All Apologies Part 3
Lee Burton 1998
DISCLAIMER: All characters owned by Kevin Williamson, blah, blah,
blah.
NOTE: Special thanks to Trish Kooger for some ideas about this
story.
Later that night, Pacey walked back home. The inevitable had
been delayed
long enough. He would talk to his father and tell him how he felt. Doug
was out on patrol
and wouldn’t be able to interrupt or provoke a conflict.
His mind wandered to Jen as he approached the house, he sure
hoped she
was right. Pacey walked up to the porch, opened the door and walked into
the house. He
walked by his sister, who was talking on the phone, looked at him and
shot him a very
dirty look. He shrugged it off and went into the living room where his
father was sat.
“Where the hell have you been?” his father shouted after looking
up to see the
family embarrassment stood there. “I’ve been thinking. We need to talk.”
Pacey replied
to his father who was looking increasingly disgusted.
Pacey walked over to a chair that was facing his father and sat
down. “I spent
last night thinking about everything that’s going on. I need to get a
few things off my
chest.” he continued.
“Well?” his father asked impatiently “What verbal white noise do
you need to
spout now?”
“Actually, we need to talk about us. This wedge that’s formed
between us.
Ever since that baseball tournament where I struck out and you agreed
when Doug said,
At least you still have me.” Pacey began to talk faster, wanting to get
out all of his feelings
as quickly as possible.
“That hurt me, Dad. More than I ever expected, especially when
there was no
effort to defend me, and since that day, I have felt like whatever I do
won’t compare to
Doug’s achievements. I don’t feel wanted here, and all I want to know,
even if you want
me to leave, is why?”
Mr. Witter let all that he said sink in, looked up at Pacey, who
saw rage in his
father’s eyes and prepared for what was about to happen, his father
stood up and yelled,
“Get out! I don’t ever want to see you here again!” he shouted at his
son, who patiently
awaited an answer.
Pacey received the blasting of a lifetime, realizing what he said
must’ve made
an impact to make him go off like that. Pacey stood up, bowed, and
replied “Thank you
for your time, and goodnight.” He figured he’d be hurt, but was
surprisingly calm. He
walked up to his room, filled it with clothes and other essentials, and
walked downstairs.
He then proceeded to walk straight past his father who was sat in his
recliner staring at
the floor, past his sister, who noticed the bag he was carrying, and she
began spouting to
the other person on the phone, “Oh my god! My Dad finally kicked my
brother out of the
house for good.” She sounded almost happy.
He walked out of the house, and headed towards the road. He
turned around
to see the house again. “No Dad, I won’t give you the pleasure.” He said
as he started to
run, not looking back again.
He ran for what felt like hours, but really was about ten
minutes, and when he
couldn’t run anymore, he collapsed onto a field of grass. He looked up
and realized
where he had run, the ruins.
“Here will have to do for tonight.” He said aloud, knowing no one
was there,
but not caring. He pulled a blanket out of his bag and laid it out on
the grass. He put on
about three layers of extra clothing he had brought so he wouldn’t
freeze to death
overnight.
“Christ it’s cold tonight. I should have picked a warmer night I
guess.” He
thought as he lay down and began to actually think about what just
happened.
Mr. Witter, who was reading the paper, read an article about a
runaway who
was found dead. He began thinking about the arguments Pacey and him have
had in the
past. His mind then went back a few years to the baseball championship
game where
Pacey struck out and messed up the chances for his team. He then
remembered what
happened afterwards. Doug approached him and told him “At least you
still have me,
dad.”
Mr. Witter thought about that event, and quietly said to himself
“He heard
that?” with a bit of regret in his voice.
It must have been about 7am when he stirred, hearing the sounds
of cars
passing on the road. “Damn, gotta go to school.” He said as he packed up
his stuff and
hid it in a quiet corner of the ruins.
He then began the long walk up to the high school. It gave him a
lot of time to
think, “I guess I’ll just act like everything is normal. I don’t need a
bunch of bleeding
hearts trying to help me, I can take care of this mess myself.” He
thought as he walked
through the main entrance of Capeside High and headed to the nearest
men’s room.
“Good morning Mister Witter.” He heard as he entered the
bathroom. He saw
Mr. Gold at the sink washing his hands. Pacey walked to one of the sinks
and began to
wash his face. Gold looked over at him and saw a boy who was a true
mess. “What the
hell happened to you Pacey?” he asked, concerned to see any student such
a wreck,
despite the little incident at the Rialto with Tamara.
“Nothing Mr. Gold, I am perfectly fine. I just had trouble
sleeping, that’s all.”
Pacey replied, but not very convincingly. Mr. Gold had heard about the
problems with his
family, and knew something had gone wrong.
“Alright Pacey, have a good day, and watch the clock, two minutes
until
homeroom.” Gold said as he left, shaking his head, not knowing how to
help him.
Pacey went back into the hall after straightening up, only to see
Joey and
Dawson making out in front of Joey’s locker. “Better act normal,” he
thought walking up
to the show that was ensuing in the hall.
“Do I need to get the fire extinguisher?” Pacey laughed dryly as
he walked
over to the pair. “Or maybe the Jaws of Life?” he continued seeing how
into it they both
were.
“Oh, hi Pacey.” Dawson said as Joey pulled away, a little
embarrassed. “We
were just practicing for a movie…” Dawson said, trying to cover up. “No,
Dawson, you
were sucking face. Be proud of it.” Pacey replied to his obvious
cover.
Joey looked at Pacey and smiled, but it didn’t last long. “Whoa,
Pacey, what
the hell happened to you?” she asked him, but she already had a good
idea of what
happened.
“Nothing, just had a lousy night of sleep.” He said with the
best-faked
happiness that he could muster up. “I gotta go to homeroom, see ya
later.” He finished as
he quickly walked to his locker and grabbed his books and left.
Joey turned to Dawson, who looked more interested in her than
what was
only too obvious about Pacey. “Something happened, Dawson, he looked
like hell.” She
said as she watched him walk down the hall without the usual zing that
is Pacey.
“Huh, what are you talking about, he didn’t get enough sleep.”
Dawson
replied, but was looking at Joey the whole time. “Ugh, come on Dawson I
appreciate the
unending devotion, but we’ve got homeroom.” She finished, frustrated and
worried at the
same time.
The rest of the day went uneventfully, which was a blessing for
Pacey, since he
still hadn’t told anyone about being kicked out, which as he walked back
to the ruins, he
started thinking about the severity of his situation. It was the middle
of winter, and he
can’t stay in the ruins or he’ll freeze to death.
“Boy, this sucks.” He said walking back to the ruins where he
grabbed his bag
and started to walk back towards the road. “Pacey?” he heard from behind
him. He
turned to see Jen watching him looking sad. “He kicked you out didn’t
he?” Jen asked,
seeing the bag over his shoulder.
“How’d you guess?” he asked, a little surprised that she figured
it out so
quickly. She pointed to the bag over his shoulder. “Oh, that…” he
replied with a faked
laugh.
“You don’t seem to be worried about it. Where did you stay last
night?” she
asked, sounding concerned. “Well, I slept here. But I plan on finding
somewhere that I
won’t freeze to death.” He answered as he began to walk again.
“You’ll stay with me and grams, I won’t let you freeze out here
or go stay in
any roach infested motel. I know that situation all too well.” She
replied, willing to help
him out.
“I don’t want to put you out Jen, and anyway, I don’t think your
grandmother
will allow it, I mean the town clown staying at her house.” Pacey
replied to her kindness.
But he knew it wouldn’t happen.
“I’ll talk her into it. Come on.” She said as she started off
towards her house.
“What the hell.” He thought as he turned around and followed her.
“Grams, Pacey’s father kicked him out of the house, is it alright
if he stays until
he can find somewhere else to stay?” Jen asked her grandmother, even
though she
strongly expected a no.
“Jennifer, I don’t know, I mean he must have done something wrong
to get
kicked out of his house in the first place.” Mrs. Lindley told Jen, who
quickly returned
with “Well, all he did was confront his father about all the hurt his
family has put him
through, and his dad blew up on him. I feel sort of responsible since I
suggested it.” She
finished and waited to see Grams reaction.
“Unbelievable, they put their own child on the street just for
speaking their
mind. Of course he can stay, but it’s certainly not permanent. He can
use the guestroom. I
won’t let a child sleep out in the cold.” Grams replied to Jen, who’s
face lit up light a
Christmas tree.
Jen stood up, kissed her grandmother on the forehead, “Thanks
grams” she
said as she ran out to tell Pacey the good news.
“She said you can stay!” Jen yelled as she ran out onto the
porch, where
Pacey was sat with his bag. His frown turned into a smile and he stood
up and gave Jen a
hug. “Thanks Jen, it’s good to know people actually care about my sorry
ass.” He replied
happily.
“Just, watch how you talk in front of grams, she can be kind of
edgy.” Jen said
as they began to walk into the kitchen. He walked over to grams and said
“Mrs. Lindley,
I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay, I promise you that it
won’t be for very long. I
just need to stay until I can find my own place.” Pacey said with
sincerity, trying to get off
on a good foot with her.
“No thanks necessary Mr. Witter, just try to stay out of trouble
while you’re
here, Jennifer has told me of your little escapades in the past.” Mrs.
Lindley replied, then
saw Jen blush a bit.
“No problem, Mrs. Lindley, I’ll be on my best behavior. Thank
you.” He
thanked her again. “Jennifer, show him up to the guest room.” Grams
said, as Jen kissed
her on the cheek and said, “Thanks again, grams.”
Jen showed him upstairs and he put his things into the guestroom,
sat on the
bed and looked back to Jen. “Thanks for everything Jen, it’s been really
hard lately.” She
then responded, “Yeah, but I’m sure your father will come around sooner
or later. I
expect that he’ll let you back to the house, but it may take a while,
apologies can be hard
to come up with. Especially good ones…”
The End…
Author’s Note: This ends the All Apologies story arch, but I’m
far from
done with the Storm’s End series, so expect more within a couple weeks.
Will Pacey’s
father come around? What’s in store for Pacey and Jen’s budding
relationship? And
what’s up for everyone else? You’ll just have to wait and see.
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