Beyond the Pale

Joey flung open the front door, a whining, kicking Alexander under her arm, and called to Pacey, who was waiting for her in the truck, "I’ll be right there!"

Pacey gave her a lazy thumbs-up. He didn’t look fully awake yet, anyway.

Joey rushed back into the house to continue her futile hunt for Alex’s other shoe. Bessie had awakened late, and she’d begged Joey to dress him while she took a shower. Joey sighed exasperatedly. "Would you be still?" she said to her nephew through gritted teeth.

"Finally," she muttered, spotting a small canvas shoe sticking out from under the couch. She snatched it up, plopped Alex down on the cushion, and started cramming the shoes onto his feet. Alex began to wail. "Oh, hush," Joey grumbled.

Bessie came storming out of the bathroom. "What are you doing to him?" she demanded. Wet hair straggled over her shoulder.

"I am putting on his damn shoes, like you told me to," Joey snapped. "I’m late for school, you know, and Pacey’s outside waiting for me."

"Forget it." Bessie took the remaining shoe out of Joey’s hand. "Go. Just get out."

"Fine," Joey huffed. She grabbed her backpack and stalked out the door. She climbed into the truck, pulled the door closed behind her, and said to Pacey, "My sister is such a bitch!"

"That’s what sisters are for," Pacey said. He moved closer to her and kissed her. Joey closed her eyes and relaxed against him, her irritation fading. Pacey was good at making her forget everything but him.

Joey was standing at the bathroom sink washing her hands before lunch, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Abby Morgan smirking at her. She rolled her eyes. Abby had to be one of her least favorite people ever, right behind Warren Gary and Grant Bodine. "Can’t believe what?" Joey asked. She raised an eyebrow at the girl’s short red skirt and fishnet hose. "That you’re a mentally deficient escapee from Frederick’s of Hollywood?"

Abby’s smile widened. "Very funny. I was referring to you and Pacey Witter."

Joey and Pacey had been very low key at school; Joey couldn’t imagine where Abby was getting her information. Dawson was the only person who knew anything about it, and she knew Dawson wouldn’t have said anything. Joey began drying her hands with a paper towel. "Give it up, Abby," she said. "You’re looking for gossip where none exists."

"I don’t think so," Abby caroled.

"Whatever," Joey said, striving to sound bored. She pushed past Abby and walked out of the bathroom. Abby Morgan was quite literally the devil’s spawn, in her opinion. Abby and Jen Lindley had gotten into so much trouble their sophomore year that Jen’s grandmother, Mrs. Ryan, had ended up sending Jen back home to New York. Joey kind of missed Jen. She’d been the closest to a female confidante that Joey’d ever had.

Joey went through the lunch line, scanning the tables for Dawson and Pacey. She saw them sitting by the window, and after she’d gotten her food, she walked over to join them. "Hey, guys," she said, pulling out the chair next to Pacey’s and sitting down.

"Hey, Jo," Dawson said. Pacey winked at her. Under the table he put his hand on her knee.

"I just had a strange conversation with the school gossip," Joey said.

"Abby?" Dawson asked. He shook his head and laughed at his own denseness. "Of course, who else could it be?"

Joey glanced at Pacey, her lips turning up in a slight smile. "She seems to think there’s something going on between us."

"Us?" Pacey said innocently. "You and me?" His hand traveled a few inches up Joey’s leg. She could feel its heat through her jeans, even. She wondered if he realized that he was beginning to turn her on. She figured that he probably did.

"Wonder where she got that idea?" Dawson said. He was looking quizzically at Joey’s flushed face. He noticed that his friend’s gaze seemed to be locked on Pacey’s mouth. She licked her lips. Dawson couldn’t help wondering exactly what those two were up to these days.

Finally, Joey and Pacey turned their attention to their lunches. Dawson, having eaten his sandwich already, thoughtfully doodled on a scrap of paper. He was restless and out of sorts. It wasn’t that he was jealous of Joey and Pacey’s relationship, exactly. He was just wondering why he couldn’t find the right girl. That was all.

"I’m so tired," Joey sighed, pushing her spaghetti around with her fork. "At least I don’t have to go to work this afternoon."

"I don’t either," Pacey said. He suddenly looked quite happy.

Dawson missed the interested glances his friends were exchanging. He was looking around the lunchroom, hoping to discover that he’d somehow missed a girl who might be perfect to ask out. He didn’t notice the dark-haired sophomore who sat a couple of tables away, gazing longingly at his profile.

Joey turned the page in her history book, aware that Pacey was furtively eying her from the other end of the couch. She attempted to look completely involved in what she was reading, primly crossing one shorts-clad leg over the other. She was wasting her time, because nothing was registering in her brain. The anticipation was almost more than she could stand. Being of reasonable intelligence, Joey knew exactly how this afternoon was going to end.

She had already gone into Bessie’s bedroom and taken the phone off the hook. She could picture Dawson calling the house just as she and Pacey were getting into some serious fooling around. Or one of Bessie’s girlfriends wanting to compare notes on diaper rashes. Joey smiled to herself. She and Pacey very rarely had the chance to be completely alone. That was probably a good thing, considering the way he made her feel.

She heard Pacey heave a heavy sigh and toss his notes on the end table. There was a brief pause, and then he scooted toward her. Closer, and closer, until he was next to her. He pushed back the hair covering her ear and whispered, "Jo? Aren’t you tired of studying yet?"

"I’m not sure," Joey said, a mischievous smile hovering on her lips. "This is pretty fascinating."

"Is it?" Pacey said huskily. He began nuzzling her ear with his nose.

"Yes," Joey said, "very." She drew in her breath as Pacey began investigating her ear with his tongue. She leaned closer to him, unaware that she was doing so.

"C’mon, Jo," Pacey breathed, "put the book down."

Joey let the textbook drop to the floor, and she turned to face Pacey. He lay back on the couch, pulling Joey down on top of him. She plunged her tongue into his mouth and settled herself more comfortably on his body. Pacey slid his hands around to her rear, pulling her more tightly against him.

The intensity of their kissing and touching increased. Joey was suddenly too warm, and she didn’t protest when Pacey pulled her t-shirt over her head. He rolled over, easing her underneath him, and pulled his own shirt off, tossing it onto the floor. Joey ran her hands over his bare back and shoulders as he unhooked her bra. She stiffened, feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

"Jo?" Pacey said. "You can say stop at any time, okay? I’d never do anything you didn’t want me to."

Joey smiled at him. "I’m just kind of embarrassed," she murmured. "I’m not used to anyone seeing me without my clothes on."

"Don’t be," Pacey said. He started to kiss her again, his full weight resting on her. Joey pressed against him, hoping he wouldn’t decide to take anything else off of her. She didn’t think she was ready for that. Pacey was experienced, and he knew what to do. She didn’t.

Tentatively, she let her hands wander down to his jeans-clad backside. She gave him a brief squeeze then, losing her nerve, slid her hands up to his back once more. Pacey was sucking on her neck, gently at first, and then harder. Joey squirmed against him as she became more and more aroused, not sure what she was doing but unable to stop herself. "Pacey," she whispered.

"Does that feel good?" he whispered back. He began to move, rubbing the hard bulge in his pants against her.

Joey couldn’t answer. She couldn’t do anything but concentrate on the tingling, electric sensation that was rising inside her. Every time he pressed himself against her, the feeling intensified. "Pacey," she whispered again, almost frantically. She squeezed her eyes closed, biting her lip as the tension inside her shattered. She trembled, holding him tightly.

Joey could still feel her heart pounding as Pacey brushed her hair away from her face. He looked quite proud of himself. "Did you...?" he said.

Joey nodded. Pacey kissed her gently on the lips, on the cheek, on the forehead. Joey hugged him. Glancing over his shoulder, she saw something that absolutely horrified her. Standing in the front doorway, looking at her and Pacey like they were some strange new species of insect, was her best friend, Dawson Leery.

"I knocked," Dawson said defensively.

At the sound of Dawson’s voice, Pacey jerked his head up, startled.

"Two or three times," Dawson said. He continued to stare at the interesting sight of his two best friends half-undressed. "Bessie sent me to get you," he said to Joey. "She said that the phone doesn’t seem to be working." He smiled wryly. "She needs you at the Icehouse."

Dawson backed out of the doorway. Gently, he closed the door behind him.

Fatally embarrassed, Joey wondered, How much did he see?

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