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Tempest - Chapter Ten - Getting To Know You Again
Pacey looked over at the intruder. She was shaking her head with disappointment. "Pacey," she muttered. "JOEY!?" he gasped. What was she doing here? "What is this? Some kind of sick joke?" she asked. She wasn't the same girl she had been a week ago. This one was tired and lethargic. She looked as though she just didn't care anymore. A baggy t-shirt hung off her shoulders anbd she wore slippers rather than shoes on her feet. Her wet hair was plastered to her face in large, stragly clumps. In short: she looked like hell. But to Pacey, she still looked as beautiful as ever. "Natalie! What happened to you?" Isabelle asked as she ran to Joey's side. "Ash him," she said, pointing at Pacey. "I already have," Isabelle replied. Joey rolled her eyes. "Look, Isabelle. I came here because I thought that you were in some sort of danger. Instead, I find you here playing all lovey-dovey with Pacey." She turned to Pacey. "What is this? Was it planned? Is this just some cruel joke to make me pay for what happened over five years ago?" "Five years?" Isabelle asked quietly, confused. "And I must add, you are in the wrong JUST as much as I was! Don't deny it, Pacey. We both did the same thing, yet somehow you manage to make me feeling like it was all my fault! Like if I hadn't done this, we would still be together. YOU DID IT TOO! IT'S YOUR FAULT TOO! Don't blame me, Pacey. You don't need to make me feel any worse than I already do." "Joey, that's not what I mean to do. I would never---" "Joey?" Isabelle murmured again. "WHAT? I find you and Isabelle in the same position as you and I were in just over a week ago. I mean, come on! What do you expect me to think?" Joey asked. "I didn't expect you to be here," Pacey said innocently. "How does that make it any better?" Joey asked, completely forgetting the fact that one of the clients was sitting on the floor listening to every word. Pacey chuckled and shook his head. "You always were the jealous type." "WHAT!? What does that have to do with anything?!" Joey asked, outraged. "Coming up with stupid reasons to be angry. Reasons for which you have no proof of." "NO PROOF!?" she screamed. "THEN WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WANDER IN ON?!" Isabelle, not wanting to stay in there any longer, knowing it wasn't her place to be, stood up. "Natalie... Brett doesn't even know that I called you. And the hand-on-cheek thing... he slapped me. And he was apologising. And I don't really know WHAT the hell you two are on about, or what happened between you. Brett's been really insistant on not telling me. But I can kinda tell that whatever it is... it's big. I just don't think it's worth shutting down entirely and closing off from the world forever more because of it. I mean, it can't be THAT big a deal." "Believe me, it was," both Pacey and Joey said simultaneously. She looked at them with interest. "Sorry about any inconvenience, Natalie. I shouldn't have called you. I guess I over-reacted a bit. Bye," she said before leaving Joey and Pacey alone in his trailer. "So..."
"Whose name?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway. Dawson spun to face her. Melissa. She entered the room. "Whose name?" she asked again, never for a second thinking that it could possibly belong to her fiance. "Uh, what do you say you and I go take a walk," Dawson suggested. "A walk? Why?" He took her hand and lead her out of the room. As they walked down the empty corridor, Dawson told her, "We should probably talk." They entered one of the elevators as two doctors exited it. As soon as the doors closed and they began travelling downwards, Melissa burst out, "Steve, WHAT in god's name is going on?! Who is this lady? Why did you have to rush her off to the hospital? And finally, what the hell is going on?" "This is gonna take a while," he said as he lead her out of the elevator and into the ground floor cafe. "Coke?" "I don't want a coke, Steve," she said definitely. "I just want to know what's going on," she sighed. He put his wallet back into his pocket. "Sorry." They left the cafe and sat down on the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. "Here goes..."
"So..." Joey started. Pacey stopped her before she could expand on the meaning of that on little word. "Don't." "Excuse me?" she asked. "Don't say anything,"he said as he took her hand. "Pacey," Joey said so softly it could have been mistaken for a breath. "Shush," he said as he placed his fingers over her lips and lead her towards the bed. He sat down on it and she sat down beside him, nervous as hell. He placed one hand on her knee and used the other to wipe her clingy hair off of her face. Then he leaned down and kissed her fully, letting his hands roam up and down her back. Hers rested on his butt. When his lips moved down to her neck, she couldn't help but moan... "Pacey...!"
"What are you trying to tell me, Steve? Should I even call you Steve anymore? I mean, what do I call you now?" Melissa asked. Dawson sighed. "Steve. I'm still Steve." "No you're not. You're not Steve. You're, um..." "I'm Steve. I used to be called Dawson. But that's all it is. It's a name." "It's a life! A life, St--- Whatever your name is. I'm engaged to someone whom I've just realized I know absolutely nothing about." "Melissa, you know everything there is to know about me." "About Steve." "I am Steve." "In that case, I'll meet you back at the hotel later, Steve. Don't be too late," Melissa said softly. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Bye." "Bye," he said as he watched her leave. She'd taken that so well it was almost scary. He shrugged as he stepped back into the elevator. "I wonder if Jen's given birth yet?" he muttered to himself.
"...and this is the coffee lounge," Andie told her brother as she gave him the 'grand tour' of her store. "I don't get it, Andie. You own this place. You're super rich. Why don't you pay other people to do this for you?" Jack asked. "JACK! This is a responsibility! This is MY responsibility! I couldn't just sit back and watch the money roll in. It wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't be right." "Ah... Andie. Always wanting to be in on the action," Jack said with a smile. "Look, do you want this job or not?" she asked, exasperated. Jack nodded, so she continued. "Alright, here's a few things you need to know; Number one - you MUST wear smart clothes and look respectable yet approachable at all times. Number two - pay day is Thursday. Absolutely NO advances on your pay cheque. Number three - you and I went to school together. We were NOT close friends and we DEFINITELY were not brother and sister. Your name is David Hewant and you went to school in Rhode Island. You hear me? RHODE ISLAND, not Capeside." "Deal," Jack said. "But I think you forgot one thing. One thing I need to know, even if no one else does." "Oh yeah, what's that?" "Is this place, this whole bookstore - the whole CHAIN of them, simply a memorial to Pacey?"
"Hello. Dawson, is it? That's what my wife callef you. However, you don't seem to agree. In fact, if I recall correctly, you introduced yourself as Steve. So tell me, what do I call you? Are you Steve or are you Dawson?" Jean-Luc greeted Dawson coldly, blocking the entrance to Jen's room in the maternity ward. "Could I go and see Jen please?" Dawson asked, his tone equally icy. "First of all, my wife's name is ASHLEIGH. Not Jen. I'm aware of her past, and really, I don't care what role you once played in her life - you can't come back and try to regain that position! She's a MARRIED WOMAN now! In a few hours she's going to be a MOTHER! She doesn't need this extra stress! She doesn't need YOU!" "And secondly?" "Secondly, no." "No what?" "No, you cannot go and see her. Sorry," he said shrugging, looking slightly smug. With that, he turned and walked back into the hospital room and through the pale green curtains. "Did she ask you to say that to me?!" Dawson called out after him. "DID SHE TELL YOU TO TELL ME THAT?!?!" Two nurses pushed him out of the doorway as they helped another heavily pregnant woman into the same room of the large hospital. "I guess I'm not wanted here," he muttered as he jammedhis hands into his pockets and trudged off.
Joey woke up to find the sunlight streaming in through the small windows and two strong hands gripping her around the waist. She wriggled to try and break free. "You're not getting away this time," a deep male voice whispered huskily in her ear as they pulled her back down onto the tiny bed. "Pacey!" she laughed. "I just want to get a drink!" "Hmmm... let me think about that," he said jokingly. "Alright. But there are conditions." "And those conditions would be...?" "You may go... only if you get me one too. And be back in one minute or I'll be forced to get out of this... not so comfy bed and check that you didn't get lost or anything." Joey laughed. His whole place consisted of one room and a TINY bathroom, smaller than Joey's wardrobe. "What d' you want?" she called out. "Just water," he muttered into the sheets, trying to wake himself up enough to sit upright and drink the water. She sat down by the bed holding two cheap plastic cups. "So..." she started after taking a sip. "You like that word, don't you?" he asked with a chuckle. "So. So. So." "Yes, it's a good word, isn't it? It's so..." "Here we go again," Pacey muttered jokingly, rolling his eyes for effect. She playfully hit him. "Hey!" She put down her cup and snuggled back into the bed with him. "Mmmm..." she purred into his chest. "I could stay like this forever." "I couldn't," he admitted. Her head snapped up. "Your bed is WAY comfier." She smiled and closed her eyes, burying her head further into his chest. Moments later, she was asleep. Pacey held her tight, playing with her silky hair and touching her smooth skin. He breathed in her scent. God, she was beautiful. And she was his... ... at least she was his right now. As for tomorrow... well, he didn't want to think about it. If they thought things had been complicated five years ago, then they couldn't even begin to describe what things were like now. Sleeping together didn't automatically mean they were together... even if that was what they both wanted. She murmured something inaudible in her sleep as she wriggled a little, repositioning herself on the bed. 'This is perfect,' Pacey told himself. 'This is how it's meant to be.' So why did he get the distinct feeling that it was all going to come crumbling down around him?
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