A/N: Hey, all my lovely readers and reviewers are still around - that's very cool! Thanks y'all for being so great ;) Now, a little more Zade, anyone?

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13

"Wow, look at you." Zoe smiled on opening the door and finding Wade standing there.

"Am I early?" he checked, looking more nervous than she had ever seen him. "We said eleven o'clock, right?"

"We did," she told him, nodding her head, "and you're not early or late actually," said confirmed, just as the church clock chimed. "See? Right on time."

He sighed with what she assumed was relief, confusing her even more. Zoe always thought it was girls who were supposed to be nervous about first dates, though with Wade, she didn't feel quite as strange as she might have if this really was the first time they had been alone together or something. Not that they ever had an actual date before, of course.

"Did I mention the part where I never did this before?" Wade asked then, squirming terribly. "I mean, I took girls out to places, and I've done a lot of staying in," he said pointedly, "but this is..."

"Serious," Zoe finished for him.

"Yeah, real serious," Wade echoed, visibly swallowing hard, his hands moving from his belt loops to his pockets and back again, one then coming up to rub the back of his neck instead. "I just feel kinda dumb, I guess. Like I don't really know what I'm doin', which I know is crazy, especially since it's you I'm goin' out with. Hell, if I knew you any better..." he trailed off, looking like he wished he never even started that sentence.

Zoe took pity on him. "Wade, please, take a breath," she urged him. "Honestly, I feel kind of weird about this too, but it doesn't have to be a big deal. It's a quiet Saturday in Bluebell and we're going out to walk and talk and have a picnic. It doesn't have to be scary."

"Hey, I never said scary," he told her fast, shaking his head. "I just... I really don't wanna screw it up, that's all."

If he was any sweeter, Zoe didn't think she would be able to stand it. Here was a guy that had easily brought her to the point of ecstasy a dozen times and more, showing all kinds of talent in the bedroom, as confident as a man could be in what he was capable of. He was gorgeous and passionate and amazing in all kinds of way. She knew he could also be funny and interesting and smart when he wanted to be. Now, with all the sweetness he was showing, she could not think of any positive attribute Wade Kinsella was missing. Was it any wonder she felt herself falling for him almost from the beginning?

"Okay, now you're just looking at me funny," he said awkwardly. "You change your mind about this whole thing already?"

"What? No, not at all," Zoe promised. "I'm so sorry, Wade. I guess I'm just feeling as strange about all this as you are, in a different way. Look, maybe we should just go already, before we have a chance to talk each other out of it?"

"Sounds like a plan, Zoe Wilkes," he agreed, reaching to take the picnic basket out of her hands the very moment she picked it up from the floor. "Let's go."

With his other hand, he slipped on his aviators, the two of them heading down the steps to the street and starting to walk out of town. Of course, the gazebo or the square might have been a nice place to sit for their date, but that would only lead to half the town watching them like hawks. That couldn't be a good thing for any kind of date, but most especially not a first official one. That was when Wade suggested a spot he knew, up in the grounds of the old plantation where nobody lived right now.

"Gets real pretty up there, quiet too. We wouldn't have to worry about so many prying eyes and such," he told her.

"Sounds perfect," Zoe had agreed and their date was set.

With Harley and Earl both having plans of their own, the former having to work a shift at the practice, and the latter headed to an AA-type meeting in Mobile, it really was the perfect time for their kids to have their first date. Zoe had to agree that the place Wade had suggested really did look to be the perfect spot too, as he laid down the blanket and they both took a seat on it.

They hadn't talked very much on the way there, but it hadn't been so uncomfortable. When Wade's arm had slipped around her shoulders, Zoe leaned into him and told him about how much she liked Bluebell, how happy she was to be meeting all Harley's neighbours and friends. Wade in turn told her that Earl was half in love with her already and hoping to see her become his daughter-in-law someday. Of course, he assured her the old man was crazy as all get-out. Zoe laughed at that, not willing to think that far in the future just yet. One step at a time, starting with the first official date.

"So..." she said, watching Wade pull food from the hamper.

"So..." he echoed right back. "What do people usually do on first official dates anyhow?"

"I don't know, I guess they talk, get to know each other," Zoe said thoughtfully. "That is what we want to do, right?"

"Sure." Wade nodded, settling down beside her on the blanket. "Seems to me I know an awful lot about you already though. Ol' Harley likes to tell anybody who'll listen about how great his daughter is. Seems maybe I was the only one in town not to have seen your picture before we met up in Tuscaloosa."

"Wow. Well, it might have made things a little easier if you had," Zoe considered.

"How'd you figure?" Wade asked, frowning some. "I mean, that just woulda meant you havin' to find some other guy to share your crazy first night on campus with. He coulda turned out to be a real jerk or somethin'. Instead, you got me," he reminded her, grinning big, like he just made the best joke. "Luck was just shinin' down on you that night, Zoe Wilkes."

At that, she rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue. After all, he did have a point, even if he was mostly just trying to tease her. She could have spent her wild night with a different guy, one that she actually never did see again, or she could have chosen a guy that turned out to be an obsessive stalker or a pervert or something even worse.

Come to think of it, she probably had been very stupid, just stumbling into a bar and grabbing at the first good-looking guy she could find. It made Zoe feel much better to realise that maybe fate had been smiling on her, leading her to Wade. He may have been a player, or whatever the right word was, but he was a good guy. She wouldn't be sharing this first date with him now if she didn't believe that.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he said then, clearly misreading the expression on her face. "Prob'ly not done, is it? Bringin' up how we started on the day we're startin' over?"

"Probably not," Zoe agreed. "So, let's start from the beginning instead. Tell me about your life, you know, the stuff I don't know. Obviously, you were born in Bluebell, to Earl and... I'm sorry, I don't even know your mom's name."

"Jackie, well, Jacqueline, officially, but Earl always called her Jackie..."

There was a faraway look in Wade's eyes when he started to talk about his mother. It was clear as day that he had loved her so very much and still missed her, even though she had been gone for more than half his life. Zoe was almost hypnotised just watching and listening as he told stories of happy childhood memories, felt her heart start to break, little by little, as he reached the part where Jackie got sick and, despite the best efforts of Harley himself, slowly faded away.

"Wade, I... I'm so sorry" Zoe had to swallow hard to even keep going. "I never should've asked..."

"Hey, it's alright," he promised her, reaching out to gently wipe a tear from her cheek that Zoe herself had hardly known was there. "Weird as it sounds and as much as it hurts, it's nice to talk about Momma sometimes. Well, the happy parts anyway. I wish she got a chance to meet you, 'cause I reckon she woulda loved you."

Zoe glanced away, sure she was blushing. "You can't know that."

"No, I can't know it for sure," Wade admitted, "but Momma loved everybody, most especially women who knew what they wanted out o' life and went out and got it. She wasn't much of a go-getter herself, not in the way of wantin' a career or whatever, but she said she had no regrets. What she wanted out o' life was Earl and me and Jesse, and that's what she got, but she thought it was really somethin' when other women, those that wanted to be lawyers and doctors and such, just made that happen for themselves. And that is how I know she woulda loved you, Zoe."

She nodded that she understood, trying desperately not to cry anymore. She felt so stupid, getting over-emotional about somebody else's mother who she never even knew, especially when Wade himself was holding it together so well.

"So, now you tell me somethin' about you. What's your mom like?"

Zoe scoffed. "Nothing like your mom, that's for sure. I mean, she really is the go-getter type but, unfortunately, the going and getting with the career doesn't leave a whole lot of time for her family. I guess now I understand why she was a little less than committed to her marriage, and even why she wasn't exactly crazy about me either," she said, taking a deep breath, so she didn't start getting lost in another bout of sad emotions. "But hey, now I have Harley and he is just amazing. He's accepted me so easily. I really feel like... like I have a dad, you know? I mean, don't get me wrong Ethan was great, for a while, but I was never his to love and once he knew that... Let's just say that, for the first time in my life, I feel like I have family, and even though it's only one guy, it feels really good to be cared about like that."

When she finally focused her eyes again and saw the way Wade was looking at her, a strange mix of understanding and sympathy with a little sadness thrown in for good measure, Zoe felt so foolish. She huffed out a sigh and made a big deal of reaching out for some food.

"Wow, this is a weird way to spend a first date, talking about our parents," she said, trying for a laugh but not really managing it.

"You said we ought to get to know each other, and that we should start from the beginning," Wade pointed out. "Parents are the beginning, right?"

"I guess so." Zoe sighed, chewing thoughtfully, only glad he didn't think she was as stupid as she felt. "So, childhood officially covered. What's next? High school?"

Wade made a face and rolled over to lay on his back with his hands behind his head.

"Not much to tell there that you'd wanna hear," he admitted, eyes closed against the sun that shone down a little stronger now. "I didn't do so well in school, not after Momma... Once Earl crawled inside of a bottle, it got harder. Some nights, I barely got any sleep at all, just dealing with his cryin' and wailin'. Other times, me and Jesse would get into fights. Then after he left town, well, Earl was so far gone, it was on me to keep a roof over our heads. I was workin' too much to get anythin' in the way of regular schoolin'. If not for a combination of George Tucker, Lemon, and your daddy helpin' out, doubt I even woulda graduated."

Zoe found herself leaning closer to him as he talked, not least so she could hear when his voice grew softer. If she had been embarrassed about what she was saying before, it was very clear that Wade was suffering the same way now. It was tough to be vulnerable with people, to open up, but if they wanted to be close - a real kind of close, instead of just in the physical way - then this was the kind of thing they should be able to talk about.

Shifting to lay down beside him, Zoe inched closer until her head was on his chest. She felt his sharp intake of breath, surprised as he was to suddenly find her there, then his arm wrapped around her, holding her to him, and they both relaxed.

"I'm sorry things were so tough for you," she said softly.

"Not exactly your fault, sweetheart," he told her, kissing the top of her head. "Like I said, if not for your daddy, I wouldn'ta come through even half so well as I did. He's been a real rock for Earl, especially when he got it into his head to try and quit drinkin'. Hell, I never thought I'd see the day that man would get dry again, but he really put the effort into it, most especially when the idea got floated of me comin' out to U of A and all."

"Well, I for one am very happy you ended up there," Zoe assured him, shifting so that she could look up and see his face. "Even if it was a little crazy, I'm still glad it was you I seduced my first night."

"Can't exactly say I'm sorry about it either, Zoe Wilkes," he said with a smile, leaning down to kiss her lips.

She reached up to meet him, refusing to back off, even when he seemed like maybe he was going to give her the chance. It was all very well to build a better relationship between them, something more real and meaningful and everything, but that didn't mean Zoe wanted to stop all physical contact between them. The way Wade could make her feel with just a kiss, she couldn't give it up. The last few months had already more than proven that.

It wasn't really part of the plan for their date at all, but when Zoe ended up on top of Wade, right there on the picnic blanket, she didn't really feel like stopping. It came as a surprise when it seemed like maybe he did.

"Hey, uh, aren't we supposed be, like, talkin' and stuff here? You know, not just letting everythin' be about sex?" he asked, holding her at arms' length and looking more than a little surprised by his own words. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I am not complainin' any about any o' this, but it's like I told you before, Zoe, I really don't wanna screw this up."

He meant that. He meant it so much that she could cry. For all Wade's experience with women, and she knew he had plenty, he was so earnest and unsure when it came to real dating. Zoe recognised the signs, because she was quite the amateur herself. As much as she wanted this, wanted him, maybe he had a point about them not diving right back in to where they were before just yet.

Nodding her head slightly in understanding, she moved to lay down beside him again and sighed. "You know, when I was in high school, I was all about the studying. If you plan on being a doctor someday, you don't exactly have a choice. You need those amazing grades, the top-notch GPA, the extra-curriculars and teacher recommendations. I worked so hard to get where I am now and I don't really regret that," she explained, pointer finger making circles on his chest as she rambled on, "but I missed out on a lot too. I didn't have time for dating, not really. I mean, I did go out with guys in high school and in college, and more than once I thought it might be something real, or that it could be, maybe, if I gave it a chance. Turned out I was wrong, every time. Wade, what I'm saying is..." she told him, lifting herself up onto one elbow to look at him. "I never had a serious relationship either. I may not be one-night-stand, casual dating girl, but even when I thought what I had with a guy was special, it was never... I never really had a boyfriend, you know? I never had somebody in my life that I felt this way about, which is why it's so overwhelming, feeling this way about you. I just... I don't know what I'm doing."

"Zoe, neither one of us knows what we're doing," he reminded her, wearing a perfectly lop-sided smile as he reached out to touch her cheek, then push her hair back over her shoulder. "I guess all we can do is try, see what happens, and if we get off track somewhere down the road, figure it out as we go along. All I know for sure is, out of all the girls in the world that I have met so far, none of them have ever mattered to me as much as you do."

"You know for a guy who claims not to know how to be serious about a relationship, you just did a really good job," she told him, more softly than she meant to, the emotion of the moment stealing her voice away almost completely. "But I know what you mean. I care so much about you too, Wade. I never expected it, but I really do."

When he pulled her closer then, she went willingly, the two of them falling into another perfect kiss. The kissing would lead to some rolling around and making out for a while, but what they had said before still held true. Tempting as it might be, they were not going back to the crazy nights together and letting sex define their relationship. They were going to build something real this time, something worth having, and Zoe already knew that it was going to be beautiful.

To Be Continued...