A/N: Okay, so I think some of y'all are going to be a little disappointed to realise I didn't so much write the part where Wade & Zoe actually did the Shakespeare scene. Oops? Thanks for the reviews though (whether you mentioned that part specifically or not!) and I hope you like what I did write instead ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 15
"Stop lookin' at me like that," said Wade, not for the first time that morning. "Both o' ya, just quit it already!" he insisted.
Zoe looked down into her breakfast and bit her lip, trying not to smile so much, or worse, actually laugh. She was just so happy. It was a couple days now since Dash's Shakespeare night, when Wade had shown up out of the blue and told her they should do the Romeo and Juliet scene.
Of course, he didn't know the words and had to have a piece of paper on the edge of the bed to read from, but Zoe didn't care and neither did the audience. Everybody was thrilled to see the couple performing such a scene, and nobody was happier than Zoe to get to do it with the man she loved.
Naturally, it had been quite a shock to see Wade Kinsella performing Shakespeare, and he had been plenty embarrassed about doing it too, but he had told Zoe he loved her enough to try. That meant so much to her. He also proved himself to the community in a way he never had before. Everybody was impressed and nobody could keep from talking about it.
"Wade, m'boy, I still say I never woulda thought to see the day when you got up on stage and speechified your way through Shakespeare that way. Gonna take some time for us all to get over such a thing."
"Well, hurry on up and get over it," said Wade with a look, "'cause I for one am gettin' sick and tired of hearin' about it."
"You didn't seem all that sick of my thanking you for it the last two nights," said Zoe, shooting him a look.
"Oh, come on, baby, that's different," he said, hardly able to keep the smirk from his lips.
Lavon only laughed and turned away to put dishes into the sink. Zoe took the opportunity to pull Wade closer and kiss him firmly on the lips.
"Be proud of yourself, Wade. You proved something to this town about how smart you are and how talented. You know, between reinventing the Rammer Jammer and your performance as Romeo, I think you might be a shoo-in for the MOTY this year."
"Hey, you know, she may have a point there," said Lavon, clearly feeling he was safe to look at his friends again then. "What better qualifications could there be for a man of the year? Community-minded, business entrepreneur, plus stand-up man in love and all," he said, grinning wide.
"Seems to me I ain't the only one either," said Wade, with a knowing look that Lavon immediately shied away from.
Zoe looked between the two of them, brow crinkling as she frowned. "What? What am I missing? Ooh, did something finally happen with him and Lemon?" she asked Wade, unable to keep from bouncing on her stool - the prospect of her best friend being in love and happy like that made her so happy too.
"That ain't my secret to tell," said Wade, shaking his head, eyes on Lavon yet, "but you bug the mayor here a little more, maybe he'll tell ya everythin'. I gotta get to work."
Leaning down, he took Zoe's face in his hands and kissed her real long and hard. She savoured every second, until finally he pulled away, whispered 'I love you', and headed out.
She sighed, watching him go. Proud as she was of all he was achieving, as much as she appreciated his efforts on Shakespeare night and all, he was still busy a lot and she still missed him. Zoe had hoped that she could at least look forward to a weekend alone with him in New York soon, but it wasn't to be. Her friend was getting married and Zoe's invitation had a plus one included. She so wanted to go with Wade, but luck wasn't on their side. The grand opening of Wade's Place was Friday night and the wedding was Saturday evening. Zoe could be at both, just about anyway, but there was no way Wade could do it, so she would have to go alone.
Shaking her head to clear the depressing disappointed feeling from her mind, Zoe turned on her stool to look to Lavon again. She caught him starting to creep out of the kitchen and immediately called him back.
"Hey, don't run out on me," she urged him, wondering why he looked so sheepish when he glanced back her way. "What's happening with you and Lemon? Come on, clearly something has happened. As chief cheerleader for that particular relationship, shouldn't I get to hear about it?"
Lavon looked uncertain for a moment or two, then seemed to decide he may as well give in. He came over to sit down on the stool Wade had not long ago abandoned and began to explain.
"I don't exactly know what is happening now, but what did happen was... well, the night of the Shakespeare performance, me and Lemon kind of ran into each other backstage. Like literally ran into each other. All of a sudden, I got my arms around her and she's lookin' up at me, beautiful as ever. Out on stage, you and Wade was doing your scene, talking about love and everythin'. Before I knew it, she was leaning in and I was leaning in. We kissed," he confessed, actually going so far as to blush when he confessed it. "'Course, just when we was getting into the moment, somebody called her name. She looked a little freaked out and before I could say anything, she ran off. Since then, well, obviously, I tried to call her, even went over to her place, hoping to talk about it, but when I finally caught up to her, she was all teary-eyed and... well, you know what's happening with Brick."
"Oh. Yeah." Zoe's face fell as she thought about that. "The tumour."
"Kind of a bigger deal right now than some random kiss," Lavon said, nodding his head.
Zoe couldn't deny he had a point. Though Brick's tumour was said to be completely operable and there was every chance he would be perfectly fine, it was still worrying for him and everybody who loved him. Lemon would be understandably distracted for the next few days or more.
"Well, even so, it's a step in the right direction, right? It could actually be the first step to some kind of happily ever after ending for you two." Zoe smiled anyway.
"Maybe." Lavon smiled back, though he looked uncertain yet. "I don't know. Kinda want to think so, but me and Lemon, it's always been complicated..."
"Hey, nothing could be more complicated than what I had with Wade and George and Lemon, and that whole mess when I first moved here," she said with a look, "but it worked out in the end. I could not be happier with Wade. I certainly couldn't love him any more than I do."
"You two do make the best couple. Gotta admit, it did seem like a disaster waitin' to happen in the beginning, but now?" He shook his head. "Can't think o' two people that work better together... 'cept maybe Tom and Wanda."
"Yeah, I think even I can admit they beat out everybody I ever met in the cute couple stakes," Zoe considered. "Anyway, I should go to work, but yay for you and Lemon getting closer," she declared as she hopped down from her stool. "I know what she means to you."
Giving her best friend a hug, Zoe headed out then, barely getting ten steps from the house when her other best friend appeared.
"Hey, Rose. What are you doing out here so early?"
"I actually have a favour to ask," she admitted, as they walked along together. "You know how prom is coming up? Well, we're runnin' a little short on chaperones, so I thought maybe you and Wade could do it? I get that you're both busy with your work and all, but it'd just be a couple of hours this Friday night. You know, you guys are super popular with the students, even more since the whole Romeo and Juliet thing."
She grinned when she said it, and even though Zoe was well aware she would probably say anything she could to get a positive response, she also knew Rose wasn't much for the lying. It did make sense that she and Wade would be a popular couple amongst the kids, even amongst the town at large. She loved that it was true and she would absolutely love to go to the prom, but her smile faded fast on realising the answer she had to give.
"I don't know, Rose," she told her sadly, shaking her head. "Like you said, we are both pretty busy. Brick is... well, he needs to take a few personal days, so I'll be on my own at the practice, since Jonah seems to have evaporated somewhere along the line. As for Wade, there is still so much to do at the Rammer Jammer before the grand reopening in a couple of weeks. I just don't know that he could spare the time either. I'm sorry."
Rose looked so disappointed, it was almost enough to break Zoe's heart, but what could she do? She had to work and so did Wade. There was no changing that.
"You don't think you could spare even an hour or two?" Rose urged her. "I just know you'd have a great time."
"I am sure we would have the best time." Zoe smiled at her. "Believe me, speaking as a girl who never went to her own prom, the chance of a do-over, with Wade as my date? I would love it, really love it," she insisted, "but I just don't think it's possible, sorry."
Though she visibly deflated with her own disappointment, Rose managed to raise a small smile at the last. "Okay. I guess I understand. Adults gotta adult." She rolled her eyes.
"Yes, we do" Zoe sighed. "Even when we really wish we didn't have to," she added, linking arms with her friend as they continued on into town, "but hey, there must be some other cool people you could ask. Ooh, what about Annabeth? I'll bet she would do it."
"I did think of her, but I haven't really seen her around much lately. She seems to have evaporated, just like Jonah Breeland."
Zoe stopped walking for a moment as a thought hit her. No, that couldn't be right, she told herself, and yet...
Lemon felt as if she might be going crazy. She kept on trying to distract herself with work, putting all her focus on the plans and arrangements for the grand opening of Wade's Place in a couple of weeks' time. She had all the papers spread out across the table, her phone and computer there in front of her, and she should be doing a dozen different important things, but she wasn't. Her mind just kept on wandering, first to her daddy and what might happen when he had his operation in a couple of days' time, and then, to another place entirely, that ought to be nicer and yet caused a twisting in her stomach that she couldn't seem to settle.
Mayor Lavon Hayes. He was in her head more than he wasn't of late, though Lemon had to admit she had trouble finding a time in the last year or more when he wasn't in there someplace. She had fallen hard for him some time ago now, even though she had tried her hardest to be faithful to George Tucker. After her wedding that wasn't, there was a part of her that had thought maybe, just maybe, it was the right time for her and Lavon to really try to be together for real, but it never seemed to work out.
Ruby Jeffries got in the way, and then, it seemed that Annabeth might, and in the meantime, Lemon had allowed herself to be distracted by Walt, who really was such a sweet man. Still, in the end, she knew it would never work out. Just lately, there had been a chance for her and Lavon to start looking at each other that way again, and she didn't hate what she was seeing. She certainly didn't object to the kiss they had shared a few nights ago, though she worried right after that it might have been a mistake, in his eyes if not her own.
When he tried to talk to her about it later, she feared what he would say, and honestly, hadn't the strength to deal with it at all, given the news she just received about her father's condition. It was all such a mess in her head, one she wished to high heaven she knew how to untangle, but she didn't.
"None of this is getting this event organised," she told herself crossly, reaching for her to-do list and checking down it.
So many things to do, nothing that she could cross off as wholly done. Wade would not be happy if she screwed this up and then where would she be? He was likely to be her biggest collaborator going forward, with most events (excluding the very classiest ones) likely to be held at his place. Though he would forgive her slacking a little while she worried over her daddy, she could hardly expect him to be okay with her giving up on her job altogether, most especially when the larger part of her distracting thoughts today were more about the mayor than anybody else.
A knock on her door startled her enough to physically make her jump. Getting up from the couch, she went over to see who was there, feeling surprised all over again when she looked out at Lavon standing there on the step.
"Hey, Lemon," he said, smiling nervously down at her. "Uh, I know you have a lot going on right now, and I don't want to disturb you or complicate things or anythin' like that," he assured her. "I just thought maybe a care package would be a welcome thing, keep you from havin' to worry about so many things," he said, handing over the basket he held in his hands.
Lemon's eyes moved over the contents and a smile stretched her lips wide. Some of her favourite chocolates, magazines, and such, plus a covered dish of something no doubt delicious that she could reheat for dinner. He had thought of everything, not that she was surprised by that at all.
"You are such a sweet man, Lavon," she told him, having to blink fast and swallow hard before she could go on. "Thank you so much. I'm sure I don't deserve it."
"I think you do," he said softly. "In fact, I know it. I just want you to know, I'm here for you, Lemon. Here if you need a friend. Here if... well, if you might think you want more than a friend at some point maybe soon. I get that now is not the time for that conversation, I really do, but when you are ready, I'll be right here waiting," he said definitely, before turning around and walking away down the path.
"Thank you," she said in a whisper he could never hear, but that was okay.
He would be there when she was ready, that was what he just said, and it meant everything to Lemon just knowing that for sure. It made her feel stronger and much more able to face whatever she must in the next few days and weeks.
When she closed the door then, it was only temporary. Someday soon, she hoped to open it up again and run right out of it into the waiting arms of Lavon Hayes. It was only a matter of time now.
To Be Continued...