Chapter 8

Joey refused to open her eyes; she could feel the warm sunlight on her eyelids through a crack in the curtains. David had forgotten to close them properly when they arrived home. She smiled at the thought of David meeting her friends; he had seemed ill at ease at first but soon became more open and talkative. She still felt slightly guilty for leaving earlier than everyone else but she couldn't really ask David to spend the entire night with her friends. Besides, it gave Audrey ample opportunity to lure Pacey back for some after hours seduction. She leaned across and rested her head on David's chest; he moved his arm so she could cuddle into him. She reached her arm across his stomach and smiled to herself.

" Are you going to make breakfast this time?" he mumbled, his voice sleepy and his eyes still closed.

" I guess so," she sighed, kissing his chest and climbing out of bed. She wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen, she felt strange making breakfast. She hadn't really known David that long yet here she was, walking around his house as if she owned it and making breakfast as if the food in the cupboards was her own. But despite feeling unusual, she also felt happy. David was obviously enjoying having her here, she was thinking too much.

She stood in front of the fridge, whisking pancake batter in a plastic jug when the telephone started to ring. It rang shrilly three times; David was showing no sign of picking up the extension upstairs so Joey picked up the phone.

" Er…hello?" she said, unsure of what to say or who it could possibly be on a Sunday morning. It was a woman, an older woman who asked for him by name. David. " He's in bed right now. Do you want me to get him or shall I take a message? Okay, thanks,"

Joey put the receiver down and continued whisking her batter; she was feeling a pang of jealousy. The woman had sounded like the woman David had taken out, the one he used to try and make her jealous, the one who had forced them back together.

" Who was it?" shouted David from the top of the stairs.

" Some woman, said she'd see you tomorrow," Joey shouted back before pouring the batter into the heated frying pan. She served out two plates of pancakes and searched the cupboards for any sign of maple syrup.

" It's in the fridge," smiled David, walking into the kitchen. She spun around and looked at him, his hair was wet from the shower and he looked gorgeous in his loose beige combat trousers and white t-shirt. She looked down at herself, she had slept in his oversized white shirt again and it was covered in spatters of pancake batter, so much for making an impression in the morning. She fished the syrup out of the fridge and the two of them tucked into their Sunday morning pancakes.

" Any plans today?" asked Joey through a mouthful of pancakes.

" Just grading your papers for tomorrow," he said, pouring himself another cup of coffee.

" Maybe I should get out of your hair today then,"

" Okay. You don't have to, it's no problem if you want to stay,"

" No, it's cool. I have to see the guys anyway; I didn't catch up as much as I'd have liked last night. I'll just get my coat,"

" Joey, you don't have to go now!" said David, standing up to follow her out of the room.

As much as Joey was falling for David, she didn't want to jinx it by outstaying her welcome or getting into a stupid argument over the phone call, which she knew she probably would do. Plus, she'd never live it down if she were actually in the room while he marked her paper, Pacey would never let her. She flung her coat on, kissed David passionately and disappeared from the house without a word.

Audrey was still in bed when Joey got back to the dorm, she opened her eyes when Joey closed the door and sat up immediately.

" Where were you as if I need to ask?" said Audrey, eyeing Joey's slightly dishevelled appearance.

" David got a call this morning and it totally freaked me out,"

" Really? Was it another woman?" laughed Audrey in an astonishingly bad French accent. Joey glared at her in warning, "Oh Joey, I'm sorry. What did she sound like?"

" Like a woman. She sounded like that professor he takes out every so often. But if she's calling then he's going to have to tell her that he's not single and then he'll have to tell her that it's me and then everything could fall apart. She could tell the dean, David could lose his job…"

" Back up, bunny. I thought you didn't care if the dean found out,"

" I don't. I just… God, Audrey, I thought it was going to be fun. I really like him but I don't want to screw his life up,"

" Shouldn't he be the one to decide what happens to his life?"

" Yeah, but I can't do it to him. I just don't want him to lose his job over this. It's too soon to know, what if he loses everything and then we break up?" said Joey, lying down beside Audrey on the bed.

" But you said you couldn't see yourself with anyone else. Too be honest, Joey, I'm getting a little confused. What do you actually want?"

" I don't know. I just want to be with him but I don't want to have any bearing on his job or anything. Why is this such a big deal?"

" Because it is. It's just the way it is and you have to deal with that. He's carrying on regardless, why can't you do the same?" asked Audrey.

Joey sat in silence. It was true that they had both decided to ignore the 'powers that be' at the college but now she was thinking about it, now that there was an actual chance they could find out, Joey was not so sure. Worthington had been her dream and now she was here, she couldn't give that up for David. She couldn't give that up for anyone. Yet she didn't want to be the cause of David losing his job, what if he had to leave Worthington and find a new job? They would break up anyway if he had to leave Boston. It was all too much to think about.

" Get up and come for coffee, Audrey. I need a change of scenery,"

" No problem but you might think about showering first. You smell like Wilder!" smiled Audrey, pushing back her duvet. Joey grinned back and vanished into the bathroom.

Boston was never really busy on Sundays, it wasn't like New York – the city that never slept, never slowed down, never stopped. Joey loved Boston on Sundays, nobody was in a rush, nobody was too busy and her favourite café was always quiet. Joey sipped at her cappuccino while Audrey gazed at the cake stands behind the counter. She finally got up and ordered a Danish pastry before sitting back down to her own cup of coffee.

" Better now?" she said, her lips covered in clear icing, which she licked off with relish.

" Much," said Joey, stealing a corner of Audrey's pastry. Audrey gave her a glare before smiling and continuing to eat. " Do you really think that David and I can last?"

" Seriously? I don't know, Joey. You're a lot happier than I've seen you in ages but it's giving you so much stress. What do you think?"

" I'd like to think so, I really think I'm falling in love with him,"

" This soon?" said a shocked Audrey. Joey nodded and smiled to herself, drinking more of her coffee and watching Audrey's expression change. " Cool,"

" I think so. I guess we can deal with the dean finding out when he finds out. There's no use dwelling on it, it could ruin everything before it's even begun,"

" That's my Joey Potter!" said Audrey, nodding her head in agreement. As if on cue, Joey's mobile started to ring. David's name flashed on the calling screen, Joey picked it up.

" Hey you," she cooed into the phone, Audrey stuck her fingers down her throat and pretended to throw up. Joey threw a serviette at her. " Yeah, I'm listening. I'm with Audrey, why? No, think about it, how could he possibly know? Okay, I'm on my way, just calm down. See you soon, yeah, bye,"

" What's up?" asked Audrey as Joey gathered up her coat and handbag. Joey brushed her hair out of her face and sighed in exasperation.

" The dean just called him. Asked him to come in and see him tomorrow morning, David said he sounded 'knowing'. He's just panicking," said Joey matter-of-factly.

The two friends left the café and headed over to David's house. Audrey was impressed by how confident Joey had sounded but in reality, Joey was panicking just as much as David was. Joey was absolutely petrified.

David opened the door while Joey was still knocking on it. She had parted ways with Audrey before she had arrived at David's house. He literally dragged her through the door and slammed it shut. Joey was more than a little annoyed at David's behaviour but decided to bite her tongue until he'd calmed down. Joey folded her coat over the back of the sofa and sat down. David was still on edge but less so than when he had called her. He sat down next to her and she gave him a questioning look, trying to maintain her sense of calm.

" Why else would he want to see me?" said David, reading the look on her face.

" I don't know. Job review, promotion, something. Nobody knows about us, at least not anybody who'd call the dean of Worthington on a Sunday afternoon," she argued. David sighed and put his arm around Joey's shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

" I'm really sorry. I was just really worried that if he knew then something awful would happen, you'd leave or I'd have to leave,"

" Nothing's going to happen, okay? Just forget about it and see what the dean has to say tomorrow,"

" Okay, so now that you're here, are you staying?" he asked. Joey nodded. " Good, you ran off so early this morning…"

" I know; it was that woman. I don't know, I just felt like an intruder, she made me feel so young,"

" You are young, Joey" he smiled.

" I know that, but you don't make me feel young, you make me feel different and she kinda brought me back down to earth,"

" Well, I called her back and straightened her out. She knows I'm not single now," he said.

" You didn't tell her about me, did you?"

" No, it's too soon to announce ourselves to the world, don't you think?" he said, stroking her hair. Joey nodded but couldn't help but think that she'd already introduced him to her world; Audrey, Jack, Jen, Pacey and Dawson. She understood that he had more to lose than her but it still felt like they were hiding away.

" So that's decided then, we wait until tomorrow, see what the dean says and go from there," announced Joey, sounding vaguely confident. David nodded and went to make coffee. Joey watched him leave the room, knowing that he was buying into her confidence. Now all she needed was to buy into it herself.