* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
