Hello, everyone. I really hope you haven't given up on me even though I haven't updated in a really long time. I've just been super busy plus the inspiration fairy hasn't really been around - I blame it to the lack of Zade, can't wait till October 7th.

Anyway, here's the latest chapter, hope you enjoy. Remember to review :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie

19. Christmas in Bluebell

When Wade walked out of his last class later that day he was greeted by the sight of Zoe and Meatball standing on opposite ends of the hallway, glaring at each other. He let out a big sigh and scratched the back of his neck.

"Y'all need to stop actin' like five year olds" Wade called out to the both of them and stopped right outside the door, right in the middle between them.

They all just stood their grounds before Zoe gave up and walked over to Wade, leaving Meatball having to follow suit.

"Look, you two need to grow up and get along, alright? I ain't botherin' with your naïve fightin'. Now, kiss and make up and then Meatball and I will be on our way" Wade said when the two of them had reached him.

"Why are you going with him?" Zoe asked, pouting.

"'Cause you gotta work" Wade said as if nothing could be more obvious.

"Oh, right" Zoe said, blushing.

"And 'cause he'll choose me over you anytime" Meatball shot at her.

"Oh, yeah? How often have you seen him the last few weeks?" Zoe shot back.

"Damn it, I said make up, not keep on fightin'. Common, we're goin'" Wade yelled and walked closer to Meatball, putting his hands on Meatball's chest and pushing him backwards down the hall. "I'll see you tonight, okay?" he called back over his shoulder to Zoe who just gave him a nasty look before turning and going the other way.

Zoe sat in the living room watching TV with her father and Pauline, trying to repress her feeling of abandonment. She was really frustrated at herself for feeling like that. She should be able to move on despite Wade blowing her off for one night. She sighed and threw back her head just as her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She got it out and saw Wade's name on the screen.

"Hi" she said as she got up and walked out of the living room

"Zoe, listen, I'm so sorry, but Meatball and I were just hangin' and then somehow we ended up in Mobile gettin' hammered" she heard Wade say on the other end.

"Charming" she responded coolly.

"Common, don't be like that"

"Be like what? You sound like I'm your boring old wife"
"Well..." he said, his voice a bit teasing.

"Wade" Zoe exclaimed into the phone, causing Wade to laugh.

"Anyway, I just wanted to call you to let you know I wont be commin' around tonight, I'll see ya tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah, whatever" she said before hanging up.

She sighed again. At least now she wouldn't have to torture herself with questions.

Zoe had to wait almost whole 24 hours before seeing Wade. He had blown off school due to his massive hangover and then she'd had to work, but as soon as she got home Wade was at her door.

"Look what the cat dragged in" she joked when she opened the door.

"Shut up" he mumbled at her.

"Common, I'm allowed to tease" she said laughing. "Wanna take a walk?" she asked as she stepped out of the house.

"Sure, where to?"

"We haven't been to the woods in a while" Zoe said, smirking.

"But it's so far, let's just drive" Wade complained, only getting a ridiculing laughter in response.

They walked on, talking about whatever came to mind and finally reached their clearing and sat down, resting up against the fallen log.

After a while Wade turns to Zoe.
"Zoe, are we good?" he asks, face all serious.

"Yeah" she says right away.

"You sure? Because Meatball is my best friend and ..." Zoe cut him off before he could say anything by pressing her lips up against his.

"Wade, we're good" she said as she came up for air before diving in again.

Zoe couldn't believe that tomorrow was Christmas Eve. She and Wade had been official for almost two and a half month by now. If she was being honest with herself she hadn't really expected Wade to last in a relationship that long and she didn't think anyone in Bluebell had either. However, he was surprising everyone with his faithfulness, he had barely even glanced at another girl.

So, now, Zoe was stuck in a dilemma. She didn't know what to get Wade for Christmas. She sighed and lay back in her bed, closing her eyes, remembering their conversation from earlier that day.

"Hi there, beautiful" Wade said as he walked up to Zoe where she was sitting on the fence outside the Rammer Jammer and greeted her with a kiss.

"Hi" she said back when he broke the kiss.

"Only three more days to go" he said, grinning at her

"Oh, shut up" she said, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Hey" he said, rubbing the spot where she hit him. "It's not my fault that you haven't gotten me anything yet when I found the perfect gift for you ages ago"

Wade gave out a loud sigh. If only he'd been telling the truth. He hadn't the faintest idea on what he should get Zoe. He didn't want to give her something cheap or trashy, then she'd go into hyperventilating panic-mode about him not caring about their relationship as much as her. However, he didn't want to take it too far either, he couldn't go give her something that said he was willing to devote his heart to her or something, that would also result in a hyperventilating Zoe. He sighed again.

"What's got you down, son?" Earl said, walking into the living room where Wade sat on the couch, halfheartedly playing a video game.

"Oh, nothin'. Just tryin' to think of a gift for Zoe" Wade said as he glanced up at his dad.

"You've never given a girl anythin' before. Must mean this one is somethin' special" Earl teased.

"Yeah, she is" Wade replied honestly, ruining Earl's teasing.

"Well, son, just give her somethin' from the heart" he said, tapping Wade on the shoulder as he turned to leave the living room again.

"Fantastic advice, dad" Wade said in frustration to his father's disappearing figure. Earl just chuckled and continued walking away.

"AB, a major crisis. Why must head up to Mobile. Now" Zoe said into her phone as she paced her bedroom floor.

"Why?" Annabeth said sceptically on the other end.

"Because, tomorrow's Christmas Eve, which means that the day after tomorrow it's Christmas and I haven't the faintest idea on what to give Wade" she nearly screamed into the phone.

"Calm down, okay. I am kind of busy right now, but I'll go with you to Mobile tomorrow, the shops are open tomorrow, ya' know"

"No, AB, you don't understand, Wade and I are going to meet up and exchange gifts after the tree-lighting ceremony, and that's tomorrow night" Zoe said desperately needing Annabeth to see how serious the situation was.

"There's plenty of time tomorrow. I'm sorry, Zo, but I really can't go with you to Mobile today"

"If the reason you can't come is that your screwing Whitney right now, I'm never speaking to you again"

"Zoe" Annabeth exclaimed in the phone, outraged and embarrassed and Zoe couldn't suppress her laughter.

"Your parent's are there with you right now, aren't they?" she chuckled into the phone.

"As a matter of fact, yes. And I'm getting some real nasty looks at the moment, so, you're going to have to excuse me" Annabeth said and Zoe hung up the phone.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Pauline sat writing holiday cards.

"Pauline, I need some advice" Zoe said as she took a seat opposite Pauline at the table.

"Sure, honey, what is it?" she asked in her motherly tone.

"I need help finding a gift for Wade for Christmas" she sighed.

"Oh, the early relationship gift dilemma. It's always a tough one"

"Tell me about it" Zoe said, her elbows on the table and her head resting in her hands.

"First, you have to decide how you feel about the boy. If you only feel a casual connection and don't think this relationship will last very long you shouldn't spend too much on the gift, but if you feel a something real for Wade, there is cause to give it some more thought and consideration" Pauline said, making Zoe's expression turn even more defeated, though that was barely possible.

"I'm not saying you need to either break up with him or marry him, I realize that you are only kids, but the same thing still applies" she continued, trying to ease the pain on Zoe's face.

Zoe just nodded slowly.

Zoe opened her eyes and cursed. She hit her alarm with unnecessary force and cursed again. Thirteen hours from now the Tree-lighting Ceremony would begin and she still had no idea on what to give Wade. She cursed for the third time as she put on her jogging outfit and went outside for her run. She had almost finished her usual circle when she passed their hideout in the woods and suddenly and idea hit her. She quickly sprinted the rest of the way, eager to get her thoughts into actions.

Wade stood in the town square anxiously looking around. The ceremony was just about to start and he still couldn't get a glimpse of Zoe, which was odd, she was usually annoyingly punctual. He finally caught sight of her rushing towards him.

"Wade, hi, sorry I'm late" she said, catching her breath, as she came to a halt before him.

"Got me a bit worried there" he said back as he pulled her into a hug and gave her a light kiss.

"Yeah, I got a bit carried away with your gift" she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Wade's curiosity was spiked, but before he could say anything the Mayor had got up on stage and demanded everyone's attention.

Wade and Zoe stood there, holding hands, watching the ceremony, stealing glances at each other.

The Mayor finally pushed the button and the grand tree in front of them lit up the whole square and everyone applauded.

"So, you ready to get your gift?" Wade asked as he turned to face Zoe.

"Yeah, but not here" she replied as she dragged him away from the square and towards the edge of town.

"You aren't draggin' me off to murder me now, are ya?" he asked with a nervous giggle.

"No, Wade, I'm not an ax-murderer" she replied in a stop-the-nonsense kind of voice.

"I never said anythin' about an ax" he continued.

"Wade" Zoe sighed and stopped for just long enough to punch him in the arm.

They finally reached the woods and started hiking up to their clearing. When Wade stepped through the trees he had to take a moment to catch his breath.

Zoe had hung lanterns in the trees all around the clearing and there were candles floating on artificial lily-pads on the pond and on the ground lay a large blanket surrounded by a lot more candles, and on it were a few pillows and another blanket.

"You like it?" Zoe asked shyly as she stood in front of Wade, staring at him, waiting for a reaction.

"Zoe, this, this is amazin'" he finally said and closed the distance between them and kissed her passionately.

"I'm glad you like it" she said as they broke apart and lead him over to the blanket.

They sat down and Wade reached for the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small gift.

"Here, merry Christmas, Zoe" he said as he handed her the gift.

She took the gift from his hand and unwrapped it to reveal a small velvet box.

"Wade" she began, but he put his hand up to stop her.

"Just open it, okay?" he said and she nodded and opened the box.

Inside was a necklace with a small, heart-shaped gold pendant with a small ruby on it.

"It was my mother's. I found it when I was cleanin' out some old stuff and thought you should have it" he said as Zoe took the necklace out of the box and looked over at him with tears in her eyes.

"Wade, you shouldn't have" she said, smiling from ear to ear, trying to hold off her tears.

"Zoe, I .." he paused for a microsecond. He'd almost said that he loved her, but he quickly stopped himself. Even though he was pretty sure that he did love her, he wasn't ready to say that to her, hell, he wasn't even completely comfortable admitting it to himself yet. "You are amazing. You are smart, funny, kind, carin', breathtakingly beautiful and smokin' hot. You deserve to have the best of everythin' and god knows I ain't nearly good enough for you but I just hope you'll want to wear this and that it will remind you of me" he said, not really sure where he got the courage to say all of this to her.

"Wade, of course you are good enough, don't be silly. As for the necklace, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen and of course I'll wear it" she said as she reached for Wade's face, pulling it towards hers and kissing him deeply.

When she broke the kiss she handed him the chain of the necklace and pulled her hair up. "Will you?" she asked and he moved to fasten the chain around her neck. The necklace looked perfect on her.

Wade cupped her face in his hands and locked her eyes on his and just stared into her eyes for a while before she reached forward and kissed him passionately. The kiss quickly heated up and Wade lowered her onto her back on the blanket.

Zoe broke their lips apart for a second. "And now for my gift to you" she said as she moved her hands down to his waist and started undoing the button on his jeans.

Wade pulled his head up a bit and looked at Zoe's face. "You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure" she nodded and Wade lowered his head again to meet her lips again.

Zoe woke up to the ray's of the sun tickling her face. She turned around to find Wade fast asleep. She smiled and gave him a light kiss before snuggling up against his chest. She had almost fallen back asleep when she jerked back up. The sun was up. That meant it was morning. They'd stayed out all night. She quickly got up to her feet and rushed on. When she'd reached the trees she glanced back at Wade who still slept soundly. She let out a wishful sigh before turning around and running back home.

Wade woke up with a smile on his face. He stretched his hand out to his side, reaching for Zoe but coming up empty. He opened his eyes and realized he was all alone. His mood quickly turned for the worse. He started panicking, reliving last night in his mind, looking for any signs of what he might have done wrong. He couldn't come up for anything, but then he remembered that girls didn't always enjoy their first time. But if that was the case, she hadn't given anything away. He gave out an exasperated sigh as he got up and started cleaning up before he headed home.

"Zoe Hart, where on earth have you been?" Harley demanded when Zoe walked through the front door.

He was sitting in the living room with Pauline and the Sheriff.

"I was out with Wade and then we fell asleep. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay out all night" she said, feeling guilty as she looked at their sleep deprived faces.

"And you don't think to check your phone?" he asked.

"My phone?" she asked as she pulled her phone out from her purse and seeing over fifty missed calls from her dad. "I'm sorry, I had it on vibrate"

"Well, at least she's alright" the Sheriff said as he got up. "I think my job here is done and now I'm goin' home to my wife and kids, if you don't mind"

"Oh, of course, thanks for staying, Jack" Harley said as he walked the Sheriff out.

"Well, as the Sheriff mentioned, your home safe and it is Christmas Day, so, let's just put this all behind us for now and open up some presents, shall we?" Harley said as he got back into the living room.

Zoe just nodded and gave her father a tight hug.

When Wade got back home he found his father rummaging through the fridge.

"Wade, my boy, is that you?" he called out.

"Yeah, dad, who else would it be?" Wade called back as he made his way through to the kitchen.

"Well, Jesse said he might pay us a visit, it could've been him. Anyway, merry Christmas, son" Earl said as he popped his head out of the fridge and gestured to the table.

On the kitchen table lay the same toolbox that Wade had gotten for Christmas the last four years, the bow from last Christmas still on it.

"I know how you like fiddling with cars and stuff" Earl said, smiling.

"Yeah, thanks dad" Wade said, hugging his dad quickly before grabbing the box and heading into the living room. He put the box on the coffee table and turned on his game console.

After a few hours he heard the front door open and heard his brother's voice call out. "Anybody home?"

"Jesse, is that you" Earl said as he swaggered into the hall and pulled his older son into a bear hug.

"Hi, dad"

"Jesse, it's great to have you back"

"Great to be back"

"Come into the kitchen, I have a gift for you" Earl said and lead Jesse into the kitchen.

A few minutes later Jesse walked into the living room with a beer in his hand. He sat down next to Wade and joined him in his video game.

"You could've brought me one" Wade said.

"You're under age" Jesse said.

"You too, you're only two years older" Wade spat out.

"Touché" was all Jesse said in reply.

They kept on playing in silence.

"You waitin' for a call?" Jesse asked.

"Huh?" Wade asked back, confused.

"You keep checking your phone" Jesse explained.

"Oh, that" was all Wade said in reply.

"You're waitin' to hear from a girl" Jesse exclaimed.

"Am not" Wade spat out, his blushing cheeks giving him away.

"So, who's the lucky girl that managed to tame the wild badboy Wade Kinsella?" Jesse teased.

"No one, there is no girl, okay?"

"Your red face and agitated voice suggest otherwise, baby bro"

"Well, it's none of your damn business"

"She's got you good. You're like some lovesick wuss. So what's the problem? Tell her you love her and she didn't say it back?" Jesse continued pushing his brother's buttons.

"No, sorry, Mr. I-am-so-clever, you got it wrong" Wade spat at Jesse as he tossed his controller on the table and stormed out of the living room and out into the back yard where he walked to the corner and climbed up his favorite tree and into his hiding spot. The day was almost over and he hadn't heard anything from Zoe. He had thought about texting or calling her, but he didn't want to seem desperate, like he had spent the whole day wondering why she'd gone without saying goodbye and what he'd done wrong, though that was exactly how he'd spent his day.

Then, like she'd read his mind, his phone started buzzing and Zoe's name appeared on the screen.

"Hi" he said into the phone.

"Hi" she said back on the other line.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Oh, it was fine, we went up to aunt Maureen's for her Christmas Day tea party."

"Sounds interesting" Wade said, in a voice that meant the exact opposite.

"Yeah, it wasn't. Just a bunch of old aunt's and uncle's playing my kid is better than your kid with the kid's in question sitting around a table in awkward silence."

They both laughed at that and then there was an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry I ran out on you this morning" Zoe finally said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, when I realized we'd stayed out all night I panicked and ran home as quick as I could to try and downplay the damage. I still don't know how much damage there is, my dad didn't want to ruin Christmas so he postponed judgment till later."

Wade grew even sadder when he heard her explanation. True, he was glad she hadn't bolted because of him, but it made him sad that it hadn't even crossed his mind that her father might have been worried about her. He couldn't remember the last time his dad had been worried about him.

"Well, whatever your penance will be, we'll deal with it" he finally said and they continued talking for hours.