Complicate Me

1 ~ Welcome To Your Life

Vaguely, in the back of her sleepy mind, Joey Potter couldn't remember having felt more comfortable than she did now. She nuggled closer to the unknown warmth and sighed dreamily, sinking into the warm, cotton sheets.

"Jo," a raspy voice mumbled into her hair. "We need to get up. We have a restaurant to run, remember?"

Joey moaned back and snuggled closer, her mind drifting between sleep and reality.

"Come on, baby, I know I tired you out last night, but we got to get up."

Joey slowly opened her eyes to a blurred vision. A face was so close to hers, blue eyes staring. Her vision cleared

and, for a moment, she couldn't breathe.

"Good morning, beautiful," Pacey whispered, pulling her closer.

Joey pulled away from him and sat up. She then realized she was naked and brought the warm covers up to cover her. "Pacey, what the hell?" she exclaimed.

Pacey sat up too and rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Man, we shouldn't have had those drinks last night. I feel like crap."

Joey just stared at him. She looked down and realized he was naked too. She shot out of the bed, pulling the blanket with her. "Pacey, what the hell are you doing here and why are you naked?"

Pacey yawned and stared at her. "Okay, Jo, seriously, maybe you had a little toomuch to drink last night if you can't remember why we are both naked."

Joey's mouth dropped and then she frowned. "Pacey, get the hell out of here!"

Pacey got out of the bed, still naked. "Damn, aren't you crabby." He then walked over to her and frowned when she recoiled and stepped back. "Okay, I'm going to go take a shower," he said slowly. "You wanna stop playing this game and come join me?"

"You are disgusting!" Joey yelled. "And cover yourself up!"

Pacey shook his head and left the room. "Suit yourself, Jo."

Joey looked around the room and, for the first time, realized she didn't recognize it. Shakingly, she grabbed clothes she also didn't recognize and tugged them on. "What the hell is going on?" she exclaimed. She passed a mirror on her way out of the room and stopped dead in her tracks.

She definitely didn't look the same as she had when she had gone to sleep the night before, alone in her own bed in her own bedroom.

Her hair was about five inches longer, her body leaner and her face slightly older. She gingerly touched her face and that's when she saw the wedding ring on her finger. She stared down at it with a deep frown.

"Hey, Jo, can you call Susan and tell her we're going to be a little late and to open the restaurant for us?" Pacey asked as he came back into the room, now wearing a towel around his waist.

Joey continued staring at the ring, her mind a jumbled mess.

"Jo, are you okay?" Pacey asked before being suddenly pushed back against the wall with a firm hand on his chest. "Mm, I like when you get like this."

"Pacey, I am about a milli-second away from grabbing a knife and cutting off your penis. Now, tell me what the hell is going on here right now!"

Pacey frowned, not liking this game anymore. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"What did we do? What! Did you slip me a pill, or something? Why the hell were we naked, where the hell are we and why the fuck do I have a wedding ring on my finger!"

"Jo."

Joey pushed him harder against the wall. "Answer me, Witter! I've kicked your ass before, I'll do it again!"

Pacey was getting angry now. "Jo, I really think you need to lay back down and never drink gin again."

"Pacey," Joey began, shaking with anger.

"All right, Joey, I'll play your little game so we can get started on our day. You and I are married. We have been for over a year now, that should explain the ring. We are in our house, you know the one we bought about six months ago? And we were naked because last night we both got a little tipsy and I fucked your brains out, okay?"

Joey scowled in disgust. "You're disgusting, Pacey Witter, and you're the one playing games. Don't ever speak to me again. Wait until Dawson and Bessie find out about your sick jokes."

Pacey grabbed at his head, bewildered. "Did you bump your head, or something?"

"I'm leaving, goodbye. Have a nice life, Pacey," Joey spat.

Pacey grabbed her arm. "Jo, where are you going? You're really starting to scare me here. Is this a joke? Did I forget an anniversary or something? Tell me, because I've never been more confused in my life."

Joey tore her arm from his grasp and turned to leave, intent on running to Dawson's and telling him everything. She stopped dead in her tracks once more when she noticed a picture sitting on a nearby shelf. In it, Pacey was wearing a tuxedo and a smile bigger than she'd ever seen. Standing in front of him, wearing a beautiful wedding gown with an equally big smile, was her.

Pacey watched her, her back to him as she stared at the photo.

Joey finally, after what seemed like forever, turned to him, her eyes welling with tears. "I don't understand," she whispered. "I don't remember any of this. I don't know what's going on."

Pacey's heart sunk in his chest when he finally realized this was no longer a joke. He stepped towards her only for her to step back. "Joey, you really don't remember?"

Joey slowly shook her head. "Pacey, can you just leave me alone?" she whispered. "I need to be alone right now." She numbly sat on the side of the bed. She looked down at her shaky hands, seeing a nasty scar there she had never had before.

"Yeah," was all Pacey could say. He left the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned back against the closed door, not knowing whether to cry or scream.

"Where is she?" Jen asked a short while later as her and Pacey sat at the kitchen table.

Pacey stared down at the table, remembering how he and Joey had fought about which table to get, only then deciding to get neither and then christeningthe one they had decided on shortly after bringing it home. It was always like that with them; they fought and loved each other with the same amount of passion.

"She's upstairs," he said numbly. "She locked the door and won't come out. I sat down here for twenty minutes expecting her to walk in here with that smile of hers and tell me it was just one of her pranks, but it never happened.

Jen reached over and grabbed his hand. "There has to be some explanation."

"I don't know," Pacey said with a heavy sigh. "She was so different, Jen. She wasn't the same person. I mean, how can she not remember?" his voice cracked.

Jen squeezed his hand tighter. "We're going to get through this, okay, Pace? I promise," she said, not believing her own words.

"Daddy, where's mommy?"

Pacey looked up and felt better instantly at the sight of his little girl. Just under five years old, Paige was the spitting image of her mother with the feisty personality to go with it. He pulled his little girl up on his lap and kissed her forehead. "She's resting, sweetie."

Jen watched the interaction with a heavy heart. "Who's looking over the restaurant?"

"Susan," he replied, hugging his daughter tightly.

"Want me to go down and help?"

"Would you?"

Jen smiled softly and nodding, giving his hand a final squeeze. "Sure thing." She stood up and gave her God-daughter a kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks, Jen."

Jen bent down and placed a kiss on Pacey's head as well. "Call me if anything changes."

A little while later, after Paige had fallen asleep, Pacey walked to the bedroom door and pressed his forehead against it. "Jo," he mumbled. "Joey, open the door."

Silence.

"Joey, we need to work through this, okay? You can't stay locked in the room forever." He could finally feel tears welling in his eyes, tears he had been holding back until then. "Please, baby, come on."

Silence.

Finally, Joey opened the door, her eyes red, wet and puffy and her face white. She let out a watery sigh. "Pacey, I'm sorry, I can't do this."

"Joey."

"I mean, I pinched myself and it didn't work and I can't understand why. This must be a dream, it has to be. Do you know it's two-thousand-eight?" she asked, holding up a newspaper she had found. "Two-thousand-eight! Yesterday, it was nineteen-ninety-eight. Tell me, how does ten years pass overnight, Pacey?"

Pacey just stared at her.

"This isn't real. It can't be. Yesterday, I was with Dawson and today, I'm here," Joey said, her voice sounding far away. "We're not married, because I don't remember getting married. I'm not in this house because I don't remember buying this house!" she was yelling and crying now, hysterical.

Finally, Pacey allowed his tears to slide down his cheeks as he silently watched his wife try to discredit everything that had happened to them.

"I'm going to wake up in a few minutes and this will all have been a dream," she said, her voice calmer now even though she was still sobbing.

"Joey."

She looked at him even though it looked as if she were looking through him. "I'm sorry, Pacey, I just can't be here right now." She brushed past him and left the room.

Pacey just stood in the middle of the room, stunned, shocked and sad.

Joey walked down the unfamiliar hallway towards the steps. She noticed pictures hanging on the walls, pictures of her and Pacey looking happ and in love; pictures she didn't remember posing for. She ignored them and hurried down the steps, intent on leaving the house.

She found the front door and reached for the knob.

"Mommy, where are you going?"