Author's note: The thing I hate most about this website is if you update with 2 chapters in a day, it often doesn't show up, it will still say last updated 19 hours ago, for example, even if you had updated 2 hours before with a new chapter. That is what happened yesterday with chapter 6 so unless you follow the story or just happened to see it said 6 chapters, you would not have seen it was updated.
IN THAT CASE: If the last chapter you read was the 4th of July party, there is another chapter before this one! An important chapter so don't skip it!
This next chapter is important for future happenings. Thanks for the continued support. Happy reading! Next chapter will be up tomorrow.
The next morning, Wade woke feeling rested which was unusual for the day after his dad's drunken sing along in town. Zoe was lying flat on her stomach, her hair spread out with her arm flung over his chest. She was snoring softly. Wade sat up and poked her side. She grumbled and swatted his hand away. He poked her again and she smacked him a bit harder. He poked her once more and she grabbed the pillow she was lying on and put it over her head. He grabbed the pillow with ease and flung it off the bed. She moaned and shut her eyes tight. He leaned close into her and whispered.
"You snore." She opened one eye and glared at him.
"No I do not!" she mumbled, still glaring.
"You do, it's very cute," he said chuckling. Opening the other eye, she huffed and turned onto her back, folding her arms over her chest.
"You're not funny."
"Wasn' tryna be. Just statin' the facts." She took note of the fact that he said facts. Being plural. Meaning that him saying she was cute is a fact. Her heart fluttered but she continued glaring.
"Me snoring is not a fact."
"I will record it next time if you don' believe me!" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Next time?" She smirked at him. His eyes widened when he realized what he had said. He composed himself quickly.
"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" he said cockily. She rolled her eyes playfully.
"Not at all," she responded, sticking her tongue out at her.
"Did you just stick your tongue out at me?"
"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" she teased, using his exact same words and tone from before.
"Not at all," he mimicked, playing along. "But you're gonna pay." He got a mischievous look on his face and she knew what was coming. She tried to move off the bed but he grabbed her. He started tickling her sides and tried to tell him to stop but she couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. She decided to fight fire with fire and started tickling him back. She found his most ticklish spot and he surrendered, falling back onto the bed. Even though he had stopped tickling her, she didn't give up. Knowing he was stronger than her and could get away from her tickle attack, she straddled him. Not being able to take it anymore, Wade grabbed her wrists and made her stop. His chest was heaving and she was breathing heavily but giggling, still on top of him. They stared at each other while their breathing slowed.
"Zoe!" She got such a fright that she fell off the bed; Wade looked to where the voice was coming from. Harley was standing at Zoe's window and he looked furious. Wade realized what it must have looked like to him, his daughter wearing her pajamas sitting on top of a boy in just his boxers.
"If you are not home in 1 minute young lady, you will be grounded for a month." Zoe jumped up off the floor and ran out of Wade's room without looking back. Harley shot Wade a look before turning and leaving Zoe's room, obviously going to wait for her downstairs.
Zoe entered the house and saw Harley standing in the hallway with his arms folded.
"What was that?! You think me leaving for the night gives you the chance for a free for all night at your boyfriend's house? Do you have any idea how worried I was when I got home and you weren't in your room only for me to find you in bed with the town's Casanova? What were you thinking Zoe? I've been quiet long enough. I see how you two are around each other, how you spend all your free time together but I chose to trust you when you told me there was nothing going on and then I walk in on that?" He was yelling. Zoe was surprised at how scary he was at that moment because he was always soft spoken and she didn't know that he was capable of raising his voice.
"It's not what it looked like," she replied, her voice shaking and soft.
"I know I am older than most fathers of children your age but I am not naïve. I know what I saw, I am not blind."
"He was tickling me and I started tickling him back. I swear; that is all that happened."
"Why were you in his bed in the first place then?" Still yelling, he raised his eyebrows, waiting for a response.
"Uh… I slept over," she mumbled.
"And why exactly did you do that?" Harley asked, his voice calm but somehow, it was worse than the yelling.
"He was having a rough time, he had to sing his dad down again last night and I was there to support him. He's my friend." Harley scoffed at that. Zoe got angry.
"Are you really going to believe the town's gossip over your own daughter? I was there for him when he was upset and we fell asleep. That's it." She was yelling and tears were forming out of frustration.
"You are moving to the spare bedroom today. You will not see Wade unless you are in a group."
"Please don't do this," she whispered, the tears falling down her cheeks.
"Go and pack up your room. I will get the room ready so long." Zoe stormed upstairs and locked her bedroom door. Wade was standing at his window, waiting for her. She looked at him, the tears falling hard and fast. He looked worried.
"I have to move into the other room," she choked out. Wade felt like the air had been knocked out of him. His favorite part of the day was their late night talks.
"That's not all." He looked at her, expecting the worst.
"I'm not allowed to see you unless we're in a group." He closed his eyes and leaned against his window frame.
"We'll see each other all the time. George, AB, Lavon and Lemon hang out all the time. We will just gate crash their awkward, warped, incestuous double dates," he joked. She laughed through her tears and nodded, biting her lower lip in order to try stop more tears from escaping. She knew she was being silly. It wasn't like she was moving back to New York.
As if he had read her mind, Wade said, "This isn't bad Doc. It could have been a lot worse." She nodded. They stood there, looking at each other for a while before she resigned herself to packing up some of her things. She refused to move everything, just the essentials that she would need. She would move back into her room when Harley calmed down.
That night, Wade lay on his bed feeling defeated. If he was honest with himself, he knew exactly why he was so upset. He missed Zoe, even though she was still next door. He had never felt this way about anyone and not being able to speak to her and see her whenever he wanted to crushed him. He put his hands over his face. He knew he couldn't keep up this friendship, if you could call it that. He knew normal friends didn't spend the amount of time they did together or talk like they talked. They had so many moments that made him sure she felt the same way. But then he thought about their almost kiss a while back and the way she jumped away when she realized what was about to happen and it made him doubt everything he thought he knew. Even if she didn't feel the same way, he had to tell her how he felt.
Zoe lay on her new bed and could not sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable mattress and she had been crying all day which had brought on a headache. She hadn't seen Wade all day because Harley would not allow her back into her room once her stuff was moved. She hated not being able to talk to him. She knew she had deep feelings for him and today had just proved how deep they really ran. She was pretty sure he felt something for her, they had almost kissed and they spent a lot of time together. She had to tell him how she felt. If he didn't feel the same way, they could go back to being friends, she could live with that. She just couldn't keep it a secret for much longer. She wanted to sneak back into her room to see if he was awake but she knew Harley was going to be on high alert for the sound of an opening door. Eventually, after hours, she fell asleep.
The next day, Harley forced her to go into the practice with him. She was still ignoring him so when he told her she had to go with him; she grabbed her stuff, crossed her arms and went to sit in the car without a word. Lemon came into the office and Zoe told her about what happened. Lemon squealed when she told her that they slept in the same bed (she didn't mention the crying) and said it was about time. Zoe rolled her eyes and said that nothing had happened to which Lemon responded that they should both just admit how they felt about each other. Lemon was excited to plan group get togethers so that Wade and Zoe could have some time together. She rushed out of the office to find AB so they could start planning the first one.
Two days later, Zoe finally spoke to Harley.
"I'm going out." She was heading out the door.
"Hold it right there. Where are you going?"
"AB's house. She's having a get together. I'm staying over."
"You may be mad but you cannot just stay over at someone's house without asking my permission first. I am your father."
"Fine. AB is having a small get together tonight. Lavon, George and Wade will be there. They are not staying over but she asked Lemon and I to stay for the night and have a sleep over, doing the usual girl stuff like painting each other's nails." Harley sighed.
"Alright but Zoe, before you go. I know you are upset with me. But please just remember that I have never done this before. I don't know how your mother did things and what she expected of you with regards to… boys. Please be a little bit more understanding of where I am coming from. I am trying to protect you." Zoe felt a twang of guilty. She dropped her overnight bag and walked towards him. She pulled him into a hug, the first time they have had such close contact.
"I'm sorry. But please, please let me move back into my room."
"Ok, you can move back into you room but I am putting my foot down about seeing him outside the house. Only in a group setting. At least for a while." Zoe nodded, frustrated but she understood and was grateful that she could move back into her room. Being able to have their late night chats would make up for any time they couldn't spend together during the day. She hugged him and ran out the door.
Lemon and George were waiting for her; she tried not to look disappointed, expecting Wade to be there as well. Lemon noticed and told her that he had gone with Lavon in case Harley didn't want her driving in a car with him. When they got to the intersection where they would normally turn to AB's house, they turned the other way.
"Wait, where are we going?" Zoe asked confused.
"Yeah… AB's parents don't allow her to have boys at her house. We are going to the old plantation." Zoe's eyes widened and she gulped. She hoped Harley wouldn't find out.
The old plantation was beautiful. It was big and white but really run down and in desperate need of restoration. George drove past it and stopped between two smaller houses.
"This is the old gate house and that over there is the carriage house. We figured here would be best because we could swim in the pond if we wanted to." George took Zoe's bag and she followed them inside, stopping in the doorway. Wade was leaning against a counter, talking to Lavon and AB. He looked up when she walked in and beamed at her. He walked towards her as Lemon and George got to the counter.
He stood opposite her, his hands in his pockets. He was nervous. It had only been a few days since they last saw each other but it felt different. Maybe it was because he had admitted his feelings to himself and had planned to tell her. He felt awkward. Zoe fiddled with her hands. Why did she feel so awkward? This was Wade for crying out loud and for once, the reason for not seeing each other wasn't because they had fought. It wasn't meant to feel weird. Maybe it was because she knew she wanted to tell him how she felt and was feeling nervous.
Lavon looked on at this awkward encounter, "Why do you think they are being so awkward?" he whispered to the group. George and AB shrugged but Lemon whispered back, "Obviously because they both really like each other and they are scared." AB rolled her eyes, "You can't possibly know that from them awkwardly looking at each other." Lemon gave her a look, "It's obvious AB, we've all seen the way they are with each other. Maybe their forced time apart made them realize it for themselves. Although, I think they have known all along but refused to admit it." George and Lavon nodded in agreement.
"Hey," Wade breathed awkwardly.
"Hey," Zoe responded, still fiddling with her hands. Wade took a large step forward and wrapped her into a bear hug. Zoe immediately relaxed.
"I don't like not having you just outside my window," he said into her hair. She laughed.
"You make me sound like a stalker," she whispered back.
"Well, you did break into my house so…"
"Let's not get start comparing stalkerish behavior, Peeping Tom!" He chuckled, still not letting her go.
"Can you blame me?" She pulled back, smiling.
"I guess not, I mean no man is immune to all of this." She motioned with her hands to show off her body. Wade burst out laughing and wrapped her into a hug again.
"I missed you," he mumbled. She smiled and squeezed him tight.
"I missed you too." They pulled away and walked back to the group, the awkwardness finally gone. Those two need to get together already. Tonight. And I'm going to make it happen, Lemon thought to herself as she started thinking up a typical Breeland scheme.
