You and me | Pacey Witter

twenty-two

THE GROUP arranged a group study session for the finals at the icehouse. It was quiet. Everyone had their own thoughts that swarmed their mind, so they took the studying to distract themselves. The sound of Officer Witter's voice caught the attention of the rest of them. "What are you doing here, Pacey?"

"We're, uh, signing a peace treaty," Pacey joked, and a small smile cracked on Aurora's face. The same stern expression rested on his face. He groaned, "we're studying, pop, studying," he informed.

The man ignored him and looked over at the Potter girl, "Joey, is your father around?"

"Hello, John," Mr. Potter greeted before Joey had a chance to respond. He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets, "restaurants closed," he informed.

John cleared his throat, "hi, Mike," he greeted. He still held a serious expression on his face, it was hard to tell if the conversation was going to end well or not. "Can I speak to you for a moment in private?"

"Sure. Come on back."

Aurora and Haley glanced over at each other, as Joey watched as the two men disappeared into the room, worriedly. As soon as they left, Joey turned to the Witter boy with a confused look. "Pacey, what's going on?" she questioned him, dropping her pencil.

Pacey sighed, "Don't look at me. My father's crusades are his own deal."

Joey quickly excused herself to go check up on her father, and not too long after, Mr. Witter exited the room, Pacey followed him out. Jen, Jack, and Lucas bickered by the coffee pot. Aurora and Haley both left to the restroom, the two needed to splash some water on their face to keep them awake. 

Aurora turned on the sink and placed some water in her hands before she splashed it on her face and rubbed underneath her eyes to wake herself up. She moved out of the way and grabbed a paper towel to dry her face. Haley did the same exact thing and as the two girls tried to leave, she placed her hand on the doorknob, but the door wouldn't budge. "It's not working. Aurora, it's stuck."

Aurora's eyes widened as she tried to push open the door, and just like that, it wouldn't open. Both girls glanced over at each other before they began to slap their hand against the door to try and catch someone's attention. "Help!" "Help up! We're stuck in here!"

Haley panicked and backed away from the door, "Aurora," she said with a shaky tone as she pointed underneath the door. Aurora looked back at the girl and then looked down to where she pointed too. Smoke began to appear underneath the door and enter into the room. 

The smoke became harder and harder to handle. Both girls were a coughing mess. It felt harder to be able to do anything as they grew weaker. The flames outside could be heard, and it worried them.

The group had evacuated outside. The commotion was complete chaos and only when Dawson and Mr. Potter had run out of the building, is when someone spoke up about the two missing girls. "My sister's in there!" Lucas exclaimed.

Without hesitation, Lucas ran straight back into the burning building. Despite the yells from his father, Pacey followed right behind him. The two boys rushing around the icehouse trying to find them. He covered his mouth with his sleeve as he coughed. "Aurora, come on, Aurora where are you? Haley?"

The faint sound of knocking caught the two boys' attention. "It's coming from the bathroom!" Lucas exclaimed before they both rushed over toward the door. "Aurora, Haley, are you okay?" he asked.

"The doors jammed," Haley responded, ignoring their question.

Both girls were sat up against the wall, the smoke filled their lungs, and only made them weaker. "Okay, are you two far away from the door?" Pacey asked, and when he heard the small 'yes' muttered from one of them. "We need to break down the door, Lucas."

Lucas agreed and nodded. The two stood away from the door before they rushed over there and hit in with their shoulder, but it failed. Both boys winced in pain. "Let's try to kick it," Pacey suggested. "One, two, three."

As soon as their foot collided with the door, it busted open and flew against the wall. Lucas rushed over to his sister and helped the weakened girl up. Pacey grabbed a hold of Haley and helped her up as well. "Okay, don't worry. You two are going to be okay. Let's just get you out of here."

The four exited the icehouse and as they did, the ambulance and police arrived at the scene. Paramedics stepped out of the vehicle and went around to check if everyone was okay. Aurora and Haley sat in the back of the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around them. "You two are going to be just fine," the paramedic told the two. 

Joshua and her dad had rushed over to the girl, as Lucas followed behind. Aurora stood up and threw her arms around her uncle, he immediately did the same. "Oh, my God. I'm so glad the two of you are okay," he said with a relieved tone.

- - - - - - - - - - -

AURORA SAT on the couch with her knees curled up to her chest as she scanned through the channels to try and find something she wanted to watch. Joshua walked out of his bedroom after he had just gotten out of the shower and noticed the brunette in the living room. He raised an eyebrow and headed into the kitchen.

Aurora didn't notice her uncle walk out of the bedroom. Her eyes were glued to the tv as 'Full House' played on the screen. She felt someone nudge her shoulder and when she looked up, she realized it was her uncle.

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows at the man. He had two small tubs of ice cream in his hand, along with spoons. He motioned his head to the cookie dough ice cream, and she took it, with a small smile. "What's this for?" she asked.

Joshua shrugged, "just because," he told her. "I think with everything that has happened lately; I should apologize to you."

Aurora frowned as he sat on the couch beside the brunette. She shook her head, "no, I should apologize. I shouldn't have taken out my anger on you, you didn't deserve it," she said with a soft tone. "I'm really sorry," she apologized. "I love you, Uncle Josh."

Joshua smiled at the girl, "I love you too, Rora." He turned to the tv and dug his spoon into the ice cream tub. "So," he paused. "What are we watching?" he asked, taking a bite out of the ice cream on his spoon.

"Full House," Aurora replied, and then turned to him. "You know, the more that I look at you now, you kind of look like Uncle Jesse."

Joshua scoffed, "no way. I have way better hair than that guy!" he exclaimed, pointing at the tv screen. Aurora laughed at his response. Joshua smiled at the girl before he joined in on her laughter.