Hey everyone, welcome to day 11 of the Hart of Dixie countdown to Christmas!

Enjoy!

Wade kept the smile on his face as he enjoyed his afternoon and night with Zoe. It was hard to be around her and not have fun. Time didn't wait when they were together, like last night, it sped by them. Once again they made plans to meet up for breakfast. He could see just how slow and miserable his winter break would be if he wouldn't have become friends with Zoe.

Walking into his shared room with Jesse, Wade scowled seeing his brother sitting in the chair at the desk with a smirk. Ignoring the look on his brother's face, Wade flopped down on his bed, working on taking his boots off. He'd like to go back to where he can wear his shoes where he doesn't get them filled with snow with every step he takes. He'll never understand why his parents choose the snow over the sand and surf. Though he's rather grateful for it because it means he got the chance to befriend Zoe.

"What was that about this morning?" Wade asked, leaving his boots between the two beds. If Jesse tripped over them when he comes back in the wee hours of the morning, so be it, he deserves it after the stunt he pulled this morning. "I told you to stay away from her," he stated, standing up to look at his brother. Wade told himself on the trek to his shared room with Jesse that he was going to let the topic of him ambushing Zoe dropped. There was just something about the smug smirk on his brother's face that had him snapping.

"Wade, hate to break it to you, but you didn't claim her," Jesse smirked. "I'm free to chat with anyone that I want to, and there isn't anything you can do about it," Jesse stated, very matter-of-factly. Wade scoffed at his brother.

"Zoe, won't let anyone claim her, she's a person, not a belonging," Wade quipped out, rolling his eyes, heading to the bathroom, he couldn't argue with Jesse when he was the one in the right. A nice hot shower sounds perfect for his aching muscles and bruised bones. "Just not Zoe, she has it rough enough as it is and the last thing she needs is you to swoop in and play some dumb game for your amusement," Wade told his brother, leaving no room for his brother to argue with him, shutting the door to the bathroom in Jesse's face. Jesse may be right, but he's going to do what he can to keep Jesse and his little games away Zoe.

He doesn't know what kind of game Jesse is trying to play, but he won't let his brother do that to Zoe. She's had it rough as it is. The more time he's spent with her, the more he's come to realize just how special she is. They quickly built a friendship, and he'd hate for Jesse to ruin it for him. Those feelings that want there to be a little more with Zoe, he'd push them down. He, himself, doesn't want to ruin this friendship he's building with Zoe. Because of his friendship with Zoe, he can be protective of her.

Not for the first time has he wondered if they can make a friendship work once they go their own way home, back to their lives. He has school and football. A band to focus on as well. Very little time to fuss over a missed text or call. And after spending time with Zoe, he knows that once she goes back to New York, she's going to be buried in the books, working towards her goal of becoming a doctor. The first step is getting into John Hopkins. And he doesn't think that is something he can compete with being miles away, and states away from her. Nor is it something he wants to distract her from.

He breathed a sigh of relief exiting the bathroom to see his brother gone. With the peacefulness of the night seeping into the room, Wade flicked most of the lights off, leaving the lamp by his bed on. Deciding he wants to listen to music rather than watch whatever stupid Christmas movie is on TV. He flopped on his bed, with his Discman in hand, opening the lid on his Discman to make sure Jesse hadn't swiped his Country CD with various artists. With his CD still in the Discman, he plopped the headphones on, laying back on his bed, hitting play, for the music to lull him to sleep.

He woke up tangled in the wire of his headphones and snores coming from his brother's bed. Wade shook his head, seeing that his brother had a guest sleeping with him. Shaking his head not wanting to think of what his brother got up to while he was feet away sleeping. Wade made quick work of getting ready for the day and left the room, making sure he had his wallet and the key card to get back into his room.

He wasn't surprised to see that he had beaten Zoe down to the lobby, it would still be a few more hours before she is to join him. While he waited he walked through the open buffet for breakfast grabbing a few things to eat while he waited on Zoe to join him. What he was surprised by is that he was one of the only ones up. It wasn't all that early. A quarter past 7. He figured more people would be up. There wasn't a tv in the main lobby, but they did have a bunch of books and magazines, not that he wanted to read up on any of the latest celebrity gossip, he could care less about the ongoings in Hollywood. And he just didn't want to read any of the books either.

With his little breakfast gone, enough to hold him over for the next few hours, until Zoe makes her way down. He headed off to where the small little arcade is. It's the one room they had stayed out of, as they just didn't want to play the video games in there to have a fun time. Now alone, Wade couldn't wait to spend his money playing Pac-man, Mortal Kombat, a racing game, and a few others. He had no interest in going near the dancing game in the middle of the small arcade. Walking around the arcade, he noticed a photo booth, and he'd have to bring Zoe so they can have photo evidence of their shared winter break of 1999. With any luck, he could convince Zoe to join him in playing a game of air hockey.

Game over appeared on the game he was playing when he felt Zoe's presence beside him. His smile for her transformed into a frown seeing the pained look on her face. Her eyes red and slightly swollen. "What's wrong?" He asked, tossing his right arm over her shoulder. He did wonder for a minute if the tears were from her dad once more.

"My mom," she whispered, full-on hugging Wade. Unlike the first time, she wasn't wearing any makeup to ruin his white tee shirt.

"What about your mom?" He asked, pulling her tighter against his body, rubbing soothing circles on her back. The only thing he could think of that would have her this distraught about her mom would have to be that something serious is going on. Dread filled him when Zoe gathered herself enough to tell him what has her so upset.