Title: I Only Want You For Christmas
Rating: PG-13/T
Originally posted: 5th December 2021
Originally written for: lymans
Characters/Pairings: Zoe/Wade
Notes: for Yuletide 2021 at Dreamwidth and AO3.

Wade had dozed off on the couch in front of some dumb, black-and-white Holiday movie, only to be rudely awakened by someone slamming on his door. If he had to guess, he would've said it was either Zoe or Lemon, but since the first had no interest in him any more (or at least, wasn't supposed to) and the second was all tied up with Fancie's these days, he couldn't actually imagine either one of them being there on his doorstep. It was only when he got there and opened up said door that he found out he was wrong.

"Wade Kinsella, I can't even believe that you did this to me!" Zoe cried crossly, storming right by him into the house before he could hardly blink. "This is all your fault!"

"Okay, what in the hell are you talkin' about?" he asked, rubbing one eye. "My fault?" he checked, trying in vain to focus on the irate little doctor.

"Yes, your fault," she repeated, practically stamping her foot as she faced him head on. "I was happy, don't you get that? I had a great guy and my life was going in a good direction and everything was perfect," she ranted in the way that only Zoe could. "And you just come swooping in with your good looks and your being so nice and helpful and then... Oh my God, While You Were Sleeping!"

Wade shook his head a little, hoping to clear the fog that seemed to have settled, but it didn't help much. He couldn't quite figure out how Zoe even knew he had been sleeping at all. There were times he had wondered if she was psychic, though more often, he wondered if she was a little psycho.

"Somethin' happened while I was asleep?" he checked.

"Not while you were asleep, dummy!" she told him, rolling her eyes. "While You Were Sleeping! The movie," she prompted, off his clearly blank look. "Oh, come on, I know you've seen it, we watched it together. Sandra Bullock?"

Wade gave it some thought, then suddenly snapped his fingers and smiled as a pleasant thought came to him.

"Ah, now her I remember," he said definitely. "'Specially that part where she can't get past the dog, so she's standin' there, all naked and wet..."

"Oh my God!" Zoe exploded. "That was The Proposal! Why do I even bother?!"

She was sweeping past him towards the door again now, angry as he had ever seen her, but Wade still didn't know why. Seemed to him she was just talking in riddles and then getting mad because he couldn't keep up. Hadn't he told her long before that they did much better when she talked plain to him? Of course, that was a while ago, when things were real different between them.

"Hey, come on now," he said anyway, reaching for her arm before she could leave. "Hold your horses there, doc," he urged her, turning her back around to face him. "Tell me what is going on. Clearly somethin' has y'all riled up and apparently, it's my fault, but you're not exactly explainin' it so well."

She met his eyes, and only then did Wade realise that it wasn't the angry in her he ought to worry about. There was pain in her eyes, the kind he had caused himself once or twice and hated himself for forever after. This time, he couldn't imagine he had done anything quite so heinous. After all, good old Shakespeare, aka Joel Stephens, was the man in her life these days. Wade was no longer the leading man, just an extra that passed in out of the scene once in a while.

Zoe swallowed hard and then finally answered him. "Joel is gone."

"Gone as in...?" Wade checked, just to be sure.

"Back to New York," she explained flatly, volume and speed kicking up a notch as she continued and started to get excited again. "He left me, because I'm stupid. Actually, mostly because you're stupid, and I was just stupid enough to tell him about it. He was so good for me. Like I said, it's exactly like While You Were Sleeping."

"We're back to the movie again?" Wade checked, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Sometimes, talking to Zoe Hart was like riding a rollercoaster. The kind that made a person sick even if they hadn't eaten a thing before they sat down in the car.

"Yes, the movie," she said, rolling her eyes at him for daring not to follow her crazy train of thought. "Try to remember. Sandra Bullock was in love with Peter Gallagher. He was so handsome and charming and wonderful. He had a career and prospects and everything going for him. She couldn't have done better, except unfortunately, they didn't really know each other that well, until he got mugged at the train station."

After a moment's thought, Wade realised he did know which movie she was talking about, not that it helped all that much, to be honest.

"Oh, right. That movie," he said, nodding his head. "Wait a second, Joel got mugged?"

"No, Joel was never mugged." Zoe rolled her eyes one more time. "Where in Bluebell would that even happen?"

"Good point." Wade nodded, perching on the back of the couch, figuring this was going to be one of those long talks. "So, the movie connection...?"

"Joel was Peter Gallagher," Zoe insisted. "The ideal guy for me. The one I wanted and should have ended up with, but oh no, you and your Bill Pullman-ness, you come back into the picture and you're all nice to me, and good looking, and proving that you and me are a way better match," she said, counting the points off on her fingers. "And I could've resisted. I was doing a really good job until the whole hay bale maze debacle!" she insisted, waving her arms in wild windmill gestures before coming to rest with her back against the wall.

Wade was a little stunned. Of course, he knew what she was talking about now. Not only the movie, but the way he had been acting around her ever since she got back from New York with Joel in tow. Yes, he had been on his best behaviour, for the most part, anyway.

He had tried to make her see that he had changed, grown up, all of that, and he had not exactly shied away from making it plain that he still loved her. It was just a surprise to Wade to realise that Zoe noticed and that maybe she cared. That she might actually believe that moment they shared in the hay bale maze meant something. For all that he apologised to her for that and passed it off as a drug-induced moment of madness, Wade knew that was not all it was. Now, maybe she did too.

Getting up and moving closer, he didn't dare touch her, so afraid of being wrong. He just leaned in a little, hoped she wouldn't run out on him this time.

"Zoe..."

"Don't," she said fast, though there wasn't much determination in the word. "Don't lean like that, okay? Just don't," she insisted, ducking out under his arm and moving away, though thankfully further into the room rather than out of the door.

"Come on, you just said that Joel was gone," said Wade, turning around to see Zoe running her hands back through her hair. "I'm guessin' 'cause you told him about that kiss?"

"Not entirely, just... mostly," she admitted, visibly deflating as she sat down on the end of the bed. "The confession started the whole thing, and then, it all came flooding out. How he always felt like he was waiting for this to happen. How a part of him just knew that you and me were destined, or whatever. The worst part is... I couldn't even deny it," she admitted, glancing up to look at Wade again, her eyes having been trained on the floor this whole time. "I think, all this time, I've kind of known it too."

He had no idea what he was supposed to say to that. Zoe had to know she was making all of Wade's dreams come true all at once, just by being there, just by telling him that he had some kind of chance with her again. Of course, he ought to be making that plain to her, but he didn't have the words right away.

"You're not going to say anything?" Zoe asked then, impatient as ever. "No 'I told you so'? No laughing at me for being so stupid?"

Wade shook his head, moved closer again, sunk to his knees in front of his sweet Zoe, even as tears filled her eyes. She chose him over Joel, and that was amazing, but Wade knew her well enough to realise she couldn't ever feel good about hurting anyone. Joel was good people, he hadn't deserved any of what he got tonight, or before. Of course, Wade only had so much sympathy for his buddy. Right now, most of his feelings were all about the woman sat in front of him.

"Zoe, the last thing I wanna do is laugh at you or tell you 'I told you so'," he assured her, taking her hands in both of his own, "even though I did kinda tell you so," he added, unable to help himself, glad that when he smiled a half-smile, she managed the same, before the seriousness of the moment took over once more.

"You know, I didn't mean to... I was a little loopy on some meds when you found me in that hay bale maze, but in a lot o' ways, I actually think my head had never been clearer," he told her straight. "Let's face it, doc, you know I love you. Think I made it pretty plain, before you ever went dashin' off to New York like you did. Now, I kept my distance some when Joel was here, 'cause I figured that was what you wanted, but if what you're tellin' me here is that things have changed..."

"They have," she said quickly, looking as if she regretted it a second later, "or maybe they haven't. What I mean is, as much as I wanted to be, I'm starting to wonder if I was ever really in love with Joel in the first place," she explained, pulling one hand away to swipe at her watering eyes. "I mean, Sandra Bullock wasn't as in love with Peter Gallagher as she thought, right? And yes, a large part of that was because they never really knew each other all that well, but sometimes... sometimes the last person you expect to fall for is exactly the person you need to fall for, right? Sometimes, what you want is... it's just right in front of your face."

She had gotten so quiet by the end, gotten so close too. She was the one doing the leaning now, right down towards Wade. It was so easy for him just to reach up to meet her, to kiss her like he had a million times before. For once, she kissed back, her free hand at his cheek as they got lost in the moment for a little while. Wade was real determined not to let his feelings for Zoe run away with him, not just yet. This was all too important.

"So," he said eventually, "does this mean I gotta take you to Florence or somethin' now?" he asked her with a smirk.

Zoe's eyes went real wide and she gasped. "Oh my God, you were paying attention when we watched that movie!"

"Maybe a little." Wade chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear for her as he moved to sit beside her. "Seriously though, Zoe, you and me, are we really doin' this?"

"I think so," she told him, nodding slowly as their gazes locked. "I love you, Wade. I probably should've said that a whole lot sooner. Believe me, if I'd realised how true it was, I would have, but things were so..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry it took so long."

"I'm sorry for giving you reasons to not wanna love me," he said guiltily, eyes dipping down. "Well, one real big reason anyway."

"It's in the past, Wade," she assured him, urging him to look at her again. "You did wrong, I did wrong. We're both sorry and, apparently, we're just not going to be able to make anything real work with anybody else."

"Mostly because we don't want to, right?" he double-checked.

"Right," she agreed with a smile.

It was all very reminiscent of another night, one whole year ago, almost to the day. That night, he had been sat outside on the porch when Zoe came over, apologising to him for their messed up, casual sex relationship that he had tried to make more serious and she had made a mockery of. They had started something real that night, and though it hadn't lasted long, it had been the best time in Wade's life. Now, he had a shot at getting that back, getting Zoe back, if he could just not screw up this time.

"So, I guess this is the part where I ask you, Zoe Hart," he said, his forehead pressed against her own, "if you wanna be my for-real, out-in-public, everyone-knows-about, actual girlfriend, right?"

She smiled so wide, clearly recalling her own similar words to him last Christmas just as well as he did. Almost laughing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself even closer to him.

"Wade Kinsella, I would love to," she said definitely, before kissing him one more time.

It was suddenly looking like a very merry Christmas all around.