A/N: So, here's one last non-festive Zade hurrah before we get into the Christmas treats for this year! I think I must've written this when I was rewatching Season 1 a couple of months ago or so, but somehow, I just never posted it. Well, here it is now, for anyone who enjoys my random episode rewrites that end in Zade happiness... or at the very least Zade hope ;)

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and any recognisable dialogue from Hart of Dixie belong to Leila Gerstein and other folks who aren't me.

Nobody But You

She had to be crazy. Zoe Hart was well aware that it was not the act of a sane person to come home from work, shower and change, hop in the car, and drive all the way to New Orleans on a whim. That said, she was still going to do it, because George Tucker had asked her to.

The newly single George, who had ridden up to her on a motorcycle today and told her he planned on living his life just exactly how he always wanted to. Zoe had to think his telling her the way he had was significant. Wasn't he practically saying that she was what he wanted? The evidence seemed to suggest that was true, especially now, when he was enticing her down to Louisiana like this.

With a grin on her face, Zoe rushed towards the carriagehouse to quickly shower and change. She stopped a few feet short of her home when she realised she had company.

"Wade?" she said, confused by his presence on her porch steps. "What are you doing here?" she asked, arms folded across her chest as she took up a deliberately angry stance.

"Look, before you go gettin' all mad at me again, I'm sorry, okay?" he said, immediately on his feet with his hands outstretched in some sort of placating gesture.

"You're sorry?" Zoe echoed, eyeing him suspiciously, half-expecting this to be some kind of joke.

"Yes, I am." Wade nodded.

She didn't really doubt that he meant it. Though he was childish and stupid sometimes, with his jokes and snarky comments, at this point, Zoe was pretty sure she could tell when Wade was messing with her and when he wasn't. If he said he was sorry then he probably was feeling bad. Of course, that didn't mean Zoe had to be in a very forgiving mood. The things he said about her the other day still stung even now.

"I'm not selfish or a snob," she told him sharply. "And I thought you and me... I thought we were friends, Wade."

"We were... we are," he assured her, heaving a sigh. "I just..."

He seemed to be struggling, which was strange. Zoe couldn't really remember a time when she ever saw Wade lost for words, especially around women. He always had a comeback for anything she said, for anything anyone said, except for right now.

"Look, Zoe, the thing of it is, well, I had a real weird day, alright?" he started to explain then, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I won't bore you with the details, not least 'cause it would be all kinds of embarrassin' to share, but the point is... well, it got me thinking. The way I go on - getting drunk, going home with random women, losing my clothes, apparently - well, I wanna try and put that behind me. I, uh, I got a plan. I'm, I'm saving up money to open my own bar. I think it could be a pretty special place."

Zoe wasn't sure where all this was coming from or what precisely it had to do with her, but she was too stunned by the whole speech, and the very serious look on Wade's face while he was giving it, to even think about interrupting.

"I guess I just wanted you to know that, uh... well, I'm trying to be better, different. Little more grown-up, I guess you could say. You should know that you... you're a big part o' the reason why."

"Me?" Zoe shook her head. "Wade, I don't... I mean, if you want to change your life, be more serious about women and having your own bar and everything, then that's great. Good for you, but I don't understand what it has to do with-"

"I like you, Zoe."

If she had been stunned by the speech, she was doubly so by his declaration then, and not just because he cut right into what she was saying herself.

"I mean, I really do," Wade continued, "and I have not handled it well, believe me. Well, you probably noticed, what with the bein' so mean to you and everything, which again, I am sorry about. You're right, you're not really selfish and snobbish and all. I was just lashin' out because... well, like I said, I like you."

Zoe swallowed hard and tried to process what he was telling her. Wade Kinsella liked her. Of course, she knew he liked her as a friend, in his own way, and that he found her attractive enough to want to try and get her into bed.

She had wondered, once or twice, if he liked her in a more serious way. Once, last Christmas, when he offered to buy her a drink. Another time, not so long idea, when Rose put the idea into head. In the end, Zoe had decided it couldn't be true. Wade wasn't that guy, not the type to be falling for her or anything like that. It seemed maybe she was wrong. Maybe he was exactly that guy.

"Wade... I don't know what to say," she said, shaking her head once more. "I mean, you really hurt me with what you said the other day, but honestly? I guess I can't entirely say you were wrong," she admitted, glancing away. "Sometimes, I probably am a little selfish, and I can see that, if you like me and you've only seen me try to date guys with money and careers and everything, that might seem snobbish..."

She trailed off, realising just how much of a point Wade really had when he said those things to her. Zoe hated to admit it, but it was true. She could see just where Wade was coming from with his hurtful comments, most especially if they were at least partly fuelled by jealousy. Hadn't she been just as cutting about Lemon, mostly because she was the one engaged to George for so long?

George. In all this Zoe had almost forgotten that he was waiting on her in New Orleans. As much as this talk with Wade was important, she did have somewhere else to be. Somebody that she cared about was expecting her. Of course, someone else she cared about, though perhaps in a different way, was standing right in front of her, pouring his heart out. Zoe hardly knew where to begin.

"You know, Wade, it's not that I don't... You're a great guy," she assured him with a genuine smile. "I mean, yes, you do drive me crazy sometimes, but obviously, I drive you crazy sometimes too. I like to think we're friends though, most of the time, and I am so flattered that you... that you like me. Obviously, I like you too, you know, as a friend. You do know that, right?"

"Not really." Wade shrugged, hands shoved deep in his pockets by now. "I mean, any time I thought maybe I mighta had a shot, there was George Tucker again, and you were runnin' right after him in your crazy high-heels."

Zoe looked away when he said that, knowing she could never meet his gaze in the circumstances. Walking away from Wade and running after George. She supposed she did do that quite a lot, and here she was again, trying to wrap up this conversation, that was clearly so important to Wade, just so she could be at George's beck and all. It wasn't a great feeling. In fact, something twisted in Zoe's gut then and made her feel quite sick.

"Oh my God," said Wade then, catching her attention. "You were comin' back here to get yourself fixed up to go after him again, weren't you?" he said, the look on his face and the tone in his voice suggesting he neither wanted nor needed an actual answer to his question.

Zoe gave one anyway.

"He called me, from New Orleans," she explained. "He invited me to go join him, so..."

"So, that's exactly what you plan on doin'." Wade nodded knowingly, hand coming up to rub at his chin then. "You know, what, Zoe Hart? If that's what you wanna do, then you go right ahead and do it," he told her, moving decidedly out of her path so she could pass, "but I will say just one more thing before I go. You seem to think George Tucker is just made for you, that somehow he's your destiny or whatever, but let me remind you o' this - George did not choose you," he told her straight. "He found out somethin' he didn't like about Lemon, and there is a big difference between one and the other. Now, knowin' those two like I do, chances are good they'll be back together again in no time anyhow, and even if they're not... Don't be his rebound, doc," he urged Zoe, meeting her eyes. "You're better than that."

Zoe opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Wade had already turned around and started walking away. Sure, she could've called him back, run after him even. Catching him would be easy enough. It wasn't as if she didn't know where he was going or that it was far away. The gatehouse was practically within yelling distance, but Zoe didn't speak, or move, or do anything at all for a full minute, her mind just whirring.

She hated to have to admit to herself that Wade was right. George hadn't broken up with Lemon purely to be with Zoe. He found out that he couldn't trust his precious fiancée anymore, that she cheated on him and hid it for so long. Now, he was looking to Zoe, as a substitute? For comfort and consolation?

"No," Zoe told herself firmly, pushing forward up the porch steps and into the carriagehouse. "George likes me, he has always liked me."

The force with which she had to say it was too much, and even then, Zoe wasn't sure she truly believed. As she hit the shower and scrubbed the strangeness of the day from her body, she couldn't stop replaying everything that Wade had said to her, from his liking her to the fact she shouldn't let George use her as a rebound.

'You're better than that.'

That last phrase echoed in her head as she returned to the bedroom, wrapped up in her robe, and faced herself head on in the mirror. Was she? Was she really better than that? Couldn't she just let herself believe for a little while longer that George really was her destiny? She liked him so much and she knew he liked her too.

"But not enough to break up with Lemon until he found out she did something wrong," she told her reflection, knowing Wade was right in what he said.

George didn't choose Zoe. Not until she was the only option left on the table. Not until Lemon had proven herself unworthy in his eyes. It was Wade who chose Zoe, over every other girl in Bluebell. Wade who could snap his fingers and have any woman he wanted, give or take, who was talking about giving it all up because he liked Zoe too much to carry on.

Suddenly her vision grew blurry and Zoe blinked hard, setting free tears that tumbled down her freshly-scrubbed cheeks. She was a fool for not seeing what was right in front of her. For not realising that Wade liked her like that. For not thinking clearly enough about George's situation. Of course, what she couldn't figure out was if she would be an even bigger fool if she went to New Orleans tonight or if she stayed home.

Though Wade had his guitar in his hands, he wasn't actually playing or anything. His mind was in a whole other place, going over what had happened in his latest conversation with Zoe.

It wasn't as if he thought the moment he told her he liked her she would just fall into his arms or anything. Hell, people might think of him as not the smartest guy sometimes, and they were right too, but Wade Kinsella wasn't that stupid. Still, he had held onto a little piece of hope, that maybe if she knew there was another choice, she wouldn't be quite so stuck on Golden Boy George. No such luck, apparently.

Not that he had heard her head out to New Orleans yet. No doubt Zoe was still up at the house, trying to convince Lavon to hand over the keys to the Navigator. He would too, just as soon she turned on those big brown eyes and asked him real nice. They were all suckers for Zoe Hart, Wade supposed, just in different ways, that was all.

A knock on the door startled him from his thoughts. Wade looked up and got a real surprise when he saw the very woman who was filling his head stood right there beyond the glass. Putting the guitar aside, Wade got up and went over to open the door.

"Hi," she said, staring up at him, looking for all the world like she had been crying, though Wade hoped it wasn't true.

"Hey, doc," he said, trying for a smile, but not so sure it came out right. "You okay?"

"Yes. No," she amended, shaking her head. "I... I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to New Orleans tonight. I texted George and told him not to expect me. So, yeah, not going," she repeated.

Wade honestly wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that, and apparently, didn't need to think on it too hard, since Zoe wasn't done herself.

"I also wanted to say thank you, for what you said before," she continued, "about me being worth more than just a rebound. I'd like to think that's true, although lately... I'm not sure my behaviour has been the best. Maybe I should follow your example, try to start over, be better," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Something to think about. Anyway, thank you, again, Wade. Like I said before, you're a good guy and I appreciate all the times you've helped me out, including tonight," she concluded with a smile.

Wade was about to tell her she was welcome, when suddenly she was up on her toes and very much in his personal space, planting a kiss on his cheek. He wasn't quite ready for that, but her closeness and the way she lingered was too much to ignore. Wade wasn't so stupid as to let an opportunity pass him by. Sliding his arms around Zoe, he let his lips find hers for a moment. That should've been all it was, just a few seconds of contact, but once he started, Wade found it damn near impossible to stop. Wasn't as if Zoe was exactly fighting it either. Still, after a short while, he forced himself to come to his senses and let her go.

"I'm sorry," he said fast, literally face-palming. "Seriously, Zoe, after what I said, about changing and all-"

"Wade, it's okay," she promised him, her hand on his arm, making him look at her. "I'm not mad," she assured him, the smile on her lips and the blush in her cheeks proving her point. "You know, I think it's really great that you want to better yourself and everything, and like I said, I'm flattered to think that I inspired even a small part of that, but please, do me a favour? Don't go changing too much, Wade Kinsella," she told him then, "because you're actually pretty great just the way you are."

Her fingers squeezed his arm just for a moment, and then, she slipped away from him, rushing off down the porch steps and back to her place in a minute. Wade watched her the whole way, right up until the carriagehouse door closed behind her. There was a smile on his face a mile wide when he finally turned around and headed back inside. All things considered, maybe it hadn't been such a bad day after all.

The End