“Where the hell did she get all these clothes?” Jack complained under his breath to Pacey as they climbed the flight of stairs.

“I have no idea.” Pacey replied, hiking the box he was carrying up a little higher.

They walked the short hallway to Joey’s dorm room, shuffling in to drop the boxes on her bed.

“That’s the last of them, Joey.” Jack called out.

Joey emerged from the small bathroom where she had been attempting to hang a shelf in the shower. “Thanks, guys.” She frowned as she walked over to them with the hardware in her hand. “I can’t figure out how to get this to work.”

“I got it.” Pacey said quietly, taking the pieces from her hand and disappearing into the bathroom.

“Is Andie all settled in over at Harvard?” Joey smiled at Jack.

Before he could answer the door to the room flew open.

“Joey, I just met some guys down the…” The blonde girl stopped short when she saw Joey standing there with Jack. “Well, hello.” She purred at Jack, her voice lowering as her eyes traveled over him.

Joey shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Audrey, this is my friend Jack.” She turned to Jack, holding her arm out. “And Jack, this is my roommate, Audrey.”

Audrey extended her hand with a wide smile, arching an eyebrow. “My pleasure.”

Jack dropped his head with a little laugh as he shook her hand.

Audrey turned her attention back to Joey. “So, as I was saying, I was talking to these…” Her voice trailed off as Pacey emerged from the bathroom. “And they just keep coming.” She said under her breath, her mouth falling open slightly.

Joey followed Audrey’s gaze over to Pacey, her smile fading.

“And that’s Pacey.” She briefly met Pacey’s eyes. “This is my roommate, Audrey, Pace.”

“Hi.” Pacey gave Audrey a small smile.

“Hi there yourself.” Audrey grinned. She turned to Joey with a happy sigh. “I like your friends, Joey Potter.”

Joey shook her head again, laughing this time as she started to look through the boxes on her bed.

“Well…” Jack clapped his hands, rubbing his palms together. “We should get going. The cable guy is coming by our place this afternoon and someone has to be there.”

Joey turned back to them. “Thanks again for bringing the rest of my stuff up from home with you.”

“No problem.” Jack smiled.

“Well, wait.” Audrey exclaimed. “I was just about to tell Joey that I met these guys down the hall…” She quickly turned to glance at Joey, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Very, very hot, by the way.” She looked back at Pacey and Jack. “And they were telling me about some big party tonight. You guys should come!” She smiled at them brightly.

Jack raised his eyebrows in mild interest, turning to Pacey.

“I’m actually starting my new job tonight.” Pacey shrugged his shoulders. “I have to work.”

Audrey’s face fell. “Oh…well, where are you working?”

“At McGrath’s, an Irish bar down near…”

“I’ve heard of that place!” Audrey’s face lit up as she cut him off. “People in one of my classes were talking about it. They supposedly have some awesome bands playing there on the weekends. Are you working the door?”

“Yeah, that and as a bar back.”

“Cool.” Audrey was almost jumping up and down. “Is there anyone good playing there tonight? You can get us in, right?”

Pacey chuckled, raising his eyebrows. “Um, sure. Whatever. But, why don’t we wait until maybe my second night of work before I actually try to get fired by sneaking all my underage friends in, okay?”

Audrey nodded agreeably as she considered this. “Oh. Okay.”

Joey met Pacey’s eyes with a small smirk as he winked at her.

“All right, we’re outta here.” Jack started for the door.

“I’ll talk to you later.” Joey called after Jack, her eyes staying on Pacey. “See ya.”

Pacey smiled, giving her a little wave before looking back to Audrey. “Nice meeting you, Audrey.”

“Yeah, you too.” Audrey sighed, her eyes drifting south of his face.

Pacey chuckled, shaking his head as he followed Jack out of the room and down the hall.

“Those must be the guys having the party.” Jack nodded his head towards two blond, clean-cut young men in Oxford shirts and khakis passing out flyers room to room at the opposite end of the hall. Pacey frowned, hesitating slightly as he noticed them wandering closer towards Joey’s door.

“Yeah. Must be.” He replied in a low voice before following Jack down the stairs.

“So, Joey…” Audrey turned to her now that they were alone in the room, flopping down on her bed behind her. “Tell me about these friends of yours. Are they single? What’s the dealio?”

Joey looked at her with a small smile. “Well, I guess I should tell you right now that Jack is gay, Audrey.”

“Oh, figures.” She pouted and then frowned. “Well, wait, Pacey’s not his…”

Joey eyes widened comically. “No.” She giggled as she began unpacking her clothes from the boxes. “Pacey is most definitely not gay.”

“Oh, goody.” Audrey said happily. “So what about him?”

“What about him?’ Joey’s smile faded.

“Does he have a girlfriend? Would he like one?” She joked with a grin. “He’s yummy.”

Joey hesitated uncomfortably. “Um, well…I don’t think he’s really your type.”

“Why do you say that?” Audrey frowned.

“He’s, um…well, he’s kind of…” Joey fidgeted nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Yours?” Audrey offered quietly, raising her eyebrows in amusement at Joey’s obvious discomfort.

Joey sighed, her shoulders slumping as she looked at the box in front of her. She glanced over at Audrey finally. “I don’t really want to talk about this, if you don’t mind.”

Audrey adjusted her position on the bed, getting comfortable. “Well, is there sex involved or not?”

Joey rolled her eyes, turning back to her unpacking. “I’d rather not discuss that with you, thanks.” She said dismissively.

“Okay. So, sex is involved.” Audrey continued, unfazed. “Now, more importantly, is it good or not?”

Joey smiled to herself as she pulled the last of her clothes from the boxes, quickly becoming serious as she turned around to shake her head at Audrey. “Not discussing this.” She repeated herself, walking over to disappear into the bathroom.

“I’m just trying to be here for you, Joey.” Audrey called out to her. “After all, what is a roommate for?”

“Joey! Hey, c’mon in.” Jack threw open the door to the condo. “What? Were you out for a jog?” He said as he noticed her running attire.

Joey smiled as she walked into the living room, pulling the earpieces from her Walkman off. “Yeah, and I found myself in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d stop in to say hi.” She turned to smile at him. “You guys are making some progress here. It looks great.”

“Yeah.” Jack laughed. “It’s starting to shape up. Pacey even went out and got himself a real bed.”

Joey nodded and smiled.

Pacey emerged from the bathroom at that moment in just a pair of jeans, rubbing a towel over his damp hair. “Hey, Potter.” He called over to her nonchalantly as he walked into his room.

“Hey Pace.”

He emerged again, pulling a white tee shirt over his head. “Out for a little exercise?”

“Yep.” She smiled at him, reaching up to adjust her ponytail.

“Hey, did you and Audrey go to that party last night?” Jack asked her as Pacey headed into the kitchen.

“Um, yeah. I went for a like an hour.” Joey shrugged and then smirked. “I think Audrey has yet to arrive home, however.”

Jack laughed at this as Pacey returned with a bottle of water, handing it to Joey as he passed by her to drop down onto the couch.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him.

“I’m headed out now to meet Jen and Andie for brunch, if you guys want to come.” Jack looked back and forth between them.

Pacey glanced up from where he was sitting. “Where’s Drue this morning?”

“He had to take another trip back to Capeside. Something about his mother.” Jack shrugged his shoulders. “He said he’d be back this afternoon.”

“Oh.” Pacey nodded.

“So…” Jack raised his arms. “Brunch? Anyone?”

“Nah, I think I’ll pass.” Pacey replied. “Tell Andie I’ll give her a call this week, though.”

“Will do.” Jack turned to look at Joey, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

“Yeah. I’m going to have to pass, too. But, thanks.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“All right, then. Catch you guys later.” Jack gave them a wave before grabbing his keys and walking out the door.

Joey turned to smile at Pacey when they were alone. “So, I hear that you got a new bed.”

“That I did.” Pacey smiled back at her as he stood up, his voice lowering. “The thing is, though…I think I might need a little help breaking it in.”

“Oh yeah?” Joey felt her breath catch in her throat as he crossed the distance between them to stand in front of her, taking the water bottle from her and placing it on the table next to them.

Her heart began to beat a little faster as he ran his hand up her arm, barely brushing the tips of his fingers along her skin. He moved around her slowly, his movements almost predatory, until he was standing behind her. Resting his hands on her waist and sliding them down her spandex shorts to her hips, he grazed his lips against the back of her neck, his hot breath on the exposed sensitive skin sending a shiver of excitement down her spine.

“Yeah.” He whispered in her ear, his deep voice rumbling through her. He tightened his grip on her hips, his fingers pressing into her flesh as he pulled her back into his body and she could feel him, hard against her.

She couldn’t stop her head from falling back onto his shoulder, his open-mouthed kisses traveling over her skin, his tongue gliding over the pulse points on her neck.

“I wish I could help, Pace.” She sighed in a breathy voice as she swayed her hips, grinding back against his rigid erection as he slowly thrust his hips forward. “But I was trying to get in a run.”

“Oh, I promise to give you a work-out.” Pacey growled against her skin, quickly spinning her around and picking her up to toss her over his shoulder and carry her into his room.

“Witter!”

Pacey groaned under his breath as he carried the cases of beer to the cooler behind the bar.

“Drue, what are you doing here?” He muttered, sliding open the cooler and pushing the ice aside before he started unpacking the bottles.

“The name is Al Sugarman.” Drue nodded, holding up his wallet as if he were producing a police badge.

Pacey glanced at the fake ID and rolled his eyes before leaning over to begin to pack the cooler. “What brings you here, Al?” He sighed, glancing up at Drue again with a raised eyebrow as he noticed the rock glass of Scotch in front of him. “You’re hitting it a little early today, aren’t you?”

“Hey, it’s noontime somewhere in the world, right?” Drue grinned as he held up the glass in salute before downing its contents.

Pacey stood back, watching him with a frown as he wiped his hands on a bar rag. “What happened to you yesterday? I thought you told Jack you’d be back in the afternoon sometime.”

“Yeah, well, things took a little bit longer than I anticipated.” Drue replied, looking down into his glass.

“What? With your mother?” Pacey asked, still watching him. “What did you have to do for her?”

“Ah, let’s just say I had to help send her off on a little trip. I think the official story is that she is checking into some exclusive spa out on the West Coast for a little R and R.” Drue met Pacey’s eyes finally. “You know, the kind that are so exclusive that each guest gets his or her very own personal guy in a white jacket.”

Pacey’s face fell slightly as a light of understanding flashed through his eyes. “Sorry, man.” He said sincerely. “That’s tough.”

“Eh, what are going to do? We all go a little crazy sometimes, right?” Drue shrugged his shoulders, looking away. Suddenly his mouth dropped open as his eyes fell on a gorgeous blond walking towards them behind the bar, her crisp white tailored shirt unbuttoned to reveal just a hint of her black lacy push-up bra.

“Pacey?” She called out in a sweet voice. “That Guinness tap is acting up on me again. Can you do whatever it is you did last night for me?”

“Sure, Erin.” He smiled, tossing the bar rag down. Both of their appreciative gazes followed her as she walked away.

“Holy Hotness, Batman.” Drue groaned when she was out of earshot, closing his eyes shut tightly. “Please let whatever you did for her last night be something completely unspeakable, or I will have to lose all respect for you.”

Pacey shrugged. “You heard her. She had a problem with the tap.” He chuckled, joking. “Just had to clean out the pipes.”

“God, I hate you.” Drue shook his head with a smile. He sat back on his bar stool with a sigh. “As if you even give anyone a second glance these days except a certain sullen brunette.”

Pacey’s grin faded as looked back at him, his blue eyes serious. “So, um, is there anything I can do?”

“Nah, man. Thanks.” Drue pushed the empty glass away. “I’ll just see you later.”

“Okay.” Pacey nodded, sighing sadly as he watched him leave the bar.

He walked over to the beer tap, crouching down to open the cabinet door below the bar to check the lines. He stood up quickly and was surprised to find Erin standing so close.

“Do you think you can you fix it? We’re going to have the Sunday afternoon football crowd arriving any time now.” She wrinkled her forehead in concern, leaning into him as he tried the tap again so that her ample bosom brushed against his arm.

Pacey raised an eyebrow, clearing his throat as he stepped away from her, the beer flowing out in a clear dark brown stream, foaming into the basin. “Um, it looks fine to me.”

“Oh. Thanks, Pacey. You’re a sweetie.” She rested her hand lightly on his arm as she leaned into him again.

“No problem.” He gave her a quick forced smile before going back to pack the cooler, shaking his head as he exhaled loudly.

Joey’s eyes scanned the bookshelf as she made her way down the aisle, checking back every so often with the assigned reading list she held in her hand. Perusing it as she walked, she suddenly bumped into a solid body.

“Oops, sorry.” She said quickly, looking up in embarrassment at the tall, blond stranger in front of her. “I wasn’t even paying attention to where I was going.”

“That’s quite all right.” He smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth. He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her. “It’s Joey, right?”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Um, yeah. How did you…?”

“I met your roommate Audrey when we were passing out flyers in your dorm for that party last Friday night.” He explained. “She was telling me she had a roommate, Joey, and then I saw you with her at the party.” He paused and smiled. “I was actually coming over to say hi and introduce myself but you kind of just vanished.”

“I didn’t really stay too long.” She shrugged.

“That was unfortunate.” He smiled, extending his hand. “I’m Kyle, by the way. Kyle Walthorp.”

“Oh, that’s funny.” Joey smiled, shaking his hand. “I’m here to get book for my English class and it’s in the Walthorp Building on campus.”

“Um, yeah.” He scratched his head with a sheepish grin. “That’d be my great grand-dad, Augustus.”

“Oh.” Joey said slowly, cringing slightly. “So, I guess I’ve embarrassed myself here for the second time in five minutes.”

“No.” He shook his head good-naturedly. “Not at all.” He glanced at the reading list in her hand. “Who do you have for that class, anyway?”

“Professor Wilder.”

“Hmm.” Kyle looked thoughtful. “If I can offer you a bit of sophomore advice, you probably want to watch out for him. He has a fondness for the freshman girls. He made a few of my friends a little uncomfortable during class last year.”

“Really?” Joey raised an eyebrow. “I guess I can kind of see that about him.” She glanced down at her watch. “And I’m actually going to be late for his class unless I leave right now, so it was nice to meet you, Kyle.” She gave him a quick smile as she started to walk away.

“You, too.” Kyle turned to watch her go. “Hopefully we can bump into each other again.” He called after her with a smile, his eyes following her out.

Joey heard a soft knocking at the door to her room and walked over to open it slowly with a small smile. Pacey stood there leaning against the doorframe with a grin. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Joey grabbed the front of his shirt in her fist, pulling him into the room and slamming the door shut behind him. She pressed him up against the closed door, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him.

“Well, hello to you, too.” He mumbled into the kiss, his hands running up and down her back.

“We only have about 25 minutes before Audrey is due back from class.” She sighed breathlessly, pushing up the front of his shirt and raking her nails down his stomach.

“When I told you I’d come by and get you for lunch, I did actually mean lunch, you know.” He chuckled, playing with the back of her hair before lowering his head to kiss her. His voice softened as he whispered his words against her lips. “I haven’t seen you since Saturday…I thought we could, you know, catch up.” There was humor in his tone, but the truth of the matter was that he missed talking to her. Their schedules seemed to be moving on opposite pistons lately with his job and her classes.

Joey smiled, kissing him slowly as her fingers glided over his growing erection. Pacey dropped his head with a groan as she closed her hand over him through his pants, stroking him slowly and deliberately, gradually increasing her speed as she gripped him a little tighter in her hand. “All caught up?” She sighed against his lips as she felt the growing urgency in his kisses.

“Mm-hmm.” He nodded his head, his lips still on hers, as he turned her around to lift her and press her up against the door. She was wearing a long skirt and he ran his hand along her thigh, pushing the material up as she wrapped her legs around him, grinding his erection into her as she gasped softly. She placed her hands flat against his chest to push him back and reached down between their bodies for his zipper.

Pacey let her push his pants down to his hips before he pressed her back against the door, pinning her there with his body. He moved to kiss the soft skin on her neck, running his hand between her legs. He edged her panties out of the way, sliding a finger over her clit and then inside her. Joey urgently rocked her hips towards him and Pacey pulled the sheer fabric aside to enter her in a single thrust, moving slowly in and out of her as he closed his eyes with a quiet groan.

This had been the longest stretch of time he had gone without her since they had started this, and he wanted to prolong the moment, feeling her close down around his cock, perfectly hot and tight and wet. He pulled almost all the way out before pushing back even deeper inside her, hearing her gasp out his name.

He pulled back to look at her, holding her gaze as he continued his slow thrusts. Joey lifted her hand up to touch his cheek, her lips parting as she moaned softly each time he filled her again. His gaze drifted over her face, from her mouth back up to her eyes, dark with a passion that mirrored his own. They continued to watch each other as he moved inside her, achingly slowly now, the moment completely intimate in the most unlikely of settings.

Pacey swallowed the lump in his throat, bowing his head as he pushed deeper, before returning his eyes to her face. He whispered her name between husky breaths as he leaned in to brush his lips over the sensitive skin below her ear, and his heart began to pound against his chest, the right words still unattainable.

Joey tilted her head back against the door, closing her eyes with a low moan, on the verge of her orgasm. Pacey’s body took over as he instinctively increased the speed and force of his strokes, his grip tightening on her thigh where he held her up against the door. She fell forward slightly and clung to him, rocking her hips back against his, her voice soft and sweet in his ear. “Pacey, I love y…” Her whole body shook as she cried out softly, muffling the sound against his shoulder.

Pacey gasped as he closed his eyes, her inner muscles clenching down around him as he emptied himself inside her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and holding her as his movements gradually slowed to a stop. He pulled back to look at her face, brushing her hair away to see her eyes.

“Audrey is going to be back any second, Pace.” Joey said in a rushed voice, avoiding his gaze and patting his shoulder.

He lowered her to the ground and she pushed her skirt down, smoothing out the fabric while he quickly hiked his pants back up. Joey started to move away and Pacey reached up to place his hand on the door, effectively trapping her there.

“Joey…wait.” He sighed, crouching down slightly to try to meet her eyes as she looked at the floor. “I think we need to talk…”