Pacey was running low on patience.

When he and Joey bought this house, they'd been aware it was part of a homeowners association (or the association of hell, as he liked to refer to it). It was something they were advised to avoid but they were left with no choice; the other, surrounding homes in the area were wanting far too much money. More than either of them had. And so, resigned to their fate, they bought the house and moved in shortly after.

And it didn't take long for him and the local Gladys Kravitz's to have issues.

The house they were living in was painted a dull gray on the outside. Joey wanted to paint over it with blue. She'd gone out and purchased all the paint and necessary supplies and had set everything outside when an SUV pulled up beside the mailbox. An elder lady with a large, floppy hat and a clipboard came out. She waved at Joey to stop her before she started.

"Excuse me," the lady came walking down the path. "You can't do that, I'm afraid, sweetheart."

Joey's jaw dropped a little. "What?"

The lady was eyeing the paint cans with a displeased expression. She tore a page off of her clipboard and gave it to Joey. "This is a list of acceptable colors to choose from. We don't allow anything that isn't on the list."

Joey's lips thinned out. "It's our home! And I...even just bought all this paint-"

The lady wore a tight smile. "Then perhaps it would be beneficial to ask next time, wouldn't it?"

His wife had been furious . Pacey heard an earful when he returned home from work. He swore he heard who does she think she is about a dozen times that evening. Not that he could blame her. He'd had his own encounter with the same woman in regards to their trash can. Apparently, there was a certain timeframe where they were to be taken out and put back away. Well , he'd left theirs out a little later than they should have. All the others within the neighborhood were out of sight, all except for theirs.

The horror.

But Pacey had a plan. He'd been researching all he could with the intention of getting them back without violating any of their precious codes.

/

"What's this?" Joey raised her eyebrows, holding up one of the sitting Buddha statues.

"It's a Buddha statue. I thought you paid attention in school, Potter?"

"Right, but what's it doing here?" Joey put it back down.

Pacey got up to his feet, grasping her shoulders with a boyish grin. "They can't say anything about religious statues."

"So your plan is to fill our yard with these ?" She said slowly.

"Amongst other things."

" Uh huh . Pace, I'm as annoyed as you are with them but is this really a good idea?" She was skeptical.

"Joey, Joey, Joey," Pacey said in that tone that was more fitted when talking to a small child, "Why must you doubt your all-knowing husband?" She scoffed. "Now I have done my research-"

" You did research?"

"Alright, I had Dawson do the research," he shrugged. "But the point still stands and there are sure fire ways of getting around those stupid rules and I , as your all-knowing husband,-" he placed his hands on her waist, lips centimeters away from her own, "plan on using every single one of those loopholes."

He closed his eyes, preparing to kiss her but felt a finger on his lips instead.

When he opened them back up, he saw her giving him a look. "And while you do that, I'll do some research of my own just in case you get us evicted."

She walked away as he called to her,

"Your lack of faith in me is rather disappointing."

/

"It's not enough to have half a dozen statues, now you have to make our lawn look like a jungle?"

Pacey wore a pleased expression as he looked up from his planting. His wife was shaking her head.

Heh, his wife . He'd never get tired of saying that. Or thinking it.

"They can't say anything about protected plants," Pacey told her.

She rolled her eyes hard . "Don't you think you're going a little overboard?"

"You haven't seen overboard yet, Jo," Pacey grinned. He pushed dirty around the plant, an idea coming to mind at that very second. "Jo?"

"Hmm?" She said, glancing around.

"Come give me a hug."

His hands were all dirty from handling the plants.

A grin appeared on Joey's face. "You better stay back, Pacey."

"And if I don't?' he said slyly, taking two steps forward.

"I swear if you don't stop- Pacey !" She burst into laughter when his arms came around her.

/

"Ah, Jo," Pacey said, "is the laundry done yet?"

"No," She said as she glanced into the refrigerator to see what they needed to add to their grocery list. "I still have to put them in the dryer."

"Don't bother," Pacey told her.

She went still, shutting the door and turning to home with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

"Because, Princess, we're drying them outside."

"Outside?" She repeated. "Is this another one of your tricks to annoy them?"

"Right you are," he winked. "They can't say anything about us drying our clothes outside. It's good for the environment and all." He started to head for the dryer when she suddenly slid in front of him, effectively blocking Pacey.

"You better not put my panties out there," She warned him.

"Or what?" He grinned.

" Pacey ."

"I love it when you say my name like that," he murmured next to her ear. "Gets me all hot and bothered."

He was momentarily distracted from his task when they made out in front of the dryer. But he would allow it.

He went outside, carrying the basket when Gladys-actually, he didn't know nor did he care to remember her real name but felt that fit her perfectly-came strolling on up.

"Mr. Witter!" She was waving a hand to get his attention. "Excuse me, Mr. Witter!"

Here it comes

"Yes?" he said politely.

"I couldn't help but notice your clothesline," she gestured.

"Perfect for hanging clothes on," he nodded.

Her eye twitched. "Yes, well; it's not exactly the look we're going for in this neighborhood. I would really appreciate it if-"

This was the moment he'd been waiting for.

"Actually, in the state of Massachusetts, you're allowed to have these in the yard. Surely you know that," he raised an eyebrow, looking inquisitive. "I could show you-"

"No, no," Gladys cut in tersely, "that's quite alright, Mr. Witter. You're exactly right. I...must have forgotten."

"That's okay," Pacey had difficulty not showing how smug he felt. "I forgive you."

He was very satisfied when she stomped away back to where she'd come from.

/

"This is getting a little out of hand, you know!" Joey called up to him.

Pacey paused in his installation of the solar panels and a satellite dish on the roof. There was no way for them to have a say against this so he took full advantage of it.

/

"Mr. Witter!" Gladys approached the edge of the pool, lips pursed.

Pacey glanced up at her, sitting on a brought pink floatie. He grinned. "Hey, how's it hanging?"

She didn't conceal her distaste well enough. "The pool is about to close in ten minutes."

"I know," he nodded.

"Don't you think you ought to leave?" She said tightly. "You've been here for hours."

"Yeah, just enjoying my day off, is all," he said.

"I see. It's nice that you're so...relaxed."

"Yeah," he repeated. "I'll be back every day this week."

This made her pause. "Every day?"

"I wanna take advantage before it closes for the year," he said, enjoying the way she shot air out of her nose like a dragon.

/

"Regretting this immediately," Joey said dryly, "what are you doing?"

Pacey was on his knees, looking out the window through a pair of binoculars he'd recently bought. "Just checking things out."

"Uh huh and what are 'checking out'?" She used air quotes.

He lowered the binoculars. "Did you know Mr. Randolph painted his shutters plum ?"

She gave him a strange look.

"Or that Mrs. Mallory's fence is half an inch higher than allowed?"

"Is there a reason you know this?" She said slowly.

"I'm just keeping an eye on things," Pacey said, causing her to snort. "I'm serious, Jo. It's for the good of this neighborhood."

"You've completely lost it."

He kissed her straight on the mouth. When they parted, he said, "I'm going to file as many complaints as I can."

"I married a whistleblower," Jo rolled her eyes.

"A devilishly handsome whistleblower," he winked.

"Maybe," She conceded. "How many have you put in so far?"

He looked proud of himself. "Fourteen and counting."

"Yeah? Did you see what Mr. Lawson's lawn looked like?"

Pacey was pleased she'd finally decided to join the dark side. He pulled her into his side, listening attentively as she began to tell him all about it.