. Author’s Note: This story takes place near the end of Swan Song in fact a lot of dialogue is lifted from that episode. Basically, what if Pacey stayed in Capeside with Joey for the summer and so on and so forth. Italics are flashbacks from prior seasons. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9| Part 10

Joey sat at the kitchen table of the Potter Bed and Breakfast staring intently at her bowl of cereal. Perhaps hidden messages could be transmitted through a few drowning cornflakes maybe they would tell her why she felt so detached from who Joey Potter used to be. 

“So what happened exactly?” Bessie asked setting a steaming mug of black coffee in front of her. 

Joey sank into her hand stirring the soggy slop absently, “I told him that I loved him, we kissed, he asked me to come with him and I said no so he left.” 

“So are you two back together?” Bessie urged sipping at her own mug. 

She sighed heavily, burying her face in her hand, “I don’t know,” she whined. 

“Well have you talked to him?” 

“He hasn’t called,” she countered. 

“Do you want to be back together?” 

She scowled, “I don’t know,” she repeated. “Everything just seemed so final in his letter, it was like he was leaving forever and I got scared. I have problems Bessie; this fear of abandonment that’s only stemmed from the fact that dad tried to disappear.” 

“Well he didn’t did he? Did you go and see him?” 

“I tried but I couldn’t I was at the entrance looking in through the glass and I saw him Bess and he looked so happy. I didn't want to hurt him again and I just couldn’t get the fact that he didn’t want us to know out of my head,” she sighed heavily running a frustrated hand through her hair. “It’s Pacey’s fault too, last year when he left without a word without a goodbye just flew away to the Caribbean.” 

Bessie slipped into a seat beside her, “Correct me if I’m wrong but he came back, didn’t he? Dawson will too.” 

She nodded, “And when he comes back, we’re going to try and work it out,” she said more to convince herself. 

“There you go, Jo,” Bessie said ruffling her younger sister’s hair, “Now do you need a ride to work?” 

“You mean my own personal prison?” She corrected, “No Pa—.” 

“Hello ladies,” Pacey said busting through the front door as if on cue. 

“Pacey is taking me,” she finished her sentence. 

“Good morning Bessie,” he said reaching into the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of orange juice. 

“Glass,” Bessie said sternly as he drew the bottle to his lips. 

“Right,” he nodded filing through the Potter kitchen with experienced ease. “You almost ready, Potter?” 

“Just give me twenty minutes to draw blood from my Daisy's Razor and I’m all yours,” she said flatly still stirring the increasingly mushy slush in her bowl. 

“How has Capeside functioned this entire year without their favorite sarcastic serving wench?” He joked popping some bread in the toaster. 

“Pacey you do realize that you lost your free range over this establishment after the prom right?” Bessie said folding her arms over her chest. 

“Have you ever heard of the saying ‘make yourself at home?’” He fired back innocently. 

“Have you ever heard of the saying, ‘get your ass out of my kitchen before I pop you Witter?’” 

"Far too often," he smirked draping an arm over Bessie’s shoulder. “The Patented Potter Hostility, I can never get enough of it.” 

Bessie rolled her eyes, a grin tinting her lips, “Security, Witter? Is that the cop gene rearing its ugly head?” 

“Sadly but true,” he nodded solemnly, “supposedly my bulging biceps scare away all the 70 year old club members from stealing the boats.” 

“Didn’t Doug get you the job?” Joey asked peering up from her breakfast. 

“It was that too, now come on Josephine, tardiness doesn’t run in your family.” 

“I’m coming,” she mumbled sliding out of the chair, “Let’s get it over with.” 

~*~ 

“So did Dawson get in alright?” Pacey asked drumming on the steering wheel of his red mustang. 

“I assume so, haven’t heard of any deadly plane crashes lately,” Joey replied nonchalantly staring out the window. 

“So have you talked to him or Audrey,” he elaborated matching her tone. 

“If you want to know how Audrey’s doing she’s fine,” she said catching onto his game. “And you could call her yourself you know, you don’t need me to back and forth it for you.” 

“See I would except for the fact that I can never say the right thing.” 

“You could start with ‘I’m sorry.’” 

He shook his head, “Nope doesn’t work, no matter how many times they tried to teach it to us in kindergarten, sorry is never enough.” 

“Then why don’t you throw out one of those grand romantic gestures you’re notorious for?” 

“The sac is empty and I’m on back order for refills so I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon,” he finished pulling into a parking spot. “My new theory in life is that sex messes everything up.” 

“Enlighten me Doctor Witter,” she said amused as they headed into the yacht club. 

“My first sexual experience was illegal in most states so she fled the area to escape the wrath. Andie and I were going fine until we did the deed and she went crazy, you and I were going pretty well and then…” he trailed off. “Karen uses me and then skips town the next day, Tina or Gina or Rina whatever her name was had a problem with the name dropping.” 

“I wonder why?” Joey asked sarcastically. 

“And then Audrey and I had a fun angst free friendship that only got mucked up when she jammed her tongue down my throat,” he finished, “summer flings are the way to go that’s my new outlook on life.” 

“Summer fling?” 

“Is that my favorite class couple,” an all too familiar voice rumbled from behind them. 

“Please tell me that isn’t who I think that is,” Joey cringed. 

“That isn’t who you think it is,” he replied flatly. 

“Witter, I see you’ve taken a break from the whole 'Man and the Sea' angle,” Drue said hopping up the steps towards them. 

“And miss spending the summer with you?” He joked slapping him five. 

“Potter, college has worked its hotness on you,” he winked. 

“Drue, how have I managed the entire year without your offensive comments?” She faked a smile. 

“So you two back together already? I always knew you were the Ross and Rachel of our generation.” 

“Sorry but you’ll have to light another candle,” Pacey said patting his shoulder, “we’re just friends.” 

“Hmm," he rubbed his chin, "Where have I heard that line before? Are we talking Jack and Jen friends where sexual interests collide, or Dawson and Joey where if you blink for too long they’re back together?” 

“Ha ha Drue,” Joey said through narrowed eyes. 

“Well we can all be friends together,” Drue said dropping his arm across both of their shoulders, “Because I’m going to be here the entire summer!” 

“Joy,” Pacey said dryly. 

“Kill me now,” Joey added. 

“Witter, love the outfit, did you lose a bet?” 

~*~ 

Joey sank onto a barstool placing the final receipts in the collective pile. Mrs. Valentine had left Drue in charge of locking up the kitchen for the evening for a dinner she had to attend and Drue had left the honor to Joey so he could take advantage of some na?ve tourist. 

She checked at the clock on the wall tapping her fingers impatiently against the counter and waving to the last diner for the evening before heading towards the main doors. 

She looked out the big glass doors at the bobbing ships along the docks the sparkle of lights along the pier and the seemingly endless pool of water. She thought back on the summer not so long ago when she sat in the center of the never ending sea, the cool summer breeze whipping though her hair the countless stars lighting the night sky. She was happy then without a care in the world the looming weight of senior year nothing compared to the pure nirvana that the sea provided. 

Ever have one of those days you wish you could live all over again? 

Suddenly she could think of a hundred of them all spent sailing on True Love Drawing up the keys she stopped at the sight of him as he headed up steps towards the door she opened it for him willing him inside. “Hey,” Pacey said pulling off his base ball cap and running a hand through his mussed hair. “Is the kitchen closed already?” 

She glanced back at the clock, “Fifteen minutes ago.” 

“Well are you hungry?” He asked slipping past her into the dinning hall. 

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been serving the most amazing dishes all day and didn’t even have the time to take off for lunch, the tourist crowd is crazy this year.” 

He grinned, “Well I just happen to be trained in the culinary arts.” 

She shrugged, "Seeing as your last attempts to feed me was futile, I guess you owe me one." 

"Prepare to have your mind blown," he winked heading into the kitchen. 

Joey sank back onto her stool her eyes drifting back out the door over the water, the flashes of their summer on True Love still drifting through her memory. The singing of her cell phone ringer filled the deafening silence of the yacht club dining hall causing her to jump from her reverie. She glanced down at the unfamiliar number her mind immediately jumping to Dawson, she flipped the phone open quickly, "Hello, hello?" 

No answer. 

"Who was that?" Pacey asked coming out of the kitchen a sizzling pan steaming in his right hand. 

"Nobody," she said with a sigh. 

"You seem disappointed," he pointed out setting the pan on the counter while he searched for a plate. 

"I just figured that it maybe was Dawson," she explained allowing the fresh odors to drift past her nose. "Mmm, what is that?" 

"Just a bunch of scraps I found lying around made a little stir-fry with a touch of seasoning," he explained. "You could call him yourself, you know," he said redirecting the topic. 

"I'm afraid to," she said burying her face in her hands. 

"Why?" 

"The way we left things was so perfect and we're finally on good terms and I don't want to ruin that." 

"Isn't that kind of an omen?" He asked serving the stir-fry onto a plate; "The fact that having contact with him will destroy things while ignoring him will make it all better?" 

"Well the fantasy is always better then reality right?" She offered. 

"You're going to have to check in with reality eventually though," he reminded her, "then what?" 

She sifted her fork around her plate; "I'll figure it out when I get there." 

He looked at her knowingly, "What's wrong?" 

Her face fell as she continued to stir her food, "I'm lost, I have no direction?" 

"You get published in a literary magazine and you have no direction?" 

"Not like that," she refuted. "College is where you get the chance to become the person you've always wanted to be, to throw away all of those nasty tendencies that plagued you throughout high school, and I was doing that and I was good at it." She tucked a distracting lock of hair from her face, "Then the whole Mitch thing happened and I had to become Joey Potter again, the too tall girl from the wrong side of the creek who made Dawson feel better when he was down. When Dawson and Jen got back together I felt like I was off the hook from my past, that I could move forward without looking back and at that point I guess my attempts were futile seeing as I was already so caught up with my past again." 

"Then came Charlie," he smirked. 

"He didn't know me and I could be whoever I wanted to be," she smiled faintly, "against my luck however he feel head over heels for her and then I didn't know what to do about it because it wasn't me. And now I'm trying to be the way everybody wants Joey Potter to be, how they expect her to act and react." 

He leaned over the counter resting on his elbows; "Well maybe you should stop acting and just talk to me, what are you thinking and feeling right now?" 

She sucked in her lower lip stabbing at some vegetables and placing them in her mouth, "That this is really good." 

"And we've found the real Joey Potter," he exclaimed excitedly. 

She furrowed her brows, "What do you mean by that?" 

"Let's just say that I am the King of finding one's self," he explained pacing back and forth behind the counter. "You need to find what you love and just do it, don't think so much and just experience." 

"I'm not like that though," she countered. 

"I think we found a little more Josephine," he smirked. "See people's number one mistake of leaving home is trying to become somebody else. You're the way you are for a reason and no matter how hard you try to fight it, you're not going to change, if we did we'd have a hell of a lot more Mister Ripley's on our hands and then who'd we all be? A bunch of David Hasslehoff's and trust me, that wouldn't be pretty." 

She smiled, "Why do you always have to make me feel better?" 

"Because I'm me," he sang mimicking Steve Martin. 

"What's going on in here?" Mrs. Valentine's unmistakable voice screeched interrupting the moment. 

The color drained from her face. "I was locking up," Joey said jumping from the stool. 

"I come home a little early from a dinner and I walk in on my staff in the midst of some sort of foreplay in my respected club?" She asked in shock. "Miss Potter you're lucky that you are the only experienced member on my wait staff or else I would be forced to let you go," she steamed, "now out with you before I change my mind." 

Joey eyed Pacey her every organ inching towards her throat before she headed to the door. "Who are you and what are you doing in here?" She asked Pacey eyeing his uniform. 

"Security," he said nervously. 

"Some job you're doing," she shot back distracted by the faint aroma coming from the plate on the counter. "You think you can just walk in here and make yourself at home," she said eyeing the pans her nose still absorbing the spicy scent of the stir-fry, "You're fired," she said picking at the dish. She licked her lips looking down at the plate and then at Pacey, "From the security staff." 

~*~ 

Joey paced along the dock wringing her hands together as her eyes continued to drift towards the door. The light flashed off and Pacey's outline eventually appeared along the stairs. 

"I'm so sorry Pace," she offered falling in stride with him. 

He sighed, "Well I was fired," he explained fishing through his pockets for his car keys. 

"God is there any way I can make this up to you?" She begged following him guiltily. 

"You could suggest the shrimp, I really like preparing the shrimp." 

She stopped to comprehend that, "She rehired you as a cook?" 

"After tasting my orgasmic cooking how couldn't she?" He countered. 

"So I guess this summer isn't going to be all that bad after all," she shrugged slipping into the passenger seat. "You get to do what you love, I get to seek you out more often for advice, and Drue…" she trailed off, "Well two out of three isn't bad, right?" 

"It most certainly is not," he nodded, "And I'm quitting my job with the village people." 

She grinned, "It just keeps on getting better." 

"To the second greatest summer ever," he toasted an imaginary glass while settling into the driver's seat. 

"Second?" She cocked a brow. 

"Can't forget True Love can we?" 

She nodded connecting fists with his, "The second greatest summer."