The next day was a long one spent in the car for most of the day, but everyone was still able to enjoy the ride back to Seabrook discussing all their favorite things they had done over the past week. When they got home, they stopped at Addison's house first to drop her off and pick up Puppy. To their surprise, Missy and Dale already had dinner ready to welcome them back home. And after a week of room service and restaurant food, a homecooked meal was just what everyone needed.
From the moment Puppy saw Zoey again, he didn't leave her side, and his tail was wagging so much that Zed joked that it looked like it was about to fall off he didn't calm down soon. Zoey just shot back that it was because he missed her just as much as she missed him. And she not so subtly snuck him some treats from the table while they were eating.
Missy and Dale were happy to tell them how fun it had been having Puppy stay with them and also catch them up on the recent town gossip they had missed that week, and at the same time, the four travelers were happy to show off all their pictures and tell stories about all the fun things they had done.
When it was finally time for Zed's family to go back to Zombietown, Zed and Addison made sure to share one more hug that lasted a few long moments before breaking away from each other. Then after one final hug between Addison and Zoey, the three zombies and Puppy walked out to the car and drove down the street while Addison waved them goodbye from her porch.
Once they were gone Addison walked up to her room where she had just tossed her bags by her bed and started unpacking everything. When she was done with that she chatted with Bree for a little bit over the phone about how both of their weeks had been and to let her know she was back home safe and sound.
When she finally got off the phone with Bree it was time for her to start getting ready for bed. After she changed into her pajamas and tucked herself in beneath her blankets she finally realized how quiet her bedroom was without hearing Zoey's giggles or Zevon's low snores, or most of all, the sound of Zed's slow heartbeat resting beside her.
She pulled out her phone and dialed it once again, and after two rings, he picked up.
"Hello Addie." Zed's voice sounded in her ear and she immediately felt calmer.
"Hi Zed, are you ready for bed too?"
"Yep, I know we spent all day sitting in the car but I'm even more tired than after walking around the zoo all day. I assume you got all unpacked and everything?"
"Yep. My suitcase is empty and everything is where it needs to be." Except for one thing. She thought silently to herself.
"Yeah me too, and Puppy literally hasn't left Zoey's side all night except for when she carried Zopper into her room. He ran out the door and into my room with his tail between his legs until Zoey ran in after him." Zed laughed loudly. "So then I got to watch her explain that Zopper was a just a toy like Zander is. It was both the cutest and most hilarious thing. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud."
"So did it work?"
"I think so, Zopper was sitting beside Zoey's pillow when I looked in, and Puppy was nestled into her arms, so either Puppy understands or as long as Zoey's with him, he's cool."
"I know how that feels. Do you think its weird that I miss you already?"
"Oh thank Z, I didn't want to be the first one to say it, but yeah, I miss you already. Zed sighed loudly. "After this week I feel like I'm even more hooked on you than ever."
"I'm glad I'm not the only crazy one. I know what all our friends and family would say. But honestly, if you're asking me, we're not crazy."
"Yeah 'cause we're old enough to know we're in love, that's no lie. I do too, but we can make it, we've done this a million times before, and I'm sure everyone will want to see us tomorrow to get the rundown on everything. I've already been texting Bonzo and Eliza most of tonight already."
"Yeah, I just finished chatting with Bree too. I can't wait to see you tomorrow though."
"Me too. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Addie. Gar Gar Gaza."
"Goodnight Zed. Gar Gar Gaza."
Addison hung up her phone and set it on her nightstand, then she fluffed up her pillow and turned on her side to go to sleep, but she couldn't ignore the cool, strong presence she was missing. After a week of bliss every night and every morning, she had gotten too used to the feeling of Zed lying beside her, holding her in his arms, and feeling the safest and most loved ever. But she could do this, it was just sleeping, she would see Zed in a few hours tomorrow, and the time would go much faster if only she could fall asleep.
Addison did her best to relax, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't help tossing and turning in her bed, she just couldn't quite get comfortable, and she knew the reason why. Eventually, she looked at her alarm clock to see it was just past midnight. She felt exhausted from her long day, but she didn't feel like she could sleep at all without him. She glanced at her phone resting on her nightstand beside her for a long moment, and then she picked it up and dialed once again.
After one ring this time, he picked up. "You can't sleep either, can't you?"
"No, I don't know what it is, I mean I do know what it is, but what's wrong with us? We should be able to do this."
"There's nothing wrong with either of us, this is just a reminder that we always belong together."
"Yeah it is, so what should we do?"
"Well, I know what I'm going to do. I'll be outside your window in fifteen minutes." Addison thought she could hear him standing up and walking through his room.
"Zed, its after midnight, I can't ask you to do that for me."
"Good thing you're not asking then, I'm offering 'cause I know I'm not sleeping tonight if I can't hold you in my arms. Don't worry, it'll be fine, we've spent plenty of late nights out with our friends. It's Seabrook and with no curfew it's perfectly safe."
"OK, be careful, and get here soon. I love you."
"I love you too. See you soon Addie." Zed hung up the phone and Addison felt a new lightness in her chest that only Zed could give her. She flipped the lamp on her nightstand, and couldn't help herself from counting down the minutes.
About twelve minutes and thirty-seven seconds later, she felt a tapping from her window, so she opened it up and looked down. In the dark night, she could just barely see Zed's green hair and pale skin below her.
"Here I am Addie," Zed whispered.
"Come on in." She whispered back.
She watched as Zed climbed up the side of her house and helped pull him in the last bit into her room. Once he got his feet on the carpet, he quickly wrapped her up in a hug, which was exactly what she had been needing.
"I'll say it again, I missed you," Zed whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek.
"I missed you too." Addison kissed his cheek in return. "But now that you're here. There's only one thing I want to do."
"And what is that Gorgeous?" Zed asked her.
"Sleep. Come on." Addison pulled him closer to her bed.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Zed grinned at her before sitting down first and then she joined him.
Zed pulled the blankets up over them and they resumed the same positions they had been using all week. Zed hand his arms wrapped around her stomach, pulling her flush against him, while Addison wiggled herself even closer to him until he was spooning her, with the breath from his nose just enough to tickle her ear.
"I love you Addison."
"I love you too Zed."
"You know as much as I wish this could be our forever, we can't do this every night," Zed whispered in her ear.
"I know, but I need you tonight."
"I do too."
"We can worry about tomorrow, well tomorrow. I need you now."
"I know, just as much as I need you. Gar Gar Gaza Addison."
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed."
Addison closed her eyes ready to drift off to sleep, and this time, feeling Zed's cool arms, and hearing the comforting rhythm of his heart beating next to her, she was asleep within moments, and Zed wasn't very far behind her.
The next morning Zed woke up with a smile, just like he had been doing for the past week. He breathed in deeply and felt nothing but peace, he would always enjoy the feeling of Addison nestled safely in his arms. If he could spend the rest of his life like this, he would die a happy man. He opened his eyes fully and looked down at his sleeping beauty, she was still facing away from him, so all he could really see was the gentle rise and fall of her breathing, and listen to her entrancing heartbeat. But that was all he needed, he was awake, and he knew he had to leave soon, but he would always do anything for just a few more minutes. So he pulled her slightly tighter against his chest, closed his eyes, and just relaxed in the serenity he felt at the moment.
About ten minutes later, Addison opened her eyes, and feeling Zed's arms wrapped around her, she couldn't help but smile. She listened for a moment, to try to see if Zed was awake yet, but she couldn't tell for sure, so she flipped herself around to find out. When she turned over, there were only a few inches separating them. Just how she liked it. She watched him carefully for a few seconds, his eyes were still closed, but he couldn't stop his smile, she had a feeling he was only pretending, but if not, she could return the favor from a few days ago.
So she leaned in and kissed him long and slow for a few seconds, and she was right because he started kissing her back after a few moments. When she pulled away to breathe, he finally opened his eyes and she got lost in his chocolate brown eyes, which had the power to just pull her in like nothing else.
"Good morning you." Zed smiled at her.
"Good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?"
"I'll always sleep well as long as I'm with you. Completely honest, I would still be tossing and turning if I hadn't run over last night."
"I felt the exact same way. But we can't do this every night, no matter how much we want to."
"I know, as long as we don't have to wait too long in between?" Zed asked hopefully.
"I think we can come up with a plan between the two of us."
"I know we can, but I better get out of here before either your parents or hopefully Pops and Zoey wake up."
"I know you do. But I'll see you later today."
"Of course, we will. I'll see you soon." Zed leaned down to kiss her one last time before untangling himself from Addison and the blankets.
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed." Addison sat up in her bed but didn't leave her warm blankets.
"Gar Gar Gaza Addie." Zed pulled on his shoes and walked over to the window then climbed down to the ground.
Addison just sat there for a few moments, why did it already feel so weird not having Zed with her? As much as they joked about needing their Vitamin A and Z with each other, there was truth in their words. But a few minutes later without a Zed to distract her, she got up to head to the bathroom and get ready for the day.
Zed crept around the Wells' home, expertly avoiding any windows Addison's parents could be looking out of, but he was pretty sure from the sound of their heartbeats down the hall they were still sleeping when he left. Now all he had to do was make it home before Pops and Zoey woke up and no one would be any wiser.
He thankfully made it all the way to Zombietown without seeing anyone else in the streets and was about to walk into his yard, when a voice called out from across the street. "Zedski!"
Zed turned around and smiled, seeing Bonzo and Eliza sitting on Eliza's porch across the street, and since he knew he would never hear the end of it if he ignored them, he knew he had no choice but to turn around and walk back over. He was so close to making it, but whatever, he was sure he still had plenty of time before Pops woke up.
"There's our world traveler, so just how was vacation? I want real details this time," Eliza demanded and they both gave Zed hugs welcoming him home.
"It was so great, all four of us did everything together and it was so much fun. I hope you guys get to go on vacation at some point. Everything was so awesome. I know you would all love it too."
"Right, I'm guessing you and Addison had plenty of alone time too?" Eliza smirked at him.
"Of course we did, that was the best part, and Pops knows we aren't going to do anything bad," Zed said. He knew they didn't do anything bad, because everything they did, was because they loved each other, even if most of those memories were staying between him and Addison.
"Zedski, Jamaz?" Bonzo asked.
Zed looked down at himself, he was indeed still wearing his pj's since last night he had just grabbed his shoes and ran to Addison's house, plus his plan was that no one would see him anyway. "Oh well, I just wanted to get an early start and haven't put my clothes on yet."
Eliza rolled her eyes at him "Zed, you know you're a terrible liar right? But let me guess, all last week you spent every night cuddled up with Addison because for some reason Zevon and her parents are crazy enough to trust you to do that. Or maybe they've just given up on you two, who knows? So last night, poor Zed couldn't sleep and snuck into Addison's because you missed her already? Am I right? Bonzo want to take that bet?"
"Zo, you'rre rright." Bonzo agreed, shaking his head.
"So Zed, am I right?"
"At least I know you ate your caulibrains this morning." Zed joked, "but fine you're right, but for the record, Addison called me first so it wasn't just me who couldn't sleep."
"Alright, we know you're both crazy. You two seriously can't last one night without each other? Do you want a curfew again?"
"Come on Missy and Dale wouldn't do that, and as you said, they've known we've done this before, just maybe not every time we do it. And it's just going to bed together, nothing bad is happening."
"Whatever you say, I still think you're asking for trouble though."
"Well whatever, anything important happen while we were gone?"
"No, not really just a normal week, even though I'm not too big to admit that we all kind of missed you guys, well mostly Addison." Eliza joked.
"Hey I totally understand, if I didn't have Addison with me this week, I'd be a wreck."
"Yeah, we all joked about that too. We all hung out at Bree's house one night, but besides that, just everyone had sports and work."
"Well, now that we're back in town I'm sure we'll bring the excitement back again. But speaking of I really should get going before Pops and Zoey wake up."
"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to be grounded the first twenty-four hours you're back. Or do we?" Eliza turned to Bonzo with a devious grin on her face.
"Gra." Bonzo nodded and playfully reached out to wrap Zed in another hug.
"OK, buddy, I love you too, but I really have to go now," Zed said after a few moments.
"OKZ Zedski, Zee gru latrr."
"See you Bonzo, Eliza." Zed waved and jogged back over to his house.
He slowed down and gently opened the door, making sure to step as lightly as possible once he got inside. He walked quietly up the stairs, making sure to avoid the squeakiest steps. He had just made it into his room when he heard…
"Good morning Zed." Zevon's gruff voice sounded in the hall.
"Hey Pops," Zed turned around and stuck his head back out in the hallway to see his dad standing in the doorway to his room.
"You're up early, I figured for sure you'd be enjoying your last chance to sleep in before your crazy schedule starts up again."
"Yeah, I just got up to use the bathroom quick, I'll probably head back to my pillow in a minute." Zed chuckled nervously.
Zevon raised an eyebrow, "Your pillow, or Addison's?"
"What? What do you mean Pops?" Zed did his best to act oblivious.
"Come on son, be real with me. I wasn't born yesterday." Zevon crossed his arms. "Let me ask you this, were you just in the bathroom, right?"
"Yep?"
"Upstairs?"
"Of course, where else would I be?"
"Then why did I just hear you walk up the stairs huh? And Zed you more than anyone should know with this necklace I can always hear both yours and Zoey's heartbeats in the house." Zevon pointed at his chest. "And when I woke up about fifteen minutes ago, guess what I didn't hear? So do you want to try again?"
"Alright." Zed rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, mostly just that he had been caught. "As you can probably guess I spent the night at Addison's house, but neither of us could sleep alone, and she asked me first."
"And do her parents know?"
"Not exactly…but like you said on vacation you all trust us not to do anything stupid."
"I know, and I know nothing's going to get between you two, but trust me, son, you should be doing everything you can to stay on Missy and Dale's good side don't you think?"
"Yeah, I guess. I'm sorry for sneaking out and trying to hide it."
"I know you are, how about if you ever feel the need to go over to Addison's house at night, at least leave me a note. I know if you're out of the house at night there's a 99% chance you're with Addison but don't make me worry. Also for everyone involved it would really be better to at least ask permission first."
"OK Pops, I promise. So I'm not in trouble?"
"Not with me, but I think Missy and Dale should know too don't you?"
"But Pops." Zed groaned.
"No butts Zed. Whether they have a problem with it is up to them, but we all care about you two and want you to be safe and responsible."
"But, but, this whole week…" Zed hung his head. "I'm not getting out of this am I?"
"Afraid not son." Zevon chuckled, "Trust me you'll thank me later. Also tonight I expect you to sleep in your bed."
"Yes Pops."
Zed walked into his room, he hoped it wasn't a big deal, especially after the week they had, and Addison's birthday but he couldn't help his worries. So he pulled out his phone and dialed.
"Hey you, miss me already?" Addison's voice giggled his phone.
"Of course I do." Zed smiled to himself as he pictured her laughter-filled smile. "But I have some bad news."
"What's wrong?"
"So Pops caught me sneaking back in, well Bonzo and Eliza did too but that's another story, and I don't think he's mad, well other than I tried to act like I didn't sneak out, but anyway the big thing is that he says he's going to call your parents to let them know."
"Oh boy…"
"Yeah, I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize to me, I was just as much a part of this as you are. Don't worry I'll talk to them and deal with it."
"Do you want me to come back over?"
"You really think the best thing to do about you sneaking into my bedroom is to come back over thirty minutes after you snuck back out?" Zed could hear the laughter tinging Addison's voice. "I promise I'll call you if I need you but I'm sure everything's gonna be fine. With everything, our parents have let us get away with before I'm sure it won't be a big deal, well mostly sure. Hopefully, it'll just tell us if you're here like it has been before."
"That was basically what Pops told me too, but call me later OK?"
"I promise, and we still need to meet up with everyone anyway. I'll see you soon."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
A few hours later around lunchtime, everyone was planning to meet at Flat Pie Red Eye in Zombietown to grab some pizza and also get all the details from Zed and Addison from their trip. Zed walked over to the restaurant with Bonzo and Eliza and when they got arrived, the three werewolves were already waiting outside.
"Zed, there you are!" Wynter ran up and before Zed knew what she was doing, she had him tackled to the ground.
"Good to see you too Wynter, but what's this for?"
"I had to make sure our captain is still sharp after missing a week, but I don't know, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed." Wynter bared her teeth for a moment and then offered a hand to pull Zed back to his feet.
"Don't worry Wynter, at practice tomorrow I guarantee I'll be better than ever. Last week was so great I just know I'll be ready to take your best shot."
"We'll have to wait and see. But I really am glad you're back, I love Coach, but he seemed a bit…scattered with you were gone all week."
"Oh, I know we usually come up with the practice plan together, and we did that before I left."
"I think it's just because a lot of people noticed that your froyo cart was missing this week Zed." Wyatt laughed, "every time I was walking through Seabrook and passed Coach he was absolutely mobbed."
"As long as that means he's happy to see me back again, I'm sure that's a good thing. Plus you know give him a reason to keep me around."
"Yeah, 'cause he needs more reasons to keep you around." Eliza laughed.
"Well, anyway Zed, welcome home." Wyatt and Willa each took a turn to step forward and offer him a hug.
"Thank you guys. I had the most fun ever, but I'm happy to be back. So Eliza says nothing major happened when we were gone, but do you have any news?"
"No, not really. One could make a suggestion that you two are the source of the drama, did anything big happen to you guys?"
"Besides having the greatest first family vacation in history, nothing super dramatic happened."
"You'll have to fill us in. Wolves don't really do vacations beyond going on extended hunting trips sometimes." Willa said.
"I'm sure you guys would love it." Just then Zed heard a familiar sound approaching behind him. "And speaking of things I love." Zed turned around to smile at Addison and Bree walking up to join their group.
"Hey everyone. I missed all of you guys so much." Addison was smiling brightly.
"Right cheerleader, I bet for like the five minutes a day you weren't spending glued to Zed." Eliza teased her while giving her a hug.
"We didn't spend that much time together, but I really did miss you guys, I mean we talked a bunch about how everything we did would be even more fun if all of you guys could join us too. Right Zed?"
Zed started explaining while everyone else was taking turns giving Addison their own hugs and welcoming her back. "Absolutely, like at the amusement park they had this one rollercoaster called the Monster that was super fun, but if we had Bonzo with us, I'm sure we could give it an authentic zombie makeover. Oh and also when we went to the zoo, Zoey was able to howl at the wolves they had there and it seemed like they understood her, even if Zoey couldn't quite understand them back."
"Interesting." Willa shrugged her shoulders. "Our pack hasn't actually seen any wolves since the Moonstone crashed a thousand years ago, so I don't know if we'd understand them or not, although our language is based on the language of wolves, so who knows."
"This just means we all have to go sometime," Wyatt suggested.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for lunch," Addison said.
"Why? Did you have a long night?" Bree teased her.
"Seriously Bree?"
Eliza spoke up with a grin, "Why do you two act like any of us are surprised that we know how you two operate? And by the way, I was right that they would try to have a sleepover the night they got home. Bamm! So pay up Fido!"
"Seriously? Zed you owe me." Wyatt laughed while trying to frown in Zed's direction as he pulled a ten-dollar bill from his pocket to hand to Eliza.
"Sorry Wyatt, but like you should know, nothing can keep me away from Addison for long." Zed hugged Addison close in a side hug, and he felt her lean into him more.
Wyatt just shook his head and led the way into the restaurant.
Zed held himself and Addison back for a moment. Eliza definitely noticed since she rolled her eyes at them, but refrained from saying anything, for now at least.
"So, just how much trouble are we in?" Zed glanced down to meet Addison's eyes.
"You don't need to worry," Addison said, rubbing her hand up and down his arm to try to comfort him. "It was basically like your dad, if we do want to have a sleepover, no more sneaking in the window, we have to have permission. And if we do, we have to have the door open now. And nothing else this week, since it'll be best if we get used to sleeping on our own again."
"So, am I going to be thrown in Containment?"
"No of course not, and you're still welcome to come for dinner this week like we've been doing, just no sleepovers for a while."
"I can live with that, and here I thought I was going to be a dead man walking."
"Ha, ha. You're hilarious." Addison deadpanned. "No need to worry, everything's going to be fine. Now how about we head in there before Eliza tries to make another bet on us."
"Sure thing, let's go Gorgeous," Zed said and they finally made their way to join their friends and share the rest of their adventures, not all of them of course, some were for their memories only.
Later that night, Zed was lying on his bed once again and dialed his phone.
"Hello?" Addison's voice sounded in his ear after only two rings.
"Hey Addie? You getting ready for bed?"
"Yeah, I just brushed my teeth and I'm about to change into my pj's."
"Interesting," Zed said in a low voice.
"Why's that interesting Zed?"
"Sorry, just the thought of you changing into your pajamas, brought up some memories of this week."
"Yeah I guess, so just what are you thinking about mister?"
"You don't want to know, but changing topics before I run back to your house, I noticed something when I was doing my laundry today."
"And just what is that? And don't worry you're safe now I'm in my pj's now."
"Right, so anyway, now I could be counting wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing at least three T-shirts that I swear I wore this week. You wouldn't happen to know anything about those do you?" Zed smiled to himself.
"Can't say I do, maybe you just miscounted." Zed could hear the giggle in her voice, "Or maybe you left them at the hotel."
"Are you sure? Cause I have a feeling I know exactly where they are. If I came over right now, I guarantee I'd find them all in your closet."
"You're pretty close, two of them are in there," Addison admitted.
"And where's the third one?"
"I'll give you one guess Handsome."
"Aha, I know, you're wearing it right now aren't you?"
"Maybe."
"So, which one is it?"
"The maroon one you wore when we visited the museum that says Necrodopolis on the back."
Zed couldn't stop himself from grinning even wider hearing her say that. "In that case, I guess it's lost for good huh?"
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't plan on you getting this back. How else am I supposed to sleep without you?"
"You know, one of these days, I'll either have to raid your closet to take all my stuff back, or show up at school shirtless."
"OK, now you're tempting me. If those are my options, that sounds like a win-win to me. Maybe I'll tell Zoey to raid your closet for me."
"I'm pretty sure Principal Lee and all our friends would have some issues with that plan of yours."
"Let them talk if they wanna, we're gonna do what we wanna."
"Yeah, I know. I miss you already though, my bed feels empty without you here."
"Trust me I'm feeling the exact same way. But now I feel like we'll need an excuse since we have to be more out in the open if we want to again."
"I'm sure we could always use the Zoey sleepover plan again," Zed suggested.
"I think by now both of our parents aren't going to fall for that, and if we got to have a sleepover, I don't think Zoey would let me sneak away this time."
"Don't worry I know we can think of something, and we can do this. We've been away from each other a million times before we can do this."
"I know we can. I love you Zed, goodnight."
"Goodnight Addie, I love you too."
"Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza."
Zed hung up his phone and set it to the side. He fluffed up his pillow and cuddled up under his blankets. Just like last night, he could feel the absence of Addison's heartbeat and warmth missing from his side. He wanted more than anything to run to her house again. But he knew he couldn't, when he walked Addison back to her house after they had lunch with their friends, Missy and Dale had laid their rules out to him too, and they didn't sound too mad, but firm nonetheless.
Zed just laid on his side while his eyes scanned the dark room, surely he could do this, he had just been spoiled the past week with nearly unlimited Addison time, he knew he had weight lifting and football again early tomorrow morning, and he needed his rest to perform his best.
It took a long time, but Zed once again drifted off into dreams with visions of only one person dancing in his head.