Pocket Full
of Miracles
Part Fourteen of
Something To Talk About
By Ainsley
Disclaimer:
I've always wondered this...if you disclaim something, isn't that
implying that you claimed it in the first place? If I never
claimed, why do I have to disclaim? Like, how can you disown
something you never owned in the first place? These questions,
and many more...ooh, here's one! Maybe one of you can answer this
for me. You know how we use letters in algebra to represent the
unknown variable? Well, what about the people in China and Japan
that have all those funky symbols as their language? Do they use
our letters or their funky symbols to represent the unknown
variable? If anyone knows, please tell me because it's been
plaguing me terribly.
Props: Hmm, who's next? Ahh, the wonderful Becci for all her support and for liking this story better than my others :)
Recap:
Joey flipped out on Pacey when he admitted that he had left the
party and "made out with Abby", but hadn't slept with
her, as everyone was saying. She later relaxed and confessed to
Jen how much she wanted to forgive him. Jen decided that the only
way to get things back to the way they were was to return to the
old stuff they used to do like Movie Night, and for Joey to
"forget Paris".
"E.T. phone home..." the little alien crooned on the
television set.
Dawson smiled happily. Jen and Joey exchanged a look of annoyance.
"Dawson," Pacey groaned. "I can't do this anymore."
"Do what?" Dawson asked obliviously.
"Watch this movie again. I've seen it so many times I can recite the lines perfectly."
"Yeah, Dawson," Joey agreed. "Pacey's seen E.T. more times than he's seen Dumbo, and you know that's not good."
Jen giggled.
"Haha," Pacey said dryly. "Thanks again, Joey, for pointing out my lack of maturity in the cinematographic universe."
"I'm always happy to specify your ascertained character flaws," Joey smiled sweetly.
"As thrilled as I am to see you two back to your vexatious selves, would you mind shutting up so I can hear the movie?"
Pacey and Joey looked at each other, then at Jen, and finally all three of them smiled viciously at Dawson.
"On three," Pacey murmured. "One...two...three!"
They each grabbed a pillow and attacked Dawson.
"Hey!" Dawson cried. "Not fair! You guys always gang up on me."
"You're beyond an easy target, Dawson," Joey pointed out.
"As thrilled as I am that you two are speaking again, I wish you wouldn't use your rediscovered friendship to team up against me."
Pacey and Joey exchanged a look.
"Would we ever do that to you, Dawson?" Joey asked innocently.
"Yes. You've been doing that to me since we were three years old."
"And everyone says you were mentally advanced children," Jen clucked her tongue. "Sounds pretty immature to me."
"Excuse me, Miss High and Mighty," Pacey said. "But I seem to remember you assisting us when we attacked your boyfriend."
Jen leaned over and kissed Dawson on the cheek.
"Forgive me?"
"Of course I do," He kissed her back.
"Oh, get a room," Joey grumbled.
"I'm sorry, but I seem to remember that this is my room," Dawson protested. "And it's not as if you two were never like this."
"We weren't that mushy," Pacey said.
"I seem to remember us catching you guys making out in the middle of the hallway at school one time," Jen reminded them.
"We were newlyweds," Joey argued. "It doesn't count."
"Oh, yeah. And Jen and I are nearing our fiftieth anniversary." Dawson said sarcastically.
"Well, it seems like it," Pacey shrugged. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. What do you guys want to do?"
"Want to make a run to the Icehouse for a late dinner?" Jen suggested.
"Yeah, sure," Joey agreed casually. "But, you know, there's the factor that the Icehouse has been closed for six hours." "It's four a.m.?" Jen asked in disbelief. "You're kidding me!"
"Well, Spielberg's films aren't exactly known for their brevity,"
Pacey pointed out. "And we've watched...what, three?"
"ET, Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Raiders of the Lost Ark," Dawson counted. "Four."
Joey yawned. "We need to get some lives beyond the realm of Dawson's bedroom and Spielberg's movies."
"This was your idea, Jo," Dawson said.
"No it wasn't. It was Jen's idea. My idea was to fly back to Paris and never speak to any of you again."
"Good thing Jen won," Pacey commented quietly.
"I'm thinking we lock them in here alone. You?" Jen said to Dawson.
"I'm agreeing,"
Dawson and Jen jumped to their feet and ran out the door, slamming it closed. Joey and Pacey looked on calmly.
"Should we toy with them or just leave?" Pacey asked.
"Oh, toy with them. We can't resist this chance." Joey replied.
"Guys, let us out!" She cried, pretending to be angry. "Come on, this isn't fair!"
"We're not going to kiss and make up just because you lock us in here alone," Pacey called, smiling at Joey. "This is all your fault, Joey."
"No way! It's your fault. If you hadn't said, 'Good thing Jen won', we wouldn't be in this situation!"
"Well, if you had just gone back to Paris like you wanted to, I wouldn't have said that!"
Joey groaned loudly. "Now I remember why I broke up with you!"
"You broke up with me because of that ass Anderson!"
"Leave Anderson out of this!"
"Not a chance," Pacey picked up a piece of paper and wrote one word in giant block letters. "I can't believe I ever thought I loved you."
"Me either!" Joey shot back, taking the paper and laying it in full view on Dawson's bed. "I hate you!"
"I wish you had never come back from Paris!" He said, helping Joey climb through the open window. "I never want to see you again."
Then Pacey followed Joey outside and down the ladder.
* * * * *
"Dawson?" Jen whispered, her face turning pale. "They stopped yelling."
"Maybe this was a bad idea," Dawson said slowly.
"They're never going to get back together now. We made things worse!"
"We should let them out," Jen pushed open the door and walked into the room. "Guys - "
"What?" Dawson looked around the room in confusion.
"Where'd they go?"
"There's a note," She picked the piece of paper off the bed.
Dawson read it over her shoulder. "I can't believe them."
"Next time we're going to lock them in your room, we should take down the ladder," Jen said.
They fell back onto the bed. Dawson dropped the paper and as it drifted slowly to the ground, the fluorescent pink letters spelling 'GOTCHA' seemed to glow against the darkness of the carpet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can't believe they fell for it!" Joey exclaimed, laughing as she and Pacey ran up to her front porch.
"Well, you know how dense Dawson is," Pacey said.
Joey sat down on one of the steps. "Yeah. That was really funny."
Pacey leaned against the railing and smiled at her. "I miss this, Jo."
"Miss what?"
"Us,"
Joey sighed, as their conversation took on a decidedly serious tone.
"Me too."
"So, what do we do?"
"I don't know, Pace. I mean, we can't just go back to the way things were. Stuff has happened."
Pacey nodded slowly. "Abby."
"Not just Abby. There are lots of things."
"You're right,"
Joey paused. She tilted her head to the side, as if deep in thought.
"You know what?" she said, shaking her head. "No, I'm not right. I'm wrong."
"What?"
"We analyze things too much. It's such a learned behavior from Dawson that we overanalyze things that we should just let take their natural course."
"I don't get it," Joey climbed to her feet and stood in front of Pacey, her face only inches from his. "Kiss me."
"What?"
"Kiss me,"
"Joey, I don't - "
"You're doing it! You're thinking too much! Stop!"
"Stop thinking?"
"Yes! Don't think. Do."
"Do?"
"Yes!"
Pacey grabbed Joey and pulled her tight against him.
Then he pressed his lips against hers with a pent-up passion that had been haunting him for months. Joey kissed back, her fingers clawing at his neck. His arms were on her waist, holding her like he had been wanting to for so long.
"No, no, no!" Dawson cried. "This isn't in the script! What happened to starting over as friends? Friends don't do this!"
"Dawson," Jen shook her head. "Shut up."
Joey and Pacey sighed in unison. They turned around, not letting go of each other, to see Dawson and Jen standing about ten feet away on Joey's lawn.
"He needs a leash," Joey said.
"Or a muzzle," Pacey murmured. "Or both."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm just afraid that if you two start dating too soon, you'll face the same problems."
"Oh, like Anderson Crawford showing up and disrupting our lives, and Pacey getting drunk and nearly sleeping with Abby?" Joey said sarcastically.
"Not likely, Dawson."
"We'll be fine. I promise." Pacey took her hand and they walked over to their friends. "Well, it's about five o'clock in the morning. What do we do now?"
"Let all go home and sleep," Dawson suggested.
"We'll meet at the Icehouse for lunch tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Joey agreed. "Good-night, everyone."
She reached up and kissed Pacey lightly. "Night, Pace."
"Sweet dreams, Jo,"
Joey walked into the house and collapsed onto the couch. She smiled blissfully at the ceiling. "Pacey..." She sighed, and fell into a deep, dreamy sleep.
* * * * *
"Good morning, my dear," Pacey joked, walking up to Joey and kissing her on the cheek.
Dawson groaned. "The newlyweds are at it again."
"I think they're cute," Jen said.
"Cute?" Joey repeated, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"I'm not cute."
"Me either," Pacey agreed.
"Fine. You're not cute. Whatever." Jen smiled. "But you're adorable."
"Well, if we're adorable, you two are endearing," Joey shot back.
"Then you're charming!"
"Enchanting!"
"Enough!" Pacey and Dawson shouted together.
"None of us are cute," Pacey said firmly. "We're saracastic, cynical, and pessimistic."
"You don't think I'm cute?" Joey teased, pretending to pout.
"Of course I do, sweetie," Pacey gushed jokingly. Dawson rolled his eyes.
"Oh, don't be such an old meanie, Dawson," Joey teased. "I think you're just still angry about me and Pacey's little stunt."
"I still am of the opinion that what you two did last night was an unnecessary act of childish regression." Dawson said.
"Dawson, has anyone ever told you that you talk like Larry King?" Jen asked.
Pacey and Joey laughed.
Dawson smiled. "I get that a lot."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's it for Part 14. They'll be a part 15, then an epilogue, and that's it. Feedback!
* * * * *
Write to Ainsley