“Josephine!! Josephine Potter!!”

Joey turned around trying to pinpoint where the sound emanated from amidst the crowd of people. Some distance away, near the bar, Joey saw a small blonde waving at her. A friend from the past. Inhaling and exhaling she walked over.

“Andrea McPhee. It’s been some time.” Joey greeted.

The blonde giggled. “Andrea? What happened to Andie?”

“You called me Josephine.” Joey pointed out.

“I did too.” Andie conceded. “Sorry about that Joey.”

“It’s fine, Andie.”

“Wow. It’s been ages since we’ve last seen each other. Four years to be exact.”

“Time has passed.”

“You look absolutely stunning Joey. And young as ever. I’m so envious.”

“You look good Andie.” Joey pointed out.

“Thanks. So what are you doing here?”

“Business.” Joey answered. “Several people here are clients.”

“Oh. That’s nice. A friend invited me to this dinner. All these people that I don’t know. It’s so good to see you Joey. We have so much to catch up on.” Andie declared as she hooked her arm around Joey’s. “Do you know I’m not a McPhee anymore?”

Joey glanced down at the golden ring that adorned Andie’s left hand. “So I see.”

“I sent you an invitation but we got it back with return to sender scrawled all over it. I tried to get your new address from Bessie but she said you were traveling and had no permanent fixed address. I really wanted you to be there. It just wasn’t the same having only Jen as my bridesmaid.”

“I’m sure you found other people.” Joey stated.

“Oh I did but it wasn’t the same. Anyway you’ll never guess who I married.” Andie giggled again. “Actually here he is right now.”

Joey watched as Andie pulled a tall, brown haired man towards them. She looked into his blue eyes then glanced at Andie before smiling.

“Congratulations.” Joey said.

“Thank you.” Andie and Pacey Witter replied.

The three of them stood there, old friends from once upon time, not knowing to say. Finally Andie broke the silence.

“I’m sorry to leave like this but I just saw someone I just have to talk to.” Andie announced. “Pacey, Joey I’m sure the two of you will have fun catching up. Pacey, honey, don’t forget to get Joey’s phone number. We really must stay in contact. Bye Joey. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.” Joey watched as Andie departed into the crowd.

She stared at her companion. Pacey Witter hadn’t changed much over the years. Perhaps more mature, more refined. Perhaps more of the country club type but that wasn’t too surprising given that he had married Andie McPhee. No matter how down to earth and genuine Andie McPhee had been it could never cancel the fact that she was born rich and was at home in a country club, traveling the world in luxury.

Joey didn’t have much to say to this man. He wasn’t the Pacey Witter she had known as a child. The silence between them was awkward and uncomfortable. It was easier to walk away than to stand next to this man she didn’t know. So that’s what Joey did; she walked away.

“Where are you going Potter?”

Joey sighed. It was difficult to walk away when the other person followed you. She turned and stared at Pacey, expectantly.

“Let’s dance.” Pacey said and pulled Joey onto the dance floor.

He held her awkwardly and they swayed. It wasn’t the most graceful of dances. They were careful to avoid each other’s toes, careful to avoid one another. She let him lead; she was too tired to fight, too tired to lead. The music gave them an excuse not to talk. Instead they concentrated on the beat and trying to move in rhythm with the music.

There were other couples on the dance floor. One or two bumped into Joey pushing her closer to Pacey. For a moment she had been pressed against him before she inched away and allowed the distance to overcome them once more.

They danced until the song finished and another song began.

Another dance later and they were a little more comfortable. His right hand rested comfortably on Joey’s hip. Her left hand rested on his shoulder. They swayed some more and held onto each other tightly.

“May I cut in?” Andie’s voice interrupted.

They broke free as Joey stepped away and Andie took her place.

Joey walked to the bathroom leaving Pacey and Andie to dance.

*****

Joey was breathing. Inhaling and exhaling. Deep breaths. Deep desperate breaths for air.

She splashed some water over her face.

Her hands shook and her body trembled.

The bathroom was surprisingly empty. She watched as the only other person in the bathroom exited.

Joey Potter was alone. Nothing unusual about that.

Deep breaths. Inhaling and exhaling.

She hadn’t expected to see Pacey Witter of all people here tonight with his wife Andie no less. It had been a long time. Four years. Not long enough.

“Joey?”

She looked up to see image of Pacey reflected in the mirror.

“This is the ladies room, Pacey.” Joey reminded him.

“I locked the door.”

“Can you actually lock the hotel’s bathroom door?”

“I can.”

“What do you want Pacey?”

“To talk. To finish our dance before we were interrupted.”

“Talking is overrated and the music stopped a long time ago.”

“We can dance without music.”

“No. Not us. We can’t.”

“I’m sorry Jo.”

She flinched. “I guess that makes both us. You married Andie.”

“I did.”

“I guess in some cases first love survives as opposed to True Love. But then True Love went missing, lost at sea during Senior year.”

Joey stared in the mirror watching Pacey, watching Pacey watch her.

“I never meant for it to happen.” he said.

“Never meant for what to happen, Pace? Never meant to marry Andie? Never meant to sleep with Andie? Never meant to cheat on me? Never meant to hurt me? Never meant to love me? What do you mean, Pace?”

“Everything. None of it. I still love you Jo.”

“And you’re a married man. Married to one of my best friends. The same best friend you happened to sleep with while we were engaged. Ironic isn’t it? And Andie wonders why I never attended your wedding. I decided that traveling the world was preferable. I decided it was time for me to gain some worldly experience.”

“Jo…”

“You had just proposed to me a few weeks before, we didn’t even get a chance to tell our friends or family. You said you wanted to wait because Andie was coming back from Europe soon. You said we’d have this big get together and we’d announce our engagement. We never did have that big get together like we planned, did we Pace? We never did get to do all the things we planned. Instead I found you in bed with Andie. Was that planned, Pace?”

“God no. How could you even ask that Jo?”

“Do you realize that I never found out if Andie betrayed me knowingly or not? There have been times when I suspected that she had. Little words she said. Things she did. And then there were other times when I just couldn’t believe Andie would do such a thing to me. But then I never thought you’d do such a thing to me. In the end I figured it was best not to know. One deliberate betrayal was enough. I couldn’t take two. I still can’t. Anyway I’m glad you and Andie are so happy together.”

Joey brushed passed Pacey as she made a move to leave.

He grabbed her arm, preventing Joey from leaving. “What if I told you that I wasn’t happy?”

“Then I feel sorry for you.”

“What if I told you that you’re the only one who makes me happy? The only one who could ever truly make me happy?”

“Then you’re deluding yourself.”

“Is this a delusion?” Pacey asked before he bent his head down and kissed Joey.

Four years and the kiss was achingly familiar. His tongue probed her mouth and Joey allowed him access. He tasted the same and the passion, the desire, the lust, it was still all there. Four years later and nothing had changed.

Joey ran her fingers down Pacey’s arm. Just one touch. One more time.

His hands cupped her face and he kissed her. Pacey kissed her with all the love he still felt. He tugged at the bottom of her shirt, relishing in the feel of her skin. She could feel him, hard, beneath the material of his pants and instinctively her body was grinding itself against him.

They gasped as they moved towards the toilets; Pacey pushing Joey against one of the cubicles’ doors.

“I’ve missed this. I’ve missed us.” Pacey moaned.

Joey stilled, suddenly remembering. “This is a mistake.”

“No regrets. No consequences. Just one more time Jo. One more time. I need to feel you, to be in you, to be surrounded by your warmth just one more time.”

It was wrong.

It was betrayal.

And she didn’t have it in her to turn away.

Her skirt was hitched up high, his pants puddled at his ankles, both their shirts were unbuttoned and they kissed frantically, desperately, recklessly.

He held her against the toilet door, her legs wrapped around his waist as he pushed into her. They cried out at the feel of each other. His movements were erratic and frenzied. Her nails dug into his back. He pushed himself deeper and deeper into her, desperate to immerse himself into her depths. They banged against the door hard and it swung open at the force. They stumbled forward, inside the cubicle, before Pacey slammed the door hut and hurled their bodies against the side of the cubicle. The door swung in a little and Joey kicked it shut again. Her shoe fell to the ground. Pacey’s hand pushed her skirt up higher so that it bunched tightly around Joey's waist as he thrust into her, hard.

“I love you, Jo.”

“Don’t tell me that.” Joey pleaded in between gasps. “Say I’m a good f/uck. Tell me how good I am. How wet, how tight. Just don’t tell me you love me.”

Pacey stared into Joey’s smoky grey eyes as he entered her. “You’re so wet.”

He pulled out before pushing into her again. “So incredibly tight.”

Slowly Pacey slid out pausing a moment as he gazed into Joey’s eyes before ramming himself hard and fast into her. “You’re the best f/uck I’ve ever had.”

There were tears in both of their eyes as they screamed each other’s names. She bit into his neck as he frantically pounded into her.

“Harder, Pace. Harder.” Joey begged. “I need to feel you.”

He plunged himself harder and deeper inside Joey, letting her feel all of him as he submerged himself into her very depths.

Their cries echoed throughout the room; a hollow, desperate sound.

Pacey emptied himself into her and Joey accepted him. Their bodies trembled and wracked with feeling and they clung onto one another.

Slowly and carefully Pacey slid out of Joey, watching as she put on her panties and pulled down her skirt. Quietly she buttoned up her shirt as Pacey zipped up his trousers and buttoned his own shirt.

They walked out of the cubicle and stared at the mirror.

Joey concentrated on her reflection, trying desperately to fix the mess that was her hair and her makeup. She brushed her hair and carefully reapplied her red lipstick.

“You look beautiful, Jo.” Pacey stated as he took the comb from her hand and gently brushed her hair.

He kissed her neck before she took the comb away from him. Critically Joey examined herself before inspecting Pacey. She readjusted his collar and ran her fingers through his hair.

“You look beautiful, Pace.”

“No regrets?”

“No regrets. No consequences.” Joey affirmed, her eyes avoiding the bright golden of Pacey’s ring.

Slowly Joey began to walk away.

Once again Pacey grabbed her arm, pulling her close. “One more time?”

They kissed one more time.

A sweet, bitter, desperate kiss.

On the forehead. On the lips.

They pulled away and parted.

Joey was the first to exit followed by Pacey.

Standing in the shadows, at the edge of the crowd, Joey watched as Pacey returned to his wife. She watched as Andie embraced Pacey, as he smiled at her tenderly and kissed her lips. Then Joey Potter turned around and walked away.

One more time.