A/N: Happy Friday everyone! Barefoot At Capeside was another epi which would have been vastly improved if it simply had a P/J scene in it, in our humble opinions. So that's exactly what we did ;) This missing scene takes place just before the end of the epi. We hope you like it. Not long now till A Weekend In The Country! Are you as excited as we are?! LOL
Thanks so much for your continuing support; to know that our work is not only being read but enjoyed, it means the world to us. And every time a new author/story alert is created for M&M Works or our story is added as a favorite, you put a warm smile on our faces. We thank you for that, too.
*~ Rummaging *
After knocking briefly, Pacey pushed open the newly-hung door of the newly-completed addition to the newly-named Potter Bed & Breakfast and stepped inside. Of course, the construction was complete but the addition did seem to be lacking… something. Oh yeah… furniture, curtains and all the other accoutrements that make B&B's homey. Still, the police auxiliary – and anyone else they had been able to recruit - had done an exemplary job. The drywall was smooth, the painting perfect, the windows installed.
Pacey looked around and felt a surge of pride warm the general vicinity of his heart.
"Jo?" He called. He didn't get an answer but heard faint bumping and scraping from above him. Someone was in.
"Bessie?" He tried. Still no response.
Raising his voice, he shouted, "Hey, Potter!" There, that should draw either of them.
"Pacey?" Joey's muffled voice drifted down from above.
"Jo? Where are you?" Looking up as he went, Pacey headed down the hallway toward the sound of her voice until he found a metal ladder jutted up against the wall, leading to a square hole in the ceiling.
Her face loomed down at him. "Up here."
"What are ya doing up there?" Pacey peered up at her taking in her disheveled appearance.
Joey didn't answer his question but issued a directive instead. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on up."
"Why?" He quizzed.
"What are you? Two? You can help me find stuff to decorate the new rooms with, that's why."
"Decorate? Um… you got the wrong Witter for that. Lemme go get Doug." He took a step away from the bottom of the ladder as if to leave.
Joey was not amused. "Get back here! What are you doing here anyway? I thought you passed your trig mid-term and my indentured servitude as your tutor was over?"
Pacey smirked and, ignoring her questions, said, "I'm coming up before I get a crick in my neck."
Joey backed up as Pacey's head popped through the floor of the attic.
"Hey! Look at all this stuff!" he said enthusiastically, peering about the crowded space. Furniture, trunks and chests lined the walls, and boxes were stacked everywhere else. "I didn't know this was up here." He climbed the remainder of the rungs and promptly hit his head on the sloped, low ceiling. "OUCH!"
Joey cringed and then sniggered. "Watch your head."
He glared at her as he rubbed the top of his head. "Thanks," he said dryly.
Joey returned to an open box she had set on an old coffee table and began rummaging inside. She tossed out small pillows in Pacey's general direction and when he didn't catch them all, yelled, "Careful! Don't let them get dusty! Why don't you start on that box?" She pointed to indicate which box she meant.
Pacey regarded her as if she'd gone daft. "Why don't we just take the boxes downstairs before you start taking all the stuff out?"
"Because we're not going to use all the stuff. And then we'll just have to get them back up here. If you don't want to help, don't!" She paused to blow errant hairs off her face. "Pacey, we need to get those rooms decorated. Like yesterday. We can't have guests here until those rooms are finished. No guests, no income!"
Pacey held up both hands, "Okay, okay, Potter. Don't get your panties in a twist. Let's get one box empty so we can put stuff in it that we're going to take downstairs. Where's Bessie, anyway?"
"I don't know. She wasn't here when I got home and there was a note for me to come up here and start looking." She surveyed the cramped space, overwhelmed. "As if I didn't have anything else to do," she muttered.
"You just said that this had to be done yesterday," Pacey rebutted. "Gimme that box."
Joey handed him the box of assorted treasures collected by Lillian Potter in anticipation of this very dream come true. She watched as he carefully and gently took each item out of the box and set it on the table.
His gaze caught hers then and he said quietly, "Now - of these items, which are we taking downstairs?"
She sighed heavily and moved to sit on the dusty floor in front of the low table. Slowly, she began to examine each piece and make choices. She set her selections in the empty box. Pacey took the next box and began to empty it onto the available spaces on the table. He then used his empty box for Joey's rejects.
They worked side-by-side quietly for a few minutes until Joey broke the silence. "What are you doing here?"
"Helping, obviously. I think it's a tossup as to who's the indentured servant in this relationship." Pacey grumbled.
Truth be told, he was glad of something to do here. Now that the addition was finished and he'd passed his mid-term, he didn't really have a legitimate reason to stop by the Potter house every day. And with the weather getting colder, he couldn't really expect Jo to spend a lot of time working on the True Love.
"But you didn't come over to help," she insisted. "What's up?"
"What? Nothing. I came over to check out the Pacey J. Witter Wing since I knew they finished painting yesterday."
"It looks great, doesn't it?"
He nodded. "Yeah, they did a nice job. Who'd have thought our plan would be such a success?"
"It's not really a success yet," Joey stated pragmatically. "We still have to get people to come here and stay."
"Build it and they will come," Pacey intoned in his best James Earl Jones impersonation.
Joey rolled her eyes but laughed anyway.
"Did you…" they both started at once.
"Go ahead, Pace," Joey said graciously as she got up from the floor and began to open flaps and peer inside other boxes.
"Did you ever hear from college boy?"
Joey muttered under her breath. "Of course, you'd ask."
"What does that mean?" Pacey said defensively. "I was here when you came home all rosy-cheeked and smiley from college weekend."
"Well, it seems you may be the only one of my many, many friends who is interested."
And by "many", she meant Dawson. Not only had he never shown the slightest bit of curiosity (or jealousy) about A.J. but it seemed that it would be entirely unwarranted anyway as A.J. had not even called. Joey wondered what exactly was wrong with her; that the minute she was out of sight, a boy didn't have any trouble forgetting her.
"Ahhh, the light dawns," Pacey nodded knowingly. "Dawson isn't even the littlest bit jealous of your foray into higher learning."
"Oh, he's too busy with Miss Film Geek to even bother asking what's going on with me." The decibel level of Joey's voice began to rise. "Well, whatever. If he wants a new confidante, one who doesn't even know him well enough to understand him, then she can have him."
Pacey's eyebrows arched. "And you won't care one little bit." He paused. "Right?"
"Why would I?" She shrugged and looked into the box. Then she turned, hands flailing. "He took all his posters down!" she shouted.
"Whoa! His Spielberg posters?" Pacey asked incredulous.
"Duh. That's the only thing he had up in there. Every time a new set of breasts catch his eye and they say 'jump', he asks 'how high'!"
"Film Girl told him to take his posters down?" Pacey asked with some skepticism.
"Well, not exactly."
Joey proceeded to share the details of her last encounter with Dawson as Pacey reached for the next box. When she was finished, Pacey feigned preoccupation with its contents while he debated which words of wisdom to bestow upon the stressed-out brunette. He thought again of what a douche bag Dawson could be but knew he dare not disparage her precious friend. If they ever did get back together, she'd never forget his words. On the other hand, telling her the truth and perhaps, persuading her to look forward, seemed like something a good friend would do.
He settled on repeating her words back to her, "Well, you yourself said that there was no reason you two shouldn't date other people. You're just friends. Did you expect him to wait for you while you checked out college guy? Who's putting who in cold storage?"
Joey pursed her lips with chagrin, "Do you remember everything?"
Pacey grinned at her, "Oh yeah. It's a gift - and it comes in handy."
Joey sighed before confessing in a soft voice, "It's just… it's hard to see him confide in someone who is essentially a stranger."
Pacey remembered what Jen said at the dance studio. It seemed that Joey relished her role as main confidante to her two best friends and losing her place wasn't easy. He patted her on the shoulder. "It's growing pains, Jo. That's all. People grow, stretch their wings, try new things. It doesn't mean that they forget their old friends."
"I guess," she answered, her voice dubious.
"Take me, for example. I'm gonna try something new. I just landed the lead in the school play."
"Seriously?" She immediately perked up. "That's awesome, Pacey. Whatever in the world made you audition?"
"I was recruited by Mr. Broderick himself."
It was Joey's turn to look skeptical. "Really?"
"Yeah. He said I was a natural with comedy."
"Well, he got that right," Joey remarked dryly. "You are a clown."
"Hardy-har-har, Josephine. I'll have you know, I nailed the audition."
Joey guessed, "But were you on time?"
Pacey ignored her and confided, "The only thing is…"
"What?" Joey looked interested.
"Andie's the assistant director."
"So? Is that a problem for you? You guys seemed okay at Thanksgiving."
"It's a problem for her. She said she's doing it to get over me."
Joey shook her head. "She's doing it so she has something creative to put on her college apps. If I can tolerate Film Girl, you and Andie should be able to work together on a school play."
"We're gonna have to. Broderick is basing my English grade on my participation. Hey…" Pacey exclaimed with sudden inspiration, "You can help me with my lines."
Joey considered the proposition briefly. "Sure. Why not?"
Pacey smiled, satisfied. There - now he had a reason to stop by the Potter B&B. Maybe if he timed it right, he would still get invited to dinner every night.
Joey pulled a tube of slick paper out of the box in front of her and unrolled it. "Hey, look at this!"
He looked over her shoulder as the image was revealed. "John Lennon. Who's is that?"
"Probably belonged to one of my parents." She looked at the glossy poster thoughtfully. "Mitch and Gale had a bunch of the Beatles' albums and they were all the same age. I think Bessie's a little young for the Beatles." She stared at the Imagine poster for a few moments longer, deep in thought, before re-rolling and adding it to the box to go downstairs.
"Planning on a British Invasion-themed room?" Pacey quipped.
"Nope." She smiled enigmatically.
Pacey shrugged and didn't press.
"So, what play is the school doing this year?" Joey asked as they carried on rummaging through the boxes.
"Er… Barefoot in the…," Pacey said slowly, struggling to remember.
She helped him out with the name. "The Park?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Great. Learning lines with you is going to be oh-so-much fun," she said sarcastically coupled with an eye roll. "You can't even remember the title. I take that back about you remembering everything."
"Hey! I remember the important stuff!"
"Like?"
"Like I got the lead role… his name is Paul… and he's married to a smokin' hot wife. They're newlyweds, meaning there's plenty of kissing scenes with my leading lady." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Lucky girl." Joey stated, her tone indicating the exact opposite.
"Isn't she just?" He smiled broadly, puffing his chest out causing Joey to roll her eyes again.
They continued to fill boxes in comfortable silence for a little while until Joey commented, "With all the work you're doing on the True Love, school and now this play, I guess you're not going to have a lot of spare time, huh?"
"I guess… why?" His voice was cautious, wondering where her train of thought was going.
Joey ducked her head, avoiding his eye as she added a framed picture to the box in front of her. Bessie and she had discussed the other day their need for a handy-man around the place, seeing as Bodie was out of town so much. Pacey was of course the prime candidate - the only in fact - but the stubborn independent streak in Joey made it hard for her to come out with a flat out request for help.
So in usual Potter fashion, she opted to deliver her request in a rapid flood of words. "Well, here's the thing. Bodie's not here right now, but, of course you know that. And seriously, can you see Dawson with a hammer in his hand? Or fixing a toilet? And there's only so much Bessie and I know about how to mend a furnace, and it'll be years before Alex is old enough to, and it's not like we have the time anyway as winter is coming and…. and… well?!" She pierced his eyes with hers.
"Well what?" Pacey responded, utterly confused.
She sighed, irritated. "Do you want the job or not?"
Still confused, Pacey scratched his head. "Er… Job?"
"Yes, job! Were you not listening to what I just said?"
"I did my best, Potter, I swear I did. But all I got was Dawson and a toilet."
She placed her hand on her hip. "The handy-man job, of course!"
He opened his eyes wide, surprised. "Oh. Um, well, sure."
Joey let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "We'll pay you of course. I mean, it won't be a lot at first until we get a steady stream of guests in but-"
Pacey held up his hands. "Hey, don't worry about it, Jo."
"No, we want to-"
He interrupted again. "We can work something out. For now, consider hot meals ala Bessie and your free labor on True Love payment enough."
Joey eyed him warily. "If you're sure…"
"Completely."
She gave him a shy smile. "Thank you, Pacey."
He bobbed his head and shuffled his feet. "Welcome. Thanks for, um, for askin' me."
She gave him an "are you stupid" look. "Like there's anyone else I'd ask." Then added matter-of-factly, "We need you, Pacey."
He watched as she turned her back to grab another box from the shelf, allowing a warm smile to spread across his face. Surprisingly, he felt better about the play and Andie by just coming over here. Joey seemed to be less stressed, too.
Together these days, they always seemed to figure things out, without even trying.
Lifting one of the boxes that was ready to take downstairs, he let out a mock groan at its weight. "Yeah, need me to carry heavy boxes you mean. Those skinny arms of yours aren't exactly any help."
"Hey!" She whipped around and flung bubble wrap at him. When he bopped his head again on the low ceiling as moved out the way, she didn't try to hide her laughter - feeling his bruised head a fitting justice to her bruised ego.
Pacey massaged the bump with his free hand while he walked over to the ladder with the box. As he carefully began to descend he said, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Potter. Let's see how funny you think it is trying to get down without a ladder."
She dropped her jaw only to immediately snap it shut again. Then she narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you wouldn't!"
Pacey grinned mischievously; he couldn't have Joey too stress-free now, could he? "Oh, I would."
Once at the bottom, he shifted the box to under his arm and swiftly moved the metal ladder out of her reach.
Joey scrambled over to the attic opening and glowered down at him. In a calm and controlled voice she quietly commanded, "Pacey, you have exactly two seconds to-"
Cupping a hand to his ear, he began to walk backwards. "What's that, Jo? You think I should go lie down?"
"Pacey-"
"What a good idea!" He nodded, still walking away. "Yep, I totally agree. Head trauma and all that. Serious stuff."
"Oh, I'll give you head trauma alright." Her voice was deadly now, "Pacey, I swear if-"
"You gonna be OK up there by your lonesome?"
"Pacey, I mean it, if you-"
"You sure?"
"Pacey-"
"Well, if you're sure you're sure. Alright then. Be back later, Toots. Yell if you need me." With that he disappeared out of her sight.
"Pacey? Pacey? Pacey Witter! You get back here. Right. Now!"
Casually strolling into the kitchen with the box under his arm, Pacey laughed out loud when he could still hear her protests, threats, insults and name-calling even from there.
At one particularly charming insult, he shouted back to her with a huge smile on his face, "Love you, too, Potter!"
Teasing Joey Potter? It never got old.
