Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie

11. Finding Our Feet

"Hey, Wade, wait up"

Wade turned around to see George Tucker running up to him.

"Hey, Tucker, what's up?" Wade asked as his old pal caught up with him.

"I was just talkin' to Bill and he was sayin' how he knows this guy in Filmore who's hostin' this poker tournament and I thought you might be interested"

"Na, I don't know, Tucker. Sure, I like to play with my friends, but not really when there's real money in it, I'm not that good"

"Here's the catch – it's strip poker" George said, looking at Wade expectantly, waiting for his reaction. Wade started to smirk, but then it faded away.

"No, man, I can't" Wade said, staring down at his feet.

George couldn't hide his surprise and disappointment. "Wade Kinsella is turning down a game of strip poker? What the hell?"

"I just don't feel like it, ok?" he said, walking on, hoping George would drop it.

"It's on Friday, two days from now. How can you know you won't feel like it?"

"I said I'm not goin', just drop it" Wade said, starting to get a little pissed off.

"Sorry, man. I just thought you'd like to go, my bad" George said and walked away, feeling confused.

Wade sighed as he watched George walk away. It was Wednesday morning, he'd just got out of first period and was looking for Zoe. She hadn't been in class and he hadn't seen her go to school this morning, and he'd been waiting for her outside from nearly the crack of dawn. It made him uneasy. He'd thought last night had been amazing. Ok, sure, it didn't really go off to a great start, but that kiss, it had been the best kiss of his live, and he'd had a few. And she'd kissed him back. But then there had been this awkward moment and before he could do anything she was gone. He hadn't thought too much off it last night, but now he was worried. Maybe it hadn't been as amazing for her as it was for him, maybe she had come to her senses and realized her mistake. No, he wasn't going to think like that. He didn't know what was going on in her head, and making up things would only get him in a foul mood. Maybe she was just sick or something. Whatever it was, he decided not to think about it anymore and just go on with his day.

Zoe lay in her bed, her head pounding like crazy and her stomach threatening to make her sprint for the toilet for the thirtieth time since last night. Last night. Thinking of it brought a smile to her face. She'd heard all the gossip about how Wade was an amazing kisser, but she'd always thought that the girls were delusional and exaggerating. She'd been wrong. She hadn't gone around as much as Wade, but she'd still had a few different kissers and none came close to Wade. But she hadn't left it on the best terms. After they'd broken apart she'd suddenly felt self-conscious and awkward, and then she'd felt the nausea creeping up and had to bolt.

She was afraid that she might have screwed everything up. What if Wade thought she was regretting last night and therefore blowing him off, not wanting to see him? Or worse, what if last night hadn't meant anything to him at all and he was onto the next girl? After all, that was Wade's way. She didn't think he'd actually been on a second date with a girl. This was only making her head hurt more.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. She grabbed it quickly, maybe Wade had texted her. No, it was a text from Annabeth. Of course Wade hadn't texted her, when had they ever texted each other.

-You ok, Z?

The text brought a smile to her face, even if it was short. She really liked the place where her and Annabeth's friendship was in and hoped it would evolve even more and become something great.

-Fine, just have a nasty stomach bug :(

She put the phone down beside her and closed her eyes, hoping that when she woke up her nausea would be gone.

Wade couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't seen Zoe all day. When he'd gone over to Claire, her stupid "friend", and asked if she knew where Zoe was, all he got was a nasty glare and a "what do you care". He hadn't wanted to go and ask Annabeth because he knew they were starting to grow very close and if Zoe was indeed just avoiding him because she thought last night had been a mistake he didn't want to plant suspicion in Annabeth's head.

So he'd gone the whole day trying to stop thinking about her, but it was hard. When school was finally over he'd headed over to the practice, because he knew she wouldn't bail out on her father, but she hadn't been there either. It only left him with one option, going to her house. So with that, he knocked on her front door and waited.

The door opened, the nice middle aged woman that was Dr. Wilkes' new girlfriend stood there, looking at him expectantly.

"Hello, there. You are the boy from next door, Walt, right?"

"Wade, ma'am" he said, correcting her.

"Oh, sorry, Wade. It's a nice name"

"Thank you, ma'am"

They stood there in silence for a moment, he could feel his hands starting to sweat.

"Are you just going to stand there, or was there a reason for you knocking on our door?" she finally said, smiling at him.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Uhm, I was wondering, uh, if I could maybe talk to Zoe, please" he managed to say, all flustered.

Pauline just grinned at him, clearly amused by his awkwardness. He started to blush. He wasn't used to dealing with parents, it wasn't his way. Not that this woman was actually Zoe's parent, but still.

"I can ask her, but I doubt she'll want to talk to anyone" she said, smiling.

"Oh, I understand" he said, his mood dropping. He'd been right. She didn't want to see him.

"Because she's sick" she added when Wade was turning to leave.

"What?" he said, turning back towards her, his face lighting up with hope.

"Yeah, she came darting in here last night and went straight for the bathroom and has been in there for most of the time since. But I can tell her you stopped by"

"No, ma'am, that won't be necessary, I'll just talk to her later" he said as he gave a small nod and walked away. He was nearly jumping with joy. There was still hope that she didn't want to forget last night ever happened.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Pauline asked as she came into Zoe's room holding a tray with soup and crackers.

"I'm okay, the nausea is mostly gone, but I've still got a nasty headache" she said, sitting up in the bed.

"That's good" was all Pauline said as she put the tray over Zoe's lap. She sat down in her desk chair and watched Zoe eat for a moment.

"You had a visitor earlier" she said after a moment.

"What? Who?" Zoe asked with her mouth full of soup. She hadn't really expected anyone, except maybe Annabeth, but why wouldn't Pauline just let her in?

"That boy from next door, Wade" Pauline said, smiling when Zoe started to blush like crazy.

"Oh" was all she said. Wade had come to her house, knocking on the front door. That did not sound like Wade. But that must mean that he hasn't already moved on, right? If he would then he wouldn't be knocking on my door, Zoe thought, a small smile forming on her face.

Pauline didn't say anything else, she just sat there, smiling, while Zoe finished her food.

It was late but Zoe couldn't sleep. She had slept so much during the day and now when the stomach bug was finally gone she wasn't tired. She looked out her window and saw Wade sitting on his back porch. She couldn't help a smile when she got out of bed, put on a large, knitted sweater and snuck out into the hallway. Her dad and Pauline had gone to bed a few minutes ago so they probably weren't fast asleep already. She carefully made her way down the stairs and out the back door.

"Hey" she said as she reached the fence between the two yards.

Wade shot up, surprised. He hadn't seen or heard her walking to the fence.

"Hey" he said back when he'd finally regained his senses and started walking towards her.

She didn't say anything as she watched him come closer. He was wearing old jeans, a gray T-shirt and a plaid shirt over it, his usual look, but it was like she was seeing him for the first time. His abs, that were just barely visible because of the tightness of his shirt, the way he tucked his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, a sign that he was a bit nervous, his sandy hair, that was a bit ruffled, making him look even hotter, if that was possible, and those eyes, she'd never really noticed before, but he had amazing eyes.

He came to a halt before her.

"Hey" he said again.

"You already said that" Zoe said, suddenly feeling giddy and awkward and very aware of the fact that she was wearing a large, hideously yellow, knitted sweater that was the total opposite of sexy.

"I know, just wanted to say it again" he said, trying to sound confident, when his insides were fluttering like crazy. He wasn't used to being nervous around a girl, maybe that was a sign that he actually felt something for this one.

There was an awkward moment of silence, neither really knowing what to say.

"So, I heard you came knocking to my door earlier" Zoe decided to brake the ice, teasing him a little.

Wade blushed. "I told her not to tell you" he said, feeling even stupider as he said it.

"I think it's sweet" Zoe said, smiling at him. "Unless you came to tell me that I shouldn't read anything into last night, that it was just one kiss" she added, turning red as she said it, surprised at her forwardness.

"I didn't come to tell you that, I came to make sure that you hadn't come to your senses and realized that I'm just your stupid trash of a neighbor." He hadn't meant to say that and was now just looking down at his shoes.

"Hey, I don't think that, I never have. Sure, you aren't the neatest guy in the world, or the most scholarly, but I don't think your trash, not in a million years" she said and he dared a peek at her and saw that she was looking at him with shy admiration and smiling.

"Really?" he asked shyly.

"Really, Wade" she assured him and he edged a bit closer to her so that now the only thing that was keeping their bodies from touching was the fence between them.

They just stood there, staring into each others eyes when Zoe shrugged.

"You're cold, you should get back inside" Wade said, concern in his eyes.

"No, I'm fine" Zoe replied, even though she was actually freezing.

"No, you're not. Get inside and get some sleep so you can actually show up for school tomorrow"

"You're not the boss of me" she said, smiling at him. She quickly leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before taking off and heading inside. Wade was left staring after her, holding his cheek where she'd kissed him. Man, he had it bad, he thought as he slowly dragged his feet into his own house.

I know it's rather short, but it's cute, right ? Hope you liked it, keep the reviews coming, they absolutely make my day! :D