Part 1: Revelation
by Jenny Jo ([email protected])
Summary: The gang�s all back for the Christmas vacation, but things are not all ducky. Jack wants to get back to where he was with Tobey and Jen, but they�re not so sure�
Spoilers: A lot of season 5 (the eps. so far)
December 18, 2001
The gang (Dawson, Joey, Jack, Jen and Pacey) are all sitting around the dining room table in Grams� house in Boston, discussing plans for the upcoming Christmas party at the Leery house in Capeside. Gretchen had a good idea last year when she decided to bring the annual Leery Christmas party back into play. The only difference between this year and last, is that Mitch won�t be there to enjoy (or dislike) it. Oh, and Gretchen won�t be there, either.
�So,� Dawson began, looking down at the piece of paper in his hand, �what we have so far: It�s going to be on the 23rd, starting and 7:30, going until midnight. Anything I�m forgetting?�
�Yeah, don�t forget to bring your sleeping bags,� Jen reminded everyone. �Also, I know we already have the list of invitees, but, Dawson, would it be alright if I invited Tobey?�
Startled, panicked, bewildered, Jack started asking Jen, �Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean Tobey, Tobey?� Jen nodded, an angry look on her face. �The Tobey that I broke up with a month and a half ago? Why do you want to invite him? Jen, just because you�re pissed at me��
Jack didn�t have time to finish his sentence before Jen cut it. �Jack, you know, contrary to your beliefs, not everything is about you. So, Dawson, is it okay?�
Things between Jack and Jen have been strained since the day that Jack basically told Jen that he wanted to move on to bigger and better things. Things that didn�t include her. He had tried to talk to her, make her understand that he didn�t want to lose her completely as a friend, but she couldn�t help but be hurt by his little speech. On that same day, she had seen Charlie with another girl. But, the pain of that wasn�t even close to the pain that she felt by what Jack had said. That is why she can barely stand to be near him now.
�Um, yeah, that would be fine,� Dawson replied to Jen�s plea.
�Great, thanks Dawson.�
December 21, 2001
Everyone, including Grams, all took the same train back to Capeside, where Jen and Grams are going to spend the next two weeks at Jack�s house with him. His dad is out of town (big surprise!), which means that there�s one more empty room that they can use. Jen would�ve preferred to stay at the Potter�s B&B, but Christmas = a lot of customers, so�
As soon as Jen�s done getting settled in, she goes and tells Grams, who�s sitting at the kitchen table drinking Tea with Jack, that she�s going to go talk to Tobey. She leaves, and the Jack turns to talk to Grams.
�I really screwed up with her, didn�t I? With both her and Tobey.� Jack looks down at his cup, and then back up at Grams when she starts talking.
�You want the truth, Jack?� He nodded and mouthed �please,� and she continued. �You hurt her, Jack. She won�t tell me what you said to her, but whatever it was, it was the worst thing you could ever say. I�ve never seen her as sad as she�s been the last couple of months.� Somehow Grams managed to stay completely calm while she was explaining this all to Jack.
�I just wish I knew how to make things better between us. She�s my best friend, I need her. And I miss her.�
Grams took a sip of her tea and then replied, �I know you do, sweetheart. Talk to her, she really needs you to.� She knows how much Jack regrets what happened with Tobey, and he regrets even more how things have become with Jen. That�s why she can�t get angry with him.
Jack gets off his chair, and goes and hugs Grams. She hugs him back, and he whispers �thank you� very sincerely into her ear.
Jen arrives at Tobey�s house, and walks nervously to his door. She�s unsure about how things are between them, if he�s mad at her because of Jack�s actions. Though, when they said �goodbye� to each other back in Boston, it was like nothing had changed.
She knocks on the door, and after a minute, Tobey finally comes and answers the door.
�Oh my God, Jen!� he says surprised, and hugs Jen fiercely. �When did you get in?�
�Um, we got in today at 3:00. I just had to do a few things at Jack�s house, and then I came right over.� She notices that Tobey looked down at the floor when she mentioned Jack�s name. �Yeah, he�s here, too. Good old Jackers.�
Tobey looks back up, and puts on a fake smile. �Cool,� he says, not sincerely at all. Then he becomes more sincere when he asks if Jen wants to come into his house. She agrees, and they go up to Tobey�s room.
�So, how�s everyone doing?� he asks after he sits down on his bed.
Jen smiles, knowing what he�s getting asks, but begins telling him how everyone but Jack is doing. �Well, let�s see. Dawson�s not sure what he wants to do with his life, Joey is doing great at Worthington, and Pacey is still working at the restaurant.�
�Okay. What about you and Charlie? How is that going?�
Jen makes a disgusted face, and says, �uh, don�t ask. I found out that I wasn�t Charlie�s only girlfriend, so you can guess what happened after that.�
Tobey laughs, �I don�t even want to know.� Then he asks the obvious question, �and, um, how�s Jack doing, anyway?� Jen looks away when he asks this, and he realizes that things are probably not going to well between the two.
�Unfortunately, he�s doing great.� On Tobey�s questioning look, she continues. �I mean, he�s happy. And it used to be that his happiness meant the world to me. But now, you know, his happiness doesn�t include me; it only includes the ass holes from his frat. He spends almost all of his spare time at the frat, so I barely even see him, let alone hang out with him.�
Tobey�s surprised by the lack of bitterness in Jen�s voice, so he�s about to ask why she�s not upset. But before he can get it out, he notices a stream of tears coming out of her eyes. �Jenny, what�s wrong, sweetie?� he asks, sweetly.
�I miss him, Tobey. God, I miss him so much. He used to mean the world to me, but now it�s like I don�t even know him.�
Concerned, but also jokingly, Tobey says �jeez, Jen, I�ve never seen you cry before. It�s sexy.� He�s succeeded in making his friend laugh.
�Tobey, you better not be going all straight on me,� a tearful, but smiling Jen replies.
Proud of him self, he tells Jen, �trust me; you don�t have to worry about that. I�m still kind of in love with your boy. And I�d be crying right along with you, but I got it all out of my system within the first few days of (using air quotes) �the breakup.� I�m all cried out. Now come here.� He reaches his arms out, and she snuggles into them, and they lie on the bed to together, cuddled up for awhile. �And, if you want to stay here for a few days, you know you�re more than welcome to.�
�Thanks, Tobey. I love you, you know that, right?�
�Of course, I�m a very lovable guy. Now, you look like you need some rest, so why don�t you sleep here for awhile? I�ve got something to take care of, so I�ll be back in about an hour, okay? And, if you need anything, just ask my sister. She�s in the next room over working on a project for her school, but I know she�s dying to meet you. Okay?�
�Okay, I�ll see you in a little while,� Jen said, already half asleep. Tobey was right, she really did need to get some rest. On a good night, she gets an average of 4 hours of sleep. What, with school stuff, and thinking about the once unbreakable friendship between her and Jack. She doesn�t know why that keeps her up all night, but it does, and she wishes things would just go back to normal. Go back to the ways things were before Jack joined his frat.
Jack�s sitting in his living room, watching and old episode of �Match Game PM� with Grams, when he hears a knock on the door. �I�ll get it,� he says, and stands up to get the door. When he opens it, he�s left speechless by who�s on the other side. ��Tobey,� he manages to get out.
�Hey, Jack. Um, can I come in and talk to you for a minute?�
Jack gestures for Tobey to come in, and asks �did Jen find you? She was headed over to your house and I was just wondering��
He couldn�t finish his sentence before Tobey cut in, obviously pissed. �Yeah, she found me. You know, I can�t believe you, Jack!� Jack�s surprised by the tone of Tobey�s voice; he�s never seen him so mad. �Jen, who�s supposed to be your best friend, came to my house, completely heartbroken because you don�t seem to have enough time for her now that you�re a big frat boy. Yes, I�ve accepted that you did that to me, but doing that to her, I just never thought you�d be the kind of person to do that to someone else. I can�t believe I loved, and still love, for that matter,� Jack looked up suddenly, hopeful until Tobey continued, �someone who could be so damn self-centered. Jesus, Jack.�
�Are you done?� Jack wondered, annoyed. �Because, if you�re not, I don�t want to hear it.�
�Well, you�re going to hear it. Whether you want to or not, you�re going to hear it. When I first met you, I thought you were an asshole, but for some reason I was drawn to you. Then we started doing the tutoring, and I started have feelings for you that were so strong I had butterflies every time I saw you. I got to know you, and you became a great friend. And then on that prom boat, when we first kissed, that was when I knew I loved you. You were everything I looked for in a guy: funny, kind, caring, smart, cute. You had so many endearing qualities. And you were like that until��
Jack cut in, �let me guess: until I joined the frat, right? You know what? There is nothing you can say to me now that I don�t already know. I lost two of the most important people in my life on the same day, and I�ve had to live with that this past month and a half. And, do you know the worst part? I know that things will never be the same between Jen and I. I have been pushing her farther and farther away from me every day, and I hate myself so much for that. And�� Jack takes a break when he begins to tear up a little.
�And?� Tobey sympathetically tries to help guide him along.
Jack nods and finishes his thought. �I lost you. I�ve lost you, and as hard as I�ve tried to push what we had out of my mind, I realize that, not only can I not do that, but I don�t want to. I�m still so in love with you, Tobey.�
Tobey, ever the one to lighten the mood, playfully asks Jack, �so, I take it you haven�t met anyone else yet?� On Jack�s laugh, Tobey continues. �You haven�t completely lost me. I�ll gladly be your friend, if you�d like to have me as one.�
�Just a friend?� Jack asks.
Tobey looks optimistic. �For right now, yeah, just a friend. I meant everything I said back in Boston, you know? All that stuff about priorities, I meant it. And the last thing I would ask you to do would be to drop the frat, because I see how happy it makes you. And that�s important.�
�Yeah, but you make me happy, too.�
�God, this is hard,� Tobey thinks to himself. �I know, but all I can offer you right now is friendship, because I�m not ready to jump back into our relationship. Maybe eventually one thing will lead to another, but, until then��
�Just friends, right?� Jack finishes Tobey�s thought for him.
�Exactly.�
�Cool,� Jack is more than happy to have Tobey in his life again, whether it be romantic or just friendship. �So, there�s a Match Game marathon on the Game Show Network, and Grams and I were watching it. Care to join us?�
�Definitely.�
Jack and Tobey head into the living room, where Grams is more than delighted to see Tobey again. She always has thought that the two compliment each other very well, and is glad to see them getting along.
To be continued�