Episode Eleven "Wounds of the Past"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Joey demanded, feeling as if she had walked into a different world. Her eyes widened in shock and then narrowed as she stared back at her father.
"I finished my sentence. I was only put away for three years remember?"
"Oh, of course. It was only three years. What's three years in the grand scheme of things?" Joey said sarcastically. "And maybe I would have remembered if I had actually bothered to find out how long you got in the first place."
Mike looked down, hurt, but he could see that his daughter was hurting too. She sighed, knowing she was being harsh, but right now she didn't really care.
"I meant what are you doing here? In Boston! In my room!"
"I wanted to see you."
"Why?" She was pacing up and down now, avoiding all eye contact. Part of her wanted to hug him and welcome him back into her life. Tell him she missed him and needed him. The other, much stronger part wanted to shout at him for showing up in her life again just as everything was starting to go well for her.
"You're my daughter." She let out a sarcastic laugh and he winced.
"You didn't seem to think of that when you decided to deal again."
"I told you, I just wanted to support you."
"By dealing drugs?" She looked into his eyes, searching for something.
"Joey…"
"No. You don't get to screw up over and over again and expect me to take you back every time. I trusted you…I needed you and you…you let me down." Joey looked him in the eyes, resisting the urge to cry.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry's not good enough. Not this time." Joey took a deep breath, building her strength.
"I just want to talk. I want to spend time with you, hunny," he pleaded. He knew this would be hard on her, but he hadn't imagined how hard it would be to hear your daughter say she didn't want anything to do with you.
"I want you to leave."
"Joey…"
"Now." She pointed to the door, leaving no room for argument. Mr. Potter sighed, knowing she needed time. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and walked up to her.
"This is the address and phone number to my hotel. Please, give me a chance." He put the paper in her hand and she grudgingly accepted it. He tried to lean over to kiss her, but she moved away. He sighed and walked out the door, looking back only once.
Only when the door was closed firmly behind him did she collapse on the floor and let out the tears she had been holding since the moment she walked into her room.
-&-
Drue rolled over in bed, trying to ignore the loud knocking he could hear in the back of his mind. He had only just fallen asleep after having spent the night out with Edie. They had gone to a club and then Edie had left Drue to go home alone because he had to go take care of some business in another part of town.
Drue sighed and rolled over to pick up his alarm clock. It was four a.m. Who could be knocking on his door at this time? He got up quickly, not caring that he was only wearing his boxers and went to answer the door.
"Joey!" He was surprised to find the brunette standing in front of him, her hair was a mess and she looked as if she had been crying. The clever quip about waking him up this early in the morning died on his lips. "What's wrong?" Instinctively he leaned forward and hugged his friend.
"Is he here?" Joey asked. She was no longer crying but she had to control herself on the way over. She needed to see Pacey and she needed him now.
"No. He's not back yet." Drue put his arm around her and led her inside the apartment. She sighed, knowing he wasn't home even before she got there. Pacey said he would be home sometime this morning though and Joey couldn't wait any longer than she had to, to see him. "What's wrong Joey?" Drue asked her again, slightly worried.
"Nothing. It's nothing. I just miss him."
"Please tell me you did not disturb my sleep just because you miss your boyfriend." Drue smiled at her, knowing there was more.
"Well, there is a bit more. But I'd rather not talk about it." She sat down on the couch and Drue smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.
She looked around the apartment, the sleep she hadn't got all night finally catching up with her. She had been so confused ever since she got home. She remembered exactly what it felt like to wear that wire and be the one to turn her Dad in. It had hurt like hell, knowing she was the one who put him in jail. But then she realized it wasn't her fault. Her Dad had betrayed her once again and put her life in danger.
She had learned to live without a Dad again, just like she had been doing for years before he came back into her life. Of course she missed him, but she learned not to think about it. She had pushed her Dad to the back of her mind and she had moved on with life.
And now, just when she felt like her life was pretty close to perfect, and she had everything she could want, he just walked back into her life and confused her. She hated him for thinking he could just come back into her life and talk to her as if nothing had happened. He had no right to think that she would just welcome him back.
She kept thinking about it over and over and didn't even notice Drue re-enter the room until he was standing in front of her holding out a mug to her. She rose her eyebrows but took the mug, smiling as she sipped the warm cocoa.
"Always makes me feel better." Drue smiled and took a seat next to Joey.
"Thanks Drue."
"No problem. I'm always ready to be of service. Just say the word." He rose his eyebrows and she just laughed.
"You know, I think you should save the innuendoes for Jen." Drue's face fell at the mention of her name, knowing she was still angry with him. Joey noticed and remembered how upset Jen had been tonight. "Speaking of which, what happened with you guys?" she asked, knowing that she was just trying to focus on anything but her own problems.
"Nothing. I don't know." Joey gave him a look. "She just flipped out the minute Edie arrived here."
"You know, one thing I know about Jen is that she's very particular about her past. She likes to keep it just that, the past. When she's faced with something that reminds her of the life she used to have it scares her."
"What about me?"
"Why do you think she was so cold to you when you first moved to Capeside? Other than that you were a complete ass," Joey added smiling.
"I guess."
"I think there are some feelings there, that maybe I don't understand because I wasn't there. But that maybe you should understand. She needs you right now. She needs you to understand. I think you more than anyone should know that Jen puts up a brave front, but she's not as strong as we give her credit for." Drue nodded, understanding. "I think you need to talk to her."
"Tell that to her. She stormed out of here."
"Hey, I'm not taking sides. I'm just saying." She smiled back at him.
They sat in silence for a few minutes while Drue contemplated her words. After a little while Joey could feel his eyes on her, trying to figure out what was wrong. She sighed, knowing the least she could do was tell him.
"My Dad's back." She broke the silence simply.
"What?"
"My Dad. He came to see me tonight."
"Isn't he supposed to be…"
"In jail? Yep. He just waltzes in and says 'Surprise. I'm back!' Like I'm supposed to be happy about that." Joey rolled her eyes at the typicalness of her Dad's behaviour.
"Is that why you couldn't wait to see Pacey?"
"Yeah. I just needed to talk to someone. Pacey's always a good listener. He was there when everything went down with my Dad. He was busy with Andie at the time. It was about the same time that she had to go away to Providence, but he was still there."
"So what are you going to do about your Dad?"
"Nothing. I don't know. He left his hotel number, I'm guessing he wants me to call him. I'd rather continue as if he never existed." Joey sighed.
"Fathers suck don't they?"
"Yep, they sure do. Except for Mr. Leery and maybe Mr. McPhee, we all ended up with sucky Dad's."
"Well you couldn't expect Dawson not to have a perfect Dad. He has such a charmed life," Drue said sarcastically.
"Jealous much?" Joey laughed lightly.
"I'm not jealous. I just don't like the guy. Is that a crime?"
"It is when you're talking to his best friend."
"I thought I was your best friend!" Drue said dramatically. "I'm so upset."
"You are." Joey smiled and leaned over to hug Drue lightly. Drue was surprised but hugged her back. "Thanks for listening." She smiled at him before settling back onto the couch.
"No problem. But if you wake me up this early again, I might have to start charging a fee for my services." Drue joked.
"I don't think I'll ever need you that much."
-&-
Jack stretched his muscles out, feeling slightly more relaxed. He had woken up at about five am to go for a run, trying to get his mind off Tobey and how much he missed him. School didn't start for a couple of days so he had a pretty empty day ahead of him. He thought of calling Tobey himself, but just didn't know why he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He stretched out his leg muscles once more and then took a sip of his bottled water. He almost dropped the water as the phone rang. He quickly picked the phone up, trying not to be too disappointed if it wasn't Tobey.
"Hello."
"Jack! Hey!"
"Tobey!" Jack's face lit up. "How was London?"
"Great, it was great. But I missed you."
"I missed you too. What time did your flight get in yesterday? You didn't call?" Jack mentioned, trying not to sound too accusatory.
"I did call, but it was a bit late, you must have gone to sleep. When we got back I was so tired a practically fell asleep as soon as I got home and then when I woke up it was eleven already."
"Oh, well it's okay. Actually I was waiting for you to call all night, but when it got late, I just went out."
"Aww I'm sorry hun. I was just so tired I fell asleep before I could stop myself."
"No problem. You're back now." Jack smiled, just loving the fact that he could hear Tobey's voice. "You would not believe how much I missed your voice. Email just doesn't have the same affect." Tobey laughed.
"I know. But don't worry, I'm going to come and visit you the next chance I get."
"Promise?"
"Of course." Tobey assured him. "So tell me everything. What's been going on there?" Jack laughed and then started into the latest goings on in Boston.
-&-
Pacey walked into his apartment feeling tired. All he wanted to do now was jump into bed and get some sleep. He had been sailing most of the night and just needed to rest. He also missed Joey like hell and wanted to see her as soon as it became a decent hour to go and visit the dorms.
He dropped his bags by the door and entered the front room. He stopped suddenly as he noticed Joey lying on his couch, obviously asleep. He smiled at her sleeping form. He walked over to her and bent down, running his hand over her soft face. He touched her shoulder lightly and she quickly awoke.
"Pacey!" She looked at him, waking herself up a little. "You're back!" She quickly hugged him, pulling him close to her.
"Of course I am." He smiled as he hugged her. She pulled back and then kissed him softly.
"I missed you."
"Me too." Pacey smiled and then sat down next to her. "Now, what's wrong?"
"Why do you think something's wrong?" Joey looked confused. She hadn't done anything out of the ordinary to make him think she was upset.
"First of all you're asleep on my couch at six in the morning and secondly your hug was just a tiny bit stronger than usual."
"You can tell I'm upset from my hug?" Joey looked skeptical. Pacey laughed.
"I know you, Jo. Now tell me what's wrong." He reminded her why she was so upset and she wanted to cry. She sat back and leaned into his chest and he just put his arm around her, rubbing her arm softly.
"He's out of jail." Pacey looked confused for a second before it clicked.
"Your Dad?" Joey nodded. "Oh my god. I wasn't expecting that at all."
"You're not kidding. I came home last night and there he was, in my room."
"What did he say?"
"Not much." Joey sighed. "He wanted to talk."
"And?"
"And nothing. I told him to get lost."
"That's understandable. But what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know Pacey. I'm so confused." She started crying and he pulled her close to him.
"Hey, now. Shhh okay? We'll work this out. Don't worry." He rubbed her back soothingly.
"I missed you so much. Don't leave me again."
"I won't. I promise."
-&-
Jen sat on her bed reading a magazine, very bored. She looked around her room, trying to see if anything interesting would catch her eye that she hadn't already seen a million times. She looked over at Brenda's side of the room and her eyes fell on a picture frame.
She got up and walked towards it. Brenda hadn't come home again last night and even though Jen didn't know her that well she knew that Brenda had definitely not spent the night with a beer guzzling frat boy. She just wondered where she was all the times she wasn't at home.
She picked up the picture and looked at it. It was a picture of a man and a woman who Jen assumed were Brenda's parents and a little girl who looked a lot like Brenda.
Jen looked at some of Brenda's things. Her side of the room was pretty tidy and from the looks of things it was very normal. But something just wasn't right about that girl. Jen suspected there was someone in her life affecting her in a way they shouldn't, but she couldn't prove anything.
Recently, she and Brenda had gotten closer and Jen felt bad that her roommate hadn't confided in her. She was obviously in need of some help.
She noticed another picture and picked it up. This time it was Brenda and a guy, who from the way they were hugging looked like her boyfriend. Jen had never noticed this picture before. Brenda looked about seventeen and she looked really happy.
Jen had thought that maybe it was Brenda's boyfriend who was causing her problems but they looked so happy in the picture so Jen quickly dismissed it.
Jen sighed. She guessed she could ask Brenda about it later. She was also really curious as to why Brenda had lied about going home for Christmas. Another mystery to her.
-&-
Drue sat in front of the T.V with the remote in his hand. "Boring. Stupid. Boring. Ridiculously boring." He kept flicking channels, finding nothing but infomercials or something he didn't want to watch. "Why is daytime television so bad?" he asked no one in particular. He sighed, putting the TV onto a news channel and leaving it.
Pacey and Joey had retreated to Pacey's bedroom and Drue had nothing to do. He wanted to call Jen and apologize but something stopped him. Probably because he didn't really know what he would be apologizing for. He didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Okay, he had been a little bit insensitive but Jen just overreacted. Why was Edie being here such a problem? He didn't like how she just closed off all the old people in her life. Some of the people who she had been friends with, and partied with and who cared about her. Edie probably didn't really care about her but he was still her friend.
The way she just dismissed them from her life scared him. If it was so easy to dismiss them from her life, would she be able to do the same to him? He knew that was a stupid thought but he'd never seen Jen act this way before. Well she had done it to him but that was different. Drue had known that it was only a matter or time before he wore her down.
Sitting here by himself he realized how much time he spent with Jen. His social circle consisted of Jen and occasionally Jack, Pacey and Joey. Without her he really had no one. She had become everything to him. When he gave up partying and drugs he also gave up the friends and people that came with that life. He had given it all up for her. And even though he didn't want to lose her, he really needed to expand his social circles.
He realized that living his life completely around one person not only made his extremely boring, but it also made him vulnerable. One day he could lose her and then he'd be left with no one. His life would fall apart without her.
Suddenly he got up and grabbed his keys, deciding he wasn't going to let that happen. He had to get out and have fun and that was exactly what he was going to do.
-&-
Pacey looked up at the ceiling, sighing. He could feel how tense Joey's body was as she lay next to him on her side, facing away from him. He had known as soon as he woke up that Joey had been lying like that for quite some time, letting everything run through her mind.
He felt so bad for her, he wanted to do something to make the pain go away. Pacey didn't really know Mr. Potter well, but he knew how all of his actions had affected Joey. He had hated him for leaving Joey to grow up alone without even a father. But now that he was back in her life once again he didn't know whether Joey needed him.
He turned towards her and kissed her neck softly, running his hand down her smooth bare arms. She sighed, moving closer into his soft embrace. She smiled, turning around to face him.
"Did I wake you?" she asked softly.
"No." He smiled, kissing her softly on the nose.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For being here for me. I really needed you today." She kissed him on the lips, starting off slow and then pulling him closer, craving the contact.
"Hey, if you're thanking me for the sex you really don't need to. It was definitely my pleasure." He grinned at her and she laughed lightly. He smiled at her, pushing a stray bit of hair behind her ears. He was glad he could at least make her laugh.
"Well the sex too, but much more than that."
"Good. I got a little worried when I found you here that you might be visiting my roommate."
"Please tell me the thought of Drue and me did not cross your mind!" Joey screeched.
"Well I wondered what you were doing here in the middle of the night when you knew I wouldn't be here. I mean, should I really believe that you couldn't even wait until morning to see me?" Pacey pretended to be actually contemplating it.
"Oh no, you caught me. I'm going to have to tell Drue we have to be more careful," Joey joked. Pacey stuck his tongue out at her and then started tickling her. She screamed, trying to pull away.
"Pacey! Stop it!"
"You could just get up and run," Pacey said, pausing.
"Oh yeah and give you the opportunity to stare at me naked?"
"Well…"
"It's nothing you haven't seen before you know." Joey rolled her eyes. Pacey laughed and then pulled Joey back to him so that they were both lying next to each other.
"So what are you going to do?" Pacey's tone was serious.
"I don't know. Go and see him I guess?"
"You don't sound too pleased. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, you know."
"You don't think I should see him?"
"I think you should do what you think is right for you."
"I hate it when you sound cleverer than me." Joey joked.
"Hey, well you better get used to it. Because I'm a very smart guy. And everyone knows smart guys barely graduate and don't get into college." Joey ignored his words and kissed him lightly.
"Of course they do because you, my gorgeous boyfriend, are very smart." She kissed him again and he smiled into her kiss.
"Smart and gorgeous? I could get used to this." Before she could say anything he kissed her, pulling the covers over them, blocking out the rest of the world.
-&-
"God, that really sucks." Jen said down the phone.
"I know." Joey sighed. She held the phone in the crook of her neck, as she sat at the edge of the bed, putting her shoes on. Pacey was also in the room, getting dressed behind her.
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." Joey sighed. "So, have you spoken to Drue yet?"
"No."
"Jen…"
"I know, I know. But I don't think I'm the one who needs to apologize. He was so obnoxious. And then he didn't even call me to make up! I bet he was out all night with Edie."
"Well…"
"See!" Jen screeched.
"But Edie's gone now. And I know you guys are too stubborn to just make up, but really, you're both miserable when you're angry at each other."
"He just makes me so angry. But he should know better. Sometimes I overreact. He should just accept it."
"Do you hear yourself when you speak?" Jen laughed.
"Okay, you're right, I guess I'm being unreasonable. I just hope Edie is gone for good because he just makes me so…uggh!"
"Jen, is there something you're not telling us about this Edie guy?"
"Like what…Oh!" Jen got Joey's meaning. "No we never. Well we nearly did a couple times, but that's not the reason I dislike him. Or not the only reason anyway."
"Just checking."
-&-
"Is it so wrong that I only want to spend time with my girlfriend?" Drue asked. He had left his apartment with the intention of going to try and make some new friends and expand his horizons, but he knew as soon as he walked outside that he was going straight to Jack's to bitch and moan, and hopefully accidentally bump into Jen. The latter part didn't happen though.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you and Jen fighting over you talking to Edie? Now where did this 'spending all your time with Jen' dilemma come from?" Jack looked over his shoulder at Drue who was sitting on his bed.
"Well, Jen is still mad at me and I still don't really know why. You know I left home today to go and find myself some new friends, and broaden my horizons. But where do I end up? Here, bitching about the absence of my girlfriend!"
"Gee, thanks so much, Drue." Jack tossed over his shoulder.
"You know what I mean. With Jen not talking to me I have nothing to do but hang around in my apartment alone while Pacey and Joey are doing it, rather loudly might I add, in his room."
"Oh eeew! I didn't need that mental image."
"How do you think I feel?"
"I know, must be terrible hearing them go at it while your girl is withholding at the moment," Jack said sarcastically.
"Hey, it sounds a lot worse when you put it like that," Drue complained. "And it's not even that. I really don't know what's wrong with her."
"Did you ever think to find out?"
"Yes!" Drue sighed. "It's not my fault that best friend of yours doesn't listen to a thing I say."
"Well it kind of is because usually you talk crap."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jack."
"Didn't you just tell me that you haven't called her since she stormed out of your apartment?"
"Yes. The key words being 'she' and 'stormed out'. I don't even know why."
"Wasn't it something about you being a pig and telling her she had no right to have a say in your life." Jack raised his eyebrows again.
"I didn't say that!" Jack just rose his eyebrows. "Okay, I said something very similar to that but I didn't mean it." Drue sighed.
"Look…" Jack turned to Drue, putting on his serious face. "Really Jen doesn't have a say in who you choose to hang out with, though it would be nice if you didn't point that out to her. But I don't think that's the problem. She doesn't mind if you have other friends and she has other friends. Jen's not the overly protective type. The problem is obviously this Edie guy. Have you tried to talk to her about why she hates this guy so much?"
"No."
"Well then." Drue sighed.
"I should probably call her right?"
"That would be right." Jack smiled and then turned back to his work, while Drue just sighed and fell back on the bed.
-&-
"Brilliant." Joey looked confused as Steve walked into her room.
"What's brilliant?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"My idea, it's brilliant. You're looking for a job right?" He clarified.
"Uh…yeah." Joey remembered, everything had kind of been pushed to the back of her mind with the arrival of her Dad.
"Well I work in this coffee house just out side the north side of the campus and my boss just told me that he's looking to take on another waitress."
"And you thought since I'm looking for a job…" Joey smiled.
"Do you have any waitressing experience?" Joey laughed.
"Yeah, just a bit." Joey said sarcastically but Steve didn't catch on. How was he to know that to her it seemed like all she was made to do was wait on other people?
"Well if you want, I could talk to my boss," Steve suggested. Joey thought about it quickly, she did need a job and a coffeehouse didn't sound too bad.
"Yeah…uh, that would be great. Thanks Steve."
"No problem Joey." He smiled at her. "I'll talk to my boss and then call you, okay?"
"Sure."
-&-
"Knock, knock." Drue walked into Pacey's room, cautiously. "Joey gone?"
"Yeah, it's safe." Pacey laughed. He was sitting at the computer typing something. Drue looked over his shoulder and then picked up a book that was on the desk.
"What's this?" He asked, reading the title. "SATs for dummies?" Drue tried to suppress his laughter.
"Hey, I need all the help I can get."
"So you registered then?"
"Yeah. The exam is next week."
"Wow. That soon?"
"Yeah, I just got registered in time. Which is really good because if I want to get my applications in time I need my results."
"I'm sure you'll be fine. Didn't Joey get like one of the top scores? With her help you'll breeze through it."
"Uh…yeah." Pacey said, distractedly.
"You have told her right?" Drue asked suspiciously.
"Errr..."
"Pacey!"
"What? She doesn't need this right now; she's got her own problems. I'm sure I can get through this on my own."
"Yeah but she would want to know."
"Not right now."
"Does she even know you're applying to college?"
"Yeah. I did mention it to her. Sort of."
"You're hopeless."
"Whatever. Now if you don't mind I have to get these accounts done."
"Yeah, yeah." Drue sighed, getting up and leaving Pacey to finish his work.
Pacey waited until Drue closed the door before sighing. He picked up the picture of Joey he had on his table and then his SAT preparation guides. He had made the right choice. Joey needed his support right now not his extra problems about college. He could do the SAT on his own.
-&-
"Lover boy call yet?" David stuck his head around Jack's door and then walked in spotting him on his bed.
"'Hey Jack. How are you? I'm good David, thanks.'" Jack joked.
"Yeah, yeah. I don't need to ask. You look fine to me. I see you stopped your moping."
"Yes." Jack grinned.
"So I'm assuming he called?"
"Would I be sitting here with a grin on my face if he hadn't?" Jack asked him sarcastically.
"Okay point taken." David smiled. It was good to see Jack happy again instead of all mopey. "So what did he say?"
"Stuff," Jack said off handedly.
"Stuff? Come on Jackers, you've got to do better than that."
"We spoke for ages. I feel bad for that bill he's going to have to pay." Jack mentioned laughing lightly.
"Yeah, yeah, I want details. Come on. Don't make me wrestle you for them," David challenged.
"You wouldn't," Jack said, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh I would." David grinned. "Do you really want to risk it?"
"Errr…" David looked at Jack as he pretended to think. "No," he said finally. "He just told me about London. He had a great time. He said he might come down here soon and bring the pictures."
"Really?" David tried to sound excited.
"Yeah," Jack said excitedly before carrying on about Tobey. Not noticing the sudden uncomfortable look on David's face.
-&-
Jen walked towards her dorm room still as upset as she had done before she left. Drue still hadn't called or come by to see her. Knowing him, he probably had such a great time partying with Edie all night that he completely forgot about her. Well, she knew that wasn't true but it was easier to believe, especially in her anger.
As she got to her room the first thing she noticed was her roommate frantically pulling out her clothes from her closet and stuffing them into a bag. Quickly Jen ran inside to see what was going on.
"Brenda? What are you doing?" Brenda looked up and Jen could see that she had been crying, and still was.
"Errr…nothing Jen, I…"
"Please. Brenda don't lie to me. Just tell me what's wrong."
"I just need to go home for a while and…" She trailed off and Jen knew she was lying. Brenda sighed and continued packing her bag.
"I know you didn't go home for Christmas," Jen blurted out. Brenda stopped packing. "Why did you lie?"
"I…I'm leaving Jen."
"What? Where are you going?"
"I don't know. I need to get away from here. I need to get away from him." Brenda started crying and Jen quickly put her arms around her.
"Who? Who do you need to get away from?"
"I…I can't tell you."
"You can't just leave."
"I can't stay here. He'll find me if I stay here. He knows where our room is."
"What about school?"
"I don't know."
"Listen you can't just leave."
"What else can I do?" Brenda asked, really hoping there was something.
"I've got an idea," Jen said suddenly.
-&-
"It'll only be a little while," Jen whispered to Drue. They were in his apartment. Brenda was sitting on the couch looking and feeling very out of place while Drue and Jen stood away from her talking quietly.
"You haven't spoken to me in two days and now you just want me to let your roommate sleep here because….you don't even know why."
"I know it's something big, Drue. She's really scared. I know I can get through to her," Jen said pleadingly. "Look, I know we're technically fighting right now and I have no right to tell you who you can let stay here…" Drue rolled his eyes.
"You know I didn't mean that."
"Whatever. That's not the point." Jen shrugged him off. "This is about Brenda."
"What about Pacey? You don't think he'll mind. This is our apartment, I can't just say yes."
"I know, I know. But I'm sure Pacey will be fine about it. I'm only asking you because it's important."
"It's okay." Drue and Jen turned to Brenda who had already gotten up. "I'll just leave."
"No," Jen protested.
"It's okay, Jen. I'll be fine." Jen ignored her and turned to Drue, putting on her pleading eyes. Drue sighed, knowing he was going to let her stay the moment Jen asked him.
"No, it's fine," he said to Brenda. "You can stay as long as you like." Jen smiled, she still hadn't forgiven him but this just made it even harder for her to stay mad at him.
-&-
Joey sat on her bed with a large book in her lap. She looked at the cover and then sighed, opening it up. The first page was a picture of the entire family that had been taken shortly before her Mom had gotten sick. Her Mom and Dad were standing together and Bessie and Joey stood in front of them.
Joey ran her fingers over the image of her Mom, trying not to cry. She liked to think that she had worked through her grief enough that she only remembered all the good things about her Mom and smiled about them. She looked at her Dad, wanting to cry.
She turned the pages, stopping for a couple of seconds to admire the family pictures and pictures from her childhood. Finally she stopped on a picture she had forgotten about. This picture was just her and her Dad. She must have been about nine in the picture. Her Dad was bent down in front of her and she was looking at him. She remembered that moment, she remembered thinking that her Dad was pretty much her most favorite guy in the world. She had been such a Daddy's girl.
That was before all those images had been shattered. Before she had faced the truth of the way her father was. Before the late nights spent listening to her Mom cry while her Dad was out with his younger woman. Before the days spent in the hospital, reassuring her Mom that he was on his way. Before he ruined the family name leaving her to deal with all the snide comments. Before he was sent to jail…the first time.
She didn't know if she could put all of that aside. Did she want to become that girl again? The girl who truly believed her father had changed? The girl who thought he could never hurt her as much as he had before?
She didn't know.
But she really needed to find out.
She snapped the book closed and quickly got up.
-&-
The door opened and Mike Potter was surprised to find his daughter standing there.
"Joey!" He quickly walked back inside, picking up stray clothes and food wrappers that were lying around. He quickly tried to straighten up. Joey surveyed the room. It was small, containing only a bed and a small closet. The kind of room you probably wouldn't want to spend too much time in.
"Don't bother. I'm not staying." Mike looked up, stopping. He quickly pulled up a chair for her to sit down in. Joey walked over and sat down, saying very little and trying her hardest to keep calm.
"Do you want something to…"
"I'm fine," she cut him off. Mike took a seat next to her on the bed. She shifted uncomfortably, knowing that she was the one who needed to say something. It's funny how she had so many things she had wanted to say to him but she couldn't think of anything now.
"How long are you staying?" she asked finally.
"Um, well I came for you Joey. I wanted to spend time with you."
"And you just assumed that I would want that too?"
"No. I didn't assume. I just hoped. I just hoped you would give me a chance."
"What if I don't want you here?" she said coldly.
"Well, I hadn't really thought that far ahead," he said sadly. Joey laughed.
"You never really think do you? Not about me or Bessie or anyone. Not about anyone but yourself."
"That's not true. I love you."
"You have a nice way of showing it. My life was fine. I was doing okay. I didn't need this." She was trying to keep her voice even and unaffected but she couldn't help getting a little emotional.
"I just want to be here for you."
"I have my friends here. I have Pacey. I don't need you." She didn't know if she was trying to tell herself or him.
"Pacey? The Sheriff's boy?" Joey nodded. "Are you two…"
"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah."
"Oh." Joey laughed at the strange tone in his voice; it sounded vaguely disapproving.
"Don't even think about commenting on my relationship with him."
"I wasn't…I..." He trailed off. "Are you happy?"
"Yes." Joey sighed. "I'm happier than I've been in a long time."
"That's all I want."
"Then why did you show up here? Didn't you even think about how much it would affect me?" Joey asked, seriously wondering.
"I don't know, I thought maybe you would be happy." Joey looked at her Dad, feeling like that little girl who always looked up to her Dad.
"I am." She sighed. "I'm happy you're out of jail. But that doesn't mean I can forgive you." Joey said calmly.
"I know." Joey stood up, feeling that it was time to leave. She said what she came to stay and there was nothing more to do. "Joey…"
"No. I don't want to know you anymore. I can't. As far as I'm concerned you don't exist for me anymore." She said it so calmly he couldn't help looking devastated. But the slight waver in her tone made it obvious how much she was hurting. She wanted to do this before she broke down.
"Please Joey. I'd like to stay. I want to stay in Boston for a while."
"You do what you want to do. But I can't put myself through that again. I can't let myself believe that you really love me. I can't get my hopes up only to get them crushed in the end."
"It won't be like that."
"And I can't believe that." She sighed, feeling the tears starting to build in her eyes. "I've said what I had to say. Now it's up to you." She walked past him, towards the door.
"Joey…" She paused for a second and then turned.
"Goodbye," she said before walking out and not looking back.
-&-
Pacey sat his desk studying, the table cluttered with books and notes and reading material. He had spent all his time since he got back with Joey or thinking about her and he hadn't done any work. He started work tomorrow and he needed to get as much studying done as possible.
He knew he could do this on his own, but he really wished he had Joey's help. She was always such a good tutor. But he had spoken to her on the phone before and she had sounded too upset to bother. He wondered what she was doing now. Probably still thinking about her Dad.
He looked at the words in front of him and then covered them up, trying to memorize their definitions. He sighed as he got one wrong, feeling frustrated.
The phone rang suddenly and broke his concentration. It was close to midnight so he knew it must be important.
"Hello?" he said, picking the phone up. Nobody said anything for a while but Pacey could hear someone sniffling. "Joey? Is that you?"
"Yeah…" Joey said and Pacey instantly picked up on the fact that she was crying.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing I…" Pacey listened and he could have sworn he could hear the rain from outside.
"Where are you?"
"Errr. Out somewhere, by Lacker Street." Joey said through tears. She was standing on a deserted street in the middle of the night and to top it off it had just started to rain.
"What are you doing all the way out there?"
"I went to see him." She cried some more and Pacey just wanted to hold her.
"Wait there, I'm coming to get you." He was already getting up.
"No wait, I'll be fine."
"Don't be stupid. I'll be there in ten minutes." He was about to hang up but she spoke out.
"Pacey…"
"Yeah?"
"Hurry up."
"I will." Again he was about to go but she called him.
"Pacey…"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." She cried into the phone.
"I love you too." He hung up and grabbed his keys.
Just as he was getting up he looked at his books all over his desk. He sighed and walked out of his room. Studying could wait, Joey needed him now. He wasn't about to leave her.