Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the song. I also don't have anything worth suing me for, so I wouldn't waste my time trying if I was you.

Seasons in the Sun

Chapter One

Capeside 2009

Joey's mother had died of cancer when Joey was only a child. She had grown up parentless, her sister playing both the roles of sister and mother. She owed a lot to Bessie, and as she walked toward the B&B she thought about what she was going to say to her today. This was going to kill Bessie. Ten year old Alex was playing in the yard with 8 year old Lily.

"Hey Aunt Jo, mom's in the kitchen helping dad cook dinner. Are you staying for dinner tonight?"

"Not tonight, honey. I have to go home and cook dinner for Uncle Pacey and Michelle."

"Oh. Ok. I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, you two have fun. And be careful."

"We will, Aunt Jo."

Joey started walking toward the back door. She still had no idea how she was going to tell Bessie. If it was this hard to tell her sister, how was she ever going to tell Pacey. Joey couldn't really believe it herself, how did she expect them to take the news. When she entered the B&B she could here Bessie and Bodie having a good time cooking dinner together. It broke her heart to hear them so happy. She walked up to the kitchen doorway and just watched for a couple of minutes.

"Hey," she finally said, softly.

"Joey, I didn't know you were coming over tonight. I thought you had an appointment with the doctor? What's up?"

"I…I was on my way home and I wanted to stop and talk to you about something."

"I'll just go upstairs and check on the bathroom. We're having problems with it again. I'll leave you two alone," said Bodie.

"No. I want to talk to both of you. Please stay," said Joey.

"Okay. Are you alright Jo? You look like something is bothering you. What did the doctor say?" asked Bodie.

"Um…he said…I mean…nothing's for sure yet…they're still waiting for some test results, but…well…I'm dying."

"What?" cried a shocked Bessie.

"Yeah, I have a tumor on one of my ovaries. The doctor's pretty sure it's cancerous."

"Can't they do something? I mean there are treatments right?" said Bessie, who was crying uncontrollably by now.

"It's too late. We didn't catch it in time. I can try radiation and chemotherapy but they don't think it will do any good. The doctor doesn't know how much longer I'll live. Maybe only a couple of weeks." Joey was crying now too, and shaking so badly she could hardly stand up. Bodie and Bessie both came over and put their arms around her.

"How did Pacey take it?" asked Bodie after a few minutes.

"He doesn't know yet. I haven't been home since the doctor. I don't know how to tell him."

"Oh, Joey. Why? Why did this have to happen to you?"

"I don't know. I don't want to die."

Joey stayed at the B&B for a little while longer because she needed to calm down before going home to face Pacey. She finally got up to leave after promising Bessie that she would call as soon as the test results came in and she had made a decision about treatment. As she drove back to her own home, the house Jen had lived in with Grams, she thought about her time with Pacey. They had gotten married a year after college and moved back to Capeside so that Joey could be close to Bessie and Bodie. Joey took a job at the high school teaching art and Pacey teaching English. A year after marrying they had a daughter, whom they named Michelle. That was two years ago, and now at the age of 26, Joey was dying. Joey pulled into her driveway, got out of the car, took a deep breath, and went inside. Pacey met her at the door with a worried look on his face.

"Where were you? You should have been home hours ago."

"I stopped to see Bessie and Bodie."

"What did the doctor say?" Pacey asked, still looking worried.

"The doctor…" that's all she could say before breaking into tears again.
"Jo?" said Pacey, with tears in his eyes. "No…"

Joey couldn't say anything so she just nodded slightly.

"NO!!!!!!!" shouted Pacey, and then he grabbed his keys off the table and ran out the door, leaving Joey behind to sink to the floor in tears.

Three months later

Pacey held onto Michelle tightly, willing himself to be strong for her. He looked around with tears in his eyes at the large group of people surrounding him. Bessie and Bodie were here with Alex and Dawson was here with his parents and sister. Jen, Jack, Andie and Grams were standing behind them. Pacey's parents were there with Gretchen and Doug. Any of the students who knew Joey, either from an art class or just because she was the most popular teacher at Capeside High were there too. Drue Valentine was standing at the back of the crowd with his head hung down. Pacey blocked them all out as the minister started talking about how wonderful Joey had been and how lucky they all were for knowing her. Michelle started crying. She was too young to understand what was going on, she only knew that her mother wasn't with her anymore. Her mother wasn't going to be with her ever again. At the proper moment, Pacey stepped forward to drop flowers onto the casket. When the funeral was over everybody came to console him and give him hugs and tell him how sorry they were that Joey was dead. Nobody understood what he was going through though. Nobody understood that he didn't know how he was going to go on without Joey. He knew he had to of course, for Michelle's sake, but how? Bessie took Michelle home with her and Pacey stayed while the cemetery crew filled in the fresh grave. Then he just sat there, staring at the pile of dirt. He didn't cry…couldn't cry. He had cried in the past, and he knew he would cry in the months to come, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to cry now. So he just sat there for hours, staring at the grave of his wife…his soul mate. Finally he got up to leave, but before he got very far he turned around and walked back to her grave.

"I love you, Jo, I'll always love you," he whispered. And from somewhere in the distance he heard a response, whispered back to him and carried by the wind. "I love you too, Pacey."