Funny. Pacey had known Dawson his entire life, yet he had never known his middle name was "Bradden." He hoped that Dawson didn't know his, or anyone else for that matter. Pacey firmly believed that his mother was still under the influence of the drugs she was given for the labor pains when she had decided what name to put on Pacey's birth certificate.

Pacey scanned the wedding invitation again, just to put off the moment he had to exit his car and enter the Leery household for the first time in...what was it...ten years?

Has it really been that long?, Pacey thought to himself.

* "You're what?" Dawson said, astonished, watching Pacey move around his room and place various items into a cardboard box he was holding.

"Leaving. Moving," Pacey repeated. "I'm out of here."

"Where are you going?"

"California," he answered, stuffing several novels into the box. "My aunt offered me room- and-board in Santa Cruz."

"Santa Cruz..." Dawson said to himself, trying to locate it on his mental U.S. map. "When are you leaving?"

"Saturday."

"Saturday?! Pacey, that's...that's three days away! Isn't this kind of sudden?" Pacey stopped the procedure of packing and sat down on the bed next to Dawson. "Sudden? Dawson, you know I've been wanting to leave Capeside for quite a while now. Me getting out of here was bound to happen sooner or later." "Yeah, I know....it's just that I was hoping for 'later'. College. I was hoping we'd get to do all that upperclassmen, graduating crap together."

Pacey sighed. "Look, this might be the only chance I have in getting out of this town. I need to take it." *

"Hey," a voice said as a hand rapped on the passenger side window.

Pacey looked up to see Dawson Leery, grinning as he opened the car door and slipped inside.

"Hey, man," Pacey greeted, reaching over for a quick hug.

"I thought you weren't coming," Dawson said.

"Well, I thought about it, and realized no wedding is complete without a best man," Pacey explained.

Dawson chuckled. "Did you just get here?"

"A couple minutes ago. I just decided to hang out in here for a while. You know, prepare myself for god-knows-what's going on in there." Pacey gestured toward the house.

"Just the womenfolk running around preparing for the wedding, my little cousins plotting all sorts of destruction, and every man over fifty trying to top each other with 'when I was younger' stories," Dawson grinned.

"I see you've escaped the mayhem," Pacey observed.

"Just barely," Dawson sighed, his face taking on one of frustration.

"I can't wait to meet C.J.," Pacey said.

Dawson's face instantly brightened at the mention of his fiance's name. "Can't wait for you to meet her, too. She's great."

"I got that impression when we talked the other day," Pacey replied, smiling at his best friend's happiness. "And besides, Dawson Leery settles for nothing but the best, right?"

* "Have you told Joey yet?" Dawson asked, trying to sound somewhat indifferent.

"I talked to her this afternoon." Pacey looked away.

"Did she tell you..."

"Yeah," he nodded, getting up and continuing to pack. "I told her how I felt, too."

"Meaning..." Dawson pushed.

"Meaning the feelings she has for me are mutual, which is what I said to her in reply."

"And you're still going? Pace, this is absurd! You can't leave. There's too much here that's stopping you!"

"I am doing the right thing, Dawson. Trust me on this one."

"I recall a certain someone saying something to the effect of 'sometimes it's right to do the wrong thing'," he brought up. *

"She's not here yet, Pace." Dawson told Pacey as he watched his eyes scan the the crowded and chaotic family room.

Pacey brought his eyes back to Dawson. "Who's not here?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you too well," Dawson said to him, grinning. "Joey's flight is supposed to be arriving in a couple of hours." He paused before continuing. "You know, I can't help wondering if you're here to give me some moral support on what is perhaps the most important day of my life or for..."

Dawson searched for the appropriate words. "...other purposes, perhaps? Unfinished business, maybe?"

"Please, Dawson. That was years ago." Pacey rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't she be married and giving some poor, defenseless guy hell at right now?"

A crash came from behind him. A sobbing little girl sat at the bottom of the staircase, with several adults running toward through.

"Doctor coming through," Pacey said, scooping the young child into his arms.

"Dawson, can you get the first aid kit out from the trunk of my car and meet me in the kitchen?"

"Sure," Dawson said, making his way towards the front door. "Be right back." Pacey carried the little girl into the kitchen and sat her atop the counter near the sink. "Okay...so what's your name?"

"Ashleigh," she managed to say through the sniffles.

"Ashleigh. That's a pretty name," Pacey smiled, handing her a tissue from his pocket.

"Thank you," she said as she wiped away some of the tears.

"My name is Dr. Witter. But you can call me Pacey. So, how old are you?" he asked as he wet a cloth with water and gently wiped away the blood from the scrape.

"Four."

Dawson came into the room with a first aid kit and handed it to Pacey. "Here you go."

Pacey thanked Dawson and shooed him out of the kitchen. He turned his attention toward the young girl again. "You in preschool yet?"

Ashleigh nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Who's your teacher?" he asked as he looked around in the kit.

"Ms. Harrington."

Pacey paused. "Ms. Harrington?" he said, astonished. "She's still there? I had her for my preschool teacher. Man, she must be at least 200 years old by now." She giggled, and her sobbing was quickly dissolved.

Pacey pulled out a bottlle from the kit and showed it to Ashleigh. "This is to help me take away all the icky germs away from your scrape there. Now, I have to be honest. This is going to sting. That is why I need you to brave. Can you be brave?"

Ashleigh nodded meekly.

"Okay, good," Pacey said, dampening the cloth with some of the liquid. "Now I need you to take a deep breath, close your eyes, and imagine you're in this terrific place. Can you do that?"

"Mm-hmm," she said, her eyes closing.

"Where are you?"

"Disneyland."

Pacey chuckled softly. "No better place to be than the happiest place on earth, right?"

Pacey appied the soaked cloth onto Ashleigh's knee. She winced, and after a few seconds he brought it away. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She shook her head and opened her eyes.

"You were very brave, Ashleigh," Pacey said to her. "I've had patients twice as old as you that screamed in agony." She smiled, and he took out box of bandages. "Minnie Mouse okay?"

Ashleigh nodded enthusiastically, and he applied it to her knee, covering the scrape. He brought her down to the floor. "You be good, all right?" Pacey called out to her as she made her way out of the room. "I don't want to see any more bruises on you."

"Thank you, Dr. Witter," she said meekly as she exited the kitchen to find her playmates.

"Doctor Witter? Pretty prestigious," a familiar voice said from behind him. "Who would've thought?"

Pacey's ears perked up, but did not turn around and continued to pack up the first aid kit. "Now where have I heard that voice before? A nightmare, perhaps a traumatic childhood moment..."

"Both actually." Pacey could hear the smile in her voice.

"Hmm...could it be..." He shut the kit, and turned around to see a twenty-six-year old version of..... "Joey Potter. How goes it?"

"Not bad," Joey replied. "Considering the company."

Pacey chuckled. "Some things never change."

Joey sat down at the dinner table which was cluttered with all sorts of ribbons and flowers. "Is this your first time back in Capeside since..." her voice drifted off.

"Yeah," Pacey quickly answered, taking the chair next to hers. "But I'm guessing I haven't missed much, the way things look when I drove through town today."

"Some things never change," she quoted him. "So, a doctor..."

"Pediatrician, actually."

"Good," Joey said, relieved. '"I was afraid you were a brain surgeon or some other type of physician that would put a person at extreme risk under your care. But then again, you could cause a lot of potential pshycological damage to the poor, innocent children who come to your office."

"And what are you exactly?"

"A film critic," Dawson answered for her as he entered the room.

"Perfect. You're great at shredding people of all self-confidence, Jo. I'm proud."

"I still haven't forgiven you for dogging The Unconquerable, you know,"

Dawson told Joey, taking a seat at the table.

"It was a lame attempt at copying Spielberg," Joey replied honestly.

"The box office doesn't seem to agree," Pacey defended Dawson.

"Quality, not quantity, remember?" Joey retorted. "Oh, yeah, I forgot...size matters."

"I thought your flight wasn't arriving 'til six," Dawson changed the subject, trying to prevent another Joey-Pacey squabble.

Joey shrugged. "I got work done at the paper earlier than I originally thought, so I caught an earlier flight."

"Couldn't wait to ruin the party mood, eh?" Pacey started.

Joey glared at him. "Well, seeing that you already have--"

"Hey, you guys," Dawson interrupted. "Is it too much to ask for you two to be moderately civil towards each other? Just for 48 hours? I don't want to scare off C.J. with your bickering."

"Where is the blushing bride anyway?" Joey questioned.

"Bridal shop," Dawson answered. "Gown fitting. In fact, you should be there now, Joey."

Joey groaned at the thought of a bridesmaid dress, and Pacey laughed at her discomfort. "So what's the color theme?" Pacey teased. "Fuschia? A bright orange, perhaps?"

Joey looked at Dawson hopefully. "Please tell me it's a shade that's wearable." "Dark blue," Dawson answered, and Joey sighed in relief. Dawson glanced down at his watch, and groaned. "Oh, great. I'm late. You still remember where the bridal shop is, Joey?"

Joey nodded. "It's the transportation I need help with."

"I'll give you a ride," Pacey offered.

"Remember to be back in time for the party at six," Dawson reminded them as he made his swift exit.

* "Joey, you have to be kidding me," Dawson said. "You're not going to Pacey's farewell party?"

"Well, as much as I'd like to celebrate Pacey's leaving, I have more important-"

"All right, Jo, cut the crap," Dawson interrupted. "We both know the reason why you choose not to attend tonight's festivities."

"Then why do you keep pestering me about it?"

"Because I still think you should go. First and foremost, you're Pacey's friend. What is he going to think when you don't show up?"

"Whatever he wants to think," Joey replied. "I've never been much of a party person anyway, you know that, he knows that." *

"So, are you still living in Santa Cruz?" Joey asked as they made their way to Betty's Bridal Shop.

"No," Pacey answered. "Boston, actually."

"Boston?" Joey said in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Is it such a shock that I've actually done something with my life?"

"No," Joey admitted. "It's a shock that we live in the same city yet haven't found out about it until now."

"Well, doctors and hotshot movie critics don't exactly run in the same circle," Pacey rationalized. "How long have you been living there?"

"Since college," she answered. "Boston University. You?"

"How long I've been living in Boston or what college I went to?"

"Both, if you want."

"Well, I did some undergraduate work at UCLA, medical studies in San Diego, and headed out to Massachusetts a little over a year ago for an internship at a children's hospital," he said, eyes focused on the road before him. "And here I am today. Educated, matured--"

"And with better driving skills," Joey inserted, smiling.

Pacey chuckled in spite of himself.

* "So, I guess this is it," Dawson said, looking solemn as he glanced at the Witter station wagon, neatly packed with Pacey's belongings and his parents waiting patiently inside.

"Yeah," Pacey sighed, not really knowing what else to say.

"You can still stay, you know," Dawson brought up for what seemed like the hundreth time.

Pacey smiled and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Give it up, Dawson. I'm leaving. Accept the reality." He shook his head. "You've always had problems with that."

He shrugged. "Can't blame me for at least trying. No way am I going to let a plane whisk you away to sunny California withouit putting up a fight." He paused. "You know the crime rate out there is ten times--"

"Dawson."

Dawson sighed, then extended his hand. "Good luck."

Pacey looked at Dawson's hand. "What is up with that?" He opened up his arms. "Come here and give Uncle Pace a good-bye hug."

"I'm gonna miss you, man," Dawson said as they shared a quick embrace.

"Same here," Pacey replied, stepping away. "But it's not like we're never gonna hear from each other. We'll e-mail, visit each other, yeah?"

"Yeah, but it still won't be the same," Dawson observed. "C'mon, you're my best friend. Who am I going to talk to everyday face-to-face about the joys and pitfalls of adolescence?"

"Joey," Pacey answered. "You remember her, right? Cute brunette? About yea-high?"

"I can vaguely recall this Joey you speak of," Dawson grinned. "But I can't exactly talk to her about...well, the things we talk about."

Mr. Witter pressed the car horn, and Pacey gave him a quick wave to signal that he would be there shortly. "Look, Dawson, I gotta go. I'll call you once I'm at my aun't house, all right?"

"Don't worry about. You'll probably be jet-lagged. Call me tomorrow," Dawson said, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"Oh, yeah, Joey told me to give this to you." *

"So, what newspaper do you write for?" Pacey asked as the car rounded a corner.

"I got an internship at the Tribune a couple months ago," Joey answered. "But I do some work on Boston Underground, this nonprofit magazine a friend of mine runs that got started about a year ago. That's where I do most of my writing actually since the internship doesn't exaclty grant me the chance to publish anything."

"Don't worry, Jo," Pacey replied sincerely. "You'll make it. I've never doubted your talent and persistance before."

* Pacey looked out the small window next to his seat on the airplane, and began to wonder if he was making a mistake. He shook his head and told himself that he was just nervous. It was then that he remembered about Joey's note which was in his pocket at the moment. He took it out and unfolded it slowly.

Pacey,

I know I must be a wimp for not telling you this in person. I'm fairly certain you know why I can't. But there are things that I can't leave unsaid.

First of all, "I told you so." You're getting out of here, as I predicted, and I am immensely envious of you for exiting Capeside before I can even recieve the chance to do the same thing. While I will be scrubbing dishes and providing gossip for the small-minded townsfolk, you will be taking in California sun and will be without the nagging of the parental units. However, I wish you all of the luck that I never seem to come across, and hope that Santa Cruz is the answer you have been looking for. Make me and Dawson proud, this meaning you should most definitely take this chance to start over seriously, this meaning no dating any of your English teachers there and actually thinking about the consequences before each action you make. And I am going to end this short letter before I start to sound any more like a mother.

Hope you keep in touch. Take care.

Joey*