….

Zoe flipped over the pancake as it sizzled, she bounced back a little as some of the batter snapped out at her. She kept her hand firm on the handle of the frying pan as Lavon and Annabeth watched on in awe.

"So you got up this mornin' and she was just... makin' pancakes?" Lavon whispered as he watched Zoe poke at the pancake with a spatula.

Annabeth nodded her head "She's been at this for a half hour."

"And she's only made one pancake?"

"The first few didn't go so well."

Lavon nodded as Zoe flipped the pancake onto the plate resting beside the hot rings and beamed when it landed safely. She looked up at Lavon and Annabeth who gave her a thumbs up of approval before letting her pour some fresh batter into the pan.

"Hey Zoe, are we allowed to eat the pancakes?" Lavon asked as he eyed up the fluffy pancake sitting in front of him.

Zoe looked over the kitchen door, as she gripped at the spatula she hoped the door would open and Wade would walk in. Annabeth followed Zoe's eyes as she shook her head.

"You know pancakes won't show him you're sorry, they'll just make him fat." Annabeth said as she poured herself some coffee.

Zoe retreated and refocused herself on the frying pan "I know…" she said shyly "…I just want to do something nice for him. You know I never really thought out my whole 'I want to fight for you' thing, I've kinda hit a roadblock."

"How exactly?" Lavon asked as he picked at the pancake.

"Well, how do I fight for him? I mean besides delightful ready-make pancakes?"

"I knew there was no way you actually made these." Lavon said as he poured some syrup over the pancake and Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Mornin'!" Wade said as he entered the kitchen with the biggest smile on his face. Immediately his eyes fell onto Zoe with the spatula in her hand and the apron tied around her waist. He smiled sweetly at her as Lavon and Annabeth watched on.

"Pancakes?" Wade asked as he ventured closer to her.

Annabeth reached for the bottle of ready-made mixture and hid it under counter before Wade could see all Zoe had to do was pour contents into a pan "Yeah, seems we got ourselves our very own… name a famous chief and that's Zoe!"

Wade chuckled a bit as he examined the pancake "You really made this?"

"Yep. You want some?"

Wade looked over at Lavon and Annabeth before looking back down on Zoe who he was now standing beside, their clothes brushing together.

"I was actually goin' to ask you if you wanted to go to breakfast with me but seen as you've done all this sure, I'd love some."

Zoe scoffed as Wade turned away, why did she have to be productive? If she had been her normal self and just made coffee her and Wade would be eating breakfast together, just the two of them.

"Good pancakes Doc." Wade said as he devoured his breakfast as the rest watched on.

"I'm glad you liked them. We don't want you to go to work on an empty stomach now do we?!" Zoe said as she laughed awkwardly and Lavon cringed.

"I'm actually glad all you guys are here cause I gotta tell you somethin'."

Zoe looked at him anxiously, suddenly feeling nervous "Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothin' is wrong it's just… well we're havin' a party, thing at the Rammer Jammer this Saturday, to celebrate 1 year of me not running it into the ground." He laughed lightly as Lavon and Annabeth smiled.

"One year? Wow, time flies huh?"

Zoe's eyes remained fixed on the table as they scrambled frantically, her palms got all sweaty and her throat went dry.

"It really has been a year hasn't it?"

Wade dropped his head "Yeah… I just, I wanted to tell you guys first because I want you all to be there."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lavon said proudly and Annabeth agreed but Wade was too focused on Zoe to care. He bit his tongue as he waited for her answer but Zoe couldn't give him one. Suddenly her mind was filled with memories from a year ago and her bones were stiff with hurt. She looked at him, smiled and told him she'd do her best to make it before leaving for work and leaving Wade feeling like crap.

….

Wade clinched his fists together and took long, concentrated breaths as he waited for Dash to order.

"What's on the chicken burger?"

"Hmm I don't know Dash, turkey." Wade snapped.

"I mean other than meat, salad? sauces?"

"Dammit Dash you have been eatin' here for years just order your damn meal."

Wanda overheard Wade's raised tone and stepped in by pushing him away behind the counter.

"Wade, what is the matter with you? You've been in a mood all day!"

Wade crinkled his eyebrows , reflecting on his morning with Zoe and how hurt she was and suddenly he hated himself again.

"This whole party is a stupid idea, I think we should cancel it."

"Why?"

"I don't want to show off, just… cancel the flyers and tell Tom to cancel the order of customised plastic cups."

Wanda sighed, she knew he wasn't giving her the whole story and she wasn't going to pry so instead she ordered him to talk 15 minutes before returning to work with a smile on his face. As Wade was walking through town, trying to let go of his anger he saw Zoe coming his way and unfortunately she saw him coming too. It would have been awkward if they changed direction so instead they met head on at the gazebo.

"Hey, what are you doing walking around town at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, shouldn't you be doing the lunchtime rush?"

Wade dug his hands deep in his pockets "Wanda put me on a time out, I've kinda been a grouch this mornin'…"

Zoe nodded her head "Does it have anything to do with what happened at breakfast.?"

Wade smiled as the sun shone right into his eyes "A little bit. I feel like a bit of an idiot, I shouldn't have told you about the party the way I did given everythin' that happened…"

"Wade it's okay. I was actually on my way over to talk to you."

"Oh… really?"

"Yeah… I was wondering if you wanted to go to the party… with me."

Wades mouth fell open as his arms flopped, he grinned a little "Zoe are you askin' me to my own party?"

Zoe looked around her as she laughed "Maybe, yeah."

Wade reached out and placed his hand on her elbow "I'd love too."

"Good." She said confidently as she took in the feel of his fingertips against her skin.

"So now, are you gonna pick me up or can I do that cause honestly I'm starting to feel like a girl."

Zoe laughed "You can pick me up… just so your masculinity remains intact."

"You are just so considerate Doc…" he swooned as Zoe's stomach flipped "…I'll see ya later."

"Bye…" she said sweetly as she watched him walk away and with the biggest smile on her face she returned to work.

….

"Wow. Wade this place is packed, wow." Zoe stated as Wade led her through the door of the Rammer Jammer. She was completely taken aback by the crowds of people buzzing around the bar.

Wade slowly lifted her coat off her shoulders and handed it to the bus-boy as he smiled "It's like you've never been here before."

"Take a compliment when it's given."

"Right, sorry…." He turned to face her "…so can I buy you a drink?"

"I'd love one." Zoe said smiling as Wade took her last 3 fingers in his first two and led her towards the bar. As they passed Annabeth, Zoe dropped her a wink of excitement and delight. She watched as he poured the wine into the glass and pushed it her way.

"Wade, hey Wade!" someone called from the kitchen as Wade dropped his head "I'll be right back."

For the next half hour Wade and Zoe enjoyed pockets of conversation but anytime they found themselves enjoying a moment they were disrupted by someone coming up to talk to them or someone requiring Wade's help but Wade always managed to find his way back to Zoe and no matter how annoyed or frustrated he was he always returned to her with a sweet smile on his face.

Wade lifted the heavy crate of beer from the stockroom to the bar as Zoe watched on from the other side of the bar before going to the other side to help him. The blaring music in the background made it only harder for him to concentrate as he set it down on the work bench and began to unload the bottles into the fridge below the counter.

"I think it's pretty crappy you have to work at your own party." Zoe said as she placed a bottle in the fridge.

Wade smiled "Just my luck huh? I'm sorry I've been crazy busy all night though."

"It's okay. It's actually kinda cool seein' you run this place."

Wade squinted his eyes in confusion "You've seen me run this place before."

Zoe smiled as she placed the final bottle into the fridge and let Wade help her to her feet, smoothening out her dress "Not like this I haven't. We've either been fighting or not talking or with other people. It sort of feels just like before."

"Like before" Wade thought to himself as he watched her walk from out behind the bar and toward Lavon and Annabeth sitting over by the window.

"Big Z... how's the big date going?" Lavon asked as Zoe took a seat beside them.

"I am happy that the bar is so busy but I kinda wish it wasn't so Wade and I could have 5 minutes alone without someone or something disturbing us. I also hate that he has to work, he should be enjoying this night."

"With you." Annabeth added.

"Exactly..." Zoe said as she ripped the cherry from its stem with her teeth "…what time is it anyway? I volunteered to lead the old folks on their weekly walk tomorrow morning so I don't want to be too late or too drunk." She said as she pushed the glass of wine away from her.

"Almost 12."

Zoe nodded as she looked over at Wade who was busy chatting to a group of customers. He could see her in the corner of his eye as he excused himself from the conversation and made his way over.

"Hey…" she said sweetly as he smiled at her.

"Hey, hey Lavon, AB, you guys okay for drinks? Cause I could-"

"Everything is per-fect." Lavon said feeling slightly intoxicated "You my friend are per-fect and your bar is per-fect."

Zoe giggled as Annabeth tried to hush him.

….

"I'm sorry I spent most of the night workin'…"

"You need to stop apologising Wade. I told you it was fine. I had fun."

Wade led her up the porch steps as they stood at her door with the flickering porch light above them. Wade glanced up as he watched the flies blaze around the old bulb.

"I've told you a thousand times to fix that porch light."

"And I've told you a thousand times I don't know how to."

"Well then I'll do it, I think I got a spare bulb back home. I'll call by tomorrow and fix it."

"You don't have to."

"Well I am."

Zoe smiled as she moved closer to him "Thank you." She said quietly as he looked down at her, the only noise was the crickets in the bushes, the rest was silence.

"It's only a light bulb."

"I wasn't talking about the light bulb…" she said sweetly as she moved even closer to him and let his hand slip onto her hip, slowly her hands fell onto his chest as his head dropped slightly. Wade's stomach flipped as he felt her left hand curl up around his neck, pulling him in closer before feeling her soft lips press against his. He gripped at her waist as their torso's pushed together. Zoe felt his nose brush against hers as she tightened her grip around his neck. Neither dared to push the moment so the minute oxygen became an issue they pulled away, still with a tight grip on each other's bodies.

Wade pressed his forehead against hers as they both smiled.

"Do you maybe want to come inside?" she asked hopefully, still taking in his scent.

Wade paused, he did want to come inside, so badly but he knew he shouldn't. He gave her body one final tug as he pulled his head away from hers.

"Rain check?" he asked as Zoe let go of her grip, she was gutted he didn't accept her offer but she understood, she smiled as he pulled away and made his way down the porch steps looking back at her. She waited until he was out of eye-range before reluctantly going inside, with the biggest smile on her face.

.

There you go. Please let me know what you think as reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you!