"Hey, you. Checking up on me?" He smiled, finishing off the bar with a rag as I came up.

"I just had a break and thought I'd take the opportunity to come see you." I said as we met at the end of the bar. After a quick kiss I continued, "I missed you. Yeah, I know ridiculous. It didn't used to be like this you know. I used to be a fine, normal girlfriend and then…"

"Then what?" He grinned ruefully, dangerously close. The nearness alone made me lose my train of thought, gone in a melody of his smell and his warm breath on my skin.

I struggled to hold onto that thought. "Then …then you started doing stuff like this!" I whacked him and took the opportunity to pull back a little so as not to look like a completely love-stricken puppy in front of the entire town.

"You know I'm okay, right?" he said earnestly, "I thought we established that last night. Or are you asking for more of a confirmation? The last one might be hard to beat." He was doing it again; drawing me back in like a damn magnet. "You know I'm on a break in fifteen" he tempted.

"Oh, I know you're fine. I'm a doctor, remember? And besides that, I was also definitely there last night; although the offer is tempting all the same…"

A familiar voice cut in, startling me after talking in hushed voices. "Well, well… I've been in Bluebell less than an hour and I already caught the talk of the town." I jumped back a little, embarrassed. I really did try to avoid that proximity in public, it just didn't work very well.

"Jesse… what a joy." Wade mocked. "This day just got a whole lot better, didn't it?"

I squeezed his hand and went to sit at the bar, where Jesse joined me. "What brings you into town? It's been a while!"

"Apparently nothing. Earl said you were busted," he glanced at Wade. "Said I might regret not coming."

"Well, you've seen me. Crisis averted."

"As long as I'm here I might as well catch up, right?" He asked innocently enough. The poorly hidden scowl on Wade's face almost made me laugh a little, but at the same time the awkward irony of the situation wasn't lost on me. "What happened anyway? I definitely didn't expect to see you up and going so soon. Hell, Dad made it sound like you were dyin!"

"Yeah, well, like I said, crisis averted. I'm fine. Don't you ever pick up a damn phone? Dad said he was gonna call and tell you to just stay put after all."

Jesse shrugged noncommittally, "He never did, shocker I know.