Dawson's Creek Series: Story #2
By: Courtney
So long ago, I don't remember when
That's when they say I lost my only friend
Well, they said she died easy of a broken heart disease
As I listened through the cemetery trees
I seen the sun coming up at the funeral at dawn
The long broken arm of human law
Now, it always seemed such a waste
She always had a pretty face
I wondered why she hung around this place . . .
~ One Headlight, The Wallflowers
Joey stares in the mirror above her dresser. Her sullen expression looks back at her. It's Monday morning and she is getting ready to leave for school. She's not exactly excited by this prospect. Even though she and Dawson had talked things out the day before, the thought of seeing him and Jen together was still a bit much for her.
'You have to get over this, though,' she thinks to herself. It's the only way she can stay friends with Dawson. And, in the end, she had decided if it came down to having Dawson as a friend or not at all, she would have to choose friendship. She can't imagine what her life would be like if they weren't even friends.
She's still looking in the mirror, arguing with herself about whether she can face school this morning, when there is a knock on her bedroom door. "Come in," she calls.
"Jo? You almost ready?" Bessie asks as she peeks her head in the door.
"Yeah, just about. But, if Bodi's waiting you can tell him to go ahead without me. I'll walk today," she tells her sister.
Bessie opens the door a little wider to walk into the room. Alexander is asleep on her shoulder. "Actually, I was just thinking you might not want to keep Pacey waiting for very long," she replies.
"Pacey?" Joey asks in a surprised tone.
"Yep, he's in the living room waiting for you," Bessie informs her.
At that, Joey quickly grabs her books and heads in to see what Pacey is doing there. As she approaches the living room she sees Pacey sitting on the couch. His arms are folded across his chest and he is staring absently around the room. When he spots her, he jumps to his feet.
She looks at him with questioning eyes and asks, "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
Pacey shakes his head. "No, nothing. I was just in the neighborhood and I thought maybe you'd like to walk to school together."
Joey smirks sarcastically. "In the neighborhood? At 8 o'clock in the morning? Come on Pace, even you can do better than that."
"Look, do you want to walk to school with me or not? Because I'm sure I can find someone else who would be more than happy to enjoy the pleasure of my company this morning . . ."
She rolls her eyes and says, "Oh, I'm sure you could Romeo. Should I call the cheerleaders that got you all excited in gym the other day and see if they need escorts?"
"Ha, ha, you're so hilarious. Okay, I came by to see if you wanted to walk to school. Do you or not?"
She sighs, "Yeah, I guess. Come on, we better go before we're late."
They walk outside together. After they have been walking in silence for a few minutes, Joey turns to him and says, "Pacey, tell me the truth. Did Dawson send you over here this morning?"
He stops and stands beside her, looking at her. "No, he doesn't even know I'm here." She looks uncertain that she believes him. "I swear, Joey. Dawson honestly has no idea."
"So, if that's not it, why *did* you come?"
He shrugs and they start walking again. "I guess . . . well, I called Dawson last night to see what had happened after I left. He wasn't too forthcoming with the information. I, uh, I just wanted to be sure you were alright."
Joey smiles a little at this and glances at Pacey who is looking down at his feet. She touches his arm lightly so that he'll look at her. "That's really sweet," she says.
Pacey blushes, obviously embarrassed. "It's no big deal," he says.
"It is to me," she says.
A tense moment passes between then when neither knows what to say. Finally, Pacey breaks the silence. "I bet Abby has told the whole school about why I was in detention."
"Probably," Joey nods. "And she's probably told them about my whole little scene, too."
"At least I won't be the only one being talked about today," Pacey says. He grins at her.
"Yeah, great," Joey rolls her eyes.
"Oh, come on. It won't be so bad. Not that many people will care about gossiping that you like Dawson. Me, on the other hand, I think I'm in for a *fun* day. Remind me again, why did I get out of bed this morning?" he asks.
"Probably because it's Doug's day off and he'll be home all day," Joey says with a laugh.
"Actually, you're right," he laughs back. "Well, nothing is worse than a whole day with him. Bring on the cheerleaders!" he says.
Joey laughs at him and shakes her head. They keep walking towards the school. The conversation remains pretty lighthearted and they mostly just kid each other and make jokes. Pacey doesn't mention Dawson again. He figures Joey will hear enough about that once they get to school. She's grateful for the short distraction and enjoys laughing at Pacey as they walk together.
"Jen, wait!" Dawson calls down the hallway as Jen shuts her locker and starts towards homeroom. She turns around and sees him and smiles.
"Good morning," she greets him as he approaches.
"Good morning," he smiles back and kisses her cheek. "Where were you this morning? I thought we could walk to school together but you'd already left."
"I had to finish some Algebra homework so I came in a little early to get it done," she explains.
"I could have helped you. Or I could have come in with you this morning," he says.
"I know, but I wasn't sure what kind of plans you had . . . I just thought it would be better if I came in by myself," she says. It's obvious that she is not quite sure what to say.
"Jen, are you mad at me?" he asks quietly as they stand in front of her locker.
"No, Dawson, I . . ." she stops when she sees Pacey and Joey walking down the hall in their direction. "Hey you guys," Jen says to them with a smile.
Dawson turns to see who she is talking to and nods at his friends. He carefully avoids making eye contact with Joey and she notices this but doesn't say anything.
"Hey, how's it going?" Pacey asks them.
"Fine, how about you?" Jen asks.
"Never been better. I'm here for a day of rumors, innuendo, and gossip all at my expense. I've been looking forward to this all weekend," he says.
Jen laughs. "Get out of here," she says teasingly. She looks at Joey, who is standing back a little looking unsure if she really wants to be there. "Hey Joey," she says.
"Uh, hey," Joey says quietly.
Dawson finally looks at Joey. He swallows hard, not sure what to say. Neither of them speaks but the silent exchange between them does not go unnoticed by Jen. She watches them looking at one another. Pacey picks up on all of this and quickly breaks the tension.
"So, anybody want to help me start some rumors about Abby? I figure if she's going to be talking about all of us we might as well return the favor." No one responds. At this point, no one is on the mood for Pacey's humor.
"I've got to get to class," Joey says softly and turns to leave.
"Jo, wait . . ." Dawson says but she's already walking away. He wants to follow her but then again he wants to stay with Jen. He sighs, not sure what to do anymore.
"I'll make sure she's okay," Pacey tells him quietly. "See you guys later." He smiles at Jen, then turns to head after Joey.
"She seems upset," Jen comments as she and Dawson head in the opposite direction towards her homeroom.
"Yeah . . ." he says absently. Jen can tell he is still thinking about the exchange in front of the lockers. He looks down the hall in the direction Joey had headed and Jen follows his gaze. She doesn't say anything. Finally, Dawson turns back to her and they walk to class together, both looking very confused.
"Joey wait up!" Pacey yells as Joey darts through the hall. He has almost caught up to her when she ducks inside the girl's restroom. Pacey is just about to follow her inside but stops short when he realizes there are people everywhere in the halls and that he'll probably get pummeled by 20 girls if he walks in there right now. Instead, he decides to wait for her to come out.
Pacey waits by the door and watches the girls that file in and out of the restroom. After a few minutes the halls have started to clear and it becomes very obvious that he is waiting outside the door for someone. Several people give him strange looks but he just ignores them. What does he care anyway? His reputation at this school couldn't really be much worse.
The bell rings, signaling the beginning of homeroom. Most everyone scurries quickly to class, trying to avoid getting a tardy. Finally, Pacey is the only one left in the hall. He glances back and forth to be sure no one else is around, then slowly enters the restroom. "Joey?" he calls as he rounds the corner. He is relieved to find no other girls in the bathroom. He only sees Joey's feet in the last stall. He walks over to it. "Hey Jo," he says as he raps lightly on the door. "Come on out."
"Go away, Pacey!" she says miserably. He can hear the tears in her voice.
"Give me a break here, Joey. I'm trying to make sure you're okay. I've already made myself late for homeroom which will no doubt get me some after school detention and bring the wrath of Doug upon me when he finds out. Can't you at least just open the door?"
Joey is silent for a moment, then finally gives in. Pacey hears the lock slide and the door eases open. Joey wipes her tear stained cheek and pushes past him. "Happy now? Forget this menial garbage. I'm going back home," she says and storms towards the door.
"Wait just a minute," Pacey says as he catches her by the arm to stop her. "You can't go home. You can't just run away."
"The hell I can't," she says and wrenches free from Pacey's grasp.
"Joey, wait . . ." he calls and follows her out the door. They walk into the deserted hallway and Joey heads for the exit. "Hey, what if someone sees you leaving? And what is Bessie going to say? Do you really want to deal with that today?" he calls after her.
She has to consider what he's saying and she knows he's right. An afternoon explaining this to Bess would be far worse than a day at school dodging Dawson and Jen. She stops in her tracks and spins around to Pacey. "Okay, smart guy, then where to?" she asks.
"I know the perfect place," he says and walks forward. Her grabs her arm and, making sure no one is looking, they quickly leave the school grounds together.
"I wonder where they are?" Dawson says as he and Jen sit at the lunch table together. Dawson hasn't said much else the entire time. He's just been picking at the spaghetti in front of him and glancing around every few minutes for any sign of Joey or Pacey.
"Don't worry, he probably just took her home. I'm sure she's fine," Jen assures him.
He nods but doesn't answer. He hates to admit it, but it really bothers him that Joey is upset and Pacey is the one comforting her. *He's* always been the one who was there for her in the past. He knows it's selfish to feel this way, especially in light of Saturday's events, but he can't help it.
"You know, if you're so worried maybe you should have gone after her yourself," Jen says. She immediately bites her lip, regretting how jealous and spiteful her words came out. She didn't really mean them that way . . . did she? "I'm sorry, Dawson . . ." she begins.
"No, forget it," he says. He rubs his face roughly with his hands. "God, this is all my fault!" he says. "If I had only listened to the things she has been trying to tell me all along I could have had a private conversation with her about this. But, instead, she had to open herself up in front of everyone. That was so unfair . . ."
Jen looks upset. She's not sure how to make Dawson feel any better. And the things he says about Joey always cut to her heart like a knife. She knows that Dawson likes her, but she also knows he will never care about her as much as he cares about Joey. At first she had thought the kind of feelings he had for the two of them were totally opposite from each other. But, maybe they aren't so different after all. He tries to sound like a worried best friend, but sometimes Jen thinks she hears more in his words than the voice of a best friend. She wonders if even Dawson hears this himself?
"Why don't you go find her?" Jen asks suddenly.
Dawson looks at her curiously. "Huh?"
"Joey . . . you should go and see if she's okay," Jen explains.
"And just blow off school?"
"I'll take good notes for you," Jen says with a smile.
Dawson stares at her a moment longer then returns the smile. "Thanks," he says softly and gets up to throw out his uneaten lunch and head for the front desk to sign out. Jen watches him go, wondering if she has just made a huge mistake.
"Pacey, I can't believe we're here. I don't think I've been up here since we were in 6th grade," Joey says as they enter the tree house.
"Yeah, we sort of outgrew it," he says as he steps in behind her and stands slumped over to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling.
Joey laughs, "Maybe you should sit."
Pacey does as she says and takes a seat beside her. "Remember the year Dawson's dad helped us build this thing?" Pacey says. "We thought we were so cool. We used to have those camp outs up here and tell ghost stories . . ."
"And get scared at around midnight and head back up to Dawson's house," Joey laughs.
"Yeah . . ." Pacey grins as he remembers. They used to have a lot of fun together. "Joey, how come you and I never talk? Me, you and Dawson, we used to be such good friends, but then . . . it was just like the older we got the more I became Dawson's friend and you became Dawson's friend and suddenly we barely spoke at all."
"I don't know," Joey replies softly. "I guess we just always felt like Dawson was what we had in common."
"Lately I feel like you and I have a lot more in common than either of us have with Dawson," he comments.
"Yeah, you're probably right," she says. She looks out the small window in the tree house at the woods below. The tree house is built into one of the tall trees behind the Leery house. Joey stares out at the familiar woods and looks very forlorn.
"You really do like him, huh?" Pacey asks. She blushes and shrugs. "It's alright, nothing you say goes beyond these ears. I promise."
Joey hesitates for a moment longer, not sure she wants to talk about this. Then, finally, she decides that maybe talking about it will make her feel better. "I don't remember when I started feeling this way. It was just like I went to bed one night and Dawson Leery was my best friend and the next morning when I woke up he was a *guy*. I don't know what changed. Maybe it was him . . . maybe it was me. Maybe nothing changed. Maybe I just finally began to see something that I had felt all along. I don't really know . . ."
"Love stinks," Pacey says.
"Thanks for the clinical analysis Dr. Witter," Joey giggles.
"Seriously, I mean it. I never wanted to be in love. I just wanted . . . well, I think we both have a pretty good idea what I wanted. Anyway, I never meant to have a relationship . . . I never wanted to care."
"All that stuff with Ms. Jacobs, that was all true, wasn't it?" she asks, suddenly realizing what Pacey is getting at. He looks down at his feet and nods. "Wow, Pacey . . . God, I'm speechless . . ." she stammers.
"I wish I had been. If I'd never felt the need to brag about the whole thing to Dawson in the bathroom that day . . ." he begins.
Joey touches his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over this. I hate to say it, but a relationship like that was bound to end sometime. You had to know that."
"Yeah, maybe I did . . . but I never wanted to believe it."
"We're always blind to the painfully obvious truth," she says.
"I guess . . ." he says sadly.
"Man, I don't know about you but I'm really tired. I didn't get very much sleep last night. Would you be really offended if I took a nap?" she asks.
"No, go ahead," he says with a small smile. Joey lies down on the hard, wooden floor of the tree house and struggles to get comfortable. She lays her head on her arms and tosses back and forth, looking for a position she can sleep in. Pacey sees this and reaches over to take her by the shoulders. He scoots her closer to him and rests her head on his lap.
"Pacey . . ." she says in protest.
"Shh, just sleep. Don't worry, you're too young for me anyway," he grins. Joey grins back and snuggles in closer to Pacey, feeling peaceful at last. He watches her as she drifts off to sleep and smiles a little. He's enjoying this newfound friendship. He wonders why he never realized what a great girl Joey Potter was. 'Dawson Leery, you have no idea what an idiot you are,' he thinks silently. He closes his eyes and he too is soon asleep.
Dawson walks up and sits on the front steps of his porch. He's been looking for Joey and Pacey for almost an hour and still has had no luck.
"Hey Dawson, something wrong?" he hears behind him. He turns to see his dad walk out onto the porch.
"Oh, hey Dad," Dawson replies.
"You don't sound so hot today. Want to talk about it?" Mitch Leery asks as he takes a seat on the front step beside his son.
Dawson sighs. "It's Joey," he says.
"She's okay I hope?"
"Yeah, she's fine. Well, I mean, I guess she is . . . Jeez, I don't even know anymore," he replies in an exasperated tone.
"So, this is about what happened on Saturday then?" Mitch asks. Dawson had told him about the events in detention when they were talking the night before.
"Pretty much. It seems like everything is about that now. All of our conversations are eclipsed by the divulgence of her little secret. I just don't get it, why'd she have to pick know to unburden her soul to me?"
"Well, it seems to me that Joey hasn't been the only one withholding her feelings," Mitch says.
"Are you trying to say that you think I feel the same way about her?" Mitch just shrugs. Dawson shakes his head. "Joey is the best friend I've ever had, probably the best friend I'll ever have, but I'm not ready to take that step. I mean, think about it Dad. I've spent the last fifteen years flying solo and now I'm finally head over heels for someone else. I think Joey is just jealous."
"Jealous? Yeah, that's possible," he replies but doesn't sound convinced.
"You're starting to sound like Pacey," Dawson grumbles.
"Maybe you should listen to Pacey a little more often," his dad tells him.
Dawson laughs. "You wouldn't say that if you knew what Pacey's been up to lately."
Giving him a strange look, Mitch says, "You'll have to fill me in on that one some time."
"Trust me, you *do not* want to know!"
"You may be right on that one," his dad concedes. "Well, in any case, I think you and Joey need to talk. You must be feeling more than you want to admit about this, otherwise you wouldn't be spending so much time debating the situation," he points out.
"Don't get all philosophical on me, Dad," Dawson replies.
"Just an observation, son," he says, then starts to get up.
"Where are you going?" Dawson asks.
"Into town. I have some errands to run, then I'm stopping by the station to see your mom."
"Do you think that's such a good idea? Going by the station I mean?"
"We have to start somewhere. I can't avoid this forever. Running away only makes things worse," Mitch tells him.
Dawson nods and smiles slightly. "I'm glad you guys are working things out," he says.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, son. Nothing has been worked out yet."
"Well, your efforts in the situation are commendable at least," Dawson tells him.
Mitch just laughs a little at this. He's been sort of surprised by Dawson's reaction to this whole situation. For a fifteen-year-old boy who has never known an unhappy home in his entire life, he's taking this all rather well. Perhaps all of the other things on his mind right now are keeping him from focusing on it. Mitch has to wonder if that's good or bad.
"I'll see you later, buddy," Mitch says over his shoulder as he starts for the car. He stops and turns back. "By the way, about this Joey situation, I think you need to talk this out with her. You two have always been able to communicate about anything. Just remember who you are dealing with here," he reminds him.
Dawson considers this, then nods. "Yeah, thanks Dad," he says.
Mitch smiles reassuringly at his son, then turns once more to walk towards the Jeep parked out front. He waves to his son and pulls away from the house.
Watching his dad leave, Dawson thinks about his advice. What he had said about running away was very true. It only made things worse. The longer they waited to really discuss this, the more compounded this situation with Joey was bound to become. It was time the two of them sat down and talked this out, once and for all. If only he knew where she was . . .
Suddenly, a thought occurs to Dawson. He realizes he has a pretty good idea where his friends might be hiding out. He gets up from the porch steps and goes to investigate his theory.
Pacey hears a rustling sound and stirs in his sleep but doesn't wake up. He is still leaning against the wall of the old tree house with Joey curled up in his lap. His arm is draped protectively across her as they sleep.
Dawson stands on the ladder with his head even with the entrance to the small room. He is shocked at what he sees before him. His two best friends . . . Pacey and Joey . . . is he really seeing this? But, what about . . . 'No!' he thinks. 'You have no right to question any of it. You're with Jen, remember? Joey has her own life. She can do whatever she wants.'
Joey shifts in her sleep and snuggles closer to Pacey. He instinctively pulls his arm tighter around her. Dawson can't stand to watch this for another minute. He discards his doubts about his place in this. He can't help his anger, his hurt, his . . . his . . . jealousy. He starts back down the ladder, not bothering to remain quiet. He doesn't care anymore who hears him.
Again, Pacey stirs at the noise around him. This time, though, it is loud enough to pull him from his slumber. He leans his head out the nearby window and sees Dawson stalking angrily away. He looks down at Joey as she continues to sleep peacefully in his lap. He sighs as he realizes that Dawson must have seen the two of them like this and gotten the wrong idea.
"Great, perfect," he mumbles. He thinks about waking Joey up to tell her what has just happened, but, then, looking down at her, she just seems so contented. He doesn't want to disturb her when he's sure that between Alexander and all of this stuff with Dawson, she has gotten little or no sleep lately. Instead, he reaches down to brush her hair out of her face and a soft smile crosses his lips. He looks back out the window and watches the clouds roll by and thinks that this day isn't going anything like he had expected.
The door slams shut as Dawson storms into his bedroom. A stuffed E.T. doll wobbles on a nearby shelf and then falls to the floor. On the way down, the doll bounces off the dresser, taking a large picture frame down with it. The doll and the frame crash to the floor and the sound of glass breaking quickly draws Dawson's attention. He spins around and sees the mess beside the dresser. Cursing under his breath, he moves to clean it up.
Dawson picks up the doll and set it on the dresser. Then, he picks up the picture frame. Shards of broken glass poke out from the ruined frame, but the picture beneath them is still very clear and familiar. It's a picture of he and Joey. It was taken only last summer. Bessie had decided to take up photography and had insisted that the two of them pose as her models. Though the hobby was short-lived, the pictures had turned out rather well, especially this one. It was by far his favorite. In the picture, he's sitting on a large rock and Joey is sitting between his legs with her back to him. She's leaning back against him and his arms are draped over her shoulders. Dawson smiles as he thinks about all the fun that they had had the day this photo was taken. He wonders to himself when, or if, they will ever be that way again.
Joey opens her eyes and finds herself staring right up at Pacey. He seems to be watching her. For a moment she forgets where she is and just looks at him with an odd expression. Then, suddenly, she realizes she has been curled up asleep in his lap and she jumps up.
"What the . . .?" she says in confusion as she starts to wake up. She still pretty groggy, however, and wondering if she remembers all of the events of this day.
Pacey looks at her with slight alarm, wondering what's wrong. "Jo, what's up? You okay?"
"I . . . Pacey . . . what happened? What were we . . .?" she's not sure what to ask.
It only takes a moment for him to realize what's on her mind. "Nothing, not a thing. We were just . . . just sleeping. Don't you remember?" he asks curiously.
She thinks a moment. "Yeah . . . yeah, I guess I do. I just . . . I know I was pretty tired. I just wanted to make sure."
He smirks. "Don't flatter yourself, kiddo."
She returns his sarcastic smirk and rolls her eyes. "Oh, how quickly I forget about your abundance of self control," she teases.
"Alright, fair enough," he says. "But, you have nothing to worry about, really. Me and you, we're like Jon Cryer and Molly Ringwald in 'Pretty in Pink'."
"Jon Cryer was in love with her the whole movie," Joey points out. "Is it me or is this analogy getting scary?"
Pacey shrugs, "Not really, he wasn't in love, he was just confused. He knew deep down that she didn't want him. They were just good friends. She still ended up with Andrew McCarthy in the end."
"Yeah, and Ducky ended up with the 40-year-old woman that worked in the record store," Joey giggles. "Maybe you *are* Jon Cryer after all."
"Funny, so funny," he says and lungs for her. He tickles her and she screams and laughs, squirming on the floor of the tree house.
"Stop, I give, I give!" she squeals. Pacey stops tickling her and they both sit there for a minute catching their breath. "So, you think Dawson is Andrew McCarthy?" she asks suddenly.
"Dawson? Well, I don't know if he's quite as suave as Andrew McCarthy is; I mean, you saw Weekend at Bernie's. Who can compete with that?" he grins.
"Pacey, I'm serious," she giggles as she socks him playfully in the arm.
"Okay, okay," he laughs back. "Truthfully, yeah, I think he could be Andrew. But, actually, you know, I think you two are more like 'When Harry Met Sally'. You both dance around your feelings for years and right when one is ready to admit it the other isn't. Then, one day, you both look at each other and see fireworks." Joey smiles at this description. "And," Pacey continues, "I can totally see you in that deli scene." Using a high-pitched, breathy voice, he begins imitating the movie, "Oh Dawson, oh yeah . . ."
"Pacey!" she says loudly. "You are *so* dead!" she says with a laugh just before she playfully attacks him.
Jen walks up the driveway to her grandparent's house. She glances toward Dawson's house but sees no sign of him. She wonders if he's home. She could go over and see how things went but . . . what if he's not alone? Joey might be there.
She immediately regrets having this thought. She knows in her heart that Dawson's not the kind of guy to go behind her back. He's her boyfriend and she knows if he likes another girl he'll have the decency to tell her instead of sneaking around. Still, though, this isn't just some girl. This is Joey . . . this is his *best* friend. Jen has to wonder; do the same rules still apply?
She sighs and keeps walking towards the house. She decides that if Dawson feels like talking he will let her know. Until then, she'll just have to wait.
"So, he looked pretty upset, huh?" Joey questions Pacey as they walk back through the woods towards Dawson's house. He has been telling her about waking up and seeing Dawson walking away from the tree house.
"Upset seems like kind of an understatement. He looked fairly pissed to me," Pacey replies.
"Well, do you think we should both go explain?" she asks.
"Actually, I think it might be better if we didn't. I don't know if I'm up to it. Why don't we just let him sleep on it?"
Joey rolls her eyes. "Great, then little Miss Wonder Bra can comfort him."
"Careful Jo, green's not your color," Pacey smirks. "Alright," he concedes, "if you want to go talk to him I'll go with you. But, you know, you don't owe him any explanations."
"I'm painfully aware of that, Pacey," she comments.
"Come on, let's go get this over with," he says as they approach the house. They both head towards the ladder together.
Dawson hears someone at the window and has a pretty good idea who it is. Still, he doesn't make a move to get up. If it's who he thinks it is he'll be found soon enough. As expected, it takes only a moment for the closet door to swing open and reveal Joey and Pacey. "Hiding?" Joey asks.
"Nope, just thinking," Dawson replies. There is a decided coldness to his tone.
"Care to share these revelations?" Joey asks.
"Actually I'm not much in the mood to chat," he replies. He looks at the wall, staring at a Jaws poster in front of him.
"Come on, Dawson. It's time to come out of the closet," Pacey teases.
"Why don't you just shut up," Dawson says to him.
"Hey, I didn't come up here to fight with you, bro," Pacey says. Joey can tell he is getting defensive.
"Well, why did you come up here then? To inform me about the little field trip you two took today? And to think, I never thought we'd use that tree house again," he scoffs.
"Now, wait just a minute . . ." Pacey says as he walks over to the closet. Dawson stands up as he approaches. Joey moves quickly to stand between the two.
"Stop it!" she yells. "Just stop. Look, Pacey, maybe Dawson and I should talk for a while. Would you mind?" she asks.
He takes a deep inward breath, trying to keep his anger in check. With his eyes still giving Dawson a piercing gaze, he tells Joey, "Okay, I'll catch you later." He turns around and exits the way he came.
When Pacey is gone, Joey turns back to Dawson. "What was that?" she asks angrily.
"What was what?"
"The little melodrama you just played out in here. Truly an Oscar worthy performance Dawson, but totally off base," she says.
"Look Joey, I may be naïve sometimes. Hell, maybe I'm even a little dense when it comes to some things. But, I am *not* blind! I know what I saw out there today. I know about you and Pacey. The two of you don't need to treat me like some silly little imbecile who wouldn't see the obvious if it whacked him upside the head. I know what's going on."
"Do you Dawson? Do you really?" she yells back, getting in his face now. "Well, first of all, what the hell business is it of yours *what* happened between me and Pacey? I mean, I can go bang the whole football team and you can't do a damned thing about it! You don't control me, Dawson Leery. As much as you'd like to, you cannot direct the lives of everyone around you."
"I'm not saying I can, I just . . ." he starts to counter.
She cuts him off. "You just what? You just thought Pacey and me were a thing now and King Dawson doesn't like that so you thought you'd voice your all mighty opinion? Spare me the judgements Dawson. I can take care of myself. I don't need anybody's help living my life. And I *certainly* don't need your help. You'd be about the last person I'd ask right now."
Dawson stands there for a moment and doesn't say anything. The anger that covered his face only seconds before has melted away and been replaced by hurt and shock at Joey's words. She regrets being so harsh but doesn't let him see this.
"I . . . Joey, I'm sorry . . . I didn't think . . ." he stammers.
"No, you didn't. You never do," she says coldly. She is fighting hard to keep the tears that are threatening her from spilling onto her cheeks. She doesn't want to let him see her cry.
He slumps back down into the closet. He stares down at his feet. "I'm . . . Joey, I'm scared of what's happening to us," he says softly.
She's surprised at the tone of his voice. He sounds like he is close to tears as well. "Dawson . . ." she starts.
"No, look at us. Look how we're acting. Did you ever think there would be a day when we didn't turn to each other first? I know nothing is going on between you and Pacey. He was just being a friend to you. But . . . I should have been the one with you today, Jo. I should have been the one listening to your problems and making you feel better." He looks up at her finally and lets her see the tears gleaming in his eyes. Softly, almost in a whisper, he says, "When I saw you with him, I realized that I really may have managed to lose my best friend."
Joey can't keep her emotions under control any longer and she, too, starts to cry. "I'm sorry Dawson. But, what was I supposed to do? You know what I was upset about. I can't very well talk to you about that."
"Why not?" he asks.
"Dawson, be serious . . ."
"I am being serious. Why haven't we really talked about this? We can't get past something we're afraid to talk about."
"What if I don't want to get past it? Dawson, you see this as a problem, but . . . I have a hard time thinking of my feelings as a problem to be worked out," she responds.
"I didn't mean that . . ." he says. He gets up and walks over to sit beside her on the bed. "Jo . . ." he says softly. She looks down at her feet. "Joey . . ." he says again. He lifts her chin gently to direct her gaze to his. "I want us to sort this out. I don't want to lose you," he says softly.
"I just don't know it we're ever going to be able to go back to how things used to be, Dawson. I think we might be deluding ourselves if we believe that can happen."
Dawson nods. He knows Joey is right. "So, we evolve," he concludes.
"I think we had this evolution discussion before," she says. "It didn't seem to work out so well the last time."
"Well, we just have to try harder. I won't lose you as my friend. I can't do that." He takes her hand in his and looks at her. "Please, just tell me your willing to try. Tell me you want to try and stay friends."
She doesn't respond for a moment and this makes him nervous. Finally, though, she nods. "I can't imagine throwing away fifteen years just like that. Yeah, I'm willing to try." He smiles at her. As she looks at him and feels her stomach do flip-flops, something tells her she is setting herself up for a big fall, but she doesn't care. She has to try. She can't live without him anymore than he can live without her.
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