Mr. Wonderful

 Conclusion

by Jade

Disclaimer: You should know the drill by now.

Author's Note: It's been great fun. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading Mr. Wonderful as much as I have writing it. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think at pacey@hockeymail.com Thank you and don't forget to keep dreaming! J

Music:

I'll Say Good-bye For the Two of Us  by Exposé. Lyrics by Diane Warren

Have I Told You Lately? by Van Morrison. Lyrics by Van Morrison

 "When are you going to call him?"

"Stacy, are you trying to get me to move out? All you have to do is ask."

"Joey!"

They've been having the same argument for a week now. Stacy felt obliged to make sure that her friend didn't make a mistake, especially since she's met Pacey herself and liked him on sight. And she did consider herself a good judge of character as well.

The telephone sprang to life.

Stacy reached for it as Joey escaped into the kitchen. "Count yourself lucky," the former called out.

"Saved by the bell," Joey mumbled as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

The first thing she saw when she stepped back into the living room was Stacy's stricken look. 

"What?" she asked, concerned.

"Joey, someone left a message at the office. I think you'd better get down to the hospital."

She could see through the small pane of glass on the door. 

He was asleep.

She hated to think that he might have had been alone for the night and was relieved to see that he had company. Rachel had dozed off in a chair beside his bed.

She opened the door and closed it gently behind her. Taking silent steps, she stopped by his bed and looked at his slumbering figure. His head was bandaged and his left hand was in a cast. Covering her mouth, she suppressed a sob as tears started to fill her eyes.

Rachel opened her eyes and saw Joey standing on the other side of the bed. The latter mouthed an apology for waking her up. Rachel smiled slightly in response and pointed to the door. Joey nodded and they made their way outside the room.

"I just heard. I'm sorry, I know it's probably not a good idea for me to be here."

"Joey, don't worry about it," Rachel assured her.

Joey crossed her arms and shivered at the thought of the accident. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He has a minor concussion and his hand is hurt. Some cuts and bruises but nothing too serious. The doctor says he'll be fine in a few days," Rachel hesitated a second before adding, "Do you want to sit with him?"

"No, no.  I can't. Just tell him I dropped by."

"Okay."

"Did they catch the driver who ran the red light?"

Rachel nodded. "The police came by last night."

There was an awkwardness between them. They didn't know what else to say, as they delved into their own thoughts about each other and the man they both loved.

Joey broke the silence. "How's the apartment?"

Rachel shrugged, in an attempt to be nonchalant about it. "Oh, we didn't do it."

"What do you mean?"

"We broke up."

Joey was caught off-guard. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said leaning her head against the wall. "I guess it's true, what they say. Tears, there's only so many of them to go around. Someone starts to cry, someone else stops." She bit her lower lip to stop it from quivering. "Not like happiness."

"No," Joey replied. "I hope not."

She was sitting by the window, staring out into the night, with the radio playing softly in the background when she heard a knock on the door.

She looked into the peep-hole and wasn't exactly surprised to see him. Opening the door, she said, "Come on in."

There was still gauze on his forehead but other than that, he seemed fine. 

"How are you?"

Pacey smiled. "I'm all right. A little sore but glad to be alive," he joked.

She controlled the urge to throw herself into his arms and bury her face in his chest. "You want something to drink?"

"No, thanks."

"Why don't we sit down?"

He reached for her hand and stopped her in mid-stride.

"I wanted to give you this," he said, reaching into his pocket and produced a small box.  He handed it over to her. "It belongs to you."

She opened it and was caught between laughter and tears as she ran her fingers over the single key that lay inside. Attached to it was a tiny key chain that read "Lucy".

"She's parked downstairs, all cleaned up and repaired."

The tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

"She misses you." So have I, he longed to say.

She didn't know what else to say. "I can't take this," she whispered.

"Take it. Lucy likes you better anyhow."

She seemed like she was going to say something more but the song playing over the radio at that moment distracted her from her thoughts.

"I realized how hard it is to tell you this

I'm trying to make it through this

Say good-bye just as gently as I can

Please try to understand

The time's just not the time for us

We knew I couldn't stay

But that don't make it easier to leave you

So while I can find the strength

I'll say good-bye for the two of us

Tonight, while you sleep

I'll kiss you softly one last time and say goodbye

Like I know we must

There's just no other way

And I couldn't bear to see your heart break

So I wait till you're asleep

To say goodbye"

They listened in silence and then she met his eyes. She sensed it even before he said it.

"I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow."

His words hit her with the impact of a rock. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Blinking away her tears, she knew she wasn't dreaming up the anguish in his eyes. Stay, she begged silently, Please.

He was just too tired to go on like this. He had loved Joey for as long as he could remember and would for the rest of his life. If she told him right now to stay, he probably would drop everything and do so. Otherwise, he owed it to himself not to wallow in depression and get on with living.

She still hadn't said a word.

The clock struck ten. It was time to go.

He reached out a hand. "May I have this last dance?"

She put the box down and returned the gesture. She was instantly enveloped in the scent and warmth of him.

Say something, she told herself. But she simply couldn't bring herself to do it.

Have I told you lately that I love you

Have I told you there's no one above you

You fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles

That's what you do

She wiped the tears off her face before they hit his shoulder. It seemed an irony that he made her happier and at the same time, sadder, than anyone else ever did.

His face was buried in her hair and as the song neared its end, they moved apart and he leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead.

"Good-bye, Joey."

He let go of her and didn't turn back once as he walked out the door.

She began to cry. The hardest she's ever cried in her life.

"Are you coming?"

"What?"

Joey had been staring into space and hardly paid any attention to what was going on around her. It was the first time in the last half-an-hour that she had looked away from her blank computer screen.

Stacy sighed. "Dinner."

She shook her head and took off her glasses. "No, you go ahead without me."

"Joey, you have to eat."

"I'm not hungry now. Maybe later."

To avoid further argument, Joey turned her chair around and pretended to tidy up her desk.

Stacy took the hint. "Don't be home too late."

"Umm hmm," Joey replied.

When Stacy was out of sight, she stopped doing what she was doing. Grabbing her bag, she took a trip to the ladies' down the hall. 

The reflection that she saw in the mirror didn't look like her. They had the same hair and the same clothes but she didn't recognize her own face. She had lost weight and her cheeks were sunken. The dark bags under her eyes still looked visible, no matter how much concealer she had used in the morning.  She was pale and looked sickly.

Bending toward the sink, she started to splash cold water onto her face and then she wiped it dry with a paper towel and got back to work.

It was eight-thirty the next time she glanced at the clock. She had managed to get through one quarter of the way through her article but it wasn't even up to half her usual standard. She looked around her and saw that the office was nearly empty now, except for about ten people still scattered about it. 

She decided it was useless to stay back any later and started to throw her things into her tote bag when she heard murmurs amongst her colleagues. Ignoring them, she continued with her packing.

They just got louder and louder until she found herself staring into a pair of Gucci loafers. She knew to whom they belonged even before she looked up.

"Hello, Dawson."

He took her hand. "Come on, let's go some place where we can talk in private."

They exited the office before any of her colleagues could recover from their shock and approach him for an autograph.

"The rooftop," Joey said. "We can talk there."

A couple of chairs and a table adorned the area where the staff considered their "recreation room". Whenever someone longed for a smoke or simply to take a breather, this would be the place to go.

Joey closed her eyes against the wind and waited for Dawson to say something.

"I can't always be here to pull you out of the doldrums," he reasoned. Grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around to face him, he raised his voice, "Look at you! This isn't the Joey I know."

He couldn't evoke a reaction out of her. Her eyes remained dull and lifeless.

"Joey! This is stupid! Both of you are as stubborn as mules." He let go of her and she listlessly fell to the ground at his feet.

He dropped to his knees, maintaining eye contact and said, "I've seen Pacey and you both look terrible."

She turned her face toward him.

He grazed her cheek with the back of his hand. "He's waiting for you to tell him you love him and you're afraid to do so because you don't think that's going to be enough for him." Using his thumb, he wiped the wetness off her cheeks. "The job means nothing if you're not going to be there with him. Do you understand?"

The anguish on her face was enough to bring tears to his own eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her like a child. "Joey, please pull yourself together. You've always been the strong one."

Her shoulders shook from the intensity of her sorrow as she let herself cry.

He held her until her crying subsided and she began to hiccup with each slowing flow of tears. Finally she stopped altogether.

From beneath his chin, she whispered, "I love him, Dawson. What should I do?"

Dawson moved his head aside and looked down at her. "You already know what to do." With that, he helped her to her feet. "There's a limousine downstairs waiting to take you to the airport. The next plane out to Chicago leaves in an hour."

She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you."

He hugged her tightly. "Go, so that I can go home to my beautiful wife," he said against her hair.

She chuckled softly and separated herself from him. She smiled. Then she made a run for it.

Pacey raised his gaze to the sky as he watched the raindrops fall faster and harder. "Drats," he muttered under his breath. He should have left the office earlier, he thought.

He knew that it wouldn't be easy to hail a cab in this weather. There wasn't even one in sight now.  Deciding it might be a better idea to take the subway if he wanted to get home anytime soon, he wrapped his coat more tightly around him and made a dash for the nearest station five minutes away.

He was thoroughly drenched even as he ran. Seeing no point in hurrying, he slowed down to a walk and reveled in the feel of the rain against his face.

His eyes closed, he paused in his stride.

"Pacey!"

He thought he heard Joey in the distance. He had to be hallucinating, which wasn't much of a surprise to him since his daily thoughts were of nothing else but her.

He took a step forward.

"Pacey!"

This time, the voice was closer and he wasn't so certain he was just hearing things.

Swinging his body back, he was greeted by a vision. He blinked.

She was still there.

Joey was standing about eight feet from him. She was as drenched as he was. With her hair plastered to her face and her clothes, to her body, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on.

"Don't say anything!" She was yelling to be heard above the rain storm. "You can't say we're not right for each other because the way I see it, we may not be right for anybody else!"

Joey couldn't see Pacey's expression from where she was standing. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward him until she stood in front of him.

She gave him no chance to speak.

"I don't want to be selfless. I want you to love me," she pleaded.

Pacey felt like he was in a dream. He reached out to touch her face and it was real. He brushed the hair off her face, like he always did and broke into a hint of a smile.

"You had me a long time ago."

Joey didn't know where her tears ended and the rain began. All she knew was that he was looking at her, with all the love in the universe shining in his eyes.

"I love you," she said simply and honestly, without hesitation.

He cupped her face in his hands and leaned forward to place his lips on hers. "I love you," he whispered against her mouth.

He seized her in a smouldering kiss and she kissed him back, with all her heart, utterly oblivious of the fact that they were still in the rain.

This is where I belong. She was already half-way to Paradise.

Epilogue

"Honey...I think you'd better come take a look at this."

He wiped his hands with a piece of cloth and took off his apron as he strode out of the kitchen, toward her. He put his arm around her shoulders and looked to see what she was staring wide-eyed at.

His jaw dropped. "What on earth is that?"

The man with the cap, stood in the doorway and motioned for her to sign the delivery slip.

"Mrs. Witter, right here please."

Joey took the pen from the man and only looked away for a second to print her signature.

"Where do you want it?" he asked.

Pacey gestured toward the bedrooms. "The first room on the left."

They moved aside as they watched the delivery men shift the huge piece of furniture as if it weighed nothing. When they were done, they looked at the still-speechless couple.

"We'll just close the door behind us."

Long after the men had left, they were still afraid to touch the wood.

"I can't believe Dawson did this. This piece of antique must have cost a bomb!"

Joey stepped forward to run her fingers over the intricate details on the baby cot. "He probably realized that since we're making him a godfather, he'd better make himself useful."

Pacey raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged and burst into laughter. He started to laugh too.

He walked over to the bed and sat himself down. "Come here," he said, taking his wife's hand. She came to stand between his legs and he put his arms around her abdomen, while she tousled his hair.

He bent forward to kiss her tummy. "How's my little one doing?"

"Not too bad today."

"And how's Mommy doing today?"

"Not too good."

He looked at her worriedly. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah. I'm fat."

Pacey let out a cry of laughter. "Sweetie, you're seven months' pregnant."

"I look like a bear."

"No, you don't," he insisted.

"You don't have to be nice about this."

"More like a whale, I would say."

She was indignant and hit him lightly on the head. "You're one to talk. You got me into this mess in the first place."

He grinned. He tugged her and she leaned forward to offer him easier access to her mouth.

When they finally pulled apart, he found himself mesmerized as always by the clarity of the emotions that flickered in her brown eyes.

He had been prepared to leave Chicago but Joey refused to hear of it. She had willingly given up her job, packed up and moved across the country, just to be with him. Her sacrifice had been worth the while as he had risen up the corporate ladder in the past four years. She, too, had carved a niche in the world of journalism with a prominent magazine based in the city. Two years ago, he had proposed to her in, where else, but the rain. 

He had been sheltering her under an umbrella as they ran for the building where she worked. He had kissed her good-bye and then there was the familiar twinkle in her eyes as she whispered, "I love you."

He had crossed the road and then something made him turn back and shout, "Marry me!"

She stopped in her stride and stared in amazement at him. Then she slowly began to grin.

"Yes!" she shouted back.

He ran back across the road and yanked her in his arms. She squealed in delight as he swirled her around and then stopped long enough to give her a kiss that signified the beginning of another life together...

He was still staring.

"What?"

"I hope we have a girl, so that she would have your eyes."

She started sniffling. "Are you trying to make me cry?"

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. Looking solemnly at her, he said, "Promise you'll always look at me with that light in your eyes."

She took his hand and kissed it.

"I promise," she whispered.

The End