A/N: Right, let's bring this back full-circle, shall we? Thanks to all those who have left reviews on any or all chapters. If you'd like to leave your thoughts after this final instalment, that would be much appreciated too :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 18

It was going to be awkward and awful and everything bad, Lemon knew. That was why she had been avoiding the talk she had to have with Zoe for two days now. Unfortunately, when you lived with a person and worked with them too, it was no easy task to keep on dodging the topic that had to be faced.

It wasn't so hard at the practice, since they were usually both so busy, or in Lemon's case, pretending to be. Besides, lately, most conversations started and ended with the fast-blossoming relationship between Annabeth and Joel. Lemon still had trouble understanding what her friend saw in the New York author that Zoe seemed to have purposefully shipped in, but just so long as AB was happy, Lemon was too.

Of course, all this just reminded Lemon, on a regular basis, that she had her own romance to be thinking of. That her own boyfriend had taken the leap of asking her to move in with him and she had agreed, in principle. The tough part was telling Zoe what she wanted to do and potentially ruining a friendship that had come to mean so much more to Lemon than she ever could have imagined it might.

The front door opened and closed, causing Lemon to physically flinch. She had her hand on the doorknob, ready to head out of the bathroom into the living room, but almost changed her mind once she knew Zoe was there. For the first time in forty-eight hours, they had ended up in the same place at the same time, alone and with nothing to keep them from having this important conversation.

"Now or never," said Lemon to herself, taking in a deep breath and pushing forward through the door.

Zoe squeaked with surprise at the sight of her room-mate, her hand over her heart from the shock. Clearly, she thought she had just entered an empty apartment and looked as ready to bolt from the scene as Lemon felt herself. Now, wasn't that just a curious thing?

"Zoe, I'm glad you're here," said Lemon, tilting her chin.

"You know, what?" Zoe replied, getting up from the couch and facing Lemon head on. "I'm actually glad you're here too."

As one voice they spoke together then; "We need to talk."

"I beg your pardon, Zoe Hart?"

"I said what you said. We need to talk... but how did you know that?"

"I know because I'm the one who has things that need to be said."

"Well, I have something to tell you too."

"One thing? Because I have two."

Zoe shook her head, feeling a little baffled by this whole conversation so far. She had been trying for twenty-four hours now to find the right way to face Lemon with the news that she didn't want to renew their lease when it came up later this month.

The last six months had been great, no question, but now there was a chance for her to move back into the carriagehouse, at least in theory. She hadn't talked to Lavon about it yet, not least because he was dating Lemon and might say something to her, or insist that Zoe did so herself. The point was the place would be empty again just as soon as Tansy moved out tomorrow, and Zoe would so love to be 'home' again, with Wade and Lavon and her own little carriagehouse.

Apparently, even now, she was going to have to wait to impart her news to Lemon.

"Okay, if you have two things to say then I guess you should go first," she considered. "What's number one?"

Zoe watched Lemon take a deep breath and braced herself for whatever news came next. Was she pregnant already? Had she and Lavon gotten engaged?

"I'm leaving the practice," she said at last.

Zoe felt her eyes get wide and had to shake her head just to make herself blink.

"Oh, okay," she said eventually. "Well, um, did you get another job or...?"

"Yes, well, no, but sort of," Lemon explained badly, and seemed to realise it after a moment more. "Annabeth and I, we have decided to go into business together. A catering business. The plans aren't firm yet, not least because she has been so busy sticking like crazy glue to your friend Joel, so she hasn't had time to discuss them with me, but she needs some direction in her life since her horrible divorce, and I need to do something more than file papers and answer the telephone."

"It does make sense," Zoe considered. "I mean, AB is one of the best cooks I have ever met and you could organise just about anything. I think you'll make a winning team, Lemon. I honestly do," she told her friend with a smile.

"Well, thank you, Zoe Hart." Lemon grinned back at her. "I do hope you'll think of us when you need some event or other to be catered."

"I wouldn't go anywhere else," promised Zoe, reaching out to give Lemon a congratulatory hug. "Wow, I guess me and Brick are going to have to look for a new receptionist again, if both you and AB are about to be unavailable."

"You have a little time. Like I said, plans have kind of gone on the back burner for a while, but it will be happenin' at some point soon. I just thought you should have fair warning."

"And I appreciate that," she said with a smile that she felt wavering almost as soon as it formed. "Uh, speaking of giving people notice..."

"Yes, I think we should stick to that topic," Lemon agreed, nodding her head.

"You do?"

"Yes, actually."

The back-and-forth soon devolved into the two of them talking over each other in fits of panic and nerves.

"Okay, that's so weird because..." "What I need to say, Zoe Hart, is..."

"I wanna move out of the apartment!"

"You wanna move out of the apartment?"

There was a shocked silence after those last two remarks, spoken completely in synch. All the pair of them could do was stare at each other, and then, the laughter came full force from each of their mouths.

"Oh, my goodness!" said Lemon eventually, covering her mouth with her hand a moment and continuing to chuckle before she could go on. "You mean to say I have been worryin' about tellin' you this news for two days, and all the time..."

"Well, not all of the time," Zoe confessed. "I only decided yesterday, when Wade told me the carriagehouse would be empty again very soon. He was talking about missing me and the way things used to be when we lived across from each other, and I realised, as much as I have loved living here with you - and I truly have, Lemon - I miss it too. I miss my carriagehouse, and Wade, and Lavon, and breakfast at the house. I have a chance to get that back and I just... I wanna take it," she admitted.

"I guess I can understand that." Lemon nodded. "Though I'll admit, I hardly miss my old home at all. Daddy did his best, but he did coddle so, and as much as I love Magnolia, she can be an absolute pain in the rear to live with!" she declared, rolling her eyes. "You have been quite the room-mate, Zoe Hart, but then... well, Lavon made me an offer. He asked if I would want to move in with him at the plantation, and even though it is probably way too fast, given the circumstances, I wanna do it. I really do."

Zoe was thoughtful a moment before she spoke again.

"Hey, hang on a second. We were both so worried about telling the other person we were moving out because that would leave the other person high and dry. The six month lease we signed is up in ten days and, no offence, but I knew you couldn't afford to renew without me."

"And though I knew you probably could afford it yourself without me, I hated the idea of dumping it on you with hardly any notice at all," Lemon confessed.

"Well, now it doesn't matter." Zoe shook her head. "And as a bonus, we're both planning on moving to more-or-less the same place," she said with a wide smile. "We won't be living together like we do now, but we'll be on the same plantation at least."

"I guess we will." Lemon smiled back at her. "And quite honestly, Zoe Hart, I could not be any happier about that if I tried. Sure as I was when you first arrived in town last year that I could never like you no matter what, I couldn't imagine livin' too far from you now. You have become something like a sister to me these past six months. I never saw it comin', but I wouldn't want anything to change it now."

She had tears in her eyes as she said it and Zoe wasn't entirely surprised, since she realised the world was looking a little blurry from her side too.

"You know, what, Lemon Breeland? The first time I saw you I thought you were... well, honestly, a crazy person dressed up like a stick of butter," she admitted, laughing even as she confessed it and glad to see her room-mate do the same. "But you're right, we are like sisters now. I never had that in my life, and I wouldn't want to lose it either."

Both laughing and crying in equal measure, the two women reached for each other again, embracing like the sisters they felt as if they had become. They both were glad to know their bond of friendship was as strong as they hoped it might be, and gladder still to realise that moving out from their shared apartment was not the end of anything, just another new beginning they could share.

One month later...

"Well, this is certainly... different," said Joel, eyeing the menorah-shaped ornaments on the Christmas tree with amusement.

"We're thinking of calling it 'Chrismukkah'," Zoe told him with a grin. "You know, half Christmas, half Hannukah?"

"Lemon's idea?" he checked.

"Mostly," his friend admitted, "but it's sweet that she cares so much about including everyone and everything in this weird little friendship group of ours."

"Hey, since when was this bunch of people right here anythin' but family?" asked Lavon as he appeared at her other side.

Zoe grinned up at him. "I will drink to that," she said, clinking glasses with the best friend she so easily looked upon as a brother, before they both drank.

"Bartender!" Lavon called when his glass was empty, crossing to the kitchen counter behind which Wade stood, mixing up cocktails for the assembled party. "Whatever that was, I could easily drink another."

"Could you also eat a little food, please, sweetheart?" Lemon advised, coming over with a tray of delicious delicacies and proffering it at her boyfriend. "Call me crazy, but I don't exactly feel like tryin' to carry you up those stairs later tonight."

"Well, that ain't ever gonna be a problem, sweetheart," Lavon promised her, giving her a quick kiss.

"Lavon!" she gasped as they parted. "People are watchin'!"

"Like I said, we all family here," he told her easily, pulling her close and almost upsetting the tray in her hands. "These look delicious," he said then, helping himself and shoving a bite-sized treat into his mouth. "Hmm, taste delicious too."

"I should hope so," said Annabeth as she came by with a tray of her own.

"Right over here, AB," Wade waved her in his general direction. "Mixin' drinks ain't exactly thirsty work, but the food doesn't come by too often."

"Are you complaining about your stomach again?" asked Zoe, appearing at his other side. "I swear how somebody eats the way you do and still looks this good is against all laws of science."

"I wouldn't complain too much about that, if I were you," said AB with a wink.

Wade laughed, even as he took a whole handful of treats from the tray and assured her through a mouthful that they were great. Not that anyone expected Annabeth's food to be anything else. It was the reason she and Lemon already had so many bookings for their catering business, they almost couldn't accommodate everyone!

"I'll admit, I'm usually more of a beer kind of a girl, but that was awful tasty, Wade," said Tansy as she sidled up to the bar then. "George however..." she trailed off, showing off the still too-full glass in her other hand.

"I'm sorry, man," said George himself, looking all kinds of apologetic. "I'm just not a cocktail guy, I guess."

"No problem, Tucker," Wade assured him, cracking open a beer and handing it right on over. "You okay there, doc?" he asked Zoe then, hearing a squeak from her as she checked her cell.

"Everything is great!" she declared happily, lifting her phone to show Wade the screen.

On it was a selfie of Rose and Max, their arms around each other and an ice rink in the background. They were both grinning like fools, but it was pretty great to see the kids so happy.

"Well, you got your wish, sweetheart," said Wade, looking from the phone screen to Zoe's smiling face. "Everybody who paired up stayed together, just like you wanted, well, so far anyway. Your buddy Joel is even making plans to live in Bluebell permanently, he cares for AB so damn much, and who even knew that Tansy and Tucker could make it work?" he added in a lower voice since the other couple was still kind of close by.

"Somehow, I think I knew," said Zoe, as she looked around the room at her gathered friends - no, her family. "I mean, not when I first moved here or anything. I never could've seen any of this coming then. You and me? George and Tansy? Lemon and Lavon? Not to mention me and Lemon being such good friends. Still, you gotta admit it works. All of it, it just works. Honestly, I can't remember a holiday season when I was this happy or with so many people that I love," she declared, her eyes returning to Wade's face then. "You do know I love you, right?" she said seriously.

She was well aware that it was the first time she had done more than imply such a thing and just what a big deal that ought to be. Yet, it felt so simple and easy to say right now, because it was the absolute truth.

"Well, that works out pretty well for me, Zoe Hart," said Wade softly, leaning closer to her. "'Cause I also love you, with everythin' I got," he promised her.

Their lips met in a perfect kiss then, right there underneath the mistletoe, as all those they loved the most looked on. Now, what could be better than that?

The End

A/N2: Like I said, any final thoughts would be much appreciated by way of reviewage. Also, just to let you know, I'm not done with the HoD fandom or the Zade pairing yet. This December, there will be a festive treat (or two?) coming your way, so keep your eyes open! :)