A/N: We're back! Did you miss us? ;) Here are two missing scenes set after the Escape From Witch Island epi. As always, please let us know what you think. Thank you.
**Hunger Pangs**
I.
Bessie had once again held out the promise of dinner in trade for a tidy construction site after the volunteers had gone for the day. Pacey, never one to pass on a hot meal that didn't come from Mary Witter's kitchen, stayed.
He would have stayed anyway.
They had a nice little routine going now, although he didn't quite know when that happened. Many days he and Joey would head to the boatyard to work on the True Love and stay out of the way of the construction crew before making their way to the Potter house to help.
With all the time they were spending together recently, he was surprised to rediscover that he didn't mind Potter's company all that much. She was almost fun to be around.
When she wasn't talking, of course.
Joey handed him the dustpan and he knelt down, holding it steady for her without comment while she swept up the errant wood shavings from the floor. Until he realized she was humming. "Been hittin' those happy pills, Potter?"
"Hmmmm?" She looked up as if she just noticed him.
"You're sounding positively cheerful. I'm fairly sure that's a sign of the impending Apocalypse." He chuckled. "Care to share?"
"Why wouldn't I be cheerful, Pacey? The B&B is coming along nicely. We all got great grades on our history project, which saved me from a long and tragic downward spiral that would have doomed me to wait the tables of Capeside's greasy spoons for eternity. And," she slyly lifted the corner of her lips, "you're kneeling at my feet… as you should. All is right with the world."
Pacey immediately stood up with a disgusted look. "As if. You can take me off your list." He changed tactics, unable to resist the tease. "It wouldn't have anything to do with Kevin and Winnie making their way back to the Wonder Years, would it?"
Right on cue, Joey rolled her eyes.
Pacey persisted, loving the thrill of winding her up. It was just so easy. "Has the Leery ladder been getting a work out lately?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Hmmmm? C'mon, Joey, you can tell me. What's the scoop on the reconciliation between Capeside's very own star-crossed soul mates? Inquiring minds want to know," he urged with a wink in both his eye and voice.
She narrowed her eyes at him and smirked. "Dawson and I are friends, Pacey. Just as we always have been."
Moving his hands as he spoke, still holding the dustpan, it was Pacey's turn to smirk. "Uh-huh. Riiiight. And the spring in your step has nothing to do with-"
Joey cut him off mid-sentence, her voice firm, "You're dropping the sawdust back on the floor, dimwad. You know, if you'd work more and talk less, we'd be having dinner by now." She snatched the dustpan from him and dumped the contents in the trash as she headed out the room.
Frowning, he stared at her back for a moment while she disappeared toward the kitchen. Recalling the reassurance he had given Dawson in Witch Island's church, he felt a twinge in his gut of something indefinable.
But for the life of him he couldn't figure out its cause.
Shaking it off, he trailed after Joey, his stomach growling with the thought of a home-cooked meal. No matter what, those two were destined to be, right? Because the smartass sidekick never gets the girl. Once again he felt that twinge, but this time passed it off as simply hunger pains.
Because it wasn't like he cared if the Wonder Years reunion came to Capeside. With Jen's offer on the table, he was all set.
Everything he and Jen had agreed upon was true. Sex good, love bad. This friends with benefit deal had been his idea, after all. His track record with love was dismal. He wasn't looking for another relationship with a blonde.
This was just what he needed.
Wasn't it?
**
II.
Ensconced
in her room, after having successfully kept her interaction with
Grams to a minimum, Jen flipped through her choices for music. She
picked up one of her favorite CDs and casually studied the back cover
only to set it down again. Angry chick rock just didn't seem that
appropriate tonight - not after the intriguing and promising
agreement she and Pacey shook hands on.
Opting for a mellower tune she popped the disc into her player and lay back on the bed, getting comfortable against the pillows. Headphones settled atop her blonde locks, she cranked up the volume and closed her eyes.
Her small tongue peeked out as she wet her lips, deep in thought. Yep, she was certainly looking forward to a ride on The Pacey Train. Andie had never been particularly forthcoming with details – and, of course, she and Ms. Jacobs had never been confidantes - but she could tell, oh yes, she could tell that Pacey really loved women.
A woman instinctively knows these things.
Remembering the discussion she'd had with Dawson on comparing sex to eating an ice cream sundae without a spoon, she had no doubt that Pacey was the type of guy who took his time savoring his dessert. She idly twisted the cord of the headphones in her hands as she visualized the scene.
He'd need no guidance. He'd pace it just right, possibly using teasing licks at first then alternate them with long swipes, massaging the ice cream with his tongue over and over. He might even use his lips to mold the ice cream to soft peaks, then smooth them down again with a caress from the flat of his tongue. He'd seduce the sundae such that the ice cream heated from his actions and the warmth of his mouth to the point it almost overflowed its dish and ran down the sides. Only then would he delicately nibble, taking small bites with his teeth, before using that wicked tongue once more. Umm humm. She could already see the whipped cream all over their smiling faces.
Damn, now she was hungry for ice cream. She rubbed her stomach in an attempt to push the craving aside and refocused her thoughts inwards.
To use his own words, Pacey certainly was comely and more. He could probably even do that trick with his tongue and the cherry, the one where you tie a knot in the stem. Oh yeah… she had no doubt he had many talents. He would definitely fully appreciate a women's body and see to her needs before his own. Needs which hadn't been seen to in a very long time.
Plus, looks-wise he was just the type she went for. Tall, sexy eyes and he had those long fingers like Billy's… Billy?! Her eyes flung open. Where the hell did that come from?
Jen shook her head as if to clear it and snuggled further into her pillows propped against the head of the bed. She stared, unseeing, out the window. She'd had lots of boys. Some old enough to be considered men, even.
But this was a different life in an entirely different place. A different life… but sex was still just sex, wasn't it?
Pacey had agreed with her, after all. Sex good, love bad. Look at what had happened with Dawson. Her forehead creased when her eyes came to focus on the white clapboard house across the lawn. All those pesky, sappy emotions simply got in the way; they had caused her to make a fool of herself. Much the same way Henry Parker seemed to be doing right now with her – without the history of a relationship, of course. No, she had no desire to travel down that road again anytime soon.
Pacey was right - the two of them were on a level playing field. No muss, no fuss, no strings attached. The perfect arrangement.
She closed her eyes again and recalled his kisses from their all-too-brief encounter on Witch Island. One thing she could say for certain, those soft lips had matured since the time they had last met in Saturday Detention. That had been pleasant, their audience notwithstanding, but his technique without a doubt reflected his experience now.
Still, when they kissed there were no… tingles. Could sex – sober sex, that is - be any good without tingles? Sure, they would have fun and probably laugh a lot, and that was a good thing… but there was always the danger that they would laugh too much. From her experience, opposites attract even in the most casual of sexual encounters – and Pacey and she were very much two peas from the same pod.
Would their arrangement, which sounded so good in theory, work in reality?
Jen frowned as the doubts lingered.
She was just tired. That was all. And hungry.
With the thought of food, her musings took a different course. She wondered what Jack would have to say about her arrangement with their mutual friend. Should she tell him? Would he squee or would he be scandalized?
Jack. Her friend first and last. No hidden agenda. No ulterior motive. Simply the person who knew her best. Lulled by the beat of the music in her ears, her eyes drifted closed and a soft smile lifted her lips as warmth spread through her at the thought of her best friend - the one man she could always count on.
