"Where are we going?" Zoe asked, following Wade, holding his hand as he pulled her along into the mall.
A week went by from the moment her father suffered a heart attack, and he was now at home resting in his own bed, taking his life easy, no one letting him do more than he should be. A week of dating her boyfriend without actually going out on a real date with him.
"We are at the mall, and you have to question me on what we are doing?" He asked with a laugh. "Don't all girls love the mall?"
"Uh, no," she told him. "Even though I do," she tagged on.
"Thought so," he laughed, tugging her under his arm.
"What are you up to?" She giggled, letting him lead her to his private destination in mind. "Are we, I don't know a bit old for build a bear?" She asked, suppressing a smile.
"We will forever be a kid at heart," he smirked, adding a wink. "Not to mention you will have a reminder of me and of your time in Bluebell," he shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You are pretty sweet," she said, pressing a tender kiss to his cheek. The blush that covered his cheeks, she would keep just how adorable that is to herself.
"Come on," he said, tugging her with him.
"Wait!" She said, putting a halt to his movement forward. He raised an eyebrow, giving his girlfriend a questioning look. "We go our separate ways; you make one for me, and I make one for you," she told him.
"Zo, I don't know," he sighed. He was too old for a teddy bear and to hold onto one now; it seemed a little ridiculous, not to mention the teasing he would get for it.
"I see," she said, pulling her hand free to cross her arms over her chest. "You're too old but I am not? Maybe I don't want a stupid bear," she spat at him, turning to storm off.
"Zoe," he sighed, reaching out to stop her. "I didn't… Okay we can do it that way," he caved. He was giving her a reminder and this way she was doing the same thing for him.
"Thank you," she beamed, heading into the store.
"Crazy woman," he muttered under his breath, a smile on his face, as he checked out the store waiting for Zoe to pick out the animal friend for him.
Picking out the animal, to placing the plastic heart inside to filling the animal they picked out to finding the right accessories, to paying for them, they met back up outside the store, new friends in their home of a box.
"Let's grab lunch then we can trade," he said, holding his box up for Zoe.
"Chinese food?" She asked, slipping under his arm sans box.
"Anything for you," he chuckled, kissing the crown of her head, walking towards the direction of the food court.
With their food, and sitting at a table, they switched boxes before digging into their food.
"I don't have anything to be worried about do I?" She asked, carefully opening the box.
"No, do I? You didn't make me a girly one did you?" He teased, watching her open the box to pull out the bear he made her.
"She's cute," she smiled, holding the pink teddy bear. She wore a yellow dress, dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, yellow shoes adorned her feet. The crown that sat perfectly atop her head. "It even lights up," she giggled, shaking her head. "Thank you."
"No need for thanks, Zoe. I am happy to see you like it," he said, moving the box his sat in, closer to open it up. He laughed, seeing what she picked for him. "Chewbacca." Chewy held a red lightsaber and a boba fett blaster.
"I wasn't sure which weapon you wanted more, so I got both, that way you can change them out as you see fit," she explained.
"I like it," he told her, placing Chewy back in the box, as not to get any food on it. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she replied. "Not girly at all," she told him, placing her princess bear back in the box.
He laughed, digging into his food. As much as he was against Zoe making him a stuffed bear, the idea of having it now, it made him smile, to have such a reminder of her when she went back to her life in the city. She put a lot of thought into picking out Chewy for him and as ridiculously as it sounded, he would be able to cherish it or burn it if things between them came to halt, and they couldn't even remain friends.
Shaking those thoughts from his head, he watched his girlfriend play with her food, nervously biting at her bottom lip. Furrowing his brow, he placed his fork down, because there was no way he was going to eat noodles with chopsticks.
"Something bugging you, baby?" He asked, reaching out for her hand that rested on the table.
"How did you know?" She asked, avoiding his question.
"You do this cute thing with your lip." The smirk he wore, faded into a soft smile, his thumb grazing over her knuckles. "You can tell me anything, even if that anything has to do with me."
"I know. This has nothing to do with you. Not in a direct way," she told him, using her free hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, not being clear to him with what was on her mind.
"Take a deep breath," he instructed her to do. Nodding she did as told, taking a few deep breaths. "Better?"
"Yeah," she answered softly. "I worry," she replied after few silent moments between them. He wanted to ask what she was worried about, he wasn't left waiting long before she told him what was worrying her. "I worry that I will miss out getting to know him more; I have to leave in a few weeks; I can't put it off much longer than that, and I am afraid I am going to lose him, and I won't be here," she explained to him.
"A reasonable thing to worry about. I can't say, one way or another; however, I can tell you that you need to have this discussion with your dad and your mom, tell them how you feel about the situation, and maybe you can work out a deal to stay here while you finish high school," he replied back. There is nothing more he could want than for her to stay in town after the summer was over with.
"And I will talk to them; this isn't something you can forget about," she told him. "Thinking about that, made me realize how much I am going to miss this," she told him motioning between herself and Wade. "Long distance is going to be hard, and I will go through with it because I don't want this thing to end, but again I am scared that we won't work out, and we won't even be friends. And that alone frightens me because you, Wade, have become a huge part in my life," she voiced what she felt.
"We won't let that happen. I'm scared as well. We both want this; that is all I need to know. Because of that fact, we will make it through this, and we will figure it all out as we go. I promise you that, Zoe. Worrying about this stuff is natural."
"I guess," she sighed. "I will fight for this, Wade. For us," she assured him.
"As will I, Zoe. I'll never stop fighting for us," he promised her.
"Good," she remarked, going back to get food, refusing to let his hand go.
After their talk over lunch, they were feeling lighter than before, enjoying their time goofing off around the mall, making the other one laugh.
Exiting the mall the sun gave away to dark clouds, a storm moving in. What other stops, Wade planned on taking, were put on hold, wanting to get home before the storm hit.
"Zo, I'm sorry to end our date short," he told her parking in front of her house.
"You can make it up to me another day," she replied, a smile in place.
"A second date, I'll take it," he smirked, playing with a stand of her hair. "How's Wednesday night?"
"I can squeeze you in," she teased, leaning forward, brushing her lips against his.
"Good," he remarked, pulling her in for a deeper kiss.
"I should go," she whispered against his lips.
"Nah, you're fine," he said, ghosting his lips across hers.
"I can't," she said, pulling away. "Thank you for the bear," she told him, picking the box that contained her pink bear up.
"You're welcome," he replied with a smile. "Don't forget to talk with your dad," he reminded her.
"I won't," she replied, kissing him quickly. "Drive safe," she said referring to the rain that started to pelt the vehicle.
"I will and I will even call you when I make it home," he told her, joking about the calling her part.
"You best call," she warned, slipping from the vehicle, making a mad dash to the front door of her house. With one final look back at him, she slipped inside shutting the door.
"It must really be coming down out there. You should head upstairs and dry off, put dry clothes on before you catch something."
That was not a voice she expected to ever meet her while at her father's house. Turning around with a smile on her face, she asked one simple question.
"What are you doing here, Mom?"