katleept

Tonight, ghouls, Vamps, and germs, we've a special, spooky, and sweet treat from a fandom we don't get to visit often enough and our favorite couple from therein. Dawson's Creek's Pacey/Andie may just have a surprise of their own in store for you, so hold your lover close, whisper French in the air, and get ready for a sticky, sweet evening.

And as always, this and all the rest of my 13 Days of Halloween series, are dedicated to my beloved Drew, and a small part of my anniversary presents for her. Y'all just get to enjoy the ride. ;-)

Paris has always been a city for lovers, but upon her first arrival in the city, Andie didn't believe that. She couldn't. She was heartbroken and almost didn't survive her journey to her new home. But things have changed greatly since then. All it took was for the right man to realize how great a mistake he had made and come after her.

Now she lays under the bright moonlight with her lover's arms around her. They're drifting gently down the canal, and although some passerbys do look curiously at their little boat, most simply ignore them and go about their own festivities. It's one of the many reasons why Andie now prefers going out at night now rather than in the day.

She closes her eyes as they drift together, her face glowing with her happiness. "Thank you," she whispers, her hands slightly clutching at his wrists.

He shifts slightly underneath her and gives her a coy, lop-sided grin. "For what, McPhee?"

"For everything," she responds without hesitation. "You don't have to be here, Pacey. You could be anywhere in the world." She opens her eyes and gazes intently up at him. "But you choose to be here with me."

"Always," he says, stroking her short, blonde hair. "Are you going to let it go dark again?" he asks offhandedly.

She's surprised by his question. She's been thinking about it lately, but it's hardly of importance now. "Why?" she asks teasingly. "Do you prefer brunettes or something?"

"I prefer you, Andie. You know that." He leans down, pressing his lips to hers, and her world is perfect once again. It doesn't matter if she's brunette or blonde. It doesn't matter if they're here in Paris or aboard in America. It doesn't matter if the guide is giving them strange looks or that strangers gawk when she holds his hand in public. It doesn't matter if no one else can see Pacey but her. As long as she has him in her life, and he loves her and not Joey, her world is perfect.

"Do you ever miss them?" she asks after his lips lift from hers after a while.

"Who?"

"You know who. Dawson, Jack, Doug, Joey."

"Sometimes," he admits, his brown eyes growing wistful. "Dawson and Joey were always my best friends growing up." Sensing a touch of jealousy rising in her, he hurries to add, "But that's all. I was lost, Andie, confused. I didn't know what I wanted." He strokes a loose strand of her hair. "Actually, I did know what I wanted." His fingers hesitate on her tender flesh when he tucks her hair behind her ear. "I just thought you didn't want me."

She looks away, across over the canal. The city lights glimmer in the dark water. She can hear fireworks going off somewhere and the laughter of children they'll never have. "I always loved you, Pacey. You were always the only one for me."

He reaches down, takes her hand, and lifts it to his lips. If his lips pass a little bit through her flesh as he kisses her hand, neither notices. "I know that now, darling. I wish I'd known it then."

She closes her eyes against the painful memories. "It's my fault. I should've found a way to make you understand rather than running away to Paris."

"I wouldn't listen. I was always too stubborn for my own good." Silence except for the water lapping their boat and the noises of others' celebrations passes by them for a moment. "For both of our own good."

"I know," she speaks wistfully. "So was I."

He squeezes her hand. The boat shifts. The moonlight shines fully upon him, and the guide has to look away. "It doesn't matter now."

"No. No," she repeats, raising her head and looking back up at him, "it doesn't. What matters is you're here -- you came all this way for me -- and you love me. I just wish . . . " She pauses, her face again falling. Her eyes look to the bottom of the canoe.

"You wish I wasn't dead. You wish we could have a future together. I can't give you a future, McPhee, but you still have one, a bright one, and I'll haunt you every moment until you tell me to go away."

"That's never going to happen." She looks quickly up and squeezes his hand until she can only feel the press of her own fingers against her flesh. "I'm never going to send you away. I love you!"

He smiles; to her, the very stars seem to dance in his sweet eyes. "I love you too, and I'm going to haunt you until the day you die. Then you can join me in the afterlife."

"And we'll have forever together," she finishes for him, beaming. She turns in his arms, and as they embrace again and he kisses once more, Andie knows it's true. It doesn't matter, really, if Pacey is dead. It doesn't matter if she's the only one who can see him and the rest of the world thinks she's crazy. It doesn't even matter if she is crazy. What matters is that she has Pacey back and he still loves her, not just for this Halloween but forever.

He lifts a flower from a lily pad they're passing and twirls it in his fingers. Moonbeams dance on its red petals. "I'd ask you to marry me," he tells her, ignoring the way the guide paled when he saw the flower rise from the water, "but ghosts can't marry."

"I'd marry you any way," she speaks with no more hesitation. He grins and wraps the flower around her ring finger. Then he kisses her hand again.

She leans down and presses his lips to hers. The guide looks away, his heartbeat thrumming frantically in his ears. He's seen a great many things in his years being a guide for tourists on this canal, but he's never experienced anything quite like this before. He's heard about the young woman; this isn't the first time she's used his canoe. He feels for her truly. Her story is such a sad one, for a bright, young woman to have lost her senses and believe in ghosts. The girl has no future left.

But then the moon slips back from where it had gone to hide behind a cloud. A clock strikes midnight, and for a moment, in that silver moonlight, the guide sees the ghost of the young man holding Andie McPhee so tightly and sweetly. He almost screams, but then he stops and smiles. Perhaps it's a trick of the moonlight. Maybe Halloween is getting to him, but maybe, too, the girl's story isn't as sad as it seems. Maybe she does have a future, a future that shines so brightly in the moonlight that no ordinary human can see it. It takes a ghost to make it happen, instead, a ghost to love her, and a ghost to make all her dreams come true. He smiles and continues their journey down the canal.

The End

Rated PG-13/T