A/N: Glad y'all are happy with the pace of the Zade in this story - always grateful for your positive reviews, thanks :) Now, time for a road trip!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16

"Zoe!"

Katie squealed so loud that Wade was pretty sure she bust his ear drum even at two feet away. The way she threw herself at her friend was just a little worrying too, since she almost knocked her flying. She looked all kinds of apologetic when Zoe politely reminded her there was also a baby to consider.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Katie, backing off fast. "Wow, you can really tell now," she said of Zoe's bump, that wasn't exactly huge but definitely noticeable at this point if she wore certain items of her clothes.

"Yeah, he's making his presence felt," Zoe admitted, "or she. I mean, I don't actually know yet. That'll be a few more weeks, but the first scan is the next job on the list, after we get all my stuff out of here."

"We? Oh." Katie seemed to notice all of sudden that Wade was even there.

It was strange how she was smiling at him then, after all, the first time they met she hadn't exactly been all that welcoming or nice. Now she looked more likely to jump on him the way she leaped on Zoe. Well, maybe not exactly the same, if the look in her eye was anything to go by.

"Hi, again," he said, smiling widely. "I'm guessin' you're not gonna be yelling at me this time around?"

"Oh, no, of course not. I'm so sorry about before," Katie apologised, pushing her hair back off her face and giggling some. "I just... well, you know, you were a stranger, and Zoe is my friend, so..."

"I get it." Wade nodded. "You were lookin' out for a friend, but you should know that that's all I was doin' too. I got a friend back home who needed to get a message to his daughter," he said, gesturing to Zoe, "and now I got this friend who needs some help gettin' a truckload o' stuff outta here."

"Hey, I'm counting on both of you to help me with that," Zoe said firmly as she moved past Katie into the dorm room, gesturing for Wade to follow too. "Harley made me promise not to lift anything heavier than a pillow, so it is all on you guys."

"Yes, ma'am," Wade agreed. "You point me at all this stuff that needs haulin', I'll get it hauled."

"Right there," said Zoe pointing towards her bedroom. "Um, if you wanna start with the mattress and the boxes from the closet?" she suggested. "I need to go through the clothes and other stuff, get it packed up before you can move it."

Wade nodded his agreement and got to work, disappearing into the bedroom to figure out the best way to shift the things he could already move. He pulled the door almost closed behind him, guessing that Zoe and Katie had things they wanted to say while he was out of the way. Girls always had so much to discuss that guys weren't supposed to hear, he knew that, and he had no plans to get in the way of it.

Of course, there wasn't much he could do about the fact the dorm was pretty small and even though they were clearly trying to be quiet, Zoe and Katie had the kind of voices that carried. Their conversation came through the crack in the door, loud and clear, as Wade opened up the closet and lifted out the boxes Zoe talked about, piling them up against the wall.

"You know I'll totally help with your packing. Anything you need."

"Thanks, Katie, you're a real friend."

"A friend who is going to miss you so much!"

Wade would bet any money at all they were hugging and probably on the verge of tears by then. Girls did a lot of fussing and crying too, from what he could figure out, especially pregnant girls.

"So, aren't you ever coming back to Yale?" Katie asked then.

"Jury's still out." Zoe sighed. "Right now, I'm just focusing on things I can handle. So, we're packing up my stuff from here and then moving on to New York to get the rest of my things from there, then home to Bluebell."

"Home? Wow, it's home already?"

"Kind of, yeah. I mean, maybe not forever. Like I said, really not sure what the future is going to be right now. I just know that I can't be here, and I absolutely cannot be in New York with my mom. Harley is so nice, so kind and supportive, and he's offered me a safe, decent place to be, so that's where I'm going to stay, for now. After the baby comes... well, then maybe I can figure out a plan for college and even being a doctor, but I just need to do things one at a time right now."

"That makes sense."

Wade had to agree that Katie had a point, not that he was being asked, of course. He realised too late that he had been doing a lot of listening to what the girls were saying and not much moving of Zoe's stuff. Shaking himself out of a daze, he shifted the rest of the boxes out of the closet, then moved over to the bed and started pulling the mattress off.

"What about Wade?" he heard Katie ask then, the sound of his name in particular catching his attention.

Much as he knew he shouldn't, Wade stopped what he was doing to listen out for Zoe's answer, even though he was pretty sure he already knew what it was going to be. They were just friends, that was all. In the circumstances, it was the only thing that made sense.

"Wade is... He's just a really, really good friend," Zoe confirmed. "I mean, if things were different, of course I've thought about it. I mean, I'm not blind, and he is so sweet and funny and everything, but with all of this going on? There's just no way."

It was a strange feeling, hearing her talk that way. Wade had an idea that maybe Zoe liked him the way he liked her, but that was back before he knew she was pregnant. Once that news was out, well, it changed things a lot. He supposed she wasn't exactly looking for a guy in her life right now, having not long ago broken up with the baby's father and all, plus not wanting to land some new boyfriend with her pregnancy troubles and family dramas. Still, it was something to know that, if things were different, he might've stood a chance.

"Wade?" called Zoe then. "Everything okay?" she checked, pushing the door open and peering inside.

"Everything is just fine, Zoe Hart," he assured her, the mattress off the bed and on its side now so he could slide it on out of the door. "Now move your behind someplace else, okay? I gotta get this in the truck already."

She did as he asked, flattening herself against one wall while Katie did much the same on the other, letting Wade squeeze by with his load. He whistled a happy tune as he went, pleased as punch just knowing that Zoe was probably watching him and wishing things were different. Of course, it was also kind of sad, knowing that nothing was ever actually going to happen with them, but it was still nice to think it could have, in another place and time.

"You doin' okay there, Zoe?" Wade asked her, glancing from the road to her face as they paused at a stop sign.

"I'm fine," she told him, forcing a smile that took way too much effort. "Okay, so, I'm not fine," she admitted off his disbelieving look. "I want to be fine, but... I don't know."

"I think you do know," Wade told her, eyes back on the road ahead now that he was free to move. "I think you're just afraid of what's gonna happen if your momma catches us emptying out your room."

Zoe smiled at that, it was tough not to. She and Wade may not have known each other a very long time, but it sometimes felt like they had. He could read her like a book already, which was weird because she never really thought of herself as a transparent person. Maybe he was just that smart, despite the fact he usually liked to tell her that he wasn't, for some reason.

"Thank you, Wade," she said then. "I know I said that already, a lot, but I really mean it. I mean, you taking time out of work and driving me all the way here to get all my stuff... I know Harley is paying for the hotel and the gas and everything, but you're still being a huge help and I really appreciate that."

"You are more'n welcome, Zoe," he promised her, eyes very firmly fixed on the road, she noticed.

Not that that was a bad thing because there was a lot of traffic around and Wade probably wasn't used to that, but she got the feeling there was more to it than that. Guys didn't always like it when girls got emotional and Zoe was very emotional of late, thanks to those fun pregnancy hormones that had settled in. She did need Wade to understand how much she appreciated him though and words were really the only way she had to show him right now. Any other possible ways to show gratitude, well, it wasn't as if they didn't appeal to her, but in her current state, Zoe was very sure she didn't appeal to Wade, not that way, not anymore.

"Which way now?" he asked, snapping her back to reality.

"Um, left here and then down into the parking garage," she told him.

There was no time to think about anything else now but getting up to the apartment, packing up the rest of Zoe's things and getting the hell out. She was pretty sure her mom wouldn't be home, but it wasn't guaranteed. Besides, Candice could come back to the apartment at any time and catch them in the act, just as Wade had said. Zoe could use a little less confrontation, a little more luck, and yet, thirty minutes later, she realised it was not to be.

"Crap!" she exclaimed when she heard the front door open and close. "She's back. You think if we're really quiet she won't realise we're here?" she whispered.

"You really wanna try that?" Wade whispered back, looking a little incredulous. "Seriously?"

"Hello?"

Zoe winced when she heard her mother call out then. She knew she had to go out there and say something. As much as Candice had upset her, she did not want her mom panicking about trespassers or whatever. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bedroom door and went out into the hallway.

"Hi," she said, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

"Zoe, sweetheart." Candice smiled, immediately coming towards her, but Zoe backed up a step.

"This is not a social call," she said sharply. "We just came to collect some things."

"We?"

"Afternoon, ma'am," said Wade politely as he appeared behind Zoe with two boxes in his arms. "I'll just, uh, put these in the truck."

He squeezed his way towards the front door and out, with Candice staring after him. When she finally turned to face Zoe again, her mouth had dropped open.

"He's... he's the father?" she checked, sounding not just shocked but a little disgusted too.

That only made Zoe feel more annoyed. In fact, she was downright angry.

"No, Wade is not the father of my baby," she explained crossly, "but if he were, then we would both be so lucky because he is a really great guy."

Candice opened her mouth to say something else, but frankly, Zoe couldn't bear to hear it. She really wasn't in a place where she was comfortable figuring things out with her mom. One day, there would have to be a conversation, but today was not that day.

"I'm going to stay in Bluebell with Harley for a while," she said, shifting awkwardly in place. "It's better this way, Mom."

"Zoe..."

"No, please," she pulled her arm away the second Candice reached for her. "I can't hear all the apologies and the excuses and the niceties again. I just... I don't need it," she said, squirming away.

Putting her head back into her room, Zoe discovered there was only one small box left to be carried down plus a bag with a few clothes in it. She could easily manage that without hurting herself, so she grabbed them up and made to leave.

"We need to talk, Zoe. You can't just-"

"Yes, I can," she argued, pushing forward to the front door. "You lied to me, Mom," she reminded Candice angrily. "My whole life, you lied, but now, I know the truth. I've met my real father and he is so nice and kind and... and I would've understood if he was some whack job or a criminal or a pervert or whatever, but he's not."

"No, he's not," Candice agreed, eyes to the floor. "Harley Wilkes was a very decent man. He still is, I suppose."

"He is," Zoe assured her. "That's why I'm going to stay with him for a while. I don't know how long, but for now, it works for me, so that's where I'll be."

She opened the door then and took one step out before turning back. "I guess I'll call you sometime, when things are a little less crazy in my head. When I've had a chance to think some more."

Candice nodded her understanding and Zoe left quickly then before the tears came for either of them. By the time she got to the elevator, the doors were just opening and Wade was there, clearly on his way back up from the previous trip to the truck.

"Hey," he said, reaching to take her non-heavy load from her. "You okay?"

"No," Zoe admitted, swallowing hard as she stepped into the elevator beside him, "but I will be," she promised, forcing a smile.

"This the last of the stuff?"

"Mmhmm, all done."

They rode the elevator all the way down and stepped out into the parking garage beneath the apartment block. Wade led the way back to the truck and packed the last of Zoe's stuff inside as she looked on.

"You know, as great as Bluebell is, I'm going to miss New York. It's been my home my whole life," she said sadly. "I don't suppose you'd wanna see a few things while you're here, would you?" she asked Wade then. "I could give you the tour, if you wanted? Unless you need for us to get back right away?"

Wade had on one of those charming smiles of his as he closed up the back of the truck and came to put his arm around Zoe's shoulders.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Zoe Hart," he told her, giving her a breif sideways hug. "Come on, girl, show me what this big city of yours has got goin' on."

To Be Continued...

A/N2: FYI, when my beta read this, she assumed the next chapter would be Zoe & Wade carousing around in New York - not so. They'll be back in Bluebell next go around, because frankly, any NYC adventures these two are having should be in my other story ;)