A/N: Aren't Zoe and Wade just driving you crazy right now? They're actually starting to bug me too, but hey, they are who they are and must be written as such. At least y'all know they'll figure things out eventually, right? ;) Thank so very much to those who take the time to review!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 9

"I know how you're feelin'."

Zoe was startled to realise somebody was talking to her as she washed her hands in the ladies room. Turning to look, she saw Wade's date had walked in when she wasn't paying attention.

"Hey, Lily-Anne. I'm sorry, what did you-?"

"I said, I know how you're feelin'," she repeated, coming over to lean on the counter while Zoe finished up at the basin and shut off the faucet, shaking out her hands. "Bein' here without a date when everybody else has one. It hurts to be the fifth wheel like that. I oughta know. It's happened to me plenty."

"Well, I'm not really a fifth wheel," Zoe told her, forcing a smile that didn't come easy. "I mean, yes, tonight, I am alone, but like I said, I have a boyfriend. Judson Lyons? He's a great guy, it's just that, unfortunately, he's busy tonight. So, I came alone to have dinner with my friends. I actually didn't know you would be here, but it's fine. I'm fine, honestly."

She shook off her hands and reached for some paper towel, hoping that was the end of the conversation. Apparently, it wasn't.

"You hide it well. I guess that's somethin' you learn in New York and all. Northern big city livin' and everything. I see it though, the hurt inside o' you. Tough not to pine for what you really want sometimes, ain't it?"

Zoe met her eyes in the mirror and she knew Lily-Anne wasn't talking about Judson. She was pretty certain they both knew this whole thing was only about Wade. Not that either one of them were going to come out and say it, of course. That just wasn't the way these things were done.

"If you don't hurry up in here, all the good desserts are going to be gone before you get back," she said, tossing the paper into the trash.

"That's okay, I don't actually need to use the bathroom." Lily-Anne shook her head. "I just wanted you to know that I understand and, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I had no idea that-"

"Hey, like I said, I'm fine," Zoe cut in too fast and too loud to her own ears. "You have nothing to apologise to me for, so let's just go already."

Pushing past Lily-Anne, Zoe forced open the door and sucked in a deep breath. A lungful of air-conditioned air could only do so much, but she had to try anything she could to calm down. The only thing worse than being out to dinner alone with two couples, was knowing how much you wanted one of the coupled-up guys. The one thing guaranteed to make that situation even worse was getting sympathy from his date. Zoe just couldn't stand it.

"There you two are." George smiled. "We were about to send Lemon in to check on you both."

Something about the way he said it gave Zoe pause for thought. They really hadn't been gone all that long, so what did he really think could have happened? A cat fight over Wade? That would be crazy, not least because nobody knew that Zoe and Wade had ever been seeing each other. Unless they did? Zoe dismissed the idea pretty fast. She knew she hadn't said anything and she had Wade's word several times that he wouldn't either. He may be kind of a player or whatever, but he wasn't a liar, she was pretty sure on that.

"We're fine." Zoe smiled, re-taking her seat. "Right, Lily-Anne?"

"Oh, I'm just dandy," she replied, smiling just the same. "Although, I'm not really in a dessert kind of mood anymore. You think maybe you could take me home, Wade? I'm feelin' a little tired."

The grin he got on his face proved to the whole table that he knew what that meant. If Lily-Anne was going to bed, it wouldn't be alone or to sleep. Zoe turned away from the two as much as she could, sure she was going to see things and even hear whispered words she would rather avoid as they got up to go. Instead, she turned her focus to George and Lemon, asking them more about Bluebell and the upcoming Planksgiving event. Anything, so that she didn't have to think about what Wade and Lily-Anne would be getting up to in the next few hours.

Zoe was forcing herself to listen so intently to all that Lemon was saying about pirates and catfish, she almost wasn't sure when the other couple were actually gone. At least, not until George cut in on the conversation, the moment his girlfriend stopped to draw breath.

"I am so sorry, Zoe. We had no idea that Wade would be bringing a date, and I know it was especially awkward with Judson not able to make it."

"It's not your fault," she promised him, through gritted teeth. "Honestly, it was fine."

"Oh, sweetheart, you may be a great doctor someday, but you are just a terrible actress!" Lemon declared with a look. "Anybody with eyes could see how uncomfortable you were. Lord knows, it makes my stomach queasy sometimes, the way Wade is with these loose-moralled girls, but for you to have to see that when..."

The way she trailed off made Zoe squirm, as did the way George was trying to hide in his glass. They knew. She was almost certain that they did, though she couldn't bring herself to ask, just on the off-chance that she was wrong. Picking up her own drink, she gulped at the wine until it was all gone and there was nowhere left to look but at her friends.

"Look, I don't know what you guys-"

"You like Wade, don't you, sweetie?" said Lemon sympathetically, her hand suddenly across the table and on top of Zoe's own. "Now don't you worry about it, because we completely understand. I, myself, have never felt that way about him. I guess with us coming up together and all, well, it makes some difference, but trust me, you are one of a great number of women who have fallen for the charms of Wade Kinsella. You shouldn't worry about it, because it will pass, I promise you."

"Lemon, come on," said George, seemingly caught between laughter and disgust somehow. "You're talking as if Wade is some disease people catch. That's not fair."

"Trust me, George, falling for Wade Kinsella is a real kind of sickness, in its own way," she told him firmly, before putting her attention back on Zoe. "Now, he is a sweet guy, I don't deny, with a heart of gold under all that flannel and swagger, but - and I say this as a good friend of longstanding - Wade could no sooner commit to a woman than he could fly. You're a smart young woman, Zoe Wilkes, and I don't want to see you used by him for... carnal pleasures and nothing more. Not when you have such a fine man as Judson Lyons in your life."

Zoe felt relief flood through her body and tried not to let the rush of it show on the outside. So, they didn't know. George and Lemon, they had no idea that she and Wade had been together in any way at all. They just thought she had a crush, that was all. Much as she would like to deny even that much, it was probably easier to go with it. At least then she was only telling her friends a half-truth rather than an outright lie.

"I didn't know I was so obvious," she said, shaking her head. "Wow, that's embarrassing."

"It's fine, Zoe," George assured her. "It's understandable that you would like Wade, he's a very likeable guy, even from a friend's perspective. Of course, I know why girls are into him, but it's like Lemon said, since you seem more of the relationship type of girl than the one-night-stand kind-"

"Then nothing is ever going to happen between me and Wade," she finished for him. "It's fine, I understand that. I mean, thank you for your concern, but you really shouldn't worry about me. You know, I would have been perfectly fine if Judson were here."

"Oh, of course you would, sweetie," Lemon nodded, squeezing her hand once more before finally letting go. "We know that, don't we, George?"

"Sure." Her boyfriend nodded dutifully, just as the dessert cart arrived.

Zoe wasn't sure she really believed either one of them, but that was fair. It would be a miracle if they did and she couldn't exactly blame them if they didn't. Honestly, at this point, Zoe wished she had never ever fallen into bed with Wade Kinsella in the first place. It would make life much easier if she never had.

On the other hand, would she really trade the memories of what they had shared for anything in the world? Probably not, even if that did mean she was craving him like a bad habit. Suddenly, Zoe had a feeling she knew how recovering alcoholics felt. Just one more taste, it couldn't really do that much damage, right? Except it could. It really could.

It was getting late and he probably shouldn't be there, Wade was well aware, and yet, he couldn't help himself. He was, for want of a better phrase, hopping mad, and he intended for little miss Zoe Wilkes to know all about it. It was her fault after all. Mostly. Probably. Hell, whether it was or it wasn't, she was getting to hear all about it, because he felt like telling her. Loudly!

Banging on her door with all his might, he suddenly felt stupid, thinking maybe she wasn't even home. There was a chance she was still out with George and Lemon yet. Though they weren't often the type to make a real night of it, it had been known, when Miss Breeland decided to get her wild on. Of course, that seemed to happen less and less of late. Then there was the possibility that Zoe had gone on from the restaurant to Judson's dorm instead of her own. Wade shuddered at the very idea, then ended up feeling twice as mad as he had when he first got there. He knocked again.

"Alright, I'm coming!" Zoe yelled, before a bolt shifted and the door opened up. "Oh, hi. Um, can you just wait one second? Thanks," she said, waving her hand around and cutting Wade off from speaking the moment he opened his mouth.

She had the phone in her other hand and a real particular smile on her face as she carried on talking to whoever was there. Wade knew better than to think it was her mother or good old Dr Wilkes on the line. That kind of look and giggly tone was for some guy that a girl was smitten for, which meant it had to be the elusive Judson.

"Come in," Zoe mouthed, waving for Wade to do so and closing the door behind him, even as she continued with her call. "No, it's okay. I get it, I do. We're all here for the same reason. Nobody comes to college solely for the social life!"

Her eyes shifted to Wade and quickly away again when she said that. Clearly, she realised too late who she was speaking in front of. He had come to U of A purely to be where his friends were at, not to study at all, but to work and hang out, in a way nobody else around was doing. If she was looking to make him feel even more mad than when he first showed up, she was doing a real good job. Not that Zoe noticed, at least, not until she was finally done with her call.

"Then I guess I'll talk to you then. Okay. Goodnight, Judson."

She was grinning like a fool as she hung up the phone, though the smile slid right off her face when she looked at Wade and saw his own expression.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked, frowning some.

"I don't know, Zoe, what do you think is wrong with me?" he shot back at her, arms folded across his chest. "Now, it couldn't be somethin' you said to Lily-Anne to make her think that you and me was some Romeo and Juliet couple, could it?"

"I said what now?" Zoe shook her head, apparently confused and not at all impressed by what he just asked her. "Wade, I said nothing like that to your date. For your information, I barely talked to her at all!"

"Well, you musta said something, because she was like a completely different girl from the second you two got back from the bathroom," he said crossly. "One second, we had plans to... well, we had plans," he said, surprising even himself with the tact he showed. "Next thing I know, she's too tired to even stay for dessert at the restaurant. I walk her home and I get this whole speech about star-crossed lovers and her not wanting to get in the way of something so profound. I didn't know what in the heck she was talking about until your name came up."

"Hey, I don't know what she's talking about either," Zoe countered, just as loud as he was, getting in his face as much as she could manage at her much shorter height. "She was the one that followed me to the bathroom and started talking about my being the fifth wheel and pining for somebody. I had no idea what she meant and I told her that!"

"Like hell you did!" Wade shook his head. "You turned green the second I showed up with Lily-Anne and, be honest, Zoe, you woulda done anythin' you had to just to keep me from sleeping with her tonight."

"Oh, you are so full of it!" she countered, practically on her toes as she yelled up at him. "It is not my fault if you struck out tonight, Wade Kinsella. Maybe Lily-Anne just heard from somebody else that the main event doesn't live up to the pre-show!"

"Well, I've never had any complaints so far, sweetheart, least of all from you!"

"That was before I got a real man in my life."

"Judson Lyons?!" Wade couldn't help but laugh when he heard that one. "Are you kidding me right now? Hell, I don't believe he even has it in him to have tried anything yet."

"Not that it's any of your business, but Judson and I have a very special relationship."

"Yeah, the kind of special that ends on the doorstep every night."

"At least he's a gentleman!"

"If a gentleman was what you wanted, you wouldn't have thrown yourself at me the first night we met, or another dozen times after that!"

"I did not throw myself. You wanted it too!"

"Well, hell, Zoe, of course I wanted to. If I wanted you any more than I do, I'd go full-on crazy!"

He hadn't meant to say it, but Wade couldn't pretend he had any regrets when suddenly Zoe launched herself into his arms, kissing him like it was going out of style. In seconds, he had forgotten why he was ever mad at her, couldn't even have picked Lily-Anne out of a line up, as he and Zoe went stumbling back into her bedroom, slamming the door closed behind them.

To Be Continued...