So there are pictures of the clothes and everything in this chapter for the most part on my blog/website. Check that out for a nice visual representation of the stuff.

For those of you who think this scenario is highly unrealistic, (snow in Bluebell, Zoe making it to the Olympics, Zoe placing fourth) and I know you are out there, congrats! It's fiction and I am using a very wonderful think called artistic license. Basically, that's a fancy way to say the artist (author) has leeway in his or her interpretation of something and it doesn't have to be accurate. Besides, athletes make it to the Olympics every two years. If it was impossible to get there, we wouldn't have the Olympics. And if you all will draw your attention to the year I stuck Zoe into the Olympics (1998), a fifteen year old (Tara Lipinski [USA] Youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics) won.

Sorry to anyone who doesn't think this for that bit of snark. Hopefully you found that enjoyable. It also gives you a mini history lesson on this story. I was up the better part of the morning working on this. I tried to get it done for New Year's Eve, but alas I failed. Forgive me.

I hope everyone had a Happy New Years!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Mom?" Zoe shrieked as she stepped back inside her house later that evening. Wade had taken her to dinner out of town and just dropped her off. Everything had been perfect, until now when she saw the woman sitting on her bed. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were ice skating."

"So what!" she yelled at the other woman, "It's just ice skating. There's nothing wrong with it. It's not illegal. I wasn't banned from it. So I ask again, what are you doing here?"

"Zoe, be reasonable. Someone could find out. They could-"

"It's Bluebell, Mom, not New York. I had a million times more chances at being discovered there then here. This town has a smaller population than most apartment buildings in New York!"

"You're father's here," Candice Hart said softly and watched as her daughter froze.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked, not quite comprehending. Candice stood, reaching out and placing her hand on her daughter's arm.

"He came down here with me to come see you. He missed seeing you at Thanksgiving when you were there." Zoe moved out from under her mother's hand, pulling back on her boots and her coat, "Where are you going?"

"I need some time to think," the young doctor told her, stepping outside into the cool winter air.

Once outside, she moved towards the main house. Lavon had plenty of spare bedrooms and he would always be up still, more than likely with a pot of hot chocolate on the stove. When she reached the grand old house, she reached to knock, but the door opened for her and Lavon let her inside.

Wade was on the couch, a mug filled to the brim with the steaming drink. Lavon ladled out a cup for her as she took a seat beside her boyfriend. She snuggled into him and he reacted immediately, wrapping his arm around her tiny body.

Lavon took in the scene from a short ways away. Zoe and Wade weren't real open with their relationship. He hadn't even known before this morning and hadn't had suspicions until Christmas morning when Zoe opened the box to reveal Wade's momma's pearls. He knew Wade could be a real romantic if he wanted, but seeing his friend with the little doctor from New York was showing him a whole new side of Wade.

"My mom's here… with my dad. I don't know what to do," the brunette admitted.

"You should talk to your parents," Lavon said, "And I'd like to see Wade meet your daddy." He chuckled as Wade paled. Lavon picked up the phone and dialed Zoe's newly installed home phone.

"I don't meet Daddies, Lavon," Wade told the ex-linebacker, "You know that." Zoe looked at him. "I guess I'm going to have to start." Lavon chuckled.

The older, male Doctor Hart sat across from Wade at Lavon's dining room table. Candice sat beside him. Zoe sat next to Wade, wringing her hands beneath the table. The mayor was suspiciously absent from the little 'family gathering'.

"Zoe, look, we only came down-" Candice started, but was met with raised eyebrows from three people. She sighed loudly, "Wade, would you mind if I spoke to you outside?"

Wade's eyebrows shot to his hairline as he stood. "Um, yes, ma'am. You'll need your coat though. It's started snowing." Mrs. Hart nodded and Wade grabbed her jacket for her, holding it out for her. She thanked him, sliding it on, and then they went outside.

Zoe and William Hart stared awkwardly at each other. It was the first time that they had been alone together in years. Her father had been away so often, and then she learned he wasn't really her father, rather he stepfather. Still, it hurt profoundly. She had missed her tatte.

Slowly, he stood, walking over to where Zoe sat and pulled her hands apart gently, pulling her up into a hug. "Ketzile, what have I told you about wringing your hands like that?" he asked his daughter, hugging her like she was a little girl again.

"That they're not made of cloth and filled with water," she whispered softly in return as she hugged him back. Will Hart pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Your mother drove me crazy the whole way down. She worries about you, my ketzile."

"I've missed you, Tatte," she whispered softly and Dr. Hart embraced his only daughter again. About this time, Wade and Mrs. Hart reentered the room.

Wade glanced at his girlfriend and her father. He was a tall, proud looking sort of man with dark hair like Zoe's, despite not being related, and the same brown eyes. He understood now how she had never suspected for over thirty years that he wasn't her father.

Dr. Hart looked over Wade, extending his hand to the boy. "You must be Wade."

Wade gave a guilty looking grin that caused Zoe to giggle. "You're not being executed. He's just my dad," she told her boyfriend who then accepted the offered hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Yes sir, Wade Kinsella. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Hart." William Hart's lip curled up as he smiled larger at the boy who was dating his little girl.

"Please, call me William." Zoe grinned largely. That was a good sign. The only people she had ever known to call him something other than Dr. Hart was her mother who called him 'Will', her father's father, who called his son by his birth name, 'Willem', and her grandfather's wife and her mother's parents who called him 'Pim', a Dutch nickname for Willem. Zach was hardly allowed to called her father anything but 'sir' for the most part.

Zoe stared out at the town from the window on the top floor of the practice on New Year's Eve. She hadn't had many patients over the holidays and Brick had taken off on the better days to go ice fishing. Only in Bluebell, she supposed. New Years was tomorrow.

In town, she could see people setting up for the New Year's Party. Wade and Lavon told her it was a big deal in Bluebell. It was just as big of a deal as watching the ball drop in Times Square. Surprisingly, for all the years she'd lived in New York, she'd never gone to Times Square on New Years'. It was too crowded, too much of a hassle, as if all New York packed into a tiny space of it. She had other things to keep her occupied on New Years.

So this year, Wade insisted on taking Zoe to the dance in the Rammer Jammer. Lavon told her it was the only real black tie event in Bluebell. Men wear suits and ties, women wear floor length gowns. Boys wore dress slacks and ties and button ups. Girls wore their best dresses that reached below their knees and their best shoes. It was like if all of Bluebell dressed up for one night. After, everyone would go outside for fireworks at midnight.

Addy showed her some pictures from last year. Lemon had a bright yellow dress on that hit the floor, surprise, surprise. Wade and Lavon were bought fully dressed up in tuxes and she had to admit, her boyfriend looked downright sexy in a tux.

Lemon Breeland stepped inside her daddy's practice. The news had spread like wildfire over Bluebell. Zoe Hart was dating Wade Kinsella. She felt it was her responsibility as Wade's ex-friend to give the city doctor a fair warning that if she broke the bartender's heart, she and everyone else in the town would personally ruin her.

She didn't even bother to knock; rather she just stepped inside the little New Yorker's office. Rather than meeting the small high-heel wearing doctor, she met a man with an intimidating stature, his back to the door as he read a medical file. Lemon didn't know whose file, or who this man was, but she sure wanted to know why he was in her daddy's practice.

"Excuse me, sir, is there something you needed?" The man turned, seeming slightly shocked by the blonde's appearance. He lifted a glass and handed it to her.

"More water please," he told her, but Lemon set the cup down.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but what I meant to say is who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm reading my daughter's file," he said.

"But that doesn't answer my question of who you are or what you're doing in my daddy's practice!" Lemon all but screeched.

"Lemon?" Zoe asked, confused only to have the fire-breathing southern dragon turn at her, steam shooting from her nostrils and flames going up in the blonde's eyes. "You know your dad is out ice fishing, right?" she asked, crinkling her nose over the fishing part.

Lemon all but growled at the New Yorker. Suddenly she composed herself, smiling a little too sweetly. "I'm here on behalf of the Belles to tell you if you break Wade's heart, we will personally ruin you, understand?" Zoe raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Lemon's smile grew sweeter. "Good. That being said, who is this man and why is he reading a medical file. I know if my daddy was here, he would just have a fit."

Zoe laughed softly. "Lemon, this is my dad, one of the top cardio-thoracic surgeons in the world. Tatte, this is Lemon Breeland. Her father owns the other half of the practice."

Dr. Hart looked up and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Lemon." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Now if you'll excuse me, your mother is going to have a fit if I'm late to lunch," he told her, giving Zoe a kiss on the hair as he closed up the folder and stuck it into the medical bag behind the desk.

Zoe had dressed in the only long dress she brought to Bluebell, a floor length solid black dress that had a slit from her left knee down and a v in the back covered in sheer black material and had a tiny train. It was elegant, perfect for Bluebell's only formal event. She had accessorized with the pearls from Christmas and a pair of incredibly high sliver heels that had been a birthday present to herself at some point.

In New York, her apartment had it's own walk-in shoe closet. She loved shoes, especially her heels. In fact, it nearly killed her to move to Bluebell and not be able to take all of her shoes.

Wade had picked her up, teasing her about her choice of shoes while they had snow there. As a result, he refused to let her walk from her porch to his car. Rather, he had scooped her into his arm and carried her, placing her in the seat beside him.

As they arrived at the Rammer Jammer and entered, Zoe was stunned to think that this was the same place. For one, the room was much larger than it was normally. The place was decorated differently. It seemed a bit like the Plaza's Grand Ballroom, but only vaguely. She breathed in sharply.

"Impressed?" Wade asked cockily. She slapped him lightly with her purse.

"Shut up," she muttered to her boyfriend who took her jacket and slipped away for a second with it, returning coatless himself.

From across the room, she saw Lemon in another yellow dress, talking with other Belles. Lavon and George chatted in the corner. And her parents… her parents were approaching them. After making pleasant conversation with them, Wade pulled her out to the dance floor.

It was almost midnight when Wade grabbed his and Zoe's coats and took her hands as they headed outside. As the New Year began, fireworks went up as the church bells rang loudly over the town square. From their secluded area, Zoe stared up into the sky.

"Wow, it's beautiful," she whispered to him. Wade nodded.

"When I was a kid, my momma always like to bring the New Year in with one gift to the person of our choice." Zoe looked at him as he pulled out a small black ring box and her heart sped up, "I ain't askin' you to marry me, Zoe, not yet anyways," he told her and she felt herself blush, "It's a promise ring. It's my promise to you that no matter what happens, I'm here for you and I won't leave you when things start to get rocky."

He handed her the box and she took it. Inside was a small gold ring with a sideways ruby heart and their names on it. Tears came to her eyes as he took it from the box and slid it onto her left ring finger. His hand moved up, brushing away a stray tear with his thumb before Wade leaned in and kissed her.

"Happy New Years, Zoe," he muttered against her lips.

"Happy New Years, Wade," she replied before she reclaimed her boyfriend's mouth. Before them, fireworks of green, red, purple, white, and blue exploded into the night.

Next chapter, Gigi and Roxana will be making their appearance.

So, you guys all know the drill.

Author of Where We Begin = Celeste
Celeste ≠ mind reader
Not being a mind reader = needs feedback
Need for feedback = long chapter
Long chapter = lots of reviews
Lots of reviews = happy Celeste
Happy Celeste = non-snarky Celeste
Non-snarky Celeste = quicker chapters with lots of Zoe and Wade

On the other hand
Long chapter = little reviews
Little reviews = snarky, angry Celeste
Snarky, angry Celeste = Zoe and Wade break up
Zoe & Wade break up = depressed Zoe & Wade coming to live with me
Depressed Zoe & Wade coming to live with me = no more Wade in story
No more Wade in story = boring story about Zoe being depressed about Wade coming to live with me
Boring story about Zoe being depressed about Wade coming to live with me = have to resort to George/Lemon/Lavon drama to make it interesting
Have to resort to George/Lemon/Lavon drama to make it interesting = George hates Lavon and Lemon for the rest of his life
George hates Lavon and Lemon for the rest of his life = Lemon never speaking to Lavon again
Lemon never speaking to Lavon again = the only interesting thing going on is the old ladies gossiping about how it's boring in town now because everyone is either depressed or not speaking to each other.

Cliftnote version: Option #1- Review and Wade will stay in the story or Option #2- don't review and Wade leaves the story forever.

So review or not, where this story goes is up to you. :D

Happy 2012!