There's a reference to the episode before Pretty Woman (I think it's that one), but no spoilers or anything. I hope you enjoy! Read on and don't forget to read the note at the bottom.
She's the One
Dawson was absolutely crushed. "You're going to France?" he whimpered. Joey remained hardened despite the sad puppy face Dawson was giving her.
"God, Dawson. You are so pathetic," she said, rolling her eyes. She started to walk away.
"Jo, please answer me," Dawson begged. "Please stop. I need to hear you say this. Tell me, are you really going to France?" Dawson had lightly grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him. He looked into her eyes. "Are you?"
Joey was trying to stop herself from melting under his gaze. She felt his eyes burning into her. "They are so gorgeous," she thought. She forgot herself for a moment as she returned his stare. Then, she remembered how angry she was and why. "I made the decision to go to France..." she started. Her eyes fell to the ground. "But I was too late. The other girl broke up with her boyfriend and already made all the arrangements to go."
"That's great!" Dawson yelled, pulling Joey into his embrace. He wanted to jump up and down for joy. Joey wriggled out of his arms.
"What are you doing, Dawson?" she sneered. "You woke up thinking differently about things, remember? Where's the insensitive jerk from this morning that left me all alone?" Dawson looked at her with sorrow.
"I am so sorry..."
"Always sorry! Maybe if you thought about how you were hurting people before you did anything to be sorry about..." Joey interrupted angrily.
"You know what, Jo?" Dawson interrupted back. "I already got told off by Pacey about this today. Maybe if you would shut up a minute, I could explain." Joey was surprised at the harshness in Dawson's voice but was silent. "Okay, now I have to apologize for yelling at you, too. Let me start over. Jo, I love you." She rolled her eyes. "I know I deserve that, but I do," he continued. "I didn't want to affect your decision about France. I didn't want you staying here for me. I mean, I did, but I couldn't let you stay no matter how much I wanted you to. I thought that not factoring me in as part of your decision would make it fair, so I pretended not to care about you as much. Jo, it hurt me so much to see you hurt and know that I was the cause. Here," Dawson said, pulling out the roses. "In a garden of beauties, you outshine them all." Joey slowly took the roses and smelled them.
"You are such a sappy romantic, Dawson," Joey finally smiled, stroking the petals. "Especially that last line. Where did you get that from? I hope that I'm never that bad." Dawson laughed even though she was making fun of him. It was good to see her smile. "Dawson?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Dear? Uh oh. You're rubbing off on me already. You called me dear... and I kind of like it. Anyway, never leave me like that again, okay? If you do, I will track you down and physically beat you," Joey said seriously.
"Just try it," Dawson said, caressing her cheek. She put the flowers down and put her arms around his neck.
"You know I would," Joey smiled. "I've beaten up guys bigger than you before. You know that."
"Sure," Dawson chuckled. "Maybe later I'll even let you have your way with me."
"You are so gross, Dawson," Joey made a face. Dawson put his arms around her waist and kissed her as tenderly as he could. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Dawson started walking her back to his house. Joey picked up her flowers and cradled them in one arm. Dawson casually wiped his hand on his pants before taking Joey's hand in his. She noticed and smiled, but decided not to say anything to ruin the moment.
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Joey had gone home shortly after they had gotten to Dawson's house because they both had a lot of homework. No one else was at her house. Joey heard the doorbell ring. She got up to get it, expecting to see Dawson. She laughed at the thought of him not being able to stay away for a couple of hours. She promised that she would come back later for a special movie night to celebrate their togetherness. A look of disgust crossed her face when she opened the door to Pacey.
"What are you doing here?" Joey asked. "You know, even though I cut school, I still have to make up all the work, so make it quick."
Pacey ignored Joey's attitude towards him. "Did you talk to Dawson, yet?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "You seemed really upset this morning. Dawson didn't tell me anything, but I knew that he was the cause."
"Yeah," Joey said excitedly. "I'm great now. I guess it's official. We're together! I'm not going to go to France, now, but that's okay. I really didn't want to leave, anyway. Not yet. I still had some things to work out."
"Hey, congrats!" Pacey smirked. "You got the Leery boy. Too bad. You could have done so much better."
"With you, Pacey? Don't worry. We'll always have the snail threesome," Joey laughed. "I have to finish my homework so I can get to Dawson's. Thanks for coming, bye."
"Ooooh. Joey's going to Dawson's tonight. Well, have fun. Play safe," Pacey said with a wink. "And check on Jen while you're there?"
"Good idea," Joey said, ignoring the rest of what Pacey had said. "And Pacey?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for worrying about me," Joey added sheepishly. Pacey smiled and left.
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Joey left to row across the creek a couple of hours later. She brought a red and a white rose to keep at Dawson's and a white rose for Jen. When she got to Dawson's house, she put the red and white roses down next to the ladder and went to Jen's house. She nervously rang the doorbell.
"May I help you?" Jen's grandmother answered the door.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened," Joey mumbled. "Is Jen here?"
"Jen's sleeping, the poor girl. I don't want to wake her." "Um... okay, thank you. Oh, and here. This is for you both." Joey handed her the flower.
"Thank you, Josephine. I'll tell Jen you stopped by with this." Jen's grandmother closed the door and Joey ran to the ladder. She picked up the roses and climbed into Dawson's room. He wasn't there, so she found a glass and filled it with water for the roses. She had just put them in the water when she heard Dawson coming up the stairs.
"Hey, Jo," he said, giving her a kiss. "Sorry I'm late, I was eating. Do you know that I hadn't eaten anything all day because of you?"
"Well, it's good to know that I'm in control of this relationship," Joey grinned, plopping down on the bed. "Start the movie. I left Bessie a note saying that I'll probably be back tomorrow. I hope she won't mind that it's a school night, but it's a special occasion. She'll understand... maybe... although I didn't come home last night, either, come to think of it... oh well. Don't worry. We just shouldn't stay up too late."
"If you're in charge, beautiful, you still have to have your way with me," Dawson smiled mischievously. He put the tape on and joined Joey on the bed. He took her in his arms.
"If you don't stop saying that, maybe I will. And it won't be enjoyable for you," Joey said jokingly. Dawson shrugged and kissed her again. They sort of watched half of the movie before they turned it off and fell asleep in each other's embrace.
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Well, there you go. This may be the last part of the story. Feedback, people! I hope you liked it!