrook High, the day zombies had been integrated. Zed was standing on the zombie's side of the fence, Bonzo and Eliza at his side as he watched the humans entering the building through the other door. He'd never been close to so many of them at once. As his hands gripped the cool chain link fencing, he saw a flash of gold. The figure of a petite female human in a sky blue dress passed by on the opposite side, pausing and glancing up at him as she went.

Me. Addison realized. That's me. She didn't remember it, but it seemed that this was the first time he had ever seen her. Not in the zombie safe room, as she had always assumed.

It wasn't the golden hair that had caught his attention, however. The girl's eyes were a dazzling, bright blue. He'd never seen the ocean at the time, but her eyes were precisely the color that he imagined the sea would be. Zed felt his mouth gaping open slightly as he watched her. After half a second, her eyes turned from his, hair twirling in neat waves as she walked away from him. He'd never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. He had no idea who she was. But even then, after only one short second of eye contact, a spark had ignited in him. He needed to meet this girl, somehow.

Then, the vision changed.

He was in a darkened room, the dull ring of z-alarms muted by the quietness of the zombie safe room's extra thick walls. He had ducked in and was hiding behind a series of metal shelves filled with provisions and survival manuals. The safe room door opened, the scream of the alarm system briefly amplified as a small human figure quickly tiptoed into the quiet space. Panicking, Zed attempted to hide himself behind a stack of boxes, but only succeeded in nearly knocking them over.

"Hello?" A soft, hesitant voice rang into the echoing room.

He paused in the act of holding up the boxes, unsure if he should answer.

"Hello?" He said, his own voice equally full of hesitation. He stretched forward, attempting to see past the shelves of emergency supplies to the figure standing near the entrance.

"Hello?" The voice, definitely female, responded, steadier and clearer this time.

Wait a minute. Zed felt his eyes widen. It was the girl! The one with eyes like the ocean, who he'd seen outside the school earlier. He straightened up, placing a slight swagger into his step.

"Why, hello!" He replied, trying to sound flirtatious and confident, and not like he was currently hiding from a mob of humans.

"Don't get any ideas, buster. The only thing deadlier than my high kick is my low kick." She sounded mad. Oops.

"I'm sorry," Zed said, feeling a blush he hoped wouldn't be visible in the dimly lit room. "this just isn't how I was expecting my first day at a new school to go."

"You weren't expecting to be trapped in a zombie safe room?" She quipped back.

She was beautiful and funny. His blush deepened and his slow heart picked up in pace as he attempted to maintain a carefree, conversational tone.

"Oh, no." He replied with a smile, "That I expected. That happens to be all the time, it's sorta my thing."

The girl laughed, and it was the prettiest thing he'd ever heard.

The conversation continued as it faded out, replaced by a series of other tiny moments they had spent together through the years. Meeting up in the safe room, before it was acceptable for them to be seen in public. The look of surprise and happiness on his face when her confetti bomb had gone off as he opened his locker. Her white hair, waving in the light wind on the football field, the day she'd finally taken off her wig. The way his pulse picked up when he'd asked her to Prawn, and when he'd seen her at the dance in her glittering blue gown. There were memories of cuddling in her bed after he'd snuck into her room, watching her play with his sister and Puppy, and hearing her laugh at all of his ridiculous jokes.

Then, there were the most recent memories.

He had taken off his z-band, and as he felt the strength coursing through his veins, he had picked up Bonzo. In full zombie form, he barely noticed the pain of the burns and bruises. Looking left to right, his hazy brain searched for an exit, but saw only a window leading to fresh air and safety. With a roar, he took a running leap and crashed through the window. He was flying then, or maybe falling, it was hard to say. The next thing he knew, he was looking up at sea-blue eyes, the faint orange glow of fire reflecting off of them as his mate looked back at her. His head was in her lap, and those eyes looked like the ocean at sunset. His heart skipped a beat as he smiled up at her, before his eyes closed.

Then, finally, another vision of Addison, sitting next to him in the safe room a few days ago, her hair glowing like a halo of fireflies in the dim space.

He loved her more than life itself.

"Addison," She heard Zed say softly, her eyes still closed. "I love you so, so much. You are the most important part of my life. You're my someday. You're my always. I can't picture my life without you, and I'd do anything, everything, to keep you safe and happy. I know were young, but I could live a hundred years, and there would only ever be one person for me."

Addison sniffled, feeling soft tears rolling down her face as the breeze cooled them. She hadn't realized that she was crying. She was overwhelmed with his love for her.

"Addy, open your eyes."

She did, and for a second, she was confused. She couldn't see Zed, she only saw the brilliant oranges, pinks and purple-blues of the sun setting over the water. Then, she looked down.

Zed was kneeling on one knee, and in his hand was a beautiful ring that sparkled in the fading light.

"Addison Rose Wells. Starlight. Will you marry me?"