Thankyou :)

He was my North, my South,
My East and West,
My working week, my Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song -
I thought love would last forever - I was wrong.

-W.H.Auden, "Funeral Blues".

********
Scene - Dawson's room.

Dawson is lying on his bed face down, with his head buried in the pillow. It is light outside. Pacey comes in the window. He sneaks over to Dawson, and yells "Dawson!" in his ear. Dawson jumps in shock.

"Hey, don't do that to me, Pacey!" he yells.
"Sorry, bro, you just looked so peaceful lying there. I had to wake you up - if I can't have happiness, neither can you," he replies sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, man, what's up?" Dawson looks at him concerned, and sits up so he's side by side with Pacey.
"This whole thing with Tamara, it's getting me down. I never knew love could be so hard, y'know?" Pacey looks really depressed.
"Hey, it's okay, it's gonna be okay, y'know?" Dawson tries to reassure him.
"Is it? IS IT??" Pacey looks at him. "Yeah, like you're the big authority on love, Dawson." Dawson just looks at Pacey - he has no idea what his friend is talking about. "You wouldn't go ask Jen out, and then when you tried to at the dance it all went wrong..."
"Yeah, but it worked out in the end, didn't it?" Dawson interrupts him. Pacey glares at him. "Sorry!"
"Anyway," Pacey continues, "as I was saying, you are no authority on love. You can't even see what's going on right infront of your face!!!" Dawson is confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Joey. You and Joey." He looks at Dawson's blank look, and smirks. "Yes, Dawson, it apears everyone can see it but you."
"See what? Me and Joey? Together? As in a couple? Get real! We're just friends, that's all!"
"Are you sure about that?" Pacey studdies Dawson's face. It would appear that Dawson genuinely has no idea what Pacey is talking about.
Dawson looks at his friend. "Yes, I'm sure. Joey and me... we're friends. Best friends. I've known her all my life. But me and Jen...... there's something there. It's Jen I'm with, not Joey."
"Yeah, but is that the way it should be?"
Dawson gives Pacey a strange look, and Pacey stands up. He goes over to the window to leave.
Dawson sits in silence, thinking about what Pacey just said. Just as Pacey is about to leave, Dawson says;
"Pace." Pacey turns to look at him. "I'm sure."
Pacey replies; "I hope so." He leaves Dawson sitting on the bed in silence.

********
Scene - The School.

Dawson is leaning against the lockers in the hall, and Joey is standing infront of him. Although you can't hear what they are sayinhg, they are evidently having fun. Jen walks down the corridor.

"...and so he said 'why don't you just...'" Dawson interrupts Joey by simply walking away. Joey looks round to see where he's going, and looks in disgust at the way he accosts Jen.
"Hey." Dawson greets Jen with a hug. She seems upset. "Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing," she replies. She forces a weak smile. "So, how's the film coming along?" She knows Dawson will forget everything when he talks about his film.
"Great! I've nearly finished it. Good job, the competition closes in two weeks." He smiles back at Jen. He doesn't seem to notice she's really upset. Joey does, and decides to make the most of it.
"Hey, Jen. You look upset. Somebody die?" She sniggers. Jen gives her a cold glare which seems to go straight past Dawson.
"No, but thanks for asking," she replies sarcastically. Joey gives her an angellic smile. Dawson doesn't seem to notice the whole exchange. He seems more concentrated on looking at Joey. He can't stop thinking about what Pacey said, even though none of it was true. Or was it............?
".........Dawson? Are you?" Dawson's daydream is shattered by Jen's voice.
"What? Sorry."
"Are you going to the movies tonight? Joey says she want's to go and see that new film, and she's invited us."
Dawson is confused. He looks at Joey. "What....? Yeah, sure... whatever." Why would Joey invite Jen and him to the movies? Because she's my best friend, he thought. "Yeah, sure," he repeated. "Why not?" Jen grins at him, and Joey smiles sweetly. Dawson doesn't notice the schemeing look on Joey's face.

********
Scene - The movie theatre.

Jen and Dawson are stnding together in the queue, and Joey is right behind them. Pacey is coming up the road.

"Did he HAVE to come?" Joey moans at Dawson.
Dawson leans closer to Joey so Jen can't hear. "Yeah, he had to come. We don't want you being a gooseberry all night, now, do we?" He is right up close to her face, and they stare at each other for a few moments. Dawson can feel Joey's breath on his cheeks, and...... He turns back quickly to Jen.
".... So! How's life with your Gran coming along??" He asks her. He doesn't notice Joey turning away, sighing. She sees Pacey, and smiles weakly at him.
"Hey, what's up with you?" Pacey asks her. Joey rolls her eyes in the direction of Dawson and Jen. "Sickening, huh?" Pacey grins.
"You don't mind if I just stay out of their way tonight?" she says.
"Sure, why not?" Pacey looks pleased at the idea. Joey's beginning to wonder if her plan is going to work, or if she's just going to end up making things a whole lot worse. The queue starts to move forwards, and Joey smiles at Pacey. Dawson notices the smile, although he does not acknowledge that he has. He approaches the counter to get tickets.

********
Scene - Inside the movie theatre.

The four of them are sitting together in a row, with Jen at the inside, Dawson next to her, and Joey and Pacey following. It is dark, obviously, and silent. Suddenly, Joey starts to laugh. Dawson turns to her and smiles.

"What's so funny?" he asks.
"Oh, just something Pacey said. I forget now." Dawson is totally confused, and he turns back to Jen. A few seconds later, Joey is laughing again, and Pacey has joined her. Dawson turns to look at them, but they won't respond. Jen is sitting next to Dawson with a black look on her face. Dawson hasn't said a word to her all night, he's only looked at Joey and Pacey.
Dawson turns to Jen and smiles reassuringly. He squeezes her hand. She smiles sarcastically back at him, but he doesn't seem to notice. He turns back towards Joey and Pacey who are having a private popcorn fight. Dawson can't figure out why he feels so insecure, and starts to think about what Pacey said about him and Joey.

********
Scene - By the creek.

Dawson and Jen are walking hand in hand, and Joey and Pacey are walking together behind.

"Hey, what's up Jen, you've been in a bad mood all night," Dawson says.
Jen smiles sweetly. "Well, maybe it's got something to do with the fact that you ignored me all night in favour of the laughing policemen back there."
Dawson laughs. "Don't be like that, I didn't ignore you!" He looks back at Pacey and Joey.
Pacey and Joey have stopped to look at the view beyond the creek. Jen stops and puts her hand on Dawson's arm. He turns back to her.
"Dawson, look, I don't know what this is all about, but I'm guessing it has something to do with Joey, right?"
"Jen..."
"Dawson, you can't disguise it. No matter what happens, you and Joey will always be close, and I don't want to take that away. But if you're going to let your jealousy destroy our relationship...."
Dawson interrupts; "What?! Jealousy? I'm not jealous, Jen."
"Oh right, so what would you call it then? Protection for the female of the species? Because I think Joey can look after herself, especially against Pacey, whom she's known for practically all of her life. Dawson, if you can't face the fact that you're growing up then there's no future for us."
Dawson takes a long time to reply. "I'm sorry Jen. I don't mean it, y'know? I guess I'm just scared that I'm going to lose Joey, and I don't want that to happen."
"You're not gonna lose her! What, you think Pacey's gonna take her away from you? No way, Dawson, you're her best friend and nothing can change that. Even the fact you've got a girlfriend. Joey understands that."
Dawson takes one last look at Pacey and Joey. "I know that. I guess... I'm just paranoid. Something Pacey said made me think, and now he's put weird ideas into my head. Never mind." He smiles at Jen, and they hug. They don't notice that Joey watches them.

********
Scene - The video shop.

Pacey is standing behind the counter, and Dawson is restocking the shelves. Pacey is midway through a conversation about last night.

"It was great. The first time I've really relaxed with a girl, who's not Tamara. I didn't know Joey could be this great!"
Dawson is getting jealous again. "Well, you know Joey, always surprise." Pacey doesn't notice the note of annoyance, and continues with the story.
"After you left with Jen, we stayed talking for hours. It must have been well past midnight before we got home. And you know what, Dawson? You may be right after all. Joey may not belong with you....." Dawson laughs half-heartedly. "Oh, hey, you know what she said?" Pacey continues. "She said we should all do it again, like tonight. Again!!!"
"She must like you, Pace." Dawson's words are trailing with jealousy and sarcasm, but Pacey's too caught up to notice.
"I know! This is great! I never told you this, Dawson, but I've really liked Joey for years, and now this could be the chance I've been waiting for! So what do you say?"
"To what?"
"Let's go out tonight again."
"Oh, no, Pace, you're not getting me involved in this again. The last time you did this you ended up with a black eye and a broken nose, remember?"
"Yeah, but Joey's got no-one who'd do that. Come on! You owe me this!!" Pacey looks pleadingly at him.
"Alright. I'll go. But I'm not sure about Jen. And I don't quite get how I owe you this."
"Thankyou Dawson, you're the best." They start to walk out of the video shop.
As they leave Dason says quietly; "Yeah, but I wouldn't be too sure about the lack of people to punch you over Joey." But Pacey doesn't hear him.

********
Scene - Dawson's room.

Joey climbs in the window, and Dawson is standing by the cupboard.

"Hey Jo. I wanted to tell you... Pacey thinks we should go out again tonight. Y'know," he adds quickly, "you, Pacey, me and Jen. What do you say?"
"I dunno, Dawson... I think Pacvey kinda got the wrong idea last night."
"The wrong idea??? Joey, he didn't shut up about it all day. And," he added, "I could see where he was coming from. You were all over him last night!!!"
"Oh, hardly! And how do you know? You were with Jen all night!"
Dawson couldn't think of a reason that would sound valid - he couldn't tell her he'd been watching her all night.
"Forget it, I'm not going to the movie theatre with Pacey. If Jen's going, then you can count me out."
"Joey...." But she ignores him and leaves through the window.

********
Scene - Outside the Movie theatre again.

Dawson is standing by the counter, waiting on Pacey. He sees Joey approaching in the distance. When she arrives, she says;

"Hey Dawson, where's Jen?"
"I thought you weren't coming!" He was really surprised.
"Yeah, well, I decided I couldn't leave Pacey with you two all night. I thought you might want a bit of privacy."
"But what about Pacey?"
"You're my best friend, Dawson, I decided I could cope with Pacey for one night if it means you're happy." Dawson is silent for while. "Where's Jen?"
"Oh, she had problems with her Grandmother again, she decided she'd better not come tonight." Joey looks relieved. "But Pacey should be here any minute. The movie starts in 2 minutes, and we haven't even got tickets!"
"Why don't we just go in and wait for him in there. He'll know where we are, and it saves us all missing the start of the movie." Dawson agrees with her, and the buy tickets. Pacey doesn't appear, so they go into the theatre.

********
Scene - Outside the movie theatre, later that night.

Dawson and Joey are coming out of the theatre; Pacey didn't show up.
The walk down the gravel road together, laughing.

"I haven't had this much fun in ages," Dawson says, seriously.
"Neither have I. We haven't done anything just ourselves for a while..."
"You mean, ever since Jen came into our lives."
"Well, yeah, I guess." There is silence.
"Joey, can't you accept the fact that she's my girlfriend?"
Joey is taken a back; she wasn't expecting this at all. "What?! I do accept it!"
"Well, something's going on! Ever since I started seriously dating Jen, there's been some sort of rift between us. I didn't want that to happen, but it did. You know when you were telling me that we had grown up, and couldn't be as close anymore?? Well, it appears one of us hasn't quite." He stops, and Joey doesn't say anything. "Can't you say something in your defence?"
Joey takes a long time to answer."No, I can't. I have no defence, Dawson. I'm losing you to her and there's nothing I can do about it. And it scares me."
Joey and Dawson stand staring at each other for a few moments. Dawson is the first one to break it. "You could never lose me. Not to Jen, not to anyone. How could you think that?"
"I don't know. Every time I see you together I get jealous. That you're finding someone else to depend on."
"But what about Pacey?"Dawson is confused. "I've always depended on him, too."
Joey gives a short laugh. "Yeah, but Pacey's not a gorgeous girl, you're not dating him, are you? I just.... can't stand the thought that it's Jen with you and not me." She realises what she's just said, and turns away from him and starts to walk off. Dawson is stunned.
"What?" He chases after her, and grabs her arm. She turns around and they are face to face - so close they can feel each other breathing. It takes only a second before Dawson leans over and kisses her gently on the lips. They draw away from each other, and Dawson looks deep into Joeyu's eyes. "You could never lose me," he says quietly, and kisses her again, more passionately.
In the distance, we see Pacey walking towards them. He stops when he sees what's going on, and he has an expression of pure shock on his face....

To be continued........