Eddie looked into the eyes of someone so familiar and yet so changed from those that he used to know. Joey Potter. The girl he had never forgotten for the past eleven years, since the last time he had seen outside his house. Everything he had wanted in a woman and more. Even when he had hurt her and she believed there were no more chances for them to be together, she had still believed in him. That he was worth more than working in some dead-end job like his father.
Because of her, he was exactly where he was now. Everything boiled down to Joey giving his stories to Hudson who had in turn helped him get his place in the writers school.
He had never forgotten, but not once did he think he'd ever see her again. She had said it was too late and said goodbye. Yet here she was standing in front of him. Looking more beautiful than he remembered. She finally spoke to him, uttering nothing more than a simple "Hi."
"Hello Joey," Eddie's mind had gone blank and nothing more than that was he allowing to escape from his mouth, knowing that whatever he said would sound weak and insufficient. And he wanted whatever moments they had together to be nothing less than perfect.
Joey ended the silence between them by presenting an object to him and saying, "Could you sign this, please?"
Eddie begrudgingly looked away from her face and down at the object she was handing him, seeing that it was in fact a book, his own book to be precise.
"Have you read this?" he asked quietly.
"Every word, ten times over," Joey replied. "It's amazing, you've accomplished exactly what I knew you could. You're a writer, a real published writer. I'm so pleased for you. You can't even begin to contemplate how much so."
Eddie sat looking at her for a moment, before asking, "What are you doing here Joey?"
Slightly taken aback by the question, Joey answered, "I saw you were in town and I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you. You're living the way you should be Eddie and I'm glad no one stopped you, most of all yourself. You were born for this. Writing is part of who you are. I just needed to tell you that."
Eddie didn't know what to say. "Thank you Joey," he said earnestly. "Do you still want me to sign the book? I'm glad you liked it."
Joey looked at Eddie, with his pen poised, as if he was desperate to get her out of his eye line as quick as possible.
"Yes, thank you. I would love you to sign it," she told him almost disappointedly.
Eddie half smiled at her, before setting his pen to paper, signing the inside cover. Taking one last look he closed the book and handed it back to its owner. Smiling, he told her, "I hope you enjoy the next one."
Joey looked at him before telling him, "Keep writing Eddie, and I'll keep reading. Goodbye," and with one last glance into his eyes she walked out of the door of the bookstore, head held high, as if looking the world in the face. And with the closing of the door, Joey Potter was out of his life as quickly as she had come back into it.
Joey made her way to her favourite park bench before actually having the guts to sit down and open the book to where Eddie had wrote his message.
"I love you. Goodbye."
A single tear made its way down Joey Potter's perfectly creamy cheek.
(Pretend that everything after episode 612 All The Right Moves, never happened!)