All It Takes To Fall In Love
Title: All It Takes To Fall In Love
Author: raeghan
Rating: PG
Pairing: Wade/Zoe
Spoilers: If you've seen I Fall To Pieces you'll be fine.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 3,948
Summary: Zoe is insistent that she's not going to get into a relationship with Wade...until she's not anymore.
Night One
“You can go now.”
He laughs but it sounds broken because he’s still trying to catch his breath. “What?”
“You can go.” She moves away and pulls the covers tighter around her body suddenly feeling modest. “This is done. You can go.” She waves her hand towards the door. “Shoo. Go. Goodnight.”
He laughs again, this time more in control and starts to stand. “Fine, fine, fine.” He says under his breath as he dresses. She doesn’t watch so she doesn’t realize he’s moved back into her space until his hand cups her jaw and moves his mouth against hers. “Same time tomorrow night?”
She pushes him away. “No way. This is not happening again.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“Wade.”
“I’ll see you around, Doc.”
She sits up as he leaves the room. It’s important that he believes her.
“We are not doing this again. We shouldn’t have done it this time.”
“Alright, goodnight.”
The door closes and she falls back against the mattress.
Maybe it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t believe it as long as she does.
Night Two
“I mean it this time.” She breathes into his neck as his lips move along her collarbone. “This is a mistake and it’ll be the last time that I make it.”
Night Three
“Seriously, Wade, we can’t keep doing this.”
“Okay.”
“No. Keep doing that.”
Day Four
She tries to pay for the coffee that he pours her but he just waves her off and tells her that it’s on the house
Night Nine
It’s storming, just like the first time, but it’s a sudden and unexpected storm (also like their first time) so all of her windows are open and the rain is pouring in.
She kicks at his hip as he sits on the edge of her bed.
“Close the windows.”
“You do it.” His voice is muffled as the fabric of his shirt slides over his head. “It’s your house.”
“Yeah but you’re closer.”
“No I’m not.”
“Well you’re already half up.”
He looks over his shoulder with a smirk on his face.
“Shut up.” She shoves at his shoulder. “Don’t be gross. Go close the windows. Please.”
He groans and stands and she watches him move around the room to shut the windows.
“You don’t have to leave.”
She doesn’t even think that she meant to say that. It just slipped out.
“Just until the rain stops. You don’t have to walk back to your place in the rain.”
He nods once then locks the window. “I appreciate that.”
She moves over on the bed so he has enough to lie down without them touching.
Day Ten
In the morning she wakes up alone and she has to remind herself not to get upset because this is the way it’s supposed to be.
Night Thirteen
“Hey, sorry I’m running a little late but it was crazy day and I couldn’t get a second away to eat something. I’ll be right with ya.”
She scoffs. “That is not why I’m here.”
The fork stops halfway between the take out container and his mouth. “You mean you didn’t come over here to make sure we were still going to have sex tonight.”
“Wade!”
“Why are you so uptight? Nobody can hear us. There’s no point in pretending.”
She rolls her eyes but doesn’t turn and walk away.
He smiles, obviously pleased with himself. “Give me a minute and then we’ll be all set.”
“I am not going to wait around so we can have sex. I am not that pathetic.”
“Well alright then. See you tomorrow?”
“Sure.”
She hasn’t eaten since breakfast…
“You want some?”
“What?”
“Don’t stand there drooling.” He takes a hold of her wrist and pulls her down into the chair at his small, kitchen table. “Sit down. Eat.”
He sits down across from her and slides a plate of food over.
They eat in silence and she heads home afterwards without so much as a kiss and it was only take out so it can hardly be considered a date.
Day Fifteen
“Listen, I don’t know if you have a boyfriend or not…”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” She snaps and frowns because the poor guy looks at her like she’s crazy and he used to look at her like he was interested.
“I don’t know…”
“No, no, I’m sorry. I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Oh. Then do you think you’d want to have dinner with me sometime?”
“I don’t think so.”
Night Sixteen
“What’s going on with you?” He pokes her in the arm with his index finger as she’s sitting on the edge of his bed buttoning her shirt.
“Nothing. Why do you care?” She snaps and it’s the wrong thing to do because she’s still thinking about the guy that asked her out and how she turned him down and why and what that means. She has a lot on her mind and she doesn’t need him to start to care about what’s going on with her to complicate it even further.
His hand falls away and she stands and walks out without looking back.
Day Seventeen
They haven’t talked about seeing other people while they’re doing….whatever it is that they’re doing because she didn’t feel like it was necessary. But now looking at him flirt with another girl over the bar she thinks that maybe they should’ve at least defined that. There’s no reason for him not to see other people. They’re absolutely not dating and she (along with everyone else) knows that he’s not looking for anything serious so it’s not like it would be cheating. And it’s not like she has a problem with it. She is fine with it. She still maintains that she doesn’t like him. It’s just sex. Crazy, amazing, sex but that doesn’t have to go hand in hand with crazy, amazing, feelings. There are no deep or emotional feelings between them.
None.
So it’s not feelings that bubble up inside her when the girl leans all the way across the bar making her intentions clear and puts her hand on his arm right where the end of his shirt sleeve hits skin. Zoe holds her breath and grips the edge of the table while she waits for his reaction.
He leans back
She loosens her grip on the table.
He shakes his head.
Zoe starts to breathe again.
The girl starts to walk out of the bar and Zoe looks away just as Wade looks over at her. She’s pleased at how quickly she was able to avoid eye contact but she’s even more pleased that he didn’t watch that girl walk away.
Night Eighteen
She makes sure to do everything that she can do to make sure that he’s definitely forgotten about that girl at the bar.
Day Twenty
“Are you…” She loses steam and confidence in the rest of her question when he looks up at her. She takes a shallow breath and presses on. “Are you seeing other people?”
His eyes widen as he glances over at Lavon who’s sitting at the table with his back to them. Zoe’s standing close and her voice is low so Lavon can’t hear anything but they’re certainly not alone and they don’t talk like this unless they’re in the safety of one of their rooms. If they talk at all.
“Why would I do that?” He puts down the knife that he’s been using to cut his sandwich and leans on the counter.
That wasn’t the response that she was expecting. She doesn’t have an answer for that and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s flustered and he’s delighted.
“I wouldn’t do that.” He says around a smile. “I wouldn’t want to make you jealous.”
She knows how to react to that. “I would not be jealous.” She says in a rushed whisper that’s just edging over the border of being embarrassed. “I don’t care what you do.”
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head then curls his fingers around the back of her neck to pull her into a kiss. It’s brief and innocent.
“Whatever you say, Doc.”
He squeezes her waist as he brushes past her to join Lavon at the table and she’s speechless and flustered again because they don’t do this. They don’t get jealous and they don’t kiss without meaning for it to lead anywhere else.
And she knows that she’s not supposed to like it.
Night Twenty One
She has just had about the worst day.
It started out with spilling coffee on her dress this morning which made her late to work because she had to go change which led to a long lecture from Brick about how important it is to be on time because it is unprofessional to keep your patients waiting and because she kept them waiting she lost them to Brick so now she has to work extra hard to pick up two more patients so she can keep her side of the practice.
By the time she gets home her head is pounding, her feet are killing her in her new shoes and all she wants to do is go to bed so she can forget about the day.
She’s halfway across her room when she sees the vase of roses and a note on her bedside table.
Hope tomorrow is better is written in Wade’s careless, casual scrawl and the ache in her head and feet and heart all begin to fade away.
Day Twenty Three
“I admit it.”
“Admit what?” He kisses her and presses her back against the wall and she knows that she should care about the situation that they’re in (making out against the side of the Rammer Jammer on his break in broad daylight) a lot more than she does.
She moves her hands to his shoulders and presses him back. “I admit that I like you.”
His eyes narrow but a slow smile spreads across his face and she pushes him back even further.
“Okay, don’t make a big deal about it. I don’t even know why I said it. I should’ve known you’d act like this.”
He pulls he back in and her hands link around his neck.
Night Twenty Four
“A.”
“What?”
“A. I’m saying that was an A.”
She gasps and pulls her body up against his. “A plus?”
“Mmmm. A minus.”
“Liar.” She looks at him through narrowed eyes and he’s laughing until she leans down to kiss him because there’s nothing funny about that.
Night Twenty Six
She’s already asleep in his bed when he walks through the door.
He toes off his shoes then locks the door behind him.
There’s more to lose when she’s here.
Day Thirty
The memory of how she felt about George is equal parts fond and cringe inducing.
He’s a good man he’s just meant to be someone else’s good man and as she watches him on a lunch date at The Rammer Jammer she doesn’t have any feelings left for him now.
She looks towards the bar and Wade catches her eye. He smiles and nods.
She can feel that.
Night Thirty Two
It’s the first of the month so she watches Wade sing his father down from the top of the hardware store.
She gets home before him and waits on his front steps because waiting for him inside of his place feels like something she’s not allowed to do. When he finally shows up she has her arms wrapped around her legs with her eyes closed.
“Zoe.”
Her eyes open to the sound of his voice. He’s standing a few feet away rubbing the back of his neck. he looks exhausted.
“I know you’re not gonna believe it and you’ll think that there’s something wrong with me but I’m really not in the mood so…”
“I’m not here for that.” She pushes herself up to her feet. “I was just wondering if you want to hang out. We could get dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“We could watch a movie. Your pick. No Kate Hudson.”
He smiles and she thinks oh thank god.
“Come on in.”
He falls asleep at her shoulder five minutes into Die Hard but she stays until the credits roll and he wakes up.
Day Thirty Three
He grabs her hand to stop her and lead her around the puddle she was about to walk into but he doesn’t let go even after she clears it.
Night Twenty Four
“Zoe? Do you…I guess…”
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing. Never mind.”
Day Thirty Five
“Would you want to maybe…” He trails off and she looks over at him from the other end of the couch.
“Would I want to what?”
“….want to pass me the remote.” He reaches over and grabs it from her hands. “Quit hogging it.”
“That is not what you were going to say.”
“It was to.”
She watches him through narrowed eyes. “You are acting really weird lately.”
“No weirder than usual, right?”
Day Thirty Six
“Zoe.” He stops when she jams a finger into his chest.
“Wade, you better finish this sentence and you better finish it with something good.”
He pulls her hand away from his chest and holds it between his. “Do you want to go out with me? Really go out. Somewhere nice. I’ll wear a clean shirt and you…well you just look the way that you always look. It should be fun” He tips his head to the side. “What do you say?”
She blinks at him before she responds.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Night Thirty Seven
He dresses up and she dresses like she always does, as per his request, so they both fit into the restaurant that he brings them to.
It’s awkward at first-the waiter has to break the silence for them and just when she’s beginning to think that this was a mistake and they took things too far and now they can’t go back and everything is ruined he reaches for her hand from across the table and tells her that he’s happy that they decided to do this and he looks so sincere and the only thing she can do is tell him that she’s happy too.
Day Thirty Eight
“So you two are dating now?”
“No. No.” She shakes her head at Lavon and pours herself a cup of coffee. “We’re not dating.”
“But wasn’t last night a date?”
“No. I don’t know.” She slowly stirs sugar into her coffee and rests her hip against the kitchen counter. “He never actually said the word date.”
Lavon gives her a look.
“What?”
He rolls his eyes. “Well did you have fun at least?”
“Yes.” She leans her elbows on the counter and sighs, her expression dreamy. “Yeah, we had fun. We’re going out to dinner again tonight.”
“Oh.” Lavon laughs and points a finger at her. “You have got it bad.”
“I do not.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re all dreamy and wistful.”
“I am neither of those things.”
“You’re in denial.”
“No I’m not.”
“Then admit that you are dating Wade and you like it.”
“I am not dating him and I would not enjoy it.” She sees Wade standing in the doorway a second too late and there’s a look of disappointment on his face that’s impossible for her to ignore. “Wade.”
The disappointment quickly fades and he slides back into that relaxed, cool, look that he always has and acts like he didn’t hear anything, like nothing is bothering him and it would be easy for her to pretend just like he is except he doesn’t look at her once, even while after Lavon has left the room and he’s finalizing their plans for dinner later and she can’t pretend that it doesn’t bother her.
Night Thirty Nine
“Why are you mad at me?”
“I’m not mad.” His voice is warm enough but he’s looking straight ahead and his hands are clenched on the steering wheel. Their second night out was nothing like the first.
“You’re kind of acting like you are. You look like you are.”
“Well, look again.”
“Ugh. Wade, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?”
“This.” She waves frantically between them. “This immature not talking thing. I thought you were past this.”
“Guess not.”
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “Fine. Fine. Be this way then. I was looking forward to enjoying this night and you acted like this all through dinner and you ruined it all. I hope you’re happy.”
They ride in silence for a few minutes before he breaks.
“You were just so damn quick to tell Lavon that what we’re doing isn’t dating.”
His outburst takes her by surprise. “What?”
“And you were so adamant about it. Like the thought offended you or something.”
“This is what’s bothering you?”
“Do you think I’m not good enough?”
“What?”
“Is that what it is?”
She tries to put her hand on his arm but he pulls it away. “It has nothing to do with you.”
“Since I’m one half of whatever the hell that we’re doing I’m gonna go ahead and say it has something to do with me.”
When she doesn’t say anything he shakes his head.
Day Forty
It’s the first day that they don’t speak to each other. They don’t even see each other. He avoids her like the plague and she thinks that she’s too proud to go chasing after him but as the day draws to a close she knows that she’s not too proud to admit that she misses him.
Night Forty Two
As soon as her knees hit the bed he’s awake and she leans back, not prepared for him to be that light of a sleeper.
“What are you doing here?” He rolls over so his back is to her and she plays with the hem of her shirt.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“And the middle of the night is the time to do that?”
“You won’t even look at me during the day. And you know if you really didn’t want me here you should’ve locked your door.”
“I won’t make that mistake again.”
There’s a beat of silence and even though she can only see the shadows playing across his face she can tell that he regrets the way that came out.
“What do you want to talk about? Make it quick.” He adds to make sure she doesn’t think that this is him apologizing. “I’d like to go back to sleep.”
When she doesn’t say anything he groans and rolls onto his back. “Zoe.”
She leans forward and acts on a whim when she presses her mouth to his.
“I didn’t expect you to be this way. I never thought that you would be okay with this. I never thought that you’d get here first. You beat me to it. I thought I would have some time to adjust.” She says quietly as he slowly sits up. “I just thought that I’d be waiting for you, not the other way around.”
He watches her for a moment until it makes her uncomfortable because in the last forty days they’ve either been talking or kissing or some combination of both of them and now she’s not sure what to do with this awkward silence.
“Wade.”
His hand slides around the back of her neck and pulls her down for a kiss.
“I’ll wait for you. I’ll give you time.”
Day Forty Three
She loops her arm through this as they walk down the street and she smiles at the gossiping old ladies that stare at them.
Night Forty Four
He comes home with flowers for her and sets them on the table in front of his couch like it’s no big deal.
“You’re home early. What are these for?” She uncrosses her legs and sits forward. “What did you do?”
He laughs. “I didn’t do anything. I just saw them. Thought you would like them.” He sits down next to her and steals the remote.
The rush of affection that she feels hits her about the same time she realizes that she’s come to think of his place as home.
Night Forty Six
She cooks for him.
She tries to anyways and she mostly succeeds. It’s not perfect but it’s not inedible. He does his best to pretend that it’s good but he is not a good actor and she is perceptive so she rolls her eyes and pushes her chair back to stand and gather the plates.
“Fine. I tried to do something nice for you. I try to do something that a...” She stops abruptly, standing in front of him. she looks at him for a half second before trying to turn away but he’s quicker and his fingers warp around her wrist.
“What were you going to say?”
“Nothing.” Her hand slides away and he follows her to the sink.
“It’s something that a what would do?” He puts his hands on her hips. “You can say it.”
She looks up at him through her lashes and bites her lip.
“Like a girlfriend would do?” He supplies and she tries to get away but he holds strong. “You want to be my girlfriend?”
“Not if you’re going to be like this I don’t.”
He holds her tighter with his hands pressed to the small of her back and his lips pressing to the side of her neck. “Yes you do.” He says softly.
She’s quiet and lets him hold her until she agrees.
“Yeah.”
Day Forty Seven
“Lavon, I feel like we need to tell you something.”
“Good morning Lavon, how are you Lavon?” He points the spatula at her. “That’s how you’re supposed to greet someone.”
“Right. Sorry.” She abandons Wade by the door and strides over to the counter in front of Lavon. “Good morning Lavon, how are you Lavon?”
“I’m freaking out. What do you need to tell me? Should I sit down?”
“No. I don’t think so.” She looks over her shoulder at Wade and he shakes his head. “No you don’t.”
“Alright.” Lavon says hesitantly, eyes darting back and forth between her and Wade who has finally moved from the door to stand next to Zoe. “Shoot.”
“Okay. Wade and I are official. We are officially dating.” She waits for a reaction from Lavon that simply doesn’t come. “Me and Wade.” She points at him. “Dating. Boyfriend and girlfriend.” She drops her hands on the counter. “Do you have anything to say about it?”
Lavon shrugs. “What do you want me to say? It’s about time?” He smiles and nods and then pats Zoe on the shoulder. “Congratulations.” He says before he starts up a conversation with Wade and Zoe is left standing there wondering how everyone else managed to see this coming.
Night Fifty
She’s going on and on about her day and she’s so into her story about how much of a jackass Brick was that day that she doesn’t even realize that he’s not saying anything; he’s not chiming in with his usual smartass remarks or sarcastic comments until he interrupts her with his hand covering hers.
“I love you.”
She takes a deep breath and he laughs.
“I didn’t know how to say it so I just blurted it out. I hope that’s okay. And judging by the look on your face I’d have to say that it’s not.” He pulls his hand away. “Alright then.” He looks around uncomfortably and makes a move to stand up but her hand darts across the table to grab his arm.
“Wait. I love you too.”