A/N: Based on the movie, with lyrics by The Who. Another dark one shot. You've been warned. :)
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He rode the streets of the city most days and nights. Not by taxi. Not by subway. Not by foot. He rode the streets of the city on his scooter.
Some would consider him a child. And in most cases he acted as one. But what he had lost was much more profound than that of a child. Or at least what a child should have to go through. Or anyone at all.
And he had lost from the very beginning of his days. Both his father and mother died when he was just a kid.
Not as quickly as he had lost, he gained. A wife and three small girls.
And then even quicker, in only one day, he had lost again. And this time there was no gain.
Since then there had been no rain in New York. No heavy downpour. Not even a few sprinkles. Nothing. Just blue skies, clouds, fog, wind, sun, and the threats of a much needed shower. But the threats weren't enough. Since then there had simply been no rain.
Only love
Can make it rain
The way the beach
Is kissed by the sea
Only love
Can make it rain
Like the sweat of lovers
Layin' in the fields
"Pacey?!" Was that even him? "Pacey Witter?!" Dawson got out of his car and yelled at the disheveled looking man who whizzed past him on a… a scooter.
He tried to catch up to him but had no such luck. So a couple weeks later when he saw the same man yet again he was sure to stop him this time. "Pacey Witter!"
Brake. The man slowly came to a stop on his scooter and looked at Dawson confused.
"Do I know you?"
"Pacey it's Dawson Leery. We were college roommates," He paused, "You used to walk around the apartment naked."
"Dawson Leery?"
Love
Reign o'er me
It had been a couple months since Dawson and Pacey rekindled their lost friendship. And it had been hard because whenever Dawson brought up Pacey's abandoned dental schooling or his deceased family, Pacey shut himself off from the world. Often becoming aggressive and violent.
Dawson was never once afraid of his heartbroken friend. He knew Pacey would do no harm to anyone. He was a good guy. He was a good father. He was a good husband. But that had been buried beneath the rubble on that fatal day.
Every time Dawson saw Pacey shut himself off from the world and put his head phones on, drifting off into the lyrics, he felt guilty. When Dawson's dad died Pacey had been there for him. Made him see that what happened was not his fault.
But when Dawson heard about Pacey's family he tried calling him a few times and with no luck reaching him, he gave up. Pacey would never have given up on him.
Love
Reign o'er me
Rain on me
Rain on me
Since that day there had been no rain in New York. No heavy downpour. Not even a few sprinkles. Nothing. Just blue skies, clouds, fog, wind, sun, and the threats of a much needed shower. But the threats weren't enough. Since then there had simply been no rain.
"I know I need help." Pacey spoke softly, his eyes dark like they always were.
And Dawson knew, or at least prayed, that his best friend would get that help.
Only love
Can bring the rain
That makes you yearn
To the sky
Only love
Can bring the rain
That falls like tears
From all high
"Wow, it's beautiful up here." Dawson said, admiring the view from the top of the Empire State Building.
"I can't believe this is your first time here. Haven't you been in New York for over three years?"
"Yeah, but…" Dawson looked down nervously at his hands, "I just don't have the time. Between Sarah, work, the kids…"
Pacey nodded, "I guess I'm just one of the rare few with all the time in the world."
"I don't know…Sometimes I just wish Sarah wasn't as hard on me. I mean I love her, I really do. But she wants me to share everything with her and then when I do she gets angry."
"That's fucked up, man."
Then silence fell between them, both too lost in their own thoughts as they looked down on the life below them, from all high.
Love
Reign o'er me
Rain on me
Rain on me
"Is this session over?" Pacey asked his psychiatrist anxiously.
"Do you want it to be?"
"Yes."
"Then it's over."
And this is how it went at his sessions. Sometimes better than others.
Love
Reign o'er me
Rain on me
Rain on me
After his appointment, which he had cut short like most days, Pacey rushed out the door to meet Dawson in the hall.
But this day was different.
Pacey sat down in the chair next to Dawson, his music singing from the headphones worn around his neck. "I had a wife and three girls."
Dawson listened closely to the story he read about in the paper. Why did his college roommate, who used to walk around the apartment naked and sleep walk, have to go through so much heart ache and loss? And he thought his life was shitty.
Dawson listened to Pacey using both ears which wasn't too common for him. He never once lost eye contact. Never once thought about how late for dinner he was going to be.
Because, even though he was too manly to admit it out loud, he fucking loved Pacey Witter. He was his best friend.
On the dry and dusty road
The nights we spent apart alone
I need to get back home
To cool cool rain
"Sarah I know I don't talk to you enough about things." A beat. "I don't wanna be the guy who shuts you out."
A few beats.
"I know, baby. Just come home. I love you."
I can't sleep and I lay and I think
The night is hot and black as ink
Woo Oh God I need a drink
Of cool cool rain
They think he doesn't remember them. They think he doesn't even think about them.
What the fuck do they know?
He sees them everywhere he goes. He rides his scooter in the black night, seeing their faces on other peoples'. He lays in bed and thinks about the last thing he said to his wife. He had been angry with her.
And so he drinks. Because the drunker he gets the less he has to see or think.
Love
Reign o'er me
Rain over me
Over me
Over me
But he doesn't drink much anymore. Only root beer.
He still sees them. Everywhere.
He still thinks about them. All the time.
Love
Reign o'er me
On me
Only difference now… He doesn't avoid it.
Love...
Some would consider him a child. And in most cases he acted as one. But what he had lost was much more profound than that of a child. Or at least what a child should have to go through. Or anyone at all.
And he had lost from the very beginning of his days. Both his father and mother died when he was just a kid.
Not as quickly as he had lost, he gained. A wife and three small girls.
And then even quicker, in only one day, he had lost again. And this time there was no gain.
Actually there was. He gained a friend. Maybe even a few friends. And he gained part of his life back. He gained part of his heart back. Although, he knew half of it could never be filled again.
Since that day there had been no rain in New York. No heavy downpour. Not even a few sprinkles. Nothing. Just blue skies, clouds, fog, wind, sun, and the threats of a much needed shower. But the threats weren't enough. Since then there had simply been no rain.
Today, though, as Pacey rode his scooter through Central Park, he felt a wet drop on his shoulder. It couldn't be. He looked up at the sky, not seeing clouds but their faces.
Joey.
Grace.
Kate.
Sierra.
He felt his clothes soak as the ran began to pour down on him but he didn't give a damn.
Only love
Can bring the rain
That makes you yearn
To the sky
Only love
Can bring the rain
That falls like tears
From all high