[This picks at the end of the season finale.]

Dawson and Joey are kissing in front of the window, and they slowly begin to move towards the bed. Joey falls, and consequently Dawson falls on top of her. She can feel something poking her in the back, but she paid it little mind, because she was so caught up in the moment that she had dreamed for so long. But when she hears her own voice, she can't help but look at the television. Her heart seems hardened by what she sees.

"Dawson, why is that playing?" she asked.

He stood up, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet. "You laid on top of the remote," he said pointing to the bed.

"No," she said. "Why do you have a tape from the beauty pageant?"

"You know that I taped it for the TV station."

"Yeah, but why are you watching it?" she asked, quite discontented. Dawson opened his mouth to speak, but before the words cold come out, Joey began again. "You know, I thought that you would realize that she is not me," she said pointing to the television. "Let me ask you something. Did you kiss me just so I wouldn't go to Paris? Is that all that what this is about?"

"No Joey. . .I. . .I," he said.

"Ahh, once again, Dawson Leary -- speechless. You know I find it incredibly amazing that the one time you are speechless is the one time that, more than anything, I need you to say something." She stopped. Silence. "Well Dawson. Say something," she snapped.

"I just don't know Joey," Dawson said, frustrated with himself.

"It's very simple," Joey said. "Do you want me to stay because you're going to miss your friend, or because you care too much for me."

"The issue isn't whether I care for you -- you know that I do."

"Well, I don't really," she said.

"How could you not have known?" he asked.

"I can't believe that you would ask me that. Look at you now. You don't want me to go, so you don't tell me how you feel. You just kiss me with no explanation. The truth is that you don't love me, but the way that friend loves a friend, and I have been waiting all this time for nothing. You could never be attracted to plain ol' Joey; the Joey without the make-up, without the high heels, the French roll."

"Joey, I. . ." he began, interrupted by a knock at the door. Suddenly his mom appears.

"Hi Joey. I didn't expect to see you here," she said.

"Hi Mrs. Leary," she says in response.

"I've got some bad news for you two," Gail said.

"What's going on?" Dawson asked.

She sat on the bed, and motioned for Dawson to do the same. He sat next to her and she said, "Jen's grandfather died earlier today."

"Oh," he said.

"I think we should go express our condolences, and make sure that she and her grandmother are okay, and see if they need anything," Gail said.

"Okay," Dawson said. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Try to hurry," his mom said, walking out and shutting the door.

Dawson began grabbing his shoes and jacket. He stops when Joey says, "Dawson you can't leave now. We need to resolve this."

"I just need to check on Jen," he said. "She may need me."

"What about me?" she asks.

"You don't need me," he said.

"Dawson, don't let your misguided sense of duty ruin this -- ruin us," she said.

"Joey, I'll just be a few minutes, then we can talk, I promise," he said, opening the door.

"No Dawson," she said. "You need to choose."

"Joey," he said.

"It's easy Dawson, just pick who you want to be with."

"It's not easy," he said.

"If you walk away now, there's no going back. When you walk away, things will just go back, but they will be different. We can still be friends, but if you walk away now, you just throw away any possibility that we could ever be together. I've waited long enough. I need to know."

"Joey, this isn't fair," he said.

"Well, life's not always fair, and you've had time to know what you feel. Besides, I cannot spend another minute waiting. Just do something without thinking for once."

"Joey, simplicity is not in the room tonight, that's not possible."

"Choose," she said again.

"Dawson," a voice cried from downstairs.

He looked at Joey, then looked that the door. He looked at her once again, before glancing away again, for what would be the last time. "Coming," he said, walking out the door, not looking back.

Devastated, Joey stood there. When she moved, she went out the window. Walking to her boat, she could see Dawson sympathetically embracing Jen. "I guess it's over now," she says to herself.

The next day, Dawson's dad was drawn away from some work he was doing when her heard a knock at the door. "Pacey?" he said, when he saw him standing on the porch with two large bags, and a booksac. "How are you?"

"Alright, Mr. Leary," he said, walking in setting his bags next to the door. "Is Dawson here?"

"No," Mitch said. "I don't know where he is." He saw Pacey's look of frustration, and said "What's with the bags?"

"It's just. . .I'm sorry, but Dawson said that if things got too hectic at my house that I could come stay here until I figured out what to do. But since he's not here, I'll just find somewhere else," he said, beginning to grab his bags.

"No Pacey," Mitch said. "Tell me what happened."

"The usual," Pacey said. "I was getting the normal you're-a-screw-up, you'll-never-amount-to-anything, why-can't-you-be-more-like-your-brother crap that I always get from my dad. I just couldn't take another minute of it, so I packed my things and left."

"Does he know that you're gone?" he asked.

"Please," Pacey said. "He drove me here."

"You're kidding," Mitch said.

"No," he said. "I'm not. I guess a fifth child was just one too many."

"Pacey," Mitch said, "I want you to know that, as far as I'm concerned, you can stay here permanently."

"You mean like live here?" Pacey asked.

"Yeah, but I need to talk to Dawson and Gail first. Can you give me time to do that?"

"Mr. Leary, I appreciate it, but I couldn't ask you do that," Pacey said.

"You are like a son to me, and are one of my son's best friends. I cannot leave you on the street. Now leave, and give me a chance to work my family over."

"Are you sure about this?" Pacey asked him.

"Yes," he said. With that Pacey walked out. He wanted to see Joey, because he was still secretly pining away for her. He was concerned about the whole France issue. When he saw her, it was obvious that something was wrong with her, because of the way she was holding the rag as she scrubbed the counter.

He was happy to see that it wasn't busy, because maybe then he could get her undivided attention, or at least everything that she wasn't giving Dawson. He saw her stop too look at the dark clouds forming. "Perfect," she said to herself, thinking the weather would match her current outlook on life.

"Well, I knew that you would be pleased to see me, but I never envisioned that you would admit how perfect that you think I am," Pacey said.

"Pacey," she said.

He waited for some snappy comeback, but it never came. "What's wrong, Joey?" he asked her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Something is."

"Have you seen Dawson?" she asked.

"No," he said disappointed, thinking that Dawson was all she thought about.

"Last night he kissed me."

"He did? So, what happened?" he asked, curious, but really not wanting to hear.

"I didn't think that his motives were pure, and I questioned him about it," she said.

"What did he say?"

"He didn't get to answer. His mom came to tell him about Jen's grandfather." She saw the look on Pacey's face, and added, "he died."

"Oh," he responded.

"He was going to leave, and I forced him to make a choice."

"He choose her," Pacey said, saddened for Joey.

"You know, I really don't even think that this was about her. It was just a convenient excuse for him to get out of it."

"Probably," he said. "So what about Paris?"

"I'm not going to go."

"Because of Dawson?" he asked. "Joey that's stupid."

"Not because of Dawson. I just. . .I don't want to be in strange place, with strange people that I can't even talk to. It could really tough academically, and I don't want to mess up my grades, or my chances for college. Besides what money would I have to spend there? I mean the school is only going to pay for so much."

"Sounds like you thought about it a lot."

"I have," she said. "But this whole Dawson thing is so much more than I want to deal with right now."

"Yeah," he said. "Maybe we can do something about it," he said, with his wheels turning.

"What do mean Pacey?" she asked him, looking half happy, and half suspicious.

She was being beckoned by a woman who had just came in, and she rushed off to take her order, "I'll be right back," she told him. In about a minute she returned, and slid the order back into the kitchen. "So, I can tell that you have a plan," she said. "What is it?" she asked cautiously.

He began, "maybe Dawson could realize his love for you. You could make him jealous."

"How am I supposed to do that?" she asked. "Date one of the many guys who are in line to get with me. Do you see that line?"

"You could date me," he said.

"Date you? Who'll believe that?"

"We make them believe it."

"And exactly what do you get out of it?" she asked.

"I don't know. I can just do something good for a friend. I won't have to be alone all the time. I've got a feeling you don't want to be alone either," he said.

"I don't," she said, "but I don't know if being with you is exactly where I want to be."

"Fine," he said, sounding very, very hurt.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Look, I just feel lousy about everything that happened. I want to think about this."

"No," he said. "It's okay. I understand that the prospect of even pretending to be with me is sickening to you."

"Pacey," she said, a bit disgusted with what seemed to be his current low self esteem.

"It's alright," he said.

"No," she said. "I just need to think if the deception is worth it. Can I find you later?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, frustrated. "Look, I'll be at Dawson's."

"Dawson's?"

"Yeah, I left my house, and Dawson's dad is trying to work it out so that I can stay there."

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," he said, as he began to walk away. Joey just watched him, "this is getting really complicated," she said to herself.

Dawson returned to his house after getting up early to go to Jen. His dad was waiting for him. "Hey dad," he said, gliding past, heading for his room.

"Dawson," he said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," he said, returning to the couch.

Dawson's dad knew that his relationships had really been shaken up over the past few months, so he starts off by asking, "Are you and Pacey still friends?"

"Sure dad," he said. "Why would you ask that?"

"Pacey came here this morning," Mitch said. "He moved out of his house."

"He did?" Dawson asked.

"Yes, and I was unaware of how his father treated him. . . .But anyway, when he was here, I told him, well, that he could live with us, that is, if that's okay with you and your mom. Is it okay with you?" his dad asked him.

"Sure dad. I think it'd be interesting to see what life was like with a brother."

"Dawson," Mitch said. "You have to realize that this will be different than before. When you get tired of him, you can't send him home."

"It's fine dad. I mean we've been friends forever, and I would love to have him here."

"Good," he said, now wondering what he would say to his wife. He decided not to wait on Pacey's fate, so he went to speak to his wife at work. Sitting in her office, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Mitch, I love Pacey like a child too, but he is not my child. What if he and Dawson fight?" she said.

"Dawson's okay with this," he said.

"Brothers fight. They will be in a brother-like position."

"Gail, he is sixteen years old, it's not like I want to raise an infant."

"Mitch, he hasn't grown up in our house. How will he respond to our rules? We both know that he can be 'trouble,'" she said.

"I don't think that he feels loved. He told me that he was the one kid too many, and when he told his father that he was leaving, do you know what his father did?"

"What?" she asked, almost scared to hear the answer, because she could hear the passion in her husband's voice.

"He drove him to our house."

"You're kidding," she said.

"No," he said.

"Okay," she said. "Let me ask you one question though."

"Anything," he said.

"How long before you would play the affair card on me?"

"It was next."

"So you really want Pacey to live with us?" she asked.

"I do," he said.

"Fine. Tell him that he can move into the guest room."

When Mitch arrived back at his house, he saw Pacey waiting on the porch, talking to Dawson.

"So, what's the verdict?" Dawson asked.

"Pacey, we all agreed, and I'm sorry," Mitch said.

"It's okay Mr. Leary," Pacey said, looking to the ground, saddened.

"We want you to move your things in the guest room," he said smiling.

Pacey looked up from the ground, and his eyes widened. "You mean it?" he asked.

"Yes," he said with a hug. "Welcome to the family."

"Thanks," he said. He really didn't know what else to say, because he never imagined that anyone cared enough for him to actually help him out of this.

Dawson stood in the living room later that day looking outside. He saw Pacey in the backyard raking leaves. "For someone who's supposed to be a screw-up he sure is making me look bad," he said to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock a the door. He was surprised to see that it was Joey. "Jo, what's going on? You never use the door."

"Sorry Dawson," she said.

"No don't be sorry," he said. "I'm glad to see you."

"Actually," she began, "I came to see Pacey."

"Pacey?" he asked, confused. "How did you even know he was here?"

"I saw him earlier, and he told me he would be here."

"Oh," he said. "He's in the backyard."

"Thanks Dawson," she said. She began towards the back. She stopped at the glass door to see Pacey raking with no shirt. 'If it wasn't warm out there before, that sure is enough to make it so,' she thought to herself. Dawson saw her stop and look, and the jealousy had begun already.

Pacey turned to see Joey walking toward him, and a smile took over his face. He walked over and sat on a picnic table. She approached him. "So, are they letting you stay here?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said. "Look," he began, at the same time as Joey. "You first," he said.

"Okay," she said. "About earlier, I've decided. . ."

"It's okay," he said. "I understand."

"No," she said. "I want to do it."

"Joey. . ." he said.

She sits next to him on the picnic table, "I don't like your tone," she said.

"I. . .," he said, "I just don't know if this is the best thing for me to do, considering that these people just allowed me to live with them."

"So, you don't want to do it?" she asked.

"I don't know Jo," he said. They both laughed. "Why did you decide to do it?"

"I guess, because. . .well, after what I said, I can't go running back to Dawson, but, on the other hand, if he comes running to me. . ."

"Ahh," he said.

"Besides," she continued, "I think that you were right about what you said about being alone. I'm going to be miserable because of this whole Dawson thing, so I thought that if I hung out with you then I might be able to have a little fun."

"Okay," he said.

"You'll do it?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "You do realize that you'll have to hold my hand, kiss me, and all that stuff?"

"Yeah," she said.

"And you're not sickened?" he asked.

"No," she said, "I think I'll be able to suffer through it. So, how should we start?"

"Well, it may look suspect if we get into this too quickly. Why don't we make it look like we're just getting closer for the next week or so. You know, hang out at school, you come see me a lot, for you to help me with my biology homework or something. Maybe at the end of the week we can start the couple stuff."

"Okay," she said. "Pace, thanks for this."

"It's nothing," he said. She kissed him on the cheek, and walked back to her boat. Dawson saw he talking to him, but didn't know what they were talking about, so he headed outside as soon as Joey was out of eye range to talk to Pacey.

"So why did Joey come to see you?" he asked him.

"Oh," Pacey said. "We needed to talk about something for school."

"What?" Dawson asked.

"Um, just biology. She's still going to help me with it."

"Good," Dawson said. "Well, I'll let you get back to work." He decided to leave it at that, although he couldn't figure out why she would kiss him on the cheek because of biology.

"Thanks," Pacey said. He watched Dawson walk into the house. 'Damn, he's jealous already. This won't last long,' he thought to himself. Still, he sat there, and sentimentally touched the cheek where Joey had kissed him minutes ago.

These are not my characters or settings. I'm not profiting from this in the least.

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