Love Jones by: Kilby

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[Previously in "Yours, Mine, and Ours": Joey tells Dawson that she wishes their being together hadn't ruined the group. Dawson asks Jen to try to be friends with Joey again. She reluctantly agrees, hoping she could squirm her way back into his life. Pacey and Joey decide to try to be friends, still unaware of their feelings for each other. Dawson refuses to forgive Pacey for sleeping with Joey, despite her constant pleading for him to do so. He also thinks that Pacey is still servicing Joey's 'bodily needs.' Mr. Leary assures Pacey that he is welcome to stay in their home, tells him that Dawson will come around, and that Joey has enough of herself to give to both of them. When Mr. Leary tells Pacey he would be happy to call him son, Pacey finally has some sense of what family is. Joey's contradicting feelings are tormenting her, and she fears that she may be making a mistake.]

"Hey," Joey said, climbing through Dawson's window. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I need your help," he said, walking over to kiss her. As he approached her face, she turned her head, and he ended up kissing her cheek. He didn't think much about it.

Joey had been trying desperately to hang on to him, despite how he was acting. She believed that he was purposely trying to make Pacey's life miserable, and sometimes thought he was trying to do the same to her. She kept telling herself that she loved him, and that if she stuck through these rough periods that things would be better. Still, when things were bad, with Dawson or otherwise, Pacey was the one she ran to.

"What do you need?" she asked him.

"Well," he said, "I was going over some of the film for the movie, and one part with you and Jen didn't turn out."

"So we need to do it again?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said. "But I was thinking of changing it. The scene would be perfect in the hospital."

"We're going to film the hospital?" she asked.

"Only if it's okay with you," he said.

"It's okay with me," she said.

"I thought that Jen, you, and I could go tomorrow."

"Pacey couldn't go?" she asked.

"I didn't ask him."

"Why not?" she asked. "He's still our friend."

"Joey, I can't stand the sight of him, and I hate knowing what you did."

She was frustrated from the same old stuff, and she felt like screaming every time Dawson brought up the sex thing. "Dawson when are you going to let this go?" she asked him.

"When Jen listens to Kirk Franklin."

"This isn't a joke. I don't understand you. You know that Pacey moved out of his house because his family trying to alienate him, and made him feel inhuman, and. . .Oh, I think that I get it now," she said. "You're trying to drive him out of this house by making his life miserable."

"Joey, I don't want to fight with you," he said. "That's all we ever do. I thought that our goal was to be happy."

"It is," she said. "I accept Jen. When you have been with her, I don't question you, or how you feel about her. I don't try to make her life miserable. I know that you want to be her friend, and I respect that. Pacey is my friend, and you need to accept it. I am not giving him up."

"You're forgetting one key point," Dawson said. "I didn't sleep with Jen," he said smugly.

"Like you wouldn't have if you had had the chance," she said, knowing she was right.

"That's not the issue," he said, trying to rest the blame with her.

"Pacey has nothing to do with you and me, and I can't understand what this has done to you Dawson. We are almost in the twenty first century, and you have to realize that every girl you meet will not have been saving herself for you." When she heard herself, she came to the realization that this was the first time she thought of Dawson not being with her forever.

"Why do we have to talk about this?" he said.

"You brought it up."

"I'm sorry I did. I'm so sick and tired of hearing about Pacey."

"Dawson I can't stand you right now," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'll do whatever you want me to. I just don't want to fight anymore Jo. I feel like I'm losing you."

"Dawson, it can't be like this all of the time. I am not going to allow you to use my past against me, and I am not going to shrug it off and forgive you just because you say two little words. Now I will come with you and Jen tomorrow, but Pacey's coming too. He is a part of this movie, and hopefully you two can resolve this." She didn't give him a chance to respond, she just climbed out of the window.

*****

The next morning Joey arrived at Dawson's house early. She knew that Pacey liked the kitchen in the morning, so she went to peer into the window. She saw him drinking coffee, and reading the newspaper. He lit up when he saw her, and motioned to the door. He let her in, and she noticed that things in the house were silent. She whispered to avoid being heard.

"Did Dawson ask you to come with us today?" she asked.

"No."

"Well, you're coming. I'm tired of all this fighting."

"What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Something for the movie at the hospital," she said.

"I'll go, if that's what you want," he said.

"Thanks," she said. "I'm glad."

"It'll be nice to spend the day with you," he said. She smiled, and thought, 'I wonder when falling in love became so easy.'

In a matter of seconds, Dawson came downstairs, loaded down with his camera equipment. "Hey," he said to them both, shocking Pacey a bit. Joey was pleased that he was trying. "Are you ready?" Dawson asked.

"Sure," Joey said, following Dawson, and grabbing Pacey by the arm. They stopped to add Jen to the flock, and headed to the hospital. The scene that they were working on took forever to get right. After about eleven takes, Dawson was finally satisfied. The problem could probably be attributed to the lack of communication, because the lines were about all that was being said.

They silently waited for the elevator. When the doors opened Pacey walked in, and Joey followed him. She held the door for Dawson, but he was interrupted by Jen, who said, "I don't want to ride in that again." She was somewhat claustrophobic, and the elevator was small.

"I'll go with you," Dawson said quickly, leaving Pacey and Joey to take the elevator.

"Thanks a lot," she said under her breath.

The doors shut, and they began to go down. With a sudden jerk, they stopped. Joey stood in front of the doors waiting for them to open, but they didn't. "Great," Pacey said.

"What?" she asked.

"We're stuck," he said. It was unbelievable, and suddenly he felt trapped.

*****

"Where are they?" Dawson asked Jen, as they stood outside the elevators on the first floor.

"I don't know," Jen said.

"Perfect," Dawson said. "I probably just let her walk right into a fantasy."

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. He walked over to the receptionist, and said, "my friends were in the elevator, and they should've been down already."

"Oh," she said, "that's no trouble, it gets stuck all the time."

"What?" Dawson asked.

"Yes. I'll call someone," she said. She picked up the phone, and in seconds hung up. "It should be okay in about two hours."

"Two hours?" Dawson said.

"I'm afraid so," the receptionist said.

"Great," Dawson said, as he and Jen sat on a bench near the elevator.

*****

[Song: "No, No, No" Remix by Destiny's Child]

"I can't believe this," Pacey said, shaking his head. He sat down on the floor of the elevator, it was so small that he had his knees bent so that he would fit.

"Pacey, I know that this isn't the ideal situation, but you have to admit that there are worse people that you could be with," Joey said, sitting next to his feet, so that she could look at him.

"Like Dawson," he said, knowing what she meant.

"Yeah," she said. "If I had to be stuck, I'm glad it was with you."

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked.

"It's horrible Pace. He is driving me insane."

"At least he doesn't hate you."

"I wouldn't bet on that anymore," she said.

"Joey, what's going on?"

"I don't know anymore Pacey. I mean, it is just so difficult for me to tolerate Dawson anymore."

"At the risk of sounding really self-absorbed," he said, "it's because of me, isn't it?"

She paused, and figured the truth was best. "Yes." Pacey had known it. Everything these past few months had been about her, and her happiness. Suddenly, it seemed like everything had gone wrong. The exact opposite to how it was supposed to happen. "The sex thing comes up each time," she said.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but we have to tell him that it's not true. I don't think that it would make it anymore difficult," he said. "I mean, until he knows the truth, I'm just going to be hit it/quit it Pacey to him."

"And I'll just be someone who was dumb enough to be used by you." She paused. "I know you're right. I just don't know how to say it to him. I don't know what to expect from him. I don't know when to tell him. He was supposed to be the one thing that I wanted more than everything, and I just think that I may have. . .I don't know, been hallucinating or something."

"What do you mean?" Pacey asked.

"It seems like Dawson just isn't what I want anymore," she said.

"What do you want now?"

'You,' she thought. "I don't want a boyfriend who can't respect me, and who's jealous of my friendships. I just want him the way he was. My friend, who helped me, and who did things with me, who I had these deep conversations with. Now all we do is fight. I don't even want to be around him anymore. He tries to kiss me, and I don't want to think about it. It's more like we went from being the happy brother and sister to the one's who fight all of the time, instead of going from friends to people who go out."

"I don't know what to say," Pacey said.

[Song: "Fire" by Babyface and Des'ree]

"What if I told you that I had feelings for someone else?" she asked him.

He thought that he was about to repeat another vicious circle of events, and he wasn't ready to suffer through watching her love someone else again. He didn't know that she was talking about him. "I'd think that you were crazy. A month ago, you were so madly in love with Dawson you couldn't think straight. Now that you have him, you think you want something else. Joey, that could mess you up. You could spend you're whole life wanting."

"What if I can't think straight because of this new person?"

"It's probably just some crazy phase Joey. We're fifteen years old. That's just what happens to us."

"What if I said that all I can think about is kissing you again?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, because he didn't believe his ears.

"I don't know," she said, looking down. "I just. . .never mind."

"You think about kissing me again?" he asked her.

"I probably shouldn't have said that."

"You should have," he said. "Honesty is our new thing isn't it? I mean, unless it's a lie too."

"It's not," she whispered.

He searched his mind for a reason that it couldn't be so, because he didn't want to have any reason to think that he may have the most remote possibility of being with her. "To you the plan was exciting," he said. "You probably just transferred the memory of that excitement to me. It probably didn't mean anything to you."

She knew that he didn't feel for her, what she felt for him. She didn't respond.

*****

"Dawson, it's okay," Jen said. "They're going to get out of there."

"I know," he said quietly.

"So what's the problem?" she asked, frustrated.

"I'm not happy with Joey," he said.

Finally, Jen heard what she had been waiting a month to hear. "Why?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know what she has with Pacey, but it's coming between us. They have some things that are unresolved, and there were some serious things that went on between them. There's you."

"Me?"

"Yeah," he said. "I mean. . .I am just not completely over you, and since you asked me to take you back before, I'd guessed that you weren't completely over me."

"Are you going to break up with Joey?" she asked.

"I don't want to, but who knows what I'll have to do. She was right saying that we had ruined the group, because there are serious problems between the four of us. I think that before we think about us, that all four of us need to sit down together, and work some of these crazy things out. I think that our friendships need to be our priorities."

"Your right. But how are all of us going to get together now without killing each other?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said, "but when they get out of there, we need to try."

*****

"What are we going to do Pacey?" Joey asked him.

"About what?" he asked.

"Us," she said, quietly.

"I don't know what you're getting at," he said.

"We need to define the parameters of our relationship."

"We're friends."

"When did it happen?" she asked. "When did you become the one I ran to?"

"I don't know," he said.

"Pacey, you aren't helping me at all," she said. "I mean, you just say you don't know, you're trying to talk me out of how I feel."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm closer to you than I have ever been to anyone else in my entire life, and I don't. . .I don't want to mess it up. I do horribly with relationships, and I don't want to lose it. Now, you just seem like all that I have left. I hate what Dawson has done because I l-. . .I'd like to know that you'll be around. Always."

[Song: "No, No, No" original cut by Destiny's Child]

She stood a bit, and adjusted her body so that she was sitting next to him. She held his hand and said, "Pacey, I am not going to ever leave you. I will be around forever. I need you more than ever." He looked over at her, and she saw that his big, brown eyes were full with sadness. She examined every inch of his face. She gave into temptation, and initiated a kiss. It was long, deep, and what she had thought about for a month. He kissed her back, mainly because she made him so vulnerable. She didn't feel like ever stopping what she had began. Although they kissed for a long time, it seemed to go much more quickly to her. He slowly began to move from her lips to her neck. She let out a slight moan. That made Pacey snap out of it. "Joey, we can't," he said.

"What?" she asked, in a fog.

"This isn't right," he said. "When we get out of here. . .we still need the truth to be the truth."

"Pacey, I want you."

"No you don't Joey. It's just the circumstances. But they aren't right," he said. "You are Dawson's girlfriend. You love him, and I will not allow you to do something you'll regret."

"Pacey, how do you know what I feel?"

"This isn't right Jo. When you stop breathing the same stale air, you'll see. I don't want you now, not like this. In some cramped, dirty elevator, not knowing when we'll move. Knowing that it would kill my friend. I don't want that," he said. "I don't want any part of that."

"I don't want to talk anymore," she said. She laid her head on his shoulder, and said "tell me a story. You know, one of those ones like you used to make up when we were kids."

[Song: "Do your Thing" by 7 Mile]

"Okay," he said. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful maiden who lived in a very small kingdom. Her life was tough, and she wanted someone to take her away from it all. When she was going into the village one day, she met a nice, young, handsome man. He had a tough life just as she had, and he was in a position in which he was no better off than she was. They became quick friends, and one day when they were walking to her little cottage home, they were surprised to see four white horses bring up a carriage that looked like it was made from gold. She was in awe of its beauty. She instantly fell in love with the prince who emerged from it. She just smiled the beautiful smile of hers, and her friend could see how she felt. He secretly loved her, but she didn't know that he did. Her prince invited her to a ball, and at that ball they fell in love. She returned to tell her friend the news, and his heart shattered. He loved her enough to know that her future as a princess was the most important thing, so he gave her his blessing, never telling her how he felt. He was a lowly peasant, and he knew that she deserved a prince. He had never been to a royal wedding, and couldn't believe everything that had gone into it. He had dreamed of marrying her so many times, and in his best dreams he never imagined anything like it. When he saw her walk down the aisle, he was awestruck by how beautiful she was. He had to look away, because he feared he would go blind. Looking at her was like looking at the sun. It was glorious, and beautiful, and essential to surviving, but as much as you are in awe of it, it will destroy you to look at it too long. The loss that he was feeling was so deep that he thought he would die. Once she was at the alter, she turned and looked back at him with a smile."

"And she realized that she loved him?" Joey asked.

"No," Pacey said. "She turned to her prince. They were married, and lived happily ever after."

"What about the man?" she asked.

"He died, still loving her."

"That's not right," she said. "She didn't even have the chance to choose."

"He didn't want her to question what she did, or wonder how things would be if she had made a different choice. He just loved her, and wanted to do what he thought was best."

"But what if she loved him too?" she asked.

"She could never love him," he said. "That's not how it goes. Besides, whether you're born as royalty or not, if you're a princess, you deserve a prince. He knew that he wasn't good enough for her, he accepted that, and put her happiness ahead of his own."

"She should judge who is good enough for her."

"Joey, sometimes a man just knows what he is." When he finished the elevator began to move.

"You need to rethink that ending," she said. Little did she know, he was living it.

*****

Dawson embraced Joey when she stepped out of the elevator. Pacey couldn't bare to watch them. Joey didn't want to even be there with him after spending two hours with Pacey in a world of their own.

Outside the hospital, the four of them gathered together. Dawson spoke, "Jen and I were talking about what has gone on between all of us while you were stuck in there, and we think that the four of us need to sit down, and discuss what's going on. Hopefully we can salvage our friendships, and figure out what's happened to all of us."

Pacey and Joey looked at each other worried. They finally both agreed reluctantly by shaking their heads. "We'll meet at my house tonight, about eight," Dawson said.

Joey appreciated the effort, but she thought that it might be coming too late.

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