AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is rated M.
Homecoming Week
Monday
"Rise and shine, gorgeous," Zed whispered as he began to trail feather soft kisses on her bare shoulder.
"Mmmm," she sighed as she slowly began to wake up. When her eyes fluttered open, she smiled at the sight of her handsome boyfriend lying next to her. Rolling onto her side, she pressed her cheek to his chest right above his heart, tracing the bite mark she had left behind the day before with her fingertips. Squeezing him to her, she whispered, "I'm going to miss waking up with you tomorrow."
His fingertips danced across her back, "Me too, gorgeous. These last few days have been everything," he whispered as he leaned over and kissed her softly. "But, we really need to get up. We skipped showers last night in favor of other activities."
Addison rolled onto her back, pulling him on top of her and kissed him passionately. His hips automatically started to move against hers. "I don't want to get ready for school, I just want more time with you like this," she whispered as she pushed her hips back into him.
Zed jumped to his feet with a mischievous look in his eyes, pulling her by the ankles to the end of the bed,"We've got time for both if we do this right." He quickly gathered his shower supplies before taking her by the hand and pulling her into the en-suite bathroom.
She stood against the closed door as he turned the shower on waiting for the water to warm up, her eyes drinking in the sight of him. "This is where everything started the other night," she said with a wistful sigh. "Seems appropriate to end the weekend in here."
"Come here, gorgeous," Zed said pulling her close to him. "You're so beautiful," he whispered against her skin as he trailed light kisses across the side of her face.
Zed kissed her while moving them into the shower under the warm water. His hands slid over her wet skin, moving down between her legs. "I love you so much, Addison," he said against her lips as he slid two fingers deep inside her, causing her to moan loudly.
"I love you too," she panted out. As Zed moved his fingers inside of her, Addison reached down and wrapped her hand around his hardness, stroking him in time with his fingers.
"That feels so good," he whispered against her heated skin, causing the best kind of shiver to run down her spine.
"I need you, Zed," Addison whimpered, holding him tightly to her.
"How do you need me, gorgeous? I want to give you everything you need."
"I need to feel you inside me."
Zed let out a growl against her neck, growing even harder against her hand. "How could I ever tell you no." He removed his fingers and grabbed the condom from next to his shower gel. Addison wanted to tease him about him bringing a condom with him into the shower, but the heated look he gave her as he rolled the condom on left her breathless. He quickly lifted her up and pushed inside, filling her as his chest pressed against hers, pinning her against the tiled wall. They both let out a loud moan.
"This feels amazing," Addison whimpered as he kissed down her neck. The warm water, cold tile and his cool body against her heated skin adding to the overwhelming sensory experience.
He continued to move up and down her body, in and out at an unhurried pace, making her feel worshiped. Through whispered breaths, words of love and promises of forever fell from his lips.
Her lips pressed against his chest, the taste of his skin, salty and soapy, driving her closer to her release.
"I love you. Let go," he whispered as he nipped her ear, sending her blazing into her orgasm. With a final thrust, he joined her while staring into her blue eyes.
As he held her in his arms, both of them breathless, Addison reached up and pushed his wet hair off of his face. "I am so in love with you, Zed Necrodopolus," she whispered, smiling up at him as a tear fell from her eye. "I don't want this weekend to be over. I don't know how I'm going to see you every day and not be with you like this."
"Hey, no tears, gorgeous," he said as he wiped away her tears. "We'll find a way," he whispered as he kissed her lips softly.
Addison smiled against his lips, "I love your optimism."
Zed laughed as he kissed her once more, "What can I say, having my own personal cheerleader has rubbed off on me. Come on, let's get ready for school."
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As the pair made their way to school they both stopped short when they saw the massive banner hanging in the entrance. The banner ran from the top of the second floor down to the ground and was a large picture of Zed being carried off the field Friday night. The words "Congratulations State Champions!" were written above.
"That's a big banner," Zed laughed as he shook his head in amazement.
Addison laughed as she stood on her tip toes and gave him a kiss, "And I thought you couldn't get any taller!"
They both heard a loud shriek coming from inside the building as Bree rushed out to greet them. "There you two are!" she scolded as she looked at her watch, "the bell is going to ring any second! I almost thought you weren't coming in today," she whispered as she nudged Addison's side.
"Trust me, it was a struggle," Addison laughed.
Bree laughed as the three made their way inside and up to the lockers. "Oh, Zed! Fair warning, Bonzo is not happy with you, mister."
"What did I do?"
"He keeps going on about pot roast? I don't know," she shrugged.
Zed laughed as he ran a hand through his hair, "thank for the heads up."
"Anytime. I've got to run to get to class, I'll see you guys in Chem!" Bree said as she skipped off down the hall.
"Speaking of Chemistry," Zed whispered as he leaned down and kissed Addison, "What do you say we meet up after?"
"Sounds perfect," she smiled as she kissed him back.
"I'll see you in Chem, gorgeous. I love you."
"I love you too."
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"Why has this morning drug on sooooo slow?" Addison asked as she and Zed walked hand in hand to the zombie safe room.
Zed laughed as he brought their hands up to his lips and kissed hers,"Because we're back to reality."
"Well, reality is overrated," she grumbled as they reached the door.
"I completely agree my dear," he said as he opened the door and twirled her in.
"I really wish we hadn't gotten out of bed this morning."
"Me too. Although it probably would be a bit awkward when your parents get home."
"Yeah, probably," she giggled.
"God am I going to miss you tonight," he said before he pulled her in for a deep kiss. The kiss was intense and so hot she couldn't help herself from giving in completely. She whimpered and twined her hands in his hair as his tongue met hers in a heated exchange. His hands holding her hips against his so she could feel his arousal pressing against her thigh.
The school intercom chimed as Principal Lee's voice filled the room, "Pardon the interruption teachers and students. Zed Necrodopolus, please report to the principal's office."
Zed groaned as he pulled away from Addison. "In all the times we've been interrupted over the years, being called down to the Principal's office is a first."
Addison laughed as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "You better get going. I'll see you in the cafeteria."
Zed sighed, willing his body to calm down. "Alright, gorgeous. I'll meet you in there," he said as he kissed the top of her head.
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Zed took a deep breath as he knocked on the heavy wooden door of Principal Lee's office.
"Come in," he heard her call out. Taking another deep breath, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and opened the door.
"You wanted to see me, ma'am?" Zed asked nervously.
"Oh, Zed! There you are. Come in," she said with a smile, instantly putting a very nervous Zed at ease. As Zed walked into the office, he noticed that they were not alone. "Zed, this is Clayton Hughes from the University of Bay Ridge."
"Mr. Necrodopolus," the man said as he stood up to shake Zed's hand, "it is a pleasure to finally meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Hughes," Zed replied as he shook his outstretched hand.
"Please, Zed, have a seat," Principal Lee said as she sat back down behind her desk.
"Actually, Principal Lee, if it's at all possible, I would love to take Zed to lunch and get a chance to really get to know him," Mr. Hughes said with a smile.
"Zed, what does your schedule look like this afternoon?" she asked.
"Um, it's my free period now, but then after lunch, I have gym then AP Calculus."
"Well, as long as your back for Calculus, I see no reason why not."
"What do you say, Zed? I hear there's a great pizza place right on the water."
"Sounds great. I can never turn down Lillian's," Zed laughed.
"Well alright then," Mr. Hughes smiled. "Principal Lee, thank you for excusing Zed. I promise I will have him back before Calculus."
"You two enjoy lunch," she replied as she walked them out of her office.
After a quick walk from campus, filled with polite conversation about the weather, the two men arrived at Lillian's by the Sea.
"So Zed," Mr. Hughes said as they sat down at one of the outdoor tables, "what's good here?"
"Everything," Zed laughed, "but my go-to order is usually an XL double pepperoni with jalapenos."
"Well then," Mr. Hughes laughed, "guess we will be getting an XL double pepperoni with jalapenos," he said as he put his menu down.
"You can order it with jalapenos on half if you want to," Zed said as he ran his hand through his hair. "my girlfriend usually orders it that way, she's not a big fan of spicy food."
"You're dating Addison Donnelly, right?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"I've done my research," he shrugged. "and she's been on our radar for some time. She's a phenomenal cheerleader."
"That she is," Zed smiled, "Speaking of Addie, would you
mind if I sent her a quick text? I was supposed to meet up with her in the cafeteria."
"By all means."
Zed smiled as he pulled out his phone and sent her a message, complete with heart emojis. He quickly received a reply that brought a larger smile to his face. He placed the phone back in his pocket just as the waitress came out to take their order. With their order placed and drinks brought out, Mr. Hughes got down to business.
"So, Zed, when I got to my office this morning I had quite a few news clippings on my desk covering Friday's game. And let's not even go into the number of emails I received over the weekend," he laughed. "You did some seriously impressive things in that game."
"Thank you, Mr. Hughes," Zed said, "I really don't deserve all the credit. It truly was a team effort."
"Modest too," he laughed, "that'll take you far in life."
"I'll try to remember that."
"But, seriously. Like I said, I've done my research. When you joined the Seabrook football team, they had only won one game in the previous seven seasons. Since you joined, the team has been undefeated and won the state championship for the last four years. Team effort or not, your involvement has made the difference."
"I'm just happy I had a chance to play," Zed said with a shrug.
"You're also quite the basketball and baseball player from what I've heard."
Zed laughed as he ran his hands through his hair again. "I'm alright. I enjoy playing, but they're not football."
"Zed, I'm going to cut to the chase. We want you at UBR next year. The Bull Sharks could really benefit from a player like you. We'd be willing to offer you a full scholarship along with housing in our athletic dorm."
"Wow, thank you, Mr. Hughes."
"So, can we count on seeing you in Crimson & Gold next year?" he said holding his hand out for Zed to shake.
"I think I should tell you, I've also briefly met with a scout from Shoreline University. I don't know the details of their offer yet, but I'd like to know what all my options are before I agree to anything."
"I more than understand, Zed. You've got a good head on your shoulders. I know you'll make the right decision."
"Thanks."
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When Zed returned to school he was glad that he still had twenty minutes left before his Calculus class. He quickly dashed up the stairs towards the cheer room. He smiled when he walked in and saw Addison sitting on one of the couches with her knees pulled up under her and the end of her pen resting on her bottom lip as she intently stared at the notebook on her lap.
"There's my favorite cheerleader," he said as he walked in and sat down next to her on the plush pink couch.
"My favorite zombie," Addison smiled as she leaned over to kiss him. "You had Lillian's, didn't you?" she laughed.
"Looks like I'm busted," he smiled. "Whatchya working on, gorgeous?" he asked as he peeked over to the notebook in her lap.
"Routines for this weekend's Junior Shrimp Cheer Clinic."
"I forgot that was this weekend. Zoey is super excited," he said as he draped his arm around her.
"It should be a fun day," she smiled up at him as she closed her notebook."So, what did Principal Lee call you in for? Your text said you'd explain later, so...start explaining."
Zed laughed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Remember Friday night after the game?"
Addison blushed, "Zed, I'll never forget Friday night, but what does that have to do with Principal Lee?"
"I meant immediately after the game, when that scout from Shoreline U came over," Zed corrected.
"Oh! That! Yeah, I remember that part as well," she laughed as she kissed Zed's cheek. "What about it?"
"Well, I had to go to the principal's office because there was a Mr. Clayton Hughes from the University of Bay Ridge that wanted to meet with me. We went to Lillian's to talk," he said with a large smile on his face.
"What! That's awesome, Z!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around him.
"Yeah, I'm still in a little bit of shock," he laughed. "I never dreamed that I'd be able to go to a human college much less play ball for one. And now I have two universities offering me scholarships to play."
"Are you favoring one over the other?" she asked, unconsciously holding her breath.
"I had a nice long talk over lunch with Mr. Hughes and he gave me a lot to think about. He even mentioned you and your phenomenal cheer skills," Zed smiled. "But, for some reason, I'm still liking Shoreline, and I don't even know what their offer entails yet."
Addison finally let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"I think I want to visit both campuses before I make a decision though. I don't want to say yes to SLU and realize later that it was just because the offer was presented during a highly emotional moment."
"I think that's a very smart thing to do," Addison said as she reached over for Zed's hand. "I've got scholarship rewards saved up from years and years of cheer camp and cheer championships, but if I get any recruiting offers, it probably won't be until this year's cheer championship."
"Addie, I know you want to go to Shoreline," Zed laughed. "I've seen the baby picture of you in the tiny Shoreline U cheer dress."
Addison smiled, "I'll admit, I've always pictured myself going there. Both my parents went there, and my cousin is there now," she said. "But, that doesn't mean I'm not open to exploring other options. I've never even seen UBR's campus. I could go and completely fall in love with it. We're in this together. We'll make the decision that's best for both of us."
"Well, signing day isn't until the Spring. We've got plenty of time to figure this all out," he said as he took her face in his hands and kissed her softly. Addison opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, as she moved to straddle his lap. His hands roamed over her back, pulling her closer to him.
Then, the bell rang.
"It's going to be a long week," Addison groaned as Zed threw his head back in frustration.
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"Great job everyone! Take five," Addison smiled. An hour into practice and the new routines were coming along just like she envisioned. As she walked over to her cheer bag to get her water bottle she overheard two of the new freshman cheerleaders, Kelly and Kasie, mention Zed's name. Addison quietly leaned against the bleachers listening to the two underclassmen who were oblivious to her presence.
"I heard from my cousin that he's starting back today," Kelly giggled.
"We should totally go by after practice," Kasie said quietly. "Did your cousin say what tower he was stationed at?"
"No. But I'd walk the entire beach to get a glimpse of him wearing nothing but those red board shorts."
Addison saw red. She could count on one hand the number of times in her life she had been this angry, coincidentally, most of them had something to do with Zed. With her hands shaking, she brought her captains whistle up to her mouth and blew. "Breaks over! Back in formation!"
Bree looked up and noticed the look on Addison's face and quickly walked over. "Addie, are you okay? You're shaking," she asked, her voice full of concern.
"I'm fine," Addison replied through clenched teeth as the squad started the routine.
Bree watched Addison as Addison watched the squad. Her eyes blazed whenever they would land on Kelly or Kasie.
"Again!" Addison yelled as she blew her whistle again. Immediately the exhausted squad restarted the routine.
Bree leaned over and whispered in her ear, "I don't know what is going on between you and those two, but stop punishing the entire squad."
Addison glared at Bree for a split second. "Fine." Blowing her whistle once more, she called practice for the day. She stormed off towards the cheer room with Bree right behind her.
"Care to explain what that was all about?" Bree asked as she locked the door behind them.
"I want them off the squad!" Addison yelled as she started pacing back and forth.
"Okay, on what grounds?"
"Insubordination! Disrupting practice! And, and...I don't know!" she yelled as she ticked them off on her fingers.
"Addie, I need you to take a deep breath, calm down, and tell me what happened," Bree said in a soothing voice. She had only ever seen Addison this fired up twice before. Once when Zed, Bonzo, and Eliza were hauled away to containment back in freshman year. And the other was last spring when Lacey made a move on Zed.
Addison plopped down into one of the plush pink chairs and dropped her head into her hands as she began to cry.
Bree walked over and sat on the arm of the chair, pulling Addison into a hug.
"Zed's only been back at work for less than two hours and he's already got girls planning on stalking him," she said through sobs.
"Aww, Addie," Bree sighed. "Is that what this is about?"
Addison shook her head in confirmation as she blew her nose."Why can't he just have a normal boring job, like restocking groceries or something?" Addison sniffled. "I loved when he first got hired. I was even the one who encouraged him to apply. That was a stupid thing to do."
"What changed then?"
"When he first started I loved watching him run patrols on the beach, and don't even get me started on how he looks coming out of the water..." she said with a dreamy look in her eyes. "What I didn't realize is that every other female in Seabrook would have the same reaction," she sighed.
"That might be a slight exaggeration," Bree laughed, "but I get what you're saying. I'm going to tell you something that you probably don't want to hear," she said as tucked a stray piece of hair behind Addison's ear. "Zed is hot. Girls are going to stare. You have to trust him."
"I do trust him," Addison whined. "I just don't trust other girls! Just look at Kelly and Kasie! I'm the captain of the cheer squad, they
know Zed is my boyfriend! That didn't stop them from talking about him! Or what about Morgan? She pretended to drown so Zed would perform CPR on her!"
"Addison, I have known Zed for a week less than you have. Do you know how many girls I have seen him look at in all these years? One. You."
"But, I.." Addison started before Bree held up a finger to stop her.
"But nothing. It wouldn't surprise me if Zed didn't even notice the attention he gets. The only girl he ever sees is you."
"He said he didn't notice," Addison mumbled.
"See!" Bree smiled down at her. "That boy is totally head over heels in love with you. Don't ever doubt that."
"I know," Addison said quietly.
"And as far as booting Kelly and Kasie off the team? I can't sign off on it. Not yet anyway. Sorry."
"I know," she said quietly again.
"If it makes you feel better you can always have them work with Zoey's group this weekend. One wrong word out of them and that girl will bite their heads off...not literally...I just meant that she won't tolerate it."
"I know what you meant, Bree. And thank you. I'm sorry I went all 'crazy jealous girlfriend'."
"We all go a little crazy sometimes," Bree reassured her as she pulled her in for another hug.
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When Zed walked into his house at 9:20, he immediately face planted onto the sofa in the small den.
"Zed?" his father called from the kitchen, "Is that you?"
"So. Tired." Zed groaned as he pulled himself back up. "Coming, Pops." Zed trudged into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"You look terrible."
"I didn't realize how exhausting it would be to do a full shift after a full day of school," he groaned as he dropped his head on to the table.
"Eyes on the prize, son." Zevon laughed as he set a plate of food down for him.
Sitting up and digging into the food in front of him he sighed, "Trust me, I know. I'm so close. Even with taking off time for football, basketball, and baseball, I should have enough by prom."
"Well, I'm proud of you Zed. I know it's not easy, but you'll appreciate it a lot more if you buy a car with your own money."
"Thanks, Pops," Zed mumbled with a mouth full of food.
"Speaking of being proud of you, we need to arrange a meeting with Mr. Winters from Shoreline University."
"Yeah, while we're at it," Zed dug into his pocket and pulled out a business card, "we need to meet with Mr. Hughes as well."
"What's this?" Zevon asked as he took the card from him. "Zed? The University of Bay Ridge? When did this happen?"
Zed filled his father in on the meeting he had earlier that day.
"Zed, this is fantastic!" Zevon exclaimed as he wrapped his son up in a tight hug. "These are both great schools."
"Which one are you going to go to?" Zoey asked from the bottom of the stairs.
"What are you doing back out of bed, my little zombie angel?" Zevon asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"I heard Zed. I haven't seen him since Saturday," she shrugged as she gave her big brother a hug.
"I missed you too, Zo," he said kissing her cheek. "And I don't know where I want to go yet. Addie and I talked about it a little today, but I think I want to visit both campuses and hear what they both have to say before I make a decision."
"I think that's a good idea. Maybe we could arrange to go over Thanksgiving break." Zevon suggested.
"That could work. I'll talk to Addie and see what works with her schedule as well," he said as he finished his cauliflower brains. Addison was right, they were spicy. Standing up to put his plate in the sink, Zed let out a large yawn. "This sounds ridiculous, but I'm going to bed," he laughed. "Come on, Zoey. I'll tuck you back in."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this is the last continual chapter before a brief time jump. I'm planning on doing a few longer chapter parts of the story with a few one shot chapters thrown in the mix. I hope everyone enjoyed this weeks chapter! Leave me a review and let me know!