A thought after last night's episode (2x08) so a bit spoiler-ish, I guess.
I'm still new here, so thank you for reading.
"Good lord. Haven't I been punished enough already?" Lemon's voice forced Zoe to raise her gaze to meet the somewhat perpetually annoyed expression on the blonde's face. At that moment, though, she couldn't bring herself to care much. "What are you doing here?"
In Lemon's true fashion, with that mix of good manners with a pinch of abrasiveness all wrapped up in her southern twang, she invited herself and sat across Zoe who was picking on the second white chocolate mocha cupcake she had ordered. Well, she had only eaten the frosting of the first one so it didn't really count.
"Good morning to you, too," Zoe replied, lacking her usual sarcasm, which took Lemon by surprise. "I'm having breakfast. Obviously." She motioned over the table, to her discarded and unfrosted cupcake before dipping a finger on the new one, enjoying the overly sweet treat once she popped her finger in her mouth.
Lemon cringed at the sight.
"And it's not like I want to have breakfast at Lavon's with the whole reconciliation thing with Ruby."
They both shuddered at the thought but for very different reasons.
"Yes, I can… imagine. But I believed you were a frequent client at the Rammer Jammer." Lemon drawled carefully as she eyed Zoe's frown.
"I… I can't go there this morning?" Zoe murmured back, not really knowing if she was right.
"Why not? I'm sure Tom Long's infatuation ended long ago when he started dating Wanda, so that shouldn't be a problem. Right?"
Zoe snorted a weak laugh. "It's not that." She shook her head and sipped her lukewarm coffee. It was too sweet, like everything at The Butter Stick. Luckily for her, it seemed like she didn't particularly care. Actually, she welcomed the sweetness.
(She had already eaten a bag of marshmallows by herself the night before.)
"Did you fight with Wade?"
Zoe managed to cover her mouth with a napkin before spitting her coffee all over Lemon's pink dress.
"What?!" She hissed before Lemon rolled her eyes at her. "Does everyone know about… about me and Wade?"
"Oh, you poor deluded…" Lemon almost snickered under Zoe's unamused glare. "This is Bluebell. Even Cody knows, and we all know how clueless that boy is. You should know by now how fast news travel around here." Lemon shrugged her shoulder delicately. "Besides, you and Wade haven't exactly been secretive about it. And everyone knows Shep is the worst gossip here. He has seen you two running back and forth between houses while delivering the mail for weeks now."
A blush crept up Zoe's cheeks but she tried to ignore it, even if Lemon had a small smirk on her lips.
"So?" Lemon prodded. "It's only fair, given that you know all about my love life."
"It's not like I wanted to."
"Zoe Hart."
She heaved a long and painful sigh. "I don't know, okay? I'm not good at this. But when he came back yesterday, he was being so weird." Lemon arched an eyebrow curiously. "He wanted to talk but then he didn't."
Lemon narrowed her eyes. "What did you do to that emotionally stunted boy?"
"Nothing!" Zoe exclaimed before guilt was etched on her face. "He just told me that George knew about us."
"And?"
"That's it. I said it was good."
"Like that, completely unaffected by this?"
"Well…" Zoe grunted with annoyance and let her head fall forward, burying her face in her hands. "No. I didn't because I felt a little disappointed that George had forgotten me so easily. But that doesn't matter because now I think Wade… broke up with me, in a way. But it wasn't like we were dating. We were casual so we can't break up. And I know he's upset and sad but I don't know why! Things were fine; they didn't need to change but they did. And now I don't know what to do but what I've always done, and what my parents taught me to do, which is avoid the problem."
Lemon had this little knowing smile on her face, like she knew something that Zoe didn't. It only served to annoy the New York doctor. "You don't want to know what I think."
"But you're going to say it anyway."
"That's right," Lemon stated proudly despite Zoe's snort. "I think Wade likes you. And you like Wade. But it took you by surprise, so you were happy in your tiny little bubble, with no worries about feelings for Wade – even if you had them. You weren't expecting to like him so much because it was easier like that." Lemon cleared her throat and looked down at her hands over the table. "It happened to me. And now here I am, watching as other woman is making Lavon happy."
Zoe knew the whole story about Lemon and Lavon. She had been caught in the middle even if she hadn't asked for it. She had seen them pining for each other and she didn't want that. She didn't want to imagine Wade being happy with another woman to finally realize she liked him.
"Do I need to tell him?" Zoe pouted like a child, at which Lemon chuckled.
"In Wade's case I think he needs a proof more than words. Keeping him hidden for so long must have bruised his ego."
Zoe nodded, bobbing her head up and down as she stood up, grabbing her handbag and finally deciding it was about time she did something not to lose him. It was time for her to bake the black and white cookies, metaphorically speaking, because only she could make them worse than him.
"Okay. I just need to come up with a plan, then." Zoe stared at Lemon. "Aren't you going to help me?"
"Me?"
"Yeah." Zoe widened her eyes for emphasis. "Aren't you Lemon Breeland, mastermind?"
"Glad you finally admit it," Lemon shot back in a saccharine voice. "And actually, I do have a plan. Sit down so we can talk."
Zoe smiled.
She knew it was an unlikely friendship but maybe Lemon was the only one who could truly help her in this situation without judging. Plus, Wade was worth it. If he had been able to put up with her craziness, then she'd be able to work with Lemon to get him back.