Hey everyone, welcome to day 6 of the Hart of Dixie countdown to Christmas!

Enjoy!

Zoe held her emotions in, leaving the bathroom, having tried to control her emotions to keep them in check. Why she didn't stay curled up in her bed to cry, she doesn't know. It would have been the smart choice. Instead, she made it to the lobby, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. All because her dad promised he'd make it to Denver to join them on their family vacation. Yet, he claimed that he couldn't leave the hospital in time to make his flight to return to the States before he would be needed to be back overseas. It really does make her wonder if he has another family over there and instead of saying that he uses work as his excuse. Candice is locked away inside her room, working. So much for a family vacation.

Zoe didn't notice the boy her age sitting on the couch next to her, not until he was there pulling her into him. The small gesture makes the tears threatening to fall, cascade down her cheeks, soaking his shirt in the process. The last thing she wants to do is ruin his white shirt, but she can't stop the tears from flowing. His hand gently rubbing her back tells her he's never done this before and that brings a small smile to her face. Not many, if any teenage boys would try to comfort a crying teenage girl.

"I'm sorry," she tells him softly, using the sleeves of her shirt to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I didn't mean to ruin your shirt," she cringed, noticing his now wet black mascara-stained tee shirt. It's her fault she didn't use waterproof mascara, not that she knew her dad would once again stand her up. Her fault for being the fool in believing him.

"It's fine," he shrugged, slipping his hoodie on. One look at his calm demeanor tells her that he really is okay with it. She's not sure how she got to be so lucky in meeting the cute teenager. "I'm Wade," he told her, feeling slightly silly that they didn't know each other's names.

"Thank you for the comfort, Wade," she told him, bashfully. "I'm Zoe," she informed him. "I'm going to go uh clean up," she told him, quickly getting up to use the public bathroom in the lobby of the resort, once more. Maybe they should just put her name on the door, as often as she's used it in the past half hour.

Seeing her face covered in black smudges of mascara made her groan. What else could she do to embarrass herself in front of a really cute guy? Makeup smudged all over her face, crying her eyes out on him while staining his shirt. How much worse can it get for her? Zoe thought for sure that he would be gone when she exited the bathroom with a fresh face. To her surprise he was still sitting in the same spot, looking as anxious as she feels.

"Hey," she nervously said, placing her hands behind her back. She found it hard to make eye contact with his green eyes, instead, she looked over his shoulder, out the window watching the snowfall.

"Uh hey," he greeted surprised to see that she had come back.

"I really am sorry about before. I got the best of myself and I figured if I took a walk then I wouldn't be a crying mess, but as you know that didn't work. And uh, you know thank you for um being there even though you don't know me," she rambled out, wanting to show him how grateful she is that he stayed to comfort her and not bolt like most would have done.

"You're welcome, though it wasn't any problem," he shrugged. "Wanna talk about it?" He offered.

"Not really," she told him. The fear of having a breakdown again in front of him scared her too much to even think about the reason she was crying. And she doesn't want to burden him with her problems and make him run off. Without her dad and her mom working, she's going to need a friend this winter break. "Want to grab something to eat?" She asked him, motioning to the world outside the windows. She's starving, but she doesn't know if she wants to travel through the snow and cold to get food, but she would if Wade agreed.

"Sure, but just so you know I'm from Alabama and I don't exactly get along with the snow," he commented, a slight tint to his cheeks to show Zoe how embarrassed he is by that fact alone.

"That's ridiculous!" She exclaimed, falling to sit next to him on the couch, knees touching. "How can you hate the snow?" She asked him, her brown eyes doubling in size.

"I didn't say I hated the snow, just that we don't get along," he corrected her. "I would much rather stay here in front of the fire. Feel free to join me," he suggested, leaning back on the couch.

"Want anything to eat from the buffet?" She asked. She had no reason to leave, not when she can feel a friendship building with Wade.

"Nah, I'm good," he told her.

Zoe nodded, walking across the lobby to get a plate full of food. She made sure to get double everything, just in case. She felt her cheeks warm up when she caught sight of Wade watching her. She's not sure what made him stay when she left to clean up from crying her eyes out on him. But she's happy that he stayed, not finding her to be a complete mess of crazy. She quickly finished getting the food and a couple of bottles of orange juice and made her way back to Wade.

"Help yourself," she told him, placing the plate of food on the small coffee table and handing Wade a juice. "Is this your first time experiencing snow?" She asked, between bites of her berry-filled pastry, satisfying her empty stomach.

"Somewhat," he replied, grabbing a double chocolate donut. "We get snow once a year, and it's the worst day, filled with nothing but bad luck," he explained. She didn't even know that it snowed in Alabama, let alone that it brought bad luck right along with it. It didn't seem possible for anything to cause bad luck, or even bring bad luck with it.

"How's that even possible?" She asked, looking at him. Wade shrugged. "I guess I don't get it, being from upstate New York, the snow makes everything so magical," she dreamily sighed. From what she has seen from the snow in Denver, it's been way more magical, and whiter than back home in New York.

"Fancy city girl, huh?" He asked with a teasing nudge.

"Cowboy country boy," she tossed right back at him, watching him laugh at what she called him, hoping that maybe she didn't offend him. For all she knows, he could be from a number of cities in Alabama

"Cowboy, nah, country boy, damn straight, and proud as hell to be one," he smirked, shaking his orange juice.

Sitting with Wade, brought a smile to her face. Laughing and joking with him, made her forget that her dad refused to come home and spend any quality time with her. Made her forget for a moment that all her mom wants to do is work. For the first time in picking the family vacation, she's happy she chose Denver.