Title: Never, Neverland part 10/10 Author: Kjiara Author's E-Mail: kayjay@sunwave.net Category: PJR Rating: PG-13 Spoilers: Season three Archive: Yes, just give credit where due Feedback: Makes my day! http://www.geocities.com/kjiara Disclaimer: I don't own any of 'em. Summary: What if Cinderella Story had a slightly different ending? Never, Neverland part 10/10 by Kjiara Jen felt her jaw drop when she saw Pacey and Joey enter the school hand in hand. "Well, well, well," she laughed as they approached her. "Look who got all brave." "Hi, Jen," Joey said shyly when they reached her locker. "So, spill. When did the blessed event take place?" she teased. "Shut up, Lindley. And please don't pretend you didn't see this coming," Pacey retorted, his smile growing even broader. "From a mile away, my friend. From a mile away." She nodded to indicate the joined hands. "So, I take it this is up for public scrutiny?" Joey shrugged and said knowingly, "Subterfuge is seriously over rated." Jen's smile wavered. "But what about -" Just then Dawson rounded the corner. He stopped in his tracks stared at them for a moment then spun on his heel and took off down the hall. Pacey sighed, exasperated. "Well, as you can see Dawson is already privy to the changes in our relationship. And he isn't really in a supportive mood." "Ah, yes. Well, you can't tell me you expected his endorsement." "No. But it would have been nice if he didn't see this as a personal attack." Joey said angrily. "But that's just Dawson. He has trouble seeing things from any perspective other than the way they affect him. If it feels bad to Dawson, it's bad. And unfortunately for you guys that means you are on the receiving end of a tantrum," Jen sympathised. "Don't worry. He'll get over it. Eventually." Joey's smile was sad. "I hope so." Jen perked up. "But hey, can I just say that *I* am thrilled for you guys. both of you." Pacey grinned as he pressed a kiss to Joey's temple. "Me too." They all laughed until something caught Jen's eye. "I think we may be in the minority." She nodded at something behind them. Pacey and Joey turned to find Andie staring at them open mouthed. Pacey took a step toward her. "Andie -" She shook her head as though trying to banish the sight of them together. Pacey took another step. "Andie, I'm -" Andie hook her head again. "No," she sobbed then turned and ran out the doors. Pacey looked at Joey. "Go," was all she said. He smiled his thanks then followed his ex-girlfriend out the front doors of the school. Jen watched Joey watch Pacey. "Does that bother you?" Joey scrunched her face up. "Would you believe me if I said no?" "Nope." Joey laughed. "Didn't think so." She shrugged. "It doesn't, really. It's not like she's going to talk him out of being with me. I just hope she doesn't say anything to make him doubt me, or more importantly, himself." "As long as he knows you're here waiting for him I think he'll be okay." Jen linked her arm through Joey's. "You know, Miss Potter, I have the strangest feeling you two are going to be just fine. No matter *what* Dawson and Andie may pull." Joey straightened her shoulders and grinned. "I think you may be right Miss Lindley." They sauntered off to class arm in arm. Pacey caught up with Andie in the parking lot. "Andie wait. Stop!" Andie whirled on him. "You know what, Pacey, I don't want to hear it." She started back toward her car. Pacey grabbed her arm. "Too bad." Andie shrugged him off angrily. "Let go of me!" "Dammit, Andie! Stop it! I just want to explain." She spun to face him. "What's to explain, Pacey? You obviously had no trouble moving on." "Hold it. I'm all for rewriting history but let's not forget you moved on long before I did. In fact you moved on before while we were still together." Pacey hated to hurt her but he was not going to let her play the victim here. Andie gasped at the unexpected attack. "Don't try to turn this on me, Pacey. I'm not the bad guy this time." "And who is, Andie? Me? Joey? Why is that? What exactly have we done other than fall in love?" Andie snorted. "Love? Is that what this is? Please. What do you think is going to happen when Dawson finds out, Pacey? She'll go running back to him so fast your head will spin. She will never love you the way she loves him. You're setting yourself up to get hurt." Andie's anger had given way to tears. Pacey felt his own anger melt away. "That's not true Andie. Dawson found out about us about three seconds after we did. He and Joey had it out last night. He gave her what amounted to a him or me ultimatum and she chose me. She chose me, Andie." Pacey still couldn't quite believe it. Andie's tears were falling freely now. "I hope you're right, Pacey, I really do." She sniffled and tried to get herself under control. "I really have to go, okay?" Pacey nodded, understanding her need to be alone to nurse her wounds. "Bye Andie." He watched sadly as she walked away. This was even harder than he'd thought. He was startled by a soft voice behind him. "You okay, baby?" He turned to find concern in Carson's green eyes. "I'll be fine. I'm just sorry we're hurting them." "Baby, I know they're your friends, and I know they're having a really tough time with this. But what you and Joey feel is important too. You love each other. That isn't something to be taken lightly. Treasure it. It's precious. But most of all enjoy it. Being in love is fun." She grinned evilly at him. Pacey rolled his eyes. "Okay, that's just waaay too much information." Carson laughed and took his hand, leading him back to the school. "Fine. Pick on me. Just remember who you're going to be living with, PJ." "Ewww Carson. . ." he whined dramatically. Carson laughed at his antics. "You're still a brat you know that?" "That's why you love me." "See I knew there had to be a good reason." They stopped at the school doors. "I'll see you later, baby." Carson stood on tiptoe and pulled him down so she could kiss his cheek. "Why *are* you here, Car?" he asked realising she had just appeared at the school. "I'm here to speak to your principal about a teaching position that will be open this fall." "You're kidding!" "I am a teacher, Pacey. I'm on leave from my old school for the semester. But if I am going to be moving here I am going to need a job." "Who's leaving?" "What?" "The position that's opening up, who's leaving?" "Oh. Someone's retiring. I don't know the name." Pacey groaned. "What?" "Mrs. Dempster. She's the only English teacher even close to retirement age." "So what's the problem?" "Mrs. Dempster is everyone's favourite, and I was kinda looking forward to having her for English next year." Carson realised what he was saying. "You'll be in my class." "I'll be in your class." "That should be interesting." She smiled at him reassuringly. "I promise to be just as good as Mrs. Dempster." Pacey's grin turned wicked. "And I promise not to treat you any differently than I do my other teachers." "And I'll hang you from the flagpole," she threatened merrily. Pacey let out a bark of laughter and grabbed her in a bear hug. "Damn I missed you." Carson squeezed him back just as tight. "I missed you too, baby." She swatted him on the backside. "Now get to class before I report you for unnecessary tardiness." Pacey stuck his tongue out at her. "Bully." He jumped out of the way as she moved to swat him again. "Bye, Car," he yelled as he sprinted down the hall. ~*~ Joey entered the cafeteria warily. She hadn't seen Pacey since that morning and was hoping he'd be - And there he was. "Hello, Josephine." He placed a quick kiss on her lips. "How was your morning?" Joey heaved a sigh of relief. "Don't call me that or I'll eviscerate you." She took his proffered hand as they joined the lunch line. "My morning was good. Completely uneventful. Just the way I like it. How 'bout you?" Pacey shrugged. "Some bad some good." He grabbed them each a sandwich and juice. Joey chewed on her lip, trying to decide how best to approach the situation. Pacey let her off the hook. "I talked to Andie. She's upset, but I don't think she hates us." Joey could actually feel the tension leave her body. "Thank god. I don't think I could handle having any more of my friends hate -" she broke off suddenly, staring across the room. Pacey turned to see what had grabbed her attention. Damn, this was awkward. Dawson was just joining Jen, Henry, Jack and Andie at a table. He stole a look at Joey's face. "What do you want to do, Jo?" "Well, I think we should go sit with our friends, just like we always do." She smiled at him. "I refuse to avoid them just because Dawson's acting like a spoiled three year old." She grabbed his hand. "Let's go." Dawson was listening to Jack and Henry replay the football season when suddenly everyone at the table fell silent. He looked up to see Joey and Pacey approaching them through the crowded cafeteria. He frowned and grumbled, "I can't believe the nerve of those two." "What are you talking about, Dawson?" Jen asked, though she had a pretty good idea she wasn't going to like his answer. "I would think common decency would prevent them from asking to sit with us." Dawson answered self-righteously. Jen snorted. "What makes you think they're going to *ask*? For that matter why should they?" "As I said, common decency -" "Get off it, man. We sit together almost every day. Why would today be any different?" Jack challenged. Dawson stood, gathering his things. "Fine. You want to sit here and pretend that nothing has changed, that there are no consequences for their actions, you go right ahead. You'll have to excuse me for thinking you guys were my friends." Jen stood quickly. "Dawson, sit down and shut up!" she snapped Dawson stared at her incredulously. "Excuse me?" "I said, sit down and shut up. You know damn well we're your friends. We also happen to be Pacey and Joey's friends." She softened her tone. "I know this is hard for you, Dawson. But we have all been friends for a long time now and I for one refuse to choose between you and them and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't ask me to." "But " "Hey," Pacey said as they reached the table. He looked at his friends' faces. Obviously they had interrupted something. "Hey, guys," Jen said brightly. "Mind if we join you?" Pacey asked hesitantly. "Of course not. You don't even have to ask." Andie said as she moved over to make room for the newcomers. Joey flashed her a grateful smile. Andie smiled in return. "Hi, Joey." "Hi, Andie." Andie's smile wavered slightly. "Pacey tells me congratulations are in order." Joey nodded, reluctant to talk about her and Pacey with Dawson glaring at her from across the table. Andie saw Joey's hesitation and changed the subject. "So, what's everyone doing for spring break?" Dawson's head shot up and he smiled rather unpleasantly. "Well, I did have plans but recent events have caused me to reconsider." He glared at Joey, challenging her to contradict him. Joey's chin went up defiantly. "Have you called Aunt Gwen to tell her we won't be coming?" Dawson was shocked. "No, not yet." "Well don't you think you should? She may want to make other plans." Dawson stood. "You're right, I should." He stalked out of the cafeteria. Joey sighed. "Well I handled that well." Pacey placed his hand over hers on the table. "He just needs time, Jo." "I hope you're right, Pace." She smiled at him before turning to the other. "So what do you guys have planned for the holiday?" ~*~ Joey stood a few yards from True Love watching Pacey work. They had agreed to meet at the boat after dinner and she was a few minutes early. She enjoyed seeing him here. He put so much time, effort and love into the boat. It was wonderful to see it all coming together. He was sanding the deck when he looked up and saw her. He grinned happily and waved. "Hey, Potter. Come on up." She climbed the ladder and joined him on deck. "So, how did house hunting go?" "What, no kiss hello?" Pacey pouted playfully. Joey gave him a peck on the cheek. "Hello. How was house hunting?" she asked with a smirk. Pacey stuck his lip out further. "I'm starting to think you may not be all that happy to see me, Joey." Joey let out a put upon sigh. "Fine." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hello, Pacey," she whispered huskily before claiming his lips for a slow sensuous kiss. When she finally released him he was wide eyed and speechless. She sauntered over to sit on the rail. "So, houses?" Pacey cleared his throat, trying to get his now buzzing body under control. "Have I mentioned that I think you're evil?" Joey giggled. "I know." "Come here you." He grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. They were both laughing as she fought him halfheartedly. He silenced her laughter with another kiss. When they finally came up for air, she settled into his arms, enjoying being close to him. "Are you going to tell me about the houses you guys looked at or do I have to go ask my cousin?" Pacey shook his head. "Definitely tenacious." He kissed the side of her neck. "We saw a couple that we all liked. Lots of space, close to a school for Sarah, big yard, the whole bit. We have a few more to look at tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure they're going to buy the last one we saw today." "What's it like?" "Nice, very nice. Lots of room, huge yard. It's the big pale yellow one on Greybriar." "The one with the porch?" "Yeah. Doug fell in love with the kitchen and Car liked that it had a nice big family room. Plus, it's only a block and a half from Andrews Elementary, so that's good for Sarah." "What about you? Did you like it?" "It's great. Really cool inside. The best part is, It's almost like having my own apartment. Doug said I could have the whole basement if I liked. Which means not only a bedroom but my own living area too." Joey smiled up at him. "Sounds great. And it's nice and close to my house." "Really? I hadn't noticed." He grinned at her as she tried to smack him. "Seriously though. It was kinda nice that they asked my opinion about the whole thing." "You're going to be living there too, Pace." "That's exactly what Carson said." "See, we Potter girls are smart." "Or something." She pinched his side causing him to cry foul. "Hey, that's gonna leave a mark!" "Don't be a baby." Her laughter faded to a moan as he nipped her earlobe. "So you think this living arrangement is going to work out?" she asked as he worked his way from her ear, down to her neck. Pacey stopped what he was doing and looked at her with wonder in his eyes. "For the first time I feel like I have a real family. One that actually wants me around." He kissed her softly. I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't all some amazingly perfect fantasy." "Why?" "Think about it. I have, for the first time in my life, a real home. Carson and Doug may not be my parents but at least they love me and want me around. And best of all I have you." He kissed her again. "I'd convinced myself that no matter how I felt about you, you would never see me as anything other than Pacey Witter, pain in the ass. Now look at us. I get to hold you and kiss you. And you didn't threatened me with bodily harm when I said I loved you." Another kiss. "I do, bye the way, love you that is." Joey raised his hand to her lips and placed a tender kiss on his palm. "I love you too, Pacey." She grinned at him. "Do you think we'll get to sail off into the sunset like we did in my dream? 'Cause I have to admit I kinda like the idea." "You know, Potter, that whole dream scenario really doesn't do a lot for this whole cynical teen schtick you've got going. Seems to be more of a hopeless romantic kinda thing." "Bite me, Pacey." "My pleasure, Josephine." The end Never, Neverland Part 10/10 I would love to hear what you think. kayjay@sunwave.net Author's notes: I have to say many many thank yous to my wonderful beta reader/editor, Natasha. She is the wonderful person who makes me appear literate. And to Evie for being a great cheerleader.