Hello, lovelies. Thank you so much for your enthusiastic response to our idea. We hope you enjoy this next part from the second epi that starts with a P/J road trip…
*~*Warning Signs*~*
"Not 495, Pacey! I-95. You were supposed to take I-95 west." Joey's arm shot out pointing at the reflective green sign declaring I-95 to Providence.
"Potter, please. I know where I'm going. Who's drivin' here? In fact, who is the only one here who even knows how to drive?" Pacey retorted.
"Listen, Witter, just because I don't drive doesn't mean I can't read a road sign. And it certainly doesn't mean I don't know the difference between north and west. This road goes north. Providence is west of here."
"Believe me I know where I'm going." He slapped her hand away as she attempted to adjust the radio station. "At least I was ready to leave on time. Now we're in a hurry because it took you so long to get out of class."
"If you had just let me talk to Ms. DeJoy myself, I would have been out a lot sooner. Bringing that forged note wasn't your brightest idea today."
"Hey, I did a great job on that note! How was I supposed to know that she knows Bessie that well?"
Joey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well enough to spell her name right. Two S's, Pace, two. I had every intention of going to the ladies room and slipping out the side door."
"Why'd you even go to that class? You knew I wanted to leave at noon. Lunch, you know, slip off the school property quietly, no muss, no fuss. On the road. On time." Pacey griped.
"I needed to turn in my homework. You do remember what that is? The assignments you get when you go to class that you do at home and then TURN IN the next day in class."
It was Pacey's turn to roll his eyes. "I know what homework is. Let's just say I'm not a slave to convention like you and Daw…" He stopped, briefly casting his eyes from the road onto her face.
"You can say his name, you know. I won't dissolve into a puddle of tears." Joey folded her arms across her chest defensively. "'Cause that's not going to happen again. Ever."
"Whatever you say, Josephine. Can't say I'm all that worried. What I am worried about is getting to Andie before 3:00." He glanced at the clock on the dash for the tenth time in as so many minutes and then leaned forward, bracing his forearms against the steering wheel and surveying the road before him.
Joey sighed and murmured under her breath, "Then you shoulda gone I-95."
~
An hour later Pacey was bent over the hood of the SUV, smoothing the edges of the map down and peering intently at the web of colors before him. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath.
He looked toward the door of the rest stop restrooms. What the hell was taking Potter so long? He'd never admit it to her but he should have taken I-95. Now he'd missed his turn and gone 30 miles to the next exit. That meant they had to go back 30 miles. An hour. By the time they got back to the right exit, the whole detour will have taken at least an hour. The gurgling in his stomach had gotten worse by the mile. Maybe he really would explode.
"Any idea where we are?" Joey's voice carried over the late afternoon air.
"Rhode Island," he said dryly.
She just nodded sagely and got in the car.
Snatching up the map and thrusting it at her as he got in the car as well, Pacey groused, "What took you so damn long in there?"
Joey snapped the map and folded it expertly along its well-worn creases. "Do you want details?"
Pacey rolled his eyes and got back on the freeway going the opposite way.
Joey smirked.
There was no real rancor in their bickering. She knew he was nervous about seeing Andie and she was just glad to be getting out of Capeside for the day. It didn't hurt that her companion was someone that she knew well enough to be completely comfortable with. These days especially, she could count that particular type of person on one hand, not including her thumb.
~
"Is that it?"
"Mayfield Institute," Joey read off the stately stone sign.
Pacey's knuckles on the wheel were white. Joey reached over and put her hand on his arm. "Hey. We're here. Everything's going to be okay." Her voice was soothing.
Pacey relaxed a little under her warm touch. "Yeah." He pushed out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Yeah, of course. Everything's fine."
They got out of the car and Joey boosted herself up onto the car's hood, watching as Pacey headed toward the main door of the hospital. Suddenly he turned and walked backward for a moment saying, "Hey Potter! Thanks for coming with me."
"Go get your girl, Witter." Joey waved him off, a soft smile lingering on her face long after he'd entered the building.
~~*~~
Despite her proclamation of reunion accomplished, Joey wondered at Andie's lack of enthusiasm for it. As soon as she had walked in on them in those luxurious accommodations Joey could sense tension rolling off Pacey. It seemed he may be destined to explode from one thing or another today - or maybe it was just a generalized emotional overload. She was just glad she had been able to help in some small way today, to return the favor of getting him past security to see someone he loved.
And who was that guy in her room? He looked like a perfect bookend for Andie – preppy and pale. She gazed at Pacey, free to consider him from her back seat view, and tried to see what appeal he might have as potential romantic partner. From a purely physical perspective, he definitely had it going on over Marc. He had the height advantage and that hideous Caesar cut had grown out, thank God. Plus he still had those bulging biceps she'd teased Dawson about. Add that to his tan and those long fingers, there was no contest. She knew Pacey was really smart; no one else could badinage head to head with her as well as him. But he lacked confidence and was a lazy smartass with no seeming focus, although he had definitely done better in school under Andie's tutelage.
His romance with the brainy, perky girl had always baffled her. After they found out Andie was crazy, it had made more sense but now there seemed to more trouble in paradise than insanity.
She inwardly chastised herself for her last thought; that thinking right there might be why she didn't have a huge pool of friends from which to draw.
~
Tears silently leaked out the corners of Andie's eyes as she watched Mayfield Institute recede from view. Why hadn't Daddy picked her up tomorrow as planned? Or even Jack? She didn't even really get the chance to say goodbye properly. She could feel Pacey's expectations laced heavily with a dose of confusion and disappointment emanating from him like a wool blanket, which threatened to suffocate her. She had missed him, it was true but as the summer wore on she had come to appreciate the delicacy of Marc. Now, he really understood her.
A bubble of fear rose up in Andie as she pondered. It was all happening so fast. Maybe she really wasn't ready to go back. There was a certain safety and routine to life at the hospital, a cocoon of space in which she was permitted to work out her fears and find her way back to reality at her own pace. She had been gently encouraged and guided by the doctors and staff.
The disruption of Pacey and Joey coming to pick her up today instead of tomorrow was throwing her off emotionally. If she wasn't even flexible enough to deal with this slight change in plans how in the world was she supposed to deal with a whole new school year and a full-time boyfriend?
Andie sighed heavily. Well, she was on her way back to Capeside now, Pacey at her side, solid as a rock. He had spent months counting the moments until he could see her and what had she done? Oh my god.
What had she done?
~
Strumming his fingers against the steering wheel pretending to listen to the radio like everyone else, Pacey stole a peek at Andie. He could only see the back of her head. Ever since she'd gotten into the car her face had been permanently plastered to the car window and he'd been lucky to get a few monosyllabic replies to his conversation. Definitely not the reunion he had envisioned. The picture that had been on a continuous loop in his head since her dad had agreed to let him pick her up involved her sweet and smiling face alight with pleasure and a run and a hop into his arms, all the while chattering away between peppering kisses.
Nowhere in this scenario did he picture another guy - especially one that looked rich and smart.
That insecure voice that had been encouraged for so many years by Doug and his Pop quietly reminded him, 'And they were on her bed.'
Glancing in the rearview mirror, he collided with Joey's gaze and quickly returned his eyes to the road. He could tell she suspected something wasn't right, too. To her credit she played peacemaker but he was pretty sure she'd use anything she knew or even imagined to mock and emasculate him. It was what they did despite their tentative détente. Still if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have even gotten past the front desk and would probably still be driving around lost. Of course, maybe that would have been a good thing considering Andie's less-than-enthusiastic reception.
The gurgling he had been feeling in his belly all day was starting to turn into a leaden rock of dread.
