A/N: Hello, Zade-loving folks :) So, I hope that this longer chapter will make up for my absence last week... and also for the fact that we're fast headed to the end of this story. For a while there, I thought it might be longer, but no, unfortunately, we're into the final stages now. As I'm sure you recall, last time, we were at prom, and now, I give you the grand opening of Wade's Place! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter )

Chapter 17

The night of all nights was finally upon them and Wade was so excited and so nervous all the same time, he had already thrown up twice. It didn't seem like the best of starts to such an important day in his life, but he was sure he could rally. Best to get any problems like that out of the way early, he figured, because when the evening rolled around, everything had to be as perfect as possible. He was only getting one shot at it.

"I got no doubts, you're gonna be a great success, son," said Earl proudly, his hands on Wade's shoulders as they faced each other. "And I will be right there tonight to see you get every piece of praise you deserve for a job well done."

"Hey, you don't have to..." Wade started to say, shaking his head. "I mean, you know I would love for you to be there, but it's a bar I'm opening here. We both know that it ain't easy for you to-"

"I don't wanna hear none o' that!" said Earl firmly, patting Wade's shoulder once before he turned away from him. "Truth is, last few weeks, I have been tryin' harder not to partake so much," he said, sitting back down in his armchair and squirming more than a bit. "You're right, it ain't easy, but the last thing I wanted was to embarrass you on your big night, and I'll be darned if I'm gonna stay away from the big event. So, I've been tryin'. It's been tough, but I did have a little help."

"Help? Who helped you?" asked Wade curiously, sinking down onto the couch as he stared at his father.

They had been here before, with Earl promising to knock his drinking on the head. Never did stick, not once. Least not for more than a few hours, or maybe a couple of days at best. Wade got so used to being disappointed each and every time his dad promised to give up the hard stuff, he had long since stopped paying any real attention when he said it, until today. Somehow, today seemed different.

"Fact of the matter is, I had a little talk with your Zoe. You know, she ain't just pretty and good-natured and all. She has a real head on her shoulders, and all the patience of a saint. You can tell she's Harley's daughter, yes, sir, you can. Anyhow, she told me if I needed help, then she was all for givin' it to me. Gonna get me signed up for some talking therapy stuff and ordered me some pills, gonna make the cravings easier to handle. I reckon between the two, I can prob'ly get things figured out, in time. She seems to think I can, and who can argue with such a smart young lady who has a pretty face like that?"

He said it almost as if he was making a joke out of it, but Wade saw the truth in his less-red eyes and his shaky smile. Earl was saying this because he meant it. He really was trying this time, to be sober, to be better, and mostly, he seemed to be doing it for Wade himself. All this time, Zoe had been helping too and not saying a word about it. That was just one more reason for him to love her, as if he needed another.

"Now, don't you be mad at her for not sayin' nothin'," Earl warned then, clearly taking Wade's silence badly. "They got that doctor-patient confidential stuff they gotta stick to."

"I know that," Wade assured him, nodding his head. "And I wouldn't ever be mad at Zoe for such a thing, nor you either. Fact is, I couldn't be prouder of you for tryin' to do this, or more happy to know that Zoe is helpin' you out with it," he said, smiling some. "Still, you really think you'll be okay at a bar opening right now?"

"I told you already, I wouldn't miss it," said Earl firmly. "I'll be there, maybe not for the whole thing, but still, I wanna see you cut that ribbon, hear you make your speech and all. Next to Zoe and yourself, I'll be the proudest one in that place, I swear I will."

Wade smiled all the wider then, his eyes welling up before he could find a way to stop them, and his voice far too soft to his own ears when he finally managed to form words; "Thanks, Dad."

He meant that so much more than he could ever make clear - he simply had no other way to say it.

"Well, if there is anything left not done now, I can't think what it would be."

Lemon hopped back down off the stepladder and took a look around the newly refurbished Wade's Place, decorated to the nines for its grand opening. Wade followed her gaze and realised he couldn't think of anything either.

Between them, they had done a bang-up job, that much was for certain. The furniture and decor looked great, all shiny and new, yet still with a little old-world charm. The new neon signs, all matching the one outside that Zoe had made months before, looked bright and clean. The bar was fully stocked, the kitchen was prepped, and the storage rooms were stuffed to bursting. Wade's staff, a hybrid of old Rammer Jammer friends and a couple of new folks too, were all looking a little harassed, but were smiling nonetheless. This was a big night for everybody and nobody more so than the owner himself.

"Wade?" Lemon called his for his attention, a distinctly nervous look in her eyes as she met his own gaze then. "You okay?"

"Honest truth?" he asked her, shaking his head slightly. "Never been so terrified in my whole life," he told her softly, "but that's how these things are supposed to go, right?"

Lemon put on a smile and moved to stand right in front of him, blocking his view of anything else as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Wade Kinsella, I am the first to admit that I have said some less-than-kind things about you in the past, but I think we can both agree, you did deserve them at the time," she said, only half-joking and they both knew it. "That being said, it's like I told you one day last year, in a bar that could never so much as hold a candle to this place of yours. I always believed you'd have a life as big as your heart. Now, you have found a woman to love, who loves you back so fiercely, and you are about to launch a business that is pretty much guaranteed to be a huge success. You are coming into your own, and I personally think it is about time you fulfilled all the potential that was always buried in there someplace," she said, tapping him on the chest. "So, take a deep breath, Wade Kinsella, open up those doors, and show this town exactly the kind of man you really are."

As rousing speeches went, it was a good one, Wade couldn't deny, and he appreciated it more than he could ever possibly explain to Lemon. She had been a real help these past couple of months, getting him out of a jam more than one time when he was trying to get things set up for the switch from the Rammer Jammer to Wade's Place. She had been a tower of strength, a calm presence in all the crazy, and the kind of friend he could only ever have dreamed of her being when he really needed one.

"You're one in a million, Breeland," he told her then, tugging on her ponytail the way he would when they were that much younger, knowing how she hated it, but would laugh anyway, like always. "Thank you for... well, everything, I guess."

"What are friends for?" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Now, go, go, go," she urged him, going so far as to turn him around and give him a little shove.

It started there, when he stepped outside to find Zoe and Earl and all his friends and neighbours standing, waiting, anticipating what came next. Wade felt much the same himself, wondering where all this would lead, what his life would be from this point on. With the ribbon cut and a pictures taken, Wade declared Wade's Place open, letting everybody inside at last.

It was a party atmosphere from the very first moment, champagne corks popping, streamers flying, everybody wanting to come up and shake his hand, tell him what a wonderful place he had. Wade couldn't have been prouder if he tried, or more overwhelmed, but he tried not to show it. He had a bar to run after all, a staff to watch over, a whole lot of customers to take care of.

Any time he had a chance to take a breather, he looked over and saw Zoe or his dad smiling his way. There was Brick, looking healthier than anybody could have guessed he might after all he went through, with Shelby hanging off his arm, like the most natural thing in the world. Lemon and Lavon were joined at the hip, and largely at the lips too, which boggled the mind a bit, but Wade did so like seeing them happy, so it was fine.

Annabeth and Jonah made quite the odd couple too, and yet it worked, as they danced and laughed and showed everybody else what it was to have a good time. If anybody was outdoing them for having fun that night, it would probably be George and Tansy, or maybe Rose and Max, or most likely Tom and Wanda. Honestly, it was a pretty close call all around.

Everybody seemed to be having the best time, from Delma to Shula, and Dash to even Sergeant Jeffries. Every face had a smile, every person a kind word to say about this grand opening night. That just left one thing to do to make it truly perfect, Wade thought, checking his watch and realising there was no time like the present.

Taking a deep breath, he levered himself up on top of the bar and yelled for quiet until finally he got some. Somebody shut off the jukebox and every conversation was shushed until finally there was silence. All eyes were on Wade, and the sea of staring people made him feel a little nauseous all over again, until he remembered that they were all friends here. Nobody was judging him, or if they were, they were finding him to be a man well worth knowing, supporting, liking.

"Uh, so, I figured with this being Wade's Place now, the only person that can really make the speech would be me," he said, waiting a moment for the ripple of laughter to move around the crowd then slowly fade away. "Not that there's a whole lot I really have to say, 'cept I'm grateful that y'all came out here tonight, and to make a few specific thank yous. To all the staff here, obviously, for all they've done to keep the Rammer Jammer going until we could finally reopen as Wade's Place. To Lemon Breeland, for being my damn right arm these past few weeks when I really got myself in a hole with the finer points of decorating and such. To my friends, and y'all know who you are, for sitting me down and puttin' a beer in my hand, reminding me to breathe, while tellin' me that I could actually do this, every time I started to unravel a little bit. To my dad, Earl Kinsella, for being the best father he knows how to be, no matter what."

That was when his voice started to crack, not least because one look at Earl proved he had made the old man cry. Wade was in great danger of going in that direction himself, but he wasn't done yet, so he was just going to have to hold it together.

"And finally, well, I saved the best for last, and y'all know it too. To Dr Zoe Hart," he said, reaching out to her, urging her to come up and join him.

She looked kind of confused at first and more than a little awkward, until George and Jonah stepped up alongside her, taking a hand each and effortlessly boosting her up high enough that she could stand by Wade on the bar.

"Zoe, sweetheart, you... you came walking into this town and you turned my whole entire life upside-down. I wanna thank you for doin' that. People keep on tellin' me how I went ahead and changed these past few months, but I know it started long before. Started 'cause I wanted to be better, first for you, and then, 'cause o' how much you told me I should do it for myself too. I am the man I am today partly because of me, but a whole lot because of you, and I could not love you more if I tried.

"So, thank you, Zoe, for believin' in me when I couldn't even believe in myself, for making sure I got to a place where I could actually make this bar happen, and for lovin' me like no other woman in the world ever could. I love you so much, I don't care who knows it. In fact, I would like the whole world to know about it..."

Dropping down to one knee then, Wade fumbled just a little in getting the ring box from his pocket, opening it up and presenting it to Zoe. There were tears in her eyes that quickly streaked down her face, her hands flying to her mouth. He hoped to God it was the happy sort of crying she was doing, as he took a deep breath and actually said the words that went with this moment.

"Zoe Hart, will you marry me?"

She couldn't breathe. Zoe knew it was stupid, knew it was impossible to suffer genuine asphyxia from a marriage proposal, but still, she just couldn't seem to draw air into her lungs, no matter how hard she tried.

Wade just asked her to marry him, with the whole of Bluebell standing around watching. She should answer, she knew she should, especially when she saw the bright smile on his face start to fade, when she realised everybody was hanging on the moment, desperate to know her answer. The problem was, she simply didn't have one, at least not one she was sure of or could verbalise.

Glancing down, she saw the crates of beer on the back side of the bar and realised she had a chance. Throwing herself down, she used the pile of boxes as stairs to get back to the ground, and then, she ran. Pushing by people, she barely knew who was there, she just kept on going, right out back of the bar, past the office, then stumbling out into the cool night air at last.

Finally, she could breathe. Once she started taking in great gulping gasps, Zoe found she couldn't stop. She tried to find a calm centre, to get her breathing even again, but she barely got a chance before the door flew open behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who was there.

"Zoe, what just happened?"

"What happened is you proposed to me, in front of everybody," she said, forcing herself to turn back around and face him. "Why, Wade? Why would you do that to me? You know how I feel about marriage!"

She hadn't meant to yell, she barely knew that she had it in her to do so, until it had already happened. Until the words started coming out so loud and so harsh. She didn't mean it, but it was too late. Once they started, they wouldn't stop.

"You had to know how that would go. How shocked I would be, how embarrassed! I don't... I just can't believe you did that!"

"Well, excuse me for being romantic for five seconds!" he yelled right back at her. "I was dumb enough to think you might actually want that. Also, I just happen to be so damn in love with you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Geez, how awful that must be to hear!"

He turned to reach for the door then and Zoe's heart lurched. She hated this, really hated it, but what she hated more was the idea he was going to storm away from her like that. That he would go away thinking she didn't care.

"Wade, please," she urged him, her hand on his arm to keep him in place. "I'm sorry I just ran, I am, but you know this isn't about how much you love me or how much I love you. It's really not."

The fight, as well as the breath, all seemed to go out of him at once. Though his hand was still on the door knob, his grip was loose and his whole body sagged, his forehead dropping against the door, as he let out a long shuddering breath.

"Guess I really am just as dumb as everybody always thought I was," he said too quietly. "Like you said, I know well and good that you never believed in marriage. Not exactly sure why I thought what we had would change that..."

"Wade, if anything ever could, I promise it would be us. It would be you," Zoe told him, just as soft. "Honestly, I'm not... I have thought about it, sometimes," she admitted, half-afraid of giving him false hope, but ploughing ahead anyway, even when he turned to look at her, with surprise evident in his eyes. "You're not dumb, Wade, and neither am I. When two people have a relationship like ours, obviously, you think about the future, about what you might want that future to be. I thought about us living together, about us staying together a long time, about marriage, maybe even kids, but it was just daydreams. I never let myself be serious about it, because... because honestly, it scares the hell out of me. Not because it's you, but because it's me. Because I know myself too well, know where I come from too well to think that we could ever make it work enough to get that far. Trust me, I want to believe that we could. A part of me so wanted to say yes when you asked me to marry you, but I just... couldn't."

She had no more to say than that, no better explanation to give. She was so sorry to have hurt Wade, it really was the last thing she would ever want to do, or maybe it was second-to-last, because what Zoe really couldn't do was agree to marry him. Not right now. Maybe not ever, though she was less sure on that last part.

"So, what you're sayin' is, you love me and you wanna be with me, maybe forever, you just don't want a ceremony and a ring?" asked Wade, looking so confused and even more sad.

"I... I think what I'm saying is I should go to New York," she decided at last. "I think I should go to my friend's wedding and that I should think some more about what happened here tonight. Maybe we both should, and then, in a couple of days, we can talk about it some more, you know, when everything is less intense. When we've both had a chance to process."

He didn't look all that keen to agree to such a thing, but Zoe realised she wasn't exactly giving him much of a choice. Poor Wade, he had been so happy tonight, and it all got ruined. Zoe had to remind herself it wasn't entirely her fault. He just admitted he probably didn't make the smartest choice in asking her the way he did, not when he knew how she felt about marriage. She had always made it so clear.

"Okay," he said eventually. "You go do our New York thing," he said, sniffing a little, clearly fighting tears he would rather her not notice, so she didn't say a word. "And then, in a couple o' days, we'll talk about it some more."

Zoe nodded her head, wanting to say something, but having no idea what. Eventually, she just held out her arms and hoped that Wade would allow her a hug. She wasn't exactly surprised when he just did that, squeezing her so tight that it almost hurt, but she didn't mind at all. She held him just as tight, for as long as she could bear.

"I love you," she told him as they parted, "and I could not be more proud of what you've done here," she said of the bar.

Wade smiled a lop-sided half-a-smile, even as he quickly dragged a hand across his face. "Thanks, and you know I love you too. With everything I got, I do."

Swallowing hard, Zoe knew even then she could say nothing more. There really was nothing left to be said right now. It was why she turned and walked quickly away. She was never going to make this situation any better, not until she had a chance to think some more, so she said nothing. In fact, even though she was almost certain she heard Wade call her name, she didn't even look back.

To Be Continued...