A/N: Ask and you shall receive… you wanted to see scenes featuring our favorite duo since the epi was so lacking, well, we did too This week we have two missing scenes from the First Encounters of the Close Kind epi. As always, thanks for your ongoing support – both private and online – and please let us know what you think.
** Manifold *~*
I.
Concentrating solely on the task at hand, earbuds firmly in place, Pacey didn't hear his name being called until Doug reached into his cruiser and cranked up the siren for a scant few seconds. Startled, Pacey dropped the screwdriver he was holding, his attention most definitely caught – much like the seagulls who had scattered at the unwelcomed disruption.
"What the hell, Dougie?" Pacey pressed his back alongside the railing of the True Love, yanking the buds out of his ears.
Arms now folded across his chest, Doug leaned against the car and smirked from behind his shades. He shrugged, "What's up, little brother?"
"What do you want? I'm a little busy here."
"Just doing my rounds and thought I'd check in. How goes it up there?"
"Great. Just great."
Perusing the True Love, Doug looked skeptical. "Where's your slave labor?"
Pacey bent down to pick up the fallen screwdriver, avoiding Doug's gaze. "What are ya talking about?"
"You and Joey have been attached at the hip for weeks. Where is she?"
Pacey shrugged and returned his attention to the interrupted task. "She's in Boston for some college thing," he mumbled.
"How come you didn't go, too?"
Pacey raised his chin up to the cloudless sky. "Weather's too good to waste the weekend away indoors."
Doug nodded slowly, his expression giving nothing away, but he didn't press the matter. "Well, we could use some help hanging drywall over at the Potter's tomorrow afternoon, if you can get away from here, that is."
"Yeah. Sure. No problem," Pacey answered amicably.
"See ya then, Pacey." Doug climbed into his cruiser and gunned the engine.
Pacey watched the police car ease out of the boatyard onto the road. Doug's question about Joey's whereabouts had hit a nerve. Because it wasn't just Joey that had gone to Boston; Dawson and the McPhees had gone, too. Seems everyone was on the college track.
Except him.
Shoot, he'd be happy… no, make that lucky… just to pass trigonometry class. And he knew he might accomplish that feat only through sheer determination and badgering by Miss Potter.
He understood college was right up her alley. He admired her for her focus. But he was beginning to realize that particular alley was filled with his friends as well. Yes, they were all headed for the halls of higher learning eventually.
Unfortunately, his alley seemed destined to lead somewhere a lot more vocational and a little less academic.
Pacey turned away from the lot and gazed out across the water, the offshore breeze ruffling his hair familiarly. He was starting to seriously think he might be much happier and have a better chance of success on the sea – maybe the Coast Guard or the Merchant Marines – than he would in a classroom.
He wasn't sure what either of those choices entailed. The thought of trading his Hawaiian shirts for a uniform and having to abide by someone else's rules and regimented routine was something he would have to carefully consider before making any rash decisions. He definitely wasn't interested in following in the footsteps of his Pop or Deputy Doug.
Looking down at the screwdriver that he still held in his hand, as if wondering how it got there, Pacey shook himself like a dog to clear his head. Well, tomorrow was tomorrow as they say and the True Love wasn't going to become seaworthy by herself. Right now the task before him was clear and, slipping his earbuds back into place, he got back to work.
Who knows - perhaps while his friends were pursuing their dreams at college, he'd leave Capeside behind and sail his girl clear around the world; the wind and stars as his teacher and the ocean as his classroom.
The future may just surprise him yet.
**
II.
"What extracurricular activities are you going to sign up for this year? Because you know it's so important to have those on your permanent record when you apply. I already have my stint on the disciplinary committee and my volunteer hours at the hospital, and next I'm thinking of signing up for something creative. That should give me a well-rounded list-"
"Thanks for the ride, Andie," Joey interrupted as she unhooked her seat belt and leapt from the car, grabbing her bags on the way. "See ya later, Jack!" She slammed the car door shut and hiked her bags over her shoulder. She paused to wave goodbye as the car pulled out the driveway before hurrying to her front door.
"Bye, Joey!" She heard Andie call. "See you at school!"
Joey wondered what was up with Jack. He'd sat staring out the window of the passenger seat the entire way from the train station. He hadn't done more than grunt unintelligibly when they had dropped off Dawson and now didn't seem to even notice that she had vacated the Saab. She suspected something had happened to him in Boston. What, she didn't know. As with most men in her life at the moment, he didn't seem inclined to share his story - that was even if Andie had paused long enough for Joey to ask.
The sound of pounding assaulted her as she pushed through the door. "Bessie!" she called out. "I'm home."
"In here," came Bessie's muffled shout. Joey followed her voice to find Bessie in the kitchen valiantly fighting a losing battle with drywall dust.
"You realize that we're ingesting this stuff by the pound, right?" Bessie said loudly as she wiped off the front of the refrigerator. "That can't be good."
Joey dumped her bags on a kitchen chair and, raising her voice also to be heard, suggested, "Why don't you just leave it until they're done?"
"Because by then we'll be mummified by the stuff!" Bessie replied just as loudly as she moved to wipe down the counters. "How was it?" Her piercing voice echoed into the sudden quiet as the hammering stopped.
They could hear voices from the other room as the construction crew made plans to call it a day.
Joey laughed and then answered her. "Everything I ever dreamed of, Bess." She slipped out of her coat and threw it on top of her bags as she talked. "The Gothic architecture, the commons, the student union, the classrooms… just as I always imagined."
Bessie stopped wiping and turned to properly study her sister's appearance, noting her shining eyes and the color in her cheeks. "Okay, tell me everything! Did you get to go to a class? What was your roommate like? Oh, and the dorms! Are they coed?" she asked slyly.
"Hey, Potter! You're back!" Pacey poked through the heavy plastic sheeting that separated the kitchen from the construction area.
"Nothing gets by you, does it, Pacey?" Joey quipped.
"Couldn't miss that screeching, even over the noise in there," he jibed.
"You shouldn't talk about Bessie that way. She might get offended and decide not to feed you anymore," Joey threatened.
"Hey! Leave me out of your childish nonsense. Are you hungry, Jo?" Bessie opened the refrigerator.
"I am." Pacey interjected.
"That goes without saying," Bessie answered him. "I never even need to ask. You're like a bottomless pit."
Pacey gave her his most charming smile. "You know me so well, Bessie. If it weren't for your gracious hospitality and outstanding culinary skills, I might starve."
Bessie rolled her eyes in true Potter fashion. "Go finish cleaning up. Dinner will be ready in less than 30 minutes," she said as she took ground beef patties out and set them on the counter. "My outstanding culinary skills are preparing hamburgers." She paused. "Again."
Pacey rocked back on his heels and rubbed his hands together. "That is outstanding!" He proclaimed and ducked back through the plastic sheeting.
Bessie looked over her shoulder at Joey, as she turned on the burner under the pan on the stove. "Where were we? Oh yeah… coed dorms."
Joey smirked, "Bessie, that's not all there is to college, you know." She began to gather chips, pickles and condiments and place them on the table.
"Oh, I know. I'm just yanking your chain. Knowing you, you didn't even talk to a college guy while you were there. Am I right?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, knowing you, you spent the entire time haunting the library and checking out English classes. Or did your roommate show you a slice of the real college life? "
"I'll have you know, I not only went to an English class and got a special tour of the library but I did it all with a college guy!" Joey exclaimed.
Bessie's eyes grew wide, dinner momentarily forgotten. "Do tell."
"And then, I spent the night with him!"
"Joey!" Bessie sounded scandalized but returned to her preparations.
In the midst of drywall dust disposal, Pacey's bent form suddenly shot straight as a bean pole. He shoved a finger in his ear to clear out the dust. He couldn't have heard that correctly. Joey Potter spent the night with a college guy?
He unobtrusively moved closer to the opaque curtain, allowing him to catch bits and pieces of their conversation as Joey continued. "… mix-up… gender ambiguous names… got off on the wrong foot…"
And then Bessie, "… spent the night… alone in his room… was he cute?…"
Pacey's brow furrowed as he wondered just what the hell kind of activities these school-sponsored field trips were… well… sponsoring! He came back into the kitchen just in time to hear Joey lower her voice and confide to Bessie, "He asked me for my phone number."
"Do you think he'll call?"
Joey ducked her head a little and tucked a piece of errant hair behind her ear. She shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not. After all, he's in college and he's brilliant. Why would he?"
Pacey chose that moment to make his presence known. "Why would who what?"
Joey looked up to see Pacey nonchalantly brushing his clothes free of the ubiquitous dust. Debating for a heartbeat, she answered his question with a question. "Who what?"
"Why would who what?" Pacey repeated.
"Don't know what you're talking about." She shot a meaningful glance at Bessie and cleared her throat. "How goes the addition?"
His blue eyes pierced her with his gaze. 'So she didn't want to talk about college guy, huh? Whatever. What respectable college guy is going to mess around with a lowly high school girl anyway? Nah. This guy wouldn't call.' Feeling oddly happier after his internal debate, he played along and let the subject drop. "Coming along nicely, thank you very much. And before you ask, yes, I did find time to complete those trig questions you assigned me. But I want to know how your weekend went. Was the college experience everything you thought it would be?"
Joey smiled mysteriously, "And more."
"Do tell," Pacey unintentionally repeated Bessie's earlier appeal.
Joey waved her hand at him airily, saying evasively, "It's all academics, Pacey. Nothing you'd be interested in."
"Got me there." He narrowed his eyes at her and smirked. He changed subjects yet again. "Hey, did our Blair Witch rip-off win an Oscar?"
Joey shook her head, her chocolate tresses escaping from their appointed place behind her ear. She promptly tucked them back before answering. "It didn't. As a matter of fact, from what Dawson said, it was not received well at all. He was pretty discouraged."
"The whole project was lame."
"Pacey!"
"Well, it was!"
"You got a good grade out of it!"
"What does Green know about film-making? He graded us on it as a history project!"
"Regardless. I think those hipper-than-thou film brats were awfully hard on him."
"Did you comfort him, Potter?" Pacey crooned at her. "Did you make it all better?"
"Shut up, Pacey." Joey turned away from his mockery to retrieve dishes from the cupboard. Grabbing plates and then silverware from the drawer, she stepped around him to set the table. "Besides, he was sitting with someone from the festival on the train ride home."
"Another film geek?" Bessie queried, stretching down to pluck Alex from his playpen.
"I don't know. Maybe. But a girl geek, in that case."
Pacey and Bessie both said, "A girl?"
Then Pacey continued, "What is it with that guy and public transportation as a pickup venue? I gotta start travelling more often."
Joey smirked at him, "As if that would help."
Bessie carried a platter of food to the table in one hand with Alexander on her other hip. "Looks like you both got lucky this weekend."
Joey shot her an evil death glare.
Pacey's eyebrows searched for his hairline. "You got lucky, too? So that's what this "academics" you speak of is all about? Hmmm. I gotta tell ya, that's the kind of academics I would definitely be interested in."
"You'd have better luck on public transportation, Pace." She pointed to a chair. "Sit. Dinner's ready."
Pacey sat down but pursued his line of questioning, ignoring her taunt. Now that the vetoed topic had been reintroduced, he couldn't resist the follow through. "Does Dawson know?"
Bessie looked at Joey with raised eyebrows of her own as she settled Alex into his high chair before taking a seat next to him.
Exasperated, Joey huffed, "Know what? That I went to Junior Day at Worthington? Yes. Kind of hard not to, wouldn't you think? Since he was there."
Pacey waggled his eyebrows. "But does he know about the academics in which you were partaking, Josephine?" Pacey caught Bessie's eye. "You have to be so careful when you let the kids go the big city these days. You just never know what kind of academics they're going to get into!" He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "They grow up so fast."
True to form, Joey rolled her eyes as Bessie and Pacey began to laugh. Then she shook her head and gave into laughter along with them as conversation around the table continued. She'd had a glimpse of her exciting future at Worthington but here in her own home, with the company of people she cared about, she was content. Right now, she couldn't think of any place she'd rather be.
As the Potter sisters lapsed into conversation about wallpaper colors for the guest rooms, Pacey was suddenly preoccupied with an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach; but for the life of him he couldn't figure out its cause.
His mind was stuck right then wondering about Joey's answer to the question "was he cute?", which was not only ridiculous - as why the hell would he care either way what the answer was, especially since he'd already concluded the guy wasn't going to call - but immensely frustrating.
Because if he could just get that unimportant question out of his mind, he'd have a clear head again - allowing him to figure out and resolve whatever the actual problem was that was causing his uneasy stomach.
Pacey shook his head to himself and smirked. Just like that Potter girl to annoy him without even trying.
