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The Best Man by Kilby

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Joey stood there silently surveying the apartment. "If I were Jen, where would I hide Pacey's book?" she asked herself.

The obvious place to start would be on the bookshelf. She saw Pacey's last two books there, but the newest one was nowhere to be found. She checked the end tables, the coffee tables, under the couch cushions. She even looked inside the freezer. She figured that was where everyone hid everything. But it wasn't there.

The book wasn't hidden, though. Joey found it on the nightstand next to Jen's side of the bed. She sat down for a moment, her brow furrowing as she looked at the cover. If it was such a big deal, she didn't understand why it wasn't hidden. Then again, Jen probably never expected Joey to use her key to come into the apartment, into her bedroom and look for it.

Even Joey couldn't believe that she was doing this. For some reason, she knew she had to read this book. It probably was the missing piece of the puzzle.

She walked out slowly, making sure everything was in its place before she closed the door and made her way out of the building. It was two o'clock, and she had four hours before Pacey was meeting her for dinner.

* * * * *

Looking at her, Michael finally realized he saw everything he'd ever wanted. Circumstance. Circumstance had bit him in the ass, so to speak. Circumstance had been what ruined their brief relationship.

It could've been different. It should've been different. But it wasn't. Now when he looked in her eyes, he saw everything. That meant nothing, though. He knew that.

She stood there. She was motionless, her face was blank. "What's the matter, Kylie?" he asked. His voice was barely above a whisper. Something was wrong. He could tell just by her expression.

She didn't say a word. Instead, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He stumbled back, caught seriously off-guard. He made no attempts to stop her; the back of his mind thinking that maybe the one who'd gotten away hadn't gotten away after all.

Joey jumped, tossing the book in the air, startled by the ringing telephone. She should've known better than to let her assistant go for the day.

"Joey Potter," she grumbled into the telephone, as she bent down to retrieve her book off the floor.

"Joey! Thank god," Andie cried. "I need your help."

Joey stopped for a moment.

"I was Missy. Andie was Kylie. Dawson was Hayden. Jack was Drew. Joey was Elena. And you . . . you were Michael."

Andie was Kylie. Andie was Kylie. Joey shook her head. That couldn't be right. If Pacey was Michael, Andie couldn't be Kylie. Andie couldn't be Kylie.

"Joey? Joey? Are you still there?" Andie said.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Joey said, flipping through the book trying to find the page she'd been on.

"Dawson has disappeared," she said. "You have to find him."

"Find him? Where could he possibly be?" Joey said. "Maybe you're just over-reacting."

"His cell phone's off. He's not a work. He's not here. Please, Joey," Andie begged.

"Andie, give him an hour or two, I'm sure he'll come around. I'm really busy with work, and I'm meeting Pacey at six for dinner--"

"Pacey made it, huh?" she interrupted.

"Try his cell. Dawson may be with him."

Andie shook her head. "I'm sure that's where he is. I shouldn't worry, huh?"

"No," Joey said. "You're not going to be able to keep tabs on him all the time, Andie."

"Okay, so I'm a little worried. I'm afraid he'll come to his senses and not marry me."

"He won't do that. He loves you."

"This is some change," Andie noted. "You being the optimist and me being the pessimist."

"Call me back when you figure out where he is," Joey said finally. "Bye, Andie."

She couldn't wait to get back to the book. She was hoping this was some sort of little mistake. Maybe it was fiction. At least that was what she hoped.

He wanted her, probably more than he'd ever wanted anyone in his life. The idea that it was wrong wasn't even a dominate presence in his mind. The only thing he could understand was that she was what he wanted, she was what he'd always wanted. He'd just been too stupid to realize it.

He exhaled a nervous breath, raking his fingers through her silky brown hair, as he melded against her.

"Shit," Joey muttered, picking up the phone again. "Yeah?"

"You were right, Jo. He's with Pacey. I'm sorry I got you all worried," Andie said cheerfully in the phone.

"It's okay, Andie. Look, I'm really busy. I'll talk to you tomorrow?" Joey asked.

"Sure," Andie said, reluctantly hanging up the phone. She didn't understand why Joey was always so preoccupied with work.

Joey looked at the phone with mild contempt and decided to let the voicemail to get it the next time it rang. She picked up the book again, focusing her eyes on the print, possibly against her better judgment.

She pulled away slightly, staying uncharacteristically still. She let her breath out slowly as she opened her eyes. "Tell me you want this too," she whispered.

"I do," was his reply.

"Good," she murmured, pressing her lips against his.

Joey was pulled out of the story by a knock at the door. She shook her head, shoving the book inside her purse and shuffling some papers around her desk. It was six, and that was Pacey. "Come in," she said, her voice coming out rather horse.

"I'm not early, am I?" he asked, walking in the office tentatively.

Joey shook her head. "Nope, six on the dot. I was just a little too caught up with what I was doing." She cleared her throat.

"Look, Jo, like I said before, I can just hang out at the hotel tonight. I know you're busy--"

"Don't be ridiculous, Pacey. It's been seven months since I've seen you. The least you could do is treat me to dinner," she said, smiling gently at him. She pushed the book out of her mind for the moment. She figured she'd save judgment until she had a chance to read the whole scene. Because something just didn't make sense.

"You're not buying?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You're the one that published a nearly best-seller," she replied.

He laughed. "Nearly hardly counts."

"Well, I'm sure the next one will make it," she said.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

* * * * *

Jen looked at Jack thoughtfully for a moment as they stood in the bustling airport waiting for his luggage to roll around. "Can I ask you a completely hypothetical question?"

"We know that hypothetical questions are never hypothetical, but ask away," he grinned.

"I told you about Pacey's book, remember?"

"How could I forget Drew the fabulously heroic pro baseball player?" Jack said playfully. "You're going to let me read it, right?"

"Actually, there's a problem. Pacey made me promise not to show it to anyone."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Sure you can," he said, resting a gentle hand on her elbow.

"You won't say anything?" she asked, furrowing her brow slightly.

"If that's what it takes."

Jen nodded, as Jack grabbed his bag from the carousel, and they began to walk out of the terminal. "Well, I figured each character that corresponds with each one of us. And Michael, Pacey's character . . . he sleeps with Kylie."

Jack's eyes widened with surprise. "You're Kylie? When did you sleep with Pacey?"

Jen shook her head. "Not me, you idiot. Kylie is . . . well, Kylie is Andie."

"It's no surprise that Andie slept with Pacey," Jack said. "I mean, everyone in high school knew."

"No, Jack. Pacey slept with Andie since she's been with Dawson. As far as I can tell, sometime within the last year."

"Andie wouldn't do that," Jack replied. "She loves Dawson--"

"Yeah, but sometimes we do things uncharacteristic of ourselves. Maybe it was just one of those moments--"

"I don't think so, Jen," Jack said, tossing his suitcase in the trunk. "I know my sister. She'd never do that to Dawson. And Pacey. Geez, he'd never do that either."

"He did say it was fictional," Jen said, sliding behind the steering wheel. "It could be fictional?"

"It is a book," he said in a patronizing tone.

"So why can't Dawson and Joey read it? What's he hiding?" she asked, more for her own benefit than his.

"Give it a rest, Nancy Drew," Jack said playfully.

* * * * *

Joey looked at Pacey over the top of her glass of Sherry. "So," she began, watching him as he looked around the room. "When am I going to get to read the new book?"

"I'll send you a copy as soon as I get back to New York," he said, lifting his own glass to his lips.

"I have to wait that long?"

"I'm afraid so."

"What's this one about?" she asked.

"A group of friends going from childhood to adulthood," he replied.

"A coming of age tale, huh? Lots of good sex in it, I hope," she said, playfully raising an eyebrow.

"That is part of coming of age," he said, his mouth twisting into a smile as he swished around the liquid in the glass.

She knew that she wasn't getting anything out of him this way. She'd just have to wait until she got home to find out for herself. "What'd you do with Dawson today?" she finally asked.

"We went and got the rings," he said, holding up his finger as he reached toward a chair where his sport coat was. He pulled out a ring box and opened it. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Joey sighed, smiling softly. "They are."

He raised his eyebrow. "You're not getting the wedding bug, are you?"

"Hardly. I mean, I so rarely think about it. Barely even in passing. Besides, you're the one with the serious significant other."

"With all her serious issues about commitment, you can bet you'll see Jen married before me," he said.

"Haven't I told you not to talk about me when I'm not here?" Jen said, standing above them.

Joey and Pacey both stood, greeting Jack. "It's been a long time, Pace. How have things been going?"

"Good," Pacey said. "I was on Oprah today."

"Oprah, huh?" Jack said, impressed. "You are really hitting it big, aren't you?"

Pacey laughed. "Well, I had to do something to keep up with you, Jack. Being a writer hardly compares with being in the NFL."

"That depends on who you ask," Jack laughed.

"So what have you two been doing?" Jen asked, sitting in Jack's lap in lieu of grabbing the remaining chair.

"We went out to dinner. And we've been talking. Catching up," Pacey said, smiling at Joey.

"That's good," Jen said. "Anything I missed?"

"Lots," Joey said. "But I should really let Pacey catch you up. I'm exhausted." She stood, giving Jack a kiss on the cheek. "We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, Jo," he replied. "You'll be at Andie's breakfast in the morning, right?"

"Yeah," Joey said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Thanks for dinner, Pace."

"You're welcome, Jo," he said softly, watching her as she walked away.

She couldn't get away fast enough. She had a date with a cup of hot tea and Pacey Witter's latest novel.

* * * * *

Joey heard the knock, but barely looked up at the door. There was only one person who would be at her door at midnight, and she didn't want to see her. "Joey, open up!" Jen called through the door. "I've got your key too!"

Joey sighed. "So come in!" she shouted back.

Jen shook her head, pulling the key out, unlocking the door, and stepping inside reluctantly. After one look at Joey, she knew. "You've already read it, haven't you?"

"I have," Joey nodded, her voice flat.

"Dammit, Joey, how could you come into my home and steal?" Jen yelled.

"I just wanted to read the book, Jen." She tossed it at her feet, barely moving from her position on the couch.

Jen sat on the couch at Joey's feet. "You're going to tell Dawson?"

"I'm going to kill Pacey."

"Pacey said it wasn't true," Jen said, figuring she was the only hope at damage control. "Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt."

"You do that," Joey said with a nod. "But my problem is with Pacey. So when you leave here and call him like I know you're going to do, you tell him to get his ass over here. We need to talk."

"I'm sorry, Joey," Jen said, standing up.

"So what did he ask you to do?" Joey asked, looking up at Jen.

"He asked me to keep it from you until he went home," Jen said. "I think maybe this is a big misunderstanding, Jo. We both know Pacey and Andie better than that."

"And maybe we don't know Pacey at all. Just go. Tell him to come here. Now."

* * * * *

Pacey stood outside the door, somehow feeling as if he was going to his own execution. Jen's phone call was a blur, but Jen had said Joey read the book and she was angry. Pacey didn't know how to read that. If Joey'd read the book, he thought she might've been confused. He didn't know what to make of angry.

He knocked.

He looked at her for a moment. She was definitely angry.

"You bastard," she said, hitting him with his own book on the arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She hit him again. Thump. "I can't believe you!" Thump. "You fucked Andie?" Thump. "The same weekend you fucked me?" Thump. "What? Jen was busy too?" Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Joey, will you stop it?" he yelled, pulling away.

She grabbed him, pulling him in the apartment so she wouldn't wake her neighbors. "You have ten seconds to explain."

"Joey, it's not what you--"

"It's not what I think," she said nodding her head sarcastically. "Tell me what it is. Because as far as I can tell, you're still in love with Andie. You think she's your soul mate and you have a billion great things to say about her. Not to mention the fact that she's marrying your best friend on Saturday. And you slept with me the last weekend you were here, severed all contact with me, and barely said two words about me in this book. I'm a nice girl, but I wasn't right for you? Jesus, Pacey, that's not what you told me then!"

He shook his head. "I thought you'd get it, Jo. You're Kylie. I wasn't talking about Andie. I was talking about you."

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