Summary: A/U story taking place in S3. On a beautiful cold wintery night, Andie was on her way home from a party. She thought she was safe. She walked this path through the park to her house countless of times and nothing bad has ever happen to her until this night. Andie is mugged and brutally attacked in the park and is rescued by Pacey, who helps pick up the pieces left shattered by her attacker.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dawson's Creek, the show was created by Kevin Williamson. This is a story of my own creation, even though getting mugged and attacked in the park at night has been done before in books, movies, and television, as well as, a horrible crime that frequently happens to people. Rated T for some violence.

Chapter 1

It was February and the wind felt cold upon Andie's face as she stepped outside the doors of Capeside High. She zipped up her winter coat even more, tryng to shield her body from the cold as much as possible. This winter has been brutal, and she couldn't wait until spring was here.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jen asked Andie as she came up from behind her; therefore, startling her from her thoughts.

"Hey Jen, I didn't see you come up to me. What's up?"

"Well since you asked, there is a party tonight at David Curry's house. Jack, Pacey, Dawson, Joey, and I are all attending. Do you want to join us?"

"Sure, that sounds like fun," Andie replied with a smile plastered on her face.

"Cool, I will meet you and Jack at my house at 7." Jen told Andie then waved good by.

Later that evening, Andie was looking in her full length mirror in her bedroom satisfied with how she looked. She was ready. Now, she just had to wait for her brother to finish getting ready, so they could leave and meet Jen at her house.

She sat down on the foot of her bed and sighed. She hopes that she will enjoy this party and have some fun. Well, that and can she be in the same room with her ex-boyfriend, Pacey Witter, who she is so not over, without either picking a fight with him, or worse running off into a corner to cry.

It's her fault that they're not together now. Last spring she had a mental breakdown and went back home, to Provenience, RI, with her father to stay at a facility, so she could recover. During her stay there, she became close with a fellow patient, Mark, who understood what she was going through because he was going through the same thing, and they bonded as a result. Losing your own mind and grip with reality is very scary and terrifying. One night when she was vulnerable and in need of comfort, she turned to her new friend Mark, and made the huge mistake of sleeping with him. Afterwards, she intsantly regretted sleeping with Mark. She loved Pacey then, and she still loves him now. When Pacey showed up at her room at the facility to picked her up and bring her back to Capeside, she had a hard time being around him without feeling guilty. Eventually, the guilt won out and she told Pacey the truth. As a result, he then proceeded to break up with her.

She missed him so much. She missed his smile, his laugh, his sense of humor, his sharp wit, and his eyes. Eyes that had shown her great kindness and compassion. She missed how it felt when he kissed her, and missed how great it felt when he would run his fingers through her her hair. She missed the adoring way he use to look at her with so much love in his eyes. Most importantly, she missed her best friend. Pacey had been more than a boyfriend or lover to her, he had become her best friend.

She got up from her bed and walked over to her dresser and opened up the top drawer. She dug around until she found what she was looking for: a picture of her and Pacey. After they broke up, she had given him a box off all his stuff he had left at her house, as well as, things he had given her and, of course, pictures of them together, but this one she decided to keep. She kept it hidden at the bottom of her sock drawer, only to pull it out when she was missing him and wanted to see his handsome face.

In the picture, they were sitting on a hammock and Pacey arms were wrapped around her, and he was looking at her with complete and utter love and devotion. She wish she could some how go back to how they were in this picture. She took her thumb and rub it along the contours of Pacey's handsome face and sighed. Will she ever get over him? She wondered.

"Hey Andie, I'm ready to go." She heard Jack called out from downstairs breaking her from her thoughts.

"Ok, Jack, I will be right down." She yelled back as she put the picture back where it was in her sock drawer then walked out of her room and downstairs to join her brother.

Pacey was in Dawson's, his best friend's, bedroom sitting on his bed, leaning his back up against the head board, waiting for Dawson to finish getting ready for party they were going to, which was being held at Dave Curry's, a senior at their school, house. He was aslo waiting for Joey, a close friend of theirs, to get here as well. He was feeling a bit impatient, and he just wanted to get going already. He doesn't get why it is taking Dawson so long to get ready. He also was wondering where the hell Joey is? She should be here by now. Errr! His friends were annoying.

"Dawson, you look fine," he told his friend.

"You sure? I don't want to look like a geek at this party."

Pacey rolled his eyes at his friend. "Yes. Now let's go.'" He looks at his watch. "The party starts in like fifteen minutes."

"Ok, I am ready." Dawson says then looks around his room and realizes Joey hasn't shown up yet. "We can't leave quite yet; we have to wait for Joey."

Pacey let out a groan of frustration as Joey climb through Dawson's window. "Well, it is about time Potter. What took you so long?" Pacey asked her, annoyance shown through the tone of his voice.

"Bite me Witter. I got tied up at the B&B watching Alexander, " she snapped back at him.

"Ok, Potter, I'm sorry. You can retract the claws now." He replied teasingly as he held his hands up in surrender.

"Ok, now you two knock it off and play nice." Dawson scolded his two best friends over their childish antics, but they just rolled their eyes at him.

"Ok, now that everyone is ready and all here lets blow this pop stand and head to the party. I am in desperate need for a night of fun." Pacey said to his friends, his smile not reaching his eyes.

He needs to forget about his problems and misery, even if it is just for one night. He hasn't felt happy in months, not since...not since his breakup with Andie. When she came crashing into his life, quite literally, she opened up a whole new world for him, and he fell for her. He fell hard. She made him happy, happier than he has ever been in his life up to that point, which is why it hurt so much that she slept with another man, a mental patient, over the summer.

It has been four going on five months since their breakup and the initial hurt and anger he felt over her infidelity had been fading as the months passed. Now, he is left with a dull ache. As much as he hates to admit it, he misses her. He just isn't sure he is ready to get past her indiscretion, just quite yet.

"Lets go," Dawson said, snapping Pacey from his thoughts. Dawson then proceeded to ushered his friends out of his bedroom.