After lunch Pacey had to lead one of his writer seminars and Joey's ache had turned into a slightly larger pain so she decided to go to her room and take some aspirin and try and sleep it off. Pacey said he would come get her for dinner and dancing in town at six. Joey trudged up to her room and stripped our of her ski clothes down to her silk long johns. Chasing the aspirin down with a glass of water she slipped under the covers of her freshly-made bed and within minutes was dead to the world.

*Knock, knock*

Joey woke with a start, looking at the clock in front of her – 6:05. "Crap." Rolling over and wincing as her side rubbed against the bed, Joey swung her legs out of bed and onto the floor. Another knock caused her to yell out, "Hold on, I'm coming."

Joey shuffled over to the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She pulled the door open and stopped at the sight in front of her. Pacey stood in the hallway, gazing off in the direction of the elevator, oblivious to the fact Joey was standing in front of him. The hall light cast shadows over his face and only further highlighted the solid jaw line and dimples that had definitely gotten better with age. He was dressed in khaki colored cargo pants and gray thermal on with a navy t-shirt on over it. The thermal was tight enough to show off the muscles in his arms, not bad. Joey cleared her throat and Pacey turned towards the opened door and burst out laughing.

"You're certainly not dressed to impress, Ms. Potter," Pacey reached up and ran his finger down the side of her face, "And this line across your face is a great look."

Joey realized what she must look like, after all she had been asleep for close to five hours without stirring once and she was still in her long underwear.

"You know me, au natural," Joey grinned, moving aside so Pacey could come inside, "But I might need a few more minutes to perfect the look, so come on in."

"That might be a good idea." Pacey walked into the room and looked around. He glanced over the bed with the covers tossed back and turned back to Joey. "How long have you been sleeping?"

"Since I got upstairs," Joey relented, "I didn't sleep too well last night."

"I see," Pacey nodded, "Me neither. How are you feeling? I see the aspirin bottle on the nightstand, any reason for that?"

Joey hung her head, like a child who has been caught with her hand in the candy jar, "You've found me out, I'm an asprin junkie."

"Seriously, Jo, are you okay?"

"I feel fine, I just have a pain in my side that kind of hurts. And come to think of it, now that you are here I have a pain in my ass."

"Funny girl. Just for that Dr. Pacey is going to have to check that pain out, the one in your side that is, that other one is all in your mind."

Joey backed away from Pacey, crossing her arm protectively in front of her, "No, it's all right, you don't need to check it out."

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

"Oh lord, the writer comes out," Joey said as her back hit the wall, giving her no place to run. Pacey closed in on her and pulled her blocking arm away from her side. Looking at her with a questioning look in his eye, he reached for the edge of her top, Joey relented and gave a small nod. Pacey slowly rolled the shirt up to get a look at her side and let out a low whistle. Joey wasn't as concerned with his reaction as she was with his hand touching the bare skin on her abdomen.

"That's going to be a beauty, you've got quite a bruise there, kiddo," pushing gently against the discolored skin, Pacey asked, "Does that hurt?"

"A little but just because it is bruised, nothing is broken, it's just sore," Joey said trying to get a good look at her side.

"Come here and look in the mirror," Pacey said, taking her hand and leading her into the bathroom.

Standing behind Joey, he lifted her shirt up to reveal a dark purple splotch the size of his hand just below her left breast. Joey gritted her teeth as he pressed on the flesh again, not quite taking her word that it was just a bruise. Pacey raised his gaze to meet Joey's in the mirror; stopping the pressure on her side, he left his hand resting against her skin. The air around them thickened considerably.

Without thinking, Joey brought her right arm across her body and placed her hand over Pacey's, lacing her fingers with his. They stood there, neither one knowing what to say, eyes locked on each other in the mirror. Pacey moved his thumb under the thin silk of her shirt and brushed it along the underside of her satin covered breast. Joey's breath caught in her throat and she felt her knees weakening. Pacey's other arm came around her body, covering her right arm and holding her tight. Joey closed her eyes and leaned back into him, sighing. At that moment, the familiar ring of her cell phone interrupted the deafening silence that was surrounding them.

"I should get that," Joey said reluctantly, feeling Pacey's arms fall away from her. Joey walked out of the bathroom, eyes wide. Grabbing the small, black phone from the dresser she pushed the 'Talk' button.

"This is Joey."

"Josie, it's me," Christy voice rang in her ear, "Just calling to check in on how things are going."

"Chris, hey," Joey said trying to find words to say, "Um… I was just, um, getting ready for dinner, can I, um, call you back later?"

"Um… okay, but when did you become a person incapable of coherent speech? Has something happened? Inquiring minds want to know."

"Thanks so much," Joey said, ignoring Christy's questions, "I'll talk to you later."

Joey hit the 'End' button before Christy could respond and turned the phone off. Turning back towards the bathroom and stopped when she saw Pacey standing in the doorway.

"You should get ready for dinner, though I might let you off the hook with the dancing, seeing as how you are handicapped," Pacey said with a small smile, "I wouldn't want you to have an excuse to blame your losing the dance-off on."

"Pacey…"

"No, no arguments, there will be no dancing tonight," Pacey said, silencing her, "Now get ready, I am starving and you are the only thing standing between me and a burger."

Joey saw that the moment was over so she grabbed a pair of jeans and wool sweater from her suitcase and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Shaking her head to clear it she looked in the mirror and sighed. She still wanted him, that much was certain.