Disclaimer: Don't own. Will never own.
Author's Note: Um...this was written between the 4th and 5th season. So...disregard anything after that.
Dedication: The Seattle Mariners...*giggles* Go M's!!!!
"Jo?" Pacey Witter spoke, interrupting the companionable silence that had fallen between himself and his girlfriend of the last four years.
"Yeah?" She turned her head to the side to look at him. They were walking through a small park a few blocks from the apartment they shared. Together, they walked Pacey's dog, a mix breed named Leslie, her lease caught between their entwined fingers.
College life had treated Joey well over the years. Non-college life had treated Pacey well too. A year after Joey graduated, they found each other once again and fell back in love. It was almost too simple, too easy, too wonderful to be true.
"Do you ever regret choosing me over Dawson?" He asked quietly as they walked along the gravel path, stopping every so often for Leslie to sniff around for the perfect spot.
She arched an eyebrow, "What?"
"Do you ever regret choosing me over Dawson?" He repeated more clearly.
"Is this about that TV show you were watching this morning?" She asked, slightly annoyed that he was doubting her feelings after all this time.
While Joey was taking a shower that morning, he'd come across an E! Hollywood update and seen Dawson walking the red carpet, attending the premier of his first movie, *Aching Hours*. When Joey entered the room, he quickly turned it off, but not before she'd caught a glimpse of Dawson's familiar blond hair.
"No," Pacey shook his head. "In a way, not really."
"Pacey, you should know by now that I love you." She tugged on his hand, "Only you. And for the rest of my life, it's going to be only you."
"I do know," he assured her.
"Then what's with the dumb question?"
"I know that you love me. But you can't control who you love, you just do. I got lucky by falling in love with the most amazing, most beautiful, most generous, most--"
She elbowed him gently in the ribs, "I get the picture."
"I just think, maybe you got the short end of the arrow when cupid came your way."
She rolled her eyes, "You're a moron, Pacey. I don't want anyone else. And I don't want you to be any different, and I most definitely don't want you to be Dawson. Ever."
"You didn't feel that way once upon a time," he pointed out.
"I was a teenager, what did I know?"
"You were a very enlightened teenager."
She smirked, "Maybe. But I was still a fool when it came to boys."
He looked down at Leslie, who tugged at the leash, instead of at Joey, "Maybe."
She tugged on his hand, forcing him to stop walking, she narrowed her eyes at him. "This is the *last* time we're going to do this, Pacey. Your self-esteem issues are going to drive me to an early grave."
He smiled self-depreciatingly, "Okay, the last time. I swear."
"Okay," she smiled faintly and started walking again. "You want to know how I know I was such a fool when it came to you and Dawson? How I know that being with you is where I'm meant to be?"
He shrugged, "No, not really." He shot her a smile to show he was kidding.
"Don't mess with me, Pacey." She gave him a mock glare. "We've been together four years now, not counting the year in high school. If you need to hear this, then you need to hear it...but if you don't, save me the heart ache of trying to convince you that you're worthy of me."
His smile faded to seriousness. "I need to know, Joey."
She nodded, "Okay. So...do you remember back in the summer of '93?"
His brow wrinkled, "What part?"
"We were all ten and you and Dawson played little league."
Pacey smiled, "Yeah, that's right. And you refused to come to any of our games because they wouldn't let girls join the team."
She nodded, "Yeah, my own personal boycott. Except, I came to the last game. Remember how you and Dawson begged me to come?"
"Yeah," he smirked, "That was a weird year, too. They split Capeside Little League into two teams."
"Right, by last name. A through M were Capeside Coyotes, and N through Z were Capeside Crusaders." She smiled softly, "You two tried to convince the coaches that there was a silent H at the beginning of Witter."
He chuckled softly, "We wanted to be on the same team so badly."
"Uh huh, but it didn't happen. So I spent the season boycotting Little League, and you two played different teams all over the cape. The Coyotes had a record of..." she squinted in thought, "I think fifteen and four. Incredible record considering they had Dawson on their team," she said wryly.
"My team on the other hand..."
"Six and thirteen." She verified their losing record for him.
"And you remember all this? You didn't even go to the games."
She grinned at him, her tongue peeking out between her lips, "I remember everything."
"Those words are going to come back and haunt us forever, aren't they?"
She gave him her most loving smile, "That was one of the single most romantic moments in my life, Pace."
"Well, I'm glad I made it memorable." He squeezed her hand lightly.
"So, after a lot of persuasion, I came. You pitched a good game that day, Pace. A no hitter until the ninth inning."
"If I recall, so did the other team."
Joey shrugged, "Yeah, they played well too. Dawson even made a good play at the third base to get Chris Wolfe out. But it didn't mean as much to them." She smiled at the memory, "God, I can still see your team mates cheering after every strike out. The crowd too. There's nothing quite so as uplifting as watching the underdogs over come the best."
"Yeah, that was an exciting game." He made a sound low in his throat, "My Pops was in the stands cheering louder than everyone else."
"Uh huh, but you know what I remember most about that game?" Joey asked him.
"Nope, fill me in."
"It was bottom of the ninth, and the score was zero to one, in your favor." Pacey's eyes darkened slightly as she spoke. "And there were two men on base. One at second and one at third. There were two outs and Dawson was up to bat. If he got even a single base hit, both men on base would score and the coyotes would win.
"You made two perfect pitches. One more strike, and you'd be the hero of the game. And the fact that your team had a losing record wouldn't matter, cause you beat the best team in the league."
Pacey opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off, "If Dawson got that base hit, with a single hit, he'd become a hero, saving them from a humiliating loss to the worst team in the league." She paused as they continued walking. "And I know what you did with that pitch, Pacey. You could have pitched a fast ball up and in, he couldn't resist those. And you threw it nice and easy, right through the center of the plate.
"They carried Dawson off on their shoulders." Joey shook her head from side to side, "He could have just let it go...stepped aside for once and let you be the hero."
"But he didn't." Pacey said wryly.
"No, he didn't. It's not in his heart to be that kind of man." She smirked, "And that is why I think I was a fool in my childhood. Because even at ten years old, Pace, you had the kind of heart to let your best friend be a hero for a day. At a time in your life when it would have meant the world to you to win that game for team mates, for you Dad, for yourself. And you had the heart to give it up for Dawson."
He shrugged, "I was ten."
"Yeah, you were ten. And you were sixteen when supported Andie through her mental problems. You were seventeen when you bought me a wall and beat up a bully in my name. You were eighteen when you made love to me for the first time and made it absolutely perfect."
He smiled softly, looking down at the ground as Joey continued, "You've always had a huge heart, Pacey. When cupid hit me with that arrow, he made me fall in love with a man who has the most generous and giving heart."
"Love isn't everything, Potter." He reminded her.
Pulling him to a stop, Joey rolled her eyes, "No matter how successful or rich Dawson becomes, I'm never going to want him. Our love *is* everything." She told him insistently before slanting her lips over his.
She pulled away, resting her forehead against his as Leslie nudged their legs, "And this is the last time I'm going to tell you that you're better than Dawson. Next time you ask, I'm going to lie."
He chuckled, "I just needed to know why."
"Now you do. Can we consider this a dead and buried topic now?" She asked, grazing his cheek with her finger tips.
"Yes. Very dead and buried." He wrapped an arm around he waist and they continued walking together. Pacey's step was lighter and his smile easy as they made their way down the familiar trail.
A few minutes later, Pacey pulled her to a stop and gestured to a man selling balloons next to the playground. She smiled at the playful look on his face, "I don't need a balloon, Pace."
He smiled indulgently at her, "Come on, live a little."
"By carrying around a helium filled piece of plastic?" She grumbled good naturedly as she allowed him to pull her in the direction of the vendor, Leslie following behind them. It was actually kinda sweet, when she thought about it. A very sweet gesture on Pacey's part, he never was the kinda guy to give a girl the typical candy or flowers.
Her boyfriend handed the man a couple of dollars, and he handed Pacey a blue ribbon. She followed up the ribbon to the transparent red heart shaped balloon and grinned. He gave her a lop sided half smile and held it out to her, "Will you take my heart?"
She rolled her eyes at his corniness, but couldn't help but smile at him. "Of course."
Pacey lifted his eye to the balloon once and they started walking back the way they came. The red balloon trailing silently behind them, Leslie leading the way. Pacey kept glancing back at the balloon as the walked until Joey got too unnerved by it. "What? Do you want to buy one for yourself now?"
"Huh? No," he shook his head and focused on Leslie. "She looks tired," he gestured to the dog that trotted just in front of them, her tongue lolling out as she panted.
"She is kinda old, Pace," she reminded him.
"Leslie? Old? Never." He shook his head in denial, "Not my girl." The wind started to pick up, and Joey's balloon started to swing back and forth.
"She's like forty-nine in dog years, sweetie. Face it, she isn't a pup anymore. I know you think--" her teasing was cut short as she heard a hollow tapping sound behind her. She looked back at the balloon swinging in the wind. There was something inside it.
She shot Pacey a questioning look and pulled the balloon down into her grasp, tilting it to the side so she could see the object inside. Her eyes widened as the ring slid along the curve of the plastic to settle in the low point. "Oh my God," she breathed, turning her eyes to Pacey.
Kneeling down on the ground, he took one of her hands in his. Leslie looked back at them once when they stopped and then flopped to the ground to wait. "Joey, we've been together for four years, lived together for the last two. I've loved you off and on for the whole of my life, and I never want to stop." His lips curved into a lop sided smile, as he took a deep breath, "Potter, can I be your husband?"
She smiled brightly, her eyes alight as she threw herself into his arms, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes yes!"
Pacey lunged for the trailing ribbon as the balloon began to rise upwards. He handed the cord back to her, "Don't wanna lose this."
"Never," She tightened her fist around the cord and wrapped her arms around his neck giving him hard kiss as they sat in the middle of the trail in a tight embrace, the red balloon swinging in the soft wind, and Leslie at their side.
