Pieces of a Puzzle


Epilogue
* * * * *

"Joey, would you come on already? Dawson is waiting for us," Pacey shouts from the living room.

Joey yells back, "I'll be there shortly," still staring at the unopened envelope in her hand.

"We are already running five minutes late and Dawson is on edge about this." Pacey exclaims.

Tonight was the premiere of Message Received. Dawson had submitted it to a film festival in Boston. He refused to have anyone see the finished product. He and Kate were already in Boston waiting for the rest of us to get our lazy butts up there.

Joey still stared at the letter from Worthington. Although she really wanted to know if it was good news or bad news, she was also painfully aware of how much would change. True, she had always wanted to get out of Capeside, but this letter would actually be a step in that direction.

What about Pacey? Unless I stay in this fantasy world, I can't really expect him to be there for me. A couple of months together does not mean that Pacey is my soulmate.

Soulmate?! Damnit Dawson, stop that! Next thing you know, I'll be thinking that Pacey is my true love. These are just crazy and irrational thoughts from a seventeen year old.

She slowly opens the letter and scans the words. Joey lets out a screech that even Andie would be proud of. Pacey races up to her bedroom in three seconds flat.

"Jo, what's wrong?" Pacey is still gasping for breath.

Still staring at the letter, she replies, "I got accepted to Worthington."

Pacey exclaims, "Worthington? You got in! That's wonderful, sweetheart." He wraps her in a tight hug, "I'm so proud of you." He looks up at her, "Is something wrong?"

Joey stammers, "Of course not, it's just so surreal. I mean, stuff like this doesn't happen to me. I just half-expect the letter to suddenly morph into a rejection letter."

"It could always turn into a valentine from your former Valentine."

She couldn't help but laugh, "I'm surprised that's the first bad pun I've heard on Drue's name. Besides, he's moved on to about five other women since we dated. Not that I notice these types of things or anything."

Pacey reassures, "Of course not, Potter. I'm sorry to cut this short but we really need to get on the road."

Joey hugs him and gives him a kiss, "Isn't it customary for us to be fashionably late? After all, we are the leading actors in this production."

Pacey raises an eyebrow, "Maybe so but you forget that we're picking up Andie and Henry. Do you have a problem listening to her complain about ruining her agenda?"

She leans in toward his ear and whispers, "I think I could tolerate that. Don't you?"

He begins to kiss her neck, "Just as long as that's understood. I think we can be a little bit late."

* * * * *


Andie was walking back and forth impatiently. Henry tries to get her to sit down, to no avail.

"McPhee, would you stop it? Everything will be fine."

She replies, "No, it won't. We are running late. Jen and Jack are there with the good seats and we could have gone with their ride. After all, Jack's driving my car. But I believe you were the one who insisted that the four of us use two separate cars. Remind me again why we decided that."

Henry replies, "Because having you, me and Jen in the same car for an hour and a half is destined to lead to a dead body when we finally arrive."

Andie snickers, "So it's all about saving your own ass, is it?"

"That and Jack's sanity," Henry replies, "Seriously, I know that the three of us can sit in the same place under normal circumstances. It's just that it's a cramped car and you know how you get on road trips."

"Excuse me. Exactly how do I 'get' on road trips?"

"Okay, let me ask you this. What do you have planned?"

Andie pulls out a sheet of paper from her pocket, "Well, I was thinking that we could do 'Twenty Questions' with celebrities. Maybe a game of 'Silly License Plates and Bumper Stickers'. Then.."

Henry interjects, "Trust me, Jen would definitely kill you. We at least have a chance that Pacey and Joey will be so lovey-dovey that neither would get riled up. But then you'd have to deal with me, so there's still the possibility of death. Your odds are just greatly improved."

"I see, Parker. You just love to antagonize me."

"I could be even harsher, you know."

"As long as it doesn't involve flowers and weird rings to your former crush, I think I could handle it."

"So you're still the jealous one?" Henry playfully whines.

"I have a reason to be this time. After all, I don't want her to steal my man."

Henry gives her a kiss on her forehead, "You're just so cute when you're jealous." He reconsiders, "Or anytime."

* * * * *


"I can't believe that despite all the procrastinating, we're still here before your sister," Jen remarks as she leads with Jack over to where Dawson and Kate are standing.

"I don't think Pacey will ever hear the end of this one." Jack replies.

Jen turns around and flashes him a quick smile.

Kate spots them first and walks over to them, "Thank heaven you guys made it. You don't know how difficult it is to reassure Dawson that everything will be fine when none of his friends are around to support that."

"Do you really think any of us would miss this? After all, I helped him get those desired camera shots." Jen informs her.

Jack chimes in, "Don't forget, Jen. We inspired Mr. Leery in the first place."

Dawson had heard one of Abby's rumors that Jen was involved in the chat. I was proud not admit it to Dawson. But Jack found out and word eventually spread among our other friends.

It's not like Dawson minded or anything, but it turned into a way to annoy Kate. After all, she now had two gay ex-boyfriends on her resume. He kept pestering her with non-funny gay jokes he must have borrowed from Pacey.

Dawson replies, "How could I forget that? I even threw it an inside joke about Frank and Laney. But I'm not so certain this will do well. After all, it's nothing but a cheesy rehash of a popular romantic comedy."

Kate reassures, "I don't know what the judges will think of it, but I have to think that this film is significant to the people you've touched so far."

Jen laughs, "No offense but I don't think I'd ever want him to touch me."

Jack adds, "Me either."

Pacey pops up from behind, "I third whatever you guys were saying." Joey plants a kiss on him for that. Andie and Henry soon join the growing crowd.

Andie rambles, "Well, we would've been here sooner but.. well, I don't really need the details as to what," points to Pacey and Joey, "these two were doing."

Pacey replies indignantly, "We were just doing a little celebrating. Nothing wrong in that. If Joey wants to tell the others what we were celebrating.."

"Later, Witter. This is Dawson's moment right now and there's no need to take away from that." Joey instructs.

Pacey playfully pouts at her as Dawson leads the gang over to their seats. His parents were unable to leave the fish market behind so it freed up the extra tickets.

Probably a good thing too, since the emcee was droning on and on about the process to get to this point.

I never thought that Pacey would admit his lingering feelings for her. I like the role of Pacey's confidante a lot more than the former role as his friend-with-benefits. Then again, I can't say I exactly minded the benefits. Wonder if Joey knows about them yet. She snickers at the thought. They get to relive the bliss on film for years to come. Which you know will be the case because Dawson has a tendency to watch the same movie over and over again.

I never thought that I would standing next to Henry Parker and not be waiting for the moment to flee from him. Glancing at Andie and Henry bantering, she knew it was only a matter of time before the two would hook up. Unless they have already and nobody's aware of it yet. Then again, I really don't have that much of an interest in their affairs.

Jen looks over at the filmmaker and the leading lady in the script of his life. I never thought that Dawson and Kate would still be together in what initially appeared to be a summer fling or a fleeting long-distance relationship. As long as he's with her, he doesn't think about the fact that he should be annoyed about Pacey and Joey, so all I have to say is that Kate is the queen.

I never thought I could do without having a guy in my life. Do I mind being single? Not so much. It's not like Jack and I are a couple or anything but he's become someone even more important. I still can't get over how I never really had that person that I could express my deepest feelings. To not receive a judgemental reply or a deaf ear. To have someone so supportive there for me. It works both ways of course.

Jen catches the emcee reciting the order of movies to appear. Message Received was the third one on the bill. Meaning that we'd have to sit through two potentially horrendous films.

The first film appearing on the screen was called Chillers. The opening scene was a blatant rip-off of Drew Barrymore's death in Scream. I thought Dawson Leery was unoriginal! This hack was much worse. Jen groans as she slides down in her seat.

Jack mutters, "I thought the teen horror invasion was over."

Jen replies, "I think it's on life support. Hopefully, this film will put it out of it's misery."

She glances around at the others, all who look about as bored as she is by it. Jen slumps back in her seat and continues musing.

Then again, there must have been a reason why we were all brought together. Maybe it's destiny that we would become friends. You could question if the events were different, would we have become friends.

What if Pacey hadn't switched the boxes at the party? Would Joey still be dating Drue and Pacey would still be pining after her?

What if Dawson wasn't dating Kate? Would his friendship with Pacey have been ruined when he started dating Joey?

What if I wasn't so stupid to print out a copy of that email? Would this film ever have been made? Would Jack have stayed in the closet? Would we have become friends in real life or would I be hovering over the computer as an internet junkie waiting for Frank's advice?

What if Andie had kept her mouth shut? Would she still be pining after Henry and he still in turn still pine after me?

Maybe it's destiny. That no matter what events happened before, it was supposed to lead up to this point. I don't mean that we would land at the premiere for a film of Dawson's. Rather, that we would all become friends.

I guess it was just pieces of the puzzle called life fitting perfectly in place. Index