It was the family atmosphere he'd always craved when he was younger; everyone gathered together enjoying each other's company. Of all the times he tried, this was when it was easiest to forget how high-risk being part of the organization was.

He was just the doctor, and nothing else. That should've been enough to keep him safe, and he felt that it was. Will had treated him as a son for several years now, and there was no reason that it had to change. Loyalty was everything in this world, and Pacey knew that just as long as it remained that way, everything would be okay.

That was especially important, given that his social life was in utter pandemonium. He wasn't sure what was happening with Joey. The limit still existed where they, again, didn't talk about sleeping together. Deep down he knew that he had encouraged her not discussing it, but he was curious as to what it meant. That confused him more than anything, because, more than likely, they had already destroyed their friendship. He just wasn't sure what step was next.

As he dug his fork into the fried rice on his plate, he tried to push it out of his mind, not ready to deal with his concerns about his rapidly-changing relationship with Joey.

The sound of the water breaking was soothing. Joey wasn't exactly sure why she was sitting there on Pacey's steps in the dark. She needed comforting, and that was where she always went -- to Pacey.

Nowadays he was more comforting, she thought, her mouth twisting into a wicked grin. She didn't know what it was about her life recently that had left her in such a need for affection, but she was glad she'd found someone so willing and skilled to take care of it.

If there was one thing that could salvage this horrible Monday, it would be for her to be able to lay down with Pacey and feed this insatiable hunger that growled from within her. All she could think about lately was him; the way he touched her, the taste of his kiss, the way he always faced her challenges head-on.

Tonight, she was as ready as ever to test that.

Tonight, she needed him.

"Jo? Is that you?" Pacey asked, shocked to find her waiting on the steps.

"Yeah," she said. "Where have you been?"

"I work for a living," he joked. "What's the matter?"

"I just needed . . . someone," she said. "I've just had a shitty day."

"Come in," he said, as he unlocked the door.

He had her wait for him in the living room as he made her a drink. As she pushed the large window back to let the ocean air in, she prayed that he would put enough rum in the drink to numb the pounding inside her head. She sat down, digging her feet into the sand.

She tried to think about what she wanted to say. Fuck me, Pacey seemed a little too forward to be used yet again. Still, she knew that she was there for more than just a friendly ear.

Moments later, he sat down beside her, handing her a tall Rum and Coke. She noticed that Pacey was drinking too, and he rarely did. "You drinking too?"

"It's been one helluva a day," he mumbled, taking a drink of whatever it was he was drinking.

"So what's the matter?" he asked.

"I got demoted," she sighed. "My little scene on Friday cost me over half of my accounts."

"You were just standing up for what you believed in," he said.

"My boss said that I don't know how to shut up," she laughed. "I suppose the bastard's right."

"You do have a mouth on you," Pacey said, taking another swig of his drink. "You've got to learn when it's best to say nothing, Jo."

She sighed. "I've worked my ass of, and I'm the most successful account executive they've got, Pacey. My methods bring in the accounts, however abrasive they may be, and those assholes just take them away from me because I speak my mind in one pitch meeting. It's not fair."

Pacey shook his head. "It's never fair. You just have to prove you can keep your mouth shut when it counts."

"Of course, I'll just forget I ever had an opinion," she scoffed.

"That's what they want you to do," he said.

She figured that was probably right. Pacey knew a lot more about playing the game than most people. "I'm going to have to move," she added.

"They cut your pay too?" he asked.

"Yep," Joey said. "I might as well find myself a nice cardboard box--"

"Bull shit," he said. "It can't be that bad."

"It's pretty bad," she sighed. She realized this was coming out as calculated, even though she hadn't really thought about it. Now, it made perfect sense. "Unless . . . I had a friend who would take me in."

"Oh no," he said. "You cannot stay here. Things are already . . . complicated between us."

She smiled. "They're only complicated if we make them complicated," she said. "Things aren't that different, Pace."

He examined her face for a moment. She was downplaying the entire situation. To keep her proud bitch face on, she was pretending as if this demotion hadn't affected her at all, when it really had torn her apart inside. He could tell. He gave in. "You can stay, but just until you get back on your feet at work."

"Thank you," she said. "Somehow I knew that you were the one person I could count on."

"You can always count on me, Jo," he said.

"Can I?" she asked.

"Always," he responded. He stood up, and walked toward the middle of the living room. He rubbed his clavicle nervously, watching as she stood and leaned against the glass door. "Maybe you should go to bed. We can work out the logistics in the morning before I go to work."

"I don't want to go to bed alone," she said, closing in on him. "I want to be with you tonight, Pacey." She rubbed his cheek gently.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said, nearly choking on the words as he said them. He turned and began to go up the stairs.

"Why not?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He turned back to her. "Why? Because I don't want to complicate things any further."

"You're such a bastard, Pacey," she said.

"Personal attack, eh? I must be getting to you," he said. "Dawson really did a number on you, didn't he?"

"No worse than the number Andie did on you. Or that girl in college. What was her name?" Joey asked. Pacey sighed. "Kim, was it?"

"Point being?" he asked.

She gave an exaggerated shrug. "I had a shitty day, and I was just looking for some understanding from my friend tonight," she said.

"Understanding I've got plenty of," he said. "Just stop playing this game."

"Maybe you should learn how to play the game," she said.

"Life's not a game."

"Everything is a game," she said, watching him walk up the stairs. "Is it such a crime that I want to sleep with you again?" she called.

He looked over his shoulder and shook his head. "No," he said. "That would make me a criminal."

Her mouth twisted into a grin, as she made her way up the stairs. She walked around him, standing on the step above the one he was standing on. Her fingers traced his body leisurely. "What's stopping us?" she whispered, allowing him to feel her breath on his face. "I want you. You want me."

"So what are we going to do?" he asked. "Fuck each other whenever we feel like it?"

"That's what I had in mind," she said, nibbling on his earlobe. "Do you have any objections?"

He was in no position to have any objections. "No," he said. "Not as long as I can . . . have some of the control."

"That's an interesting word choice," she purred. Her hand moved down his chest, unbuttoning his pants, boldly reaching inside. "How much control do you want?"

He gasped, unwilling to fight his growing arousal. "Seems like I'm losing ground by the second," he said.

"Can you handle that?" she asked.

"I think I can," he responded. He pushed her hair off her shoulder, and began to kiss her neck. "Just remember I'm not your whore. You can't just have me whenever you want me."

"Whatever you say, Pace," she said.

He pushed her backward, as she fell, her back against the stairs. "You don't sound convinced," he said, raising an eyebrow.

She grinned, as he began to work at the buttons on her silk shirt. He kissed her stomach, as she grabbed his hair, urging him back to her. She kissed him with unmatched fervor, moving up the stairs, stopping near the top. "Turn over," she said.

He complied, resting back on his elbows at the top of the steps. She tugged down his pants, and teasingly ran her finger along his erection. She grinned devilishly at him, before taking his length into her mouth. He groaned as her tongue teased him.

"Oh Jo," he sighed, grabbing a handful of her hair, urging her closer to him. She was rather pleased with herself, sucking fiercely one minute, pulling away the next. She knew she was teasing him, torturing him, but she was unwilling to relegate any of the control to him.

She could tell he was closer to the edge than he let on. "You like that?" she asked. He nodded, looking pissed off that she had decidedly chosen that moment to stop. She crawled up the remaining stairs, straddled him and began kissing him ferociously.

"You're a tease," he breathed. "I need to be inside you." She kissed him again, helping him inch up her skirt.

An annoying beep echoed through the room. "Shit," he muttered. He rubbed his forehead angrily while Joey remained on top of him. Joey moved off him, despite the obvious evidence of a task not completed. Pacey pulled his pants up, while taking the beeper off the waistband. He looked up at her. "I have to go," he said.

"You're going to leave?" she asked, obviously annoyed.

"I have to go," he said. He probably would've apologized, if he didn't know that she'd been playing him from the start of the evening. "Just . . . make yourself at home. I'll be back as soon as I can."

There was no mistaking the scowl on her face, and as he walked out the door, he wondered how long it would be there.

Pacey sighed as he stood outside the door to his house. He really didn't know how to handle Joey, and he was not in the mood to deal with her insane rants about how pissed off she was. He hadn't left the situation very comfortable himself.

He had to go. Luckily, he hadn't had much to do once he got to Will's. He just had to treat a bad abrasion and some bruised knuckles. Pacey didn't want to see the guy who'd gotten that beating: It probably wasn't pretty.

Not knowing what to expect, he finally decided to go inside. She wasn't in the living room. He assumed that she'd taken refuge in the guest room, or taken a walk on the beach. He pulled his shirt off as he took to the stairs, stopping only briefly to reminisce about what had happened there earlier.

He wasn't expecting what he found in his bedroom. There was soft music playing, but he didn't let it register. He didn't know where she'd found the candles, but the dancing light clearly revealed her nude form perched on his waterbed.

"You need to finish what you started, Witter," she said.

Pacey laughed. "When are you going to give up?"

"After I get what I want," she smiled. "You know that you can blink anytime now."

He turned away, throwing his shirt in the hamper. He threw his belt on top of the dresser. "I figured you knew that my offer to stay here meant the guestroom."

"And I figured this time we could try something new, and you could fuck me on the bed," she said, her voice not wavering from its confident tone.

"And what makes you so sure that I want to fuck you at all?" he asked, laughing.

"Because I am," she said. "You know very well you want me. I want you, so lets just get to it."

"I always figured you were one who liked it nice and slow," he said.

"Well, we haven't exactly done it nice and slow just yet," she grinned. "But I'm always up for trying new things."

"I think I'm just going to go to sleep," he said, throwing his pants in the hamper, and crawling into the bed on the opposite side.

She turned over, pressing herself against his bare back, as she whispered in his ear. "You can stop, Pacey. I know you want me." Her fingers traced leisurely along his torso, and she was pleased to find him already erect. "See, your body already knows the score."

He rolled onto his back and looked at her. "So do something about it," he said.

"Nice and slow?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

"Show me what you've got," he challenged.

She smiled. "I suppose we should level the playing field first." She pulled his boxer shorts down, off his legs, and tossed them to the floor, as he did the same with his t-shirt. Her eyes scanned his body, as she kept careful control of her hands. "You have such a nice body," she observed.

He licked his lip as he watched her move across him, jostled a bit by the movement of the bed. She bent down to kiss him passionately. He pulled away, beginning to suckle her neck. He could feel her warm juices from where she rested on his thigh, and he wasn't sure how long nice and slow would last. He had avoided her temptress act all evening, and a man could only take so much.

His fingers entered her gently, as she arched toward him in response. She sighed into his mouth. "I knew there was a reason I wanted you so bad."

He smiled as he sucked the skin along her collarbone. Suddenly, she'd broken in some way. What they were doing was ten times more psychological than it was physical. It was a battle for control. She sat up, and poised herself for his entrance. He fumbled on the nightstand, grabbing a condom.

Briefly, her mind flashed with images, wondering how many women he'd been with. She was greedy, and jealous of each one of them. In that moment she wanted him without the condom, but was in no position to request it. She would save that for later.

She hovered over him briefly, gently rubbing and caressing his head, before finally letting him inside. She rode him slowly, carefully gauging his reaction, as he guided her with his hands on her hips. This mental foreplay had excited her. She didn't know what she had stumbled on with Pacey, but she felt comfortable and safe with him. Most importantly, for the first time in a long time she felt fulfilled.

And as much as she wanted to fight it she knew it was just as much emotional as it was physical. He knew her, and probably knew her reasoning behind every move tonight.

As he slowly delved deeper in her softest places, she felt like he was delving deeper into her soul. And as much as she tried to hide it, that frightened her.

Right now she didn't want to think about it, though. She concentrated on her movement, her influence on him as she moved. She screamed out as he fought to bring her closer to him. After her own sweet release, she watched as he quaked with his own orgasm.

She leaned down on top of his chest, and kissed him with and unmatched fervor. He rolled over, resting on top of her. "No wonder you're so successful," he smiled, kissing the nape of her neck. "You always back up what you say."

She smiled, suggestively raising an eyebrow. "And just wait and see what's next. You never know what's going to happen."