Guys, I am sorry with the wait for this chapter, my biggest excuse is life in general.

My intention wasn't to end it on a cliffhanger, the way I had done this chapter, but with what I want to do to reveal everything, I really couldn't get it work if I were to keep going.

I promise it won't take me as long as it has been to update this one. As I do know what I want to happen and how to go about it.

Enjoy!

They had watched Earl for the better part of a month, Zoe spent her Saturdays with Wade and despite spending most of her time with the boy who held a massive chip on his shoulders, they still couldn't get along for no more than a few minutes. At school it was almost like he didn't know her. He ignored her in the halls. She could forgive him for that as the few times a few of the older kids bullied her, he was there in their face ready to fight, sending her a small smile as he stalked off.

As fun as it was to creep along to get the scoop on Earl, Sundays were easily her favorite day of the week. Sunday morning she would help her dad with breakfast, after eating she would go with him on his Sunday afternoon house visits, loving a farm way more than she had ever thought possible. Her mom hadn't been too happy one Sunday when she came home nothing but mud as she helped chase Farmer Dan's goat around the pen, right alongside his two twin boys who were a year younger than her. It had been a pretty memorable day.

The last half of her Sunday's are filled with family bonding as they find something to do as a family in one of the neighboring towns before getting dinner and coming home so Zoe could get ready for bed for school bright and early Monday morning.

"I am having a sleepover at my house this Friday, and I would really like it if you came," Lemon stated, taking a seat across from Zoe in the lunchroom with a tray of food.

"I'll have to ask my parents," Zoe retorted. She was sure they would let her go and she wanted to go, she did, but Saturday was her day with Wade and she didn't want to bail on him or have him think that was what she was doing. She was finding it hard to gain his trust and she couldn't be sure that she gained all of it.

"I need to know by Wednesday so my mom can get everything set up," Lemon told her, giving her a bit of heated look as to not forget and that she should really ask after school. "I would hate for my dad to talk to your dad at work and force your hand in coming over," Lemon warned.

"I'll ask once I see my parents tonight, Lemon, I swear it," Zoe promised, digging into her lunch.

"Lemon threatening you too?" Crickett questioned, joining them at the table.

"I am not threatening anyone," Lemon huffed. "I'm merely suggesting you both ask tonight instead of at the last-minute," she clarified with a small eye roll. "Laziness gets you nowhere," she muttered loud enough for her two friends to hear her.

"Lemon, suggesting and threatening are like the same thing in your book," Zoe giggled at the glare her friend gave her. "We know you mean well and I will ask, I promise," she stated.

"What and who are you asking?" George asked, taking seat at the opposite end of the table with a reluctant Wade.

"A sleepover at my house Friday," Lemon told him. "And no, boys are not welcome," she firmly told both George and Wade. "I won't be grounded for a month because of either of you two," she retorted. She wouldn't let them destroy her house with their stupid dart guns and slingshots.

"Whatever, we'll just have a boys night," George laughed, looking to Wade, who remained awfully quiet over the whole thing. He didn't even attempt to make a joke. "Right?" George asked, nudging his friend in the ribs.

"It's whatever," he muttered, taking off leaving his tray of untouched food on the table, everyone at the table wearing matching frowns.

"What just happened?" Crickett questioned, looking around at her three friend.

"No clue," George shrugged. He really didn't know what has been going on with his friends.

Zoe bit her lip and found her food more interesting than the confused looks around her. She knew what was going on with Wade and it really wasn't her place to say anything not that she would to begin with. She wanted to chase him down and assure him that she would be there Saturday, but her friends wouldn't let her live it down and they were in school were he didn't like to recognize her even though she spent three or four days after school at his house.

"Zoe Hart, what is it you know?" Lemon demanded. Zoe went to speak but Lemon was there to cut her off. "And do not give us any lame attempts at lying to us," she warned.

"It's complicated," Zoe shrugged, not sure how else to describe it. Thankfully for her the bell rang before they could question her further and find a way to drag the truth out of her. She made quick works of her tray and left the lunchroom before her friends could catch up to her and question her further about her shady behavior because it would reveal everything Wade is going through. She couldn't and wouldn't do that to him.

"We're not done with this conversation, Zoe," Lemon harshly whispered taking her seat at their science table.

"Yes, we are, Lemon," Zoe stressed, remaining quiet not wanting to gain the attention of their pupils who were entering the class. "I will not tell you what you want to know. I won't betray Wade like that." She did have enough of Lemon thinking she could get her way all the time. She wouldn't cave to Lemon and she would have to deal. "And for all I know it could be something else entirely, like the next stupid prank Meatball is gonna do to land them both in detention," Zoe rambled on, growing quiet seeing Mr. Anders enter the classroom to start their lesson in science.

"Zoe, I get that," Lemon sighed. "But Wade has been a friend for years and I would like to know what's going on with my friends," she explained.

"It's not my place to say," Zoe softly told her.

"Miss Breeland, Miss Hart, would you like to share with the class?" Me. Anders asked. Lemon and Zoe shaking their heads. He nodded, starting to pass out the quizzes he was telling his students about. A quiz they should all pass if they had done the studying he advised them to do the night prior.

It was one of the rare days during the week where Zoe found herself at the Kinsella house for dinner. Her parents going out for a little date night, home before Zoe needed to be in bed. It is something that her parents have done once or twice a week. There had been a few times that Jackie had stayed with her because her parents were running late and Zoe didn't feel comfortable enough with kicking Jesse or Wade from their beds and that's when Jackie offered to stay with her at her home until her parents returned home.

She offered to help with whatever was producing the wonderful and mouth-watering smells omitting from the kitchen, however, Jackie told her no and to get busy working on her school work. Zoe nodded and made herself comfortable as one can be in a wooden kitchen chair to get her homework out-of-the-way. She was in the middle of writing her paper for English when Wade stormed into the house, stopping for a second seeing Zoe sitting at his kitchen table, before he continued on his way in a bigger hurry than before. Zoe like Jackie knew that Wade was just getting home because of the detention he got himself in for the week.

Zoe dropped her pencil on the table, took a look into the kitchen to see that Jackie is occupied with the food not only on the stove but what she had in the stove to cook. She pushed herself away from the table and slowly took each stair one at a time to Wade's room. She really wanted to assure him that she would be there for him on Saturday. If that was even the reason for the weird mood he had been in since lunch.

"What do you want, princess?" Wade snapped, looking at her in the hallway standing in front of his bedroom door, as he paused tearing his room apart to find, well Zoe wasn't certain what he was looking for and this point it really didn't matter.

"To let you know that I will be there on Saturday, a sleepover at Lemon's house won't stop me," she told him, ignoring the angry mood he has been in.

"What's it matter?" Wade snapped, falling on his bed. "We've been tryin' for a month and we ain't got nothin' on him," he sighed.

Zoe nodded, walking into his room as slow as ever, to have a seat on the end of his bed. "Is this where you're giving up?" She asked, looking at the pale green carpet in his room that has faded many shades of green from over the years of play.

"I don't see any other option," he retorted, shrugging. "Do you?" He asked gruffly.

She didn't see any other option. She wanted to see another way to go about this. She even offered to ask Earl herself about the woman, but Wade had pointed out that would only raise red flags because Zoe wasn't supposed to know anything about that. "Not really, no," she sighed, leaving him be and getting back to her homework.

It wasn't until she was lying awake in her bed later that night, that she realized that she was going to miss hanging out with Wade a few hours every week. Without their little spying operation, she had no reason to hang out with Wade. And that was hard to wrap her little mind around. She may not say much or anything when they are watching to see what his dad is up too, but she would still miss it all the same.

"Now what has you up this early?" Harley asked, watching his daughter slump over at the table, while he worked on getting breakfast made.

"School stuff," she shrugged. It's not like she could explain what she has been up to with Wade to her dad, he wouldn't understand why she was doing it or be okay with it either. And she didn't want to disappoint him. She lost one father, she didn't want to be losing another, if she could help it. "Actually, I was going to ask last night, but with it being a sudden date night, I didn't get the chance to ask," she quickly rushed out. "Lemon is having a sleepover Friday night, can I go, please?" She asked, adding in a small pout.

Harley chuckled, shaking his head. "You do know that pout of yours won't work forever, right?" He questioned.

"It'll work long enough," Zoe smirked at her father, feeling more awake than she currently is. "Can I?" She repeated.

"I don't see why not," Harley smiled. Brick had given him a heads up yesterday at the practice and he already confirmed that Zoe would be there.

"Thanks Dad," Zoe smiled, getting up to get ready for her day at school.

The rest of the week went by in the same fashion as the other weeks since school started. Friday after school saw her walking with Lemon and Crickett to Lemon's house. Upon getting there they had an afternoon snack and ushered off to get their homework done before they could do anything else. Something they had made a fuss over, but couldn't get out of doing.

"What's going on with you and Wade?" Crickett questioned, painting her toenails like the other two were doing.

Zoe stopped placing the cap back on the polish she was using, frowning at Crickett. "What do you mean, Crickett?" Zoe asked. "I don't have anything going on with Wade," she confirmed.

"That's not true and you know it. Zoe, we aren't stupid," Lemon spat rolling her eyes at how dense Zoe is being.

"It is true. You both see how he treats me at school. Like I don't exist. The same can be said, when I am at his house. Trust me when I say there isn't a dang thing going on with Wade," Zoe stated, looking hurt that they wouldn't believe her on the subject.

"He may ignore you at school," Lemon started to say, placing the cap on her nail polish and tightening so it wouldn't tip over and spill as she was done with it. "But he comes running to your rescue and stands up for you, Zoe. So I dare you to tell me there isn't anything going on," Lemon huffed out.

"I don't know what else I can say. I don't get along with Wade. We had it out my first day here, and I tried to make amends, it didn't work. I don't know why he comes to my rescue and help out with the bullies at school, but I didn't ask him to do that. I've come to realize that Wade doesn't want my friendship," she harshly told her friends. That hurt worse than a lot of things have in her life. Because she had thought she was making ground on being friends with Wade, but it was clear to see that hadn't been the case at all. "You'd have to ask him why he sticks up for me," she whispered, closing her eyes to will away the tears.

"Zoe, we didn't mean to upset you," Crickett softly told her, gently rubbing her friends back. "Come on let's play a game," she smiled. Zoe nodded giving her friend a smile, ready to put behind the drama with Wade as they fussed over what game they should play.

After playing various board games and some truth and dare, they got themselves settled with all sorts of snacks and to watch movies well into the night as they were spread out in sleeping bags in the family room.

"If you think he's cute then why not ask him to the dance in two weeks?" Zoe asked a red-faced Lemon.

"He's my best friend, I can't," Lemon insisted, shaking her head, pulling the sleeping bag over her face. "We're going to that dance as a group," Lemon announced getting her emotions in check.

"Then you need to dance with him at least," Crickett said. "The dance was lame last year when no one wanted to dance, we can't let that be the same again this year," she tacked on.

"What if he doesn't want to dance?" Lemon inquired, pausing the movie.

"Like he would say no to his best friend," Zoe smiled. "Can we be realistic here?" She asked, rolling her eyes at the antics of her friend.

"Zoe's right, he won't leave you hanging. He hasn't yet," Crickett added.

"Maybe so," Lemon said thoughtfully. "I will think about it. But if I dance with him, we need to figure out who you two are going to find to dance with," she smirked.

Crickett and Zoe both tried to protest that thought, but Lemon wasn't having any of it. If she had to summon the courage up to ask her best friend for a dance they needed to find the courage to ask a boy to dance with them. The only thing to do was for Zoe and Crickett to cave and agree to Lemon's demands.

Morning found them sooner than they would have liked it to. They took their turns in the bathroom to get ready for the day, cleaning up from their night. And when they made it to the table breakfast was being placed in front of them. Shortly after breakfast Crickett had to leave. Zoe not far behind. As she wouldn't let Wade down, she would show up even if he wouldn't be there. She couldn't find it in herself to give up in the same fashion that Wade had.

"Where are you off to?" Lemon asked, seeing Zoe to the door. "You kind of up and disappear most of Saturday and no one knows where you go."

"Around," Zoe shrugged. "I've come to like the peace and quiet this town has to offer. At first it was because I had so much going on when I first came here, that it was nice to be away from it all," she lied to an extent. She may have been spending that time with Wade, but since they hardly said a word to each other, it did at times feel like she sitting there by herself, letting her clear her mind and wrap herself around being in Bluebell, with a new family before her.

Lemon accepted that as an answer and let Zoe go with a see you at school on Monday. Zoe rushed home to leave her things by the front door, not wanting to waste any more time and made her way to the auto shop, half expecting Wade to already be there, and half not expecting him to show up at all.

She froze coming up to the auto shop, seeing Earl talking to a woman, looking more than cozy with her as they talked, laughs slipping out. As crazy as she might have thought about Wade being paranoid in thinking his dad was cheating, it does seem like he was telling the truth. She stood watching Earl's hand drop from the strange woman's arm to sit firmly in the middle of her lower back as he led her around back.

Zoe was torn on going to find Wade or going after Earl to see what was really going on. She is certain that Earl would introduce her to whoever the woman happened to be. Not really sure what to do, she looked around to see Wade making his way towards her.

"Did you see a ghost or something?" Wade questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. She shook her head.

"Does you dad's mystery woman have black hair?" She asked, with their backs having been turned towards her that was the only thing she had been able to notice about her other than, "and a few inches shorter than your dad?"

"That could be her," Wade slowly told her. He couldn't be certain until he saw her with his own eyes. "Where'd they go?" He asked, peering around Zoe and not seeing his dad or said woman.

"They went around back," she informed him. Wade nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him to see what was going on.