A/N: Thanks to those who left reviews. Obviously, the Zade is going fairly swimmingly right now, so I'm working on fixing the whole Lavon-Lemon-George thing, and then, we'll see about wrapping this story up, I guess...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 23

It was late when Zoe got home. The case with Mr Sunberg took a while to figure out, but thankfully, the levels of lead in his body were not too severe. He was going to be just fine. Of course, Zoe felt a little strange about having to lie to Mrs Sunberg, with talk of alien devices and the FBI, but she figured it really wasn't going to do any harm. There was absolutely no denying that those two loved each other, which was frankly beautiful to see. How could anyone not appreciate a good love story?

Zoe was thinking about it as she arrived back at the carriagehouse, her eyes darting across the pond and noting that Wade's lights were on. He wasn't working tonight, she knew, and felt bad when she had to cancel their plans to spend time together, thanks to the Sunbergs. As it turned out, he had text back and told her he was tied up anyway. Lemon needed a shoulder to cry on and she had chosen Wade's fine specimens for the job.

Still, it seemed unlikely that Lemon would still be over at the gatehouse at such an hour. Brick and Magnolia would worry about her and probably send out a search party or something. That meant Wade was alone. Zoe changed course and headed for his home instead of her own. Picking her way carefully around the pond in her high heels, she almost slipped near the porch and only stayed upright by grabbing onto the rail.

"It's a little late for swimmin', doc" said Wade, laughter in his voice.

She looked up and scowled at him. "Ha, ha," she deadpanned. "You do know that if I fell in the water, I'd expect you to dive in and save me? That's what boyfriends are supposed to do."

"Oh, is that right?" he checked, coming down the steps and reaching for her. "Well, I guess I need to brush up on that boyfriend handbook then, huh?" he said with a smirk, suddenly sweeping her up bridal-style into his arms, without a word of warning.

Zoe shrieked from shock and then from laughter as Wade carried her right up the steps and into the house, sitting down on the couch with Zoe all across his lap.

"You're crazy, Wade Kinsella," she told him, with all the fondness of a woman in love and she knew it.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm just crazy about you, Zoe Hart," he told her, pushing her hair back from her face.

"Good answer," she replied, leaning in for a kiss.

It would have been easy to just get carried away like they usually did. There would be no harm in it. After all, like she said, Wade was her boyfriend. They were in a committed, stable relationship, and Zoe could not have been happier if she tried. The thing was, she had something she really needed to say to Wade, and that was unlikely to happen if she let him distract her in all the best ways.

"How's Lemon?" she asked, pulling out of his embrace.

"Seriously? You wanna talk about Lemon right now?" he asked, the look in his eyes making it plain that he certainly didn't.

"I just want to know if she's okay," Zoe told him, shifting to get out of his lap and sit down beside him instead. "Everything with her and Lavon and George is such a mess. I figured since you spent so much time with her today, you're the most likely to know if they're any closer to figuring things out."

"Lemon and George or Lemon and Lavon?" he asked, obviously realising this late-night visit wasn't going to go quite the way he planned.

"Either, both." Zoe shrugged. "I mean, George is as sure as Lemon that they're just not right for each other anymore, but I was wondering about her and Lavon. He obviously still loves her so much, so very much, and if she maybe still loved him..."

"She does." Wade nodded. "And for what it's worth, I told her she oughta tell him, put 'em both outta their misery already. That kinda thing just has to be said sometimes and damn the consequences."

Zoe was a little surprised to hear those words from Wade. From what he had told her before, she was the first woman he had ever felt at all serious about in his whole life. She was his first real girlfriend, his first real relationship, which worked out pretty well, since Zoe couldn't exactly say she had a serious boyfriend before Wade either. The last guy she was with, that wasn't really love, just a study session that turned into a date that turned into six years. What she felt for Wade was just so much more than that. So much that she just didn't know how to keep it in anymore.

"Wade, I..." she began, stalling the moment he met her gaze. "This is so weird. When I was outside, I knew exactly what I wanted to say, and now..."

"Zoe?" he prompted when she fell silent. "Somethin' wrong?"

"No. No, no, absolutely not," she promised him fast. "It's actually more about the fact that nothing is wrong. I mean, with you and me. Everything is so good right now," she said, picking up his hand in both of hers and holding on tight. "When I came here, it was to get away from New York, to be a GP for a while, to do whatever I needed to do for my career. I wasn't looking for friends or family. I certainly wasn't looking to... to fall in love, but I did," she admitted at last. "Wade, I love you. I'm totally in love with you and I just needed you to know that."

When she was done saying it, Zoe felt good, for about ten seconds, before she realised that Wade wasn't answering her at all. He had the strangest look on his face, which didn't exactly seem like a good sign. Suddenly, Zoe had the urge to take it all back and run like hell. She never got the chance.

"You know, what, Zoe Hart?" he said softly, leaning closer. "Now, you're always telling me you never believed in coincidences, but sat here on this very couch today, talking with Lemon Breeland, of all people, I come to realise that I had something I needed to say to you before too much longer. Now, you can believe me or not, that's on you, but here's what it was. I love you," he said, smiling across at her. "And you better know, I never said that to another woman walking this earth and meant it like I do right now."

Zoe couldn't breathe or think for what felt like whole minutes. She also couldn't get the world's biggest, stupidest grin off her face, even though her cheeks ached from the pressure of it. She had hoped that when she said she loved Wade, he would say it back, but she hadn't been entirely certain. To think that he had been planning a similar declaration before she ever came over to make hers, it really was a crazy coincidence, but it was one that she did believe in.

Throwing herself into his arms then, she kissed him like her life depended on it, and he kissed her back, holding her close in his arms, the passion - fuelled by true love as much as mutual attraction - sparking to flames between them once again.


"You said you wanted to talk," said Lavon with a look, "but you've been awful quiet these last few minutes."

It was true. Lemon couldn't deny it, but it was finding the right place to start that had her all in knots. When she was talking her problems through with Wade, it all seemed so simple. She had a feeling the scotch helped a lot too. Unfortunately, a lot of her Dutch courage had been slept off on her friend's less than fragrant couch before she ever came up to the main house to talk with Lavon. Wade had deemed it necessary, knowing Lemon was in no fit state for a deep conversation after so much alcohol. The problem was, without the liquor's help, she just didn't quite feel bold enough to tell Lavon about the decision she thought she had come to.

"Lemon?" he prompted from across the other side of the kitchen counter. "Look, if this is-"

"I wanna tell George about us."

When she finally spat it out, the look it produced on Lavon's face was almost too amusing. Good thing then that most of the booze had worn off or she was sure to have found herself having a fit of the giggles. That was the last thing this situation needed. To be on the safe side, she took a long sip from the coffee cup in front of her, waiting for Lavon's verbal response to what she just told him.

"You wanna tell George about us," he echoed after a while. "Everything about us?" he checked.

"Everything." Lemon nodded.

"Why?"

"Isn't that kind of a foolish question for an educated man to ask?"

Lavon's brow furrowed a little. "I ain't so educated," he reminded. "Went to college, but that was mostly to play ball, you know that, and if we're not talking about schoolin', then we're talking about the ways of the world. Things like... like love and everything. I'm not so sure I know as much about that as I should either."

He might have hurt her less if he had physically struck her, not that Lavon was the type, of course. Lemon felt the sting of what he said though, as bad as if she had just taken a blow to her chest or something. She really had messed up everything, with Lavon and with George both. It was unclear yet if she could fix any part of it, but damn it, she was going to try!

"Lavon, I know I did wrong by you," she admitted, staring up at him. "I also did wrong by George, and by myself too," she concluded, one hand on her chest. "My heart breaks to think of what we are all going through, knowing like I do that it is mostly my own fault, but the fact of the matter of is, I was just tryin' to do the right thing," she explained. "I recognise that I got it wrong, believe me, I more than see that now, but I started out with good intentions. You do believe that, don't you?"

Sighing heavily, Lavon rubbed at his eyes, then leaned down until his forearms were on the counter top and his eyes were level with Lemon's own.

"If you tell me something, then I believe you," he told her straight, "and maybe that does make me a fool, but when you love somebody, like I love you, Lemon Breeland, you'll be a fool for that person, and you won't even care that you are."

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard him say he loved her still. It was more than Lemon dared to hope for. She had hoped, in time, he might learn to love and trust her again, after everything, but to know his feelings for her never went away in the first place, Lemon was well aware it was much more than she deserved.

"I don't think you're a fool, Lavon," she promised him, reaching her hand out to his arm, "but I know for certain that's what I have been. What I did to hurt you and poor George, neither one of you deserved it."

"No, we did not," he agreed with her, taking her hand into his own and squeezing it, "but that can't change what I feel about you. Seems to me that you and George both decided that things could never be the same again between you. I don't know his reasons, and they are none of my business anyhow, but if yours have anything at all to do with me..."

"You know that they do," she told him fast, meeting his eyes, even as her own filled with tears. "I am so in love with you, Lavon Hayes. I don't know why it scared me so much to admit it before, even to myself, but I promise you, I'll never once try to deny it again. You are just the kindest, sweetest, most patient man, and I know I don't deserve for you to still feel the same way about me as you did before, but if you do..."

"You know I do."

"Then I am all the more certain that George and I did the right thing, calling off our wedding like we did," she confirmed. "And what I said before, about wanting to tell him the truth, I meant that too. He deserves to know everything. Everybody is going to have to know, because the very last thing I want is for what we have to be built on any kind of lies. A relationship needs a strong foundation if it's going to last, and I want this to last, Lavon Hayes. I really, really do."

To Be Continued...