LOVE IN TRANSIT

BY KEZ

Background.

The gang has left school. Joey has her own apartment, still in the creek. Dawson is still staying with his parents, as is Pacey, and Jen is living with Henry. Joey is dating Dawson, who is trying to get a scholarship to film school. Pacey is trying to find a way to move in somewhere else, because he doesn’t get along with his parents. Jen and Henry are engaged, Jen is pregnant with their first child, and Henry is a hard-working chef at Potters B&B, which Bessie and Bodie successfully manage on their own. Jack and Andie are both at college, living together. Dawson’s parents are married, with another child, Emily, and another on the way. Jen’s grandmother died six months ago. Pacey and Tamara are going out, but more about that will be explained…………………..

"Hey Jo. What's up?" Pacey asked, as he swung Joey around. She tried to prise his hands from around her waist, but eventually gave up. When he finally put her down, she tried to walk off, but he caught up with her.

"So, I said what's up? You don't seem your usual perky self this evening, Miss Potter." He caught her slender hand in his, and she looked at him with a pained expression in her eyes.

“Stop. I'm not in a very happy mood, not that it’s any of your business." She said, as she pulled her hand out of his grip. She loved Dawson with all her heart, and she had known him for as long as she could remember, but sometimes she wondered what type of love it was with her and Dawson. Was it true love, or was it sisterly feelings she thought for him? She had recently realised she had feelings for Pacey, but again, she was confused by her feelings. She felt twinges in her heart when Pacey looked at her, but when Dawson looked at her with those big brown puppy-dog eyes, well, her heart melted. Her best friend Jen had told her that it was possible to love two people, but only one could be your soulmate. Two and a half years ago, when she and Dawson had started dating, she was certain that he was her soulmate. He was the one that she would grow old with. But recently, her feelings had changed. Pacey interrupted her thoughts by grabbing her around the waist and hoisting her over his shoulder, in a fireman’s lift.

"Now, milady cannot walk while she is concentrating, so Mr Knight In Shining Armour is going to carry her home." And with that, he started walking. Joey tried to stifle a giggle, but stopped when she caught sight of her classmates staring at them.

"Do you think you could put me down? This is sorta embarrassing, and I can never tell when you’re trying to look up my skirt." This was a long-standing joke between them, referring to the fact that Joey always wore shorts, or jeans. Pacey feigned a shocked expression, and made as if to drop her. Joey screamed, and somehow ended up in Pacey’s arms, with hers around his neck. He looked serious for a second, and simply walked off with her in his strong arms. And the strange thing was, Joey felt safe in his arms, and she knew that he would never drop her.

As he got to Joey’s small apartment, on the ground floor, he reached inside Joey’s sweater pocket, to find her key. He discovered it, and opened her front door. He walked in, and shut the door. He walked over to Joey’s couch, and placed her down on it slowly. She was asleep. Pacey picked up a chair, and took it over to the couch. He sat opposite the sleeping Joey, and looked at her. He watched her sleeping peacefully for a few minutes, then felt himself dozing off.

Joey awoke with a start. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes, and saw Pacey. He looked like an angel when he slept, she found herself thinking. She stood up, and crossed the small one bedroom apartment, to her closet, to find a blanket. She got it, and walked over to Pacey. She spread the blanket over him, and on impulse, kissed him on the cheek. He stirred, and mumbled something Joey couldn't quite comprehend. Joey smiled, and kissed him again, on the lips, before lying down on the couch again.

She couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, but it didn't work. She was finally beginning to feel her eyelids close, when a dark figure burst into the room. Joey didn't spot him at first, but when he came over, and placed his hand over her mouth, she was wide awake. Her eyes instinctively flew to Pacey, but he was still in deep sleep. Then she saw another dark figure enter the room. He flew at Joey, and bound her arms and legs tightly, before placing a mouldy smelling rag over her mouth to act as a gag. Then both men did the same to Pacey, and dragged them both outside, into an old dirty van. The men were inside Joey’s apartment for a few minutes, during which time Pacey awoke. He sort of yawned, and then, as his eyes widened, asked Joey "Where the hell are we?" But as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the dark dingy van that they were both cramped in, and he also saw the frightened expression on Joey’s face.

"Hey, come on, Jo. Its not that bad…….if you like living in vans." Pacey was only trying to make Joey laugh, but instead, she burst into tears. He sort of shuffled over the floor, and tried to hug Joey, but it was a pretty feeble attempt. He hooked his arms around Joey’s neck, which made them pretty close, but it seemed to stifle Joey’s sobs as Pacey hugged her. He kissed the top of her head, and heard a small whimper. He lifted Joey’s head up with his arms, and was going to say something trivial, but he forgot what it was when he saw Joey’s tear-stained face. He acted on impulse, and kissed Joey on the lips. She returned the kiss, and then Pacey began to wonder what that kiss meant. Was it a kiss just because Joey was upset, or was it something deeper, hidden below the surface? Joey lay her head on Pacey’s chest, and they both leaned back against the wall of the van. When Joey’s sobs subsided, Pacey was at a loss for words.

"Hey, what d’ya wanna do then? We gotta do something to pass the time." Joey laughed through her remaining tears, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay then, well we’re gonna play a little game. I am gonna say a word, and you’re gonna say the next word, and we’re gonna make up a sentence." He noticed Joey looking at him with a funny look on her face.

"Hey, its juvenile, I know, but it’s the only thing I could think of. So, let’s start. Pacey" He said. Joey looked confused for a second, and then said:

"loves"

"Miss

"Jacobs." Joey finished triumphantly. She was so proud of finishing the sentence, that she didn't notice the pained expression crossing Pacey’s face. He didn't like to be reminded of Tamara while he was around Joey.

"Okay, now I’LL start. Joey"

Pacey wiped the sad look off his face, and said "Loves" ready for a smart comment that Joey would fire at him.

There was a long silence, and then a small voice came out of the dark.

"Pacey." It was as if a bomb had been dropped between them. Pacey said nothing, and Joey began to wonder if she had sad the wrong thing, but then her fears were dispelled when she felt a soft butterfly kiss on her cheek, and then on her lips, and she returned Pacey’s kiss.

“Hey, Hey! Keep it down, we’re not running a kissing booth hear, break it up!” A voice came from the front of the van, and Joey and Pacey separated, embarrassed. Joey let out a small giggle, but then her smile left her face, and tears replaced them. Silent tears streamed down her face. Pacey hated seeing her like that. He leaned her head against his. Let the driver’s do their worst. He didn't care. Joey’s tears eventually subsided, but they still remained together, the van bumping along, the driver’s mindless chatter barely audible. Pacey caught a few words.

“two lovebirds…..tonight…….the house………ransoms……..” From these words, Pacey worked out what they were planning to do, but he didn't say anything to Joey. He didn't want her scared. He took a look at her, and found she was asleep. He was glad. The less part she played in any of this, the better. He shifted his position, carefully trying not to disturb Joey. She sighed a little, and gave a low murmur. Pacey smiled, a sad smile, and watched her sleep.

Dawson sat at his swivel chair, carefully editing his movie. He had made Joey star in it. She hadn't seemed very pleased, but she had tried to please Dawson. She was so beautiful. He loved her. On the computer monitor, she was in a twinset and jeans. Blue was definitely Joey’s colour. She didn't like wearing feminine clothes, but when she did, she looked spectacular. His mind went back to the beauty contest a couple of years ago. She wore a simple black dress, and her hair twisted up into a chignon. She sang. Her voice had rang out in the hall, impressing everyone. She hadn't won, but in Dawson’s heart, nobody could beat her. She had been embarrassed when he told her, and she’d blushed. The red stain on her cheeks had only succeded in making her look even more beautiful. He thought they would be together always. He wanted kids at a young age, but Joey wasn't so keen. She wanted a career. She had already been accepted ino various art colleges, but had turned most of them down. She wanted to go to only one. The New York College Of Art. She was on the waiting list, and was getting ever closer to being accepted, but Dawson didn't want her to go. He wanted to be with her. There wasn't a film college in New York, and film college was the only direction he wanted to head in. Unfortunately, going to film college meant he had to be apart from Joey. He had to choose between his two greatest passions in life. How was he going to do that? To choose would be the hardest thing he could ever do. If he and Joey had kids, film college wouldn't matter. He had his life all planned out. He was going to have four kids. Two girls, two boys. Casey, because he loved that name, Carole, because it was Joey’s mothers name, Will, because Will Krudski had promised to be best man at the wedding, and Steven, for the obvious. He had changed the spelling, but he wanted a way to create the ultimate object of amazement for Stephen Spielberg. Only one person knew how much he adored Speilberg’s work, and that was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Joey. He couldn't believe even now how he could have gone out with other girls. He had dated two, Jen and Eve, before realising that Joey was his soulmate. Recently, he had begun to feel that Joey didn't feel the same way abut him. She had been hanging around a lot with Pacey. Not that he had anything against Pacey, but he didn't want them to be too close. He was jealous. That was it. It was pathetic, he knew, but he couldn't help those feelings of jealousy. He looked at his watch. 8pm. Joey was going to meet him in twenty minutes, then they were going out for dinner. At that dinner, he was going to ask the most important question of his life. He was going to ask Joey to marry him.

Joey awoke with a start as the van jolted. Pacey was asleep, his head on hers. What was she going to do? She thought the van doors looked a little loose. Maybe she could try and force them open. But if that didn't work, Joey didn't know what the men would do. She then realised that they could kill her and Pacey if they wanted to. Murder. She wasn't even twenty yet. Hardly any of her life, and it could be gone in a flash. She shook her head, skaing away all the negative thoughts of death. She tried to work out an escape plan. She didn't know whereabouts they were, or where they were travelling to. But the doors did look pretty loose, although there was a lock on it. There was a blanket in the back with them, and a dirty, mouldy looking cup. None of those were going to be much help. She decided to ask Pacey.

“Pacey? Wake up. And be quiet.” She shook him gently, and he muttered something that sounded like “Yeah. I’ll get up at eight. Leave me alone Doug.” Joey shook him a bit harder, and this time he woke up.

“Joey? Are you OK? I thought something had happened to you. Have they done anything yet?” He said, awake almost immediately, and nodding towards the front of the van’s drivers.

“No. What shall we do? I want to be back home. I don't know where we are, I don't know who we’re with, I don't know anything!!!!” Joey was starting to get hysterical, but Pacey calmed her down, so her tears turned to whimpers.

“Hey, Jo. Don't worry, we’ll do this. Together. C’mon. Do you know how long we’ve been travelling?”

“Uh-uh. Maybe about three hours, probably longer.”

“’Kay. Well, we could be pretty much anywhere. Wanna make a run for it? Or wait to see where they take us? It’s your choice, Jo. Make it a good one.”

Joey pursed her lips together, and her brow furrowed in deep concentration.

“Lets make a run for it.”

“Well, we could use your keys. You do have your keys right? Good.” He said when Joey nodded.

TO BE CONTINUED…