Fools Rush In
The final installment in the Vacation series
by Bitsy

Rating: PG

Short Summary: Nearing their last days in Mallorca, Dawson, Joey, Pacey, and Jen define their relationships.

Disclaimer: The disclaimer mentioned in part 1 applies to all other sections of the story.

* * * * *

By friday, reality had set in for all of them. Tomorrow would be their last full day in Mallorca, and each couple had still not as of yet resolved the issues they all knew thay had to. The day before, Pacey had gone skydiving with Jen, as promised, while Dawson and Joey spent the day on the beach. Friday had been spent swimming, scuba diving, jet skiing, water skiing, and taking one of the bigger boats to one of the islands most beautiful beaches. They all knew that tonight was the last night that they’d be having dinner and spending the rest of the night separately. Nervously, each prepared himself for dinner. Dawson had chosen Flowers, an elegant and romantic restaurant in Palma. Pacey had chosen the best french restaurant on the island, Le Beq Fin, also in Palma...

* * * * *

Dawson squeezed the ringbox in his pocket before walking out his dressing room door. Joey had walked out of hers at the same moment and smiled at Dawson when she saw him, blushing a little. She had chosen a short, flowy ivory dress that accented the bronze glow of her tan and the brilliance of her beautiful face. She wore deep plum lipstick and had her hair brushed straight down, shiny and soft. He didn’t know why, but seeing her like that then reminded him of their first date, and he smiled thinking about that night. So much had happened since then, yet the same was still true. He had known even then that Joey was his one true love, and he still knew now.

"What?", Joey asked, becoming a little alarmed when Dawson wouldn’t stop staring at her, "This looks bad on me?"

"Joey, Joey, Joey...", Dawson said, eyes still fixed on her, "You never did see your own beauty."

Blushing again, she pulled Dawson out of the bedroom door, out of the house, and down to the restaurant in Palma. Flowers was by far the most romantic restaurant in Palma; candlelit tables, private booths, strolling violinists and women selling roses. Though well-known, it tended not to be overdone and overcrowded. It managed to maintain the good service, sense of privacy, and overall magic that had made it famous, which was refreshing. On the way to the restaurant, Dawson had made a conscious decision that he wasn’t going to drag the proposal on and wait until dessert. He didn’t think he could. Already he felt nauseous--he wasn’t sure he’d even be able to eat a bite without knowing Joey’s answer. So as soon as their drinks came and they had ordered their food, Dawson concentrated on leading into asking her. Trying hard to keep his cool, he used every morsel of knowledge he had picked up about acting to make himself seem calm.

"Do you know why I was smiling at you when you came out of your dressing room earlier?", he asked, smiling and taking a sip of his Tanqueray and tonic.

"Mmm-mmm...", Joey said, shaking her head and taking a sip of her Cosmopolitain.

"Because for some reason, I flashed back to how you looked on our first date.", Dawson said.

"Oh, god!", Joey said, trying not to spit out Cosmopolitain all over the table in her laughter, I was a wreck back then...I actually remind you of that?", she asked incredulously.

"Joey, it’s a compliment! You’re as beautiful and youthful now as you were then...", Dawson said, pausing for a moment and then continuing, "Things were so easy back then...we considered it a crisis when my dad took the ladder down, and when Jen and Abby were trying to break us up!"

"Yeah," Joey said nostalgically, "...the year of Jen."

"Joey...", Dawson hesitated, "After I came to my senses with the Jen thing, I realized that you were the only one for me--forever."

Looking down into his drink, he didn’t know what to say. Speak from your heart. He raised his deep grey eyes to hers and started talking.

"Joey, I don’t really know how to say this to you, so please be patient...I’m not exaggerating when I say that this has been the best week of my life, and even though I don’t want it to end, it has to, so we need to decide where our relationship will go after sunday, and it’s a hard question because we both have our own very different professional lives and while it’s easy to romanticize how things could be if we stayed together, stepping out of our fantasy world and having a relationship would take a lot more, but I love you and would do anything for you--even give up my career to be with you, but this question is killing me, Jo, because it’s the one I’ve spent half of my life dreaming about asking you, and I’ll understand if you say no, or not now, or whatever you say, but I could’t go another day without telling you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Dawson, who had not breathed once during his run-on sentence, took a deep breath and then sighed deeply before rising. Pulling the small blue box out of his pocket and bending on one knee, he opened the box, set it down on the table facing Joey, took both of her hands into his, raised each one to his lips, kissing them softly, and finally, raising his gaze to hers and locking into her gorgeous eyes, he said it.

"Joey, will you marry me?"

* * * * *

"Nous voudraions partager le bœuf bourginion maison pour deux comme les plats principaux, s’il vous plait.", Jen said easily to the tuxedo clad waiter at the very swanky and expensive Le Beq Fin.

"Très bien, madame.", the waiter replied, "Est-ce que vous voudriez du vin ou de champagne, peut-être?"

"Oui--votre meilleur Bordeaux, s’il vous plait.", Jen replied.

"Je vous remercie, madame."

"Merci."

"You know, Jen, you really are amazing", Pacey said, leaning in to her and taking her hands. "We always knew that Dawson would be some kind of director and that Joey would be some kind of scientist, but you surprised us all...not that you didn’t have it in you--you just didn’t seem to have a dream."

"Well, traveling was my one true love so I kind of made a career out of it....", Jen said, taking a sip of water, "Besides, I could say the same about you..."

"True.", Pacey laughed, "but my only dream was to get out of Capeside."

"It seems so long ago...but eight years is just eight years. We’re only 27 now!

"Well...things change...", Pacey replied.

There was a long silence between them as the wine was brought, tasted, and poured.

"Jen, do you believe in love at first sight?", Pacey asked, looking into her eyes before continuing "...because I didn’t until I saw you again for the first time."

Jen didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. She knew that Pacey wasn’t finished yet.

"When I told you I loved you two nights ago, I meant it, and even though it came out of the blue and happened in five days, I trust my heart and I know it’s true."

Jen sqeezed his hand a little and remained quiet.

"But day after tomorrow, we’re flying back to America and I’m flying back to L.A....but I really don’t see LA being any fun anymore. I don’t see anything that doesn’t involve you as good anymore..." he sighed before continuing, "What I’m trying to say is that I want to be with you, Jen. If you think I’m rushing into this, slow me down, but I love you, Jen Lindley. I want to have a serious relationship with you. No matter what I have to sacrifice, I’m willing to, to be with you."

Jen remained silent. Pacey continued nervously.

"So what do you say, Jen? Can we give it a try?"

* * * * *

Joey didn’t feel like herself as she heard the words coming out of Dawson’s mouth. It was like an out-of-body experience. She saw Dawson talking to her from across the table, then get up, pull a ring box out of his pocket, kiss her hands, and say those five little words she had dreamt of hearing since she was fifteen. After that, she just zoned out. She realized that she was staring at Dawson staring at her. He was shaking, but she could not sense that she herself was, too. She didn’t even know that she was crying until Dawson wiped the silent tears that slid down her cheeks. And just as quickly as she had forgotten herself and seemingly gone to another planet while pondering the unponderable question, reality hit her like a mack truck, and she blurted out what her heart screamed.

"Yes.", she said simply.

"What?", Dawson said.

"You just asked me to marry you, didn’t you?"

"And you said yes?"

"Did you expect a different answer?"

"I didn’t expect anything...I--"

"Dawson...", Joey interrupted him, smiling. "Shut up."

They both laughed. Dawson carefully took the ring out of its bed, and slid it on Joey’s ring finger.

"Do you like it?", he asked, still on one knee, now holding up Joey’s hand and admiring what that ring meant.

"It’s perfect.", she said.

Getting up off of the ground and sliding into his side of the booth, Dawson and Joey moved in closer together. Joey held her hand out in front of her, dividing her time between admiring the ring and looking lovingly at her fiancée. Dawson spent most of their dinner doing all the talking himself. Joey, still shocked, was, for one of the only times in her life, at a loss for words. After leaving the restaurant, both decided that they would like nothing more than to be alone together. Arriving back at the house, they walked hand in hand to the door. Before going in, Dawson paused and turned towards Joey, replacing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Jo, I’m gonna make you so happy--you’ll see..."

"Dawson, you already do."

* * * * *

As Joey sat in the hairdresser’s chair having fancy curls rolled, she thought back to the night in Mallorca that Dawson had proposed to her. That was already four months ago, but Joey could remember it like it was yesterday. Today, December 9th 2008, Dawson and Joey would get married. After Jen and Pacey had skilfully managed to reunite Dawson and Joey, her life had become more and more like a fairy tale. She had a meaningful and successful career and now she had Dawson to share her happinesses with. The only things which her life lacked were children, but she was sure that Dawson wouldn’t mind helping her arrange that...She smiled to herself thinking about the night to come. Her wedding night...

She was quiet as Jen drove her from the center of town to Joey and Dawson’s new house -slash- the site of the wedding.

"I still can’t believe that he bought the ruins, Jo", Jen said to her as they drove up its long driveway.

"Neither can I.", Joey said giggling.

"You have to admit, though--it’s appropriate for you.", Jen mused.

"This place is as classic as your love for each other. You’ve been coming here since you were kids."

"True...", Joey said thoughtfully, and suddenly becoming quiet.

"Are you nervous?", Jen asked, already knowing the answer.

"Very", Joey admitted nervously, following Jen out of the car.

"Relax, Jo. The best wedding coordinator in the country organized this event. Things couldn’t go wrong if they tried...", Jen said reasonably.

Smiling thankfully, Joey followed Jen upto their dressing room where the other bridesmaids were already gathered. Joey had chosen Bessie, Jen, her former Harvard classmate Lauren, and her colleague Anne as her bridesmaids. Bessie, busy with her life and home (and not to mention, a resident of Capeside), wouldn’t have had much time to be Joey’s maid of honor, so she had chosen Jen, who had been great throughout the whole thing. She was, after all, partially responsible for she and Dawson getting together in the first place. Receiving her with hugs and circling her with excited chatter, her bridesmaids seemed more excited than she was. Smiling and taking a deep breath, Joey took Bessie’s hands.

"You’ll be alright, kid.", Bessie said, reading her thoughts, "Now let’s get you dressed and get you married!"

* * * * *

After the ceremony, which had gone rather perfectly, an extremely relieved Joey found that she was actually having a lot of fun at her wedding. As they took the last of the professional pictures, with she, Dawson, and Joey’s niece Samantha, the flower girl seated in-between them on their bench at the ruins, Joey and Dawson, shivering in the December cold, but keeping each other warm, walked hand in hand up to their reception in their new/old mansion. Sitting down to dinner, before the first course was served, they still held hands as Pacey stood to make his speech.

"I remember the day that Dawson and Joey and I all met each other. It was the first day of kindergarten at recess. They had let our mothers stay for a couple hours before leaving us alone, but when they left, we were on our own. Dawson and I had already kind of met each other, and were sitting in the sandbox building sandcastles and talking. When Joey came, I asked her what her name was, and when she told us, Dawson asked her what she was doing with a boy’s name. Everyone who’s met Joey more than once knows that that’s a BIG mistake, and like everyone else, Dawson found out. But despite the fistful of sand down his shirt that he got for that, he still wanted to be her friend. So slowly, their friendship developed and they started to look out for each other. Joey defended him from all of the other kids teasing when he brought his E.T. doll in for show and tell every single week of the year. And even though back then most of the kids were too scared of Joey to tease her, Dawson defended her whenever she needed someone to be there. And that initial sense of friendship and loyalty that goes all the way back to the sandbox has carried Dawson and Joey through the past twenty-two years and grown into the love they share today. Everything that Dawson and Joey have ever done has been for each other. The idea that they complete one another comes as naturally to them as breathing."

Dawson squeezed Joey’s hand, taking his eyes off of Pacey for a moment to look over at her. She looked back at him, smiling lightly, tears shining in her eyes.

"Today is a happy day for all of us who have been lucky enough to have Dawson and Joey in our lives, and a day that we have all both anxiously awaited yet at the same time known all along was inevitable. I know that the two of you have been through a lot together--everything, really, so I’m not going to stand up here and try and give you advice about life or marriage or love. Suffice it to say that the sacrifices that you have made of yourselves for the other’s happiness are what has earned you your joined happiness now, and I know that’s something you’ll never take for granted. I love you both, and I wish you all of the love and happiness in the world for years and years to come. To the happy couple."

"Here, here.", the guests chimed in, applauding and drinking to Dawson and Joey.

Joey, now really on the brink of crying stood and hugged Pacey tight.

"That was beautiful, Pace. We love you, too.", she said tearily.

* * * * *

After the wedding was over and Pacey and Jen had ushered all of the guests out of the house, saying goodbye to friends and family, and taking care of all of the instructions that the hired help needed to get everything cleaned up, as Jen began tiredly up the large grand staircase of the mansion, Pacey suggested they go for a walk.

"But it’s freezing!", Jen objected.

"I knew you’d say that.", Pacey said, smiling a little, "I’ll get your coat.", he finished, disappearing up the stairs, skipping steps.

Jen rolled her eyes. She was so tired! How could Pacey want to go for a walk at two o’clock in the morning after such a long day? Leaning against the banister, feeling as if she might actually fall asleep on it, Jen suddenly felt something very cozy around her, and it wasn’t Pacey. Opening her eyes, she found herself surrounded in the most beautiful white and grey fur, which she soon discovered to be a long, elegant mink coat that Pacey had just slipped around her shoulders. Her eyes were wide.

"Pacey..."

He kissed her lightly on the lips as he helped her into it.

"Do you like it?", he asked a little worriedly.

"It’s beautiful...", she said, still a little taken aback.

For the past four months that they had been dating, Pacey had made her feel like a queen--not that he was always showering her with extravagant gifts--it was much more than that. He had never really left her side since Mallorca. Since she was still in school, he had immediately relocated to New York, doing business out of there, but still, having lightened his workload to give them more time to spend together. He had been there through her father’s heart attack last month, through the chaotic planning of Dawson and Joey’s wedding, and as trivial as it sounded, through the ultra-stressful time of her semester exams and G-MATs. Whether he was massaging her feet after a long day or proofreading a paper for her or bringing her flowers while she was studying and then making himself scarce so she could concentrate or even just trying to make her smile, he did it with so much love and purity of heart, and gave Jen such a wonderful feeling that she had no idea what she would’ve done without him.

"I’m glad you like it.", he said smiling, as if he’d just given her a new sweater or something.

Taking her hand, they walked out the door and strolled through the gardens, still beautiful in winter despite the lack of flowering color. On their way down, they talked about how beautiful the wedding was and how much of a success it had been. Once they reached the bench that Dawson and Joey had sat on just hours earlier taking their photos, they sat.

"Pacey, aren’t you freezing?", Jen asked, feeling very warm in her coat and simultaneously very aware that Pacey wore only his tuxedo.

"Not at all, Jen.", he said softly, looking strangely into her eyes.

Suddenly, a tuxedo-clad waiter showed up, delivering a silver platter on which sat a bowl of strawberries, a bottle of champagne, and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s Deep Dark Chocolate. Out of nowhere, another waiter appeared with a roll-in table, on which the platter was placed. Jen just looked over at Pacey, unable to keep a soft smile from reaching her lips as she wrinkled her brow quizically. Pacey poured them both champagne and kissed Jen softly on the lips as he handed her her champagne flute. He fed her a strawberry, not at all having touched his own champagne, and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Pacey, this is so romantic...", Jen said, smiling lovingly at him, "...but what’s it all for?"

"Well...", Pacey began nervously, "Ever since we met up in Boston, any strange combination of champagne, strawberries, and Deep Dark Chocolate have been essential to every important thing that’s happened to us so far. That first night when we set Dawson and Joey up, it was champagne and strawberries, then the first time we made love it was strawberries and ice cream, then the first time I told you I loved you it was all three..."

"And today, Dawson and Joey’s wedding...", Jen trailed off.

«No, that was yesterday. Today, I have something very important to ask you.»

Suddenly, a beautiful string quartet started playing Pachebel’s Canon, what Pacey knew was one of Jen’s favorite orchestral pieces. Looking around for the source of the music, when she turned around, Pacey was on one knee. Looking down at him, she suddenly got it, and her breath stopped. He took a deep breath and, shaking, took her hands in his, looking up into her eyes.

"All my life, I haven’t wanted much. Only to get out of here and to try not to be unhappy ever again. But meeting you...getting to know you for the second time, Jen, was the best thing that ever happened to me. When I called you that day from LA, I thought that I was going to maybe do something good for Dawson and Joey and change their lives, but that one phone call changed my life and gave me the opportunity to know something better and more important than I’ve ever known before. I know that I’m...seldom at a loss for words, and there’s so much going on in my heart and my mind right now that I don’t know how to articulate what I’m feeling for you, and I know I tell you this all the time, Jen, but I love you more than anything in this world. And I know that it’s only been four months and I know that that’s not a long time, but I hope that you trust me, because I trust my heart, and my heart’s been screaming at me for a long time now to ask you to stay in my life for good. Jen, will you marry me?"

Reaching into the pocket of his tux, Pacey pulled out a small black velvet Cartier box and opened it to reveal the most beautiful diamond Jen had ever lain eyes on. Looking back up at Pacey, who by now looked like he was about to lose it, Jen nodded her head, not yet able to say the ‘yes’ that was on the tip of her tongue. Looking expectantly at her, mimicking her nod and allowing a small smile to find his lips, Pacey, his hand still shaking, slipped the beautiful ring onto Jen’s finger and wrapped her up into his arms, tears streaming down his face.

Never before had any of the four friends passed a more perfect day.