Disclaimer: I don't own Dawson's Creek or any of its characters.
Author's Note: Thanks to the following for reading and reviewing my story: Gypsy, Giuliana, justagirl, alysa, Aubrey, Abagail Snow, Cesare, roundin3rd, Molly, kelcb26, annie, dwscreekfreak, Vale, *~)TINK(~*, Vera, Annie and Pacey-Luver. I appreciate the comments and constructive criticism. You guys rock!!!
"Come on Joey, please," nagged Andie.
"Andie, I told you already, I'm not going to be your running mate in the election!" exclaimed Joey.
"Well, why not Joey? I mean I think we really could have a shot of winning!" argued Andie.
"Andie, come on. You know my family's history. There's no way that our sophomore class would elect the convict's daughter into school office," Joey reasoned.
"Joey, they're not going to care about who you are, it's about how you plan to govern your class. This is not a popularity contest," Andie said.
"Andie, this is going to be a popularity contest. Only the outrageously popular airheads get elected into school office," Joey replied.
Andie sighed. "Please Joey? I really think you'd be an excellent candidate for the election. Will you at least think about it?"
Joey gave in. "Okay. I'll think about it. But I'm not promising anything!"
"Thanks, you're the greatest! I'll see you later," Andie said excitedly as she took off for class. Joey just shook her head as she walked into her first period class.
****** Lunch ******
Pacey saw Joey sitting alone in the cafeteria. He smiled as he walked up behind her. He covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?"
Joey smiled. "Well, it obviously sounds like one of my boyfriends. Which one is it? Danny? Kyle? Paul?" she teased.
"Well, I did have to beat them all off with a stick," he joked as he uncovered her eyes. He leaned over to kiss her softly. "How was your morning?"
"Okay, except I kind of have a problem," Joey answered.
"What's wrong?" Pacey asked.
"I don't know how to tell Andie that I don't want to be her running mate in the election," Joey replied.
"Well, why don't you want to do it?" Pacey inquired.
"Pacey, I would make an awful candidate. I'm just the tall girl from the wrong side of the creek whose father just happens to be serving time for drug trafficking. Nobody would vote for me," Joey said.
"I would," Pacey said.
"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend," Joey argued.
"Actually, I'd vote you because you're probably the smartest, hardest working person in the school," Pacey answered with a smile.
Joey blushed a little at Pacey's comment. "Pace, that's only what you think," she said.
"You never know. And, Andie only asked you to be her running mate right?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Then, if you two get elected, you can always drop out if you don't want to go any further," Pacey said.
"Why are you pushing me to run?" Joey asked.
"Listen, Joey, you know I'll support you whatever you do. I just think that you could do a lot of good for the school you know? But, I'm behind you, no matter what," Pacey assured.
Joey smiled. "Okay. You just convinced me. But if this all blows up in my face, I'm blaming you."
"Why? Because my charm is so irresistible?" Pacey kidded.
"Precisely," Joey said as she leaned in to kiss him.
***** Four Days Later... *****
"Okay, I think we're ready for the debate," Andie said. "We've got all of our objectives written down, and I think as long as we follow my political strategy, we should have no problem wiping the floor with the other candidates!"
"What if this turns into a mud-slinging contest?" Joey asked.
"It's not going to. Just read off the cards and we'll be fine!" Andie exclaimed as she grabbed Joey by the arm and led her into the gym for the debate.
The debate started well. There were two other groups running: Kenny Riley with Dustin Baker and Chris Wolfe with Abby Morgan. Kenny and Dustin had strictly academic ideas while Chris and Abby were more worried about eliminating study hall. There were good arguments. Andie and Joey kept up with the other groups, answering their questions with relative ease. Just when Joey was starting to relax, Abby put her plan into action. She was asked why the students should vote for her and Chris.
"I think it's a pretty obvious choice. I mean look at our competition. We have two random losers and the mental patient and the convict's daughter," Abby started. She paused as the students took this in. "Yes, it has come to my attention that Andie McPhee's mother has a mental disease that actually caused the car accident which resulted in the death of Andie's older brother Tim. And, since we all know that mental diseases are hereditary, you do the math."
Andie just stood in shock. Joey quickly spoke up. "Let's just stick to politics, Abby," she said.
"Oh, leave it up to the convict's daughter to defend the poor little mental girl. You're just a piece of All-American white trash who'll only disgrace her family more with time," Abby said harshly. Joey just stood and glared at Abby, trying to hold back the tears and the urge to slap Abby right then and there. Luckily, Mr. Milo stepped in.
"That's enough for this debate. Abby, may I have a word?" he asked as he dismissed the students. Joey still stood in her place, unable to move. Andie ran off to the bathroom, with Jack following in pursuit. Dawson walked over to Joey, uncertain as to what he should say. He was her best friend, and he had no clue how he could help her. However, he was determined to try.
"Joey? Are you okay?" he asked.
Joey just stood in her state of shock. She sniffed back a tear. "Um, yeah. Um, do you know where Pacey is?" she asked.
Dawson stood hurt. She didn't even want him around. "I don't know. He had a test this period I think. Listen, Joey, do you want to talk to me?" he asked.
"Look, Dawson, I just want to talk to Pacey right now, okay?" she snapped.
Dawson just stood in pain. His own best friend wouldn't even talk to him. "I get that you're upset right now, and I just want to help..." he started.
"Dawson, I'm sorry, but you can't help me right now. I just want to talk to Pacey," she said as she fought back more tears.
Dawson just nodded his head, giving up for now. "I told you, I think he has a test. Come by my place tonight if you want to talk," he said before turning away.
Joey just watched Dawson walk away. She looked around. There were a few students mingling in the gym. Joey didn't even notice Jen walking up to her.
"She's wrong, you know," Jen said.
"Yeah, I know," Joey said quietly. "Um, look, do you know where Pacey is?"
Jen nodded. "Yeah, he has a Math test right now," she said. She paused as she looked at Joey, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "But I think he can skip Gym to take his girlfriend home."
"I don't need to go home, Jen," Joey said as she sniffed away another tear.
"Listen, I want you to go to your locker, grab your stuff and go to Pacey's car. I'm going to tell him to meet you there as soon as this period is over, which will be about ten minutes," Jen ordered. However, Joey didn't move. "Let's go," she said as she grabbed Joey's arm and dragged her out of the gym.
***** Ten minutes later... *****
"Pacey!" Jen called out.
Pacey turned around. "Hey, Lindley, what's up?" he asked.
"Okay. There was a little incident during the debate today. Joey's upset and you need to go talk to her or take her home or something," Jen explained.
"I'm on it. Thanks Jen," Pacey said as he ran off back to his locker to grab his car keys.
***** The student parking lot... *****
Joey was sitting down by the passenger door of the Witter wagoneer. She just stared at the ground in front of her, trying to hold back the tears that were still welling up in her eyes. She looked up momentarily to see Pacey running towards her. She tried to put on a brave face as he came closer to her.
"Hey, Pace," she said, trying to smile.
"What the hell happened at that debate?" Pacey asked.
"Didn't Jen tell you?" Joey asked, praying that she wouldn't have to repeat those awful words.
"No. What happened, Joey?" he asked quietly.
Joey closed her eyes. "Um, we were talking about why we should be elected, and it was Abby's turn to answer the question, and she called me, uh," she said trying to choke back the tears. Pacey wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What did she call you?" he asked.
Joey couldn't fight back the tears anymore. "She called me a piece of All- American white trash, and that I'll only end up disgracing my family even more," she said as she cried.
Pacey stood speechless. He didn't really know how to respond to someone saying such horrible things about the girl he loved. There was only one thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Joey buried her head into his shoulder as she started to cry harder. They held this embrace for a few minutes, until Joey had stopped crying a bit.
"Pacey?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Um, I can't go back to class like this," she said. She looked up into his eyes for an answer.
"Okay. Come on," he said as he opened her door and grabbed her bag. He walked around to the other side of the car. He buckled himself in and started the car. Before he backed out, he looked at Joey. She was staring absently out the window. She jumped a little as he placed his hand on hers. "It's gonna be okay," he said quietly.
Joey gave him a small smile as she laced their fingers together. "I know," she answered. "It just hurt, that's all."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to back you up," he said.
"Pacey, it's not your fault you had a math test," Joey replied.
"I know, I just," he started. "I just wish I could have been there for you."
"Me too," she said quietly as she went back to gazing out her window. She looked out her window for a few minutes before she fell asleep. When she woke up, she noticed that she was back home, in her bed. She felt an arm around her waist. She turned around to see Pacey spooning her. His Hawaiian shirt was replaced with a wifebeater. He had one arm around her waist, and his other was stretched out above her head. Joey turned back around and snuggled closer to Pacey. This was the most intimate thing she had ever felt, and she planned to enjoy it to the fullest. She placed her hand on Pacey's, pulling him closer to her. She quickly fell back to sleep.
***** One Hour Later... *****
Pacey stirred in his sleep. He opened his eyes. It took him a minute for him to clue into where he was. He smiled as he felt his arm around Joey. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way back to her house. He didn't want to wake her, so he had carried her into her room. He was pretty tired as well, so he just unbuttoned his shirt, wrapped his arm around her waist and fell asleep. He looked over at the clock on her nightstand. It read 2:47. They had been sleeping for 3 hours now. He remembered that she had to work later on, so he decided it was time to wake her up. "Joey," he said softly.
"Mmm," she groaned in her sleep.
"Joey," he tried again as he ran his fingers through her hair.
Joey's eyes slowly fluttered open. "What?"
"Time to get up," he stated simply.
Joey smiled as she turned around to face him. "Hey," she said quietly.
"Hey," he replied with a smile, kissing her forehead. "Feeling better?"
"Yes, and I think I have you to thank for that," she answered.
Pacey smiled. "All I did was take you home," he said.
"No, you did more than that. What Abby said really hurt. And right after she said them, the only person I knew that would make me feel better was you. You have this amazing ability to make me feel better about myself," Joey explained.
Pacey cleared his throat. "I didn't do anything Joey. I just took you home."
Joey took his chin in her hand, tilting his head so she could look into his eyes. "Look. Whenever you're around me, I feel better, happier. You don't really have to do anything to make me feel better except be around me. And you did that today," she said softly.
Pacey smiled. "You too," he said.
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
"You make me feel better too," he answered. "To tell you the truth, I think this little nap with you was the best sleep I ever had."
Joey smiled and blushed a little. "Same here," she admitted. She closed her eyes. "I could stay like this forever."
"Well, we can stay like this for a bit longer," he said. "You have to go to work soon."
"Ugh, I don't wanna go to work," she groaned.
"You have to. Come on, get up, and I'll take you over," he said as he started to get up. He stretched his arms and yawned. When he opened his eyes, he saw Joey grinning at him with a bit of her tongue peeking through her teeth. "What?"
"You," she stated.
"What about me?" he asked.
"You look really good," she said.
"So do you," he replied with a grin.
Joey blushed. "Pacey..." she started.
"No. This is one compliment that you're going to accept. You should see how beautiful you look when you sleep," Pacey interrupted.
"Pacey..." Joey started again.
"Once again, no. When we got here earlier, I couldn't get over how beautiful you looked. I still can't," Pacey said. "Now, come on. You need to get to work. I expect you to be ready in 5 minutes," he said as he left Joey's room so she could change.
Joey sighed. She didn't want to have to face Capeside today. She just wanted to be around Pacey. She laughed at herself. She never thought that she would become the kind of girl who always had to be around her boyfriend. However, she also never thought that she could feel so strongly about someone else. Pacey still gave her butterflies every time she saw him. Her thoughts shifted as she remembered that Pacey was waiting for her. She groaned as she grabbed her work clothes to change.
***** Later on... *****
Pacey was heading to the Icehouse after work. Joey had made him promise to go and walk her home. Not that he minded spending all this time with Joey. He just wanted to be around her right now, and he knew that she secretly wanted him around too. He shook his head as Abby's words came back to him in his head. He couldn't believe the nerve of that heartless bitch. She had no right to say that to Joey. But, he knew that Joey would be okay, and that's all that mattered to him. He arrived at the Icehouse and smiled as he saw Joey inside, wiping a counter. Joey looked up and smiled at him.
"Hey. You're early," she said as he walked up to the counter.
"Yeah, I got off work early. When are you gonna be done here?" he asked.
"Well, Jack said he'd close up tonight, so I should be done in another ten or fifteen minutes. Do you want something?" she asked.
"Um, yeah, can I get a cheeseburger?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll just go back and put your order in," Joey said as she walked away.
Pacey looked around at the other customers. The only people there were some guys he noticed from school: Nick Ryder, Kevin Walker and Mike Sanderson. He looked away, but he couldn't help overhearing their conversation.
"So, did you guys hear what happened at the sophomore class debate today?" Kevin said.
"Yeah, Abby Morgan called that Potter girl at the counter a piece of white trash," Mike said.
"Finally, someone had the balls to put her in her place. I couldn't agree with her more. You're supposed to take the trash out, not vote it in," Nick said. At hearing this, Pacey got up.
"What did you say about her?" Pacey said bitterly to the guy who insulted Joey.
Nick got up from his seat. "There's no need to get upset Witter," he said. "Morgan was just telling the truth. I couldn't have said it better myself," he sneered.
Pacey shook his head as he scrunched up his fist and punched Nick squarely in the eye. Mike and Kevin immediately got up to defend their friend, but Pacey was no match for them. He connected with Mike's jaw and Kevin's nose. Nick had gotten back up while Pacey was going after Mike and Kevin, so he didn't see Nick's fist flying towards his face. Nick hit him solidly in his left eye. Pacey took a step back, but he wouldn't back down. He threw himself on top of Nick, getting the upper hand on him. He punched Nick over and over, showing no mercy about what he said about Joey. He was so caught up in kicking Nicks' ass that he didn't notice Joey shouting at him to stop.
"Pacey!" she finally yelled loud enough for Pacey to hear. Pacey looked back at Joey, who looked terrified. He pulled himself off Nick slowly. Mike and Kevin had already run off. Nick just got up and threw a mean glare at Pacey before hurrying out of there. As soon as he left, Joey gave Pacey a puzzled look.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked. "Why were you fighting him?"
Pacey looked to the ground. "He said something that I didn't agree with."
Joey took a step towards him. "Pacey, what did he say?" she asked.
Pacey looked up into her eyes. "He said that he agreed with what Abby called you. And since I don't agree with him, I decided to take matters into my own hands."
Joey just stared intently at Pacey. He had just defended her honour. He had beaten up a bigger and older guy for her. She noticed the already swelling bruise on his eye. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said as she took his hand and led him around behind the counter. She found some ice and immediately put it on Paceys' eye and on his swelling knuckles. They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither one of them knowing what to say.
"Thank you," Joey finally said, breaking the silence. "You really didn't have to beat him up."
"Actually, Jo, I did. I had to kick his ass. Nobody's ever going to insult you in front of me and get away with it. Ever," he said strongly. "I care about you way too much to let anybody get away with putting you down."
Joey smiled. "You're cute when you care," she said sweetly.
"That is one of my top five qualities," he replied with a grin. He got up from his chair and kissed her. It wasn't too long before they were all over each other, making out furiously. However, they heard someone clear their throat. Joey looked around Pacey to see Jack grinning at them.
"Horny much?" Jack asked.
Author's Note: Thanks to the following for reading and reviewing my story: Gypsy, Giuliana, justagirl, alysa, Aubrey, Abagail Snow, Cesare, roundin3rd, Molly, kelcb26, annie, dwscreekfreak, Vale, *~)TINK(~*, Vera, Annie and Pacey-Luver. I appreciate the comments and constructive criticism. You guys rock!!!
"Come on Joey, please," nagged Andie.
"Andie, I told you already, I'm not going to be your running mate in the election!" exclaimed Joey.
"Well, why not Joey? I mean I think we really could have a shot of winning!" argued Andie.
"Andie, come on. You know my family's history. There's no way that our sophomore class would elect the convict's daughter into school office," Joey reasoned.
"Joey, they're not going to care about who you are, it's about how you plan to govern your class. This is not a popularity contest," Andie said.
"Andie, this is going to be a popularity contest. Only the outrageously popular airheads get elected into school office," Joey replied.
Andie sighed. "Please Joey? I really think you'd be an excellent candidate for the election. Will you at least think about it?"
Joey gave in. "Okay. I'll think about it. But I'm not promising anything!"
"Thanks, you're the greatest! I'll see you later," Andie said excitedly as she took off for class. Joey just shook her head as she walked into her first period class.
****** Lunch ******
Pacey saw Joey sitting alone in the cafeteria. He smiled as he walked up behind her. He covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?"
Joey smiled. "Well, it obviously sounds like one of my boyfriends. Which one is it? Danny? Kyle? Paul?" she teased.
"Well, I did have to beat them all off with a stick," he joked as he uncovered her eyes. He leaned over to kiss her softly. "How was your morning?"
"Okay, except I kind of have a problem," Joey answered.
"What's wrong?" Pacey asked.
"I don't know how to tell Andie that I don't want to be her running mate in the election," Joey replied.
"Well, why don't you want to do it?" Pacey inquired.
"Pacey, I would make an awful candidate. I'm just the tall girl from the wrong side of the creek whose father just happens to be serving time for drug trafficking. Nobody would vote for me," Joey said.
"I would," Pacey said.
"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend," Joey argued.
"Actually, I'd vote you because you're probably the smartest, hardest working person in the school," Pacey answered with a smile.
Joey blushed a little at Pacey's comment. "Pace, that's only what you think," she said.
"You never know. And, Andie only asked you to be her running mate right?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Then, if you two get elected, you can always drop out if you don't want to go any further," Pacey said.
"Why are you pushing me to run?" Joey asked.
"Listen, Joey, you know I'll support you whatever you do. I just think that you could do a lot of good for the school you know? But, I'm behind you, no matter what," Pacey assured.
Joey smiled. "Okay. You just convinced me. But if this all blows up in my face, I'm blaming you."
"Why? Because my charm is so irresistible?" Pacey kidded.
"Precisely," Joey said as she leaned in to kiss him.
***** Four Days Later... *****
"Okay, I think we're ready for the debate," Andie said. "We've got all of our objectives written down, and I think as long as we follow my political strategy, we should have no problem wiping the floor with the other candidates!"
"What if this turns into a mud-slinging contest?" Joey asked.
"It's not going to. Just read off the cards and we'll be fine!" Andie exclaimed as she grabbed Joey by the arm and led her into the gym for the debate.
The debate started well. There were two other groups running: Kenny Riley with Dustin Baker and Chris Wolfe with Abby Morgan. Kenny and Dustin had strictly academic ideas while Chris and Abby were more worried about eliminating study hall. There were good arguments. Andie and Joey kept up with the other groups, answering their questions with relative ease. Just when Joey was starting to relax, Abby put her plan into action. She was asked why the students should vote for her and Chris.
"I think it's a pretty obvious choice. I mean look at our competition. We have two random losers and the mental patient and the convict's daughter," Abby started. She paused as the students took this in. "Yes, it has come to my attention that Andie McPhee's mother has a mental disease that actually caused the car accident which resulted in the death of Andie's older brother Tim. And, since we all know that mental diseases are hereditary, you do the math."
Andie just stood in shock. Joey quickly spoke up. "Let's just stick to politics, Abby," she said.
"Oh, leave it up to the convict's daughter to defend the poor little mental girl. You're just a piece of All-American white trash who'll only disgrace her family more with time," Abby said harshly. Joey just stood and glared at Abby, trying to hold back the tears and the urge to slap Abby right then and there. Luckily, Mr. Milo stepped in.
"That's enough for this debate. Abby, may I have a word?" he asked as he dismissed the students. Joey still stood in her place, unable to move. Andie ran off to the bathroom, with Jack following in pursuit. Dawson walked over to Joey, uncertain as to what he should say. He was her best friend, and he had no clue how he could help her. However, he was determined to try.
"Joey? Are you okay?" he asked.
Joey just stood in her state of shock. She sniffed back a tear. "Um, yeah. Um, do you know where Pacey is?" she asked.
Dawson stood hurt. She didn't even want him around. "I don't know. He had a test this period I think. Listen, Joey, do you want to talk to me?" he asked.
"Look, Dawson, I just want to talk to Pacey right now, okay?" she snapped.
Dawson just stood in pain. His own best friend wouldn't even talk to him. "I get that you're upset right now, and I just want to help..." he started.
"Dawson, I'm sorry, but you can't help me right now. I just want to talk to Pacey," she said as she fought back more tears.
Dawson just nodded his head, giving up for now. "I told you, I think he has a test. Come by my place tonight if you want to talk," he said before turning away.
Joey just watched Dawson walk away. She looked around. There were a few students mingling in the gym. Joey didn't even notice Jen walking up to her.
"She's wrong, you know," Jen said.
"Yeah, I know," Joey said quietly. "Um, look, do you know where Pacey is?"
Jen nodded. "Yeah, he has a Math test right now," she said. She paused as she looked at Joey, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "But I think he can skip Gym to take his girlfriend home."
"I don't need to go home, Jen," Joey said as she sniffed away another tear.
"Listen, I want you to go to your locker, grab your stuff and go to Pacey's car. I'm going to tell him to meet you there as soon as this period is over, which will be about ten minutes," Jen ordered. However, Joey didn't move. "Let's go," she said as she grabbed Joey's arm and dragged her out of the gym.
***** Ten minutes later... *****
"Pacey!" Jen called out.
Pacey turned around. "Hey, Lindley, what's up?" he asked.
"Okay. There was a little incident during the debate today. Joey's upset and you need to go talk to her or take her home or something," Jen explained.
"I'm on it. Thanks Jen," Pacey said as he ran off back to his locker to grab his car keys.
***** The student parking lot... *****
Joey was sitting down by the passenger door of the Witter wagoneer. She just stared at the ground in front of her, trying to hold back the tears that were still welling up in her eyes. She looked up momentarily to see Pacey running towards her. She tried to put on a brave face as he came closer to her.
"Hey, Pace," she said, trying to smile.
"What the hell happened at that debate?" Pacey asked.
"Didn't Jen tell you?" Joey asked, praying that she wouldn't have to repeat those awful words.
"No. What happened, Joey?" he asked quietly.
Joey closed her eyes. "Um, we were talking about why we should be elected, and it was Abby's turn to answer the question, and she called me, uh," she said trying to choke back the tears. Pacey wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What did she call you?" he asked.
Joey couldn't fight back the tears anymore. "She called me a piece of All- American white trash, and that I'll only end up disgracing my family even more," she said as she cried.
Pacey stood speechless. He didn't really know how to respond to someone saying such horrible things about the girl he loved. There was only one thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Joey buried her head into his shoulder as she started to cry harder. They held this embrace for a few minutes, until Joey had stopped crying a bit.
"Pacey?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Um, I can't go back to class like this," she said. She looked up into his eyes for an answer.
"Okay. Come on," he said as he opened her door and grabbed her bag. He walked around to the other side of the car. He buckled himself in and started the car. Before he backed out, he looked at Joey. She was staring absently out the window. She jumped a little as he placed his hand on hers. "It's gonna be okay," he said quietly.
Joey gave him a small smile as she laced their fingers together. "I know," she answered. "It just hurt, that's all."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to back you up," he said.
"Pacey, it's not your fault you had a math test," Joey replied.
"I know, I just," he started. "I just wish I could have been there for you."
"Me too," she said quietly as she went back to gazing out her window. She looked out her window for a few minutes before she fell asleep. When she woke up, she noticed that she was back home, in her bed. She felt an arm around her waist. She turned around to see Pacey spooning her. His Hawaiian shirt was replaced with a wifebeater. He had one arm around her waist, and his other was stretched out above her head. Joey turned back around and snuggled closer to Pacey. This was the most intimate thing she had ever felt, and she planned to enjoy it to the fullest. She placed her hand on Pacey's, pulling him closer to her. She quickly fell back to sleep.
***** One Hour Later... *****
Pacey stirred in his sleep. He opened his eyes. It took him a minute for him to clue into where he was. He smiled as he felt his arm around Joey. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way back to her house. He didn't want to wake her, so he had carried her into her room. He was pretty tired as well, so he just unbuttoned his shirt, wrapped his arm around her waist and fell asleep. He looked over at the clock on her nightstand. It read 2:47. They had been sleeping for 3 hours now. He remembered that she had to work later on, so he decided it was time to wake her up. "Joey," he said softly.
"Mmm," she groaned in her sleep.
"Joey," he tried again as he ran his fingers through her hair.
Joey's eyes slowly fluttered open. "What?"
"Time to get up," he stated simply.
Joey smiled as she turned around to face him. "Hey," she said quietly.
"Hey," he replied with a smile, kissing her forehead. "Feeling better?"
"Yes, and I think I have you to thank for that," she answered.
Pacey smiled. "All I did was take you home," he said.
"No, you did more than that. What Abby said really hurt. And right after she said them, the only person I knew that would make me feel better was you. You have this amazing ability to make me feel better about myself," Joey explained.
Pacey cleared his throat. "I didn't do anything Joey. I just took you home."
Joey took his chin in her hand, tilting his head so she could look into his eyes. "Look. Whenever you're around me, I feel better, happier. You don't really have to do anything to make me feel better except be around me. And you did that today," she said softly.
Pacey smiled. "You too," he said.
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
"You make me feel better too," he answered. "To tell you the truth, I think this little nap with you was the best sleep I ever had."
Joey smiled and blushed a little. "Same here," she admitted. She closed her eyes. "I could stay like this forever."
"Well, we can stay like this for a bit longer," he said. "You have to go to work soon."
"Ugh, I don't wanna go to work," she groaned.
"You have to. Come on, get up, and I'll take you over," he said as he started to get up. He stretched his arms and yawned. When he opened his eyes, he saw Joey grinning at him with a bit of her tongue peeking through her teeth. "What?"
"You," she stated.
"What about me?" he asked.
"You look really good," she said.
"So do you," he replied with a grin.
Joey blushed. "Pacey..." she started.
"No. This is one compliment that you're going to accept. You should see how beautiful you look when you sleep," Pacey interrupted.
"Pacey..." Joey started again.
"Once again, no. When we got here earlier, I couldn't get over how beautiful you looked. I still can't," Pacey said. "Now, come on. You need to get to work. I expect you to be ready in 5 minutes," he said as he left Joey's room so she could change.
Joey sighed. She didn't want to have to face Capeside today. She just wanted to be around Pacey. She laughed at herself. She never thought that she would become the kind of girl who always had to be around her boyfriend. However, she also never thought that she could feel so strongly about someone else. Pacey still gave her butterflies every time she saw him. Her thoughts shifted as she remembered that Pacey was waiting for her. She groaned as she grabbed her work clothes to change.
***** Later on... *****
Pacey was heading to the Icehouse after work. Joey had made him promise to go and walk her home. Not that he minded spending all this time with Joey. He just wanted to be around her right now, and he knew that she secretly wanted him around too. He shook his head as Abby's words came back to him in his head. He couldn't believe the nerve of that heartless bitch. She had no right to say that to Joey. But, he knew that Joey would be okay, and that's all that mattered to him. He arrived at the Icehouse and smiled as he saw Joey inside, wiping a counter. Joey looked up and smiled at him.
"Hey. You're early," she said as he walked up to the counter.
"Yeah, I got off work early. When are you gonna be done here?" he asked.
"Well, Jack said he'd close up tonight, so I should be done in another ten or fifteen minutes. Do you want something?" she asked.
"Um, yeah, can I get a cheeseburger?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll just go back and put your order in," Joey said as she walked away.
Pacey looked around at the other customers. The only people there were some guys he noticed from school: Nick Ryder, Kevin Walker and Mike Sanderson. He looked away, but he couldn't help overhearing their conversation.
"So, did you guys hear what happened at the sophomore class debate today?" Kevin said.
"Yeah, Abby Morgan called that Potter girl at the counter a piece of white trash," Mike said.
"Finally, someone had the balls to put her in her place. I couldn't agree with her more. You're supposed to take the trash out, not vote it in," Nick said. At hearing this, Pacey got up.
"What did you say about her?" Pacey said bitterly to the guy who insulted Joey.
Nick got up from his seat. "There's no need to get upset Witter," he said. "Morgan was just telling the truth. I couldn't have said it better myself," he sneered.
Pacey shook his head as he scrunched up his fist and punched Nick squarely in the eye. Mike and Kevin immediately got up to defend their friend, but Pacey was no match for them. He connected with Mike's jaw and Kevin's nose. Nick had gotten back up while Pacey was going after Mike and Kevin, so he didn't see Nick's fist flying towards his face. Nick hit him solidly in his left eye. Pacey took a step back, but he wouldn't back down. He threw himself on top of Nick, getting the upper hand on him. He punched Nick over and over, showing no mercy about what he said about Joey. He was so caught up in kicking Nicks' ass that he didn't notice Joey shouting at him to stop.
"Pacey!" she finally yelled loud enough for Pacey to hear. Pacey looked back at Joey, who looked terrified. He pulled himself off Nick slowly. Mike and Kevin had already run off. Nick just got up and threw a mean glare at Pacey before hurrying out of there. As soon as he left, Joey gave Pacey a puzzled look.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked. "Why were you fighting him?"
Pacey looked to the ground. "He said something that I didn't agree with."
Joey took a step towards him. "Pacey, what did he say?" she asked.
Pacey looked up into her eyes. "He said that he agreed with what Abby called you. And since I don't agree with him, I decided to take matters into my own hands."
Joey just stared intently at Pacey. He had just defended her honour. He had beaten up a bigger and older guy for her. She noticed the already swelling bruise on his eye. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said as she took his hand and led him around behind the counter. She found some ice and immediately put it on Paceys' eye and on his swelling knuckles. They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither one of them knowing what to say.
"Thank you," Joey finally said, breaking the silence. "You really didn't have to beat him up."
"Actually, Jo, I did. I had to kick his ass. Nobody's ever going to insult you in front of me and get away with it. Ever," he said strongly. "I care about you way too much to let anybody get away with putting you down."
Joey smiled. "You're cute when you care," she said sweetly.
"That is one of my top five qualities," he replied with a grin. He got up from his chair and kissed her. It wasn't too long before they were all over each other, making out furiously. However, they heard someone clear their throat. Joey looked around Pacey to see Jack grinning at them.
"Horny much?" Jack asked.