The longer the week of her grounding wore on, the more she started to hate being grounded and promised herself that she would stay out of trouble during the rest of her time in Bluebell.
The one good thing about spending the week grounded, other than helping out at the practice was that when she was at home, it gave her the time she needed to think about her feelings for Wade. She was still reluctant to start anything with him. It had nothing to do with his past and the player tendencies he was known to have. It was more of the fact that she was going home and their relationship would be of one that is mostly long distance. That wouldn't be fair to either one of them, not really.
Each reason she came up with on why it was bad to jump into a relationship with him, there was one thought she came back to. She didn't want to be old thinking back on the life she lived to regret never taking a chance on Wade. Things could end in a multiple of ways, though the risk was worth the reward. If they didn't work out, then they could walk away knowing they tried and that was better than not trying, not knowing what could be there between them. It was worth the risk. She wasn't willing to walk away from something that could potentially end on a high note, a very high note. Anything is possible.
She would be foolish not to try.
With her mind made up on what she was going to do, it was a tad harder to actually follow through with her actions. Countless times her phone was in her hand, her thumb hovering over Wade's name, ready to call him, or at the very least send him a message of some sort. Each time she came up with the courage to reach out to him, the courage she built up was quickly replaced with fear. She was scared and afraid. Nothing she did could get it to go away.
She quickly grabbed what she needed and headed out for a walk. Fresh air would do her some good. And since she was no longer grounded she could go for a proper walk and not pace around the backyard.
She smiled, saying a quick hello to the few people she passed. Lost in thought she found herself in front of Wade's house, not even realizing that she walked that long or in that direction. It was the first time she visited his house. Told her in passing the direction to his house. Sitting on the steps to wait for him to either realize she was there or for him to get home, she noticed that a few things around the outside of the house and the yard needed a bit of fixing up.
"He ain't home," grumbled a rough voice from behind her, frightening the daylights out of her.
"I'm sorry," she squeaked out, jumping up and looking at him. "I didn't mean to come off as a weirdo or whatever, I didn't even know I ended up here, or that I was headed here until I was here," she rushed out, her hands flying through the air as she talked. "I'm Zoe, Harley's daughter," she introduced, catching a much-needed breath of oxygen.
"Wade's father, Earl," he told her amused. "You're the one he went chasing after," he said. She went to apologize, stopping herself. She didn't have a single thing to be sorry about. She didn't ask Wade to come chase after her. "I don't agree with how he went about it, though I'm proud of him for doing it," he clarified.
"I should go; I don't want to intrude," she told him with a nervous smile.
"It would be no bother to me, dear. I can show you all sorts of embarrassing baby photos of Wade. I'm afraid I don't have much the older he got," he told her with a nervous smile of his own, a hint of embarrassment shining through.
"Baby pics do sound like the perfect blackmail if I need it at any point," she giggled lightly, following Earl in the house.
Her surprise at how neat and clean the house is, didn't show on her face, instead she made herself comfy on the couch.
"Since you've made yourself at home," he smiled lightly. "Would like something to drink?"
"Sure, whatever you have is fine," she told him politely.
He returned a few moments later with lemonade and a photo album. "This is the first time I'm meeting any of Wade's girlfriends."
"Oh no, we are only friends," she told him, fidgeting.
He smiled knowingly, flipping the first photo album open pointing at a picture of Jesse holding Wade in the hospital, letting the bit of awkwardness that wanted to settle in, dissipate.
Wade finished work early, his mind filled with the possible rejection from Zoe. It is one of the main reasons on why he kept avoiding her. Even with her being grounded, he was more than welcomed to stay there, he checked in with Harley, not wanting to cause more trouble for Zoe. He, however, couldn't bring himself to do such a thing, wanting to give Zoe time to think about what she wanted.
The second his lips tasted hers, his mind and body were on the same page. He wanted to be with Zoe Hart. As long as they tried every single day when she went back home, they could make it work out. He was determined to make things work out.
Up until this point in his life, the only thing he regrets is between him and Jesse. And that can be fixed with time. If he missed his chance with Zoe, that would be the biggest regret of his life. There was no way he could go through life knowing that there was a chance that Zoe could possibly be the one, and he was dumb enough to let her go.
Being with Zoe would be a challenge, and he needed to be careful because a wrong slip up would send Zoe in a panic about them not making it through whatever was going to come their way well they figured things out.
One of the only things that he could think about doing was prove to her that they can make it work, all she needs to do is have trust in each other.
Walking by Zoe's home in Bluebell, he thought about stopping in to convince her in giving them a real chance. Looking down, he decided it would be best if he headed home to come up with more of a game plan on what he could say and how he should say it to her without scaring her off.
Walking up to her and pulling her in for a kiss, as fun as that would be, he couldn't do that. Words would need to be said. He was mentally getting himself ready for a fight with her. Getting ready to counter everything she had to say on why they wouldn't work out.
He can't treat Zoe the same way as the rest of them. She was different. She was girlfriend material, she deserved to be treated like the princess she truly is. Thinking of anyone else making her smile, making her laugh, holding her in their arms for no other reason than they can, ate him up on the inside. He is man enough to admit that even thinking about that made him jealous. He wanted to be the one to receive all her smiles, to hear her laughter, to hold her, to just be with her, to share moments together; however, long that may be.
He frowned hearing laughter spewing out from his house. That was definitely his dad laughing and was that Zoe's laughter mixed in with his fathers? He froze by the door going over possible reasons that were realistic on why his friend/crush, the first real crush he's had since the 6th grade, was inside his house chumming it up with his alcoholic father?
Zero. That is the number of reasons that stuck out to him. Zero. The number that made any sense on why she came to his house.
"What's going on?" He asked, pushing himself to enter the house. Visibly surprised to see the house remained clean and not a single bottle empty or full lay around on any given surface. It wouldn't be the first time his father gave the bottle up for a day or two. It is only a matter of time before he falls down the rabbit hole once more.
"I wanted to talk to you. My mind was so occupied that I ended up here without even realizing it. The plan I went with was to wait for you on the steps, until your dad offered baby pictures," she quickly explained, pointing to the albums that lay scattered around them. "I must say you were a chunky little baby. A cute baby, adorable even," she gushed, a blush dusting her cheeks.
He groaned, knowing there was nothing he could do about that now. Instead, he refrained from saying anything. "If you're done checking baby me out, we can head up to my room for that talk. I have something I want to run past you as well," he said, motioning to the stairs.
"Of course," she said getting up.
"Zoe, we would be honored if you stayed for dinner," Earl invited her.
"Um sure," she agreed only after looking at Wade seeing him shrug, leaving the choice up to her.
"Don't forget to call your dad. I just got you back; I don't need to lose you again," he playfully teased, tacking a wink to the end of his sentence.
She gave him a shove pulling her phone out to call her father. Wade was right, she needed to let her father know that she wouldn't be home for dinner, unless things didn't go according to plan, that part she kept to herself.
Ending the call with her father getting the okay, she took a deep breath entering Wade's room.