Addison's POV

The whole weekend was a blur and the Cheer Championship went better than I could have expected. Even though we only had a few days to change the routine, everyone meshed so well together that everything just fell right into place. Eliza had revamped the light show and Bonzo helped add some mixing to the music. It was spectacular!

We were all waving our pom poms with pride as we finished. The crowd was clapping and cheering wildly. I smile the widest smile I think I could have until it hits me. My face falls and I scramble to my feet to sprint backstage.

"Addy?" I hear Zed call in concern, but I can't stop to talk to him. "Addison!" He yells as he chases after me.

I finally reach a big garbage can and throw my face over it just in time before my lunch comes up and joins the trash. I'm standing there for over a minute puking before I feel Zed come up beside me and pull my hair back.

"Oh man." He mutters, but gently kisses the back of my head. "Are you ok Addy?" He asks.

"No." I admit with tears in my eyes. I glance up at him, still bent over the can. He gives me a synthetic smile.

"You're ok Baby. I'll get you home to rest." He tells me.

"No! The awards ceremony! I can't just-" I protest, but another wave of nausea hits me and I'm cut off by my own vomit. Zed rubs my back comfortingly.

"Again. Isn't as important as your health." He tells me softly. "I'll make sure Bree knows she's in charge then we'll leave." I nod in agreement and stay with my new friend the trash can while Zed rushes to find Bree in all the commotion.

He's not gone long. I've stopped vomiting up my lunch and decided to sit with my back against the wall.

"Feel any better?" He asks as he kneels down in front of me, placing our bags beside him. I shake my head no, afraid to open my mouth in fear I'll barf again. "I'll carry you, hop on my back." He turns and I climb slowly on his back, resting my head on his shoulder. It feels good to hold onto him. His scent calming my nerves which also settles my stomach slightly.

We make our way towards the exit when my parents find and stop us. I groan quietly against Zed's back and he rubs his thumbs over my thighs lovingly.

"Zed! Addison?" I hear Mom yell. I lift my head to look at them approaching.

"Are you ok Addy?" Dad asks worriedly. I weakly smile at them.

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling so good again." I tell them, I'm surprised how rough my voice sounds. Zed gently nudges my cheek with his and I lay my head back down against his shoulder.

"I was just gonna take her back home to rest. She must have caught the stomach flu the other cheerleaders had." Zed explains. My parents look very concerned. "Is that a problem?" He asks in confusion. I speak up.

"My parents are supposed to go out of town this week for work." I tell him quietly. My mom looks at me very worried and steps beside me to rub my back.

"We can cancel the trip to take care of you Honey. We wouldn't leave you alone being sick like this." She assures me.

"I can take care of her! You guys don't need to cancel your work trip since I'll be around." Zed cuts in. My dad takes a step closer to lay a heavy hand on Zed's shoulder.

"Are you sure about that Son? You don't have plans?" Dad asks. Zed smiled and shakes his head.

"Nope! Addy trumps any plans I could possibly have! And since school's out this week anyways, I can stay with her to make sure she's alright." He assures them.

"If you're sure. We'll make sure the house is stocked for the two of you as long as your father is ok with it." Mom agreed.

"I'm sure he won't care. We'll probably stop there first so I can grab some clothes and toothbrush and stuff on the way back." He says.

"As Mayor, I have to present awards for the competition or else we would drive you two there." Mom started, but I lift my head to smile again.

"I'll be ok Mom. Zed will take care of me." I assure her, hugging around Zed's neck slightly tighter.

"Ok. Well, you kids be careful." Dad says finally.

"I'll take good care of her Sir." Zed tell him. My Dad straightens up and looks authoritative but smiles.

"I know you will." He says, walking over to take Mom around the waist. "We will be home after the ceremony then we are supposed to catch our flight this evening. Call us if you have any trouble on the way."

We both nod before I replace my head on his shoulder. Both my parents kiss my forehead before we head out.

"Just let me know if you need to stop or anything, ok?" He says. I have my eyes closed so I won't feel dizzy and I'm focusing on his scent to fight the nausea, I nod my understanding. "Are you doing alright?" He proceeds to ask. I can feel his worry.

"Yeah." I whisper, slightly muffled by his shirt. His worry heightens but I'm too focused on not puking again to ease his mind. He decides not to push the issue, knowing my reasoning for staying quiet.

We finally reach Zed's house and Zevon's making dinner. Zed gently deposits me on the couch and throws a blanket over me, I smile up at him as I curl into a ball and snuggle under the cover.

"You're back earlier than I expected." Zevon says as he walks in the living room, suddenly concerned by the sight of me. "Is everything ok Zed?" Zevon asks. Zed turns to his dad.

"Yeah, Addy caught the stomach flu from the sick cheerleaders." Zed explained.

"Oh no. That has to feel terrible." Zevon comments, zombies don't really get sick with these kinds of things, so he doesn't even know the half of it.

"Her parents are going out of town this week on business. I offered to stay and take care of her while they are gone. Is that ok Dad?" Zevon quickly nods.

"Of course! Just make sure to check in every once in a while so I know you kids are alright." He said. Zed nodded then hurried up the stairs to get his things together while his dad returns to the kitchen.

The next thing I know, Zoey is barreling down the stairs and launching herself towards me on the couch. I'm able to throw the blanket to my lap just in time to catch her. She hugs onto my neck tightly.

"Addison! We saw your cheer for championships! You and Zed did so good!" She excitedly told me. I smiled my best at her through my weakened state.

"That's great. I'm glad you could be there." I say, sounding much more pathetic than I planned. Zoey's face shifts.

"You don't look so good. Are you sick?" She asks, pressing the back of her hand to my forehead. I giggle.

"Yeah, I'm feeling sick Zoe." I tell her.

"Zoey!" We hear Zed exclaim. Her head snaps in his direction just as he snatches her off my lap, setting her on her feet to check if I'm ok. "You're getting too big to jump on Addy like that! What if you hurt her?" He scolds.

"It's ok Zed. She was just telling me she liked our cheer." I tell him softly. He sighs and turns back to his little sister who looks like he kicked Puppy or something.

"Sorry Zoe." He apologized, bending down to her level. Even though she's almost as tall as me now. "Addison is sick so I'm just worried about her. I didn't mean to snap at you." Zoey smiled and hugged Zed around the shoulders.

"It's ok. I'm worried about her now too." She said. Zed picked me back up onto his back, asking Zoey to wrap the blanket around me. "Are you taking her to the doctor?" Zoey asks.

"Nah. It's a stomach bug. It will go away on its own eventually. I'm gonna take care of her at her house till then." Zed tells her. Zoey furrows her brows.

"If she's sick you should take her to a doctor. They can make her better faster." She says matter-of-factly. I giggle.

"They can't do anything about the stomach flu Zoe. Zed will take very good care of me." I assure her.

"Ok." She resigns, hugging around our sides so both of us are in it. I lean my head against Zed's affectionately as I brush Zoey's hair with my fingers. When she finally pulled away, she pointed at Zed with a threatening look. "You better take the best care of Addison!" She ordered. Zed chuckled and nodded.

"Yes ma'am!" He exclaimed. He yelled bye to his dad and we headed to my house.

XxX

I'm curled up under my covers. Zed is downstairs talking to my parents and making something for dinner. Just the thought of food makes me want to hurl again. But I want Zed here. He seems to settle my nausea. At least his scent calms me.

"Zed." I whisper, my voice hoarse. I clear my throat, and the jarring of my body makes my nausea worse. "Zed...!" I yell as loud as I can muster without actually puking. After a few seconds, I hear his footsteps running up the stairs. He bursts through the door looking panicked. He rushes to my side. My hand grabs his shirt as soon as he's close enough and grips it tightly in my fist.

"Are you ok?! What's wrong?!" He questions frantically. Tears were brimming the corners of my eyes as I squeezed them tightly shut.

"You make my stomach feel better." I whisper out. He sighs in relief and climbs under the covers to snuggle me into his chest. I bury my nose in his shirt and inhale deeply. He pets my hair and kisses the top of my head.

"You're ok Baby. I'm right here." He soothes. My hands are gripping his shirt like it's an anchor to keep me from floating into space.

After a few deep breaths, my stomach already feels eased and exhaustion from championships and this sickness start to settle in. I guess Zed can hear my breathing start to slow as I begin to fall asleep, cause he kisses my hair again and slips his shirt over his head to let me keep his scent close as he heads back downstairs.

I whimper quietly from the loss of his comforting arms, but I'm too tired to argue. I just snuggle my face into the garment in my hands as I drift to sleep.

Zed's POV

I slide my shirt over my head and give it to Addy before I slip out of the bed. I hear her whimper softly and pause in my actions to see if she needs me again, but she just buries her face back into the shirt I gave her and falls asleep. I smile, grabbing a new one from my duffle bag and putting it on before heading back to making food. I enter the kitchen to see Missy stirring the contents of the frying pan for me.

"Thanks Mrs. M!" I say, offering to take the spatula. She hands it over with a smile.

"How's Addison doing?" She asks. I shrug as I continue stirring.

"She's ok. Just needs a little extra attention since she doesn't feel well." I assure her. "Done!" I exclaim, taking the pan off the stove, scraping the scrambled mixture of cauliflower brains onto the plate I'd sat out.

"Did you make sure we stocked the fridge and pantry with enough cauliflower brains for the week?" Dale asked.

"Yeah! Everything looks great! Thanks for doing that for me. You didn't have to, I could have just gotten that stuff from my dad throughout the week." I thanked them. Missy shook her head.

"Absolutely not! You're doing us a favor staying to take care of Addy so we don't have to cancel our trip! I'm going to leave money on the counter here if you two decide on ordering food or anything this week. And a list of numbers you can reach us at if anything happens." She said, patting the sheet of paper with numbers and the envelope with the money.

I'm eating the cali-brains as I nod my understanding. The cheer competition had left me wiped. I was starving.

"You better slow down there Zed! You might choke!" Dale laughed. I realized I was basically shoveling spoonfuls into my mouth. I chew what's in my mouth and swallow, smiling shyly.

"Whoops! Sorry! I guess I was hungry!" I laugh with him. Missy giggles.

"We better get going!" Missy exclaimed, stepping up to hug my head. I sat my plate down to pat her back to return the gesture. "Don't hesitate to call if you need anything! And tell Addy we love her when she wakes up ok?" She said. I nod again, still having another bite of food in my mouth.

"Will do! Safe travels!" I call as they're leaving. They grab their bags and are out the door. I sigh, quickly finishing my dinner and washing the dishes before heading back up to Addy's room. It's actually pretty late already. I quietly open the door and she's still sound asleep, so I tiptoe to my bag and dig out my toothbrush and pajama pants before sneaking to the bathroom. I brush, wash my face and change into my pajamas quickly then head back into the bedroom.

I turn off all the lights and quietly walk to the the side of the bed in front of her like I had before. I carefully pull back the covers and climb in against her. She immediately scoots to snuggle closer. I smile fondly down at her. I gently pry the shirt I'd left her out of her hands and she sighs contently when her face presses against my bare chest. I have her wrapped in my arms with my nose buried in her hair. Something about her scent has changed, ever-so-slightly. I can't put my finger on it.

But I'm too tired to dwell on it. I close my heavy eyes and cuddle close to my love as I follow her into the world of dreams.