<[Open in Capeside High hall]

(Dawson and Jen walk together down the hall.)

Jen: Genetic Inevitability is what it is.

Dawson: What what is?

Jen:The fact that I'm turning into my mother. Take this whole Homecoming Queen debacle.

Dawson: Your mom was an HQ?

Jen: She was a Miss Cape Cod. Same difference. She graduated from swimsuit competition to a life of cucumber sandwiches, high teas and junior league.

Dawson: Point being?

Jen: It's just, despite all my best efforts, I too have managed to reach the very pinnacle of Capeside popular culture. Dawson, I have sold my soul. I have become that false character who just follows their name around.

Dawson: Beat yourself up much Jen?

Jen: Only when I deserve it. Just another character flaw brought to you direct from Mommy Dearest.

Dawson: You know, I think you've got it backwards. I don't think anyone voted before you because you're like your mom. I think they voted for you because you're different.

Jen: They voted for me because I'm blonde and I fill out my sweater.

Dawson: That too, (she looks at him skeptically) but I think, no, when kids voted for you they voted for an outsider, you know? A provocateur. Messiah to lead them from the mainstream.

(They round a corner and are confronted by Mr. Milo)

Mr. Milo:There she is. Miss Lindley, may we interrupt?

Jen: With good news, I hope, Mr. Milo.

Mr. Milo: Allow me to introduce you to Capeside's finest. You are looking at half a century of homecoming queens. (Camera reveals a large group of women in nice clothes with big hair) Ladies, may I present Miss Jennifer Lindley. 1999's proud addition to your numbers.

Miss Freckling: (steps forward) My name is Constance Freckling of the Mayflower Frecklings, famous Freckilng's candies. I'm the oldest living HQ. Now Jennifer, if you'll just extend your index finger along the inside of my wrist like this. (She takes Jen's hand.) Congratulations. You've learned the secret handshake. Welcome to the club. I've heard all about you.

(All talk at once. Dawson and Jen smile nervously at each other.)

[Credits]

[Outside Bessie and Joey's house.]

Lots of workers are walking around. Bessie pours coffee as Pacey and Joey walk up.)

Bessie: Guys, it's all so exciting. Now tell me, whose brilliant idea was this again?

Pacey and Joey: Mine.

Pacey: Okay, it was your sister's idea to craft this place into a bed and breakfast, but I'm the one who told her how she could do it for next to nothing.

Bessie: Oh, and Pacey, be sure and thank your Dad again for getting us the help.

Pacey: Please, I finally figured out what the police auxiliary in this town is for.

(To Joey as he reaches for the coffee pot) Take it black?

Joey: Yeah (He pours her a cup of coffee.)

Pacey: Ok, Potter what's up?

Joey: Well, considering that a lot of our insurance money is going to be swallowed up in this, I just hope it all works out.

Pacey: It'll work.

Joey: It better. I can't go back to the marina gig.

Pacey: Yea whatever happened with that creep anyhow?

Joey: Long story. (pauses) He was going on a date with someone I know and and I was concerned about her and I tried to warn her and as a result he fired me the next day.

Pacey: Oh what a charmer. Who was it?

Joey: No one you know.

Pacey: Really? Yeah, Potter, do yourself a favor. Never go into politics. You're constitutionally incapable of lying with a straight face. So who was she? (Joey is silent) Oh.

Joey: Sorry. I wasn't going to tell you, Pacey.

Pacey: Why do I feel like I just got hit with a sledgehammer?

Joey: If it's any consolation, it won't last. I mean, Andie's way too smart to fall for that jerk's--

Pacey: Hey, it's okay. Whatever makes her happy, right?

[Dawson's house]

(Dawson walks into the kitchen.)

Dawson: Dad, i'm home. (looking across the room) Mom?

Gale: Hey. Oh Honey, I've missed you so much.

Dawson: What are you doing home?

Gale: A mother can't surprise her son?

Dawson: I'm not complaining.

Mitch: (entering from the doorway) I'll tell you why she's here. This year's HQ gala.

Gale: Your father knows me too well. Being an HQ from a certain undisclosed year in the late seventies, yea, I thought I'd come home.

Mitch: Late seventies?

Gale: (laughs)

Mitch: Hello, Gale.

Gale: Hello, Mitch.

Dawson: You know, Jen's planning it.

Gale: The gala? Jen Lindley?

Mitch: Yeah, Capesides's newest Homecoming Queen.

Gale: Well, how on earth did that happen?

Dawson: Nobody's quite sure but I'm interpreting it as an early sign of the Armageddon.

Gale: Hm, well at the very least, that should make for a fun time for us.

Dawson: Have you developed a lazy eye or were you actively looking in my direction when you said us?

Gale: Honey, I need an escort.

(Dawson, Gale and Mitch glance uncomfortably at each other.)

[Capeside High Cafeteria]

(Pacey and Joey sit at a table. Andie comes and joins them.)

Andie: Hi.

Pacey: (getting up) I just remembered I got some French vocab to study for.

Andie: You don't take French.

Pacey: Well, all the more reason, right? (he leaves)

Andie: You told him.

Joey: It slipped out over breakfast.

Andie: Breakfast?

Joey: Yeah, Pacey's been helping Bessie and me with the addition. You know, the one we're investing every spare cent we have to build so we can hopefully open soon and financially barely scrape by?

Andie: Look, Joey, it wasn't my fault you got fired and even if it was, which it wasn't, you can't stay mad at me forever.

Joey: Not forever... a few solid months.

Andie: Ok, I don't know what Rob and I are. All I know is I can't help it. I like him.

Joey: For now, but I can promise you this, Andie. You're going to get a big, fat I told you so.

[Freckling Mansion]

(Jen picks up a note on the door. She goes inside and looks around at pictures on the wall. There's a dress in the middle of the room. She looks in the mirror.)

Miss Freckling: (coming up from behind her) Don't slouch, young lady. Square your shoulders. Face the world! (motioning towards the dress) What do you think?

Jen: Excuse me?

Miss Freckling: The dress. It's nearly finished. I make a new one every year for tomorrow's gala celebration.

Jen: Um, see that 's what I wanted to--

Miss Freckling: One must remain modern, after all. I'm thinking of lifting the hem and softening the neck a little.

Jen: Softening would be good. Listen Mrs. Freckling--

Miss Freckling: Miss Freckling. I never married.

(Banging on the roof)

Jen: Oh, what in the---w-world was that?

Miss Freckling: Hank.

Jen: Hank?

Miss Freckling: My handyboy. Lovely child. Lives right down the road. Presently, he's hanging extra twinkle bulbs on my roof. Jen: Oh yeah, about that party, I hope that you don't mind, but it's just that I've been through all this before with my mother, and she was constantly trying to turn me into a debutante and it's just not my thing.

Miss Freckling: Oh, but I do mind. You have a responsibility, young lady, as the newly crowned queen to help me host this event.

Jen: But I didn't ask for this.

Miss Freckling: Nor did I ask for you, Jennifer. Most girls who walk through this door are pleased as punch to be here. They're sweet, upstanding, enthusiastic girls who relish the chance to be role models. They tend to stand up straight, comb their hair and... wear brassieres. Am I making myself clear?

Jen: Crystal.

(Jen leaves. As she walks out the door, a figure falls from the roof in front of her.)

Henry: Aaah!

Jen: You're Hank.

Henry: Quick. Bees. Run for your life.

(He takes her hand. They run to the greenhouse.)

[Inside the new addition of the Potter house.]

(Pacey and Joey are sweeping up.)

Joey: Just like the cops to disappear when the going gets tough.

Pacey: Some of them do have wives and children to get home to. And besides, we're almost done here, and you know, I was thinking. You're gonna need a name for this addition when we do get finished, so a suggestion, if I may. How does the Pacey J. Witter wing strike you?

Joey: Keep talking, it'll be a memorial dedication.

Pacey: You know, Potter, sometimes your lack of gratefulness, it borders on unappealing.

(Bessie enters with the phone in her hands.)

Bessie: Joey, it's for you. Whoever it is, she sounds upset.

Joey: Hello?.... Hello--

Andie: (tearfully) Joey?

Joey: Andie is that you?

Andie: Joey, please help me.

[commercials]

[outside Rob's house]

(Pacey, Joey and Andie are crouched under a tree.)

Joey: Andie, what happened?

Andie: I don't wanna talk about it. I just wanna go home.

Pacey: Andie, you gotta tell us what happened first.

Andie: Pacey, please--

Joey: Andie, what did he do? Did he try to hurt you?

Pacey: Andie, you gotta tell us, what did this guy do to you?

Andie: Um, we were upstairs... in the bedroom...and we were just kissing. And then...he started trying to...and I kept saying no and he kept trying. And then I managed to get away before anything else happened. And that's when I came down and I called Joey and can we just go now please?

Pacey: Where is he?

Andie: Don't worry about it.

Pacey: Is he in there?

Joey: Pacey, let's just go.

Pacey: I'm not leaving until I talk to that bastard.

Andie: Pacey, no--

(He gets up and goes towards the house.)

[Inside Rob's house. Lots of people are there. Music is playing.]

(Rob is talking to some friends. Pacey comes from behind him.)

Rob: But I tell him, it is easy...

Pacey: Rob-

Rob: Yeah?

Pacey: You're here with Andie, right?

(Pacey punches Rob. Guys try to pull them apart.)

Pacey: What the hell did you do to her?

Rob: I didn't do anything.

Pacey: That's why she's outside bawling her eyes out, for nothing.

Rob: Where is she?

Pacey: You're not going anywhere near her.

Rob: Get off me.

Pacey: If you so much as touch her again, I am going to nail you to a cross.

Rob: Wait a minute, I didn't even lay a hand on her.

Pacey: (walking away) Save it for the judge, Logan, huh?

Rob: Get out of my house.

[Miss Freckling's greenhouse. Evening]

(Henry and Jen admire the flowers.)

Jen: It's really beautiful in here.

Henry: Isn't it? You're looking at over 200 plants. (pointing to one) Bulbophyllum virginalis.

Jen: You're making that up.

Henry: No I'm not, I swear. Sometimes they get a little suggestive with the names.

Jen: Okay, give me another one.

Henry: Ok, how about Polystachya Pubescenes or Vanda Vaginatum?

Jen: Ooh, is it hot in here or did you just make me blush?

Henry: Oh-

Jen: Relax, Henry, it'll take a lot more than a flower to offend me. How did you learn so much about these?

Henry: Miss Freckling.

Jen: What's the deal with her?

Henry: What do you mean?

Jen: She's wound so tight, she's like a violin string.

Henry: No, she's-- she's just sad.

Jen: Sad?

Henry: She's got no one in her life. She never had kids, no relatives. I've lived next door to her for 10 years, I think I'm her best friend.

Jen: I don't know who to feel sorrier for, you or her. We're gonna have to toughen you up. You keep wearing your heart on your sleeve like that and you're gonna bleed to death.

Henry: It's not me, it's her. You have no idea how much she was looking forward to meeting you.

Jen: She was?

Henry: I told her all about you. See, the thing is, she has exactly two events on her social calendar. The W.O.C. in Miami every spring--

Jen: The W.O.C.?

Henry: The World Orchid Conference. And in the fall, the Homecoming Queen gala. It's what she lives for. Without them, she's got nothing at all.

[Joey's house]

(Joey, Andie and Pacey sit around the table.)

Joey: Look, um, you need to go to the station tonight.

Andie: Uh-uh, I can't go to the station.

Joey: Andie, you have to go to the police.

Andie: It's not like he actually did anything.

Joey: Well, then why don't you stay here. I really don't think you should be alone tonight.

Andie: Thanks, but I can't.

Pacey: I can take care of this, Jo?

Joey: You sure?

Pacey: Yeah.

Joey: Ok.

[Miss Freckling's house]

(Miss Freckling is working on the dress. Jen and Henry enter.)

Henry: Miss Freckling? Constance? She's got her aid turned off.

Jen: Aid?

Henry: Hearing aid. Sometimes she likes to tune out the world.

(Henry taps her on the shoulder)

Miss Freckling: Oh, Hank you startled me.

Henry: I, um, I ran into Jen outside.

Jen: Miss Freckling, I know that we got off on the wrong foot and I just wanted to see if we could start over.

Miss Freckling: He is persuasive when he wants to be, isn't he?

Jen: I, I --I 'm just getting to know him.

Miss Freckling: Well, if he likes you, you can't be all bad.

Jen: You know, I was just thinking the same thing about you.

Henry: So, should we wait for the waters to calm or just dive right into the party planning?

Jen: I say, dive right in.

Miss Freckling: Very well. Entertainment or food, take your pick.

Jen: Um... entertainment?

Miss Freckling: Ah surprise, surprise. Now, since it's my house, there are some rules.

Jen: Surprise, surprise.

Miss Freckling: No mimes, no magicians, no Barry Manilow, no Elvis look-alikes, no motivational speakers, no comedy troupes, no breakdancing, no gangsta rap, no animal tricks--

Jen: Okay, no nothing that you might possibly see on Letterman.

Miss Freckling: What's Letterman?

Jen: How does-- a string quartet playing Mozart strike you?

Miss Freckling: Perfect.

Jen: Ok, I'll split the difference.

Miss Freckling: I'm sure you will.

Jen: Oh, and there's one more thing.

Miss Freckling: What's that?

Jen: Well, uh, he doesn't know it yet, but Hank here is going as my date. (She puts her arm around him.)

[Pacey's boat]

(Andie and Pacey sit on the boat together. Andie picks up the sign "True Love.")

Andie: True Love, that's ironic.

Pacey: Yeah, well I figured since it didn't exist, I'd try and create it for myself.

(He puts a blanket around her)

Andie: Why did you bring me here?

Pacey: Because, well, you said you wanted to go someplace quiet.

Andie: There's lots of quiet places, Pacey.

Pacey: Yeah, I guess there are. Um, I guess I just wanted to show you I've been okay since we ended things. I've found a way to turn what's killing me into something potentially beautiful.

Andie: I haven't, Pacey. I'm not over you.

Pacey: You will be, McPhee.

Andie: See, even that, just you calling me by my last name. You know how long I've waited to hear that?

Pacey: You've been through a lot tonight, Andie. Let's not go there.

Andie: If it took what happened tonight to bring us together, so be it.

Pacey: We're not together. I mean, I'm here for you, but we're not together.

Andie: If we're not together, then I'm not sitting beside you, staring into your eyes and kissing you.

(She leans in to kiss him, at the last second, he pulls away.)

Pacey: Andie--

Andie: Sorry.

Pacey: We just can't. Phew, we can't for so many reasons, we can't.

Andie: I'm not asking you what we can't do, Pacey. I'm asking you what you want to do.

Pacey: I want to know that you're okay. That's all that matters to me now.

Andie: That's a shame, because you still matter to me in every way. I want to be with you, Pacey.

Pacey: I know that's how you're feeling right now, but tomorrow could be an entirely different story.

Andie: I'm not talking about tomorrow. I'm talking about right now. Tonight. You and me together, under the stars, just like it used to be. I'm talking about a kiss. That's all I'm asking. Don't you want to?

(They kiss. They pull away and kiss again.)

[commercials]

[Outside Andie's house]

(Pacey and Andie drive up in the patrol car.)

Andie: Thanks for taking care of me.

Pacey: Right back at you, Andie.

Andie: I just wanna say for the record, about last night. Whatever did or did not happen between us happened for a reason, and I, for one, am 100% okay with it. And you know, wherever it may lead, whatever new status may result, it's totally-

Pacey: Andie-

Andie: I'm rambling.

Pacey: Yea.

Andie: Well, it's an awkward moment and I'm scared, and in scared moments I ramble. I mean, some people do that sometimes, I mean, sometimes they even ramble when they're--

Pacey: Andie--

Andie: Rambling again, right? I guess I just wanna know that you're feeling what I'm feeling.

Pacey: I am.

Andie: (sighs) That makes me so happy. (she kisses him goodbye on the cheek.) Okay.

(They wave goodbye. He closes his eyes thoughtfully.)

[Joey's house]

(Rob is at the door. Joey opens it.)

Joey: Didn't you read the sign? No known sex offenders within 200 yards of my property.

Rob: I didn't do it.

Joey: Not bad. You could use a little work on the delivery, however. I suggest a less foreceful interpretation.

(She tries to close the door. He doesn't let her.)

Rob: Joey please, tell me... tell me- (he grabs her) she hasn't gone to the police.

Joey: You touch me again and I will scream faster than you can say William Kennedy Smith, you got it?

Rob: Look. She was the one that wanted to go upstairs. She- she practically dragged me up to that room... and when we started kissing, I swear, she just freaked out

Joey: Know what, Rob, you do not have a lot or credibility with me right now.

Rob: Fine, I admit it, okay but there is a difference between an inappropriate workplace flirtation and--

Joey: And sexual assault? You draw your own line in the sand, Rob, they are both against the law.

(He grabs her arm as she tries to close the door.)

Rob: I have never forced myself on anyone.

Joey: If you say so.

Rob: It's no secret that she's unstable. No secret that she spent some time in a mental hospital.

Joey: I'm going to pretend that you never said that.

(She closes the door.)

Rob: (yelling) Then why would she do this, huh? That's all I wanna know. For what possible reason?

[The gala]

(Miss Freckling survreys the party happily.)

Miss Freckling: Splendid. Splendid.

(Dawson and Gale sit together at a table.)

Dawson: I wonder where Jen is.

Gale: Oh, don't look now, here comes Marilyn Mendrick and her husband. I haven't seen them in years.

Dawson: I can't stand that woman.

(They get up and go across the room where they meet Marilyn.)

Marilyn: Oh, Gale, Dawson.

Gale: Neil, Marilyn.

Marilyn: I heard all about Philadelphia.

Gale: I'm sure you did. Excuse us, we were just going to get a drink.

Dawson: Actually, I'm quite proud of my Mom.

Marilyn: Oh, we all are, even if Philadelphia didn't quite agree with her. Honestly, I think it's perfectly absurd to fire an anchor since the public felt she was too old to identify with. You wouldn't hear them saying that about Diane Sawyer.

Neil: Gale, I speak for the whole county when I say you'd be welcome back on our airwaves anytime.

Gale: Thank you, Neil.

Neil: (to Marilyn) Shall we? (They leave)

Dawson: Mom, is there something you want to tell me?

(Jen and Henry enter dressed in gross, lacy costumes.)

Miss Freckling: You're late. The entertainment still isn't here and that wardrobe is far from appropriate attire. I demand you go home and change this instant. I can understand why she would turn this into a travesty, but why you, Hank?

Jen: Relax, okay? I put him up to it and you haven't seen anything yet.

Amanda: (off-camera) I swear it's hotter than a French prostitute in this place.

(Drag queens enter)

Christy: What you need, Amanda, is a long tall stiff one.

Amanda: On the rocks.

Summer: You said it, Sugar.

Miss Freckling: Who and what are they?

Jen: They are the entertainment.

Miss Freckling: I need to sit down.

[Andie's kitchen.]

(Joey and Andie are chopping tomatoes.)

Joey: Andie, have you told your dad?

Andie: Why should I? I mean, it's only gonna upset him and it's not like anything cataclysmic happened.

Joey: Andie, this guy could have hurt you.

Andie: You dont know that, Joey, and maybe I overreacted.

Joey: Do you think you overreacted?

Andie: Well, I didn't cry wolf, if that's what you're saying.

Joey: No, that's not what I'm saying.

Andie: Then what are you saying?

Joey: I have to tell you something.

Andie: What?

Joey: Rob stopped by my house this morning. He told me his side of the story and he basically got down on his knees pleading his innocence.

Andie: So that's why you're here. You of all people are gonna believe that scum.

Joey: I didn't say I believed him.

Andie: No, you just stopped by for a friendly little chat.

Joey: No, I stopped by to make sure we were doing the right thing, Andie. Look, I should've reported the guy myself about his behavior towards me. I mean I could've prevented this whole thing. I think your water's boiling.

Andie: Listen, Joey, maybe all of this happened for a reason. I mean, maybe something good came out of it. (She puts spaghetti noodles into the pot of water.)

Joey: What do you mean?

Andie: As of last night, Pacey and I are back together and I can't tell you how happy I am. Because now everything can just go back to the way it was.

[The Gala]

(Jen stands on the stage with a microphone.)

Jen: Ladies and gentlemen, the moment that youve all been waiting for. Please help me in welcoming the awesome talents of Amanda Wreckinwith, Summer Clearance, Megan Whoope and Ms. Christi Anity.

(They sing "It's Raining Men.")

Henry: Don't-- don't tell anyone, but I think I got the hots for Christy.

Jen: I always knew you had excellent taste in women.

Henry: Constance is gonna kill me.

Jen: Don't be so sure. Down deep buried in there somewhere, I think she gets it.

Henry: Gets what?

Jen: Homecoming Queens, Drag Queens, what's the difference? They're all just people dressing up, pretending to be something they're not. Playing a role. (She rises.) Come on.

Henry: What-- what are we doing?

Jen: Dancing, in hopes of performing a miracle and awaking the dead.

(Jen and Henry get up and dance. Gale and Dawson smile. Miss Freckling looks worried, but she's tapping her foot.)

[The Boathouse.]

(Andie enters with a basket. Pacey's working on the boat.)

Andie: I come bearing gifts.

Pacey: Hey, Andie.

Andie: Hey, I thought that, uh, True Love could use a woman's touch. What do you think?

Pacey: Well, to tell you the truth, what she could use is a new rudder and a keel.

Andie: Ok, would you settle for a skipper's cap and a pair of my Dad's old topsiders?

(He puts on the hat.)

Andie: Very nice.

Pacey: To be honest, I-- I'm really starting to wonder whether I'm gonna finish her at all.

Andie: Why do you say that?

Pacey: Well, because sometimes it's harder to rebuild something than it is to just start from scratch.

Andie: Why?

Pacey: That picture that you have in your mind of the way something was, it's never gonna be that way again.

Andie: Yeah, but it could be better.

Pacey: Yeah, it could be... depending on how badly damaged it was in the first place.

Andie: How badly damaged was it?

Pacey: It was pretty much totaled.

Andie: Ok, Pacey, could we please stop beating this metaphor to death and just talk about what we're actually talking about.

Pacey: I made a mistake last night, Andie. We both made a mistake.

Andie: What did we do? Nothing.

Pacey: All I can tell you is how it made me feel.

Andie: How ?

Pacey: Like I went against what I know is right.

Andie: That's funny because today is actually the first day that I felt really happy since I left the hospital.

Pacey: That is funny. You know, there used to be a time when you and I were so in sync with everything we did, just connected. And look at us now. We have the oppoisite reaction to the exact same event.

Andie: Pacey, please don't do this. Not now. Don't break up with me.

Pacey: I never wanted to break up with you. Never. I mean, all those months just waiting, secretly hoping...

Andie: You're just-- you're just punishing me, that's what this is about and you just need to stop being angry with me.

Pacey: I'm not punishing you, Andie. Punishment implies that you did something wrong.

Andie: I slept with another guy six months ago. I knew it was wrong when I did it. I keep trying to tell you this and make you understand it. How many times do I have to say it?

Pacey: Andie, if you wanted to sleep with him, if even just for a second, then maybe it wasn't wrong.

Andie: It was.

Pacey: Maybe... maybe that was just your heart's way of teling you that I'm not the one. Cause that's what my heart's telling me right now. It's telling me that you're not the one.

Andie: [sob] You don't mean that, Pacey. Pacey, you can't mean that.

Pacey: Andie, I'm sorry.

Andie: No, just-- just forget it.

(she leaves)

[Gala]

(A conga line is going. Miss Freckling sits with Jen.)

Miss Freckling: Well, Jennifer, the evening wasn't a total disaster. I will say one thing, they sure do know how to dance.

Jen: That they do. You know, Miss Freckling, I believe that I owe you an apology.

Miss Freckling: Whatever for? Besides the obvious, that is.

Jen: Well the truth is that I intended to shock you tonight, but something unexpected happened. For the first time, I was able to see past the cliche and I actually enjoyed being a Homecoming Queen.

Miss Freckling: Which brings us to one small, unresolved item. Hank. He adores you, you know.

Jen: It's just a crush, it's completely harmless.

Miss Freckling: It's more than that. He talks about you nonstop. Your presence in his life has awakened him somehow. It's quite special. Though my concern is the sentiment's not mutual.

Jen: That would be correct.

Miss Freckling: I had a beau, once. Heir to a mattress fortune. Beautiful man. I was 17. We courted. He asked me to marry him. I remember it like yesterday. He took off his hat, got down on one knee, it was at his mother's grave site on the anniversary of her death.

Jen: You were proposed to in a cemetery?

Miss Freckling: Looking back, I should've run from there screaming like a woman from a burning house.

Jen: But you didn't.

Miss Freckling: No, I didn't. But the wedding never happened anyway. He led me on, Jennifer. Played me for a fool. And then he ran off to California with the girl who'd sold him his Cadillac. But the point is, the heart is a fragile thing Break it too badly and it might well never recover. (sniffs)

[Miss Freckling's greenhouse]

(Jen and Henry are looking at flowers. Henry shows her one in particular.)

Henry: She calls it the Spotted Heart. It's her most sacred blossom. Took her over 15 years to breed it correctly.

Jen: It's older than you are.

Henry: The world's most beautiful things are.

(He tries to kiss her. She doesn't let him.)

Jen: Henry-

Henry: I thought we were having fun.

Jen: We are, but not like that.

Henry: You asked me to come with you tonight.

Jen: Yes I did.

Henry: Doesn't that count for something?

Jen: It counts for us becoming friends.

Henry: Jen, I- I think I'm in love with you.

Jen: Henry, you're not in love with me.

Henry: You can't say that. How do you know what I feel?

Jen: You don't even know me, how could you possibly be in love with me?

Henry: Because I just-- I am.

Jen: I wish it was that simple.

Henry: It is that simple. If it's our age you're worried about, we're not even two years apart. It's nothing.

Jen: Right now, it's everything, Henry. Do you know how much is gonna happen to you in the next two years if you do them right? Your heart is gonna swell and break a hundred times before you turn 16.

Henry: How does that make me any less ready for you now? I can still care about you more than anyone ever has.

Jen: No offense, but that's not saying much.

Henry: Then give me a shot. What do you have to lose?

Jen: Listen, Henry, what you need right now is somebody who can not only understand what you're going through, but who can also go through it with you. Believe me, everything that you haven't done, I have.

Henry: Except fall in love. You haven't done that or else you'd have someone. But you don't, which leads me to believe that everything you think you know about love is questionable. And as long as it is, you can't tell me I'm not the one for you.

Jen: Henry, what you need to know about me, and it's something that I'm just beginning to understand, is that until I can look at myself without judgment or condemnation, I'm not ready for anybody. Let alone you.

Henry: You know, what you just said about my heart breaking 100 times? Well, there goes number one.

(he leaves.)

[Gala]

(Dawson and Gale sit talking by themselves.)

Dawson: I'm just sorry you didn't feel you could tell me.

Gale: How does a mother tell a son, whom she's supposed to be teaching to dream, that she failed at her own?

Dawson: Mom, first of all, you didn't fail. And second of all, you don't look old. You look great.

Gale: Thank you, Honey.

Dawson: Now, as for coming home...

Gale: Sweetheart, I have my reasons why I don't want to race back to Capeside.

Dawson: And that's between you and Dad and I don't want to get in the middle but--

Gale: But you think that I should talk to him, don't you?

Dawson: I just think you could use a friend like him now.

Gale: That's not too easy, Dawson. There's way too much history there.

Dawson: But there's no law saying that you can't, you know, lean on him a little. Tell him the truth, Mom. What's the worst that could happen?

Gale: He could help me. We could become friends again.

Dawson: Ha. God help us.

[Joey's porch]

(Andie paces furiously while Joey sits listening.)

Andie: You lied to me. You told me one thing to my face and then you went right behind my back. I thought you were supposed to be my friend.

Joey: I am, Andie.

Andie: Oh, and you have such deep feelings for me that you went straight to Pacey and sabotaged everything.

Joey: Pacey! I haven't even talked to Pacey since you guys dropped me off.

Andie: And I'm supposed to believe that?

Joey: Well, it's the truth.

Andie: Oh, okay, so it's just a coincidence that one minute we're together and the next he never wants to see me again.

Joey: When did this happen?

Andie: Tonight. An hour ago. Right after you went and told him that I made up the entire story about Rob just to get him back.

Joey: Look, okay, Andie. I admit, it- it did cross my mind, but I didn't believe it. Not for a minute.

Andie: Is that right?

Joey: I know you. I- I know that you're a good person. You- you would never do anything so hurtful and plainly wrong. (Andie walks over to the bench silently.) What? What did I say?

Andie: Nothing.

Joey: You can tell me, Andie.

Andie: Look, you don't know me, Joey, okay? You don't know what I'm capable of when I set my sights on something.

Joey: Andie, you're a stubborn and determined person. There's nothing wrong with that.

Andie: No, it's- it's more. It's like I've got blinders on and all I can see is what's right in front of me, what I'm after. And everything on the edges just gets blocked out somehow.

Joey: What are you talking about?

Andie: I'm talking about Pacey. I love him and I need him.. . and the truth is...I don't know what the truth is anymore.

(Joey sits beside her and puts her arm around her.)

Joey: It's ok.

[Gala]

(Jen is walking inside, she sees Miss Freckling talking to the drag queens. She sits with them, they make a toast.)

[Docks]

(Henry walks alone with a hurt and confused look on his face.)

[Dawson's porch]

(Mitch and Gale sit talking to each other.)

[Boathouse]

(Pacey sands his boat furiously.)

[Joey's porch]

(Joey sits with her arm around Andie.)

FADE TO CREDITS