Hand in hand, Zed and Addison walked through Zombietown. As they got closer to the light garden's secret location, both of them started speeding up slightly to make the most of their time together.

Zed pushed open the door to the rusty old warehouse and allowed Addison to slip inside first before following two steps behind her. Not that they were here that often, they were busy high school students after all, but Zed knew without having to look through the shadows exactly where the switch to turn on all the lights was. A few moments after closing the door left them in total darkness, Zed flicked the switch and the warm golden glow of the light garden revealed the beautiful space that had been hidden from sight.

Both sighed in contentment while Zed threw his arm over Addison's shoulder and pulled her close. They always relaxed the minute they walked into the light garden. Even though it was the beginning of summer and they had literally nothing else going on for the next few days, just standing there together was like a soothing breath of fresh air, even with the slightly musty smell that permeated the space.

"So, I'll ask you again, what are your plans now that we're here?"

"Let's just head up top and enjoy the rest of today. You are all I need right now."

"Then let's go." Addison smiled. As they walked up the steps of the central platform, both unconsciously hummed their song under their breath. They noticed each other at the exact same time and grinned at each other but continued humming all the way through, only speaking when they got to the finale.

"We're gonna be someday." They both softly sang and then met in a tender, yet passionate kiss full of longing and happiness. When they broke apart they sat down so their legs could dangle off the edge, Addison pressed tightly to Zed underneath his arm stretched around her shoulders, just looking out at the dazzling lights and beautiful murals along the walls.

"You know, I was wondering when I would get a birthday kiss from you all day."

"I would have woken you up with one, but Zoey stopped me right when I was about to sneak in your room and insisted we should wake you up together by knocking on your door, so she could see your surprise when you saw me."

"I think she still thinks she's on the mission from your parents to not let us be too affectionate with each other in her presence."

"Maybe. I think she does it just to have fun though."

"Probably. I'm so happy she doesn't have her Z-band anymore and she's perfectly fine without it." Zed sighed with relief.

"Totally honest, I was expecting at least a few minutes of adjustment, not just a snap of my fingers and Zoey was literally just like she always was."

"I felt the same way. Sure she would be the absolute cutest rogue zombie ever, but I barely had time to see the black veins on her arms before they disappeared again. I bet Eliza already has plenty of theories. I'm just happy my wish came true."

"It did? What was your wish?"

"That Zoey would get her band off today and be totally fine without it. And it worked, whether it was the power of a birthday wish or not. I wouldn't ever want to change anything about today. Well, not that I enjoy every moment I spend with you, it would have been fun to hang with everyone a little more. I can't believe they are all so busy on a random day right after school got out. Sure we had the meeting today, but that was it."

"I don't know what to tell you, except my wish for today became true."

"Are you sure that's how birthday wishes work?" Zed teased her, "and what did you wish for?"

"Just time alone with you so I can show you just how much I love you. Zed forget about everything we've done to change Seabrook. My life would be so different without you in it. Every single day since we met, you've made me a million times better than my life before you. Thank you so much."

"You don't need to thank me. You are the only thanks I will ever need. And I totally agree with every word you just said. I love you too, so, so much. You complete me in a way no one ever has, not even the moonstone, which is great, but it pales in its impact on my life compared to you."

"Right back at you. I love you too Zed, in more ways than I can ever hope to put into words. But speaking of your moonstone, can I see your wrist?"

"Sure? I'm assuming left hand?" Zed held his left arm out to Addison. While she gently traced the spot on his wrist where his Z-band had sat for his entire life.

"I'm so happy you finally got that thing off. Ever since you showed me how it was hurting you during football I've always been worried something else could go wrong."

"And now nothing ever will. According to Willa, my necklace can last one hundred years on a charge, so I guess, I know what I'll have to do on my one hundred and sixteenth birthday. I hope my old bones will be able to get me to the wolf den, or wherever they're putting it now."

"Oh, I'm sure nothing will stop you. Plus you know I'll be there with you every step of the way."

"You know we don't really know what happens when Zombies actually age, maybe by then my hair will be as snow white as yours and we'll look like two peas in a pod. Even though I'll probably be old and wrinkly while you'll still be absolutely gorgeous"

"You'll still be just as handsome as always. Do you plan to be dressing up at a nursing home or something? And when we're one hundred sixteen?"

"Why not? As long as I'm with you. If you can put up with me for that long."

"I think I'll manage, somehow, but I did get you something. Happy Birthday!" Addison pulled out a small, pink-wrapped box tied with a ribbon in the exact same style that she always wore in her hair for cheer.

"You didn't have to get me anything else. Your gift at the restaurant was already so amazing."

"I know, but when have we ever let logic or societal expectations get in our way?"

"I'd say never," Zed admitted with a smile. He tore open the paper, at a normal pace for once. He already used that joke enough on Zoey today. To reveal the box hidden within. He opened it up to find a new smartwatch.

"Since you don't have your Z-band anymore, I thought you'd want something to replace it. And that will actually be useful for tracking all your workouts and stuff. Without any other side effects"

"Addison thank you. I guess I haven't thought about but now that I am, my wrist does feel kind of weird without it. A good weird since the moonstone is doing its thing, but this will be great. Plus I guess I've never had to worry about looking for clocks before but I don't need to start now either. Just thank you, Addison. You're so thoughtful." Zed leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

"I told Eliza about it, and she said it should work perfectly fine with your phone, even with all the modifications she made to it."

"Again, that just shows how thoughtful you are. I hope you didn't spend too much on me though."

"Shut up, that doesn't matter. You mean more to me than anything else in this world. If I want to spoil you a little it's my choice."

"Fine, but just you wait until your birthday then. You're going to be spoiled so rotten you'll need a Z-band, or I mean a moonstone."

"Already got that covered." Addison smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot, I've been so focused on everything else today. I got some great news yesterday."

"What is it?"

"I got my summer job all lined up now."

"Good for you, where are you working?"

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"Why would I get mad? Unless you're working at some cheer camp a hundred miles away so we can't see each other every day. Then I deserve the right to be a little annoyed, you know I can't get mad at you."

"I know, but I'm afraid I'm working for the competition."

"Competition? What competition? Are you working for the Eels? Because if you give away our plays I don't know what I'll do." Zed said with mock seriousness.

"No, of course, I'm not working for the Eels. Bucky would disown me if I betrayed the Mighty Shrimp. I got a job at Cheery on Top."

"Oh, that kind of competition." Zed nodded his head but smiled teasingly at her. "I'll let you tell Coach then, you might be throwing away being his favorite cheerleader."

"Thanks a lot. Think he'll have a rule against fraternizing with the competition?"

"If he does I guarantee I'm breaking it. I hope you enjoy it. And it will be fun to compare notes after work every day. But I feel like working there would be so boring. Not compared to my gig."

"Why's that?"

"Hi, welcome to Cheery on Top. Would you like Vanilla, or Vanilla, or Vanilla? Or if you're feeling risky, try our double vanilla." Zed said in a mock customer service voice.

"You know, I never thought about that part. But it will be fun getting to talk to people and stuff."

"I know, I'm excited too. Plus I'm glad Coach says I'll have a route to go on every day, that sounds much better than standing in one place waiting for customers."

"But bonus, I'll have AC."

"You got me there, I think all the cart will have for me is an umbrella, and there won't even be peanut butter on it. I don't suppose I could steal you to the winning side."

"Winning side?"

"Oh yeah, Coach and I are ready to dominate the town froyo market just like we do in football."

"Well, if you do, I hope I can get a reference from you for my next job. Especially if I already have experience by then with froyo. But I thought we decided as much fun as it would be to work together we'd get too distracted."

"Sure, you could have asked Coach, but I am pretty sure he was only expanding to one more cart for the summer, and as far as I can tell, his only other employee is his great aunt Edna who helps make all the different flavors."

"Sounds like quite the team. Oh yeah, all the Aceys work there in the summer too, they're the ones that invited me to apply. So we have quite the team too. Think you and Coach can take on five of the top cheerleaders in town?"

"Only because I know you're missing four of them, I think we still stand a chance. Well, if you ever get sick of vanilla just let me know, and I'll bring you something with real flavor."

"I thought you liked vanilla?"

"Oh I do, but you'll have it around you every single day. I know I wouldn't last more than a day in that situation. After a week I'd probably think it tasted just like Pops' caulibrains."

"For how much you always eat anything and everything you're quite the picky eater."

"Hey, no teasing the birthday boy."

"Fine, I suppose, just you wait till tomorrow."

"If I know I can see you tomorrow I can never wait."

"So birthday boy, have any more ideas for how you want to spend your day?"

"Maybe a few," Zed smirked. "But for now, let's just stay right here."

"I'm all yours." Addison stretched her neck up to capture Zed's lips once more, and this time they didn't let go.

Later that night when Zed and Addison stopped at his house after they were done in the light garden. Zevon met them in the living room.

"Did you two have fun today?"

"Oh yeah totally, best birthday ever." Zed smiled.

"Well, just you wait, its about to be even better."

"What do you mean Pops?"

Zevon walked over to the door and put his shoes on. "Just follow me you two."

"Do you know what's going on?" Zed asked Addison as they followed Zevon through Zombietown.

"No, I don't. I'm just as in the dark as you are."

"Sorry about the secrecy Addison, but we wanted to make sure this was a birthday surprise for Zed, and just by sheer hours you two spend together we didn't want anything spilled."

"I don't see why, I can keep secrets."

"Not from me."

"I kept Christmas vacation from you. Despite your best efforts."

"If I knew you knew something was going on for long enough, I would have found a way. So Pops where are we going?" Zed asked again, to his and Addison's surprise, Zevon led them to the construction site for the new cheer pavilion. They passed a few cranes, bulldozers, and forklifts and walked through the walls that were still mostly scaffolding at this point.

"Alright, come down here." Zevon led them down a set of concrete stairs into a dark, cold hallway with concrete surrounding them on all sides. Zed was pretty sure they were headed back under the newly poured foundation of the building, but he still had no clue where Pops was leading them.

Zevon stopped at a metal door and punched in a code on a keypad to unlock it. "If you ever need to unlock this door, it will always be 02142018," Zevon told them.

"Zevon, what is this place?" Addison asked, sounding just as mystified as Zed.

"Well, after the powerplant was demolished and we cleared away all the rubble, we found out that most of the lower sublevels were still in perfect condition, and the entire crew knew how important this place is to all of us, so once we made sure everything below the first two basement levels was safe and sound, rather than using more explosives, we decided to just build the pavilion on top of it without destroying or burying any more of it."

"So, what are you saying…?" Zed asked with a grin.

"I'll let you two take a look around, and stay awhile if you want. Happy birthday Zed." Zevon said cryptically as placed his hand on Zed's shoulder for a moment before he turned around to head back home.

"What do you think is down there?" Addison asked him.

"Well, I know what I hope is down there." Zed walked through the door to reveal several flights of stairs headed downward, and after a few steps inside, he realized he could hear music pumping up from below.

"You don't think?" Addison asked slowly with a smile.

"Let's go find out." Zed laughed and taking her hand they started jogging down the stairs together. As they traveled down, down, and more down. The music kept getting louder, and Zed recognized the song. He knew exactly who was on the turn tables down below.

They got to the bottom and found one more door, spray painted with a large, green Z over the old logo for Seabrook Power. They pushed open the door to reveal they were back in the Mash Pit. They could see humans, zombies, and werewolves all dancing together and having a blast.

"Oh my gosh! Zed!"

"It's a zombie mash!" Zed smiled back at her. The music was pumping, lights were flashing and everyone seemed to be having a blast until the music stopped abruptly and a spotlight was shone on both of them.

"Looks like the birthday boy's here!" They heard Eliza's voice boom over the speakers. "Now we can really get this party started! Zed you ready?"

"You know I am!"

Zed leaned over and pecked Addison's cheek. "Sorry beautiful but duty calls. But after this the rest of the night I'm all yours."

"Go knock them dead, zombie." Addison quickly hugged him back before Zed ran off into the darkness. As he did, Addison could recognize the opening notes of Bamm starting to play, she found Bree, Wyatt, Willa, Wynter, and Wayde all dancing together already. She assumed Bonzo was in his own sound booth just like Eliza.

"You finally made it. Took you long enough." Bree smiled at her.

"You guys could have told me."

"Where did Zed run off to?" Willa asked. "I'm surprised he could bear to leave your side."

"Just wait and see, you wolves are in for a real treat, dancing at the Den is fun, but nothing can ever beat a zombie mash," Addison promised them.

Right at that moment, Zed jumped out from a cloud of steam and started singing, dancing, and hyping up the crowd. "Welcome to Zombieland! It's a party go ahead everybody dance! Do the draggy leg, you surely can be a part of the team gotta wave the flag. Let your freak flag fly, go, and stand when we pass by. Not your average guy but you know I'm fly, so alive just on a different side…"

Addison, Bree, and the wolves all joined in with all the zombies that knew the song by heart. Everyone was having so much fun, just letting loose. They all felt like it had been way too long without a proper mash to give them total release. It was the best possible way to start the summer.

After Bamm was over, Zed and Addison spent most of the night walking around and greeting all the guests, receiving lots of good wishes for his birthday, and answering more questions about the moonstones. But they still found plenty of time to dance together, even though Eliza warned them not to expect any slow songs tonight.

After a few hours, Zed had one more thing he wanted to make sure to check out. He whispered in Addison's ear. "Come with me."

"Right behind you." Addison could always read him like a book.

They navigated the crowd for a few minutes and Addison quickly figured out where he was going. They turned one more corner and walked into the room that used to hold the light garden. Although right now it was pitch black since all the lights were still safely stored in Zombietown.

"Here you two go." They heard Eliza say behind them and turned around to see her walking up to them with Wyatt. She flicked a switch on the wall, and two floodlights lit up near the doorway.

When they turned around again though, they were crestfallen. Instead of the beautiful murals and central tower, all they could see was a massive pile of rubble.

"Sorry you guys, I checked this place out too when Zevon first told me about this. Like three different floors collapsed into this room and unless they used more explosives or tore down the rest of the ruins, they could never get all those chunks of wall and floor and stuff out."

"I was just hoping…"

"It's OK Zed, we still have the light garden on the surface. I'll still always miss this place, but we still have our own place. All that matters is we have a place that we can be together and means something to us."

"Yeah, I know we do. You're right. Wait a minute, so when did Pops tell you about this?" Zed turned his attention back to Eliza.

"About a week ago. He said they finished fixing and cleaning everything they could down here about a month ago, and then they had to start building everything on top of it and then make sure it was still safe to be down here. When he told me about it I came up with the plan to surprise you with a birthday mash. I hope you enjoyed it."

"Of course I did, everything today, the moonstones, Addison, Zoey, this. This has been literally the best birthday I have ever had and its all because of my friends and family. I don't even know what to say. Thank you, Eliza, but next time something this awesome is happening you will be telling me."

"We'll see, depends on how annoying you are when that happens." She warned him lightheartedly.

"So, ready to head back to the party now?" Addison asked.

"Yeah, we have all night let's go!" Zed cheered and they headed back to rejoin everyone else for a few more hours of dancing, singing, and fun.

But eventually, even without a curfew, the party did finally start to die down around midnight. Everyone gradually started leaving. Zed made sure to thank everyone for coming as they headed for the stairway and received more well wishes and congratulations. Willa had sent all the wolves in attendance back home to the den while she, Wyatt, Wynter, and Wayde stayed behind to help their friends finish cleaning up and shutting everything down.

Eliza turned off her turntable and packed up all the equipment she would be taking home, but for the first time ever, instead of her carrying it, she passed her full backpack over to Wyatt.

"Wow, that is the first time I've ever seen that happen." Zed loudly announced to everyone.

"What?" Addison asked, a bit confused.

"Don't listen to him." Eliza groaned, already guessing where he was going with this.

"Eliza letting someone else carry her precious music equipment. You've never let me and Bonzo even touch it."

"Well whatever, if I want Wyatt to carry it back for me, that's my decision."

"Of course it is I'm just saying…"

"And just how long did you two spend at the light garden tonight? We all came here to finish setting everything up hours ago and you two were still the last ones here."

"Just enjoying my birthday, plus no one even told Addison. She's a master planner, she would have gotten us here on time. Or maybe not, I can be very persuasive." Zed grinned while Addison lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Truce?" Eliza asked.

"Truce." Zed smiled back, they gave each other a complicated handshake and then turned back to the rest of their friends. "Guys, this has been one of the best days ever. Period, but right now, all I want to do is go home and sleep."

"Me too. Zed. Oh no! I didn't tell my parents. They knew I would be with you all day, but not all night." Addison started looking worried.

"Don't worry Addison." Bree put her hand on her shoulder in reassurance. "I called them and told them we were having a surprise party for Zed but hadn't told you either and warned them you'd probably be home late. Everything's cool."

"Thanks so much, Bree. So, Eliza, how secret is this place?"

"We were thinking of keeping it under wraps as much as possible. Just so we don't have to worry about Z-Patrol busting us again. Plus by the time they build the pavilion on top, there will be no way anyone can hear us on the surface no matter how loud we get. You probably noticed we only invited a few other humans that we can trust or we know are really close to Zed or other zombies."

"Got it, I'll just tell them we were at the wolf den having a party then. Plus that's why I'm so late getting back."

"Gotcha." Zed nodded in agreement.

They finally made their way back up the stairs and through the construction site before parting ways, Bonzo walking Bree home, Wyatt following Eliza to her house, while the rest of the wolves turned to head back home to the Den, while Zed and Addison made their own way back to her house.

"It's your birthday, you don't need to stay out even later walking me home, I'll be fine."

"As you said, when has logic ever stopped me when it comes to you?"

"If my parents are still up, and I'm sure at least one of them is, I'll ride back with you while they take you home. Oh in fact, maybe I'll even drive you back myself, show you what you have to look forward to."

"I think we'll have to see what happens. But thank you if you do. Too bad I'll have to be in the back right?"

"Yeah." Addison nodded.

They finally made it back to Addison's house. After one more kiss goodnight on the front porch. Addison led him inside.

Dale looked up from the book he was reading with a smile on his face. "I hope you two enjoyed yourselves."

"Don't worry Dad we did."

"The party was a blast Dale, and I wasn't expecting it at all."

"Me neither, I thought we were only having lunch all together today, but it was so much fun."

"I'm sure it was." Dale nodded. "Let me guess Addison, you want me to make sure Zed gets home safe right?"

"Yeah, in fact, I was thinking I could drive us there and back."

"I know you're a month away from your license, but I'll take it tonight, it's late enough as it is."

"I'm still coming along though."

"That's fine I guess." Dale stood up from his chair, grabbed his keys and shoes, and motioned towards the door. "At this point, we're burning moonlight and I would like to sleep tonight so let's go."

They did just that and after finally saying goodnight, goodbye, and a happy birthday one last time, everyone made it home safe and sound and into their bed. Happy and content with their day and the beginning of summer.