Pacey tightened his arm around Joey’s shoulders and reached for the blanket that was almost falling off of their laps, draping it over them again.

They had been in flight for a few hours and shortly after the flight attendants had dimmed the cabin’s light for the short night, Joey had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Careful not to disturb her peaceful slumber, Pacey softly tugged a tendril of hair that had fallen in her face back behind her ear. Lightly caressing her cheek he sighed and smiled.

He wasn’t sleepy at all. His mind and his heart were still reeling with everything that happened over the last twenty-four hours. Never had he imagined being with her like this again, well, no... he had imagined it, dreamed about it nearly every day. He just didn’t think those dreams would come true. And here they were, together, off for the summer, alone, sitting on a plane somewhere high above the ocean.

It amazed and scared him at the same time. So much had happened, so many heartaches they had to endure, but they were here nonetheless. This could be it, no... this was it, no more could’s or would’s or might be’s. Ever since she had asked him to come with her, he just knew that this was it for them. Finally. Of course, they still had a lot to work on, but they had all the necessary ingredients to make it work: Joey, Pacey and love. Simple but difficult and worth everything.

A strange feeling of coming home had settled on him. They were so familiar with each other and despite of the time they had spent apart they hadn’t lost their touch, they hadn’t lost them, they were still ‘Joey and Pacey’.

Nevertheless Pacey was kind of relieved that his brother had walked in on them the night before. Although it felt so good and right with Joey on the couch, being so close to her again, he was afraid to move too far and quick too soon. They had all the time in the world and he didn’t want to rush anything.

Pacey gazed at the sleeping beauty in his arms. His sleeping beauty. His everything. His Joey. He nuzzled her hair, inhaling her scent and rested his chin on the top of her head.

No, he wasn’t tired at all. How could he be? Nothing was as calming and exciting as watching her sleep like he had done so many times before.

~*~

Slowly awakening Joey yawned and unconsciously attempted to stretch her limbs only to regret it in the same second. Her whole body felt stiff and sore from sleeping in a more or less sitting position.

"Owww..." Joey moaned and rubbed her still closed eyes.

"Good morning, sweetie." Pacey chuckled and reluctantly released Joey from his embrace to give her some room to move her body.

"Good? I beg to differ," Joey pouted but when she finally opened her eyes the mocking glimmer in them was not to be missed. "I can barely move and every single bone and muscle hurts. The night wasn’t that comfortable, you know?" she continued to complain.

Pacey sniffed, pretending to be hurt by her comment. "And there I was thinking I provided you with a nice, comfy place to cuddle in to..."

"Awww..." Joey smirked and scooted back to him. Twirling her fingers through his thick and soft hair she leaned closer and watched as Pacey struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from morphing into a smile.

"You did give me a very nice place to sleep on, ..." she whispered close to his ear, "... but I ... prefer the full body version of my Pacey-pillow." Emphasizing her point Joey kissed his earlobe and caused a shiver to run down Pacey’s spine.

"Is that so?" Pacey’s voice was husky.

"Uh-huh. I always sleep the best... with you." Joey entwined her hand with his.

Pacey closed his eyes for a moment, silently picturing Joey lying on top of him, or beneath him, or...

"Didn’t you sleep at all?" Joey disturbed his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, ... no." Pacey cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. The images in his mind affected him a lot.

"You look tired." Joey ran her hand along his cheek and examined the circles under his eyes.

"I couldn’t sleep." Pacey twinkled, assuring her that he was fine.

"Hmmm, ... you know, I like your stubbly morning look. Gives you such a ... sexy touch." Joey licked her lips, almost forgetting that they were on a plane.

Pacey’s smile broadened. "Sexy, huh?" He lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers.

~*~

"Coffee or Tea?" the flight attendant asked smugly and raised an eyebrow at the very public display of affection Pacey and Joey were engaging in.

Joey blushed under her inquisitive gaze and started to smooth her shirt. Pacey kept his hand firmly on Joey’s back, while he tilted his head to look at the middle-aged woman. None of them had realized that it was time for breakfast and that the attendants had started to distribute plates. They had been so busy with themselves and he was a little annoyed because of the interruption.

"Good morning to you, too. We’ll take coffee, please." Pacey smiled overly polite.

Joey kept her gaze down. Even though they weren’t teenagers anymore she was still feeling a little uncomfortable when someone witnessed her like that. She couldn’t help the blush that colored her face and she hated that. Why did she feel embarrassed? There was absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Of course Pacey could handle the situation much better, which only served to fuel her annoyance with herself.

As casual and unimportant as this sentence would seem to be for any odd audience, for her, right then and there it meant the world. We. They were ‘we’ again. And then she remembered a bit of history again. Straightening Joey looked up and accepted the plate the attendant was handing her.

"Why is it, that we always get disturbed like that?" Joey smiled and watched Pacey.

"I’m not sure what you mean." Pacey diverted his eyes from the ominous piece of bread that tried to resemble a roll.

"Us kissing and then..." Joey started to explain but Pacey interrupted her.

"... Someone walks in on us, right? Don’t know. It started with Aunt Gwen," he chuckled. "But you wanted to recreate history. Admit it, you asked for it." Pacey’s eyes challenged Joey to refute his comment.

"Dumbass. Just for that you won’t get any more kisses ... for the remainder of the flight," Joey huffed and almost knocked her cup of coffee over.

"You sure about that?" Pacey teased and let his hand roam up and down her thigh.

Joey swallowed. "Uh-huh."

"Really? I don’t think so..." Pacey lowered his voice and blew softly against her neck. Joey shivered and closed her eyes.

"You know, I could suggest joining the Mile High Club and I’m sure you’d sport the same expression you did back when I suggested visiting the boiler room in high school."

Joey tilted her head and cradled Pacey’s face in her hand. "Maybe... but I only said that you won’t get anymore kisses..." She raised her eyebrow.

Pacey’s expression was priceless as he slowly digested what Joey had just said. "You’re a bad, bad girl, Jo."

~*~

"Less than an hour to go now," Pacey observed as he returned from the lavatory.

"It’s still somewhat unbelievable, huh?" Joey’s eyes were sparkling as she turned them towards Pacey. "Six years ago I turned that offer down ... and now, it’s finally about to happen. We’re going to France."

"Yeah." Pacey laced his hand with hers. "Are you really okay with this? I mean, you must be, because you asked me to come with you ... but when you were offered to spend a semester in France, it was only about you. You would have been alone, you’d have made all those experiences by yourself, you would have had the possibility to explore who you are without anybody else ... and now..."

"And now... now it’s perfect." Joey smiled. "I turned the offer down, but not because of Dawson."

Pacey raised his eyes. He was a little surprised and motioned for her to continue.

"I know," Joey nodded, "I know that all of you thought I stayed because of him ... for him, but that’s not true. I won’t say that he didn’t play a part in it, but... he was more of an excuse than a reason. As flattering as it was to be asked to go to France, I wasn’t ready for it. The idea scared me. I actually searched for a reason not to go."

"And Dawson gave you one," Pacey stated.

"No. As I said he gave me an excuse. Everyone always thought I was more grown-up than I was, because of ... my Mom’s death, my father...maybe because I acted like I was, but deep inside? I was still a kid scared to be alone. I’d have never admitted that, but.. I was horrified of being on my own, without Bessie, Bodie, Dawson... and without you. I couldn’t deal with leaving and I couldn’t deal with losing the people that mattered most to me, even if it was just for a few months. Dawson kissed me and I could say ‘Hey, I’ve got a boyfriend now. I can’t go to France.’ I wasn’t ready to go, that’s why I stayed."

"And now the time is right?" Pacey was still concerned, but for the first time he didn’t feel inferior when they talked about Dawson.

"Yes. The time is right... and you’re the right person to experience it with. You don’t need to be alone to grow up. We grow together, Pace. That’s all I ever wanted." Joey whispered and placed a soft kiss on Pacey’s knuckles.

Pacey swallowed and pulled her into his arms.

For a while they were silent, just relishing in the moment.

"Umm, maybe I should have asked earlier, not when we’re just minutes away from landing, but... well, you did catch me by surprise, so..." Pacey cleared his throat, "Where are we going to stay in Paris? Any plans or do we just ..."

"Actually we do have plans, but I thought I would leave you guessing... just like you only told me we would hit the next port in two days, or the day after that, or the day after the day after..." Joey smirked.

"Yeah, yeah... I get the picture," Pacey grinned. It was good to know that she remembered everything as well. There had been a time were he doubted that and apparently he had been wrong.

"Care to share those plans?"

"Curious much, huh?" Joey stuck out her tongue. Pacey groaned.

"Okay, okay. We don’t have much money, so we can’t really afford to stay in a hotel in Paris."

Pacey nodded. "Right. Go on."

"Last summer, when you went after..." Joey continued to explain but Pacey waved her off. He didn’t want to talk about that. He had known that it was wrong, he should have stayed in Capeside and with her. Not to speak of not leaving her after prom.

"Okay, whatever. A few days later this woman checked into the B&B. She’s American but she married a French journalist and she was visiting relatives in our area. She’s really nice and we talked a lot. They live in a suburb of Paris by the way. When she had to leave she invited me to stay with them should I ever come to France," Joey paused, "Well, I called her, but she told me that they were going to spend some weeks in Spain and that they weren’t home. But..." Joey grinned mischievously.

"But what? Jo?" Pacey asked impatiently.

"But they have a camping mobile, which they are lending us." Joey tried to gauge Pacey’s reaction.

As soon as he had heard the word ‘camping’ his eyes lit up. He loved camping, he always had. Joey smiled. She had known that he would love the idea.

"Really? That’s cool. Are we picking it up?" Pacey sounded excited.

"Umm, no. They’ve already left, but before they did, they brought the mobile to a camping ground, which is only about twenty minutes from Paris. She knew about this place and reserved a spot for us and left all papers and stuff with the office there. We can use the mobile and have only to pay for gas and the spot. It’s really cheap and the place is wonderful, according to her descriptions."

Pacey listened to Joey’s explanations. She did have this planned to a T. It sounded perfect and it made him think.

"You didn’t plan this spontaneously, did you?" he asked never breaking eye contact with her.

"Umm..." Joey was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him to ask her about that. Not so soon at least. "No, not really," she bit down on her lip nervously.

Pacey felt his heartbeat quicken. "When, Jo, when did you start planning this trip ... with me?" He needed to know.

"Right after we left Dawson’s dock in the night after... after you told him that he’d lost his money ... and after you asked where you had me in your life." Joey cast her eyes downwards.

Pacey gently forced her to look up again by lifting her chin with his hand. His voice was a little shaky, "So, umm... you didn’t only plan how to help Dawson..."

"No."

Pacey cradled Joey’s face and lightly caressed her lips with his thumb. She never failed to amaze him. "So right when I thought I’d lost you again..."

"You’ve never lost me, Pace." Joey placed her hand on Pacey’s and leaned into his touch. "I told you that on the dock, too. Maybe I wasn’t always where you wanted me to be, just like you weren’t always where I wanted you to be..." her voice trailed off for a moment before she continued, "... but I was always there." A lopsided smile slowly and insecurely made its way to her face. "And you were always here." Her hand was slightly shaking as she moved Pacey’s hand from her cheek down and placed it directly over her heart.

"Jo..." Pacey closed his eyes briefly to hinder the tears from flowing.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we’re close to landing and will start our descent shortly. Please fasten your seatbelt, lock your tables into the safety position and bring your seats in an upright position...."

~*~

"That’s it." Pacey sighed while lifting the last piece of their luggage from the conveyor belt. They had landed right on time at 8:40am and they had waited for about half an hour to get their luggage.

Even though it was an early Wednesday morning the large airport seemed to be crowded and that was only the arrivals area.

"’kay. The Customs are over there, I think." Joey pointed over Pacey’s shoulder and they followed other passengers to the tiny gate. Well, it wasn’t tiny per se, there were just too many people in front of it.

"Where do all these people come from?" Pacey shook his head.

Joey laughed and playfully nudged his side. "Awww, feeling a little lost?" She was so excited. Finally she had set foot on a totally foreign land and Pacey was right next to her.

"Lost? Me? Never." Pacey chuckled. He was tired and standing in line, waiting, wasn’t one of his favorite things to do. Nevertheless he was mesmerized by the excitement Joey radiated. It was good to see her like that and he felt privileged to experience it.

It took almost a whole hour until they were allowed to enter France legally. Delta Airline was situated in the second terminal and outside of Customs, there were even more people. It resembled oddly a last minute Christmas shopper’s nightmare of walking through the streets of Manhattan.

"This is definitely not Capeside anymore." Joey looked around, trying to take everything in at once. She wanted to remember every second of this trip.

"Come on, Toto, where do we have to go?" Pacey put his arm around Joey’s waist and brought them to an abrupt stop.

"Toto, huh?" She smiled upon his teasing and rumpled through her backpack, where she finally found a neatly folded piece of paper.

"Alright. We need to find the RER station."

"The what?" Pacey frowned.

"The RER station. That’s a regional train network. Umm, can you see a sign with a blue circle on white ground that says RER?" Joey asked hopefully.

"Let me see..." Pacey craned his head and spun around trying to spot the sign they were looking for, "...yeah, found it. On the other end of the hall." He smirked and tilted his head towards Joey. "What was that about me being lost? Now who’s lost, honey? Tell me, what on earth would you do without me?"

Joey leaned on the trolley that dutifully carried their luggage and crossed her arms. Mimicking Pacey’s movements she raised her eyebrow. "You know, I’d watch it, Witter. If I remember correctly you never learned French." She paused for effect, "The question is, what would you do without me? Here in France... outside the comfortable bilingual world of an international airport?"

Pacey raised his head, opened his mouth, closed it again and took a deep breath. Clapping his hands together before pointing both index fingers back at Joey he finally gave in. "You might have a point there, Potter. What about a truce? Your expansive knowledge of strange nasal languages combined with my included compass and ability to find everything we might need?"

"Sounds agreeable." Joey flashed Pacey a full smile. "I knew I wanted you to tag along for a reason ..." stepping closer to him she pecked him lightly on his cheek, "... We’re the perfect team, huh?"

"I second that." Pacey kissed her and started to push the trolley towards the RER station.

~*~

"This is, well.... a confusingly big map of the whole RER system." Pacey pointed to the large information map that was displayed in front of them.

"Yeah, but Susan, the woman I told you about, gave me directions. Umm, first we have to buy a Paris Visite Pass, that’s the ticket for the train, as well as for every mass transit option. She told me to get a 5 day, Zone 1-5 pass ..."

"Which will cost us €45.70. I hope we have exchanged enough money." Pacey interrupted her as he had found a vending machine.

"We have, don’t worry." Joey handed him her purse.

"5 day, Zone 1-5, adult pass... make that two, right?" Pacey checked with her again as he pressed the according buttons.

"Exactly." Joey watched Pacey feeding the machine with the colorful notes, that were so different from the boringly green dollar notes.

"It says we have to write our names and the expiration date on the back of the card." Pacey explained as he read the instructions that had come with the pass.

"Shit," Joey exclaimed and grabbed Pacey’s hand.

"What? What’s wrong?" Pacey wondered.

"Susan told me to get on the B Line with direction to Massy-Palaiseau ... and the next train leaves in exactly three minutes and twenty-six seconds."

"Alright. Run, Potter!"

~*~

Four minutes later both of them collapsed breathlessly into two free seats on the train.

"That was close." Joey exhaled and rested her head on Pacey’s shoulder.

"But we made it. Even if not, we could’ve always taken the next one. We have time, plenty of time." Pacey brushed over her arm soothingly.

"It’s just... I can’t wait to get there, I mean, we’re already here... but not there ‘there’, you know what I mean?" Joey rambled.

"I know. Hey, don’t they say the way is the aim?" He chuckled and offered Joey a ballpoint pen to write her name on the pass.

"Yeah, they do." She gazed out of the window as the train left the station. Light rain painted the sky gray, but she didn’t care. For her everything was beautiful.

One hour and a change to a connecting line later Joey and Pacey exited the train at Maisons-Lafitte station. It had stopped raining although clouds still hid the sky.

The center of Paris was only twenty minutes away but the air was almost as fresh and clean as close to the sea. Maybe it was because of the summer rain, maybe it was just her imagination.

Joey smiled broadly and circled Pacey’s waist with her arms. "Are you up for a little walk?"

"I’m up for everything!" Pacey smirked.

Joey swatted his arm giggling. "Good. We can walk to the campground. It’s only a few blocks and it stopped raining."

~*~

After a ten minute walk they reached the gates of the camping site. Pacey’s eyes had widened during the last minutes, as he realized how and where the place was situated. It was beautiful.

Camping International de Maisons-Lafitte was situated in a green setting on an island right in the middle of the Seine River. Nobody would have guessed they were close to a megalopolis.

They walked over a little bridge with black railings right towards the office, which was on their right hand side. Pacey opened the door for Joey and followed her to the reception desk. The office looked bright and friendly and the bubbly red-haired girl that sat behind the counter greeted them with a genuine smile.

"Bonjour."

"Bonjour, je m’appelle Joey Potter et..."

"Ah, yes. I know. We can talk English, actually I’m from London." The girl’s smile grew. Obviously she wasn’t that comfortable with French.

Pacey shot Joey a victorious smile. He wouldn’t need to talk and understand French here. Joey rolled her eyes, knowing what Pacey was thinking and turned back to the girl.

"Okay, great. Hi, umm... I believe Mrs. Robillard reserved a spot for us and left something for us?"

"Yes, she did. One moment, please. By the way, my name is Laura." She turned around and grabbed an envelope from a big sideboard which was divided into small compartments.

"There you go." Laura handed Joey the envelope, "You are very lucky. We’re still in the low season and Mrs. Robillard reserved a wonderful end pitch, right at the Seine. The camper is already parked there... and your keys should be in this envelope." Taking some leaflets out of the drawer at her side, Laura continued her explanations.

"First I need you, both of you..." She smiled at Pacey, which caused Joey to frown a bit and wrap her arm around his waist, "... to fill out this registration form ... and may I have your passports for a moment, please?"

"Sure." Pacey smiled. He knew that Joey was scanning Laura, trying to decide if she was a possible threat or not, and he loved it that she showed some signs of jealousy. Of course, she had absolute no reason, but it was good to know and feel that she wanted to protect what was hers, and he was hers.

They filled the missing information in the registration and handed it back to Laura.

"Great, thank you. Now, your pitch is reserved for six and a half weeks, actually for six weeks from today, which means up to July 16^th. Therefore you are in two different rate schedules. Your total daily rate for June is €21 and from July on it will be €24. You may pay up front or weekly." Laura looked up and waited for their response.

"Umm, weekly, please." Joey answered after exchanging a glance with Pacey.

Laura nodded and made a note on their registration.

"This is the number of your pitch... and this is where it is situated." Laura marked a cross on a map of the campsite. You have access to electricity, which is included in the rate and its size is about 100 square meters. In these leaflets you’ll find all the information about Camping International, Maisons-Lafitte and the schedules for the RER and the bus lines. We have a bar-restaurant, a grocery store, a coin operated washing area, as well as a common TV room, an internet terminal, telephones and a fax." Laura paused and ran a hand through her hair. "What else is there to tell... oh yes, until July the campsite can be accessed from 7am to 10pm and from July on until midnight, but that only means accessible for cars, RV’s and such. Of course you can return whenever you want otherwise, but please do have your Camping International ID’s with you, because we have security patrolling 24/7." With that said she handed them two ID Cards. "If there are any questions, please come and see me or any of the staff at the office." She smiled again. "Have a nice stay here, enjoy your holidays .... oh, and don’t forget, Friday is payday!"

"Thank you." Joey managed to say. This girl was a little too enthusiastic for her liking.

~*~

"What a nice welcome, huh?" Pacey teased while the wandered towards their pitch.

"Sure, if you like freckled redheads who never stop smiling." Joey pouted.

"Nah, nah Josephine. Is that how you reward the friendly endeavors of the staff?" Pacey asked amused.

"If they are female and eating my boyfriend with their eyes ... yes!" Joey huffed.

"I love your possessive self, Jo." Pacey stopped walking and pulled Joey into his arms. "You know you have no reason to worry, don’t you?" his playful tone turned serious.

"I know... it’s just..." Joey raised her arms behind his neck and shrugged, "I can’t help it."

Pacey lowered his head and kissed her short but passionately. "Don’t worry ... now let’s go find our loveshack for the next few weeks!" He wiggled his brows suggestively and elicited a giggle from Joey.

~*~

They had to walk to the very end of the campsite, but it was more than worth it. Their pitch was an end spot in a curve and to the left the Seine formed a natural border. The pitch to the right was currently not occupied and the next campers were several feet away.

"You said they lent us their RV, but this... this is pure luxury!" Pacey exclaimed eyeing the Jamboree 29V longingly.

"Yeah, Susan said they bought it three years ago and did some alterations." Joey was relieved to see a quite large camping mobile. She wasn’t that fond of camping, but the white and brown camper in front of her, promised to change that. "Here, open the door." She tossed the keys towards Pacey, who gingerly opened the door.

"Let’s see what we have here..." Pacey stepped in and offered Joey his hand to help her over the two steps.

They were standing right in the middle of the living area that included a small but complete kitchen with a double sink, a three burner stove/oven a refrigerator and a dinette table with two swiveling club chairs. Opposite of the dining area was a sofa beneath a window which was topped with an overhead board that held several books. To the right and above the cab Susan and her husband had removed the bed and replaced it with an entertainment center that featured a TV, a CD-player, a Cassette player and of course a radio.

"Wow.... that’s... unbelievable." Pacey was nearly speechless.

"Yeah, but look at this!" Joey had moved to the back of the RV and motioned Pacey to join her.

"We have our own shower, with a glass door, and here..." she opened a wooden door to her right, "... is a toilet and a sink. Hey, I think camping just got better!"

"And that coming from you, Potter." Pacey stepped behind her and kissed her neck. "You never wanted to go camping and now that you get the super luxury version you start to love it."

"Well, I just don’t like having to go behind bushes and washing myself in some dubious muddy water." Joey defended herself.

"And there I thought you being a tomboy..." Pacey chuckled.

"You never invited me to join you in that fort of yours." Joey leaned back into his chest and played with his fingers that held her tightly.

"No, Dawson thought it would be a boy’s only thing. Maybe in exchange for your video nights. I wouldn’t have minded you being there."

"Sure, you would’ve loved to throw insects down my shirt or worse."

"I would’ve never done that," Pacey said, but both knew better. He most certainly would have done just that.

"Besides, did I ever complain about anything aboard True Love?" She turned in his arms and looked up to him.

"No, you didn’t," Pacey admitted, "But maybe that was just because you were otherwise occupied and we did have a shower, a toilet and..."

"Okay, right." Joey smiled and kissed his cheek.

Turning again they inspected the sleeping area, which was almost its own room, that could be separated from the rest of the RV by a beige curtain.

"This is most definitely better than our hammocks." Joey nodded towards the big Queen sized bed.

"Oh yes... so much room, just think about the possibilities..." Pacey grinned. Yes, those hammocks had been nice and comfortable and in that stage of their relationship they were just perfect, but now a real bed, a big bed... well, that was a lot more suited for what he had in mind.

"Jerk."

"Prude. ... And you started it!"

Joey stuck her tongue out and smiled, counting on Pacey to do what he actually did soon after. Groaning Pacey moved them forward and pushed Joey on the bed, following her in one swift movement. Laying half on top of her, he smoothed some stray hair out of her face.

"Do you remember what I told you about sticking your tongue out at me?"

"Yeah." Joey smirked.

Slowly nodding Pacey started his tickling attack. After a few minutes of roughhousing they collapsed into the mattress and looked around some more.

They had two wardrobes, nightstands and even two triangular sideboards. The whole RV felt more like a small house. It was just perfect.

Right over the bed was a window, as well as one on either side, all complete with privacy blinds. Pacey propped himself on his elbows and looked outside. What he saw made him smile.

The Seine was so close it seemed like they were looking out of a boat’s window. It was even similar to the view they had from the True Love when they were docked somewhere along the coast on their way down the Keys.

"So this year’s boat is a camper..." Joey whispered softly in his ear, knowing what he was thinking about in this moment.

"It is. Not bad, not bad at all." Pacey rolled them over and captured her mouth with his.

The next chapter of their history was about to begin.

~*~

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