A/N: Not sure what's happening with this fic, but chapters I know I've posted aren't showing up anywhere but in my account? I have had at least one email about a review on the latest chapter, so somebody saw it at some point, I guess. Anyhow, I'll keep on posting every week and, hopefully, at some point, everybody who wants to read them will be able to? *shrugs*

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

It seemed ridiculous to think that anything else could possibly go wrong with the wedding. Joel and Annabeth were having such a small affair, just a simple ceremony with a few friends from New York, and three more coming up from Alabama. It shouldn't have been a big deal, Zoe knew that. The only moderately complicated part had been getting a reverend and a rabbi to share the duty of performing the ceremony, to accommodate the two religions of the parties involved, but that had seemed to be okay too. At least, it was until Rabbi Paymer landed up in the hospital, the night before the wedding, with kidney stones that required an urgent operation.

"So, there has to be another one of these guys, right? Like an understudy or some such?"

Wade had looked so adorably confused when he asked the question, Zoe had to smile, even as she racked her brains for how they might find another suitable person for the wedding tomorrow, not least because it was more-or-less tomorrow already! She had a heck of a time tracking down an available rabbi and even had to call in her mom to help out. It was past midnight before she had a promise of another guy who could do the ceremony and had no objections to sharing the stage with a reverend.

"Ugh, I'm so glad the wedding isn't until late in the afternoon." Zoe literally yawned as she and Wade took a cab back to his hotel. "The last thing I need is an early alarm call."

She had hardly been aware of her head dropping until it landed on his shoulder. The moment it got there, she sat up fast, apologising for what she had done.

"No problem to me, doc. You just get as comfortable as you want," he told her, shifting a little closer and making his offer more than clear.

Zoe felt a blush rising in her cheeks, even though she usually wasn't the type to embarrass easy. Even though all he was offering was a place to rest her head for a few minutes and nothing more. It was the most Wade had ever offered her, in any real sense, even though he seemed pretty fast to flirt and come onto any other good-looking woman in a five-mile radius. A frown started to take over Zoe's face as she thought about it, something that Wade clearly noticed.

"Hey, what's up doc?" he said, teasingly, bringing back her smile, even as she rolled her eyes.

"Nothing" she assured him. "I guess I was just wondering, if I hadn't got that call from Rabbi Paymer's wife when I did, how this night might have turned out differently."

She was a fool for saying it, Zoe was all aware of that. After all, it was just tempting fate. Either Wade was going to tell her nothing would have happened, which would hurt her, or he would make some kind of move in a bid to take her to his bed for a meaningless one-night stand. If she were honest, she didn't really want that either, not just that, anyway. If only Wade was going to be around in New York for longer than just another thirty-six hours. Zoe knew that was what she really wanted. Just a little more to time to see if something else might happen. Something really worth having.

"Zoe..." he started to say, just as the cab pulled up outside of the hotel.

The driver alerted Wade to the fact they were at his stop and whatever magical moment might have been about to occur in the backseat was over in a heartbeat.

"Right, uh, thanks," he told the cab driver, moving to get out of the car.

Zoe didn't think, she just pushed open the other door and followed him, yelling to the driver to wait for her, even as she rushed away.

"Wade?"

She caught up to him by the door, watched him turn back with a questioning look on his face, and realised she had no idea what she had stopped him for. She had no words, none that would make any sense anyway, and if she kissed him, like she so, so wanted to, it couldn't lead to anything good. At least, nothing good that would last. She would wind up hurt, at best, and she didn't even like to think about how it could be worse.

"I... I just wanted to say, I had fun today," she said eventually, "and yesterday, actually. Even though he were running around fixing things, and some of it was kind of stressful, I think it was better because you were there."

She replayed those words in her head the moment she was done saying them and Zoe felt profoundly stupid. At least, she did until she saw Wade giving her a winning smile.

"Gotta say, doc, I kinda had a blast myself, and I can't say as I expected to either," he explained, shifting awkwardly in place. "You're one heck of a woman, Dr Zoe Hart, I hope you know that."

"You're not so bad yourself, Wade Kinsella," she replied, grinning wide. "It's kind of a shame that you'll be headed home after tomorrow."

"I guess it is, but at the same time, I gotta admit, I'll be glad to get back where I belong. New York City is real nice place in a lot o' ways, got some great folks in it too," he said with a smile, "but it ain't where I belong, doc. I know that for sure. Give me Bluebell, Alabama over all o' this any day, I'll take it."

It felt so much like a personal rejection, Zoe wanted to scream. Like he was telling her that, as much as he liked her, he didn't belong with her and never could. Zoe knew Wade probably didn't mean it that way. Most likely he was being literal and straight-forward, the way people from the south seemed to like to be, more often than not, at least in Zoe's limited experience of Annabeth and Wade anyway. No insult intended, no subtext or anything like that, just straight up, Wade missed home and would be glad to get back to it. It was why she didn't get mad about it. Why she put on her best smile and nodded her understanding.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, for the wedding."

"For the wedding," Wade agreed. "See you there, doc."

He gave her a salute-type wave, then turned around and headed inside the hotel. Zoe watched him go, stood there watching until he became a little obscured by the revolving door and then finally was completely gone, into the elevator that would take him to his room.

Now was the time to turn around and go home herself, because it was late, and a little chilly, and because there was nowhere else for Zoe to be other than in her own bed tonight. Unless there was someplace else she would rather be.

"No, you don't want to do that. You don't want to have a one-night stand with Wade Kinsella," she told herself crossly. "That would be crazy, and also, he didn't even ask for that. He didn't make a move, he never even kissed you, so why would you be standing here thinking about having sex with him?!"

Zoe hadn't realised how loud she had become, until a random couple who were passing by, probably on their way home from a good night out, stared at her as if she were a crazy person. Maybe that was exactly what she was. Sane people rarely stood on the sidewalk yelling at themselves in the dark.

Closing her eyes for a second, she drew in a deep breath and let it out slow. Turning around, she went back to the cab and pulled open the door, ready to head home. It was then she spotted the wallet on the back seat, right where Wade had been sitting.

"Do I even believe in fate?" she muttered to herself, reaching to grab the wallet fast. "Maybe tonight I do," she replied to her own question with a smile.

"You okay, lady?" the cab driver asked as she pulled back out of the car and closed the door.

Leaning down into the front passenger window, she put her hand into her own purse, searching out cash. "It's fine, I don't need to go anywhere else," she told him. "How much do I owe you?"

He read the amount from the dash and Zoe duly paid the fare, not even bothering to wait for change or see the cab depart. Instead, she hurried right on into the hotel. The receptionist greeted her with a smile and Zoe explained that she needed to return her friends wallet, asking for Wade's room number. It didn't take much for the staff member to hand it over, even though they probably shouldn't. Maybe Zoe shouldn't be such a big name-dropper, but her mother had taught her well on that score. Not that she had to mention any celebrities, just Annabeth and Joel's wedding and reception that were taking place in the hotel the very next day. Once they knew she was the maid of honour seeking out the best man, it was pretty easy to get Wade's room number and access to the elevator.

Zoe's heart was racing as she punched the button for the correct floor. She had to be crazy to be doing what she was doing, or rather, what she was about to do, but she couldn't help it. There was just something about Wade Kinsella, something she couldn't describe or figure out. He made her want to be reckless. He made her want to throw caution to the wind. He made her want to find out what all the fuss was about when it came to a one-night stand, and at the same time, made her hope in the depths of her heart and soul that they might mean more to each other than just one single night of sweet release.

"Guess I'm about to find out," she said to herself, exiting the elevator and hurrying down the hall to Wade's door.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her fist to knock, then hesitated. This could be a very bad idea. After all, he never actually made a move on her, and Wade didn't seem like the type to wait for the woman to be the more forward person in that kind of situation. Maybe he just wasn't attracted to her. Zoe shook her head. No, she knew when a man liked what he saw in looking at her. She was almost certain he had thought about kissing her, more than once in the last few days. Besides, he had even complimented her mind and her personality, things that ought to be much more important than looks. He liked her, she knew that he did, and she liked him, so why not just show it?

Finally knocking on the door, she stepped back one pace and waited, and waited, and waited. Zoe frowned when she realised nobody seemed to be there, and yet, she was sure she could hear movement beyond the door. Knocking again, she called Wade's name for good measure, unsure how comforted she felt when she finally heard his voice inside the room. He seemed to be cursing, which was a weird reaction to her being at his door, especially after the way they left things downstairs. Maybe it was a bad time. Maybe she had caught him in the shower or changing clothes or...

"Zoe, hey," he said, with a smile she knew was forced, the moment he opened the door. "Uh, whatcha doin' up here? Thought you was headed on home, get some sleep before the big day tomorrow."

"I was." Zoe nodded her agreement, eyes moving down Wade's body and taking in his backwards T-shirt and hastily-fastened pants.

He wasn't breathing evenly, as if he were in a hurry, or doing some kind of exercise right before he opened the door, or...

"Oh God," she said, a horrible thought hitting her that she didn't even have time to properly express, before the door was yanked open wider, a pretty blonde in a hastily thrown on hotel uniform scurried from the scene like her butt was on fire. "Oh God!" Zoe repeated, all but throwing Wade's wallet at him before she turned to leave, fast.

"Zoe, wait a second now," Wade urged her, catching her wrist and keeping her from bolting.

"For what?" she asked, turning wild eyes on him, trying desperately not to cry because she knew she hadn't the right. "So you can brag about how easily you got the maid into bed? Sorry, Wade, I'm wouldn't say I'm exactly a prude, but that's not my idea of a great bedtime story!"

"Come on now, I wasn't... I mean, sure, yeah, me and Collette were, kind of... but that's not..."

"You know there's a word for what you have, right?" Zoe told him sharply, sniffing hard and hoping he didn't notice. "They don't really use the term nymphomania anymore, but sexual addiction is a real disease, Wade. If you want my medical opinion, you need help."

It wasn't fair. It was beneath her, and Zoe knew it. Wade wasn't obsessed with sex, not in a medical sense, anyway. He was just a guy that liked a good time and knew how to get it. The kind of guy that women were prone to falling into bed with, and he just never objected when they did. Zoe couldn't blame him. It was his life, he could do what he wanted with it, as could any women that chose to have sex with him. Zoe knew how that went. After all, hadn't she come upstairs to do just the same? Well, that wasn't going to happen now.

Turning on her heel, she all but ran for the elevator, even as Wade called out for her to stop. If he gave chase, she didn't notice. The elevator's timing was pretty much perfect, the door closing behind her the second she stepped in. That was when she let the tears fall, when she let the sob she had been holding in come out of her mouth, along with six or seven of its friends.

Zoe wished she could say she didn't even know why she was crying, but that would be a lie. She did know, she knew exactly. For a minute there, she had managed to convince herself that she was special. That maybe Wade actually cared about her and that was why he didn't make a move, because she had told him she wouldn't sleep with him, and he had too much respect for her to press the point.

Now, she knew she was wrong. He would sleep with anyone at all but her. He cared for no-one but himself and his own desires. She was stupid to ever think it was a good idea to go after him like she had, and she thanked God that, after the wedding tomorrow, she would never have to see Wade Kinsella ever again.

To Be Continued...