Hello all!

Well here it is, the epilogue. It's a brief glimpse into their lives 6 years after the events of the rest of the story. I hope that it ties everything up okay. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Snowie

If You're Gone

Epilogue

Mojorn, California

Jen grinned as she stepped out of the rental car onto the streets of the small artsy town on the coast of California. Dragging Jack out to California to visit Dawson and Andie had been an inspired plan on her part.

And speaking of Jack...

She leaned into the open window of the car and glared playfully at her best friend. "You coming or what?"

Jack rolled his eyes at her, but smiled. He pointed to the cell phone at his ear and mouthed 'Andie'. Jen nodded. They had spent the past week in L.A. visiting with their friends, but had decided to take a trip out of the city, kind of spur of the moment. It figured that Andie was reading her brother the riot act over not calling first.

"No Andie," Jack said, rolling his eyes again. "We wanted to get out of the city... Mojorn... I know... I know... Yes, I can see that it's a gorgeous little town... Andie, we're there already. Yes, next time we will ask you first, but we didn't think that Dawson could get away... Overnight at least... We'll call you tonight... Yes... Yes..." Jack sighed. "I'm going now Andie... No... Andie! Goodbye!" He hung up the phone and locked eyes with Jen, both of them snorting with laughter.

"It's good that some things never change," Jen said softly.

She got a slightly far away look in her eyes, something that Jack had come to recognize. It was a look that she'd gotten often in the six years that had passed since Pacey and Joey had disappeared into the night. Sometimes the smallest thing would remind her of all that had happened that summer.

They hadn't even been able to say goodbye. Had never seen for themselves that Joey had come through her ordeal okay. Never knew what had become of their friends. Whether they were even all right...

Jack stepped out of the car, watching as Jen shook herself slightly and grinned at him. "Ready to explore?"

"Yeah," Jack said, looking around the town. This was Jen's gift to him. It was the local mecca of art galleries and specialty stores. Any kind of craft you could imagine could be found in a store somewhere along the twisty little streets. It was just his kind of place.

"Where to first?" Jen asked.

"Umm..." He spotted a small cafe not far down the street. "Breakfast?"

Jen laughed. "You're such a guy sometimes. Sure, let's get some breakfast." She was actually glad that he had made the suggestion. She was a little hungry herself.

She grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him towards the cafe. Jack laughed again, falling into step beside her. They entered the cafe and joined the small line at the counter.

Jen looked around the room as they waited for their turn. Booths and tables filled the space, making the room cozy but not too cramped. It was pretty full, but then it was 8:30 on a Monday morning.

She turned her attention back towards the line in front of her just as the woman in front of her stepped up to order.

"Morning Sammy!" The waitress said, smiling in recognition. "How are you?"

"Doing great Diane," Sammy said and Jen froze. The rest of the woman's words reached her as if from a distance as she focused on the voice itself. "My husband's not working you too hard is he?"

It was Joey... It had to be Joey...

"Not at all," Diane said. "Here for the usual?"

"Yup, thanks."

Was that even possible? Could it really be her?

"No problem," Diane said. She quickly jotted down a few notes and handed the order off to one of the young women working behind her.

'Sammy' stepped to the side and Jen felt herself pulled forward toward the counter... But instead of turning her attention to the woman behind the counter, she looked at 'Sammy' and felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Jen?" Jack questioned, looking over at her. When he saw that her attention was elsewhere, he followed her gaze and was unable to stop a small gasp from passing his lips.

But if they were surprised, it was no match for the shock on the woman's face.

Josephine Potter, in the flesh.

"Oh god," Joey said softly. "Jen? Jack? What are you doing here?"

"Um... visiting Dawson and Andie, actually," Jen said slowly, laughing inwardly at her own instinctive answer... As if she had talked to Joey just weeks ago...

But there was a pleading in Joey's eyes that she couldn't ignore. She felt Jack squeeze her shoulder slightly, as if he too understood.

"Here you go Sammy," Diane said, holding out a small bag and a cup of coffee to Joey.

Joey nodded and smiled at the woman. "Thanks Diane," she said, taking the items. She turned her attention back to Jen and Jack. "Why don't you guys get your order to go and join me for breakfast at the gallery?"

There was a slight pause as Jen and Jack looked at each other. Finally Jack spoke, realizing that Jen wasn't able to find the words. "Sure J... Sammy." He shook Jen's arm slightly. "We're holding up the line Jen."

Jen shook herself and nodded. She quickly gave her order to Diane and Jack followed suit. While one of the girls got their order together, Joey had a quick word with Diane, not quite looking at Jen and Jack.

"Could you let Jim know that I just ran into some friends of ours from home and that he should join us at the Gallery whenever he can?"

"Sure," Diane said, smiling brightly at Jack and Jen. "It's so nice that you have visitors. You hardly ever mention home."

Joey shrugged with a sheepish smile. Jen could feel her relief when Diane handed them their order.

"Thanks, Diane," Joey said with a too bright smile. "Have a good day."

"You too Sammy."

Joey headed to the door with only a quick backwards glance to tell her that Jack and Jen were following. She hurried down the sidewalk, Jen and Jack working to keep up. The 'Gallery' was only a few doors down from the cafe and Joey hastened inside, waving her friends in after her.

"Joey, what...?"

Joey shushed her, holding up one hand. "Mandy? Loring?" She called loudly.

"Yeah Sammy?" A man said, peaking out from behind a wall.

A young woman entered from the back room and looked at Joey questioningly.

"Some friends of mine came in from out of town unexpectedly, so I'm closing up shop for the rest of the day. You can go home Loring, or head over to the studio, your choice. And Mandy, take the day off. Have some fun."

"Are you sure, Sammy?" Mandy asked, looking at her boss uncertainly. "What about Lily?"

Joey smiled. "She's napping now, right?" Mandy nodded. "And I won't be needing to work today. We'll be fine. Besides, Maeve is dropping Johnny off here in a couple of hours. I know Jen and Jack will want to spend some time with them anyway."

"Okay," Mandy said with a shrug. "Thanks."

Loring nodded. "I'll be at the studio till noon then," he said. "After that, the waves will be calling."

"Thanks guys," Joey said, smiling slightly. The three friends remained silent until Mandy and Loring had left the Gallery. Joey quickly locked the door behind them and turned the sign to closed. She then turned off the lights in the front and led them into the back room.

They stood silently for a moment, Joey with her back to her friends. It was as if she was gathering herself together. Finally she turned around and Jen could see the tears glittering in her eyes.

"It's so good to see you both," Joey blurted, unable to think of anything else to say. "I know you probably have a hundred questions..."

"We do," Jen said, stepping forward. "But first..." She grabbed Joey and pulled her into a hug. "It's really good to see you too."

"Ditto," Jack said, stepping forward to put his arms around both woman, joining the hug.

They stood like that for a moment before stepping back, all of them wiping the tears from their eyes.

"So this is where you've been?" Jen asked.

Joey nodded. "For the past four years. We traveled around a lot at first, building our identities, trying decide what to do... and then... well, then Johnny came along and we realized we needed somewhere more permanent."

"Johnny?" Jen asked softly.

Joey nodded. "He's amazing, Jen. Just wait until you meet him."

"And Lily?" Jack asked.

Joey nodded. "She's six months old now... And she's so beautiful."

"God, Joey. I can't believe this. You have babies... and we never even knew."

Joey looked at her friends, tears shining in her eyes. "We didn't dare contact anyone. With the charges that were filed and the warrant issued for Pacey's arrest... I know that some of the things he did were horrible, but he did them for me. Mama drove him over the edge... and we lost him for a while. But there was no way in hell that I was going to let him go to jail for that. I couldn't let them take him away from me. Never again!"

"We understand, Joey," Jen said. "Truly we do. It's just..."

"We missed you," Jack finished for her. "Both of you."

As if on cue, they heard the sound of the front door opening and hurried footsteps coming towards the back. "Sammy? Where are you? Are you all right?"

The door burst open and there, standing in front of them, was Pacey.

"It's okay, Pace," Joey said softly. "It's just Jack and Jen."

This time, Jen gave into her first impulse, something that she'd been unable to do when she'd first seen Joey.

"Pacey!" She exclaimed, throwing herself forward into his arms. "We missed you," she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.

Pacey grinned over her head at Joey and Jack, hugging Jen back. "Well, it's good to see you too Lindley." He nodded in Jack's direction. "You too Jackers."

There was a momentary silence as everyone tried to come to grips with the situation.

When Jen finally spoke, it was slowly... uncertainly. "So you guys are... okay?"

Jen and Jack watched as Pacey and Joey looked at each other, bright smiles lighting up their faces.

"Yeah," Joey said softly.

She and Pacey grinned as the front door burst open, the gallery echoing with a shout of "Mommy!" followed by the shrill crying of a baby.

"We've never been happier," Pacey added as a little boy of about four rushed into the room, his handler a few paces behind.

"Daddy!"

"Johnny, my boy," Pacey said, swinging the little boy up into his arms.

"Why are you here?" The question was simple and matter-of-fact, but it made Pacey laugh softly.

"We have some old friends visiting, Johnny." He turned to the woman who had followed Johnny into the room. "Thanks Maeve."

"Yes," Joey added with a smile. "Thank you Maeve. We'll set something up for next week later." She touched Pacey's shoulder gently. "I'll go get Lily."

Pacey nodded. "And I will walk Maeve out."

Joey rushed out of the room to fetch her daughter and Pacey steered Maeve out the front door with finesse. Minutes later they were all together in the back room. Jack was having an animated conversation with Johnny and Jen was looking down at the little girl in her arms in wonder.

Jen looked up at Joey, a warm smile on her face. "So, never happier, huh?"

Joey nodded, returning her smile. "We're living life. What else can you do?"

THE END