Sensory Pleasure
Part 8 - Be with you
Karen H.

A few hours later. (Monday)

Grams house.

"Hey, you’re here?" Jack says entering the house.

"Yes I’m here. Why wouldn’t I be here?" I ask Jack confused.

"It’s just that I stayed here last night and you never came home."

"I stayed at the dorm with Joey and Audrey." I reply trying to sound normal, using my best ‘I didn’t sleep with Joey last night’ voice.

"Right." He says nodding his head once. "Oh, Jen phoned earlier."

"What did she say?" I ask this time trying my ‘I’m not guilty of having sex with Joey three times’ voice.

"She couldn’t get you on your cell but to let you know that she should be back tomorrow at three in the afternoon." I just nod my head, too afraid to speak right now. "She said that she’ll see you when she gets home, you don’t have to pick her up from the station."

I get up from the table and start to walk towards the stairs as I need time to think, when Jack asks. "Did Audrey get back okay?"

"Yeah." I say turning towards him.

Joey is sitting at her desk when Audrey enters the room.

"Hey you." Audrey says closing the door.

I turn in my chair, "Hi Audrey. How was class?"

"Boring, I should have just stayed in bed." She says as she sits on the foot of her bed. "I saw the strangest thing when I got up this morning."

I don’t reply, I don’t know what to say. I can only assume that she is talking about me and Dawson.

"Why was Dawson staying here last night? And why wasn’t he sleeping on the sofa?" She asks screwing up her face. Maybe she doesn’t remember.

"He was kinda beat and I don’t know why he didn’t sleep on the sofa." Oh I hope that she believes me.

"Right...I didn’t think that anything was going on but then...you two just looked so cute sleeping together...wait that didn’t sound right. You do know what I mean, don’t you?"

"I think I do. Audrey...do you remember anything about last night?"

"Which part?"

"Any of it?" I ask trying to find out if she really doesn’t know what she almost walked in on.

"I remember Pacey trying to take credit for Dawson’s movie being good. No scrap that, for the movie being great. Don’t tell Dawson I said good. I remember their prank in high school and I think that after that everything is blurry. I don’t even know how I got home." She says lying back on her bed.

"You don’t remember coming home?"

"No" Audrey says yawning. "I think that I’m going to get some sleep."

"Okay. Do you want me to wake you at any time?" I say turning back to my books, relieved.

"If I’m not up by dinner time, wake me."

I enter the house to find myself greeted by a very enthusiastic Jen.

"Hey you." She says leaning up to kiss me. "Where were you?"

"I was doing some more editing for the movie, with Oliver." I reply as we walk hand in hand into the dining room. Why does this feel so strange? Holding Jen’s hand.

That probably has something to do with the fact that I can’t stop thinking about her. About Joey. About what we did.

"So how’s it coming along?" Jen asks letting go of my hand as she sits down.

"It’s getting there slowly. So how was New York?" I ask, trying to focus on what she’s saying.

I wonder what she thinks of what happened. I wonder when will be a good time to go see her. To talk about it. Jen’s saying something about her parents but I can’t seem to take it in. I can’t stop thinking about Joey.

I can’t help but wonder what it all means. How it changes things. How exactly I want it to change things...I don’t know. I know that it wasn’t just about sex. I know that it was more than that.

"It’s just strange, they’re my parents and they don’t even know me. Seriously Dawson, it was like living with strangers this past week. I’m just glad that Grams was there. And I am never ever going back there just because my mother wants to play happy families."

How can I sit here with my girlfriend and be thinking of someone else? I can’t even think of what to say to Jen.

"Thanks for listening Dawson. I’m gonna go get my things ready for class tomorrow and then I’m gonna go to bed." Says a yawning Jen.

"Night." I call to her as she starts her ascent up the stairs.

Why had things started to get so complicated? When had it all gotten so complicated? That was probably around about the time I went to New Hampshire.

Maybe it was even before that.

It feels as though there was more to it than just getting caught up in the moment. I have to go see her. We need to talk this through. Find out what we want to happen. Where we want this to take us.