Author's note: So this is the last chapter. I hope you have enjoyed this story, I have enjoyed writing it. Just a reminder, I have no idea how med school works, especially in the US (I am not American) so all the talk of clinic hours and stuff is all made up, don't hate me for inaccuracies! Hoping to write some more stories over and above my other one, Chance Encounter. But with the show ending its 4th (and possibly final) season soon, I don't want to start something that won't be finished or almost finished by end of March. Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows. Means a lot to me! Enjoy!

PS I reread this story to make sure I had everything tied together and I realized in chapter 26, I said Jake was going to NYU and then in the last chapter he was at the same college as AB and George. Oops. So let's just say he decided on 'Bama in the end but we never saw his decision because he is not important to the story.

Zoe walked into her apartment, tired after a long day and gasped. There were rose petals everywhere and she turned to see Wade walking into the lounge from the kitchen.

"What are you…? When did you…?" she spluttered.

"Happy Valentine's Day Zo," he said with a smirk.

"You said you had to work!" she said, walking up to him and smacking his chest.

"Yeah, I lied. Didn' wanna ruin the surprise." She beamed up at him, not saying anything.

"Come here," he said, pulling her into him. Their lips met and Zoe sighed in contentment. She hadn't seen him in 6 weeks, something always coming up. Now that she was in her first year of medical school, her work load was a lot more and she was doing more practical work meaning her hours were more intense. Wade was bartending now full time at the Rammer Jammer so it was difficult for him to get weekends off.

"It's so good to see you again! 6 weeks is way too long!" she moaned when they pulled away.

"Never again!" he said kissing her again, more passionately. She nodded, opening her mouth to him. He backed her towards the bedroom, removing his shoes as he went, never letting his lips leave hers. Not looking where they were going, they stumbled slightly and laughed into each other. Wade picked Zoe up and she wrapped her legs around his hips, dropping her shoes off. Throwing her down onto the bed, he stood up and looked at her lying there with her hair flared out under her. He climbed onto the bed and his hands made their way under her shirt while his lips brushed against her neck.

"That was a really good surprise," Zoe said laughing, lying in bed later that night. She leaned over him to grab a piece of pizza that they had ordered after round two. "I love not having a roommate! Pizza in bed with no one judging me!"

"Who says I'm not judgin'?" Wade said, picking up his own piece.

"Cause it was your idea!" she giggled.

"True," he said, chuckling.

"How long are you here for?" she asked.

"Only tonight, gotta work tomorrow."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. He fiddled absent-mindedly with the necklace she was wearing. It was the one that belonged to his momma that he gave to her for their first Christmas. She had never taken it off.

"I'm sorry Doc. But I got next weekend off. How bout I come through Friday, leave Monday mornin'?"

"I have clinic hours but if you don't mind hanging out here during the day, we can have the nights together."

"I'll take 3 nights with you over not seeing you at all, Doc."

"Good cause if you had said no, I probably would have punched you!"

"I'm so scared. Your teeny hands could do such damage," he teased. She pouted and he kissed her lightly causing her to smile.

XXX

"What do you mean you aren't coming this weekend?" Zoe shouted into the phone, walking across campus to her next class.

"I have to work Doc. I tried to get off but Wally's desperate. Chester broke his leg so he's outta commission for the next couple of weeks."

"I haven't seen you in 3 months," she whined.

"I know. But that's only partly my fault."

"What is that supposed to me?"

"It means you haven' made much of an effort to come back here."

"I'm busy Wade! I am in my final year of med school!"

"And what? I'm not busy?"

"You just don't understand. You would understand it if you…" she stopped abruptly.

"If I what? Went to college? Had a 'real' job instead of bein' jus' a bartender?" She could hear the anger in his voice.

"That came out wrong. Wade…" He cut her off.

"No Zoe. I get it. Why would I understand? I'm jus' a small town hick with a drunk as a dad."

"Wade, come on. You know that's not what I meant."

"I gotta go Zoe. Have to get back to my pathetic little job." He hung up and Zoe slumped down onto the floor and sobbed.

That night, Wade and Meatball were writing songs at Wade's place. He had moved out of Earl's house a year ago into a small place near the Rammer Jammer.

"Let's write a song about beer!" Meatball suggested.

"I love beer!" Wade slurred. There were at least 20 empty bottles scattered on the floor. Meatball played an out of tune chord and started singing off key while Wade took another swig of his beer. There was a knock on the door and Wade got up to open it, Meatball not stopping with the music.

"Zoe?" he said, seeing his girlfriend of almost 9 years standing there. Her cheeks were tear-stained and she was soaking wet from the rain. Seeing her sobered him up awfully quickly.

"You are not a small town hick!" she said before standing on her toes, pressing her lips to his. She could taste the generic beer. "And even if you are, you are MY small town hick," she insisted once she pulled away.

Wade walked inside, pulling her by the hand and kicked Meatball out. He cleaned up while Zoe changed into one of his shirts to get dry. When she was done, they sat on the couch.

"I feel really bad for what I said," she said after what felt like forever. She put her hand on his knee.

"You were right, you know, I never look forward to going into work. And I hear you talkin' about your classes and what you learn and I get a bit jealous sometimes. But I've been workin' on somethin' for a while." He got up and went into his bedroom. He came out holding a thick folder and handed it to her. She flipped through it quickly.

"Plans for a bar?" she asked. He pressed his lips together and looked at her, nodding slightly, scared of what she would think.

"Wade, I think that's a great idea!"

"You do?" he asked sounding surprised.

"Of course!" She smiled at him and kissed him tenderly.

"We have to make more effort Zoe. We were so good about seein' each other regularly for so long!"

"I agree. It's going to be hard with my residency. My hours will be crazy, I'll be working late nights."

"Luckily, my job also entails late nights," he joked. She laughed lightly and snuggled into his chest.

"We have to promise to see each other at least once a month. Ok? Three months is too long!"

"I can do that, Zo. We practically made it through 7 years of med school. Jus' 2 months to go. We can do 7 years of residency easy."

"Actually, it's 5."

"5? I thought Cardio whatever surgery was 7?"

"It is but I decided I want to be a general surgeon. And that's only 5." Wade smiled at her before kissing her slowly, running his hands through her hair.

XXX

"Are you sure you want this?" Harley asked, taking a box out of her car.

"Dad! I am sure!" she insisted.

"Cause you know I can find someone else."

"Dad, would you stop! Brick is moving to Florida with Shelby. You cannot run this practice alone. I want to be here."

"But you worked so hard these last 5 years. Or actually, these last 12 years to become a general surgeon and now you are giving it up for family medicine. Why?"

"One, because I love you and I want to help and two, I can still use what I learned. We can even expand the practice and not have to rely on the hospital in Mobile so much. I mean we have AB as the nurse."

"Ok, thank you Zoe. This means so much to me. Working with my daughter is a dream come true." Zoe smiled at him and pulled him in for a hug. "And you don't want to move back home?" he asked, looking up at the Carriage House.

"Dad, I'm 31 years old. I don't want to live with my father!"

"I just don't think I like the idea of you living next door to Wade without supervision." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Do I need to remind you that I'm 31? Besides, he's a responsible young man. A business owner even."

"I know, I know. He really has turned the Rammer Jammer into something special," Harley said pausing to look over at the Gate House. "But he will obviously be sleeping over most nights. Which I don't like."

"You are so old fashioned! Besides, if I was living with you, he would still be sleeping over. And I'm pretty sure you don't want to see him walk around your house naked."

"I really did not need to know that, dear." Zoe snorted a laugh and shrugged. Harley helped her unload the rest of her boxes and left her alone. There was a knock on the door and Zoe opened it to see Lavon standing there.

"Mayor Hayes!" she said, jumping into his arms.

"Woah there Big Z," he guffawed as he put her down and walked into her place.

"Thanks for letting me stay in your Carriage House, Lavon," she said, adjusting the framed picture of her and Wade from her graduation on her coffee table before sitting down on her new couch. He and Harley had been in the front row, cheering louder than anyone when she gave her speech.

"No problem. Tell me though, why are you not living with Wade when he's practically gonna be living here anyway?"

"Cause have you been into that Gate House lately? It smells like boy!" she moaned, wrinkling her nose and Lavon laughed, shaking his head. "Besides, it's fun having Wade be the boy next door."

"Ain't that the truth," a voice said from the doorway. Zoe looked at Wade standing there and smiled at him. He made his way to the couch and sat on the other end of Zoe. She leaned back into his chest and Lavon stayed for a while longer talking to them before he went to make them dinner.

"Sorry I wasn' here to help you unload the boxes. Had an emergency at the bar."

"I have a feeling that emergency was that you didn't want to carry heavy boxes," she laughed.

"Might have been," he said with a cheeky smile. She sat up and looked at him, taking his hands in hers.

"This feels unreal," she laughed. "Feels like I'll be driving back to Atlanta in a few days."

"There is no way I'm lettin' that happen! 12 years is long enough!"

"That's for sure." She leaned in and kissed him.

"What do you say we christen your new bed," Wade said with a wink.

"Ever the romantic," Zoe giggled and kissed him again. "I'll race you," she said jumping up and running to her bedroom.

XXX

"I thought I got out of carrying the heavy boxes when you moved into this place!" Wade complained, dropping the final box down onto the floor, wiping his brow.

"You were the one that wanted to move in after only 2 months of living next door to each other."

"I thought we both wanted that," Wade said sticking his lip out and pouting. Zoe laughed and rolled her eyes playfully, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"We do!" she assured him, pulling him down to kiss him.

"I love you Doc," he said kissing her again.

"Promise?"

"Always."

Author's note: There we go. Hope you enjoyed this story! Let me know what you thought of the last chapter! Thanks for reading!