December 25.
Joey exited the bathroom with a lazy stretch before she headed over to the kitchen to see who else was awake. She muffled a small yawn and hoped that Bodie had made the coffee.

"Hey, Sleepyhead," Pacey grinned at her, wearing his flannel pajamas and a black wife beater. He handed her a mug of coffee. "We were just about to wake you. Everyone else is here."

"Thanks." Joey brought the mug to her lips and took a strong drink, glad to have the caffeine in her system.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well. You?"

"It took me a while, but eventually I fell asleep. Didn't suffer from a nightmare this time. So that's good, right?"

She nodded. "Sounds good."

He tugged gently on her unruly bed head. "Come on, let's get into those packages. What'd ya say?"

She took another sip of coffee before agreeing. "All right."

"Look who I found in the kitchen," Pacey smiled entering the room where, Grams, Mrs. Leery, Lily, Dawson, Jen, Jack, Audrey, Bessie, Bodie, and Alex were all gathered.

"'Bout time, Auntie Joey." Alex said, and started passing out Christmas presents as Christmas music played in the background. Joey grinned as she watched everyone open their presents. It was nice to be home. She only wished her parents could have been there.

As the pile of gifts dwindled, Pacey rose from his seat on the floor by the tree and pulled Joey into the kitchen. "I want to give you your present away from prying eyes." He explained when she gave him a curious look and handed her an envelope.

"What is it?"

He rolled his eyes, "Open."

Joey carefully opened the envelope not sure of what to expect. She pulled out a blank card, that had Two out of three ain't bad, right? written inside it along with Pacey's signature. She eyed it strangely and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "What is this?"

He bit his lip, seemingly nervous as she read the computer printout. The heading read, Pacey's House of Love and just below it, The Menu. After that, several headings, Setting, Foreplay, Protection, Position, and Style. Beneath each were a listing of options, from a candlelit setting, to pitch black. From sheer condoms to french ticklers. From a foot massage to---she blushed, reading some of the more racy options he was providing her with.

"This is a joke, right?"

"I'm not laughing."

"Are you insane?" she hissed glancing back at the entrance to the kitchen just in case anyone decided to come in.

"This is what you wanted right? You wanted someone you could trust, someone you knew, someone who cares and can make it good for you."

"Would you shut up?" Joey glanced back toward the entryway again and shoved everything back inside the envelope.

"You wont need to worry about what to tell them. I have an excuse prepared already," he lowered his voice complacently. "I've got the socks too, if you rather have them instead."

"I can't believe this," she muttered under her breath.

"It's totally up to you, Jo. Whatever you want."

She glared at him for lack of anything better to do. "Why are you doing this?"

"If you're going to do this, I want it to be with me." He smiled weakly. "I don't trust anyone else."

She shook her head in disbelief. "This is insane."

"You're right. This whole idea was insane." He agreed, "But doing it with me...that's not insane."

Joey found herself actually contemplating the idea before she shook her head fiercely. "No. Absolutely not."

"Okay," he nodded his head once. "Wait here." He turned to go down the hallway and returned a moment later and handed her a package of socks. "Merry Christmas."

She averted her eyes. "Thanks."

He shrugged a bare shoulder. "Just think about it, Jo," he said and went back into the living room to join the rest of their friends and family.

Joey frowned, that's exactly what the problem was. She was thinking about it. She clutched the socks and envelope in her hand and hurried to her room, wanting put the card away before someone saw it.

She returned to find everyone getting ready to partake of Bodie's Christmas breakfast. Pacey sat next to Audrey and the only empty chair at the dining room table. He was laughing and smiling across the table at Alexander, as though he'd never even made the offer.

Joey reluctantly made her way to sit beside him since she was left with no other choice. Bodie passed her the hash browns, "Dig in." Joey wordlessly filled her plate with food and listened to the conversation going on around her.

The room was filled with holiday chatter. People compared presents and exchanged thank yous. Bodie reaped in the compliments on his cooking

Joey cut her pancakes into extra small pieces before picking at it. She glanced away from across the table where Dawson was actually feeding Jen food from his plate. Pacey nudged her foot under the table, and when she looked up at him he smiled and held a small piece of bacon out to her.

She took it from his hand and placed it in her mouth before turning back to her plate. "Thanks." He smiled once more and turned back to his own food.




Joey was glad for the silence after everyone had left later that afternoon. Audrey had gone to the Leery's to baby-sit Lily while Dawson and the rest went out. She sighed as she stared out the window at Bessie, Bodie and Alex.

The harsh sound of pots clanging echoed from the kitchen where Pacey was doing dishes, breaking the silence. She bit the inside of her cheek and rested her head against the back of the couch as she stared blindly out the window. Pacey started to sing softly to himself, his own personal rendition of Jingle Bells.

Joey reluctantly dragged herself to her feet and headed for the kitchen. "Can't you do anything quietly?"

He glanced over his shoulder, "Was I disturbing you?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Sorry," he turned back to the dishes, sinking his arms into the suds.

"Thank you." He continued to do the chore in silence, acutely aware that she hadn't left the room yet. Joey walked over to the fridge and pulled out a container of milk.

"Did you need something?" Pacey wondered, rinsing a pot under the hot water.

"A cup would be nice," she said grabbing one from the cabinet.

"I’m amazed you have room for food after that meal."

"I'm just having a glass of milk."

"I wont stop you." He nodded and continued to scrub.

"How nice of you," she said simply as she served herself.
He continued to clean in silence, Joey obviously wasn't in the mood to chat. He shifted his weight, the bubbles clinging to his hands as he lifted the pan from the water.

Leaning back against the counter, Joey imagined what it would be like to slide her arms around him from behind and kiss the crook of his neck. Joey quickly turned and returned the milk to the refrigerator. He rinsed the last pan under hot water and stuck it in the drying rack. Then reached in the murky water to the drain. He grimaced, and then washed his hands.

"You could have just used the dishwasher."

He smiled drying his hands, "Yes, but the dishwasher's full." He walked over to it, bent over and opened it.

"Oh." She watched as he started unloading the freshly cleaned dishes, putting them in their designated places. She hurried to help him. "I can do that."

He gave her a funny look, "I'm perfectly capable, Jo. But if you want to help, I wont stop you."

She shrugged. "It's my house."

"True," he started putting away the silverware. She grabbed the cups and returned them to the cabinet. The worked in companionable silence until the dishwasher was emptied and the pots and pans were dry enough to put away as well.

Joey smoothed her hands over her jeans and emptied the rest of her glass into the sink before rinsing it out. He arched an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You'd tell me if my offer just completely ruined our friendship, right?"

She shrugged offhandedly and turned to the sink to wash her hands. "I guess."

"And?"

"Let's just pretend it never happened." She shut off the water and dried her hands on a towel.

"I thought that's what we were doing." He shrugged a shoulder, too tired to bother trying to figure her out. "I'm going to go take a shower."

The dishtowel suddenly dropped from her hands and she bent to pick it up. "Um, okay then..." He gave her a weird look before walking down the hallway, making a pit stop in the room he was staying in before heading for the bathroom.

Joey couldn't understand what was wrong with her. She should be able to forget this, start acting like a fully functional human being and stop thinking about Pacey in a highly sexual manner. She noticed someone had left the bag of flour on top of the refrigerator and she reached for it.

Actually, when she really thought about it, it was all Pacey's fault. What the hell was he thinking? Now he was taking a shower. He did these things on purpose. Well, she'd show him. She would not think of him at all in the shower with soap and really, really hot---damn it was hot. Was the furnace broken or something?---water. No. She would not. There would be no imagining water on hot, soapy, naked skin. None at all. Well, maybe a little...No, her brain shouted. None at all. She nodded in agreement and almost unbidden an image came to mind. She let out a surprised yelp as she fell back pulling the bag with her. Joey pulled her hair away from her face and released a shuddering breath as she tried to wipe flour from her face.

"Joey?" Bessie came through the kitchen door, kicking snow from her boots. "You know, if you wanted snow you could have just gone outside. No need to make your own little snow storm."

"It was an accident," Joey mumbled. "I fell."

"I suggest you go hop in the shower then. I can clean this up."

"Yeah, you're right." She climbed to her feet and then frowned. "I think Pacey's in the shower."

Bessie paused, "Funny, I don't hear the water running."

"I'll go check then."

She pushed the door to the bathroom open and a cloud of steam temporarily blinded her. It cleared just as Pacey was drying his hair in front of the mirror, the single towel in the bathroom over his head as he rubbed it dry, the rest of his body slick and bare. The cold air creeped into the bathroom catching his attention, he removed the towel and quickly wrapped it around his waist. "Um," he gave her questioning look. "Did you knock?"

Her mind went blank for a moment. "Bessie didn't hear the water..."

He arched an eyebrow, "So you burst into the bathroom?" He took notice of the flour covering her from head to toe. "What happened to you?"

She quickly regained herself. "It was an accident. I fell...Long, boring, uninteresting story."

"Okay."

"I need to take a shower."

"I can see that."

"Oh."

He glanced around, a quizzical smile on his face. "Would you like me to help? I’d be more than willing."

"No, no." She shook her head, "That’s, um, okay."

"Then are you planning on standing there and watching me change or can I have some privacy?"

"Uh, right."

He flashed her a smile before closing the door on her. A minute later he was opening it again, his pants on, his feet bare and his button-down shirt open, exposing his chest to the cooler air. He winked at her beneath damp lashes, "It's all yours."

She managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

He tilted his head in acknowledgment and brushed against her as he passed through the doorway. Joey nearly stumbled into the bathroom and had to stop herself from slamming the door behind her.