Snapshot: Café in Boston the next morning:

"You know, I think that some people just get lucky," Jen said rather matter of factly. "People like Dawson and Joey...they have it easy. They spend their whole lives together from the very start...from day one, there's no question about it." She looked out over the water at the rising sun, and then continued. "But you and me...we're the ones who have to search...we have to earn it...our route to happiness is a longer, harder road." She looked at him again. "Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know Jen...I don't know." Issac looked into her eyes then spoke directly. "Jen...Do you think she made a huge mistake last night?"

"Um..." She shifted uncomfortably. "It probably wasn't the best decision..."

Issac sighed heavily, putting his chin in his hands.

"No...you're right. It probably wasn't. You know I still love her? I have to forgive her. Otherwise I have learned nothing as a Christian. I know we weren't a couple but we were finding a way back to each other. I was a damn fool, I thought that things would be the way they were before she left but they weren't. It was like we were two different people again. And Will? I never saw it coming Jen...I guess I was too buried in my study to see clearly but he must been someone that Andie wanted. I guess he was willing to go where I could not. I'm not going to compromise my beliefs just to have her in my life Jen. At least Grams understands that. I've always wanted to make love to her so much, but it was too soon and I'd thought she understood."

"And you think you have it bad. What about my feelings for Dawson? Joey's been killing me since 10th grade. I mean first Dawson, then, Pacey, back to Dawson, and back to Pacey. I mean she's worse than a yoyo. Pick one and leave the other alone. When I took Dawson's virginity, she about had me killed but she wasn't really there for him back then." Jen giggled.

Issac had to laugh himself, while he turned his head away seeking some inspiration; Jen was content to let the quiet settle between them. Then she noticed his wry smile as he turned and faced her.

"Dawson and Joey don't have it easy Jen, I doubt if they are meant to stay together. He's so screwed up over the whole soulmates thing he can't think straight. I mean, you can't decide someone is your soulmate. That's committing yourself to endless heartache and disappointment. And who's to say that the person you decide is your soulmate feels the same way?"

Issac was warming to his topic.

"And what a huge amount of pressure to put on a relationship. "Oh, by the way, you're my soulmate Joey", no pressure there. And as for Joey. First she wants him. Then she doesn't. Then she doesn't want him but doesn't want anyone to have him and then she gets him and doesn't want him. Then he won't get over himself and accept her apology and sends her away, only to have Pacey fall in love with her and then not tell him. And you know what happened next. Dawson was darned buffoon. They deserve each other Jen, I pity the poor people that get between them, and they'll just get used up and hurt, like Pacey. Look at what he went through. Mind you, he's a white knight, always saving the damsel in distress. I always hope and pray that he'll get the love he deserves."

He laughed bitterly as he spoke and shook his head disgustedly. Jen chose not to reply. She felt he needed to say something else.

"You know Jen, I love Andie so much it hurts and I need her with all of my heart but I would never, ever go as far as calling us soulmates. Goodness, I mean, where are we now? Why did the girl I'm so utterly in love with have sex with Will? What did I do wrong? Is my love not enough? What have I done except love her without hesitation from the moment I first saw her and now become so completely consumed in despair? You know me Jen; you know where I stand on sex. I told Andie that as much as I wanted to, and I really wanted to, I just couldn't make love until I was married. "

"How did things come to this?" He looked at Jen pleadingly.

He buried his head in his hands and began to cry. Jen scooted closer to him in the booth and put her arms around his shoulders and looked out the window and wondered if Andie realised how much she was hurting Issac...

Snapshot: In another café in Boston a week later...

Andie just looked at her, trying to tell herself that Joey was crazy, but knowing she was right. She had loved Pacey but only for him. She loved Issac for him, and also for the person she became when she was with him.

"I mean, this thing with Zac is real, Andie. You obviously have something more with him than you did with Pacey; he allows you to grow outside yourself, to live and to feel, and I don't want to be the one to put a damper on that."

She watched Andie's eyes smile. No wonder Issac couldn't stand that look, he thought that she was gorgeous. How could he not resist her? He had to have had spent the past eighteen months alone without Andie, yet seeing her every day, every hour, every minute – suffering an exquisite torture and as soon as he was away from her for only a second he would have ached all over to see her again. Seeing her eyes smiling at the thought of him, Joey knew right then that Issac had spent the lonely nights resisting the desire to rush back and grab her, pulling her lips to his, forgetting in an instant of bliss all the hurt they both felt. But Issac would not have sex with Andie. Is that why she went off with Will?

Andie interrupted her thoughts. "But what if he can't forgive me? I hurt him so much...I've gone right back to junior year again with Pacey – I'm hurting someone again that loves me Joey, someone that may forgive me but won't forget and by not forgetting, he won't be able to love me. He's been though so much, so much time apart, waiting for me to come to my senses then this thing with Will happens. Why do I ruin everything I touch?"

Joey saw tears form in Andie's eyes, she reach out and squeezed her hand.

"I love him Joey, really love him and I have to find a way to work this out"...

Snapshot: Capeside, Issac's bedroom – Spring Break Andie's Freshman year

He never expected to see Andie during Spring Break. They were talking but every time they were together the conversation was fairly impersonal, mainly about school and their respective workloads. They would study together at times but there was always an underlying tension that they both recognised but were to afraid to confront.

He was reading in his bedroom when Andie appeared at his door.

"Hi" Andie stood in the doorway hesitating as if trying to convince herself that she should be here.

"Hey Andie, I didn't think you were coming home for the holidays?" he said trying not to sound too excited. Was this Andie coming to get back together he wondered.

"Well, I wasn't going to but, I needed a break you know?"

"Yeah I understand. "He could never be angry with her. Even people he had become friends with at kept telling him that he had every right to be angry with Andie. They all said that she had abandoned him and not told him they were breaking up only then to come home and start at Harvard only to end up sleeping with another guy. But he couldn't. He had even tried once to get angry at her but it was impossible. He realised the love he had for Andie was too strong and nothing would ever get in the way of that. He politely listened to his friends and cheerfully ignored their advice.

"So how are you?" Andie tentatively asked.

"I'm doing ok. Things at school are pretty much on track for finals so I'm pretty much in cruise mode."

Andie sat down in a chair across from Issac's bed. She looked around the room. It hadn't changed much apart from a noticeable lack of books and cds. She laughed to herself.

"What are you laughing about?"

"I'm waiting for your mother to come upstairs and catch us making out."

Issac giggled. "Well, not much chance of that happening. She's in New York with Dad and they wont be back until Friday. You remember that night?"

"How could I forget? You rolling off me and hitting the floor and your mother basically telling me to get out. I couldn't look her in the eyes."

"Wow, what a night. I remember going from feeling so happy just holding you and kissing you to dreading facing my parents and getting a lecture."

"Did they lecture you? You never said."

"It wasn't lecture so much as setting ground rules. I think they were surprised that their son was pretty serious about a certain girl.

"How serious?" Andie noticed Issac's eyes and his expression change as he spoke.

"You know" he said quietly. They both stared at each other in silence. Suddenly the feeling between them changed to something more serious. Issac was the first to speak.

"Andie I don't know the reason why, and I don't know why it is that we're apart and you had to leave."

"Issac-"Andie interrupted. Issac slid off the bed and kneeled in front of her resting his hands on the arms of the chair. Being this close he could inhale that intoxicating scent of hers which triggered a flood of happy memories.

"Andie let me finish. Did I ever say to you that I just need your love and I want you back? Because I truly do. I want you back again; I need you back in my life Andie. You said this isn't our time, but please give me time to get you back again." His eyes locked on hers while they both held their positions, neither one wanting to move or to speak next.

"Issac" Andie replied "I constantly dwell on the fact that I messed up something as perfect with you as I did with Pacey. Being in love with you was the one thing in my life that made sense. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for hurting you and for messing up the best thing that has ever happened to me. It's my fault that we're not together right now-"

"No it's not Andie!" Issac shouted and stood up facing away from Andie "I'm positive this is not your fault Andie. You have to stop beating yourself up all the time don't you see that? It's in the past, and I don't care honey, I never did."

"It takes two to tango Zac."

"And it shouldn't be the reason you run away from me now. Your past is the past for a reason. It's over, done, finished. It's about forgiveness Andie and you having done nothing for me to even think about forgiving you for."

"But Will?" Andie quietly replied.

"So what?" Issac wasn't going to go there.

This made Andie angry. "God! Why can't you for once stop being fricking perfect and get mad at me, yell at me for sleeping with another guy. Tell me how hurt you were.

"Why? So you can ease your conscience? Of course you hurt me but we weren't together were we? You'd left me and went off to Italy. I never could figure it out until now."

Andie rose from the chair her eyes blazing in fury and she turned to leave.

"Running away again Andie? Like you did before?"

"I'm not running away I just won't stay here with you." She turned back to him and snapped.

"No, because you're terrified." Isaac looked anguished. He didn't want her to go out that door. He was convinced now that if he let her, they would never have a future.

Andie stopped at the door. Issac's words had struck home. She could see the anguish on his face mirroring the feelings she had inside. One of the things she always loved about him was the way he was incapable of shielding his emotions.

"Please don't go Andie. Hear me out. I don't want to but I'll beg if I have to and I'm begging you now. Don't walk out that door.

"Maybe we would still be together this very day if I had fought for you. What I did to you was the most idiotic thing I have ever done in my life. I can't forgive myself for doing it. I was scared and felt stupid and I let fear that what we had was gone overwhelm my better judgement and that tears me up inside. I thought things would be so easy. I just figured that you'd come back and things would be the way they used to be. You were my first serious girlfriend Andie and the only woman I have ever really loved. But I was also incredibly naïve in that I believed that I didn't have to work at love. Because loving you Andie, was effortless." Issac sat on the bed and held his head in his hands and began softly crying.

Andie moved to him and placed her hand on his shoulders and kneeled down so she could face him. In a soft voice she said "When I first found out about your feelings for me I thought my heart had mended enough to get me through the day and possibly enough so that I could love someone again without fear that I might mess it up again. You so loved me, were so forgiving and comforting that it was easy to think that I was whole again. But there always was a shadow over my heart Zac and it was the thought of me loving another someone that wasn't Pacey terrified me."

Issac looked at her through his tears. "Why Andie? You never had to be terrified. I loved, no, still love you so much."

"Zac honey Pacey was my first love and I loved him for the longest time even after we broke up. He still owns a very huge piece of my heart even now. I guess I never fully recovered from our break up probably because I knew it was my fault. The days got a little better and I was able to live them with a little less pain but there is still a lot of pain there that I never dealt with and that's what I am doing now, dealing with the pain that I have had in me for four years."

"And that's why you ran away? You had to deal with that pain? Was Will you dealing with that pain?"

"I was so overwhelmed with your unconditional love and the way you put me up on this pedestal that I was scared. Scared of giving you my whole heart and trusting in you completely. I see now that Italy was not where I could become whole again but with you."

"But you told me you loved me and that you were never so happy." Issac said trying to fight back his tears.

"I did love you in my own way Zac. I admit finding out about Pacey and Joey threw me for a loop. Finding out she kissed Dawson after Pacey left bought back a host of memories I'd kept and in the process I forgot all of the bad. I promise you this here and now. I'll stop beating myself up about what I have done to you to me to us. Zac you're so loyal, trustworthy and have so much love to give that you deserve someone who'll love you forever and never hurt you in any way. Someone who loves you so completely that just being in the same room with you makes the day worthwhile. In my heart I know that I want to be that person again for you. Remember that." Andie bit her lower lip and smiled at Issac. He looked hopefully at her taking in what she had said.

"I'll be here waiting Andie. I don't want anyone else but you."

They put their arms around each other and hugged for some time. Both were reluctant to let go. Andie kissed his cheek and stood up.

"I better go Zac. I'll see you at school next week."

"I'll meet you in the library café on Tuesday after American History ok?"

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye Andie."

Andie headed downstairs with a grin on her face while Issac lay down staring at the ceiling with a smile. Something had healed between them and both felt it was a start of something. Andie felt she had laid to rest the ghost of Pacey at last. But they both knew it would take time...