Hey everyone! I know I just updated this one yesterday, but this one couldn't wait to be written. The next chapter will take a few days, as I've had it in my mind since around the second chapter and I wanted to come out the way it is in my head and it will be the talk everyone has been waiting for. Enjoy!
"And here I thought that you didn't want me to be late," Jesse chuckled, seeing Zoe finally emerge from upstairs. "Don't be late, Jesse, she says."
He had shown up five minutes early to ensure Zoe that he knew how to tell time, and that he wasn't always running late. It turns out; she was the one running late. She was just getting home when he was walking up. He found it amusing.
"You can shut up now," she threatened. "I didn't. And this is Lemon's fault. Do you know how hard it is to talk her off a cliff? Everything was how it should have been; she was just freaking out and do you know how many times my head felt like exploding today?"
"I'm happy that your pretty little head is still very much intact, but shall we go now?" He asked, ready to get the night over with. At first, he thought it would be a good idea, but the longer he waited to actually go with Zoe the more he was starting to second guess himself. She was right when she told him that he barely knew anyone in her class.
"You okay there?" She questioned, following him outside.
"Peachy," he nodded.
"You're second guessing yourself, Jesse. You don't have to come; I can handle going by myself," she suggested, giving him an out.
He baldly would've taken the out. But, "as nice as that would be, I can't let you fend for yourself. You may have some sort of an understanding with Wade but Tansy feels threatened, no thanks to you," he chuckled lightly.
"Hey! That's not my fault," she protested.
Instead of saying anything, he pulled her close. "For what it's worth I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what, Jesse? Lying to me about Melissa? Or maybe it's getting me down here for a scheme to do with your brother?"
"I didn't lie to you about anything. Where did you hear that?"
"Your brother," Zoe stated coming to a stop outside the school.
"I actually tell you more than I tell him. I wasn't lying about Melissa. We are broken up. After everything, you don't believe me, that's great to know, Zoe," he huffed, walking off.
Zoe sighed, looking between the school and the way Jesse had taken off. She really wanted to chase him down, but she knew that he needed time to cool off, and it would do no good to run him down and force him to talk to her.
"Trouble in paradise?" She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"No thanks to you. Here I thought we were able to move past this crap, Wade."
"Maybe we can't," he replied, walking away.
That gave her very little hope that things would go any better tomorrow when she gets to talk to him just the two of them.
With a deep breath, she entered the school. A smile forming on her lips as walked into the school gym. She looked for her friends, she said a polite hello to her fellow peers as she passed them.
"There she is," George greeted, the first to spot Zoe.
"Here I am," she smiled hugging her friends, ignoring Wade and Tansy.
"So I guess I'm not good enough for a hug from the all mighty doctor," Wade joked, a small sneer slipping out.
"If you wouldn't have been an ass since the day I showed up, I would consider it," Zoe snapped.
"Yeah because you've been nothing but perfect."
"Get over yourself, Wade. I'm not in the mood to listen to you complain about everything. If memory recalls, you're the one that let me go without fighting, Wade. If anyone should be upset, it should be me," she yelled, causing a scene.
"Yeah well I didn't think I would never see you again, Zoe. Silly me, I thought in a few years you'd be back for good, and we could figure things out then, but no that didn't work for you," his anger getting the best of him. He didn't want to have this out with Zoe with their peers watching them.
"How should I know that, Wade. It's not like you said anything," she softly replied.
"Would it change anything?" Wade asked, walking off.
She really didn't know if it would've changed anything or not.
"How 'bout a dance?"
"I thought you were mad at me," she commented, following her friend to the makeshift dance floor as some 80's cheesy rock song played.
"I wasn't mad at you, Zoe. I was mad that you had very little faith in me. I have no reason to lie to you about Melissa or any other relationship I might find myself in. Do I want to see you and my brother together? Yes. Am I going to push you more than I already have? No," he explained.
"Thank you for that and I'm sorry for not believing you, but it had been on my mind all day and instead of asking like a normal person, I just blurted it out."
"You wouldn't be you if you did things the normal way. You okay after that show down with Wade? I swear all of Bluebell and maybe even Fillmore could hear that one."
He was on the steps when he heard them going at it. That was one of the things he had wanted to help prevent, and because he let himself get the best of him; he ran off leaving Zoe to deal with it all on her own. What kind of friend did that?
"I will be. Let's just have fun. I did see a photo booth when I was here earlier helping Lemon with her freak out."
She wasn't going to let her little argument with Wade get her down. She was determined to have fun with her friends. Jesse didn't need to hear anymore as he let her lead him to the corner where the photo booth was set up at. Taking silly pictures was something that he knew all about.
Jesse was laughing at the walls of pictures that had been hung up from when they were in school. Making Zoe tell him the stories behind the pictures. He had tried to skip over the pictures that had Wade and Zoe in them together, but she had been okay to talk about them. It didn't bother her; they were happy memories after all.
"You freaked out so much that night; I think you were more terrified after you won Prom Queen then you had been all night," Wade chuckled looking at the picture where Zoe had won Prom Queen, and George had won Prom King.
"Yeah because I thought you were going to freak out and knock George out," she commented. "I don't remember this picture. I can remember the day; we had that horrible history test."
"I found you in the library in tears," he responded. "Unwanted tears as you had aced that test," he chuckled softly.
They had been so absorbed in memory lane that they didn't realize that their friends had snuck off leaving them alone. Tansy wasn't happy, but instead of starting a fight, she made her exit.
"It would have made a difference to know," she told him referring to his words earlier in the night. "I really thought that everyone was mad at me, and it made my decision to accept the job in New York easier, but you have to know that taking that job was about me, Wade. And I am sorry that I was such a horrible friend after I left." It was the first time she had apologized to Wade since being back.
"I accept your apology and I am sorry as well. I could've done a better job in staying friends, but for a while, I couldn't stomach it and after that I lost my nerve in calling."
"Apology accepted. I really do want to move on from all of this."
"Same here, Zoe. I'll pick you up at 6 tomorrow morning, so we can have that little chat, okay?"
"Sure but why that early?" She questioned.
"I have to show you something," he replied.
With that they parted ways feeling better about things between them. Tomorrow would be the hard talk, it did, however, need to happen. She was curious as to what it was he had to show her. Knowing him it could be anything. She really hoped it had nothing to do with Tansy.
"Did they ditch golden boy Tucker," Zoe gasped in mock outrage.
"You never think it could happen to you, and it does," he sighed dramatically. "I take it everything went smoothly with Wade. I see no blood, and I didn't hear any fighting," he joked.
"It happens once and they assume it will happen every single time," she dramatically responded, sitting down next to him. Her eyes scanned the crowd, easily falling on her two best girl friends.
"You can go join them, ya know," he suggested.
"Yeah but I haven't been able to have time with you. Tomorrow I'm spending the morning with Wade, the afternoon with Vivian and tomorrow night with my dad before I leave, and I want to spend time with you George."
"There will be a next time. Go have fun, Zo," he laughed giving her the push she needed.
"Fine but next time, I'm spending a whole day with you to make up for it," she promised, leaving a chuckling George behind as she went to her friends to dance with them.
She was having fun that time easily slipped past her. It was good to let everything go and just have fun with her friends, something she hasn't done in a long time, busy with work. She was going to make the most of it while she was home, and amends had been made.
"I should go," Zoe said looking around to see they were the only ones left. "Has. Anyone seen Jesse?"
"He went out with Wade a while ago," George let her know.
Zoe smiled her thanks and headed outside to find her date for the night.
Jesse saw his moment seeing Wade by himself and Zoe having fun with her friends, that he could slip away without being noticed and corner his brother. He had figured that Tansy had gone home, he hasn't seen the likes of her since earlier in the night and every time he spotted his brother; he was busy laughing it up with one group of people or another.
"What is it you are trying to prove?" Jesse asked, stopping Wade outside the school.
"I can and will ask you the very same thing Jesse," Wade responded. "What are you trying to play at? And what's with bringing Zoe to my wedding as your date, how is your girlfriend, Jesse?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Jesse said, playing dumb. Wade rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to help my friend out, and I would be helping you out if you would just listen to me," he said. "I didn't lie about Melissa; things didn't work out with her," he softly explained. "Now your turn, little brother."
"Is it so hard to believe that I want things to be okay between myself and Zoe? That above everything else I want my best friend back because I miss her. I have nothing to prove, and I'm not playing some game," he said, feeling his anger bubbling up.
"What about this whole thing with Tansy? You can't be serious that you want to marry her. I can see it in you that you don't love her, so why are you putting yourself through this for?"
"Because I can't have the person I want. And Jesse I do love Tansy," Wade stated.
"But is it enough?" Jesse questioned him.
"Everything okay out here?" Zoe asked looking between the brothers.
"Everything is wonderful," Wade answered. "To answer your question Jesse, I don't know if it is or not," he sighed, going to walk off. "Remember Doc, I'll be by at 6 to get you in the morning."
"I'll be up, but do I get a hint on what you have to show me?" She questioned.
"Night Doc, Jesse," Wade bid them walking away.
"What's that about?" Jesse asked curiously, draping an arm around her shoulders, to walk her home.
"We are having a chat tomorrow morning, and he has something to show me, and as you can see he won't tell me, do you happen to know anything?"
"Sorry but I don't, he never said," he told her.
"You have no reason to be sorry, Jesse. Thanks for night, it was fun, just what I needed. Sometimes I wonder why I couldn't have fallen for you," she sighed, resting her head against his shoulder.
"Because you got over that crush you had on me when we were younger, and oddly enough we work better as friends," he told her.
"Yeah we do. That's right I was quick to get over you the second you had that date with Ally," she made a disgusted face. "Just because she was Wade's babysitter when he was like 5 didn't mean you had to date her. She was what 20 when you want out with her, you were 17."
"It's not like she was still babysitting Wade at that age and for your information, I was 18, thank you very much," he smirked. "She wasn't that bad; she wasn't anything like the rumors that spread around this little town like wildfire, the complete opposite in fact. You should know this, Zo."
"I do know this," Zoe said. "Again thanks for tonight, Jesse, it was a great night," she smiled hugging him.
"You're welcome but FYI it is what friends do for each other, and I must admit it wasn't that bad of a night," he confirmed. "Night Zoe."
"Night Jesse," she smiled, heading inside her house.