"Wade, I want you to be happy, you do know that, right?" Jesse asked, joining his brother for lunch. With Zoe in town, he had avoided his brother the best he could and the thing was he didn't know why. They had grown apart over the years, but they were still close. It wasn't like he was putting his friendship with Zoe over his brotherhood with Wade. And he did feel bad that he had avoided him while Zoe was in town, it was wrong of him.
"Is that so, Jesse?" Wade questioned, placing his drink on the table. Jesse nodded his head. "Then why the need to bring Zoe to my wedding?" Maybe this was why he avoided his little brother. It had taken Wade a few days to come around to the idea that Jesse was friends with Zoe. At first, Wade felt betrayed by the news. Him not liking it was an understatement. Though he realized that he couldn't dictate who was friends with who. He mostly felt that by Jesse and Zoe being friends that one day they would become more, it was how his relationship with Zoe came about, who was to say it wouldn't happen again? He may have been a tad jealous of them.
"Give me one good reason on why I shouldn't bring her to your wedding," he challenged his brother. He remained quiet waiting for Wade to answer him. "You can't think of one can you?" Jesse asked him.
"There are plenty of reasons," Wade retorted.
"Is that so?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I believe the reason you don't want her there is because the second you see her, you'll second-guess yourself on marrying Tansy. Making that mistake will be harder when the one person that you love is watching you throw what could be away, is that it?"
"You don't know what you're talking about, Jesse," Wade hissed. He would keep denying it, because he needed to believe that it wasn't true.
"Then why does it matter if she is there or not?" He challenged once more. He needed his brother to say the words aloud. It wasn't about being right, but for Wade to admit what he was too afraid to admit.
"It doesn't," Wade growled out. "Now drop it!" He snapped, glaring at his brother.
Jesse shook his head. He hated playing the Zoe card against him; it wasn't fair to either one of them. It was the only way he could make his brother see straight. It frustrated him beyond all belief. He did want his brother to be happy, and this may make him happy, and it was Wade's mistake to make; however, he wanted to help Wade as his older brother to stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life. As the older brother that was his job.
"You want to tell me why you bought Benny's house?" He asked then, smirking on the inside. "And remind me on why you didn't tell me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He had no idea how Jesse found that out. The only person in town that knew anything about him buying that house was George, heck, he had just finished the last payment a month ago. It wasn't like Zoe to go around telling people something like that, the old Zoe anyway. He didn't know anything about this new Zoe.
"Dumb doesn't like well on you Wade," Jesse commented. After Zoe had asked him about the house, he was curious, and he started to look into things. He was really thinking about taking up a career as a personal investigator or a spy 'cause a spy was way cooler.
"Why do you care, Jesse? Besides how'd you even find out about that?" He sighed, giving his act up.
"I care because I love you, Wade. I'm trying out being a spy," he smirked.
"Keep telling people that and a career as a spy will be over before it begins," Wade laughed. "Because I didn't want to jinx it, I didn't want Zoe to find out before I was ready to tell her about it."
"I wouldn't have told her, Wade," he said. "That explains the house but that doesn't tell me what's going on in that head of yours."
"Honestly, I want to move on from Zoe, but marriage; I don't know if I'm ready for that with Tansy of all people," he sighed, pulling his hands down his face. "It's messed up and I'm lost," he admitted.
"Not lost, Wade, you're just confused, and I'm here to help you," he assured his brother. "For your sake, I hope you figure it out. I don't want you to be hung up on Zoe, but I don't want you to make this big mistake, especially now that I know that you're not sure about it," Jesse told him. He was happy that Wade could admit the first step to this being a mistake. "Would you be here with your wedding less than a month away if you knew that Zoe was single?"
"Honestly, if I thought for a second that Zoe was single, I wouldn't be getting married," he shared with his brother.
"Why is that, Wade?" Jesse asked, finally getting somewhere with his brother. He wasn't expecting Wade to jump right in with all of his honesty; however, he was proud of his brother in this moment.
"She was able to move on so easily, I wanted to prove that I could as well. That I wasn't sitting here the whole time pining away for her. That she meant next to nothing, the same way she made me feel," he informed his brother, letting Jesse in on what he had kept locked away.
"I think that talk with Zoe, should've included a few more things. I also think that you need to go home and have a long talk with Tansy. And if in the end you feel like going through with your marriage to Tansy is the best thing for you, I'll stand by you, Wade. Even so, if it does go the way I think it will go; I'll still stand by you and help you with whatever it is you need me to do, got it?" He questioned.
"Even if that means going against your friendship with, Zoe if it comes down to it?" He had to know, if Jesse would put him first, or if he was going to put Zoe first.
"You are my brother, Wade. It will always be you over anyone. Zoe will understand," he told him. "We need to stick together, Wade," he assured his brother. "For your smart-ass mouth, I would like to inform you that I would make an excellent spy," he smirked.
"Maybe in your dreams, Jesse," Wade laughed. "Though really what happened with Melissa?" He was thankful that his brother wouldn't give up on him, but he admitted the truth, now it was time for Jesse to answer some questions.
"She wanted a future that didn't look like mine. I want kids; she didn't; we came to terms that it was best if we went our separate ways, give us time to find the person we're destined to be with," he sighed. He really thought that Melissa was the one, he was ready to marry her, had the ring picked out and everything, until she had a pregnancy scare, and they talked or more like they argued over what it was they wanted for their future; it didn't line up.
"You believe in destiny?" Wade asked with a smirk. "I didn't think you did."
"I don't," Jesse replied. "But I do believe that there is someone out there for everyone."
"You don't think Zoe is yours do you?" Wade asked with big round eyes. If that was the case, he might be able to come to terms with that at some point in the future.
It took everything in Jesse not to laugh at that. He never once thought of Zoe in that way. She had always been a friend to him, a sister if you will. He didn't have a crush on her. "No, I don't think that. What I do know is that she is it for you. Maybe not now but at some point in your life you will end up with her. Whether it be next week or years from now when you've both lived a happy life, you will be together, that I do believe in."
"Why do you believe in something that silly for?" Wade asked, trying to hold his laughter in. He didn't get it, and he did find it silly. "You ever think that what we had was all there was for us?"
"I know you and I know her. I've seen what love looks like," he explained. "No, I don't believe that, there is more for you two; you'll see," Jesse said smugly.
"You are delusional, Jesse. Do you know that?" Wade asked, tucking back into his food.
"So be it," Jesse shrugged. "But with all that to the side, can we…"
"Save it. Would you? I heard you loud and clear, there will be a lot of talking in my near future," he sighed, cutting his brother off, taking another drink.
"That's great and all, but not what I was going to say. Do know that I am proud of you for listening to your much wiser brother," he teased, smirking into his burger.
"You mean much older brother," he teased back, enjoying this time with his brother. Everything had been so serious as of late that he forgot how good it was to let loose and just be.
"You are an ass," Jesse chuckled. Wade shrugged laughing.
With plans to meet up later in the week, they went in two different directions. Wade didn't know where Jesse was off to. He didn't know much about what Jesse did during the day. As much as he was dreading the talk, he knew it needed to happen, he couldn't keep living this way, he couldn't pull anyone down the rabbit hole with him.
"What are you doing?" Wade questioned, walking into his place to see his fiancée packing a suitcase. He wasn't aware of her going on a trip of any kind.
"Look, Wade, I've felt it since the start, at first I didn't mind it, thinking it would go away, but it didn't and once your ex came back to town for just a few days; I realized that I love you more than you love me, and I'm not okay with that. You feel it too, don't you?" She questioned.
"Yeah," he sighed, sitting down on the bed. "I wish it could be different Tansy, but it can't be, and I'm sorry about that. I can't give you what you want, when I don't even know what it is I want. You deserve to have someone who can give you what I can't."
"It's not the end of the world, Wade. Just hang in there and the reward will be worth it," she smiled sadly at him. "I wish things were different as well, Wade, but we can't change how you feel for someone. Love is powerful. Am I sad this is how we end? Of course; it just needs to happen," she told him.
"I am sorry, Tansy. Ya know the ironic thing in this is that I was coming to break it off with you, but you beat me to the punch," he chuckled lightly.
"It's been coming for a few days now. Ever since your reunion Saturday night, I've been thinking, and it put the final piece in perspective for me, and I can't compete with that, Wade."
"You shouldn't have to, Tansy. If things were different I would be happy to marry you, but sadly that's not how it is," he told her. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders by ending things with Tansy, but at the same time he felt horrible for ending things with her. He really did wish things could be different, that he wasn't hung up on an ex. Tansy was a great girl, and any guy would be lucky to have her by their side.
"I know, Wade," she replied, lightly kissing him good-bye. "Promise me you'll fight for what's in your heart."
"I promise," he said. Once he figured out how to do such a thing.