Two hours later Gretchen and Dawson remained in the same positions, just talking about life. It was what they did best.
"You should come to Hollywood," Dawson told her. "I'll show you around."
"And I'd be so proud seeing what a hotshot you are," she laughed. "You know," she said. "I watch The Creek regularly."
"Really?" Dawson was excited.
"Of course," she said. "Every Tuesday night I get the kids I babysit for to turn it on. They're hooked too. You did a good job."
"Thanks," Dawson said. "But I want to find my way back into moviemaking sometime in the near future."
Gretchen nodded. "I can't say I'm surprised. Just don't forget to invite me to your premiere."
"I won't," he assured her looking up into her green eyes.
It began to grow dark outside and the children came back closer to the house. Dessert was served, and Jack and Rob went to get a slice of Pacey's homemade Apple pie and some vanilla ice cream.
"Yum," Rob said. "I have such a sweet tooth."
"Really?" Jack asked. "It's pizza that does me in."
Amy ran towards them holding a dripping cherry ice pop in her hand. "Jack," she said excited to see him. She plopped down in his lap and was mesmerized by the fireflies she saw flying around her. Jack tried to explain them to her. The first firework went off and bright red shot through the sky with a loud boom. Jack quickly turned to Amy worried she might have been scared. But she simply was staring unafraid, at the sky with a look of complete awe on her face as if she'd never seen anything like it. Then Jack realized that she hadn't. He didn't watch the fireworks. He simply watched her seeing them for the first time.
The fireworks ended and it was getting late. "Why don't you go say goodnight to everyone," Jack suggested to Amy. "It's getting late."
"But I'm not tired," she insisted. Jack raised his eyebrows. "Okay," she gave in and ran off.
"You have a fun night?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Rob replied. "Your friends are really cool."
"I'm glad you came this weekend," Jack told him.
"Me too," he said.
Their goodnight kiss became longer and more passionate than either expected. But after a moment Jack pulled away. Rob looked at him disappointedly, trying to read his face. "Wait until we get upstairs," he told him and a grin appeared on Rob's face.
"Did you see the fireworks?" Pacey asked Amy as she came up to them.
"Yes!" she replied. "Bright," she said happily. "I saw bright bugs, too," she added proudly.
"I used to love fireflies when I was a kid," he said, mostly to Joey. "Yeah," Pacey agreed with Amy. "Bright bugs are really cool."
"Jack said time for bed," she informed Pacey.
He smiled. "Okay," he said. "Goodnight Amy," he said. "Goodnight," Joey said.
"Goodnight Pacey! Goodnight Joey!" She yelled. "Happy 4th July!"
Pacey looked at Joey. "Look at that kid," he instructed, "and tell me you don't want one of you own."
Joey couldn't help smiling as she watched Jack scoop Amy off the ground and begin to walk with her and Rob back to the house. "Pace?" she said. Pacey looked up at her. "You might be right," she said smiling. Though it was dark out, she could picture the grin on his face.
The next morning Andie woke up early, planning to leave shortly, when the phone rang. She picked it up before it could wake anyone. "Good Morning," Pacey said sounding especially friendly.
"Hey Pacey," Andie said quietly, happy to hear from him.
"Come on over," he invited. "We've got pancakes."
"Yum!" Andie said. "We'll be right there." Andie went to check on Amy, who awaited sitting up in her bed smiling.
"Hi," she greeted Andie.
"Hi," she replied with a smile. "Let's get you dressed," she suggested. "We're going over to Joey's house for breakfast. Andie left a note on the counter telling Jack and Rob to come join them and left.
"Chocolate Chip, Blueberry, Banana or Plain?" Pacey asked as they entered. Dawson and Joey, as well as the rest of the Potters and Witters were already sitting at the table.
"Wow," she said. "Someone was ambitious this morning."
"Chocolate!" Amy said decisively.
"One chocolate chip, and one…" Pacey looked at Andie.
"I'll take a blueberry," she said, watching hungrily as he poured the batter onto the griddle.
"Do you like it?" Pacey asked Amy.
"More," she declared.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said putting another on her plate.
"Yeah Pace, these are delicious." Jack and Rob came in a few minutes later and Pacey stacked their plates, too. "Finally you two," Andie said. Jack and Rob just smiled, sat down and began to eat their pancakes.
"I don't want to go home," Joey said. Andie nodded understandingly.
"At least the five of you are near each other," Dawson said, feeling they had less of a right to complain.
"That's true," Jack agreed. "You need to visit more often."
"Well actually, I've been writing a new movie script. It's still a work in progress but it takes place in New York. So, you never know."
"That would be so cool," Joey said.
"Yeah," Dawson agreed. "I've missed you guys."
They sat around talking over breakfast for a while, but they all knew they were simply stalling for the inevitable goodbyes. Dawson had to leave first, so he could catch his plane. He said goodbye to each of his friends, and last he got to Gretchen and he looked at her a little differently. "We've got to do a better job at keeping in touch," he said.
Gretchen nodded. "I know," she said and gave him a hug.
The rest of the crew loaded into their cars to drive back home, slightly disappointed they would have to go back to reality. Not because they didn't like their lives, there was just something so nice about coming back to Capeside. While they lived there, they saw it as small and suffocating but now each time they returned everything felt comfortable, safe and familiar, almost as if they had been transported to another time.