Giving Up is a sequel to my story It's A Small World
After All. If you don't want to be confused you might want to check
out IASWAA before reading GU.
In this sequel, Joey and Pacey are in college still. They're having
problems with their relationship again as a direct result of Dawson's
stupidity. A tragedy in the Leery family brings the couple back to Capeside
and forces them to deal with each other and the reasons why they are apart.
Please be kind and review!
If you would like to join my mailing list and be contacted when I update my stories e-mail me at kr_sta@hotmail.com. Feel free to check out my webpage, with links to this story and all the other ones I wrote. There are also some extra things there that you can't get on FanFiction.Net. My site is http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/trickyfic.
Disclaimer: This story is strictly for entertainment purposes and I do not have any rights to the show Dawson's Creek. I make minimum wage and I love to shop, therefore I usually have a bank account balance of ZERO. Good luck trying to sue me.
ENJOY!
~
Pacey opened his door. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't look at me like that right now, please," Joey walked past him, she hadn't been in his room for three weeks. They were on a break yet again. "Something happened."
Pacey watched her standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, there was a time when she felt actually felt comfortable there. Finally he took a good look at her, "What's the matter?"
You mean besides the fact that you haven't touched me in a month? That you won't look me in the eye when we pass in the hall? She tried to focus on something besides their own problems. There were more important things to talk about, like the reason why she had shown up at Pacey's room in the first place. "I just got off the phone with Gayle Leery. " She saw him scowl, 'Leery' was a touchy subject. "Mitch was in a car accident."
"Is he okay?" he asked genuinely concerned.
Her voice broke, "No."
Pacey wanted to reach out to her but he reminded himself he was supposed to be mad at her. "How did it happen?"
Get a hold of yourself. Tell him and leave Joey. "I don't know really, she didn't go in to detail. The funeral is this weekend. I'm taking the train home on Friday night."
"Okay," Pacey nodded. Suddenly realizing the extent of the accident.
Joey ducked towards the door, eager to leave. "Okay." She rushed out in the hall. I guess 'See you later' would have been a stretch.
~
Joey was at the library, hidden away at a table in the Asian Art History section; a small corner that was always deserted.
Regardless of her perfect study area she couldn't seem to get any work done. Her mind was on other things. Her literature assignment didn't seem important at the moment.
The terrible thing was Mitch was dead and of course Joey was upset over losing the only positive father figure she'd ever had in her life. But she was racked with guilt since she couldn't stop thing about everything that was wrong between her and Pacey.
~
They'd hooked up the year before and things had been okay for a while. The honeymoon period wasn't bad at all.
Eventually things stopped being so perfect, more like a real relationship. Pacey was a twenty year old boy with experience and Joey was, well, not.
He was patient and he didn't push her. It was Joey's own insecurities that caused the first bump in the road. Finally she swallowed her pride and laid it all out for him. Pacey laughed at her and assured her that he was in no rush. Joey got over it. Feeling embarrassed, realizing that she' had nothing to worry about in the first place. Besides that Pacey was one of the most understanding people in the world. Plus there were plenty of things to do in the mean time.
And their time came eventually, like a tidal wave. They both got caught up with each other and slacked in other areas of their lives. Marks dropped, messages went unreturned and laundry piled up.
After an extremely colourful message from Bessie, Joey called her sister back and got an earful about everything from Bessie's overactive imagination to practicing safe sex.
Joey freaked out pretty much, said things were getting too serious and they needed to calm down. Pacey obliged her and they took the summer off to get everything else under control.
And it's true what they say. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.
So they got back together… Again… Things were okay for a while.
~
Pacey sat at his desk tapping away at the computer. His schoolwork was going great for a change while his personal life seemed to be in shambles.
"Fuck," he groaned as he realized that he'd typed the word 'therefore' three times in a row. Things had been touchy and Pacey had been distracted lately, but even more so since he'd found out about Mitch's death the day before.
He'd spent far too much time in his room in the last month and he felt like he needed to get out before the walls closed in and swallowed him whole.
~
"Hey." Pacey slid in to the empty chair next to Joey so quietly she jumped when she heard him. "Sorry did I scare you?"
"How did you find me?" Pacey gave her a look. I wonder if he remembers the time we practically did it right on this desk.
"Well I checked Peruvian Economics first, since that's where you've been hiding from me lately." He looked at her intensely, "How could I forget this place?"
She looked at her hands uncomfortably, "Did you want to talk about anything else Pacey?"
"I can't stop thinking about Mitch," he said quickly. It was at least half true.
"I know what you mean," Joey replied. "I keep daydreaming about the day that he put the ladder up. You know he said it was because he worried I would fall and…"
"I got in my car this morning to go in to town and I remembered the time he taught me to drive." Pacey frowned, "My dad was of course busy arresting jaywalkers and trying to make Dougie hetero."
"It's really weird huh?" Joey asked.
Pacey nodded. There was a long silence, "I wonder how Dawson's doing."
Joey was surprised Pacey actually said his name, "I wouldn''t know. I haven't spoken to him in a long time."
"Oh." Pacey picked some invisible lint off his pants. "Listen, it's really silly for you to take the train in to Capeside if I'm going to drive. You should just come in the car with me."
Joey's stomach flip flopped, "Are you sure about that?"
"I'm sure."
To be added to the Tricky Fic mailing list and be contacted when I update any of my stories e-mail me at kr_sta@hotmail.com. In the meantime check out my website, http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/trickyfic.
