Pacey stopped at the bottom of his porch and raised an eyebrow in question. Joey Potter was sitting on the steps, leaning against one of the hideous planter columns and sleeping. He squatted so that he was at her eye level and touched her lightly on the knee. "Hey, sleepyhead."

She didn't respond and so he moved his hand just a little higher, jiggling her knee.

"Potter." When there was still no response, he poked her in the stomach. "Potter."

She grabbed his hand and twisted it, forcing him onto his knees. Her eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "Oh."

"You wanna release me from your death grip?"

"Sorry." She let go of his hand and gave him an embarrassed smile. "I thought you might be some sort of pervert." She paused. "I mean, a different pervert than the one I was waiting for."

"Why were you waiting for me?" He shoved his hands in his pockets as he stood up, looking down at her now, for some reason inordinately glad he had a height advantage.

"I wanted to wish you a happy birthday."

He pulled his hand from his pocket and looked at his watch. "It's not my birthday."

"It was."

He shrugged. "It was just a day."

"What did you and Dawson do?"

"Nothing. Rode around." He tugged his ear. "It's late, Jo."

"Right." She stood up and stared down at him, taller now. "I'll go." She brushed past him and headed off in the dark.

"Jo!" He jogged after her, stopping beside her when he reached her. "I'll walk you home."

"You don't have to, Pace. It's Capeside."

"I know." He shrugged. "But I know the local law enforcement, and I wouldn't trust them to save much of anything."

They walked in silence for a while. "Pace?"

"Yeah?"

"Dawson kissed me."

"Yeah. I heard."

"What do you think it means?"

"I think it means that you guys are going to live happily ever after or some other such Dawson Leery type ending."

"The last Dawson Leery type ending I was part of, I got my head chopped off by you."

"Well, he's got to give me something to make working for nothing motivating." Pacey bumped into her and smiled. "And nothing is more motivating than the thought of ridding my life of the nuisance that is Miss Joey Potter."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She nodded, her eyebrows raised. "You know what I think?"

"What's that?"

"I think you're not getting your god-damned birthday present."

"You bought me a present?" His voice was bathed in disbelief. "You're lying."

"Am not."

"What? Did you go to a 7-11 and pick me out a bag of M&Ms or something?"

"I'll have you know I spent a lot of time on this present."

He continued to look skeptical as they reached the trail that shadowed the creek. He held a low-slung branch out of her way then followed her. "This is something you bought for Dawson last year and forgot to give him, isn't it?"

"Why do you find it so hard to believe I bought you a present?"

"One." Pacey ticked off one finger. "You hate me. Two." Another one. "You don't spend your money, you hoard it in your college fund. Three." Another. "You hate me."

"I don't hate you all the time."

"Four." He waved the four fingers at her. "You forgot about my birthday."

"I forgot about it on your birthday. But I didn't forget."

"You've been so wrapped up in Dawson and kissing Dawson and wanting Dawson. When the hell did you have time to go shopping?"

"I bought it for you a while ago." She felt the heat of a blush ride over her cheeks as she slipped beneath another tree, moving onto her driveway. "But hey, if you don't want it."

"You know what I got for my birthday, Joey?"

"What?"

"Andie McPhee, the new girl? She gave me a present she forgot to give her brother for Christmas. And then she promptly dropped it in the water."

"Oh."

"So, I'd be delighted to take whatever birthday present you might have scrounged up for me, even if it's something you've had shoved in the back of your closet since the dawn of time. In fact, that might be the most appropriate type of present."

"It is in the closet, if that makes you feel better." They slipped into the house quietly so they wouldn't wake up Alexander. She opened the foyer's closet door and grabbed a box from the top shelf then gestured to the door again.

She settled on the top step of her porch, avoiding the areas still damp from the rain. She held out the box to him.

"What is it?"

"Open it, dork." He slid his finger under the tape and separated the paper carefully. She sat on her hands, bouncing her feet on the lower step as she watched in a silly kind of giddy anticipation. "Jesus, you're such a girl. Tear the damn paper."

"Hey, this is the last damn present I'm getting. I'm making the most of it."

She sighed, acting put out. "You're a girl."

"I could prove you wrong on that account, but I'd probably scare ya." Pacey turned his head so that he could grin at her. "Being the virginal Joey Potter that you are."

"How do you know I'm still so virginal?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Because you walked around like you'd just won the lottery after Dawson kissed you. You're about as virginal as virginal gets."

"You're a pig."

"And, I've known you since you were five, Potter. Hell, I figured out when you got your first period, I'm pretty sure that I'll know when you have your first sexual experience."

"You're not going to know shit about my first sexual experience, Pacey Witter. I can guarantee that."

He folded the paper neatly and set it aside, tugging the top off the box. Sitting on a sea of red yarn was a statue, shaped similar to an Oscar. He turned it over and chuckled softly as he read the inscription. "Best Actor?"

"Keep reading."

"Best actor in a cheap ass movie." His grin widened. "I'm surprised you actually gave me credit for acting."

"Well, you're a monster, but the green and scaly part took some doing." She smiled back at him. "There's more."

"Yeah?" He dug out the red yarn, which, upon unrolling, turned out to be a red sweater. "Wow. This is nice."

"Is it the right size?"

He held it up against his body and shrugged. "Looks okay."

"It's a good color for you."

"We're practically sitting in the dark, Jo. How do you figure that?"

"Hey, anything that hides more of Pacey Witter…it's got to be good." She watched him as he packed everything back neatly in the box and got to his feet. She stood as well, noticing he'd moved down a step so that they were eye to eye. "Happy birthday, Pace."

"Thanks, Potter." He shifted uncomfortably then leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek. "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, it was nothing."

He shook his head as he headed into the yard. "No. It wasn't."