So I am finally ready to finish this fic out, sorry for the delay but Time and Distance kind of took over my brain and squeezed this one out. Standard Disclaimer; Eureka = Not mine
It had been 10 days since the 'Zoe Incident' as Zane called it. Jo was staying with Allison because the blonde teenager was still in a snit. Racking his hand through his hair Zane inwardly cursed that girl. She was bound and determined to make Jo's life hell. Not only had Jo been made to feel unwelcome in the only place she knew as home right now but word of him and Jo had been spread across town by the next morning. Zoe had tried to make it into some big scandal but it hadn't worked. Most people didn't seem surprised though, like Jo had said they had assumed two years of sexual tension had finally won over. Vincent had asked Zane to confirm the rumors though, just so the winner of the betting pool could collect. Small towns, Zane thought, gotta love 'em.
This morning like many others since the Dallas trip, Jo had met Zane for breakfast at the café. Pleasant conversation and a few laughs passed between them. They avoided PDA because to the town this was a new relationship, hell to Zane this was a new relationship. In public Zane was a gentleman, not his normal style but Jo made it worth his while in the privacy of his apartment. Seriously had Lupo the Enforcer offered this much incentive to behave himself, she would have had far fewer problems.
Today Zane walked Jo to her car after breakfast. Brushing fingers against her face, he kissed her softly and quickly. "Dinner, my place tonight?" He asked as she slid into the driver's seat.
"Well considering my place is a hole in the ground, yours sounds like a good option." She smiled up at him. "See you later."
He raised a hand to wave as she pulled away. What was it about this woman that drove him crazy and turned him into this sweeter romance novel version of himself? Contemplating that question he stepped towards his bike so he could make his own way to work. Someone short cut across his path and stopped him, Zoe.
He tried to step around but she once again stepped in front of him. Again he tried to maneuver around her, again she blocked him. "Can I help you?" He snarked.
"You are a jackass and an asshole." She was itching for another fight.
"Thank you. Can I please leave now?" He was trying to control the annoyance in his voice. What claim did Zoe ever have to him? Sure he had helped her with some of her classes, and they had hung out when she had come back to Eureka. Hell he'd never done anything more then hug her. She'd tried to kiss him and he would turn away. She would try to get him to spend all his time her, like making him promise to try to come to the lake and he'd blown it off. Damn, it had been fun to mess with Carter but if he would have been really interested, she'd have known. Playing games with girls was not his style. Ok, with most girls.
"No!" Zoe exclaimed bringing him out of his thought. "You can't just use me like you did and now you are using Jo. God you're a pig." Her yelling was attracting attention now.
"I was using you? Are you kidding me?" He wasn't going to rise to meet her screaming but there was a hard edge to his voice. "You were upset that Lucas practically dumped you and you wanted me to be your rebound guy. We were, we are friends Zoe. Yes I may have let the crush that you had on me linger but I never really encouraged you."
"Oh yes you did, Zane, you..."
"I what? I hung out with you a couple of times; I helped you with your classes. I never did anything more then hug you, Zoe. You wanted to use me to mend your broken heart but I'm not that kinda guy. Maybe I am a jackass and an asshole but I am not going to give up the best thing that has happened to me in years just so you can stake some claim on me you never had the right too in the first place. Get over yourself and grow up."
This time he managed to side step the shocked kid. Yeah maybe he had been a little harsh with her but she was begging for it rewriting their history. He swung onto his bike and took off to GD. He was still in the process of setting up the new lab Fargo had given him and throwing himself into some equations would hopefully clear his mind. First he had to find Jo and let her know about this little fight he'd had with Zoe, and he needed to do tell her before the rumor mill beat him to it.
EUREKA
Zoe was standing dumbstruck in front of Café Diem still contemplating what had just happened.
"You ok?" Her dad asked. Jack had seen and heard the argument but had kept his distance.
Zoe shook her head. "That did not go the way I expected."
Jack took her arm and directed her into the Sheriff's office. "And how did you expect it to go?"
Zoe sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "I don't know maybe I expected him to grovel and beg me to give him another chance. Then I could laugh at him and crush his heart." Ok so even she knew that was ridiculous. Her dad just sat there staring at her. "What?" She yelled exasperated, today was really beginning to suck.
"I'm waiting for the punch line because you have got to be joking." He crossed his arms. "Zane Donovan doesn't grovel or beg. And as much as I love you, your rejection would not crush his heart."
Looking down at her hands, she tried to compose herself. "I know, it's just that I really liked him or at least I thought I did. Maybe he's right; maybe I was using him to get over Lucas. But did it have to be Jo?"
Jack walked over and hugged his daughter. "Look I know this sucks and I could give you a thousand reasons why you and Zane weren't right for each other and none of them have to do with his felony convictions. But he and Jo have something that was there long before your crush."
"She told you that she had a thing for Zane? But not me? No way" disbelief in her voice. Her dad had tried to talk to her in the last few days about all of this but she scoffed him off every time.
"You know Jo; she plays things close to the vest. The cop and the criminal, maybe she was embarrassed by the fact that she had feelings for him. And maybe I know a thing or two about unrequited love." Jack smiled as he thought of years of pinning for Allie.
"But Zane hated her." Zoe started.
"Please that guy has the emotional range of a fifth grader. He was just pulling her hair a recess to get her attention because negative attention is still attention." Jack laughed. "Plus did you even bother to check the odds on them before you came back to town."
"1,000 to 1 right?"
"They were a few months ago but they dropped to 5 to 1."
"I forgot the first rule of Eureka, always check with Vincent." Zoe laughed. God she had been stupid. She liked to think she was grown up, smart, sophisticated, worldly but she wasn't. She still had to grow up a lot. "I guess I owe Jo and Zane an apology. He's right I had no claim to him and I over reacted."
"That's my girl." Jack smiled. "You know if she really had stolen your boyfriend I would have helped you take down both of them."
"Yeah right, Zane maybe but Jo could knock us both out before we saw her coming."
"She is small but scrappy isn't she?"
"And scary when she gets angry," Zoe added. "Did I really mess things up with her?"
'Nah, you know Jo, she loves you. More concerned about hurting you then her own feelings, but you should apologize for the things you said. And you should forgive her for hurting you too."
Zoe went to leave but stopped. 'Thanks dad."
"Anytime Zo, anytime."
