Chapter 6

 

New York, 2006.

 

Pacey was in his office, absorbed in his thoughts...Joey had called him two days ago, she wasn’t coming home to summer. He was dying to see her, and she decides to get some stupid internship in a publishing house in London. If he hadn’t too much work to do, he would catch the first plane to London to solve this at once. He loved her, missed her, and wanted to be with her, and for the first time, timing seemed to be on their side. Maybe she simply didn’t want to see him, maybe she had made up her mind, and he wasn’t in her plans for her future. How easy it was for his insecurities to come back when it came to a certain Joey Potter. Get a grip, Witter, he thought, you have to work. He didn’t even notice his secretary entering the room.

 

“Mr. Witter?” his secretary called. “I know you’re busy right now, but there’s a young lady outside, she says she needs to talk to you urgently.”

 

He wondered who could it be, probably Jen or even Gretchen, those two were always in a hurry.

 

“Let her in, Liz,” he told her. “My next meeting is at three, isn’t it?”

 

“That’s right, Mr. Witter,” Liz replied. “ I’ll let her in.”

 

He turned his chair to face the outlines of the Big Apple. He heard the door open, and turned around to face...Joey. He rose from his chair, stunned by her presence.

 

“What are you trying to do, Potter? Give me a heart attack?”

 

“Well, you seemed so sad that I wasn’t coming home this summer that I decided to help this young over stressed business man out of his misery,” she was smiling, with all her heart.

 

“God, Jo, I missed you,” he put his arms around her, holding her so close, she couldn’t breathe.

 

“Not more than I missed you, Pace.” She cupped his face between her hands, slowly kissing him, feeling him shocked at the beginning, and then kissing her back with the same hunger she felt.

 

“What is this, Jo?” he asked, still a bit confused by her behavior.

 

“Well, if you don’t know, I’m doing something wrong here. I’m kissing you, idiot,” she replied, smiling teasingly.

 

“Jo, you know what I’m talking about, you show up here, starts to kiss me, not that I’m complaining, but don’t you think we should talk first? And don’t gimme that look...”

 

“What look?” She kissed the spot between his ear and his neck.

 

“You’re killing me here, Potter.I’m working, you know? This look of who I am and what I’ve done to Pacey Witter.”

 

“Ok, I’ll behave. But you see I have this little problem...I think I’m addicted to you,” she whispered seductively. “And I’ve gone too much time without you.”

 

“Josephine, are you on drugs or something?” His voice in a husky tone, she was still kissing his neck.

 

“Pacey, no, I’m not on drugs, don’t you like this?” she asked, smiling.

 

“Like? I love it, Jo, but I think we really should talk first, and my office is not the best place in the world do this, you know kissing you usually leads to other things. Where are you staying?”

 

“That’s the point, I don’t have a place to stay,” she said, her eyes shining.

 

“Miss Potter, were you trying to bribe me with sex, so you could crash at my place?”

 

“Was it working?”

 

“What do you think?” He held her even closer so she could feel the way she had affected him.

 

“Pacey, I’m serious. Can I stay with you?”

 

“For tonight?”

 

“If that’s what you want, but I had a longer time in my mind, like the whole summer.”

 

“What does this mean, Jo?” His heart was suddenly filled with hope, a warming feeling he hadn’t felt since she came aboard True Love, that summer so many years ago.

 

“I don’t know where to start.”

 

“Wait a second, Potter.” He called his secretary, cancelled all his appointments for  the rest of the day, grabbing Joey’s hand, and  taking her with him, leaving a very surprised Liz sat there in front of his office.

 

“Pacey, where are you taking me?” Joey asked laughing.

 

“Home, where we can talk,” he kissed the tip of her nose. “And where, depending on that talk, I can easily take care of your addiction.”

 

They stopped at Jen’s to pick up her luggage and went straight to his apartment ,Joey almost driving him crazy all the way, all she did was giggle and kiss him once in a while, without saying a word.

 

“Joey, stop, I need to find the keys,” he pleaded. She was behind him, her arms on his waist, nuzzling his neck. “What is happening to you?”

 

“I miss you, isn’t it clear?”

 

“You missed me before, but you were never like this,” he sighed as he finally opened the door. “Right, come on in.”

 

Joey was laughing behind him. She knew he was somewhat scared, but she never felt like that before, so happy, so free. Just the way he looked at her made her sure about the decision to come to New York. She knew that there were no more past ghosts, no more soul mates to get in the way, and she finally came to a decision, that would change her life, but she wasn’t scared anymore, no more running away from what she really wanted in her life.

 

She entered the apartment taking a good look, not a bit what she had in mind. It was classic, elegant, no weird combinations of colors she usually associated with him, thanks to his hideous Hawaiian shirts. She sat down on the large couch, feeling she was home. Probably because her heart finally felt at home.

 

“No more groping?” Pacey asked, still a little bit confused by the way she was acting.

 

“No, I decided we need to talk first. Can you sit here with me?” She patted the place beside her.

 

He sat beside her, his gaze never letting her face; he couldn’t believe on what he was seeing in her eyes.

 

“I guess you wanna know why I’m here and not in London,” she licked her lips, trying to find the right words to start.

 

“Joey, stop teasing, please .I’m happy you’re here, but I think I deserve to know why you’re here and you’re acting like this.”

 

“Like this what?” She moved closer to him.

 

“Like this sexy, horny Josephine that I don’t recall meeting before.”

 

“Are you sure, Pace? Don’t you remember anything?”

 

“Potter! Please be serious.” He was almost losing it.

 

“Ok, I’m all serious now,” she smirked, breathing deeply before starting. “Pace, this whole year I spent in London made me realize many things about myself, about us.”

 

“Joey, before you say anything, I want to tell you’re off the hook, I mean, I don’t want you to come to a decision based on a night we shared almost a year ago. And I want you to you know, I have always, always loved you… whatever you want to tell me, I want you to know that whatever you wanna do, I want for you to be happy. It's really important for me that you be happy. So I want you to be with someone, whether it would be Dawson, me or some man that you haven't even met yet. But I want you to be with someone who can be a part of the life that you want for yourself. I want you to be with someone who makes you feel like I feel when I'm with you. So, I guess the point to this long run-on sentence that's been the last years of our lives is just that the simple act of being in love with you is enough for me.” He held her hands and waited.

 

“Pace, everything in my life that I've done has led me here... right now… Pacey... I love you. You know that. And it's very real. It's so real that it's kept me moving, mostly running from it, never ready for it. And I love Dawson. He's my soul mate. He's tied to my childhood, and it's a love that is pure and eternally innocent. I can't just get the notion that it's ok to keep running.” She had tears in her eyes now.

 

“So then, what exactly are you saying here?” This  was too good to be true.

 

“For a bright guy, you can be really daft some times…what do you think I’m trying to say? That I don’t want anyone else but you, I crossed an ocean just to be here with you…the man I loved in my teen years, that I love now and I know I will always, always love,” she said, her eyes full of passion, all the feelings she usually kept guarded coming to surface.

 

“So, what do we do here, Potter?” His blue eyes full of love, hope in the future.

 

“You really need to ask?” She rolled her eyes.

 

“Do tell.” Now was his turn on the teasing game.

 

“Pace, can you just shut up and kiss me right now?”

 

He didn’t need any other kind of encouragement. Their mouths met in a kiss that first was one of pure love and commitment, but soon the hunger caused by all the time apart came in, clothes being thrown away all over the room. Suddenly, Pacey stopped , just looking into her eyes, grinning like an idiot.

 

“What now, Witter?” Joey asked impatiently.

 

“Can you just pinch me?” Because I think I’m in the middle of one of my recurrent fantasies with you…Ouch!” He was surprised when she really pinched him. “That hurts.”

 

“It will hurt even more if you don’t take me right now to your bedroom or proceed with this here.”

 

“Your wish is my command, my lady.” He rose with her in his arms, kicking the room’s door and putting her softly on the mattress. She just smiled, looking at him, inviting.

 

“I love you, Jo,” he whispered, before leaning in to kiss her.

 

“I know,” she muttered back, her heart and her head finally in peace with each other.