A/n. Hello everyone, thanks for all the wonderful feedback again! I am so happy that this fanfic is being so well received. Anyway, onward and upward.

Never too Late

'So five bucks then?' Pacey said

'20 and the cost of the stripper at your party tonight.' Jack said.

'Done and done,' Pacey said, shaking Jack's hand sternly.

The restaurant had been cleared especially for the stag night. Although everyone else had advised the couple to have their separate parties at least 3 weeks before the wedding, neither of them listened. So with 5 days on the clock till the big day Pacey, Jack and Dawson were due to spend the night at the restaurant drinking while Jen, Joey and Audrey were going to spend the night in Jen's apartment. Audrey's temperament had finally settled into some kind of routine, mostly due to Jack and Pacey throwing her into the creek at the BBQ that Gail had thrown a few weeks ago.

'Your so going to lose this bet man,' Jack said as he released Pacey's hand.

'Jack my fair boy, you underestimate my powers, especially in relation to this subject.' He said, moving towards a booth and sitting down.

'May I remind you, I am no secret the ways of women,'

'Yeah, but it's not like you got your GHD in female maintenance is it?' Pacey joked taking a swig from his beer.

'Fair enough, but could you really think that…'

Jack stopped when he heard the bell on the door. Standing in the door frame was Dawson, soaked through from the rain.

'Hey man, where have you been?' Pacey got up from the booth and grabbed a towel from behind the counter.

'I'm sorry guys, the train was late. But I'm here now. Where's everyone else?' Dawson said, catching the towel that Pacey threw at him.

'This is it D,' Pacey said.

'Really? I thought that you'd want more people here than Jack and I,' Dawson said, towelling off his soaking hair.

'I think this is all I need, my two best friends.' Pacey said smiling, throwing his arm over a still damp Dawson.

'Well I'm flattered for one,' Jack said, walking over and joining them.

'So what's first?' Dawson said, taking his coat off and slinging it over the back of a chair.

'Beer,' Pacey said simply, passing a beer to Dawson as her returned the now wet towel.

'And then what?' Dawson said, taking a swig.

'You will see young men, you will see,'

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

'Is it me, or is she getting later and later for things these day's?' Audrey said, pacing around Jen's living room. Joey was now 45 minutes late for the party, not that many of the guests had noticed. Audrey had invited just about everyone she knew in the city, leaving a confused and overwhelmed Jen to deal with the arrangements, which was the last thing she needed in the final months of her pregnancy.

'She'll be here, stop panicking. Now can you help me with these drinks please?' Jen said, trying to pour multiple drinks at the same time.

'Sorry sweetie. Do you think that she might have been…unavoidably detained?' Audrey said with a smirk on her face.

Jen stopped what she was doing and looked up. 'Audrey you have a filthy mind. I like it. Who do you suppose with?'

'Who else? Mr Golden Boy himself,' Audrey said, passing drinking to some nearby guests with a huge smile on her face.

'Hmmm, interesting. Or it could be that hot guy that has been working on her roof,' Jen said, a far off look forming in her eyes.

'Just because you spent the last two weeks on Joey's lawn checking out his rippling abs doesn't mean that Joey has been,'

'Maybe, maybe not…' Jen said, a sly smile forming on her face.

'Anyway, she's up to something. I can feel it in my bones,'

'Well Miss Chloe, while you are checking out Joey's nocturnal activities, I'm going to call her. It might be a more reliable method of communication,' Jen said, grabbing the phone.

'I'm almost there,' Joey said as she answered her cell phone.

'Thank god, I'm about to kill Audrey and collapse from exhaustion'

'Well I'm on the way so calm down. Just let me in when I get there'

'Can do. See you in a minute,'

'Bye' Joey said shutting her phone and throwing it back in her handbag. She knew she was late but it couldn't be helped. Sometimes Dawson could be incredibly distracting.

She watched the rain lash down the window of the taxi, the unseasonable weather creating a wonderful aroma around the city. She closed her eyes with a smile as she thought about the last 2 weeks of her life. The evening of the BBQ was one long, sexually charged evening, their every attempt at an early escape blocked or diverted by well meaning friends and family. Her and Dawson had finally escaped to the quiet of the boathouse at around midnight, only after making extensive excuses to everyone.

Standing together on her dock, gently holding hands like they did when they were teenagers, the turned to one another, the bright moonlight illuminating their faces.

'So, here we are…' Dawson said

'Yeah…we are' Joey said, overcome with a sudden shyness.

'We should really talk about what's going to…' Dawson began but Joey placed a finger over his lips.

'Let's skip the monologue for one night Dawson,' she said, leaning forward and brushing her lips across his.

The kiss gradually deepened, both of them losing themselves in the increasingly passionate embrace. Dawson fumbled in Joey's hair, pulling it lose from its pony tail so fell down her back as Joey cupped his face in her hands.

'We're here lady, that I'll be $7.50,' the cab driver's voice pierced through her daydream.

'Sorry, here keep the change,' she said, handing him the money and climbing out into the rain outside of Jen's apartment block. She ran across the rain drench sidewalk to the entrance and began frantically ringing the buzzer.

'Is that you?' the fuzzy voice came through the speaker box.

'No it's not,' Joey said sarcastically.

She heard a giggle and then the door click. She got inside quickly, trying to limit the rain damage to herself and her bag of goodies for the bride to be.

'About time Joey Potter!' Audrey said as she flung the door open.

'I'm so sorry Audrey, the train was delayed and then I had to check into the hotel.' Joey lied, handing Audrey her bag of presents. 'But hopefully this will make up for it. Happy hen night!'

Audrey squealed with delight and grabbed Joey for a huge hug.

'Awww, all's forgiven bunny. What did you get me!'

'Just some things to keep your filthy mind entertained this evening,' she said, pulling her wet coat off and adding it to the collection hanging by the front door. Either Audrey was incredibly popular or she had invited everyone she had met. Joey guessed it was the latter.

'I didn't think you had this kind of smut in you Potter,' Jen said, sneaking behind Audrey and pulling something out of the bag.

'Well, you know Italy is full of red blooded men, it must have rubbed off on her!' a voice said from behind Joey.

'Andie!!' All three women cried at the same time.

'Hi!' Andie said, waving her over excited arms in the air. She had turned from the cute, plaid skirt wearing teenage girl into a beautiful and glamorous woman, her hair now long with a gentle curl in it. She dressed in a casual top and jean outfit but look incredibly stylish.

'I thought you couldn't make it?' Jen said, stepping forward and hugging her.

'I couldn't but I manage to change my shifts with another gullible intern. So I'm here for the whole week, wedding included. Jen! You're so big now, how long till you pop?'

'Nice way to put it MacPhee, it fills me with such confidence. I've only got 6 weeks to go before explosion date.' Jen said, letting Andie run her hands over her swollen belly.

'I don't know, you feel a lot bigger than that. I'd say you'd be seeing this baby before then.'

'As long as it's not this weekend,' Audrey added hastily. Andie looked over and smiled at her.

'Well Mrs Witter, how's life treating you?' she said, hugging Audrey tightly.

'Well the wedding is wrecking my nerves, Pacey is calm as anything and Joey is away with the fairies for most of the time so yeah…I'm fine,' Audrey said in one long breath.

'Thanks Audrey, I'm not away with the fairies. Hey là signora graziosa!'

'Hey là voi stessi! Li ho mancati. Siete giusti?' Andie said, embracing Joey warmly. They hadn't seen each other since Andie had left Italy, although they had been contacting each other via e-mail and phone calls.

'Okay, I think we need to ban the Italian.' Jen said, slapping Joey and Andie on the wrists. 'I'll get you both a drink'

'Don't be silly. Go sit down, we can do it ourselves.' Andie said, ushering Jen over to the large armchair in the middle of the lounge.

'Thank you Andie, I missed you!' Jen said, giving her one last hug before lowering her self down onto the comfy chair.

Andie grabbed Joey's hand and dragged her over to the kitchenette where a large bowl of punch stood.

'So,' Andie started in a low voice, so that their Italian couldn't be heard by either Audrey or Jen ' What's happening with you and…you know'

Joey giggled and poured herself and Andie a drink 'Well, let's just say that things are good,'

'Really? How good'

'Oh…it's good,' Joey said, passing Andie her drink.

'Oh my god! Does anyone else know?' she said, pulling a face at the strong alcohol drink.

'No, not yet. We figured that we should wait until the wedding and the baby are out of the way.' Joey said smiling.

'Not to be a sourpuss but what will happen with LA? Is he going back?'

'Not sure yet. The network passed on his script so he doesn't know what to do. I think he's happy just taking time out from everything at the moment.' Joey said, a frown forming on her brow. It had been something that was playing on her mind since the day he found out about the network's decision. But they had become so wrapped up in rediscovering each other that any thoughts of the future had been pushed aside.

'Well, I just want you to be happy. But if he ever makes you as unhappy as you were when you first came to Italy, I will kill him,' Andie said, the frown softening and her smile shinning through.

'What did I say about the Italian?' Jen appeared in front of them.

'Sorry,' Joey said simply, hoping that Jen hadn't learnt Italian recently.

'It's my fault, we only spoke Italian in Italy so I'm so used to doing it,' Andie said, taking another sip of her drink.

'Apology accepted. Now keep me company before I kill the skinny dancers that Audrey has invited,' Jen said, grabbing both of their hands and pulling them towards the window seat.

'What do you mean she can't make it?......it's New York City, surely you have at least one semi naked women willing to dance for… yes I do mind if she is over 50….you know what, forget it,' Pacey slammed the phone down.

'No stripper. At her last job she slid on some baby oil and cracked a rib. Unless one of you are willing to get naked, we will have to make do' Pacey said, grabbing another beer and lowering himself into the booth.

'We could always crash the girls' party?' Jack said, downing another bottle of beer. They had drunk a substantial amount already.

'Maybe later, we should give them a little time,' Pacey said, turning and smiling at Dawson. 'So D, how's you?'

'Good. Great actually. Life is good,' he said smiling.

'But I heard about your script man, that …….sucks,' Jack said, unable to form a better sentence.

'It does but I think I have an idea that might make it better. But it's just a pipe dream at the moment.' He said, avoiding the eye contact from Pacey.

'You're getting some aren't you?' Pacey said suddenly, causing Jack to spit his beer across the table and Dawson to chock on his.

'Cut to the chase why don't you?' Dawson said, picking up a bunch of napkins and throwing them at a spluttering Jack.

'I recognize the glow. You always glow when you get to do the nasty,' Pacey continued, picking up a fork and pointing it at Dawson's face 'I know you too well.'

'Glow? That's sick Pacey and utterly wrong,' Dawson said, as various images of him and Joey rolling around on the boathouse floor flashed around his head.

'Hey aren't pregnant women supposed to glow?' Jack said his slurring becoming more evident.

'Yeah, speaking of which how's Jen?' Dawson said quickly, seizing the chance to turn the conversation.

'Don't change the subject. Who is she?' Pacey continued.

Dawson went to answer but his phone buzzed on the table with a call.

'Excuse me Dr Quincy but I have to get this,' he said, pushing Pacey out of the booth and sliding out.

'Hello?'

'You thinking about me?' the husky female voice said.

'How nice of you to call Dominic,I was actually, yourself?'

'Are you thinking about what we were doing before we left the hotel or while we were on the train?' she continued.

'I'm going to go with option 2 on this one Dom, it's a much more interesting proposition,' he bluffed, watching the faces of Jack and Pacey as they lost interest.

'Me too. Just your hot body pressed up against mine is enough to make me into jelly,'

'Ah ha, I see. Is there anything we can do to make that happen again?'

'Well, you will have to see what I bring to the hotel later.'

'I will look forward to our meeting then. Thanks for calling me.'

'That's more than alright. You know the drill,'

'Bye bye,' Dawson said, sitting down and placing his phone on the table for both of them to see.

'Who was that?' Pacey said, eyeing him up suspiciously, noting that Dawson's face was a lot redder than usual.

'My literary agent Dominic, he's working on getting the script published as some kind of teenage novel,' Dawson lied. 'I'm just going to the bathroom.'

He got up to leave the booth and walked over to the restrooms, leaving behind a confused Pacey and Jack. They waited until he was out of ear shot to start talking.

'See, I told you he couldn't be sleeping with Joey. He would be boasting about it too much,' Jack said, holding his hand expectantly for his money.

'Bet's not over yet my friend, let's take a little look over his phone shall we?' Pacey said as reached over for his phone. Suddenly it started to ring. Pacey and Jack looked at each other and then down at the phone. The caller ID said Joey and Jack snatched the phone up.

'Sorry, Dawson is busy at the moment. If you would like the leave a message, then call his answer phone BEEP.' Jack said drunkenly.

'Very funny Jack, how is the swinging stag night going?' Joey asked as normally as she could.

'Well the stripper cancelled, Dawson's getting calls from his agent and Pacey is convinced that you and D are doing the do.' Jake said, avoiding the stare of daggers from Pacey. He reached over and snatched the phone from him.

'He's kidding Joey, how are things with my wife to be?' Pacey said hurriedly.

'Well all of Audrey's theatre friends have left to go to some director's party, leaving Audrey very drunk and slightly peeved. We were wondering whether you wanted to join the two parties?' Joey asked, looking over the devastation of Jen's apartment.

'We will be there in 10 minutes.' Pacey said quickly, getting up and grabbing his coat from the back of a chair.

'Cool, see you in a minute. Bye,' Joey said and hung up.

'Get up Jack, we are on the move,' Pacey said throwing Jack's coat at his drunken frame.

'Groovy, I am ready to rock,' Jack said, failing to put his coat on.

'Hurry up D, we're leaving!' Pacey said, turning the lights out and grabbing Dawson's coat.

'Where we going?' he said, walking over to Pacey and taking his coat.

'Over to Jen's, there party is as dead as ours. You get a cab, I'll lock up.' Pacey said, ushering them both outside and moving to the kitchen to check on everything. Dawson's phone started to buzz while Pacey was turning off the lights in the kitchen and he failed to get to it in time. Scrolling through the call's Dawson had received he saw that he had only got calls from Joey in the last 24 hours. He chuckled to himself.

'Jack owes me some money,'