Finally, an update! I apologize for the delay - real life is crazy on nearly all fronts. I decided it was high time for a light, fluffy chapter, given the last several chapters and what's going down on the show. Hopefully no one will have any complaints about fluff!

Thank you to all of you who read and review! I appreciate each of you so much!

If you're in need of a sweet love song, try the one that inspired this update - Bart Crow Band's "All I Need." I melt every time!

THINGS I OWN: A ridiculously adorable, teething, puppy. THINGS I DON'T OWN: Hart of Dixie.

The sky was growing rapidly darker, the clouds extending lower and lower, so low and heavy she felt sure she could reach up and touch them as she stood by the pond, looking out over nothing in particular. In her peripheral vision, she saw Burt Reynolds slinking away, going to hide from the incoming storm under Wade's porch.

Wade.

She gasped and ran towards his house.

"Wade!" she called. "Wade!"

She felt the tornado rather than heard it. Without looking over her shoulder, she knew it was behind her, ripping towards their safe little nook of the plantation, sweeping up everything in its path. She ran faster, her legs starting to burn. Wade's house was growing further and further away, even as she ran towards it. She pumped her legs still harder, trying to outrun the twister and make it to Wade to warn him.

"Wade!" she yelled again, forcing air through her lungs to form his name. She ran still faster, harder. Her chest too was starting to burn.

He appeared on his porch then, shirtless, a pair of jeans hanging low on his hips as he towel-dried his damp hair. "Hey, Doc," he called out, greeting her. "Whatcha runnin' from?"

"Tornado!" Zoe managed as she ran, confused as to why she wasn't getting any closer even though he was just a couple hundred yards away from her carriage house. "Tornado! Take cover!"

"Tornado?" Wade asked in confusion. "There ain't no tornado."

"Tornado!" Zoe yelled again, confused as to why he didn't see it. She looked over her shoulder. The big black tunnel was catching up with her and she was still no closer to Wade. He laughed and shook her head.

"Ain't no tornado," he said. "You've lost your mind, city girl."

"Tornado!" Zoe tried again. Her entire body ached and yet she kept running, determined to make it to Wade who was still as distant as ever.

Without warning, the sky over Wade's house started to swirl. Zoe tried to yell, tried to warn him, but she couldn't force the air through her lungs. Her legs gave out and she hit the ground hard, her face smacking the dirt. She could taste the salty Alabama soil on her lips as she looked up, tried once more to warn Wade.

But she was too late.

A tornado dropped from the sky and she watched helplessly as Wade looked up just in time to see the clouds falling on top of him. He called her name as the tornado ripped him from the porch and returned to the sky, taking Wade with it.

Zoe jolted awake with a gasp, vaguely registering the loud grunt and cry of pain that filled her bedroom as she bolted upright in bed. Her heart was racing and even though the night air filtering in through the open, glassless windows was cool, a fine sheen of sweat covered her brow.

"What the hell, Doc?" Wade asked as he struggled to sit up and massaged his chest with his free arm. "Some of us got broken ribs and dislocated shoulders, you know. Kick a man while he's down…" Zoe gasped again.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, realizing she'd hit Wade as she'd struggled in her nightmare. She reached for the bedside lamp out of habit but no light filled the room when she turned on the switch. Remembering that they were still without power, she turned to Wade. "What did I do? Did I hurt you?"

"Let's just say there are hundred dollar butcher knives in Lavon's kitchen that wish they were as sharp as your left elbow," Wade replied.

"I'm so sorry," Zoe said, squinting to see Wade in the darkness. "Do you need anything? Can I do anything?"

"I wouldn't say no to a couple of pain killers," he admitted. "Everything ached when I went to bed. Now I'm downright throbbing – head, shoulder, ribs, you name it, it hurts."

Zoe scrambled out of bed, glad for something to do to calm her nerves. She found the flashlight she'd had before bed, crossed the room and dug Wade's pills from where she kept them stashed in her bag, ready to dole them out when he inevitably gave up on his tough guy act and admitted that he was in pain. She grabbed a water bottle from their stash and returned to bed, passing him first the pills which he popped in his mouth while she unscrewed the water. She switched off the flashlight and sat back against the headboard, willing her heartbeat to return to normal as she picked up her phone, charged courtesy of the Rammer Jammer generator-operated charging station. It was just after two in the morning.

"That's the third time this week," Wade said, maneuvering so he too was resting against the headboard. "What's goin' on, Zoe?"

"I'm a restless sleeper," Zoe said with a shrug. "I toss and turn. I throw 'bows. Sorry, can't help it." Wade shook his head.

"I've been sleepin' with you nearly every night for four months," he reminded her. "You sleep like the dead. A bomb wouldn't wake you up." Zoe sighed.

"It was a bad dream," she admitted. "I've had a few this week."

"About the tornado?" Wade guessed. Zoe nodded.

"I was standing by the pond watching the sky getting darker and darker. The clouds were sinking lower and lower to the ground. Then a tornado fell out of the sky and started towards our houses. I tried to run to you, to warn you, but I couldn't. The harder I ran, the further away you got. You came out on your porch and kept telling me there wasn't a tornado. Then the sky opened up right over your house and another one came and sucked you up into the sky. It happened so fast there was nothing I could do." Zoe shook involuntarily, remembering the more vivid details of her dream.

"Hey," Wade said in a calming voice, "Come here." He held out his arm that wasn't in a sling and Zoe slipped into her spot beside him. "You're fine," he reminded her. He kissed her hair. "I'm fine. There's no tornadoes. It was just a dream."

"I know. But it felt so real."

The tornadoes had done a number on Zoe.

To the rest of Bluebell, it looked like she was digging in and helping restore the town with all the strength she had in her petite frame. By day, she was seeing patients in between working to clean up the practice. When she left work, she put in time helping wherever she was needed around Bluebell, sometimes sweeping up glass or helping Sheila Whittaker round up her cats, even toting downed tree limbs and debris if needed. She was also juggling caring for Earl who was growing noticeably weaker with each passing day with caring for Wade who was a less than ideal patient, complaining because he couldn't do much of the physical work around Bluebell, pushing his limits, refusing to take pain killers and being an overall pain in her ass most of the time.

But at night, when she was finally back on the plantation, she relived those terrifying hours over and over, thinking of what could have been, of how closed they'd all been to losing their lives and their homes, of how if George had come even minutes later Tom Long likely would have died, of how much worse Wade's injuries could have been if he'd been just a few feet closer to the barn when it had fallen. She'd come too close to losing too any people she cared about and was finding it hard not to focus on that when she finally fell asleep at night.

"Talk to me," Wade said softly, pulling her out of her own thoughts.

"I nearly lost you," Zoe told him, resting her head on his shoulder and looking up at him. "I nearly lost everyone I care about. We were so close. We're all lucky to be alive. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see are tornadoes falling out of the sky and taking away the people I love. Tonight, it was you. Last night, Rose. Three nights ago, Lavon and Brick got swept right out the practice while I watched."

"You love Brick?" Wade asked. "Rose and Lavon I get but Brick?"

"We've decided to co-exist peacefully. Apparently tornadoes are a good time for heart to hearts. Brick admitted he actually does like having me around and you told me you love me."

"I'd been trying to spit those three words out for a while," Wade confessed. He drew lazy circles on her arm he spoke. "I'd hoped to be a little more romantic than standing in Lavon's living room waiting for the sky to fall, but it felt right."

"It was right," Zoe confirmed. "I'd wanted to say it for a while too but, call me old fashion, I wanted you to say it first." Wade chuckled and tightened his arm around her. He silently cursed his injuries as it had been nearly two weeks since he'd been able to hold her properly or make love to her.

"I've called you a lot of things, but 'old fashion' will never be one of them. Old fashion girls don't wear those shorty shorts of yours and they certainly don't do some of the things you do in bed." Zoe scoffed and caught herself just before she elbowed him like she would have had he not been injured.

"You're a pig," she declared.

"Yeah, well, you love me," he reminded her. "And for what it's worth, it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a tornado to take me from you." Zoe smiled up at him in the darkness.

"You think you're a match for a tornado?" she asked.

"If it's trying to take me from you? Absolutely."

They fell into a peaceful silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Wade silently marveled at his good fortune that Zoe Hart loved him while Zoe considered how far they'd come, how much both of them had changed, for the better.

"Wade?"

"Yeah?"

Zoe shifted so she was looking up at him. "Are you happy?" Wade frowned.

"Am I happy?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you happy? With me? Us? It wasn't all that long ago, really, that you were chasing women and staying out until the sun came up."

"That feels like forever ago," Wade admitted. "I didn't have a life back then."

"Didn't have a life? By all accounts, it looked like you were living the life."

"I was sleepin' around, drinking too much and somehow not runnin' the Rammer Jammer clear into the ground," Wade said. "That wasn't a life, Zoe. This? Comin' home to you and wakin' up with you – even gettin' jabbed in the broken ribs? This is a life. I like this life. A lot." Zoe smiled at his words.

"I like this life too," she agreed.

"Do you?" Wade asked, flipping things around. "Bluebell wasn't your plan a year ago. You were all about big cities, fancy surgeries and sushi delivered to your door. Now you're the prettier, better half of the town's former bad boy, treating stomach viruses and snake bites."

"I'm the far prettier, far better half of the town's former Casanova," Zoe corrected, making Wade chuckle. "But I'm also a doctor who's making a difference which is all I ever really wanted out of my career anyway. And Lavon Hayes is one of my best friends. I had his poster on the back of my closet door during undergrad. I love this life." Zoe paused and looked at Wade. "I love you." Wade gave her an easy smile.

"I love you too, Doc," he said. He puckered her lips to show her he wanted a kiss, finding it easier to get her to come to him than go to her. She obliged and the pair settled back into the bed, trying to get comfortable.

The power was still out throughout most of Bluebell, the practice, Rammer Jammer and a few other vital places operating on generators for shortened business hours. Cleanup was slow but progress had been made and slowly but surely, windows were being replaced, shingles being repaired. Zoe's carriage house and Wade's gate house had been largely spared saved for the windows and an afternoon is all it had taken Zoe to get the place livable again. Half of the plantation's windows had been repaired, the roof half repaired. There was still plenty of debris scattered about but life in Bluebell was slowly returning to normal. It was that thought that spurred Zoe to realize something.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, looking over at Wade who was nearly asleep, his pain meds kicking in. "Have you seen Didi lately?" Even though Wade was struggling to keep his eyes open, Zoe's comment caused him to perk back up.

"I ain't," he said, realizing he couldn't say for sure when the last time he'd seen Lavon with his supposed girlfriend was. It had been at least a few weeks, if not longer. "Shoot, I can't even remember the last time I saw her. 'Course, I've got a head injury, but…"

"It's been at least a month," Zoe agreed. "At least! Valentine's Day, maybe?

"That was what? Two months ago?"

"Nearly," Zoe confirmed. "But Lavon, he's seemed okay, right? I mean, stressed and exhausted with the tornadoes and all but okay?"

"I'd say I'd talk to him at breakfast, but somethin' tells me you're gonna beat me to it."

"What if they broke up?" Zoe asked. "And here we are, his closest two friends, happy and lovey dovey and he's hurting. We're terrible people."

"He's a terrible person for not telling us nothin,'" Wade countered, growing tired once more. "Go to sleep, Doc. You can deal with Lavon in the mornin.'"

"Believe I will," Zoe confirmed. She finally drifted off to sleep, any dreams of tornadoes pushed away by concerns of Lavon's love life.

"You're starring at me."

"No, I'm not."

"You are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

Are too."

"Are y'all five?" Wade asked, interrupting Zoe and Lavon's back and forth.

"She's staring at me," Lavon said.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Oh, come on!" Wade exclaimed. It was rare that he was the most mature person in the room but as the three of them sat around the kitchen island eating cold pop tarts and granola bars, he felt like he had somehow been appointed chaperone for his girlfriend and best friend. "Lavon, Zoe has somethin' to ask you."

"Unless Lavon has something he wants to tell me," Zoe added. "In that case, I'm here to listen. And I'm a good listener so you can tell me anything."

"Lavon Hayes has nothing to tell no one."

"Where's Didi?" Zoe asked bluntly. "Did you break up?" Whatever Lavon had been expecting Zoe to ask, it clearly hadn't been that. He almost looked – relieved.

"Didi and I broke up like, two months ago," he said. "It was mutual. She's a sweet lady and we had fun together but it wasn't meant to be. We fizzled. She moved up to Birmingham to be closer to her folks and me, well… I'm doin' just fine."

"Hey, sorry things didn't work out," Wade said, clapping Lavon on the shoulder as he passed him to get another bottle of warm water. "No offense, but I always thought she was a little crazy in a 'out to lunch' sort of way."

"Well, you are well-versed in crazy," Lavon said, looking at Zoe pointedly.

"Hey!" Zoe protested. Wade was smart enough not to say anything.

"Don't you have something better to do than question the mayor about his love life?" Lavon asked.

"I do have a patient in," Zoe checked her watch, "Twenty minutes. But by no means is this over. You're in trouble for not telling me."

"Come on, Doc," Wade said, starting towards the door. "I'll drop you off at the practice."

"No you won't," Zoe said replied, following him. "You haven't been cleared to drive."

"I ain't worried about what some quack told me."

"Quack? You're calling your doctor a quack? I'm a doctor! I'm also your girlfriend and I am not a quack."

"Just crazy," Wade said, winking at Lavon as he shut the door behind them. Lavon chuckled as Zoe shrieked in indignation and started listing off all the reasons she was not crazy. He turned and looked over his shoulder.

"They're gone," he called.

"They always argue like that?" Annabeth asked, stepping around the corner wearing one of Lavon's t-shirts.

"Always," Lavon confirmed. "And they love each other that much more because of it. Now, come here." Annabeth giggled as Lavon pulled her into a kiss. Things were heating up when they heard Zoe's heels tapping on the porch as she called out to Wade that she'd be right back.

"Hey, Lavon, forgot my…" Zoe stopped as she caught a glimpse of someone darting down the hallway. "Who was that?" She asked. Lavon raised his eyebrows.

"Who was who?" he asked. Zoe frowned and pointed in the direction of the hallway.

"I just saw someone take off down the hallway." Her eyes got big as understanding dawned on her. "You're sleeping with someone!"

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Don't you have a patient to see in a matter of minutes?" Lavon asked, just as Wade laid down on the horn of Lavon's hybrid from his spot in the passenger seat.

"This isn't over," Zoe informed him.

"It's as over as Tom and Katie."

"What?" Zoe asked, missing the pop culture reference.

"Just go be a doctor, will you?" Zoe glared at him as Wade laid down on the horn again.

"Men," she grumbled as she walked out the door. Annabeth waited until the car pulled out of the driveway before she reemerged.

Zoe was happy with the progress of the practice. All the windows had been replaced and the stairs repaired. The roof was crawling with men nailing down shingles and the interior damage, mostly from the rain and wind that had come through, was nearly completely repaired. The practice was, essentially, back to full working order, pending the ordering of new waiting room furniture as much of it had been damaged. Zoe was looking at it as an opportunity to update the practice and was already bracing herself for the inevitable disagreements she and Brick would have when it came to redecorating.

She thought vaguely of Harley's apartment upstairs. She'd peeked at it to make sure there was only minimal damage, but she still had plenty to go through. She'd get to it one day, when Bluebell was back to their definition of normal and Earl… She let her thoughts trail off. The next few weeks were going to be hard and she didn't want to think of them right then.

She was updating paperwork when Addie knocked on Zoe's door frame.

"Dr. Hart, you have a patient. I put them in your exam room already." Zoe smiled, remembering the days when she didn't have a patient at all. Today, she'd seen five and it wasn't even noon.

"Thank you," she said. She paused outside the exam room and took the chart out of the holder on the door. It was Annabeth's. She smiled again. She liked Annabeth and was finding herself pleasantly surprised that they were forging a sort of friendship. "Hi, Annabeth, what can I do for you?" she asked as she walked in.

"Hi, Zoe," Annabeth said nervously. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. "I mean, Dr. Hart."

"You can call me Zoe. That's fine." In New York, she would have never allowed a patient to call her Zoe. Here, it was only right.

"Zoe," Annabeth said again. "You can't tell anyone what I say in here, right? Doctor-patient confidentiality or whatever?"

"Completely confidential," Zoe confirmed. She hated how curious she was as to what Annabeth was about to confide in her. It made her no better than the old women who gossiped outside the bakery.

"Okay. Well, you know how me and my husband got divorced?" Zoe nodded. "Well, I stopped taking my birth control. No need, you know? Can't get pregnant if you're not – having sex. But, well, I guess, there's a need now. So that's what I came here. To get birth control."

"That's easy enough," Zoe said, not understanding Annabeth's nervousness yet realizing that in Bluebell, everyone was prim and proper and things like sex were not openly discussed. "You'll just need to answer a few questions and then I'll do a standard exam and we'll get you a prescription."

"I don't have to say who I'm sleeping with, do I?" Annabeth asked anxiously.

"Not if you don't want me to know."

"It's not necessarily that I don't want you to know because, truthfully, I kind of want everyone to know. He's great. He's smart and handsome and funny and just the sweetest man. If he weren't an Alabama graduate he'd be absolutely perfect. But we have to keep our relationship quiet, at least for now. We don't want his – ex – finding out. She's a little nuts."

"Lavon!" Zoe spit out before she could stop herself. If there was one thing she'd learned while living in Alabama, it was that Auburn grads and Alabama grads didn't get along. And Annabeth was an Auburn grad while Lavon's blood most certainly ran crimson. She could tell by the horrified look on Annabeth's face that she was right.

"You can't tell anyone!" she exclaimed. "Not even Wade."

"Doctor-patient confidentiality," Zoe confirmed. Her mind was already working through how she'd get Lavon to fess up. Then she remembered something else Annabeth had said. "You know, Didi is a little out there, sure, but I doubt she'd go psycho if she found out you and Lavon are dating. And Lavon did say their split was mutual."

"Oh, it's not Didi we're worried about," Annabeth said dismissively. She then seemed to remember she'd said too much. "Can we get this over with? I have some errands to run."

"Sure thing," Zoe said. She picked up her clipboard and started asking Annabeth a number of questions that made them both uncomfortable.

"What's on the menu today?" Lavon asked as he sat down at the bar of the Rammer Jammer.

"Burgers or hotdogs," Wade answered. "Chips on the side. Same stuff that's been on the menu since the tornadoes."

"Burger it is," Lavon answered. "I know we shouldn't complain since Bluebell really got lucky, all things considered, but this two weeks with no power business is getting old." Wade called out Lavon's order to a waitress who went out back where the cook was manning a charcoal grill.

"You tellin' me," he said. "I'm barely keepin' this place runnin' on generators and coolers full of ice to keep the meat cool. And don't forget, my girlfriend is Zoe Hart. She's 'bout three more days of not bein' able to blowout her hair from snappin.'"

"What is a blowout anyway?" Lavon asked. Wade shrugged.

"Damned if I know. Whatever it is, it takes her long enough." Lavon laughed as Wade walked away to take another order. When he returned, he had Lavon's burger and chip. "So, Zoe seems to think you had a woman in the house with you this morning." Lavon looked at him.

"So what if I did?" he asked.

"Then good for you," Wade said with a nod of approval. "Ain't nothin' wrong with a little lovin.' But just so you know, Zoe ain't gonna drop it 'til you 'fess up."

"You ain't going to pester me about it?" Wade shook his head.

"You didn't ask me about my pre-Zoe escapades, I ain't gonna ask you about your post-Didi ones."

"You're a good friend," Lavon said.

"Likewise." Wade looked up just in time to see Zoe enter the Rammer Jammer. He grinned, partly because he was happy to see her, mostly because she'd already zeroed in on Lavon. "Don't look now, but the inquisition squad just walked in." Lavon looked over his shoulder and groaned audibly when he seen Zoe, causing Wade to chuckle. "Hey, baby," he greeted.

"Hi," Zoe said, accepting Wade's kiss. He grimaced, the stretch to reach her over the bar straining his ribs and shoulder. "Careful," Zoe chided before turning to Lavon.

"Hello, Lavon."

"Hi, Zoe."

"Burger?" Wade asked.

"Sure," Zoe agreed. She swore she wouldn't eat another hamburger or hotdog for at least six months whenever their power returned. She turned to Lavon. "So when are you going to tell me who was at the house this morning?"

"No one was at my house this morning. Besides you two, of course, because you are always at my house."

"There was someone there," Zoe insisted. She knew it was Annabeth and dammit, Lavon was going to tell her it was. "She had dark hair and from what I saw, she was wearing one of your t-shirts."

"Wade, get your girlfriend some glasses. She's seeing things," Lavon told Wade. Wade just grinned.

"Come on, Lavon. I know you had a girl over. You know I know you had a girl over. Just tell me who she is and if it's serious or not."

"Whether or not I'm seeing someone is my business. You don't need to know about my love life."

"But I tell you about mine!" Zoe countered. Wade frowned.

"What do you tell Lavon about us?" he asked.

"Not much," Zoe answered.

"As much as I'll let her," Lavon said at the same time drawing a dirty look from Zoe.

"Tell you what. Let's play a game. I'll guess and if I guess right, you have to tell me. Wade, you can help me."

"Oh, no. I'm out of this," Wade said.

"This is ridiculous, Zoe," Lavon added.

"Let's see. She had dark hair," Zoe said, pretending as though she was thinking on who it could be. She couldn't guess Annabeth right off the top. "So that rules out Shelia Whitaker," Lavon made a face, "and any of those blonds that like to hit on Wade. Oh! Sally Jefferson! She and her boyfriend broke up months ago. Is it her?"

"What? No," Lavon said, shaking his head. "This is ridiculous," he said again.

"Fine. What about what's-her-name that lives just over the border in Fillmore? Daisy or something like that?"

"Daphne and no! Like I'd date someone from Fillmore…" Wade put hot off the grill burgers in front of Lavon and Zoe, amused at their exchange. He enjoyed listening to Zoe give someone else hell. It was a nice change of pace. He watched as her eyes lit up.

"You know, there is one person in town, recently divorced, that just so happens to have dark hair." Zoe watched in satisfaction as Lavon's eyes grew bigger.

"Who, Annabeth?" Wade asked, spitting out the only name that came to mind without really thinking about it.

"Annabeth!" Zoe repeated, whirling around to face Lavon full on. "It was her, wasn't it?"

"Keep your voice down!" Lavon hissed. He looked at Wade who was grinning like the cat that looked like the canary.

"Oh my God!" Zoe hissed. "How long has this been going on? You could certainly do worse. Why don't you want anyone to know?" She pretended like she hadn't spoken to Annabeth earlier, trying to get more information out of Lavon.

"Lemon will go full on Daisy May crazy when she finds out," Wade stated. Zoe frowned.

"What's Lemon got to do with anything?" she asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Lavon answered quickly.

"Lemon and Lavon had a thing a few years back," Wade told Zoe.

"Wade! You're supposed to be my friend! I told you that in confidence!"

"Wait, what?" Zoe asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Technically, you didn't tell me," Wade reminded Lavon. "I walked in on something I'd rather forget and y'all swore me to secrecy."

"Secrecy, exactly. Which is why you don't go and tell the whole town!"

"I didn't tell the whole town. I just told Zoe. She'd have worn me down eventually. Or you. In case you ain't noticed, she's pretty scrappy."

"Someone explain this to me," Zoe announced. Lavon sighed, relenting.

"When George left for New York, him and Lemon broke up. Lemon was going through some stuff with her mom and we grew closer. We had a thing for a while, but George came back and, well, you've got their wedding invitation. It was a long time ago and it didn't last long but it was pretty deep."

"And since Annabeth is Lemon's best friend, I assume she knows? Which is why all of this is being kept super top secret – because Lemon will flip out? Even though she's getting married?" Zoe said.

"Exactly," Lavon confirmed.

"Well, your secret is safe with us," Wade said. He looked pointedly at Zoe.

"I won't say anything," Zoe agreed. "However, I want details."

"No details," Lavon stated. He picked up the paper plate his burger was on. "I'm taking this to go," he said. He fished some money out of his pocket and sat it on the counter. "I'm not leaving a tip. The owner's girlfriend made my dining experience less than enjoyable." Wade chuckled while Zoe scoffed. Lavon nodded a goodbye to them and made his way out the door.

"You know, Doc, I can't have you hassling my customers," Wade said with a grin.

"He's not a customer. He's Lavon," Zoe answered around a mouth full of burger. She finished chewing and wiped her mouth. "Him and Annabeth though?" she asked Wade in a whisper. "That's – odd." Wade shook his head.

"No odder than you and me, Doc," he said. Zoe smiled.

"Touche," she agreed.

"What are you doing tonight?" Wade asked.

"Sitting in the dark. Preferably with you."

"Be home around, say, seven," Wade instructed.

"Why?"

"It's a surprise."

"A surprise?" Zoe's ears perked up.

"Yes, ma'am. Now don't ask questions. Just be at your place at seven."

"Yes, sir," Zoe said with a grin. She finished off her burger. "I'm going to go out and check on your dad while the sun is shining," she told him. "I haven't been out there in a couple of days."

"Let me know how he's doing," Wade said automatically.

"Of course."

Earl spent most of his time sleeping these days, his home, barely damaged in the storms, being supported by generators. Wade and his sister were still trading days, but both of them spent much of their time there these days, wanting to get every moment they could with their father. As a doctor, Zoe knew Earl wouldn't last much longer and was even a bit perplexed that he was still hanging in there. As someone who had grown to care deeply about Earl, she too wanted to hold on to every moment.

"Come here and let me give you a kiss goodbye," Wade said. "I done leaned over this bar one time today. That's all I've got in me." Zoe laughed and leaned over the bar to kiss Wade. Even though his shoulder ached and a headache was threatening, his bar surviving for a few hours a day on a generator and a charcoal grill and his father dying, he couldn't help but grin as he watched Zoe leave. Life really wasn't all that bad.

At seven on the dot, Zoe, driving Lavon's hybrid, came to a stop in front of her house. She laughed from the driver's seat as she took in what Wade had been up to.

A table and chairs had been set up on her porch, complete with candles. A few well-placed candles lined the porch as well, including, she noticed, a few citronella candles to ward off the ever-present mosquitos. Wade himself stood at the top of her porch stairs, grinning.

"What are you up to?" Zoe asked as she climbed the stairs.

"Just wanted to do something nice for you," Wade said, reaching out for Zoe and pulling her to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into his one-armed embrace. "You've been working so hard and taken such good care of me, my dad, everyone… I figured you could use a night off." Zoe grinned up at him before standing on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek.

"You are amazing," she told him. Wade shook his head modestly.

"You're the amazin' one, Doc." He led her to the table and pulled out her chair for you. "Now don't get too excited. Dinner is just flank steaks, corn on the cob and baked potatoes, all on the grill."

"Steaks? Are you kidding me? After eating nothing but burgers, hotdogs and pop tarts for days and days, steak sounds amazing. How'd you get your hands on steaks anyway?"

"Had some left in one of the freezer at the Rammer Jammer. We had to move what was in it to the other one – gettin' low on fuel for the generator and we can't keep runnin' 'em both – and I figured I may as well cook 'em for us before they went bad."

Zoe just shook her head. She'd been so impressed with how hard Wade had been working to keep the Rammer Jammer open, even if just for a few hours a day, to provide hot meals and a place for the town to gather. He'd even managed to get his hands on more burger patties and hot dogs, the owner of the Dixie Stop bringing what he'd had in his freezers over to Wade when his own generator had played out. It was getting harder to get fuel though, the surrounding towns also without electricity, and if power didn't get restored soon, the few places that had been able to remain open on generators would have to close.

They dined as the sun set, talking about their days and having what Zoe imagined was a very normal evening, despite no electricity. Neither of them had showered in two days and her hair was piled up in a knot on top of her head while Wade was wearing what she was certain was a now dirty shirt, but they were happy, just being together.

For dessert, Wade produced supplies for smores, using a candle to roast marshmallows. He scoffed at when Zoe told him she'd never had a smore and laughed when she proceeded to eat three herself, declaring them better than those fancy black and white cookies she loved so much. Eventually, they ended up by the pond, Zoe seated comfortably in Wade's lap. His ribs protested a bit at the added weight, but he wasn't about to complain.

"This has been perfect," she stated. "Thank you."

Wade kissed her hair. "Only the best for my girl," he told her. They sat in silence for a while, the Alabama spring air comfortable, tree frogs croaking in the distance.

"It's funny, how life turns out," Zoe said finally, breaking the quiet. "Who would have thought I'd find everything I wanted in Bluebell, Alabama? And who would have thought it would be almost exactly opposite from everything I thought I wanted?"

"Big city life, hot shot surgeon, married to another hot shot surgeon or else a lawyer or business man… And you end up in a small town as a general practitioner with a bar owning boyfriend," Wade said.

"Sounds about right," Zoe agreed. "Except I didn't really think about getting married or anything like that when I was in New York. My life revolved around my career. The guy – he was just sort of there. It's not like that now."

"What's it like now?" Wade prompted. He had a feeling he knew what Zoe was saying but also felt pretty sure she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"Well, I mean, I just… Sometimes I think about the future, like the way way way future…." She stumbled through what she was trying to say, not wanting to say too much that might scare Wade. It was a big enough deal, him being in a committed relationship. Talk of marriage and all that went with it, she was afraid, was far too much for him at this point. As if he sensed the direction of her thoughts, he gave her a squeeze.

"I think about that too, Doc," he admitted. "What it'll be like one day, to call you my wife." Zoe sat up and looked at him.

"Really?" she asked. Wade nodded, suddenly serious.

"I plan to marry you, one day. We can get married at the courthouse or you can have a big, fancy wedding and invite the whole town. I'd even go to New York to get married if that's what you want. I just want to be with you."

"Here," Zoe told him with a smile. "One day, we'll get married here, in Bluebell." Wade chuckled and accepted Zoe's kiss. "But it will be big. I don't have all those wedding ideas pinned on Pinterest for my health." Wade laughed, not entirely sure what she was talking about but willing to go along with it all the same.

"So long as you have my last name at the end of it," he told her. Zoe nodded, smiling. It was his turn to ask a question. "You ever thought about kids? You know, a few years or so from now?" Slowly, Zoe nodded again.

"Back in New York, I didn't want kids. I knew what it was like to be the daughter of two busy, professional parents and I didn't want that for any child I might have. But here, here it just feels right, to someday have a couple of kids running around the practice." She paused and looked at Wade. "Or around the Rammer Jammer."

"I agree," he said simply. He pulled Zoe closer, hiding the twinge of pain he felt run through his shoulder, aware that she'd spring away from him if she knew he was hurting. Soon, they were making out like teenagers in the back seat of a parent's borrowed car.

Without warning, there was a pop and light suddenly filled the space. Zoe leapt away from Wade, her sudden movements causing him to yelp in pain. It took her a moment to realize what had happened.

"Wade! We have power!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and taking in the beauty that was the electricity streaming through every window of both she and Wade's houses.

"Well look at that," Wade said, making his way to his feet. Zoe was already pulling the knot out of her hair.

"I'm going to take a shower she announced. She looked over her shoulder. "Want to join me?" Wade grinned.

"Oh you know I do."

There you have it! Fluff and comedy. Thanks for reading!