Due to the overwhelming response of people, I decided to forge ahead with this story. Thank you everyone.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Zoe and Wade would be together on the show.
"Zoe! You're home! You have, like, no idea how happy I am. So how are you? How's your leg? Does it hurt?"
"Rose!" Wade and Zoe both snapped as Wade carried her into his house, setting her on his couch. She blushed down sheepishly.
"Sorry."
"It's okay," Zoe said more kindly, settling in. "Can you grab my purse from the car please?" she asked the girl. Rose nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course." She walked out of the gatehouse, out to Lavon's Navigator where a boy stood digging through the trunk. "Hey!" she yelled, "That's not yours!"
"Yes it is!" he yelled back playfully with a thick accent. She could hear the New York part in his voice, but there was something else there too. He stood up straight. He was handsome, blond hair and hazel eyes and a leather jacket. Rose blushed. "I'm Wade's cousin, Jack. I'm living with him now," he told her, carrying his suitcase.
"I'm Rose." Jack grinned, bending at the waist and placing a butterfly-like kiss to the back of her hand.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, lovely Rose." The fourteen-year-old was sure she was as red as Zoe's shirt that she was wearing. Zoe!
"I have to get Zoe's purse," she blurted out.
"Of course. It's here in the back." He opened the back door of the Navigator, handing Rose a large, stylish purse. He headed towards the gatehouse, but turned back to her as he climbed up onto the porch, "You coming, girl?"
Rose scrambled after him. She handed Zoe her purse and the doctor thanked her.
"So I start school here tomorrow," Jack said to Rose as they sat on the porch outside his cousin's house, after deciding to give his cousin and his girlfriend some time. It stunk that tomorrow was a Thursday that he started school, but he supposed if she was here, it would be alright. "Will you be my guide?" Rose nodded, trying to play it cool.
"Sure, just stick with me and I'll make sure you won't get lost." Jack grinned.
Jack thought he might like Bluebell High School. Rose told him to meet her outside the front office at eight a.m. sharp. He thought it would be great, until he saw her. She was blond and bounced up to him, smiling brightly.
"Hi. I'm Magnolia Breeland. I'm on the Welcoming Committee, and I've been assigned to should you around the school. Now-"
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested," Jack said, pulling out his phone as he got a call. He pressed accept. "No mate, I'm in America. Yes, the place that broke away from you guys like two hundred years ago," he said into the phone. Magnolia's grin faded from her face. He ignored her! He was gorgeous and he ignored her. She was Magnolia Breeland. Men didn't ignore her!
"Jack, there you are!" Rose called from behind her and the boy turned, "I knew you'd get lost." She had a grin on her face. "The office is that way."
"Of course it is," he said to her, not noticing Magnolia grinning. She now had a name. "Thank you kindly, lovely." He gave Rose a wink, but she played it cool. Magnolia couldn't believe it. The hot guy with a cute accent, that she couldn't quite tell where it was from, was flirting with Rose Hattenbarger. She wasn't even that pretty!
Jack took a seat besides Rose in his last class of the day. History was an elective class in Bluebell, he was surprised to discover. In his school in England, the class had been mandatory. Perhaps it was because his school was a boarding school. Perhaps not.
He hated that that Magnolia girl had followed him around all day. She was bugging him. Get the hint, girl! he thought.
The teachers had all stumbled over his name. His father had hyphenated his last name, not unlike the way Aunt Annaliese had Friedrich as her middle name. The teachers all looked thankful when he told them to just call him Jack instead of Johann Friedrich Starr.
Rose turned to him, dropping her voice to a whisper, "Survive the day?" Jack shrugged at her, giving her a so-so motion.
Rose was a pretty girl. There was no if, and, or buts for Jack about it. Her glasses gave her an appearance of being older than she was. Her hair wasn't too light or too dark. She had the whole girl next door look going on. And Jack, of all people, could appreciate a beautiful woman.
"The Sweetie Pie dance is tomorrow," Wade said, sitting down on the coffee table across from the couch, "So Zoe Hart, will you be my sweetie pie?" Zoe laughed at his cheesiness.
"Of course I will." She frowned, pretending to think, "I'm not sure if my boyfriend will be mad though." Wade chuckled, scooping her into his arms and carrying her into his bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot.
"I love you, Zoe Hart," he murmured as he placed kisses up and down the column of her throat once he placed her onto his bed.
"I love you too, Wade." He pulled back. He hadn't seen her smile thing much since the accident over two weeks ago. For two whole weeks, he had lived with his beautiful girlfriend pouting, crying, and angry, but never smiling. With a sudden impish grin, he dove at her, still careful of her leg, and kissed her deeply.
Zoe laid sated on Wade's bed. Her eyes were drooping as he pulled his shirt on, covering her with his sheet, and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He wished he didn't have to leave her, but he needed to get back to work. Despite the fact that he almost owned the place, he wasn't the boss. Not yet anyways. Lunch just didn't last that long.
"I'll see you when I get home, Zoe," he whispered to her. She nodded, pulling the blanket tighter around her. "I love you."
"Love you too," she muttered, almost already given into sleep. He smiled one last time before he left.
"Stupid boy. He's so uggh," Wade heard from someone sitting at the bar. He turned around to see a girl with an oversized hat and some sunglasses. "Bartender," she ordered, "Something strong."
"The strongest thing you havin' here, Magnolia, is some water. Now, do you want me to call your daddy or your sister?" Magnolia scolded at him.
"It's just there's this new boy, Jack, and he's so gorgeous. Like incredibly hot." Wade stared at her blankly.
"Do I look like I care about high school drama? Girl, I went through high school already with your sister. I've had enough of it to last me lifetimes." He turned back to his other customers, trying to tune out her ramblings.
"It's just... what does Rose have that I don't?" she shot at him. He bit back a reply of 'Manners and humility.'
"Why don't you ask him?" Wade suggested.
"I've tried," she complained, "He won't give me the time of day."
"I though you were with some Freddie Gene or somethin'?" Wade asked her.
"Frederick Dean. And we broke up. You know why?" No, he didn't, not that he cared. "Because he thought Rose was sooooo awesome with her little comic books and her glasses and- hey! Do you think if I get glasses he'll like me?"
"Frederick Dean?" Wade shrugged, "Sure."
"No, no, no!" she waved her hands around, looking like a crazy person. "Not him, Jack." Wade blinked. Why was she talking about his cousin and why was she buying him glasses? Unfortunately, he didn't get to find out because Ol' Man Tate called him back into the office.
"Sit on down, son." Wade obeyed and the man closed the door behind him. "Now I've been talkin' to the wife for quite some time now, and we've come to the decision that it's time I retire. I want to know who you think I should sell this place to." Wade stiffened.
"You should sell it to whomever you want to sell it to. The people of this town though are used to everything going a certain way here and if that's gonna change once whomever you sell it to takes over, then there's gonna be a lot of mighty fine people out of a job, sir." Mr. Tate smiled, sitting down behind his desk.
"A very good answer, Wade." He looked the younger man in the eyes, "I want you to buy this place and manage it."
"Really?" The older man nodded.
"You've worked here since you were sixteen, and you started helping me out around here when you were eleven. With the exception of Victor," Victor was the chef, an old time cook at the Rammer Jammer, "you've been here the longest. There's no one I'd trust more with this place." Wade beamed.
"Thank you, sir." He stood, shaking the old man's hand.
"Then I'll give George Tucker a call and have him draw up the papers. You can go on back to work now." Wade left the office, smiling and whistling. Today was a pretty good day.
"So I promised him that sure, I would go for a walk with him. But my parents think I'm here, so they can't know. Can I borrow a top or something? I'm so nervous!" Rose exclaimed at a million miles an hour to Zoe who was applying mascara to her lashes.
"Rose! Calm down. Sure you can borrow a top. I'm not going to tell your parents as long as nothing happens." Rose bobbed her head to the doctor.
"Of course nothing's gonna happen." Her phone dinged and she pulled it out, reading a text. "How 'bout if we watch a movie instead? Is it alright that we're watching it over at Wade's place?"
"What movie?" Zoe asked curiously.
"Titanic." Rose's voice took on a dreamy-like quality. "He's just so funny. He was like we should watch it. It has us starring in it."
"He wrote this in a text?" she asked the girl incredulously. Zoe watched her nodded in the mirror, pulling out a top and holding it in front of her.
"What do you think?"
"Cute." The tiny doctor picked up her crutches, using them to cross the room to her closet, pulling out her dress for the night and a flat since she couldn't walk very well in heels with her broken leg. It was the first time the town would have seen her since the accident, but she had no doubt in her mind that they already knew. What they knew was questionable though. Wade told her that people had asked her about her leg. He hadn't heard any murmurs of Zoe's miscarriage and Lemon, George, and Jack were sworn to secrecy by Zoe. She didn't want pity from the whole town. She moved into the bathroom. "You like Jack, huh?"
"He's nice to me. Magnolia is so jealous," she informed Zoe, plopping down onto the bed, "She just can't believe that he's not interested in her. She's going tonight with Frederick Dean. They broke up weeks ago, but she didn't want to not go, so they're back together again. How messed up is that? She's just using him."
"That's awful, Rose," Zoe called from inside the bathroom as she changed. Wade knocked on the bedroom door, seeing Rose on the bed.
"Why don't you go on over to my place," he told her, "Jack's poppin' some popcorn."
"Bye Zoe! By Wade!" she called as she ran out. Wade opened up the bathroom door. He stopped at he watched her move her hair into place. She looked beautiful, exquisite.
"Damn girl! You're lookin' good!" Zoe flushed as her boyfriend moved across the bathroom floor and brought her lips up to his. When he pulled back, she let out a sound that almost sounded like a whine and looked up at him confused. "So... you are now looking at the new owner of the Rammer Jammer."
"Wade, that's great!" she kissed him again, throwing her arms around his neck with little regard for her crutches that fell to the floor with at clatter. He picked them up, handing them back to her before they walked back into her bedroom. Off the bed, he opened up a box with a corsage in it. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The town was beautifully decorated for Valentine's Day. It had been months since she last second guessed her moving to Bluebell. As she rocked back and forth slowly in her boyfriend's arms, she knew she had made the right decision in coming here. The night had been perfect.
"Alright now, this is the last song of the evening," the DJ they had hired for the night told them, "So everyone grab your sweetie pie and move on out to the dance floor."
Wade glazed down happily at the little doctor in his arms. She looked content and actually a little on the tired side. Her eyes were closed and she was resting her head on his chest, looking absolutely precious. "Zoe," he whispered, nudging her lightly as the song ended, "Are you ready to go?" she nodded, taking back her crutches from him and heading to his car.
As they arrived back on the plantation, he opened her door for her and they both walked into his house. Rose was fast asleep on Jack's shoulder, the DVD ending long before. Wade pulled a blanket down, covering his cousin. Rose was already wrapped in a blanket. Zoe was smiling, looking at the two of them.
"They're so cute," she whispered. Wade smirked and nodded in agreement. "Thank you for a wonderful evening," she told him as they reached his room. Wade smiled back at her, handing her one of his t-shirts and pulling her into his arms.
"Now what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't give my girlfriend a great evening?" Zoe grinned. She always thought that Wade would have been trying to get out of a relationship, shying from commitment, but once they began their relationship, he was very happy being commitment to someone. She was just glad that person was him. "I love you."
"I love you too," she whispered as she climbed in his bed. He joined her, pulling her into his arms.
"Night Zoe.
A/N: Okay, it's official. I hate Valentine's Day... or maybe not. Maybe I just hate Frederick Dean. Men who have girlfriend should tell you they have girlfriends. They should not be like Frederick Dean wanting both. You know why? Because the Frederick Deans of the world always seem to pick the Magnolia Breelands of the world instead of recognizing how wonderful the Roses of the world are or can be. The Roses of the world need a little love too. They can't just sit around and wait for him to get his head out of the clouds and think he can propose to Magnolia Breeland and still flirt with Rose. He can't have it both ways! So I have little sympathy for Frederick Dean today and just as much for Magnolia.
In other words, the guy that has been flirting with me for over a month, who asked me out yesterday, now proposed... right in front of me... to his blonde hair, brown eye girlfriend who makes Lemon look as sweet as apple pie, whom he couldn't both to mention having before, that no one in the world could both mentioning before. I need to find myself a nice guy. Where have all of them gone? Why is it that I seem to attract all the jerks? Do I have some massive sign that says "Sucker, please go and make a fool of me!" It makes me glad I told him that "I'd think about it." Who proposes to their girlfriend in the middle of a college campus anyways?
So basically, this is my take out frustrations on "Frederick Dean" zone for the moment. I'm swearing off relationships. Valentine's Day is just one of those holidays that makes you miserable. This was sort of rant therapy. I thank you all for being wonderful listeners- er, readers. I feel better already.
So in lighter new, Mandie's mom got released from the hospital, so she's coming back here and her parents are going to travel the world so she can die happy. Doctors told her 6 months- 1 yr. Not sure how this is happier news, but it's not ranting.
Also, my roomie was released from the hospital. She's feeling much better.
Lastly, I wasn't originally going to stick Johann, who goes by Jack as I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere in previous chapters, with Rose. He was going to be Magnolia's love interest and let Rose have Frederick Dean and then I realized this morning as I watched that two-faced heartbreaking jerk, that I hate Frederick Dean. Rose is such a nice girl. She should not put up with him leading her on. So Rose is happy, Jack is happy, and yes, I made them watch Titanic. I didn't realize I had even don't that until after I started this chapter.
The lesson everyone: sometimes good can come out of a really bad situation, like this chapter. Or how I can watch In Heat and In Havoc over and over and stare at Wade's abs without anyone interrupting me (may I marry him? He's just too cute.). Or the satisfaction I'll have when they are fighting and having an unhappy marriage because their both players and I can still go out with a different guy every night of the week and not answer to anyone about it. Not that I would go out with a different guy every night of the week, I'm not that kind of girl. Now "Magnolia" on the other hand.
So this is Rose and me letting go of our Frederick Deans! To moving onto better and brighter men! A very happy Valentine's Day to all!
Don't forget to review! Celeste = not a mind reader. 80 reviews to the next chapter. :)