Thank you all so much for the reviews, I hope you are still enjoying it!
….
Zoe examined the colourful pile of flyers that rested on Lavon's desk. The stack of 200 appeared overnight as she read it with interest.
"It's back folks… THE BLUEBELL BATTLE. March 10th with the grand prize of 5 thousand dollars."
Zoe groaned as she threw the leaflet on the desk and marched into the kitchen.
"The Bluebell Battle? Really Lavon? Are you that strapped for ideas that you feel the need to recycle that event?" She said as she pulled open the fridge door.
"What's wrong with the Bluebell Battle?" He asked feeling slightly confused.
"It was probably one of the worst days of my life." Zoe stated as she poured the milk over her cereal. Lavon only shrugged his shoulders, he couldn't really argue with her. As days go, that was a bad one for Zoe but Annabeth wasn't as content as Lavon.
"I mean surely it couldn't have been that bad. What happened?"
Lavon hung his head as Zoe's face lit up, someone wanted to hear her sob story and she was more than willing to tell it.
"It all started with-"
"Zoe no one needs to hear this –again." Lavon said, interrupting her. Zoe swung around to face Lavon with an unimpressed look on her face.
"Lavon no one cares. AB wants to hear what happen-"
"Zoe wanted George, Wade wanted Zoe, Zoe was oblivious to Wade's feelings and in the end Zoe ended up with no one." Lavon said as he flicked through the paper.
Zoe turned to him and scoffed, she had hoped to tell the story differently, with more angst and really display to Annabeth how the Bluebell Battle really did destroy her life.
"Well I think it's a great idea to raise some money and bring the town together." Annabeth said trying to deflect the attention from Zoe's story.
"Are you guys making a team?" Zoe asked as Wade walked into the kitchen. Instantly her focus switched from Lavon and Annabeth to Wade, he entered silently, almost trying to go unnoticed with a plain expression on his face. Zoe couldn't help but examine him. The way his upper arms protruded through his white t-shirt, with a trail of veins running up and down his tanned arms and his sandy blonde hair pushed to one side. She subtly watched as he reached up and searched the cupboard for a mug. As he stretched up the band of his boxers revealed themselves and that's when Zoe shook her head. What was she doing? Wade was taken and had been taken for a while now. He was happy with Vivian and they were going strong yet Zoe couldn't help but stumble every time he walked into the room.
"Hey Wade." She said shyly as Annabeth looked at her suspiciously but Zoe didn't notice, she was too busy watching Wade fill his bowl with cereal.
"Doc…" he said not really focusing on her but rather on his cereal. He took a seat at the counter and began eating his cereal before stopping suddenly "Lavon, can you remember to put me and Vivian down for a race number on Saturday please."
Zoe's head shot up, moving awkwardly in the spot "For the uh… for the Bluebell Battle?"
Wade nodded, unaware of Zoe's nervous facial expression, "Yeah. Harley is at his dads for the weekend so Vivian's gonna come here and she knows about the battle so she wanted to do it."
Zoe nodded to herself, trying to act casual. Wade looked up at her and smiled "Aren't you guys cousins, I thought she'd have told you."
Zoe paused "We haven't really talked lately, you know, I'm so busy with work and she has Harley and… and you." She said the last part hastily as Annabeth tilted her head, growing more and more curious of Zoe's body language.
"Well she's comin' here this evenin' after she drops Harley off so maybe you can catch up then."
"Yeah, maybe." Zoe said quietly as she played with the warm mug of coffee between her hands.
"I gotta go…" Wade said as he put his bowl in the sink, brushing past Zoe as he made his way for the door. The smell of cologne blocked her nostrils as she tingled.
"See ya man." Lavon said as he looked up from his paper.
"Bye…" Zoe said sweetly as he smiled back at her before rushing out the door. Zoe took a moment to stare at the door before turning back to Annabeth who had a huge grin on her face. She knew what was going on, she could tell from the sparkle in Zoe's eyes that she was smitten but said nothing, instead just smiled.
"What?" Zoe snapped at her but all Annabeth did was smile.
…
"Lavon I am tellin' you, Zoe Hart is fallin' for Wade."
"AB hush, there is nothin' goin' on with Wade and Zoe. Trust me."
Annabeth rolled her eyes "were you in the kitchen this mornin'? She could barely string two words together in front of him!"
Lavon sighed as he closed the book that rested on his lap and looked up at his girlfriend "You really think Zoe wants Wade back?"
Annabeth nodded.
"After all this time… after George and Jonah and Joel and all the other stuff. You think Zoe wants to get back with Wade?"
"Yes I really do." Annabeth said confidently.
"You're crazy." Lavon said as he stood up "Both Wade and Zoe have moved on. Zoe is dealin' with the break-up, she's probably just a bit mixed up."
"Lavon, Zoe and Joel ended 2 months ago and so far I have not seen her shred one tear, made one drunken phone call or cling to his shirt whilst cryin' in bed! Why don't you want Wade and Zoe to happen again?"
"Because!" Lavon said, his voice slightly elevated "Because, they both got so hurt last time…." He rested against the counter as Annabeth came closer to him "When Wade slept with that girl, it almost killed Zoe and when she left for New York, it nearly killed Wade."
Annabeth sighed, she could tell how torn Lavon was, it was clear he hated seeing his friends hurt and that last time it hadn't worked out but she also knew what she saw in Zoe's eyes that morning, that wasn't being 'mixed up' that was falling in love all over again.
"Lavon, can you honestly tell me that you think Wade and Zoe are done forever?"
Lavon looked up. Those big eyes looking his girlfriend up and down as he thought about his answer, his honest answer.
…...
"You know you really didn't have to do this AB. I know how excited you were to take part in the race with Lavon." Zoe said as she set down the shopping bags by her feet as the waiter handed them both a menu.
"Don't be ridiculous. A full day shoppin' with you or a full day runnin' around Bluebell puttin' wheelbarrows together… it was a no brainer!"
Zoe smiled as she skimmed the menu "Are you sure? Because we can still-"
"Zoe, would you stop! Today was fun. What's wrong? Why are you acting so weird? Is it because of the break-up?"
Zoe scoffed "No, it is not. Why does everyone keep thinking that?"
"Well it's just. You haven't really talked about it and we're worried about you."
"Who's we?" she asked suspiciously.
Annabeth looked around "Me, Lavon, Vivian….Wade."
"Wade? Really?"
"Well he is your friend so yeah, we just want to know you're okay."
Zoe smiled softly "I am fine, trust me."
Annabeth paused for a moment, she thought about her and Lavon's conversation but she also thought about that look in Zoe's eye every time Wade passed by "Zoe can I ask you somethin'?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Do you love Wade?"
Zoe's eyes widened as she laughed uncomfortably "Why would you think that?"
"Well it's just… it seems like recently you've really…struggled for words around him. Like you're smitten or somethin'!"
Zoe looked down at her menu and swallowed hard "He's with Vivian AB, I moved on or at least I thought I did and then next thing you know… he really has moved on."
Annabeth looked up at her, the sincerity in her voice spoke volumes.
"He's moved on, and there is nothing I can do about it."
…..
"So that was the Bluebell Battle, I'm sorry we didn't win." Wade said as he led Vivian to her front door. Vivian smiled as she searched for her keys.
"It's okay, I had fun and Crickett deserved to win. Who knew Stanley had it in him huh?" she giggled sweetly as Wade chuckled. He watched Vivian open the door, taking his hand along the way when they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind them. Wade swung around to see Harley standing there with a man, tall with jet black hair. Vivian sighed as she looked at Wade who immediately grew suspicious of the man.
"Wade, Charles…" She said as she ushered Harley inside once he gave Charles a hug goodbye. Wade watched as Vivian had to pry Harley from his father and brushed completely past him, running into the house.
Charles stuck out his hand yet gave him a blank expression. Wade looked at Vivian who was focused on Charles "I thought you weren't bringing him back til 9. It's only half 7."
"I got called into work for 9 and he was gettin' tired."
"He was getting tired or you were getting tired?"
"He was." Charles snapped, glancing at Wade.
"We have an agreement Charles, you can't just-"Vivian sighed as she turned to Wade "Thank you for today Wade, I gotta deal with this but I will call you tomorrow okay?"
Wade rubbed the back of his neck and smiled "Yeah okay." He placed a small kiss on her cheek as he pushed past Charles.
The drive home for Wade was a quiet one, up until now he had sort of convinced himself that Vivian's past was- in the past. That it wouldn't be coming back to visit them but he was wrong, very wrong. As he drove back into town, watching the townspeople take down the banners and bunting from earlier that day he spotted Zoe walking down the road, it was fairly dark and those high-waist shorts were just an invitation for some redneck creep. He pulled up beside her, startling her just a little bit.
"Doc, what are you doin' out here?"
Zoe let out a sigh of relief once she saw it was Wade in the car and not some dirty old farmer "Don't you know not to pull up beside women when it's dark out?"
Wade scoffed "Don't you know not to walk through country roads when it's dark out?" he revved slightly as she continued to walk down the road.
"What are you even doing, why aren't you with Vivian?" Zoe asked casually as she continued to walk, her arms swinging, bursting with sass.
Wade gripped at the steering wheel, breathing in slowly "She had to deal with Charles…"
"Who?" Zoe asked as she looked down at him.
"Her ex!" he sprouted back at her "Do you guys talk at all?"
Zoe shrugged her shoulders "I told you, I'm busy with work."
Wade brushed off her comments; he was too worried about Vivian and Charles to worry about Zoe and her obvious lies.
"Would you just get in the damn car."
"No!" Zoe said adamantly as Wade growled "What is the matter with you, you are crazy!"
"Yeah well maybe I like being crazy Wade!" She quipped back, with a cheeky grin on her face. Wade scoffed as he gave her one last look, he knew she would be just fine but just had to make sure. Zoe looked at him once more before giving him permission to drive off which he duly did. Zoe smiled to herself as she watching his car fade further and further into the distance, he wasn't completely gone she thought to herself, far from it in fact.
…..
I hope you enjoyed it, please review and all that as I am not a mind reader! Thanks