Disclaimer: Holds
Recap: After much drama, Pacey and Joey get together after Four to Tango. After staying out all night, Pacey's father hit him and left a scar across his cheek. He hid it from Joey, when she finally tracked him down, he told her to stay out of it, that it wasn't her business.

Later that night, Joey sat up in bed, unable to sleep. Her mind was still replaying the events of the day and the shock she had gone through when she found out what Pacey had been hiding from her. She padded her way over to the kitchen, barefoot and headed toward the fridge. She pulled out the bottle of orange juice and an accompanying glass from the cupboard, placing them both on the table.

She heard the eerie creaking sound of the screen door slamming open and shut causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. She poured her juice hearing the swishing sound as it hit the cup. She drank it hungrily, having been unbearably thirsty. The door continued to swing open and shut, grating on her nerves. She sighed and with reluctance headed to the door to stop the annoying sound.

Pacey kept his footsteps light as he limped back and forth across the Potter front porch. He kept wringing his hands trying to work up the nerve to knock on the door. He blew on his hands as he rubbed them together briskly in an effort to warm them.

He wasn't sure what had brought him there, other than his unceasing need to be close to her. But after their argument that morning he doubted she'd want to see him, let along see him in the condition he was in now. He could have gone to Dawson's... but his heart drew him here. Now that he was here, the realization that he couldn't drop this on her kept him from knocking on the door. It felt hypocritical to him to come to her now, like this.

He braced himself on the railing as he carefully began his decent down the stairs.

Joey opened the door a crack and shivered as the cold wind seeped into the house and into her bones, a silent ghost. She rubbed her arms, cursing herself for not pulling on a robe and opting instead to head out with a thin tank top and a pair of flannel bottoms. She stepped out onto the porch, barefoot, trying to get a grasp on the door that had swung all the way back against the siding. She nearly jumped a mile when she noticed a dark figure on her steps, her breath caught in her throat and for a minute she forgot to breathe.

Pacey paused mid-step when he heard the door open. He flinched hearing Joey's gasp. "It's only me, Jo," He assured her, his voice low and gravely. He debated inwardly weither or not to stay, and torn, he let Joey make the decision for him.

She paused, slightly puzzled by his abrupt appearance. "Pacey?" she raised an eyebrow, perplexed. "What are you doing here?"

"I.. I..." He stumbled over the words and he decided to settle for the truth. "I wanted to see you." He said, his voice distressingly low.

Joey nodded, stepping further into the cold darkness. "Why?" she asked, deliberately.

"I needed to see you, but I'm beginning to think it was a bad idea." He said, wanting despritly to run from her, he could feel her gaze burning a hole in his back. He knew he couldn't leave without her noticing something was off.

She rubbed her arms trying to block out the piercing cold. "Do you want to come in?" she asked, motioning to the open door. "It's kinda cold out here."

It was too late for him to run, he was trapped, she'd know immediatly if he tried to leave, she'd know if he went inside. No matter what he did. All that was left to decide was whether or not he wanted to do it the hard way, alone or the hard way, together. For the moment he remained stoicely silent, in limbo, wanting the the few moments to collect himself.

Joey watched him quietly for a few moments, able to understand the inner debate he was partaking in. She wondered if what she had said earlier was having this effect on him. She didn't want to have him mad at her and she didn't want this uneasiness between them, that made everything difficult. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "About earlier. I don't want you mad at me."

"I'm not mad, Joey. You were right, I would never be able to stand by and watch you get hurt by someone close to you. Ever." Pacey relented.

"I know," she said, nodding to herself. "it was a low blow, the card I kept in the back pocket." She cautiously aproached him. "I would never think that."

Pacey felt her presence directly behind him, he sucked in a deep breath of the cold air before turning slowly around to face her in the dim light provided from the moon. He doubted she'd be able to see him clearly, and for that small favor, he was thankful.

She squinted in the darkness, barely able to make out his profile. "You okay, Pacey?" she asked, surverying his stance, she could faintly see his face.

"Okay is a relative term." He said looking down at his feet.

She eyed him curiously. "Want to come in?" she asked, wanting to get out of the cold and the darkness, it gave her the creepy feeling of being watched. He nodded and waited for her to lead the way before he followed behind her

She motioned for him to be quiet and silently closed the door behind them, not wanting to disturb Bessie. She led the way to her room and when he was inside she shut the door. Joey walked over to her bed and sat down indian style, reaching over to turn on the small lamp that rested on her night stand.

Pacey moved to stop her, but not in time, he stopped mid stride as the light filled the room. Illimnating his face for the first time that evening.

She let out an inaudible gasp when she saw his face. The scab he had from earlier, now fresh with new blood. His left eye swollen shut a deep blue and purple, where the blood vessels in his face had broken, lower lip, cut and bleeding. She grimaced visibly and motioned for him to sit on her bed. "What happened?" she asked in a soft voice.

"I was supposed to be grounded, and I left the house." He mummbled, barely moving his lips so as to keep the pain to a minamum.

Her face fell. "Oh, Pacey..." She bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying. She knew she shouldn't have let him go back to that house. She should have said something, stopped him some how...She felt her eyes begin to brim with tears. "C'mon," she said, standing up. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Pacey nodded carefully, she stood to walk passed him and he caught her arm as she passed. "There was nothing you could have done to stop me, or him, Joey. Do not blame yourself." He said clearly.

She just nodded not bothering to reply, because she knew it wasn't true. She could have done something, told somebody. She led him to the bathroom and perched him on the toilet while she searched for the first aid kit.

Pacey watched her search for the first aid kit become more frantic. "Under the sink, bottom shelf on the right." He directed, quietly from precarious seat on the toilet next to her.

She paused and quickly proceeded to where he directed, finding the kit just as intended. "Right...I knew that." She smiled awkwardly and stood up. She placed the now open kit on the bathroom counter and applied its contents to Pacey's cuts and bruises, trying to be as gentle as possible.

Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on cleaning his broken lip. Her eyes were dark and wary, worry lines creased her forhead, and a permanant frown was etched on her face. "I'm sorry, Joey."

She looked at him helplessly, not knowing why he'd take the blame for something that was clearly not his doing. "It's not you're fault, Pacey." She continued at her task, wincing at how painful it looked, not imagining what it must have been like to recieve those blows. "It's not your fault," she said again, her face set in grim determination.

"I brought it on myself, Joey." She shot him a dark look. "Before you start to deny it, I did. I knew I was grounded, I knew I shouldn't have left." She opened her mouth to speak, and he put a finger to her lips to silence her. "But I'm not sorry about that, I'm sorry about bringing you into this. I'm sorry that you have to see me like this... I could have saved you from this, I shouldn't have come here, I shouldn't have brought this down on you. For that, I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "You're not bringing this down on me. I want to know. I want to be with you." She looked him straight in the eye. "So don't be sorry," Her face broke into a soft smile., "'cause I'm not."

Pacey smiled as best he could at the very words he had spoken to her weeks ago. He pulled her so she stood between his legs and cupped her cheeks in his hands, pulling her face down to meet his torn lips.

She tried to protest. "Don't Pacey, you're hurt."

He shook his head, "My heart needs healing more than my face." He whispered looking into her eyes to show he meant it.

She nodded and kissed him softly, afraid of hurting him. She pulled back and looked into his eyes, trying to see if this was okay.

He nodded slightly, never opening his eyes, sensing her unease. He pulled her back to him, kissing her with passion, ignoring the flare of pain he felt, concentrating on the feel of her in his arms. Needing her to hold him. He felt her hands drift down his sides. "Oww," He groaned against her mouth when she brushed his ribs.

Joey pulled away immediately, startled. She eyed him with concern. "You're hurt, badly. Maybe you should see a doctor," she said, uneasily. She felt like crying, it hurt to see him this way.

"No, I'll be fine... they're probably just bruised." He took her by the waist and eased her away. "You have an ace bandage in there?"

She shook her head. "Yeah...in the first aid kit." She watched him intently, a million questions on the tip of her tongue, but she refrained from asking them and she couldn't stop the nagging feeling that somehow she was responsible for all this.

"You're going to have to help me off with my shirt, I don't think my muscles are in the mood to move that way." He joked half-heartedly, lifting the hem of his dark blue shirt half way up.

She complied and winced when she saw the bruises on his ribs. "Ouch...I don't think they're suppose to be that color, Pacey..." she said, looking at him in horror, her face filled with fear.

"What color are they?" He shifted to try and see his relection the mirror on the back of the door. He sucked in his breath sharply at the stab of pain the movement sent through his middle.

Her eyes widened. "It really hurts doesn't it?" She started to cry, unable to see someone she loved in so much pain. It brought back so many memories of her mother and how she had been unable to help her. "This is so not fair," she hissed angrily, despite her tears. She never hated anyone in her life as much as she hated Sheriff Witter at that moment.

"Joey, please, please don't cry. I'll be fine, I'm Pacey, I'm invincable. Treat my wounds, give me some pain killers and I'll be as good as new." He stroked her hair gently tilting her head so she was looking in his eyes. "I'll be okay, Joey, I promise." He tried despratly to reassure her and bring her tears to a halt.

She shook her head furiously and pulled away. "No, you won't, because you'll go back there and he'll do it again," she paused and began to cry harder. "and he'll keep on doing it until he kills you," she whispers.

"It's not that bad, Joey. It's the first time he's done it in years, and it won't happen again, I won't let it. I won't put you through this again." She didn't seem to accept that and her tears continued to fall. "Let's just deal with tonight okay? Tomorrow will come soon enough." He tried, "You have school tomorrow," he reminded her.

"And what about you?" she asked, dreading the answer.

He sighed, he knew there was no possible way he could go to school tomorrow, not looking the way he did. He doubted he'd be able to move his aching muscles once morning came. "We'll deal with me come morning, okay?"

"Okay," she laughed crazily as she glanced around their surroundings. "it's sort of ironic isn't it? We're in the same place where we confessed we had more then friendly feelings for each other..." her voice trailed off wistfully.

"And now we're..." Pacey trailed off, not finding the words to describe the convultued emotions they had both gone through in the last 24 hours

She looked at him with concern. "We don't have to answer that question now...but we do need to get to bed." She decided to not question anything else tonight, wanting a bit of normalcy.

"Okay, let's just wrap my ribs first, okay?" He said standing and gesturing to the ace bandage on the counter next to her.

Joey nodded and grabbed the bandage being extra careful to not hurt him anymore then necessary. She fought hard to keep her eyes open under the force of being witness to all of this.

He didn't bother to try and pull his shirt back on, prefering to save his muscles from the strain. "I- I can stay here tonight, right?" he asked hesitantly, raising his eyes to hers.

"Of course. There's no question about it." She tried to smile and convey some false sense of cheer, failing misreably.

"Bessie won't find out?" he asked, opening the medicine cabinet in search of asprin or Advil.

Joey shook her head, just recalling that she did in fact have a sister that would care very much. "No. I won't tell her," Joey said, her voice firm.

"Thanks, Jo." He said, his voice soft, finding the pills he desired, he swallowed two without the aid of water. He gathered his shirt and jacket from the floor, his injured muscles screaming their complaint and prepared to follow Joey back to her room.

She nodded, more to herself then anything and made the silent trek back to her room, thankful that Bessie and Bodie were heavy sleepers. After they were safely in the confines of her room she turned to him. "Hey, you take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor," she whispered quietly, afraid to disturb any of the house's sleeping patrons.

"No, sleep with me." he protested, keeping his voice low. He deposited his things on the desk chair and sat to remove his shoes. But found he could only reach so far before his ribs rebelled.

Joey's face saddened at his obvious pain and reached over to help him. "Here let me help," she whispered, slipping his shoes off.

The corner of his mouth turned up at the gesture, he conveyed his thanks through his eyes when she lifted her gaze to meet his. He held out a hand to her when she rose to her feet.

She stood up and tried to convey gratitude with her eyes, before looking at the bed wearily, wondering what to do now. "I can always sleep on the floor," she muttered weakly, eyes wide.

"I don't want you to sleep on the floor. I need you close to me." He repeated stubbornly. And it was true, he needed to feel her arms around him, her touch soothing him, not just his physical pains, but the emotional strain that he'd been under for the last twenty-four hours. She had the power to make everything right and good in his life just by being near him.

She just nodded in acquiescence, unsure of what her next move should be. Well, first that would require them actually getting into the bed, but she found herself to afraid to make the first move. God, not even Dawson had ever slept in her bed, she'd always slept in his. This was going to be different.

Pacey nodded and carefully scooted himself to the other side of the bed. Trying not to agravate any of his injuries, he grimiced as his ribs flexed involutarily. He decided not to fight it and moved back against the pillows as fast as possible so he wouldn't prolong the pain. Better to get it over with as soon as possible, like ripping off a bandaid instead of slowly pulling at it. The sharp pain the swift movement brought caused him to groan through gritted teeth. He bit his lip as he laid his head back against the pillow and let out slowly the breath he had been holding. He inhaled just as slow, trying to bring the fiery pain that was wracking his body under control.

Joey shrugged helplessly, heart breaking, never feeling more useless in her life. She climbed in next to him, much more easily. She tried to keep her distance, afraid of hurting or disturbing him. She moved her body closer to the edge of the bed and hugged her pillow close to her ear. She remained silent.

He winced when she moved the bed, but turned his head away so she wouldn't see. When she had settled, and the pain had subsided, he turned to see the back of her head. He moaned inwardly in frustration. He didn't know what to do. Everything had happened so fast. Too fast. He didn't know when he could go home, if he should go home. Or what to do with himself tomorrow, he couldn't go to school, everyone would know something had happened, not that he anticipated that he'd be physically able to get there. He couldn't stay here, Bessie was bound to find him. He wondered if he could go to Dawson... he would probably want Pacey to do something about his father, and that wouldn't do... not to mention his inabilty to face his best-friend now that he was in love with Dawson's ex-girlfriend. It was all so complicated.

And thinking about it gave him a monsterous headache. The one thing he was sure of was his need for Joey. His life depended on her... and he didn't trust anyone with it more than she. It upset him to see her in upset over this, and he wished that she had never found him on the porch. He could have kept this from her, saved her from the misery.

He reached across the space between them and pulled her arm to closer. He took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers.

Joey tried hard to stifle tears as she reached over to her night table and switched off her lamp. She kept her back to him, not wanting him to see her cry. When she felt him grab her hand, her heart rate increased slightly before slowing down and she turned over to face him. She smiled gently, the moonlight filtering through her window, giving him an ethereal glow. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly, not really having anything to be sorry for, but it seemed appropriate given the circumstances.

"Don't be." He whispered. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I brought this to you when I shouldn't have. I'm the one being selfsish. I'm hurting you," he said his voice cracking, "And it kills me to do this, but I can't bring myself to leave you. I couldn't keep myself away."

She sat up slightly and focused her gaze on his eyes. "Listen to me, don't be sorry. It's not your fault and I'm glad you came to me. We can get through this...together." She raised their entertwined hands to her lips and kissed them gently. "I love you," she said, staring intently into his eyes.

The vice like chain around his heart loosened at her words, and a lump formed in his throat at her simple gesture. Words of protest, the reasons why she shouldn't love him couldn't work their way passed his torn lips. He squeezed her hand tightly in response and tried to pull her body closer to his, seeking the contact that would put his mind and heart at ease.

She pulled away slightly. "I don't want to hurt you," she murmured.

"What's a little pain for a magnatude of comfort?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I just worry...about hurting you. I don't like seeing you in pain and knowing there is nothing I can do about it," she spoke softly.

"Being with you makes me feel better. Touching you, takes away some of the pain. Feeling you helps me forget. Just being you is more than enough, Joey." He said, trying not to convey exactly how much he needed her at that moment.

She smiled softly and leaned forward, lightly brushing her lips against his before settling against him. "You're perfect, you know? And you always find this way of amazing me..." She raised lifted her head and gazed up at him. "I'm glad you came."

"I'm glad I came, too." He whispered against her hair as he dropped a kiss on her forehead.

She relaxed against him and closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. "I'm more glad," she teased, breaking the comfortable silence they had settled in.

"I don't think that's possible, Potter." He smiled back, his eyes drifting closed in fatigue.

She grinned and propped herself onto her elbow, giving herself the advantage of being able to watch over him while he slept. She slowly lifted her hand and carefully brushed a strand of brown hair away from his furrowed brow. She frowned when she noticed another scar that had been revealed with her move.

"I'm sorry for not being there to protect you and I'm sorry that you have to go through this and most of all I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't come to me with this," she paused and squeezed his hand tighter.

"Oh God, I love you so much, Pacey. And when you hurt, I hurt. I know you're under the misguided notion that you don't deserve me, but you're wrong. It's the other way around. I don't deserve you." She spoke low, voice barely above a whisper not even sure if he heard a word she said.

She studied him intently one more time, wanting his form forever emblazoned in her mind. She placed a light kiss on his lips before settling back down to sleep.

The hot throbbing under his eye finally woke him. Turning his head just enough to see Joey's bed side clock, he saw that it was 5:46, he needed to get out of there if he didn't want Bessie or Bodie to see him. Joey stirred in his arms and he felt a flowering of warmth in his heart for this woman who had been so gentle with him.

He could barely breathe for the love he felt for her, the tenderness, the desire to be everything to her that he knew she needed. Every ounce of his being told him to wake her up and tell her exactly how much she meant to him, how wonderful and beautiful she was. He was deluged by the memories of the night before, how vulnerable and scared he was, how vulnerable and scared she had been.

He hated himself for coming to her. To forcing her to bear witness to his own weaknesses. His own foolishness. He hated seeing her tears, knowing he was the cause. He wasn't good for her. He'd only succeed in hurting her further, irrepairably.

What he hated the most, was his failure to let her go. He shifted himself onto an elbow, biting his lip to keep the groan of pain from escaping. Tenderly, he brushed a strand of hair from her face. He was selfish and he knew it. He couldn't decide if he didn't love her enough or if he loved her too much. 'If I really truly loved her, I'd let her go. I'd be strong enough to leave her and never look back. I'll only bring her down, break her heart, ruin her life along with mine.' he thought, gazing down at her angelic face, peaceful in her deep slumber. If he loved her too much, he would be thinking of her well being first, and he'd let her go, breaking his own heart instead. If he didn't love her enough, he wouldn't feel this hollow ache in his chest at the thought of hurting her. How did he feel?

It was all making his headache worse, and he needed to leave soon. He'd face the inner turmoil once his life had gone back to normal. That was forefront in his mind, he couldn't get caught there, not in the condition he was in presently. Silently he slipped from the bed, doing his best not to moan in pain. He slipped his shoes on, not attempting to bend down and tie them.

Kneeling beside the bed, he kissed her forehead and gently caressed the soft skin of her cheek. "I love you, Jo. I know I shouldn't, but I do. I have this need inside me to hold you, to touch you, to kiss you and it grows more and more everyday. I can't stop it... and I don't want to. Please forgive me," his voice grew hoarse as he continued.

"Forgive me for hurting you, and I know, you'll say that you love me and that's what matters. That loving me is worth the pain. It's not. When you're in pain, I'm in pain. I feel your agony... our agony." His words caught in his throat, he could see the redness the tears left around her eyes.

"God, I love you." he whispered to himself, "I just don't think it's enough, we're both getting hurt. And... and you don't deserve that. But, God help me," he pleaded, "I can't live without you."

He stayed kneeling beside her bed, the early morning light weaving it's way into the room. He glanced at the clock again, 6am, he needed to leave. Kissing her once on the lips, and rose, ignoring the pain shooting through his body. He took his coat, slowly slipping it on and limped his way to the door.

Joey's eyes slowly fluttered open at the sudden loss of warmth and the empty space that now occupied her bed. She sat up stifling a yawn and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She scratched her head lazily and turned toward the door, surprised to find Pacey already making his sudden departure. "Where," she paused lowering her voice. That had came out louder than expected. "Are you going?" She studied him inquisitvely.

"The boat," He said turning back to face her, closing the door completly and leaning on it. "I'll stay there for a while, until I figure something out." He answered looking her in the eyes.

She nodded as if that were the most logical answer. "Yeah..." she said, softly. She had no idea how to react. This wasn't some fairly normal situation she was involved in and she tried to push away her feelings of hurt that he hadn't even bothered to wake her and tell her good-bye. She slid off the bed and headed over to her dresser. She opened a drawer and pulled out a sweater slipping it over her t-shirt and she followed with a pair of jeans.

"Jo..." He trailed off, taking a step closer to her, sensing her hurt.

She turned to him abruptly her face a mask of emotion. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to let you sleep. It was a rough night, for both of us. And I couldn't wait any longer, Bessie or Bodie will be awake any second. Don't be upset over this okay?" His eyes wide in sincerity.

She merely nodded and headed over to her bed. She sat down and slipped on her sneakers. She remained silent. When she was done, she glanced at him questioningly waiting for him to say something.

"Joey, I love you." He came to stand before her. "You've been absolutly amazing throughout all this, even after we fought, you took care of me." He took her hand in his. "You're too good for me." He pulled her to her feet, wrapping an arm tentativly around her waist. Unsure of how he'd be recieved, he quickly gave her a kiss on the lips.

She quickly complied, letting her soft lips melt against his. She studied him carefully and brushed a strand of hair away from his face before kissing him again. She pulled away and went toward her window. She opened it and slipped her head out checking out both sides before climbing out. She poked her head back into the room and motioned for Pacey to follow. "Bodie's usually up by now," she said, in a hushed whisper.

"Where do you think you're going?" Pacey asked, following after her, sticking his head out the window. Before she could answer he continued. "You're going to have to help me out, Jo. Climbing isn't going to be easy, all my muscles are stiff."

"With you," she said, sternly daring him to question her. She reached for his arms and tried to brace him as he climbed out. "You okay?" she asked, once he was safely on the ground next to her.

He gave her a look to suggest that he was far from okay, "You can't come with me, Jo. You have to go to school. We can't both be absent, people will get suspicious. Dawson will get suspicious."

Joey's eyes widened at the point he had made. "Well, Dawson Leery can bite me, because I am not leaving you alone."

"Yes, you are." He insisted. "I won't let you mess up you're future because of me. I'll be fine at the boat. I won't go anywhere."

"It's just one day, Pace. Not like I'm going to knock over a liquor store or anything." She shrugged. "Besides it's not like anyone would miss me."

"You're going to school Joey. Who else is going to pick up homework for me? Go inside and get your backpack. You can stay with me until 8, then you're going."

Joey opened her mouth to object.

"No, you're going. I have a space heater and blankets there, I'll be fine. And I need the rest. With you hanging around nursing me back to health, I won't be able to. Besides, I need you to pick up a few things for me afterschool."

She frowned, but noticed he had a point. "Fine, but I'm going because I have to, not because you told me to," she stated sliding back into her window and retrieving her backpack.

He would have smiled at her bullheadedness if it wouldn't cause him so much pain. He stuck his head back in the window, "Hey Jo, grab some pain killers while you're in there." he hissed.

Joey nodded. "Sure. I keep them right in my bedside table with the crack cocaine for emergencies," she replied. "The farthest we carry in pain killers is baby tylenol for Alex when he's teething."

"Advil... tylenol...asprin... a sedative," he whispered, "See if you can find something."

"Okay. Okay," she replied and headed to the bathroom, grabbing nearly all the prescriptions bottles she could in her hurry and slipped them into her bag. She zipped her bag up and headed back out, sliding out the window with an ease that took years of experience.

"You ready?" She nodded, and they began the walk to the docks, remaining silent until they were out of sight of the unfinished B & B. The sun was beginning to rising, casting a red glow to their surroundings. Pacey tried to make his limp seem unnoticible as they walked on.

Joey pretended not to notice as she walked beside him lost in thought. Her brow furrowed in distress as she went over the complications of this whole matter. This was way beyond her and she knew she had to tell someone. Anyone, because she was useless to help.

"Joey, I know that look." He said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them as the neared the dock.

She stared up at him and blinked a few times. "What look?"

"The coniving, 'I-have-to-do-something-about-this-before-he-ends-up-dead look'." he answered, meeting her eyes.

She stared at him a few moments, before speaking. "Is that such a bad thing? Not wanting to see you hurt?" she asked slightly at his glibness over the whole situation.

"No, not at all." He said touching her arm, stopping her. He faced her, his tone soft. "It - I can't express how it makes me feel to know you care... that someone cares. It makes me love you all the more." He paused, "But there's nothing you can do about it now. We'll talk this afternoon and figure something out, okay Princess?"

Joey merely nodded. "Yeah, sure." She turned her head away, focusing on some unseen point in the distance. "I'm going to go...to school...now." Her words were clumsy and she hurried off, before anything else could be said.

Pacey sighed, he hoped she'd know better than to tell someone. He traveled the short distance to his boat, and prepared himself for a day of sleep.