First of all, I am sorry I haven't been able to update in a long time. I had to study a lot for my final exams and really didn't have the time or the inspiration to write another chapter of this story.

Now that I've looked it up, I last updated in December, 2013. Wow, I didn't even realize it was so long. I'm so sorry.

Anyway, here it is, I hope you enjoy. Also, I can't promise anything but I think I will be able to update more often now that school's finally finished and University doesn't start right away.

"'Joel'? Who's Joel?" Wade asked, fearing the worst. What if she'd loved him?
"Oh he's a friend. A writer, actually. Cool guy. I met him one day at the hospital" she smiled "it's a funny story"
"Yeah then tell me about it" Wade said as he got up and sat on the side of the bed "but first, I need to know, were you two together?"
She chuckled, kind of happy that he was jealous. He looked back at her and she got closer to him, putting her arm around his neck. She pointed her finger at him, then, her mouth next to his ear, she whispered.

"You're jealous."
"Am not" he reached for his shirt and put it on.

"Yeah you are"

"Nope" Wade tried to get her to shut up putting a finger on her lips "just tell me!"

She wanted to tease him a bit "well, if you're not, then I think you should be, 'cause... I think I loved him" she admitted, waiting for his reaction.
He stayed quiet for a long while, his face becoming more and more depressed as time passed. She finally spoke when she felt she – as well as he – couldn't take it anymore. He stood up but Zoe made him sit back down grabbing at his shirt to pull him down.

"I'm just kidding!" He stared at her with a mischievous look and chuckled, waiting for further explaination "We went on a date, kissed once, but then I told him I wasn't ready and someone else was waiting for me" she unconsciously dropped her head, shyly, and looked at her feet "we remained friends, though."

"Glad to hear that" he grinned cockily.

"Come on, Zoe, I'm not blind" Joel said as he sat next to her "what's up?"

She turned to him wiping a tear from her cheek and sighed.

"Remember that someone I told you about?"

"The one who's waiting for you?" She just nodded.

"I thought I was-" she stopped. Should she really share this with him? She would sound so desperate and surely it wouldn't make a good impression on him, but who else could she talk to, she didn't make many friends and her old ones were nowhere to be found. Sometimes she felt so lonely, so... it was nothing like in Bluebell. There, she would just walk around town and find somebody to talk to. She had Lavon, Anna Beth and George, too. She also knew she would still get help from Wade, were she able to trust him again. Wade. She thought she was carrying his baby and he didn't even know. She should tell him, soon.

"I thought I was carrying his baby" she spit it out, already feeling better.

"And it's not his?" He looked puzzled.

"I'm not pregnant actually, I-" she hiccupped "I just found out" she glanced at her phone, still in her hands, and almost started crying when she saw Wade's picture on the screen. He obviously had his red flannel shirt on, like always, like the one she packed as she was preparing to leave Bluebell. He was grinning, too looking directly at the camera. She really thought about him for a second and realized she still loved him so much, that just seeing his pic on the damned phone was too much, She deleted name and number from her contacts list, as if by doing that she could also make her feelings for him vanish and put her phone on stand-by and put it back in her pocket. It was really just a symbolic action because she'd memorized his number a long time before. She stared at the concrete for a while, not daring to look up with her puffy eyes at Joel, who put a hand on her back and moved it up and down to try and comfort her when he saw a tear falling on her cheek.

"And then?"
"Then what?" Zoe looked at him "I still talk to him once in a while, you know, we shared a few emails and calls but that's it"
"I'm sorry-" he wasn't able to say anything else. Actually, he didn't even know what to say exactly. What was he supposed to do, anyway? It wasn't like she was pregnant, she just thought she was.
"Don't be" she shook her head.
"Does that mean you don't want children?" He stared at her with a puzzled look on his face, a mix of relief, maybe disappointment and shock.
"I didn't mean-" she realized how it must have sounded like.
"You know, I never wanted kids because I thought I would be a crappy dad and nobody would want to start a family with me" he admitted "but then I met you and... you changed my mind."
"Wade that's so sweet" she caressed his cheek and smiled.

He moved closer to her and their lips touched in a soft, slow kiss. They lay down on the bed again, her head on Wade's chest, from where she could hear his calm and relaxing hearbeat. After a while Zoe took his hand and whispered.

"And about having children, well, I don't think I was ready then, but now or in the future, yes. Five months ago I was so lonely and scared, now I'm here next to you."

"We should really go check on Dad, I kind of feel like a crappy son now!"

"Yeah, maybe you're right, we've been here all day." Zoe said, passing a hand on Wade's shirt. "I can remember you telling him we'd be back to visit him first thing in the morning"

"Oh come on he's old and under drugs, he won't even remember it!"he started tickling her, making her laugh and laughing himself.

"Don't talk about Dad like that, Wade" she scolded him. She didn't even realize she'd called him Dad, like she was really part of their family, until Wade stopped and stared at her.

"I didn't mean to"

"What? Call him Dad? It's okay and i'ts actually appropriate because Zoe, you might have a screwed up family and I might have a screwed up family, too, but you're still part of it and no one could ever deny that. Plus, Dad loves you and already thinks we're married, so..."