"Pace, I really should have brought that other dress, too. I don’t know...right now this doesn’t seem to fit for the occasion, or does it?" Joey stared at her reflection in the mirror while she twirled her hair up in an elegant banana-style bun.

Pacey leaned back to the doorframe stuffing his hands into the pockets of his suit. He couldn’t help but smile. Even after years she was still so insecure about herself. She would probably never acknowledge her amazing beauty and that made him fall in love with here all over again.

He loved it when that small crease appeared right above her nose when she couldn’t make up her mind.

"You look stunning, Jo." Pacey moved forward and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, "just look at you." He let his eyes roam over her slender body which the floor-length halter dress hugged in all the right places.

"Awww, Pace..." Joey smiled and looked directly in his eyes via the mirror. She let her head fall back a little, comfortably resting against him.

"But... don’t you think it is too.... simple? I mean, they expect us to be part of the hip NYC style and...." She frowned again.

"Potter, since when do you give a damn about what other people might think? Especially the kind like Barbara Johns?" Pacey placed a light kiss on her exposed neck.

He absolutely loved her Audrey Hepburn-style dress. He always loved seeing her in these dresses and he had bought this one for her, too. Simple, elegant, beautiful. Those three words... he had used them before. The first time at their Junior Prom... and many times afterwards again and he would use them uncountable times in the future. That much he was sure of.

Joey giggled. "You know, maybe since the moment we came up here to attend our ten year High School Reunion. Which is quite unbelievable in itself... who would have thought we would turn out to be that school-spirited in our old days." She turned in his embrace and crossed her arms behind his neck.

Pacey gazed down into her eyes. The eyes that were holding everything to him.

"Haunted by old teenage insecurities?" He kept the tone light, but Joey didn’t miss the seriousness behind it.

"No, never... it’s just Capeside. We’ve left it behind but it’s still there. And going to the reunion transforms us back into the people we used to be. Just as we think Barbara will still be as annoying and arrogant as she used to be, they probably think that we’ll be like we used to be in 2001. But we are not..."

"Whoa... Jo, calm down." Pacey silenced her with a sweet kiss on her lips, "Actually we are still the Class Couple... more than ever and more than back then, I might add."

"Couple, huh?" Joey beamed, her lopsided smile radiating all her love.

"Uh-huh." Pacey caught her bottom lip and nibbled softly on it before mumbling against her skin "You know, we don’t have to go..." his hand slid up her back and slowly inched the zipper downwards, "we could just stay here and..." he suggestively wiggled his eyebrows.

"Uh-uh, now that we’re here... we’re going. I want to spill the beans about how lucky, how successful and how much in love we are to all those narrow-minded small town people!" she stuck her tongue out a little at him.

"Potter, how many times do I have to ..." he began but was stopped in mid-sentence when her hand deliberately grazed his arousal.

"Think about the fun...Pace, I promise I’ll make it worth your while..." Joey grinned and turned back to the mirror, "Now give me five more minutes, then I’m good to go."

Pacey sighed glancing at his watch. Half past eight. It was really getting late.

"Okay, take your time, honey. ... And thank you very much for reminding me why I even thought about not going... think about the fun we could have all by ourselves... right now..." He pouted a little.

"Just think how much fun we’ll have after spending hours with keeping our raging hormones in check... morphing back into teenagers.... all the pent up lust...."

Pacey groaned. "Stop it already... you’re only making it worse! And if you keep it up...you won’t leave this room until Tuesday."

"Promise?" Joey worried her lower lip with her teeth.

"Jo..." Pacey warned again. He was very close to ravishing her right then.

"Okay... no more teasing. I think I love you more every time you’re getting so... desperate to ..."

"You think or you know?" Pacey licked his lips.

"I know..." Joey’s eyes sparkled and darkened at the same time.

Pacey kicked the door shut with his foot. Thinking back to the day they had this conversation for the first time which changed their lives.

"That’s it, Potter. I guess they’ll have to wait for the Class Couple a little while longer." He swept her up and threw her on the bed.

They would take their time, no matter how late it was getting.

~*~

Pacey tried to avoid each and every little bump in the road towards Capeside High School because Joey had wanted to save some time and pin up her hair in the car, which she wouldn’t have needed to do if he hadn’t let her hair down again because he wanted to feel it on his skin while they....

Pacey smirked. He’d better stop thinking about what happened in the last hour, at least while he was driving.

Although he really wanted to concentrate on the road he couldn’t help watching Joey out of the corner of his eyes.

She was leaning forward to get a better view in the small mirror inside the passenger seat sun visor. Her tongue peeked out a little because of the tricky task she was trying to accomplish.

Pacey automatically licked his own lips. He knew he should feel somewhat guilty for ruining her perfect hairstyle in the first place... but he didn’t. He has loved her hair for as long as he could remember.

Pacey smiled. He still had to touch her hair whenever he could. He reached out grabbing one tendril she had missed and wrapped it around his finger.

"Pace!" Joey scowled mockingly. As long as she could remember he loved touching her hair.... and she loved him playing with it.

~*~

"Hey, you guys are late... really late. You should have been here like over an hour ago!" Dawson cast a reproachful look at the couple walking towards the table.

Since the afternoon he hadn’t been in one of his better moods.

"Pacey is obviously rubbing off on you... You were never late..." Dawson couldn’t stop himself from accusing them.

"Hhhmmm, certain parts of me were rubbing certain parts of my beautiful wife not so long ago.... So you might have a point there." Pacey wiggled his eyebrows suggestively while showing Dawson exactly where his boundaries were. They had called a truce three years ago, but they hadn’t rebuilt their friendship.

Jack laughed and stood up to hug Joey. "You look wonderful, Joey. My, you’re really ... glowing!"

He stepped back and observed the faint blush that was slowly coloring her skin. He giggled and clapped Pacey on the back.

"Hi, Dawson." Joey smiled at her lifelong friend and tried to control her blushing.

Dawson nodded but didn’t get up to hug her. He just remained on his chair.

"Hi Joey, Pacey." Dawson flashed them a light smile.

"Hey, D-man. How’s Mr. Hollywood tonight?" Pacey moved the chair for Joey and sat down beside her before he greeted his childhood friend.

"I’m good, thank you." Dawson stared at the couple’s entwined hands, "I guess I wouldn’t have to ask how you two are doing, would I?"

"No, couldn’t be better!" Pacey squeezed Joey’s hand, "So where’s my dearest brother, Jack?" Pacey turned to Jack, "Wasn’t he supposed to be here tonight, too?"

Jack pouted. "Yeah, he was. But then somebody at the department called in sick and Sheriff Witter felt the need to go working instead of spending the evening with the love of his life and..."

"Melodramatic much, Jack?" Joey snickered cuddling against Pacey’s chest.

"Me? ... Me?" Jack rolled his eyes, "May I remind you of countless telephone calls directed at me, coming in from a person living in the Big Apple and complaining that that certain person’s husband wasn’t home because there was something up in his restaurant?"

"So you were complaining, woman?" Pacey raised his eyebrow glancing down at his wife while a smile persistently tugged at his lips.

"Well, I was lonely... and Jack understands what life with the Witter brothers is like..."

"Yeah, it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it." Jack almost spilled his drink as he burst out in laughter.

"Jeez, are you never growing up?" Dawson shook his head.

"My, what’s wrong with you tonight? We’re back in High School, supposed to have fun. What crawled up your ass and died there, huh?" Pacey turned his head and eyed Dawson warily.

"Nothing." Dawson mumbled into his glass of wine and avoided to look into Pacey’s questioning eyes.

"How is Annie?" Joey tried to change the subject by referring to Dawson’s latest love interest Annabelle Daly, who was the up and coming WB daily soap starlet.

"Umm. Well, we’ve been over for some weeks now. Our time-schedules were constantly conflicting each other and I came to the conclusion that a relationship with a woman is just too high maintenance and I really don’t have the time for that. Steven and I..."

"Right. I should’ve known that. Friendship is probably also too time-demanding for you, seeing that you couldn’t even break away from Hollywood to attend our wedding last year." Joey interrupted him bitterly. She was still hurt that he had simply sent a fax explaining he couldn’t make it but was wishing them all the best.

"Look, I’m pretty busy and the business doesn’t care about private interests."

"Yeah, whatever. It’s your life, Dawson." Joey reached over the table and grabbed a piece of French Bread.

A silence fell over the four people who used to be inseparable but had drifted apart over the last years. Actually three of them still had a very close bond but the only blonde at the table had lost the connection to them.

Dawson cleared his throat. "So, I was driving around town today and guess what?"

Three pairs of eyes directed themselves to him, waiting for him to continue, grateful that he was making an effort to keep a conversation going.

"Someone painted your wall, Joey." Dawson stared at the woman who he still loved. He had accepted that she had chosen somebody else, but he couldn’t help the fact that he still loved her. At least this was what he thought.

Pacey smiled and kissed Joey’s temple. Jack quickly popped another bit of bread in his mouth to prevent laughing.

"Well, I know, because... If you had been here last year, you would know, that I finally found the motif for painting this wall. I actually bought it and the painting was one of my wedding gifts to Pacey." Joey explained.

"Oh..." Dawson swallowed. He should have known. He should have known the second he saw it.

"You didn’t recognize it?" Joey asked.

"I.... umm, it’s a boat sailing into the sunset." Dawson answered as realization set in. True Love. Their boat. The summer they sailed away.

"It’s True Love, I painted the day I admitted my love for Pacey openly for the very first time." Her eyes sparkled remembering that day.

Dawson slowly nodded. "You married on the same day my mother married..." It was only then that he thought about it. He hadn’t noticed it before.

"Yes, we did. May 24^th 2010.... Our ten year anniversary...." Pacey stated before Joey added, "...because the time in between those ten years we weren’t actually together we still were in our hearts." She beamed and turned in her husbands embrace to place a soft kiss on his lips.

"Ohhh, Josephine Potter, I’m sorry, Witter.... How are you? I read your book. It’s wonderful. How is life in New York City? My, my.... our class couple is married.... that’s classic!" A shrill voice invaded their moment.

Joey looked up and saw Barbara Johns of all people. She sighed but forced herself to smile. Hey, she had bought her novel.... she could be a little friendly to someone who got her paid those checks.

"Barbara, hi. It’s so nice to see you. Thank you for buying my book."

"How could I not. It doesn’t happen often that you can say about a successful author that you knew her from way back." Barbara gushed.

"Thank you very much." Joey just wished she would leave them alone again. Barbara was certainly one of the people she... they could easily live without. And suddenly she remembered something.

"Awww, Barbara, where’s your handsome husband Todd? I would really like to say ‘Hi’ to him." She smiled innocently although she had noticed that Barbara was wearing a name tag displaying her maiden name.

"Oh, well.... we, umm.... we divorced. No big deal." Barbara made a dismissive gesture with her hand but her face fell obviously.

"Umm.... It was so good to see you again, but right now I caught sight of Amber. I haven’t seen her in ages. See you later." And with that said she rushed towards her next pray or she really just wanted to escape from Joey’s question.

"God, you’re evil, woman." Pacey grinned widely.

"Why?" Dawson was oblivious as ever.

"Because..." Jack tried to make a serious face, "... the reason of our dear Barbara’s divorce was that her cute husband Todd crossed sides and declared his attraction to the male population."

"You mean.... her husband? Gay?" Dawson’s eyes widened remembering that she had been the reason for their Anti-Prom in Junior year. She refused to sell Jack tickets to the prom if he insisted on being accompanied by another boy.

"Exactly."

For the first time that evening all four of them joined in laughter together.

"Be right back, sweetheart." Joey placed a small peck on Pacey’s cheek and excused herself.

"So, how’s the restaurant going, Pacey?" Dawson really tried to catch up with the people he used to know the best in the world. He really wanted them to be a part of his live.

"Well, ..." Pacey started but was interrupted as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and faced Joey who was smiling brightly.

"Yes." Pacey stood up, guiding them to the dance floor. His heart had skipped a beat as she had asked that question. She remembered, too. He knew that she did, but when she said something like this... He always felt the butterflies do somersaults.... more than they did every day, because they never stopped, they had never stopped.

"This is something I should have asked you at our Prom, too." Joey placed her head on his shoulder, her body molded perfectly to his.

"Jo..." It still made him cringe. He wanted to erase that night from his and her memory for good.

"Shhh." She silenced him as a slow song started. ‘You Had Me From Hello’, by Bon Jovi.

They swayed to the soft music and at the second chorus Joey raised her head and sang the words in a whispered voice right into his ear.

~*~

Joey felt Pacey’s arms tighten their embrace as they continued to dance. Everything felt so right. She was home, he was home... they were each others home. And thinking about it, in all of the 23 years they have known each other they had never said ‘Goodbye’ to each other. Neither in the literary sense nor in any other. Right from the very first ‘Hello’ in kindergarten they had only said ‘Hello’ to each other. Their history grew along an endless chain of ‘Hellos’. No matter what happened to them or their relationship along the way, they were always welcoming every part with each other. And with each of those ‘Hellos’ he got her a little more.

One of her favorite was the time, when she had just learned about her mother’s illness. She was so confused and scared then. She had sat on her dock all alone because Bessie, her dad and her mother had gone to another specialist and she hated doctors and hospitals. She had refused to go with them. She just couldn’t.

Dawson watched the couple dance. Everything about them was so intimate, so loving... and he envied them. Even with a room full of people they only had eyes for each other. Their world consisted just of the two of them.

He never had such a bond with Joey, never.

~*~

"Jo? What do you say? Ready to call it a night" Pacey whispered in her ear as the song ended.

Joey smirked. She knew what was on his mind, she could feel what was on his mind or better put what was on something further down south. Actually she had her mind set on pretty much the same.

"Sure. Let’s just say bye, okay?" she suggested.

Instead of an answer Pacey just held her hand tightly in his own and made a beeline back to the table where Dawson and Jack still sat.

He grabbed Joey’s stole and tenderly wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Well, it’s goodnight for us now." He simple stated as he caught Dawson’s questioning glance.

"Yeah, we’re going to call it night now. As much fun as it was to be back in these old halls..." Joey shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, you’re already leaving... I really wanted to talk with you guys a little more." Dawson pleadingly looked up to Joey.

"Hhmmm.... how long are you staying in Capeside?" Joey tilted her head.

"I’m flying back to L.A. on Monday."

"That’s great. We’re leaving on Tuesday, which leaves us tomorrow. So..." Joey smiled letting her hand slide around Pacey’s waist who was impatiently waiting for her, "... I’d like you and you, Jack and Amy and Doug to come over tomorrow. Brunch at the B & B and Pace will spoil you rotten with his magical cooking abilities so that you’ll have to come to New York much more often!" She emphasized the last sentence.

"I’m cooking?" Pacey pouted, "I’m on vacation...." A mischievous smile crept up to his eyes.

"Oh honey, I know. But it’s your last chance to get your hands on a full size kitchen for weeks and I know how addicted you are. I just want to make going cold turkey a little easier for you." Joey grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Jo... watch that little tongue of yours. I told you not to..." Pacey growled. He really wanted to leave now.

"Sweetheart, I’m very much planning to use it, so.... shut up and let’s get going!" Joey slapped his rear playfully and Pacey wrapped his arms around her, pulling her towards the doors.

"This woman is going to be the death of me... but it’s my woman.... and I couldn’t think of a better death. So please excuse us now. There are certain duties that come along with marriage...." Pacey said over his shoulder while already moving forward.

"They’ll stop acting like being head over heels in love, won’t they." Dawson remarked dryly.

"No, because they are madly in love. Every time I see them together, they are more in love then the last time." Jack answered. He knew that Dawson was still hung up on Joey but at least he wasn’t making a big thing out of it this time.

"Do you know where they are going? I mean, why wouldn’t Pacey have a chance to cook for weeks? Aren’t they going back to New York after this weekend?" Dawson wondered.

"No. They are taking a cruise down to the keys. They do that every year on May 24^th. Well, since they have a new boat and since they’ve been back together for good."

"A new boat?"

"Yeah, it has a strange name.... on the other hand it’s perfectly Joey and Pacey style. They have a way to communicate with each other so that no other person has a clue to what’s going on."

"Yeah, so what’s its name?" Dawson hung at Jack’s lips. There was so much he didn’t know.

"Umm.... ‘From Hello’.... really, I have no idea what’s that supposed to mean...."

"Why are you stopping?" Joey frowned when Pacey let the car slide into a parking space.

"Because good old Dawson reminded me, that we haven’t visited my wedding present for a while and I just wanted to take a look." Pacey quipped.

"It’s dark, Pace. You won’t be able to see much of it now." Joey was a little confused. One second he was eager to get back home and the next he wanted to look at her painting when there would be little close to nothing to be seen.

"Come on, baby... Let’s take a look." Pacey opened the door and got out.

Joey was just about to reach for her door handle when Pacey opened it for her. Holding hands they walked across the street and stared at their wall. The lot was still empty, well not so empty anymore. The same time they had purchased the wall they had also bought the adjacent property. They had transformed it into a little garden complete with a few benches so that people could rest for a while after shopping.

"See, it’s too dark, I told you..." Joey waved her hand around.

"Just be patient, Jo." Pacey checked his watch, "Ten, my love."

Suddenly a soft light illuminated the wall. It wasn’t bright, more like the sun when it was about to set, just like it did in her painting.

"Awww...." Joey’s eyes widened with surprise. It was such a beautiful sight.

"How did you do that?"

"Well, ..." Pacey stepped behind her and enveloped her in his arms, nuzzling her neck, "... let’s just say that it came in pretty handy that you needed to visit the bathroom before we left school."

"But... all the little lamps..." Joey was speechless.

"They won’t be there permanently. I just thought we could celebrate our one year anniversary a little. And seeing that we won’t be here on next Tuesday..."

"I love you, Pace." Joey turned around and crossed her hands behind his neck.

He touched her forehead with his own softly rubbed their noses together. "I love you, too."

"You know, ... I thought you had something different in mind... when you wanted to leave..."

"Josephine Witter. I am horrified at your nasty little thoughts." Pacey mocked.

"Duh...."

"But, who says I didn’t have something else on my mind?" Pacey’s voice was hoarse as he pulled her closer to him.

"Oh, really. Do tell, Mr. Witter."

"You know, I’m not the one to talk that much...." he brushed his lips over hers.

"Tired of talking again, Pace?" Joey felt her hear skip a beat.

"Uh-huh."

Pacey kissed her again, more demanding this time. He let his tongue trace her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to him.

Joey moaned quietly, sucking his tongue further into her mouth. Their kiss grew hotter by the second and soon she felt it was too much, she needed more and she needed it right then and there. She didn’t care where they were.

"Pace..." She mumbled breathlessly.

"What, sweetie? What do you want?"

"I... I want you... now."

"Now, baby?" Pacey chuckled. The days of a shy Joey Potter were long since gone.

"Now!"

"We’re in a public place, Jo!" Pacey struggled to keep his mind together while thinking about what she was suggesting.

"So? It’s dark, ... almost." She moved her hand between their bodies, tracing the bulge in his pants.

"God, Jo." Pacey let his head fall back, reveling in the sensations her touch was creating.

"The ruins were kind of a public place, too.... weren’t they?" Joey placed small kisses along his jaw line up to his ear, where she softly bit on the lobe before letting her tongue delve into it.

Pacey’s breath was ragged. This was it. He knew it. He had to give in. He couldn’t wait any longer.

"Right." He managed to say before dragging Joey closer to the wall and into the dark corner on the left side.

He pressed her against the wall, kissing and sucking her neck, her jaw, her mouth. He could never get enough of her. Never.

Pacey drew back for a last time, making sure she really wanted to do it there, practically in the center of their hometown, where they could be caught any moment.

Her eyes were dark and reflected the passion and desire of her love for him.

"Hi." He whispered against her lips, his own eyes revealing the same feelings as hers.

"Hi." Joey smiled and pulled him even closer to her.

Pacey pushed her further up the wall and stepped between her legs for a better leverage, while she wrapped her legs around his waist, perfectly covered by her long dress.

Pacey let his hand roam underneath her gown, caressed her thighs and inched further up, feeling like he had to explode very soon. Suddenly he stopped.

Smirking he brought his lips to her ear. "No panties, Jo?"

"Must have forgotten them.... when my husband decided to show up late at our reunion party...." Joey muttered, rocking slightly against him.

Again time for saying ‘Hello’, another link to their chain of history.

Soon after Pacey and Joey had left the school, Dawson went home, too. On his way home he drove by their wall. It was illuminated and if his eyes weren’t deceiving him, he could see two people in the left corner.

He strained to make them out, when he spotted Pacey’s car. Glancing back he realized what they were doing there. Even though he couldn’t see much and he certainly never wanted to see them doing this.... ever, he couldn’t help but smile.

They were happy. He had never thought Joey Potter would do something this intimate in public. But she did. With Pacey she did everything. The only times he had seen her really alive, were when she was with Pacey.

Right then he made his peace. He loved her and he only wanted to see her happy and as much as alive as possible. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t him who made her feel like that.

Maybe he would find someone with whom he could imagine showing his love like Joey and Pacey did.

He was happy for them. For the first time he was truly happy for them.

"Good thing, that ‘From Hello’ is so conveniently docked here." Pacey grinned as Joey nestled against him on their bed on the boat.

"Yeah.... I couldn’t have walked any further. My legs feel like yell-o or something." Joey giggled.

"I hear ya... That was.... very, very intense there..." Pacey let his hand run up and down her arm.

"Mmhhh....Happy Anniversary, Pace!" Joey pushed herself up and kissed him softly before laying her head back down on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Happy Anniversary, Jo." Pacey kissed her head.

"Pace?" Joey’s voice sounded very sleepy, but she had one thing left to say.

"Hhmm?" Pacey played with her long her hair that was fanned out over his chest.

"Do you remember the day we first met? I mean the very first day back at kindergarten?"

Pacey smiled.

"You had me from hello, Jo."

Her deep and even breaths told him that she was already fast asleep. Maybe he would have to tell her again in the morning, when they would exchange their next ‘hello’.

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