Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the excitement of the repair of the blood fruit orchard had died down, some of the vampires offered to fly their werewolf, zombie, and cheerleader counterparts back home to Seabrook, with the condition that they be allowed a full-day’s sleep first. The Seabrook squad readily agreed to meet them on the cliff overlooking Shadyside afterwards, eager for the opportunity to watch one more sunset on the beach before leaving.

Zed and Addison were sitting on the edge of the cliff - legs swinging, wind rustling through their hair, sun kissing the line between the sky and the sea - when she turned to look at him pointedly. He felt her gaze on him after a few moments, then turned to meet it.

“Enjoying the view?” he asked with a playful, teasing lilt.

“Yeah, yeah, I am. I can’t ever seem to get enough.”

Zed laughed, gently tapping Addison on the arm with the back of his hand. “You’re too kind, madame,” he replied, his tone still overly jovial.

Addison looked down at her lap. She was smiling, but there was an unmistakably sad quality to her expression.

“Actually, I have a question.”

Zed took note of her withdrawal and immediately dropped the teasing act. “Of course, ask me anything you want.”

“Can I stay with you?” Addison asked, her voice impossibly small. She balled her hands into fists around her skirt and squeezed her eyes shut.

Zed’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You don’t want to see your parents?”

She replied with a nearly imperceptible shake of her head.

“Yeah, yeah. Of course you can stay with me. I’m sure my dad won’t have an issue with you sleeping on the couch or…whatever you want,” he added quickly.

Addison turned towards him and opened her eyes, revealing the fact that they were watering. “I just know they’ll be disappointed in me.”

“Really?! Why on Earth would they be disappointed in you?”

She took a deep breath in, her upper body shaking ever so slightly. “I didn’t go to cheer camp. I’m not going to be cheer captain. My parents only care about me when I do something great. I know they’re not going to understand my decision to take a step back from it all.”

Zed’s face softened. “I’m sorry, Addi. But...you don’t know that for sure, right?”

“I do,” she insisted. “It’s happened before. At my first cheer camp when I was younger, I got really homesick. I begged the counselors to call my mom and ask her to come pick me up. When they did, she told them that she wouldn’t be coming and I had to get over it. I just…cried myself to sleep. Almost every night.”

Addison looked down again and absently grabbed at the ends of her hair, then drew them into her mouth to start chewing on them. Zed took a moment to study her motions and consider his next move.

“And what did she say when the camp was over?”

She dropped her hair and let out a single humorless laugh. “She just said that she was glad I’d gotten over myself. Then she was upset that I hadn’t gotten to the top of the pyramid by the end of camp.”

“I’m sorry.”

Addison dismissively waved her hand towards Zed. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not. I completely understand why you don’t want to go home. But, it’s not like I need to for my offer to stand. You’re welcome to stay with us anytime you want.” Zed slowly reached over to place his hand on Addison’s thigh. She let him get his hand fully in place before setting one of her own on top of it.

“Thank you. I’ll have to go home at some point to get some stuff, but-”

“You can borrow clothes from me and Eliza,” Zed insisted. “We can get you a new toothbrush, and I’m sure the werewolves have some extra skincare to spare.”

For the first time since the start of the conversation, Addison gave a genuine laugh. “They really do have great skin, don’t they?”

“It’s always glowing!” Zed agreed.

Once she stopped laughing, she looked up at Zed again. “I love you.”

His eyes widened in slight surprise. “Oh! I love you, too.”

Addison leaned towards him with her lips slightly puckered, to which Zed readily met her in the middle.

“Ewww! Heterosexuals? In this economy?” Willa called out from behind the couple. They quickly turned to see her and Eliza walking towards them.

“Where did you guys run off to?” Zed asked as the pair came over to join him and Addison on the edge of the cliff.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Eliza retorted.

Zed frowned. “That’s rude.”

Eliza shifted her weight enough to bump into him with her shoulder. “You’re rude.”

He maturely stuck his tongue out at her, to which Eliza stuck her tongue out at him.

Addison giggled. “Come on, kids. Let's get along for long enough to get home.”

Eliza gave her best dramatic sigh. “Fine. But not for a moment longer.”

“You guys better not be missing this sunset,” Willa interjected, pointing towards the sea. The sky was painted bright pink and crimson, dotted with golden ribbons of clouds. The sea reflected all of it back, giving the whole scene a bright golden glow.

The group fell into a sort of hushed reverence, all gazing out at the sunset. After a moment, Zed leaned over to Addison.

“I’m excited for you to stay with us,” he said in a hushed voice. “But I hope you like cauliflower.”

Addison snickered. “Cauliflower is great.”

After a few more moments of sunset admiring silence, a large ball of crackling energy whooshed past them. The group looked over their shoulders to see Victor, Vera, and Vargas standing behind them.

“You guys ready to go?” Victor asked.

Zed looked to Addison, who set her mouth into a sure smile and gave him a strong nod.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Ready for whatever’s next.”

Chapter Text

“Hello? Anybody home?”

Zed tentatively pushed open the front door of his dad’s house and took a few steps into the foyer. He glanced behind him to watch Addison slip in and gently shut the door.

“We can just sneak up to my room if my dad and Zoey are asleep,” he whispered back to her. She gave a firm nod in response.

They took about two more steps forward before a light clicked on. Zed’s dad appeared at the top of the stairs and looked down at the pair.

“Zed? What are you doing here?”

“Hey, dad,” Zed said, breaking out into an uncontrollable smile as his dad made his way downstairs. “We’re gonna be spending the rest of the summer in Seabrook.”

“Oh! Did football camp end early?” his dad asked as he landed on the ground floor. He stood right in front of Zed, giving his son a quizzical look.

“No. I…” Zed cut himself off and lunged forward to pull his dad into as tight of a hug as he could.

“Whoa, whoa. Careful, bud, you’re gonna break a rib,” his dad said practically choked out. While doing his best to hug his son back, he looked up and noticed Addison, who was sheepishly lurking behind her boyfriend, folding her arms over her chest.

“Oh, hey, Addie!”

Addison immediately snapped to attention, her face lighting up. She offered a small wave back.

“Oh, yeah,” Zed said as he pulled away from his dad. “I need to ask: can Addison stay here with us?”

“I mean, I don’t know if Zombietown is going to live up to your standards…” he started, gesturing to Addison over Zed’s shoulder.

“Zombietown is great!” she interjected. “But I don’t have to stay here. I don’t want to impose.”

Zed’s dad hesitated, opened his mouth to say something else, then closed it again.

“Your home and your neighborhood are lovely, it more than meets my standards,” Addison added.

Zed tried to catch his dad’s eye and give him a look that said please, say yes.

“Of course you both can stay here! It’ll be nice having some more company around for a few weeks,” his dad said.

Zed let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome here any time, but you still haven’t told me why you’re…here.”

“Well…it’s kind of a long story,” Zed started.

“We decided to take a road trip before our cheer and football camps,” Addison chimed in.

“And then we met some vampires and daywalkers…”

“And helped them solve a conflict they were having over this orchard full of the fruit that keeps them both alive!”

Zed’s dad blinked. “Vampires? Daywalkers?”

“Uh…it’s not important. What’s important is that we realized what’s important,” Zed said, topping his statement off with a proud smile.

“...what’s important?” his dad asked.

Zed gestured to the space around them. “Home! Our family and friends, and everything else here.”

His dad’s brow furrowed. “But what about being a starter on the football team?”

“I…I think I spent too much time on football this semester. And I don’t think I was doing it for the right reasons,” Zed admitted.

“I mean, I’ll support whatever you want to do,” his dad replied. He paused for a second, then added, “I just don’t want you to throw away everything you’ve worked for.”

“I get it. I want to find a good balance, eventually. But I think I need a complete break from it all first.”

Zed’s dad nodded slowly. “Alright. Wait…how did you guys get here? Did you drive?”

“We, uh…flew. My car kind of got totaled on our road trip.”

“Goodness, Zed! Are you all okay?!” his dad exclaimed. He quickly grabbed Zed’s wrist and squeezed it like he was looking for a pulse.

“Yes, we’re fine! Don’t worry, I still don’t have a heartbeat,” he assured his dad. “…I am gonna have to look for a new car while I’m here, though.”

His dad eyed him skeptically, but still slowly - albeit reluctantly - let go of Zed’s arm. “Alright. Well, let’s get Addie set up on the couch. I’m sure you’re both pretty tired from traveling.”

“That sounds great. Thanks again, dad.” Zed moved to give his dad a quicker, gentler hug. Addison moved in to hug him too after her boyfriend let go.

“Yes, I can’t thank you enough.”

Zed’s dad smiled softly as Addison pulled away. “Our house isn’t the nicest, but it will always be a safe place for Zed and all his friends. That’s what parents are for.”

Addison felt the sting of hot tears forming behind her eyes. Instead of trying to say anything else, she dove towards Zed’s dad for another hug. As Zed noticed his dad hugging her back, he reached out to embrace both of them - laying his head on top of Addison’s and holding onto each of their arms, enveloping the pair as best as he could, like doing so could protect them from everything outside the four walls of his home.

—

“Are you comfortable? Can I get you anything? Glass of water?” Zed asked. He fumbled with the blanket he’d scrounged up for Addison, frantically doing his best to tuck her in on the couch.

She giggled. “Yes, I’m okay. I’m okay. Your couch is very comfy.”

Zed squinted. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Addison reached one hand out from under the blanket to grab one of Zed’s. Gently, she started rubbing the back of it with her thumb. “I’m really, really grateful to be here.”

Zed grinned. “I am too. All I want is this time with you.” He drew her hand close to his mouth and kissed the back of it softly.

“We have plenty of that, starting tomorrow. But…I think I need to sleep first.” Addison’s point was punctuated with a well-timed yawn.

Zed laughed. “Of course. We’ll pick out our first Seabrook adventure in the morning.”

Addison leaned forward slightly and closed her eyes, prompting Zed to plant a quick kiss on her lips.

“Good night, Addi.”

“Good night, Zed.”

Zed brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face as he gazed into her shining eyes. “I love you. I’m sorry I ever lost sight of how important that is.”

Addison cracked a smile. “I love you, too. And you don’t have to be sorry…as long as you never do it again.”

Zed smiled back. “I don’t think I ever could.”