"Pacey!", Joey rolled her eyes as his hand sneaked under her pullover once again.

"What?", despite her attempts at scolding him he scooted closer to her, placing small kisses up her back while his hand still lingered on her skin.

They were lying in front of the fireplace surrounded by books and notes they had taken, or rather Joey had taken. The whole afternoon they had been studying, well sort of at least. Joey was holding true to her promise of tutoring him and they could already see their work start flourishing. Pacey’s grades went up slowly but steadily and sometimes he even found himself enjoying the study sessions... and not only because they meant spending a lot of time with Joey but also because he was amazed of what he could achieve when pushed in the right direction.

Joey reveled in the sensations Pacey’s kisses and his hand created on her but her mind kept reminding her on all the things they still had to repeat and do... and...

"You are supposed to study, Pace", Joey whispered trying to convince him to put his nose back in the books while equally hard trying to suppress a moan of pleasure.

"Ah, but I am studying...", Pacey smirked moving even closer and nibbling on her earlobe, something which drove her wild every time and he loved that, "... you!"

This was her undoing. She couldn’t resist anymore, she didn’t want to and right then the suppressed moan finally escaped her lips. Joey tossed her textbook to the side and rolled over to face Pacey.

Pacey beamed. Joey Potter was moaning, moaning because of him, because of what he was doing. They had been together for almost six weeks now and sometimes he still couldn’t quite grasp that they actually were together, that they were a couple, that the gorgeous creature lying beside him had chosen to be his girlfriend.

Joey smiled and ran her thumb over Pacey’s slightly parted lips. She was still a little unsure of how to react or what to do, but she grew a little bolder day by day. Pacey just had a way to encourage her to explore. He never pushed her to do anything, he never expected her to do something she might be uncomfortable with. He simply let her set the pace.

Joey sighed again. His blue eyes held the power to drown her. She loved his eyes, they expressed so much and revealed so much. Right now they were darkening several shades and she knew why.

"Mmhh... and how are the Joey Potter studies going?", Joey quickly licked her lips, teasing him.

Pacey mimicked her actions before replying, "At this moment, they are going.... hard, very hard.", he raised an eyebrow and used his hand, that was still under Joey’s clothes, to pull her on top of him.

"Complicated topic, huh?", Joey made herself comfortable on Pacey’s body, practically straddling him. "I can feel you.", she let her tongue peek out as she purposely wiggled around a little.

"I bet...", Pacey muttered, feeling his control slip away. He flipped them over so that he was partially lying on top of her, careful not to put too much of his weight on her but still enough to pin her.

"Complicated, fascinating and really exciting.", Pacey whispered against her mouth.

He brushed some hair strands out of her face while his tongue asked for permission to enter her mouth. Joey opened up to his begging, sucking on his bottom lip. Her hands wandered around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

"I love your studies."

"I just started... I guess I have to spend more time on it.", Pacey moved his hand slowly up to her breast, caressing it, waiting for her reaction.

"Uh-huh.", Joey hooked her leg around his, feeling the heat spreading through her body.

~*~

"Awww... finally the last day of school for this year.", Jen leaned against the locker next to Joey’s and watched her changing the books for her first period.

"Uh-huh.", Joey answered absently-minded.

"Joey? Where are your thoughts?", Jen nudged her arm.

"Huh?", Joey frowned and focused on Jen’s face.

"What’s wrong with you? Can’t think without your,... well I’d say better half but I’m not so sure about this adjective in combination with Pacey.", Jen quipped.

"Ah ah ah, you’re talking about my boyfriend here, Jen.", Joey raised her index finger but smiled.

"See, I knew that would get your attention.", Jen mentally padded herself on the shoulder for her achievement.

"I have it bad, huh?", Joey’s smile broadened.

"Yep... and I am sooo envious!", Jen grinned.

"Guess we have to find you a Pacey then.", Joey suggested.

"That would..."

"Hey, I’m sorry.... but I am the one and only prototype available, ladies. And opposed to what some male dreams are made of, I’m just not into a threesome.... so, ... Jen...", Pacey appeared behind Joey and raised his hands in an apologetic gesture towards Jen before wrapping his arms around Joey’s waist.

"Missed me yet?", he whispered seductively in her ear.

"Geez, get a room!", Jen rolled her eyes.

~*~

"Are we all in a happy ‘Merry Christmas’ mood yet?", Andie asked in her very own sing-song voice.

Five pairs of eyes glanced at her with a varying degree of annoyance.

"Oh come on guys. It’s December 22^nd, you just have to be excited.", Andie tried again, "Or are you just such killjoys because you haven’t bought all your gifts yet?"

Jack and Dawson lowered their heads and stared enthusiastically at their unrecognizable lunch. Jen simply shook her head. This year’s Christmas had lost its charm three weeks ago.

"Maybe not all of us feel the need to be so overly joyous...", Pacey muttered while reaching for Joey’s hand. "Jo? Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?", his tone was strangely serious and caused Joey to frown.

"Sure.", she stood up and followed him worriedly out of the cafeteria.

"What’s up with them?", Andie looked at the others questioningly.

Dawson shrugged. Not so long ago he would have known. Not anymore though.

"Whatever it is, it’s their business.", Jen stated and stared at Andie. There was something about her that gave Jen bad vibes.

~*~

"What’s wrong, Pace?", Joey searched his eyes for any hint of what was troubling him.

"Not much actually. Just Andie and her little speech of ‘Happy Merry Christmas’... That just unnerved me.", Pacey pulled Joey a little closer and nuzzled her hair.

Joey touched her forehead against his while brushing her nose at his.

"I know there has to be more to that.", Joey played with the fine hair at the nape of his neck. Waiting for him to tell her what was really bothering him.

Pacey sighed. "When did you get to know me so well, Potter?"

"I always have, Pace. And recently I ... well, I don’t know, I just feel you, your mood... your...everything. I don’t know how to explain it."

"I know what you mean. I feel it, too ... with you, I mean...", Pacey stuttered.

Joey smiled and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Now, tell me?"

"It’s nothing big, just... You know, my dad told me this morning that they were going to visit Carrie over the holidays and that they were going to leave tomorrow.", Pacey sighed again. Why did he care so much? It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. But it still hurt.

Joey caressed his cheek, listening.

Pacey closed his eyes, leaning into Joey’s touch.

"They said they would go ... alone. So they are practically leaving me on my own for Christmas and probably for New Year’s, too. And they don’t want me to be alone in their house, which means I’d have to move in with Doug for the time being. And Doug will be working all the time."

Joey’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe that Pacey’s parents didn’t care that they were leaving their son on his own, on Christmas for God’s sake. Then again, it wasn’t the first time.

"Well, their loss, my gain!"

"Huh?", now it was Pacey’s turn to frown.

Joey blinked. His ‘act first, think later’ philosophy seemed to have rubbed off on her pretty fast. She cleared her throat.

"Well, I ... why don’t you spend the holidays with us, I mean with me, Bessie, Bodie and Alex? In fact, why don’t you spend all of the winter recess with us." There, she had said it.

Pacey swallowed. "You’d want me to stay at your place?"

"Pacey, do you really have to ask that? I love you, and I can’t imagine spending Christmas without you."

Pacey beamed. Right at this moment his prospects got a lot better. He had silently dreamed of spending the holidays with Joey, but he hadn’t dared to ask.

"You think Bessie doesn’t have any objections?"

"Nah, she likes you. Maybe you have to babysit.... like all the time.", Joey grinned.

"No problem, there.", Pacey’s eyes sparkled.

~*~

"Jen? Jen, wait a second.", Joey ran after her.

"Hey... you do know I’m not Pacey, right?", Jen quipped.

"Very funny. Yes I do. For the matter of fact, I need your help.", Joey blushed a little.

"Really? I’m intrigued. What can I do for you?"

" I asked Pacey to spend the holidays with me ... at our house... as in moving in with me for the next two weeks."

"You did?", Jen grinned. "Why?"

"Long story, Jen, but... there’s a little problem...", Joey tugged at Jen’s hand pulling her further away from the school.

~*~

"So, now that we’re very, very far away from school and any possible eavesdropper.... spill it already Joey!" Jen tapped impatiently on the kitchen table, glaring at Joey who suckled on her cup of hot chocolate.

"What is this little problem, huh?" Jen nudged Joey’s arm in an attempt to get her into talking mode.

"I don’t know if it is a problem really, it’s just..." Joey sighed and raised her eyes to meet Jen’s, "... you know... I...practically invited Pacey to move in with me."

"We have already established that fact." Jen stared at Joey, "Wait,... do you regret it..... already?" Jen frowned.

"N... no. No I don’t.. It’s just that..." Joey blew out some air and cradled the cup in her hands.

"Joey!" Jen had never been one of the patient people.

"The other day... when we were studying...." Joey blushed and lowered her gaze before continuing, "... well, we started to make out.... you know, touching, kissing and cuddling and..." Joey licked her lips and stared into the cup in her hands.

"And?" Jen raised an amused eyebrow. It was too funny to watch Joey Potter squirm.

"And..." Joey’s complexion started to resemble the one of a ripe tomato, "... it was so intense and... I ... wanted more..."

Jen’s eyes widened. "Did you... sleep with him?"

"No!" Joey shook her head but turned yet a deeper shade of red.

Jen waited for her to continue but Joey just stared blindly at the pattern of the tablecloth, tucking some stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"So,... you’re curious about what comes next?" Jen tried to coax a respond from her friend.

"Uhhmm..." Joey nodded a little embarrassed, "... but, well.... I mean..." Joey sighed, it was so hard talking about this, "... I know what’s supposed to come.... now , theoretically at least."

"So...?" Jen prodded.

Joey took another deep breath and put her cup down while shyly looking at Jen.

"I don’t know how to do ... things... and... what if I actually do something and it’s wrong? Or Pacey doesn’t like it ... or he likes it but then he wants more and I don’t? Or I want more and he doesn’t ... or..." Joey rambled slightly panicking and flailed her hands.

"Joey... Joey.... stop it!" Jen interrupted Joey and took her hand in hers, "Don’t get so worked up about sex."

"Well, I’m sorry, but this is a big issue for me!" Joey stated irritated. "I’ve never..." She stopped herself and lowered her eyes, blushing again.

"I know. And I know that sex is an important issue, but it is just sex. You think too much, Joey." Jen tried to explain but was interrupted again.

"Are you trying to tell me, that there’s nothing to think about?" Joey frowned but still avoided Jen’s gaze.

"Nooo. Okay, Joey. I don’t think you came to talk to me to get a ‘how to practice safe sex’- speech, right?" Jen waited for a response and when Joey nodded hardly noticeable she squeezed her hand and continued, "This is about feelings and expressing the love you feel for each other. You can’t analyze that into tiny shreds and you can’t plan what to do when. You just do what feels right at that moment and then you’ll see where that leads to."

Jen paused. She wasn’t sure if she was saying the right things. In fact those questions hadn’t arisen for her at that time. Maybe she was wrong, too. She had been way too young when it happened. Who was she to give advice on how to deal with sex? With love? Had she ever been really in love? Had she ever wondered what her boyfriends thought about her or what she did?

"Look, Pacey isn’t pressuring you to do something you don’t want to, is he?" Jen knew very well that Pacey wouldn’t do that. She just wanted Joey’s confirmation.

"God, no. He would never force me to anything." Joey’s eyes widened, "He let’s me set the rules and whenever I’m feeling uncomfortable ... or ... I want to stop.... he , he just knows and ... understands." Joey looked up finally meeting Jen’s eyes and smiled shyly.

Jen smiled. The love Joey was feeling for Pacey was all over her. It was in her face, her gaze, her words. Seeing her friend like this somehow gave her back the ability to believe the thing called love really existed.

"Then, ... why are you so afraid, Joey? Why do you think your invitation to spend the winter recess at your place will hold a problem?" Jen asked raising her brow.

"I ... I dunno." Joey tugged nervously at her sleeve, "It’s just lately, when... when we’re kissing or touching or cuddling... or anything... he just makes me so..." Joey stopped, blushing again.

Jen smirked and offered, "... hot and bothered?"

"Jen!" Joey stared at her embarrassed.

"What? It’s the truth, isn’t it? He makes you want more, right? He makes you want to rip his and your clothes off and get down and dirty with him, huh?" Jen triumphantly poked Joey in her side.

"Yeah... hot and bothered and horny." Joey couldn’t believe she had just said that. She buried her face in her hands but couldn’t help to giggle.

"That’s perfectly normal, Joey. And again I have to ask: why is there a problem or maybe I should ask: why is it a problem for you?"

"What if I want more but I’m not ready for it?" Joey’s eyes mirrored the confusion she was feeling.

"Look..." Jen reached for her hand again, "... you shouldn’t have to force yourself to do any more than you’re feeling you’re ready for."

Joey nodded. "But, what if I start something and he expects..." Joey wrung her hands.

"Joey, you’ve just told me that Pacey will never pressure you into anything. Just because he spends two weeks with you in the same house doesn’t mean that he expects you to start any ..." Jen started but was interrupted once again.

"I know... I’m paranoid, right?" Joey presented her half smile despite the insecurities she was still feeling.

"Well, I wouldn’t say paranoid..." Jen giggled.

"I’m just so... inexperienced and... I just don’t know what to do."

"Trust your instincts." Jen advised, "Pacey is a 15 year old boy. Believe me, there’s nothing you could do wrong if you just do something with him."

"But he already had a ... relationship with a woman ... twice his age..." Joey threw in. She knew she was making a big deal out of it and she just couldn’t help it.

"Yes, he did. So what? I let you in on a secret, Joey: as much as romantic it would be to... well, to be each other’s firsts...." Jen chuckled at Joey’s embarrassed expression, "... It is a real advantage that Pacey knows what he’s doing. The first time, well, it’s probably never what you have imagined it to be. Maybe you’ll be even.... no, I guess you won’t... not with Pacey." Jen smirked.

"What?" Joey narrowed her eyes at Jen.

"Oh, nothing... only that I guess, when the time is right for you, for both of you.... then it will be simply amazing!"

"You think so?" Joey licked over her lips.

"Wanna bet?" Jen’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Jen!" Joey yelled and shook her head furiously.

"Hhmmm... I guess you don’t..." Jen stood up and walked over to the refrigerator, "... Ice-cream?"

~*~

"Jo, stop that!" Bessie demanded putting her arms akimbo.

"What? I’m not doing anything." Joey rolled her eyes but continued with her activity.

"Jo! You’re going to walk a hole in the floor. Stop it already!" Bessie insisted again with an eye-roll of her own.

Joey ignored her completely and kept pacing back and forth in front of the window.

"Shouldn’t he be here by now?" She checked her watch, the living room clock and gazed outside. Nothing.

"It’s 10am for God’s sake, Jo. Didn’t he say he wanted to wait till his parents are gone?" Bessie shook her head, reconsidering if it had been a good idea to allow Pacey to spend the holidays with them. If Joey was so nervous about his arrival... what would she be like when he finally got here?

"Yeah, yeah... right. But..." Joey gesticulated wildly with her hands.

"I swear if you say one more word about when your boyfriend will finally arrive... I’ll send him back where he came from the second he steps foot in the house. I mean it!" Bessie glared at her sister and returned to the kitchen.

"But..." Joey stopped herself, knowing that she’d better not tempt Bessie to fulfill her threat, "Do we have some coffee left?" She walked over to the kitchen, trying to find something to occupy herself with.

"I think you’ve had enough coffee for the rest of the year.... at the least." Bessie mocked, "If you want to do something productive help me wash the dishes." She reached for a towel and threw it at her sister.

"Bes..."

"Not one word, sis!" Bessie pointed her index finger warningly towards Joey and turned back to the sink.

"Slave driver." Joey muttered and reached for the wet dishes.

"Love ya, too, honey!" Bessie tilted her head and stuck her tongue out at Joey.

"See? Potter women... gotta love them!" Bodie chuckled as he observed the two sisters after closing the door behind him.

Neither of them had heard him return while arguing with each other.

"Look who I found downtown!" Bodie grinned as he saw Joey’s eyes light up.

"Pace!" Joey almost squealed and jumped into his arms.

"Jeez, woman... good to know you missed me that much." Pacey stumbled a little before he could balance both of them.

He closed his arms around her and reveled in the fact that Joey was showing her feelings so openly in front of other people.

Joey kissed Pacey softly on the lips while her hands went around his neck. "Welcome... home, Pace." She whispered in his ear.

"Uhmmm..." Pacey didn’t know what to say. Welcome home. Had anybody ever said those words to him? He tightened their embrace and deepened their kiss.

"Ahemm, don’t you have something left outside, Pacey?" Bodie cleared his throat watching the young couple. Even though he wasn’t Joey’s father and despite the fact that he really liked Pacey ... he still found it difficult to accept that his little Joey was growing up.

"Uhhhhh.... yeah... right....sure." Pacey reluctantly let go of Joey but not without planting another kiss on her lips and murmuring, "I have a surprise for you, Potter."

A little louder he added so that Bessie could hear him too, "Actually I have something for the whole family, like a ‘Thank you’ for inviting and letting me stay here over the holidays."

"A surprise?" Joey smiled up at him, displaying her lop-sided smile that made his heart flutter every time.

"Yep. Close your eyes, sweetie." Pacey brushed his hand lightly over her eyes, causing them to close and placing another kiss on her forehead. "No peeking, Potter... or no surprise."

"What is it with all of you today? Why are you threatening me constantly?" Joey complained playfully but kept her eyes close.

"Be right back, Jo." Pacey and Bodie went back outside and returned a minute later, carrying a large, wrapped Christmas tree.

Bessie smiled and wiped a single tear from her eyes.

"Okay, you may look now." Pacey announced and chewed nervously on his lower lip. He only hoped she would like his surprise.

Joey slowly opened her eyes unsure of what to expect. What she saw took her breath away. A real Christmas tree... Pacey had brought them a real fir. It had been so long since they had a real Christmas Tree at her home. After her mother’s death they had bought a cheap plastic tree. She had missed a real one. She had missed her mother every Christmas that she had to spent without her a little more. Each was a little sadder then the last.

This year would be different, she knew it.

"Oh, Pace... a Christmas tree..." Joey couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

Pacey’s eyes widened with horror. Joey was crying. Why the hell was she crying.

"I... I’m sorry..." He started helplessly looking from her to the tree he was holding and back to her.

"No.... I’m just... God, Pace.... this is so... wonderful, so nice of you." Again Joey was flying into his arm, nuzzling her head in the crook of his neck.

"You like it?" Pacey let out a deep breath.

"I love it... I love you, thank you!" Joey kissed his cheek trying to get as close to him as she could.

"Love you, too." Pacey smiled and pulled her closer towards him with his free hand, " I remembered that you were complaining about that plastic tree each year... and so I thought.... well, thank you for inviting me, Jo." His voice hitched a little. It meant a lot to him. While his own family, or most members of it, had decided to leave him alone this special time of the year, Joey and her family were welcoming him with open arms.

"This will be the best Christmas we’ve ever had." Joey whispered and caressed his cheek, still crying a little.

"It will be, Jo... it will be!"

~*~

"God, I’ve forgotten how many tree decorations we actually have!" Bessie sighed and plopped down on the chair. She felt exhausted but the smile on her face betrayed her grumpiness.

"That’s because you decided it was too much work to have a real Christmas tree and bought that stupid and ugly fake ... thing." Joey crunched her nose disgustedly and wrapped her arms around Pacey’s waist, "Just look how nice it is and... can you smell the tree? It feels really like Christmas now. I forgot the scent of a fir next to an open fireplace." Joey beamed nuzzling Pacey’s neck.

"It’s not like you made an effort to change that, is it, sis?" Bessie defended herself hugging her knees to her chest.

Joey’s countenance slowly fell a little and her voice was small as she mumbled, "No, I didn’t." She stiffened in Pacey’s embrace who softly kissed her temple.

Pacey knew why her mood had suddenly changed. It was because of her mother. He knew she especially missed her at Christmas and he wanted nothing more than see her smiling just like she had a few moments ago.

"Good thing, that Pacey Witter a.k.a. savior of all old-fashioned Christmas traditions known to men has made it his high priority to reacquaint the Potter sisters with the joy of..." Pacey declared enthusiastically.

"We get it, honey." Joey smiled up at him, effectively stopping his self-adulation by planting a kiss squarely on his mouth, "And I sooo love you for it."

Pacey grinned. There it was again, her wonderful smile had returned. Mission accomplished.

"Only for that?" He asked with mock hurt.

"Hmmm ... I have to think about that." Joey tapped her index finger at her chin pretending to be lost in deep thoughts before she stuck her tongue out at him.

Pacey groaned. She was driving him mad ... and... wild... with her sweet little gestures.

"Potter..." He raised his eyebrow, "... I’ll get you for that."

"Oh, really?" Joey poked his ribs ready to challenge him, "Then come and get me!" She sped of to the kitchen leaving a stunned Pacey behind.

It didn’t take long though for him to break through his reverie and dash after her almost crashing into Bodie who prepared dinner for them.

"Oh... sorry." Pacey managed to stop just in time and looked into Bodies amused eyes.

"Listen to my advise, kiddo, never accept a challenge from the Potter women. You just can’t win." Bodie clapped Pacey on the shoulder.

"You sure about that?" Pacey’s eyes sparkled never letting Joey out of sight.

"Uh-huh." Bodie nodded and stirred the soup, "At least... that’s what you have to make them believe." He added in a hushed voice so that only Pacey could hear him.

"What’s with the whispering, Bodie?" Bessie leaned against Bodie’s back looking over his shoulder into the pot on the stove, "Are you trying to get some support against us?" She playfully shoved her knee into his left hollow of the knee.

"Well,..." Bodie turned around and nibbled at the tip of her nose, "... taking into account that the male – female ratio has changed to our advantage, you two might be in need of support." He laughed.

"Yeah? How do you think the ratio has changed, huh?"

Pacey smirked. There was absolutely no denying that Bessie and Joey were sisters. If you know one you know them all.

"See Bessie, Alex, Pacey and me..." Bodie counted with his fingers, "... make us three males versus you and Joey, which means two females... so the day has finally arrived on which we’re outnumbering you two. Three versus two... see?" Bodie threw his hands up in a victorious gesture.

"Quality, my dear, not quantity is what counts. So just keep dreaming. Dinner ready anytime soon?" Bessie smiled patting Bodies back.

During dinner Pacey was holding Alex on his arm which made it a little difficult for him to eat, but he didn’t mind at all. The baby had always liked him and whenever Pacey was around he reached his little arms out for him. Pacey couldn’t resist the little man. Maybe because of his Potter genes or maybe because it still amazed him to no end that Joey’s whole family acted like he already belonged to them, like he was a part of their family. Actually he had always been good with kids, probably because he was just a 15 year old kid himself.

Joey didn’t eat much either. She couldn’t break her eyes away from Pacey and now that he was taking care of Alex, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like...

Joey blushed and lowered her head. "Great, now I’m not only thinking about Pacey and sex, no... I already think about Pacey, sex and having a baby with him. There’s something extremely wrong with me." Joey thought and let her eyes wander back to the Christmas tree.

It had been so long since they last had one and it looked like she remembered it. Suddenly she frowned. Something was missing.

"Hey, we forgot the star!" Joey exclaimed and pointed at the empty tip of the tree. Before anyone could answer she stood up and walked over to the boxes that were previously holding the decorations.

"Oh." Bessie sighed. She had almost forgotten about the star. It had been so long. She went to join her sister, remembering the importance of the missing piece.

Joey rummaged through the boxes and eventually waved happily with a shiny silver object. "Got it!"

Pacey tightened his hold of the baby and walked over to Joey.

"What’s that?" He asked curiously.

"The tree topper I made with my mom when I was six or seven years old." Joey ran her fingertip over the fragile star, "Do you know this song, ‘Little Bright Star’? It was my favorite and I wanted our own little bright star..." Joey trailed off, stroking the light material in her hand.

"It’s beautiful." Pacey muttered unsure of what to say.

"We always put it on last. Mom or Dad would pick me up and lift me so that I could reach the top and pin it on."

Pacey didn’t have to think long. He handed Alex over to Bessie and picked Joey up.

"What are you doing, Pace?" Joey asked stunned holding on to him.

"Giving you a little lift to reach the top." Pacey simply answered.

Joey giggled and tried to attach the star to the top.

"Stop laughing and hurry up there. You know, you have actually grown considerably since you were six years old and you do weigh more..."

"Awww, Pace...aren’t you quite the charmer." Joey rolled her eyes, "There, all done. You can put me down now."

Pacey let her slide back down along his body. Of course that wasn’t necessary, but... the feelings her body moving along his own was evoking in him.... made his heart quicken its beats and caused his lips to go dry.

The intimate contact of their bodies sent tingles up and down Joey’s spine. She felt as if her heart was beating right there in her throat.

Suddenly Pacey’s hand brushed Joey’s breast. "Oh..." Pacey blushed a little, "... sorry."

It wasn’t like he had never touched her but he had never touched her this intimately before. Although it was only a very brief contact he wasn’t sure if he hadn’t broken a boundary by doing it. And this small touch alone was enough to arouse him.

"It’s okay." Joey whispered.

His hand on her breast... if only for less than a second... She had never felt anything like that before. His simple touch had sent a wave of pleasure through her whole body and the fact that he was blushing...

"Thank you." Joey smiled looking into his eyes that seemed to be a little darker than usual.

"You’re welcome." Pacey uttered not quite believing that Joey seemed to be okay with him touching her like that.

~*~

Later that evening, when they had transformed the couch into Joey’s bed and were lying under the covers neither of them could fall asleep.

"Pace?" Joey whispered as if she was unsure of her own voice.

"Yeah?"

"When you... when you lifted me up tonight and then... when you put me down again..."

Pacey sighed. He knew what would come next. He was sure she’d tell him that he should watch where his hands were going or something.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t... it was accidentally...." He tried to explain but Joey put a finger on his mouth.

"I wanted to say that I... when your hand brushed my breast.... I, ... I really liked that." Joey bit down on her lip. She sounded so stupid in her opinion.

Pacey’s eyes widened. He looked at her intently. Had she just said that she liked to be touched like this... by him?

It was dark but Joey could still see the question in Pacey’s eyes. She reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his while pulling it closer to her.

"You like it?" Pacey’s voice was hoarse. He still couldn’t believe it.

"I do." Joey whispered, "I love it ... when you... touch me." She cuddled closer to him.

Pacey smiled. "Really? ... I love to touch you."

He was getting bolder by her words and hesitantly ran his hand up her arm and finally let his fingertips skim along the side of her breast.

"Yes, really." Joey sighed and covered his hand with her own preventing him from taking it away again.

Pacey swallowed hard. His breath was ragged. He was touching Joey. He pulled her even closer to him so that she could lay her head on his chest.

"Goodnight, Jo."

"Night, Pace."

~*~

Pacey and Bodie sat on the couch watching TV while waiting for Joey and Bessie to get ready for the party. The party...well, Pacey wasn’t really in the mood to go, but it was the annual ‘Leery Christmas Party’ which always took place on Christmas Eve. It was a tradition and a good one, too. Only this year, after everything that Dawson had said and done he just wasn’t comfortable with it. He’d rather stay there and only celebrate with Joey and her family.

He stared at the TV but he didn’t actually watch it. His mind drifted back to the last night. Although they had spent almost every weekend together and slept in the same bed since they had been together, the last night was different. They had fallen asleep with Joey lying partially on top of him, her head on his chest, their legs twisted together and his arms holding her as close as possible. They had woken up in more or less the same position. And Joey had let him touch her, well, not really touch her, but...

"Ready!" Joey appeared from the bathroom and twirled around so both men could take a look. She usually never wore dresses but this year she wanted it to be different. Everything was new. She had raided the stores with Bessie and finally they found her dress. A simple black dress with three-quarter sleeves and V-neckline, which reached just her knees. She was a little self-conscious and anxious of Pacey’s reaction.

Pacey smiled unable to speak. She looked so stunning that it took his breath away.

"What do you think?" Joey asked, the insecurity obvious and worried her lower lip with her teeth. Why wasn’t he saying something? Didn’t he like it?

Pacey stood up and walked over to her. His palms were sweating and he was nervous. He didn’t know why. Maybe because this was in some way very official for them. Spending their first Christmas together. Attending a party, as a couple, which was for adults as well as for kids and teenagers. He didn’t care.

Closing the gap between them he took her hand and leaned closer so that he could whisper into her ear.

"Beautiful, Jo. You’re so beautiful."

Joey blushed and looked down. "Thank you... you look quite nice yourself."

Of course she had noticed his formal suit. Not so formal as the one he had worn at the funeral of Jen’s grandfather, but very nice. His tie sported a Simpson’s Christmas theme but she loved it.

Pacey lifted her chin with his finger. He loved that she still blushed whenever she received compliments.

"The most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen." He meant every word.

"Awww.... look at those two. I have to take some pictures." Bessie gushed and reached for her camera, "Why don’t you go over to the tree.... yeah, that’s right. Say ‘cheese’."

Bessie took several pictures. Pacey hated that... usually, but this time he thought that those pictures might come handy in a while.

~*~

When they arrived at the Leery’s most of the guests were already there. They looked around to find her friends and stopped in the doorway to the living room.

"Ha.... gotcha.... Mistletoe. Kissy kissy!" Jen appeared out of nowhere and giddily pointed up to the ceiling.

Joey smiled and rose her head to meet Pacey’s. "I love mistletoes." Her eyes were sparkling as she lost herself once again in the depths of his.

"Love them, too." Pacey brushed his lips over hers but that wasn’t enough. As soon as his mouth touched hers he needed to deepen their kiss.

"Okay... okay. That’s enough guys. You hear me?" Jen’s attempt to get her friends attentions was futile, "Stop it! Have a little mercy on poor single girls there." She pouted and finally Pacey released Joey’s soft lips.

"I could be wrong, but... didn’t you initiate this, Lindley?" Pacey cocked his head and innocently stared at her.

Jen glared at him, swallowing a remark and turned to Joey.

"Joey? Can you leave your annoying boyfriend behind for a second? I want to talk to you."

"Yeah, sure." Joey reluctantly let go of Pacey’s hand and followed Jen.

~*~

Dawson watched Pacey and Joey kiss under the mistletoe from the stairs. He saw how Joey’s hand slowly slipped further down until it rested on Pacey’s butt. He saw how Pacey pulled her closer, how his arm circled around her waist. He couldn’t help but imagine seeing Pacey’s tongue entering Joey’s mouth.

He was relieved as it ended when Jen dragged Joey away. He tried to accept it, he really did. Sometimes it was close to okay for him to see them together, but when he saw them exchanging such intimacies it still hurt him a lot.

"Hi, Pacey." He forced himself to smile as he stepped up behind his... friend. Were they still friends? Somehow he doubted that. Everything had changed.

"Hey D-man. Nice party you have going here." Pacey pushed his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He noticed his intentional smile. It wasn’t important for him though.

"Well, yeah. Same as every year, I guess." Dawson shrugged avoiding Pacey’s eyes.

"Yeah." Pacey waited if Dawson was going to say anything else. He wouldn’t force a conversation. It seemed like they hadn’t much left to tell each other. Nothing. "I’ll go get something to drink. Your mother has made her famous eggnog again, hasn’t she?" He asked just to say anything and to use it as an excuse to get away from him.

"Sure thing. Kitchen... as always." Dawson nodded politely.

"Okay... want some, too?" Pacey offered already knowing the answer would be ‘no’.

"No, I’m good. I’ll go mingle a little. See you later." Dawson nodded once again and stalked off.

~*~

Pacey went to the kitchen and found Joey and Jen sitting at the kitchen table nursing their glasses filled with eggnog.

"Hey, ladies. Would you mind if I joined your little private party?" He helped himself to the traditional Christmas drink and plopped down on the chair next to Joey.

"Did we say ‘yes’ yet, Pacey?" Jen raised her brows slightly amused.

"No, but I know that Joey has already missed me... and you didn’t say ‘no’. Why? Am I intruding here? Don’t you want me around, Lindley?" Pacey took Joey’s hand in his while talking. It felt natural to do just that.

"My, aren’t we cocky tonight.... uh... no, not tonight. That’s your second nature, isn’t it? Or maybe it’s your first?" Jen tried to stay serious but her eyes were giving her away.

"Ah..., Lindley. I’m offended. ... Joey, do you want me to leave, too?" Pacey placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand and watched her expectantly.

"Of course not." Joey scooted closer to him and added teasingly, "And Jen’s just playing with you... because you’re keeping us from talking about you behind your back."

"So you’re talking about me?" Pacey knew she was teasing him, but maybe she did talk about him with Jen or her sister. The thought made his stomach do flip-flops. Maybe this was cheesy... especially for a guy but he liked the idea of being on her mind.

"Come here, Potter." Pacey hitched his chair back and tugged at Joey’s hand, motioning for her to sit on his lap. Maybe this was too forward, especially with Jen sitting just across from them, but he wanted her closer.

Much to his surprise Joey followed his invitation promptly. She settled down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and lay her head on his shoulder.

"You two make me sick." Jen stated but burst into a fit of giggles.

~*~

"Hey, there you are! We’ve been looking all over for you. And it seems you’re having a lot of fun here." Andie’s perky voice pierced through Jen’s laughter.

"Uhhh..." Joey tried to muffle her groan by nuzzling further into Pacey’s neck.

"Hey, Andie... hey, Jack!" Jen greeted the twins who joined them at the table.

"Hey, Jen." Jack’s eyes lit up. They had indeed looked for them for a while. He hoped Jen would be here, too. He knew that things were pretty tense between her and Dawson so he wasn’t sure if she would attend the party.

"What are we doing?" Andie chirped ignoring that Jack had only eyes for Jen.

"Not much. Hanging out in the kitchen, drinking, chatting the night way... pretty much like what we do every other day." Andie was acting a little too girly for Pacey’s taste.

"But it’s Christmas! Let’s do something special." Andie exclaimed and beamed at them.

"Well, this is very special for me." Pacey mumbled while kissing Joey’s cheek.

"For me, too." Joey kissed his forehead and played with the small hairs at the nape of his neck. She loved to do that.

Pacey’s heartbeat quickened again. Lately their physical exchanges had increased rapidly. Not that he was complaining, but it caused a constant state of arousal in him and having Joey sit in his lap didn’t help that much.

He couldn’t help himself, which was another fact that had increased, he let one hand run down her side to her knee and then moved upwards again, slipping underneath the hem of her dress and resting on her leg, just a little above her knee.

A few weeks ago she would have clocked him, not anymore. And this realization caused another wave of heat to rush through him. She stiffened a little as his hand went under her dress but relaxed to his touch only moments afterwards. She didn’t complain.

"Very special." Joey added again. Feeling Pacey’s hand move up her leg and under her dress made her hold her breath.

Jen watched them and felt a bit envious. She missed being in love like that. Suddenly an idea formed in her mind.

"Did you two take a look at the tree yet? It’s famous..." Jen suggested.

Joey caught Jen’s eye and knew what she was up to. Well, they did actually talk about Pacey before he joined them... but not only about him.

"Yeah, it’s legendary... you should take a look." Joey advised backing Jen’s idea.

"No we didn’t really see the tree. There are so many people out there. I love Christmas trees, can never get enough of them."

Andie didn’t need much convincing and the three of them quickly started towards the living room. They had to pass the doorway and just when the went under it, Jen cleared her throat.

"Oh, Jack... look... mistletoe." Again she pointed to the ceiling. Only this time she was really feeling nervous.

"Really? Well, we wouldn’t want to mess with tradition now, would we?" Jack blushed but bend forward and softly kissed Jen’s lips. Boy did he love Christmas traditions.

Andie stared at them and frowned.

"Yeah, fine... can we go look at the tree already?" she tugged impatiently at her brother’s arm.

"Uh-huh." Jack muttered but gazed in Jen’s blue eyes before following his sister.

Jen smiled up at him. She really liked him. He was a little shy, but she liked him.

~*~

"Andie is so exasperating." Joey sighed, wiggling around a little to change her position.

"Mmhh." Pacey gently stilled her movement by placing his hand on her hip. If she kept this up any longer...well...

Joey sighed again. "You know... I don’t really want to stay any longer."

"No?", Pacey kissed his way along her jaw line.

"Uh-uh." Joey tilted her head a little to give him better access, she wanted to be alone with him. The want scared her a bit, but still.

"Let’s go home, Pace. Please?" Her eyes begged him.

"Okay,..." Pacey couldn’t resist her plea and he didn’t want to, "... let’s go...after we’ve said our goodbyes, okay?

"Okay." Joey smile and stood up, attempting to pull him with her.

Just before it would turn out to be a little embarrassing for him, Pacey cleared his throat.

"You know, why don’t you go and look for Bessie and Bodie first, while I go over to Jen?" He needed some time alone before he could even try to walk.

"Yeah, alright. See you at the door." Joey smiled, kissed him once again before she headed towards the next room, searching for her sister.

"Jo... Joey, ... Josephine." More asleep than awake Joey heard somebody call her name. No, not somebody, it was Pacey’s voice. Her eyes were still closed and she refused to wake up.

Pacey whispered her name again and she could feel his mouth close to her ear. She felt his breath tickling her, trying to coax her awake. She loved to wake up next to him and she loved being so close to him all through the night. She could even sleep much, much better with him lying beside her.

Still not opening her eyes she snuggled even closer to him and placed her arm over his stomach. She couldn’t muffle the small sigh that escaped her lips and she knew he was aware that she was awake now.

Pacey ran his hand gently up and down her arm. It was all he could do to stop himself from pulling her right on top of him.

"Merry Christmas, Jo." Pacey whispered and kissed the top of her head.

"Merry Christmas, Pace." Joey opened her eyes slowly. It was only at the dawn of the day and it was still more or less dark. She sighed and laced her hand with his.

"It’s sooo early, Pace. Why are you waking me?"

"Because." Pacey grinned and rolled over to the side to face Joey. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Because?" Joey raised her eyebrow, "What’s wrong with you... giving up on a chance to sleep in?" Joey yawned and buried her head in the crook of Pacey’s neck.

"It’s Christmas, Jo. Who does sleep in on Christmas? It’s all about getting up as soon as possible, lighting the tree and..." Pacey explained seriously but his eyes sparkled and a broad smile tugged persistently at the corners of his mouth.

"Uh-huh ... and go looking for your gifts!" Joey teased and smiled. Pacey looked like a little boy filled with great expectations of Christmas and a lot of presents. Sometimes he still seemed to be a kid but most of the time he seemed to be so ... manly. Joey hesitated. Had she just been thinking that ... really? God, she loved him more every day, if that was possible.

"What are you grinning about, Potter?" Pacey tried to read her expression.

"Ummm..." No, Joey wasn’t about to tell him that, not yet anyway. Slowly she let her hand travel upwards from his waist, over his chest, his neck and finally to his cheek. All the while her fingertips slightly grazed his skin and the thin material of his wife-beater. She could feel and see the sharp intake of his breath while his eyes turned a darker shade of blue. Somehow she couldn’t quite get to terms with the fact that she was able to provoke these kind of reactions in him. She loved it. Growing a little bolder her thumb danced over his lips, tracing the beautiful smile. She licked her lips as a mischievous sparkle entered her eyes.

"Have you been good this year, Pace? ... You know, only good kids get presents from Santa..."

Pacey swallowed. Her little touches were driving him crazy. His heart raced and when her thumb brushed over his lips again he caught it with his teeth. Softly nibbling on it and eliciting a small moan.

"You tell me, Jo... have I been good?" They were so close and the heat between them was almost tangible.

Joey opened her mouth to answer but was cut short by Alex’s wailing.

~*~

"Are we interrupting ... anything?" Bessie teased as she and Bodie entered the living room.

Joey blushed. She couldn’t really answer in the affirmative, or could she? It was quite obvious that they were disturbing... and she felt a little embarrassed. But if she actually said yes, actually voiced it ... no, she wasn’t ready for that. She lay her head back down on Pacey’s shoulder, gazing at her sister and Bodie. Bodie frowned. From his looks she knew that he was unsure of how to react to them and their new relationship. He was just like a father for her and what father liked his daughter’s boyfriend anyway? Not to speak of his daughter and sex in the same sentence. Joey couldn’t help but smile.

"Umm.... no?" Pacey cleared his throat and because Joey chose to say nothing he felt obliged to do something. But his answer wasn’t quite convincing. He knew it, Joey knew it, Bessie knew it and Bodie knew it. Oh yeah, he knew exactly ... and his expression told Pacey just how much he knew.

"Could’ve fooled me." Bessie grinned and twinkled towards Joey.

Pacey opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. Right into the silence of embarrassment Alex decided to make his presence known. He gurgled, kicked with his little feet and stuck his arms in Pacey’s direction.

Bessie could hardly hold on to the baby as he kicked and struggled to get out of her arms which caused her to burst into a fit of giggles. "I really don’t know why... but all Potters just flock to you, like moth to a flame, Pacey." She handed Alex over who immediately started to poke Pacey everywhere his chubby fingers could reach.

"All Potters, Bessie?" Pacey raised his eyebrow, thankful that the tension was broken.

"Only the underaged ones." Bodie wrapped his arm around Bessie and smiled.

"Nice, Bodie!" Joey glared at him but smiled, "Merry Christmas, by the way."

"Aww... Merry Christmas, sis!" Bessie bent over and hugged her and Pacey at the same time. This year’s Christmas looked much better than the last ones. She blinked quickly to hide her tears while still holding on to her sister.

Pacey sensed the tiny mood swing. In some ways Bessie was just like Joey and he knew that Christmas was a very tough time of the year for both of them.

"Yep, Merry Christmas everyone ... now, what about those nice presents?" he quipped and tossed Alex up in the air which caused him to giggle approvingly.

~*~

Bodie lit the tree while the others gathered around the tree, mostly sitting on Joey’s bed which was the living room couch.

"Umm... I know that we’re not very religious and ..." Bessie started wringing her hands, "... but I thought since it’s Alex first Christmas ... I mean, I’m fully aware that he most certainly doesn’t give a damn anyway... but ..."

Pacey watched Bessie and couldn’t help but notice how similar both Potter sisters were. Both started to ramble when they were nervous or insecure and both talked with their hands. Strange, that he never noticed anything like that in his own family. Absent mindedly he let Alex suck on his index finger while silently thanking God or whichever greater power there was that he was allowed to spend Christmas with Joey and her family.

"Just say it, Bessie." Joey rolled her eyes, more interested in the way her hand softly caressed Pacey’s back.

"... but I thought it would be nice if we would read the Christmas story first." Bessie took a deep breath and looked expectantly at her family.

"Mom used to do that ... when we were younger." Joey added in a small voice.

"Yeah... kind of a family tradition." Bessie reached for her sister’s hand and squeezed it.

"Yeah ... I’d like that..." Joey smiled a little.

Without another word Bessie opened their mother’s old bible, which she had recently found in the attic and started to read.

After she had finished it was time for the presents. Sticking to tradition Alex was the first to receive his gifts. Normally they went by the rule one gift for each of them, but the baby got spoiled a little, a few toys and some tiny baby jeans and shirts.

Alex was still sitting in Pacey’s lap and wasn’t very interested in his presents. Who would be if you could tear at nicely colored wrappings and create a big chaos of heaps of paper snippets?

"Okay, I guess Alex is pretty happy... and now, well... I guess you’ve been good, Pace..." Joey nudged Pacey lovingly in his side, "... because Santa did leave a little something for you, too." She grinned and let the tip of her tongue peak out.

"Oh, really?" Pacey raised his brow.

"Uh-huh... seems like it. Unbelievable but true." Joey bent forward to reach for a small blue box.

"Pacey, hand my son over." Bessie ordered with laughing eyes, "You got something better to do now with your hands.... but please, I know it’s kinda hard for you... but no more gift wrapping mess, okay?"

"Uhhh.... I was sooo looking forward to that part." Pacey pouted mockingly as he placed the baby in Bessie’s arms.

Joey giggled. "Poor big baby..." She ran her hand through his mop of curls before handing him the box. "Umm, actually... this is a present from all of us."

Pacey’s eyes darted from Joey to Bessie and Bodie and then back to Joey. Curiosity got the best of him and he raised the lid.

For a second he just stared at the shiny object. A key. They gave him a key. A key?

Confused he looked up but before he could say anything Bessie cleared her throat.

"We thought that, after everything your so-called family put you through and might I add, they really topped it with leaving you all by yourself for Christmas, and since you and Jo, well..." Bessie stopped. She wasn’t good at such big declarations. She turned her head towards Bodie.

"Yeah... we just want you to know that you’re a part of our family and this key, well, you can come here whenever you want. This is your home, too. ..."

Pacey’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. "Umm... I... umm...." Pacey mumbled but had no clue what to say really.

Joey smiled. "Aww, Pace ... are you blushing?" she poked her index finger lightly into his cheek. She loved that she was able to see him like that. All the years she knew him, grew up with him and watched him ... she had always known that he put on a mask for the world to see. And now she felt extremely privileged and honored to get to know 100 % of him and that he wasn’t hiding anything from her.

"Blushing? Me? Woman, I do not blush, never ... that’s nothing but an evil rumor." Pacey managed to say but when he raised his eyes to hers they were belying him ... and he didn’t mind.

"Thank you so much... that means the world to me, really it does. ... I ... I don’t remember receiving a greater and better gift than this..." he had to clear his throat several times to get it out. He didn’t feel embarrassed or anything like that, it was just so emotional. His father would have frowned upon his display of emotions, but Joey and her family... from the look on their faces he could feel that they felt the same. As unbelievable as it seemed to be, they really wanted him to be a part of them.

Although he remembered Bodie’s expression perfectly well, he couldn’t resist the urge to pull Joey closer and nuzzle her hair. "Thank you.", he whispered in her ear, wanting to keep her as close as possible.

"You’re very welcome, Pace ..." Joey wrapped her arms around him and pecked him lightly on his neck, "... and that’s not all." Joey slowly pulled away from him, blushing herself now. She bit down on her bottom lip nervously while backing further away and reaching for something behind the couch.

Pacey didn’t move his eyes away from her, wondering why she was so insecure all of a sudden. Her facial expressions were something he got to know by heart a bit more every day, every moment they shared together.

"The key is more than enough, you shouldn’t have..."

"Oh... so, are you saying you don’t want this?" Joey teased, still feeling uneasy but calmer.

Pacey’s eyes widened for a second time as she presented a big, a really big, rectangular package from behind her back.

"Nooo, I didn’t say that." Pacey licked his lip out of anticipation and let his gaze wander longingly between the present and Joey’s eyes.

Joey pretended to think about giving or not giving it to him. She loved watching him squirm and he was so cute when he put his begging puppy dog eyes to work. Not that he needed to, well... she did feel better now about the gift, still... what if he didn’t like it?

Pacey used exactly this moment of her inattentiveness and lunged for the package, grabbing it from her lap.

"Uh..." Joey gazed at him a bit confused. So much for deciding.

"Got it!" Pacey grinned.

"Uh-huh... it’s nothing special though.... and if you don’t like it..." Joey’s voice trailed off. She wasn’t even sure if he had heard her. He seemed so engrossed in studying his present.

The paper she had chosen was nothing fancy. It was a creamy white, strong paper and the satin ribbon she had draped on it was of a deep blue. Pacey was careful to not destroy it and fumbled around to loosen the Scotch tape. It took him a few minutes and when he finally managed to unwrap the content he had to suck in a deep breath.

The rectangular form revealed itself now as a blonde wooden frame which was holding a picture, well, not so much a picture but a painting. A painting that was so alive and full of something he didn’t dare to put his finger on.

"My God, Jo..." Pacey’s voice was barely above a whisper.

"It’s okay, if you don’t like it... it’s not very good.... I..." Joey tried to touch the frame but Pacey didn’t let go of it.

"Are you crazy? ... Jo, this is... amazing, beautiful.... I ... how?" he tightened his grip of the painting and forced his eyes to look up at Joey.

"Umm... well, I wanted to get you something meaningful... and then I found my Mom’s painting stuff and.... I’m not so talented I guess..." Joey worried her lip once more.

"Not talented? Are you kidding me?" Pacey shook his head. He definitely had to work on Joey’s self esteem.

"This is .... you are so very talented. You say you just started to paint and this looks like, ... like someone with lifelong experience created this."

"You’re just saying that because..."

"Will you shut up? I’m not just saying this." Pacey took a deep breath, again absorbing every detail of the painting.

"Hey, turn it over already." Bessie demanded, extremely curious.

Pacey continued to shake his head. Nope, he wouldn’t hand it to her. He just moved a little and held the painting up so that Bodie and Bessie could take a look.

"Awww..." Bessie sighed and a huge smile spread over her face. Bodie smiled and nodded. "That’s great."

Pacey cradled the frame in his lap again, tracing the two figures in it with his finger. It wasn’t as clear as a photograph but it showed so much more than just two people kissing in the dark in front of a porch.

Joey had captured everything in her work. He could see the surprise of both of them, the insecurities, the longing, the first traces of love, the promises ... simply everything.

This time Pacey couldn’t find any more words. He propped the painting against the back of the couch and stood up. Taking Joey’s shaking hand in his he gently forced her to stand up and pulled her flush against him. He could see unshed tears in her eyes and knew that there were some in his own as well. Without a word and without caring who watched them, he kissed her passionately.

"Umm... okay... okay, we know that you like it, you can cut it out... now..." Bodie shifted uncomfortably.

Pacey grinned. "Uh-uh, I don’t like it, I love it."

Bessie patted Bodie’s back, obviously very amused by his slight discomfort.

"Why do I have this certain feeling, that he isn’t talking about the painting?" Bodie muttered capturing Bessie’s hand in his own.

"No idea..." Bessie laughed.

"So, ... I guess it’s my turn now." Pacey crouched down and reached for a middle sized box. His palms started to sweat a little. A new habit he could certainly live without.

"Merry Christmas, Jo." Pacey gave Joey her present and watched anxiously as she lifted the lid.

For a split second Joey was astonished as she saw a mass of green threads, which bore an amazing similarity to Easter grass. Then she remembered who was giving the present to her. She looked up and mockingly rolled her eyes at Pacey.

"Nice, Pace. You know... we’re celebrating Jesus’ birthday today.... not his resurrection."

"Jeez, that’s why I couldn’t get some of those colored eggs...." Pacey grinned and played along, "Dig a little deeper, Jo."

Joey raked around in the box and suddenly felt something beneath the grass. "Oh, there’s something else..." she announced excitedly and pulled at the hidden item. A much smaller box came into view. It was made of dark blue velvet and looked suspiciously like a jewelry box.

"Ohhh...." Joey’s eyes grew wide and her hands were shaking a little. Would Pacey give her jewelry for Christmas? Stupid question, obviously. She had never gotten jewels before, well, no... she had, but... from her Dad and her Mom, but that was different.

"Umm... aren’t you going to open it?" Pacey couldn’t take the tension any longer. The last weeks he had a very hard time hiding it from her and an even harder time from refraining to give it to her before Christmas. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction.

"Huh? ... Oh, no... I mean... yes, sure..." Joey stammered and lowered her gaze back to the box she was holding.

She pressed the small clasp and watched the lid snap open. Inside lay a silver heart locket, complete with a delicate silver chain. The heart’s surface was smooth. It was simple but beautiful.

"Pace..." Joey whispered not daring to touch the locket.

"Umm.... you can open it..." He could see that she liked it, but what was inside of it, well...

Joey licked her dry lips and took the locket into her hand. It didn’t open at once and when it finally did, tears sprang to her eyes immediately. Tears caused by the picture the heart was holding. A picture of her and Bessie and her Dad and her Mom. A picture from another time, a happy time.

"Hey, don’t cry.... please?" Pacey gathered her in his arms and gently wiped her tears away. Somehow he had expected such a reaction but he hated to see her cry.

Joey sniffed before she could say anything. "This is... thank you, Pace. It’s so beautiful. You shouldn’t have spend so much...."

Pacey interrupted her, "Uh-uh, don’t you worry about that. It’s worth every penny ... if you like it...."

"Of course, I do... just... the picture... that’s so long ago... How did you get it anyway?" Joey took a deep breath, overwhelmed by everything.

"That’s for me to know..." Pacey teased and looked at Bessie.

"Of course..." Joey smiled.

"Umm... there’s room for another picture there..." Pacey pointed at the locket, "... and I thought that maybe, if you want ... we could take one of the pictures Bessie has taken of... umm... us and..." he looked at her expectantly.

"I’d love that. This is the best gift ever." Joey raised herself so that she could peck Pacey on the tip of his nose.

"Yeah?" Pacey smiled widely. "Turn it over, Jo."

"Hmmm...." Joey turned the heart and found an engraving. For Joey from Pacey ~ Christmas 1998

"Aww.... I... can you help me?" Joey handed Pacey the locket and turned her back to him, while pulling her hair up to a high ponytail.

"Sure." Pacey fiddled with the tiny fastener and when he was done, kissed her neck, "There you go..."

"Great... I think it’s time for breakfast now." Bodie rose from his seat and motioned towards the kitchen.

Bodie had prepared his famous, orgasmic, Christmas breakfast, which everybody enjoyed. Not everyone enjoyed it because of the food, though.

Pacey kept stealing glances over to the painting, alternating with grinning at Joey and squeezing her hand under the table.

Joey’s hand was almost glued to the locket, at least when it wasn’t touching Pacey’s hand and she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face either.

They still sat around the table, when the phone started to ring.

Annoyed by the interruption Bessie answered and handed it over to Joey.

"Merry Christmas, Joey." Jen’s excited voice nearly screamed through the receiver.

"Merry Christmas, Jen." Joey raised a brow. It was a little strange to hear such a happy and awake Jen at this hour.

"I hope I’m not disturbing anything? Your sister seemed a little gruff..."

"Yeah, well, ... no, you’re not disturbing."

"Great. So, how did the Christmas morning go for you so far?"

"The best. Pacey gave me such a wonderful present..." Joey started to say but was interrupted by Jen.

"Good, you know... that’s really great, but... I have something to tell you." The words bubbled out of her mouth at an enormous speed.

"Okay..." Joey rolled her eyes and leaned back on Pacey’s shoulder, who immediately wrapped his arm around her.

"See, Jack kissed me..."

~*~

The next days flew by like nothing. Joey and Pacey didn’t mind spending most of the time by themselves.

Mr. McPhee had come down from Providence so that Andie and Jack were engaged with family life, which only Jen found somewhat unnerving.

She came over to the Potter’s once and again and after a few days she was actually able to think about something... or rather someone other than Jack. A fact which made Joey giggle. It was hilarious to experience Jen when she wasn’t Miss Cool. Jack had obviously touched a very sensitive point in Jen and Joey was happy for her. Nevertheless there were only so many times she could listen to the same story.

Dawson and his parents were visiting his Aunt Gwen. Dawson wasn’t too fond about the idea of staying there until New Year’s Eve and to put it mildly he was a little upset about the lack of Joey’s sympathy. He knew that she wouldn’t miss him as much as he would miss her. She had Pacey.

~*~

"Joey, Pacey... could you come in for a moment?" Bessie yelled as she spotted the two teenagers on the dock.

The temperatures finally met the season and dropped immensely. Bessie shivered and hurried back inside the house.

"What’s up?" Joey peeled the warm coat off of her and handed it over to Pacey who put it away along with his own.

"Ummm, why don’t you two join us first." Bessie motioned for them to take a seat at the kitchen table.

"This sounds ominously serious." Joey frowned and played with her locket.

"No, it’s nothing bad..." Bodie appeased as he sat down next to Bessie.

As soon as Pacey had taken his place beside Joey, Bessie started to talk again.

"Well, the thing is... Bodies mom called this morning when you were out. This is kind of short notice, but she invited us to spend New Year’s Eve and Day with her in Hyannis." Bessie wrung her hands as she looked at the blank expressions she was receiving, "She said it’s been way too long since she’s seen us... and, Bodie being Bodie, well, he agreed."

"So?" Joey raised a brow. She didn’t get the problem so far.

"So, we’ll be driving up to Hyannis early tomorrow morning. And..." Bessie hesitated, "... we were wondering what you two think about that."

"That is, we didn’t think you’d want to join us there." Bodie explained

"Umm, not so much, no. ... At least I think so." Joey looked at her sister, "...and? What’s the problem?"

"The problem is... that I don’t know... I mean, it would be the first New Year’s Eve we wouldn’t spend together. And I would stay... if..." Bessie added quietly.

"Ohh, no... Bess, really. It’s okay. I mean, I won’t be alone and ..." Joey assured her sister quickly.

"I know, I know... you’re not a baby anymore." Bessie laughed even though she still felt a little unsure of what to do. "You really don’t have a problem with it?"

"No. We’ve spent Christmas together and I guess Bodie’s mom is dying to see Alex." Joey smiled.

"Probably." Bodie grinned and took Bessie’s hand, "And there you go, telling me I was acting over-fatherly. Now look who can’t let go of her sister." Raising her hand he brushed his lips over her knuckles.

"Fine, fine." Bessie pouted, "Go ahead and make fun of me. It’s just hard..." She hesitated while a mischievous glimmer entered her eyes. "... I’ll remind you of that, when you realize that these two kids..." she pointed at Joey and Pacey, "... will be all alone here for two days, without your supervision..."

"Ummm...." Bodie cleared his throat. No matter what you said, one of the Potter girls would surely use it against you. There was no way of winning an argument. He should have known by now.

"Bessie, I’m horrified at your insinuation. Don’t you trust us?" Pacey asked with pretended humiliation.

Bessie raised a brow and glared at him. "I do trust my sister, but I do know how the mind of fifteen year old boys work." She leaned back and crossed her arms for effect before continuing, "And you, Pacey... do you need to be reminded of this past year events, huh?"

Pacey blushed and lowered his head. He certainly didn’t need to be reminded. Suddenly he wondered why Bessie and Bodie would even consider leaving Joey alone with him, why they had given him a key.

Joey’s eyes shot daggers at her sister. She knew what Pacey had to be thinking now and she hated that.

The instant she had said it, Bessie regretted it. She had intended to tease Pacey a bit, but she hadn’t thought about what it might trigger deep within the boy. One of the reasons they had given him the key was, that she wanted him to have a family like he deserved to have. Just thinking about the way his parents and most of all his father was treating him made her furious. But now she had acted just like him.

Running a hand through her hair she stood up and walked around the table. Pacey was still looking down so she took his chin and gently forced him to look at her.

"Pacey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just joking, okay? I know you would never do anything to hurt Joey and I do know that I, that we can trust you. You know the Potter temper and... I just couldn’t help myself." Bessie looked directly in his eyes. She could see that she was getting through to him, nevertheless she still found a hint of pain in them.

"Actually it makes me feel a whole lot better to know that Joey will be with you or you with her or ... whatever. And, Pacey... I would leave Alex with you anytime, no matter what, I know that I can count on you. So please, forget what I was babbling a minute ago, okay?"

Pacey searched Bessie’s eyes and couldn’t find any resentment there. She had touched a sore spot with what she had said, but he realized that she was really only joking. He could see that she was indeed trusting him. Maybe he had overreacted a bit.

"Okay.", he answered only to find himself being swept up in a heartfelt hug by Bessie.

"Whatever you two will be doing while we’re gone ... be careful ... and ... ummm.... safe." she whispered into his ear and caused him to blush.

"Bessie..." Pacey started embarrassed.

"Hush. Whenever, okay?"

Pacey nodded. Joey, who had caught Bessie’s advice, chose to study the tablecloth intently and said nothing. If Bessie only knew.

~*~

"Finally." Joey sighed and wrapped her arms around Pacey’s waist.

"Uh-huh." Pacey kicked the door shut while his hands found their way into Joey’s hair, "Took them long enough. Didn’t they want to hit the road like two hours ago?"

"Yep. Bodie wanted to get going as early as possible because the forecast said something about snow this morning, but my dear sister always takes her time with packing and what not." Joey grinned.

"Mhhmm, must be a genetic thing." Pacey teased and nibbled on her earlobe.

"Huh? What do you mean with that?" Joey drew her head back so that she could look at Pacey.

"Well, I know another member of the Potter family who does take her sweet time double-checking everything..."

"Are you saying I’m slow." Joey withdrew her arms and put them akimbo.

"Nah, wouldn’t dream of it ... do you remember the snails...?" Pacey grabbed her arms and put them back to his waist.

Joey allowed him to do it but opened her mouth to say something when the phone started to ring.

"Saved by the ring..." Pacey chuckled and watched her walking over to the table with an intriguing sway of her hips.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Joey. It’s me. We’ve just come back home and I thought I’d give you a call."

"Hi, Dawson." Joey plopped down on the couch. "You’re back already?"

"... or not so much saved." Pacey thought, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He was about to walk over to the kitchen as he caught Joey’s gaze which motioned for him to join her.

"Or saved again." He smiled.

"Umm, well... it’s been almost a week, so..." Dawson sighed. It was obvious that Joey wasn’t that much interested in his returning home.

"Yeah, right. Time flies, huh?" Joey laced her right hand with Pacey’s and cradled the receiver between her shoulder and her ear so that her left hand could play with her locket.

"Must be. I’ve no idea where the last year has gone." Dawson paused and stared out of his window, "Listen, I thought that maybe... umm.... . Do you have any plans for tonight? I thought we could have a movie night and watch the ball drop at midnight." he raised his voice hopefully.

"Hmmm, well. Thanks for the invitation, Dawson, but I’m not sure if we ... ummm... can make it," Joey answered thoughtfully while losing herself once again in Pacey’s blue eyes.

"Oh, I see... you have other plans." Dawson propped his head on his hand and closed his eyes defeated.

"I’m sorry, but..." Joey shrugged even though Dawson couldn’t see that.

"Yeah. So what are you up to?" Dawson inquired, not ready to give up on his plan to spend New Year’s Eve with her. Maybe he could convince them to come over eventually.

Joey frowned, not knowing what to tell him. She didn’t want to hurt him, but over the last few days she had grown to appreciate being alone with Pacey. Now that her family had left them alone as well, she wasn’t too keen on changing it.

"We ... it’s our first New Year’s Eve together and ... can you understand that?"

Pacey smiled at her. It still amazed him that she wanted to be with him and that she wanted to be alone with him, that she didn’t need anything or anyone else.

"Not really, no. I mean, what would you be doing that you couldn’t do with somebody else in the room?" Dawson tapped his fingertips exasperatedly on the table.

"I’m certainly not going to discuss that with you. I’ve gotta run now anyway, talk to you later, okay?" Suddenly Joey wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Yeah. Think about tonight, though. Bye." Dawson tried again.

"Bye." Joey pressed the red button on the receiver and pushed it on the table. She couldn’t believe that Dawson was acting the way he was.

"What did he want?" Pacey asked observing her irritated state.

"He wanted us to come over for a movie night."

"And you don’t want to go," Pacey stated, remembering that she had told Dawson it was their first New Year’s Eve together.

"No. Do you want to go?" Joey looked at him. Maybe she should have asked him before she had denied Dawson’s invitation.

"Let’s see." Pacey held his hands up, imitating a scale. "Falling asleep during another lame movie night ... or ... spending New Year’s Eve with my gorgeous girlfriend .... hmmmm..." Pacey raised and lowered his hands in opposite directions, pretending to be deep in thought. "No, I guess I prefer staying in with you."

"Good decision, Witter." Joey smiled seductively.

~*~

"Hey, Jo.... look, it started to snow!" Pacey yelled excitedly over to the kitchen, where Joey was busy making sandwiches. She had made it clear that she didn’t want him to come near her or the kitchen, because she wanted to keep the family secret what it was, a secret, one of the reasons for the incessant success of the Icehouse.

Joey turned her head and peeked out of the window. It was definitely snowing, it was snowing a lot actually. She grabbed the two plates and returned to the couch.

"Do you think they’ll make it to Hyannis? It’s more like a snowstorm if you ask me." Joey worried as she stepped behind Pacey who gazed out into the white flurries.

"It’s not that bad. I guess they should almost be there by now. They’ll be fine." Pacey pulled her against him and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I hope so." Joey snuggled into Pacey’s embrace.

"Don’t worry, honey. I’m sure Bessie will call any minute now," he assured her once again.

"Yeah. ... maybe we can go out and...."

"... play in the snow?" Pacey ended the sentence for her and smirked.

Joey shook her head. Pacey and snow, that was a mixture nobody could resist. "After lunch... if it keeps snowing like this, it should be good..."

"...to play with," Pacey added again.

"Yep." Joey smiled, there was the little boy in him again.

~*~

Just like Pacey had said, Bessie had called shortly after their lunch to let them know that they had safely arrived in Hyannis.

In the early afternoon it stopped snowing but a solid four or five inch layer of the cold white powder covered the ground and Pacey wasn’t stoppable any longer.

"Come out and play with me, Jo," he begged and held her coat open for her.

"Okay, but you don’t need to beg." Joey slipped the offered coat on and brushed her lips over Pacey’s.

"No?" Pacey asked amused before returning the light kiss.

"No. I love to play with you ... in the snow." Joey smiled widely and let her tongue peek out between her teeth.

"Tongue, Potter." Pacey placed his hands on her hips, pulling her close.

"I know." Joey smiled up at him innocently.

"You know..." Pacey groaned and crushed his lips on hers, kissing her with more fervor this time.

Their bodies molded together perfectly as they continued to kiss. When Pacey slowly moved his mouth from hers and placed sweet kisses down her throat she suddenly pulled back.

"What?" Pacey asked surprised.

"Didn’t you want to play in the snow, Pace?" Joey grinned and dragged him behind her towards the door.

"Woman!" Pacey complained. He just knew she would be the death of him... sooner or later.

~*~

"Now that is what I call a snowman." Joey stepped back and admired their combined work. The big, round, white man was as tall as Pacey.

The snowman was made of three big balls, instead of a hat he sported one of Bodies pots, several round stones represented buttons and two long wooden salad forks substituted arms. To top it off, Joey had draped an old, big and brightly colored scarf around its neck, or better the juncture between the middle and top ball.

"Yep, we sure are a good team." Pacey nodded proudly. "How do we call our giant baby, huh?"

"Hmm... what about ... Johnny?" Joey smirked.

"Damn, I knew I shouldn’t have told you my middle name." Pacey sighed.

"Aww.... I kinda like it... Pacey John...." Joey kept teasing.

"Yeah, right... just like Josephine Lynn." Pacey shot back, although he did like her name very much.

"Ohh, that’s it." Joey bent over, molded a fluffy snowball and before Pacey knew what was happening it struck him right in the face.

"Oh... just you wait!" Pacey wiped the snow out of his eyes and glared at Joey. Her giggle put an evil grin on his face. "Thinking about it... I changed my mind." He paused and dropped his voice to a menacing tone. "Run!"

Joey was still laughing and it took a second before his threat entered her mind. Openmouthed, she stared at him as if to weigh her options and when he slowly started to nod, she spun around and darted off to the side of the house.

Pacey followed hot on her heels and it didn’t take him long to catch up with her. She had no chance to escape his missiles. After a few minutes a big snowball fight ensued in which none of them made it easy for the other.

When Pacey paid all his attention to creating new snowballs, Joey took this advantage, knocked him over and tackled him to ground by falling on top of him.

"Owww, Jo!" Pacey exclaimed but didn’t complain so much because having Joey lying on top of him was anything but uncomfortable. "That wasn’t fair." He used his hands effectively to hold her in place and pouted.

"But Pace, don’t you know that all’s fair in love and war?" Joey rubbed her cold, red nose against his.

"So they say... and with which version do we go here?" Pacey kissed the tip of her nose. She looked so cute with her red colored nose and cheeks and her dark eyes that reflected the bright white snow.

"Do you really have to ask that?" Joey cradled his head in her hands.

"Just checking." Pacey grinned, "Love you."

"Love you more."

"C’mere." Pacey ran his hands along her sides up to her neck and pulled her back down to him.

Their tongues continued their former fight on a different level and their mingling breath became so hot that it could almost melt the snow around them... but only almost. After a few minutes Pacey could no longer ignore the cold wetness that crept up his backside, no matter how much his front was enjoying it.

"Umm... Jo, as much as I would like to lie here forever.... I’m freezing to the ground here."

"Oh... I’m sorry." Joey hurried to get up and offered Pacey her hand to help him up.

"I love your little fight tactics though..."

"Uh-huh... I bet you do." Joey giggled but stopped after she noticed the clattering of Pacey’s teeth. "Pace, you’re really freezing. You need to get warm."

"Oh, I can think of some ways..." Pacey wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"I’m sure... but I was thinking more along the lines of getting out of your wet clothes and taking a hot shower."

"Could we discuss the second part of your idea?" Pacey smirked not really expecting an answer.

"Hmmm... maybe." Joey clapped his butt playfully and pushed him toward the door.

Pacey swallowed hard. Maybe the hot shower needed to be a cold one again.

~*~

Joey heard the water being turned on and realized that Pacey had gone straight to the bathroom without getting some dry clothes. She walked over to the closet where she was keeping her own clothes and where she had made some room for Pacey’s since he was staying with them. She grabbed a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and went to the bathroom.

"Pace?" Joey knocked on the door and waited for his response but received none. He probably hadn’t heard her. Bringing up all the courage she possessed she opened the door a bit and called again. "Pace?" still no response. Joey closed her eyes and stepped into the room.

It was warm inside, but not too hot and the door of the shower wasn’t steamy. At the first involuntary glimpse she caught at Pacey’s naked form behind the door, Joey quickly looked down and blushed. But curiosity and something else got the best of her and she risked another look.

She had seen Pacey in various states of undress but never completely naked, well, at least since they were five years old. And boy had he changed since then. Joey stared at him, unconsciously licking her lips and silently wishing she could find the courage to open the door and join him.

Although she really wanted to, she just couldn’t do it. Thinking about it, dreaming about how it would be, was one thing, but actually doing it, well.... that was a whole different story.

She watched as his hands slid along his body and then lower still. How she wanted to let her hands roam where his own where.

Suddenly Pacey turned around and met her eyes. Her blush turned an even darker shade of red, but she held his gaze.

"Umm... I knocked... and I brought you some fresh clothes," Joey tried to explain.

"What did you say?" Pacey opened the shower door slightly and stuck his head out. He felt a bit self conscious, but the fact that Joey was still there, looking at him and not running away screaming, calmed his sudden case of nerves.

"I... I knocked, but I guess you didn’t hear me... and I brought you some clothes." Joey straightened and smiled at him.

"Oh, no... I didn’t hear you. Thank you." Pacey tried to read her expression. He knew that Joey wanted something although she was fighting with herself. He knew that they were approaching a new stage in their relationship but he feared that she wasn’t ready, at least not completely. And he would be damned if he would do anything she wasn’t ready for.

"Okay..." Joey hesitated. She didn’t really want to go, but she knew she should, or shouldn’t she?

Pacey licked his suddenly dry lips, watching her as she continued to look at him. Well, she looked at his face ... mostly... but when she lowered her gaze like this ... well. Pacey felt his body reacting properly, which didn’t help him ... or her a lot.

Joey saw that her presence affected Pacey, and it seemed to affect him a lot ... which on the other hand affected her again... and... Joey bit down on her lip.

"Ummm... I’m going to make some hot chocolate... You want some, too?" Joey placed the clothes she was still holding on the stool next to the sink and picked his wet clothes up.

"Tea?" Pacey found it hard to concentrate. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay." Joey looked at him again. Her heart was racing but nevertheless she moved forward, closing the gap between them. Maybe she should feel awkward, but she didn’t.

Pacey saw Joey coming towards him and his heart started to race.

"Okay, see you in a few then." Joey placed her hand lightly on Pacey’s hip and stood on tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on his lips before she backed away again and moved towards the door.

"O...kay." Pacey watched her leave and closed his eyes.

"Ice cold shower ... now."

~*~

When Pacey returned to the living room a few minutes later, he found Joey sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace.

"Hey."

"Hey." Joey turned around and smiled shyly at him. The boldness from a few minutes ago had vanished. She was cradling her cup in her hands, almost as if it was some sort of anchor.

"There’s your cup," she pointed to the table.

"Thank you." Pacey wasn’t sure what to say, or if he should say anything about the bathroom incidence. He reached for the cup and sat down beside her.

For a few moments neither of them said one word. It was Pacey who broke the silence eventually.

"Jo?"

"Mhmm?" Joey tilted her head and looked at him, unsure of what he was going to say.

"Ummm, this may sound wrong or... I don’t know, but..." Pacey took a deep breath. "I... I know that we’re moving on to a... umm... to another stage in our relationship, right?"

"Right, ... I guess." Joey blushed again.

"But... and don’t get me wrong now, I... I’m not sure if... if you’re or if we’re ready for that." Pacey put the cup down and reached for her hand. He didn’t want her to get the impression that he was rejecting her.

Joey sighed and stared at their entwined hands.

"Jo? Please look at me." Pacey waited until she complied. "I don’t want to rush you, us.... into anything, okay?"

"I know, Pace. It’s just... I..." Joey searched for words, "...I know that I want... more, and I can feel, that you ... well, ... but I don’t know..." Joey sighed again and bit on her lip to stop it from trembling. "I don’t know how much more, and I know that you’ve experienced all of this before..."

"Jo, I thought we’d talked about that before?" Pacey moved closer to her and pulled her into his embrace.

"We did..."

"So, why? I mean... I told you that it’s different with us..." Pacey struggled to keep calm.

"I know that." Joey closed her eyes before she whispered "It’s ... I don’t want to disappoint you... and you would be, if I started something and then decided to stop before going... umm... all the way. Do you.... do you know what I mean?"

"I do." Pacey kissed her temple and brushed over her hair. "But I told you before that you could never disappoint me."

"You’re saying that now... but... I guess you needed a cold shower, after... when I left the bathroom, right?"

Pacey nodded slowly.

"See, and I guess it’s not very... umm...pleasant to have to that, is it?" Joey drew back a bit and studied his face.

"Umm, well..." Pacey frowned, not understanding where this was going.

"I don’t want to make you uncomfortable... I don’t want you to have to ... do that.... just because in one second I... I tease you .... only to leave you ... hot and bothered in the next."

Pacey couldn’t help but laugh a little. "Well, I love being teased by you."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Because you hope I will follow through?"

"No." Pacey pulled her back to him, "I love it, because... I love to touch you, to kiss you... but I love it even more, if you kiss me because you want to, when you start something," he used his index finger to lift her chin and gazed lovingly into her eyes, "It... it shows me, that you’re with me, because you want to be ... and I can feel that you love me."

Joey’s lip trembled and she had to blink a few times.

"And I’m glad, that you think about us and about what you want to do and what not. This is serious, Jo... and I want our relationship to be serious, too. Believe me, I do want more, I do want to share everything with you... but I’m in no rush... I’m in for the long haul..."

Joey silenced him with a passionate kiss.

"It’s just hard sometimes, and I want to express what I feel..." Joey explained.

"You have no idea how hard really." Pacey twinkled.

"See... but I do .... want to know." Joey looked down.

Pacey swallowed. Thousands of thoughts rushed through his brain and he decided to go with his gut feeling.

"You know... there are so many... things we could do... without going all the way." He cleared his throat, hoping that he hadn’t gone too far.

Joey held her breath for a second. Thousands of thoughts rushed through her brain and she decided to go with her gut feeling.

"Show me..."

~*~

Pacey wasn’t sure if he had heard her right. He studied her eyes but couldn’t find any hesitation in them. Still he had to be completely sure.

"Are you sure? ... Now?"

Joey smiled and caressed his cheek with her hand. "Yes, I’m very sure... and yes, ... now."

Pacey licked his lips. He had to be dreaming. Right? Well, even if it was a dream...

Joey felt anticipation growing within her as Pacey studied her once more. She felt like she was dreaming, but this was real.

Pacey brushed his lips softly, teasingly over hers. He was nervous. He was filled with anticipation. His tongue gently licked Joey’s lip, begging her to open her mouth to him. Joey allowed him the entrance immediately, her tongue meeting his, touching and dancing with his.

Pacey’s hands cradled Joey’s face and guided their kiss at the same time. After a few minutes he gently motioned for her to lay down on the carpet and he followed, careful not to put his weight on her.

As he placed kisses down her throat, her hands slipped under his sweatshirt and roamed over his taut skin. She wanted to feel him closer. Unable to voice her need she tugged at the hem of his shirt.

Pacey understood her silent plea and drew back just long enough to pull the offending item over his head. Joey sat up as well and raised her arms, inviting him with her eyes.

Pacey stared at her. It was really happening. He ran his hands along her sides and slowly, very slowly tugged on her shirt, removing it from her body in slow motion and leaving small kisses on every inch of skin he exposed on the way.

When her shirt had joined his on the floor and their skin touched for the first time without a barrier between them, a moan escaped both of them.

They felt heat spreading through their bodies and desire building rapidly.

Joey kissed Pacey’s heaving Adam’s apple and continued to kiss her way to his chest. As her breath tickled his sensitive nipple she felt him shiver and smiled against his skin.

Pacey could swear he was still dreaming, but he wasn’t. This was real. They were real.

He kissed her hard on the mouth, moving his hands up again, slightly brushing the undersides of her still covered breast. His thumbs flicked over her hardened nipples, causing her to moan into his mouth. When he lowered his head and started to suck on one nipple through the thin cotton material, Joey almost lost it.

"Take it off, Pace... please..." Joey could only whimper but Pacey heard her. His breath was labored and his hands were shaking as they tried to open the clasp that held her bra together.

When he threw the bra to the side Joey closed her eyes embarrassed. What would Pacey think, now that she wasn’t wearing anything, well, anything on her upper half.

Pacey sensed her discomfort and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. He could tell that her hands were itching to cover herself.

"Jo, look at me, please."

Joey opened her eyes obediently, but she couldn’t hide her fear.

"Don’t hide from me, Jo. You’re so beautiful..." Pacey looked at her as she relaxed a little. The fire cast a warm light on them, caressed them.

With one hand he supported Joey’s back, while the other gently kneaded her right breast and his tongue swirled around her right pert nub.

Joey arched her back towards him. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take his assaults. She felt like she was floating on air.

Impatiently her hands traced his waist and stopped at the top button of his jeans. She hesitated, but she wanted more. Slowly she started to open his fly, but his hand stilled her movement.

"Jo..." Pacey’s breath was ragged.

"Please..." Joey kissed his chin before Pacey buried his head in the crook of her neck. He took a deep breath and stood up, hesitantly pushing his jeans down and stepping out of them.

Joey smiled, opening the zipper on her own jeans and lifting her hips to push them down.

They lay back down on the rug facing each other. The only clothes remaining were his boxers and her small panties.

Joey snuggled against Pacey, who wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer. Feeling each other, skin on skin was amazing.

Pacey knew that the flimsy cotton of his boxers couldn’t cover his very much at attention standing cock and he feared that Joey would be afraid when she felt it.

Joey slipped her leg between Pacey’s in an attempt to be as close as possible to him. Pacey groaned as her movement brought his dick directly against her hot core. All coherent thoughts threatened to leave his mind, but he needed to focus on her.

Joey felt his hard penis throbbing against her. She closed her eyes. "Pace..."

Pacey tried to shift and move away from her a little, but Joey let her hand move over to his butt and held him still.

"Jo... I..." Pacey sighed.

"It feels so good, Pace." Joey whispered, leaning her forehead against his shoulder.

Pacey swallowed hard and tried to think, which wasn’t very easy. "Jo..." he turned them over, so that Joey was lying on her back again and moved a little to the side.

Joey whimpered at the loss of contact and Pacey placed his palm soothingly over her abdomen.

"Shh... how does that feel, Jo?" he asked in a husky voice as his hand moved lower and his fingertips drew small circles on the damp cotton of her panties.

Joey couldn’t answer. She could hardly breath, but her own hand pressed his hand harder against her core. Pacey smiled and quickened his movements, applying more pressure and sucked at her breast at the same time. He couldn’t get enough of her.

"God ... Pace..." Joey cried out as her orgasm took over her whole body. The waves rushed through her body as she clung to Pacey for support.

Pacey continued to stroke her until she stopped shaking in his arms. Watching her face during the bliss of pleasure nearly caused him to climax, too. Hell, just the thought of bringing Joey to this height of passion was enough for him.

"Pace..." Joey panted and pressed herself against him, never wanting to lose this intimate contact to him.

"Are you okay?" Pacey kissed her heated forehead and brushed the hair that was sticking to it aside. She was so beautiful and she trusted him completely. To be able to share this with her, to see her like this and to hold her was better than any dream he ever had.

Joey nodded, feeling completely satisfied and spent. Kissing his chest a thought ran through her. He had only thought about her. What about him?

Feeling extremely bold she let her hand wander over his chest, down to his bellybutton and further to the hem of his boxers.

Again Pacey stopped her.

"Pacey... I... I want to make you feel the same... like you made me feel," her voice was almost pleading.

"Jo..." Pacey’s voice was thick with desire, but he hesitated.

"Can I touch you... please?"

Pacey closed his eyes and slowly let go of her hand.

Joey ran the tip of her finger softly along the length of him, amazed by how hard and strong he felt under his boxers. Even this light touch caused Pacey to jerk his hips up from the ground.

Joey watched him fascinated and experimentally closed her hand around his shaft. Pacey hissed and Joey loosened her grip of him immediately, too afraid of having hurt him.

"Did I hurt you?" she asked with a small voice, her insecurities returning with full speed.

"Pacey’s jaw clenched as he struggled to speak. "No.... I ..."

"Show me how?" Joey begged.

Pacey nodded. Taking her hand into his he guided her back and showed her how to touch him and how hard she could squeeze without hurting him. It didn’t take long until Joey felt him harden even more under her ministrations and felt him explode.

Pacey’s mind went blank. Never had he thought this would happen, never. Joey touching him, him touching her.... right in the middle of her living room nevertheless. He pulled her back up to him, cradling her in his embrace and kissed her gently.

~*~

They fell asleep in each others arms and remained like that for the whole night.

Pacey was the first to wake up. The second he opened his eyes it all came back to him. His heart skipped several beats as he gazed down at Joey. If it wasn’t for them lying almost naked on the rug in front of the fireplace, he would swear it had been a dream. He smiled and placed soft kisses on Joey’s still closed eyelids. He couldn’t see the clock, but it must have been late in the morning because the light flooded brightly through the windows.

Joey stirred and when her eyes slowly opened she looked directly into Pacey’s.

"Hey, ... good morning."

"Good morning, sweetie." Pacey kissed her cheek. "We missed the dropping of the ball..." not that he cared about that much.

"We did, huh?" Joey traced the smile that was constantly displayed on his face with her thumb.

"Hmmm. Are you.... regretting it?" Pacey asked seriously.

Joey shook her head. "Never."

The smile returned to Pacey’s face. "Happy New Year, Jo."

"Happy New Year, Pace." Joey smiled. This year could be nothing but happy, she just knew it.

They kissed until a persistent knocking on the door disturbed their peaceful moment.

Joey sighed. "I should probably get that."

"Mhhmmm... probably." Pacey didn’t want to let her go, but finally gave in. "Oh... Jo.... maybe you should put something on.... not that I mind seeing you half naked, but I don’t want to share this beautiful sight with whoever it is outside," he teased.

"Umm.... right..." Joey blushed furiously and reached for the sweatshirt closest to her. It was Pacey’s and reached down to her thighs.

Joey tapped over to the door and opened it slightly. As she realized who was standing in front of her, her eyes widened.

"Happy New Year, Jo. I thought since you couldn’t make it last night we could at least have a New Year’s Brunch together." Dawson greeted her brightly.

"Uh.... Happy New Year, Dawson.... but.... this is not..." Joey frowned.

"Huh? Don’t tell me you’ve still been sleeping?" Dawson looked down at her. She was only wearing a sweatshirt, which obviously didn’t belong to her. He frowned.

"Can I come in, or...?"

"Dawson, this is really not the best time....we just got up...." Joey tried to stop him from stepping inside, but he pushed against the door.

"Hey D-Man. Happy New Year." Pacey appeared behind Joey in nothing but his boxers and with tousled hair.

Dawson squinted his eyes.

"Look, can we call you later?" Pacey suggested, wrapping his arms around Joey’s waist.

"Sorry for the obvious interruption." Dawson glared at them once more before he turned and stomped away. He didn’t want to think about them standing there half-naked... no, he couldn’t do that.

He didn’t see the little star that was still shining above. Maybe it was a little brighter than the day before, maybe it was only the sun....

~*~

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