I stand in Zak's bathroom with my wet hair hiding my body behind a towel and stare at the dark circles that formed around my eyes. So much for dreams taking over my sleep last night. They were more like nightmares of Hill View Manor. Dakota's nightmares, or what I imagine to be his nightmares of that terrible place. I quietly open the bathroom door to find Zak still sleeping peacefully. I didn't know how he did it. Investigation after investigation and he still manages to keep it all together. I would go crazy if I were him. I guess we'll find out if I do with the more lockdowns I encounter. I slip on my jeans that I wore yesterday with my bra and one of Zak's t-shirts before heading downstairs. Gracie follows me for me to let her out in the backyard. I was surprised that Zak was still sleeping as the stove clock told me it was 7:30 am. He's usually up by now starting his day.

As I start a pot of coffee and glance over at the French doors, Gracie whines letting me know she's ready to come back inside. I open the door to let her in, but instead she lures me outside to throw her ball a few times before Zak gets up. Thinking back to the first time I started playing with Gracie like this when Zak and I first met and starting hanging out brings a smile to my face. After a few minutes of Grace chasing her ball we head back inside to catch a glimpse of Zak's bare back walking down the stairs that hide behind the mysterious dungeon door. I'm uncertain if I should follow him down or just grab my cup of coffee and wait for him to return. I agree upon the latter and wait for Zak on my favorite barstool with my coffee. I was curious to know what the hell he kept so secret down there, but the fact that he didn't want me down there without him was a little unsettling. It was tough keeping my curiosities to myself with the dungeon door left wide open. I take a sip of my coffee as I hear the sound of Zak's footsteps coming back up the steps. "Oh, hey," Zak breathes a little startled to see me as he reaches the top of the steps and closes the door.

"Hey. Take care of your dead bodies down there?" I joke.

"Yup, they're all fed and watered," he continues along with my joke.

"Oh, ha ha," I giggle. "What do you keep down there, seriously?"

"How about you see for yourself?"

My eyes grow wide at Zak's words. I didn't think I would ever be allowed to go down there. "For real?"

"Yeah, I think you're ready to see it."

"Right now?"

"Are you scared?" Zak laughs as he makes his own cup of coffee. I shake my head though I was a little hesitant. "Come on." Zak sets down his coffee after taking a sip and reaches out to grab my hand. I reluctantly hop off the comfort zone of the barstool and follow Zak down the stairs as Gracie barks behind us. When we reach the bottom of the stairs Zak lets go of my hand and he opens his arms out to display a very large, dark stone room to be his dungeon. It was lit with mostly red lights and some regular lamps here and there. There was one wall of very old books that I would assume to be mocks of witches spell books and whatnot. There was a very large black and red throne sitting a corner of the dungeon, skulls on one wall, a fireplace on another, and knick knacks of all sorts kept in glass cases all over. I take a few steps further away from the steps and into the dungeon to get a closer look. "A lot of these artifacts I've gathered from lockdowns or collected from various places. Most of them are said to be cursed."

"Yeah, the vibe down here is insane," I shutter. I feel like it would take me hours of being down in here to really gather everything and process it all, but I was not about to spend that much time down here. "You sure have a lot of stuff."

"I know it's a bit overwhelming for the first time down here." I nod in agreement. "Shawn," Zak says calmly as he grabs my hand making my jump a little. I turn to face Zak and he lets out a little laugh before he gets all serious again. "I never said sorry and I really am sorry."

"For what, Zak?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows.

"For everything with Angela. Telling you we were nothing when I knew that we were everything. You are everything. It killed me that day at the office when I said all of that to you."

"Zak, it's over," I gently take his face in my hands, stand on my tip toes, and share a passionate kiss.

"I love you."

I smile wide and stare for a moment into his beautiful dark blue eyes, "I love you, too."

"You about ready to go up?" I nod and we ascend the stairs hand in hand.

"You know, we should probably go back to my place today so I can get some of my own clean clothes," I motion to Zak's shirt that I'm wearing and he smiles.

"Why? I like you in my clothes. It's hot," he jokes as he grabs my waist and kisses my neck playfully.

"Zak, really," I laugh gently pushing his broad chest away from mine. "Plus, I don't think the place was ever cleaned after crazy bitch destroyed everything." Zak lowers his head still regretting the fact that he ever stayed friends or whatever he was with Angela. "Stop looking like it's your fault."

"But it is-"

"Nope, I don't wanna hear it," I cut him off. "Come on, let's get out of here for a little bit." I run upstairs to grab my purse and Zak follows behind. He quickly changes into a pair of black jeans and a plain grey tee shirt. Not bothering with his hair, he slips on his hat, brushes his teeth and we're ready to go. "Damn. I think that's the quickest I've seen you get ready," I laugh.

"When I don't fix my hair it's fast," he gives me a quick kiss before leaving his bedroom. "Let's go."

Zak grabs his wallet and keys on our way out the door and I follow closely behind him to his car. He drives me back to my place and we find Jay cleaning up some of the mess Angela left behind. "Jay, please, you don't have to do this," I tell him as I set my stuff down on the couch.

"No, it's fine. Kelsey is at work today so I wanted to surprise her," he replies rigorously scrubbing the red wine out of the rug.

"I don't think that's going to come out, dude," Zak informs him.

"I know, just thought I would try." Jay gets up off the floor and throws the scrub brush in the bucket sitting next to him. "So, how've you guys been?"

"Good!" I reply a little more enthusiastically than intended, stepping over to Jay to give him a hug.

"Yeah, been good. How about yourself, man?" Zak gives Jay a bro hug then gets comfortable on the couch.

"I'm going upstairs to get some things together," I interject before they get lost in conversation.

"Take your time, babe."

Zak's POV

"So, I've been wanting to ask Kelsey to move in with me."

"Dude, really? That's a huge step you're jumping towards, there."

"Well, it's been a little while that we've been together and we've been spending more time together anyways. Have you thought about asking Shawn?"

I get quiet for a moment and think because in all honesty, "Yes, actually, I have."

Jay gets wide eyed and excited, "Then why don't you? They can leave this place."

"Aren't they in a lease?"

"Kelsey said it ends in a couple months. I guess they only signed a 6 month lease."

"Oh. Yeah, I'll think about it some more. I have time."

"Zak, you can be so weird. You love the girl, but won't ask her."

"It's not me, it's her. I'm worried about her. She was in a horrible relationship before they moved here and I just don't want to scare her or do anything crazy."

"I get it."

I would love for Shawn to move in with me and we can finally get settled. Well, more like she can get settled. She deserves to be comfortable and happy somewhere with someone she loves and with someone who loves her. "I took her down to my dungeon this morning," I randomly tell Jay.

"Whoa, really? You usually only do that with a girl if it's serious."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and blink quickly a few times, "Yeah, then I guess it's pretty serious. I love her, man. I've never felt like this before."

"I'm happy for you," Jay smiles.

"Same to you, bro. You deserve this after everything with Ashley." Jay lowers his head. "Sorry."

"It's fine. It's the past, I'm over it, and I do deserve to be happy. So do you."

"Thanks, man."

It gets silent for a couple minutes more between Jay and I before Shawn walks back downstairs with a new bag of clothes. "Whoa. It's so serious down here. Did I miss something?" She sets her bag down on the floor by the couch next to me.

Jay and I both laugh, "No, we're all good," I tell her.

"Better be all good." Shawn comes to my side and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to the kitchen.

"So, Zak tells me he took you to the dungeon this morning!" Jay yells out. "I've never even seen it down there."

Shawn comes back to the living room holding a glass of iced water. "Yeah, it was pretty creepy down there. Wait, how have you not even seen it?"

"Zak doesn't share that space to just anyone."

"Well, I feel pretty special then," Shawn grows taller with a wide smile and gives me a sweet look. I giggle back at her. "But, I think at least your best friends should be able to see it," she adds.

"Maybe one day," I laugh and look down to see the pink ribbon from Shawn's pointe shoes sticking out of her bag. "So, I see you have your pointe shoes with you. Does that mean we're going to the studio?" I keep my smile imagining her dance.

She nods, "Yes, and I have all my notebooks and stuff for work so I'm prepared to go in the office today for my dreaded phone call."

"I see, well, let's go to the studio first. What do you say?"

"I think that sounds wonderful."

"What phone call?" Jay wonders.

"I'm going to call Dakota and talk to him about their experiences at Hill View so I can get a better judgement on the place."

"Ahh, I see. Well, have with that."

Shawn laughs, "Thanks, Jay. I will. You wanna come to the studio with us?"

"Uhh, sure?" He hesitates.

"Come on, man. You'll be blown away," I smile at the thought.

"Alright. Let's go."

"Yay!" Shawn exclaims. She skips back to the kitchen to set her glass in the sink and I gather her bag and purse. Jay follows us to my car and we're off to the studio.