This was one of my other stories on the poll. Totally and completely an AU story. This one won't be updated again until after Ten is finished, which won't be a long wait. Enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hart of Dixie or the characters used within this work of fiction.

Wade sighed walking into yet another hospital in New York. He had already been at a handful of them before hand and they had all refused to tell him any information. He had tried to look her up in the phone book, but she wasn't listed. Not that any 16-year-old would be listed in the phone book. But he didn't know the name of her mother; he didn't know a whole lot, the perks of not planning ahead, but Harley had done right by him over the years; it was the least he could do. If only he could find her, there were a lot of hospitals in New York, and he wasn't certain that she would be at any single one of them. He figured from what he had heard that she would be spending her time at the hospital to help her get into a good college, so she could reach her dreams. That was what he was counting on.

"Can I help you sir?" The nurse asked, looking up at him. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he gave her a weak tired smile. This was his last hope, if he didn't find her here, he would have to tuck tail and head on home until he could find more out about Zoe Hart.

"I'm looking for someone, can you help me?" Wade asked, leaning on the counter that was separating him from the nurse.

"Who is it you are looking for?" She asked him, ready to punch the name into her computer, to see if they had the patient he was looking for.

"Zoe Hart," he told her.

"Oh," she squeaked out, really checking the strange guy out that wanted to see the sweet girl. She was ready to refuse him, the answer on the tip of her tongue, but he spoke before she had the chance.

"It's a family emergency and it's important that I see her," Wade vaguely explained, seeing that he was in the right spot with the look in her eye. That apparently was enough for her.

"Oh dear," the nurse mumbled. "One moment please," she said looking up at him making sure it was okay. Wade nodded his head. With the nurse, scurrying off Wade let his head fall to his hands, his fingers gripping at the little length of hair he did have.

He was starting to question himself on making the trip to New York. He had only overheard bits of information, and it wasn't his responsibility to tell anyone that their mother was lying to them. Nevertheless, here he was because he had a soft spot for Dr. Wilkes, and he only wanted a chance to know his daughter. In more than one way, Wade knew how that felt. Harley would have his ass for this, once he stepped foot into Bluebell again, but coming here, was going to be worth it; it had to be.

"Sir," the nurse said getting him to look up. "She'll be with you in a moment, please have a seat."

"Thank you," Wade replied, taking a seat in one of the few chairs against the wall. His eyes closing the second he rested his head against the wall. A plan a small one at that, coming together.

Zoe finished with the patient she was with and headed to the front of the hospital. She knew without a doubt that there was no family emergency. Her father was in Europe, and her mother was on a trip somewhere. She had no siblings to worry about, leaving her home alone, with her mother calling to check up on her a couple of times throughout the day. Seeing the man waiting for her, she couldn't place him. She had every reason to turn around and avoid this man. However, her steps took her closer to him instead of away from him. She did want to know who he thought he was by demanding her attention with a lie.

"What I can help you with?" She asked as politely as she could. She was only 16 and spent her last hour with a dying man who had no family that could be there with him, and her emotions were running in different ways.

"Is there maybe somewhere else we can go to talk?" He asked, getting to his feet in a rush. "You have no reason to trust me, but this is important," he told her, stuffing his hands in his pockets, only to remove his right hand to hold it out to her. "I'm Wade Kinsella," he introduced himself.

"I'm Zoe," she told him in a softer tone sensing just how on edge he was about whatever it was he had to tell her. She shook his hand not wanting to come off as anything other than gracious. "I know a little place a few blocks from here; I'm hungry so is that okay?" She questioned him. "Hospital food is not the greatest."

"I could eat," he replied with a half smile. He rushed out of his own home in Bluebell only having a candy bar on the way to the airport in Mobile, and since he had been too busy being on a mission to find Zoe that he looked past the part of being hungry.

"Okay, I'll just be a minute," she told him, walking off to change from the candy striper uniform she was wearing. There was a softness to his eyes that made her trust him. He didn't scream danger now that she had met him. It was easy to see that he was nervous, and it wouldn't really hurt anything to hear him out.

~Per Se~

The joint was a bit too fancy for Wade's taste, and he felt like he didn't belong or even fit in and that each table they passed, eyes were on him, judging him for the way he was dressed, knowing that he didn't belong there at the restaurant or even in the city they called home. Running out the door and ditching the place and the situation was ideal, it wouldn't get Zoe to trust him and to believe what it was he had to tell her. It took him a few days to believe it himself.

"This family emergency, what lie were you going to use? What do you even want with me? We have to be close to the same age," she said, skipping a beat, diving right in after they had ordered.

"What I have to tell you isn't a lie, and I'm 17," he responded easily. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, that she wasn't going to believe him, that he would have to work at getting her trust.

"How can it be true? I don't know you and you don't know me, so how could you know anything about my family?" She asked, getting defensive against his actuations on her family.

"I know your father; that's why I'm here," he told her.

"What about my father? I personally haven't seen him in years, so what is it you know?" She questioned, suddenly becoming very interested in what he had to say. "You don't look like a world traveler, and I didn't hear that he was back in the states, so how could you know my father?"

"You have no reason to believe me, no reason to trust me, but I wouldn't fly all the way here from Alabama to lie to you," he started off saying. "I've never been out of the US; I'm not talking about that father."

"Please do not utter the words that you are my brother," she groaned, that would be weird and this wasn't a Hallmark movie. "What do you mean not that father? I only have one father."

"Not your brother," he chucked, drinking half his glass of water. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but I don't like lies and secrets, and I would rather want to know if I was ever in the position you are in."

"Then quit rambling like a schoolgirl and tell me what it is, spit it out," she urged him.

"Your father he's your step father. Harley Wilkes, that's your father; I overheard him talking the other day. I know it sounds crazy, and I wouldn't believe it either but it is the truth."

She burst out in laughter, covering her mouth with her napkin. He sat there bewildered. This situation did not scream funny to him.

"I'm sorry," she apologized getting her laughter to end. "It sounds bizarre; I have no reason to believe you, like you said, however, it makes sense if you think about it. My dad, Ethan, left because he couldn't take care of me any longer, it never made sense, until now," she sighed. "Whether I want to trust you, the facts are there, and I can't ignore them."

"That's great, that you believe me; Harley will be so excited to see you," Wade beamed at his good deed being done.

"Who said I was going back with you?" She asked.

"I just figured you'd want to meet him."

"Is that why you came here? Figured I would leave everything I have going on in my life to meet some guy claiming to be my biological father? Doesn't that sound a bit much?"

"It does and yes, I thought that you would want to meet him. If the situation was reversed, I would already be gone."

"The situation isn't reversed, Wade. I never once said I wanted to go, or that I was up to meeting him. Can't you leave things be?" She asked, sipping on her water.

"I would if I thought it was for the best," he explained, licking his lips, leaning forward. "Harley he wants to know you, wants to know the daughter he begs and pleads to see. I thought you would want to know the man that is your father," he finished, as the food was brought to them.

"It is not that easy," she told him when it was just them once more. "Being told I have a different father out there doesn't make me warm and fuzzy on the inside; it makes me more confused than anything and in going forward I need to think my actions out, I won't rush into anything," she stated.

"Won't or can't?" He asked. "You are afraid and that is okay, Zoe. You are only 16 and your life just changed in a huge way. You have every reason to be afraid, that doesn't mean you need to sit here asking yourself a bunch of questions you cannot answer, when you can go and get them."

"I am afraid, and at the same time; I don't know you, Wade, and I don't trust you, so I don't know how much of what you said is true. You say you have no reason to lie to me, again something I can't believe."

"Have a little faith," he told her getting up. He would rather grab a burger on his way to finding a place for the night then sitting there eating food he had no desire to eat, going around in a damn circle; he had to approach her with a different mind set. "Talk to your mom, and tomorrow you can figure things out; my flight leaves Sunday at 4; you decide on how you want your future to play out, Zoe. Have a good night," he told her walking away. He didn't have much money to waste, and he could only afford two nights before he had to go home, and he was determined to go back with Zoe.