One night at dinner with her parents, Missy asked, "Addison do you have any plans for tomorrow evening?"
"No, I was probably just going to come home and work on some homework or something."
"I've been talking with my secretary Jane, and we were thinking that you and her son Pierce should get to know each other."
"Like what you want me to go on a date?"
"Yeah, I think you could have fun, and you might like him."
"I don't want to, and you know I already have a boyfriend."
"You are not dating that zombie." Missy's voice hardened.
"Yes I am, you can't stop me from seeing him at school, especially now that he is returning everything back to normal and making even more improvements."
"We don't care, zombies can't be trusted, especially that zombie and especially with you." Dale said.
"Zed is great, he's even Student Body President, he works to make the changes he wants to see in the world I thought you two would appreciate that. Plus the fact that he was elected doesn't that prove that he can be trusted if the students chose him to lead the school?" Addison once again tried to defend Zed.
"Just more mistakes, it's only a matter of time before another incident like the homecoming game happens, and then this town will return to its senses for good. And hopefully, you will too, just give Pierce a chance, he's still willing to give you a chance even with your hair. You might realize that being normal is always better." Missy said.
"But I'm not normal as you two keep reminding me, and no one will ever be better for me than Zed."
"It's one date, what's the worst that can happen?" Dale asked.
"I'm not interested."
"Fine, how about this, you go on this date, and then this weekend you can have Bree come over." Missy offered.
Addison thought about it, "Can I invite some more friends too?"
"So you'll do it?"
"Fine I guess I will, it will be worth it to have some people that accept me in this house."
Missy chose to ignore that last comment. "Great, I'll tell Jane to have him pick you up here tomorrow afternoon, and dress up a bit, I've already made reservations."
"You know this isn't going to change anything right?"
"Just go along with it, you might enjoy yourself, and Pierce."
"I doubt it." Addison left the table and went up to her room.
The next day at school, Addison was sitting at her desk, thinking over what tonight would be bringing.
Zed soon sat down beside her. Thanks to his changes, he and Addison shared half of their classes, and either Bree, Bonzo or Eliza shared all of Addison's other classes with her. So, she always had someone to talk to.
"Hey Addison, good news, Principal Lee thinks we have enough signatures and that Eliza's presentation is ready to go before the school board next week. Zombie holidays here we come."
"That's great news Zed. I have some bad news though."
"What is it?" Zed asked, grasping onto her hand to lend her support.
"My parents are making me go on a date with the kid of someone my mom works with, and they won't let me out of it. They think if I go on a real date with someone "normal" it will make me forget about you or something. But that will never happen in a million years."
"To be honest, I'm a little angry right now but not at you, at your parents. I trust you, you are the only one for me too. So who's the lucky guy that gets to take you out?"
"His name is Pierce, I don't know anything about him. My mom showed me his picture, he has black hair, tall and skinny, that's all I really noticed."
"Wait, I think I know him, he's on the student council as one of the Senior Representatives."
"Oh, is he nice at least?"
"Not really, not to me anyway, he's one of the few members elected that's anti-zombie almost as bad as Bucky. He also leads the Drama Club and is just as dramatic and cocky as Bucky. I bet I could scare him out of this date if you want."
"No I don't want you to get in trouble, and if he did back out my parents would just try to find someone else later. Hopefully, he won't be too unbearable, I mean he'll have to be nice to me at least. But if he says a word against you I'll leave."
"You don't need to do that, it's just one date that won't mean anything except to your parents. If it will make them slightly happier with you I'm OK with it."
"You're right, after tonight I'll never have to think about him again. Also, this is part of a deal with my parents that I have a plan of my own for, my parents said I could have Bree come over this weekend if I agreed to the date, and I asked them if I could invite some more friends, do you think you, Bonzo and Eliza would want to come over. I promise we'll both love it much more than tonight."
"Well I would love to come over, and Eliza probably will just to annoy your parents and Bonzo will come if Bree will be there, so awesome. And it's OK I trust you but you will be all I think about tonight, even more than usual I mean, where are you even going anyway?"
"I don't know it sounds like it's going to be some fancy place, my mom told me I have to dress up, and she already made the reservation."
"Sounds terrible, but remember to take a picture, I would love to see you all dolled up."
"You got it."
Right then the bell rang, beginning class and ending their whispered conversation.
Addison sat waiting on the couch, tapping the armrest nervously. Despite her mom's other suggestions, she had decided to wear the same dress she wore the first day of school, while her hair had grown slightly, she still couldn't style it much so just decided to straighten it out.
The doorbell rang, and Addison got up to answer the door. She opened it and was surprised.
Pierce was standing on the porch in a pink suit that almost looked like a carbon copy of the one Zed wore before the game, he did not have flowers though and gave her a confident grin. "Hey, I'm Pierce."
"Hello, you look…" Addison was at a loss for words.
"Handsome." Missy supplied with a smile on her face. "It's great to meet you Pierce your mother has told me all about you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Wells, I've heard lots about Addison as well, you look very lovely this evening. Shall we get a move on?"
"Yes, let's go." Addison said, "Let's get this over with." she muttered to herself.
Pierce tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away and walked faster to his car.
Once they got in and Pierce started driving, he tried to make conversation but Addison wasn't really interested.
"Look I'm sorry Pierce, but as you probably know Zed is my boyfriend. I'm only going on this date to make my parents happy, so it would be great if we can enjoy our time, but I am not interested in you."
"Yet." He said, "don't worry, I'm willing to work for your affection. In fact, I guarantee by the end of the night you'll forget all about our brainless president."
"First off, no that won't happen, and second don't insult Zed again or I will leave as soon as you stop the car."
"Alright, whatever you say Gorgeous."
Addison cringed away from him. "And please don't call me that and eyes on the road." It was alright when Zed said it, but she felt like Pierce was staring and assessing her in that one word only.
They drove in silence for the next few minutes before Pierce entered the parking lot of a busy restaurant.
"Of course, Mom chose the Cheesecake Factory." Addison rolled her eyes.
"Why do you have good memories here?"
"My favorite dessert happens to be their chocolate cheesecake, she probably thinks it will make me like this more."
"Never say Never." Pierce said, giving her a flirty wink.
"Never." Addison deadpanned back.
As they walked in Addison couldn't help but notice the NO ZOMBIES sign displayed prominently in the window. She wished Zed were with her right then. Holding her hand as they had a real date out in public and without fear.
Once they were seated Pierce tried to make more conversation, mostly by talking about himself and his various starring roles in the drama club. And also by trying to compliment Addison's beauty. Addison was having none of it though and just tried to politely disregard his advances.
When their food came, Addison tried to eat quickly and ignore Pierce to try and speed up the night, but he still tried to talk to her. She made some conversation back but always tried to mention something about Zed or her other zombie friends. She could tell that was making him annoyed and that he had to stop himself from insulting them. But she could still see him muttering "Brainless freaks." out the corner of her eye when she got the chance. She just tried to ignore him in those instances.
Finally, it was time for dessert and Addison ordered her favorite chocolate cheesecake, while Pierce ordered vanilla. Typical Seabrook. Addison thought to herself.
Pierce tried to playfully feed Addison a piece of his cheesecake, but she refused to play along, just pushing his hand away and saying she wasn't hungry for his.
Finally, they left and Pierce dropped her off back home. He insisted on walking her to the door, and right before she opened the door, he grabbed onto her hand and pulled her close to himself.
"What do you want Pierce?"
"Don't I get a kiss good night?" He said with a cocky grin.
"Absolutely not." Addison said, disgusted, as she tried to pull away.
"I don't take no for an answer." Pierce shoved his face into hers and attacked her lips hungrily, Addison could even feel his tongue trying to force itself into her mouth. Addison tried to pull away, but his hands were locked onto her arms and she felt so terrified she couldn't move. She wanted to scream but couldn't even open her mouth. She looked around widely and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of green that made her heart soar.
Zed jumped onto the porch and let out a terrifying roar, but nothing had ever sounded sweeter to Addison. She could see in the dim light of her porch that Zed's veins and eyes were pure black, and his Z-band was flashing an orange UNSTABLE.
Pierce stopped kissing her and opened his eyes in surprise before Zed ripped him away from Addison and shoved him aside, placing himself between Pierce and Addison.
"You…go…now." Zed said to him, breathing heavily, teeth bared, and looking like he was ready to pounce.
Pierce didn't need to be told twice, he turned tail, hopped in his car and sped away.
"Are you OK Addison?" Zed asked her, his voice already calm and heartfelt, his eyes quickly softening and returning to normal.
Addison gave him a quick hug, that she really didn't want to let go of, but she only rested for a moment, before stepping away. Her voice was shaking but she tried to rush out, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for being here, but you really need to go, my parents will be out here any second. They can't see you, I'll talk to you tomorrow. OK?"
"OK. As long as you're safe." Zed hopped off the porch and disappeared into the darkness beside the house.
Barely a moment after he disappeared the door opened revealing a worried-looking Dale. "Addison are you alright? Where's Pierce, I swore I heard something out here."
"No, I'm not fine, Pierce just forced me to kiss him."
"Oh honey I'm sure it didn't happen like that," Missy said to her, "now come inside."
Addison entered her house and sat on the couch. "No, I did not misunderstand he grabbed me and locked his lips on mine. I had to tear myself away from him." Addison really did not want to mention Zed was right outside their house.
"Addison I'm sure you're overreacting, I even thought if Pierce gave you a kiss it would help you move on, to show he is really interested in you." Missy said.
"What! You told him to do that?"
"I suggested it, and it's for your own good, you needed to see there are more boys out there than that Zombie."
"What, how many times do I have to say it, I love Zed, no one else, If he…"
"If he what?" Dale asked.
"Nothing, did you agree to this plan too Dad?"
"No, while I didn't want him to kiss you, I think it's time you gave this game up. You two could never work out you know that. Plus you're sixteen you're too young for love. It's just an infatuation." Dale yelled out.
"No, I don't, I know we can work out because we both love each other, and you must not love me at all, only your perfect daughter that I will never be again." Addison stormed up to her room, her mother kept calling her to come back down and apologize but she wouldn't listen.
She got to her room and quickly tore off her dress putting on one of her zombie outfits, she laid down on her bed and started to cry letting out all her tears of fear, anger, and misery from Pierce, her parents, and most of all wishing Zed could be with her. Within a few moments, she heard a tapping on her window. She looked up bleary-eyed, but her heart nearly burst when she saw Zed's worried face looking back at her.
She jumped up, threw open the window, and quickly pulled him inside. She buried her face in his chest and continued to let her tears out. Zed held her just as tight, and just stood there rubbing her back in soothing circles to try to calm her.
After a few minutes, Addison looked up into Zed's eyes. "Are you OK?" He asked her softly.
"No, I'm not, but you're here now, that's all that matters to me. How were you even there?"
"I couldn't stop thinking about you tonight, and I'll admit I was a little jealous but also felt like I couldn't trust Pierce, I finally decided I wouldn't be able to sleep until I knew you were home safe. I planned to just hide in the bushes to make sure you got home, but unfortunately, it looked like I was right and when he grabbed you, my Zombie burst out to protect you from him."
"Thank you for being there, I don't know what I would have done without you."
"I didn't scare you did I?"
"No, you were my knight in shining armor, I couldn't move I was so terrified, when I heard you roar, I was so relieved you were there. I knew you would save me. I trust you a million times more as a full zombie than Pierce to never hurt me. What was your Zombie thinking during it?"
"That I had to protect you and make sure you were alright, also I really wanted to kill Pierce, but I stopped myself because you were more important at the moment. I only focused on you. Once you were safe I went back to normal right away."
"Pierce is a jerk who totally deserves it, but I'm glad you didn't. I told him from the beginning I wasn't interested in him but he just talked about himself and kept trying to flirt with me no matter how much I shot him down."
"I promise if he goes anywhere near you at school he'll regret it."
"Thank you Zed but if he is dumb enough to try anything we'll handle it together."
"OK how did your parents react?"
"When I told them they acted like I was crazy, and being a prude since Pierce was just trying to "show affection" and I need to "get over you and be with someone normal."
"You were grrr," Zed let out an involuntary growl, "and they didn't believe you or anything?"
"They acted like I was freaking out over nothing."
"Then they don't deserve you, you are way too amazing for anyone to ever deserve you."
"I know, but they're my parents. Even if they don't listen to me. Not like you always have."
"I will always listen to you Addison whatever you need, I'll be there."
"Can you stay with me tonight? I need you with me. You are what makes me feel safest no matter where we are."
"I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay right beside you all night." Zed promised her, sealing it with a soothing kiss.
Zed and Addison laid down in bed, and Zed wrapped the blankets tightly around himself and Addison before wrapping her in his arms. Zed softly sang their song, promising her someday. He was glad that she soon fell asleep, but his anger at Pierce and Missy and Dale kept him awake for at least another hour before he too drifted off to sleep. The most important person in the world to him nestled in his arms, holding onto him for dear life, even as she dreamed. "Goodnight Addison, I will always protect you. I promise." He whispered to her, sealing his promise with a kiss on her forehead before closing his eyes.
Addison was walking down a dark street, only lit by the occasional streetlight. She felt danger near, she could see her house in the distance and tried to walk towards it, but she never got any closer. She felt more tension and broke into a jog and then a run but she wasn't moving. She felt someone grab onto her, and pulled her around, it was Pierce, but his face was wrapped in shadow. "I don't take no for an answer." He said. She watched as his face slowly leaned down towards her, she was frozen in place unable to move. She could only watch him getting closer and closer for what felt like an eternity. When his lips were a millimeter away from touching hers. She was finally able to close her eyes and when she opened them, she was somewhere else, in a bed with someone's arms wrapped around her.
She freaked out, she screamed and tried to get away, when she felt the other person shift she reflexively struck out.
"Oww!" They yelled out, but it sounded familiar.
"Zed?" she asked
"Yeah, it's me Addie."
Reality finally caught up to her. "Oh, Zed, I'm so sorry, I…I…" she broke down crying into his chest once again.
"Hey, it's OK, I'm alright," Zed whispered soothingly. "You have a mean right hook but I'll be fine. What's wrong Addie?"
"I had a nightmare about…him." Addison said sobbing still. "He was following me and I couldn't get away and then…he caught me and…I couldn't move I was frozen in place and you weren't there to save me."
"Don't worry it's just a dream, and I'll always be there to save you. You don't ever have to worry about that jerk again. As long as I'm around he won't be able to go near you."
"I'm sorry, then I woke up and I panicked because I didn't know where I was or who you were."
"It's alright," Zed said, reaching to turn on the lamp. "Can you see any damage? Do I still have my charming smile?"
"You're not hideous at all."
"That's all, just not hideous?"
"Fine, you're just as handsome as always." Addison said with a small giggle.
"And you are just as beautiful as you always are. Are you feeling better now? Want to talk about it?"
"I'll be better as long as I have you with me. This just proves to me, that humans can be monsters just as much as Zombies. When it happened, I just froze and I couldn't do anything. I never felt like that ever in my life. I didn't know what to do. I don't want to think what would have happened if you weren't there."
"That doesn't matter, I was there thankfully, and if I wasn't I would still do whatever it took to save you from filth like him."
"I know, because I would do the exact same if you were ever in trouble too."
"Are you ready to go back to sleep?"
"Maybe, can you tell me about our someday?"
"Of course."
Movies and long walks in the park hanging out anywhere we want
I like the way you're thinking, I can almost see it.
Someday, this could be this could be ordinary
Someday, could we be something extraordinary
You and me side by side out in the broad daylight
If they laugh we'll say we're gonna be someday
Someday someday
We're gonna be someday
Someday someday
We're gonna be someday
Zed looked down, thankfully Addison had been lulled back to sleep with a smile on her face, hopefully, she could get some more real rest free of nightmares. He pulled her closer and made sure she was all covered up again before shutting off the light once more, trying to think about all of his happy memories of Addison to help him fall asleep. He really had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but he promised himself he wouldn't leave her side until she was ready. He too drifted off to sleep once more.
The next morning, Missy went upstairs to check on Addison, both she and Dale had heard her sobs last night before she quieted down, and also her sudden scream in the middle of the night. Missy and Dale started to wonder if more was going on than just Addison overreacting over a kiss. She slowly opened the door, trying not to make a sound to disturb her sleeping daughter when her jaw dropped open in surprise, speechless.
The zombie boy was lying in bed next to her daughter. She could see that the Zombie was lying on his back, with Addison partially on his chest, her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. She thought she could see both of their arms wrapped tightly around the other.
"ADDISON WELLS!" Missy yelled out, "WHY IS THERE A ZOMBIE IN YOUR ROOM?!"