You and me | Pacey Witter

nine

IT WAS later at night. After the small hangout with Jack and Joey, he stopped by her house and picked her up. Now, the two of them sat across from each other at a diner in town. Jack choked on his milkshake as a laugh erupted from his mouth. "No way," he exclaimed. "You really knocked that guy's tooth out?"

Aurora nodded, "I did," she confirmed with a proud smile on her face. "It was my first night in France, and you know he tried to mess with me, so I punched his tooth out," she laughed at the story, but the memory behind it haunted her. It was the first time a grown man had groped her. But Jack didn't know that. She made another story up.

Jack laughed, "wow," he shook his head, "that's pretty badass."

"It's not badass, it's self-defense," Aurora shrugged, taking a bite from her French fry.

Jack nodded, "true."

Aurora took a sip from her milkshake, "thank you," she spoke up with a small smile on her face, "tonight was amazing. It was definitely amazing to spend my sixteenth birthday with a new friend," she told him. 

Jack smiled at the brunette, "of course. I hope to spend many more birthdays with you. You're not so bad, Mcphee," he admitted. "Also don't say thank you, yet. It's not the end of the night," he told the girl, who raised an eyebrow. "Come on."

- - - - - - - - - -

JACK HAD led the girl to a secret place. Aurora was quite nervous; she couldn't see anything due to his hands covering her eyes. "Okay, Jack, I just complimented you and said this was one of my best birthdays, please, don't kill me," she told him. "I taught you how to do the dishes. If you murder me, I will come back and haunt you."

Jack laughed at her words, "Aurora, I'm not going to kill you."

"That's exactly what a killer would say."

Jack scoffed, "what else am I supposed to say?" he questioned, but the girl stayed quiet. Finally, that had arrived at the place. Jack looked over at Andie who had covered Lucas's eyes as well and the two gave each other a nod. "Okay, ready?"

The two siblings uncovered the twins' eyes. Aurora's mouth fell slightly a gape at the sight. In front of them was their friends in a dock, it was covered in lights, and had a small birthday set-up. Lucas's eyes lit up at the decoration. "Happy birthday!"

Lucas turned back to look at the Mcphee girl who had a bright smile across her face. "Did you know about this?" he questioned.

Andie shrugged, "maybe, maybe not."

The twins walked closer to the rest of them. Andie and Jack followed close behind. Joey rushed over toward the brunette first, "I know I already said it, but happy birthday, Rora," she said with a smile, before she pulled out of the hug and moved over toward the other Benson.

Dawson wished the two of them a happy birthday once again. Aurora thanked him and noticed the look on the blonde's face, she didn't look very happy, but she didn't expect her too. Jen moved on from Lucas, and though she barely knew the other twin, she still went over and brought her into a small hug, it didn't last long but it was nice. "Uh, happy birthday, Aurora."

Aurora was taken back from the sudden affection but still as the two pulled away, she smiled at the blonde. "Thank you, Jen." After it fell silent between the two of them, she noticed the same saddened look appear on her face. "Um, I know it's probably not any of my business, but are you okay?"

Jen shrugged, "do you want the truth or the lie?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood but it didn't work much. "Not really, but I had a talk with Dawson. I'm, uh, I'm going to get better, eventually. I really will. It's just hard right now," she laughed through her tears, "sorry, I don't mean to pour this on you."

Aurora shook her head, "no, no, don't apologize," she told the blonde. "I don't mind at all. If you ever need someone to talk too. I'm here," she shrugged, "I mean I know we don't each other well, and you probably don't feel comfortable telling me stuff like that, but if you feel like you don't have someone to talk too, you have me."

Jen didn't say much except nod with an appreciative smile. She wasn't one to open up a lot about her feelings, but maybe it would be nice to have someone to talk too and help her through it. "Go on, go have fun, it's ya'lls party, I'm not here to bring it down."

Aurora nodded, "okay, try to have some fun too, Jen, okay?"

Jen simply nodded and then walked away. Aurora turned around and her eyes quickly found Pacey's. The two slowly made their way over toward each other. Pacey was the first to speak up, "you didn't really think I forgot your birthday, did you?"

Aurora shrugged, "to be honest? Yeah, kind of."

Pacey shook his head, "I could never forget. Trust me, it's one of the few days that I have memorized." 

The two of them couldn't take their eyes off of each other. It felt like no one else had been around them, like it was just them in the world. The two moved closer to one another, Pacey placed his hands on her waist, while Aurora's arms slowly found themselves hanging loosely around his neck. Just like that, the two leaned in and eventually the space between their lips was gone.

It was a short, yet sweet kiss. Pacey was the first to pull away and rested his forehead against hers. The two of them surprised by the sudden action. "Happy birthday, Rory," he whispered softly.

Aurora placed her hand on the side of his face and pressed her lips against his once again. Pacey melted into the kiss. This kiss lasted longer than the first, and it still managed to be perfect. She pulled away and looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you, Pace," she whispered softly back to him.