A lot could change in five years. The once sleepy town of Capeside, Massachusetts could attest to that. At one time they were like every other small, eastern seaboard town: unknown, and lowly populated. But business had begun to bloom in the last few years, and things changed. Even the people of Capeside had gone through changes.

Nothing had really ever been the same after the summer of 1999. Dawson Leery, the town's local "film buff" had come home from Philadelphia a changed man. His ex-girlfriend and one time girl-next-door best friend Joey Potter had grown up over the summer, but was dealt a hard blow when she was shunned by the newly revised Dawson.

But the biggest change came upon Pacey Witter, who had shed his once "bad boy" image, for the love of one Andie McPhee, a stranger who'd come to Capeside the year previous. The two immediately took to sparring, but soon gave in and became known as Capeside's Cutest Couple. That was, until disaster struck.

Suffering from depression, Andie had been sent home to Rhode Island to recover, and had been separated, with minimal contact, from her beloved Pacey for the summer.

She, too, returned a changed person. Her betrayal at a moment of weakness had hurt Pacey so badly that he had never forgiven her, and never let her live down the fact that she had destroyed his life.

Pacey had gone through a lot that year. He constantly saw Andie, and was always running into her, or being assigned to do some school activity along side her. In a town like Capeside, it was hard to avoid anyone.

He had tried to move on, to regain the social status he'd had before Andie entered his life. He had a brief fling with two of his close girl friends after the break up. The one with Jennifer Lindley was purely for research purposes; and his relationship with Joey Potter - that one earned him nothing but a good beating from Dawson Leery, and had ended in shambles.

Somehow he always found himself thinking of his sunny faced Andie McPhee. Nobody else in Capeside could take her place in his heart.

They had all graduated from Capeside High School two years later. Jen Lindley had gone back to her home in New York, taking Jack McPhee, Andie's older brother, with her. Dawson and Joey had gotten back together in their final year, and had headed straight to Los Angeles where Joey could study, and Dawson could try his hand at real Hollywood film making.

And Andie McPhee, his sunny-faced Andie had left town shortly after graduation. Her father had deserted the family once again in her senior year, and her mother had passed away just shortly before the graduation ceremony.

She had graduated top of the class. Pacey had watched with pride as she accepted her numerous awards and scholarships. More than once, he had felt the urge to stand and clap, give a sly whistle, or at least congratulate her. Afterall, she had worked hard to reorganize her life after their break up, and had thrown herself into her school work.

He, on the other hand, had graduated simply with a diploma. Following the ceremony, he had wanted to give her his best wishes, to congratulate her, to tell her how sorry he felt for the loss of her mother. But foolish pride had kept him from saying anything at all. Maybe once in the entire night he had caught her eye - but had quickly looked away before she could say anything to him.

As that final summer disappeared, so did Andie. With her entire family gone, she had taken off without a word to anybody of her destination. Everyone had just assumed that she'd gone to Boston University to continue her studies, or off to Harvard or Yale, to make use of the thousands of dollars in scholarship money she had earned. But nobody could be sure, and no one wasted the time in figuring it out.

Pacey took to studying criminology at night school, and went into the security business, just like his father and brother. He filled his life with work and exercise - and rarely had any spare time.

But, four years later, he still hadn't forgotten Andie. He hadn't forgotten the times they'd had together; the numerous times she had pulled him from the gutter, and vise versa. But she had his number, she just never called. He often thought of trying to track her down, but was always too busy to find the time. When he finally did have some spare time, his mind drifted back to her, and he was tempted to make the calls. But, four and a half years after the fact, he had met Lecey. A fresh faced law student, Lecey just happened to be in the right place at the right time. She was four years his junior, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a bright smile. It was a good thing none of this friends were in town, or else they'd have told him what he knew every day of his life - Lecey was a mirror image of Andie McPhee.

But she was sweet, and kind; and even though he didn't fully return it, she loved him to bits. But for him, it was like he was holding a piece of the girl he had never gotten over, never forgotten. A piece of his Andie.

Lecey had approached him with the idea in early September. She was on extended summer break, and was heading to Rhode Island to spend time with some Capeside friends who were already down there. He had a few days vacation coming, so did he want to tag along? Pacey knew he really would be a 'tag along' as her friends were rowdy 19-20 year olds, but he desperately needed a break from the town that held so many memories. And he ended up convincing himself that at one time he, too, was a rowdy teen.

But once the plane touched down, and Lecey's friends greeted them, he knew right away that this was one vacation they would be spending apart. The friends turned out to be party animals - two girls and one guy - whom Lecey had gone to high school with. Their first planned event was to 'initiate' Lecey back into their group with a swim down at the marina, followed by a trip out sailing.

Pacey was reminded of the old sailing boat that he had worked on in high school. True Love, she'd been called - his new project to keep his mind off Andie's betrayal. But as his longing for her grew, his dedication for the boat diminished - and he ended up selling it for scrap material. His true love had already come and gone.

He was pulled from his trance by Lecey snapping her fingers in his face, telling him that they were leaving. He made a lame excuse about wanting to "explore the town on his own," and promised to meet up with them at a local bed and breakfast later that evening. Lecey pouted at his excuse, but she quickly forgave him, and trotted off after her friends. As they left, Pacey overheard one of the guys asking if he was always such a bore - and was surprisingly hurt when Lecey didn't jump to his defense.

He had been 'da man' in high school! He had the best track record - relatively speaking - of all the guys his age! Even when Andie had come into his life, he always had something to do on a Friday night, and he spent every free moment living his teen life to the fullest. But things had drastically changed when he broke up with Andie. It was like the get together circle was broken without her. He had tried to get involved in things with her - like the play they'd done - but it always ended up driving them further apart. It got to the point where he couldn't afford to be near her, because he couldn't control his urge to hold her, kiss her, and go back to the way things used to be. Which, of course, they couldn't.

In an attempt to clear her memory from his mind, Pacey hailed a taxi. He set off to find some type of activity that would hopefully keep him busy until he had to go back to Lecey. Maybe if he were lucky, he would find himself something to do that would last the three days until their plane left for home.

He let the driver continue for quite some time, until coming upon a small shopping mall. Walking through, he seriously considered surfing lessons, bowling, or taking a job at one of the merchants, to keep him occupied. But, at last he was forced to give in to his stomach's grumbling, and made his way to towards where he thought the food court was. He never found it, but did end up stumbling into a small grocery store that connected to the mall. Thinking he could buy a bagel and something to drink, Pacey made his way into the store.

He was standing at the bagel counter, debating between a maple and sundried tomato bagel, when something - or rather, someone - caught his eye.

At first he thought it was Lecey, and was about to curse his bad luck, when he suddenly realized that this girl was taller, and that her blonde hair was long, and tied back. She was pushing a shopping cart full of items, with what looked like a two-year-old girl in the child seat.

The more Pacey watched, the more this woman reminded him of Andie. The way she moved, the way she walked. The only difference was that she seemed to be constantly slouched, talking to the child. Always a stickler for good posture, he knew Andie wouldn't be caught dead slouching.

But Pacey had to shake his head. This wasn't Andie, he reminded himself. He couldn't keep going around and comparing every blonde woman he saw to her. Besides, Andie was probably at Boston U right now, working on her Ph.D., and not giving a thought in his direction.

He willed himself to just walk away, and was about to do so when, among the noise of the store, he caught a familiar voice. Andie.

He put down the bagels in his hands, and took off in the direction of the blonde. She was making her way towards the checkouts; the little girl had begun to scream. As he walked briskly, Pacey told himself that he was just going to have a look - to see the woman face to face, to convince himself that she wasn't who he thought she was. That she wasn't…

"Andie."

The woman turned around suddenly, her mouth wide open, her face stunned.

"Oh my goodness," she breathed, bringing a hand up to her mouth. She began to shake.

"Andie." It was her. It was her, whom he had dreamt about for the last 5 years. Who he had seen in his mind every time that he closed his eyes. It was her.

But she had changed. Her once honey coloured hair had turned sandy; her face sported numerous wrinkles, which no 23-year-old should have. Dark shades covered her eyes, but he was sure that they, too, weren't the same.

"Pacey. What are you doing here?" She asked, quietly.

"I … I…" he stuttered. People had begun to line up behind them, waiting to get through the check out. "Here," he reached out and pulled her to the side, subconsciously noting that she flinched at his touch. "I'm just in town for a few days."

"Oh." She replied.

"So, my … you've changed!" He said, stupidly, at a loss for words. For some reason all the things he had planned to say to her had washed right from his mind. "You don't need these in here," he reached forward and pulled her shades off.

She brought her hands up, impulsively to push his away. But her reaction was delayed, and he had already taken the shades off by the time her hands rested on his.

"What the…" Pacey stared at the large black bruise that surrounded her left eye. "McPhee, what happened?"

"I fell, at home, while washing the floor. Last night. It was stupid of me, but I completely forgot that I had done the kitchen, and when I went in…" She rambled on.

"Whoa," he took her hands in his. "It's okay, don't get so defensive."

The child suddenly began to scream again, and Andie reached forward to pick her up. She took the girl in her arms, and began talking to her soothingly.

Pacey watched in envy. It was obvious to him now that the child was hers. He noted, suddenly, the simple gold band that adorned her wedding finger. He should have known that someday, somebody would take her - she was just too good of a woman to remain single until he decided to forgive her and come back.

'Walk away,' he told himself. If he just made his excuses and left, he wouldn't have to continue this discussion. He knew where she was now, and that she was married. Six years ago, he had let her go, and he had to stick with that decision.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized, suddenly, referring to the child. "But she's just entered the terrible 2s, and she's not having a good day."

"No, it's okay," he said to her. He studied the child; she was small for 2, with short hair the colour of her mother's, and big blue eyes. Whoever the father was, he must look identical to Andie; or else the child had inherited none of his traits. "So … you're married?" He hoped that hadn't come out as choked as he felt.

"Yeah, for five years now." She said, unenthusiastically.

"Just one kid?" He said, attempting to make conversation until he could excuse himself and get out of there.

"Yeah, well even she was a mistake," she blushed, making the mark on her skin appear darker still. "But Ralston thinks Mera's quite a handful in herself."

Suddenly she caught sight of something over his shoulder, and she placed the child back into the cart. "Listen, I have to get going." She started moving the cart away.

"Andie, Andie - whoa!" He took hold of her arm. "Wait! I'll be in town for a few days, if you wanted to get together."

"I can't, Pacey. It was nice seeing you," she tried to move, but he kept a firm grasp on her wrist.

"Andie…"

"Pacey, let me go!" She cried.

"Andrea!" A booming voice startled him, and he dropped her hand. He turned to find a tall, middle-aged man coming towards them. He walked past Pacey, and took hold of Andie's cart. "What's this??"

"Nothing," Andie said, meekly. "I was just leaving…"

"I leave you for 5 minutes, and you manage to find some guy behind my back?" He raised his hand to her.

"No," she replied, quietly. "No, it's not what you think. We were just…"

"I was talking to her," Pacey stepped forward.

"Shut up," he growled. He lifted the child from the seat, and grabbed hold of Andie's arm. "We're leaving, Andrea. Now !"

Pacey watched helplessly as the guy practically dragged Andie from the store, leaving him and the cart behind. Andie glanced backwards, her eyes pleading, before she disappeared.

By the time Pacey realized what had just happened, he was too late to go after her. But it must have been her husband - Ralston, she had called him, who he had just met. He didn't like him one bit, and he had a sinking feeling that Andie didn't either.