Take the Key
Part Two in the "Entwined Hearts" Series
By Becci Wooster
Disclaimer - Don’t own the characters, sorry…The title is a song by All Saints. I
think the situations are mine, but I’m not certain. As I’m making no profit, and I’m a
minor, I can’t be sued, but if I anger Kevin, he might not write anymore, so please
note I don’t own them, OK?
Background - This story takes place just after the first part. I doubt you’d read this
without having read that. Pacey and Joey are (back) together, but need to keep it a
secret until Dawson knows.
Author’s Note - I’d like to think that not everyone is upset with me for killing Joey
off in ‘True Love’. I got an e-mail from someone telling me they hate me! By now,
many of you will have realised that most, if not all, my stories revolve around Joey.
In case you hadn’t noticed, most of the episodes in Series One did too, in one way
or another….
Later that evening, the time came for the guests to leave the Leery’s house. Pacey
offered to give Holly and Joey a ride home, an offer which Joey readily took up. Jen
left, and walked the short distance to her grandma’s house.
“Joey seemed happy,” Gail commented. “How long have she and Pacey been
together?” Dawson laughed.
“Her and Pacey? That’s a joke, right?” he asked incredulously.
“So they’re not an item?” Gail asked, confused. Dawson nodded. “I must have been
imagining it then.” Gail walked out of the room, leaving her only child very
confused, and beginning to put the picture together in his head.
I’m thinking about your sugar lips,
Got a feeling for you now that’s so strong.
I’m dreaming ‘bout the candy in your fingertips,
Baby don’t stay away from me too long.
Honey to the Bee, Billie
The next morning, only Joey and Pacey were in Bessie and Bodie’s house. Bessie
and Bodie had left early to do the morning shift at the Icehouse, Alex had slept
round a friend’s house, and Holly had been taken by her loving Aunt to work with
her. Bessie’s plan was to give Joey a day off, and she would work behind the
counter all day, so she could keep an eye on Holly. Pacey had snuck round at about
eight, and it was now eleven.
“I swear to you, this kid had swallowed fifteen cents, 65 nickels!” Joey said. Pacey
began to laugh.
“You have the best job in the world,” Pacey pointed out. Joey smiled.
“Yeah, I love it. It’s just so busy, you know?”
“Unlike us teachers, who get weeks off for holidays,” Pacey added.
“You deserve it, having to cope with all those kids for all those hours.”
“I remember a time that you were a kid,” Pacey argued, smiling at her.
“Nah, not me!” she joked.
“I seem to remember you be very ticklish when you weren’t a kid,” Pacey teased.
He smiled at Joey, and she looked at him. Then she realised what he was about to
do.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned him. He smiled even more, and moved
closer to her. Then he began to tickle her.
Dawson frowned, and looked at his father. They were outside Bessie’s house, which
was about three hundred yards from his childhood home. Dawson had knocked
several times, and had got no reply. Then he heard laughing, and screaming. He
recognised the screams as being Joey’s. He tried the door, and finding it open, he
entered the house. He followed the screams to the kitchen, being followed by Mitch
and Maria, his father’s girlfriend. The sight that greeted them shocked him. Pacey
and Joey, his two best friends, were rolling on the floor, giggling and tickling each
other. Then they kissed. A deep and tender kiss that made Dawson shut his eyes.
From beside him, Dawson heard his father clear his throat. Both heads shot up, and
immediately looked embarrassed. Dawson looked at his dad, and saw he was
watching him for a reaction. He looked back at Joey and Pacey, who were also
looking at him expectantly. Finally, he found words.
“I’m guessing that this is a new thing?” he asked, his voice hoarse. Pacey stood up,
and held out a hand for Joey. She accepted it, and he swiftly pulled her off the floor.
She stepped towards Dawson.
“Dawson…” she began.
“Joey, Pacey, this is Maria, my father’s girlfriend. Maria, this is Joey and Pacey, my
two best friends. Guys, dad wanted to introduce you to Maria, and to see Holly,”
Dawson rambled.
“Dawson, can we talk please?” Pacey asked. Joey looked at him, and he nodded at
her.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I want to talk to my best friend?” Dawson said, trying to
reassure himself. Pacey walked over to the fridge, grabbed two bottles of beer, and
led Dawson out to the porch. Joey ran her hands through her hair, smiled falsely at
Mitch and Maria, and offered them a cup of coffee.
Dawson took a swig of beer from the bottle, and looked at Pacey. Pacey was
looking out over the creek.
“Do you love her?” Dawson asked. Pacey nodded.
“What kind of question is that?” he asked. “Of course I do. I always have.”
“How long has it been going on?”
“This time, about a day and a half,” Pacey admitted.
“This time?”
“We were together before, a long time ago,” Pacey explained.
Maria looked at Joey, who was obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.
She felt for the young woman.
“Mitch talks about you all the time,” Maria started, trying to spark a conversation.
Joey looked at Mitch, and he smiled at her.
“Don’t believe a word of it,” Joey warned, smiling.
“Joey’s an unusual name for a girl,” Maria commented.
“My real name’s Josephine Leery,” Joey explained. Maria frowned slightly at the
last name. Joey smiled. “He obviously didn’t tell you my life history,” Joey said. “I
was Josephine Potter. My father got put in prison when I was twelve, got let out
when I was sixteen and died when I was eighteen. My mother got cancer and died
when I was twelve.”
“I’m so sorry,” Maria interrupted. Joey shrugged.
“It’s OK. Anyway, Dawson and I were best friends until we were almost sixteen,
when we became a couple. Despite falling outs and ladders being taken down,” she
said, smiling at Mitch, “we were still together when we started at Boston University
together. During our freshman year, my dad died, and that summer, Dawson and I
married.”
“Henceforth the same last name,” Maria understood. Joey nodded.
“Exactly. Three years later, Dawson’s journalism course ended, and I still had a
year of pre-med. to go. He was working to support us both, and for once, we were
keeping out head above water. Then I got pregnant. Unfortunately, I lost the baby at
twelve weeks. It tore us apart.” Joey paused for a second, and Mitch knew the pain
she was remembering. “I saw Dawson for the guy he was. Just the same insecure,
selfish child I had broken up with so many times before. I needed him, but he was caught up in his life and his loss, he forgot all about me. I couldn’t stay married to
him. When I finished my university course, he wanted to move to Washington to
pursue his career. I wanted to move to Chicago, to do medical school there. We
talked, and we decided a divorce was the best way to stay friends.”
“Joey, you must be very strong,” Maria said, reaching for her hand. Joey smiled at
her. She liked her. She was right for Mitch, who was also very caring. He’d spent
hours talking to her about her problems during the years.
“That’s not all of it,” Joey added. “Two years a go, I got married to a wonderful
man called Joshua. We were only married a few months when he had a car accident.
He died in hospital. A month later, I found out I was pregnant, and that’s how I got
Holly. She’s with my sister, who brought me up at the moment, but she’s a lovely
girl. She’s so sweet,” Joey boasted proudly.
“Joey, you didn’t need to tell me all that,” Maria said gently.
“I think you’ll be staying around a while,” Joey pointed out, smiling at the couple.
“And if you want to know me, you need to know all that crap.”
“OK, but why are you still a Leery?” Maria asked.
“I didn’t want to go back to being a Potter,” Joey explained. “Then when I met
Josh, I wanted to keep my professional name.”
“Besides, she’s been like a member of our family for years,” Mitch explained.“She’s always felt like my daughter.”
“Whilst I’m in confessional mode, there’s another disastrous chapter in my life that
neither of you know about, and that Pacey’s busy telling Dawson right now,” Joey
said…
Back on the porch, Dawson and Pacey had been talking, but Pacey hadn’t answered
one important question - when had he and Joey been together before? Dawson had
asked a few times, but Pacey had changed the topic successfully.
“Pacey, I’m happy for you both, OK? I probably know you and Joey better than
anyone, and I know you’ll be good together. But when you said that you were
together again, what did you mean?” Pacey sighed, and looked away from Dawson.
“When you and Joey split up, you know she came back here?” he began. Dawson
nodded. “Well, I was here too. My school had just broken up for the summer, and
me and Joey spent a lot of time together. She came here in late May, and by mid
June, we had become lovers. We were in love. Then she got pregnant. It was awful,
Dawson. We wanted fun together, and she was still upset about her miscarriage. We
only knew for two weeks before…” Pacey winced, remembering the afternoon.
“She had another miscarriage, Dawson. We lost our baby just like you lost yours.
“She had a month before she was supposed to move to Chicago. We knew that she
had to go, and then I got a job offer in Florida. So we spent a month comforting each
other, knowing that we would have to break up. We kept our baby a secret from
everyone, because we knew it would hurt you. Your two best friends getting
together just weeks after you split up from her? So we decided to keep ourselves
distant in the hope that we could forget all about it. But neither of us could. It was
too hard to keep in. Last time we saw each other, we fought so hard, I didn’t think
she’d ever talk to me again. And then you brought her to my house the other day.
And that, Dawson Leery, is the story of myself and your ex-wife.” Dawson looked
at Pacey saddened. He realised how much pain Joey had been through, and indeed
how much Pacey had experienced.
“Pacey, I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”
“I know. But think about Joey. She’s gone through it twice. We’re the only ones
left. You, me and Bessie. And of course Holly. Everyone else is gone. She’s so
strong. Just to be able to get up in the morning would prove that. I’m sorry that you
had to find out about us like that. But I love her, Dawson. And she loves me. She’s
chosen me. And I don’t intend for her to lose me too.” Dawson took another swig
of beer.
Yup! I’ve done two parts to this story today! I’m on holiday from school incase you
hadn’t guessed. I’m just trying to get this story out before I loose interest. What
about you? Do you like it? there’s probably only gonna be one or possibly two more
parts. What do you want to happen? That is, if I haven’t finished it by the time it
gets displayed. If you like my writing, why not vote for me in a contest somewhere,
or drop me a line? Thanks.
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