“Witter, time to go.”

Pacey looked up from where he sat on the cement floor, leaning back against the wall, as the guard slid the barred metal door open. He sighed wearily and got to his feet. “I thought my arraignment wasn’t until nine.”

“It’s been cancelled. The charges were dropped.” The policeman eyed him carefully as he passed him. “But maybe you want to choose your bar fights with less litigious sorts next time, kid.”

“Yeah.” Pacey nodded.

He was led up to the main floor and the officer handed him a plastic bag with his wallet and keys before turning to walk to his desk and sit down with his newspaper.

Pacey hesitated. “So, I can just leave now, right?”

“Unless you’d prefer to stay.”

“No, thanks.” Pacey smirked as he walked to the door, pushing it open and stepping out into the glare of the early morning sun. The cold blast of winter air hit him, slicing through his cotton shirt. He started down the front steps and hesitated slightly as his eyes adjusted to the light and he saw Drue waiting for him on the sidewalk, holding his coat in one hand and a take-out cup of coffee in the other.

“Hey.” He approached him slowly, catching the coat as Drue tossed it to him.

“So, when you said you were moving out, I didn’t realize these were the kind of accommodations you were looking for.” Drue drawled as he turned and started to walk towards his car, holding out the cup.

Pacey smiled and shook his head as he fell in step next to him, shrugging on his coat and then taking the coffee. “How did you know?”

“Erin called.” Drue shook his head with a smirk. “You’re still the only guy I know who can have a chick like that, who should, by all reasonable standards, be way out of your league, jump you, and not only be foolish and ungrateful enough to drop her like a bad habit the very next day but, for some inexplicable reason, also feel it necessary to inform her that you are in love with someone else. And still, even after all that, have her worry about what happens to your sad, sorry ass.”

Pacey was quiet for a moment and then glanced over at Drue as they reached his car. “It seems my charges were dropped. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Drue dropped his head and grinned as he pulled out his keys. “Remind me to tell you some time about how I got kicked out of my last prep school, Witter. Other than rumor and conjecture, few people know the real story there. Oh, except for Kyle Walthorp, of course, since he was with me and he was the one I ended up taking the fall for.” Drue looked over the car at Pacey as he opened the driver’s side door. “But I’m sure old Kyle wouldn’t want the sordid details of that one getting around Worthington, would he? Probably do just about anything to keep that quiet.”

Pacey emerged from the bathroom in his sweatpants and walked into the living room. “Hey, Drue, when…” He stopped short, completely forgetting what he was going to ask as he saw Drue holding the front door open for Joey to enter.

“I’m going to take off now. I’ll talk to you later.” Drue gave him a quick nod and he disappeared out the door behind her before Pacey could respond.

“Hey.” Joey spoke softly and cautiously. “Are you okay?”

Pacey sighed in defeat. “I take it you heard what happened.” He rubbed his hand over his hair, still damp from his shower.

Joey nodded silently.

“Well, I guess I screwed up again.” Pacey shook his head, turning towards his bedroom. “No big surprise there, right? So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to go crash now. It was kind of a long night.”

“Did you get hurt at all?” Joey followed slowly behind him, throwing her coat over the back of the couch as she passed by it. Pacey dropped down to sit on the edge of his bed, bowing his head and rubbing at his eyes with the palms of his hands.

“Nah.” He replied, lowering his hands to look at her as she fidgeted in the doorway. “I think your boyfriend might have, though.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“No?” Pacey watched her carefully, his blue eyes dark and unreadable.

“No. Not that I know of.” She gave him a small smile and a half shrug of her shoulders.

A hint of amusement played across his weary features before he lay back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling. Joey entered the room and sat tentatively on the edge next to him, leaning forward and fixing her gaze on her boots.

“So, I hear that you were trying to protect my honor, Pace.” Her voice had a slight teasing tone to it and Pacey couldn’t help but smile. “Is that true?”

“Well, it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it, Potter.”

Joey turned to look at him over her shoulder, grinning as she lowered herself to lie back alongside him. “It has always been your job, hasn’t it?” She sighed, looking up at the ceiling before she turned to regard him. “Remember Matt Caulfield?”

“Yeah.” Pacey chuckled softly as he rubbed at his tired eyes again, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep, even rougher and deeper than it normally was. “He actually got some good shots in.”

Joey smirked as she shook her head and then was quiet for a long moment. “You wouldn’t rest until you found out who did that to my painting. And then you bought me that wall to make up for it.” She almost whispered the words, remembering.

“Rented.” Pacey amended, still looking up at the ceiling.

“I think they’d painted over it by the time you came home at the end of that that summer. You never saw it finished, did you?”

“No…but I heard you did another one of those symbols, like you did for your mural.”

“I actually did four of them.” Joey turned to face him as she raised herself up on her elbow. “I did the Possibility one again, and then added Hope, Friendship and Love. Those were the things that year had been all about for me.”

Pacey nodded, smiling sadly. That had been the year she got back with Dawson, after all.

“Because, when you gave me that wall, Pace, you gave me all those things.”

Pacey turned his head to watch her.

“I thought it could be a way for me to show you what it meant to me, what that year meant to me.” Her voice lowered to a whisper.” What you meant to me.” She paused before continuing. “That you’d see it and understand somehow. But by the time I finished it, you were gone, and by the time you got back…”

“It was gone.” Pacey finished for her quietly.

Joey nodded, her wide liquid eyes holding his gaze. Pacey rolled to face her as well, propping up on his arm as he reached over to gently play with a strand of her long hair. Suddenly his lips were on hers and Joey’s small sound of surprise melted into a relieved sigh at the familiar feel of his kiss as she let him push her back down on the bed, moving partially on top of her. He buried his hand in her hair, the soft, slow strokes of his tongue meetings hers as they immediately fell into their delicious practiced rhythm.

There was no urgency to his movements as he kissed her thoroughly, his tongue sliding easily along hers, taking his time to seek out every place he remembered, touching her tenderly in every way she loved to be touched. He moved his kisses down her neck, paying special attention to the sensitive skin below her ear, gliding his tongue along her pulse points, never varying from his unhurried and gentle pace, as if he could be content to kiss her this way forever.

Joey moaned softly, running her hands up and down the muscles in his back, pulling him in closer to her as she arched up into his body at the same time, needing to feel all of him at once. She gripped his shoulders and then slid her hands down to lay them flat against his solid chest, pushing him so that he rolled onto his back and she could straddle his body. She broke away from the kiss, sitting up and grinding against his hardening erection, holding his gaze.

Pacey sighed, closing his eyes briefly as he rested his hands on her hips. He blinked them open to watch her unbutton her shirt and then raised his eyes to her face.

Cupping his hands around the curve of her ass to hold her flush against him, he suddenly sat upright in one swift movement and wrapped his arms tightly around her body, burying his face in her neck and holding her as close as possible. Joey hesitated, then smiled slowly and closed her eyes, draping her arms over his broad shoulders to hug him back. They just held each other in silence for several minutes until Joey bowed her head finally to whisper in his ear.

“I love you, Pacey.”

Pacey let out a soft noise, a release of breath, as he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers.

“You love me?” Joey whispered again, her voice lilting into a question, reaching her hands up to hold his face to try to meet his eyes.

“Yes.” Pacey barely got the word out, his voice thick with emotion.

She moved in to kiss him, her words lingering against his lips as she sighed, softly pleading with him. “Show me.” She tilted his head up so she could see his blue eyes. “Let me show you.”

Pacey held her gaze for a moment before leaning forward to meet her lips in a soft kiss. He took her bottom lip between his, breaking away only to come back to kiss her again. Gliding the tip of his tongue along her lips, he sighed and grasped the back of her hair in his fist as she opened her mouth to him, kissing her with a tender passion she had never felt from him before. She moaned into his mouth, and again as he tore his lips from hers to trail open-mouthed kisses down her neck, his hands sliding up her back and then around to caress her breasts inside her open shirt.

He glided his hands up to push the shirt off her shoulders, hooking his fingers in the straps of her bra to guide them down her arms and then reaching behind her back to expertly undo the clasp with a single flick of his finger. His mouth covered her then, soft and hot on her breast as he lavished it with attention, bringing his hand up to cup the heavy weight of it as he sucked and gently nipped at the peaked nub. Joey let out a soft breathy sigh, digging her fingernails his shoulders, before she tugged at the material of his shirt, wanting it off.

He pulled back for just a minute to pull the t-shirt over his head, tossing it aside before he wrapped his strong arms around her again and kissed her. Joey gasped at the sensation as his warm skin met hers, feeling like there were thousands of tiny electric currents running through her nerve ending as their bodies rubbed and brushed against each other. She could feel his cock through the cotton material of his sweatpants, hard and rigid against her soft stomach, and she thrust against his body.

“Pacey…” She whispered his name urgently as she moved against him, the heat and friction she was creating only fueling her desire, needing more of him, all of him.

He hugged her closer and rolled her over onto her back, moving down to suck and bite the sensitive skin on her neck as he rhythmically rocked his hips into her. He slid his hand down her body, over her ass to the back of her thigh, gripping her and lifting her leg as she wrapped it around him, slowly grinding his erection into her, bringing her some relief from the dull ache between her legs.

He pulled back abruptly, propping himself up on his muscular arms to look down at her. Joey mewled in protest under her breath, practically writhing on the bed underneath him.

“Maybe I should close the door to my room.” His breathing was ragged.

Joey almost laughed, but it came out sounding more like a choked whine, she was so desperate to feel him again. “That might be a good idea.”

His eyes drifted hungrily over her body below him before he pushed off the mattress with a groan, quickly crossing the room to slam the door shut. He turned to come back to her on the bed and she sat up, wearing only her jeans and her black high-heeled boots at this point. She slid to sit at the edge of the bed, spreading her legs as she looked up at him, her tousled hair spilling over her bare shoulders, her eyes smoldering with desire for him. She leaned over to pull off her boots, his gaze following the soft sway of her breasts with her movements, and then stood up to unzip her jeans, her eyes locking on his.

Pacey made a soft growling noise low in his throat as he closed the space between them He placed his hands flat on her smooth stomach, moving them up to her breasts, grazing his thumbs over the peaked nubs and caressing the soft flesh, before lowering them to her waist. His fingers dug into her skin as he pulled her roughly into his body to kiss her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, invading her.

He slipped his hand down inside the open zipper of her jeans, edging her panties aside as he slid his finger over her clit and moved his other hand down to grip her ass, holding her in place as her body jerked and shook and she moaned into his mouth. He stroked her, groaning softly under his breath as he dipped inside her wetness. Breaking away from the kiss, he brought his hand to her mouth to brush the tip of his finger over her trembling lower lip, swollen and bruised from his kisses.

”Do you know what I want to do to you right now?” His voice was deep and husky, a low growl as he fixed his heated gaze on her mouth.

Joey couldn’t speak, only shaking her head in response, her breath catching in her throat.

“Everything.” He whispered, moving in to kiss her again, slowly and less fevered this time, taking his time to taste her as he glided his tongue along her lower lip then slid it slowly inside her mouth, along her tongue.

He gradually began guiding her back to the bed with his body, gently pushing her down onto the mattress, without breaking the kiss. Joey moaned and squirmed beneath him, trying to free herself from her jeans while pushing down at his sweatpants. Pacey broke away to basically tear them off her body along with her panties, dropping his sweatpants to the floor right along with them, and then reached over to the nightstand next to his bed, grabbing a condom and tossing it onto the comforter. He came back to her, holding himself up on his arms above her as his dark, intense eyes roamed over her body, and then leaned down to kiss her, groaning into the kiss as Joey reached down to take the heavy weight of his erection in her small hand, stroking his width.

His kisses began to travel down her neck, his tongue gliding over the hollow in her throat before trailing even lower to her breast. He swirled the tip of his tongue around the nipple before taking it in his mouth. Joey arched her back, burying her hands in his short hair, biting down on her lower lip and moaning in pleasure.

His mouth moved even lower now, brushing warm kisses across her stomach, dipping his tongue into her belly button, before he slid his hand under the curve of her ass and moved between her legs to gently suck on her clit. Joey cried out, her whole body trembling at the exquisite sensation. Pacey rubbed the tip of his tongue along her tight entrance, stroking her, returning to trace slow, wet circles around her clit before sucking on the tender flesh again. He continued this pattern in his ministrations as Joey gripped the comforter in her fists, her soft cries becoming quicker and shorter. He slid his tongue inside her finally, thrusting slowly against her as he felt her hips instinctively start to rock in rhythm with his motions, and then brought his soft, hot, insistent mouth back to her clit.

She arched her hips off the bed when she came with a muffled scream, raising her hand to her mouth to bite down on her fist. Pacey reached for the condom and was inside her in an instant, groaning as he pushed her hand away to cover her mouth with his, her gasps and moans as he filled and stretched her lost in the kiss, his tongue thrusting against hers and mimicking the motions of his body. He closed his eyes as he pumped inside her, stroking into her orgasm, feeling her muscles clenching down around him, perfectly hot and tight and wet. There was nothing in the world that felt like this, being inside her at this moment.

He gradually decreased the force and speed of his thrusts, sliding a hand underneath to hold her against his body as he concentrated on pushing deeper, slower. She wrapped her legs around him, digging her heels into his back, pulling him closer, trembling and sighing as he brushed his lips over the sensitive skin below her ear and whispered her name. He lifted up slightly to watch her face and she slowly blinked her eyes open, dark and wild and filled with a passion for him, a love for him that took his breath away. She held his gaze, telling him everything he wanted to know with her eyes, rocking her hips up to meet his each time he thrust deeper, his strokes becoming faster, stronger, more urgent.

She tilted her head back finally, her eyes closing as she dug her fingernails into his back and moaned his name. Pacey swallowed back the lump in his throat, bowing his head to her neck, breathing in her scent, touching the tip of his tongue to her skin to taste her, all his senses overwhelmed by her as he focused everything inside himself on sending her over the edge again, and falling right along with her.

It was almost dusk when Pacey finally woke up, as the days were getting shorter, and the last rays of the late winter afternoon sunlight streamed in through the windows of his room. He rolled over onto his back, blinking up at the ceiling. Usually he’d be getting ready to leave for work at this time of day. He groaned softly, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. Getting thrown in jail and losing your job all in the same night was quite an accomplishment. A fuck-up of proportions probably only he was capable of.

He lay there a while in silence, lost in his thoughts. He vaguely remembered something about an exam scheduled for the next week in one of his classes, but couldn’t even begin to think of what he should be studying. He’d need to be at the dock first thing in the morning for work, but that was starting to slow down a bit now that the winter was rolling around. He tried to quickly do the calculations in his head, but he knew the money wasn’t going to be enough to get him by. He’d have to start looking for another job. Either that or he’d have to forget about taking any classes next semester. He had started to wonder lately if these courses were worth the aggravation anyway. It would take him forever to get any kind of degree at the rate he was going.

The fisherman who came up from Capeside everyday to sell their catch were always looking for extra hands on their boats. He knew all he’d have to do was ask. After all, they had been the ones who had helped him to get the dock job in the first place. Of course, that would involve moving back to Capeside. Although the cost of living might be a little more manageable for him there, he’d have to figure in rent on his own versus the rent here split three ways. And now, of course, there were other reasons for him to stay in Boston. Pacey was beginning to come to the conclusion that there were no easy answers as to what he was supposed to do next, where he was supposed to go.

He heard her stir next to him, her soft, sweet sigh cutting into his thoughts as she shifted positions, stretching so her body pressed against his. He raised his arm for her as she moved in to lay across his chest, crushing her breasts against him, the silky strands of her long hair tickling his skin. He gently rubbed small circles on the back of her shoulder, absently tracing patterns there with the tips of his fingers.

After a moment she lifted her head, feathering delicate kisses over his chest, traveling towards his neck. Pacey sighed, grazing his hands down her back to her waist to guide her as she pulled herself up and slid her leg over him, straddling his body. She sat up then, looking down at him in the fading light of the room.

“Hey.” She smiled.

“Hey.” He smiled as well, resting his hands on her hips, his warm blue eyes drinking her in as he tilted his head back on his pillow to look up at her.

She leaned down to kiss him and he reached up to bury his hands in her hair, their tongues lazily sliding against each other. It wasn’t long before the slow strokes became more ardent, more demanding, more heated and their hands began to travel over each other’s bodies with the same kind of hunger and urgency.

Joey pulled away and leaned over to reach inside the nightstand drawer next to the bed for another condom as Pacey held her at the waist. She ripped it open and rolled it on his length, stroking his erection, before adjusting her body above him. Reaching for his hands, she guided them to her breasts, holding them there as she thrust her hips down, sliding onto his cock, taking him in slowly, inch by inch as she moaned and closed her eyes

He let her set the pace, restraining himself against the urge to thrust up into her, and watched her face, the familiar yet indescribable mix of intense pleasure and concentration there each time she sank down on him again, her slick inner walls clenching down around him. He shifted, adjusting himself below her so she could take him in deeper, groaning low in his throat as she did. She began to move with more assurance, rocking her hips as her lips parted and her soft breaths dissolved into shallow pants. As he felt the force of her thrusts increase, Pacey slid his hands to her hips, gripping her there and applying a light pressure to slow her down.

She blinked her eyes open to look at him, her mouth falling open as she swallowed back a breath. “Pacey…” She gasped. He shook his head and held her gaze, guiding her with his large hands, holding her back from her swiftly approaching release. He rolled his hips up into her, achingly slowly, changing the feel of him inside her, grinding against her clit with every his move, and she arched her neck, throwing her head back and closing her eyes with a low groan.

He felt her come around his cock before he heard her, the muscles contracting and throbbing around him, and then she cried out and fell forward, burying her face in his neck, whimpering softly against his skin. He slid his hands down to the curve of her ass, gripping the soft flesh and holding her tightly against him as he thrust up inside her, rapid, short strokes until he emptied himself into her.

They kissed, the mumbled sounds of their sighs and moans blending together as their tongues swirled around each other. Joey broke away, groaning softly under her breath as she slid off him and he helped her to roll onto the bed. He sat up to dispose of the condom and climbed back into bed to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his body, reaching up to play with her hair, absently sliding his fingers through the silky strands as he gently brushed his lips over hers.

“I love you.” Her words were whispered against his lips, muffled in the kiss, but they echoed through his body, reverberated through his heart.

And, suddenly, all the answers he ever needed were right there. Everything was that simple. That perfect.

"I love you, Jo.”

Pacey trotted up the front stairs and pushed open the door to the condo to see her sitting there at the kitchen counter, laughing at something Jack had just said. She turned to see him, her laugh turning into a beaming smile, her face softening, glowing, as her eyes met his. He smiled and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind to hug her and resting his chin on her shoulder as she reached up to gently pat his cheek.

“We were waiting for you. We’re going to order something for dinner.” Jack motioned to the various take-out menus spread over the counter in front of them. “What’s your choice?”

Pacey shrugged, turning to give Joey a quick kiss before he moved away to head towards his bedroom. “Whatever you guys are getting, just order me some too.”

Jack smiled at Joey. “He’s so easy to please.”

“You have no idea.” Joey giggled as Jack pretended to be shocked by her reply. Jen and Andie laughed along with her from where they were sprawled on opposite ends of the couch as Pacey passed by them, shooting Joey a look over his shoulder as he shrugged off his coat.

He came back out of his room moments later, tugging a clean shirt on over his head. “And, what exactly did you mean by that, Potter?” He asked her in a low growling voice, raising his eyebrow as he walked over to pull a pillow out from behind Jen, ignoring her small sound of protest as she fell back against the arm of the couch.

Joey smiled, sliding off the barstool at the counter to join him where he had dropped down onto the carpeted floor. He lay on his stomach in front of the television, wrapping his arms around the pillow to prop himself up, and she sank down to straddle his body and sit on his butt, smoothing her hands up his back to massage his tired shoulders. He groaned softly, pressing his face into the pillow as he sighed happily.

Joey leaned forward to giggle in his ear. “Does that answer your question?”

Pacey grinned, changing the subject. “So, who’s turn was it to pick out the movies tonight?”

“Me.” Andie smiled. “And I really think you’re going to like them! Holiday classics to celebrate the season.”

"Oh, great…” Pacey playfully mimicked her voice and Andie threw a pillow at him, which he promptly grabbed and added to the one he was already resting on.

“Isn’t this kind of pathetic?” Jack sighed from where he still sat at the kitchen counter. “That it’s a Friday night and we’re in college now and we have this great place right in the heart of the city and this is what we’re doing? Movie night? And we can’t even blame it on Dawson. I’m starting to think Drue and Audrey are right. We really are that boring.”

“Um, speaking of Dawson…” Jen spoke up hesitantly. “I got a call from him last night. He’s going to be coming home some time next week for Christmas.”

Joey paused momentarily and then continued to rub Pacey’s back. He slowly turned his head to look at her and she held his gaze steadily. They had already decided to tell Dawson in person when he came home, and they had agreed that she should do it alone. After all, by the time Dawson had actually left for California, he and Pacey had barely been friends. Joey was the one who had been his girlfriend for almost a year. It just seemed to be the right way to handle the situation. Joey moved forward, crushing her breasts against his back and leaning over to the side to kiss him softly, her lips lingering against his for a moment before she pulled back to smile at him and he returned his attention to the television.

“So, is it going to be pizza again?” Jack picked up the telephone dejectedly. “Are we just that predictable?”

“I know I am.” Joey admitted with a shrug.