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Abby lay in bed, the morning sun streaming over her like a golden curtain and her body tingling as she remembered his hands on her skin. Pacey had been everything she had never imagined in a man, and everything that in her heart she had hoped. He had listened to her body's reactions to him, knowing precisely when she might think they had gone too far. He had stopped. There had been no pressure and no force, he'd just stopped. And he'd walked her home holding her hand.
She smiled to herself, letting her hands drift precautiously along her ribs. She moved them over her taut skin, across the same places that he had touched the night before, and some that he hadn't.
"Pacey!!! Get your lazy ass out of bed and downstairs! Now!"
Pacey's eyes opened with a start, prematurely awakened from an intensely pleasant dream. His father's angry voice sliced through his sleep like a sickle.
"Asshole..." he thought to himself wearily, tumbling out of bed and pulling on a pair of worn shorts and a tank top.
Walking down to the foyer, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and found his father at the foot of the stairs.
"Well, good morning, sunshine. I've got a long list of shit for you to do today, should keep you from fucking around all day long," he spat at his son.
"Thank you, Sir," Pacey returned flatly. "If it's all right, I'll have some breakfast first, then get started straight away."
Pacey's father looked over his head when he spoke, hardly ever looking him in the eyes.
"Fine," he said, dropping the list at Pacey's feet and receding into his study.
Most of the time, the only way to deal with his father was to go along with him. Rather than get him more angry by exhibiting defiance, he just played along with the Chief's game. It seemed that nothing would ever get Pacey in his father's good graces, so he swallowed it and did what his father wanted, hoping that eventually his grounding would wear off and he could go back to simply being ignored. It was a far better place to be.
He stepped through the swinging door and into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of frozen breakfast things and shoving them into the toaster. This day was really not going to turn out as he had been hoping.
Sipping on a glass of juice, he sat at the kitchen table and procrastinated. His mind wandered to thoughts of Abby, their burgeoning relationship and their clandestine rendezvous of the previous night. It had been so nice sneaking out of his house to see her, and she'd looked so sexy straight out of bed. Her face scrubbed clean, hair in teeny ponytails, dressed practically in pajamas. Damn. He shook his head to push the image from his mind and picked at his father's note, reviewing the list. The bastard wasn't kidding, it would take all day to get the work done, a myriad of fun filled activities.
"Gotta love Saturday," he thought, crinkling his nose in annoyance.
Deep in fantasy, Abby was unaware of everything around her. The house could burst into flames and she probably wouldn't notice, her only thoughts on herself and Pacey, and the way he had made her feel. Is it possible to fall in love so quickly? It didn't seems like a very smart idea. Love should come slowly, it should grow and be nourished. Two and a half days in, and Abby was falling hard, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it except hope that she wasn't completely alone.
She heard a phone ringing somewhere in the distance, realizing on the third or forth ring that it was the one on her bed stand. Somewhat embarrassed, she reached for it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Abby."
"Jennifer Lindley, to what do I owe this tremendous pleasure?"
This was a bit of a shocker. After the past few weeks, she hadn't expected Jen would ever speak to her again. Their last meeting had been disastrous, ending with Abby's exile from the Leery house.
"Honestly, Abby, I have no idea why I'm even near speaking to you, but my curiosity has truly gotten the best of me, so here I am. Are you going to start talking, or do I have to drag it out of you?"
"I think you're going to have to, since I have no idea what you're talking about. Is a hint completely out of the question?"
"Oh, come off it. I know you want to talk about it, so just spill. If I can be big enough to put aside all of your bullshit, the least you can do is make it easy on me."
One thing that Abby always liked about Jen was that she always called Abby out, and never seemed to pull her punches.
"Jen... I don't even know what to say, it's so... different, it's great." Her face flushed fifteen shades of purple and she giggled like a third grader.
"So? How did this happen? How long has it been going on?"
"Just a couple of days, really. You know that day that I wasn't in school? We spent the day together. He's so different than I'd thought... we just kinda hit it off."
"Pacey's a good guy, but I was really surprised that he'd break it off with Andie. You had nothing to do with that?"
She knew that it had to be coming, it was inevitable. Everyone was going to think that they'd hooked up while Pacey was still with Andie, there was no way around it.
"Honestly, Jen. I swear. I didn't even really speak to him beyond the odd insult before the day that they broke up."
"But you spent the whole next day together? I'm having a hard time believing that's coincidence. Abby, I know you."
"No, really... I saw him the night before by the docks. We started talking and it was weird, we just kinda found a vibe together. Then he walked me home."
"And you went in for the kill," Jen said pointedly.
"It wasn't like that at all... it was just a series of good timing, I saw him the next morning on the way to school and we decided to cut together. We get along really well when I'm not hurling obnoxious comments in his direction."
This was probably the case with most of Capeside, Abby was beginning to realize. Maybe if she could learn to just ease up every now and again, she might be able to sustain more than one half-friendship. She might even be able to have multiple relationships with actual human beings and not be looked at like this complete bitch. Maybe it was worth it.
"Abby Morgan and Pacey Witter... I'm not sure the world is ready for this," she paused and laughed snidely, "I'm not sure I am..."
"Jen, to be honest, I'm not sure that I am either," she sighed.
"So? Have you eaten yet? You want to meet for brunch at the Café, or do you have hot plans with your new boyfriend?" Jen asked in a sing-song voice.
"He's grounded, actually..." she responded somewhat sadly. "Sure, I'll meet you for brunch. How's an hour, that enough time?"
"Grounded? Why?"
"Oh, I'll explain later... an hour at the Café, 'kay?"
"I'll see you there."
She was about to hang up, but felt she needed to say something. "Oh, and Jen, I am sorry..." She needed to at least acknowledge her misbehavior at some point. No matter how obnoxious Abby had been to her, through all of her chubby comments and pointed slut digs, Jen seemed to shake it off and sort of remain her friend. Maybe she knew that Abby really never meant them, at least not truly to be hurtful. She just didn't know what else to say sometimes.
"Whatever, Abby. I'll see you in an hour."
"Okay, bye."
Abby hung up the telephone and leaned back into her pillows. If she could repair her friendship with Jen on a less selfish level, and figure out what was going on with Pacey, then she might actually have something. Relationships to be proud of, it would be a first.
Pacey took a pull off a can of Pepsi and changed the CD in his box, Dave Matthews came blaring over the sound of the still-running mower. Only a few hours in, and he had succeeded in crossing off the most challenging of his tasks. Mowing the front lawn was easily his least favorite and the mid-day heat wasn't helping his motivation. Not even one-third complete and and his wifebeater was soaked through.
The appearance of Abby rounding the corner brought the first smile to his face that he'd experienced all day. She wore a loose-fitting sundress and her hair up in the same pigtails he'd seen the night before. Although concealed by dark glasses, he could make out a solicitous look in her eyes. Nearing him, she slid an arm around his waist.
"Oooooo, Mister Witter, is it manual labor day? Your blue collar ways are just pushing my hormones over the edge," she said in a mock Southern accent and moved in close enough to breath in his heady scent.
He pulled her tighter against him, "You, my dear, are a humongous snob."
She leaned up and kissed him delicately. "Ick... You're getting me all sweaty!"
"I'm so glad that I have that effect on you." He wrapped his arms around her and licked at her lips before slipping his tongue between her teeth. Kissing her was beginning to become something like food to him, he was starting to need it to survive. Plus, she tasted so damn good. "Hey, if I get all this shit I have to do today finished, how about I take you to a movie tonight?"
"Do you really think you can get out? What about your Dad?"
"Eh... it's Saturday night, he'll be too busy lording over the DUI checkpoints to even think about me and my Mom will be okay with it. So, you'll let me take you out?"
Abby blushed, making Pacey smile. He loved the way that she reacted to him, it tended to send him reeling. Something he had never felt before.
"A proper date? How could I possibly refuse?"
"You can't. I'll pick you up at eight thirty, okay?"
"Mmmm... sounds terrific," she said reaching up on her tip-toes to kiss him again. They stood plastered to each other making out on the half-shorn lawn until the gruff voice of John Witter interrupted them with a clearing of his throat.
"Pacey. Get your ass back to work, my lawn ain't a damn sex show!"
Pacey turned towards his father and nodded his head. Abby ducked out from under his arm and backed away modestly. He reached out his hand, catching her by the elbow.
"Sorry about that, he can be a real prick. So, I'll see you at eight thirty?" He stepped closer to her and landed a kiss on her forehead.
"Yup. See you then," she smiled.
As she turned to walk towards town, Pacey gave her a light slap on the ass. She looked back at him over her shoulder, smirking and rolling her eyes. He watched her body, as she made her way down the street, lost in lascivious fantasies. Halfway down the block, she turned back to him and waved flirtatiously. He put his hand up in response before returning to his task.
"Jen, I don't even know what to say, honestly. I don't."
They sat at an outside table drinking foamy cappuccinos and waiting for their food.
"Imagine you at a loss for words. I don't even recognize you. Who are you and what have you done with Abby?"
They both laughed and Abby leaned back in her chair, sipping on her drink.
"It's crazy, huh?", she paused. "Jen, do you think I'm just fooling myself here, thinking that this could even work out?"
"I don't know... You've witnessed a couple of my man mishaps recently, I'm really not the best person to ask for relationship advice, y'know. I tend to have a pretty jaded attitude towards them right now. If you asked me a couple of weeks ago though, I might have said, 'if it feels good, go with it'. Does it feel good?"
Abby smiled, taking in a deep breath, "Yeah... it feels great."
"Then just go with it, but keep your eyes open, y'know?"
"Abby, how many outfits are you planning on trying on before you decide? It's almost eight now."
Abby's mother sat on the corner of her bed watching her daughter attempt to get ready, clothes littered most of the floor. She began picking up after her, laying the articles of clothes flat on the bed.
"What do you think of this, Mom?" Abby twirled in the center of the room wearing a pair of skinny black pants and a long tube; topping it off, she pulled on a black shrug.
"You look gorgeous, honey. Now finish up before he gets here, I'll be downstairs. You shouldn't keep him waiting when he gets here or I'll be forced to start interrogating." Abby raised an eyebrow at her snidely and made a face. She kissed Abby on the top of her head, before heading out the door and down to the living room.
She sat at her mirror and put the finishing touches on her makeup, staring at herself for a long time. For so long, she had looked at herself negatively, always wondering why anyone would want her, what they could possibly see in her. Little by little, she was starting to see it herself. The doorbell rang and she took one last look in the full-length.
"Abby," her mother called, "Pacey's here..."
Abby appeared at the top of the stairs like a debutante, smiling down at him. He tipped his head to her and beamed.
"Hey..." He watched her every move as she descended the stairs toward him, her platforms clicking on the bare wood.
"Hey, yourself..."
Ms. Morgan looked at the two of them together and smiled. "Pacey, what movie are you two going to see tonight?"
Pacey winked at Abby before turning back to answer her mother's question. He immediately shifted into hyper polite mode and switched on the charm.
"To be honest, Ms. Morgan, I'm not even sure what's playing. I figured that I'd let Abby decide when we got there." he smiled broadly at her, "Really, it's just a pale excuse to spend more time with your daughter, but you knew that, didn't you?"
Abby's mother laughed and put a hand on Pacey's shoulder, looking to the flushed face of her daughter. "Well then, I'll let you kids get going. Abby, not too late, okay?"
She held the door open for them and Abby pecked her on the cheek as they walked outside.
"Goodnight, Ms. Morgan."
The door shut softly behind them.
"You're a piece of work. You know that?"
"We aim to please." He stopped her as they turned onto the sidewalk and kissed her gently, something he'd wanted to do since she emerged at the top of the stairs. "I hope that you don't mind walking into town, I didn't even want to risk taking the truck tonight."
"Please. You know I don't mind."
He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. They walked slowly into town towards the Rialto.
Partly through the film, Abby felt his hand on her thigh, the heat of his touch sending shivers up her spine. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear.
"Do you wanna get a snack or something after this?"
His breath was hot on her ears and his hushed voice brought goosebumps to her arms. Turning her face to answer, he caught her mouth with his and bit tenderly at her lower lip.
"Mmmm... Pacey... the movie..."
"What movie? I can't concentrate on anything else when I'm around you."
Her heart pirouetted in her chest. "Who writes your lines, are they scripted well in advance?" She tipped her head back as he attempted another kiss. It landed on her neck, rather than her lips.
"Hey, I ad-libbed that one... give me some credit here."
Bit by bit, they were learning each other and becoming more comfortable with their reactions. What pushed the other's buttons, what the tiny tonal changes in their voices meant, what gave them the chills. Pacey could tell when she'd responded to him; his touch, his words. Abby knew how to turn him on. Pacey knew how deep he was beginning to fall for her.
Credits. They pulled apart from their tangled embrace, Pacey ran his thumb along her mouth wiping away a bit of smeared lipstick.
"What do you want to do?" He asked as they exited the theatre.
"You mentioned something about a snack earlier..." Neither of them were ready to end their time together and it was still relatively early in the evening. She raised an eyebrow at him as they made their way across main street.
"Are you hungry?" His voice had a tinge of something to it.
"It depends on what you mean by hungry. What do you mean by hungry?"
Mocking some pathetic excuse for a dance move, Pacey twirled around in front of her shaking his ass and crooning, "I'm hungry like the wooooooolf". Abby laughed at the ridiculous spectacle as he swung her around him and ducked under her arm. There was a chance he could be dancing, but she really couldn't be sure.
"You are a complete freak!" she guffawed, pushing at him playfully.
They were nearing The Icehouse, one of only a couple of places that would still be serving at eleven o'clock. Pacey looked over at the counter to see who was working and was relieved by the site of Bessie filling a row of glasses and placing them on a tray. He motioned at the restaurant to Abby.
"Shall we?"
"Ugh... more drama? Why bother?"
"No drama, open restaurant. Come on." He tugged at her arm like a toddler until she acquiesced and they walked inside. Sitting at a table in the corner, Pacey pulled his chair close to hers. "This is a small town and I'm not going to avoid people and places when we're together, Abby. If my friends can't accept our relationship, then they're not really my friends."
He said it lightly, but Abby knew that this couldn't have been an easy thing for him to decide. Sometimes it felt like they spent a little too much time dwelling on the negativity surrounding what was going on between them, and sometimes it felt as if they pretended that nothing else existed beyond the two of them when they were together. She couldn't help but hear him use the word relationship and get excited.
"We're in a relationship?" She caught him off guard and a bit confused.
"Uhhh... well... Unless you-- um... I mean-- well, I thought we had something?" He seemed a bit embarrassed that she'd reiterated. She hadn't meant to sound like she was disagreeing, she simply hadn't thought that he felt that way about her yet. Bringing her chair closer to his, until she practically sat in his lap, she whispered into his ear.
"There's nobody else that I'd rather spend time with, Pacey. I'd love to be in a relationship with you..." The words were awkward, but the sentiment came across just fine. It finally had a name.
She kissed his cheek and felt him turn his face under her lips until he'd caught them under his again. Her eyes closed and she felt his tongue playing along her parted teeth. They remained close, kissing and speaking in hushed tones, until Bessie interrupted them with a clearing of her throat. This seemed to be a trend for them lately.
"Hi Pacey, what can I get for you guys," she said still laughing at them.
"Bessie... hey..." Pacey tried to play it off as if he wasn't embarrassed, but the blush in his cheeks betrayed him. "I'll have a coke and some fries. Abby?"
"Just a large root beer, please."
"Great. I'll be right back with your sodas," she said to them, "Joey? Throw in an order of fries..." she added, louder.
Shit. When he hadn't seen her in the front, he'd assumed that Bessie was pretty much on her own. It wasn't Joey that he really wanted to avoid, mainly Jack, he didn't think it right that he flaunt his thing with Abby in front of Andie's brother. He had meant what he'd said to her, but he also wanted to avoid anymore conflict, just for one damn night.
Abby must have seen something in his expression change. As soon as Bessie was out of earshot, she spoke.
"Change your mind?" There was an icy edge to her voice that bit through him.
"Please, Abby. Stop it. Don't do this to me again, you know that I've been completely honest with you since we started hanging out, don't take every minute expression as some sort of betrayal."
"It's hard not to. When you heard Joey's name just now, you got this look on your face that I'm reading as 'Flee!' What am I supposed to think?"
"That all I want to do is spend one, perfect, uninterrupted evening with you. Without getting any grief, y'know? I know this is hard on you too, did you ever stop to think I might be thinking of you?"
He took her hands into his and looking into her eyes, watched as her glare softened.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, kissing him again. He responded with more passion and they remained locked together until they heard Bessie approach with their drinks.
"Um, how about you kids get a room, all right?"
Pacey leaned back in his chair, grinning. "Sorry, Bessie."
She walked back to the kitchen. Off to the side, Joey stood paying no attention to them whatsoever. Pacey noticed how much thought she seemed to be putting into looking occupied by nothing. The bell at the kitchen window rang and she responded to it, picking up the plate of fries and walking towards them. Pacey smiled and waved at her.
"Hey, Jo. How's it hangin'?"
Abby smiled at her, trying desperately look as if it wasn't forced.
"Long night, we've been in the weeds since seven," Joey picked a fry off their plate. She had the same uncomfortable expression on her face as Abby; as if they had something to say, but were choking it back.
Pacey pointed at the chair across from them, "Take a load off..."
"Nah... I can't, gotta get back to work," she clenched her jaw slightly and gave an askew smile, "Good to see you, Abby." There was no sarcastic bite, surprisingly. She made her way back to the counter quickly, busying herself with a row of salt shakers.
"See, no drama" Pacey put am arm around Abby's shoulder and fed her a fry covered in dripping ketchup. She smirked at him and rolled her eyes, falling into a small smile. It was difficult to remain even slightly irked at him for too long, she settled into the crook of his arm and sipped off her drink.
"Not too bad for a first date, Mister Witter..."
"Like I said, baby, we aim to please," he said handing her that stellar smile. She relaxed into his arms and they ate.
To be continued...