Bessie nodded toward a table on the edge of the patio, the shadow of the building falling over the pale blue shirt pulled tightly over Pacey's shoulders. His arms were crossed on the table, his head pillowed on them. His long lashes lay still on his cheeks, the dark bruised skin below his eyes standing out against his tanned skin.

Joey stuffed her order pad into her apron and walked over to the table, sinking down opposite him. He didn't move though his lips parted slightly on a breath. "Pacey?"

She watched him for a few moments before heading back inside the restaurant. Bessie looked up, questions in her eyes. Joey shrugged and tapped the top of the soda machine. "He's asleep."

"He's been asleep for a half hour." Concern marred Bessie's voice. "You think he's okay?"

"Probably." Joey bit her lower lip as her sister slid a Coke across the counter. "He probably had to pay attention in class, so he didn't get his regular eight hours."

Bessie smiled, her worry still obvious. "Why don't you take a break?"

Joey nodded, heading back to the table and sinking into the seat she'd vacated. Setting the glass just out of his reach, she extended her hand, rubbing his knuckles gently with her fingertip. "Pace?"

He mumbled softly in his sleep, turning his hand over and capturing hers. His thumb rubbed the inside of her palm, swirling through the liquid drops left over from the glass of soda. A slight tremor ran through her and she pulled her hand away, blinking rapidly as he started, straightening and looking around, his blue eyes wide. "What?"

"It's okay." She reached out and caught his hand again, squeezing it. "It's okay. You're at the Icehouse."

He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands before raking his fingers through his hair. His gaze was fuzzy, unfocused, as he stared at her, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. He sniffed and rubbed his nose, shivering. "What?"

"You fell asleep." She pushed the Coke toward him. "You've been zonked out for a half hour."

"Oh shit." He glanced at his watch then relaxed and yawned, rubbing his eyes again. "Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He grabbed the glass she'd offered and drank it. She watched as he swallowed, draining the glass quickly. "Thanks."

"Sure." She bit her lower lip as she watched him, concern written in her eyes. "You look beat."

"I had a rough night. Didn't get much sleep."

"I gathered." She grabbed his glass. "Want a refill?"

"That'd be great." She was almost out of earshot when he spoke again. "Thanks, Jo."

She gave him a casual wave as she fought the rush of something she couldn't identify that his words brought. She moved behind the counter and refilled his glass, waving and nodding to Bessie as she worked the tables inside the dim room. She moved by her sister as she headed outside again. "He's fine. But there's something…"

"Don't worry about the crowd. Dad and I can handle it." Bessie was careful not to glance in Pacey's direction. "Just make sure he's okay."

"You don't think it's his dad or anything, do you?" She almost smiled as Bessie's cheeks tinged with pink in anticipation of her next question. "Or Doug?"

"I don't know, Jo. He's your friend."

"Yeah." She gave her sister a weak grin then headed back out to the table he was sitting at. He was still rubbing his face with his hands but his eyes were brighter, more aware. "You're lucky, you know."

"Yeah? How's that?"

"Well, if you hadn't had your arms where they were, you'd have woken up with a nice waffle pattern on your face. Not that it wouldn't be an improvement over your ugly mug, but still, I hate it when people other than me have the opportunity to laugh at you." She handed him his Coke and sat down again. The teasing was gone when she spoke again. "You want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure what to talk about." He held up a hand as she started to protest. "Not that I'm hedging. Or maybe I am. I just don't know that I can talk about it. Or what to say."

"Is it Andie's mom?"

"No." He was silent for a long time, avoiding her gaze. "Andie dyed her hair."

"I noticed that when I saw her yesterday. She looks good. Different but…"

"She's also seeing her brother."

"Jack?"

"Her dead brother."

"Oh."

He laughed, the sound sad and incredulous all at once. "I spent last night on my knees in front of the bathroom door trying to convince her to hang out with me and Jack instead of the dead guy."

"Oh." She frowned, her forehead creased with concern. "Is she okay?"

"Well, she didn't opt to slit her wrists and go hang out with Tim, so she's better than she could have been."

"I wasn't trying…" Joey took a deep breath and kept her voice calm. "I wasn't being a smart ass, Pacey. I was just…Andie's my friend too."

"I know." He nodded, staring out at the sunlight glinting off the water. "I know. And I'm not trying to be an ass either. It's just that I don't really know how to deal with this and humor's much easier than reality right now."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Problems with her medication maybe? Therapy issues? I don't know. She doesn't like to talk about it and I don't like to upset her by pressing her for information she obviously doesn't like dealing with."

"She has to deal with it."

"Trust me, I'm well aware of that fact."

Joey blew out her breath. "Dammit, Pace, I'm trying to be serious."

"And I've been nothing but serious." He rubbed his left eye, sighing out his breath into the palm of his hand. "I spent last night with Andie then had to listen to Jack call their dad and ask him to come to town and help her. And if that's not scary enough, I had to go home and every time I closed my eyes I just relived it, you know? I just kept hearing her voice, how scared she was. I kept feeling my heart racing, so scared that there wasn't anything I could do, that we were going to have to break down the door and it would be too late."

Joey watched him, mesmerized by the tears standing in his eyes. "But it didn't happen like that." She reached out and took his hand, holding it loosely in hers. "You helped her. Maybe even saved her."

"No." He shook his head and looked away. "I just managed not to say the wrong thing." His wry smile was heartbreaking. "For once." He looked down at the table and watched the sweat bead on his glass and trail down to the wrought iron. "What'd you do last night?"

"A comedy of errors."

"Tell me. I could use a laugh."

"Dawson and I had reservations at Entre Nous for our one month anniversary."

"Very nice."

"Which they preceded to give to the other Mr. Leery and his date for the evening, film teacher Nicole Kennedy."

"Ouch."

"And during that awkward event, Mrs. Leery and Jen showed up."

"Wow. We really missed a party."

"But I think Gale and Mitch might be getting back together." She shrugged and smiled, the delight on her face reminding him of how much they were like parents to her. "Which I credit completely to the matchmaking skills of one Jennifer Lindley and, of course, yours truly."

"Nice."

She glanced down at their hands, still joined, her thumb running lightly over his knuckles. "She's gonna be okay, Pace."

"Yeah." He managed to smile. "I know."

"She is. In fact, Dawson and I are together. Mitch and Gale are back together. Andie's going to get the help she needs." Joey gave him an impish grin. "Everything's going to be okay."

"Those are famous last words, Potter."

She squeezed his hand with her own and held his gaze defiantly. "Just wait. You'll see."