This was supposed to be the last chapter of this story and because I wasn't satisfied with the way I ended it, I am going to be adding more to it and adding what should have been the end for this chapter to a later chapter, however, many more chapters that may be. Saying that, I can't promise you that chapters will be up any sooner than I have been getting them out since I have no more written. I am still going to try to get a chapter up weekly, if not please bare with me. Enjoy.
"Dude, why didn't you tell me that Zoe was back in town?" Jesse asked, sitting next to Wade, on their mother's couch, a beer in their hands, while they watched Jesse's two sons playing video games on the TV.
Wade picked at the label on his beer not saying anything. It had been nice when his family didn't know Zoe was back in town. It wasn't as if he was keeping it a secret from anyone. He just knew the second they learned that she moved home, that they would be all over him, much like Jesse is now. His mom for the most said nothing to him since she had dinner with them. It turns out, she didn't remain silent on the Zoe revelation.
"I didn't know it was everyone's business on whether she was back or not," he quipped out, shaking his head. If he knew he would be getting the fifth degree from his family, he would have stayed home in his empty house rather than dealing with them question him about Zoe. He envied his daughter, right now. She got to be at her school dance having fun with her friends, and he was stuck with nosy family members. Why didn't he volunteer to chaperone the dance?
"When it comes to the first girl who broke your heart it is my business," Jesse stated. He remembered how broken his brother had been when he showed up for their family night, and that was days later. He couldn't let that go. Not when he knew otherwise."How is she doing?"
"Why do you even care, Jesse? It's been years since we broke up, we've both moved on. We are nothing more than friends," he told Jesse. It is the truth, even if he felt like he wanted more with Zoe. Who is he to push Zoe into any sort of relationship with him?
"Keep telling yourself that, Wade, and one day you might believe it, but I won't ever believe it. I care because it's you and it's Zoe and you two together makes perfect sense," he easily explained with a smirk. He could let past pain go, when looking at the bigger picture. It isn't often if ever that you get a second chance at being with a lost love. He couldn't in good conscience let that opportunity pass his younger brother.
"Do you ever think that maybe she is happily married?" Wade questioned him, tipping his beer bottle up for a drink.
"Didn't need to think about that, not when mom told me otherwise. It sucks she was dealt that hand. But I am calling it fate," he smirked, while Wade rolled his eyes.
"For the way you acted when we broke up, I'm shocked you're making this big of a deal about me getting back together with her," he marveled remembering the empty threats his brother spewed.
"I was in the wrong. All I saw was my little brother hurt. And there wasn't anything I could do to fix that. But now, I think you not making a move to get her back is you doing nothing to secure your happiness. Do you love her? Do you really think that you can only be her friend here on out? Look how well that worked out for you when we were kids," Jesse went on, not giving Wade a chance to answer what he was telling him. Jesse wanted him to think long and hard about it all.
"You don't get it, Jesse. She's been through a lot these past few years, and I don't want to add to it for her," Wade pleaded with his brother to see the point he is trying to make.
"You can't base a life with Zoe on the bad things that she went through. If you do that any life, you may want with her will pass you bye. Is that what you want?" Jesse questioned him. "Our past doesn't dictate our future." With that said, Jesse got up leaving Wade to process what he told him.
For the rest of the night, Wade seemed to be in a different world, no clue to as what was going on around him. Jesse is right he couldn't let their past, the one they shared and the one they didn't tell them who they are or who they will be in the future. Bad shit happens, and it is how you move past it that makes you who the person you are in the here and now. If he doesn't fight for Zoe now he wouldn't be any better than who he was at 19 when he didn't put a fight up for then. He never stopped loving her. He learned to live with the pain of losing his first real love and lived his life. This is a chance he needed to take. He couldn't let it pass him by, not again.
"Did you even hear the news?" His mom asked. Wade shook his head, looking at his mom. Bits and pieces of the conversation registering with him.
"I am sorry but there is something that I need to do," he said, getting up. "I did hear something about adopting a baby, right?" He questioned, looking at his brother and sister-in-law.
"You did," Becky laughed.
"Congratulations," he smiled. "But I really need to go, now," he said, slowly moving away from the table.
"I want to see Zoe here next week, my granddaughter, as well," his mom smirked, knowing her son and the look that sat on his. It was his I need to see Zoe look, a look he wore for many years when he was younger.
"I'll do my best on the Zoe front," he laughed, rushing out the door.
Getting to Zoe's, he frantically knocked on her door. The scene unfolded in his head on the way over there. He would show up, and they would have this amazing kiss, Sharing their love for each other. What he imagined, didn't happen as Zoe didn't answer the door. Upon a better look, he could see why, as all her lights were off. Sighing he took a seat on her steps. He started to wonder where she would be, but gave up on that front, because he didn't know a whole lot about this grown-up Zoe. He loved her; he did, but he knew he would need to take it slow with her, giving them time to relearn everything about each other.
"Wade, what are you doing here?" Zoe asked stepping from her car.
"Do you still like peanut butter cookies?" He asked, getting to his feet.
"No, but I don't recall being a huge fan of peanut butter cookies, Wade," she told him, looking more confused than ever on why he happened to be sitting on her steps. "What does cookies have to do with anything?"
"Oh yeah," he grunted, shaking his head. "To prove that we don't know each other anymore. That we grew apart and that we are too different to be a real couple," he told her, starting to pace. "But that doesn't stop me from loving you and wanting to try being with you, Zoe. I never stopped loving you. I love where my life is right now, my daughter is the single best thing to happen to me," he smiled, thinking about his daughter, hoping she had a good time at the dance and didn't sneak out of said dance to make-out with her crush. "But do you know what my biggest regret is?" He questioned. Zoe bit her lip, shaking her head. "Letting you walk away. We didn't try to make things work back then Zoe. Things got tough and we called it quits," he sighed.
"I often wonder where we would be if we wouldn't have broken up. Do you know what I have come up with every time?" Zoe asked him. Wade shook his head. "That at some point, we would have still broken up. My life was New York; your life was here; we couldn't have made that work, Wade. Do I hate it? Yes, because like you, I love you, and I realize now that it went nowhere over the years. I don't regret the life I lived while we were apart, because I grew into the woman standing before you. Of course, we are different people; we change and that is a good thing," she told him, taking a step closer to him. "I am scared of what the outcome could be, but I want to try. That will be my biggest regret in life if we don't try being together again. I'm in, Wade, if you are," she told him, her nerves suddenly rushing in.
"I'll always be in, Zoe," he smiled, pulling her closer, his lips crashing against hers to do the rest of the talking for him. "Why are you so dressed up for?" Wade asked breathlessly, breaking the kiss, his forehead resting comfortably against Zoe's.
"Chaperone for the dance. Hector Niels got sick and I got the privilege of filling in for him," she replied. "Not that it was bad. Aria looked to be having fun. Danced most the night with Mitchell."
"He didn't get handsy did he?" He questioned, pulling away from Zoe. He knew he should've signed up to chaperone the dance. He trusted his daughter; he didn't trust teenage boys.
"No the most they did, was share a small innocent kiss in the parking lot before going their own way. It was cute," Zoe gushed.
"Cute my butt," he grumbled, making a move to walk past Zoe to have a chat with his daughter. Zoe seemed to be faster, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside her house.
"If I remember correctly you had a very cute butt, mind giving me a reminder?" She questioned, batting her eyelashes.
"It's more than cute," he retorted, pulling her close. "I'll show you more than that," he husked, nipping at her bottom lip.
"How was the dance?" Wade asked his daughter Sunday night over dinner. He left it be when she returned from her mom's place, didn't ask questions while they worked on making dinner. He let it be since he didn't know how she would react to his news about being in a relationship with Zoe. Saying you're okay with it before it happens is different than being okay with the relationship after you learn your father is dating again.
Aria rolled her eyes, finished the bite of food in her mouth, really thinking her answer over. She needed to be cautious on how she said certain things not wanting him to freak out over what had been the perfect and best night of her life, thus far.
"It was good," she nodded. Wade raised an eyebrow, knowing there is more to it than it being good. "Though I have to tell you something, and I don't want you to freak out, promise me you won't freak out dad," she begged him, sticking her lip out to pout.
"I can't make any promises about that, but I will try my best," he countered with. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about the few stories they shared when Zoe had dinner with them. The image of his daughter drinking and at a party stuck in his head.
"Fine," Aria sighed. "Mitchell asked me out, I said yes. So can I go out with him?" She begged once more.
"I want to meet him beforehand," he told her, relieved that it's a date and not some drunken party.
"Don't embarrass me," she warned.
"That is my job, princess," he chuckled, eliciting a groan from her. "I do have to tell you something, and I don't want you to be freaked out by it," he said, turning serious.
"What's going on Dad?" She asked, placing her fork down, giving her Dad her full attention.
"Nothing serious, not yet because we're taking things a bit slower, but I'm seeing Zoe and that means you will be seeing more of her over here."
"And I am okay with that. I like Zoe," she smiled. "I'm happy for you dad."
Wade smiled, happy how his life was changing for the better. How he never thought Zoe would be a part of his life again. Thinking about Zoe made him giddy. He cleared his throat gaining the attention of his daughter.
"Anything else happen at the dance?" He questioned. He wouldn't let on that he knew about her kiss. He would wait for her to tell him that when she is ready to. It gave him time to really come to terms with how fast his once baby girl is growing up before his very eyes.
"Not really," she shrugged, biting her lip. "Let me have this dad. I promise I will tell you when I am ready, and it's nothing bad I swear it," she pleaded.
"Okay," he assured her. "I'm not worried about it. I trust you, and I know you're getting to that age where you need to have your own space, and that when you're ready to share you will tell me," he told her. Everything he said is true, it is just hard to give his teenaged daughter space when she never needed it before.