*I love her,* he thought to himself as he walked toward her room that night. He exhaled a long breath as he stood there in front of the door trying to work up the courage to knock on the door.

The long, very hot, shower he took in the locker room drained what was left of his anger, leaving only the hurt...and the guilt. The anger that blinded him before was gone, and without it, he was forced to realize she hadn’t lied to him. At least not about loving him.

God, he loved her. It killed him to remember the things he’d said to her. He had so much to apologize for. The only person he could be angry at was himself, and perhaps his father for making him believe no one could ever honestly love him.

After long moments of waiting, he raised his hand and knocked. No one answered, he thought maybe she was ignoring him. “Joey, it’s me.” He called through the door. Still no answer.

“Look, I know you probably don’t want to even hear my voice, but I’m sorry.” He rested his hand on the door jam. “I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t accept that you might actually...might love me. The thing with Tamara...and then after everything I told you...it just seemed so much easier to believe everything my father’s said to me over the years than to think that you had betrayed me.” He frowned, “That’s no excuse, I know.”

He waited a few moments, hoping she’d open the door. “Please, open the door, Jo. We can work this out, I know we can.” He swallowed, “I know I was wrong, everything I said was wrong. I was lashing out and didn’t mean a word of it. I believe you and I--I love you, Potter.”

He clenched his fist at his side, there wasn’t anything more for him to say, if she couldn’t forgive him... He glanced down at his watch, it was only nine o’clock, maybe she was out. He stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall, to wait for her to either come out of her room or come back from wherever she’d been.

AJ opened the door across the hall wearing an old t-shirt and a pair of sweats. “Hey, Witter would you like to keep it down? Some of us don’t want to hear your voice if we don’t have to.”

“Fuck off, Moller.” Pacey grumbled.

“Now why’d you have to go and say a thing like that? I asked you very nicely, just for that I’m not telling you where Joey is.”

Pacey’s eyes flashed, “You know where she is?”

AJ shrugged scratching the back of his head. “She left this afternoon. I think she went back to Boston.”

“She’s gone?” He asked bewildered.

“I would assume so.”

“But,” he pushed himself to his feet, “but her article isn’t done yet.”

“She said she’d be able to finish it back in Boston.” AJ shrugged again. “She didn’t like baseball much anyway.”

“When did she leave?”

“Around four or something,” AJ answered vaguely not really too sure.

His face paled, “Are you sure?”

AJ nodded. “Yeah, I helped her with her bags.”

He shook his head, dazed at the news. “I--I need to go.” He turned on his heel and started down the hall to his own room. He couldn’t win her back when he was stuck here for another week.

~*~

Joey sat behind her desk and carefully nibbled on a chocolate chip cookie she had bought earlier, along with a sandwich that still sat wrapped on her desk. She hadn’t felt much for eating but she figured if she didn’t go out and buy something, she’d never go outside.

“Knock, knock,” Jen poked her head of wild curls around the door of Joey’s office. “I heard you were back.”

Joey forced a weak smile. “Hey.”

The blonde entered the room and closed the door behind her, “So, how’d it go?”

“Fine.”

“Did you...?” She smiled suggestively.

Joey began to straighten out the items on her desk. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Well, of course it doesn’t...you’re here and he’s there, but did you?”

“Yes.”

“And...?” Jen took a seat on the other side of her desk. “How was it?”

“It was fine.”

Jen frowned, “Come on, Joey, I want details.”

“Details?”

“Yeah, you were with him for three weeks, and *with* him for two.”

“There’s really not much to tell.”

Jen sat back in her chair with a sigh, “Okay. You’re a crappy liar, Jo. What happened?”

“We had sex?” Joey offered lamely.

“Okay...and?” her voice was soft as she questioned Joey, sensing her friend’s sensitivity.

“Nothing.”

“So you came home early for no reason?”

“Just wanted to have time to get my notes in order.”

“Joey...”

“What?”

Jen sighed, “What happened down there? I know you wouldn’t leave unless there was some emergency. You were halfway in love with Pacey when Iast I talked to you.”

It was Joey’s turn to frown. “I was an idiot.”

Jen’s brow furrowed, “So what did he do?”

“I don’t really feel like talking about it.”

“You can’t even give me the condensed version?” she prodded.

“It was my fault. I’m the one that fell in love with him.”

Jen frowned in sympathy, “And he didn’t.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Right.”

“Well,” she crossed her arms in front of her chest, “You’re better off without him. If he can’t see you for the woman you are, that’s his loss.”

“Yeah...” She broke off a piece of the cookie. “I just wish it hurt a little less.”

“You know what the cure for that kind of pain is?”

“What?”

“A drunken night spent cruising the Boston night life and waking up in the morning with a splitting hangover and a strange man in your bed.”

Joey grinned for what felt like the first time in days. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay, how about a drunken night spent cruising the Boston night life: minus the strange man in your bed?” Jen suggested, warming up to the idea.

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

“Come on, how else are you going to forget him?”

Joey thought about it for a long moment before nodding. “Okay.”

“Great,” Jen grinned, “I promise, by the end of the night, you wont even remember his name.”

She smiled faintly at Jen. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll pick you up at six. We can do dinner first,” Jen stood up, already planning their girls night out in her head.”

“Six it is.”

She walked around Joey’s desk and took her hand, pulling her to stand in front of her. “You’ll be okay, Jo. You don’t need him,” she gave the taller woman a quick hug and left the room.