Joey snuggled under her covers, trying to ignore the persistent buzzing of her alarm clock.  It was 5:50 a.m. (her usual waking time) but she had been up rather late the night before, and the thought of leaving her bed and facing the less than comforting world made her sick to her stomach.

Sighing, she reached over to turn off her alarm clock.  The buzzing stopped.  Almost immediately, the phone rang.

She was about to pick it up when she reconsidered.  Pacey can do it, she thought.  I'm in no condition to talk to anyone right now.  But the phone continued to ring.  Finally, the answering machine picked up.

"Hi, you've reached Joey Potter and Pacey Witter.  We're not here right now, so leave us a message telling us who you are, what you want and how we can get it to you.  Thank you, and have a spectacular day!"

Joey rolled her eyes.  She'd been telling Pacey to change the message for ages.  Her clients might not have such a sense of humor.  But she had gotten a cell phone, so she didn't give out her home number anymore.  It avoided embarrassing situations.

There was a pause, as if the caller seemed to be considering whether or not s/he should leave a message.  Then, finally, "Hi...wow...um, Pacey, this is Jen Lindley."

Joey sat bolt upright.  Jen Lindley?  The Jen Lindley who she hadn't seen in 14 years?

"I'm really sorry for calling you so early, but I've been meaning to for ages, ever since you gave me this number, and...um...I'm in London right now.  I guess I'm still in shock that Joey is there with you...how long has that been going on?  You have to give me details.  But...um...anyway, Pace, I thought I'd tell you how Laura is doing.  She's...well, she and Skylar are doing really well, but they miss you...I realize that you're in Boston now trying to start over, but...Pacey, don't forget your daughter, okay?"

Joey nearly fainted.  Laura?  Skylar?  Daughter?

"I'll...I guess I'll try back later, but if you want to call me, my cell phone's always on...the number is..."

Joey tuned out.  She couldn't believe what she had just heard.  All those late night conversations about life and the past and those nearly four years when they had been apart, and he'd never mentioned another woman, or much less, a daughter.  Joey's life had been an open book-desperate and confused, she'd run away from Pacey and into Dawson's arms.   But Pacey...Pacey was still a mystery...

Joey heard the front door locks click open, and Pacey's familiar steps on the hallway floor.  Then a knock came on her door, a little tentative.  "Come in," she whispered.

He opened it, saying, "Jo, you're not up yet and I thought you had to be at the office..." He trailed off upon seeing her stricken face.  He seemed to be trying to pretend things were normal, but when confronted with her expression, he crumbled.  "Are you okay?" he asked, finally.

Joey shook her head.  She bit her lip, and then said slowly, "I was just thinking, Pace...I think I know what I want to name my daughter, if I have one."

Pacey blinked, and came farther into the room, closing the door behind him.  "And what's that?"

"Skylar," Joey barely whispered.  "I like the name Skylar."

Pacey started, and his eyes turned a dangerous shade of dark blue.  "You..."

"Yes, I just learned about Skylar, Pace.  Is there a reason why you never mentioned the daughter you abandoned?  Was it just too sensitive of a subject to breach with your best friend?"

Pacey put up a hand.  "Jo, you don't-"

"Understand?  Yeah, maybe I don't.  Maybe I don't understand how you could impregnate some girl and then leave her to raise the child.  Maybe I don't understand how you managed to keep this all from me, especially when we slept together last night.   Maybe I don't-"

"Joey! Jesus." Pacey shouted, and Joey became silent.  "You don't know the whole story, okay?  You don't know anything.  You walked out on me and I was depressed beyond belief.  Then I met Laura, and she was sweet.  We had fun together.  Yes, we slept together, and the condom broke and she got pregnant.  But we weren't meant to get married, and we knew that.  Laura wanted to keep the baby, and so did I, even if we weren't going to stay together.  So she had the baby-Skylar, as you seem to already know.  I lived in LA for nearly a year, then I decided to go to Ireland.  I needed to get away, and Laura said it was alright.  I have kept in touch with Laura and I saw Skylar shortly after I came back to Boston.  No, I have not seen my daughter in nearly two years, but I do talk to Laura."

"But Jen said-"

"Jen?  Jen Lindley?"  Pacey nearly dropped the bag of groceries in his hands.  "I haven't talked to her in ages."

"Yeah, apparently.  She said something about Laura, and how she was doing well but that you shouldn't forget about your daughter..."

"Jo..." Pacey sat down on the bed, putting the bag down on the floor.  "You know how busy I've been.  I know that doesn't excuse anything, but Laura is in LA and I'm here, and I try to do everything in my power to help my daughter.  I've been sending them money practically since she was born, and it's not like Skylar lacks a father figure...two years ago Laura married this really nice man named Andrew.  Yes, it tears me up inside that I can't be a father to her, but you know as well as I do that..."  Pacey sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"What?" Joey asked anxiously.

"Joey, the only person I've ever wanted to have children with was you."

Pacey banged his head against the metal refrigerator, and the sound echoed throughout the empty kitchen.  He couldn't believe the turn his life had taken in the last two days.  He had gone from ecstatically happy to confused to downright depressed, and now he just felt numb.  As usual, the cause of all his problems was none other than Josephine Potter.

"Man, Pace, that's going to bruise if you keep doing that."  Cassie Porter came into the kitchen, balancing several plates precariously on her arms in typical waitress fashion.

"I thought you'd left," Pacey said quietly.

"No such luck."  She set down the plates on the counter and wiped her hands on her apron.  "Had to clean up the last few things.  Is Andrew gone?"

"He left a couple minutes ago."  Andrew Harrison was the other co-manager of the restaurant.  He and Pacey had met at BU and discovered they had similar backgrounds-both from working class families, they had struggled through high school and delayed college until after they had worked for awhile.  Once, during one of their many hypothetical conversations about the future, Andrew had said his dream had always been to manage a restaurant.  Pacey had experience in everything from busing and waiting tables to being a chef and a maitre'd, so they went in together on the venture.  The result was Chiatti's, an upscale Italian restaurant that was one of the most popular in Boston.

"Something wrong?" Cassie asked, bringing Pacey back to the present.

Pacey shrugged.  "I feel old," he said, sighing.

Cassie laughed.  "You're like, what, thirty, Pace?  That's hardly old.  And," she winked,  "you're still mad sexy."

Pacey gave her a small smile.  "Thanks.  I just feel...tired, I guess."

"Woman problems?" Cassie asked.  "Or perhaps I should correct that and say, Joey problems?"

Pacey shot her a look.  "Why would it have to do with Joey?"

"Because you haven't dated anyone since she showed up on your doorstep two years ago, okay?  So she's pretty much the only woman in your life right now, and you guys have an...interesting history, to say the least."  Cassie leaned against the counter and raised an eyebrow.

Pacey shrugged.  "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."  Cassie began untying her apron, and then looked up.  "But if you ever need anybody to talk to, Pace...I may be jealous of Joey and thus a little biased, but you can talk to me."

Pacey smiled.  "Thanks, Cass."

She gave him a smile, slung her purse over her shoulder, and began to make her way to the door.  Thinking better of it, she turned around, and, surprising herself and Pacey, hugged him tightly.  She gave him a peck on the cheek, and, looking deep into his very blue eyes, said a little huskily, "I'm here for you, Pace.  Whatever you need."

When she was finally gone, Pacey sighed.  "Women will be the death of me, I swear," he muttered.

Tears slipped down Joey's cheeks as she watched the pretty waitress leave the restaurant.  She had come just in time to see them embracing through the kitchen window, and now she felt sick to her stomach.  She could handle the whole Laura/Skylar thing.  That was in the past, and Pacey was trying to do everything he could.  But him sleeping with her when he was involved with someone else?  That was a secret she could not accept him keeping from her.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the back door, which Pacey always left open after closing in case she came by.  She found Pacey sitting with his head in his hands, looking over receipts.  He didn't hear her come in, so she cleared her throat.

He started, and looked up.  A smile came to his lips and then quickly faded when he saw her expression.  "Hi, Jo."

"Hey, Pace."  She sat down at the table, avoiding his searching looks.  "How are you?"

"I'm...well, I've been better."  He sighed.  "How are you?"

"Confused," she said evenly.  "I...I guess I'm wondering how I can trust you now, Pace."

"Joey..." Pacey sighed again.  "I should have told you about Laura and Skylar, but honestly, I wanted to work on rebuilding the friendship we had between us.  Now, you can be angry about the fact that I managed to distract myself with another woman for awhile when I couldn't be with you, but keep this in mind, okay?" He grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him.  "You married another man, Jo.  A man who used to be my best friend.  Can you even comprehend how that made me feel?"

"But I didn't sleep with him," Joey whispered.  "I don't have a child."

Pacey winced.  "Jo, the truth is, neither do I.  Skylar is mine only in half of her genetic material and perhaps a little bit of her financial security.  I made a mistake, and I admit that.  In fact, the reason why I went to Ireland was because I thought maybe there I could come to terms with that mistake.  But it didn't help to run away, and I just ended up running into another mistake I made...driving you away."  Pacey ran his hand through his hair.  "You are the single most important thing in my life, Jo, and when I didn't see or hear from you for nearly four years, I was in my own personal hell.  I thought about you all the time.  I thought about everything I should have done differently, about what an idiot I was.  I thought about how much I love you, how that would never go away, no matter how much I pretended it didn't matter.  And you know what my first thought was when I finally made the connection between you and Dawson?"

Joey was examining her hands, afraid to see the honesty and vulnerability she knew were in Pacey's beautiful blue-green eyes.  "What?"

"I wish I'd given her the ring when I had the chance.  Because I knew I should have married you, Jo."

Joey touched the silver engagement ring that encircled her pinkie finger.  She had started wearing it the day Pacey left Ireland.  She wasn't sure why; it just felt right.  Perhaps because it reminded her of the only healthy relationship she'd ever had, the only man who had ever loved her in the way she deserved to be loved.  Maybe more than she deserved.

She finally looked up, and noticed Pacey was trying not to cry.  She knew in that moment that the waitress she had seen Pacey hug meant nothing to him, that he had done exactly the right thing in the Laura situation.  Pacey had always, always wanted to be a father-how hard it must have been for him to give up his parental role because he knew it was the best thing!

Then a lump rose in her throat when she processed the full irony of the situation.  "Pacey, there's something that...um...I should tell you too."

Pacey waited patiently, taking her hand and clasping it tightly.  This time she did not resist his touch.

"I was...I was pregnant when I left you, Pace.  I didn't know how to tell you, and...um...I was afraid, I guess, that you wouldn't want to stay with me if you knew...I don't know why, I just...I didn't think you wanted to marry me, and I was confused, and...anyway, I miscarried in my second month and so...so I never had to tell anyone.  A few months later I reconnected with Dawson and he...he was so supportive and even though he was oblivious he wanted to help, and...so I took what I could get, you know?  I never expected to marry him."  Joey breathed deeply, and waited for his response.

Pacey was crying now, the tears coursing down his cheeks with abandon.  He inhaled sharply, trying to calm himself, and then said, "Joey, I would have stayed with you."

"I know, Pacey, I was stupid..."

"I would have done everything I could.  There isn't anything I want more in the world than to be the father of your child, and...God!  I would have done anything to be there for you during that hard time, and I had no idea...I am so, so sorry, Joey."

Joey could find no words to express how she felt, no way to show how grateful she was for his presence.   Pacey got up from the table and pulled her up with him, encircling her in a tight embrace.   Joey tilted her head to look into his eyes, and he half-smiled through his tears.  "I love you, Pacey," she said slowly.

"I love you too, Jo."  He hesitated for a moment, then kissed her, lightly on the lips.

When he pulled away from her, Joey gave him a shy half-smile.  "What kind of kiss was that, Witter?"

Pacey grinned.  "You don't think I can do better?"

"Oh, I know you can."  With that, Joey brought his lips to hers.