EPILOGUE
CAPESIDE
A Sunday in August 2005
There was little movement on the streets of downtown Capeside as Joey walked down Second Street with a paint can swinging in her hand. A smile started to creep up in the left corner of her mouth as her eyes soaked in the extent her hometown had embraced her painting. What for years had been a weedy abandoned lot had become one of the most-photographed places in Capeside. Joey had laughed out loud to read that small fact on the small wooden sign in the gazebo.
"Wonder who took that statistic," Joey smirked to herself.
As she stood by the fountain in the foreground of her painting, Joey looked around and realized this was the best gift anyone had given or would ever give her. Joey thought Pacey could never surpass his first gift – the challenge of an empty wall. Now she had learned the greatest lesson in loyalty from him.
Bessie finally admitted to her that Pacey had tried to plant flowers and take care of the mural by himself a couple years ago before he finally got the city's help with the landscaping.
"When the city wanted to buy the building, he panicked at first, but realized maybe he could finally let go of your memory and protect it at the same time," Bessie had said.
"My memory…sounds like I was dead or something." Joey murmured and trying to digest the strange reality in the metaphor.
Joey been thinking about a final touch her painting needed all summer, and today she would finish it before Pacey left. Five hours later, she looked up to see the sun at the highest point in the sky. She had been engrossed in painting several small details into the mural as the time passed quickly. When she looked back toward the street from her crouched position on her toes, Joey almost fell backwards when she saw the amount of people who had gathered along the sidewalk on both sides of the street. She stood up slowly, wondering what had captured everyone's attention. Suddenly, Joey realized the people of Capeside were whispering behind her back just like she felt they had all her life. Just as she was turning back to her painting, hoping to conceal the look of disappointment and horror on her face, she heard the sound of applause. A sound she had never heard directed at her before. Joey, blushing severely, turned toward the street again quickly. She could not hold back the grin that took control of her face and crept into her eyes.
"This town's almost forgotten who the mysterious artist was," Joey recognized Andie's voice over her shoulder. "What's that face for, Joey? You making me feel like I don't belong here."
Andie wrapped her arms around her startled friend as Jen walked up from behind her capturing everything on her camcorder.
"Well, Dawson, Joey finally has this town eating out of her hands," Jen said into the camcorders microphone for Dawson's sake. "We had to get this on tape. How could he miss this moment."
"What moment?" Joey laughed to alleviate the embarrassment she felt. "What's going on? Please stop filming…please…OK, hello Dawson. " Joey finally said into the camera, but quickly looked away.
"Pacey, what's going on?" Joey pointedly questioned him as he walked in front of the camera and grinned, grabbing Joey around the neck to pose for the camera.
"Well, Andie noticed you here painting as she was driving into town," Pacey started.
"Yeah, I almost drove off the road because I thought someone was vandalizing your painting." Andie laughed. "I was about to kick butt."
"What are you guys doing here?" Joey continued to interrogate them, looking back toward the street nervously where people were coming and going but still watching what she was doing. "I mean here in Capeside."
"Well, how could we miss Pacey's send-off," Jen said, still holding the camera in front of her face.
"Oh, so, what do you guys think?" Joey directed her friends' eyes up toward the flock of gulls.
The three of them looked at each other hoping for a clue to a change that Joey might have made to the painting in the last few hours.
"Great, Joey," Andie said slowly still unsure what she was looking for.
Joey could feel Pacey, who still had his arm around her, squeeze her shoulder. He looked over at her staring up at her painting with such pride and contentment in her face. All that work he had done had all been for this moment, he thought, and it had been worth it. Joey looked up at Pacey shyly, but he could read the "thank you" in her eyes.
Andie, Pacey and Joey turned away from the painting toward the crowd that had been waiting to talk to Joey as if she were some local celebrity. Maybe they knew her history. Maybe they knew what she had been through this summer, or maybe they just appreciated her art. It did not matter to Joey any more. She was happy to see that she had made her mark on this town finally and Pacey had ensured it would last for a long time.
Jen lagged behind as she caught the entire mural on videotape to send to Dawson.
"Everything's going to be fine, Dawson," Jen said as her camera panned over a small word in the right corner of the painting. "What's this?"
"Sanctuary," Jen read softly into the microphone, as she brought the camera away from her face to get a closer look at the word, which glistened with new paint.
PACEY'S HOUSE
4 p.m.
Joey stepped down from Bessie's truck in Pacey's driveway. She walked slowly toward her small circle of old friends, her hands buried in her pockets. Their attention was focused squarely on Pacey, who was gesticulating wildly along with one of his funny stories. Joey smiled, and quietly watched them from the distance, remembering the last time they were together like this had been at the turn of the century before her actions tore them apart.
It had been a summer of healing for Joey as she resurrected her friendship with Pacey. His constant imposition in her life helped her dig herself from the hole where she had fallen. Putting her through hell was always Pacey's method of motivation.
Joey knew she had finally reached true freedom, and it had ironically happened in Capeside. She had chosen to stay when she had the freedom to leave if she wanted. This was her home and she had the chance to keep her mother's legacy alive in the bed and breakfast and make some more changes to this town as a graphic freelancer for the Capeside Clarion, the local daily paper.
Jen and Andie both burst our laughing at what must have been Pacey's personal punch line.
Joey finally made her presence known when she was within feet of them.
"What's all this?" Joey laughed. "This doesn't look much like a teary goodbye."
Both Jen and Andie noticed Pacey's face softened just at the sight of her.
Thirty minutes later after his friends said their final good-byes, Pacey sat down behind the wheel of his truck. He let his legs dangle out the door, still not committed to leaving yet, wishing he could massacre the butterflies in his stomach. Not only his chance had finally come to leave Capeside to finish college in Boston, but also the girl that he had been dreaming of for years was walking toward him to say goodbye. He was actually leaving her; was he insane?
"Well, Joey," Pacey smiled. "You still have about…um, 5 minutes to jump in the passenger seat and come with me…please"
Pacey reached out and grabbed her hand. "Be my roomie, please. What if I forget that I registered for a class and never go and then…one day I will remember that I forgot to go…but by then I would have failed, and then I have to come back to Capeside where…"
"Pacey," Joey laughed. "You'll be fine. And don't worry, I'll be up next weekend to make sure you're safe and sound."
"Well, will you be lonely here without your old chum?" Pacey begged for reassurance.
"Do you want me to be lonely?"
"Well, I'll be lonely." Pacey stuck out his bottom lip.
"Oh, you'll be happy to hear that I told Bessie 'yes'," Joey poked at his bottom lip to get him to put it back inside. "Now, she and the kids can move to Boston while Bodie goes to culinary school for the next two years. She promised to take over B&B detail every other weekend though, but it's all mine now."
"Wow, Potter the entrepreneur." Pacey laughed. "Well, you deserve it, since it was our idea. But I'll still be lonely.
"Pacey, it's your turn and you've earned it," Joey brought her face close to his, threateningly. "You'd better not blow it either."
He grabbed her cheeks and moved her head back and forth. "Potter, you always make me feel so much better," he said lacing his words with sarcasm.
"That's always been my job." Joey broke away from him. "Well, you'd better get on the road. Your roommate's going to take the good side of the room and all of the space in the medicine cabinet."
Pacey stepped down out of the truck to hug his friend. As they embraced, Pacey could not help but inhale with his face buried deeply in her hair. He wanted to save all the sensory images of Joey he could.
"Pacey," Joey whispered. "Go."
"OK, OK." Pacey let go of her hands and climbed back up in his truck. "Can you at least come to help me unpack?"
Joey rolled her eyes, but smiled as he shut his door. She lifted her arm to wave as he pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street. She turned to head back to her truck, trying to fight the lump in her throat. Most importantly, her heart burned with pride for Pacey. He deserved this.
The screech of breaks and the slamming of a car door did not register until she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Joey didn't even have time to jump before Pacey grabbed her in his arms, pulled her body close to him and covered her startled, partially open mouth with his. A kiss he'd dreamt about for years and suppressing all summer. A kiss she knew so well, but never ceased to make all her senses tingle.
Now Joey was completely sure she had come home.
The End