You and me | Pacey Witter

thirty-one

WITH A map in hand, Pacey led the group throughout the woods. Lucas followed behind him, as for, the rest stayed more behind. After each discovery they had made so far, Jen had to voice her opinion about it, "take that Mary Waldeck girl for example. Was she a witch? I think not. It sounds like she just had a bad case of the wan and fuzzies."

"It's too heartbreaking for words," Joey admitted.

"I couldn't disagree more."

Aurora and Jen shared an annoyed look with one another. Another one of Joey Potter's and Dawson Leery's infamous arguments were about to begin. Joey glanced back at him, "how do you figure?"

"It clearly illustrates how love can thrive in even the worst of circumstances," Dawson stated.

Joey scoffed, "yeah, and look what happened to her."

"Nobody knows what happened to her."

Joey looked back at him with an annoyed expression. "Well, I think it's safe to assume that Mary died a very sad and lonely death," Joey exclaimed. "Separated from the one boy she ever loved," she added.

"I don't buy that," Dawson argued. "If two people are truly, madly, deeply in love," Dawson said, glancing up toward Pacey and Aurora who walked not too far from each other, "they'll figure out a way to be with each other."

"They were young. They were split up for a long time," Joey continued. "Maybe- maybe he forgot about her," she shrugged. "Maybe he met someone else."

Dawson shook his head, "but if he didn't meet somebody else and forgot about her, then obviously, they were never meant to be in the first place," he admitted. Lucas's eyes flicked to the ground, thinking about what he had just said. He's the third person to say the exact same thing for his situation. "See my point?"

"Could you be any more naive?" Joey questioned.

Dawson frowned, "could you be any more cynical?"

"Could you be any more irritating?" Jen asked, turning to face them. "Pipe down, you guys, we're here."

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

THE CHURCH was a dirty mess, and the walls were stained from the fire. But you could tell that since then it had been cleaned up the best it could be. "Listen to this. The townspeople built the church cause they thought it would help the girls find God. They'd send a minister over every Sunday, but the girls would just tease them so mercilessly, eventually he gave up and stopped coming," Dawson read.

Jen chuckled, "I can hang with those girls."

"They were murdered," Joey mumbled.

"I beg your pardon?" Lucas questioned.

"It says here that a group of men from the mainland treated the island like their own personal brothel," Joey read from the signpost in the front of the church. "When word got out, the bible-thumpers got together and decided enough was enough. And then, an angry mob came, corralled the girls into this church, set it on fire."

"That's when William must've run off with Mary," Dawson added.

"Hold on, Romeo," Joey stated, narrowing her eyes. "Why are you reading into this all of a sudden?" she asked, curiously. "How do you know that William didn't light the torch?" she questioned.

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe because he loved her?" Dawson responded.

"How do you know he was such the enlightened male, Dawson?" Joey asked. "I mean, if the whole town thinks your girlfriends a witch, maybe it's just easier to go with the flow," she explained.

Dawson shook his head, "that's not the story I'm interested in telling."

"Well, a good documentarian looks at the story from all possible angles, Dawson," she reminded. "Not just from the perspective of his cloying and annoying world view," she informed. 

Haley spoke up, "we should really head back now before it gets any darker."

- - - - - - - - - - -

THE GROUP had found their way back to the docks, but it didn't lead to what they hoped for. The captain and boat were already gone, meaning that they were stuck on the island, with no other place to go. Aurora groaned, "great, we are now officially stuck out here!" she exclaimed. "Right now, I'd much rather be in my bed, writing my paper, than being stuck here."

Dawson turned to the face the girl, "I didn't force you to join us," he told her. "I mean you should have taken this up as a possibility," he shrugged. "So, yes, we're stuck here, it's too late for you to change your mind now."

Aurora scoffed, "I didn't think I was going to get stuck on this island, Dawson? I mean you would've thought that the people here would be a lot more responsible for their guest's safety, but clearly, that was a dumb thought."

The conversation was interrupted when suddenly a bell began to ring somewhere deeper in the words. The only place they could think of was the church. Joey's eyes widened, "who's ringing that?"

"Let's go find out?"

The group began to take off toward the church. Aurora threw her hands up, "uh, why are we running toward the noise? I would rather take my chances and swim away from it," she exclaimed, but none of them responded, so she began to follow behind.

Dawson pushed open the church door and it was revealed that no one had been there. Lucas stepped foot in, pointing his flashlight around to find any traces of someone being in here.  "Well, this is mighty peculiar people," Pacey spoke up. "There's no bell."

The eight of them looked up almost in unison and there in fact was no bell above them. Haley reached over and grabbed a hold of Aurora's hand, out of fear. "Okay," Joey spoke up. "I'm now sufficiently wigged."

- - - - - - - - - - -

THEY HAD decided to stay inside the church, figuring it would be the safest option if they were stuck on the island. The group took this as an opportunity to explore more of the building. Aurora walked to one of the backrooms filled with candles and burnt bibles. Haley followed behind her. 

"So," Haley's voice caught her attention. "I heard that this was Cape side's best make out spot," she informed with a smirk on her face.

Aurora turned around toward the girl who slowly walked toward her, until her back hit the wall. "Well," her voice trailed off as she looked up at her girlfriend with a small smile. "I'd think it would be criminal to let it go to waste, right?"

Haley nodded, "I agree," she stated.

Haley was the first to lean in and Aurora kissed back as soon as she felt her lips on her own. Aurora raised her hand up, resting it on the side of Haley's face. On the other hand, Haley found her hands resting on her waist.

The two smiled into the kiss as it deepened. The moment was interrupted when the door slammed open. Aurora and Haley quickly jumped a part, but it was too late, the rest of their friends had found out about their secret.

Joey and Jen's eyes were widened in shock, but a small smile rested on Jen's face. On the other hand, Dawson just stared at the two with his mouth slightly a gape. "Um, when did this happen?" Dawson questioned.

"Uh," Haley stammered, "a few days ago."

Aurora caught a glimpse of Pacey's eyes. He already knew about the two of them, so why it hurt the way it did to see them like that? He didn't know. She quickly looked away from him and turned to look at Haley with a small smile, "surprise," she awkwardly said.