Pacey carefully held the mail in his teeth as he opened the apartment door with one hand and carried his dinner with the other. It was Friday night. Anne was out with her friends, Joey and Finn left for Poconos that afternoon. He was all set for a night alone with the TV and some Chinese takeout.

He dropped the mail onto the coffee table and switched on the stereo, singing along as he walked to the kitchen. "I guess you'll say, what can make me feel this way… My girl…" He bobbed his head in time with the music and grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator.

"Cashew chicken?"

"Shi*t!" Pacey exclaimed. "You startled me, Potter. What are you doing here?"

Joey was at the counter, peering into the brown paper bag that contained his food. "Just heading out, actually. Finn had to go to Boston because of a family emergency, so I'm driving up to Poconos on my own. I was just about to leave you a note." She crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it away, then walked back to the living room for her backpack.

"What?" He followed her from the kitchen. "You're driving up there by yourself? Now?"

She looked at him as she slung the bag over her shoulder. "It's only a few hours' drive, Pacey. I have driven by myself before."

"Four hours, Joey, at it's already seven-thirty. Why don't you wait 'til morning?"

She shook her head. "We paid for the rooms in advance. I don't want to waste it by not getting there tonight. Besides, I already have the rental." She held up the car keys.

"Are you crazy? You can't just go driving to Pennsylvania by yourself in the middle of the night."

"Pacey," she said with exaggerated patience. "Don't worry about it. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Okay?"

"No." He folded his arms across his chest. "Not okay. Go tomorrow morning."

Joey sighed and headed for the door. "Bye," she called. "See you Sunday night."

"Potter!" Pacey went after her, leaning against the door so that she couldn't go out. "Dammit, you are so annoyingly stubborn!" He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation.

She smiled sweetly at him. "And you love me for it. Now get out of the way."

He grabbed the keys from her hand. "I'm driving."

"What?" She balked.

"Well, if you get lost, or that rental car breaks down, and you get murdered and cut up into little pieces - which, may I add, you would only deserve - Bessie would have my head. And that doesn't exactly sound too pleasant." He pushed her toward the couch. "So just sit still for five minutes while I go get some stuff. Okay?"

Pacey went to his room and threw some clothes into a bag, muttering under his breath as he did so.

Bad idea, Witter. What the hell are you thinking? You can't go away for the weekend with Joey! Do you want to drive yourself crazy?

He zipped the bag closed, resolving to come back to New York the next morning. He was just going to drive her there. He can take the rental home, she can ride back with her friends.

Satisfied with his plan, he went to the kitchen for the paper bag and started for the door.

"You don't have to do this, Pacey." Joey said from the couch.

"Shut up, Potter." He held the door open. "You want to go or not?"

She followed him out, smiling. "Nice singing, by the way."

He narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you owe me. You owe me big time."

Joey laughed. Pacey watched her as they waited for the elevator, knowing that he was going to regret this.

***

She shifted in her seat, raising her legs so that they were folded underneath her. They'd been driving for almost three hours. All she could see outside her window were the black silhouettes of the trees that lined the road, and suddenly she felt glad that Pacey had insisted on driving.

Joey peeked at him surreptitiously. The soft blue glow from the dashboard illuminated his face, emphasizing his features. She noticed the way his long eyelashes cast faint shadows on his cheeks, the way his hands looked so strong on the steering wheel.

She had treated them both to dinner before they left the city, calling it a celebratory meal in honor of the end of classes. So far there hadn't been too much awkwardness between them. Maybe they were both beginning to forget, she reasoned, and that was just as well. It was starting to get a little too complicated.

"Want some cold Chinese food?" She reached into the paper bag he'd placed on the floor behind his seat and took out one of the white cartons.

"Hey, that was my dinner," he commented as she broke apart the wooden chopsticks and took a bite.

"You've already had dinner." She replied, then offered him a piece, holding it near his mouth. "Say 'ah'."

Pacey ate the chicken, not taking his eyes off the road. "I brought the soda too, didn't I?"

Joey squeezed through the gap between their seats and searched the back. "Yup." She opened the can and took a sip, then passed it to him. "Are you getting sleepy? We could switch."

He shook his head. "I'm okay. We're almost there, anyway."

There was silence as they continued to eat.

"Hey, Pace?"

He looked at her. "Jo?"

"Thanks." She said seriously. "I think I'm actually having fun." She grinned.

Pacey grinned back. "You still owe me."

She laughed. "I bought you dinner!"

"McDonald's doesn't count, Potter."

"Well, we were in a hurry."

"You can buy me dinner again when you get back on Sunday."

"When I get back?"

He glanced at her. "Yeah, I was thinking I could drive back tomorrow morning and you could ride with your friends on Sunday."

"Oh."

"Something wrong, Jo?"

"No, nothing. You're right, that sounds good. I think Finn is coming tomorrow, anyway."

He was quiet for a few moments, his eyes locked on the road. "Okay."

"Okay," she echoed.

***

Dammit. Pacey's hands tightened on the steering wheel.

I knew this was a bad idea.

He wanted to stay. God help him, he wanted to stay with her the whole weekend. Forget Finn, forget Anne. He just wanted to… be with her.

He sighed, feeling irritated. He wasn't supposed to be thinking this way about Joey. Sure, he'd had a crush on her back in high school, but even back then he'd known it was a bad idea. They were friends. She had that thing going on with Dawson. So he'd repressed it, forced himself to forget that Joey Potter ever made his palms sweaty and his pulse race, and he'd gotten pretty good at it.

By the time they were freshmen in college, he really did just think of her as a friend. And he'd had several great relationships with other women. But that night made his entire world come crashing down around him, and now he felt like his balance was off, and one wrong move could make him go back to being that lovelorn, pathetic… idiot.

Forget it, Witter. Just forget it. He sighed again.

"Pacey?"

He looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No. Why?" He forced himself to concentrate on his driving.

"You just seemed like you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders there for a minute."

Pacey chuckled humorlessly and said nothing.

Joey sat up in her seat and peered through the windshield. "I think we're close… yup, it's that one, right there."

He turned into the driveway of the bed and breakfast she gestured to and parked. "You go check in, I'll take care of the bags."

She nodded and got out of the car. Pacey turned off the engine and sat there for a minute, letting his mind wander. He got out and stretched, then took their bags and followed her inside.

Joey was waiting for him with a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I, uh," she bit her lip. "I tried to get another room for you, Pacey, but they're full."

He stopped breathing. Sh*t.

"Is it okay with you if…?" She trailed off.

He shrugged. "No problem, Jo, I can sleep on the floor." He hoped he sounded casual.

"No way." Joey led the way to their room and opened the door. "You're the one who drove. You get the bed."

Pacey stared at the queen-sized bed that occupied the center of the room. She and Finn had gotten one room. One bed. He blocked out his thoughts and turned to Joey. "Forget it."

She sighed. "Pacey,"

"Joey," he replied stubbornly.

"Okay, fine. Why don't we just sleep together? I mean, the bed's big enough, and it's not like we haven't done it before." She took her bag from him and began fussing with it.

He swallowed, knowing for sure that fate was out to play a cruel joke on him.