Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters.

Authors Note: This is based on an actual even in my hometown in Washington State. It happened June 10, 1999. I am trying to recreate the event as if it were to have happened in Capeside, so almost all the details regarding the actual event are factual (as of my knowledge). If you want to know more about the real life experiance or to send feedback, e-mail me at [email protected]. All the pictures are from that time.

Capeside, Mass. 2026

"Where were you during the explosion?" The question echoed in my mind. 'Where were you during the explosion?'

Everyone who was in Capeside that fateful day knows exactly where they were and what they were doing the day the creek exploded. I wouldn't have ever forgotten June 10, 1999 even if there hadn't been an explosion. But there had been and the scars run deeper than any that can be seen.

They told us after it happened that it would be years before trees would begin to grow along the banks again and they were never sure if the salmon would return to spawn there again. But the emotional scars are what run the deepest.

That's why I cringed when my eighteen year old daughter asked me that question. It happened twenty-eight years ago, but I remembered it as if it were yesterday. I met the solomn gaze of my husband sitting next to me. He nodded slightly, just enough for me to understand that it was time to tell her.

Our daughter, Arianna, was going to be a journalist. Since she was little, she always adored the idea of being on television. She used to give newscasts in our living room, kneeling from behind the coffee table. She had just entered Boston University on a scholorship and her first assignment was to interview someone she admired, or held in high esteem. When she told me, she wanted to interview us, I glowed with pride. But now, I was reluctant to share with her one of the darkest parts of our past.

I looked to my right again for reasurance. The love of my life took my hand and squeezed it. "Ari, there's a lot you don't know about how your mom and I got together..." he began, telling the story I was reluctant to share. I squeezed his hand once more and gave in to the memories.

Daleman, Mass. Saturday, June 10, 2000. 4:26 AM.

The trees seemed to bend away from the wind, almost anxcious to get away from it. A loud snap was heard echoing through the night as a tree fell across the powerlines, cutting off power to Massachusettes Pipeline. A moment later, the back up generators kicked in. But the resulting power surge sent a surge of gasoline all along the gas pipelines, clear through the entire state of Massachusettes.

None of the employees worried about it when they found out that morning. It was only a small surge, not large enough to cause any real damage... or so they thought...

...150 miles away, buried 10 feet underground, a rusty pipe cracked under the extra pressure...

Capeside, Mass. Saturday, June 10, 2000. 6:23 AM.

"God, where is he?" I paced across the small expanse of grass as the sun rose behind me. I was fuming. 'How could he? It wasn't enough that he broke my heart once, he had to do it again?" I remember thinking. True, he hadn't broken my heart that second time, I'd been careful to protect myself from him, but he had still been stringing me along. But the complete truth of the matter was that he had never had my heart. Only, I didn't know that until I truly lost my heart to another.

I was still paceing back and forth glancing at my watch every few seconds, when Pacey finally arrived the ground below my had turned to mud. I still, to this day, don't know why we started meeting there or how come whenever we needed one another we always knew to be there.

As soon as I saw him all my anger fled my body, and I remember feeling like I was just this hollow, dejected person, only a shell of myself. I remember thinking, 'Why was it that Dawson was able to envoke all of these horribe emotions within me?' At the time I never understood it, nor did I understand why it was Pacey who was able to cast those emotions from me. But that hardly matters now.

The bright red sunrise behind me cast an eerie redness on his face. I don't know why I ignored the sunrise that morning, maybe if I had payed more attention, I would have remembered that old saying, "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning." I really could have used some kind of warning for what was to follow that day.

The anger I felt was instantly transformed to sorrow and the tears began to flow. Pacey wouldn't look me in the eyes, so I knew he had failed, just as I had. I crossed the short expanse of distance and wrapped my arms around his tall frame as best I could.

It was the end of our Junior year, a few more days and it would be summer again. I wasn't sure exactly why Pacey felt so dejected, but I know my reasons, and I'm sure his were similar. Pacey and I had grown closer during our Junior year. Dawson was doing his own thing, marching to the beat of his own drummer, which for awhile, was called Eve. Andie enjoyed stringing Pacey along that year and had dumped him for the eighth time.

Pacey and I would hang around with Jen or Jack everyonce in a while, but they seemed to have their own brother/sister thing going on, and Jen had Henry to keep her busy. So Pacey and I became our own little group. In some ways we connected better than Dawson and I ever did.

Towards the end of the year, our little group began to reconnect. We met a Dawson's house a few times for movie night, we all began eating lunch together again. But there still seemed to be something fundementally wrong in my life. I could feel that something was off, something was keeping it from feeling right.

Pacey and I had talked numerous times about being lonely and we came to the conclusion that was the problem, we weren't whole. We were two halves of the forever couples, we were supposed to last. I was supposed to be with Dawson and he was supposed to be with Andie. And it seemed perfect at the time that we should each try to get back together with our signifgant others. For the first time during the whole year, we, as a group, were actually talking to one another. Pacey and I decided that it was finally the right time for us, we were going to get them back.

Only, it seemed, at the time, that they didn't want to be back. Dawson had told me, and I quote: 'I'm not sure I remember how to love you. It's been a whole year, Joey. We've changed.' That was enough for me, I was climbing out of that window as fast as I could. I went home and tried to sleep for hours and then early that morning I went to the ruins.

When he finally arrived I held him as tightly as I could, almost fearing that if I let him go, I would fall apart myself. As strange as it sounds, as close as Pacey and I had become, we rarely ever touched one another. It was just something we didn't do. And as I stood there grasping him to me for dear life, I wondered randomly why we didn't. There was something comforting about touching him, feeling him. He absorbed my heart-ache and mended it with his own, as weird as that sounds. To this day, his touch is still that comforting.

If I had to pick a point when I fell in love with him it was then. I realized that the lonliness we'd been feeling wasn't because of their absense in our lives, but that we were missing each other. We weren't connecting in the one way we should have been.

I still don't know who kissed who... all I remember is that it felt right. Everything in my life fell into place in those few seconds. I don't think I ever found out what exactly Andie had said to Pacey and at the time I didn't care. We went back to my house. We watched a movie, which we spent more time not watching than watching. No one was home and one thing led to another... we consumated our new found love.

We were relaxing in my bed not watching a movie when the speedboat pulled up to my dock.

A mile up the creek... 5:56 PM

Two ten year old boys stood nearby the creek, a metalic scent permeated the air around then, but they paid no attention. Their minds was on the fireworks from last year they had found. They took delight in doing something they knew they shouldn't.

Joey's House... 6:02 PM

Pacey and I were otherwise occupied when Dawson knocked at the door. He just came in after hearing the TV set going... I'll never be sure exactly why he came to my house. I can only guess by the hurt look on his face that he wanted to get back together. I can only imagine what he was thinking. The next few minutes passed like years for me.

He stared at us for a few seconds, that stretched into hours in my mind. His eyes were wide with surprise, as were mine and Pacey's. For minutes we just stared at each other blankly, for the first time in my life I couldn't read the emotions on Dawson's face.

Finally he looked away, flustered at catching Pacey and I in an awkward postion. I can only imagine what he was thinking. His face hardened and his eyes clouded with something that I knew to well, something that I experianced one to many times at his hand. By the look of jealousy that flitted across his face I can make a pretty safe guess that he had come over for one reason, he wanted to get back together with me.

At another time I would of laughed at my and Dawson's infamous bad timing. When I wanted him, he didn't want me. When he wanted me, I had moved on. After what seemed like an eternity everything seemed to happen at once."You, uh, and, uh, P-pacey?" He managed to sputter out before turning and running

By the time Pacey and I were able to get ourselves situated, Dawson was already in his boat and starting the engine. He and I raced out after him, reaching the porch just as Dawson pressed on the gas.

A mile up the creek...

One of the boys held a firework in his hand, the wick was to short and it had begun to burn his hand. He cried out and ran to the creek throwing the firework into it.

Pacey and I had only gotten a few feet beyond the porch when the explosion sounded. It threw us to the ground. It shook the ground and the sound waves popped my ears. I looked up at Pacey in shock and worry to see if he was okay. Next I looked out to Dawson, he was still driving his boat away. A second later I saw the huge pitch black mushroom cloud rise up over us and slightly to the west. The next thing I was aware of was a huge hissing noise, that grew louder within seconds.

I was still lying on the ground only about five seconds had passed from the initial blast to the fire ball. The hissing I had heard was from the rolling ball of flame that came flooding down the creek, burning off the vaporized gas along with the plants and trees that grow along it's banks. As the flames approached Dawson's boat I remember screaming his name, but before I could get the first syllibul out, it was too late. He was engulfed in flames.

I tried to run to him but Pacey held me back, my dock was covered in flames, the reeds on the banks were on fire, the trees and even the water itself was on fire. I watched through teary eyes as seconds later Dawson's speedboat blew up. The smoke, ashes, and flames rolling up to the heavens. I colapsed then, sobbing, I couldn't look, wouldn't look to where the remainders of Dawson's boat floated on the flaming water.

I can't tell you how eerie it is to see water on fire. Not that it matters. The whole experiance was, and still is, beyond me. Even years later I can barely believe it happened.

I can still feel the heat on my skin, I can still feel the rapid beating of Pacey's heart, I can still hear Dawson's howls of pain echoing ceaselessly in my mind. I have never felt so much terror, horror or heartache as I did then. I felt it in every pore, in every crevice, it was in the very air. Making my breathing harsh and my skin crawl, it's a sensation I will never forget.

So there I was sitting on the ground holding onto Pacey for dear life. While the creek and the surronding vegataion was a raging inferno. I could vaguely here the sirens ringing through the town. The scariest part was not understanding what was happening. Just one second of one day and out of the blue, the world around you changes completely, becoming some terrifying nightmare.

If this was a nightmare, than I definatly wanted to wake up and fast. The image of him being engulfed in flames played in my head over and over again. I gasped involuntary, out of grief, out of sorrow but most of all out of pain of losing Dawson forever.

Pacey looked down at me and saw that I was going to lose it again any second and he just held me tighter as if to protect me from the world, the fire and my grief. And if it had been possible I would of held him tighter.

Capeside, Mass. 2026

"So there it is, our story," I said, finally looking Arianna in the eye. My eyes clouded with unshed tears but I didn't cry. I wouldn't allow myself to. For those tears of pain were for a different time, a time and place sacred in my heart. I had cried for him then, and I wouldn't allow myseft to relive that pain now. Ari smiled at me and it was a smile that held awe and respect. I had told our story, and it felt good.

I shifted my gaze to Pacey, his eyes reflected the same sorrow and pain that I was sure were in mine, but at the same time, underlying all those emotions was one love. Everything we'd been through together only made me love him more. We had shared so much with each other before, since and during the explosion..., I took his hand in my own and squeezed, words couldn't express how I feel for this man.

The End

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