BED BUGS

By Kate

Classification: PJ - Yep, I'm taking a break from my usual DJ... Dawson was getting on my nerves...

Summary: My story starts off in the middle of "Stolen Kisses" when Pacey and Joey had to share a bed. It takes place in the course of about a month.

Author's Note: Thanks for taking your time to read my fic. It's my favorite fic that I've ever written so I'd love to hear what you thought about it. I love getting feedback, it brightens up my day :) and gives me insight on what others think of my writing. So please send your thoughts to me at Kr0410@aol.com. Thanks.

Dedication: To Melissa. You have helped me so much. I don't even want to think about what my stories would be like without your help :) Besides, you put up with my excessive e-mails, you deserve at least a little bit of credit! :)

Disclaimer: Not mine. ____________________________________________________________________________________

Joey reluctantly climbed in bed with a warning, "If I so much as feel anything --"

"Jo. Get in bed. And while you at it, get over yourself." Pacey replied to her weak threat.

Joey agreed and got under the covers as Pacey did the same. "Pacey, get your butt away from me." Joey cautioned.

"My butt wants nothing to do with your butt, OK?" Pacey replied, and added under his breath, "Give me some of these covers, man."

After a tug of war fight with the covers and everyone was settled, Joey slowly started to drift off into a light sleep. Pacey, however, was suffering from a severe case of insomnia. 'Why can't we just get along?' He thought. Better yet, why did he have to have these feelings for his best friend's supposed soul mate, much less Joey, his childhood friend?

He knew why. It was only a matter of time until he had fallen under her charm. She was beautiful, caring, wise beyond her years, and full of premature life experience. She had this innate nurturing quality. It just
drew him to her like a magnet. Everything about her he found interesting and fascinating.

He sighed loudly. So loudly, it made Joey shift in her sleep. Pacey looked down at her committing to memory every line and contour of her face. She was so beautiful to him that he just couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

Almost like she knew she was under his scrutiny, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Pacey?" she asked. "Why aren't you sleeping?" She looked at her watch, "It's 2:30."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I can't sleep."

"Why not? Do you not feel well?" She asked with little concern still trying to focus her eyes on him in the darkness.

"No, no. There's just a lot on my mind."

"Oh." She responded understanding. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Joey, it's past two in the morning. I really don't think this is the time to be discussing all of these things." Pacey reasoned.

"Well, you can't sleep. And if I know your not sleeping, then I won't be able to get back to sleep." She replied.

"Do you think we should do it here? With them on the floor?" He motioned to their three sleeping friends off the foot of the bed.

"I guess not. What about the living room?" Joey suggested.

"Sounds good."

They walked out of the room quietly so as not to disturb Dawson, Andie, or Will. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Joey spoke first, "What's on your mind, Pace?"

He sighed deeply not sure where to begin. "I want this awkwardness between us to go away, Jo. I want things to go back to normal."

"That's going to be hard Pacey."

"Why? Why will it be so hard?" Pacey asked. He waited for her to respond but when she didn't, he continued, "I mean, I still have feelings for you, yes. But we went months with me liking you. Granted, you didn't know about it, but I really don't think it'll be that hard. You and Dawson were still friends when he liked you." Pacey rambled on.

"That's not the problem Pacey." Joey said suddenly very shy.

"Then what's the problem, Jo?" Pacey asked suspiciously.

"It's that I have feelings for you too." She replied softly.

"Since when?" Pacey exclaimed, shocked, and trying desperately to keep his voice down.

"Since we bumped into each other at the store." She said looking down, "A few days after the kiss."

After a long silence, Joey spoke again, "What do we do now?"

"Honestly, I have no clue. I mean, do you think we should kiss again?" Pacey asked tentatively.

"Umm, OK." She agreed.

Pacey awkwardly leaned in closer to Joey. She did the same until there lips met. It started off feeling very weird for the both of them, but soon they were both lost in the kiss, neither wanting to pull away.

"Pacey?" Joey sighed breathlessly slowly pulling away from the kiss after several minutes.

"Yeah, Jo?" He responded with the same breathless voice.

"Let's go to bed, see what we can work out tomorrow."

"Sounds like an excellent idea." He smiled at her, and she returned it.

They both went back to bed with a smile on their faces. "Hey, Jo?" Pacey asked after they had gotten settled into bed.

"Yeah, Pacey?" She asked expectantly.

"Good night, and don't let the bed bugs bite." He smiled.

Joey laughed, "Night, Pace." And she happily drifted off into a sleep filled with dreams of Pacey.

The next morning Pacey and Joey tried their absolute hardest to hide their smiles, but nothing was working. During breakfast, Pacey sat next to Joey and underneath the table their pinkies were linked. Throughout the day, they would find reasons to touch one another using lame excuses such as and eye
lash on their cheek, or a piece of lint on the others shoulder. Luckily, no one seemed to notice these slight changes in behavior.

During their karaoke session that night, Pacey caught himself reaching for Joey's hand a few too many times. He couldn't help it, there was something that seemed so natural about being with her. He couldn't stand her not being in his line of sight for more then a few minutes. But, it was OK, because
Joey couldn't stand him being away from her for more then a few seconds, so there was no real problem there.

That night when Aunt Gwen realized they ran out of juice for the next morning, Joey offered to go get some more and casually asked Pacey to go with her. Of course, he said yes, and they went off.

"Joey, I can't believe Aunt Gwen is letting you drive her car." Pacey smirked.

"And why is that Witter? Do you have something against women drivers?" She asked jokingly.

"No, just you." He replied nonchalantly.

"And to think I only asked you to come with me so I could kiss you, and you ruin it with your rude comments." She pouted, feigning non-belief.

"Oh, Potter, come on. You know I'm just kidding."

"Sure you are Pace." She said cracking a smile. He reached over started to tickle her. When she yelled mercy, he reached down and kissed her.

After a few minutes of kissing, Joey pulled away, "Pacey if we go at this a little longer, we're going to steam up the windows."

Pacey groaned, and she continued, "Get over it. Now let's get to the store." She said smiling.

"As you wish Potter." He said as she started the car with a jerk.

"Dawson, hey. You scared me." Andie said closing the refrigerator door. Dawson had come up behind her to get a drink also.

"Sorry Andie." Dawson laughed. "I was just getting a little thirsty."

"I guess karaoke can do that to a person." She smiled.

He laughed again, and responded, "You call what you did karaoke? It sounded like you were torturing a small animal."

"Hey!" She laughed good-naturedly and hit him on the shoulder.

After they finished laughing, Dawson said, "Tell me if I'm out of line here, but is there something going on between you and Will?"

"You just had to go there, didn't you?" She laughed, "Actually, I'm not sure. I like him, but I wouldn't want anything to come of it. He's just going home next week. Why bother, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand." After a few moments of silence he continued, "OK, I best be getting off to bed. I look forward to hearing you snore again tonight." He smiled as her cheeks turned a dull shade of pink.

"Not funny." She said trying to be serious, but gave into the smile pulling at her lips. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

When they came back, everyone was off getting ready for bed. Pacey went to join them and Joey went in search for Aunt Gwen.

When she found her in the barn, Joey walked in and took a seat on an empty crate next to her.

Aunt Gwen turned from her horse and smiled at Joey, "Hey, Jo. What can I do for you?"

"Ah, actually I need some advice." Joey said a little uncomfortable. She wasn't sure how Aunt Gwen would react knowing that Joey and Pacey were going behind her nephews back.

"Well, your in luck. I just so happen to be an excellent advice giver." She winked.

Joey smiled and started to explain her predicament, "Well, as you know, me and Dawson have always been best friends. And last year we became more then that, but after many heart breaks, we decided to give us a break." Aunt Gwen nodded indicating she was following Joey's story. "Well, recently, Pacey
developed these not so platonic feelings for me. And one day a few weeks ago, he kissed me. Which, by the way, completely threw me off. I mean, I didn't feel the same way, so for a while there, things were very weird between us."

"I knew there was something bizarre going on between you two."

"Yeah, well, now you know what it is, or more correctly, was. You see, last night we kissed again. And this time it was mutual. Very, very mutual." Joey sighed.

"What do you need advice on? I'm a little confused here. It seems simple, you like him, he likes you, you should be happy."

"You seem to be forgetting one very important factor in this seemingly simple equation. What about Dawson? He thinks we're soul mates. I mean, we very well could be soul mates, but I don't want to wait around for him to say when it's time for us to be... well 'us.' I want to explore my options. And right now,
Pacey is a very big option that I most definitely want to explore."

"I see. So you want to be with Pacey without having to worry about hurting
Dawson's feelings?" Joey nodded.

"I hate to break it to you, but you can't do that."

"So what do I do? If we tell Dawson it'll tear him up inside." Joey said afraid that there would be no way out of this situation.

"Then you have to wait for the perfect time for you and Pacey to be together. Your right, if you tell Dawson, then there's a fairly good chance that he won't be talking to the two of you for quite some time. For such a sweet boy, he certainly can be melodramatic."

"Let me get this straight. Pacey and I ignore our feelings until there's a right time to tell Dawson?"

"Exactly. It would be so easy to go behind his back, but don't. If you do, it'll just hurt him even more. And at the risk of sounding redundant, Dawson probably wouldn't be talking to you and Pacey for a while."  

"OK, then I guess that's the only solution. Me and Pacey need to wait for our time to be together." She sighed, knowing very well that that was easier said then done. "Thanks Aunt Gwen. I've missed our talks lately."

"No problem Joey." She smiled pulling her into her embrace. "Glad I could help you out."

That night, Joey pulled Pacey out of bed when she was absolutely sure that all of their friends were asleep on the floor.

"What is it Jo?" Pacey asked trying to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"I just thought we should talk before we get too attached." Joey said a little worried about how this talk was going to go.

"Attached?" He asked not following.

"Yeah." She said taking a deep breath before telling him what she had been reciting in her head for hours, "OK, I think that we need look at our options here. We can tell Dawson about what's been going on between us in the past twenty-four hours, and I can guarantee you he'll flip."

"So what's our other option?" He asked wide-awake now.

"We suppress our feelings for one another until there's a good time for us to tell Dawson. As much as I want to be with you, and trust me Pacey, I really want to be with you, I just don't think I can do that to Dawson. And I don't think you can either."

"Yeah, I see what your saying, and I agree. The chances of Dawson giving us his blessings are slim."

"OK, good. Now that that's settled, what do we do? I think turning off our feelings for each other is going to be harder then we think."

"It is, but we've both done it before. I liked you for months before we kissed. And hell, you went at least two years liking Dawson." Pacey reasoned.

"I guess your right. Well, since we're facing the prospect of spending months not being able to be together, I say we have one good bye kiss." She smiled mischievously.

"Potter, you are one smart girl." He said leaning forward for a kiss that lasted longer then either of them ever expected it to.

As they climbed into bed, Pacey said, "Night Jo. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

She smiled. "Witter, can't you think of anything more original then that?"

"I could, but I just thought it was a good warning." He smiled in the dark.

"Warning?" Joey asked slightly confused.

"Yeah, I have tendencies of biting beautiful women in their sleep." He said reaching over and biting her shoulder.

"Pacey!" She hissed through giggles. "How are we ever going to make it when you can't go more then five minutes without doing something like that?"

"Come on Jo. I was only kidding, but I promise I'll be good for now on." He said trying to be serious.

"Sure Pace. Good night." She sighed not sure if she should believe him or not.

After a few minutes of getting situated, Joey felt Pacey's hand envelop hers. She surprised him by intertwining her fingers in his.

Joey and Pacey made it through the next few days at Aunt Gwen's just fine. They stayed away from each other, and Pacey even got Andie to sleep in the bed with Joey. They bantered just like they had before this whole mess had started weeks before. On the outside, they seemed to be fine, but on the inside, it was a whole different story.

Joey was hurting... badly. Even though her and Pacey only had that one day together, it was probably one of the best days of her life. The way he had looked at her, the way he had gently brushed the hair away from her eyes when he leaned in for a kiss, the way her hand fit so perfectly inside of his. It was more then that though, it was the way his presence made her yearn for him to be closer. She knew in her heart that she was falling in love with Pacey Witter.

It had only been a week since their talk and about five days since they were back in Capeside. Pacey did the best he could to occupy his time with anything but the image of Joey. Every time he thought of her, he felt a deep ache in the bottom of his heart that hurt so much, sometimes all he could do was cry. But he did his damnedest to act normal. He would pick her up in the morning for school. He would walk to lunch with her. He would listen to her rant about her teachers. And he would pretend not to hear the pain in her
voice when she said his name. He knew that this was going to be tough, he just never imagined that it would be like this. But, he knew it was the only way. He valued his friendship with Dawson too much to go behind his back.

"Joey? What's wrong with you? All you've done is mope for the past week."
Dawson asked concerned. He turned the movie off that they were watching. "You have this distant look in your eyes like your not even here. Want to tell me what's going on?"

Joey took a deep sigh, "Why can't things be simple?" She asked turning her body to look at Dawson. "Every moment of every day is so complex. It's just so hard sometimes to go through every day. I want to be little again when no one could change your distorted view of life, when it was easier to cry over a skinned knee then a broken heart. I want to be oblivious to all of the problems surrounding me and be so self centered."

Dawson looked at her trying to understand what she was saying, "What brought this on?"

"I don't know. I guess I've just been thinking to much lately. It's just hard to be a teenager these days I suppose. I just feel like it's always something. All I hear all day is, 'Joey, do this', 'Joey, do that,' 'Joey,
come here,' 'Joey go there.' I just want things to be simple again."

"I hate to tell you this Jo, but thing's can never be that simple again. As much as I hate to think of it, our days of simplicity are over." He looked at her with a frank look on his face.

"Your right. I just can't help thinking of how much harder it is now then it was five years ago." She took another deep sigh. "Well, I better go. Thanks for talking with me."

"Your welcome, Jo." He watched her leave with a confused look on his face. He still didn't know what was going on inside of Joey's head and he didn't think he ever would.

"Dawson, can you please help me out with this math stuff?" Andie asked at lunch. "Midterms are next week and I can't remember all of these formulas." Andie complained.

"Sure, but one question. Why are you asking me?" Dawson was confused. Andie was much smarter in math then he was.

Andie blushed a little. The reason why she was asking Dawson was because she liked him. Ever since they went to Aunt Gwen's house, they had been spending more time together. When they both got up and started to sing "Stop in the Name of Love" by The Supremes on karaoke night, Andie knew there was no
turning back - it was right then and there, in Aunt Gwen's living room, that she realized Dawson Leery was the man of her dreams. "Oh well, I figured that since you were going to my house anyway to drop me off after school, we could just stay there and study." She recovered.

He smiled; the prospect of hanging out with Andie for a few hours wasn't a bad one. He always thought she was a little uptight, but since hanging out with her more, he realized she was a pretty cool girl. He even ventured to say he liked her. "Sure, that sounds great."

"Hey Potter. Ready for a driving lesson?" Pacey asked hopefully. He had shown up at Joey's front door without warning. He just wanted to see her.

"That's just like you Pacey, isn't it? Spontaneously show up on my door step wanting to teach me how to drive." She laughed.

"I figure it's my duty." He said trying to sound official.

"Your duty as what?"

"As a human being. You are the worst driver. I just don't think I could live with myself knowing that all the people of Capeside are in danger of losing their lives when you’re on the road with them."

Joey rolled her eyes, "Fine Pacey. Let me go tell Bessie." She disappeared into the house.

After Joey came back, she found Pacey waiting for her inside of the old, blue, pick up truck. "So Jo, you ready to see what you can do on a real road today?"

"I don't know. You think I'm ready? I've only driven on the back roads before." She asked not sure if this was such a good idea.

"You'll never know until you try. Besides, you've done an OK job on those roads before, you can't be that bad on the highway. Just remember to keep your foot on the clutch this time, I don't think I can handle hearing the gears grind again." He warned in all seriousness.

Joey rolled her eyes, "Fine Pacey. I'll try."

An hour later Pacey made Joey pull off into a gas station. "Jo, just because they cut you off doesn't mean you can ride their ass!" Pacey exclaimed. He was still a little shaken up after experiencing Joey's not so suave driving skills.

"Pacey, give me a break! The stupid women was driving her SUV thinking she always had the right of way because of her big ass vehicle." She sighed and added under her breath, "The perfect example of Capeside's finest yuppie, suburban trash."

Pacey laughed after catching what Joey had murmured and softened a little knowing she was right, "OK Jo. I'll give you the fact that it was probably some soccer mom." He agreed, "But, that doesn't give you the right to put your passengers life at risk, nor does it give you the right to go searching for a fender bender!"

"OK, fine." Joey breathed trying to calm down, "Maybe that was a bad decision on my part."

"To say the least, yeah, maybe." She shot him a dirty look. "OK, why don't you hand me the keys, I'll drive us someplace with less cars."

"And where would that be?" She asked skeptically.

"The office park." He said. Doug had taught him how to drive there. It was a long road with a lot of office buildings located along it. It was the perfect place to teach someone how to drive. "It's Saturday, no one should be there."

"Fine." She sighed and handed over the keys, walking out of the car to get into the passenger side.

When they arrived at their destination, Joey resumed her seat in the driver's side. "Well, Pace, this is your chance, any words of wisdom?"

"Don't. Grind. The gears." He stated very clearly.

Joey rolled her eyes and started the car. Much to Pacey's amusement, the first thing she did was in fact, grind the gears. She looked at him and smiled sheepishly. "Joey," He sighed, "Let me help you out some." He leaned in closer to her, "OK, put your foot on the brake, and put your other foot on
the clutch and keep it there!" He warned sternly. "Now slowly let go of the brake, but not to fast." Joey followed Pacey's instructions. She put her hand on the stick ready to change gears when needed, and soon felt Pacey's hand rest on top of hers. Joey relished in the feel of his skin on hers. "OK," He
continued, his voice a little shaky, "Now push it down," He told her, pulling his hand down on hers so she changed the gears smoothly this time. Joey looked up at him and caught his eye and held his gaze for long moments. She wanted so badly to reach up and kiss him, but knew she shouldn't, couldn't.
Her eyes screamed at him, telling him she loved him, and his look mimicked hers.

Finally breaking their stare and the long silence, Joey said, "I think I've had enough driving for one day. I have midterms to study for anyway, but thanks for taking me out. I learned a valuable lesson." She smiled.

"And what's that?"

"Never drive on the highway with Pacey Witter." She said smiled innocently.

"Andie, I know we worked on this yesterday after school, but I need some more of your help." Dawson asked Andie over the phone.

"My help? Your the one that helped me." Andie clarified.

"You knew it all, I don't know why you thought you didn't. You ended up helping me more then I could ever help you. But, I was just looking through my math book and I realized we didn't go over cot, sec, or csc, and I'm having a hard time with them. Could you come over?" He asked hoping she
didn't know he was lying.

"Sure, I'll be over in about ten minutes." Dawson sighed, glad that she believed him. They said their good byes and hung up.

A very perplexed Dawson paced his room. After spending the previous afternoon with Andie, he realized just how deep his feelings for her were. Now, all he had to do was tell her how he felt. He invited her over so they could have dinner on the pier in town. It was very romantic out there at night with the
boats lighting up the water. He just hoped she felt the same way.

He had everything ready. He had made two sandwich's, which was about the extent of his culinary expertise, and packed a basket with a rose in it and two coke's. 'So, maybe it's not the most romantic meal,' he thought. But hopefully, they wouldn't be concentrating on the food... He didn't let
himself finish his thought. He saw Andie walking up to the front door and he ran down the steps to greet her.

"Hey Andie. Come in." He said motioning her into the house.

"Hi, thanks. Where do you want to work?" She asked sitting down on the couch.

"Actually, I didn't ask you over here to work on math." He breathed wiping away the beads of sweat that had formed above his brow.

"Then why did you ask me?" She said trying to make sense of what he was telling her.

"Um, I thought we could have a picnic in town and talk... I mean if that's OK with you?" He asked nervously.

"That sounds fine." She said slowly. What is this all about?

"OK, good. Let's go then. I packed some sandwich's for us."

Pacey and Joey rode back to the Potter B&B in silence. Joey couldn't help but feel hurt by the fact that they had been friends for their whole lives and they couldn't even carry a conversation anymore.

"Pacey?" Joey said breaking the silence.

"What?" He asked surprised at the serious tone in her voice.

"How are we going to do this? How are we going to make it? I don't know about you, but every second of every day, I'm thinking of you. I'm thinking of how much I want to be with you, but can't." She hoped the tears she had been trying so hard to hold back wouldn't fall.

Pacey sighed. He wasn't sure which emotion to go with. Elation knowing that Joey had been thinking of him every time he was thinking of her? Or heartbreak. Because he didn't know the answer to her questions? "I don't know Jo. You’re all I can think of too. We both feel the same way for each other but
we can't do anything about it. It's not fair." He choked out the words thinking of just how unfair it really was. He loved her for God's sake! He wanted to be with her.

"So what do we do? I don't think I can handle not being with you for much longer." She said finally letting a tear make its way down her cheek.

"Jo" Pacey said his eyes red rimmed, "I don't have an answer for you... but I do have an idea. Why don't we go out for dinner tonight? Take out minds off all of this?" He suggested softly.

"I don't know Pace..." She said skeptically.

"Come on Jo, the B&B has a lot of guests tonight. Bessie and Bodie will probably be happy to have one less mouth to feed. And all Doug ever makes is burned chicken then makes me clean the dishes. It'll be fun." He said hoping he had convinced her.

"OK." She said giving in with a smile while wiping the tear from her cheek. "But you have to pay." She added sternly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled and turned the car around toward town for dinner.

"OK Andie. I'm sure your wondering why I dragged you all the way out here to have dinner with me." Dawson started.

"And why you had to lie about it." She added noting his nervousness.

Dawson laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah, that too." He knew it was now or never, he had to tell her how he felt, "Well, umm... Andie, I've noticed recently that I have been feeling, well... uhh, I've been feeling... differently about you." Why had it been so much easier to say this in his head?

"Differently?" Andie asked. Is that a good thing?

"Well, maybe differently isn't exactly the best word." He sighed apprehensively.

"So what's a better word?" She urged him. She hoped he was going to say what she thought he was going to say. Did he feel the same way about her as she felt about him?

"OK." Dawson said collecting himself. "Andie, I'm just going to say it. I really, really like you. I have for awhile now, so I figured that it was time to tell you." He breathed. He silently wondered where he had gotten the courage to say it all.

Andie let a small smile slowly creep onto her face. Dawson couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Did that smile mean what he wanted it to mean? Or was she trying not to laugh at him? He didn't have to wait for his answer for too much longer. Andie moved closer to him and tilted her head sideways, silently beckoning Dawson to take the hint. And he did.

"So Potter, where to? You want to eat somewhere nice? Fast food? Casual?"

"Which ever is closest, I'm starving." Pacey agreed and pulled into a parking spot outside a restaurant. Unfortunately, most of Capeside seemed to be as hungry as they were so they were put on a waiting list with the promise of a table in the next half hour.

"Want to go for a walk? I don't think I can handle this cigarette smoke for much longer." Joey suggested coughing.

"Sure." And Pacey linked his arm into hers. They walked silently, Pacey occasionally pointing at a boat on the docks that he wanted 'True Love' to look like. They passed by a dock with a young couple on it, and Joey didn't pass up the chance to comment on how some people needed to get a room. Pacey
chuckled in agreement and they walked on.

Joey liked the silence. This way, at least she could pretend that all was right in the world. That she and Pacey really were together and they had no ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends to think about. It was times like these that she looked at the future with hope. Maybe, just maybe, all really would be right with them in the future. She couldn't afford to think otherwise. What good is it to live life with no promise of happiness? She didn't even want to think about it.

But right now? Right now she was content. Just Joey and her love, Pacey taking a romantic stroll by the water, arms linked, both with a smile on their faces that no other person had ever been able to put on each other’s faces before. She couldn't ever imagine living life any differently. If this was as good as it gets, then she must be the happiest human being on the face of this earth. She smiled, looking up at Pacey. He smiled back down at her and they walked into the restaurant where their table was waiting.

It had been a week since Dawson had confessed his feelings for Andie and he couldn't have been happier. It was Friday night and he was waiting for her to come over to his house so they could have some dinner. When she arrived, she had a look on her face that Dawson didn't like. "What is it Andie?"

"I don't know how much longer I can go on pretending that nothing has changed, Dawson. When I'm around Pacey or Joey I feel like the guilt is so overwhelming, it's going to kill me." She sighed exasperated.

"I know what you mean." Dawson sat down on the couch next to Andie. "I honestly don't think Pacey would mind that much. I mean, he would. But, he would let us be. But Joey... I don't know. We've moved on, but neither one of us have had anyone major in our lives since last year. For the first time in my life, I don't know how she's going to react."

"Well, no matter what, we have to tell them. Joey has been nothing but nice to me ever since I've known her. She doesn't deserve this kind of treatment from me."

"Yeah. Well, when do you want to tell them?" Dawson asked, almost hoping she wouldn't answer. He didn't want to confront either one of them any more then he wanted to rip his fingernails of with pliers.

"There's no time like the present, I guess. Their both at The B&B. Joey's making Pacey study... on a Friday night. I'm sure he won't mind up interrupting."

"OK, then I guess we should go." He started to stand up.

"Dawson, wait. Aren't you forgetting something?" Andie asked.

"What?"

"You never gave me a kiss when I came in." She smiled.

Dawson smiled, "How could I have forgotten?" He sat back down and pulled Andie into his arms and kissed her.

"Pacey, do you even care about the fact that you could fail English?" Joey asked looking up at him.

"No, not really." He replied turning his gaze back to the TV.

"God Pace!" She exclaimed getting frustrated. "You actually have a chance of passing and you aren't even going to try?"

"Look, Jo. Passing Junior English isn't exactly my top priority, OK?"

She sighed, feeling defeated. "Then will you at least try for me, please?" She asked in a calmer voice.

Pacey took his eyes away from the TV to look at her. He decided it was easier to just study then listen to Joey yell at him for the rest of the semester. "Fine. Fine, I'll try for you." He turned the TV off and grabbed his book from the table and began to read. Joey, satisfied with that answer, also went back to her work.

"Is that Mitch's car?" Pacey asked after a few minutes of reading.

"It sounds like it. I wonder why Dawson would drive over here. He usually rows." She wondered out loud.

"Yeah. And I thought he and Andie were going to do something tonight."

"They've been spending a lot of time together lately. What do you think they've been doing?" She asked feigning nonchalant. She didn't want Pacey to think she was jealous.

"You know Andie. They've probably been studying." Pacey answered as they walked to the door to greet Dawson.

"Hey Dawson. What are you doing here?" Joey asked.

"And Andie, hi." Pacey said after noticing the petite blonde.

"Well, umm... Andie and I just wanted to come over here to talk to you two about something." He looked at Andie who nodded nervously.

"Come on in." Joey smiled, ushering them through the door.

"So, what is it you have to tell us?" Pacey asked taking a seat.

"Well, umm... we, me and Andie that is, well we, kind of... we've been--" Dawson was cut off by Andie.

"Ah, we were just wondering if you two would like to go to dinner with us. It's been a while since we've all done something together. Besides, we were getting tired of studying." Andie said.

Dawson looked at her confused, but went with it, "Yeah. And we knew that you two were studying and thought Pacey might enjoy the break." He smiled at Pacey.

Pacey laughed, "Sounds like a plan. Where do you want to do go?"

After figuring out the dinner plan they decided it was easier if Joey rode with Pacey and Andie with Dawson. When they were all on their way, Dawson asked the obvious question, "Andie, why did you interrupt me?"

"I'm sorry Dawson, I just couldn't tell them. Not then anyway. I think this is going to be harder then we thought it was going to be."

"Yeah." He sighed, "Your right."

"Do you think that was the real reason why they came over?" Pacey asked Joey when they got in the car.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you notice their body language? They were really nervous about something. And I don't think asking us to dinner was it. Dawson was mumbling and Andie was fidgeting - more then usual - and interrupting him. They just weren't acting like themselves." He reasoned.

"Now that you mention it, I know what you mean. They were acting a little odd. But it couldn't have been that big of a deal if they never said anything about it."

"I don't know about that Jo..." Pacey trailed off as they made their way to the restaurant.

It had been two weeks since Dawson and Andie's attempt to tell Joey and Pacey. They tried their hardest to act normal in front of them, but they were finding that it was getting harder then they ever expected every day. Dawson knew they had to tell them, they owed them at least that much after going behind their backs. Andie agreed, but didn't know if Pacey or Joey would ever be able to forgive them.

Meanwhile, Pacey and Joey were not as oblivious as Dawson and Andie obviously thought they were. They knew something was up, they just weren't sure what it was. During one of Joey and Pacey's study sessions, they decided to confront Dawson and Andie; it was the only way.

Dawson had invited Joey, Pacey, and Andie to his house for a movie night in hopes of bringing the situation to a head. The guilt he had been feeling was only getting worse by the day and he found it was getting harder to live with himself.

"Hey, Joey." Dawson greeted when she climbed through his window.

"Hi, Dawson." She smiled back at him. Soon after she sat down, Pacey and Andie walked in. Pacey took a seat on the bed next to Joey and gave her a knowing glance. Today they decided they were going to ask Dawson and Andie why they've been so secretive lately.

"Ah, before we start the movie, Joey and I have something to say." Pacey said a little nervously. "We know you two have something up your sleeves that you've been trying to keep from us. And I'd like to take this opportunity to give you two a chance to tell us what it is before we find out some other way. Because it has to be something pretty big for you to not be able to tell your best friends." He looked at Joey for approval, and when she nodded, he looked at Dawson, "So?"

Dawson looked to Andie nervously before talking, "Your right Pacey. There is something that we've been meaning to tell you two." He took a deep breath, "I guess there's no easy way to say it so I'll just say it... Andie and I are... together." He said not willing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Together?" Joey asked.

"Yeah." Andie said softly, "We have been for about a month now."

Pacey looked to Joey, astonished. They had suspected this, but actually hearing it from their own mouths made it seem so much worse.

"Excuse me." Joey said and climbed out the window. It all made sense to her now. All of the glances and shy smiles that she had chosen to ignore. All of the blushes that came to their cheeks whenever they looked at each other for too long. All of the time spent alone together. The puzzle was coming
together piece by piece.

Looking at the floor, Pacey said he should probably go after her and left.

"Joey?" Pacey asked, reaching her row boat. "Got room for one more in there?" He motioned to her boat.

"Yeah, I guess." She said letting her voice show no emotion.

After Pacey was in, she rowed them to the middle of the creek. Following a long silence, she spoke. "I don't know about you, but I've felt like hell ever since spring break because I couldn't be with you. I thought we were doing the best thing by keeping our feelings to ourselves." She shook her head and laughed bitterly, "But I guess I was wrong. Apparently Dawson and Andie don't care about us as much as we care about them." She looked at Pacey who was starring into the water. "This whole thing isn't fair. I did the right thing and now I feel like crap. They did the wrong thing and hurt and betrayed us, and now they're the happy ones." She finished, staring off into the distance wondering when all of their lives had gotten so complicated.

"Life isn't fair, Jo." He said solemnly.

"I know it isn't, but it seems to be working out pretty good for them." Her tart tone of voice was one that Pacey didn't hear from her too often.

"We did the same thing to them." He reminded her, trying to keep his voice calm.

"No. We didn't. We knew what the effects of telling Dawson would be and decided to spare his feelings. We didn't do the same thing, Pacey, we put a stop to it." She said somberly.

"Yeah." He sighed.

They sat in the middle of the creek for a while reflecting on all the events of the night. "Do you still love him?" Pacey asked not sure how she would react to his abrupt, left field question.

Her face took on a nostalgic glow as she looked into the sky. "He was my first true love and he taught me so much about life, and love, and myself... So, in that respect, a small part of me will always be in love with him." She hesitated for a moment, then added, "But only a small part."

He shook his head understanding.

"What about you? Do you still love her?"

He sighed, "All that girl ever seems to do is break my heart. Sleeping with another guy while we were together. Then when we got back together - and split up again - that did nothing but reopen the still fresh wound. And now this. You would think I would hate her. But I can't help it, it's like what you said, part of me will always be in love with her." He paused. "But, I'm over her. I know I am. I just can't help but feel a little..." He couldn't find the right word.

"Sad." Joey offered, knowing just what he meant.

"Yeah," he said looking into her eyes. "I can't help but feel sad knowing that she doesn't need me like she used to."

Andie paced the room quickly, biting her nails, wondering how they were going to handle this.

"Andie, stop." Dawson said, "Pacing isn't going to help anything." He put his head into his hands deep in thought.

"Sorry." She sat down next to him. "What should we do?"

"Honestly, I don't think there is anything we can do. The ball's in their court now. They come to us when their ready. It's not up to us."

"Yeah... but what about us? I know that's an incredibly selfish question to be asking right now, but..."

"I know what you mean. And, I think we need to put a stop to this - at least until this whole thing is resolved. It's not going to make anything better for them to see us together. It could only make things worse then they already are." He looked up from his hands and into her eyes. He knew the next few days were going to be the hardest of his life. He didn't even want to think about what they would do to Andie.

"I guess so. Well, then I should go." She said sadly.

"Bye, Andie." He felt the familiar sting in his eyes of threatening tears.

She looked back at his and smiled sadly, slowly opening the door to go home. But his next words stopped her.

"I love you." It was the first time he had ever told her how he felt. He wasn't sure if those words would make things easier or harder, but he knew he had to say them.

"I love you too." She held his gaze, then closed the door behind her, letting her face crumble into the sobs that had been waiting to escape for a long time.

Dawson watched her go, not knowing when he would be able to be with her again. He feel into his pillows and cried harder then he could ever remember crying before. The gravity of the whole situation was hitting him hard. No Joey. No Pacey. No Andie. Those three people were his world. He didn't know
what he would do if this thing didn't blow over soon.

The next day, Joey woke up to see Pacey eating waffles in the kitchen talking with Bodie.

"What are you doing here?" Joey yawned taking a seat next to Pacey.

"Morning Sleepy head." Pacey greeted.

Joey smiled at him and accepted a plate of waffles from Bodie. "You never answered my question." She pointed out.

"We need to talk." Pacey's voice was low and husky.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I guess we do. Why don't we eat first then we can go outside?" She suggested softly. Pacey nodded and they finished eating in silence.

Joey went to her room and quickly dressed, meeting Pacey outside on the dock. They sat for a while until Pacey broke them from their silent reverie. "So, I've been thinking a lot about everything that went on last night."

"Me too." Joey admitted.

"And, this thing doesn't have to be as bad as it seems." He turned from the water and looked at Joey.

"What do you mean?" She asked gently.

"Well, this is what we've been waiting for isn't it? We don't need to suppress our feelings for one another anymore. Think about it, why weren't we together? Because we were afraid of hurting Dawson." He answered his own question, "But, we don't have to worry about that anymore." He looked at her
and smiled timidly. A smile slowly spread across Joey's face and he continued, "And, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of glad Dawson and Andie are together, because now, I don't have to hurt like I've been hurting anymore. I can kiss you whenever I want, and I can hold your hand all the time, and I can spend time with you without feeling guilty..." He trailed off looking deep into Joey's eyes. "And I can tell you I love you every second of every day." He slipped his hands into hers.

Joey felt the threatening sting of tears in her eyes as she said, "I love you too, Pacey. More then I could ever imagine loving someone before." He leaned in so his lips were mere centimeters away from Joey's. He wrapped his fingers in her hair, and closed the remaining space between them, placing soft kisses
on her lips.

They remained in each other’s embrace for a long time. Each had forgotten how good it felt to be in each others arms. The weeks they had spent dancing around their feelings all seemed worth it now. Now that they had each other, they didn't plan on ever letting go.

A little while later, Joey whispered, "We still have one thing to do."

"What's that?" He asked.

"We need to tell them."

Pacey nodded in agreement, and they walked inside to call Dawson and Andie.

Half an hour later, all of them were gathered in Dawson's room.

"Well," Pacey started, "I think Joey and I need to explain some things to you two."

"Yeah." Joey sighed nervously, "I guess it all started when A.J. and I broke up. Pacey came to pick me up, and our little road trip somehow ended in a kiss." Joey didn't dare look at Dawson or Andie.

"But you see, it wasn't mutual. I had been harboring feeling's for Joey for about a month and I guess I was going a little crazy and I kissed her." He looked up to gauge Dawson and Andie's reaction. All he could see was pure shock.

"The kiss ended with me hitting and yelling. Wasn't a pretty sight." She sighed.

"No it wasn't." Pacey agreed. "So things were very weird between us for a few weeks."

"That is, until we went to Aunt Gwen's. That's when those feelings became quite mutual." Joey fiddled her fingers nervously.

"But after we realized our feelings, we decided it was best not to do anything about it." Pacey said.

He looked at Dawson who spoke for the first time, "Why?"

"Because we didn't want to hurt you or Andie." Joey finally looked at them.

"And that's why it hurt so much when you told us about you two last night." Pacey added.

"Because you two had gone through the same thing, only you had the decency to take our feelings to thought." Andie sighed guiltily.

"That's about it." Pacey said looking to Joey.

Dawson looked at Andie before talking, "I don't think we can apologize enough for all of this. It must have been a tough couple of weeks for you two. I feel absolutely horrible. I don't know what I can possibly say to express just how sorry I am."

"Yeah. I am so sorry that we went through with our feelings when you two were obviously hurting so much. I feel terrible..." She trailed off.

"Look, it's OK. Me and Pacey aren't even mad anymore. It all worked out, didn't it? You two have each other and Pacey and I got what we waited for. There's no need to dwell on the past." Joey said.

"I agree. How about we just forgive and forget?" Pacey suggested.

"Are you guys sure?" Andie asked, amazed at how cool they were with this.

"Yeah, I mean what we did was wrong." Dawson added.

"We're sure man." Pacey said.

"OK, then I have an idea." Dawson said. "Why don't we all go camping next weekend. Just spend some time bonding, I guess you could say."

"That sounds like a good idea." Joey agreed.

"Yeah, we can go to the Capeside Camping Grounds. They have some nice, open places by the lake." Andie suggested.

"Alright. We can go on Friday night and come back Saturday Afternoon." Pacey added.

The week went by quickly with the four making plans for their weekend. However, no one could deny the brief moments of tension. The whole situation from the previous weekend had started and ended so quickly, none of them were quite sure how to act. But, the tension dissipated and they continued their planning.

After a grueling week of prepping for finals, the weekend came. They all gathered at Dawson's house to pack food for their next three meals and then headed off.  

After they unpacked and pitched their tents, Joey and Pacey decided to make sandwich's for dinner.

"Pacey, what are you doing?" Joey asked.

"What do you mean? I'm making me a sandwich." He squeezed mustard onto the lettuce.

"Pacey, everyone knows that you put the mustard on the side with the turkey, and the mayonnaise on the side with the lettuce." Joey stated.

"Why?" He asked incredulously.

"Because, the mayonnaise acts as a salad dressing for the lettuce, and turkey tastes better with mustard. Besides, it looks prettier that way." She smiled.

Pacey shook his head and finished making the sandwich his way.

They all sat down by the lake and ate their dinner. "Andie? What are you doing?" Dawson asked as he watched his girlfriend look at the inside of her sandwich and flip it over.

"I always eat my sandwiches with the lettuce on top. The bread doesn't stick to the roof of your mouth as much that way." She remarked taking a bite.

"What the hell is it with girls and sandwiches?" Pacey asked, truly confused.

That night, they all went to bed with Dawson and Andie in one tent, and Pacey and Joey in the other.

"Pacey?" Joey asked after they had gotten situated in their sleeping bags.

"Yeah, Jo?"

"Isn't this how this whole thing started?" She smiled at the memory.

Pacey smiled too, "Yeah I guess it is. That had to have been the best sleep over of my life." He said earnestly.

"Really?" She asked shyly.

"Really, Jo." He replied, pulling her into his arms.

Good night Pacey. I love you." She said sleepily.

"I love you too. And Jo?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let the bed bugs bite."

She smiled, "Why are those words so comforting?" He laughed softly and pulled
her closer to him.

THE END