Author's Note: Once again, this part deviates from the structure of the rest of my series. I feel that my story may need a little more character development than the original musical allows. While I’ve been following the original script pretty closely up to this point, these are some more added scenes. Feedback is still much, much appreciated.
Rating: PG-13+, SD
Phantom From the Creek
Act One Scene Eight
Joey awoke in a cold sweat. “He’s here,” she whispered, “the Phantom of the Opera!” She hissed as the morning sunlight streaming through her window hit her eyes. There was a knock at the door.
“I hear you moving around in there, Jo,” Pacey called warmly. “Come out, I made us some breakfast.”
”Did you make any coffee?” she called back. “My head is pounding.” The door opened tentatively, and when Joey didn’t say anything to stop it, Pacey assumed it was okay to poke his head in.
”Coffee is bad for you,” he grinned. He kicked the door open the rest of the way and walked in, holding a tray.
”Oh, Pacey,” Joey gasped in surprise. She quickly sat up and smiled widely at him. He laid down orange juice and a Belgian Waffle with whipped cream and blueberries on her lap. “Makes up for the lack of originality by the food choice and presentation,” she said, fingering the white rose he had included in a little glass vase.
”Oh, still the same Josephine,” Pacey said sarcastically, “can’t accept a compliment or nice gesture without being snide.” He sat down on the side of her bed.
”Bite me,” Joey said, cutting a bit of waffle with her fork and putting it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and smiled while chewing. “Mmmm, you even cooked it the way I like it.”
”Small thank you for letting me stay last night instead of making me go back to my hotel,” Pacey said, watching her savior her breakfast. “It is so sexy to watch a woman enjoying her food like this.” Before she could respond, Pacey quickly leaned over, scooped up a bit of the whipped cream with his index finger, and smeared it on her nose.
”Pacey!” she shrieked. “Ew, it’s melty!”
”Pacey to the rescue!” he said as he licked the whipped cream off of her nose. He then slid his tongue down and parted her lips with it, taking her face in his hands. He did his best to give her a deep kiss without knocking over her food. Within a few seconds, she swatted his hands away and pulled back. He thought he caught her briefly looking longingly out the window before she turned her attention back to eating. He frowned a bit, then scooted Joey’s legs and tray over so he could sit down besides her.
“Joey? I have to ask you, because I want to be clear on what you want.” Pacey took her hand. “What’s going on between us?” Joey smiled nervously at him.
”I don’t know, Pacey,” she said honestly. “You only came back into my life a couple of days ago…”
”Yes, but I’ve spent most of them with you,” he said earnestly.
“Pacey,” Joey laughed, “you spent most of yesterday with me.”
”That’s true. But we’ve known each other our whole lives—“
”Except for the eight or ten years we didn’t speak,” Joey interrupted good-naturedly.
”It doesn’t matter. I couldn’t feel the way I do about you if I hadn’t known you all my life,” Pacey said softly. “I can’t believe I’d forgotten how amazing you are.”
”Pacey…” she smiled and trailed off. “We’re—we’re very good friends who are at the very start of being a lot more, I think.”
”So casually dating?” Pacey translated. “Works for me. You see, it’s like having my cake and eating it, too,” Pacey stuck his finger in what was left of the whipped cream. “I date you, I keep my mistresses, everyone is happy!” Joey watched him stick his finger in his mouth and suck off the whipped cream more intently than she meant to. He noticed. “Oh, you’d like some of that, huh?” Pacey looked at her slyly before taking her hand to his mouth and putting her index finger to his lips. He slid it in all the way, slowly pushing it in and out. He worked his tongue up and down her finger before gently biting his way back up it and taking it out of his mouth. She gazed at him unwaveringly until he was finished.
“I know that just made you so hot,” Joey said in a slightly deeper tone of voice than usual.
”It was supposed to make hot,” Pacey said playfully, “for me!”
”But I’m right.”
”Why don’t you come find out,” Pacey said, motioning towards his pants. Again, Joey felt nervous. She didn’t move or reply. Pacey felt her holding back, making the exchange more serious. This was the third time she had pulled back, so to speak, since the night before. “You sure you like me, Potter? I think you do, since you just told me you do, but you just totally passed up the change to grab my package.”
”I like you,” Joey giggled, “notwithstanding of the grabbing of your package. But I need to finish my exquisite breakfast, kind sir, and get you to your vehicle. I’ve got a show to perform tonight!”
”I’ll be there with bells on,” Pacey smiled. “Just look for me in Box Five.”
Joey was still hours early when she stepped into her dressing room. So early, in fact, that no one had been around to see her arrive at the theater. She silently mouthed a thank you for her good fortune and put her purse on the table.
”Dawson?” she whispered. No response. Joey cleared her throat. “Dawson?” she repeated, this time quite loudly. All that answered her was silence. “Dawson!” she shouted. Nothing. “Angel?” she cried out. That seemed to work. She heard a stirring within the walls, but she had no fear. “My angel. I’d like to practice with you before my performance tonight,” she spoke at a normal volume.
”You’ve come for me: your teacher,” the voice seemed to bounce off every corner of the room at her. She turned her head from side to side in an effort to figure out where it was coming from, but she failed.
”Y-Yes,” she said, faltering slightly.
“The mirror,” she heard him say. His words didn’t sound like he spoke them at all, but rather reverberated through her head. She closed her eyes to stop it and stepped to the mirror. It opened once more and she stepped inside.
”I can’t go far,” she said to the Phantom after taking a few steps and not seeing him. “Show tonight.”
”I know… only a few steps further,” the Phantom’s voice called. Joey did not see the lake. This did not confuse her, though. As groggy as she had been two nights ago when she had first seen it, she remembered the Phantom taking her on a short descent before they reached it. Satisfied that she had walked far enough, Joey resolutely stopped walking and sat on the ground.
”That’s as far as I’m going,” she yelled. She was determined to have more control than she did last time. At last, a figure began to emerge from the darkness. “Dawson,” she whispered. The Phantom showed no reaction to this name. Joey stood up, putting her arms around him when he came close enough.
”I didn’t summon you to sing,” Joey continued to keep her voice at a whisper. “I don’t want to over-sing before a show. It would be bad for my voice.”
”So is whispering,” the Phantom said coldly. Joey pulled him even closer, lifting her right leg slightly to rub her thigh against him.
”You have to tell me,” she said, no longer whispering, but speaking in a breathy tone of voice. “Are you my best friend for whom I’ve waited for so long? Are you Dawson?” Her words were met with silence. “Dawson?” Joey asked again.
”Do you fear me?” the Phantom asked. Joey took a moment to respond.
”No,” she said quietly.
Dawson put his hand on her neck and slowly traced his way down to her shoulder. “Do you trust me?” Her breathing quickened as she could feel his face drawing closer to hers in the darkness.
”I trust you,” she whispered. Some candles flickered on in the distance, casting a soft glow upon them both. She looked carefully into his eyes. “I see you, Dawson,” she said, moving so close to him that the unmasked part of his nose was touching hers. “Just tell me that I’m right.”
Dawson felt his right leg start to shake involuntarily. He closed his eyes, shielding himself from Joey, before opening his mouth to speak.
”You seem to be getting closer to Mr. Witter,” the Phantom suddenly drew back, scowling.
”I haven’t seen him in years, he’s been here for a few days! Besides, Dawson, he was our best friend.” Dawson didn’t reply. Joey stepped forward to be close to him again. “How do you do this to me?” she murmured. “Only he can make me lose myself this way. Just tell me, tell me he’s still alive,” Joey’s had found the Phantom’s bare cheek and lingered there. She was finally besides him again and he had been so lonely for so long…
”I’ve missed you, my beautiful Joey,” he finally gasped. “I—I wanted to tell you, but I--”
”Shhh.” Joey brushed her lips against him as she said this.
”Joey,” he whispered into her mouth as he firmly put his lips to hers. They both stood in the dimly-lit cavern, pressed tightly together and kissing as if they were trying to devour each other. An occasional moan served as a reminder of their thick cloak of silence. For a short time, their world was impenetrable. Dawson removed Joey’s sweater, carefully placing it at their feet and pausing to look at her as he stood upright.
”I’m so sorry I hurt you,” Dawson cupped her face in his hands. Joey’s eyes began to water from sheer sensory overload. “I know how much I hurt you when I had to leave you. I’ve suffered for so long, too, though. I never wanted to leave you, but it had to be this way. I never want to hurt you again, though. I’m so sorry, Jo.”
Dawson watched Joey’s expression change from one of utter contentment to one of unspeakable pain as he apologized. “Why did you leave me?” she whispered. She suddenly felt an outpouring of all the resentment she had because he left her, of the intense feelings bottled up from her interaction with the Phantom, of her anger at Dawson for keeping himself from her… “All this time I waited for you, not thinking you were ever coming back for me!” Her hands clenched and she brought them up, breathing heavily. “How could you not tell me you didn’t die?” Joey felt the hysteria seeping through her body. She began to beat her fists against his chest, though she was not actually hurting him. “How could you just leave? How could you?” She started to cry tears of so many years of unspeakable emotion and of… relief. “I loved you, Dawson. How—how could you leave?” Joey’s hands fell limp against his chest as Dawson tucked her back into his arms.
”Shhh…” he said into her hair. “Don’t cry. You have to sing today.” Realizing he was right, Joey took a moment to quiet herself. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.
”I want to believe you’ve come back for me. I want to have meant it when I said I trust you,” Joey paused, and Dawson brushed the tears off her cheek. She stood still a moment, calming herself and quieting her whimpers, and then noticed his fingers still lingering on her skin. She looked curiously from his hand to his mask. “Now that I know who you are, Dawson, you don’t need—“ Dawson retreated slightly, suddenly looking alert. He turned his back to her.
”There was so much fire, Joey.” Joey could make out Dawson’s form starting to tremble. “There was—“ his voice broke. “I almost died, but I was saved. It didn’t matter, though. My life was over.”
”Oh, Dawson, you know that’s not true. If you just had told us…”
”Deformed!” Dawson interrupted. “My entire body was horribly burned. My face… The doctors did what they could, but those who had already seen me were horrified. My parents…” he stopped. Joey put her hand on his shoulder.
”It’s okay,” she said softly. “You don’t have to tell me anymore right now.” Dawson waved his arm as he turned to her and Joey could have sworn the candlelight surrounding them brightened.
”Look,” he said, pulling up his sleeve. His forearm was covered in winding trails of pink scar tissue. An occasional deep red scratch cut across the normal and healed skin. There were a few stray patches of soft blond hair where it had not been permanently burned off. “This is the best of it, actually. It’s not too bad.” Joey stared, dumbfounded, at Dawson’s arm. She was trying so hard to understand why he left. Would she have done the same if this was… the best of it?
”Promise me something, Jo,” Dawson withdrew his arm, rolling his sleeve back down. He drew her so close that his face was almost touching hers again as the lights died down. “Please,” he begged, “just one thing.”
”Anything,” she grabbed both his arms with her hands, clutching them tightly.
”Do not take off my mask. It is not time for you to see what’s underneath,” Dawson said sternly. Joey’s mouth betrayed reluctance, but she agreed.
”Okay,” she said, no longer wanting to talk. She took his hand and slipped it under her shirt, slowly inching it up her stomach. “Just touch me,” she breathed.
”Trust me,” he answered. His hand paused when it hit the underwire of her bra. He looked at her questioningly, and she responded by kissing him deeply.
”Joey, Joey, Joey,” he whispered into her ear as his thumb ran under her bra and across her chest.
”Dawson, I missed you,” Joey wrapped her arms around his waist. Suddenly, Pacey’s words invaded her head and she couldn’t shake them out. She drew back, forcing his hand away from her body. “Did you threaten our managers to get me a part in our next play?”
”What?” Dawson asked. He sounded almost angry at Joey’s abrupt movements away from him, at suddenly being denied her touch.
“Did you threat—“
”I heard you, I just didn’t expect you to stop and ask me that.” He paused, his face thoughtful. “Look, this is my theater. I simply made a casting suggestion to see it run more efficiently.” Joey frowned at this rationale.
”Well, I guess I appreciate that, but there’s no need for threats or bribes. You’ve taught me well. Let me get my roles on my own,” Joey said.
”I just want to help you,” Dawson pleaded, “to start to make up for how much I hurt you. I know you want this.” For a moment she wasn’t sure if he was talking about a career as an actress or… him.
”Dawson, please…” she watched his eyes burn into hers, eager for the passion that she had just wrenched them both away from. “I… I will show you tonight that I am more than capable of winning over the managers on my own.” Joey started to feel uneasy. Dawson’s countenance was beginning to betray an animal-like urgency to hold her and taste her again. Though she had shared his need a moment before, thinking of Pacey had also made her realize how drained having Dawson return was making her. “I—I should rest and then warm up for the show,” she stuttered, unconsciously taking a step back. At this, the Phantom instantly straightened up, falling back into the posture of a perfect gentleman and obliterating all evidence of the lust that had just hung in the air.
”Of course,” he agreed. He put his arm out in front of him to motion that he would escort her back to the mirror. Joey, noticing he shrunk away as she turned to walk past him, immediately regretting the telling movement she hadn’t meant to make. She quickly turned back to him, entwining her fingers in his.
”My Angel, won’t you sing to me and help me prepare?” she asked, pleading for him not to shy away from her now.
”I will, and you will be wonderful tonight.” He smiled at her, and Joey smiled back, thankful that the mask did not hide his mouth. His smile was still beautiful. “I will be as near to you as I can be, so you needn’t be a bit nervous tonight. Just look for me in Box Five.” This last bit of information escaped Joey as she fell back into her euphoria. Dawson had finally come back.