Thunder tore through the air as Pacey's truck sped along the road. It handled beautifully, even on wet roads. He took the turn just before the intersection at a speed he had no business hitting, and it fishtailed. Automatically, he corrected.

Ahead of him lay three miles of straight, downhill highway, viled in the deepening dusk of the storm. He pressed on the accelarator knowing it wouldn't help. He couldn't out run Joey. She was lodged solidly somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. He kept seeing her eyes, full of hope and love--and hurt, anger and fear.

Because of him.

Didn't that prove he was right to leave? If he'd stayed another day--another hour--he'd have told her the truth. That he couldn't live without her. Love that stiffling would ruin them both...he was just like his father. Maybe Joey couldn't see that, but he could.

He couldn't take the chance of what the love of a man like him would do to her in the long run. But he hadn't been able to just walk away. He'd asked her to come with him. Pushed her to say yes, pressured her, angered her, begged her, refused to give her what he knew she needed...those three tiny words. Three words to know he cared.

The intersection was coming up at him fast non. Too fast. He realized he'd waited almost too long to start slowing, considering the condition of the road and the river that lay waiting, bloated and muddy, on the other side. It flashed through his mind that he didn't have to slow down. He could just keeping going--and if he dissapeared from this earth, who would care?

Joey would.

Terror touched him, clammy and livid, freezing the blood in his veins. Lighting flashed around him in a succession of blinding light. If anything happened to him, Joey would mourn. It wouldn't matter that he didn't deserve it. Joey would grieve for him.

What the hell was he doing?

Self-discust and determination flooded him in equal parts. He didn't want to die. And he didn't one to be on this damned road running away from the best reason he'd ever found to be alive. Since when had he ever given up on something he wanted?

He took his foot from the accelerator and pressed on the breaks. No good, he wasn't slowing enough. He tapped on the breaks again and the car barely slowed. He was nearly at the intersection already. He downshifted and the truck whined in protest as it flew into a spin. He swore he'd make it right for her. Make himself right for her.

If he managed to live through the next few seconds.

He ended up with the river five feet from his back end, pointing the direction he'd com from, having spun around twice. He wasted no time in hitting the accelerator and the car jumped into motion once again.

His fingers gripped the steering wheel as he didn't press his luck on the slippery roads. The storm continued to rage around, making visibility almost impossible.

It took far to long, as far as he was concerned, to reach the driveway and he skid to a stop, kicking up gravel and mud. He slammed the car into park before jumping from the vehical, leaving the door open to the driving rain. He ran around the side of the house and skidded to a stop when he found her, rain soaked and red eyed, sitting on the stairs just under the eves of the porch.

She looked up at him, her eyes so dark and clouded that he couldn't read them. "You came back."

He nodded once, letting the cold rain soak into his clothes, plastering them to his body. "I had to."

"Forget something?"

"Yeah." A smile flashed across his face, "You." A spark of life lit in her eyes. "I never should have left, Jo. You had every right to be mad. I shouldn't have hidden your birth certificate from you, but I was just-"

"Trying to protect me." She interjected, "I know."

He nodded dumbly. "But that doesn't make it right."

"It doesn't make it so wrong, either." She stood up, "I want to go to L.A. with you. You obviously care about me, Pacey, or you wouldn't have gone to the trouble to try and protect me like you did. That's enough for me. You have to give me another chance because you care about me." Her chin lifted stubbornly, "And you're just going to have to deal with me telling you how I feel, because--"

His paralysis broke and he swept her into his arms, pressing his lips to hers. "You can have all the chances you want. You can take all the chances you need. So long as you take them with me." He held her tightly to him, brushing his lips over her her lips, the rain running down their faces. "And I expect you to tell me how you feel from time to time. 'Cause I want...I feel..." His courage failed him.

"You what?" She smiled up at him. "You feel pretty wonderful to me," She pressed herself fully against him.

He looked into her smiling face and felt it throughout his entire body, from the tips of his toes to the very ends of his fingers. "I love you." He grinned like a fool.

She laughed and gave him another quick kiss, "Good, because you're going to have a hell of a time getting rid of me."

And just like that, the storm faded away as quickly as it came.

---

The End