Disclaimer: Holds Recap: Okay, it's 2am... I'm tired. If you can't remember what you just read, then tough noogies.

The one upside to living with Doug was that Pacey rarely saw him. Doug generally stuck to the nightshift and Pacey did his best to stay out of the way. Doug was out of the house early that evening and Pacey was sprawled out on the couch attempting to watch cartoons. His thoughts weren't on the TV when he heard a knock on the door. He rose with a sigh to tell off the sales person he was expecting.

The minute the door open and Dawson was confronted with the sight of Pacey's face all normal functioning stopped. Before he knew what he was doing, Pacey was sprawled onto the floor, rubbing his jaw and staring at Dawson with feigned disinterest. "Get up."

"Took you long enough," Pacey said climbing to his feet. "I've been expecting that for days." He stepped out of the doorway and let Dawson pass.

Dawson guardedly entered, glancing around the apartment wearily. "Well, I've been waiting to do exactly that for weeks. What the hell is wrong with you man?"

Holding his jaw, he made his way to the kitchen to get some ice. He shook his head. "If I knew what was wrong with me, I'd have fixed it by now. I've done the best that I can," he said half-heartedly.

Dawson merely nodded, jaw clenched. "Explain to me as to why there shouldn't be an encore to what just occurred because I'm fighting the impulse pretty hard right now and seeing your indifference to the whole situation, is not helping."

"Go for it," Pacey turned to face his friend. "I completely deserve it. If someone else had done to her what I did, I'd have killed them by now," he said his voice deadly serious. "Aim for my gut this time, I don't want Doug asking any questions."

Dawson sighed and unclenched his fists. "I would but it sort of defies the point if you're just going to stand there." He made his way over to the couch and sat down. "One question. Why Joey?"

"Why what Joey?" Pacey echoed sitting down across from Dawson.

"Why would you hurt, Joey? I told you to look after her, Pace. The job didn't require trying to get into her pants," he scoffed.

Pacey shot him a disbelieving look. "How could you think that that's what I was trying to do? Give me some credit. It was never about sex," he said disgust in his voice.

"Well, what am I supposed to think, Pacey? I have Joey crying on my shoulder here, there’s only one person to blame, and that's you. And I'm trying to figure out some way to fix this that does not end in homicide."

"I'll tell you now, homicide would be a blessing." He paused. "I don't know what you want to hear Dawson. I screwed up royally. There is no way to fix it. She's better off without me anyway. Anyone who would hurt her like I did, without a second thought, doesn't deserve her."

"You got that right," Dawson mumbled. He stood up. "I'm probably going to regret saying this sometime in the near future and I'll probably be kicking myself for this tomorrow, but Joey is Joey and she's vulnerable and she's insecure and you're right you don't deserve her. But, as much as it pains me to say this, she loves you and if for some reason she thinks you deserve that...You probably do." Dawson ran his hands through his hair tiredly. "This doesn't mean that I'm not still going to hate you or forgive you for what you've done, but for now let's leave things unresolved."

Dawson got up, headed out the door, for once too tired to analyze and slammed it shut behind him. He took a deep steadying breath when he heard the door slam behind him and quickly hit the pristine white wall in front of him in anger before stalking out of the apartment complex.

~Capeside High~ Two weeks later~

Joey groaned and shut her locker after retrieving the required reading material for the weekend. She turned her attention to the blonde beside her. "It's not a good idea, Jen. I don't think I'm ready to make my way in the dating world just yet."

"It's one date. It's not as if you'll be having his children. Besides you need to get out, have some fun during the weekend." Jen pressured.

Joey eyed her skeptically. "Fun? I think I use to know that word, but nope. It sounded vaguely familiar though."

"Come on, Jo. It's just one movie. Two hours of time, you'd otherwise spend moping over Pacey." Jen gave her a sideways look to see her reaction.

"Eh... let me think about it. No, there was a brief moment when the idea actually entertained itself in my brain, but it passed. Gone. There it went."

Jen looked at her slyly, "He's hot." She enticed. "As in Paul Walker hot."

Joey paused for a moment while they stepped out of the confines of the high school. She turned to Jen feigning disinterest. "Is he now?"

Jen sensed Joey about to break. "Golden blond hair, ice blue eyes, lightly tanned... and coming to visit Grams and I for his mid-break. I promise you'll have fun." Jen paused, "And even if you don't, it's an opportunity to get to know someone new."

Joey sighed, her walls crumbling under Jen's skillful argument. "Fine, I'll go. But, on one condition, you and Henry join us. We'll double. That way I have an easy out in case of anything."

Jen clapped her hands together happily, "Great. I'll call you, tonight. He's coming down from New York tomorrow afternoon."

Joey nodded absentmindedly as Pacey came into her line of view. Her face fell slightly when she noticed he was not alone, but in the company of one of Capeside's blond hair cheerleaders. She shook her head quickly and focused her attention on Jen. "Um...great. It all sounds perfect. I should be going. I promised Bessie I'd be home early and you know how she is. Call me with more details later. Bye." Joey hurriedly ran off into the general direction of her house.

"So will you help decorate the gym for the dance?" The perky blond asked Pacey.

"What?" He turned his attention away from Joey's disappearing figure to the girl who'd been complaining on to him. "No, sorry, uh..." He fished for a name.

"Mandy."

"Mandy, I'm not really into the whole shake your booty thing. I'll, um, see you around." He closed his locker and headed in the opposite direction Joey had gone.

"Is this a private party or can I join in?" Jen asked falling into step beside him. She smiled lightly.

"Hey Jen." He greeted her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Jen gasped in mock horror. "You speak. Colored me surprised. So any enticing plans for this upcoming weekend?" she asked with feign interest.

"Um, enticing, no. Plans; yes." He answered shortly.

Jen frowned slightly, but kept on. "Oh, I see. Will they involve a blonde going by the name of Misty or is it Mandy? I wouldn't know..."

"They involve my and Doug's laundry," Pacey said dryly.

Jen nodded. "Explains the smell," she joked weakly. "Well, anyway I digress. I was going to ask you something, but you probably wouldn't be interested seeing as how you're such the social butterfly, weekend brimming with excitement."

"I know that look in your eye, Miss Jennifer." Pacey said forcing the corner of his mouth to lift. "Say whatever's on your mind and spare me the time and energy it will take me to drag it out of you."

Jen shrugged. "It's nothing. A group of us was going to the movies and I was wondering if you'd be interested. See? Completely innocent."

"Eh, right... and who might this group include. And, the more important question, which chick flick are trying to drag me too?"

"You wouldn't be interested anyway with laundry and all... Henry, Me, Jason and-" Jen raised a hand to her mouth in mock horror. "Gosh, how could I be such a moron? I almost invited you on Joey's date with Jason. That blonde gene must be kicking in." She shook her head sadly, hiding the small smile playing on her lips.

Pacey's step faltered at her slip. "Jason? Who's Jason? When did he join our little circle? I know I've been on the outs for the last few weeks or so... But I didn't know I'd be replaced that quickly." He rambled on nervously.

Jen patted his arm reassuringly. "Pacey, we would never replace you with my hot older cousin from New York, that just happens to have tons of money. He models sometimes too...but that's not the point," she said quickly when she saw the look on Pacey's face.

"What is the point then, Jen?" he asked tiredly.

Jen sighed softly and smiled reassuringly. "The point is Pacey, that you will never be replaced within our misguided little clique. The person would have some tough shoes to fill." Her expression became serious. "Anyway, it was definitely a faux pas on my part to bring up the whole movie-slash-date thing and wait a minute what exactly am I apologizing for. It's not like you're interested in Joey."

Pacey swallowed and his gaze drifted to the ground. He was silent a few moments before clearing his throat. "You're right, of course. It's good that she's moving on." He lifted his eyes to meet Jen's. "It's good." It was more of a reassurance for himself than her.

Jen nodded. "I know. This is what you wanted after all."

He drifted off. "I'm not so sure anymore, Jen, I'm not so sure"

He felt sick stepping out of his house. The nausea in the pit of his stomach grew as he came closer to his destination, the movie theater. 'Look what she's done to me,' he thought. He'd never believed himself to be the jealous type, not like Dawson. Now here he was, about to stalk the ex-girlfriend that he dumped, on her date with another guy.

Joey smiled awkwardly at Jason as he held the theater door open for her. He was nice and Jen wasn't kidding about the Paul Walker resemblance, he had dimples and so far he had seemed smart, and funny...Caring, but...he wasn't Pacey. She frowned and self concisely pulled down at the hem of her soft green dress. How did she ever think she could possibly move on if she compared every guy she met to Pacey? She frowned and promised herself to try to have a good time or pretend to. She turned to Jason and smiled dazzlingly. "Such the gentleman. Thank you." She caught Jen winking at her over his shoulder and she forced a small smile in return. This was it. Joey Potter was returning to reality.

"Would you like a soda or some popcorn?" Jason asked motioning to the concession stand.

Joey shook her head. "Snowcaps. They have to be my favorite part of the movie theater experience."

Pacey slipped in through the doors nonchalantly and settled into one of the benches in the lobby, trying to look non-conspicuous. He spotted Joey in a beautiful green dress and what could only be Jason in line at the snack bar.

The green of the dress brought out the twelve or so different shades of brown in her hair. The light playing off it made his fingers ache to touch its softness once again. She smiled at him, that gentle upward turning of the corner of her mouth. She turned away from Jason, giving him the opportunity to rake his eyes over her body. The polite smile on his face transformed to an appraising leer and back again as Joey turned to face Jason once more.

Pacey's blood boiled.

A look of surprise fell over Joey's face as Jason took her hand in his but she turned and gazed up at him smiling faintly.

"You look beautiful tonight, Joey," Jason said taking in her appearance appreciatively.

Joey blushed slightly. "Thanks. I think I heard you when you said it the first twelve times," she joked.

It was his turn to blush. "I'm sorry. I'm known to ramble when I'm nervous and I get nervous around very beautiful girls."

Joey laughed at his bashfulness. "I'm not that pretty. I'm sure the first thing to popped into your brain when you saw me was 'Gee she's really tall’"

He shook his head and brushed his mouth against her ear lightly. "What I thought was 'Wow, look at those legs'"

The knuckles of Pacey's hands turned white as he watched Jason take Joey's hand in his. He tore his eyes away, seeing her blush. He couldn't watch anymore. It should have been him holding her hand, buying her snowballs, and making her blush. It should be him. His eyes drifted back to her of their own accord. He always was one for self-inflicted torture. This was all his doing.

Joey laughed as Jason delivered to punch line of some joke he was recounting and settled into a comfortable stance beside him.

Jen smiled at how well the two of them were getting along. "I'd say you two both make a dashing pair," she joked.

Jason smiled. "I think I'm going to have to come visit more often, Jen."

"Capeside or Joey?" Jen quipped.

Joey smiled at the familiarity of the scene and found her gaze wondering around the theater. She shivered involuntarily feeling someone's eyes on her. Jason comfortably wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Cold?"

Joey nodded and tuned the rest of the conversation out. Her eyes focused on an undiscerning bench in the lobby that stood empty. She sighed and nestled closer to Jason.

Pacey stood at the ticket booth purchasing a ticket, never removing his eyes from the quartet in the back of the lobby. He saw Joey looking at the bench where moments before he'd been sitting. Deciding it was better that he stake out a seat in the theater than to stay out in the open, he quickly strode into the theater and took a seat in the back of the darkened room to wait their arrival.

Jen glanced down at the dainty watch gracing her wrist. "Well, the movies about to start, so why don't we all get seats?" she suggested.

Joey nodded distractedly and let Jason lead the way. Jen and Henry followed behind the pair. "I think I just made the perfect match," Jen whispered to Henry as they settled into their seats.

Henry smiled. "That's because everything you do is perfect."

Jen grinned. "Careful, Parker. All this flattery can go to a girl's head."

Henry smiled in reply.

Joey sat down in her seat glad that they had allowed her to sit by the aisle. "Having a good time?" Jason asked in a hushed whisper.

Joey smiled. "Wonderful." She focused her attention on the screen and the preview for the latest Van Damme movie. She watched with disinterest before turning to Jason. "I need to freshen up a bit, I'll be right back." Jason stood up as she left and Joey quickly hurried down the aisle and to the lobby. She inhaled a deep breath to steady her nerves and wandered over to the nearest bench to sit down and gather her nerves.

If someone had asked Pacey what the movie had been about, he couldn't have even told him the genre. So intent was he on Joey and Jason's every move. His eyes widened as she hurriedly passed by him, heading for the door. Without thinking, he stood and followed her. He burst through the open doors to finding her sitting directly in front of him; on the same bench, he had been earlier.

Joey's gaze focused on an indeterminable spot on the rug under her feet. She had never felt so vacant. Jason was so nice, cute, and sweet...but he just wasn't for her. She muffled a yawn and tried to regain herself, knowing that she had to look calm and composed when she entered the theater again. She tilted her head to the side and eyes widened when she noticed Pacey standing in front of her. She blinked a few times unsure if he was actually there or she had finally lost it and made him appear. What was the name of the hospital Andie had stayed in? She had better look into it.

She'd seen him. Now what was he supposed to do? He hadn't exactly come out here with a plan in mind. She just stared at him, her beautiful brown eyes wide. "Hi, Jo." He offered quietly remaining where he was.

Joey froze upon hearing her name on his lips. She regarded him with cool disdain. "Pacey."

"Joey." He replied his eyes guarded. He'd take his lead from her. He'd screwed up and it was time to face the consequences.

"What are you doing here?" she asked only mildly curious.

"I... uh," he stuttered. "I followed you." He mumbled unintelligibly to the floor scratching his ear.

Joey's eyes widened at his admission. "You? You followed me. Dare I ask why?"

"Jen told me about this Jason guy... and I--I don't know, I just had to come. I wanted to see you... with him." He still hadn't raised his eyes to her.

"So now I have to add stalker to your list of unappealing qualities?" she asked loudly.

"Might as well." He looked at her for the first time since he'd stepped out of the theater. "I just, I had to make sure..."

"Make sure of what? You think I'm incapable of moving on. That I'm so in love with you that I can't find someone else that appreciates me without comparing them to you? Is that what you think, Pacey?" she demanded angrily. "Or maybe you wanted to see if I were miserable, isn't that right? If a loser, such as myself, from the wrong side of the tracks can actually date someone that's supposedly, better then her. Came here to gloat?"

"To gloat? More like to stew in my own juices. I came to make sure I did the right thing and make sure this guy was good enough for you." His mouth twisted into a self-deprecating sneer. "Couldn't have you going from one self-absorbed, inconsiderate, loser to another, now could I?"

Joey's eyes narrowed angrily. "It's not your choice. What I choose to do and whom I choose to do with it is none of your concern," she seethed.

Pacey let out a sound that sounded startling like a snort. "I wasn't worried about that. I know first hand how cold the Ice Queen can be."

She simply nodded her head and fixed her steely gaze on his. "Glad, you weren't worried, because it already happened. It was quite the wonderful experience too, his big hands groping me in the back seat of his car, running his hands through my hair, kissing my neck...I really enjoyed it. Surpassed all my wildest expectations and made me realize why I hadn't slept with you."

Pacey felt as though someone had punched him in the gut then stabbed him in the heart. "It's only been four weeks, Joey," he said wearily. "Glad that what we had meant so much to you."

"I was just returning the sentiment, Pace. You made it perfectly clear to me how much I meant to you, in the hallway the other day. I just moved on to bigger and better things."

He cringed at her insinuation. "Don't attack my manhood Joey, seeing as how you've yet to partake of the experience. And as for our little blow up in the hallway, I didn't see you making any attempts to hold back your acidic tongue."

"Well, that was because of how exactly did you put it I'm the 'parentless and heartless girl from the wrong side of the creek'? Something along those lines. I only give as good as I get, Pacey." She kept her eyes cold, not wanting to reveal any emotion.

"God, Joey!" he yelled throwing his hands in the air. "What the hell do you want me to say? I screwed up! I ruined the best thing that ever happened to me, only to find that you're better off without me. That I obviously don't deserve you! So, I'm sorry if I come off a little angry!"

Joey felt her eyes begin to tear but she fought the urge to cry. "No, it's not fair! You don't get to be angry! You have no right to be angry! I didn't do anything!"

"But I did," he said softly looking into her eyes. "I never said I was mad at you."

She sighed. "You didn't say it but you sure expressed it well. Actions speak louder than words, Pacey."

"What actions? What did I do that makes you think I'm mad at you? You on the other hand, your actions with this Jason guy speak plenty loud to me," he said hurt in his eyes.

She turned as if to say something but shook her head. "You know what? Forget this. I'm on a date and I shouldn't even be out here discussing this with you. Your point came across loud and clear before Pacey. You don't want me. You don't want to be with me. So, don't worry about whom I'm with. I shouldn't even have to explain my actions to you. It's over anyway. I'm just sorry to say that Dawson was right about you." She turned to go angrily.

"I want you, Joey. I want you so much that it hurts because I pushed you away and in the process hurt you more than I can bare." She continued to just stare at him, "If you come away from this conversation with nothing else, know that I want you."

Joey bit her lower lip in torment and fought for the strength for what she was about to say next. "Well, I feel bad for you, Pacey, because I don't think I want you anymore." She kept her face emotionless and walked away.

Head hanging, he left the theater and walked out into the rain. Her words played repeatedly in his mind. The rain washed over him sinking into his clothing. He was beginning to doubt that she slept with him, she'd never sleep with someone she just met, someone she didn't love. That realization didn't sooth him in any way. Whether she slept with the bastard or not, she had felt the desire to tell him and in effect hurt him. She had.

The sky grew darker as the hour passed and he continued on his trek, going in circles. The rain fell harder, the cold water running down his face, caressing the frustrated wrinkles. There had to be a way to fix this. He couldn't spend the next two years fighting with her every time they encountered one another and it didn't help that his argument was growing weaker and weaker in his own eyes.

He found himself outside the new Rialto an hour of departing it. He stood across the street in a shadow, watching as first Jen and Henry, then Joey and Jason left. Joey had her eyes focused on the sidewalk and her arms crossed tightly in front of her, holding her jacket closed against the rain. It looked like Jason was trying to talk to her. Pacey smiled when Jason's attempt to put his arm around her was met with cold indifference. He watched them disappear into a car he had never seen before and drive off.

This is stupid. He told himself, I love her. I should be with her. He vowed immediately, that he would fix this. He would win back her heart, however reluctant she was to share it with him again.