Disclaimer: not mine, I don't own any of it. Although it would be cool if I

did own Josh Jackson, because then I would be able to... oh wait, this is a

PG fic, sorry!



Dedication: this is for Robyn, Linz, Kimmi, and Rachel, for listening to

me babble about one thing or another. Espescially Dawson's Creek. The

dedication is mostly to Robyn and Rachel though, cause they were there for

me the night of the prom episode...





Conflict







Pacey pushed his foot down harder on the gas pedal. He didn't know where he

was going, but he knew that he needed to get away. Deep down, Pacey knew that

running away wouldn't solve the enormous conflict facing Joey and himself, but he

hoped to at least calm himself down for a little bit.

Pulling into the parking lot of an old bar, Pacey wiped beads of sweat from his

forehead. He didn't want to think about his future right now, but trying to avoid it was

only making it worse. Once inside the bar, Pacey signaled for someone to bring him a

beer. A young blonde woman came over to him. She opened her mouth to ask for an

ID, but seeing the look of sorrow on his face, she decided to let it slide and placed the

drink on the table.

Pacey drank silently for an hour or so. He couldn't have been sure of the exact

time. Finally, he stood up and sauntered to the door. The beer was beginning to affect

Pacey, and he began to swerve slightly off the road. After about 10 minutes, Pacey

heard a siren in the distance. Cops. Pulling over, Pacey glanced in his rear view

mirror to see no one other than Doug approaching his car.

"For god sakes Pacey, how many times do I have to pull you over before you

realize that you are doing something wrong?" Doug asked his little brother.

Pacey sat motionless in the car, waiting for Doug to speak again. "You know

what, I don't really care what's wrong with you tonight, because it's always something

with you Pacey." He told him. "Go home Pacey. Gretchen will be expecting you." And

with that, Doug picked up his cell phone and headed back to his car. Pacey drove off,

silent tears sliding down his cheeks.







Back at the Witter's beach house, Gretchen and Joey sat in silence waiting for

Pacey, though each knew that it could be a while before he returned. That's when the

phone rang. Gretchen picked it up and listened as Doug told her what had happened

to Pacey. Joey watched as Gretchen nodded, hung up the phone, and shaking her

head, walked back to Joey.

"Doug picked up Pacey on the highway. He was drunk. Doug sent him home,

he should be here any minute." Gretchen told Joey. Joey looked away. Anger surged

through her entire body. Just as she began to think of all the horrible things she could

say to Pacey, he walked through the door. Before he even had a chance to speak,

Joey blew up at him.

"Are you out of your mind?" She asked him. Pacey looked into her eyes and

saw nothing but rage.

"Joey, can we please just talk about this?" He asked her, rubbing his head.

"NO! We can't talk about this, you are just going to shut your mouth and listen

to me. I am having the worst damn day of my whole damn life and all you can do is go

and get drunk?!?" Tears filled her eyes as she screamed at him.

"God dammit Jo! Don't you think that I'm having a bad day too? I'm only 18

years old, I can't deal with something like this! Do you have any idea how scared I am

right now?" He shot back. Pacey looked back at Joey, and her eyes now showed

concern.

"You could have told me how you felt!" She cried, tears pouring down her

already red face. "Instead you had to go out and leave! How do you think that made

me feel? I just found out that I'm pregnant and my boyfriend runs off without a word! I

was terrified, terrified that you wouldn't come back.."

"Wouldn't come back? Jo, I'll always come back for you. I just needed to get a grip on this whole thing. I wouldn't ever leave you. I love you." He spoke softly, pulling Joey into his arms.

"I'm sorry." She told him. "I just can't do it alone." She relaxed into his arms. He rocked her back and forth.

"You don't have to do it alone." He whispered. "I'll be here for you. Forever. No matter what happens." Joey smiled. She couldn't believe that she had ever doubted that he would come back. She knew that he loved her as much as she loved him. In that moment, she felt perfect. In that moment, she forgot all of her worries and just concentrated on being loved. Forever.