A/N: Look at all the love for this fic still. You reviewer folks never fail to make me smile - thank you :) So, second official date for Zoe and Wade. Really hope it doesn't disappoint!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16

"Now, this is what I'm talkin' about," Wade declared as he and Zoe stepped out of the cab right outside the gates to Central Park.

She really hadn't been sure what to expect when he sent her a cryptic text message with only a date and time, followed by another that told her she didn't need to get dressed up. Given that he was apparently coming by for her on Saturday at noon, she figured they were headed out to lunch, but quite obviously, nowhere fancy. Still, the picnic basket in his hand had been a real surprise.

"It ain't exactly the same as takin' you to some quiet spot in Bluebell," said Wade as he took a hold of Zoe's hand and they went into the park together, "but I figure it's as close as we're gonna get around here."

"A picnic in the park is a beautiful idea, Wade," she promised him, grinning so wide. "I mean, don't get me wrong, a fancy dinner in a nice restaurant is also good, but being somewhere that I don't have to worry so much about my manners and everything, or who might see us being less-than-perfect? It's a good thing."

Wade grinned back at her, letting go of Zoe's hand in favour of wrapping his arm right around her and pulling her even closer.

"Glad you approve, doc," he told her, leaning down to steal a quick kiss as they continued on over the grass, trying to find a good spot to settle into.

Since the sun was high in the sky and Zoe was full of tales of heat stroke and melanoma thanks to her extensive medical knowledge, they found an area by the trees where they would be guaranteed a little dappled shade.

Wade spread out the blanket and began producing cartons of food as well as a bottle of wine that impressed Zoe to no end. She really had not seen any of this coming. Sure, she knew Wade was a nice guy, that he had some idea of how to treat a woman after their first date and his helping her so much on the drunken night that she would rather not remember. Still, after everything, after the long gap between Date One and now, after her telling him she was not willing to just fall into bed with the guy, she almost expected him to give up. After all, he was a rockstar, with easy access to a lot of easy women. The fact that Wade would put in so much effort all for her alone, Zoe was a little bowled over by that.

"What?" he asked, clearly noticing some sort of goofy expression on her face.

"Nothing," she insisted, shaking her head, knowing she was blushing at being caught staring in some googly-eyed way at him. "I was just thinking... how great this all is. You know, it's rare to find a guy who knows how to pack a decent lunch like this."

"I didn't just pack it, doc," Wade told her, presenting the feast to her. "I made it, for the most part."

"You made it?" Zoe echoed, once again in awe. "Wow. I am officially impressed. You're really not like other guys, Wade Kinsella."

"That's what they tell me," he told her with a wink before settling down comfortably on the blanket beside her and encouraging her to dig in to the food.

Zoe wasted no time in doing exactly that, while Wade dug out a corkscrew and opened up the wine. She took a glass willingly, but had only taken a sip or two before she thought better of drinking anymore. Zoe didn't often push her limits on alcohol, and though Wade had proven himself to have more willpower than most when she did get too far gone and threw herself at him, she wasn't sure she wanted to go testing him a second time.

The fact was, Zoe had started giving some serious thought to just exactly how serious she wanted to get with Wade. There was every chance that if he pushed his luck even a little, she wouldn't tell him no, at this point, but she wasn't prepared to impair her own judgement too badly and risk making a mistake.

"Zoe?"

She hadn't realised he was speaking to her until he said her name then, his hand landing on her arm. His expression proved he was more than a little concerned that she had zoned out twice now in a matter of moments.

"You feelin' okay?" he checked then. "You looked kinda... spaced out."

"I feel a little spaced out," she admitted, laughing at the phrasing they both used. "Um, but I'm fine. It's just... I guess I've been waiting a little too long to get to this second date with you. I mean, we've both been waiting and hoping to get here, and now that we are..."

"You're wondering why you even wanted to see me again?"

Zoe was so shocked by that question and the sad expression on Wade's face, she actually felt her jaw drop and was surprised it hadn't physically hit the ground. How could a guy who looked like he did, was as charming as he was, who commanded so much power over women and seemed to innately confident, truly believe that she didn't want to be here with him?

"Wade, trust me, you are not the problem," she promised, shaking her head. "I promise, I am happy to be here with you. I couldn't be any happier."

"You think you could tell that to your face?" he said, smiling hesitantly, proving he was at least trying to make a joke.

"I'm so sorry." Zoe sighed, putting down her wine glass and the piece of food she now realised she was not going to be eating for a while yet. "It really isn't your fault, Wade. I... I just..."

She wanted to explain it to him, she really did. Brash, straight-talking New Yorker that she had been raised to be, Zoe wasn't sure why she was having so much trouble. She should tell him, just open her mouth and let the words come flowing out. Let him know she was thinking seriously about them taking further physical steps in their relationship and that it was making her just a little nervous. She ought to tell him all of that, but somehow, Zoe just couldn't.

"I'm fine," she said eventually. "I'm kind of tired from all the hard work, I guess, and a little over-awed, because hey, I'm on a second date with an amazing singer-songwriter that wowed a club full of people just the other night with a song all about little old me," she said, laughing a little at how strange that all sounded, even if it was the truth. "But I promise you, Wade, I absolutely want to be here. None of this is a disappointment. You are certainly not a disappointment," she assured him.

"Well, I know for sure that's something you could never be yourself either, doc," said Wade then, reaching a hand out to her face and guiding her close enough that he could softly kiss her lips. "For what it's worth, I meant every word o' that song you heard the other night. Never did mean anything as much."

That made Zoe smile and take her turn at kissing him this time. After that serious moment passed and they got into the food and the wine, talking about other more normal things and everything, she started to relax. It didn't take long before Zoe was happily sitting in Wade's personal space, his arm around her as they reconnected like two old friends, or maybe two old flames, even though they had only known each other a few short weeks. It was suddenly just so easy to be comfortable again. Zoe began to wonder why she was ever nervous in the first place.

Wade had days and nights enough in his life that he wished would go on just a little longer than they actually did in reality, but none so much as his second date with Dr Zoe Hart. He had thought their first date went pretty well and he hadn't even minded too much when she told him she was not letting him into her apartment and her bed that night.

When she finally had offered him that chance, she was drunker than he had seen a woman in a good long while, and so he did the gentlemanly thing and refused her. It was worth it too, in the long-run, because the next day, being curled up on her couch, spinning tales about the folks of Bluebell as she laughed and sighed in his arms, that had been something Wade could never have imagined finding much joy in, and yet, it was one of the best days of his life.

Today was right up there on the list too, even though all he and Zoe had done was sit in a park, eat lunch, talk about all kinds of nonsense, and make out some, as much as a public place would allow anyway.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, everybody knows that, and so, their picnic date had to end too. Wade had a gig he had to be at later on this evening, but he had hours yet before he really had to leave. The main problem was, the weather was already turning, the sun disappearing behind clouds and the air turning noticeably colder. Then the first drop of rain hit them and Wade and Zoe both knew it was time to call it a day.

They got a cab back to Zoe's building, Wade getting out and asking the driver to wait as he opened his date's door for her like a gentleman and offered her his hand to help her out of the car. The rain was coming down a little harder by now and so a hasty goodbye was required before they both got soaked.

"Sorry it had to end this way, doc," said Wade, doing his best to shield her from the worst of the rain.

"What if it doesn't?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder to the apartment block for a moment.

Wade had an idea he knew what she meant, but there was no way he was pushing his luck any, not with her.

"I'm a simple guy from the South, Zoe," he said, looking seriously at her. "I don't do metaphors or trick questions or any o' that stuff, so if you got somethin' to say, I think you should spell it out for me, just so we're clear."

For a moment, he wondered if she had been struck dumb. Zoe just stood and stared at him for a few seconds, and then, all at once, she was up on her toes, her arms tight around his neck as she kissed him hard on the lips. Just as Wade was getting into it, she pulled back, biting her lip for a moment.

"You wanna come up?" she asked him plainly then. "Because I'd be okay with that."

Wade really did not need asking twice, nodding his head in the positive then turning away quickly to collect his things from the cab and pay off the driver. He and Zoe all but ran into the building, glad enough to get out of the rain, but also, thrilled to know this was all happening now. The elevator doors barely closed behind them before Wade dropped the picnic basket and pulled Zoe to him. She went willingly and the kissing started up again, becoming a little more than simply that before they quite made it to her floor.

The doors opened to reveal their make-out session to whoever may have been waiting, but thankfully, there was nobody there when they finally came up for air.

"Way to ruin a cliché," Zoe noted with a giggle and a roll of her eyes as she exited the elevator and headed for her apartment door.

Wade followed behind, still wondering if this really meant what it seemed to mean. Zoe wasn't like other women he had dated, if you could even call it dating. In most instances, he just slept with women, one crazy night, maybe a weekend, and then it was over. There had been a couple of more serious relationships in the past. He was even married once, though that was a real big mistake, if ever he had made one. Still, nothing Wade had experienced in the past with any other woman compared to what he felt when he was with Zoe, and this was before they ever got as far as what he usually considered to be the main event.

"So, here we are," she said then, turning a full circle in the middle of the living room, as if she suddenly felt weird about being there with him. "I'd give you the tour, but you've been here kind of a lot already."

If Wade didn't know any better, he would swear she was shaking, and also, playing for time like crazy.

"You know, what, Zoe? If you... I mean, if you changed your mind about this, I can just call another cab," he promised her, even though it was killing him to say it.

"Really haven't," she told him immediately.

Wade couldn't contain the huge sigh of relief that escaped his lips and had the decency to feel a little awkward about it when it was clear that Zoe noticed. As if she could fail to, really.

"Look, Wade, I don't... I didn't explain myself very well in the park, you know, when you asked me if I was okay? I didn't lie exactly when I said I was kind of over-awed by you. I actually am sometimes."

"And you think I'm not by you?" he checked, coming to stand close in front of her. "You're a doctor, Zoe, a surgeon. You have real smarts, the kind that I could never hope to have. You go to a hospital almost every day and you fix people up, you actually save lives," he reminded her plainly. "You have any idea how much that blows my mind? Not just that, but the fact a woman like you, smart and beautiful and decent as you, is looking at me the way you look at me sometimes?"

"Come on." Zoe rolled her eyes. "You have a million adoring fangirls."

"And not a one of 'em holds a candle to you," he promised her, as honest as he had ever been. "I am serious, doc, you are somethin' else. I can't explain it, wish to hell I could, but you... you are just..."

He didn't have the words to give her, there just weren't any, at least, not in the limited vocabulary of one Wade Kinsella. All he could do was fall back on the skills he had, hoping that what they said about action speaking louder than words held true. Reaching out his hand to her cheek, the other finding Zoe's waist, he urged her closer and kissed her. They soon picked up where they left off in the elevator, arms around each other, tongues doing battle, the heat rising all too easily between them. Still, Wade was wary after how nervous Zoe seemed before and made himself pull back before it all went a little too far, to a place where he would have serious problems stepping back.

"Hey, you sure about this?" he double-checked.

Zoe swallowed hard before she answered. "Yes... and no," she admitted, looking a little wobbly all over again. "I do want to, Wade. I mean, I really, really do," she promised in such a way that he couldn't doubt her. "It's just... all those women that you... the ones from before," she said, glancing away. "I don't have that kind of experience," she explained, clearly feeling foolish in doing so. "I mean, I have some, I'm not... I mean, I have," she said pointedly, meeting his eyes once again. "I'm just really bad at disappointing people."

Wade didn't think he could feel any more for her than he already did, but in that moment, he could honestly think he was completely in love with this woman. If he were a better person, he probably would've told her so too.

"Zoe," he said instead, tucking her hair back behind her ear, "it's like I told you before, I do not believe you could ever disappoint me, and no matter what does or doesn't happen here, I believe that will still hold true," he promised her faithfully.

She looked at him oddly for a moment, stared so hard, Wade believed she was trying to see right into his soul. He would happily show it to her, if he thought it would help at all. It seemed maybe she found what she was looking for then, as she suddenly launched herself back into his arms, kissing him hard, pulling him in the vague direction of her room.

Picking her up into his arms, Wade had Zoe's legs around his waist as he carried her through the open bedroom door, the pair of them tumbling onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, her laughter ringing in his ears at the awkward landing.

Looking down at her then, Wade was sure nobody was ever as beautiful or as inviting as his Zoe, and he certainly couldn't have imagined their second date going any better than this.

To Be Continued...