The front door swung open the next morning, and Pacey bent down to unclasp the leash from Gabby's collar. The dog went straight for the water dish in the kitchen as Pacey hung up the leash, and swiped at his sweaty brow. It had been far too long since he'd gone on a nice hard jog. There had always seemed to be too much to do. The steady pounding of his feet against the cement, the fresh air, and the exertion had done wonders to clear his head.

"I would have taken her out," Joey said coming out of her room as she slipped on an earring.

He shrugged a shoulder, following her lead as though the night before had never happened. "I planned on taking a jog anyway, I figured she'd like a nice long run. Huh, girl?" He asked as she came padding into the hall, her small pink tongue hanging out of her mouth.

Joey raised an eyebrow. "She looks exhausted."

"She's fine," He assured her with a smile.

"I'll take your word for it." She turned back to her room to finish getting ready for work.

He looked down at Gabby who blinked up at him and then followed Joey back into her room. Shrugging helplessly, Pacey veered off to the bathroom, intent on taking a shower to cleanse the sweat he'd worked up.

Fifteen later, Joey headed into the kitchen for some coffee, Gabby at her heels. "Do we have any of those muffins left?" Pacey asked, entering the kitchen a few moments after her, barefoot in a pair of worn jeans, a towel over his head as he rubbed his hair dry.

Joey shrugged. "You'll have to check." She turned away from the coffee pot and arched an eyebrow at his attire. "You took the day off?"

"The day, the week, the rest of my life," he shrugged a shoulder indifferently as he tossed the towel over the back of a chair and opened the cupboard that served as a pantry.

She set her mug down on the counter. "What happened?"

"I got fired." He pulled out the desired muffin and then crossed to the refrigerator, pulling out the carton of milk to pour himself a glass, all the while avoiding Joey's gaze.

She frowned. "Were you ever planning to mention it?"

Talking a bite of the banana nut muffin, he followed it with a long gulp of milk, the white residue clinging to his upper lip. "Never came up."

"Fine." She pursed her lips together and reached for her mug.

He watched her for a moment, and then gave in. "I found out Friday morning and you're just going to have to forgive me for not bursting at the seams to announce that I'd lost my job."

She nodded. "Fair enough."

Taking another bite of his muffin, he broke off a piece and fed it to Gabby, who sat patiently at his feet looking cute so that he would sneak her some food. "I thought I'd spend the day doing laundry, you need anything washed?"

She shrugged, pouring the rest of her coffee in the sink. "I'm not sure if there's anything in my hamper."

"Okay." He finished off the muffin, leaning up against the counter.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I should go before I'm late."

"Rub it in, why don't ya?" He teased, but his eyes gave him away.

She smiled weakly. "I'll see you later."

"I've got nowhere else to go." She disappeared through the front door with a wave, leaving he and Gabby alone. He turned to the puppy, "Ready for a day of laundry? We’ll see how many of my socks you’ve decided to spare."

His surprise was genuine when he heard the front door open and he left the kitchen to meet Joey. "Forget something?"

Joey held out her cell phone. "Christian said he doesn't need me today. He called."

"How considerate, given the fact he could have let you go all the way to the office before telling you to go home. That seems more his style." He watched Gabby bound over to Joey, pleased to see her mom back home after so short a period.

"Surprising." Joey leaned down to rub Gabby's fur. "Hey, my baby girl."

She barked and then jumped, hoping to get some playtime. Pacey nodded suddenly, feeling awkward and embarrassed facing her obvious pity. It was just like Pacey Witter to lose his job.

Joey looked up at Pacey finally. "It looks like you're stuck with me."

He shrugged a shoulder, "You're going to regret it, I'm doing laundry."

"I'll live."

"Your funeral," he gestured to her outfit, a sexy deep red business suit that clung to her curves. "You'll want to change out of that."

She nodded and stood up. "Right."

"Grab whatever laundry you have, I'll meet you downstairs." His voice was stiff and unfamiliar, he wasn't sure how to act around her anymore.

She raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"Anything else you'll think you'll need." He shrugged uneasily, lifting the basket of laundry that waited by the door.

"All right."

Joey left down the hall and Pacey eyed Gabby for a moment, he frowned at her, "Don't give me that look."

Joey changed out of her clothes quickly and pulled her hair back into a bun, before grabbing the clothes in her hamper. Joey smiled as she saw him, and hugged her basket of clothes. "I'm ready."

Instead of heading downstairs without her, he waited. Lord only knew why. And God must be a one damn fine comedian.

"Looking forward to a day off?" He asked, noticing her smile. Opening the door, he held it for her, using his foot to hold off Gabby.

She smirked. "Laundry makes me giddy."

"I always knew you were a weirdo." But he smiled.

"I like clean clothes."

"They're a step up from what you normally wear," he teased. "I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up first..."

"Bite me."

"I wouldn't want to mar that perfect skin of yours."

"I'm sure..."

He was quiet as he used his key to unlock the door to the laundry room. "Ladies first." he held it open for her.

She smiled faintly. "Thanks."

"Welcome," he placed his basket on the table in the center of the room. Two sets of machines lined the freshly painted walls. As far as laundry rooms went, theirs was clean and in good working order, a worn couch sat on the opposite wall, old magazines on the counter.

Joey set her basket down on the table, and rubbed the side of her neck wearily before starting to separate her clothes. Pacey followed suit, sorting his whites from the rest of his clothes. "Jo," he finally broke the silence between them.

She arched an eyebrow, not looking up from her clothes. "What?"

"I'm sorry about last night." His voice dropped a few decibels. "It was unforgivable."

She shrugged, brushing some hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear as she tossed some clothes into a pile. "You're forgiven."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Joey sighed, bracing a hand on her back as she swiped the back of her hand against her forehead. "It's kind of hot in here."

"You might forgive me, but I don't forgive myself." He explained. "Larry said he was looking into installing a fan down here," he told her, referring to their landlord who lived on the first floor.

"Like that'll ever happen," Joey muttered, walking over to one of the machines.

"Probably not, but we can always hope, right?"

Joey began to put her clothes inside the machine. "Whatever. I just want to hurry up and get out of here."

"What are you going to do with the rest of your day?" He moved to the second machine and added his whites, and a splash of bleach.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Sounds exciting." He turned the machine on, and shut the lid.

"This was unexpected. It's not like I had anything planned."

"The best things in life are the unexpected. Take advantage of it."

"Yeah..." She added soap to her machine and started it.

"Ready to head back up?" He gestured for the door.

She glanced around before nodding. "Yeah..."

He held the door open for her, his face solemn. "Awkward doesn't even begin to cover this, does it?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Hmm," he sighed. "Didn't think so."

"So what are your plans for the day?"

"I was going to look through the want ads. Call a few friends to see if they can pull some strings for me." He shrugged, "Better to start looking sooner than later."

"Yeah, probably..."

"I figured I'd check the rent ads too." He added as they started back up the stairs.

"Oh."

Another awkward pause, "Other than that I don't have any plans."

"Sounds fun."

He shrugged a shoulder, "You know me, I'm just living it up."

"As always."

"I think I should be offended."

She smiled. "Don't."

"Tough. I am," he winked at her and skipped over the last few stairs.

She laughed. "You're too cute sometimes."

He glanced over his shoulder at her, a playful smirk on his face, "It's hard, but somebody's gotta do it."

"Not that I'll ever admit to saying that."

"It's a good thing I heard you the first time then."

She raised an eyebrow curiously, folding her arms across her chest. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" He turning back to her, his hand resting on the door to their apartment.

She paused, rocking back on her heels as she tilted her head thoughtfully. "Not become this bitter, angry, horrible person?"

"How do you know that I'm not?" He watched her steadily, arching an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "You haven't killed me?"

"You think you deserve that?"

She shrugged again, shifting uncomfortably. "Maybe."

He shook his head, "I screwed up here too, Jo. A few dozen times."

"Then I guess we both did."

"Let's go inside," he held the door open for her. "We can talk."

She sighed. "Okay."

He went to the kitchen and grabbed a can of Coke, "Do you want anything?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

He popped open the top, and moved back into the living room and sat down on the couch beside her. Taking a long swallow, he sat back, his legs splayed. "Where do we begin?"

Joey kicked off her shoes, and brought her knees to her chest on the couch. "I don't know."

"Alrighty, that makes two of us." He took another long drink as Gabby came into the room and leapt up onto the couch beside Joey, bumping her muzzle into Joey's elbow.

Joey smiled, curling her legs underneath her and pulling Gabby onto her lap. She stroked her fur lightly. "This is hard."

"I donno," he watched them, through darkened eyes. "I think the last two months have been pretty damn hard."

"So it's always been hard," Joey conceded, continuing to stroke Gabby. "It just seems to be even more so now."

"It's always been hard?" He frowned, "I didn't realize I was that difficult to live with."

"You haven't realized a lot of things, Pacey."

He inhaled a deep breath, "I guess not."

Joey shifted Gabby in her lap. "But it's not important now."

"What is important now?"

"I'm not sure." She sighed softly, and set Gabby down on the floor. "So much has happened."

The puppy immediately moved on to Pacey, launching herself into his lap. He ran a hand over her head, scratching behind her ears. "Yeah," he agreed. "But has too much happened? Or is there some way to fix this?"

"I don't know," she said honestly.

"That sounds like you already made a decision, Jo."

She was quiet for a moment. "Maybe I have."

"Then I really don't have anything more to say, except that I'm sorry for the part that I played in this." He nudged Gabby off his lap, and she gave an annoyed bark as she landed. "I'll keep an eye out for another apartment."

Joey frowned, and turned on the couch, resting the side of her head against the plump cushion as she watched him carefully. A corner of her mouth turned up in a sad grin. "I'm sorry too." She reached for his hand, brushing her thumb against the inside of his wrist. "You have every reason to tell me to fuck off."

Sighing, he smiled sadly, lifting her hand and kissing the palm. "I wont."

"Why not?"

"Because," he let their hands fall between them, their fingers intertwined. "Whatever happens between us is your choice. It always has been."

She frowned. "Why are the important things always the hardest to say?"

He shrugged, "Because they change things, and people are inherently afraid of change." He shrugged, smiling faintly, "Or maybe all the syllables make you tongue tied."

She sighed. "I'm tired."

"Could be that too." He shrugged, withdrawing his hand. "Go take a nap, I'll take care of the laundry."

She shut her eyes and breathed in softly. "I love you and it's turned me into some Doppleganger Joey. I'm tired of pretending I'm strong and it doesn't hurt me."

His brow was furrowed in confusion, "You love me?"

"For some crazy, inconceivable reason."

"Why? After everything you did, everything I did...why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm crazy."

His eyes darkened, "You don't know why you love me?"

"I don't know."

He shook his head, standing up, "That's funny, cause I know exactly why I love you. Or loved you. I knew what I felt, you didn't, Joey. That's been the problem all along." He shook his head, his eyes shining with hurt, "You say you're tired of pretending you're strong and that you're not hurt by everything that went down between us. Take just a few seconds out of your selfish haze and try to imagine how I’ve felt."

"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah," he headed for the front door. "Me too."