A/N: This is my first Zade fanfic! I adore this couple and since I watched all three seasons in four days, I'm full of fic ideas, haha. This one has been done before, but here's my take on what SHOULD have happened immediately after the season one finale. Zoe tells Wade that George was just there, and is forced to make a decision. Please review if you read!

Zoe shut the door in a daze, walking back into her bedroom. Her thoughts spinning, she leaned against the door, jumping when Wade's voice broke the silence.

"Doc? You all right?" He was on his feet before she could wave him off, coming close to her and resting one hand on her shoulder, bending his knees slightly so they were eye-to-eye. "Who was at the door?"

Zoe met his eyes, still not knowing what to say, and closed the distance between them. Her lips met his in a hard kiss, her mind struggling to figure out why she felt so many more sparks with Wade than she ever had when she was around George, let alone when George kissed her only moments ago.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Wade gathered her in his arms, pressing her tight against her door. His mouth moved against hers in a way that had shivers racing up and down her spine, and he let out a muffled groan that had her sighing in contentment, all thoughts of George wiped from her mind.

"Not that I'm complaining," he drawled, grinning at her once they broke apart, "but what was that for?"

"I… I just…" She trailed off, not able to meet his eyes. This wasn't supposed to be this hard! They were just having fun, just one night of letting go of some of the constant tension that was between them. How did all these feelings show up? When did she start having feelings for Wade Kinsella?

"Zoe." He said her name firmly, the use of her first name another sign that for once in his life he was being serious.

"George was here," she blurted, "that's who was at the door. He and Lemon aren't getting married."

Wade swallowed thickly, looking down at the floor. "Well." He detached himself from her, and she felt cold instantly. "I, uh," he rubbed a hand across his face in that way he did that she knew meant he was uncomfortable, "I suppose you're getting the chance you always wanted then, aren't you, Doc?"

"Wade—"

"You don't have to say anything," he told her, going across the room to where his clothes were scattered. He began pulling on his dress pants, and still refused to meet her eyes.

"Wade, wait—"

"I should get out of here so you and George can work things out."

"Will you stop?!" She all but yelled, causing him to finally make eye contact with her. "I don't want you to leave!"

"You can't have it both ways," he said, his voice coming out strained. "You can't… you can't do whatever it is you want to do with me and be Tucker's girlfriend."

"I'm not saying—"

"What do you even see in him?" He asked fiercely, his eyes blazing as he took a few steps forward, towards her, "I mean, besides the fact that he's perfect," he was practically leering at her now, hiding behind the swagger that he normally affected, but she knew better. "Remember when we kissed for the first time? Or the second?" He was barricading her in his arms now, tugging her close to him. "You felt something, Zoe Hart."

"Just because you and I made out—"

"I would have taken you right there in my car if you had been sober, Zoe."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I have wanted you practically since the second I set my eyes on you, Doc!" His eyes softened, though his words were still punctuated with anger, "You waltzed in here with your short shorts and your snobby New York attitude and you completely turned my life upside down. I'm not going to give that up, not unless you can look me straight in the face and tell me that you don't feel any of this too."

After a moment of silence, Zoe whispered, "I feel it too, Wade." She was embarrassed to feel tears welling up in her eyes, "I felt it last night and I felt it the night we almost… well, during the heat wave."

"Tell me what I need to do to convince you to stay here, to stay with me," he said, his voice rough.

Again, Zoe elected to show him how she was feeling instead of trying to put it into words. She practically launched herself at him, feeling a warmth spread throughout her veins when he caught her without hesitation, one hand threading into her hair and the other wrapping tight around her waist. He let out a grunt of surprise which quickly morphed into a moan of approval, and Zoe let herself get lost in his kiss. She let herself get lost in the way that his hands moved over her body, the way that his mouth moved against hers, the way that he smelled like pine needles and aftershave and something else uniquely Wade.

"Zoe," he breathed, wrenching their mouths apart. "Zoe."

"I want you," she whispered, "I want you."

"You have to be sure," he warned her. "I won't be a place holder, Doc. I won't play second fiddle to someone else."

"George is not what I want anymore," she said, happy that her voice came out steady and sure. Things were slowly coming into focus. Wade made her feel. Wade made her feel things that she had only thought happened in movies. Was George the choice everyone expected her to make? Yes. Life with George, however, that was a fantasy. He was exactly the type of guy she always expected to end up with, but maybe that was the problem — she needed someone who would challenge her. She needed someone to yell at her when she was being stubborn, someone who would push her to be the best version of herself that she could be.

—-

Wade thought he must be dreaming. There was no way that he was actually in Zoe Hart's house hearing her confess that her feelings for George Tucker, Golden Boy, were nothing more than her high expectations coupled with aspirations she had as a teenager. There was no way in hell that she was actually standing in front of him, telling him that she wanted to be with him. It was not possible, yet here he was.

"George is not what I want anymore," she said, and he saw nothing but certainty in her eyes. "When he came here and told me he wanted to be with me, I felt… I felt hollow. I thought it was the moment I had been waiting for, but I realized that something had happened along the way that made me rethink everything."

"Is that so," Wade drawled, a smile slowly stretching across his face. He had never been a one-woman kind of man before, at least not in recent years, but he already knew that Zoe Hart was making him rethink everything. She made him want to be better.

"I'm sorry that it took me so long to see what was right in front of me," she said softly, and he took a moment to appreciate the way she looked in the candlelight, her features illuminated by the soft glow in the room. She was gorgeous. He had always thought so — he wasn't a complete idiot — but he never realized how much he really wanted her, all the parts of her, until now. He wanted her to be there when he got home from work, he wanted her to ask him about his day, he wanted to kiss her and touch her and he wanted people to know that she was his, just as much as he was hers.

"I'm no lawyer or doctor, Zo. You'll get bored," he told her, his insecurities flaring strong. "You can still back out."

"You're honest, and kind, and you make me laugh. That's more than enough."

It was Wade's turn to kiss her in response, to show her how he felt without words. He still had doubts, and was sure that there were many arguments in their future when it came to those doubts, but for now he shoved them to the back of his mind, concentrating on the way she felt in his arms, and reveling in the fact that she was still here, still with him instead of with anyone else.

.

.

.

The first two weeks of their official relationship went by in a flash. For Wade, it was the happiest he could remember being in recent years. Being with Zoe was so natural and easy, he couldn't figure out why they danced around each other for so long in the first place.

His intention had been to take it slowly — start out with a few dates and lunch together at the Rammer Jammer, visiting her at the practice when she was working and bringing her flowers… that sort of thing. Apparently, going slow was not their thing, however, and he had practically been living in Zoe's house for the last two weeks.

His clothes took up half her closet, his toothbrush was in her bathroom, and he cooked her dinner nearly every night. They stayed in a lot, preferring each other's company over feeding the gossips in Bluebell, but he didn't mind. Sure, they went out every now and again, but the nights where the two of them stayed cuddled together on the couch watching old movies were his favorite (not that he would ever admit it to Zoe). It was selfish, he thought, to want to keep her all to himself, but he actually liked the beginning stages of his relationship with Zoe. He liked learning more about her past and about what made her who she is. He found that he didn't have such a hard time sharing things about his past with her, either. He told her about his mother, the only woman who had ever come first for him.

(When she pulled him close and kissed his forehead after he felt a traitorous tear slip down his cheek, he felt his heart full to bursting with an emotion that simultaneously terrified him and thrilled him, but he didn't say a word. Not yet.)

Zoe felt much the same way. She had expected them to struggle to define whatever it was that they were to each other, but it had come so easily to both of them that she felt silly for even having doubts in the first place. It turns out that when Wade Kinsella committed himself to something, he did it wholeheartedly. He was always doing little things to make her smile, especially when she was busy at the practice. He brought her coffee on mornings when she mentioned she'd be overrun with patients, he had dinner waiting for her in her kitchen when she got home in the evenings. He watched all her favorite movies with her even though she knew they bored him to pieces.

In short, she was unbelievably happy. Some days she felt terrible for not giving Wade a chance sooner, for not seeing what was right in front of her all those months. When everyone in Bluebell hated her, he was there. He was there being a pain in the ass, usually, but he was there still. He never treated her like she had the plague or like she was someone sent straight from hell itself to ruin the lives of everyone in Bluebell.

In the midst of their happiness, George Tucker was still a sore spot. He had mostly left the two of them well enough alone, but a few hours prior he had run into Zoe at the Dixie Stop and had a lot of choice words for her regarding her new relationship with Wade. He was hurt and angry, and Zoe knew that, but it didn't stop his words from cutting her deeply.

Entering her house that evening, Wade caught on straight away that something was wrong, even if Zoe didn't want to admit it.

"Baby?" He asked her, concern marring his features as she entered the kitchen, shoulders slumped in defeat. "Zoe, what's happened?"

"It's nothing… just a long day." Zoe replied, leaning up on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Wade let her go, but watched her warily from across the kitchen counter. "You're a bad liar, Doc."

"I'm going to take a shower before we eat," Zoe told him, ignoring his jibe. He frowned, but didn't push the issue, watching as she walked down the hallway to the bedroom.

Twenty minutes passed before she reappeared, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt that he knew from experience was soft and warm to the touch. Without saying a word, he walked to her and gathered her in his arms, holding her tight. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and they swayed back and forth slowly, Wade offering whatever comfort he could with his touch alone. "Whatever's got you upset… I hope you know you can talk to me about it. I might not be great at talking about my feelings, Doc, but I'm a pretty good listener."

Zoe smiled as they broke apart. "I trust you," she said softly, "I just…"

"Tell me, baby."

"It's George."

Wade stiffened at the mention of his friend's name, but tried not to let it show. His contact with George since the night of the wedding had been extremely limited, and he preferred it that way. Awkward confrontations were not Wade Kinsella's thing.

"I bumped into him at the store," Zoe continued, interrupting his thoughts, "and he wasn't too happy to see me. He… he said some not nice things."

Wade's face hardened. "Like what."

"It's not important, Wade, really, I—"

"He made you upset. Upset enough to be pushing me away. That makes it important, Zoe!" Wade turned back to the stove, enough presence of mind to know that a burned dinner would be the icing on the cake for Zoe's bad day, but a frown still pulled at his lips as Zoe moved to stand opposite from him, leaning against the kitchen sink.

"He just told me I was playing with him, and with you, and that I was fooling myself if I thought I could be happy with you." Zoe sighed, "He's just… he's angry. He cancelled his wedding for me, and now I'm—"

"Look. This is George Tucker's problem: he's used to getting everything that he wants all the time. He wanted Lemon Breeland, and he had her for nearly half his life. You came along, and he wanted you and… well, for once things didn't go his way." Wade finished stirring a pot of soup and turned to face Zoe, "but that is not your fault."

"Maybe you're right."

"I know I'm right," Wade teased, but they were interrupted by a knock on the front door. "You expecting company, Doc?"

Zoe shrugged, "Could be Lavon."

"You stay here. Have a glass of wine," Wade handed her an empty glass and kneaded her shoulders once she took it from him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "Relax. I'll get the door."

"Thank you," Zoe said softly, smiling gratefully at him before he turned to leave the room.

.

.

.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here," Wade said with a bitter laugh as he opened the door to reveal none other than Golden Boy Tucker himself.

"I know, I just—"

"Look, I don't really care what you just. We're about to eat, so I think you should go."

"Wade, just let me in."

"Why? So you can tell Zoe what a mistake she's making all over again? So she can walk around with that mopey look on her face like she had when she came home today? No, I don't think we'll take you up on that offer, Tucker." Wade's face was hard as he looked at his childhood friend, wondering how in the hell they got to this point. Arguing over a girl had never been their thing, but then again, Wade had never been with a girl like Zoe Hart before.

(There was an urge deep within him to protect her, to keep her safe from the gossips and the people who wanted to see her fail, and now, from George Tucker.)

"Wade? Who's at—" Zoe walked into the foyer, stopping short when she saw George standing on the porch, currently in a staredown with Wade. "Oh."

"Zoe, I wanted to apologize." George said, looking over Wade's shoulder to meet Zoe's eyes.

"It's fine," Zoe said, but her voice was small and vulnerable again, and Wade had never wanted to punch someone so badly before as he did now.

"It's not that fine," Wade mumbled, but Zoe ignored him.

"Wade, can you give me a minute? I'll be right in. Plus, I don't want to try to cook the rest of dinner, I'll probably burn the whole place down."

Wade looked conflicted, but with one last glare at George, he decided a minute for Zoe to speak her mind was the least he could do. Turning away from the door, he leaned in to press a kiss to Zoe's temple. "Well, you are a terrible cook, so…" he teased, laughing when Zoe smacked him in the chest. "Hurry on, now."

Zoe bit her lip to hold back her smile as she turned back to face George, who was watching the interaction with a pained look on his face. Gesturing towards the porch, George moved out of the way so Zoe could come outside.

"So… you two are living together now?"

"Is that really what you came here to talk about?"

"I just… I'm sorry. This is just taking some time for me to get used to."

"Well you better get used to it, George Tucker," Zoe said, her temper flaring to life suddenly. "Look. We're adults, right? Yes, I had feelings for you, but I think I liked the idea of you more than I actually liked you, George, and that wouldn't have been fair to either of us."

"But Zoe—"

"No, George, please just listen. I'm sorry you cancelled your wedding. I'm sorry that Lemon is hurting and I'm sorry that you're hurting, but… I'm happy with Wade, okay? He makes me happy and it was completely unexpected, but it is what it is."

"Zoe, I came here and told you I wanted you, and you didn't turn me down. I kissed you!"

"And I shouldn't have let you!" Zoe said, her voice rising. "I'm sorry, George, but whatever we thought we could have had together… it's not going to happen. I was with Wade the night you came here, and—"

"Wade was here?"

"Yes! He was here and he made me feel… I didn't think about you and Lemon getting married once. He helped me see that I didn't need to pine after someone unavailable!"

"I was available, Zoe."

"No, no you weren't. You're still not." Zoe said, her voice sounding sympathetic.

"What are you talking about?"

"You love Lemon. You were together for half your lives! You can't get over someone like Lemon this fast, George."

"You don't know that."

Zoe backed up towards the carriage house once more, reaching for the handle. "I'm sorry, George, but I know what I want now. It's time for me to finally take a chance, and I'm going to do that with Wade."

George looked at her for a long moment before shaking his head and walking down the porch steps. He stopped halfway down, turning back to face her. "I'm sorry for what I said at the store today, Zoe."

"I know," she said softly, before turning to go inside the house.

Shutting the door behind her, Zoe looked up to see Wade leaning against the wall, watching her with that smirk firmly in place. Rolling her eyes, Zoe took a step closer. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, not much of it," Wade drawled, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her closer, "Just the part where I make you happy and how you're taking a chance."

"Can that ego of yours possibly get any bigger?" Zoe wondered aloud, causing Wade to dig his fingers into her ribs lightly. Shrieking, Zoe smacked him. "Stop that!"

He chuckled, "Doc, in all seriousness… thanks."

"For what?"

"For… for picking me." At the look on her face, he added quickly, "Not that it was a competition, but… I'm not used to people like you vouching for someone like me."

Zoe leaned up after a moment and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "I meant it, you know. You make me happy."

A light flush spread over Wade's cheeks, something that Zoe had never seen before, but found incredibly endearing. "You make me pretty happy too, Zoe." He said quietly. "Now, enough of this mushy stuff. There's soup and sandwiches for you."

"Bless you," she said, suddenly realizing how hungry she was.

"I'll be happy to help you burn off some calories afterwards, too."

"I'm sure you will," Zoe said, laughing as she trailed after him into the kitchen, hoping for many more nights like this one with Wade, her boyfriend.

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