Author's Note: I started this story a while ago, and sort of forgot about it. Well, not forgot, but as you know, I have a lot of other stories going, and I just didn't really focus on it. Then rainonmonday, a great Zade writer, came out with a new one called Away From Nothing. It reminded me of this one; the stories are very different, but there are some similarities in the premise. Anyway, since I just finished Second Chances, I figured I could post a new one.
This story was inspired by a review I got on one of my other stories, Second Chances:
"I could see Zoe being happy with George if Wade wasn't in the picture" – Dyseskytten
This got me thinking, and the wheels were turning, and this is what came out. Don't worry, it's Zade. So, here's the premise. Zoe and George met while he was in New York working for that law firm. Lemon and George split because they could not make long distance work. Lemon got with Lavon (naturally) and George got with Zoe. They've been together for a couple years now, and are living together. George decides it is time to show Zoe where he grew up, so he takes her back to Bluebell. In this story, Harley is still her father, but her mother never told him he fathered a child, so he never offered her the job. He is, however, still alive, and her unexpected arrival in his hometown may change things in ways neither of them saw coming, but what is really unexpected it George's old best friend who is nothing like Zoe would think George's friend would be.
The Best Friend
Chapter One
Zoe stared out the window, trying to remind herself that where they were heading was a part of who George was. She loved him, so where he came from could not possibly be as bad a she expected. Okay, so, the bus didn't even go this far, and the road was narrow and surrounded by greenery, and there wasn't a mall or a pizza place in sight, but what did that matter? And, sure, she had never heard of this place, and she could not find it on a map, and people probably said ya'll and went to square dances, but … Zoe sighed. Who was she kidding? She was dreading this. She wanted to know George completely, she wanted to see where he came from, but she was so far from a country girl.
"You'll survive." She heard George say next to her.
"What?"
"We don't have to stay long."
"I don't mind." Zoe lied.
"Uh-huh. So, you gonna tell me you weren't just starin' out that window dreadin' this, tryin' to convince yourself you were gonna enjoy it."
Sometimes she hated how well he knew her, "For your information, I was just admiring the beautiful foliage."
George chuckled, "Yeah, sure."
"I just don't know how to act. I've never been down south. All I have to go on is Melanie Smooter and Jake Perry."
"Just act like you."
"So, you won't leave me if I don't automatically develop an accent?" She teased.
"I would kiss you right now to show you how much I won't leave you, but I'm drivin' and I don't want us gettin' in an accident."
"So, what? I'm not worth a little paralysis?"
"If it were just me in the car, you would be, but I don't want you gettin' hurt."
"I love how you look out for me."
He smiled at her, and she did that cute, lip-biting thing that drove him crazy, "That's it, I'm pullin' over."
"On the side of the road?" Zoe asked, giggling.
"What can I say, Dr. Hart, I just can't help myself."
"Will you stop that?" Wade said as he poured her another drink. Lemon had been sitting there, making an annoying tapping noise for the past forty minutes.
"George is comin' back. To Bluebell."
"I know."
"He's gonna be here. In town."
"So I assumed."
"Well, don't you know what that means?"
"That you're gonna have a classic Lemon Breeland nervous breakdown?"
"I haven't seen George in over three years."
"Are you just gonna keep statin' facts?"
"How can you not be freakin' out? He was your best friend."
"Yeah, and it'll be nice to see him."
"You aren't pissed at him for leavin'?"
"What, for goin' into the world and makin' somethin' of himself? Heck no. Jealous maybe, but not pissed."
"Don't tell me you're thinkin' of leavin'."
"I've been thinkin' of leavin' since I hit puberty Lemon, but we both know I can't. Not so long as Earl … point is, I'm stuck here. Tucker got out. Good for him."
"He abandoned me!"
"Yeah, noticed how heartbroken you were when you were constantly comin' out of Lavon's bedroom wearin' one of his shirts." Lemon blushed. Wade chuckled and refilled her drink, "Lemon, I get that you and George got a lot of history, but that's the thing about history. It's in the past. Hakuna Matata, or whatever."
"Are you quotin' a kids movie to me?"
Wade shrugged "Seemed appropriate."
She was silent for a bit, "He's bringin' a girl you know?"
"Why do you keep askin' me if I know things that you know I know?"
"I'm just sayin', bringin' her here, they must be pretty serious."
"So? Lemon, you both moved on. It's all good. Now stop freakin' out about him gettin' here, because it's distractin', and I got other customers."
"Isn't it almost time for you to close?"
"Yeah, it is, and if you wanna hang around I'll give you a ride back to the plantation, provided you promise not to bring up Tucker or his mystery girl."
"Fine." Lemon said petulantly.
"You know, this isn't so bad." Zoe said as she looked around the place. "What I don't get is why you still have it."
"Well, that's what I came back to settle. For a while, New York was temporary, I wasn't sure, but now … I guess I put off sellin' this place because it was just nice knowin' it was here to fall back on incase everything in New York just went south."
"And now …"
"Now, I got more than a place to live in New York. I got a home."
"What makes it a home?"
"Someone to come home to."
"George Tucker, are you asking me to move in with you?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Oh my god! When you brought me down here, I was so scared you were thinking of moving back or … or you were going to try and convince me to move down here or something."
"Zoe, I left Bluebell for a reason. I got nothin' tyin' me here anymore."
"This is unbelievable! I can't believe you want to live together!"
"So, was that a yes, or … ?"
"Oh, sorry, right. I have to actually officially answer, don't I?"
"Well, it doesn't have to be official, but-"
"Ask me again."
"Okay. Zoe,-"
"Wait, wait." Zoe took a few deep breaths and stood up straight, "Okay, go."
George chuckled, "Zoe Hart, will you move in with me?"
"Yes."
"Is that you're final answer?"
Zoe laughed, "Just shut up and kiss me."
"Yes ma'am."
Wade was walking back to the Rammer Jammer. He had been on his lunch break, so he figured he would stop and see if George got in okay, but nobody had answered, so he figured either George hadn't gotten in yet, had gone out, or was still asleep. The last was unlikely, seeing as it was almost one in the afternoon, but maybe New York had made George a late sleeper. The George Tucker Wade remembered was an early riser, but people change. Still, Wade was looking forward to seeing his old friend.
He was halfway there when he spotted her. She was gorgeous. There was no other word for it. Well, actually, there were other words, hot, sexy, both of which described her, but for some reason, gorgeous seemed to shoot to the top of the list. She had chocolate brown hair, which was flowing freely in the breeze. She was wearing the shortest shorts he had ever seen, and they showed off her perfectly shaped legs. When she turned and he saw her face, his breath stopped for a second. Her face certainly matched her body. She had beautiful hazel anime eyes and pink lips that … Wade shook himself out of it. You'd think he'd never seen a pretty girl before, which was the farthest thing from the truth. Then he noticed how she was looking around and she kept consulting a piece of paper. A map maybe? It would make sense. She definitely was not a local. If she were, he would have seen her before, and if he had seen her before, he would have remembered.
He headed in her direction, walking with his classic proud swagger and wearing his classic smirk. It was a deadly combination, "Hey, you lost?"
She turned to him but kept her eyes on her map, "Um, I don't know. I'm looking for this bar. I can't remember what it's called - "
"The Rammer Jammer."
She looked up from the map. He tried to keep his cool, even if her eyes were more mesmerizing up-close, "That sounds familiar. How'd you guess?"
Wade chuckled, "We only got one bar here. It was a pretty safe bet."
"Oh."
"Listen, as it happens, I was just headin' there myself. You can come with me if you like."
She looked him up and down, biting her lip. He felt like she was examining him, subjecting him to some test. If she was, he must have passed, "Okay. Thanks."
"Pleasure's all mine. I'm Wade by the way." He held out his and she took it. Her hand was so tiny and soft, but her handshake was firm and confident. "Zoe."
"Nice meetin' you." He started walking and she followed. Well, she wasn't actually following him in the sense that she was walking next to him as opposed to behind, but she was following his lead.
"So, I take it you're not from around here?" It was an obvious question, but it was as good a conversation starter as any.
"God no."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, sorry. I mean, I'm sure it's … charming and everything. It's just not me."
"City girl, huh?"
"Born and bred."
"Well, city girl, if you are so opposed to charmin', why are you down here?"
"Because I was asked nicely by somebody I care about, and I was promised that I wouldn't have to stay long."
Wade nodded. That either meant family or boyfriend. He considered asking, but he decided if it was the second one, he'd just as soon not know.
"Well, maybe the Rammer Jammer will change your mind. Gotta be better than all those sleazy bars in New York."
"Okay, you've got me there." She said with a chuckle. "But you said there is only one bar. That's gotta be rough."
"Why, you hit the liquor hard?"
"No, but people like options. Okay, suppose you just broke up with somebody, and you want to go out with your friends and have some beers to feel better. But, you're ex has the same idea. And there is only one bar in town, meaning it's the only place you can both go."
Wade chuckled, "Okay, point taken." He tried to think of something to say. She was sort of fun to talk to, but he got the feeling that she was a little smarter than him, a little worldlier. For the first time in his life, he actually cared about how the other person might take what he would say. He did not want to come off as some idiot or going nowhere hick. This is stupid, he told himself, soon we'll be at the The Rammer Jammer, and she'll find out you're a bartender, and any interest she might have will just disappear. Plus, like she said, she's a city girl, and there ain't a snowballs chance in hell I'll ever end up in the city.
"You okay?" she asked, smiling up at him, "You seem kind of quiet."
Her smile was beautiful, and it gave him an unfamiliar, but not completely unwelcome warm feeling, "Yeah, fine just … contemplatin'." She nodded, "So, how long you figure you'll be in town?"
She shrugged, "Hopefully not too long. Again, no offense, but I'd really rather be at the hospital right about now."
Wade stopped walking and stared at her like she was crazy, "You'd rather be injured than have to endure small town life?"
She let out an almost giggle, but held it back, "No, I didn't mean like that. I'm a doctor."
"Really?" Wade asked, raising his eyebrow skeptically.
"Yes really." She responded, offense clear in her face and in her tone, "Why is that so hard to believe?"
"It's not. It's just, doesn't med school take, like, a million years to complete?"
"Five."
"Well, you look way too young to be a doctor. I mean, I'm sure you're a great one, but we only got two doctors in this town and there both kinda old."
"Are they also men?" Zoe asked, raising her eyebrow in challenge.
"Yes. But that wasn't the part that threw me. And, no disrespect to them either, I mean, they're great doctors, but I gotta say, if I knew there were ones 'at looked like you out there, I would've switched a long time ago."
Zoe blushed, "I'm, uh, not really sure how to respond to that."
Wade just shrugged, "So, doctor, huh?"
"Yep."
"What that like?" This was insane. He was asking about her life, her interests. He never asked about that sort of stuff, and if he did, he never actually listened, he was never actually curious. For goodness sake, he met this girl less than five minutes ago. How was it possible she was already having such an effect on him?
"Exciting. I'm almost done with my residency, and then I'm up for the cardiothoracic fellowship, which, not to sound arrogant, but I am a shoe in for."
Wade shook his head chuckling, "Ain't arrogant to know you're good at what you do." She gifted him with another smile, "So, uh, I don't exactly have a medical background. Just out of curiosity-"
"Well, when you are training to be a doctor there are all these different levels. In the case of cardiac- that's heart related- usually you can skip some of the stuff, like the internships, so you go pretty much go from graduating med school to a residency, which is like an internship, but paid, and way more intense. It's incredible actually, getting that kind of hands on experience, applying everything you learned so those long nights cramming for Finals when you could have been sleeping start to seem worth it. It's amazing, going into the rooms and getting to actually operate on another human being. Getting to save somebody's life. There is just, no feeling in the world like it," He loved the way her face had lit up as she went into detail, telling him about different surgeries she had been a part of and doctors she had gotten to work with. He could only follow a third of it, and he was pretty sure she had forgotten his original question, but the way she had come alive was just so … he didn't want to interrupt and take that look out of her eye, "But the thing about a residency, at least in the case of cardiothoracic, or thoracic meaning lungs, anyway, if that's what you're looking into specializing in, you have to do your residency in general surgery. It's a five year program, and when it's over, you get, hopefully, recommended by the doctor who supervised and trained you, for a fellowship, where you get to specialize, focus specifically on the field you want to be involved in. There are only so many spots, and the competition is tough, but," she paused and looked down a little. For a minute he thought maybe she was upset about something, but when she looked back up, she was still smiling. "I really think I'm gonna get it." Her voice was sort of proud, sort of guilty, and a little mischievous. It was clear that she wanted to be modest, but she wasn't. Wade smirked.
"Based on those stories of all the lives you saved, they'd be crazy not to give it to you." She blushed again and brushed her hair back behind her ear.
Wade stopped walking, "Well, here it is." He said, disappointed that they had reached their destination.
Zoe looked confused for a minute, probably forgetting how this all started, but then she seemed to come back to it, "This is the bar?"
"In all it's awkward ex reunion glory."
She chuckled again. He liked hearing her chuckle, and more than that, he liked being responsible for it.
"Wade." Shelley called, or rather, yelled, the second he was inside, "Where you been? Your break ended ten minutes ago."
"Sorry Shell, got caught up in somethin'." He said as he headed behind the counter.
"It was my fault." Zoe said, walking up to the counter.
"Who are you? Oh wait, let me guest, Wade's latest conquest?"
"Excuse me?" Zoe's eyes widened a little in a combination of offense and surprise.
"Uh, Shell." Wade tried to get her attention. He had a bad feeling about this, and he really wanted to shut her up.
"Look, you want to hop into bed with him, that's your business, more power to you, but I got somewhere to be, and whatever kinky thing you two were doin' is no excuse for him bein' late when he knows what I have goin' on today. It's not like you couldn't hookup with him after work, that's pretty much all he does when he's not here."
Zoe's eyes were pretty wide at this point. Wade cleared his throat awkwardly, "Shell, she was just lost, I helped her find the bar. That's it."
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I gotta go, and if Dr. Breeland let's the next person in, and I have to wait-"
"Stop wastin' time and go already!"
Once she left, Wade turned to Zoe. The way she was looking at him made him feel more uncomfortable than he had in a long time, "Latest conquest?"
"She's, uh, usually a lot nicer 'an that. Must be havin' a bad day."
"Why would she just assume we were having sex?"
"Uh …" he didn't know what to say. His mouth was starting to dry up, and he knew he would give anything to be anywhere but here right now.
"Is that true, that that's all you do when you're off the clock?"
"That's kind of an exaggeration-"
"How much of an exaggeration?" Wade didn't speak, "Is that why you helped me? To get in my pants? Here I thought you were a nice guy, being helpful, small-town charm, but all you had on your mind was how to get me into bed. What, did you look at me and think, 'Oh, some innocent lost stranger, easy pray?' Because for your information, I am not easy pray. I am not just some girl you can smooth talk into bed. First off, you are so far from my type, and second, I would never just 'hop into bed' with some guy I just met. Besides, I have a boyfriend, but even if I didn't, the fact that you thought you could just-"
"Hey, hey, slow down. Look, I'm not gonna pretend that I'm not 'that guy.' Yeah, I sleep around. It's my life, and it's the only one I'm ever gonna get. I'm gonna enjoy it while I can. And sure, I noticed you're hot, I'm not blind, but I really was just tryin' to help you out."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because, trust me sweetheart, if I had been tryin' to get you into bed, Shelley would have been right about why I was late." He winked at her.
Zoe's face reddened. Whether it was with anger or embarrassment, Wade couldn't tell, "What is wrong with you?"
"Just tellin' it like it is. If I decided I wanted to have you, I'd've had you on your back in three minutes tops."
"Yeah, and I'm guessing that's about how much time it would be before you were done."
"Not true. I aim to please, and I can get references."
"Well, it doesn't matter, because it never would have happened."
"Believe what you want, but you haven't seen me in action."
"Did you miss the bit about me having a boyfriend?"
"He wouldn't have to know."
"You're such a pig. I can't believe I actually thought you were a nice guy. I should have gone with my first instinct."
"Which was what?"
She smiled, "Brainless hillbilly and possible rapist."
"Hey." Zoe turned at his voice, so glad to hear him.
Before she could respond, Wade did, "Tucker. Hey man, good to have you back. How's New York treatin' ya?"
"Good, it's great to see ya."
Uh-oh. Zoe thought. A conversation she had had with George once resurfaced in her mind, "I miss him a little sometimes,"
"What, I'm not enough?" Zoe teased.
"You, Dr. Hart, are more than enough. But, you know, a guy misses his best friend."
"Well, maybe you could convince him to move down here."
"I doubt it. He's pretty happy doin' what he's doin'. 'Sides, it's a lot harder to get a job bartendin' in New York than in Bluebell."
Oh god. Please no, please no, please no, Zoe prayed, but it appeared her payers were falling on deaf ears. The camaraderie was pretty obvious.
George took a seat next to Zoe, "You found it, huh?"
"I told you I would." Zoe said, trying to ignore how uncomfortable she felt.
"I should never underestimate you."
"Well, honestly, somebody helped me out." She said, pointing to Wade. Might as well get this over with.
"Oh, good, then you two have met."
"Yeah." Wade choked out, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in his gut.
"Great. Although, I was kind of hoping to get to do a big introduction, ya know, show you off a little." Zoe smiled and blushed. Wade felt sick.
"So, you two are …" he let it hang there.
"Yeah, two amazin' years, and as of last night, this lovely lady agreed to move in with me."
"Wow, good for you buddy."
Wade was taking out the trash behind The Rammer Jammer when he heard the click of her heels. He looked up, feeling a sinking in the pit of his stomach. He should not have been surprised. Of course a girl like her would be taken. It didn't matter anymore anyway. Now that he knew this girl was the supposed love of his friend's life, he knew he needed to fix things and make nice.
"Hey." He called after her.
Zoe ignored him and kept walking.
"Listen, I want to apologize." She stopped and turned to him. After folding her arms, she motioned for him to go on, "I'm sorry for … comin' on to you. I didn't know you and Tucker … I never would've-"
"I told you I had a boyfriend."
"Yeah, but I didn't know it was Tucker." He said with a scoff. She had only told him that a minute before George had shown up.
"So, you're only sorry because my boyfriend turns out to be your best friend?"
"I feel like there's no right answer to that question." Zoe rolled her eyes and started to turn around, "You let me flirt with you." he called out. He didn't know why he said it, but there it was. He had to admit, he was kind of annoyed with her holier than thou attitude. It wasn't like she was all innocent. Besides, he was curious. Because she had flirted with him, he was sure of that. She hadn't even mentioned a boyfriend until after Shelley sold him out.
"What?"
"Yeah. Before, when we were walkin' to the bar, before you decided I was a brainless hillbilly, we were walkin' and gettin' along and I flirted a little with you. And you let me. Hittin' on a girl with a boyfriend is one thing. Flirtin' back when you are the girl with the boyfriend however-"
"I did not flirt back!"
"Oh, please, the smilin', chucklin' at my jokes, blushin' at my complements, the coy lip bitin'."
"Smiling is being polite, as is laughing when somebody tells a joke. Blushing is not something I can control, and I have not clue what you mean by coy lip biting."
"Sounds like a lot of excuses to me."
"Maybe you just don't know how to hear the word no."
" 'Cept you never said no. Even if you didn't flirt back, which you did, but we'll table that for now, but even if you didn't flirt back, you didn't exactly tell me to stop either. You didn't say, 'I'm with somebody.' Like you probably shoulda."
Zoe started to refute him, "I …" then she stopped. Why hadn't she said anything? It wasn't like he had been really subtle. He was being nice, but it was clear he was also flirting a little, and she had just let him. She had not mentioned George. Why hadn't she mentioned George? Wade was right, she should have. She felt a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach. What the hell was wrong with her?
When Zoe was a little girl, her father had up and left for no reason, and on the rare occasions she saw him, he treated her coldly, not like a daughter who he loved. She knew she had done something wrong. Why else would he leave? Why else would he shut her out? She knew kids who's parent's had split, and whichever parent had left had always kept in touch. With her, he had avoided her like the plague. She loved him so much, but somehow, without even realizing it, she had done something to drive him away. Ever since, whenever she felt herself getting too attached to somebody, she would get this ache in her chest, this heart clenching terror. This person was going to walk away from her, going to break her heart. She just knew it.
It was usually twenty months into a relationship, like clockwork. If a guy still wanted to be with her after twenty months, she would end it. She would start to find him annoying, pick a big fight about him leaving his socks around or how he was always late, or that he picked up the wrong prescription at the pharmacy, storm out, and never look back.
With George, that had not happened. She kept expecting it to, expecting to start finding him annoying, expecting herself to pick something dumb and irrational to fight about, but she didn't. As of one month ago, her and George had been together longer than she had ever been in a relationship with anybody. In every other case, once they hit that point, she had run, but everytime George did something that with any other guy she would have used as an excuse to run, she had just found him more endearing than ever, and every day she just loved him more and more.
She finally had to admit to herself that this was real love. They had said it after a year, but Zoe had figured it was like with all the other guys, where you think you mean it at the time, but then it fades and you realize it is just infatuation or puppy love or something dumb like that. But no, with George, it was real love, and she had never in her life been this happy. And last night, he had asked her to move in with him, something that had never happened, and she had said yes.
Things were perfect. George was perfect. But she just couldn't help herself. Things were going too good, and she had tried to sabotage it, just like she always did when she felt like somebody was getting to close. A guy had flirted with her, and she had let him.
She broke down, tears streaming down her face. She felt her legs go weak beneath her. She hated herself. She was an idiot. Why couldn't she just let herself be happy?
Wade's eyes got wide as he watched her go from speechless to girl-interrupted. He panicked. He was not good with crying. Then, he noticed her swaying a little bit, "Whoa." He caught her before she collapsed on the pavement and helped her sit. She was still crying, but she was also starting to hyperventilate and, yep, those were hiccups. How was she doing this all at the same time?
"Hey, calm down, all right." he looked around, hoping somebody would be walking by and he could tag the person in. No such luck.
"George is going to break up with me." She said through the tears, the hiccups, and the hyperventilating. How the hell was she talking with all this other stuff going on? "He's going to leave me. And I deserve it. I'm a horrible, (hiccup) horrible (hiccup) person, and a (hiccup) horrible girlfriend, and-"
"Whoa, hey, slow down a minute." She was talking so fast he was surprised he had gotten it all, "Listen, George ain't gonna dump you okay?"
She shook her head, "Yes he is. He's going to find out that I -"
"No. No he's not, okay. I won't say a word, promise." He smiled at her reassuringly, but she just shook her head again.
"But, but I still did it. Even if he doesn't find out, I still-"
"You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't lie or cheat or any of that shit. You just flirted, barely."
"I didn't even mention him. I should have said-"
"Listen, I was just bustin' on you before. You went after me so I fought back, but the truth is, you did nothin' wrong. Maybe you just, I don't know, needed the ego boost. Made it felt good to have a guy comin' on to you or somethin'."
"But I still-"
"You did nothin' wrong. Everybody flirts. It doesn't mean anything. Seriously. Didn't you ever see that episode of Friends with the flirtin' thing?" He was embarrassed that he even knew that reference, but he had been with a girl once who was obsessed with that show. He actually remembered the show better than he remembered her. "That couple, both of 'em flirted with other people, but they don't break up, and then later in the series, they get married an' have babies an' everythin'. See. It don't mean a thing."
She was starting to calm down, sniffling, but not all out crying, and while she still had the hiccups, they were less frequent, and she wasn't hyperventilating at all. She looked up at him hopefully. "Really?" she asked between sniffles. He nodded.
She let out a sort of awkward, embarrassed laugh. "God, I must look like a mess." It was true. Her mascara had run down her cheeks, and her eyes were red and puffy. Still, he couldn't help thinking she was beautiful, which he was trying so hard not to read anything into. Because she was with George, his best friend. And he would never do anything. And really, he shouldn't be surprised. She was just the sort of girl he could see falling for George. And he barely even knew her. Right there and then, he made a promise to himself to be her friend, nothing more, nothing less.
"Naw, just a couple smudges." He said, digging a napkin out of his pocket and giving it to her. She examined it skeptically, gave it back, and wiped at her face with her hands. He couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, clearly offended.
He shook his head, "I'm not laughin' at you. Scouts honor. It's just … you're such a Yankee, rather wipe your eyes with your hands than a napkin 'cause you don't know where it's been."
"I know where it's been, your pocket, and you don't seem like the type who does his laundry every day."
"Who would do their laundry everyday? What a waste of water. Sweetheart, down here, we try to conserve that stuff."
She chuckled a little. He noticed that she was smiling. He did it; he cheered her up. At least, it seemed that way. "Thanks." She said, confirming his suspicion. Still, he wanted to hear it.
"What for?"
"Not running when I morphed into a lunatic."
He smiled, "That's small towns for you. People are neighborly. Guess this place isn't as bad as you thought, huh?"
She chuckled, "Well, I'm not changing my name to Daisy and entering a pie in the county fair any time soon."
"That's good. Daisy's a stupid name. I've been with Daisy's, and let me tell you, the only thing dumber than the name Daisy is girls named Daisy." She smirked and looked up at him, "'Sides, Zoe suits you." She nodded.
Their eyes locked, and he felt his breath catch in his throat. He couldn't think, or move. His heart was beating a million miles a minute.
Then, she looked away, and the moment or whatever it had been was broken. Wade cursed himself for getting caught up in it in the first place. Had he not just made a promise to himself? Was George not his best friend? Plus, this girl seemed pretty high maintenance, and Wade neither knew how to, nor had any desire to deal with that. Still, something told him that with this girl, it would be worth it.
"Well, I should … " she motioned in front of her.
"Oh, yeah, right, of course." Wade said, standing, and holding out his hand to help her up. When her skin made contact with his, he almost slapped himself. He helped her up as quickly as possible, and quickly released her hand. Then, he gave her a clear path to the direction she had been heading in before he flagged her down.
"Thanks." He nodded, "You know, maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you aren't so bad after all."
"Well, will you make up your mind already?" she laughed, and he chuckled a little too.
Then he watched her walk away.
What the hell was that? She had thought she had just flirted because it was her patterned, she sabotaged her relationships, making them fall apart so she could leave before he did, but that moment with Wade just now … she shook her head. That was a fluke. She loved George. Loved him so much to stay with him at the point when she would normally run, loved him so much to move in with him, loved him so much to follow him down to this pit in the middle of nowhere … 'That's small towns for you. People are neighborly.' She shook her head again. This was George's best friend, and she had already almost destroyed everything she and George had today, she was not doing it again by over thinking one stupid eye-contact moment.
"Hey." George said when he saw her, "Where'd you get off to?"
"I was … just exploring."
"You're amazing. Explorin' a town you didn't even want to come to."
"Well, I figured, as long as I'm here, I might as well try country out a little."
"I'm glad to hear you say that 'cause, well, I have some bad news."
"What's wrong?"
"This guy whose lawyer I used to be back when I lived here, Harley Wilkes, well, he's havin' some legal trouble and … we're gonna maybe need to stay a little longer than I intended."
Zoe's mind immediately went to Wade, the fact that she would get to be around him more. A part of her liked the idea, and another part was terrified by it. What if she did something stupid? She could loose George. She loved him so much. He was the sweetest, smartest, funniest, most amazing guy she had ever known. But what if she didn't have as much will power as she gave herself credit for. What if she gave into her worse nature, the nature that felt the need to sabotage her relationships just when they were getting good? What if she let herself throw what she had with George away for meaningless flirting and eye contact?
But George didn't want to stay; she knew that. He had to stay. He was being loyal and honorable, two of the million things she loved about him. And when you love somebody, you are supportive of them. So, she gave him the best smile she could manage, and squeaked out her most convincing, "Yea."
Whoever this Harley guy was, she prayed to god that George was able to wrap up his problems in less than a week. In the mean time, she would try to make the best of a bad situation. Stuck in a tiny town in the sticks that had a hot bartender who just happened to be best friends with the guy she was in love with. What could possibly go wrong?
Author's Note: So, what do you think? Do you want me to continue? I hope you like it. I know the title is a little lame. I was going to call it My Best Friend's Girl, but there's this movie with that title, and the premise is something I might want to use for a Zade story in the future, so I didn't want to use it up here. I'm anxious for reviews. Please let me know what you think. Have a good day.