Title: Security part 1 of 1
Author: Kjiara
Author's E-Mail: kayjay@sunwave.net
URL: http://www.geocities.com/kjiara
Category: PJR
Rating: PG
Spoilers: You should know how season three ends.
Archive: Yes, just give credit where due
Feedback: Makes my day!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of 'em.
Summary: Security is in the eye of the beholder.
Notes: This story takes place a few weeks into the next school
year.  This story is not a part of my Brother and Sister
universe.


Security
by Kjiara


"So, Jo, my place tonight. You me and a couple of golden oldies?" 
Dawson said, leaning against Joey's locker.

"You are aware, aren't you, Dawson, that Stephen Spielberg's films
may not be considered 'golden oldies' by your average movie
afficionado."  Joey smirked at her friends crestfallen appearance. 
"On the other hand I have very rarely considered myself to be
average."

Dawson's face brightened considerably.  "Then you'll come?"

Joey winced slightly at his overly hopeful tone.  "I can't, not
tonight.  I already have plans, I'm--"

"It's okay, Joey, I should have known you and Pacey would already
have plans."  He said, rather petulantly.  "I just thought it
would really help us get our friendship back on track if we did
some of the things we used to enjoy together.  But I guess you're
right, your *boyfriend* has to come first."

The tone of Dawson's little pity party just pissed Joey off.   "As
a matter of fact, Dawson, I have plans with one of the other men
in my life."  She slammed her locker door and turned to face her
friend.  "Bessie and Bodie are going out for the evening and asked
me to watch Alexander."  She found herself getting angrier when
she saw the relief in his eyes.  "And you know what, Dawson, if
you are really as enthusiastic about reviving our friendship as
you say you are, you are going to have to work at accepting that
Pacey is now, and will continue to be, my first priority."

"Oh, so, what?  Now you have him so you don't need me?  What
happened to wanting to make sure we stayed friends, Joey?  I
thought that was so vitally important to you," Dawson said 
snidely

"You know how much your friendship means to me, Dawson.  God, four
months ago I walked away from Pacey because I was terrified you
would hate me."  She reached out for his hand, grasping it
loosely.  "Your friendship means everything to me, Dawson, you
know that, but, I love Pacey."  Dawson's face fell again.  "He
makes me happier than I ever imagined being."  She softened her
tone, knowing her words were hurting him.  "I don't want to lose
you, Dawson, but I *can't* lose him.  I love him too much." 

Dawson sighed heavily, he knew that if he was going to restore his
relationship with Joey, he was going to have to tread a bit
lighter on the 'Pacey issue'.  "I'm sorry, Joey.  I know you love
him."  The words tasted bitter on his tongue.  "And I will try
harder, I promise.  Maybe we should invite Pacey when we have
movie night."

She smiled brightly, delighted by his proposal.  "Oh, Dawson, what
a wonderful idea.  Who knows, maybe we can all get back to where
we were!"  Joey threw her arms around his neck and hugged him
tightly.  "Thank you."  She kissed him on the cheek, grinning from
ear to ear.

Dawson's smile was more of a grimace as he returned the hug.  "I'm
not promising anything, Jo, but I'm willing to give it a shot if
it means having you back in my life."

"I have a good feeling about his one, Dawson.  How 'bout I talk to
Pacey, see what night's good for him and give you a call?"

"Sounds good."  He smiled at her enthusiasm.  "I'll talk to you
later, Jo."  He turned to head down the hall.

"Bye, Dawson.  And thanks again."  Joey called after him, feeling
much more optimistic than she had only minutes before.


****

"He wants me to what?" Pacey exclaimed incredulously.

"Dawson wants you and I to come over to his house for movie night. 
He thinks it may help rejuvenate our relationship," Joey said
calmly.  She hadn't expected a lot of enthusiasm from Pacey.

"I'm sure he does," Pacey muttered.

"What was that?"

"Jo, c'mon.  I know you aren't that naive.  I also know you have a
great deal more insight into Dawson Leery's psyche than to believe
that he is really inviting me to movie night with the hope of 
re-sparking our friendship."

Joey shook her head emphatically.  "That's not true, Pace.  I
think he may really be endeavouring to put last spring behind
him."

Pacey sat down, pulling Joey onto the couch beside him.  "Jo,
Dawson knows that if he wants to have any sort of relationship
with you, he is going to have to bite the bullet when it comes to
me.  Don't you see, Joey, he doesn't really want me around, but he
knows we're a package deal so he is willing to tolerate my
presence."

Joey hesitated, knowing what Pacey said made sense.  "So what do
we do?"

"*We* do nothing, *you* go have movie night with Dawson.  I'll take
Alexander."  

"Are you sure.  We could still do it tomorrow night, all three of
us."

Pacey picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles tenderly.  "I
know you want a happy ending, Love, and maybe someday Dawson and I
will find our way back to each other, but for now, you need him in
your life."  Pacey smiled sadly.

Joey saw the fear and sadness in his eyes.  "What is it, Pacey,
what's wrong?"

He shrugged.  "Nothing's wrong.  You go call Dawson, and Bessie,
make the necessary changes to the plans."

"Pacey, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's the matter
with you.  Why did you look so sad when we were talking about
Dawson?"  She stroked his cheek gently.  "What is it?"

Pacey sighed and looked down at his lap.  "I need you to promise
me something, Joey," he said, raising his eyes to meet hers.

Joey smiled softly.  "Anything."

Pacey took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat.  "I
need you to promise me, that when you decide you don't want to be
with me anymore you'll tell me.  Don't try to spare my feeling, or
make it easier, just tell me."

"Pacey " Joey began, unable to believe what she was hearing. 
"What are you talking about?  I'm not going anywhere."  She
watched the wide range of emotions that played over his face. 
"Pacey, what is it.  Do you think I'm going to leave you for
Dawson, is that it?"

Pacey closed his eyes for a moment to try to gather his thoughts. 
"I don't know!  God, I hate this!"  He got up and began pacing the
room.  "I guess I do feel threatened by him.  You loved him for so
long.  He was all you thought about for years, I didn't even
register with you until last year.  It was alway 'Dawson and Joey' 
oh and Pacey too.  I was an afterthought.  He was my best friend
but you were his.  Good ol' Pace.  I know you can't even fathom
your life without him, and I guess I'm just afraid I'm not as
indispensable as I'd like to be."  He stopped his pacing to stare
out the window.  Then turned to face a speechless Joey.  He moved
to stand in front of her.  "Just promise me, Jo, if you do decide
you need him more than me, you'll tell me so I can leave."  Her
horrified gasp gave him pause.  "I'm sorry, Joey, I would do
anything for you, you know that, anything.  But I am begging you,
please, if you do, down the line, decide Dawson is who you want to
be with, please let me go, don't ask me to stay and watch you love
someone else, I just-- I--" his voice broke and he stopped.

Joey was dumbfounded, she had been completely unaware that he hld
such overwhelming insecurities about her.  "Oh, Pacey," she
sobbed, throwing herself into his arms.

"Ah, Jo, shhh, I didn't mean to make you cry."  He stroked her
back soothingly.

Joey sniffled and lifted her head from his chest.  "I'm so sorry,
Pacey."

He brushed her tears away.  "For what?" 

Joey took his hand and led him back to the couch.  "I'm sorry I
made you feel like that."

"Joey--"

"No!  You have obviously been worried from the start that I was
going to leave you for him.  I'm sorry if I made you feel that
way.  But Pacey, I wish you'd told me.  We were alone together for
almost three months, I had no idea you felt so threatened by
Dawson.  Or even why you'd think i'd leave you for him."

"You did it before," he said with a shrug.

Joey gasped.  Oh, God.  He was right of course, she had chosen her
friendship with Dawson over her relationship with Pacey.  She took
his face between her hands and kissed him tenderly.  "I want you
to listen to me very carefully, Pacey Witter.  When I made that
decision last spring I was terrified and confused.  The person who
had been my best friend for most of my life had just told me I was
no longer welcome in *his* life."  She saw his face start to fall
and kissed him again.  "What I didn't realise until after I walked
away from you that night on the docks, is that Dawson was really
no longer my best friend.  Those shoes had been filled by someone
else.  Not having Dawson in my life for those few weeks hurt, not
having you, made me feel broken and empty.  But I was afraid, I'd
never had to go it alone, he'd always been there beside me.  So I
tried to pretend I could live without you.  That what I felt for
you was hormonal or a crush and not what it really was."

"And what was that?" he asked, smiling tentatively.

"Love."  She kissed him.  "It took me a while to realise that the 
reason I was miserable wasn't because Dawson was angry with me.  
He got over that in a hurry.  But that you were gone.  You had 
become everything to me.  I loved and needed you in ways I had 
never experienced before.  Not only had I lost my best friend I 
had lost the man I loved."  She smiled at him.  "So, don't you 
worry your pretty little head, Witter, Dawson is no more a threat 
to you than Jack, and we know I'm *really* not *his* type."

Pacey pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.  "God, I love
you," he whispered.

"And I love you.  Please don't ever doubt that, Pacey.  I love you
more than I ever thought possible.  You make me happy, *you*.  Us, 
got it?"  She gave him a poke in the chest.

"You're kind of a bossy little thing, aren't you?"  

"Little!  Who you callin' little, mister?"  She tackled his to the
couch and perched on his lap.

"Oomph, well, certainly not you."  He groaned dramatically and
pretended to gasp for breath.

"Oh!  You jerk."  She laughed, grabbing a pillow and trying to
smoother him with it.  "You callin' me fat, buddy?"  She giggled
as he turned the tables on her, rolling her beneath him.

"Hmmm?  Fat?"  He looked down on her as though assessing her. 
Joey poked him, hard.  "Nope not to fat, not to skinny, kinda,
well let me think, what's the right word."  He teased, leaning in
for a taste of her pouting lips.  "That's it, that's the word."

Joey pouted further at the loss of his lips.  "What word?"

"You, the word, is delicious."  He captured her mouth in a slow,
tantalising, passionate kiss.  "Definitely delicious."  He
murmured as he kissed his was down her throat.

"Hmmm, delicious is good."  Joey moaned as she wound her fingers
into his hair in an effort to pull him even closer to her, growing
frustrated at the clothing that separated her skin from his heat. 
"Pacey," she whispered.  "Let's go--" she was interrupted by the
phone.

Pacey looked up for a moment.  "Let the machine get it," he said
absently, returning his attention to her tender skin.

"Pacey, it's Bessie.  I'm trying to find, Jo.  If you see her
will, you tell her--"

"Bessie, I'm here," Joey said somewhat breathlessly.

"Have to run for the phone, Jo?" Bessie teased.

"You're a riot.  What do you want?"

"I'm not altogether sure that boy has done much for your sense of
humour.  Any ways, Bodie and I are leaving a bit earlier than we
thought, so can you be here at six-thirty instead of seven?"

"Six-thirty.  I'll be there."  Joey sighed looking at her watch,
it was already six.

"Hold it."  Pacey snatched the phone from her.  "Hi, Bess."

"Pacey?"

"Listen, Bessie, would it be okay if I sat with Alexander
tonight?"  He held up his hand as Joey made to protest.

"Sure, I guess.  But why isn't Joey going to be here?"

"Joey has other plans."  He smiled at the girl in question as she
leaned into him.  "She had a movie date with an old friend."

The End