Finale

'Do you think they will ever forgive us?'

'Yeah…hopefully,'

The soulmates held hands as their feet gently swung in the breeze off the dock. 3 hours of shouting from both sides of both families had taken the sparkle off their impromptu wedding. When the screaming had died down and people had stormed out of the room, they went to the only place that felt like their own. The boat house.

'So what now?' Joey took a swig of the glass of wine sitting next to her on the dock.

'I suppose we have to do some kind of wedding for them.' Dawson laid back, his hand slipping from Joey's.

'But neither of us wants that,'

'Yeah but weddings aren't suppose to be about the bride and groom are they? There about cake and presents and years of guilt,'

'I thought that was just families in general?' she laid next to him, pulling her body closer to his.

'Not our family, we're going to be about happiness and hope and low fat yogurt deserts,' He kissed her on the forehead.

'Replace the yogurt with some Ben and Jerry's and you've got yourself a deal Mr,' she giggled, running her hand up and down his torso.

'Deal,' he squeezed her arm gently. 'Seriously though, we're gonna have to do something.'

'They are so mad right now I don't know what would make it right.'

'How about a garden party thing, just so Mom and Bessie can boast about us.'

'That seems so lame though. I don't want to dilute how special our day was with something we've tacked onto it for appearance sake,'

'Do you trust me to make it special?' Dawson said, sitting up. The determined and optimistic look he had always sported in his youth sparkled in the late evening air.

'Okay,' she sat up to join him 'but no drama, no hats, just family and friends and food.'

'Deal,' he held out his hand.

'I'm not agreeing it that way,' she got to her feet and started to walk to the house, slowly discarding her cardigan and shoes.

'Well if you put it that way,' Dawson said, chasing after her down the dock.

2 weeks later they stood outside the Leery's house with friends, family and food as was promised. White tables and chairs were decorated with gingham table clothes and wild flowers picked that day. The cake was actually a hundred little cupcakes that Lily and Alex had iced the day before, their childish writing inscribing love hearts and initials into the delicate white icing.

The bride wore denim and cotton, the groom worn chinos and linen.

Mr and Mrs Pacey Witter watched as Mr and Mrs Leery made speeches about how great it was that everyone could attend their wedding party and that they hoped they would give generously to the Locks of Love programme who they were donating money to in lieu of gifts.

Lily ran around in her shorts and t-shirt while Alex chased her around the Leery's yard. Jen and Amy sat and watched from the porch as Gail and Jack discussed the For Sale sign swinging outside of Grams house.

Pacey sat with his arm over Audrey's shoulder as they relaxed on front step, watching the guests mingle before the music kicked of and she dragged him onto the dance floor. Soon enough everyone was dancing to the music from the ipod stereo that Dawson had programmed with Joey's favourite music.

They danced into the early evening as the fireflies bumbled over the creek.

'Is it perfect?' Dawson whispered into his bride's ear as they slow danced to the music.

'You said it would be and it is,' Joey smiled back.

'Well I'm a man who likes to surprise his wife.' He spun her around and pulled her back into his arms.

'It's my turn now though,' Joey said, her face pressed against his.

'With what?' Dawson looked back concerned.

She stood on his tip toes and cupped her delicate hands around his ear 'I'm pregnant,'

She pulled away and smiled. He stood there, shocked.

'Oh god, it's a good surprise isn't it?' she said quickly, not noticing the smile that was slowly spreading across his face.

'Oh it tremendous,' he swooped her up into his arms and started to swing her around. 'Sorry, can't do that can I?' he laughed nervously before putting her down.

'It okay, I'm only 2 months. I found out yesterday but wanted to wait until today to tell you. We have a scan booked tomorrow morning before we leave for LA.' Joey smiled again.

The two gazed into each other's eyes. There was nothing more that could have been said to make the moment as complete as it had become.

A loud bang in the sky shook them both out of their trace. Pink fireworks lit the night's sky. Dawson spun around and saw Jack, Jen, Audrey and Pacey walking towards them with grinning.

'Was this you?' Dawson said.

'What, can't someone else be king of the surprise or is it Dawson copyrighted?' Pacey said, slapping his friend on the back and Audrey ducked under Dawson's spare arm to hug him.

'It's brilliant guys.' Joey said, wrapping her arms around Jack and Jen backs.

The five friends stood watching the sky come alive, all aware of how special this moment was to them and to their history. It didn't matter what happened before or what was going to happen in the future.

They all knew they had each other and that's all that would ever matter.