After Dawson had left the ruins Pacey stayed for a little while longer still chuckling once in a while. Only a few days ago he had been licking his wounds, wallowing in self-pity, mourning the loss of a second chance with Joey, hating the way he had lost his job and feeling like the personified town-loser again. Of course the fact that he was rooming with his brother dearest and sleeping on the ‘Pacey-Memorial-Couch’ added the last touch to it.

And then ... Miss Josephine Potter appeared, forced him to venture out of his safe haven and dared him to start living again. Nothing new there, she always had the power to challenge him and she always succeeded in doing just that.

This morning he found her note, the note in which she asked him to meet her at the ruins. Needless to say that he didn’t have to think about it twice. No matter what would happen between them, no matter that they’ve hurt each other more than once ... he would always go to her, unable to stop the need to see her, to be with her.

He meant what he told Dawson. He still loved her. Nothing would ever change that.

The sun was beating down on him as he headed back to Doug’s apartment. He searched for the keys in his pockets and found a crumpled piece of paper along with them. Looking at it he started to smile. Kristy Livingstone’s phone number. His grin widened as he remembered the conversation with Joey in the restaurant and the annoyed expression on her face as he shoved exactly that note towards her. She obviously didn’t like the idea that Kristy could be interested in him ... and he liked that she felt this way.

Pacey shred the paper into tiny snippets. The time in which Kristy Livingstone was the metaphor for not being the town loser, the one who would never get the girl had passed long ago. He didn’t need her number, he wouldn’t call ... not anymore. He let the pieces fall down to the gutter and watched as the light summer wind swirled them around in the street.

Pacey jogged up the stairs to the apartment and suddenly his heart started to flutter and his stomach performed some weird somersaults. He frowned. He knew these feelings and he knew when they would surface ... only when she was near to him, somewhere in the infamous twenty-five feet radius. He shook his head and turned the key around.

The second he opened the door he identified voices wafting through the air which originated from the TV. It was too early for Doug to be home. Pacey pushed the door further and entered the apartment. As expected the TV was on, but there was nobody to be seen. He stepped closer to the couch and glanced down warily. His eyes widened in surprise as his suspicions were confirmed. A certain brunette occupied his usual spot on the couch, mimicking his position from a few days before.

~*~

Joey stared at Doug’s living room clock. 4:45pm ... they’d be there by now and in a few more minutes they’d realize that she had set them up. She sighed. Trying to be their personal peace broker ceased to be a good idea as the seconds passed.

"Well, nice try." Joey muttered to herself. She hadn’t been able to stop herself to give it one last shot, one last try. At least she refrained from going there, too. She couldn’t help them solve their problems, but she could give them the possibility of talking to each other by providing them a place to meet. She could do nothing but wait to see how her plan would turn out.

Joey flopped down on the couch and hugged her knees to her chest. Time was moving slow, very slow. She squinted her eyes, glaring at the clock’s hands. It seemed like they were mocking her. She stuck her tongue out at them and a grin spread over her face.

Joey reached for the remote and turned the TV on.

~*~

"Well, well ... what do we have here?" a very familiar voice reached Joey’s ears and caused her to stir.

"Huh?" Joey stretched and blinked several times before she could focus on Pacey’s smirking face.

"Hi." Joey smiled. This was it. He was there. The next few minutes ... or hours would decide what would become of them.

"Hi!" Pacey returned Joey’s smile as he propped his arms on the back of the couch. His heart was right. She was there right on his couch. And she was never cuter then when she first woke up.

"So, little scheming Miss Peace Broker ... what exactly are you doing here? In Doug’s apartment, on my couch nonetheless?"

"Scheming? Me?" Joey sat up and batted her eyelashes innocently at Pacey.

"Uh-uh, don’t give me that. You know exactly what I’m talking about." Pacey shook his index finger in front of her, "... Now...scoot!" he waited a second for Joey to move her legs and jumped on the couch. "Now ... shoot." He cocked his head to the side, raised his brows and looked at her expectantly.

"Now ...scoot. Now ... shoot. ... That’s very eloquent, Pace." Joey mocked.

"What can I say? You leave me speechless ... and by the way, how exactly did you get in here?" Pacey crossed his arms in front of his chest, never leaving her eyes.

"Easy. I know where Doug hides his emergency set of keys." Joey answered nonchalantly, delaying the conversation that had to follow inevitably.

"How come you know where they are and I don’t?" Pacey reached for the bowl of chips Joey was holding in her lap and grabbed a few.

"Because he trusts me." Joey bit down on her lip trying to stop bursting out in laughter. Pacey’s shocked expression was just too much.

"He trusts you? My brother? Officer Doug Witter? ... Why?" Pacey raised his brows. This was strange.

Joey smirked and lightly touched his arm as she leaned closer. "You Witter brothers are so easy." She smiled at him and leaned back again.

Pacey’s eyes widened. "What? Are you putting the moves on ... my brother?" The question was only halfway joking.

"Duh ... Pace!" Joey rolled her eyes, pleased that she could still tease him. "I called him ... and well, he told me, because he understood..." At this point she started to nibble on her lower lip. It was time to get to the serious stuff.

"He understood ... what?" Pacey silently sighed with relief but couldn’t help but wonder what lay ahead of him, ahead of them.

"I ... I really need to talk with you, Pace." Joey raised her eyes to his again, letting him know that their playing around was over now.

Pacey turned serious immediately. He could still read her like nobody else. "Oh, okay." He picked up the remote which had fallen to the floor sometime during Joey’s nap and was about to turn the TV off when Joey softly put her hand on his. This simple touch alone sent shivers up and down his spine.

Questioning he searched her eyes again.

"No, please leave it on. It’s ... it’s nice if there’s some background noise ... if, if ... there should be any awkward silences..." Joey drew her hand away again. It was too early, or too late for that.

"You’re scaring me here, Potter." Pacey complied and reduced only the volume before turning his attention towards Joey again. "This sounds quite serious, Jo." Somehow an uneasy feeling started to grow deep inside of him.

"Well, yeah ... I guess it is." Joey presented her lop-sided smile and popped another chip into her mouth.

"How did things go with Dawson and you?" She tried to ease into their conversation but actually none of the topics were that easy.

"Want to know if your little plan worked out, huh?" Pacey reached for the chips and studied Joey. He knew that there was more to come.

"Sort of, yeah."

"Well, ..." Pacey sighed. "... let me put it this way. ... After a couple of uncomfortable minutes we kind of called a truce."

"Truce?" Joey interrupted him and tugged her feet underneath her body.

"Yeah. First we agreed that you, Josephine Potter..." Pacey nudged her shoulder, "... are the most stubborn person we’ve ever known."

"Stubborn? I’m not..." Joey protested but was quickly silenced by Pacey’s glance.

"And then we agreed to the fact that we can’t go back to the way we were because the only thing we still have in common is that..." Pacey hesitated. Should he really tell her that? Maybe he should, "... that we love the same woman." He stopped and grabbed some more chips.

Joey’s head jerked up and a smile tugged on the corners of her mouth. "You love ..." She didn’t dare to finish the sentence. It was more than she deserved after all the mess.

Pacey stared at her, studied her face, her eyes. What he found amazed him. Maybe he was crazy or a lunatic, but the butterflies that recently suffered from a strong setback tested their wings again and found themselves ready for flight. It was still a little too early for high hopes though. He simply nodded.

"Eventually we established the idea that anything’s possible. So one day maybe, who knows... we could be friends again. That’s our truce." Pacey finished again reaching for the bowl.

"That sounds good, I think." Joey nodded. It was a start and she was content with that. She reached for the bowl in her lap and accidentally brushed Pacey’s hand. Just like any other time they came in contact with each other she felt more alive.

Neither of them moved their hand away. They just lingered there before Joey slowly laced her fingers with his. When she felt him squeeze her hand softly she smiled and looked right into his eyes.

They seemed to be a little afraid but at the same time she saw the trust in them.

"So... did we act accordingly to your plan?" Pacey licked his suddenly dry lips not quite believing that they were holding each other’s hand.

"In spite of your idea of me being stubborn, I do most certainly know that you and Dawson are the most stubborn people in the whole world. I just wanted to give both of you an opportunity to ... talk to each other. And you did. So, yeah... I’m content with it. The rest is up to the two of you. It’s your decision." Joey let her thumb brush over the soft skin just above the pulse point on his wrist. She hadn’t felt that content for a long time.

Pacey heightened his grip of her hand. Her small caress was so intimate and promising. He thought he had to be dreaming.

They fell silent for a while and directed their eyes towards the TV without letting go of each other.

"It’s over. Eddie and I are over." Joey whispered still staring at the flickering screen.

Pacey perked up and cast a side-glance at her. "Really?"

"Really." Joey answered softly and took a deep breath before she continued, "Actually I knew it right away when he first showed up at the bar."

"What?" Pacey tried to keep his voice free of accusations but he didn’t get it. If she knew, then why...

"I know ... that I hurt you so much, Pace. It’s just... when he walked in the bar that night.... I told him that I’d moved on and he accepted that. But then... I thought that we had some unfinished business... it was just like it was with us, Pace. I always regretted that, that we didn’t have the chance to talk about what went wrong back then. Maybe if we had... then, then we wouldn’t have..." Joey closed her eyes for a second and tugged some strands of hair behind her ear. Their hands were still entwined and that made everything much easier.

"Oh." Pacey didn’t know what to say. She was right. He had known that and therefore let her go after the dance at Harley’s school.

"That’s why I pushed you away, Pace, but I was wrong... I was wrong in every possible way. I went back to Eddie even though, even though my heart screamed that it was wrong. And ... then I tried, but I couldn’t trust him anymore or again. It was very different from us, Pace." Joey scooted a little closer to Pacey and he didn’t flinch.

"When you came back to Boston, I know, it was a bit awkward and all, but there was never the question of could I trust you. I just did and I never stopped." Joey turned her head so that she could see Pacey’s eyes. "Never."

Pacey inhaled deeply. He was sure that any minute now he would wake up from the most amazing dream he had for a long time.

Joey pressed her lips together and swallowed. "Just before the summer break Eddie asked me to go to Europe with him. I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t and that was the final nail in the coffin. Do you know why, Pace?"

Pacey cleared his throat and exhaled. He lost himself in her eyes again and he didn’t mind. It felt so right. "Tell me." He managed to mutter and waited for her to continue.

"I couldn’t, because there’s only one person in the world with whom I’d run off for the summer. The one that I trust completely ... in every possible way and sense..." Joey raised her free hand to his cheek and let it simply linger there, "... and that’s you, Pace. It has always been you."

Pacey leaned into her touch and closed his eyes for a second before gazing into her dark ones again.

"So what are you saying here, Jo? Because ... well, I’m not sure..." Pacey knew exactly what he wanted it to mean but he had to be careful. They had been on this roller coaster ride for such a long time and he feared that he would fall out of the car if he wasn’t careful.

"I’m saying that, finally, the slate is clean, Pace. Our slate is clean and after that ..." Joey gesticulated wildly with one hand, "... horrible re-bounding with Eddie, or the attempt of it ... my own slate is clear, too."

"So Eddie was the rebound guy? Interesting." Pacey couldn’t help but smirk while lovingly running his free hand up and down Joey’s arm.

"Yes, he was ... and he was that right from the beginning... even before we started to be ‘us’ again." Joey lowered her gaze and reveled in the feeling of his hands on her skin, "Everybody who wasn’t you was."

The last sentence was merely a whisper and Pacey had to strain to hear it. He looked at their still entwined hands. He understood. It had been the same for him. No matter with whom he was with or for how long, they just weren’t Joey and because of that it did never work out.

"What do you want now, Jo?" Pacey shook his head, "This is ... I, ... well, this is huge."

"Yeah, I know. I’m sorry for what I did, Pace. I’m so sorry." Joey turned her head away trying to hide the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

"No, Jo... please don’t cry." Pacey pulled her closer to him and gently brushed her tears away with his thumb. "I understand. I guess I already did that night at the dance. That’s why I let you go..."

"But I hurt you, Pace..." Joey sniffled but relaxed in his embrace.

"Yeah, it hurt, Jo. It really did... but I did the same, right? I hurt you, too and somehow on a very weird level... we’re even now. One fucked up prom for another. It can only get better from here." Pacey tightened their embrace and placed a small kiss on the top of her head. "So, what do you want, Jo?"

Joey sighed. Why was it so hard to tell him? Because she was scared, like she had always been.

"I want... I think that you were right."

"Oh really? Right with what, Potter?" Pacey chuckled. It was seldom that Joey Potter told him he was right.

"Right, that this could be it for us, Pace... I mean, if you still think that, or if you still want... us to be going somewhere." Joey worried her lip with her teeth and looked up, directly into his deep blue eyes.

Pacey smiled and his smile broadened with every word she was saying. He still wasn’t convinced that this wasn’t a dream though.

"I told you...I think this can go anywhere..."

"You could love me again?" Joey straightened and moved back a little so that she could face him. She felt like her heart was almost failing while she waited for his answer.

"You really never listen to what I say, huh?" Pacey complained but his eyes sparkled, "I believe I told you a few minutes ago that the only thing Dawson and I have in common was being in love with the same woman. I love you, Jo." He cradled her face in his hand, gently forcing her to look at him, "The question is..."

Joey released the breath she was holding and interrupted Pacey before he could finish his sentence. "I love you, Pace. Told you, my heart is a fixed point." She hesitated but then she added mischievously "Permission to come aboard... again?"

Pacey frowned and then it clicked.

"Permission granted... and just for the record... I remember everything!"

Both smiled. Pacey lowered his head to hers and leaned his forehead against hers while the butterflies impatiently waited for their green light.

"Where do we go from here?" Pacey whispered and explored her eyes. They were shining and sparkling like they hadn’t done in a long time. He loved it and he was sure that this really was it for them.

"I’d say we go create history." Joey brushed the tip of her nose against his.

"Huh?" Pacey’s stared at her bewildered. "What?"

Joey laughed. "I thought you remembered everything?" She teased him and let her tongue peek out a little bit.

Pacey groaned. "Tongue... Potter!" Which only served to send her in a fit of giggles.

"Remember Aunt Gwen? Spring break?" Joey waited expectantly and could almost see how Pacey’s brain put the pieces together.

"Ahh... well, and how do we do that?" Pacey tried to stay serious.

"Continue our tradition of running off for the summer. Just you and me. ... Jump on a plane to Paris with me." Joey’s heartbeat raced and she could feel the blush creeping over her skin.

"Wh... What?" Pacey’s eyes widened in surprise, "Come again, please?"

"Come with me to Paris, maybe to some other places in Europe, too. Come with me on another summer adventure. Come with me." Joey fidgeted but her eyes held nothing but sincerity.

"You really mean that, don’t you?" Pacey asked slowly. He was definitely dreaming.

Joey nodded.

"Jo... the idea is... well, forgive me for being speechless here, but that hit me kind of off guard..." Pacey stammered not knowing what to say.

"It’s okay if you don’t want to be with me..." Joey interjected defeated.

"No, Jo. That’s not... just let me finish please?" Pacey brought their still intertwined hands to his heart, "I’d love to go with you... you know I’m all for these summer trips ... And creating our history like this, making a tradition out of spending our summers together alone... that’s just great..."

"But?" Joey hung on every word Pacey said.

"But... I don’t have a job, as you might know... thus I don’t have the money for a trip like that and moreover I need to get out of my debts and therefore I have to find a new job." Pacey tried to reason with Joey but she just smiled.

"Are those your only reasons for not coming with me?" Joey decided to change her tactics and climbed on Pacey’s lap.

"Uhh... yeah, pretty much." Pacey swallowed and put his arms around Joey’s waist while raising his knees to give her a more comfortable sitting position.

"Then... how about this: The first time you provided everything we needed for our cruise down to the Keys. It was your boat..."

"Umm, no... True Love was our boat, Jo." Pacey interrupted.

"But you paid for it to begin with. And then you provided all the food on board..." Joey used her fingers to keep count of everything, "... you bought me clothes on our first stop and you pretty much paid for everything. Because I jumped on True Love with nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a declaration of love. I think it’s only fair that...., seeing that I planned this year’s trip and more or less took you by surprise with it, ... that I’m the one to pay for it."

"That’s ridiculous, Jo. Maybe I did pay for the start of our cruise... but we worked together, in each port both of us took odd jobs to earn the money we needed. We did it together. And, maybe you’re not aware of this, but plane tickets, hotels, everything what we’d like to do in Paris... is going to cost a lot more than what we spent for Florida." Pacey couldn’t believe that for once he was the responsible person there.

"Not necessarily and I think that we could do the same in Europe. Travel and work accordingly to what we need. Together. And as for plane tickets..." Joey scooted closer to Pacey and reached for her bag, "... I already have two very cheap non-stop Boston to Paris tickets. You know, it’s very helpful to have a quasi-aunt working as a flight attendant at Delta Airlines, who gets eight passes a year and only has to pay for the tax". Which leaves the total at $400." She grinned and waved them up and down in front of his face.

"You have planned all of it, huh?" Pacey found it very hard to contradict Joey. It did sound logical and the fact that she was straddling him, well...

"Yep." Her voice was victorious and she almost bounced up and down.

"Uh, Jo... could you... please stop that." Pacey tried to still her movement because his body was naturally responding to her.

"Stop... what, Pace?" Joey asked innocently and licked her lips. She knew what she was doing to him, she could feel it and intentionally rocked against him.

"That... stop that." Pacey half-heartedly demanded. He actually didn’t want her to stop, but he didn’t want to rush anything either.

"Okay, so... maybe we could get the money to go, but I still have to find a new job..."

"And do you know what you wanna do?" Joey crossed her hands behind his neck, not wiggling any longer.

"Not really." Pacey avoided her questioning eyes. He knew he was fighting a lost case. He knew that he would give in any second.

"See, you could use the time to think about that, gain some new experiences, broaden your mind..." She started to play with the small hairs on the nape of his neck. She knew he would give in soon.

"And what would we be, Jo?" Pacey asked weakly. This was his last point, but she had already won.

"We, Pace..., we would be Pace and Jo creating history." Joey whispered only inches away from his mouth.

Pacey cleared his throat. "So when would this trip start?"

"Takeoff is tomorrow, 7:55pm, Delta flight number 8555. Leaves you enough time to pack some things... because, you know... our budget is very small...."

"I know... So, I guess you got me!" Pacey smiled and let his hand wander up to her neck, "Permission to come aboard?"

"Permission gran..."

Pacey couldn’t wait any longer and brushed his lips over hers. Soon it was not enough and the couch could add another memory to its long list.

~*~

"Do you really have everything, Jo? Passport, tickets, suitcase, travel guide, camera, film rolls...." Bessie was almost more excited than Joey. She paced the room, gesticulated with her hands and nearly choked for talking so fast.

"Bessie, calm down. I do have everything. And if by any chance we should run out of film rolls... I’m pretty sure they have those in Europe, too." Joey rolled her eyes and stuffed the last item in her suitcase.

"Very funny, sis, very funny." Bessie pouted, "Oh my... money, Jo, do you have enough money?" Bessie’s eyes widened.

"Enough to start with, don’t worry." Joey groaned as she tried to close the heavy suitcase.

"Let me help you. Hop on it and I zip it closed." Bessie advised and both women burst out in laughter. "I can’t believe that you’re finally going to France, Jo." She sat down on the suitcase next to Joey and wrapped one arm around her shoulder. "With Pacey nonetheless..." Bessie poked her in the side.

"I guess I’ll only start believing it myself when we’re there." Joey giggled.

"At least this time I got an advance notice." Bessie teased.

"Well, we’re older and wiser..." Joey grinned and hugged her sister.

"And you need a chauffeur." Bessie added knowingly.

"Isn’t it too nice of Doug to sacrifice his free afternoon to give us a ride to Boston." Joey’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

"It is, but frankly... I think he only offered to drive you to get Pacey as soon as possible out of his apartment." Bessie mocked.

"Yeah, ... maybe...." Joey chuckled and remembered the last night when Doug had suddenly appeared in the apartment.

An impatiently sounding honk announced that the Witter brothers had arrived at the B & B. Only seconds later Pacey opened the door and stuck his head in.

"Ready, Potter?" He smirked.

"Hmmm...." Joey gazed over her belongings and made mental crosses on her list, "I think I am..." she tilted her head towards the door and showed off her lopsided smile.

"You think or you know?" Pacey stepped closer and grabbed the heavy pieces of her baggage.

"I know!" Joey wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"Guys... you have a plane to catch..." Dough yelled from the outside.

"Coming, Dougie, coming... don’t fret." Pacey grinned, "Bye, Bessie!"

"Bye, Pacey... and take good care of my baby sister!" Bessie frowned. The thought of Joey crossing the big ocean was kind of frightening.

"I will. See ya in a few weeks!" Pacey nodded and turned towards the car.

"So..." Joey raised her brows, "This is it, Bess... Pacey and me taking off to the big world."

"Yeah... Have fun, enjoy your summer... and ... here..." Bessie pressed an envelope in Joey’s hand." ... take that. It’s not much, but... you deserve it and you two shouldn’t have to work so much."

Joey shook her head "Bessie, no... I can’t take that...."

"Yes you can. The B & B is booked for the whole summer. Consider it as a part of your share." Bessie hugged Joey tightly as she finally accepted her gift.

"Take care, honey."

"Everything okay?" Pacey asked as Doug pulled away from the house and Joey sniffled silently. He put his arms around her and nuzzled his nose in her hair.

"Yeah, I’m good.... it’s just... god, I already miss her. She even gave us some travel money." Joey wiped her eyes.

"That’s nice. ... See, no need to cry.... we can still turn around though..." Pacey offered fully knowing that they would never do that.

"Nope. I’m just a little girly right now. It’ll pass." Joey straightened and managed to smile.

"That’s my girl!" Pacey kissed her temple and entwined his hand with hers.

~*~

Dawson threw his hands in the air. They had made it. They had actually shot his movie. It was done.

"That’s a wrap!" He beamed at Todd who proudly nodded.

The only person he missed was Joey. He hadn’t seen her since the day before, but tonight he wanted to celebrate. She was the one who believed in him even when he had given up on his dream.

A couple of hours later Dawson plopped down on his bed and reached for his phone. While it rang at the other end he gazed at Joey’s photograph on his nightstand.

"Potter B & B, Bessie Potter speaking, may I help you?"

"Hi Bessie, it’s Dawson. Could I talk to Joey please? She’s not answering her cell phone, so I thought ..." Dawson started to ramble.

"Oh, hi... Dawson. Well, I’m sorry, but Joey isn’t here anymore." Bessie blew out some air. Of course she had to be the one to tell him that.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Dawson sat up and frowned. "She didn’t tell me that she would be going back to Boston."

"She left for Paris, Dawson. Right now she’s probably boarding the plane." Bessie explained calmly.

"Paris? She’s going to Paris? Now? Why? We have to celebrate... and why didn’t she say something?" Dawson stood up and paced his room.

"I don’t know, Dawson. I’m sorry...."

"You let her go to Paris, all by herself?" Dawson almost yelled. He couldn’t believe that Joey had left without telling him.

"First, Joey is not a baby anymore, Dawson. And she could have gone to France years ago. Second, she isn’t going alone." Bessie started to get angry and couldn’t help but rub this information in.

"Not... alone? Who’s..." Dawson stopped in mid-sentence. No. I couldn’t be true. "Pacey? Is she going with Pacey?"

"Yes, she is. They left together."

Dawson’s face hardened and he flipped his phone off without saying another word.

"Friends, Pacey, huh? Sure." He spat and threw the phone on his bed. Her photograph caught his eyes again.

History did repeat itself.

~*~

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