A/N: It was so much fun writing drunk Zoe again, especially since it made her confess a few things about her feelings for Wade - glad to see so many of you got a kick out of it too :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

Lemon was so busy trying to rearrange Zoe's appointments for the day, she really wasn't paying all that much attention to the people who were wandering into the practice. Only when they rapped on the reception desk or said her name did she waste time in looking up, and mostly then it was as simple as asking them to go right on in to see her daddy or take a seat until the previous patient emerged.

For the last half-hour, she had no interruptions at all, until suddenly somebody cleared their throat in front of her.

"Yes, how can I help... you?" she asked, her question coming disjointed as she looked up and saw who was casting a shadow on the appointment book. "Oh, Mayor Hayes. What a surprise. I hope you're not ailing at all?" she asked, shaking her head.

"I'm doing just fine, thank you, Lemon," he told her with a charming smile. "Uh, I wasn't looking for an appointment, just hopin' maybe Zoe had five minutes to talk to me. She doesn't seem to be in her office..."

"She won't be in today," Lemon told him fast. "Oddly enough, she's not feelin' too well herself."

"Oh, poor Big Z." Lavon frowned then. "Nothin' serious, I hope."

Lemon's eyes went to her father's office door then double-checked nobody was hanging around anywhere that she could see. Even though they seemed to be alone, she still leaned further across the desk before speaking to Lavon.

"Between you, me, and the file cabinet," she said softly, "Zoe isn't suffering with any kind o' illness. Just one too many martinis on girls' night."

"Ah, Lavon Hayes understands exactly," said the mayor, nodding his head and leaning back away from Lemon with great purpose, or so it seemed to her. "I'm just wonderin' what has Zoe in a place where she needs to be getting... over-liquored."

"I'm sure it's not my place to say." Lemon shook her head, putting her attention right back on the appointment book. "Of course, you're welcome to go on over to the apartment and ask her all about it. She could probably use a friend right about now."

"And here was me thinking that the two of you was just best buds these days."

Lemon smiled on glancing up and seeing the smirk Lavon was wearing, clearly teasing her, at least a little.

"We get along better than some might think," she confirmed, "but I'll never be the friend to her that you are, Lavon," she said definitely. "She talks a lot about you and how well you treated her when nobody else was willin' to give her a chance. I'm not saying she makes me feel guilty sometimes, because I would never be goaded into admitting such a thing, but she looks on you like a brother and I'm sure a visit from you would lift her spirits."

Lavon nodded like he understood and moved as if maybe he was going to go, only to turn back at the last, mouth open, ready to speak again.

"How much do you two talk about me?"

When his eyes met her own gaze, Lemon found she had to swallow very hard before she could answer his question.

"Zoe talks, I listen," she confirmed. "Obviously, she knows what she knows about..." she said, gesturning vagely between them, "but we rarely talk about the complicated romances in each of our lives, if we can avoid it. Given her attraction to my ex-fiance, it's a subject best left unbroached, for the most part."

She couldn't imagine Lavon would have a way to argue at all with what she said. Lemon would prefer he didn't offer any kind of opinion, truth be told. The way he was looking at her in that moment, she could hardly bear it.

In desperation, Lemon fought for any other topic of conversation, since it seemed Lavon was in no hurry to leave after all.

"Um, I heard tell that venomous piece of work Ruby Jeffries is running for mayor against you in the upcoming election," she said fast. "I would say I can hardly believe she would be so foolish or so vindictive, but I remember her of old and nothing really surprises me about the levels to which she'll stoop."

Lavon shook his head. "I want to be gracious, think she really is tryin' to do her best for the town but... I don't know, makes me wonder if this just ain't revenge, you know, for me leaving for college all those years ago and never callin' her again."

"I wouldn't be at all surprised," Lemon agreed, "but I don't see you have anything to worry on. You have that excellent approval rating of yours, and you've never been anything but top-notch in your capacity as mayor of this town. You are so kind and thoughtful, so caring about our little community and all the people in it. I'm sure we couldn't have a better man, or should I say a better person, in charge of things in Bluebell."

She hadn't meant to wax quite so lyrical about the wonder of Lavon, but it just came so easily when she put her mind to it. He was quite a man, not only as mayor, but in general, at least in her opinion. Lemon just hadn't intended to say as much in quite so passionate a way, most especially not in front of the man himself.

"Well, that is quite a speech you just gave," he said, looking startled but pleased by her words. "Makes me worry a little less about the dream I had last night. See, I dreamed it was election night and Ruby won in a landslide. She got every vote except for one."

"That's never going to happen, Lavon," Lemon told him definitely. "But if you're really so worried about her chances in this mayoral election race, well... well, then let me run your campaign."

The words were out of her mouth before Lemon had hardly processed them. She saw that Lavon looked as shocked as she felt by her offer, but there was no possible way she was taking it back. This was too good of an opportunity, as far as she could tell. A legitimate chance to spend time with Lavon again and see if maybe, just maybe, there was a possibility of retrieving what they once had.

"You serious right now?" he asked her, wide-eyed with shock yet.

"You will be unbeatable, Lavon," she promised him, now so certain in her plan. "No one wants to see Ruby Jeffries go away more than I do, and when I set my mind to something, you of all people know how determined I can be."

She made a good sales pitch, Lemon always had. Like she just said, nobody could really get in her way when she was feeling determined about something. Of course, Lavon was one of the few people in the world that had ever seen her vulnerable side, that was capable of really affecting her deep in her heart. If he said no to her idea right now, she really wasn't sure how she would take it.

"Well, uh, can I think about it?" he said after a while.

Lemon swallowed hard and nodded her head. "Sure. You can just let me know when you make your decision. Not as if you don't know where to find me," she said, smiling across at him.

"Okay then," Lavon agreed, smiling back for a brief moment before practically running out of the doctor's office, crossing paths with Tom Long who was on his way in.

"I need a doctor right away," he said urgently, holding up his pointer finger that had a handkerchief tied tightly around it.

Lemon sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Zoe had hoped that a walk out in the fresh air and sunshine would be the final step in reviving her from her hangover symptoms. Honestly, she was not at all proud of herself for getting drunk for the second time in a couple of weeks. She really did have to stop turning to a bottle to solve her problems, before people started calling her Crazy Zoe!

Thankfully, she was pretty sure there was only Lemon and Annabeth that knew about either of her falls from grace, and she would very much like to keep it that way. Of course, in Bluebell, there was every chance that she wouldn't manage that. Somehow, one person's business did seem to be everybody's business in a small town. Also, you couldn't go more than a couple of yards down the street without running into someone you were just bound to have an awkward conversation with.

"George."

Zoe was startled by the sight of him and only felt marginally better when she realised he looked equally as surprised to realise he had almost literally run into her.

"Hi, Zoe," he said awkwardly. "How are you?"

"I'm... alive," she told him, shaking her head slightly. "Sorry, I wasn't feeling so great earlier, but I'm better now. Self-inflicted symptoms. One too many martinis on girls' night."

"Right." George nodded in understanding. "You were out with Lemon?" he asked, visibly squirming even as he said the words.

"I was, and AB too," Zoe explained. "It was fun. Well, the part I remember anyway. I hear you've been going out too, you know, on dates, with women. Which is great," she added fast. "I mean, you should date, absolutely."

"It was your idea," said George, smiling slightly, "but, uh, you should know that it was only one real date so far, with this girl, Shelby. She seemed real nice, but then... well, there was a crazy factor to her," he explained, shifting from foot to foot. "Anyway, it's not going to work out, which is what I tried to tell her. It didn't go so well," he admitted, scratching his head. "I mean, Wade tried to help out, with his compliment sandwich and everything, but I messed that up so... yeah, clearly not ready to be out in the dating world yet."

Zoe listened with genuine interest, though for the most part, she was wondering why hearing about George's dating habits didn't upset her more. It was supposed to, surely, after how much she had dreamed of being with him for all those months. Of course, the thought occurred to her that when she was handed the chance on a silver platter, she had turned it down. What did that mean anyway?

"Zoe?"

When George said her name, Zoe snapped back to reality, apologising for ever having zoned out. It was more that last part of what he said than anything else. Something about Wade.

"You know, I haven't see him much lately. Wade, I mean," she said then. "Not since I moved off the plantation anyway. Is he okay? Is he also dating, do you know?"

She was trying for subtle, but Zoe was well aware it wasn't her strong suit. The smirk on George's face proved she had failed once again in her attempts.

"I think Wade is mostly just being Wade," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Tending bar, flirting up a storm with any pretty face that comes by and smiles at him. That said, he has mentioned you more than a few times in conversation the last couple of times I've seen him."

"Really? Huh, interesting," said Zoe, this time trying for passive interest and still knowing she was doing a lousy job - why on earth did she even bother?

"Zoe, come on," said George, shaking his head. "It's not as if I am unaware that you like Wade. I really don't think you would have been in bed with him on the night of my cancelled wedding if you didn't. You're just not that kind of person."

There was a part of Zoe that really wanted to argue with that. Some reflex instinct type of thing that was determined to make George see that she didn't care about Wade at all and only leapt into bed with him because of specific crappy circumstances.

At the same time, Zoe knew he made an excellent point when he said she wasn't that kind of person. The type to just sleep with anyone who asked. Of course Wade meant something to her. Most of the time, she wished he didn't, but he did.

"Look, Zoe," said George after a while. "You told me the best thing I could do to get into a good place was to try dating other women, so that's what I'm trying to do, for you as much as for myself. I don't know if it's gonna work out, but I took that advice you gave me and I ran with it. Now, maybe you'll take the same kind of friendly advice from me when I say maybe what you really need to do to figure out your true feelings is to stop avoiding Wade and just talk to him about what happened with you two."

Zoe sighed. "You really think there's any point? George, he already told me it was just... physical," she said pointedly, mindful of the townsfolk milling around in the street, potentially trying to listen in. "He doesn't really care about me."

"Oh, he doesn't?" George checked. "Zoe, I have known Wade Kinsella more years than I can count. I have never once known him do as many favours for a woman as he has done for you since you moved here, at least, not when he wasn't gettin' anything in return, which he wasn't for a real long time, as far as I know."

There was no way to argue with what George was saying, and the truth was, Zoe wanted to believe he could be right. She suspected Wade had real feelings for her, given what Lavon had said, given some of the things Wade himself had said and done too, but after their encounter on the day of George and Lemon's not-a-wedding, he had been so callous and cruel.

"Just think about it, Zoe," George advised, giving her a small smile before going off on his way.

Zoe watched him walk down the street and then around the corner out of sight. She wasn't sure if he was right or not, whether trying to seriously talk to Wade about what might be between them was worth it. She wondered why she didn't just run right after George and tell him he was the only one she wanted anyway.

All Zoe Hart knew for sure in that moment was that the headache she had hoped to lose was now double the size it had been when she left the apartment. So, not exactly a successful walk, after all.

To Be Continued...