Hey all! Starting next week this story will only be updated once a week if I can manage that for the next month and a half. I am hoping to have the two update schedule back at some point in September. I am happy to see that you guys are seeing that George isn't the bad guy here. I will touch upon more about how that all came to be in a later chapter. Here is the clean up for that little cliffhanger.

Italics is a flashback scene that is part of the chapter for Come Along, We'll be a real Family.

Enjoy!

"Why do you think it's crazy?" He asked instead. He wants to know where her head is at before he even thinks about confessing his feelings towards her.

"Because we're friends, best friends at that," she stated.

"Friends fall in love all the time. My parents are a great example of that. They were able to build a stable and strong foundation to their relationship by being friends first," he stated, growing nervous that he might have to push his feelings down. He's ready to say them, but he's not sold on Zoe being ready to hear them, not after everything she's been through today.

"It does make sense," she sighed. "Wade?" She questioned, growing anxious as she thought about the question she wants to ask him.

"Ask away," he smiled, turning, so they were facing each other, still connected by their hands.

"I can ask, and you'll be honest with me?" She asked him. She doesn't want him to lie to make her feel better. Doesn't want him to lie because she thinks that's what she needs to hear.

"I promise that I will be completely and utterly truthful to you. No lies, remember?" He asked. It was a small pact they made when they were little, one that still holds true.

"I remember," she smiled. "Is Lemon right? Are you in love with me?" She asked, feeling sick to her stomach for asking such a question.

"Before I answer this question, Zoe. I need you to promise that whatever I say, won't ruin what we have. You're my best friend and nothing will change that, okay?" He asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"I promise you, Wade. Nothing can ruin what we have. You'll be my best friend till the end of time. I can't see that ending anytime soon. We don't break promises," she repeated, a simple phrase that held a lot over the years.

Wade nodded, letting his eyes drift shut for a few seconds, trying to gather the courage within him for what he's about to say. For the feelings, he swore he'd never tell her until she's ready. He doesn't know if she's ready now, but he's not ready to lie to her, to break their pact. He'd suffer through the consequences, whatever they may be.

"What Lemon thinks is true," he told her, locking his gaze into hers, the moonlight sparkling in her big brown orbs. "It just hit me all of a sudden a few months ago. I wasn't going to act upon my sudden feelings for you. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin things with Graham because you were happy. I didn't want to ruin things with us because I like what we have," he explained. It was all the truth, and he hopes that she can see that. "Don't hate me," he pleaded with her after she remained quiet too long for his liking.

"I could never hate you, Wade," she assured him. "I'm simply taking it all in," she told him, giving him a small smile.

He nodded, letting himself relax. Giving Zoe the time she needs to process what he had told her. The fact she is still sitting in front of him, refusing to let his hand go, told him that things will be okay between them. His confession is heavy and made the surrounding air a bit thick. If the roles were reversed, he'd need time, so he won't rush her into anything.

"You don't have to say anything, Zoe. Take your time. You've only gotten out of a relationship and I don't expect anything other than having my best friend with me," he said, assuring her that he wants nothing more than her friendship.

"I do need time to get over Graham because I did love him," she shared. "And honestly, I don't know how strong my feelings for you are. It's all things I need time to figure out," she told him.

"I get that, this isn't some ultimatum. Our friendship is first and foremost. Everything else comes after," he promised. "I'll even pinky promise," he smiled, holding his pinky up for her.

"Pinky promise," she laughed, hooking her pinky around his, shaking on it the best way possible.

Wade gave Zoe some time to sort through what he had told her. It was a lot to take in, he's sure of that. He wanted to avoid confessing to her in the way he had. He wishes it could have been in a different setting. Where they could have been having a nice little dinner at his place or at hers. Wishes it could be a little more romantic than confessing because his song came across the radio. What is about the past always coming back to ruin things?

It isn't the first time that he let his feelings out when he should have kept them in. He doesn't like to have lies when it comes to Zoe, she's always been the one person he can truly be himself. After prom, he vowed to give Zoe all the time she needed to move on from Graham, but there was a part of him that knew that it wouldn't play out in either of their favors. It was the first time he was glad that he didn't push Zoe to reveal what her feelings really were for him because if time showed him anything, it was that it wouldn't have ended pretty for them. This time, things will be different, if she feels a hint of what he does for her.

"Zoe," he called out softly, exiting his pickup, having turned it off while Zoe had her freak out moment. His steps are slow and deliberate as he walks to where she is sitting on the ground against a tree. He feels it would be better not to take his words back. It's better they be out there for her to know, no matter what she makes of it.

"Please don't," she whispers into the night. Wade sighs, dropping to the ground before her. Using his foot, he nudges her.

"Talk to me, Zoe," he pleads with her. "Yell at me, tell me that you hate me, anything, just don't shut me out," he begged. He prefers not to be the reason that their friendship dies. All because he couldn't keep things to himself, not that he wanted to.

"I don't hate you," she huffed, shaking her head. "I never once hated you. And I am not going to start now," she assured him. "Do you know when I look back at my memories of high school, the one that I remember the most is prom," she confessed.

He remained quiet, letting Zoe take all the time she needs. He's shocked to know that she remembers prom the most out of their high school years. Wade figured it would be one of the many things that she had done with Graham. Or better yet, their standing Saturday morning dates. They may have been little friend dates back then, but it is something he'd like to do more of. Depending on how the rest of their night goes, he might suggest it and see what happens.

"I thought I was heartbroken when Graham broke things off, but there you were, being the best friend I could have ever asked for," she smiled. "You made that night the best night of my life," she told him. "It was the night, I thought that maybe everyone was right about us," she stated. Many times when she looks back at her teenage years, it's like she was cheating on Wade with Graham. She knows that's not the case, but she can't help it. "And that kiss, it threw everything off. I kept my feelings close to my heart because I didn't see the point in saying how I felt that summer or the summer to follow. It took me the first year away to know that what I was feeling for you was as real as it came," she confessed.

"What are you saying, Zoe?" He questioned. Normally, he'd be able to see her feelings written on her face, but under the night sky, the clouds moving in to cover the moon and coverage the tree allowed, he couldn't see anything cross her face. He felt it would be better not to get his hopes up, and think that she was saying the same thing he had confessed to mere moments ago.

"I'm saying it took for us to be separated to understand that I had been in love with you. That I didn't know when it happened, just that I loved you," she laughed a watery laugh. "But how could I tell you that when we would be apart working on the next steps of our lives?" She asked him.

He nodded because he got it, he did. He doesn't blame Zoe for not saying anything sooner. There wasn't a point to say anything when they'd be off living their lives away from each other. There wasn't a point in starting anything when it wouldn't have lasted, not back then. "And now? What are your feelings?" He didn't want to push her, but he wants to be past the feeling of dread in his stomach. It may have started to loosen while Zoe talked, but it's not any better, not until he knows where they stand with his confession hanging over them.

"Now?" Zoe asked, taking a deep breath. "Now it's complicated," she told him. "I have to think of Sofia, she needs to come first," she stated.

"I would never not think that," he told her quickly. "I have come to love that little girl," he smiled. He can see how hard the last few days have been for Zoe with her daughter gone, he too has missed Sofia, more than he figured he would. "I know she'll be first, heck Zoe, wherever we go from here, Sofia will always come first for me," he confided in her. Whether they date or remain friends, Sofia is a part of his life, and he wants to keep her in his life whether that be in the role of step-dad, or an uncle, he will put her first.

"Then you know it's not that easy," she begged him to see that it's not the same when you don't have a child to look out for.

"I am not here asking if it will be easy or if it'll be hard, Zoe," he stressed. "What I am asking is how you feel towards me," he told her, feeling frustrated over the situation he put them in.

"You're my best friend, Wade, the distance and the no contact could never change that," she said, closing her eyes to get her mind in order. "I loved you when we were 19, and when I face my feelings for you a decade later, I can easily fall deeper in love with you and that scares me," she confessed her feelings towards him.

"I will do what I can to ease those feelings, Zoe, but you have to give me a chance to show you that we can be something more," he whispered.

"I can't have Sofia get her hopes up if things don't work out because I can't have her get hurt in the process," she told Wade softly.

"Then we don't, not until we know that things will work out," he promised her. "We date in secret until we know for sure how things will play out," he told her. It's the only option that he can think of that won't have Sofia hurt if things don't work out. Because the future isn't certain and there isn't any guarantee that they will work out if they try.

"We can see how the rest of the week plays out and go from there when Sofia is back," she promised him. "Maybe have those Saturday morning meets at the Jammer with Sofia," she shyly commented.

"Now that," Wade said, pushing himself up off the ground. "Is something I can do," he smirked, standing before Zoe, offering her a hand up. "Every Saturday morning will be reserved for the best two gals in town," he promised her.

Smiling, Zoe slipped her hand into his, letting him help her up. A soft giggle pierced the night air as she collided into Wade's chest. Her hands moved from his hard chest to his arms, feeling the way he's filled out since they were 18 and dancing under the gym's fluorescent lights. Her giggle died on her lips as her teeth sunk into her lip, her dream of Wade hitting her full force. She hasn't had that dream since the day he showed up in her life.

"What has you blushing?" Wade asked in her ear.

"If things work out, you'll be the first one to know firsthand," she told him coyly. There is no way she is going to confess to having a steamy dream about him, not yet, maybe not ever.

"I can deal with that," he smirked, pulling back enough to catch her eyes in the small light the moon offers.

Slowly, inch by inch they moved towards each other. No one knowing for sure who started to move first as their lips meet in the middle. The kiss was nothing like it had been when they were younger. Back then it was soft and sweet, standing under the moon and the dusting of stars it was a hard, fumbling kiss, showing them what can be if they let themselves fall. It's a kiss full of hunger for the other, a kiss that will forever change things between friends. A kiss full of promise and hopes. This kiss wasn't just a kiss, it's a promise filled with love.