Alright so apparently this fandom wasn't done with me. I was going to make a nice Christmas one-shot and then this happened. There's no way this will actually be done by Christmas, but I still felt the need to write it. Yes, I do know this doesn't talk about fake-relationship/Christmas yet, but I had to introduce them somehow and it felt like a natural stopping point. Please give it a try ? English is still not my first language so if you spot anything let me know! Probably will cross-post this on AO3 under a different username.

Zed Necrodopulous hated 8 a.m. lectures. He's been in college for three years; you'd think he would know better than to take anything before noon, 10 a.m. at the earliest. However, he needed to take this class if he wanted to graduate. And so, on every Tuesday this semester, he showed up for his 8 a.m. class with the biggest cup of coffee he could get his hands on.

He got a few stares as he sat down somewhere in the middle of the lecture hall and rolled his eyes. While zombies were a novelty when he started college, he would have thought people would be over it by now. He did try to ignore it as he powered on his computer, getting ready for what would undoubtedly be an excruciating three hours. Between being one of the first zombies in higher learning as well as being on the football team, he was used to stares. He preferred when they were about the latter as the first made his skin crawl. Exactly like the guy in the front row not even trying to hide his disgusted expression at Zed just being I the same room as him. Reminding himself that while punching the guy might be very satisfying, it was only going to make things more difficult in the long term. After over a month of classes, he would have thought they'd gotten used to one zombie in their class though. He sighed and brought his coffee to his lips when she walked in.

Zed had seen her around before, she was a cheerleader and he was a football player. He knew she was popular, she was always surrounded by her teammates as well as his. He had never talked to her before, the only time he had tried was a disaster. He was sure pre-Z-band zombies had been more eloquent than him. By the time, he'd managed to stammer a greeting, she was already gone. She had smiled at him, though; one of the only humans to do so sincerely.

One smile was all it took. Zed was hooked! Sure, Eliza constantly made fun of him, but Zed couldn't shake the feeling she was The One. He spent the last few months of his freshman as well as all his sophomore the year before infatuated with the girl. He had tried dating. He casually went out with a girl named Beatriz for most of the spring semester. They were both from Zombietown and she was as far off from the cheerleader as humanely (zombily?) possible. But since every time he stepped on the football field, he'd sneak glances towards the cheerleaders, hoping to catch her wide smile; he had broken things off with Beatriz. It just didn't seem fair to her. She hadn't seemed too broken-hearted about it, and they still talked whenever their paths crossed on campus.

Zed shook his head softly, trying to put aside his train of thoughts. He had to focus on the lecture, not a pretty girl. He couldn't help but notice that she was coming in with little time to spare. She was usually seated with her friends by the time he came in. She was always ready well before the start of the class and unlike many other students, she was clearly taking notes and participating instead of whispering to her friends or playing on her phone. She usually sat at the front of the room, right at the edge of Zed's line of sight where she wasn't too much of a distraction. He glanced at her usual seat to find it unexpectedly occupied. He frowned and turned back to the aisle to see what the cheerleader would do. He startled as he found it empty. What the –

"Excuse me?"

Zed spins around fast enough to give himself whiplash and ends up looking into the clearest pair of blue eyes he'd ever seen. Pale blue eyes rimmed with grey eyeliner suddenly filled with amusement. Zed realized he was staring.

"Huh… sorry? I didn't catch that," Zed says rubbing the back of his neck, forever grateful that zombies don't really blush.
"It's fine. I asked if this seat was taken." The girl pointed to the seat on his left.
"Oh, no. Go ahead, it's yours."
"Thanks!"

Zed opened his mouth, hopefully to say something clever when their professor asked for everyone's attention. They both turned to the front without a word. It was 90 minutes before the professor finally stopped for a short break and Zed couldn't help but be relieved. He finished his coffee a while back and the sooner he got a refill, the better. A sigh on his left abruptly reminded him of the girl seating next to him. He looked at her to see her dropped her head on her desk over her folded arms. Before he could catch himself, he was asking:

"Hey, are you okay?"

She turned her head to face him, still lying on her desk and blinked a few times at him.

"Oh! Yeah. Thanks for asking." Her cheeks pinked up in a way he found adorable. "It's been a rough morning,"
"Sorry!"
"It's fine. I'll just close my eyes for a bit."

As she did just that, Zed couldn't help but feel dismissed. He awkwardly got out of his seat and headed to the student café. He could still make it there before the professor got started again. The line moved up surprisingly quick and he only hesitated a fraction of second before placing his order. It took a little linger than usual, but he was right, and he did made it to class before it resumed. The cheerleader was still lying on her desk with her eyes closed, but Zed knew she was awake, could see her twitch every time she heard a noise. Carefully holding his precious package out of harm's way, he made his way through the students to his seat. This time he hesitated for a few long seconds before he gently set a paper cup on the corner of her desk where she couldn't accidentally bump it.

She held up her head and her eyes widened at the sight of the cup. She instantly turned to Zed, looking up at him from those long lashes of hers.

"You seemed like you could use it?" She blinked at him. "I mean, don't feel like you have to drink it or anything. I mean I got a little sister, and I wouldn't want her to accept a drink from a random guy – I'd probably kill her if she did. Um, that's not the point. I just… You said you've been having a hard morning, so I just thought maybe you'd appreciate it? It's a salted caramel latte. I hope, I hope you like those? You don't seem like a black coffee kinda girl, more like sweet – not that it's a bad thing if you do or that I know you… huh, just, like, you don't strike me like the pumpkin spice kind of girl – you know cause that's just basic, right… Oh fuck! You probably love it though, right? I've seen the cheer squad social media pages… I don't mean that you're basic or anything. I'm sure you're great, but… Oh my Z, I'm just going to stop talking."

Thankfully, the word vomit was finally coming to an end without Zed having to literally put his hand over his mouth to shut himself up. That would have been even more embarrassing. However, a giggle escaped the cheerleader and she smiled at him. As the teacher called for their attention once more, he heard her whisper.

"Thanks Zed!"

Zed almost had a heart attack right there. She knew his name!

AZAZAZ

The second half of the lecture felt like eternity as Zed tried to keep us with his professor. He knew there would be time to daydream about the blonde cheerleader later, but now wasn't the time nor the place. He didn't know anyone who would let him borrow their notes in this class. Zed was more than grateful when the professor finally dismissed them for the day. He was packing up his stuff when he felt someone's hand on his arm. He turned his head to the side to find himself looking at the blonde cheerleader. Zed felt the warmth of her hand seep through the sleeve of his shirt as he stared at her. She was still holding onto his arm, and he didn't know what to think of that. Other than the people at the Zombie Containment and other players on the field, he was certain no human had ever touched him this long. He finally looked back at her hand. Suddenly it was gone, and Zed would have sworn he saw a dusting of pink on her cheeks.

"Oh! I just wanted to say thanks again for the coffee. I really needed that. It was very kind of you, Zed," she said softly.
"You're welcome." Zed paused before running his hand behind his neck. "Ok, so I feel terrible because you know my name, but I don't know yours."

She giggled.

"Well, you're the football superstar," she teased. "I'd be a terrible cheerleader if I couldn't read the signs"
"You're not!" Zed blurted. "Not that I'm a stalker or anything. Just, I've seen you at games?"
"I'm pretty sure a stalker would know my name."
"So I guess you'll have to tell me before I turned to the evil side of stalking?"

The perfect girl snorted, definitely blushing this time and Zed felt a rush of pride course through his veins.

"We wouldn't want that. I'm Addison!"

She held out her hand, clearly intending for him to shake it. He paused for a second, a little shaken by how unreal this whole situation was. He regretted it as a voice suddenly called Addison's name. She dropped her hand and they both turned towards the door. A strangely familiar, dark-haired cheerleader stood there, obviously irritated.

"I have to go, I'm sorry. I guess I'll see you around, Zed," Addison apologized.
"Yeah." Zed breathed out. 1

He watched her hurry down the aisle to meet up with the other boy. The guy was shooting daggers at him, but Zed wasn't sure why. He hadn't done anything… well except being a zombie. Zed sighed and looked down to make sure his bag was closed, might as well get some studying down before lunch. Since his head was down, he didn't see Addison sneak a look back at him.

There it is! Let me know if you liked it ? Always look foward to comments.

Lots of love, Anne