So, at the beginning of the year I watched all of Dawson's Creek in about a month, and was left astonished at how badly the show managed to mess up what had been set up as the central couple. Judging from the fics on here, that may not be a popular opinion (over 1,000 stories and very few seem to feature Dawson as a main character...) but hopefully there's an audience for this out there somewhere.

CHAPTER ONE

Joey's eyes flicked to the sign as she drove past it. Welcome to Capeside. It almost felt like it was mocking her. Maybe that was a little hard on the town. She didn't really have a grudge against the place of her birth, the place where she'd lived over half her life. But being back there underlined just how much her life had gone wrong. And it was all down to her last visit to the town, two years ago. The time Gail had got married, the time they'd lost Jen. And the decision she'd made.

Given that the decision had been occupying her mind, wrecking every other relationship she'd had, for nearly ten years, she should have been ready to make it. Which of her two oldest friends should she spend the rest of her life with? It was only looking back on it now that she realised just how little she'd had to base the decision on. On the one hand, there was Dawson, who she'd dated a couple of months here and a couple of months here during her high school sophomore year, and the one time they'd slept together they'd broken up within 24 hours. On the other, there was Pacey, who she'd actually managed to date a year or so before he'd broken up with her at their high school prom on the basis that their lives were heading in different directions. And somehow, after not seeing them for years, she'd thought that that was enough for her to base an adult relationship with one of them on.

She'd chosen Pacey. And two years later, she was back in Capeside…and single again.

Joey pushed open the door of the B&B, the rucksack containing the few possessions she'd brought with her slung over her shoulder. Her eyes darted around, searching for any differences, but no. Everything was exactly the same.

"Auntie Joey!" Alexander spotted her first and came running over, flinging his arms around her. He was eleven years old now and came halfway up to her chest. She dreaded the day when he was taller than her.

Joey forced a smile on to her face. "Well, at least somebody's pleased to see me."

"He's not the only one,"Bessie interjected as she entered after her son. There was a warmth in the look she gave Joey but a certain amount of concern as well. She knew that her little sister being back meant that something was wrong. She put an arm round Alexander's shoulder. "Alex, why don't you go to your room for a bit? Auntie Joey and I need to have a grown-up talk."

"I'll come and see you in a bit,"Joey assured her nephew, whose face had fallen a bit. He nodded and hurried out.

Bessie raised an eyebrow as she regarded Joey. "Everything okay in New York?"

"I just needed to get out of there for a bit,"Joey answered, slightly evasively.

"And Pacey?"

Joey took a deep breath. "It's over."

"Why?"Bessie asked quickly.

"It just is." Joey didn't want to get into the full story of the bangs and whimpers that had ended their relationship but she knew Bessie needed more. "For lots of little reasons and one big reason. We just weren't right for each other. There's no-one else involved, no-one's been hitting anyone, no-one's stolen from anyone…It's amicable, I guess. As amicable as it can be when you have to admit you don't love someone as much as you thought you did. It's just over. That's all."

Bessie nodded, understanding. She drew Joey into a big sister's hug of the kind that she'd been yearning for since she came through the room. "Well, you know there's a room for you here for as long as you need it."

"Thanks. I think I'm going to need it."

Joey had convinced Alexander to lend her his boat: Her old boat. She didn't know why. She'd got in it on auto-pilot, rowing across the creek to Dawson's house. Or Gail's house or Lily's house…Dawson hadn't really lived there in the best part of a decade, after all. It was where she was drawn to in a crisis, even though she realised the futility of it. Even as she tied the boat up on the wharf and headed towards the house, she knew how pointless it was. She wasn't going to climb up the ladder into a bedroom that wasn't even Dawson's anymore and pour out her woes to him. She wasn't going to see Dawson standing outside…

Dawson was standing outside.

Joey stopped short, unable to believe she was seeing him, where she'd seen him so many times before, just a few feet away from where they'd had their last serious conversation. She almost convinced herself she was imagining it until he saw her and smiled, that smile that always made her heart flip a beat. "Dawson?"she asked incredulously.

"Hiya, Jo."

She ran to him and hugged him, hard enough to take his breath away. He awkwardly put his arms around her, a bemused look on his face. "Wow, if this is the welcome I get I should come back here more often."

Joey disentangled herself, looking at him in astonishment. "What…what are you doing here?"

"Well, Mum and Lily have gone away for a couple of weeks. And I was kind of between films so I offered to come up here and house-sit." He looked her up and down. "You're looking good, Jo,"he told her.

Joey averted her eyes slightly, unable to meet his gaze, and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was the closest she'd been to him in two years. She'd told him then that he'd always be in her life, yet their interaction since had been restricted to phone calls and the occasional video chat. Yet standing there with him, feeling the years melt away, she knew it was the truth. "Thanks,"she said quietly. "You've filled out well too."

Dawson smiled. "So, er, what are you doing back here?"he asked, trying to cover the sudden awkwardness. "Is Pacey back here too?"

It was the obvious question, but one she'd been hoping to avoid. But she couldn't lie to him. She'd made that mistake too many times in the past. "No. No, Pacey and I aren't together. Long story."

Dawson met her gaze unflinching. "Well, I've got time to hear it. Unless there's something else you've got to do?"

Joey had evaded the question with Bessie but there was a reason she'd come there. She'd been looking for the one person she wanted to talk to, and somehow she'd found him. "No."

Dawson turned and walked towards the house, glancing back at her as he did so. "Well, then, I guess I'd better offer you a drink."

Joey smiled and followed him inside.