Part Two

It was two hours before the dance, and Joey was nervous. Really nervous. Dawson thought that he was going to the dance with a friend, but Joey had realized that she was in love with him months earlier. Which meant that she was going to a Valentine's dance with a guy she loved, who was going just so he could torture himself staring at another girl. She must be insane to do this. Insane, or horribly desperate.

Just then, her older sister walked in. She grinned at Joey, pulling her to her feet. "Come on, I'll help you get ready. When Dawson sees you, he'll forget all about that Jen Lindley."

Joey managed a little smile, not believing Bessie for a minute.

"Between the two of us, he'll stop breathing," Bessie vowed.
* * *

At 7:30, Dawson rang the doorbell at Joey's. He was dressed in a black tuxedo, and his father had convinced him to bring Joey a bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day, and a corsage for the dance. Bessie answered the door.

"Come on in, Dawson. Jo will be down in a minute."

"Thanks," he said, flashing a smile. He felt a little nervous for some reason. This was Joey, his best friend. There was no need to be nervous around her, right?
* * *

Joey stood in her room, in front of her mirror. Bessie walked up to the doorjamb. "Dawson's here."

Joey whirled around. "Oh, no. This is a mistake. Bessie, tell him I'm sick. Please?" she begged.

"Absolutely not," her sister told her firmly. "I didn't spend the past two hours getting you ready for nothing. You'll be great, you'll have fun, and you'll knock 'em dead." She handed Joey her purse. "Here. Now go," she ordered. Joey sent one last pleading look over her shoulder as she was pushed from the room. "Go!" her sister repeated.

Dawson was waiting at the foot of the stairs. He looked up when he heard Bessie cough, and he was stunned. His eyes opened in shock and his mouth dropped open. Joey barely looked like herself, with her dramatic make-up. She was wearing a deep red silk slip dress that ended mid-thigh, with strappy red heels, and her hair was pulled back into a French braid with a few wispy tendrils hanging down.

Dawson was still shocked when she was standing next to him. "Wo-wow," he finally managed. "You look great, Jo. Seriously."

"Thanks," she smiled nervously. There was an awkward pause.

"Oh! Um, these are for you," he said, offering her the bouquet. Bessie swooped down and took them from her sister.

"These are lovely, Dawson. I'll take care of them. You two better hurry up, or you'll be late. I'll see you in the morning, Jo." Bessie took them into the kitchen.

"And this too," Dawson added, holding up a pin corsage. He leaned in nervously to pin it on her, pulling his hands back nervously before getting it attached, fumbling in his effort not to touch her. Although there was a tiny thought in the back of his mind that was yelling at him to grab the chance while he could, so to speak. He stepped back when he was done. "Uh, ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure." Joey grabbed her jacket and walked out the door just in front of Dawson.

When they arrived at the school, the dance was pretty much in full swing. Dawson led them through a few songs, looking for Jen, before they stopped to get something to drink. It was on their next round of dances that they ran into Jen and Cliff. Literally. They were so involved on their debate over old time movie stars-who was better, Ingrid Bergman or Barbara Stanwyck-that when Dawson spun Joey out, she spun right into Jen.

"Watch where you're going," Cliff snapped.

Jen looked surprised. "Dawson! And Joey. You didn't tell me you were going to be here. I love that dress, Joey."

"Thanks," Joey said, a little tensely.

"Save me a dance later, Dawson?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, sure!" Dawson grinned. "See you later." He whirled Joey off. "Did you hear that," he asked excitedly. "She asked *me * to dance!"

"Isn't that great," Joey said woodenly.

Dawson looked confused. "What's the matter?"

"Who's your date here, Dawson? Me or the dream girl?" she asked angrily, pushing his arms off her.

"You are," he said, puzzled.

"You're not acting like it," she snapped, a little unfairly, since he hadn't mentioned Jen in the past hour. "I know you've been thinking about her all night. God! I have no idea why I agreed to this stupid idea." She started to storm off, but Dawson caught her arm, hurt.

"Hey! Jo, wait a minute. That's not fair. I have *not * been thinking about Jen all night, actually."

Joey stopped. "Yeah, right, Dawson."

"It's true," he insisted. "I've been concentrating on defending Ingrid Bergman. But anyway, why would that bother you?" he asked, genuinely baffled.

She sighed. "Forget it, Dawson. Just forget it."

"But-"

"I said to forget it! Let's just dance, okay?"

He shook his head. "Fine."

Just then, the DJ announced, "And here's on for the couples out there," and put on Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You." Joey started to walk off the dance floor, but Dawson pulled her back.

"Where are you going *now *?" he asked. "You told me we were going to dance."

She shrugged uneasily. "I figured you'd want to find Jen, that's all."

"She asked me for later, not now. Come on." He spun her closer to him until there was almost no room between them.

"Um, if you want to." She turned toward the door and then back to Dawson. "Oh, wait. Your dance with Jen."

He shrugged. He had actually forgotten, which amazed him. "Next time." They started off the dance floor. "You know, I'm kinda thirsty. Let's get something to drink before we leave." She nodded and they veered slightly to the left, toward the tables. Seemingly out of nowhere, Jen appeared in front of them.

"You weren't leaving, are you?"

"Yeah, we were," Dawson told her. "We-"

"Can you wait just five minutes? Then you can leave," she said, smiling at Dawson.

Joey and Dawson glanced at each other in confusion. "Um, sure," Joey said finally. "We can wait."

Jen walked off quickly with a secret smile. She had first thought of this song when she had asked Joey if she and Dawson had a thing, and now seemed like a good a time as any to play it. Joey already knew, and Dawson was almost ready to realize it, that he was in love with his best friend. Jen finally reached the DJ, and smiled at him as she whispered into his ear. He smiled back and nodded.

Dawson was watching them. "I have no idea what she's doing."

"Me neither," Joey said.

The DJ came back on mike to announce, "Ok, now this is a special song that is going out to Dawson and Joey, from a friend who claims she's seen it from the start."

"Jen?" Joey questioned.

"Must be," Dawson said, bewildered. "I wonder what song it is."

"That's crazy," Joey said after a pause, her heart almost breaking.

"Absolutely insane," Dawson agreed, but there was a little thought in his mind that hadn't been there before. He brushed it away. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah."

They got their coats and walked down the street quietly, lost in their own thoughts, heading towards the dock. They stopped at the railing by the water.

"Do you think Jen really thinks she sees something between us, or was she making an excuse about the dance?" Dawson asked, breaking the silence first, as he looked at Joey.

"I don't know." Joey looked down at the water, as Dawson seemed inexplicably drawn to her lips. "She seemed like she meant it," she finished weakly. She turned quickly to face him. "Dawson, I-"

Whatever she was about to say was lost as she and Dawson kissed, as kiss that grew more passionate by the second. Neither really knew, nor cared, who had started it, but they bother knew they didn't want to stop.

"You know," Dawson said between kisses, "this could possibly ruin our friendship."

Joey didn't miss a beat as she responded breathlessly, "I don't want to be friends anymore."

"Thank God," he groaned. "Me neither, Jo."

"Love ya, Dawson," she mumbled into his neck.

"I love you, too," he whispered into her hair. "I love you too."

THE END

Part 1