December 27.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty." Audrey jostled Joey awake the next morning. "Come on, rise and shine."

"Don't wanna," Joey mumbled hugging her pillow close.

"Come on, bunny." Audrey tried to tug the pillow away from her.

"Audrey, the whole point of vacation is the ability to sleep late," she grumbled. "So leave me alone."

"Ahh, but see...if you had actually been sleeping last night, I might buy that."

"I was trying to, but you were snoring."

"I'm offended! I do not snore!"

"You do!" She tugged her pillow closer. "Now go bother someone else. Until like noon or something."

"So where were ya last night?" She sing-songed.

"Nowhere," Joey replied keeping her eyes shut.

"Hmmm, so nowhere is two doors down from here now, is it?"

"I'm sleeping."

"No you're not. You're dishing about hot, sweaty sex with Pacey."

"I did not have hot, sweaty sex with Pacey. Go away."

"You didn't?" Audrey pouted. "How disappointing."

"I know." For once, Audrey was struck speechless. Joey smiled softly at the welcome silence and settled down comfortably.

"What do you mean, 'I know'?"

She groaned and opened one eye. "Are you not getting the I'm sleeping thing?"

"Nope. Completely gone over my head. You and Pacey. Dish!"

"There's nothing to dish, Audrey."

"You were in there a looooong time, Joey. I waited. Did you jump him? Why didn't you jump him?"

She sighed giving up on anymore sleep and turned onto her back. "He's my friend, Audrey. Nothing more."

"But you want him to be."

"No."

"No?"

"No," she repeated firmly.

"Then you don't want to sleep with him?"

"Right."

"At all?"

"Right. Is that so hard for you to believe?"

"Yes, actually it is."

"Believe it." She groaned and tossed her covers aside. "Now don't talk to me anymore unless an insane amount of caffeine is involved."

"So...Joey? You're sure about this? You have no feelings for him what-so-ever?"

"I am positive, Audrey," she said sitting up and climbing to her feet.

"Hmm," she smiled thoughtfully. "Well, that's good to hear."

"Go see if the coffee's done. I'm going to the bathroom."

"Sure thing, Joey." She scrambled to her feet.

Audrey waltzed into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee pot making sure there was enough for her friend before grabbing a mug.

"Morning Audrey," Pacey greeted her as he joined her in the kitchen, his hair still wet from his shower.

"Hey handsome."

"Sleep well?" He winked at her.

"Yep..." She carefully poured the coffee into the mug for Joey. "Hardly noticed that Joey wasn't there."

"She wasn't in her bed?" He asked innocently. "Odd."

"Isn't it though?"

"Very curious." He headed for the refrigerator and pulled out the jug of orange juice. "So what are your plans for the day?"

"Whatever that crazy roommate of mine has cooked up."

"Why don't you and I go do something? Give Joey some alone time?" He suggested, pouring himself a glass of juice and returning the container to the refrigerator.

"Even I'm not that brave."

He chuckled, "Who's been ruining my reputation?"

"I think it speaks for itself."

"I'm not the one who danced topless on the pool table last week."

"I didn't hear anyone complaining."

"That's cause we were all too busy trying to drag our tongue's from the floor," He said with a chuckle.

She grinned and shrugged it off adding two teaspoons of sugar for Joey. "Whatever. It was fun."

"See, that's what I love about you, Audrey. You're a free spirit. No holds barred."

"And my breasts are perky."

He nearly spit out his orange juice. "Yes, yes they are." She smiled in amusement. "Not that I noticed," he smirked.

"Oh, yeah. Of course not."

He smiled, "So what's your hearts desire today. We'll do whatever you want."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Hmm...An irresistible offer."

"That's the idea. So what will it be?"

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I can ask." He took another drink of orange juice and turned to the cupboard to snag a muffin.

"Mm, coffee?" Joey asked appearing in the kitchen, face fresh and hair pulled back. Audrey held out the mug to her and Joey smiled taking a small sip. "Thanks."

"Either of you ladies want a muffin? Seems Bodie decided he wasn't going to cook this morning."

"Well, what are you here for?"

Audrey smirked. "Yeah, Pacey. Aren't you supposed to be some kind of chef?"

"I don't recall being made your culinary slave." He grinned, "Although, I'm not opposed to a slave/master relationship. What are the fringe benefits?"

Joey raised an eyebrow. "You cook, we let you live?"

"Can we compromise with me cook, you get naked?"

"If you're lucky." Audrey winked.

"Have I told you lately that you're my favorite, Audrey?"

"Duh. How could I not be?"

He smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "So what do you guys want then?"

"Omlette."

Joey shrugged as she sat down at the counter with her coffee. "Whatever she's having."

"Two omelets it is." He retrieved the frying pan from it's place on the wall and turned on the stove.

"I want cheese," Audrey added before sitting beside Joey.

"That's generally a key ingredient in an omelet, Aud." He retrieved eggs, cheese and ham from the refrigerator. "Has anyone ever told you two that you're incredibly spoiled?"

"You're a good friend."

"I am, aren't I?" He grinned.

"The best," Audrey agreed.

"Speaking of the best...." he cracked the eggs into a bowl and added a little milk. "I've decided to free you of baby-sitting duty for the day, Jo."

She smiled. "I don't know if I can do that to Alex."

"I was thinking more along the lines of Miss Audrey over here."

Audrey grabbed an apple from the ceramic bowl on the counter with a frown. "I don't need a baby-sitter."

"You'll like it when I baby-sit, Audrey. I almost never spank unless asked to," he teased with a wink.

Joey rolled her eyes. "Oh Lord."

"We can take Alex too, if you want, Jo."

"I'm not sure anyone under twelve should be trusted with the two of you," She shook her head ruefully.

Audrey smiled. "I guess that leaves us free for sloppy make-out sessions, huh?"

"Without a chaperone, who's to stop us?" He grinned.

"Exactly."

He set to work on the omelets, first putting the egg and milk mixture into the pan and then grating the cheese. "Well, I for one, am looking forward to introducing you to all the places around town I'm sure Joey didn't show you ."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joey frowned.

"Oh, like the bar on Halifax that doesn't card, make-out point, the ruins...you know." He teased, "The places you've never been."

Joey bit the inside of her cheek and shrugged. "Whatever."

He added cheese to the first omelet. "Who wants the first one?"

"Audrey can have it."

He dished it onto a second plate and handed it to the blonde, "Pour vous, mademoiselle."

Audrey smiled. "Thank you."

Joey set her cup on the counter and climbed to her feet, before leaving the room. "Don't even bother with a second. I'm not hungry." Pacey watched her go, a peculiar look on his face before the stench of burning eggs caught his attention.





"So..." Audrey pulled back the covers on the hideaway bed that was set up in Joey's room later that night. "How was your day? Do anything interesting? I hope you enjoyed yourself. I have felt kinda guilty about tagging along and encroaching on your alone time here." She just kept talking, barely pausing to breathe. "I know that you love me and all, but I'm a little much to take for extended periods of time. What am I talking about? You live with me, you know. So yeah, thanks for your generosity in letting me spend winter break with your family. Speaking of, I love your family. Bodie and Bessie are great and Alex, that little boy is just so adorable."

Joey eyed her friend strangely as she turned down her covers. "Okay..."

"And Bodie is just a fantastical cook. I mean, he's better than Pacey. Oh...but we don't need to talk about Pacey now. I mean, Pacey? Who cares." Audrey shook her head. "Pacey's so not important."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen? You're acting stranger than normal."

"Happen? No, nothing happened. Why would anything happen? What could possibly have happened?" She flopped down onto the bed. "Okay, so maybe something happened."

She smiled and sat down beside her. "So what happened?"

"It was probably nothing. Pacey and I were out, he was showing me all the like, important places around town. Like the ruins where Dawson and Jen first kissed, and where he, you know...and he showed me your wall mural. And wow, Joey, that was beautiful, I didn't know you were an artist."

"If you can call it that."

"I do." She nodded. "Yeah. That's it. See, I told you it was nothing."

"Okay then. Let's go to bed."

"We kissed," she blurted.

"What?"

"We were flirting, like we always do," Audrey ran her hand down her face. "Then I…we kissed. I'm so sorry, Jo. I know, this is like totally a breech of friendship and everything. But you told me you guys never actually dated, and then this morning you said you didn't have any feelings for him..."

"I don't," she said quickly. "It's fine."

"No it's not. But...ugh...he just looked so cute sitting there."

"Audrey, I'm serious. It's fine."

"Are you sure you don't like, hate my guts now?"

She laughed lightly. "No, I don't hate your guts."

"Okay, good." She nodded decisively. "I feel so much better now."

"So, um, is there going to be more kissing?"

"I--I donno. I hope so." She moved down to her own bed, unfolding the blankets before pulling out her pajamas.

"Oh." A beat, " So what exactly happened?"

"We were down by the marina where he kept True Love. We were just talking, he was telling me about the Senior prank he, Dawson and Jack pulled." She quickly changed her clothes, and burying herself under the covers, "And it just...happened."

"Like I said, I'm totally okay with it. You shouldn't even feel the need to worry about telling me something like that because I could not be more fine with it."

"Honestly?" Audrey asked hopefully.

"Honestly."

"Well, then. Good." She smiled. "So, how was your day?"

"Pretty uneventful and tiring," she added slipping under her covers. "Alex wore me out. So I think I'm just going to fall right asleep."

"Yeah," Audrey nodded, "I'm pretty exhausted myself. Did you guys really walk every where you went?"

"What?"

"Pacey said you guys almost never drove anywhere in Capeside. I'm exhausted from all the walking we did today," she yawned.

"Well, it's not like there's much."

"That's true..." she sighed. "G'night, Jo."

She flipped off the light on her night stand and turned onto her side. "Night." Audrey fell asleep easily, almost as soon as her eyes fell shut. Joey turned onto her back and let out a long suffering sigh.