Two hours later, Joey examined her appearance in the long mirror on the back of the bathroom door for the hundredth time that night, finally deciding on a black dress she had hanging on her closet. The dress reminded her of the dress she wore to their Junior prom. It was almost identical to the dress in fact, except that the back dipped down further, exposing more of her back then her prom dress did. She tried to decide whether or not to put her hair up or leave it down. Finally she decided to leave it down, not wanting to look overly dressed up. She never really bothered with make up, but slapped a little bit of lip gloss on before deciding she was finally ready.

She took a deep breath before heading out to the car, reminding herself over and over again in route that it wasn’t a date, just two old friends getting dinner together. When Joey arrived, Dawson was already there, sitting at a table smiling. Her heart melted and she felt a familiar pain; the pain of knowing no matter how much she wanted and loved him that the two could not be together romantically like she wished. No, she had blown that picking Pacey for the second time, and crushing Dawson’s heart...again. She thought it was ironic that after she had ‘chosen’ Pacey, the two soon realized that that chapter in their lives had been over, for a while now. They mutually agreed to end things, and Pacey went after his ‘soul-mate,’ none other than Andie McPhee. Joey was happy for them; they had just gotten married a year and a half ago, but she felt as if she should be with *her* soul mate now.

Realizing she was just standing there, Joey snapped out of her thoughts and walked over to the table where Dawson was sitting, a smile on her face.

“Hey,” he said, warmly, standing up as she reached the table.

“Hey,” she said back. He leaned over and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek before taking their seats.

“I-I forgot how beautiful this place is,” she said, looking around.

“Yeah, it is,” Dawson agreed. “Jo, I gotta tell you; you look *amazing,*” he said, unable to keep his thoughts about her to himself. He fought the urge to climb over the table and kiss her.

Joey blushed at his compliment. “Thank you.” She smiled at him. “You know, you don’t look so bad yourself,” she said.

Dawson grinned. “Thank you.” The waitress came over a few minutes later, asking what they’d have for drinks. Wanting to take away her nervous feeling, Joey ordered red wine.

“I think I’ll have that, too,” Dawson said, looking over at Joey and smiling. The waitress jotted down their order and disappeared, leaving the two to chat while they waited for their drinks.

An hour later, the two were finishing up their meals, laughing as they sipped their wine. Joey felt great; she wasn’t drunk, but had drank enough to feel comfortable, and by the way Dawson acted, he was feeling the same way.

“So Mr. Hollywood, how’s your career going?” Joey asked. Dawson laughed at her comment.

“It’s going great,” he told her, a huge smile on his face as he spoke about his work. “I mean, the first movie I made, as you know, did badly, but the second..” he trailed off.

“Was a complete success,” Joey finished for him.

“Exactly.” There was a pause as the two of them just sat there, staring at each other, smiling. “So what about you? Famous editor Joey Potter,” he said.

“Well first of all, I’m no where near famous. I believe that’s you,” she said. “But it’s going good. I’m lucky that I have a job that I love.”

“I’m glad your happy,” Dawson said. Joey forced a smile. Tell him! Tell him your still in love with him and want him back! The voice inside her yelled. Tell him that you love him! Joey shook the thoughts out of her head, taking another sip of her wine.

The two sat there, listening to the band in the background playing soft music as people ate. Suddenly Dawson was hit with an idea. He looked over at Joey before standing up. Joey looked up at him for a second, unsure of what he was doing.

“Joey Potter, will you dance with me?” he asked, extending his hand. Joey looked up at him, feeling hesitant about dancing with him. Their bodies so close as they swayed to the music. The thought alone sent shivers down her spine.

Dawson sensed her hesitance towards dancing with him. “C’mon, It’ll be fun,” he said. Finally Joey smiled, nodding her head.

“Okay,” she said, taking his hand as she got up. Dawson lead her to the small dance floor and the two began to dance. After a few minutes, Joey rested her head on Dawson’s shoulder, enjoying the feel of being so close to him. She could feel his hand on her bare back. Her thoughts traveled to the one time they made love in college. His lips on her back, her neck... she shuddered at the thought.

“Are you cold?” he asked, rubbing her arm with his hand.

“A little,” Joey lied. Dawson smiled down at her, rubbing one arm at a time as they continued dancing slowly to the music. Joey looked up at him and smiled weakly, his touch making her whole body feel limp...and alive at the same time.

He couldn’t hold back any longer. Dawson lowered his head, capturing her soft lips with his own. He half expected her to pull away, but instead, she moved her hand to the back of his head, deepening their kiss. His hand rubbed her naked back, needed to feel her skin.

The two finally broke apart, remembering they were in a public place. Joey looked up at Dawson, into his eyes, trying to read hat he was thinking; what he was feeling. His eyes were clouded with love, heat, desire... everything she had hoped he was feeling. Knowing what they both wanted, they quickly paid the bill and ran out to their cars, kissing and holding hands on the way. Soon Joey was backed up against her car as the two shared a very heated kiss.

“Your place or mine?” Dawson asked, his voice raspy and filed with desire as they broke off their kiss.

“Yours,” Joey whispered back, kissing him.

“Do you know where it is?” he managed between kisses. Joey nodded, finally breaking off their kisses. No words were needed as they broke a part and scrambled into their cars and sped off.

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