Wade

I had no idea what happened as I watched Zoe book it across the land between her house and mine. I had no idea why she started cryin', aside from the fact that I'd been a royal ass hole whether I meant it that way or not. Apparently the girl was a tad more sensitive than I'd thought.

But now she was upset, and I was insulted. I'd bent my head, my lips inches from hers and she'd denied me. Denied me! Her little games were startin' to piss me off. She wanted Tucker one minute then the next she was crawlin' over to me. Sure, it'd only been a day since she'd been bouncin' back and forth, but even that was too much.

She needed to make up her mind. Pick, me or him. Golden Boy lawyer or bartender. Not much of a competition there, huh?

I pried myself away from the window, and headed back to bed, determined that tomorrow would be a better day.

But I never got to sleep. I tossed and turned all night, replaying the scenario in my head dozens of times until finally I just got up, got dressed and headed to work nearly two hours early, not something I did often.

I unlocked the doors to the Rammer Jammer and headed for the bar. I started to brew myself some coffee, God knows I'd need it. As soon as the coffee was done, I poured a mug and gulped. I could have turned the TV on, or at least the radio, but I didn't. I just sat, drinking the scorching coffee and over thinkin' everything I could have done differently.

An hour passed, I'd downed two and a half cups of coffee and I decided it was late enough to open up the restaurant.

It was a busy day, and I expected the Doc to turn up with a scowl sayin' she needed coffee now, a drink later. But she didn't. Breakfast; no Zoe. Lunch; no Zoe. Dinner; no Zoe.

When 5:00 hit, I was more than ready to go home. I'd talked to no one interesting. Mainly, my conversations for the day revolved around takin' orders, or talkin' to Shelley about food. Which were mostly one sided conversations. Customers tell me what they want, I serve it, or Shelley blabbers about boring stuff, I ignore it.

But at 5:00 the bell on the door chimed, and in walked Mr. Tucker himself. Not who I wanted to see at that point.

Of course he was oblivious to that, and walked himself right on over to me and dropped down onto a bar stool.

"Wade." He nodded, picking up a menu like he didn't already know exactly what was on it.

"George." I forced myself to pretend I didn't want to clock him.

He stopped readin', and picked his head up, checkin' around to see how many people were in the place. Clearly, he was concerned about the aftermath of the wedding and how it affected the townsfolk.

I admit, this was a weak point of mine, but I couldn't help it. "So, you're takin' the Doc out, ah?"

His head shot up, his face twisted. I couldn't help but appreciate the fact that right then he wasn't very nice to look at.

"What?" He cleared his throat. "Wait, she told you?"

I put down the rag in my hands and braced myself against the counter. "Uh, yeah." I paused. "Was she not supposed to?"

"Um, no. She wasn't. We agreed to keep it quiet so it doesn't stir the pot." He thought carefully, before running his hand up to his hair. "Why would she tell you, of all people?" He asked, then quickly added a, "No offense, you two just fight constantly."

I know I shouldn't have been, seeing the Doc's track record, but I was surprised. He didn't know. George Tucker had no idea what was goin' on with his little girlfriend and I. However, I guess I didn't really know what was goin' on between us at that point either. Well, if anything at all was. As much as Zoe talked, she had a hell of a time findin' the right words.

I allowed myself to enjoy the moment a little longer, makin' him sweat before I said anythin'.

"She didn't tell you?" I asked, my astonishment playing onto my face.

He looked shocked. "Tell me what?"

"Oh, no, no, no." I shook my head, picking up the rag again and turning to get to work on some more glasses. "I'm not getting' myself in trouble."

I kept my back to him, but I could definitely tell he wasn't feelin' too hot right then. However, I figured I'd done right by not outing the Doc. She would have been pissed if I'd told him she slept with me the night he canceled his weddin' and as much as I wanted the girl, I didn't want to truly hurt George. That was Zoe's job. She had to tell the truth eventually, why not sooner rather than later?

Plus, at least I could claim ignorance, because I truly wasn't aware that she was supposed to keep her little date a secret.

I knew I was being childish, but I didn't really care, because I'd won this round.

Zoe

It was dinnertime, and I was starving. I'd never realized how much I depended on the Rammer Jammer for food, and daily at that. It couldn't be healthy.

I hadn't eaten all day. I'd poured myself a cup of coffee this morning, desperately hoping I could get away with it without blowing a fuse.

My cup got about half way through before it shut down, and that was with the rest of the power in the house off. Lucky for me, I didn't hear a Dammit, Zoe! from next door, so I figured the coast was clear.

Now, it was past 5:30, and the only thing I'd had was that half cup of coffee that wasn't so spectacular, and three pieces of candy that I stole out of the jar on Addie's desk. The worst part? I was so hungry I didn't even sneak it. I had snagged the candy right in front of her.

Addie had given me that motherly stern look, "Zoe Hart," She said, "Go get yourself somethin' to eat."

But of course I'd ignored her and retreated to my patient-free office. Everyone had headed on over to Brick for the day, I assumed because they wanted to hear about Lemon's reaction, and avoid me – the home wrecker. I couldn't blame them. I was feeling pretty shitty about it myself, until Addie declared that it was all Lemon's fault and informed me that now everyone was talking about the mayor.

I couldn't help but feel relieved. Sure, I didn't want Lavon to take all of the heat when I deserved it too, but it was nice that nobody talked about me at that point. Even if it was because nobody cared.

I packed my things up, shoved my arms through the sleeves of my sweater and sped out the door. My day was done. I could finally go home, lock the door and pretend I didn't exist.

However as soon as my heels hit the gravel in front of the house I stopped dead in my tracks. There he was.

George sat with his head dropped, hands folded, on the rickety old steps in front of the door.

I stretched my fingers and took a deep breath before continuing towards him. What did I do now?

He lifted his head and smiled at me. He looked calm, but I could tell otherwise by the way he clenched his fists together.

He pushed up on his knees and stood, "So I talked to Wade."

There it was. I was in trouble. I pushed past him and into my house, leaving the door ajar so he could follow. "Oh yeah? When?" I asked, dropping my things onto the end of my bed, my shoes still on and clicking against the floorboards.

"About an hour ago." He said, shifting uncomfortably.

"And?" I was instantly insecure.

"And he seems to think that there's something you should tell me."

I sat down at the edge of my bed, pulling off my shoes and dropping them beside me. "As in?"

"Like why you told him about out date when we agreed to keep it a secret." He sighed. "You were the one that stressed that, Zoe. You were the one that wanted nobody to know, so why tell Wade Kinsella, of all people?"

I felt my stomach twist as George sneered Wade's name. "Um." I didn't know where to begin.

I waited for George to cut me off like Wade was famous for doing, but he didn't. He sat, patiently and silently, awaiting my answer.

"Because." I managed.

"Because why?" He countered.

I felt the words rising in my throat. I knew I was going to end up blowing it but I believed that it would take more than a few days to do so. As usual, I just needed to come out with it. Spill. Confess. Now.

"I slept with him." I mumbled, dropping my head. There, it was all out.

I awaited some screaming, or at least a hostile tone but it never came. I looked up at him. He was sitting now across the room.

When his eyes met mine he finally spoke. "You slept with him."

It wasn't a question, but I felt like I should respond anyway. "Yes." I nodded.

"When?"

"Before you showed up at my doorstep a few nights ago." I whispered. "I thought you were, you know, getting married. Unattainable. Gone."

Now I wanted to slap myself. Those words were only partially true. I hadn't just slept with Wade because I was upset that George was getting married. I'd slept with Wade because I'd wanted to. He was right, there was something there. Something that we had to explore. Something we had to figure out no matter what the consequences, and that was probably the one thing I'd done recently that I didn't regret.

"I'm gonna just.." He trailed off, standing up again and heading for the door.

I stood up, "George, wait."

He stopped walking and turned around. I didn't go closer, I didn't dare. "So that's it?" I asked, not sure what I wanted his answer to be. A yes would decide everything for me. Make life that much easier. But, a no wouldn't hurt. A no would mean that whatever George and I had, like whatever Wade and I had, could have a chance. A trial run at the very least.

"That seems like more of a decision for you to make, not me." He paused, his eyes locking with mine. "I love you, Zoe Hart. But can you say the same?"

I opened my mouth to answer, even though I wasn't sure what I would say. He didn't give me a chance, anyway, which I was silently thankful for. Instead, he turned and left. Just like that.

George loves me. I thought. But, after all this time I should be jumping for joy, running after him, anything other than standing in the middle of my bedroom thinking about someone else.

There, the majority of the secrets are out.

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