Author's note: My apologies for being gone for so long. Lots of life happened while I was gone. I missed PJ though, so here I am. I can't promise consistent updates, but I will finish this story. I owe that much to both our young lovers, and those of you who may still be interested in this story. Reminder – Pacey and Joey are not officially a couple, but there has been lots of making out. They decided that they are both emotionally stunted, and are trying to fix that by completing an exercise where they answer difficult questions picked from a jar.

"OK, we have the canned pumpkin," Joey began.

"I still think we should have used the fresh pie pumpkins. I mean they were just sitting there at the patch waiting to be made into pies," Pacey interrupted.

Hearing his complaint, again, Joey rolled her eyes as she continued examining the grocery list in her hand. "Pacey, we are not qualified to be baking pies from total scratch."

"But what if that little pumpkin's only dream was to be made into a pie? And you rejected it outright. It's a very sad situation, really."

"Yes, Pacey, because inanimate objects have dreams that involve being cut open and having their insides ripped out," Joey said sarcastically.

"So gruesome, Potter," Pacey replied wrapping Joey in a flirtatious embrace.

"Pacey, we decided no PDA," Joey chastised. "Not to mention we're in the grocery store, which is definitely not an appropriate setting for whatever you have going on in that head of yours."

"It's just something about this aisle … Seeing you next to the Cool Whip, your cheeks flushed from opening the cooler," he voiced seductively.

"You're ridiculous," Joey observed. She smiled playfully as she leaned in to kiss Pacey, in the middle of the grocery store, which was something she swore she would never do with any man. Joey was learning that, with Pacey, she enjoyed all affection – public or otherwise.

"Ahem," a loud cough disrupted their passionate, but innocent kiss. The pair looked up to see Dawson scowling at them. "I see you're still suffering from your 'lack of inhibition,'" Dawson remarked.

"C'mon, D. There's no need to be rude," Pacey began. "It's good to see you, man. It's been awhile," he continued sincerely.

"That's because he hasn't apologized yet for the last time he was rude to us," Joey stated.

"Look, Jo, I'm sorry. It's just … seeing you guys together, it doesn't make any sense. Have you guys just been lying to me forever or what? Because last I knew you could barely stand to be in the same room together, and now you're here. Making out in the grocery store," Dawson said.

"No, Dawson. We haven't lied to you at all. It's not like that," Pacey tried to explain.

"This doesn't involve you, Pacey. This is a conversation between Joey and I."

"You're wrong, Dawson. You can't leave me out of a conversation about a relationship between Joey and I." Pacey asserted.

"Relationship?! That's rich, Pacey! You can't really think that this is something real. One drunken night and making out in the grocery store. Don't be ridiculous."

"Dawson," Joey said sternly.

"No, Jo. I got this," Pacey said calmly. "What Joey and I do or do not have together is not yours to judge. We know what we have. We don't need to defend it to you or anyone else. And we won't. We both love you, Dawson. When you're able to show your two oldest friends some of the respect we deserve, then we can have a conversation. Because like Joey said, you know where to find us."

Joey smiled proudly at Pacey. "We have everything we need except the sweetened condensed milk," she told him referencing the grocery list. "Have a good night, Dawson," she said turning to leave the aisle. Pacey looked at Dawson a final time before following Joey to whichever aisle contained sweetened condensed milk.

"You lied to him, you know," Joey remarked. She was cuddled with Pacey on her couch while their pumpkin pie baked in the oven. They had, in fact, found time to do some fall activities. Joey had originally been apprehensive about the idea of going to the pumpkin patch reminding Pacey, "every day the B&B isn't open is money out of our pockets." She had repeated that statement often since work began on the Potter B&B. On days when she was feeling particularly stressed Joey would add, "And food out of Alexander's mouth." She finally relented when her work force decided to take a holiday.

"Hmm …" Pacey asked distracted by the weight of Joey's body on his.

"Dawson, you lied to him," she clarified. Pacey's body instinctively became tense worrying what words were to follow. "You told him that we know what we have. Do we know? Because we haven't talked about it."

"I'm sorry, Jo. I didn't mean to jump the gun or anything, or to speak for you. I shouldn't have done that," Pacey began. He sat up abruptly forcing Joey to sit upright too. "That was stupid and thoughtless."

"Pacey," Joey stated attempting to halt his rambling.

"God, Jo. I messed up as usual." By this time Pacey had his hands on his head clearly working himself into a panic.

"Pacey stop," Joey ordered. He opened his mouth to continue his self-deprecating rant, but Joey placed her hands firmly on either side of his face saying, "Look at me." He finally stopped talking, and did as she instructed. "You didn't do anything wrong, Pace. I only meant that we haven't had our official talk yet. With everything going on we just haven't been able to empty the jar."

"Oh," Pacey said with a sigh of relief. "Right. I'm sorry, Jo."

"Stop apologizing, Pacey. Geez! You didn't mess anything up," Joey reminded him. "I was proud of you for what you said to Dawson. You are going to make me mad, if you keep it up with all this 'I mess everything up' crap."

"OK, Jo." Pacey closed his mouth tightly, fighting the urge to slip in one more apology. He slowly raised his hands to his face to place them on top of hers. "I'm just really used to messing things up. Especially good things because those rarely happen to me."

"I get it, Pace. I do," Joey confirmed. "We just both need to keep working on breaking those habits, OK?"

Pacey nodded his head with both of their hands still on his face. He carefully removed her hands bringing them to his lips. He closed his eyes enjoying the smell of her lotion while kissing her hands. A smile slowly began to grow on Pacey's face.

"What?" Joey asked. "Why are you smiling?" Her eyes narrowed slightly as she examined his face. Pacey's eyes remained closed, his smile now covering his whole face. Beginning to feel self-conscious, Joey pulled her hands away from his grasp.

His eyes snapped open, "Give those back."

"Not until you tell me the meaning of that creepy smile," Joey instructed.

"You don't want me to tell you," he responded simply. Joey folded her arms sitting back on the couch putting distance between them. "Fine, your hands smell like Alexander's butt." Joey's mouth fell open in disbelief. She had heard Pacey say a lot of ridiculous things, but she was not anticipating that response. "Now before you yell at me, let me explain," Pacey pleaded. "The other night I came in from cleaning up after the guys left to find you and Bessie both asleep. I heard the little guy squirming in his crib, so I went in to check on him." He examined Joey's face hoping to see it soften. Noticing that it had not changed, Pacey continued his story. "I walked in the room, and the smell hit me like a slap in the face. I don't know what you fed that kid for dinner, but he took a monster dump. Seriously, if it wasn't so offensive, I'd be proud of him." Joey rolled her eyes at his last remark, which Pacey interpreted as a sign of good progress. "Anyway, I couldn't let the guy stay like that. I didn't want to wake either of you up, so I changed him. When I've watched my sisters do it in the past, they always put something on the kid's bottom, so I used the lotion on the dresser." Joey's arms had fallen next to her on the couch, so Pacey grabbed her hand before saying, "Apparently you do too."

Joey shook her head before rolling her eyes again, this time with a slight smile on her face, "You are a strange boy, Witter. Seriously, weird."

"Yeah, but you like it," Pacey said with his token charm.

Joey reached over him across the couch to pick something up from the table beside him. He was quite certain Joey had no idea the sensuality present in that one simple movement, but it made his heart beat faster. "Now if you're going to tell me about how I smell like my nephew's formerly poopy bottom, I say we get to work on that whole emotional growth thing," she said bringing the jar to her lap. "Clearly you have a lot of work to do," she teased.

"Fine," Pacey conceded. "Give me that, Potter. I'll go first," he said taking the jar from her hands. He quickly reached in to pull out a strip of paper from the remaining few. He read the question silently to himself before saying, "This is a fun one, 'Would you ever get a tattoo?'" At hearing the question, Joey's face scrunched up revealing her displeasure. Ignoring her expression, Pacey forged ahead with his response. "Yes, I think I'd probably get something sailing-related. Won't be until after a few sailing adventures, of course, because otherwise I'd feel like a fraud." His gaze moved to Joey on the other side of the couch. "How 'bout you, Potter?"

Joey's body language had changed drastically since the question was revealed. "You can't make fun of me, if I tell you this." Pacey shook his head trying to will her to believe that she could tell him anything. "It's silly, the idea of Joey Potter getting a tattoo," she continued. "If I did get one, I'd want it to be of something meaningful." Pacey nodded his head in agreement as Joey slowly became more at ease. "I've actually thought about maybe getting some of my Mom's artwork."

"That sounds really beautiful, Joey," he said again finding himself in awe of the person in front of him.

"I really wouldn't know where though," she began. "Part of me really wants to because I love her art, and it would be something to honor or remember her. But then I'd be bringing attention to my body, which I don't really want to do."

Sensing her uneasiness, Pacey was deliberate in his words, "May I make a suggestion?" Joey nodded quietly. "You could get one on your shoulder. It would be a large enough canvas, and I think that would look really … nice."

Joey finally raised her eyes to meet his. "Show me," she whispered. Pacey slowly moved to place his body directly behind hers. He carefully raised his hand to the collar of her shirt waiting for her indication to continue. Joey moved her long hair to the front of her, which left her back free from distraction. Pacey gently lowered her outer shirt revealing the tank top underneath. His fingers brushed against her shoulder blade.

"Here," Pacey said in a low, masculine voice. Unable to resist the temptation, he gently kissed her skin. Joey allowed her shirt to drop to the couch. She reached her right arm behind her, placing her hand on the back of Pacey's head as he gently kissed her again. Her hand roamed up and down his head, with her fingers in his hair. Pacey's mouth moved to her neck while his left arm moved to her toned stomach. Joey's breathing quickened as she turned her head to meet his lips with hers. Pacey kissed her deeply urged on by her soft tug on his hair. His arms moved to the front of her body that was now only covered by the thin material of her tank top. "Jo," Pacey said quietly. "Joey, we have to stop," he urged.

"Hmm … why?" she asked with his words finally registering.

Pacey stopped kissing her, and removed his hands from her body. In the absence of his body on hers, Joey suddenly felt a chill overcome her. She hastily pulled her outer shirt back over her arms. "We aren't ready to do this," he explained.

"We or me?" Joey accused.

"We, Jo. Including me," Pacey began.

"That's fine. I get it. Don't bother explaining," she said clearly hurt by what she thought was to come.

"Now it's your turn to stop, Jo. You think you know why I'm saying this, but you don't," he advised. "Sex is one of my crutches, remember? I have it too fast or with inappropriate people. I just can't risk hurting you. You mean too much to me; this means to much to me," Pacey explained gesturing between the two of them. "Please understand, Joey. This has nothing to do with me not wanting to keep going with you because I want you Joey. We just need to be sure, OK?"

Joey remained silent for a moment considering his words. "I want you too, Pacey," she offered. "I don't even know what it is that I want because well, I've never done anything besides kiss, but I know when I'm near you I just want to be as close to you as possible." Joey blushed slightly before taking a breath to continue, "You're right, though. We can take our time. We need to be smart about this."

"Yes, we can, and we will. But, god, it is hard sometimes," Pacey confessed.

"Yeah?" she asked seductively.

"Oh yeah, you have no idea what you do to me, woman," he admitted.

"Who me?" Joey teased as she crawled over him to reach her drink on the end table.

"Oh no, you don't," Pacey said before she could reach the table. He grabbed her around the waist and began tickling her mercilessly.

"What are you so giddy about?" Doug asked Pacey the next morning.

"What are you talking about, Dougie? Can't I just be happy to see your smiling face in the morning?" Pacey responded easily.

"I'm aware that it's a good face, little brother … I clearly got the good bone structure in this family, but Pacey you are even more weird than usual today." Pacey did not respond, so Doug continued, "I listened to all of The Bodyguard this morning, and you had nothing to say. Either you're losing your touch, or there's something going on," Doug suggested.

"Maybe I just want you to be happy, Dougie. If Whitney does it for you, then who am I to judge?" Pacey dismissed.

"I don't buy it. You were out pretty late last night. Where were you anyway?"

"I was at Joey's house, Doug. Since when do you care?" Pacey asked.

"Look, Pacey. You've been spending an awful lot of time over there."

"You have too, Doug. We've all been working hard on the B&B. What's your point?"

Joey woke to find herself in a similar situation. While Joey was brushing her hair, her sister joined her in the bathroom. "Joey, I need to talk to you," Bessie said seriously.

"Talk to me about what, Bess? I'm in a bit of a hurry," responded Joey while searching for a hair tie.

Bessie took a deep breath before continuing; "Bodie and I think it's time to talk to you about sex."

"What? You have to be kidding me, right?!"

"No, Joey. I'm not kidding. Sit down," Bessie instructed. She put the cover down on the toilet indicating where she expected Joey to sit.

"Bessie, I know how babies are made. You are way too late for that conversation," Joey said not amused by her sister's sudden interest in her sex life.

"My point is that you need to be careful, Pacey," Doug explained. "I just don't want to see you hurt someone that you clearly care about."

"And why is it that my own brother assumes that I would hurt her? I have no intention of hurting Joey, ever," Pacey exclaimed.

"I know that Pacey."

"Andie cheated on me, remember?" Pacey's declared with his voice rising. "I waited for her faithfully all summer, while she cheated on me, yet the assumption is that I would hurt Joey."

"Calm down, Pacey. I'm just telling you to be careful," Doug attempted.

"Would you stop being difficult for a minute, and just be quiet?" Bessie demanded. "I know that sex happens. I want you to be ready when it does. That's all."

"And why are you choosing to have this conversation with me now?" Joey asked. "I've had other boyfriends, you know. Maybe you're too late."

"I know, Joey. But I'm not too late, am I?" Bessie asked though she seemed to already know the answer.

"No, Bessie. I'm still a card-carrying virgin. No doubt about it," Joey assured. "Can we be done now?"

"If you have something to ask me, Doug, then just do it," Pacey said with his patience weaning. "Don't dance around with this 'be careful' stuff."

"Fine, Pacey, did you have sex with Joey last night?" Doug asked bluntly.

"See, even your question is loaded with judgments. Why wouldn't it be her having sex with me or simply did you guys have sex?"

Doug shook his head in frustration. "You know what I mean, Pacey. I'm just trying to look out for you."

"You know what, Doug, I believe you. I just don't know why you have to insult me in the process." Pacey grabbed his coat before continuing, "Joey and I have not had sex. If and when we do, it will be because we both want to, and we've both decided that we're ready to." He walked toward the door before turning around to add, "Thanks for your concern."

"No, we aren't done," Bessie said sternly. "Look, Jo. I know you've had other boyfriends. As far as I know, you and Pacey aren't officially together, but I've never seen you look at a boy the way you look at him."

"I don't know what you mean, Bessie. How do I look at him?" Joey asked with genuine interest.

"You look at him like he's … an ice cream cone," Bessie attempted. "Like it's a hot summer day, and he's melting. It's just that if you look like that when I am around, I don't even want to think what's happening when I'm not."

"Nothing has happened, Bess," Joey said considering her sister's metaphor.

"I want you to know that you can talk to me," Bessie pleaded. "I wouldn't trade Alexander for the world, but I don't want that for you. I also don't want you at some clinic by yourself looking at birth control options, OK?"

"OK, Bessie," Joey finally conceded. I promise I will talk to you before anything more happens."

"Good," Bessie said with a deep breath.