Joey Potter slowly shuffled along the narrow overgrown path through the woods to the ruins. Idly, she kicked at a pebble with the toe of her sneaker, her hands stuffed into the back pockets of her cut-off jean shorts. Sighing audibly, she pushed behind her ear a strand of hair that had escaped from the loose ponytail she wore. It had been exactly 13 days since Dawson Leery had left for Philadelphia to intern at his mom's TV station. And while she certainly hadn't expected him to make a big production of a goodbye, she was a little surprised that he hadn't even stopped by or sent her an e-mail.

Shaking her head at her own stupidity, Joey winced as she thought back to the final words she had said to him. She'd told him she never wanted to see him again ever, and now she was upset that he hadn't stopped by her house to say goodbye before "ever" started! What was wrong with her? No matter how sweet Dawson could be at times, he had knowingly sabotaged her one chance at a little bit of happiness. She had just started thinking she would have a real family again for the first time she could recall in ages, then his stupid, stubborn insistence on doing the "right thing" had forced her into betraying her dad, wearing a wire and getting him to confess to trafficking again.

She angrily shoved the overgrown branches of the trees out of her way as she pushed forward to her favorite quiet spot. Joey always headed for the ruins when she wanted to be by herself and think things out. It was the first place she went after she broke up with Dawson-the first time. She thought back on the past year's events. She had felt a lot like a yo-yo at times, up and down, happy and sad, Jack or Dawson? She smiled a bit crookedly when she thought how that last one came out. Neither. Well, at least she still had Jack as a friend, she couldn't say the same for Dawson, not after he-- After he what? Forced you to turn your dad in?, a little voice niggled in the back of her mind. But did he really? Force you, that is? Besides, your dad's still here.

It was true. Sheriff Witter had surprisingly kept his word that if Joey got her dad to co-operate with them to turn in Pete and the rest of the lowlifes he knew were still in the drug business, they wouldn't press charges against him and he wouldn't have to return to jail. But, it wasn't all sunshine and roses at the Potter household these days. She and Bessie were still trying to deal with the fact that their father had lied to them. The trust factor was a little shaky still, but Mike Potter had assured his daughters that he wasn't going down that road again. He'd vowed to find some other way to make money and he kept his promise, getting a job at one of the canning factories down at the waterfront. The first thing she had asked him to do when he got home from the police station was to take down the white picket fence Dawson had built her. Her father had protested, that Dawson was only trying to protect her and watch out for her but Joey had insisted and she had stood there and watched with a lump in her throat as her dreams of happiness collapsed right along with the fence.

And so? The little voice was back. Was he right? Did Dawson really deserve your anger? Or were you just mad at your father and taking it out on him. So he has a strong sense of wrong and right. Isn't that one of the things you liked about him in the first place, that he has strong opinions about life, even though they are formed via rose-colored glasses?

"Shut! Up!" Joey shouted. Her voice echoed in the small clearing before the edge of the woods and she grimaced. Great, now she was talking to herself too. She stepped onto the edge of the lawn and headed for her favorite bench on the opposite side of the fountain. She looked out over the hill that overlooked the town. It was twilight and from here, in the pink and purple light with the sun setting through the trees on the horizon, Capeside looked like a postcard of some exotic place. The familiarity of places she'd been a hundred times was lost up here and Joey could almost imagine she was somewhere else, somewhere that Joey Potter wasn't a convict's daughter whose ex-boyfriend decided he was gay after one failed sexual encounter between them. Her reverie was interrupted when she heard a noise behind her and she jumped and whirled around. She relaxed when she saw the familiar figure sitting under one of the rose bowers, shaded by the greenage.

"Pacey?"

********

Pacey Witter was not having a good summer. He had had such great plans. There were so many places he had wanted to go with Andie. He'd had day trips to Boston and NY planned, he wanted to take her to all the spots in Capeside he had loved when he was a kid. They'd go to the beach and do all those silly summer things like mini-golf and amusement parks and waterslides. Then her father had taken her away to Providence. And even though Pacey knew it was for her own good, so she could get better, a little selfish part of him knew it meant a miserable summer for him. But he figured maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Providence was only an hour or so away and he could visit and hey, Dawson would still be around and he'd have an exceedingly large amount of free time on his hands what with the movie done and his and Joey's on-again off-again romance decidedly off-again. Then Dawson dropped his little bombshell that he was deserting him too, fleeing to an actual city for the summer. Pacey didn't really blame him, if he'd had a choice of bumming around in an Andie-less Capeside or jetting off to Philly, he'd be on the plane before you could say "Cheesesteak." Sometimes he wondered if he'd ever get out of this town, he thought as he hunched over resting his elbows on his knees as he surveyed the Capeside landscape from the half-hidden shade of the rose bower he sat under.

He started and sat up when he saw a tall woman walk out of the path through the woods. From where he was sitting he couldn't see her face, but what he could see looked pretty good. The thought great legs had just flashed across his brain when he shifted on the creaky bench and she turned around in surprise. He pulled his gaze up to her face and saw it was Joey. Pacey flushed a bit guiltily as she walked over to him.

"Hey Jo."

Joey's eyes widened in surprise. "Hey Jo. That's it? No sarcastic remark? No witty repartee? Pacey? Pacey Witter?" She feigned disbelief looking questioningly at him.

He scooted over to make room on the bench beside him, as he gave her what he hoped was a withering glare. "Sorry, the master of one-liners isn't feeling witty today. Just contemplating what an absolute snore of a summer this is going to be."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Joey sighed and settled back against the wooden trellis behind her. I thought it would be such a great summer now that Dawson and I…" she stopped and eyed him warily. "I mean with my dad home and well…everything, it just seemed like things were finally going right. And then…" She sighed wistfully.

"It all fell apart," Pacey finished for her, exhaling slowly and running his hands through his short, spiky, and thankfully, once-again brown hair.

Joey glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Pacey really did look miserable. "You really miss Andie, huh?" she said softly.

He nodded, feeling his throat tighten and his eyes sting. Quickly, he decided to change the subject and swung his leg over the bench, straddling it to face her. "And what about you, Josephine? You don't miss our Spielberg clone with a moral compass for a heart?"

Joey started to respond with her usual "Bite me" response but saw that Pacey really did look concerned and wasn't just teasing. "I don't know what I feel, Pace. I mean, he really backed me into a corner by going to your dad. He was so sure I would see everything the same way he did, that it was the only answer."

"Well, Jo, I can't say I agree with the way he did it, but I gotta tell you, he had good intentions. He just wanted to make sure you weren't going to end up in a situation that you couldn't handle," he looked at her, searchingly. "I guess you did anyway, huh?"

Joey nodded, biting her lip at the memory of that awful day. "God, Pace, it was so hard." Her breath caught on the last syllable, making her voice break on the last word. Her eyes filled up slightly. "Walking into that house with that wire on was the hardest thing I've ever done. Knowing I was going to break my father's heart…" She broke off with a sort of strangled sob, looking down at her hands, as tears started to slowly slide down her cheeks.

Pacey fidgeted uncomfortably. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Joey Potter cry. He awkwardly patted her shoulder and tried to speak in a soothing voice. "It's alright, Jo. He knows you just wanted to help him." Her face contorted as she looked up at him she said with just a touch of anger, "How would you know what he thinks?" She stopped and took a deep breath and her voice and expression softened slightly. "It's not your fault. I just…I didn't even tell him Pacey. I never told him I love him. I never even said I was glad he was home."

Pacey knew what it was like to worry that your father would never love you or be proud of you. He reached forward and pulled his sobbing friend into a hug. Joey resisted at first, then sagged against him, her arms winding around his back, grateful for someone to confide in. "It's alright Jo. Because it doesn't matter what you told him. He already knows you love him." He rested his cheek against the top of her head. "He already knows."

After a moment, Joey sighed, pulled herself together, and sat up. "Thanks Pacey." She looked at him with a tiny smirk. "And if you tell anyone you saw me crying, I'll mutilate you."

He laughed and saluted. "Would I dare the wrath of Miss Josephine Potter? I think not," he joked in a haughty English accent. She smiled and they sat for a minute or two in silence, looking out over the tiny town they called home.

Abruptly, Pacey broke the silence. "You know, Jo, this doesn't have to be such a horrible summer."

Joey narrowed her eyes at him. "Call me Einstein, but that looks suspiciously like a glowing lightbulb over your head."

"Ah, there's the bitter and sarcastic Joey we all know and love." She rolled her eyes. It was clear whatever momentary weakness it was that had caused her to confide in Pacey Witter had passed. She stood up and started to walk back towards the path in the woods. "Since we all know how your bright ideas usually work out, or more accurately don't, you'll excuse me if I try to spare myself and my sanity ahead of time, Pacey."

He jumped up and covered the distance with a few long strides, grabbing Joey's wrist to stop her. "Now Josephine," he returned her answering glare with his own, "just hear me out. There's no reason why the two of us, miserable as we are, should spend the whole summer moping around about our absentee love lives. I know Andie has more important things to take care of and I'm sure Dawson isn't wasting any time pining after dear old Capeside now that he's in a real city."

Joey cocked her head to one side and crossed her arms over her chest as she gave him a slow, contemplative look. They headed down the path back towards town. "I'm sure I'll regret this later in a saner moment, but OK what incredible brainstorm did you have?"

"Well, you're not working now that the Icehouse is out of commission and I'm sure I can wrangle at least a few days off from that tyrant I call boss at the video store. Jo, we're always whining that we're sick of Capeside, why don't we finally do something about it?"

Visibly intrigued, she looked over at him, arching an eyebrow. "Like what? Run off to Vegas and hit one of those Elvis wedding chapels?

Pacey paused and pretended to mull the idea over, till a hard smack on the shoulder from Joey. He laughed, "Not a bad idea, tiger. But I actually had something PG rated in mind." He looked at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Let's go to New York."

"New York?" she looked at him like he had lost a few marbles somewhere. "As in New York City. As in three states away? Oh sure, why don't we just pop into my lear jet and I'll fly us right over. Has the heat given you delusions Pacey?

"Come on Jo. It's not like we live in Peoria. New York is just a few hours from here by bus, we could go some Saturday, next Saturday even. I'll ask for it off work."

"I don't know Pacey. Maybe this isn't such a great idea. May I remind you that our last field trip resulted in the death of two innocent snails, the loss of a perfectly good boat and a near-bout of pneumonia for the both of us?"

"But can you really say we didn't have any fun that day?" Pacey looked at her questioningly. Recalling the other events of that trip, Joey blushed slightly and looked away. "Okay, so we had a little fun," she answered grudgingly, a smile tugging at her lips.

"It's ok, you don't have to admit it," Pacey grinned. "I know you're having trouble keeping a leash on your overwhelming desire for me at the mere thought of my scorching kiss." Joey laughed so loud and long at this, he started getting a little offended. "Hey it's not that preposterous. There are women out there who know and love the unmistakable Pacey Witter charm. Someday, you'll be kicking yourself for that one."

"And if the day ever comes Pacey when I'm overcome wth my desire for you, I'll give you my full permission to put me out of my misery. In fact, I'll beg you," Joey countered, giggling.

"Now, now, Josephine, begging won't be necessary. But since you seem to be so worried I'll besmirch your well-preserved virtue, I suggest we go find the only other two people in Capeside who are probably as miserable as we are." They stepped out of the woods and headed back to the town square. Joey looked at him, one eyebrow raised warily as he continued. "Besides, I bet Jen and Jack would love to get out of Bible School for a day."

"Pacey, you know Jen and I aren't exactly bosom buddies," Joey protested weakly.

"Yes and with Dawson out of the picture this could be the perfect opportunity for the two of you to retract the claws and learn to get along. And I think Jen could use a little friendship, especially now that Abby's gone. Besides, with all the stuff with Andie this year, I feel like I've been rather lacking in my friendship duties. I can't really remember the last time Jen and I had an actual conversation by ourselves."

"I guess we have been all kind of wrapped up in our own personal dramas. Should I tell you again how sorry I am that I forgot your birthday?" Joey said, looking a bit chagrined.

Pacey smiled as they turned down the street to Grams house and playfully cupped his ear. "Wait! Was that…could it be…an apology from Miss Joey Potter? Somebody get a calendar and mark this day down. I think she may have even missed me."

"Missed a self-centered know-it-all with an overblown libido. Not likely."

"Come on," Pacey wheedled, nudging and winking at her. "You know you were lost without my…oh let's see how did you put it…witty repartee. Yes, I believe that was the phrase you used."

"The only thing I missed about you Pacey was cutting your ridiculously inflated ego down to size," she grinned triumphantly.

He swung his arm around her shoulders. "Well Jo, we've got all summer to change that…" he leered, as she rolled her eyes and wiggled out from under his grasp. As they headed for the steps of Grams back porch, Joey started lecturing him about the meaning of personal space, but Pacey wasn't listening. He was thinking that maybe, just maybe, this summer wouldn't be such a bust after all.

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