“Jack, stop being such a lazy ass and help me.”

 Jen shifted her weight from one foot to the other, trying to balance her stack of papers and books.  Jack straightened up-he had been adjusting a pants leg-and made a face at his best friend, relieving her of three books.  “No need to get snippy, Jennifer.”

 “You sound like Grams,” Jen threw back, and Jack winced.

 They began walking down the hall.  “I resent being called lazy.  I just finished my college aps.”

 “Did you?” Jen turned to him, almost dropping her books in the process.  “Jackers!  High five!”

 “I would, but…” he trailed off unneccesarily.  “It was no biggie.  I applied to seven schools and they all accepted the common ap.”

 “Well, that’s convenient.  I’m almost done with mine, except for NYU.  I want that one to be special, you know?   The Sarah Lawrence one was hard, too.  If I get into both-and that’s a big if-I’m going to have a hell of a time deciding.”  Jen pushed opened the front door, almost running straight into Dawson Leery.

 “Dawson, man!” Jack gave him a smile.  “Where’ve you been?  Didn’t see you around today.”

 “You play a little hooky?” Jen asked jokingly.

 Dawson’s eyes were slightly red, and his jaw was tensed.   “How long have you known?” he asked slowly.

 “What?” Jen looked confused.  “What are you--”

 “Joey.  Pacey.”  Dawson threaded his fingers through each other expressively.  “How long have you known?”

 Jack placed a hand on his shoulder, but Dawson shrugged it off.   “We didn’t think-“

 “That it was your place to tell me?” Dawson exploded.  “Who was going to tell me?  A little bird?  I thought you guys were my…Jesus Christ…”  Dawson turned on his heel and walked the other way.

 Jen followed him, with Jack right on her heels.  “Dawson, please don’t be upset.”

 Dawson was shaking his head.  “How long have you known?” he repeated.

 “Stop! Just stop walking for a second.  Jesus,” Jen said frantically.

 Dawson sighed and turned around.  “How long?” he persisted.

 “Since the party,” Jen breathed out.  “Pacey came to me because Joey had kissed him.  And I shouldn’t be telling you this, they should.  Shit.”  Jen twisted her necklace nervously.  “Pacey had been in love with Joey for months, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her because he was afraid she wouldn’t return his feelings.”

 “But she did,” Dawson spat.

 “She does, Dawson,” Jack said slowly.   “And if you ask her instead of us, I’m sure she’d tell you exactly what has been going on.”

 “I’m not so sure about that,” Dawson said.  “From one ex-boyfriend of Joey Potter to another-she’d rather save my feelings than be honest.”

 “Not true,” Jack said quietly.  “Joey may have made some mistakes, Dawson, but…she’s different now.   My guess is that the only reason Pacey and Joey didn’t tell you is because you never took the time to ask.”

 Dawson looked from Jen to Jack, both of whom where avoiding his eyes.  “And you did?”

 Jack nodded, and Jen finally met Dawson’s eyes.  “If you’d just looked at them, Dawson…if you’d just asked Pacey why he made that bet six months ago…”

 Dawson shook his head.  “No.  This is not my fault.  I will not-“

 “This is nobody’s fault,” Jen whispered.  “They fell in love.  You’ve said it yourself.  You can’t choose who you love.”

 Taken aback by having his own words thrown back at him, he stepped away from them.  “I need to be alone right now.”

 Joey giggled softly, running her hand idly through Pacey’s hair.  He made a muffled groaning noise into the pillow, shifting in his sleep.  “Good morning, good morn-ing,” Joey sang softly, only slightly off-key.

 “Mmmph hmm mhf.”  Pacey mumbled expressively.

 “What was that?” Joey put a hand up to her ear.

 Pacey flipped over.  “Can’t a man get any sleep around here, woman?”

 “No.  You need to get up.  And be productive.  And fix the heater.”

 “My work is never done.  I finally finish and mail my stupid college applications, and now you say I have to-“

 Joey pushed him slightly.  “Yes, your work is never done.  Now hop to it, skipper.”

 “I bet you never did it on a boat,” Pacey said mischievously, enjoying how the blush rose in her cheeks.

 “Hmm, bet I never did it anywhere until I was with you,” Joey threw back.  “Egomaniac.”

 “Prude.”

 “Self-involved horndog.”

 “Snooty ice princess!”

 “That’s ice queen to you, Witter,” she said, and got off the bed, avoiding his questing hands.  “Get up.”

 “Only if you make me,” he said, shooting her a playful look.

 She shot him a look that would have killed a snake and walked out of the room, her hips swaying tauntingly from side to side.  He followed them with his eyes, groaning as she disappeared from sight.  “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…” he muttered, following her down the stairs.

 “I heard that.”

 “Yeah, so?”

 “Bite me, Pacey.”

 Pacey grabbed her affectionately around the waist, tossed her down on the couch, and began tickling her mercilessly.  She screamed and gasped, cursing at him like a sailor before kneeing him in the chest, causing him to straighten up.  He grinned down at her.  “I will have my revenge,” he said.  “I vant you, Josephine.”  He pretended to show her his elongated canines.

 “I’m sure you do,” she said, smiling.  He lay his head down on her chest, which was rising and falling quickly as she tried to catch her breath.  “I want you too.”

 “You just had me,” he said, his voice slightly muffled.

 “Well, I want you again.  And again.  And again…”

 He groaned.  “If you want me to fix the heater you are going to have to stop that…”

 “Ahem.”

 Both of their heads shot up quickly, fearing that Bessie or Bodie had decided to come home early.  Dawson Leery stood in the doorway of the living room.

 Pacey propped himself up on his elbow.  “Well, man, you bring a whole new meaning to the term ‘darkening the doorway.’”

 Dawson was trying to process what he was seeing.  It had hurt to see his two best friends spooned together on the floor of the boat, making out like there was no tomorrow.  But it hurt even more to see them like this, Joey idly running her hands through his hair, Pacey looking up at her with a look so full of love that he knew that his friend, even being the great actor that he was, couldn’t fake.  They seemed so comfortable, so happy, so…right.  It made his stomach turn.

 “You can come in, Dawson,” Joey said slowly.  “We don’t bite.”

 “Unless you want us to,” Pacey said jokingly.

 “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Dawson said, choking a bit on the words.

 “You didn’t,” Pacey said, making no attempt to separate himself from Joey’s embrace.  “I was just going to fix the heater.”

 “I don’t…understand,” he said slowly.

 “The heater blew some fuse yesterday in the green room, and Joey wanted me to--”

 “You know what he means, Pace,” Joey said, and Pacey shut up quickly.

 “I want to understand, but I don’t.”  Dawson ran a hand through his hair.  “Not that long ago, you guys couldn’t stand to be in the same room together, and now-“

 “We’re in love,” Joey said simply.  Dawson’s eyebrows shot up, unable to contain his surprise at her honesty.  “It’s okay, Dawson, you’re allowed to be confused.  We were, too, for awhile.”

 “I’m…I’m just…” Dawson played with the lapels of his coat.  “I wish you would have told me.”

 Joey sighed.  “We…we didn’t know how to do it without seeming like we were rubbing it in your face…and we were both so confused ourselves that we could hardly figure out how to tell each other, let alone you…”

 “We were afraid of how you’d react,” Pacey said quickly, his eyes averted from Dawson’s.  “It’s been nearly two years since you and Joey went out, but…”

 “I’ve always had this twisted idea that she was somehow destined to be my soulmate,” Dawson finished.

 “It’s always been so complicated with us, Dawson,” Joey said.  “The three of us, all being friends forever.  Me and Pacey hating each other.  Pacey becoming one of my closest friends.  You and I taking our little mistake of a journey down the romantic path.  You growing more and more distant.  And Pacey and me growing closer…I…I can’t explain how it happened, but I…I just want you to be able to accept it.”

 Dawson looked into his best friend’s eyes, which were rapidly tearing up, and he fought tears of his own.  “I…I’m sorry that you guys didn’t feel like you could tell me about this.  I understand why you did it, but…I wish it hadn’t been that way.  And I can’t say it’s going to be easy, but…I’m willing to try.”

 “I love you,” Joey said suddenly, and Dawson smiled slightly.  Pacey finally met his eyes, and they communicated silently what they both knew.

 “Aww, group hug,” Pacey said, breaking the tension.  He got off the couch and slung his arm around Dawson’s shoulders.  Dawson winced slightly, and the gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Pacey, who moved away and let Joey give him a gentle hug.

 Watching his girlfriend embrace his best friend, Pacey smiled a little wryly.  It’s not perfect, he thought.  But it’ll be okay.  It’s going to be okay.