"Oh, Zoe," Lavon rushed over to wrap her in a big hug.
Wade hovered in the doorway indecisively. He knew he should probably just go and leave Lavon to take care of her, but it was Zoe, and the sight of crying still tore him apart. She wasn't his to look after anymore, and he figured it wasn't appropriate to swoop over and hug her like he wanted to. In fact, she probably wouldn't even want him here watching her fall apart, but he just couldn't bear to leave while she was still sobbing into Lavon's shoulder.
It reminded of him of the wedding, when she'd realised he'd cheated… those tears silently falling down her cheeks, and that face. God. He'd never felt worse in his life. He'd loathed himself in that moment. Hell, he still did. For the ten thousandth time, he internally kicked himself for cheating on the only woman he'd ever really loved, and settled on maintaining his position in the doorway and clenching his fist so he remembered not to try and touch her.
Zoe leaned into the comfort of Lavon's arms for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and pulling back and wiping quickly at her eyes. She focused on evening out her breathing. Don't cry, don't cry, she ordered herself. She could cry about her newest failed romance later when she got home, when she wasn't in the same room as Wade Kinsella.
"I'm fine," she announced to Lavon with as light a voice as she could manage, avoiding eye contact with Wade, whose gaze she could feel burning into her. "I'm sorry about getting drunk and breaking into your house, I promise it won't happen again. And thanks again for the Tylenol. I better go, I've got to get ready for work. I need a shower, badly."
She gently brushed Lavon's hands off her shoulders and made for the exit. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, she continued her silent chant. Almost out of sight. As she went past Wade, who had been standing as stiffly as a soldier by the door, he reached out and lightly touched her arm. Zoe stopped in her tracks and took a deep, shaky breath in. The pull to turn her head, to meet his eyes was irresistible, and sure enough she found herself looking up into those familiar blue eyes and they were so full of feeling that her breath hitched and tears pooled in her eyes again.
The pull was even stronger now that she'd given into the urge to make eye contact, so strong it almost felt like a rope around her waist. She took half a step toward him, wanting so badly to feel the old comfort of being wrapped in his arms, surrounded by the smell and the feel of him. He'd always made her feel better, and god knows she needed to feel better right now… she forced herself to push past him, out of his magnetic field before she did something stupid.
Wade felt a knife twist inside of him as she broke the contact and ran from him. He hadn't missed that little step, and the little duck of her head that used to mean she was about to tuck it under his chin and hug him. It was so familiar for a second he'd forgotten himself, had started to raise his arms in that old reflex, and now he felt very sharply the edges of the Zoe shaped hole in his arms. He crossed his arms across his chest, as though that was what he had been intending anyway, and followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight.
Ten thousand and one, he mentally added to his tally with another good solid kick to his past self. He would never stop regretting the night that had cost him Zoe Hart.