The next day
Capeside, Massachusetts

Gretchen stood nervously with her left hand in her pocket as she and Dawson waited for his mother to pick them up at the train station.

"Oh, we doing this again?" Dawson asked.

"It's just, I don't know. I'm nervous. She was so protective when we dated the first time."

"Gretch, I think there's a big difference between a 17-year-old high schooler dating a 19-year-old college girl versus a 29-year-old proposing to his 31-year-old live-in girlfriend."

"I know, I'm sure you're right. I just can't handle anymore drama."

"We're in Capeside. You can't walk ten feet around here without stepping in one kind of drama or another."

Gretchen laughed at his joke. She knew he was right. Gale's car pulled up, and Gretchen held out her right arm, which Dawson took with his left arm, dragging an oversized suitcase behind them. Dawson put the suitcase in the trunk, and they sat in the back.

"Gretchen, sweetie, it's so good to see you again."

"Nice to see you, too, Mrs. Leery."

"Are you ever going to call me Gale?" she asked with pursed lips

Gretchen laughed amicably.

"God, Dawson, I can't believe you bought Evelyn's old house. I mean, it's better than having strangers live next door, but, you know."

"Well, I just couldn't stand the thought of some rich couple buying it again for their summer home."

"Dawson!" Gretchen slapped his arm. "What do you think we are? We're not living there year-round. Everyone is going to point to the house when they drive by, and they're going to say, 'That's where the millionaire filmmaker and his wife spend their summers.'"

"Wife?" Gale asked in shock, looking at them in the rear-view mirror. Gretchen put her hand over her mouth, not believing she let it slip out so easily. Gale pulled the car to the side of the road and halted to a stop. "Wife! Get out of this car, right now."

"Mom!"

"I'll deal with you later, young man. This is between me and your wife."

"Fiancée," he responded sheepishly, as if that would help matters.

"Half a mile, that's how far we made it without any drama," Gretchen quipped as she got out of the car. They had left the doors open, and Dawson could hear everything. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Mrs. Leery, I'm sorry, we had a whole plan for telling you, I didn't mean-"

"Again with the Mrs. Leery! If you won't call me Gale, maybe you could just call me Mom instead."

Gretchen looked up at Gale, who was all smiles. She smiled back at her, and they embraced.

"Okay…, Mom. I think I can manage that."

Dawson smiled contentedly as he witnessed the whole exchange.

"God, that's three now."

"Three what?" Dawson asked.

"Three years in a row that I'm going to cater a Witter wedding. I assume you want us to cater, right?"

"Do we get a repeat discount?" Gretchen asked.

Gale laughed at the joke as they got back into the car. There was no further drama until they arrived home. Dawson looked up towards his old bedroom, and the most conspicuous thing was what was missing.

"When did you take down the ladder?" Dawson asked.

"That would be right after breakfast Sunday morning. Your stepfather took it down."

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, I'll just let your sister tell you that one. I blame that damn book."

"Which book? Joey's book? Why would Lilly even be reading it. She's way too young."

"She just loves Joey, the same way Joey loved my sister growing up. Besides, it was the only way I could get her to eat breakfast Saturday."

"That damn book," Gretchen said bemusedly. She and Dawson looked at each other and started cracking up, glad to have put that particular issue behind them.

"Oh, God, I can't even imagine what drama that must have stirred up for you two," Gale said in a measured tone.

"We don't have to revisit that particular chapter," Dawson said ending the conversation.

That afternoon

Dawson was waiting in his old bedroom for Lilly to get home from school. She had taken over the bedroom, and he was pleased with how she had transformed it. He could still imagine his old posters, but this suited her quite well. He was sitting on his old bed. It still felt the same. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the arrival of his sister.

"Dawson!" Lilly cried excitedly before jumping on top of her brother and showering him with kisses.

It took more effort than he remembered to lift her up.

"Don't you think you're getting a little big for this?"

"That's what I told Alexander on Saturday," she said smiling in a way that reminded him all too much of Joey at her age.

"Oh boy," he said returning the smile as he sat up. "Tell me what happened."

"Well, you see, Daddy took down the ladder."

"I know. Mom said I should I ask you about that."

"I was inspired by Aunt Joey's book, the way she talked about how she regretted sleeping in the same bed with you for so long."

Dawson wasn't so sure he had the same interpretation of that opening chapter as she did, but he let her continue without interruption.

"So, I told Alexander we were getting too old for this, unless…"

Dawson had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Unless he wanted to be my boyfriend."

"And what did he say?" Dawson knew the answer. The fact that the ladder was gone combined with her cheerful mood was answer enough. He wanted to hear her take on it, though.

"He didn't say anything."

They shared a look.

"He just kissed me!"

"Is that what you call playing Joey and Dawson?"

"Not anymore!"

"All right, sis, give me all the details."

"Well, after we kissed, we both got all nervous. I'd never been kissed before, you know."

"I'd certainly hope not. So, this was after you watched the movie?"

"What movie?"

"Oh, boy."

"What? We never watch movies."

"That's what Joey and I used to do."

"We don't have to do everything like you."

"Clearly not. So, what happened next?"

"We slept together."

Dawson seriously hoped she was speaking literally and not figuratively.

"Slept together?"

"Yeah. He was so nervous. He had no idea what to do next, so I took charge, just like Aunt Joey said to do in the book. We got into bed, and I told him to just hold me while we slept."

"Fully clothed, I hope?"

"Yes, Dawson," Lilly rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay, so that's not too bad."

"Not too bad? It was the best night of my life!"

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant with our parents."

"Ohh, right, so we were still asleep Mommy came in to wake us up. She just thought it was cute. It was at breakfast that it all went down."

"Went down?"

"Yeah, I wasn't eating, as always, and Alexander cut off a piece of pancake from his plate. He fed it to me with his fork and said, 'Here you go, sweetheart, don't starve yourself.'"

"He did not!"

"He did!"

"And then?" Dawson was now entirely intrigued to hear how this little drama played out.

"And, then, Daddy was like, so casually, 'Is Alex your boyfriend now or something?' And Alexander answered, 'Yes, sir, I promise I am going to treat her right.'"

"He said that?"

"Word for word, I swear."

Dawson wondered if he was going to have a certain talk with Alexander, the kind of talk that was the prerogative of big brothers. He always knew he might have to have it one day, maybe even with Alexander, just not this soon.

"And the ladder?"

"Well, after Alexander left, Daddy was quite firm. He said he couldn't exactly let my boyfriend be climbing into my window anymore."

"Perfectly reasonable." His thoughts on this matter were diametrically opposed to his thoughts had been when his father had taken down the ladder after he and Joey started dating.

Gale knocked on the door.

"Joey's here. I told her you'd help the crew get set up."

"The crew?"

"You should see it, Dawson, it's worse than a movie crew."

"All right."

Lilly followed closely behind as he went to find Joey. She was waiting on the porch, and Lilly tried to hide behind Dawson. Joey played along.

"Hey, Dawson. I was hoping to see Lilly. I haven't seen her in almost a year."

There was a muffled giggle.

"Yeah, curious about that. Guess she hasn't come home from school yet."

"Oh well, maybe next time. I thought she might help me set up the tables."

She made an exaggerated effort out of starting to walk away. Lilly ran out from behind Dawson.

"I'm right here!"

"There's the little troublemaker!" She was clearly not referring to this latest prank as she tried to pick up Lilly. "You're getting so big!"

"I certainly am, but not too big for you to still pick me up."

Joey gave it another try and succeeded this time.

"All right, give your Aunt Joey a kiss." She did. "Now go see if they need help with anything."

Lilly ran towards where the crew was setting up for the launch party. Dawson and Joey looked at each other and started laughing.

"Just like you and Aunt Gwen," Dawson remarked.

"God, I can't believe it. I never thought anyone would think of me that way." She was quite pleased with the comparison.

"So, did Alexander tell you everything?"

"Yup, Bessie was quite apoplectic."

"I can only imagine," Dawson said as he laughed nervously.

"Let's compare notes. What did Lilly tell you?"

"She said it was the best night of her life."

"Reminds me of the night you kissed me to stop me from going to Paris."

"God, good for them, figuring things out this early."

Later that afternoon

It had been a long time since Dawson had rowed across the now-famous creek. He felt like a kid again. The sensation only lasted until he reached the Potter B&B. He would need to put on his adult face for this. He walked up to the door and knocked. Bessie was flustered when she opened the door, but she relaxed as soon as she saw him.

"Oh, Dawson, it's just you. Come in."

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"No, it's just, things are so crazy this week. We're booked solid all week. Everyone wants the authentic Joey Potter Experience."

"The Joey Potter Experience? What's that?"

"A normal stay at triple the normal price," Bessie said with a sardonic smile.

"Does it at least include a signed copy of Joey's book or something?"

"No, it's mostly people who are staying over from the book launch, but apparently Joey does have a minor fan club. What?"

Dawson was laughing.

"Between The Creek and this book, Capeside is going to become a major tourist destination."

"Just like all those people who are going to Dubrovnik," Bessie said returning the laugh.

"Dubrovnik? Croatia?"

"Yeah, people who watched Game of Thrones are flocking to Dubrovnik to see where it was filmed."

"Ah, can't say I've seen a single episode. That's HBO, right?"

"Right. Bodie is just obsessed with it."

"I'll call an old friend in Burbank, see if they can dig up some props or something."

"Wait, really, you could do that?"

"Sure, why not, they just throw that stuff out anyway."

"That would be amazing. Uh, so, I take it you talked to Lilly? I'm thinking you didn't row across the creek to talk to me about Game of Thrones."

Dawson hesitated. He wasn't sure exactly how he wanted to play this.

"No, can't say premium cable was on my mind. Do you remember the first night that Joey and I kissed?"

"Oh, God, that was, what, 15 years ago?"

"Haha, almost. Seems like a lifetime ago. I just remember Pacey and I dissecting the whole thing, ironic."

"I'm sure Joey and I had a similar conversation. I remember telling her that it's the second kiss that means everything because it has to be premeditated and rational, not spontaneous like a first kiss."

"It really does…"

Dawson was lost in thought. He wasn't thinking about his second kiss with Joey. He was thinking about his second kiss with Gretchen, the one that meant everything, the one after she read his last childhood love letter, after he delivered it 7 years too late, yet just on time. Gretchen had kept the letter even after they broke up the first time. She got it laminated after they got back together, and she'd sometimes have him read it to her before they went to sleep. He'd read it so many times he knew every word by heart. They both did.

"Oh! Joey told me you and Gretchen got engaged. Congratulations!"

"Thanks, I suppose this makes us siblings-in-law of some sort."

"I guess so," Bessie laughed. "Well, speaking of which, I suppose you're going to want to have that famous big brother talk with Alex."

"If you don't mind."

"No, I suppose there are some things that he won't want to hear from his parents, or her parents. Bodie and I are discussing what ground rules we need to establish, and I'm sure your mother and stepfather will have their own ground rules, too. I'll leave this part to you."

"Yeah."

"Alex! Someone's here to see you."

Alexander came to the door, dressed impeccably as always, the shining example of a little man. He shook Dawson's hand. "Hi, Dawson."

"How's it going, Alexander?"

"Not bad, yourself?"

"Always glad to be back in Capeside."

"Why don't the two of you go for a walk," Bessie suggested. They started walking.

"So, you and Lilly, how about that?"

"Yeah, she's really special."

"I guess I always knew this would happen, maybe just not this soon."

Alexander was fidgeting nervously.

"You don't have to look so nervous. This isn't some movie where I'm going to say a dumb line like, 'You break her heart, I break your knees.'" Dawson laughed nervously, and Alexander returned the laugh.

"I don't know, I never thought of her that way. And then, I don't even know what I was thinking. I wasn't. I just kissed her, and now I want to do it again."

"Just like me and Joey. It's scary, I get it, but you guys are figuring it out at the right age."

"Figuring what out?"

"Your feelings for each other. Do you love her?"

"Of course!"

"How long have you loved her?"

"Forever. And I'll always love her, too."

"Exactly," Dawson sighed. "There are so many different ways for two people to love each other, and when the love is that strong, it can be really confusing."

"Were you confused the first time you kissed Aunt Joey?"

Dawson was glad Alexander was helping this conversation along.

"Very. We were confused leading up to the kiss and confused again the second we stopped kissing. We wanted to analyze the whole thing. The only time we weren't confused was when we were actually kissing." Dawson paused. "So we just started kissing again."

"I'm not confused."

"Oh, Alexander, maybe not now, but relationships at this age, especially with a lifelong friend have to be confusing. I wish Joey had told me how she felt when we were your age. It would have made things so much simpler."

"I don't get it."

"No, I guess you wouldn't. Let's sit down." They found a place to sit down. "You guys are doing it the right way. Just be careful, okay?"

"Careful?"

"Yeah, don't let yourselves hurt each other. You've got so much riding on this, on your friendship, you might get afraid, think your friendship will be over if the relationship ever ends." He hesitated, unsure if he should share the next part. "I was afraid, too, when I kissed Joey. I was afraid of losing her, so I kissed her to make her stay. It was nice, we both enjoyed it, but it was for all the wrong reasons. We should have kissed for the right reason months or years earlier."

"Did Lilly and I kiss for the right reason?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I think it'll be pretty obvious when you have your second kiss."

"I kissed her because she said I couldn't sleep over anymore unless I was her boyfriend."

"And my stepfather put a stop to those sleepovers, anyway, as soon as she said you were her boyfriend."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to go back? To before you kissed and still had sleepovers?"

"Nope, I want to go forward. I want to have that second kiss."

"Well, there's your answer. Promise me one thing."

"Okay."

"Promise me you two won't hide your feelings, not from yourselves, not from each other. Whatever problems you have, just work through them together, and, if dating isn't the right dynamic for you two, don't keep dating because you think it's the only way to save the friendship."

"Okay. I'm glad we had this talk."

Dawson smiled at Alexander.

"I am, too. Now go see if your mother needs any help getting ready for the guests."

He stood up and shook Dawson's hand before running back to the B&B. Dawson stared out at the creek and lost himself in thought again. His thoughts drifted to that letter. He had been Lilly's age, and Gretchen had been Alexander's age, he realized. He had been so scared when he wrote it. That wasn't true. Writing it had been the easy part, the honest words just flowing straight from his heart to his hand. Sending it had been the hard part. He had gotten scared, and, in the end he had decided he was unwilling to gamble away their friendship. He hadn't been able to throw it out, either, so he had just hid it in his dresser.

He thought back to all the little things that led to him finally delivering that letter to Gretchen 7 years later. He thought about the story that Mr. Brooks had told him about his own girlfriend he met in Las Vegas who had decided she'd rather gamble on life than on the dice. He thought about how Joey had reassured him that a strong friendship can survive a failed romance. He thought about how he and Jack had found the letter when they were cleaning up his room and how Jack had pushed him to tell her how he still felt. He thought about the kiss that followed after he had delivered the letter. He thought about the contents of the letter.

Dear Gretchen,

I really enjoyed talking to you in your room today. Try not to be nervous about starting high school. I know you're going to find people that understand you. There's something that I didn't get a chance to tell you.

There's someone truly special in my life that I can't stop thinking about. She's unlike anyone I've ever met. Smart and funny and beautiful. And just knowing that she's in my life has given me this constant fluttering that keeps me awake at night.

When I think about who I can talk to about this, who will understand, the only person that comes to mind is you. And that's a problem because you are the one that I feel this way about. I think about you constantly, every little thing you do. The Elvis Costello sticker you put on your spiral notebook, the way your bangs have grown out every day now for 6 months until Monday when you were finally able to put it all in a ponytail.

Today when you invited me to stay and talk to you after Pacey left, it occurred to me that you must think of me too. If I tried to tell anyone else, they would say that you and I are impossible, that our lives are too different, that we could never be right for each other. But we understand each other, and we care about each other and years from now, I believe that we still will.

Your friend forever,
Love, Dawson