TIRED | pacey witter

𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀

𝙂𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙎 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙎

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

IT HAPPENED THE DAY OF THE DANCE...

what happened at the rialto was playing on a constant loop in my head. it was like a skipping record on a worn out player. i kept thinking of each moment individually and trying to place them all together. it should've been such a simple puzzle but in my mind it was a jigsaw.

in general, everything makes sense when you lay them all out. it was putting them all together that's the problem for me. because there was one piece, one key detail, that i couldn't place.

why did i rush to him the moment he was in trouble? why did my instincts tell me to help him in that moment? why was it an instantaneous action with no thought or planning? why did i run to him when he used me the way he did that night?

i couldn't believe what i was seeing. pacey sitting with ms. jacobs. the english teacher! he has got to be out of his mind. did he seriously invite me here just to see her? did pacey witter seriously just use me?

i can't even process what i'm feeling right now. i feel used, hurt, sad, and... honestly, i feel angry. he told me this was supposed to be a fun night. platonically, of course; i understood that perfectly. i never expected anything different and maybe one percent of me had hope of more, but that's besides the point. he bailed on me to hit on a woman that's almost triple his age.

did dawson know about this? is this why he was hesitant about me going? i try to keep my eyes directed towards the screen but i can't help but let them wander to him. i make eye contact with him for a second before quickly flicking my eyes towards the screen again. he really is using me isn't he?

i wait a minute before looking again, seeing a man standing next to the pair. pacey keeps looking between him and tamara. suddenly he stands up and accidentally knocks popcorn onto the man behind him. before i have a chance to react, the man stands up and punches pacey in the face.

i instantly stood up and found myself running down the theater aisle towards pacey. i quickly wrap my arms around him, ignoring everyone around me. i swiftly lead him out of the theater with no plan on where to take him.

once we exit the theater, pacey starts to say something but ignore him. i spot a family restroom and take him in there.

"what- what are you doing, allison?" pacey stutters out while i start grabbing paper towels.

"you're such an idiot, pacey," i say, ignoring his question and wetting the paper towels in the sink.

pacey sighs, "don't you think i know that, leery?"

i finally stop what i'm doing and look up to make eye contact with him. i look in his eyes for a moment, trying to read what he's thinking. this time, he's the one to look away.

"i didn't mean it like..." i start, not really knowing where i'm going with it, "i- i know what's going on, pace."

i start to softly touch the area around his eye with the paper towel. he keeps his head down, avoiding my gaze. "what do you think is going on?"