Wade Kinsella woke up with a pounding headache in the back seat of his 1971 Chevelle SS. Sitting up he turned his head side to side working the kinks out of his neck. His car was a lot of things but it wasn't meant to be slept in, that he was sure of.
With a groan, and the grace of a bull in a china shop, Wade climbed into the drivers seat. After looking around he was relieved to see the keys on the passenger seat. He snatched the keys up but stopped when he noticed the note under them. Without much thought Wade picked it up and almost got sick. Printed in a quick messy scrawl was 'Thanks for last night ;)'
The message wasn't clear, but he clearly messed up, and he messed up bad. The last thing he remembered from last night was Tucker getting under his skin with his holier than thou speech. He couldn't believe he did exactly what he had been working so hard to change about himself. Since his last memory was of George that was where he intended to start his search for answers. Cranking the key in the ignition he looked around and got his bearings before pointing the car towards home and hammering the gas. He had to figure out what the hell happened last night.
It was eight A.M. and Wade still wasn't home. Zoe had been up all night worried something happened to him when he didn't come home. George and Tansy had told her what happened with Wade getting drunk and playing with Meatball instead of George. She felt terrible for not being there to support him, but as the morning was wearing on she was becoming more and more angry.
She had been pacing the carriage house for hours and she couldn't take it anymore. She slipped on a pair of jeans to go with her tank top and one of Wade's plaid shirts. Not in the mood for heels, which was so unlike her it was clear she wasn't herself, she grabbed her sneakers and shoved her feet into them and headed for Lavon's.
Zoe barged through the door into the kitchen. "Lavon, have you seen Wade?"
"Hey Big Z! Good morning. As for Wade, nah I haven't seen him. I thought he was with you," Lavon said a worry line showing in his forehead.
"Come on Lavon, if you know something tell me!"
Lavon sighed, "I don't know nothin'. I'm sorry Z but I honestly haven't seen him."
"Okay, then why the weird line on you forehead? You may not know exactly where he is but you're thinking something you do not like," Zoe said pressing him.
"I think Wade has a very good reason he didn't come last night, that's it."
With a groan Zoe stomped out the door and headed into town. Someone somewhere had to know what was going on. She was trying really hard not to think the worst but the longer he was gone the harder it was getting.
Zoe walked to the Rammer Jammer ignoring all the stares. She knew her hair was a mess, thrown on top of her head in a bun, her makeup was smudged from last night and she couldn't care less. She had one goal in mind, and that was to find Wade.
It didn't take long before she was walking into the bar. Her heart sped up, with relief or anger she wasn't quiet sure, when she seen Wade talking to Wanda behind the bar. Stomping past the breakfast crowed she headed for Wade.
"Where the hell have you been!" she shouted, not caring who heard.
"Hey Doc, can we talk outside?" Wade asked rubbing the back of his neck, clearly nervous.
With a small nod Zoe spun on her heel and headed outside without a word.
Once they were outside she stared up at him with her big brown eyes, emotions swimming in them. Wade still hadn't found George but he knew he had to tell her, at least what he knew, before someone else beat him to it.
"Look, Zoe, I'm sorry. I'm real sorry-"
Zoe was fighting tears, he only called her by her name when it was serious, she feared her worst nightmare was about to unfold before her. "Wade, please don't," she pleaded hoping to wake up at any moment and be in her bed in his arms.
"Last night I wasn't my self, or maybe I was, it's all fuzzy. I woke up in the backseat of my car parked on a backroad of Mobile. I have no idea how in the hell I got there," Wade said looking everywhere but at her.
"I know about your fight with George and I know you lost the competition. Maybe you got drunk and thought you could drive home but realized you couldn't," Zoe said hoping he would agree and it would be nothing more than a distant memory.
Zoe's hope was short lived when Wade still wouldn't look her in the eyes and looked like he was ready to break.
"Zoe I found this in my car," Wade said reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the note he had found.
Reaching out she took it and gingerly opened it. Her eyes were over flowing with tears as she read the brief note. It didn't out right say he had cheated but it strongly implied it.
"I wish I could remember what happened, the last thing I remember is getting a lecture from Tucker so I've been looking for him all morning. I figured he could at least point me in the right direction to piece the rest of the night together. I wanted to have answers before I seen you," Wade said wanting to pull her into his arms to comfort her, but he knew he couldn't, not until he knew for sure he didn't cheat.
Gathering all her strength Zoe handed back the note and held his hand. "I appreciate that you're being honest. Let's find George and see if he knows anything," she said pulling him in the direction of George's office.
Frustrated, George ran his hands over his face. He was conflicted, he wanted to tell Zoe what he knew but Tansy was dead set on them staying out of it. He couldn't see the harm in telling Zoe what he knew.
He knew he wasn't getting any work done, stressing about a relationship he wasn't even in, so he tried to focus on the will he was writing up for a client. George had gotten so lost in work he didn't even hear his office door open.
"George, can we ask you something?" Zoe asked causing him to jerk his head up.
"Y-yea, what can I do for the two of you?" he asked. Tansy never said he couldn't answer direct questions he thought with an internal smirk.
"Well, last night the last thing I remember is you lec-talking to me at the bar. I was hopin' you might know what happened after that," Wade said.
"After you got upset with me you went out to the parking lot. I went looking for you not long after and found you outside with Vivian."
Zoe felt her heart start to crack and crumble. Some tramp would have been bad but if it had been her own cousin she wasn't so sure she could take that. She held her breath waiting for more.
"Ya got anythin' else for me?" Wade asked rubbing the back of his neck again.
"When Tansy and I left the bar we seen your car parked on the side of the road. You were passed out in the back seat and Vivian was trying to figure out why the car over heated. We gave her ride a ride back to her hotel and left you there as punishment for your bad attitude," George said chuckling.
"Seriously?! You didn't think to call and tell me he was there so I wouldn't be up all night worrying?" Zoe shrieked.
Wade let out a sigh of relief, he wasn't clear of an angry Zoe but it was better than he could have hoped for. "Thanks Tucker, but what about the note?"
""Apparently you let her rant about her problems and told her to work it out with her husband for Harley."
Zoe smiled and thanked George then pulled Wade out behind her. They walked in silence to a bench by the gazebo and sat down to talk. "Zo-"
"Wade, I'm not happy about how you handled last night, but I want to know why you did it," Zoe said cutting him off.
Wade took a deep breath before he started, "I was scared Doc. I've never had someone believe in me like you do. All I could think about was all the ways I was gonna mess it up. I had a beer hopin' it would calm my nerves until you go there but when you didn' show up one turned into a few."
"I am so sorry I wasn't there. Tom got hurt and then I got lost. Wade I wanted to be there more than anything for you. Next time I promise I will be. I still believe in you, I know you can have your own bar and accomplish anything you set your mind to," Zoe said smiling.
"Thanks Doc, it means a lot I didn't mess everythin' up last night," he said sounding dejected.
"You didn't mess anything up. It wasn't your only chance, you'll find another way to do it," Zoe said leaning over to kiss him gently on the lips.
Wade had other ideas as he pulled her him and deepened the kiss. "How 'bout we go back to your place and go to bed?" he asked with a smirk.
Zoe smiled in agreement. She couldn't think of anything she'd like better.