a/n: Thanks again for the reviews. You guys rock my world.

Chapter 8 – Amaze me

Joey woke up early the next day. The sun was just rising outside the bedroom window. Pacey had his arm around her waist and she could feel his slow and regular breathing against her back. He was sound asleep. She turned in his arms and placed a kiss at the base of his neck. He smiled in his sleep. She pushed on his shoulder, turning him on his back. She turned on her stomach and laid her head on his chest, resting it on her hands. She stayed there, staring at him. He didn't move, didn't wake up. She sighed and ran her fingers on his chest, half-caressing and half-tickling.

"Jo…" His voice was hoarse, full of sleep and, she thought, it meant to warn her to stop whatever she was doing.

"Pace…"

He smiled inside. She was using her pouting voice and placing small kisses on his chest. If he'd been willing to open his eyes, he'd roll them. He knew what she wanted.

"Jo." He brought his arms around her back and ran a hand through her hair, bringing her face down to have her cheek rest on his chest. "Sleep. Too early."

She smiled against him. "But you promised!"

She was doing the pouting so well. He couldn't even see her, but he could imagine the puppy dog eyes, the ones which, apparently, he couldn't resist even with his own eyes closed. He knew he would give in and get up. He couldn't resist her when she did that. He sighed loudly.

She raised her head, looking at him and smiled. "Ah!"

Her small victory cry made him chuckle. He finally opened his eyes to stare at her laying on him. "Fine. We'll go now. I just don't see why it has to be this early, when we got barely no sleep…"

"Whose fault is that?"

He looked at her. "Yours. You couldn't get enough of me last night, Potter."

She blushed and hit his chest playfully. He smiled.

"I just really want to see that boat of yours, Pace."

"Well then, get up!" He pushed himself up, bringing her with him and literally dragging her out of bed. She laughed, holding on to him. He put her down in the middle of the bedroom floor and just stood there looking at her. He smiled.

She stopped laughing and moved to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What?"

He kissed her. "Let's take a shower first. Then, we'll go. We can go out for breakfast after?"

She nodded and kissed him back.

xxx

Pacey led Joey by the hand down the docks. They reached the end of it and Pacey stopped. He pointed to the boat in front of him. "Here. I present to you… the 'Meant to Be'".

Joey gasped. She looked from Pacey to the boat, and went back and forth between the two a couple of times. She finally found her voice. "Pacey, this is… fantastic. I mean, it's a beauty!" She really was impressed.

Pacey smiled, obviously proud of his choice and the work he had put on it.

The 'Meant to Be' was huge. Joey estimated it was close to 40 feet. However, what caught her eyes first was the way the name of the boat was written. Pacey had made sure that the same font and design as the 'True Love' were used. Memories of that summer flashed before her eyes, which filled with tears.

Pacey wrapped her in a hug. "Hey… you okay?"

She laughed lightly against his chest. "Yeah… I'm just so happy that we get to go sailing again. It's so exciting, Pace. I mean, that summer all these years ago was definitely the best time of my life and… well this is just so perfect". She wiped her eyes and looked up at him, smiling.

"Wait 'til you see the inside". He smiled down at her, kissed her forehead and turned around to step on the boat. He turned to her, a small smile dancing on his lips.

She laughed and raised her hand to his. "Permission to come aboard?"

His eyes were sparkling as he fully smiled at her now. He took her hand in his. "Permission granted."

She stepped beside him and he kept her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and leading her below. Her eyes went wide. The interior was amazing. The atmosphere was warm and it had this homey feel to it that she just loved. She looked to the starboard side and noticed a television and a stereo, next to a row of lockers and a kitchenette. The place was so spacious. She turned to the port side and noticed a large table. She was surprised to find that almost half of the wall there was covered by huge bookshelves. They were actually stocked with books. She raised her eyebrows at Pacey and moved closer to them. She read the titles. She found the Little Mermaid next to Little Women and smiled. He had bought all story books so that they could read them to each other. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She turned her head and kissed his cheek. "Well… this is kind of awesome." He smiled and let her walk around. The salon was separated from the master suite and the bathroom by a butterfly hatch and bronze portholes. The effect was stunning. She walked through into the master cabin and took in the double bunk, the huge mirror, lockers and an actual walk-in closet.

"Quite a change from the hammocks, don't you think?"

Joey turned to him. Pacey was leaning against the archway. "Looks more comfy. And I actually get to sleep next to you. So yeah, it's a definite improvement."

She sat on the bed and he walked to stand in front of her. She took his hands in hers. "This is so amazing. I have no words."

He bent his head to hers and kissed her. "Glad you like it."

"'Like it?' Pace, I love it and adore it and it's just so perfect. I mean…"

He kissed her again, interrupting her rambling of adoration. She smiled against his lips and moved her head back, looking at him. "Fine. I do, after all, have words… So, what's the plan, Pace?"

"Well, today's Monday so I figured that we need about three or four days to get everything organized. How about we leave early on Saturday morning?"

"Do we have some kind of an itinerary?"

"Not really. That's why we need a couple of days. It would have been great to go down to the Keys again, but we don't exactly have 3 whole months to spare. It's already the middle of July, so I think we can sail down and figure out what we want to visit and where we want to stop and that way, we'll see how far we go. We actually have to be back before school starts. You know, seeing as the restaurant is pretty much staffed with the high school kids, I'm going to need to actually work when they leave." He sat on the bed next to her and pulled her up and then down again so she was sitting straddling him. He kissed her, running his hands up and down her arms. "What do you think?"

She kissed him back and he cupped her face and kissed her again, long and hard. She pulled back and smiled at him, with that big bright smile that reminded him of the look she had had when she had decided to come aboard and sail away with him the first time.

She felt like a kid. She was ready to jump on the bed or do a happy dance which were both very unlike her. She had not been this excited since… she couldn't even remember. She had always had that feeling that good things came with bad things or were followed by them. However, for the first time in her life, she felt truly free to be happy and she knew that everything would be alright, simply because the look in Pacey's eyes told her so and because she just felt so safe when he was holding her.

xxx

Joey walked into the master suite and put the last box on the floor next to about ten others. She wondered where they would fit everything they were planning on bringing with them. She looked around. The couch had unpacked clothes thrown on it. The table was covered with maps and atlas and calendars. They had pretty much figured their itinerary out.

It was very basic and really not set in stone, but they had a small idea of what they wanted to see and where they were heading.

Those six weeks would rock her world, Joey just knew it.

xxx

"Pace!" Joey yelled from the bedroom.

Pacey's eyes never left the video game he was playing as he yelled back "What?"

Joey walked from the bedroom to the living room and stood next to the TV. She knew better than to stand in front of it. "Are we supposed to be there at seven or seven thirty? I don't remember what Jack said."

"Euh… I'm not sure. What time is it now?"

She rolled her eyes and walked to him, looking at the watch on his wrist. "It's ten to seven." Her eyes went from the TV to him. He was absorbed in his game, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. His state of undressed had her eyes linger on him a little longer. She wanted to just kiss him and run her hands on his chest and his back and all the way up in his hair, or down…

"Jo?". His voice startled her. He had paused the game and was now staring at her, a small smile on his lips. He knew very well what she had been thinking about.

She smiled back at him. Then, she frowned, shaking her head, trying to sound sure and serious. "Pace… we need to get ready. They'll be waiting for us."

His smile got even bigger and he got up from the couch, walking slowing toward her. She took a step back. "Pacey. Listen to me. We can't just not…"

He grabbed her waist and brought her back to where she had been standing a second ago. She looked up at him and stopped talking. Her hands, as if they had a life of their own, came to rest on his chest, where she had dreamed of putting them just moments before. He brought his mouth to her neck and trailed small kisses down to her collarbone in that small soft spot that made both of their knees go weak.

"Pace…" Her voice was just above a whisper. She didn't even know what she was planning on saying.

He shut her up with another kiss and her hands ran up his shoulders to rest at the base of his neck, caressing the skin there before going up in his hair. He smiled against her lips.

She broke the kiss and moved her head back a little, her hands still lingering in his hair. He had his hands under her shirt, just below her breasts and she had to really focus on what she wanted to say. "Wipe the victorious smile off you face, Pacey. We are not doing this now. They're waiting for us. I'm sure we're already late."

"But…"

Joey moved her hand to his mouth and pressed a finger against his lips. "No buts."

He did his best puppy dog eyes and she had to look away, knowing that she would not resist whatever look he would throw her way. She brought her head down, resting it against his chest for a second, trying to catch her breath. He kissed her hair, his hands now resting on her waist. She brought her head up again. "Look Pace… I really, really want you right now." He smiled another one of his little victorious smiles. "But Jack planned this whole 'Sail Away' party, with pretty much everyone we know and it wouldn't be right to show up late." She paused for a second. "We'll do this later. Okay?"

He smiled again. "Okay." He kissed her.

"Okay" she whispered against his lips, before kissing him again.

"Okay." She laughed against his lips this time, annoyed that they couldn't seem to stop.

He pulled back, laughing with her and out of breath. "Potter! What are you doing? We are going to be late!" He pointed to his watch, tapping it and she rolled her eyes. "This is not over, Witter!"

He smiled and turned around, walking to the bedroom to get changed, because he felt that if he stayed there, dinner just wouldn't happen.

xxx

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 9 is on its way…