Disclaimer: I don't own Dawson's Creek.
I picked up the phone and dialed the prison's number.
"Yes, hello, can I speak to Michael Potter, please?" I asked when someone picked up the phone.
"One moment, please," the woman on the other said. "Potter, phone call!"
"Hello?" Michael asked into the phone.
"Hey, Mr. Potter, it's Pacey. Pacey Witter?" I told him, trying to see if he remembered me, because I had a very important question to ask him.
"Oh, yes, you're one of Joey's friends…boyfriend…which one are you guys currently?"
I silently chuckled. Yeah…that's happened a lot.
"Boyfriend. Two amazing uninterrupted years," I answered him. "I was calling for a very important reason."
"You wanna know if you can marry my daughter."
"How the Hell do you know that?"
"Why else would you be calling me? I'm ninety-nine percent sure that you wouldn't just want to have a chat."
He had a point.
"Look, Mr. Potter, I love your daughter. I've loved her for eleven years. I, just, God I can't imagine my life without her. She has always been The One in my book. Whether she or I were dating other people, I was always in love with her. So, after that, can I have your permission to marry her?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Did you just say I could marry her? I've got some wax in my ears," I said, not believing of what I had just heard.
There was a chuckle on the other end.
"Yes, you can. Now, what have you got planned?"
"I'm going to make a romantic dinner tomorrow with pasta and chocolate cake. When she's finished, I'm going to get down on one knee and ask her. Hopefully she'll say yes."
"She will," he reassured me. "I gotta go, but tell me how it goes, huh?"
"Will do, Sir. Will do."
The next night at six, I looked at the table. The perfectly set table settings, the lit candles, the dim lighting. I looked down at my tux and felt that the ring was still in my pocket.
Joey walked in through the door. She looked in shock at the table.
"What is all this?" she asked me as she set down her coat.
"I, uh, just wanted to make you a nice dinner," I told her. "Spaghetti, red wine, a little candlelight."
"Did I forget our anniversary or something?"
"Not that I can remember."
"Well." She looked at me with a smile on her face that gave me butterflies. "I'll go change into something a little more worthy of tonight."
She walked into our bedroom and five minutes later appeared in a red dress that was my favorite on her.
"H-Hi," I stuttered again, then yelled at myself.
Stop stuttering! She's going to know something's up!
"You okay?" she said. "You seem nervous."
"Nothing's wrong. Come on, sit down." I pulled her chair out for her and brought her some of the spaghetti I made. "Would you like some pasta, madam?"
She laughed at my bad attempt at a French accent and nodded.
"Pacey, you're amazing," she said as I poured her a glass of wine. "I mean, you make all this for no reason at all?"
Oh, there's a reason, I thought. I just hope you like the reason.
"Well, you know," I shrugged as if it was no big deal, "I just wanted to do something special for the love of my life."
"I love you too." She smiled as I served myself some pasta and wine. "Always have, always will."
She smiled as we ate and talked about our days. She had a good day at work and so did I, though I didn't say that half of my day I was distracted and messed up because I was so nervous about tonight.
We finished our pasta and half an hour and I brought out each of us a piece of chocolate cake.
"Pacey, you baked, too? You never cook. What's gotten into you?" Joey inquired, looking at the chocolate cake. I could see her mouth watering.
"I just wanted to do something special for my girl," I answered. "There's nothing wrong with that." She took a hesitant bite of my chocolate creation and smiled, eyes rolling back in her head and groaned. I smiled. "Delicious?"
She didn't answer, just nodded.
I felt my pocket again for the ring. When we put down our forks a few minutes later, she smiled at me.
"This was such a great night, Pace. I love you so much," she said.
"Well," I said, grasping the ring box and slowly pulling it out of my right pocket, "it's not over yet."
As I got down on one knee, she gasped.
"Pacey—"
"Let me talk," I interrupted. "I love you. I love you so much. It's been you and only you these past eleven years. Whenever you chose me over anybody else, I was elated. I want to make a life with you. I want to have a ring on your finger, showing everybody that you're finally mine for life. I want kids and a yard and I want to grow old with you. So, Josephine Potter, will you marry me?"
"YES!" Joey screamed, throwing herself into my arms and kissing me. "I love you."
"Are you crying?" I wiped her tears. "Don't cry, please don't cry."
"I just love you so much."
"I love you too," I told her. "Do you want the ring?"
Joey nodded and I put it on her finger.
"Perfect," she observed, tears still in her eyes.
"Perfect," I repeated, kissing her and feeling her tears come down her cheeks onto mine. I pulled away and continued to wipe away her tears. "Don't cry."
"Okay," Joey said. "I'm just so happy."
"I'm happy, too."
She kissed me again.
"I'm happy, too," she repeated. "I'm happy, too."