THE BIG LEAP
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE - ALMOST REUNITED
Pacey was rarely the type of guy in those days to count down the hours or even minutes, before something was about to happen. Back in school, in particular when they got to the last classes before the weekend, he would be guilty of it in a big way and if it was up to a vacation, he could spend an entire school day sneaking looks at the clock on the wall, ticking down seconds until the sweet taste freedom awaited him. It had gone out of him somewhat in time, however and if he had to do an hour or two of overtime at the restaurant, it wouldn´t bother him too much. Of course, at work he was getting paid to be there, which he had to admit could be what made the difference. This was a special occasion though, and he wasn´t ashamed to admit that he´d been looking forward to his best friends from the US coming over for their long-awaited visit (minus Dawson, who in his defense had just been to Denmark and had a pregnant wife to take care of), like your average kid waiting for X-Mas or their birthday to finally get there.
He was taking the whole week off from work to spend as much time with them, as he could. Seeing as he had five weeks' vacation living in Denmark (a fact that he knew his younger self would have been extremely appreciative of) and he´d so far only used a few days of it, it wasn´t any problem either and Klaus had jokingly assured him that the restaurant would still be standing, by the time he came back. They were slowly getting past the "Post-Enzo Depression" that had set down on all of them after his untimely death and there were rumors flying around among the chefs on the line, that one of them, maybe even himself, would end up getting offered the head chef role. It wasn´t like he gave himself much of a chance to get the job, considering that he worked with people, who had been line cooks since before he was born, still it was a fun fantasy to play around with in his head and in time, who knew? Even if he wasn´t chosen for the head chef job now, he was still only in the very beginning of his chef´s career and knew very well that he still had a lot to learn. If he had to wait another five or ten years until it eventually became his turn to shine, he would be perfectly fine with that as well.
Himself and Marie had started planning their joint vacation too, another clear and obvious sign, that this wasn´t just a casual thing anymore between them. She´d insisted that (seeing as it was sort of a coming-of-age thing in Denmark to do so) he had to attend least one Roskilde Festival before he died, so that was the first week taken care of and he had to admit too that he was rather looking forward to it. His only other music festival experience was being there at the one and only edition of "Cape-Fest", which hadn´t exactly rocked his world in any major way (in great part because his older brother, who was working the event for the Capeside PD that day, had kept a watchful eye on him all day long), but this would be different, if nothing else because he could legally get as boozed up as he wanted to, without having to worry over anyone telling him that he couldn´t.
Apparently, Marie and her brother stayed in the same camp with the same people every year and from what she´d told him about them, they sounded like they were more of "his kind of people". In addition, with a musical line-up that included everything from legends like David Bowie, Morrisey and Carlos Santana to newer acts like Korn, Kings of Leon and even the infamous Wu-Tang-Clan (all bands and artists that were right up his own alley) as well as many more interesting acts on the bill, he was surely going to see and enjoy several times more great concerts during those four days, than he had in his entire life up to that point. Perhaps they could even convince Jen to make another visit over there come June, when it took place. It wasn´t a far-fetched of an idea, that was for sure.
Their second week was still up in the air, but a trip to Paris had been put on the table by himself and Marie had seemed to like that idea. That way he could also find out for himself, why Joey had fallen in love with France´s capital city, when she´d gone there. When they´d been talking about it, it had struck him as a little funny to him how he had changed from the old "US-Pacey", who pretty much never considered travelling anywhere else than within the US borders, to now where he had done a complete one-eighty and wanted to see as much of the world as he could, while he had the chance to. Perhaps it was finding out that the rest of the Western world wasn´t all that different than what he came from and grew up in, that had changed him and made him want to expand his horizons even more, than they already had been. Perhaps it was simply a case of him finally finding out who he had always been meant to become and himself just never having had the chance to find out who that was, before he gave stepping out on his own a chance, without any lifelines to turn to and with a (close to) clean slate to start off fresh with.
Whichever was the case, it was a change in himself that he welcomed and he couldn´t help feeling a little sorry for those like his parents or his brother, who have chosen to block themselves away from the world outside of what they knew and therefore never found out what it could have had to offer them.
He figured that it would be for the best, if he went alone to greet his friends at the airport, before he introduced him to his "Danish Crew" the day after, so they could reconnect in peace and try to keep things, like they were in the old days. Joanna and Marie both had work, anyway and after so many evenings together in a row, that he´d long lost count of them, him and the old ball and chain could also use an evening away from one another, for once. His genitals could definitely use the break too, but that was another matter altogether.
They would be arriving at around four in the afternoon local time, which gave him plenty of time to get his apartment looking it´s best, before they arrived. While he tidied up, he finally got around to putting the CD on that Jen had given him prior to leaving, also in case she was to ask him what he´d thought of it. She´d managed to catch the spirit of their days together back in Capeside incredibly well though, he had to give her that much, the young miss Lindley. On top of that, it made him look forward to seeing her even more and he could almost feel the huge hug he was sure to get from her already, the first chance she got to. It struck him as both a little sad and more than a bit ironic, that the girl everyone else came to for romantic advice, somehow had managed to still remain on the open market for romantic endeavors herself. He knew the reason why of course (since Jen´s infamous extreme pickiness among her boyfriends and prospective lovers had become a running joke in the friend group over the years), yet he still hoped to himself that she´d somehow manage to find the right guy someday. It simply didn´t sit right with him that someone who´s as great of a girl and as caring for everyone as her, should be without one of the greatest things life had to offer too.
Then there was Jack, or as he´d pretty much become over the years, his brother from another mother. When they´d first met, he hadn´t known entirely what to make of him and Joey choosing to dump his best bro at the time for him, hadn´t done much to endear old Jackers to himself either. Once he started dating Andie was when he really got to know the guy however, and like himself, Jack had felt like an outcast for the most part, in the ultra-conservative and oppressive society, that thrived in his hometown in the late 90´s. Jack coming out as gay would have scared some guys off from continuing to befriend him, if nothing else for the fear of being considered guilty by association and the public ridicule that could lead to. In Pacey´s case, he couldn´t say that he was all that surprised at Jack´s coming out and if anything, he was just glad for his buddy, that he was finally being honest with himself over who he was. They could joke about it now and as an unexpected extra bonus, he´d won extra cool points with Marie (who´d been close friends with a lesbian girl back in her own hometown), when he´d told her how aloof he´d been about the whole thing.
Finally, there was her. The X-Factor in his life, the girl who´d represented her entire gender for him in a romantic sense since he began noticing girls "that way" and last, but not least, the girl whom he´d shared several kisses with back in LA, post Marie and himself having decided to become an official couple. The prospect of that coming out scared him quite a bit and the idea that the two main girls in his life would be spending alone time together, perhaps even after they´d had some drinks first and knowing how Joey got when she became drunk, was a thought he was trying his hardest to get out of his mind. Three months earlier, he would have chosen Joey over any other girl. Now, he wasn´t sure so anymore.
END OF CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE