Here's chapter 3 for you all. This chapter didn't go according to plan, things kind of happened that I had no intentions of ever happening, but it fits in a way that it needs to be there. I'm happy to see that I'm not the only person that likes the friendship between Zoe and Jesse. Enjoy!
"Hey, Dad," Zoe greeted smiling, stepping into her father's office at the practice.
"Hi sweetie, how is your day so far?" Harley asked smiling, looking up from his paperwork.
"Lemon hates me, Wade, I'm not sure where he stands, AB is sweet as ever, I don't think she could ever hate me," she laughed lightly. "Jesse and George are the same as ever. I saw Wade's fiancée," she sighed, picking at her nails. "They look happy," she commented, glancing up at her dad.
"They are happy, Zoe. Even so, being in love and being happy are two very different things. I've seen him with you and with Tansy, and it's different…" He sighed trailing off. He wanted her to confront the feelings she hasn't let herself move past. He wanted her to be happy whether that was in New York or Bluebell; whether it was spent with Joel or Wade. Even if it was spent elsewhere in the world with someone new. His daughter's happiness is what mattered to him. "It's up to you on how to handle this. Talk to him, work out what you need to do with him. You don't have to say anything about Tansy if you don't want to. Fix what you need to, honey. You are the only one that knows what's best for you," Harley told her. "Whatever this weekend entails for you; I will still support you, that will never change, but think long and hard about everything, Zoe. Make sure you're doing what you want and what's best for you," he finished, gently patting her hand.
"Thanks dad," she told him with a soft smile, squeezing his hand in return. She was uncertain on what she was going to say to Wade. There was no way she had prepared a whole speech before coming back home. It wouldn't have worked, she'd say something else than what she should have planned to say that's how it works. What was she supposed to say in a situation like this? "You are free for dinner, right?" She asked with a pout, using the one look her father could never say no to.
"I'll be making your favorite pasta," he chuckled. Zoe smiled brightly, getting up. She was starting to like that she had made the decision to come back. She was seeing just how much she had missed her father. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"Track down AB, then I'm not really sure," she shrugged. She had two and half days to make amends with friends and Wade and Lemon were going to take double that amount. She didn't want to stay inside the whole time or spend all her time with Jesse. She wanted to enjoy her time being home.
"Dinner is at the normal time. Have fun, sweetie," he smiled, turning back to the work waiting for him on his desk. "Just don't cause too much trouble for your old father," he laughed.
"I make no promises," she laughed, heading out the door. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, bumping into someone.
"Maybe you should actually look where you're going," snapped the voice.
Zoe cringed looking to the other person. Hard to believe she was the one person she didn't want to see. She'd much rather put up with Lemon's bash her then subject herself to being alone with Wade's fiancée.
"You're right, sorry," she apologized once more, going to walk away.
"And don't for a second think that you can swoop into town and think that you can have Wade with the snap of your fingers. He's mine; you lost out the second you left," she smirked smugly.
"If you weren't so insecure with your relationship with him, you wouldn't be so worried about my intentions. I'm here to see my father, make amends with those I did wrong. I'm not here to win my ex-boyfriend over, not that I would need to, if I really wanted him back, Tansy," she informed the blonde. "Have a fantastic day," she bit out sarcastically walking away.
"What was that about?" Zoe jumped hearing the voice.
"I didn't know you were there. You won't speak a word about this to Wade. Will you?" She questioned. She felt horrible for putting him in such a place.
"I won't say a word, but I'm not so sure that Tansy will let it go that easily. Wade will know and he won't have all the details either. And for that I'm sorry, Zo," George told her with half a hug.
"Just great," she sighed, dropping her head to his shoulder. "The second I start to enjoy my time in coming back, drama like that happens," she groaned.
"You didn't have to say anything," he commented highly amused. "But is that how you feel? That you could have Wade back just like that?" He questioned, snapping his fingers.
Zoe shook her head. "I know I can't; it's not that easy. We need to figure things out. And it still wouldn't be any easier."
"Hey now, whatever she tells Wade, he'll hear you out, and he knows you; he knows the signs for when you lie, and he'll believe you. Believing in you was never hard for him, it's the whole trust issue," he informed her. "It can amaze you with what can be easy, Zo," he stated. "Play nice," he warned, slipping away.
"Want to explain why I got a call from my fiancée?" Wade growled beneath his breath, coming to stand before her.
"I don't know what she told you, but I bumped into her, said sorry, and I went to go on my way. She's the one that accused me of being here to win you back. I'm here to make amends, I don't want any more trouble than necessary," she explained holding her anger back.
"So you didn't tell her that you could have me if you wanted to?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. This situation suddenly amusing him.
"I may have said something like that, but I didn't mean it. I can't help that she feels insecure in her relationship with you; that's in her not me. I am sorry for causing more trouble for you," Zoe apologized.
"It's alright," Wade sighed, running his hands over his face. "It's not you, Zoe. Things have been like this for a while now. There're reasons to why she is acting that way and that's on me," he confessed.
"Want to talk about it?" She questioned concerned for him. "We were always friends before anything else, Wade. There was never a time we couldn't talk. I would like to think that remains even now."
"Same here," he smiled. "But I need to get back to work. We can talk about it on Sunday; I promise," he informed her.
"Okay," she replied back, spotting the one person she had set out to find, and she was alone. It felt weird to hug him, so she settled on giving him a smile, crossing the street to sit in the gazebo overlooking the town square. "Hey, Annabeth, you free?"
"Zoe, hey," AB greeted. "I am actually."
"I'm sorry," Zoe told her.
AB shook her head, "you have no reason to be sorry Zoe. We all knew it was coming. This town has always been too small for you. Lemon and Wade they have reasons to be upset with you, but I've been thinking about it, and I don't, not really. You were closest to those two. Making your fathers see sense when they'd get into their little spats, but you did what you set out to do," AB explained.
"But that doesn't make a difference, AB. I'm sorry that I left cutting everyone but my family off, that was wrong of me. Just because I wasn't as close to you as I was with Lemon didn't mean you weren't special to me. I know we can't start over, but I would like it if we could start fresh," Zoe suggested.
"I would like that, Zoe. However, it will only work if you vow to stay in contact once you leave."
"I will; you'll have every way possible to remain in touch with me, phone numbers, address, email address, friends on all social media accounts, everything," Zoe promised.
"Deal," AB laughed, getting her phone out so they could become friends on what social media sites they had the same of.
"How are things with you, AB?" Zoe asked, slipping her phone back into her purse.
"They're good, really good. I'm in talks with Jake about having kids," she gushed. "The Belles are wonderful," she commented with a goofy grin.
"I can imagine a little you running around," Zoe laughed. "The Belles are still something I don't want to be a part of. However, I am happy to hear that," she replied.
"That's not what you said when we were little girls, pretending to be Belles," AB commented, a smile on her face at memories from their childhood.
"No it wasn't," Zoe sighed. "I don't know what changed. I just know that I don't need to a part of them to honor Bluebell," she shrugged. "I'd better go," Zoe muttered, getting to her feet, seeing Lemon approaching.
"AB let's go," Lemon demanded, ignoring Zoe.
"Lemon, I do want to talk to you before the weekend is over with," Zoe said, taking the first step into fixing her mess.
"Why should I listen to what you have to say? So you can hurt me again? Not going to happen," Lemon huffed.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't enough, Zoe. I've lost all my trust in you, and I don't think it can be earned again. You were more like a sister to me than Magnolia was, but I was nothing to you since you so easily tossed our friendship away."
"It was not like that, Lemon," Zoe tried to explain.
"Like I believe that," Lemon hissed, storming off.
Zoe sighed, walking off herself. She had thought Wade was going to be her biggest hurdle to get over, but she wasn't counting on Lemon being so freaking stubborn about it all.
"Look at you, Zoe," Brick said, startling her. "It's going to take more than one day and one little apology to make it up to her. She was crushed more by you leaving than her own mother," Brick told her. "To be fair you deserve it. She needed you when you left, and you didn't care because you were too busy being selfish."
"I didn't know it was that bad. But it's not all on me, Brick. She could've called me, came to me for those first few years I was in school, the school they knew where it was at, since there is no secret way to get there. It wasn't Hogwarts, hidden by magic. Everyone in this town knew my plans, if she needed me as much as you say she did; she could've done something about that, but she didn't; now did she?" Zoe asked, her anger getting the best of her. She was getting fed up with everyone blaming her, sure to an extent she was at fault, but it wasn't like they were jumping at the chance to talk to her when she first left.
"Woah, I can hear you all the way across town," Jesse chuckled, spinning her around, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You need to calm down."
Zoe nodded her head, letting Jesse lead her off, not waiting around to hear what else Brick had to say to her. Jesse knew the exact thing she needed, as he took her back to his place, and they watched movies for the rest of the afternoon hiding away from Bluebell until it was time for Zoe to head home for dinner with her dad. He said nothing about the rumors he heard about the blowout between Tansy or what happened with his little brother. Or what had been heard when she was yelling at Brick.
"Care to explain why Brick came into the office mad this afternoon?" However, she wasn't so lucky when it came to her father.