#dont mind me just writing christmas fic in april

Chapter 3

Traffic had cleared by the time they were back at the Wells household.  As Dale pulled into the driveway, Zed noticed there were cars lined up down the street.  They were the last to arrive, then.

Just before they stepped through the door, he pulled Addison aside.  “Are you sure you want to do this?”  He lightly ran his hand through her hair as she nodded.

“We got this.”

We.  Zed grinned.  “Now I know the real reason you invited me over today – the incredibly gorgeous zombie boyfriend will distract them from the fact you’ve taken your wig off. All part of my quick wit and charming smile,” he winked.

Addison giggled, lightly digging into Zed’s side.  “Of course.  You’ve literally figured out my grand scheme.”  She held her hand out.  Zed clasped it firmly as they entered the Wells’ Christmas dinner.

Although they had meant it as a joke, Zed’s appearance did cause a stir among the family. Missy and Dale had known he was coming, but they had apparently neglected to mention that to everybody else. Bucky gave him a look that was a cross between annoyance and disbelief, a mild reaction comparatively.  Their grandmother screamed when she saw him, but her husband was surprisingly calm.  Mr. Buchanan, Sr. may have lost an ear during the Zombie epidemic, but Zed suspected that he had lost most of his eyesight in his old age.

“Hello, everybody, my name is Zed Necrodopolis, and I am Addison’s,” he had been about to say boyfriend, but the word didn’t seem to encapsulate the depth of their feelings, “date.”

“Ned Zeropolis? And how do you know our little Addy, Mr. Ned?”  Mr. Buchanan, Sr. asked loudly.

Addison stifled a giggle.  “He’s a bit deaf,” she explained, unnecessarily.

“She’s a cheerleader, and I’m on the football team.”  Zed winked at Addison, remembering how he’d used the line when he’d met the Mayor and Patrol Chief for the first time, who shook her head and covered her small grin.  Mr. Buchanan, Sr., still not recognizing Zed as a zombie, continued to question him about the football season.

Soon, Addison was recruited into the kitchen to help bring dinner to the dining room table. Zed started to get up to help her, but Addison pushed him back onto the couch.  “My mom and aunt have this weird tradition that we do all the preparation and table setting stuff and that the guys clear up afterwards.  Grandad’s pretty into football.  In fact, I’ve been told that that’s one of the reasons he liked my dad.”

“Addison, I don’t think football would be a great topic of conversation.  In case you hadn’t noticed, he hasn’t exactly realized that I’m a zombie.”  Zed pulled Addison closer, so she was perched on the edge of the couch.

“Are you telling me that my strong, handsome fullback boyfriend is scared of an old man?” Addison teased, quiet enough so only Zed could hear her.

Zed groaned, nearly inaudibly.  “It sounds so much worse when you put it like that.”

“You could always hang with Bucky,” Addison grinned.  “But seriously, I gotta go help my mom.”  She squeezed his hand and left the living room.

It only took the Buchanan women ten minutes to serve Christmas dinner.  For Zed, those ten minutes were filled with Mr. Buchanan asking questions about Addison and football, while receiving a series of odd looks from Bucky as he mindlessly answered with half-truths.  He was far more concerned what would happen if their grandfather realized that he was a zombie.

“Dinner’s ready,” Addison bounced back into the family room, automatically taking Zed’s hand. She gave him a look, eyes questioning, and Zed responded with a shrug.  Addison made a face, then led him into the dining room.  “Don’t worry, you’re next to me.”

Bucky was on Addison’s other side, and Zed was in the corner.  Her grandfather was at the opposite end of the table.  Addison plopped a scoop of mashed potatoes onto Zed’s plate, jolting his focus back to what was in front of him.  “More?”  Zed shrugged, and Addison rolled her eyes.  “Fine, but you’re not stealing my potatoes.  They’re literally the best – my uncle puts onions in them.”

Zed allowed Addison to finish filling his plate, then watched her to see what happened next. She stole his pickle.

Grinning at his girlfriend’s antics, Zed took a quick look around the table to see what everyone else was doing – they had already began eating – and dug into his own dinner. Addison had been right about the potatoes.

Dinner was a quiet affair, sharply contrasting with the quickfire of questions Mr. Buchanan had asked earlier.  With everyone consumed by their dinner, Addison was the only one to notice that Zed was eating with his left hand.

“Your wrist isn’t hurting again, is it?”  She leaned in, whispering.

Zed frowned, pulling his jacket sleeve down to conceal his Z-band.  “No, it’s good,” he said lowly, picking his fork back up and taking another bite of potatoes.  Obviously, everybody in the room knew that he was a zombie.  If all the football talk hadn’t given it away, the green hair and grayed skin was a sure sign.  So why did he still feel the need to hide his Z-band?

Once everyone had had their fill, the table was quickly cleared.  Dishes were washed and left to dry on the counter, leftovers were packaged into labelled Tupperware, and mugs were brought out as the kettle began to boil.  The family broke off into groups and clusters, the room filled with laughter and various conversations.

Addison was the youngest of all her cousins.  Having grown up away from Seabrook, they had only heard snippets about the resident Zombie population, though they were all well-informed about the town’s cheer stats. They ribbed on Bucky’s decision to cut his entire team just before the competition and watched as the zombies joined the cheer squad at the last championship.  Perhaps because of her position as the baby of the family, nobody was very concerned about the loss of her wig.  If they were, they kept it well hidden and focused instead on cheer and football.

Both of Addison’s other cousins had played football during their high school years and were continuing with the sport through college.  As long as the subject was football, Zed was able to maintain a solid rapport with them.  Dessert was served casually, with people keeping to their small group conversations. Addison brought herself and Zed a large slice of chocolate-gingerbread cheesecake and some eggnog, much to the indignation of her cousins, who wanted to know where theirs was.  Addison had rolled her eyes and pointed to the kitchen as she curled up on the couch next to her boyfriend.

———————————————————————————————————

Anyone catch the mashed potatoes joke/reference?  Z1 promo video – Zombie Brain Food Challenge!  Basically, they were taste testing gelatine food and Meg (incorrectly) guessed mashed potatoes.  Milo stole the point by tasting and correctly guessing onion.

For those who haven’t picked up on it yet, this fic takes place after Z2 summer but before the wolves show up.  Based on the pacing of that movie, to me anyway, it looks like they skip over the fall semester and jump straight into the new year.  There’s no football, which is September/October season, and the big dance is the Prawn, which is wordplay on prom, and prom is usually at the end of the year.