What leads to Home.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
4.
There were an uncountable number of bars and clubs in New York, so many she would never visit all of them. Gigi, Heather and herself would hit the dance floor like crazy and stay out till all hours back before Bluebell.
They had taken her out to various clubs since she got back but Zoe found herself bored. They were all the same, music pounding in her ears and people shoving each other.
Her friends had dragged her to another one, some newly opened, modern club, and she found nothing new about it at it. While they went off to dance, Zoe made her way to the bar. Her friends found her a while later, arguing with the barman, saying that she just wanted a beer, a normal beer.
Gigi snorted and replied, "Oh please! You were in that town for too long."
As Gigi ordered some fancy cocktails, Zoe straightened her dress and shook her head. She wasn't in Bluebell, this wasn't the Rammer Jammer and this was what she had been working for all year; to be back in New York.
She managed to forget her thoughts for a few hours. Zoe danced and partied with her friends, laughing any nagging thoughts away. But later that night when she returned to apartment and sat down on her couch, she realised that she had become accustomed to that quiet drink at the Rammer Jammer, just sitting on a bar stool, gossiping with Shelly and chatting to Wade, as the music played quietly in the background.
And she missed normal beers. Wade would always have wine in the bar for her too. She knew she could find a normal beer or glass of wine anywhere in New York but it would be Rammer Jammer beer or wine.
She missed being able to relax after a day at work with her friends, being able to hear them and her own thoughts. She didn't need to be surrounded by people with flashing lights and blaring music.
Even Wade didn't play his music that loud.
-Bluebell-
The Rammer Jammer was now under management.
The owner was retiring and since Wade had worked there since he was eighteen, it was an easy choice to decide who would get the bar. Wade had been practically running the place before but now he was actually in charge of it. The good news was he was getting a lot more money.
One evening, a month after Zoe left, Lavon entered the bar to see the windows being replaced and the new bar stools being put in. He made his way to the bar to where Wade was standing with papers in front of him.
"Hey Wade, I see you're redecorating," he said leaning against the bar.
Wade nodded and looked around the room. "Just a few upgrades but don't worry, the place is staying the same."
Lavon nodded and replied, "Lavon Hayes is very proud of his friend. I'm glad to see you make a success of the place."
Wade grinned, "Well I can hope to make a success of it. Plus these stools really need to be replaced. Zoe always complained about-." Wade caught himself and stopped talking, his face falling as he turned back to his papers.
He was silent for a moment but then he looked at Lavon and said, "Do you think I should have gone after her?"
"Yes, I do, you idiot!" Lavon snapped, standing up straight suddenly.
"I swear all the way to the airport, both me and Zoe-though she would deny it-thought that you would drive up in your car, ready to declare your love for her! Even in the airport, she still thought you would come for her. And you didn't!"
Lavon went silent realising that he had just blurted out what he had been hiding for the past month.
Wade was standing there, looking at him. "She-she really wanted me to go after her?" he asked.
Lavon nodded. "The thing about Zoe is that she wanted to stay, she really wanted to stay but...she needed to someone to ask her."
Wade snorted, "Doc never needed anyone to tell her what to do."
"But she did someone to ask her to stay in Bluebell!" Lavon exclaimed, "She needed someone to tell her that she belonged here; that this was her home. And she needed that person to be you."
Wade sighed and Lavon simple patted his back and left him to his thoughts.
Zoe Hart had busted into Bluebell and pissed people off like it was a competition and she was the reigning champion. Along the way she found out things about her family and herself, all the while getting into the peoples' good books.
By the end of the year, it didn't occur to anyone to ask her to stay... because no one thought she would go.
Even Wade didn't really think she would leave until Lavon arrived back from the airport saying she was gone. For the past month whenever a phone rang or a door opened, a thought in his head always thought it would be Zoe. But it never was.
Wade walked suddenly around the bar, grabbing the phone and dialling her number.