Rating: PG. Potty words!
Author's Note: Some congratulations are in order! This part is two to three times the length of any other story I've ever written except for The Greatest Story Ever Told, which is still shorter than this. I also edited out the card game directions, and will soon add the link to what I took out if you want to figure out exactly what game I'm... er, Jen is talking about.
Read the days in the right order or this will make no sense at all.
Remember, anything can happen in fanfic....
Groundhog's Day: Day Five
Joey woke up, startled by her alarm clock. “Shut up you damn thing!” she screamed while slamming down the off button. Today was not going to be her day, she could feel it. She was tired and didn't want to go to school. Luckily, it was Friday. Friday the second. Friday the second? “Damn it!” Joey screamed. What had gone wrong? Nothing had happened to anyone and she had taken care of her alarm clock.
“What’s wrong with you?” Bessie came in with fire in her eyes. “I finally get Alex back to sleep and you start hollering? Now, hurry up. You don’t want to be late for school.”
“Okay, deep breaths, Joey,” she said to herself. She was going to follow the same plan from the last two days just to see if anyone had any more ideas.
Joey told Pacey, Dawson, and Jen every detail of the last three days, only omitting what happened when Dawson and Jen got drunk. They were sitting in the Ruins trying to make sense of it all. “No, Jen, it wasn’t a dream. No, Dawson, going to sleep now won’t help, we’ve tried it twice. And no, Pacey, mutilating the alarm clock didn’t help, although it made me feel better!” Joey added bitterly. “Any other suggestions?” She got stares of disbelief. No one had said anything except for asking an occasional question during the story.
“How’d you know that I would say that about the alarm clock?” Pacey asked. Joey rolled her eyes.
“Hello? Day repeating itself? You suggested that yesterday.”
“Okay.” Pacey scoffed. “Hmm… how about staying up all night? Wait until Saturday morning at dawn?”
“Yeah,” Jen said, “we’ll go to Mike’s party that you said he’s having.”
“Is everyone sure that there are no other ideas?” Joey frowned, thinking about the last time they went to Mike’s party. Everyone thought for a minute before they answered no. Joey sighed. At least this would be the last time she would have to gather everyone and explain this if it didn’t work. “Okay,” she smiled weakly. “We’ll go to the party. No punch, though. Only chocolate and caffeine. We want to be staying awake, not passing out. I’ll tell Bessie I’m sleeping at Dawson’s after the party. Dawson, tell your parents you’re sleeping at Pacey’s. Pacey, tell your parents you’re sleeping at Dawson’s. We don’t want anyone waiting up all night for us. And Jen… hmm…”
“I’ll tell Grams that I’m going back to your house after the party and not to wait up. I can sneak in before dawn and Dawson and Pacey can keep you up after then,” Jen said.
“I know how fond your grandmother is of me, so I hope she doesn’t try calling to check up on you,” Joey said sarcastically.
“Don’t worry,” Jen said. “Taking care of Gramps has been taking a lot out of her lately, so she’ll go to sleep early.”
“Okay, then,” Dawson said. “We have a plan. Maybe we should separate for a while, though, because we have a long night ahead of us and we don’t want to get sick of each other.”
“Don’t worry, D-man,” Pacey grinned. “Tonight we’re going to PAR-TEE!”
“Jo, what do we do now?” Jen asked, ignoring Pacey.
“Go back to school?” Dawson suggested.
“Dawson, I’m trying to stay awake, here,” Joey said uninterestedly.
“It’s lunchtime, so we can easily sneak back onto campus,” Dawson continued.
“Fine,” Joey groaned. “It will only be for a couple of hours. We’ll meet at the party at seven. Please wait and find each other so nothing happens to anyone, okay? Dawson’s right, we’ll be sick of each other if we are together before then, so just, I don’t know, avoid each other until the party.”
“Yes, mommy,” Pacey mocked her.
“This isn’t good,” Joey said. “I’m sick of him already.” Dawson and Jen just shook their heads and left.
After school, Joey walked home by herself. I really hope this works she thought, otherwise I won’t know what to do. This is a nightmare. She trudged into her house and fell into bed.
“Were you late to school?” she heard Bessie call into her room.
“Actually, I was early,” Joey answered.
“Well, you're going to be late to work if you don't get to the Icehouse pronto!”
“Bessie,” Joey pleaded, not wanting to move. “Bessie, I'm going to a party tonight.” Bessie appeared in the doorway.
“A party? Why didn't you say so?” Bessie asked in surprise. “When exactly?”
“A few hours,” Joey responded unenthusiastically.
“If that's the case, I guess you can take the night off,” Bessie said, smiling, “but only if you wear what I give you.”
“Fine,” Joey moaned, “but I don't have to get ready for another two hours so please let me vegetate. Being numb is probably a good idea before going to a jock's party.” Bessie rolled her eyes at Joey's pessimism and left her alone. Perfect, Joey thought, I’m even memorizing lines that I know will get Bessie to let me go to the party. Oops, forgot one thing this time. “Don’t wait up,” Joey called to Bessie. “I’m sleeping over Dawson’s after the party."
Joey got to the party and immediately found Pacey. “Dawson and Jen are over there,” Pacey pointed to the dance floor. “Let’s go join them.” He took her by the hand before she had a chance to protest. “Are we all set for our night of pleasure?” Pacey asked everyone.
“Oh, yeah,” Dawson smiled, “and me and Pacey set up a surprise near the docks.” Joey and Jen exchanged looks.
“Uh, oh,” Jen said. Pacey and Dawson smirked at her.
Everyone was sick of dancing and was trying to figure out something else to do. They couldn’t drink the punch and were sick of chips and pretzels. “I have an idea. Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” Pacey said.
“No,” Jen said. “It’s only midnight. What are we going to do until the sun rises at 7 AM?”
“Come on,” Pacey pleaded. “Watching the jocks stumbling around dead drunk is not my idea of something to do, anyway.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Dawson agreed.
“Only if you guys take us to our surprise,” Joey said firmly.
“No, no,” Pacey protested, “we’re not tired enough for that. Later, you shall see it.”
“Fine,” Jen grumbled. On the way to the sidewalk, she stumbled on something and almost fell.
“Hey,” Pacey said, looking down at the object. “A frisbee!”
“Don’t take it, it’s theirs,” Dawson said, pointing to the house.
“It’s a two dollar piece of crap! They can afford a new one, trust me,” Pacey insisted. “Follow me.” They followed Pacey to a small clearing near a streetlight. “Who’s up for a little Ultimate?”
“No way,” Jen shook her head, “not the way I’m dressed.”
“What’s the matter, honey?” Joey asked, mock sweetly. “Afraid of a little physical activity?” She took off her heels and was glad that Bessie had picked out pants for her to wear. Jen shot her a dirty look.
“No,” Jen said, flashing a smile. “I just didn’t want to embarrass you too much.” Jen took off her heels as well and was glad that her long black skirt would not get grass stains on it.
“Okay, then,” Pacey said. “Run out and get it! One hundred!” Pacey threw the frisbee, and Dawson, Joey and Jen rushed to get it. Dawson was about to reach it when Joey pushed him. He fell to the ground and pulled Joey with him. Jen laughed as she grabbed the frisbee.
“Funny that someone who sucks as much as I do should be winning,” Jen said loudly before throwing the frisbee back to Pacey. Joey and Dawson made faces at her.
“I win!” Pacey screamed, an hour later. “I knew I would. Who da man?”
“Shut up, Pacey,” Joey said good-naturedly before knocking him down.
“You’re not getting away with that,” Pacey yelled, getting up and running after her. She shrieked when he caught her and picked her up. She was giggling when he started tickling her. “Hey,” Pacey frowned, “you stopped laughing.” He put her down.
“Of course, you turd. This sweater is so thick there’s no way I could feel ticklish through it.”
“Bah,” Pacey said. “It’s starting to get cold, anyway. We should put our jackets back on if we’re not going to be running anymore.”
“I’m starting to get a little tired,” Joey confessed. The others looked alarmed.
“Perfect time for our surprise,” Dawson grinned. Joey and Jen pretended to be frightened. “It’s not bad,” Dawson insisted. “You’ll like it and it will keep us awake.”
“Fine, Dawson. If you’re so eager to show it to us,” Jen said. Pacey went to a nearby tree and pulled out a bag and a towel.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Joey said. “The whole Ultimate thing, was that just a setup to get us here?”
“And waste time,” Pacey pointed out.
“What else did you do, plan a romantic dinner while you were at it? Where are the candles and soft music, Dawson?” Joey asked sarcastically.
“Not dinner, just a snack. Dig in and pig out!” Pacey dumped the candy bar contents of the bag onto the towel.
“We just thought it would be more fun to drive you crazy for a few hours,” Dawson said. “Surprise!”
“Come on, ladies,” Pacey said, tearing open one of the wrappers. “You need to keep up your caffeine levels.”
“Ooooh, I love these!” Joey sat down on the towel. She opened a candy bar. Dawson and Jen joined them.
“Hey, that’s the last one of those!” Dawson said to Joey a little while later.
“You already had two. I need to replenish the calories I used beating you in Ultimate,” Joey retorted. They ignored Pacey loudly crinkling a wrapper and calling out to share.
“I need consolation for losing to you and Pacey. They’re my favorites, I deserve it more!”
“No way,” Joey said. Dawson leaned over to grab it. Joey held it away from him.
“Yes, way. Damn it, give it to me, Joey!” Joey laughed and put it behind her back. She threw it behind her when Dawson tackled her in fear that they would crush the chocolate.
“I don’t have it, Dawson, stop!” Joey struggled to say. Dawson had put his hand under her sweater in order to tickle her.
“Hey, there are other people here who want to continue eating without losing their appetites. Dawson, if you want to feel her up, take your perverted sex games over there where there isn’t an audience!” Pacey smirked. Damn, why didn’t I think of doing that when I was trying to tickle her? he thought. Dawson immediately removed his hand.
“Pacey,” Dawson stuttered, “I—I wasn’t…”
“Hey! They’re eating our candy bar!” Joey yelled. “Get them!” Dawson was secretly relieved to be out of the situation. He joined Joey in lunging at Pacey and Jen.
“Okay, okay,” Jen shrieked. “We give. Here, there’s still half left.”
“Unlike others, we learned how to share in pre-school,” Pacey said in a snotty voice.
“Would you care for half?” Joey grumbled to Dawson.
“I would kind of prefer all…” Joey glared at Dawson, her hand still out holding the half she had just offered. “… but I guess I could live with only half.”
“Now that we’re all a big, happy family again, it’s only 1:30 AM. What do we do now?” Pacey asked.
“I have a feeling the sugar will be kicking in soon,” Jen said. “I’m already starting to get hyper.”
“There’s an all-night convenience store only six blocks away,” Dawson offered. “We can go there.”
“Then off we go!” Pacey pointed in the direction and grabbed the towel when everyone stood up.
They had walked a block in silence when Pacey spoke. “I feel like singing.” Dawson stopped short.
“Uh-uh, Pacey. I’ve heard you sing before. Please spare us,” he begged.
“I know what I want to sing. That really annoying theme song that they always play to that stupid show. You know, the song everyone only knows the chorus to…” Pacey prepared to sing. “I don’t wanna wait…“
“Oh noooo,” Dawson groaned loudly. Jen suddenly joined in.
“For our lives to be over, I want to know right now what will it be?“ They were belting horribly. Joey and Dawson looked at each other. Joey crinkled her nose and Dawson raised his eyebrows.
“I’d hardly call that singing,” Joey said. “Croaking, maybe, but not singing.”
“I don’t want to wait for our lives to be over, will it be yes or will it be—sorrreeee…“
“Doo doo doo doo doo doo. Doo doo doo doo doo doo…” Pacey continued, “doo doo doo doo doo doo doo do doooo… Come on, Jen. Let’s skip.” The caffeine was in full affect as Jen took Pacey’s arm and started skipping down the block with him as they repeated the chorus.
“Don’t you two know people are sleeping?” Dawson yelled out to them.
“Man, are they tone deaf,” Joey giggled. “And Pacey’s got to just pick an octave and stay there. How do we make them stop?”
“I have an idea. Just follow my lead. Shh…” Dawson whispered. He put his hands together in the shape of a gun and looked behind him. He began to hum the theme song to Mission: Impossible as he sidestepped to a bush and crouched down behind it. Joey smiled with glee as she joined him.
“Shhh,” she said. “Wait a minute, then make a run to the mailbox. Go!” They quietly ran and hid behind the mailbox a few feet in front of them. “Okay, I’ll take the blond, and you go for that bush.” Dawson gave Joey a funny look and started to laugh. “Shh!” Joey snapped. “Quietly… go..”
Pacey and Jen stopped skipping. “Uh… I did just see Dawson and Joey run by, didn’t I?" Pacey asked Jen.
“Yeah, but where did they go?” They kept walking while Dawson and Joey could barely contain their laughter.
“Ha, ha!” they both jumped in front of Pacey and Jen with their fingers pointed at them like guns. Jen screamed in fright as Pacey gasped. Joey and Dawson burst into hysterics.
“You two are such scaredy cats!” Joey laughed. “Come on, Dawson, let’s go.” Joey offered him her arm and they started skipping away.
“I don’t want to wait,” Joey sang, “for this song to be over…”
“I just want to stop the torture right now,” Dawson joined in.
“Hey, that’s not nice!” Pacey yelled after them.
“We meant because of your singing!” Joey yelled back.
“Well, it’s no worse than yours!” Pacey snapped.
“Oh, shut up, guys. We’re here,” Jen said.
“Does anyone intend to buy anything?” Dawson asked.
“I’ll get a bottle of water,” Jen said.
“Ice cream!” Joey said, excitedly.
“Oh, good. More sugar,” Dawson said. “Just what we need.”
“Let’s get one carton and eat out of it with our hands,” Joey said.
“Are you nuts?” Jen asked.
“We can always wash off with the creek water.”
“It’s freezing!” Jen moaned.
“We have a towel. We’ll just dry off our hands and stick them in our pockets or something,” Dawson said.
“Sorry, Jen, you’re outnumbered three to one,” Pacey grinned.
“Fine. Just get something that’s not heavy on the chocolate,” Jen sighed.
“Mint chocolate chip it is,” Joey said. Jen threw her hands up in frustration and went to pay for her water.
“Hey, Erin,” Pacey said to the cashier. She was in her twenties and found the fact that they were all there at 2 AM quite amusing. “Nice nametag. I don’t have one, but my name is Pacey.” Dawson and Joey went over to then to chip in for the ice cream. “Hey, guys. I’d like you to meet my new friend, Erin. Erin, this is Jen, Joey and Dawson.” Pacey spotted some sickly-looking single roses wrapped in plastic behind the counter.
“So, Erin, do you think if we sing you a song, you’ll give us each a rose?”
“No, Pacey,” Erin smiled.
“Okay, how about only two roses for the ladies, Erin?”
“That depends on how good you are.”
“Okay,” Pacey said. “A song for our new friend. What do we all know?”
“Pacey, this is stupid,” Jen insisted.
“I don’t wanna wait…” Dawson started.
“For our lives to be over…“ everyone joined in.
“Stop, stop!” Erin exclaimed, but nicely. “Please save my poor ears from what you call singing and I’ll give you three roses!”
“Thank you, my good cashier,” Pacey said, graciously accepting the flowers. “You may keep this one for yourself for being so delightful. Now, I am terribly sorry, but our ice cream is melting, so we must part. Onward, troops!” Erin laughed, happy to have a short distraction from the monotony of the night shift, as they left.
Pacey smiled evilly as they left. “And now for the presentation of the flowers!” he said grandly. “Joey, my love,” Pacey got down on one knee and took her hand. “A beauty for a beauty.” He kissed her hand and gave her a rose. “Will you marry me?”
“No!” Joey shrieked, horrified. She started to run.
“Joey, darling. Don’t leave me like this!” Pacey chased after her.
“Get away from me!” Joey laughed, continuing to outdistance him.
“Eh,” Pacey finally yelled after her. “I don’t feel like chasing after you. We can just be friends.” He went back to Dawson and Jen. “Here, Jen,” he said, shoving the other rose into her hand.
“Spoken like a true gentleman,” Jen sneered.
“Man, Pacey,” Dawson was cracking up. “You are too much.”
“This is highly unsanitary,” Jen complained as they ate at the docks.
“Have you heard my theory on exhaustion?” Pacey asked suddenly.
“No. Do I want to?” Joey asked blandly.
“Okay, here it is:” Pacey said, ignoring Joey. “First, you get tired. Then, you start to get cranky. That’s what Jen’s experiencing right now.” Jen started to protest. “Ah, ah,” Pacey help up his hand. “Let me finish. Dawson and Joey already experienced that when we were eating the candy bars. Me, well, I’m never cranky. After you’re cranky, you start to get stupid. Everything is funny. You start to laugh at anything. Jen, you’ll get to that stage in about three minutes.”
“Oh, please,” Jen said, licking the ice cream off of her fingers. “That’s preposterous.”
“Well, I have an idea that will make you laugh,” Pacey leaned over and whispered in Jen’s ear. A smile crept over he lips as she nodded in agreement.
“What?” Dawson asked, starting to get nervous.
“Ready?” Pacey asked.
“Ready,” Jen said, grabbing a handful of ice cream. “Hurry up, it’s cold!”
“One, two, three!” Jen and Pacey took their handfuls of ice cream and smashed them again Dawson and Joey’s faces.
“That’s for scaring us both half to death before!” Jen laughed.
“Ah. Sweet revenge,” Pacey gave Jen a cold and slippery high five.
“You can’t get away with that!” Dawson yelled, trying to remove the icy globs on his face with his fingers. He went to the water with Joey to wash off and they picked corners of the towel to dry their hands and faces. Dawson went back over and was going to throw a handful of ice cream at them when Joey stopped him.
“No wasting precious ice cream,” she said, pulling the almost empty carton away. “Okay, Jen and Pacey, you win. We’re even. Actually, I thought Pacey’s proposal was enough revenge on me!” Joey laughed. She secretly wondered what he really meant by it, though. Joey put her hand in the carton and frowned. “Okay, I’d hardly call this ice cream anymore. I’d call it more like soup.” She turned the carton upside-down and let the liquid drip out.
“No wonder!” Jen said. “It’s already 4 AM!”
“That’s not that late,” Dawson yawned. “We still have another three hours.”
“Right now, everyone should wash up and then pick a corner of the towel to dry up with,” Jen said. They disposed of the carton and washed up. “I am so wired. Not the least bit sleepy.”
“So what do we do now?” Joey asked. They sat there for ten minutes.
“I am so bored,” Dawson groaned. Pacey felt around in his jacket.
“Hey, there’s a deck of cards in the pocket! Anyone up for some strip poker?”
“Pacey, it’s freezing!” Jen said.
“Regular five-card stud,” Joey said, grabbing the cards out of Pacey’s hands, shuffling them, and beginning to deal. “Nothing wild. Player to my right starts, we’ll go clockwise around.”
“When did you get so serious at cards, Jo?” Dawson asked.
“Shh. I’m trying to maintain my poker face.” Everyone burst out laughing.
“See?” Pacey asked. “Phase three. We’re stupid.”
“Come on, Pacey,” Joey said sweetly. “You were stupid long before now.” Pacey muttered something that Joey couldn’t hear.
“Okay, let’s play,” Jen said. “I want three cards.”
After a while, they were sick of playing poker, so Jen decided to teach them how to play Asshole.
“Here are the rules. First: yes, this is a real card game, and yes, it is called Asshole. People play it as a drinking game sometimes, too. Second, you need at least three people to play.” She continued explaining the rules to them, including the idea that the game was ranked from President to Vice-President to Vice-Butt to Asshole, and the idea of the game was to win and move up the rankings.
“Is that all?” Pacey asked patiently.
“I left out the best part,” Jen smiled wickedly. “There’s power with each position. The Vice-Butt can boss the Asshole, the Vice-President can boss the Vice-Butt and the Asshole and the President can boss around anyone. Lower positions have to listen or they are automatically suspended and they become the Asshole the next hand regardless of who loses. It’s really fun and kind of addictive because you always want to try to gain presidency.” Jen took back all the cards she had used for a sample hand, shuffled, and redealt them. “Now we play for positions.”
“All hail King Pacey!” Pacey said a little while later. Pacey cleared his throat. “I said, all hail King Pacey. Bow! And I can’t hear you. Hip hip hooray!”
“Hip hip hooray. Hip hip hooray,” Jen, Dawson and Joey said half-heartedly while bowing as Pacey motioned to keep going. He smiled, reveling in the power.
“Now, serving-wench Joey,” Pacey said, “what can you do for me?”
“Bite me, Pacey,” Joey growled.
“Sounds like fun, but I’m sure I can think of something better. How about a back rub, my dear Asshole?”
“Just wait until I’m president!” Joey muttered.
“What?” Pacey asked.
“Yes,” Joey sighed.
“Um… yes, what?” Pacey grinned at her.
“Yes, master,” Joey rolled her eyes and went over to him. She put her cards face down in front of her and put her hands on Pacey’s shoulders. She pinched his neck, hard.
“Ow!” Pacey yelped. “Softer, slave!” Joey started to give him a real back rub. Pacey enjoyed the feel of her hands on his shoulders. He closed his eyes…
“Can we continue now?” Dawson asked impatiently.
“Yeah,” Pacey said, upset at having to motion for Joey to stop. “That will be all, my concubine. As you were.” Joey gave Pacey a death stare.
“Isn’t this fun?” Pacey asked, putting the five of clubs down.
“This is lots of fun!” Joey smiled. She had gained presidency a while back and was successfully maintaining her position. “Your turn, Dawson,” Joey said, gently nudging him with her feet, which were resting on his back.
“Well, it would be easier if I didn’t have to stay on my hands and knees!” Dawson returned.
“I need a foot rest,” Joey said innocently, “to match my chair!” She grinned sinisterly and patted Pacey on the back. Pacey groaned.
“At least you’re not on your hands and knees AND holding Joey on your back!”
Jen laughed. “I told you guys it pays to be nice instead of ruthless.” Joey hadn’t ordered Jen to do a thing.
“Well, I command Pacey to silence,” Dawson said. “As Vice-Butt, I can do that to the Asshole,” he said, emphasizing the word. “Quit complaining!”
“And as Vice-President I command you to put down a card already, Dawson!” Jen said. Pacey looked at his watch.
“Hey…” He started. Joey kicked him.
“Silence, underling!”
“But—”
“Off with your head!”
“Damn it, Joey, it’s 6 AM already! Jen’s got to go!”
“Oh.”
“Okay, guys,” Jen yawned. “Except for the complete fixation on the cards and the obsessive competitive streak, it’s been fun.”
“No, Jen,” Dawson smiled. “It really is a fun game.” He removed Joey’s legs. “We just got carried away.” Joey was still sitting on Pacey.
“Um… Joey?” Pacey asked. Joey ignored him and picked up the rest of the cards. “Joey? Joey?” She pretended not to notice Pacey turn her to the side and wrap her legs around his stomach. “Upsy-daisy!” he said, standing up. Joey screamed and dropped the cards as Pacey made sure she didn’t fall to the ground. She tightened her grip around his stomach and flung her hands around his neck.
“I hate piggy-back rides as it is,” Joey yelled, “but can you please give me warning before you decide to give me one?” she smacked him on the back of the head.
“You want to loosen your legs a little?” Pacey strained. “You’re kind of hurting me.”
“No,” Joey grinned. Pacey took off and went running down the docks. “No!” Joey yelled with delighted. “Stop!”
“What the hell are those two doing?” Dawson asked Jen, laughing nervously. His smile sank.
“Jealous, Dawson?” Jen asked.
“Of what?” Dawson asked, sounding unsure of himself. Jen shrugged.
“Loosen your grip, Joey,” Pacey laughed.
“No!” she giggled, tightening it further. “You stop!”
“Listen, you,” Pacey turned around so that Joey was suspended over the water. “You loosen, I’ll put you back down on land.”
“You wouldn’t drop me…” Joey started, looking at the water with a rather frightened expression on her face.
“Ugh,” he grunted, “you’re starting to get so heavy…”
“Okay, okay, I give.” Pacey put Joey down safely and she ran to go hide behind Dawson.
Of course Pacey thought, frustrated. Dawson smiled.
“Well, I’m going to go sneak back into my house,” Jen said, waiving and starting to go. “It’s been fun.”
“Bye, Jen,” everyone said. Joey was still leaning against Dawson.
“So… what do we do now?” she asked.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m wiped out,” Pacey said.
“Me too,” Joey yawned.
“Um… Joey,” Dawson said. “We can… I don’t know. Look, Jo, the whole point of our little adventure was for you to stay up. You can’t go to sleep now.”
“Well… what time is it now?” Joey frowned.
“Twenty after six,” Pacey answered, looking at his watch. “Well, I left the towel on the tree branch to dry. We can see if it froze, yet.”
“Sounds good,” Dawson said. “Come on, Jo.”
Joey wearily walked over to the tree with Dawson and Pacey. “It’s not quite that cold out or the ice cream wouldn’t have melted,” she said. She was silent for a moment. “It’s amazing how you can go from wired to dead in a matter of minutes.”
“Before?” Dawson asked. “That was just the chocolate and ice cream talking.” Joey smiled crookedly.
“Ah, part four,” Pacey commented. “The crash. The final part of my theory. Basically,” he said, stretching out next to the tree, “you just fall… asl…. aslee…” Pacey was suddenly fast asleep.
“Well said,” Dawson smiled. “I guess it’s up to me to keep you awake, then.” Joey smiled inwardly, wondering what he would do to keep her occupied. “Here, let’s go to that bench so we don’t wake Pacey.” They walked over to the bench and sat down. “Look, Joey,” Dawson pointed out over the water. The sky was just beginning to react to the first light. “We can watch the sunrise.”
“We haven’t done that since we were kids,” Joey said fondly, looking up at the sky. “I mean, who wants to get up at the crack of dawn anymore?”
“Maybe we should stay up all night more often.”
“Yeah, it’s been fun. But as long as you can sleep in until the afternoon the next day because I’m falling asleep sitting here,” Joey put her head on Dawson’s shoulder. “Do you mind?” she asked, looking up at him with innocent eyes.
“Not at all,” Dawson murmured. “As long as you stay awake.” Joey smiled and tilted her head back to face the water. Dawson put his arm up behind her on the bench. They sat there contentedly for a little while, waiting for the sun to rise.
“I love this time of day,” Joey sighed. “No one is out. Night’s not quite over yet because the sky is just a shade lighter blue. It’s still dark, but everything is coming to life.” And I’m here with you, Joey added silently.
“Asleep,” Pacey awoke, slightly startled. He looked around to see where Dawson and Joey went and saw them sitting comfortably, watching the sunrise. “Leave it to Dawson to think of the romantic thing to do,” he said under his breath, “of course.” He just stood there watching them with a sad and defeated expression on his face. His eyes went to the sky. It was beautiful and the sun still had some time to go before it would peek out over the water. What he didn’t see was that Joey had turned to look at him and had noted the pain and confusion in his face. “Come on, Witter,” Pacey said, his gaze drifting back to Joey. In his eyes, she was the only visible sight rivaling the sunrise. “You have to do something.”
“Joey,” Pacey said softly, walking up behind them. “Joey, don’t fall asleep. You want to stay up until 7 AM and…” Joey sat up and looked at him. “Oh, I thought you might have been falling asleep.”
“Sit down, Pacey,” Joey said, lightly tapping the space next to her on the bench. “Man, I’m so tired. This is really gorgeous, though.” She yawned and shifted so that she was resting slightly against Pacey. “So tired…” Joey had actually woken up a little bit. She hoped she could get away with this and make Pacey feel a little better, though. She didn’t want her friends to remember this if the day continued and for Pacey to be mad at Dawson for it. She was too tired to deal with it. She put her legs up on the bench and pulled in her knees. She stole a glance at Dawson, who no longer looked very happy. Joey turned her eyes back to the water. She couldn’t deal with this now. The sun started to shine over the horizon, reflecting on the water. Joey slowly felt herself sliding down from Pacey’s arm until her head was in his lap and she was laying down on the bench. She fought to keep her eyes open. The red in the sky was slowly dissolving into pink as the sun started to go up more quickly. The hues of pink faded into yellow and then blue as the sun was almost fully up.
“Joey, it’s 7:12 AM!” Pacey nudged her gently. “You did it!”
Joey nodded and was suddenly aware that she was speaking. She could figure out what she was saying, but she couldn’t really control the words coming out.
“Good,” Joey said breathily. “Good night, Dawson and Pacey. Thanks for believing me and helping me. I hope this works…” she trailed off. Pacey smiled contently and stroked her hair.
“Pacey, stop it. You’re making me sick,” Dawson started, thinking that Joey had fallen asleep.
“What?” Pacey asked. Joey shifted uneasily. Stupid Dawson. This is what she was trying to avoid. She didn’t want to hear any more.
Sleepsleepsleepsleepsleepsleepsleep… she thought.
“You know what I mean,” Joey heard Dawson say before she drifted off.
I would just like to explain this part a bit. I wrote it after season one, when there was not a wealth of friendship fanfics around. I really wanted to write one, to write a story about the Creek gang just being a real bunch of fifteen-year-olds, and this is what came out. In the next part, though, Joey finally really does realize the meaning of no consequences, and so the love triangle continues…