SPRING BREAK

ALOHA

(part 1)

Zed blinked his eyes open to the sight of palm fronds blowing in the cool morning breeze. He glanced down and found Addison looking up at him. "Hey there, Gorgeous," he whispered, smiling at her, brushing the backs of his fingers over her swollen cheek.

She scoffed. "Right. I'm sure I'm looking very attractive right now."

"You do. You look tough. All badass and stuff," he winked at her.

She smacked him on the chest. "And here I was watching you sleep thinking how much I love you, how handsome you are and that you're my hero. Well, ix-nay on the ero-hay, buster"

He scowled, his lips moving into a pout, which she found adorable. He looked like a little boy who'd just been scolded. She giggled and ran her fingers through his thick green hair, pulling him by the back of his head to her so she could kiss those pouty lips. When the kiss got a little more heated, she winced.

"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" He rested his hand on her hip.

"Mouth is just a little sore." She looked at him apologetically.

Zed's 'heart rate' began to race.

"Hey...it's okay."

"No, it's not...I want to rip him apart...literally."

She ran a hand down his cheek, pulling him in for a gentle kiss. "I'm fine. Come here." She wrapped him in a tight hug.

They laid there a little longer holding each other until Addison's stomach began to grumble.

"Let's go get you fed, Gorgeous."

"That sounds like a great plan, Handsome."

When they walked into the house, Addison sat down at one of the barstools while Zed went for the refrigerator. She couldn't help but look around the room. Her eyes instantly finding the fist-sized hole in the wall.

"Zed..." she whispered, unable to make her voice any louder.

He turned around and found her silently crying. He rushed to her side, pulling her into a tight hug.

"I can't..."

"Shhhhh….I know," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on top of her snow-white hair. He held her as she cried into his chest, whispering comforting words as he stroked her hair gently.

"Is she okay?" Bucky asked as he walked out of his room towards them.

"Hey, man...Yeah...just..." he motioned over to the wall.

Bucky silently nodded.

"Oh my God! Bucky! A cast?!" Addison cried as she looked over to her cousin.

"Wha...Oh...yeah...I broke it," he shrugged tiredly. "Did you start coffee yet?"

Zed shook his head. "I was about to."

"Don't bother. My mom just called. They're having breakfast brought in, and the parentals want us all over there," he yawned again. "E's getting dressed now so we can head over."

"Well, then I guess we should do the same." Zed looked down to Addison. "Are you up for going into the bedroom or do you want me to grab you some clothes?"

She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt and looked up at him. "I'll be okay, just come with me."

"Of course, Gorgeous," he smiled softly, running a gentle hand down the side of her face.

"I'll let everyone know you guys are up and moving."

"Thanks, B."

The moment Zed opened the back door for Addison, Missy was by her side.

"Good morning, sweetheart! How did you sleep? Are you feeling okay?"

Zed hugged her side, before surrendering her over to her mother.

"I'll be okay, Mom," Addison mumbled out as Missy hugged her tight.

Missy pulled away slightly and looked at her cheek. "The swelling has gone down some."

Addison moved her jaw around. "Feels a little better...still hurts though."

"Do you think you'll be able to eat?"

Right on cue, her stomach growled. With a small laugh, she nodded her head. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine."

"You sit, I'll get you a plate," Zed said, throwing her a wink.

"Thanks, Z," she smiled before her mother led her to the dining room table.

As he put together a plate of various breakfast pastries and fresh fruit, Dale walked up to him.

"Zed, can I speak with you for a moment privately?" he asked casually.

"Um, sure thing Chief. Let me just go give this to Addie. I still need to get her a cup of coffee too."

"I'll get the coffee."

"Thank you."

Zed brought the plate over to Addison and sat down beside her. "Hey, your Dad needs to talk to me for a minute. Are you going to be okay?

She nodded. "I'll be fine. I don't think someone is letting me out of their site today," she giggled motioning over her shoulder to her mother.

He squeezed her hand gently as Dale set a cup of coffee down in front of her. "I'll be right back, Gorgeous." He stood up and followed Dale upstairs to the third floor, walking into a library.

"Have a seat."

Zed sat down in one of the leather sofas as Dale sat across from him in a matching leather wing-backed chair.

"What I'm about to tell you stays in this room, understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

Dale took a deep breath. "I wanted to let you know that Graham is in the hospital right now. He's got a couple of broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Not to mention the fractured eye socket my nephew gave him."

"How?"

"Assaulting an officer while being interrogated last night."

"He did?!"

Dale snickered. "That's what the incident report states."

Zed gave him a questioning look.

"My daughter may have made you promise not to go after him..." he whispered.

Zed just smiled and shook his head. "Is it bad that I don't even feel a teensy bit bad?"

"Is it bad that I wish his injuries were worse?" They both let out humorless laughs. "Gloria is also doing whatever it is she does to find out anything we can on Graham and the entire Lightwood family."

"I'm so glad that woman is on our side," Zed whispered. "Love her to pieces, but she scares me."

"I know exactly what you mean." Dale stood up and walked over to the sofa, sitting down next to him. "Zed...I know you feel like this was somehow your fault. We all feel like we could have prevented it. But from what I've heard, you were the only one trying to keep him away from her."

"Not when it really mattered."

"This was no one's fault except for Graham's."

"I promised her I wouldn't let him anywhere near her."

Dale placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know you don't want to hear this, but thank you."

"Chief..."

"Just hear me out. Yesterday was terrible. But you still protected her."

Zed scoffed. "I wasn't even the one who took him out...unfortunately."

"Thank goodness you weren't. If you're going to go rogue protecting my daughter, at least do it in Seabrook so I can get you out of it."

"You're not mad I went full zom with your daughter so close?"

"Are you kidding me? I've never been more proud of you."

"What?"

"Zed...all a father can hope for when his little girl falls in love is that it will be with someone who loves her just as much if not more and that he will take care of her and protect her. You more than showed your willingness and ability to protect her...and we all know how much you love her."

"Thanks, Chief...I just wish I could have done more."

"I know." They sat silently for a moment before there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Trevor poked his head in the doorway. "The team just got here. We've been granted an emergency meeting with the local judge that will be handling the case. Strategy meeting downstairs."

"We'll be right down."

Trevor nodded and closed the door.

"Remember, none of what we talked about leaves this room."

"My lips are sealed."

"What do you mean, I can't have Zed with me today?" Addison yelled at one of the many lawyers gathered around the dining room table.

"Addison, sweetheart, settle down," Missy quietly said, pulling on her hand.

"Ms. Donnelly, given the fact that Mr. Necrodopolus was in fact offline during the altercation, we feel it would be best that we do not have him there with us in the judge's chambers. It will eliminate any visual reminders of Mr. Lightwood's claim."

"It's bad enough I have to relive all of this again! Now I can't even do it with my boyfriend by my side?"

"Addison," Trevor said, standing and walking over towards her. "We are extremely lucky the judge has agreed to a meeting between the two parties on such short notice. The one thing his family and this one seem to agree on right now is the desire to keep this out of the papers."

She sat back down and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't even stomach the thought of this being splashed across the front page of any paper. The last story was bad enough, and it wasn't even true."

"Addie…." Zed whispered, rubbing his hand across her back comfortingly. "I don't like not being with you during this either, but if me being there is going to make things harder, or take longer, or cause more trouble..."

She turned and looked at him, her eyes filling with unshed tears. "Zed..."

He pulled her in for a hug. "I'll stay here, pack up everything. If all goes well, we'll need to be ready to leave in the morning."

She nodded against his shoulder before pulling back to look at everyone else in the room. "Fine."

Zed sat in the main room of the guest house starring at the hole in the wall. The longer he starred the angrier he got. He jumped up to his feet and stormed into the bedroom, grabbing his wallet off of the dresser. As he walked back into the main room, Eliza was walking out of her bedroom.

"Going somewhere?" she asked as Zed shoved his wallet into the back pocket of his shorts.

"Yeah. Want to go for a quick drive?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Where to?"

"Hardware store."

"Not what I was expecting..."

He let out a humorless laugh. "I've got to patch that hole. If I have to see it again, I'm going to leave another one next to it."

Eliza nodded her head. "Let's go then."

Less than an hour later Zed was smoothing out the last little bit of sheetrock putty over the hole. "I've never been so glad that Pops and your

mom made us repair all the damage we caused over the years."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "What other teenagers would know how to replace glass panes, reset bricks, and patch holes in walls."

"I'm amazed our houses survived us growing up."

They were silent for a few minutes as they both stared at the wall.

"You know there was an 'incident' last night?" Eliza said quietly using air quotes for emphasis.

"What?"

"Yeah, I overheard Trevor telling Chief Dale about it this morning. Supposedly he tried to hit one of the cops. Didn't go over so well. He's in the hospital."

"Huh...what a shame..."

Eliza smirked. "You know that's the exact same thing Chief Dale said..."

Zed shook his head. "E...every cell in my body is screaming to go tear him apart. I don't think I'd even need to go full Zom. So...if someone else happened to beat me to it...I'm not going to question it."

She smirked again. "You know that's almost the exact same follow up he made...minus the going Zom part, of course."

"Huh...odd..."

"You already knew...didn't you..."

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"You are such a terrible liar," she smiled bumping his shoulder with hers. "So...other than patching this hole in the wall, what are we doing?"

Zed sat back on his heels and looked over to her. "Pack?"

Eliza shrugged. "I already packed everything in our room. I can give you a hand if you want, and then maybe we could go for a walk on the beach after? I mean, I have no idea how long everyone is going to be."

He stood up and took a few steps back, inspecting the patch. "Yeah, I'd appreciate the help. And a walk sounds like a great idea. I need to get away from this..." he said gesturing towards the wall.

They worked in comfortable silence packing and cleaning around the room. When they got into the bathroom, Zed froze. The blood covered shirt Addison had been wearing the night before was still balled up on the floor. Eliza could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves.

"Z...I'll take care of it. You don..."

"What hospital did you say he was at?"

"I didn't say..."

"There can't be too many," he growled turning on his heels for the door.

"Zed Milo Necrodopolus! Don't you dare!"

He spun around to face her, his fist clenched and his teeth bared.

"Listen to me! Even if I did let you go do something stupid, he's going to be under police protection, you idiot. You'll end up in containment. Addison needs you!"

"I can't not do something!" he yelled. "I want to kill him, but right now I'd settle for breaking a few more bones."

"No."

"You can't tell me no!"

"Yes, I can! And if the situation was reversed I'd expect you to do the same!" she yelled back.

Zed slammed his head back into the door frame letting out a shaky breath.

"I know this sucks. I'm furious and want blood...I can only imagine how you feel…But you going after him isn't going to help the situation."

He slid down the door onto the floor, holding his head in his hands. "I should have been there."

"I know," she whispered, kneeling down next to him. She hated seeing him so defeated. She pulled him in for a hug and let him cry.

"I don't know if I can ever forgive myself."

"That's it...I am not letting you do this to yourself. We need to go do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know...something crazy that will take us out of this even if it's just for a little while."

"I doubt anything is going to take me out of my murderous rage/I failed my girlfriend funk...but thank you."

Eliza smacked him as hard as she could.

"Oww...What was that for?!"

"That was for Addison because she's not here right now to do it herself."

Zed rubbed his arm, mumbling to himself, "she doesn't hit that hard."

"I've got it! Bucky and…." she stopped herself from saying Graham's name when she saw the look of rage pass through his eyes. "...when we were sailing earlier this week, cliff diving came up! There's this one place. It's supposed to be the hardest jump, basically a suicide wish...but I mean...we're Zombies," she smiled, stating the obvious. "We have to do this, Z! What better way to clear your mind than to get an adrenaline rush like that?"

"Uh, I can think of lots of ways, like sitting my butt right here and waiting for Addie to get back."

"No, we're doing this. I'm not letting you sit here and beat yourself up or plot things that are going to land you in containment."

Zed rolled his eyes.

"Where is your sense of adventure? You are Zed Freakin Necrodopolus!"

He looked over to her, seeing a fire burning in her eyes. He took a deep breath and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Why not. Maybe I'll end up in the hospital too and I can finally get a hit in."

"Not what I was going for with this, but...whatever you need to use to motivate yourself."

"We can't do this..." Zed said as they pulled over on the side of the road on top of the largest cliff edge he had ever seen.

"Yes, we can!" She exclaimed jumping out the car. She turned and looked over her shoulder. "Don't you dare chicken out on me!"

"I won't. I've got your back. Womb to tomb...always."

She nodded, knowing he wouldn't let her do this by herself. That's the way they had always been. No matter how stupid or dangerous, they were always in it together."

Eliza took off running, yelling, "It's now or never, Zed! WOOOOOOOO!"

"OH ZTERGOGE!" He took off running after her. She was over the edge in the blink of an eye and hit the water as his feet left the safety of earth. Eliza was a strong swimmer, but Zed was stronger.

As he flew through the air, the sickness of the fall settled at the bottom of his stomach and images of Addison flooded his thoughts. This was the stupidest thing he'd done in a long time. Putting everything, his life included, at risk when he had Addison made no sense. She was his world.

He crashed into the choppy ocean and water filled his senses, ears, and nose, engulfing him whole. He usually found comfort in the water, but right now the jagged cliffs he knew were ahead of him became his sole focus. He broke the surface and gasped for a large breath just as the water threw him towards the cliff wall. Right when he was about to hit, the water dragged him unwillingly back under as the tide returned him to sea.

His instincts kicked in and he fought with each strong stroke he took, hoping Eliza was doing the same.

The waves worked in his favor, forcing him forward again. He needed to find his way to the shore. Before the ocean could drag him out for another round, he grabbed hold of a lower ledge and secured himself to it.

"Eliza!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he climbed up, finding his footing on the rough rocks. When he got to the top, he called out again.

"Zed!" he heard faintly echoing in the wind.

Zed looked around the cliffs surrounding him. He spotted Eliza about thirty feet away, climbing up the side of the lower cliffs edge. She pointed toward an area around the curved wall of rock just beyond her.

Following her lead, Zed made his way over to the beach then dropped down into the sand spread eagle and exhausted.

"Dude...you made it," she said, crashing down in the sand nearby.

"I hate you," Zed mumbled, raising his hand in the air and flipping her off. "You're insane."

"C'mon, that was awesome and you know it. You'll thank me tomorrow."

"I'll never thank you for scaring the shit out of me."

"You needed it," she laughed. "You know that was perfection. Life teetering on the edge like that."

"I hate you," he chuckled. "Don't talk to me right now."

"Z...life is crazy and unpredictable. But you just survived the most dangerous jump on the islands without ever cliff diving before. You're stronger than you realize. You can survive anything life throws at you."

"So this was a lame lesson you were trying to teach me?"

She was up and standing over him, with an outstretched hand. He accepted her offer then yanked her down into the sand next to him. "Don't pull that shit again, E. We could have died out there. And we've both got a lot to live for."

"It kind of put it all in focus didn't it?"

Zed threw his head back in the sand and laughed. "Yeah...I guess it did."

"I told you you'd thank me."

"Shut up," he said with a smile as he sat up. He stood up and helped her back up out of the sand, pulling her in for a hug. "Love you, E."

"Love you too, Z. Womb to tomb."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ZOMBIES 2 IS HAPPENING PEOPLE! WHATTTTT! I CAN'T EVEN! I'M SO EXCITED!

I hope everyone enjoyed today's chapter. Leave me a review and let me know!