Author's Note: Remember that this takes place in the months after Four to Tango. None of the events after that episode took place. There is no AJ.

A week later Pacey was puling out of the driveway of the Potter B&B, he glanced at the passanger seat where a blindfolded Joey sat. His smile widened at the scowl on her face. "Don't look so down, Jo. We'll be there soon."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Look, I agreed to come and submit myself to this childish act of secrecy. Never said I was going to be happy about it."

"Joey, Joey, Joey... can't you just sit back and enjoy the ride? The beautiful scenery? The quality music? ... the good company?" He teased.

She scoffed. "Beautiful scenery?! Pacey, I'm blindfolded! And how do you expect me to hear the music if you keep on singing along!"

"My my, Princess. Did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" He smiled.

She groaned, annoyed. "You are such a pain in the ass, you know that? You've become a sissy on me. It's sad..." she teased.

"Sissy? Sissy?" He repeated in disbelief. "I'd prefer the term 'romantically enlightened'."

Joey nodded. "In other words...whipped. Face it, Witter. You've become a complete sap, whatever happened to 'Ice Queen' and 'Prude', they've dropped from your vocabulary ever since we started this." She wrinkled her nose in distaste and smiled.

"Are you complaing? I thought you'd appreciate the lapse in insults. Besides... I haven't heard you utter any biting comments as of late."

She frowned. "Fine, then. Bite me, Pacey." She deadpanned, trying to hide her smile.

"Well... since you asked..." Luckily for him, or them both really, they arrived at a stop sign. Pacey leaned over and let his warm breath tickle her neck before gently nipping her between her neck and shoulder.

She shivered involuntarily at the feel of his warm breath on her cool skin, her pulse pounding, heart beating a million times a minute. The moment his soft lips met her neck, she could've sworn all sensible thoughts flew her mind. It had happened in less then a minute and her body was still taking it's time to adjust. "Y-you suck," were the only words she was able to stumble out.

"Only if you ask nicely." He said sweetly as he sat back in his seat and continued driving a contented grin stretching across his face.

Joey sighed and sat up, she let out a yawn, arching her back and stretching her arms. "Mmm, I'm sort of sleepy...and with this blindfold on I can't see anything. I mean it's so dark..." her voice trailed off. "I don't want to fall asleep and I think I have some candy in my purse." She began to feel around for her purse, wandering dangerously close to Pacey's leg.

"Gee, I can't find it. I wonder where it went," she said with mock sweetness. She let her hand wander up and down his leg on her quest for the elusive hand bag. "I can't believe I was so careless." Her voice syrupy sweet, she leaned closer against him, letting her warm breath blow against his cheek. She let her hand accidently brush against his crotch, as she continued the search for the missing bag.

Suddenly, she lifted her other hand and produced the handbag. "Found it!" she exclaimed, settling back down with a smirk.

He groaned as her hand made contact with him. He rolled down the driver side window to let in the cool air. He cleared his throat and squirmed in his seat, "Y-you win." He backed down... thinking all the while they were both winning.

She smiled, satisfied. "Don't I always?" She countered, with a smug grin.

His grin never faultered. "We're almost there, Jo."

"Thank God, I'm tired of having this thing on my eyes," she exclaimed, sitting up in her seat, anxious to see what all the secrecy was about.

Pacey pulled into a parking space with a screech of tires. "OK, we're here, Jo." He said removing the keys from the ignition and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Finally," she grumbled, struggling with her seatbelt. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Can I take this off now?"

"Now, really, Joey. Do you even need to ask? Of course not. Now, shut up and let me be romantic." He said stepping out of the car and walking around to her side. He opened her door and helped her out of the seat.

Joey sighed. "Fine, not another word out of me." She reluctantly gave in.

Pacey took her hand in his and intwined their fingers as he led her forward.

Joey smiled, to herself. "So are we there yet?" she teased, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Almost." he said, smiling at the trust she put into him. He'd never thought it would happen. "Watch you're step here, Jo."

She smiled, trying to think of what he had planned. She knew they had to be on the beach, she felt the sand shift under her shoes, and heard the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, felt the cool, salty breeze against her skin. She grinned. "So we're at the beach and it's March...Pacey I'm going to kill you."

"Will ever a day go by where you don't threaten my life?" He questioned.

She paused and pretended to mull it over. "Nope," she smiled bashfully and shook her head.

"Good." He smiled. "I'd miss that. We wouldn't want things to change to much."

She laughed. "So now can I get this thing off?" She asked.

"Just a few more feet... okay, right here!" He said, standing behind her and untying the blindfold.

Joey's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't believe it. It had to been years since they had last been here. She remembered the summer distinctly. They had come to this beach and sat right on that pier, the big brown one that jutted into the water, and she always use to try to get rid of Pacey, so she could be alone with Dawson. If she looked closely enough she could've sworn, she saw the three of them sitting at the end of the dock, much younger and she could see a smaller version of herself pushing Pacey off. She laughed slightly to herself, already beginning to feel the tears well in her eyes, when she saw the elaborate picnic that he had set up, candle light and flowers. For once in her life, Joey Potter was completely speechless.

Pacey grinned, he could tell by the far away look in his eyes that she remembered. The summers they had spent together there were amoung the best of his life. Over those hot summer days the aged pier had been a pirate ship, playhouse, jungle, space ship and a multitude of other things their overactive imaginations had been able to come up with.

She turned to him, her deep brown eyes gazing into his. "Thank you."

"You're more than welcome, Princess." He said, kissing her softly on the lips.

She kissed him back, her mind swirling and wondering why she never realized what a great guy Pacey actually was. She pulled back and gave him a hug, just wanting to hold him. "Love you," she whispered, softly.

"I love you too, Potter." He said kissing her hair, inhaling the scent of rasberries. He couldn't get over how lucky he was, how right it felt for her in his arms. For once life seemed to be coming together for him... as long as he ignored everything except the brown eyed beauty in his arms. "As much as I love holding you, dinner's getting cold."

She nodded and pulled away, wiping away tears. "Look at me, I'm a complete sap," she laughed, nervously.

"Just the way I like you, putty in my hands." He whispered, kissing her on the cheek before leading her to the blanket.

Joey smiled and sat down. She folded her hands on her lap. "So what's on the menu tonight?" she asked, sweetly.

"Hot lovin' from yours truely." He wiggled his eyebrows over the picnic basket that sat between them.

She laughed. "Uh-huh, sure..." she rolled, her eyes. "Can you recommend something that won't make me sick?" she asked, with mock innocence.

"Touche," He said with a laugh. "Would your stomach cease to recoil if instead I offered hot vegtable soup, chicken salad, french bread, sparkling cider and for desert... strawberrys, cherries and, your all time favorite... rasberries, complete with whipped cream?" He said, removing the idems as he listed them.

She smiled. "There's a definite possibility that it won't. Mmm...sounds good."

"Isn't that Orion?" Pacey asked an hour later, pointing up at the sky with his free hand. His other was wrapped securly around the shoulders of Joey, who was nestled perfectly into his side, her head tucked securly under his chin.

She looked up, snuggling closer to him. Her big, brown eyes studied the sky intently, in awe of its brilliance. "Yeah, I think it is."

"You ready for desert now?" He asked, anxious to please her, slightly worried she was getting bored.

Joey smiled faintly. "Yeah..."

He pulled away from her reluctantly and pulled the basket over to his side. Joey lay back down next to him, the moon light giving her skin and ethereal glow. Pacey couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She was his, she loved him... she was everything to him.

Joey giggled slightly, under his gaze. "What? What is it?" she asked, feeling self concious.

He smiled softly down at her, "It's nothing really. I just can't believe how deeply I fell in love with you." He lifted a strawberry from the bag and dipped it in whipped cream. "Strawberry?" He offered, not wanted to dwell on his mini-confession of everlasting love.

She smiled and nodded. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, waiting for him to feed her.

"Presuptous there, aren't ya, Jo?" He teased before holding the ripe red strawberry to her lips.

She laughed. "What? You didn't think I was going to feed myself, did ya?" she asked, teasingly. "So feed me, slave boy." She grinned.

"S&M? I'm all for trying new things... but I never pictured you for the dominatrix." His eyes crinckled in merryment. When she opened her mouth to say something he popped a few rasberries in to keep her quiet.

Joey looked thoughtful for a moment while chewing and then stuck out her tongue.

"Mature Joey," He said opting for a cherry this time.

She smiled and sat up. "Look what I can do. I've been practicing this." She proceeded to take a cherry stem in her mouth and after a few moments, she pulled out the stem, which now had a knot in it. She laughed. "I think I saw that on Friends."

"And you practiced that?" He asked mock shock. "What other wonders can you work with that agile tounge of yours?"

She arched her eyebrow cockily. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh, I don't know... I'm kinda in the mood to be pampered by my girlfriend. Where are my berries?" he asked innocently, looking forward to what her retort would be.

She grinned evily. "I wonder the same thing."

"That's what I love about you, Miss Josephine, you never allow me an ounce of self-confidence." He said laying back on the blanket beside her.

She cocked her head to the side and pouted. "Aww, you almost made me feel bad for you." She smiled and turned to face him, propping herself up on her elbows. She just looked at him, staring at him intently, trying to memorize every ounce of his being. She grinned, her beautiful brown eyes enraptured, with the contour of his face, the rythmic rise and fall of his chest. She carefully picked up her hand and ran her fingers through his hair. "You're perfect," she whispered.

Pacey was left speechless. It was moments before he was able to regain use of his vocal cords. "Hardly." he croaked out, mesmerized by her eyes.

She just nodded, unmoving. "You are. You're this perfect person and I just never realized it before," her voice barely above a whisper, she gazed at him with awe.

He shrugged, unwilling to believe her words. "You know what they say, love is blind."

She eyed him quizzically, and reached for his hand. "Why is it so hard for you to believe that you are?" she asked, quietly.

Again, Pacey shrugged, reluctant to ruin their perfect evening. He finally spoke softly, "Everyone has faults... and I have them in abundance." Seeing a frown begin to form on her face he smiled, "Let's not talk about it now, okay? I still haven't gotten my special treatment."

Joey smiled. "I haven't killed you, yet. Isn't that special enough?" she teased.

"You still threatened my life," he said, dipping a strawberry in whipped cream before bringing it to his lips.

She moved up grabbing the strawberry with her teeth, she chewed thoughtfully and smiled. "A mere technicality." She brushed her lips against his, before kissing him thoroughly. She laughed. "Mmm...tasted just like strawberry." She stuck out her tongue teasingly.

"Um, see... that wasn't meant for you. I'm on strike, no more love-slave for you."

Joey shrugged. "Your loss."

"Nope, I think you have it backwards, it's your loss. You'll never survive without the Pacey-love."

"Oh, yeah. I'll just die without it." She rolled her eyes. "You know this means no more kissing." She sat up and pulled away. "Oh, and cuddling, hugging," she cocked her head to the side. "Totally, out of the question."

"You really think you can resist my charms? You know, that means no special treatment for you either... no opening doors, no borrowing my coat when you're cold,... no ride home." He challenged with a sly grin.

She turned to face him mouth agape and stood up. "Well, then. I better start walking, if I want to be home by tomorrow morning." She began to walk away.

"Yeah, you'd better, Bessie might start to get worried." He smiled, wondering how far she'd take this.

Joey sighed. "You have a point." She continued to walk down the deserted beach.

She liked being alone for a while it gave her a chance to think about the whirlwind her life had become lately and she wished more then anything that she could have shared it all with Dawson, her bestfriend. It hurt keeping something this big away from him, when right now all she needed from him was a hug and a few reassuring words that would never come.

She fought hard to fight back the tears that threatened to flow and she hated the emotional roller coaster she was on. When she was with Pacey everything seemed perfect and she saw the world through rose colored glasses, but then inevitably came the moments where reality seeped in, a moment like now.

Pacey relaxed on the blanket and gazed up at the stars. If a battle of wills was what she wanted, a battle of wills is what she'd get.

The night sky was clear, the moon a small sliver of it's full brillance. The stars and moon lighted their remote location enough so he could see Joey's retreating form, walking a way down the beach. He smiled picturing her face in his mind, her deep brown eyes, grinning lips, upturned nose. It had been a perfect evening, just them, the splashing of waves and a good meal. He dreaded their return to reality.

Capeside held so many obstacles for them to overcome, keeping their burgeoning romance a secret was only going to become more difficult as time wore on. They hadn't even disscused it yet. He sighed and focused on the stars, he wouldn't think about it now. He wouldn't think about anything but the stars, the moon and his Joey.

Joey turned toward the water, feeling the cool water threaten to seep into her shoes, the wet sand sank beneath them. She stared for what seemed like an eternity at the cold dark ocean, it was mesmerizing and entrancing with the moon light reflecting off of it. She glanced up at the millions of stars and closed her eyes. The tears that she had hoped would never come, fell. With one deep breath, Joey Potter made a wish.

Pacey could barely make out the form of Joey standing at the waters edge. He wondered how long she'd stand there or if she'd come back. He didn't relish the idea of having to chase her down and admit that she had bested him in their silent battle. But he knew he wouldn't let her walk home alone at night... or ever, if he could help it.

She opened her eyes and glanced back down at her feet, debating on whether to walk back or not. She wasn't sure if she would be able to face him. With a heavy hearted sigh, she began the slow walk back trying to brush away her tears. She didn't want him to know that she had been crying, she didn't want to deal with the questions.

Pacey gave in and rose to his feet, he trudged in the direction she had left in, his eyes downcast. When next he looked up she was right before him.

She just stood there studying him intently, her dress fluttering in the breeze, the cool wind whipping her hair across her face. She didn't know whether to smile or cry, because when she looked at him she just knew, he was perfect.

She was the screwed up one and she didn't want to ruin his perfection. She willed herself to run, she wanted her feet to move and she stood there not saying anything. Unable to form any words. She wasn't surprised when the first tear fell and she didn't bother to wipe it away.

Pacey stood there stunned at her tears. He crossed the few feet between them in moments and collected her in his arms, brushing away her tears. "What happened Jo? Are you hurt? Did you step on something?" He sensed that her tears had nothing to do with any kind of physical pain, but he asked anyway, subconciously not wanting to know the real reason for her sorrow.

She smiled faintly despite her tears, touched by his concern for her. She wrapped her arms around him, wanting to hold him and never let him go. "Let's not talk," she whispered, pulling back to look at him, tears clouding her vision.

With those words, Pacey knew that she didn't want to talk about whatever had brought her to tears anymore than he did. He thought he understood where her tears stemmed from, and he hated the emotions that they both felt. He was terrified of the conversation that would follow if he decided to speak. 'You're a coward,' he told himself, but that self-revelation wasn't enough to stop him from kissing her.

This kiss was different that their past kisses had been. They had been warm and sweet, hard and passionate, hot and furious, deep and loving... but this was different. The ever-present love expressed was overshadowed by fear, despair, and dread of what their future together would hold. They were desperate to hold onto the night, and as his tears mixed with hers, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt things between them would change irrevocably after this night. He knew she had percieved it too.

Joey kissed him back, hungrily. Her mind a jumble of sights and sounds. She tried to ignore the feeling of impending doom, she was walking blindly toward a cliff and at any moment she would go tumbling over the edge and she was scared, so scared. Scared of what all these feelings meant.

She pulled away and rested her head against his chest, listening to the rapid beating of his heart. She closed her eyes and just focused on his breathing. "Hold me," she whispered. "Just hold me. I know I'm not perfect and I know I'm not the most beautiful girl in the world, but I just want you to love me...and to hold me."

He swallowed audibly and hugged her tightly, inwardly fighting the demons that told him this was his last night of happiness. He kept his arm around her as the walked back to the blanket and laid down next to her, folding the blanket over them both. He held her tightly to him, aching just to feel her next to him, to hear her breathe, to kiss away her tears. He couldn't bring himself to speak... to acknowledge the changes around them.

He was content to stay in the little world all their own by the old pier, where they could pretend the real world and all it's problems didn't exist. Where they could fool themselves into believing they lived in a world where the moon and stars would together shine for eternity and the sun would never rise and take away their brillance.

To be continued...

That was a tad forboding wasn't it?