AN: Sorry forgot I had to post chapter 3 of this story. My Bad! Hope you enjoy!

Doug's POV:

That hadn't been the conversation I had planned on having with my brother but with the way he had been acting all day I'd take any kind of conversation with him at this point. With any luck it may have also done some good. Possibly built back a little of the trust we had lost over the years.

The two of us sat in silence for quite awhile. It was a comfortable silence though not one of those awkward ones that you keep searching for someway to break and then end up saying something you regret later. The tension that had been between us all day seemed to have disappeared too.

"You know what I miss the most that I remember from my childhood?" Pacey said suddenly breaking the silence.

"What?" I asked curious. I was kind of worried though. The few times that Pacey and I had ever shared stories from our childhood had always turned ugly. His eighteenth birthday was the perfect example of that.

"Its actually something from the camping trips that we all use to take as a family," he said continuing. "I remember that at night we use to all gather around the fire and you'd play your guitar and we'd have a sing along. Those are some of the few memories I have of us altogether where someone wasn't arguing with someone else over something. As much as the sing along was though, I think I enjoyed it more when it was just you singing by yourself. Do you still play?"

"Sometimes," I told him. I never played in front of anyone anymore though. It had been years since I even played for my family. There were nights though when I got my guitar out and played and tried to forget about whatever may have happened at work that day.

There was another moment of silence before Pacey asked another question.

"Doug, do you think that I have any chance of actually graduating?" he asked me.

Even through the surprise, I felt relief. Relief because he was finally opening up some. Talking about what Gretchen and I had both known was part of whatever had been bothering him lately. Even though I already knew that though it was good to hear him finally admit to it because if either Gretchen and I had brought the subject up we both knew Pacey would have denied it and it wouldn't get us anywhere.

"If you had asked me that at the beginning of the school year I would've told you no," I told him honestly. I wasn't about to start lying to him even to make him feel better. It wasn't worth it and in the long run would only cause more problems. " But now, after seeing the way you've applied yourself so far this year, I think you can do it." I took a short pause and then told him "I know you can do it."

"Not that it is going to do any good," he said with a sigh.

""Pace, the fact that you didn't get accepted to any colleges for next year isn't the end of the world. Maybe college isn't for you."

"I thought you said that you wanted something better for Gretchen and me?"

"I do, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to college. What you need to do is find what makes you happy and then do that thing well. Follow your dreams. If college is really something that you want then take a few classes at the community college and reapply for next year."

"You're serious aren't you?" Pacey asked looking over at me. I could tell by the look on his face that he thought I was crazy.

"Yes Pace I am," I told him. "You proved this year that if you actually apply yourself you can do well in school. You have so much potential you just need to start believing in yourself. I know that we haven't always been supportive. . ."

"You can say that again," Pacey muttered. I chose to ignore that comment. It wasn't as if it wasn't deserved.

". . . and your low self confidence is probably our fault," I said continuing my thought as if he never interrupted me. "Let me say this though, No matter the outcome, I'm proud of you for what you have accomplished so far this year regardless of whether or not you graduate. Nothing can take away what you've already shown you can do."

Pacey looked up at me. I could see the disbelief on his face as if couldn't believe that I had actually said those words. I couldn't say I blamed him. In his place, I'd probably be doubtful too as I hadn't exactly been too encouraging over the years. I could also see some tears glistening in his eyes threatening to fall.

It had been his explosion at his eighteenth birthday party that I had even realized what it was we had been doing to him. That with the exception of Gretchen, no one had showed any confidence in him at all. That we had always been focusing on what he had done wrong and putting him down. Somewhere along the line we had started seeing him as a loser and as a result he had started looking at himself in that light too. I knew now, that the only way to get him to start believing in himself was for us to start showing that we believed in him.

Without saying a word Pacey got up and headed for the tent. I let him go. Being alone was probably what he needed right now. I just hoped our conversation had done some good.

Pacey's POV:

"I'm proud of you for what you have accomplished so far this year regardless of whether or not you graduate."

Those words kept echoing in my mind as I lay on my sleeping bag staring up at the tent. Those were the words that I had wanted to hear my father say for as long as I could remember. To actually hear them, even though they weren't from my father, was overwhelming. The fact that it had been Doug who had said them and not my Dad didn't really matter. It meant just as much to me. It had been so overwhelming in fact that I couldn't stay out by the fire any more. I needed time to myself. Time to think about what had just been said. I was thankful when Doug hadn't followed me.

Now, as I laid there on my sleeping bag and thought about it, I realized that in a way Doug had been more of a father toward me these last couple of years than our father had actually been. I had never told Doug, or anyone else, but my moving in with him hadn't exactly been my idea.

After spending the night in jail, when Doug had busted us at the golf course party, I had spent the day wandering around Capeside. I hadn't wanted to face my Dad as I knew what kind of lecture I was in for when I did see him. When I finally did go home of course my dad was waiting for me. After yelling at me for drinking and trespassing and generally just messing up again he had told me that I had to leave. That he was fed up with me and he wasn't going to waste his time on me anymore.

It had even been his idea for me to go stay with Doug. He had even wrote a check out to Doug if Doug would take me in. After the things I had said to Doug over the past couple of years I had little hope that he would agree to it but I didn't see any other options. I needed a place to stay and the only other remote possibility was with the Leery's. I hadn't really wanted to put my friendship with Dawson to that kind of test though so I had gone and knocked on Doug's door. Surprisingly he took me in even though I let him believe it had been my choice to leave and not Dad's ultimatum. I even found out later that he had returned the check to Dad.

Doug had even taken more of an interest in my life than my parents had ever done. He even tried to get me to take school seriously even though I hadn't listened. When I had gotten into trouble with fighting with Matt Caulfield he let me explain why I had been fighting and hadn't just started yelling at me because I had gotten into trouble. Although he had told me there were better ways of handling that situation he had at least been understanding about it. Dad wouldn't have even listened to what had happened. Actually, maybe if I had listened to him about school at the time I wouldn't be in the predicament I was now.

Without a doubt I had benefitted from Doug's advice over the past year and a half. In fact, if I had followed it a little bit more often things might have worked out better. My situation with Dawson was the perfect example. If I had told Dawson about Joey from the beginning then maybe things would have turned out differently. Maybe I wouldn't have lost my best friend.

Looking back at last night, that had been part of the reason I had gotten mad at Doug then. It hadn't been so much the words that he had said as it had been the disappointment I heard in his voice and had seen on his face. When I had seen him pull up in his squad car I had wished it had been Dad. Dad expected me to screw up. I would always be the "other" son in his eyes. The loser. Somehow I knew, before he had even told me tonight, that Doug expected more of me.

Of course if they had called Dad I would have definitely spent another night in jail. I wouldn't have had Doug to talk Dad out of it. Hell, there was a chance I could still be there.

I heard Doug come into the tent. He must have thought I was asleep, as he came in quietly and slipped into his sleeping bag without saying anything to me. I thought about speaking up but couldn't think of anything to say. Before long I could hear his slow, even breathing telling me he had drifted off to sleep.

Before falling to sleep myself, I promised myself that tomorrow I was going to stop being such a jerk and start enjoying being out here.

"I still beat you," Doug told me as I joined him on the front porch of the main lodge.

We had spent most of the day hiking and had decided to come down to the lodge for dinner instead of cooking it ourselves at the campsite. It had been my idea to race to the lodge and I had sort of sprung it on Doug. Even with my impromptu head start though Doug had still beaten me.

"Can't you let me do something better than you just once?" I asked him in between breaths.

"No," Doug told me smiling. I couldn't remember when the last time I was that I had seen Doug so relaxed. I had a feeling this camping trip was actually doing us both some good.

"I didn't think so," I told him laughing. This was the happiest I had felt for a couple of months now. I almost didn't want the night to end because that meant going back to Capeside the following day.

The two of us went into the lodge and ordered dinner. After dinner Doug called Gretchen to let her know we were alright. Gretchen gave me the message that I was suppose to call Joey as soon as possible so I dialed Joey's number as soon as I ended the call with Gretchen.

"Hello," he heard Joey say as she picked up the phone.

"Hey," I said, "Gretchen said I had to call immediately. What's wrong?" I asked her.

There was a slight pause on the line before she answered.

"Actually, nothing. I thought I had a huge problem but, um, I was wrong."

"Well, what kind of problem did you think you had," I asked her really wanting to know.

"Nothing that you should worry about. The important thing is that you focus on yourself," she said.

That comment should have made me feel better. I mean after all it meant that she cared about me right. But it didn't, instead it made me feel mad although I couldn't pinpoint just why.

"Where are you?" she asked next. That was the last thing I wanted her to ask. I wasn't ready to tell her about getting arrested yet. In fact, I hadn't even told her I was getting dragged along on a camping trip. I had told her I was going fishing with Doug and I had made it sound voluntary.

"I told you I'm fishing with Dougie," I replied repeating the lie I had told her yesterday morning before we had left. At least the part about being with Doug wasn't a lie. "We're having the time of our lives out here. Caught a ninety pound Marlin yesterday," I told her expanding on the lie. Trying to make it sound more believable. "We're living the high life Joe. You and I have to get out here sometime."

"Yeah we will. We'll have to do that real soon," I heard Joey reply.

"I miss you."

"I miss you Pace," I heard her say and then there was silence until I heard the dial tone which told me she had hung up.

I hung up the pay phone and walked over to where Doug was standing waiting for me. The two of us started walking back to the campsite.

"Everything okay?" Doug asked me as we started up the trail leaving the lodge behind us. Our flashlights were now our only source of light as the night was overcast. I just hoped it wasn't going to rain. Getting wet was the last thing I wanted.

"Yeah, just a false alarm," I told him as we walked along the path.

My short talk with Joey though had ruined my mood. Suddenly it seemed as though my world was falling in around me. I felt trapped while everyone else was going on with their lives.

"Doug if I tell you something will you promise not to tell anyone else," I asked after a few more steps.

"Of course," he told me. As I was looking in his direction, I saw him glance over in my direction. That look of concern was back on his face.

I thought about how to get into what I wanted to tell him. I decided I might as well just come right out and say it as there wasn't really any good way to say it.

"Most of the time I resent Joey going to Worthington. When there was a chance she couldn't go I was actually happy about that. I know I should be happy for her but there is no place fo me in that world. If she goes off to Worthington she is going to leave me behind but Worthington is her dream. I don't have any right to deprive her of her dream simply because I'm a loser."

"Pacey you're not a loser," Doug told me quickly. He almost sounded as if he believed it himself but how could he. For the better part of my life my Dad had been telling me what a loser I was. That I was worthless. 'At least I have Doug', I couldn't forget those words no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't simply just erase that from my mind.

"Sure I'm not," I said bitterly. "I may not graduate high school, I can't get into college, and I don't deserve someone like Joey."

"It's not about deserving someone its about how the two of you feel about each other."

"And what happens in the fall. Joey goes off to Worthington and meets Mr. Brain who can give her intellectual conversation and everything she ever wanted and she'll forget all about me."

"That is one possibility but the other possibility is she goes away and realized that her one true love is the guy she already has."

"So you think I should keep holding on?" I asked him.

"I can't tell you what to do this time Pace. You've got to make that decision for yourself but don't sell yourself short. You have a lot to offer someone Pace. Don't ever forget that."

I nodded even though he probably didn't see the gesture in the light of our flashlights. I felt as if I should say something but I really couldn't think of anything. I also didn't want to leave the conversation like it was. I could feel that tension between us again and I didn't like it.

"No wonder all the guys like you, Dougie, you're such a romantic," I told him. That comment immediately got me a punch in the arm.

"Brat," Doug told me. I could tell by the lightness in his voice though that he wasn't mad at me. Probably mildly annoyed but not mad.

We continued our walk to our campsite. Before long we were telling jokes while we were walking. I'm not sure who started it but I know I was mildly surprised that Doug even knew any funny jokes. I didn't tell him that though. Why ruin a good thing?

The next morning, I sat in the passenger seat watching the scenery go by. Doug hadn't said much the entire morning but then neither had I . Truth was I really didn't want to talk. I wanted some more time to think about what I was going to do when I got back to Capeside. What I was going to do about Joey.

We passed the Welcome to Capeside sign and I was still no closer to knowing what I was going to do. I was sure of one thing though. I wasn't ready to give up Joey. I still had time before she left for college and maybe I could do something to show her that I could do something right. In fact the prom was coming up. Maybe if I could give her the perfect night she would see that I wasn't a complete screw up.

Doug pulled his jeep to a stop in front of my house. Gretchen's car wasn't there which meant I would have some time to myself before getting questioned about the weekend.

Doug and I got out of the car and Doug helped me get my stuff out of the back. He handed me my sleeping bag and then turned to get back into the jeep. I knew I had to say something to let him know that I appreciated what he had done for me this weekend.

"Doug," I called out. He stopped and looked back at me. "Thanks," I said. As soon as the word was out I knew it was lame and inadequate but I couldn't find any other words.

"You're welcome," He told me with a smile. Looking into his eyes I knew that he understood without me having to put it into words.

As he headed for the car again, I turned and headed for the house.

Later that night, I helped my Mom and Gretchen clear the dinner dishes after dinner at my parent's house. I hadn't really wanted to come but Gretchen had made me. She had said that I shouldn't do anything else to make my father mad and these Sunday dinners every other week had become as close to a ritual as this family had ever gotten. Not showing up definitely wouldn't have gone over well and Gretchen had a point. My dad didn't need another reason to be ticked off at me as he had plenty of other things.

Dad hadn't said much during dinner to anyone. I knew he was still mad at me and by the looks he kept casting in Doug's direction I think he was still mad at Doug too which I felt kind of bad about. It was one thing for me to have a rotten relationship with my Dad but I hated being the reason that Doug and Dad weren't getting along.

Once all the dishes were in the kitchen I left the other two to do them. I left the kitchen and headed upstairs as there was something I wanted to try and locate.

Kerry, Dad and Doug were in the living room watching tv. No one was saying anything to anyone. I snuck up the stairs without being noticed. I heard Kerry's two kids in the room that use to be mine. I walked past the room and went to the door that led to the attic.

I turned the lights on in the attic and headed up the steps. I didn't even know if what I was looking for would still be up there but I wanted to find out. I started looking around for it. I was just about ready to give up when I saw it sitting against the wall between some boxes.

I grabbed it and headed back down the steps. Looking into the living room I saw only Dad and Kerry. I headed for the kitchen which was empty. Then I heard voices drifting in from the back porch.

I head outside and found Gretchen, Mom and Doug sitting around the porch. Mom and Gretchen were on the porch swing and Doug was leaning up against the porch railing.

"What's that you have Pace?" Mom asked.

"Doug's old guitar," I said stepping onto the porch. Doug had bought another one and had left this one when he moved out. I had come across it one day when I had been hiding from my Dad one time. "I was hoping you'd play something," I said to Doug, walking across the porch and holding the guitar out to him.

Doug took it form me with a smile.

"Sure," he said as he started tunning the guitar. I looked over at my mom and sister to see that both of them had smiles on their face. "Anything in particular you want to hear?" Doug asked me as he finished tuning the guitar.

"The one I always use to beg you to play on those camping trips," I told him wondering if he would know which song I meant.

Doug smiled and began playing. I sat down on the porch steps as he began singing happy that he remembered which song it was that I used to love. There was something about hearing about Jackie Paper and Puff that had always given me hope. Even now, as jaded as I had become, their was something magical about the lyrics as I listened to my older brother sing them.

And then Doug was at the verse about Jackie growing up and not visiting Puff anymore. It was one that I felt I could really relate to at this point in my life. There were plenty of times that I wish I could still be that little boy. Hanging out with Dawson doing nothing in particular. Teasing little Joey Potter and later trading banter with her. Things were so much simpler then.

The rest of us spent the rest of the night out on the porch singing songs. It was like one of those old camping trips. At some point Kerry joined us and later I noticed my Dad standing at the door watching but he didn't come out and join us. I guess when some things changed they changed forever.