~Author's Note~

Hey, don't mind me, just gonna leave this here, and say that Zombies 2 was absolutely amazing and so much better than I ever could've imagined and I loved it so much.

I hope you guys enjoy the story and leaving your thoughts down below would make my night!

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now you really know me

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"Hey," Zed whispers, his voice low underneath the noise of the wolf den, "do you wanna get out of here?" Addison turns her head towards him and nods, and he smiles from above her.

The party is still going strong, zombies, humans and wolves all dancing together and those on the sidelines cheering them on loudly. It's been nonstop dancing and singing, and the night was at an all-time high.

Addison, still buzzing from the kiss, had settled in Zed's arms a few minutes prior, leaning back on him as his arms had roped around her, holding her close.

"C'mon," he whispers, slipping his hand in one of hers.

Together they make their way out of the main room and into the hallway leading out into the forest. Zed stops them about halfway down, turning toward Addison. She's about to ask him if something's wrong but the look on his face stops her before she can get the words out.

Slowly, he lifts his hand and brushes a rogue curl of white hair from her face, tucking the strand behind her ear. He follows the shell of her ear, sending shivers down her spine, before his finger slides over to her chin. He traces the curve of her cheek, his touch feather-light. His thumb finds her lips, brushing over them before gently gripping her chin.

His eyes flicker up to hers, his lips quirking into a smile.

"Gar-garziga," he murmurs, earnest and loving and everything she could ever ask for.

"Gar-garziga," she whispers, and his lips are on hers faster than she can react.

It's the best kiss both of them have ever had.

It's passionate, fueled by the fire that's been bubbling deep within both of them since their chaste kiss earlier, and Addison has trouble keeping quiet as Zed dives deeper, moving closer, sliding his hand to her cheek.

Addison finds herself gripping at his hip, her other hand, that had been previously resting on the front of his homemade tux, reaching up and tangling in his green hair.

They both hold out as long as they can before needing air and when they pull back from each other, Zed smirks at her before leaning down and leaving a kiss on the open skin of her right shoulder. He trails kisses across her bare skin until he reaches the side of her neck, his breath warm and causing goosebumps to prickle across her skin as he hovers there, so close to touching her that it's tantalizing.

"Zed," Addison breathes, her fingers digging into the seam of his tux. He chuckles, but moves his lips closer, sweeping over her bare skin—

"I thought I said this party ain't private?"

Zed jumps backward, nearly knocking his head into Addison's chin as he goes. They both look over to see no other than Wyatt standing there, a smirk pulling at his lips as he saunters over to them, hands shoved into his pockets.

Addison feels like her cheeks are on fire as she moves closer to Zed and tries to hide her face in his jacket, wishing a hole would open in the ground and swallow her whole. Of all the people, zombies and werewolves, of course it had to be—

"Wyatt!" Zed chuckles uneasily, sounding extremely too awkward and far too embarrassed, "What can we do—uh not, not do for you?" Wyatt shrugs, looking entirely too pleased about catching them in the act.

Eliza was never going to let her live this down once she found out, Addison thinks to herself miserably. So much for some Prawn alone time with her boyfriend.

"Me?" He asks, looking between the both of them.

"Yeah," Zed says, Addison wishing for the moment to be over from the safety of his jacket.

Wyatt chuckles. He's still smirking. "I just had to use the bathroom. Saw some kids having a private party, decided to interrupt, no big deal." He nods to Zed, "Carry on, zombie," and then turns on his heel and disappears back into the party, announcing his presence with a howl that's echoed by everyone else in the room.

Zed stares at the spot the werewolf was standing in, Addison still glued to him. She knows exactly what he's going to say before he says it, swears she can hear the thoughts running through his head because she knows him better than she knows herself.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"Zed you can't kill him,"

"Doesn't mean I can't try."

"Zed."

" . . . fine. I'll just maim him instead."

"Zed—"

After semi-successfully talking Zed out of killing Wyatt, they decide to head out into the forest for some fresh air and real alone time. They find a rock on the outskirts of the entrance, Zed sweeping some of the dirt off the stone before helping her take a seat, careful that she doesn't mess up her dress.

The cold air of the night causes her to shiver and Zed doesn't waste a second, shedding his suit jacket and placing it over her shoulders, wrapping her up in immediate warmth.

"Thank you," she whispers, pulling the material closer to her body.

Zed chuckles, taking his seat next to her. "Always."

They sit there for a while, looking out at the forbidden forest around them, at the beauty hidden away behind mossy roots and rotted trees. There's boot prints in the dirt and a clothes line bare of any clothing off to the right, near the back of the den.

One of the closer tree trunks has multiple lines in it, spanning different heights and marked with different scribbles.

It reminds Zed of the growth chart he had growing up on the backdoor, marked by marker on the green door frame, but he had refused to have his height taken after his mom wasn't around to do it for him anymore.

Idly, he wonders if that slab of wood is still sitting there with his heights on it. He doesn't remember seeing it but he also doesn't remember thinking about it in . . . a long time.

"What're you thinking about?"

He shrugs his shoulders and then nods his head towards the tree trunk with multiple carvings. "That looks like a growth chart for the wolf kids," he remarks quietly. Addison leans forward and squints, able to see it after her eyes fully focus on it.

"Wow," she says softly, "that's—"

She shakes her head, "I never had a growth chart growing up," she admits, very quietly. Zed glances over at her, sensing that she has something more to say about the matter.

"The werewolves have a beautiful culture. Something that they've protected and—and embraced for years. They're a giant family, always looking out for each other."

Zed reaches over and grabs Addison's hand, holding it tightly in his own, offering her his support, and strength, if needed. She blinks fast a few times but he doesn't comment on it, allowing her time to be able to think about what she's trying to say.

"I still don't feel like I belong, Zed," she confesses. "I know I belong with you but I don't know where I belong. I don't feel like I've ever belonged, not even with my parents." She exhales, her breath puffing out in front of her.

"Growing up it was always Bucky did this and Bucky did that and we're so proud of Bucky. Every Thanksgiving, every family get-together, every day Aunt Serra stopped by to drop off her leftover eggplant parmesan from the night before. Bucky, Bucky, Bucky."

She takes another breath and squeezes Zed's fingers on the exhale.

"I never heard my parents say to any of the family Addison did this or Addison did that or we're so proud of Addison. Not to Grandma Rue, not to Uncle Herm, or even crazy old Great-Aunt Christina who would believe anything you told her. My parents never said one word, but they threw my hair into a wig and hid away the true me from the world because 'it just wasn't right'."

"Addison—"

"This sense of not belonging, it's not just from being forced to wear a wig almost my entire life. It's from not ever feeling like I've ever had a home."

She's quiet for a little bit, both of their eyes falling back to the forest around them.

Half-dug holes, tiny hand prints in the dug up dirt. Broken sticks arranged into a tic-tac-toe board, X the sore loser. There's a half-deflated soccer ball with bite marks poorly hidden behind a smaller rock off to the left. Paint-purple handprints overlapping each other on another tree, covering nearly the entire trunk, WE WERE HERE carved above them.

"I don't know what I am, Zed," Addison whispers, catching his attention.

Zed turns toward her, his knees bumping into the frizzy side of her dress, causing him to smile. She looks like a snow queen, like someone fit for a throne she never received. "Can I tell you something?" He asks her, sounding somber yet, not.

She turns her head, nodding, but giving him a quizzical look all the same.

He smiles at her, reassuring, before continuing. "I don't know what I am either."

She opens her mouth to object. He beats her to it. "I don't know if I'm a monster, a zombie, or a monster-zombie who wants to be human. I'm afraid of myself, of being myself. I don't know what I am." He repeats, softer this time.

"Zed," Addison whispers, but he shakes his head.

"There's one thing I do know, over everything else."

Addison feels something in her heart. An emotion, deep down. "What's that?"

"It's that even though I don't know what I am, I know that when I'm with you, I feel," he pauses, testing the words, throwing them around his brain, she doesn't know. The feeling her heart grows and it's affection she's sure of it, and love, and being in love and knowing you're in love and knowing you're right where you belong even if you don't know it yet.

"I feel like I'm home."

He reaches out and catches another stray curl of white hair in between his fingers, twirling around and around. "You are everything to me, Addy," he whispers, his voice low. "And when I'm lost and I don't know what to do, I know that if I find you, I'll be okay."

There's tears in her eyes, she's sure of it, and she doesn't know what other to do than hug him, reaching out and wrapping her arms around him and squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears.

"I love you so much, Addy," he mumbles as he wraps his own arms around her, warm where she's not. "And until you can find your home, your true home, I will be here for you, every step of the way."

He waits a minute, locked in a hug that feels much more intimate than any kiss, and only when the time is right does he say, "Even if you do in fact turn out to be a werewolf in the future."

"Oh my God," she mumbles into his shoulder, "shut up!"

He laughs, the sweetest sound she's ever heard, and she can't help but smile, even after they're pulling back and he's wiping the few sneaky tears that had slipped out anyways with his thumbs.

"Come here," he murmurs to her, shifting back a few inches so that he can turn sideways and lean back against a bigger rock and she follows, settling in between his legs and leaning back against his chest.

He slings his arms around her stomach dramatically, causing her to giggle, and then pulls her close so that the chilly nighttime air doesn't bite her any more than it already has been.

They can hear the music thumping from inside the den, the cheers of the crowd, Eliza and Willa singing together, somebody beatboxing along. They can hear some crickets a little ways off, annoying as always, no matter how far.

They can see drawings along the rocks, low to the ground where the kids dream of their wildest dreams, higher towards the top where teens and adults escape from reality. They can see the moon, full and high above, without a face, but watching the Earth with a very close eye.

They can feel each other, their breathing in sync.

They will be with each other, no matter where their journey takes them next.