Goodnight; Goodbye
All names, past story lines and characters belong to Kevin Williamson, Paul Stupin and anyone else who's helped in the creation of Dawson's Creek. You know I don't own them.
Authors Notes
Good night sentence substitute. A conventional expression of farewell, used in the evening or night, esp. when departing to bed.
Good Bye sentence substitute. 1. farewell: a conventional expression used at leave-taking or parting with people. ~n. 2. a leave-taking; parting 3. a farewell
Late July 2001
Joey watched Dawson anxiously open the A4 sized letter, which would change his life. They had vowed to each other that they would be the first to see each other's result. His face was unreadable.
"Alright!" He said pumping his fist into the air, "I did it Joey! I got into Washington State College! Come on, open yours – it's your turn now." Joey stared at the thick, large letter, thinking. She would never go to the same college as Dawson – she hadn't applied there.
"Come on Jo!"
"Okay, okay." She teared open the envelope, pulling out the letter, she read aloud,
"Dear Miss Josephine Potter, We have processed your application to Harvard and for a scholarship and are pleased to tell you," Joey's features broke into a broad smile, " that you have been accepted for both points. Alright! I'm getting outta Capeside!" She leaned over and hugged Dawson, "Wait a sec Dawson, I gotta tell Bessie. Meet back here when you've told your mom and dad and bring Jen – I'll get Jack and Pacey, okay?"
"Yeah sure." As Joey retreated out of his window, Dawson contemplated his future. He was going to become the greatest filmmaker Washington would ever have and he would have Joey at his side. But wait, he thought sadly, Joey's going to Ivy League. Dawson still loved Joey and he still felt pain when he thought of Joey and Pacey, who were together just last year. He shook himself out of his thoughts and rushed down the stairs to tell his mom and dad.
"Mom! Dad! Guess what?" Mitch and Gail Leery were squabbling over a cookery book
"Hey, Gail! Give me that book!"
"You know very well that I'm the best cook around here – after all I started Leery's Fresh Fish – admit it, I have a flair for cooking!"
"True. But, where you have skill with fish, I have skill with pies and quiches, which is here!"
"Mom! Dad! Guess what?" Mitch and Gail turned to their son, "Oh, honey, I'm hate to interrupt you but we're pretty busy right now-"
"No, no! I got into Washington State College! I did it!"
"Oh my God! Well done Dawson, I'm so proud of you!"
"You've done just fine son. Well done." His parents walked over and patted him on the back and hugged him.
Elsewhere, Joey was telling Bessie and Bodie.
"Oh my God Joey!" Bessie passed the baby to Bodie and hugged her tightly, whispering, "You can get out of this hick town Joey and I have never been more proud of you – Mom would have been too."
"Thanks Bess. I don't ever tell you this, but you make me feel proud – opening Potter's B&B, looking after Alexander and me, and just coping."
"Damn it Pacey!" said Chief Witter. "You didn't apply to Washington State? You told me you did. Well I guess I should be happy that at least you got into a college. And Pacey – I am, you got into Princeton with a basketball scholarship – that's wonderful, but you lied to me about where you applied to – I'm your father. God damn it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Jack, you did brilliantly. I'm very proud of you. You did so well to get into Princeton."
"Thanks dad. I wish mom and Andie was here to see it."
"So do I Jack, so do I."
"Ohhh, Jennifer, I'm so proud of you. I know your parents should be too."
"Grams, I think the key word in that is 'should'. But mom and dad will not ruin this day for me. I refuse it. I have gotten into Princeton and I am absolutely over the moon – or perhaps over the Creek, I'm gonna tell Dawson."
"Oh, young people, always rushing off. Let's just sit. Let's not anything get in the way of this harmony – speaking of which Church can fill you with even more har-"
"Okay, okay. Grams I will go to Church, but I won't pray, won't anything. I'm doing this to make you the happiest Grams in the world – seeing as I'm the happiest girl."
"Oh come Jennifer, quick, before you lose this new-found happiness, to the Church!"
"Grams, I'm still an atheist."
"I know Jennifer, I know."
Pacey sat in on his bed, rereading the letter, which confirmed that he was going to Princeton. It had been the university that he wouldn't have gotten into. Everyone was sure about that. Even he was sure he wasn't going to get in with his grades, but he got an old friend to recommend him. He lay back lying blissfully, when his brother Doug knocked on his door and poked his head through.
"Witter – I…I just want to say that I'm happy for you that you got into Princeton – seeing that you're a loser with your grades, but be happy not little brother 'cos you ain't gonna last long. Anyway, Joey's here to see you." He turned away, allowing Joey to come in. Her face was flushed and her dark hair was scooped into a loose ponytail. One of her hands was tucked into her jean pocket, the other holding a letter. On her face was a happy smile, which made Pacey feel ecstatic. They weren't together anymore – the stress of being a couple was bringing them down, so they had split up on mutual agreement. But Pacey still loved Joey and Joey still loved Pacey.
"Hey Pacey!"
"Hey Potter."
"Guess what?" She questioned sitting on his bed, looking down at Pacey. Slowly he sat up.
"You're gonna join a strip club to earn some fast money and need me to drive you there seeing as you stall all the time and won't make it for your first routine." Joey rolled her eyes.
"Pacey, it's amazing that you have an this great inability to ever guess what I'm about to tell you. Pacey, I got into Harvard!" Pacey stared at her unbelieving. Then reached over and hugged her tightly.
"Well done Joey." Joey smiled her special smile.
"Thanks, but what about you? Did you get into Washington? Dawson did." Pacey smiled.
"No. I didn't get into Washington." Joey's face fell.
"I thought you were. You've done so well during the last semester, I thought that you would get into it. I-" Pacey gently tipped her face up to his.
"Jo, I didn't get in 'cos I didn't apply to Washington-" Joey stood up.
"Are you crazy? You didn't apply?!"
"Jo, I didn't apply 'cos I applied to Princeton. And I got in." Joey gaped open mouthed and then hugged him dumbfoundedly. Pacey could smell Joey's hair – a homely honey scent. As she hugged him, he remembered when they were together – when they had sailed away down to West Keys. The moment broke as Joey broke away from the hug. She smiled her little smile.
"Pace, let's go – I gotta pick up Jack and Andie, we're all going back to Dawson's to tell each other if we got in." Pacey looked sad.
"Dawson's huh?" He said softly, but Joey hadn't heard, she had run down the stairs. She stopped and turned.
"C'mon Pacey." He shook his head and followed her.
Over at Dawson's, it was a hug-fest.
"Oh my gosh! Well done Joey!"
"Jen-you are gonna come Princeton with yours truly."
"Oh my gosh! Can't wait Jack, I can't wait!" The only people who weren't happy for each other were Dawson and Pacey. Dawson was angry that Pacey had gotten into Providence with a basketball scholarship. As far as Dawson was concerned-he was the better player. So Dawson was sulking in the furthest corner from Pacey. They had made peace, but Dawson still did not like Pacey. And Pacey did not like Dawson. They had done it for Joey. Pacey was just annoyed that Dawson would act this way. Shouldn't he congratulate him at least? It had almost killed Pacey to achieve average Bs in his grades and to persuade his friend (who had recommended him) that he had changed from the I-couldn't-care-less attitude. And he would've congratulated Dawson if he weren't giving him a killer stare right now. They both glared at each other from across the room. Joey chewed nervously on her bottom lip as she watched Pacey and Dawson have a stare-out.
"Uh…guys, I'm pretty tired, so I'm gonna go home now." A chorus of 'Yeah, me too' filled the room.
Three months later
"Jo, make me the proudest sister in the world!"
"Course I will!" Joey smiled sadly, "See ya Alex, see ya Bessie. Don't worry, I'll meet Andie there."
"Take care. Alex, say bye-bye to auntie Joey!"
"Bye-bye aunty Joey!"
Joey had said her goodbyes to everyone and was saying goodbye to Bessie before she left to get onto the train at the station. She was the first to leave for college, as she wanted to get to the rooms first. She was sharing rooms with Andie, who she would meet there, for the first time in a year, seeing as Andie had left to Italy, as well as two other unidentified people, yet, anyway.
Once Joey had reached New Jersey, she searched out the college and headed to the reception. It was a nice day, with a blue sky and no clouds – the students were trying to make the most of it. The campus was filled with young people travelling to their lessons and occasionally she was able to disturb some people and ask for directions. Eventually reaching the reception, she was told to go to Harpington House, 3rd floor, no. 184. Stopping in front of number 184, she opened the door with the key and stood, taking in the first impressions of her home to be for her life at college. Everything was immaculate and pristine. It looked as if no one had been in there before her. Before her, she could see a sitting room, kitchen and a few doors. The design of the rooms was plain, countrified pale blue check. The kitchen had a sink, oven, microwave and stove. The sitting room had white leather sofas and a small coffee table. There was no TV but there was space for one. Joey went to explore the rooms. In one, there was a single bed, a table, a chair, another door and a window overlooking the campus. Joey was puzzled. How come there were so many rooms? She went through the door and found herself in a walk-in wardrobe. The other three rooms were identical with different views. There was another room. That was the bathroom. It had a bath and shower as well as everything else. Joey sat in a plush sofa and closed her eyes, when she heard someone come in. Her eyes opened and was treated to the sight of Andie, flushed, tanned and beaming. As she dropped her suitcases and hugged Joey tightly, Joey realized that her breathing was irregular. They broke away and Andie collapsed onto the sofa.
"Phew, I shoulda taken gym more, running up stairs is definitely not my thing. The lift was out of order, you see. Oh my gosh, so, how are you? We are gonna have a great time! How's Jack and everyone? I feel so great to be back in America! Europe's great and everything, but nothing beats America!" Joey grinned, caught up in her enthusiasm. Andie, looked so happy, she was radiant, she was dressed for hot weather, in a logo t-shirt and a pair of white shorts.
"You look really great Andie, you must have had a really good time in Italy. I hate to break your happy bubble, but you've gotta get back to work, now that we're at college." Andie made a face.
"Well, aren't you positive? I'm gonna go check out my new home." She stood up and inspected the rooms. After a while, she returned.
"Joey, I feel like I'm gonna be living in luxury forever. There'll need to be a change in color and furniture setting, but otherwise this is perfect. You know, I've always wanted a walk-in wardrobe. We are gonna have fun!" Andie plonked herself on the seat next to Joey. She took note of Joey's weary, sad smile.
"Joey, what's wrong?"
"Not much. Can't you ever be unhappy? Or so un-bouncy anyway? I don't think I'll cope with a whole day of 'Andie's happy mood'. And there's something else, but I'm not talking to you about it – you wouldn't like it."
"No and what? Come on, I'm thriving on the high of getting back to America – nothing could make me feel annoyed right now." Andie enquired, not expecting the answer she got.
"Pacey."
"Ah…I see what you mean. So, anyway, what do you want to do? We start next week. So," Andie ticked the things off on her fingers, "we can go sightseeing, go into town and see what we have, unpack, check out the rest of the college or stay here and unwind." She cleverly skipped the subject, but Joey wasn't annoyed that she had. Joey pulled a wry face.
"Let's unpack and make this place feel like ours."
"Cool. Okay I've claimed the west wing room." Andie jumped up and ran off to unpack. Joey went and did likewise. A few hours later, Joey's bedroom had changed. Her bed was situated just by the wardrobe and her table was under the window, so the light could fall on it when she worked. She had a few personal things cluttering her table – a picture of Bessie, Bodie and Alexander, a small lamp which she got when she went to Boston, a framed picture of the whole group, Dawson, Pacey, Jen, Jack, Andie and herself, before Pacey and Joey had sailed off, a few stamps and postcards which she had bought in New Jersey. In her wardrobe, was a neatly hung up set of clothes, colour co-ordinated and all hung in one direction. A frosted blue vase filled with daisies adorned her room. Andie was adding a few more personal touches to her room when the door opened and two guys walked in.
"Cool! A bit too girlie, but-" One dark-haired guy stopped as he saw Andie, "Uh, hi! Um, I'm Paddy Evans and this is Casey Williams. I guess you're our other roommates huh?" Andie frowned.
"We were told that we would most probably get two girls as roomies, not guys. I'm Andie McPhee by the way. And my other friend is-" Joey walked out of her bedroom.
"Joey Potter," She frowned quizzically at the two guys, "Aren't we meant to get two girls as roommates?" The lighter-haired one, Casey, answered,
"You were meant to, but the two girls pulled out as they wanted to share with some other peeps. I guess you've already claimed rooms huh?" Once they were fully introduced, the two guys went to unpack. Once out of hearing range, Andie squealed,
"Oooh, we get to be roomies with two guys!" Joey rolled her eyes.
"Yeah whatever. I wanna check out the college now."
"Okay, let me just grab my keys."
"Are you gonna leave your bedroom door open?" Joey looked incredulous. Andie answered unfazed,
"Yeah. I trust them," Catching Joey's look she amended, "Okay, okay, I'll lock it. It's not like I have much that's precious, anyway." Once they had left, the Paddy and Casey looked at each other.
"That Andie chick is gonna be the death of us." Paddy said. Casey nodded in complete agreement.
In Massachusetts, Princeton A few days after Joey and Andie had settled in Harvard.
Pacey blinked when he strode onto the campus of Princeton. Jen and Jack were grinning, impressed.
"You know, I may have seen many impressive buildings in my time, but this one beats 'em all." Jen commented. Pacey was impressed. But not that much. Capeside had looked a lot more impressive – with Joey there anyway. They followed the procedure that freshmen all do when they get there and then they were issued their rooms and keys. They weren't sharing as Joey and Andie were, but they were all split up. Pacey said his goodbyes to Jack and Jen and went to his dorm room. Apparently he was sharing with two girls and a guy. Opening room 404, he did not appreciate the sight he was treated to. A dark-haired guy and a redhead were making out. They broke apart unflustered and the girl said,
"Hey! You must be our other roomie, right? I'm Amber and this is Nate. Come on in and meet Gracie!" A pretty-yet-understated girl appeared before him and glared at the other girl.
"The name is Grace. Okay? Is that hard for you? Grace, Grace, Grace," For some reason the girl reminded him of Joey. Her hair was dark brown and it was messily tied back and her eyebrows were knitted in the same kind of frown that Joey would do. She turned to him, "I guess you're the other roommate huh? Well, what's your name?"
"The One and Only Pacey Witter!" He said, show business-like. Grace raised an eyebrow as if deciding something.
"Well, welcome to Amber and Nate's Boudoir of Lurrve." She drawled sarcastically. She turned around and headed back to her room. Amber raised and eyebrow at the turned back and turned her attention to Pacey.
"Um, your timetable for your lessons you should have, key-yep, room-" Pacey smiled endearingly.
"Uh, I think I know which room will be mine," He said pointing to a narrow room with the door wide open, "The only thing I would like to know, is when we have fall break." Amber squinted and replied,
"I think that's in like 5 or 6 weeks or something." Pacey said his thanks and trudged off to his room thinking already about his trip to visit Joey in fall break.
In Washington
Dawson lay on his cotton covers as he typed a letter to Joey on his new laptop.
How is it at Harvard? It's great at Washington-there's everything I could wish for
At this point, Dawson decided against writing that and deleted it. This letter writing went on for ages before he actually finished.
If you want to see the finalized version of the letter, read this- (actually, it isn't optional, because you need to read it to understand the rest.)
[Dear Joey,
How goes it? I feel so tired, even after the first week here. Everything is so hectic!! I've met so many people and they're all so busy! I don't know how they fit a social life in. I sure as hell don't have one! As you know, I share a room with one roommate and she's called Laurie Halter. She majors in English Lit and is way too preoccupied to notice me! But the weirdest thing ever happened to me the other day. I was walking to class when a girl bumped into me. I was in a bit of a rush and was a little annoyed, but when she stood up, I forgot about class. She had the most…hold-up, I don't think you want to hear this, so anyway, her name is Jayne and we are currently dating. Uh…I gotta go now 'cos I was meant to meet Jayne 5 minutes ago. Um, see ya Joey, write back!]
Dawson wasn't actually dating 'Jayne', but he wanted to make Joey feel jealous. He shook his head. He was hopeless.
A week later, Joey received two letters, while sitting on her bed at night in her cotton pajamas. One was bulky and the other was thin. Joey eagerly opened her letters. She read the small one first. It was from Dawson. As she read it, her heart actually jumped at the idea of Dawson dating again-he had obviously gotten over her! With a light heart, she opened the next one. It was from Jack, Jen and Pacey at Princeton. She laughed as she read the hopeless letters from Pacey, rolled her eyes at the letter from Jen and attentively read Jack's letter. By the end, the letters of her friends had uplifted her. She pulled out a fresh piece of paper and a pen and started to write to her 'Princeton Pals'.
Dear you guys at Princeton,
Hey, how ya doing? Thanks for your letters; they made me feel really good. Here is some advice, Jen, get over it! You won't see him again! Um, fall break is soon and I was wondering if we could all hook up? It starts next week actually. Um, get back to me about that. Daw Uh, I know this may be strange, but I think Dawson is over me 'cos he's dating a girl called Jane or something. And Jack, Andie hasn't told you, but she's only just started dating one of our roommates called Paddy Eu Evans. Uh, I gotta go now 'cos I'm really tired now, I need to sleep! Got class tomorrow. See you guys, get back to me before next week, love Joey
xxx
At that point, Joey folded her letter up and promptly went to sleep.
The next week, everyone hooked up apart from Dawson. He was 'too busy' to join them. Pacey was very glad. They had decided to go to Boston. They all met at the train station. Everyone went into hug mode as they met especially Andie and Jack. Pacey looked on as Joey hugged Jack. Her face was of hopeless joy of seeing her friends. Her chestnut brown hair fell carelessly over her shoulder as she hugged Jack affectionately with a little smile, which brightened her whole face. Her shoulders were smooth and though it was fall, it was warm and her arms were bare as she wore a little vest-top with her favorite jeans that were tight, then flared a little. It showed her figure perfectly. And though she was a little straight, up and down, he loved her. She wasn't the type he would have thought he would fall in love with, but he had. She held herself with pride, but her neck was drawn in – she felt too tall. Her neck led slowly down to her chest, which was not visible to the eye at all. Pacey sighed. Joey rounded up the little group.
"Okay, hi everyone! Um, I think we should move out – to where we're staying for the weekend. It's not too far away, we can walk."
Everybody agreed and started walking, Joey by herself, ahead of the group, the others in twos. Pacey and Jen started talking,
"You know, I think you two should get back together, you guys have nothing to stop you now – Dawson has gotten over her, or haven't you heard?"
"…" Pacey trudged along thinking. Suddenly, Joey stopped as a tall, dark-haired man in his mid-twenties bumped into her.
"Joey?" His deep voice ventured. Joey looked up frowning and thinking. Her face broke into recognition and surprise.
"A.J.?!!" she said incredulously. "Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?"
"The same to you!! So, how are you Joseph?" Joey cocked her head at him.
"Don't call me that! You know I don't like that!" A.J. laughed his features relaxing into his usual look. He looked like the exact A.J. that she used to date, but with a more hunched back and the slight indication of bags under his eyes. He looked pretty bad compared to when she last saw him.
"What are you doing here? I live in Boston remember? I'm studying through my last years at Boston College. You sure look all grown up Josephine Potter. Oh, hey are these all the people who went with you to Boston? Where's that Dowdy Leering guy I met briefly? He's sure has a weird name, hasn't he?" He asked seriously. Joey laughed quietly.
"You must mean Dawson Leery. Uh, he's not able to come. He's hanging with his current girlfriend, Jayne-"
"Apparently." Pacey muttered surreptitiously. Joey gave him the look.
"Don't mind him – he can be such a loser sometimes-" Pacey glared at Joey.
"And what exactly do you mean by that? Oh, so now you're such a great fan of Dawson's right? What, have you found that I live up to my loser reputation? Well, you – being one of the only people who I thought actually didn't believe that – have obviously just figured out that I Pacey, black sheep of the family, Witter was actually born a loser. Well, gee thanks Joey, I know I can count on you." Joey looked at him shocked.
"I didn't mean that you're a loser all the time-"
"Oh, wow, only just sometimes right? Lucky me." She glared.
"See, when you're like this, that's when I think that you're a loser. I mean, why are you so worked up about this? You know I only say things like that when I think that someone's done something wrong. You shouldn't say that Dawson isn't dating. I mean just because you're not, doesn't mean that he isn't! I mean, why would he lie? And-"
"He just actually just said 'apparently'." Andie piped up matter-of-factly. Jack hushed her.
"Uh, I think I had better be going. See you guys around-" A.J. murmured, walking off, but his voice was drowned out by the arguing of Pacey and Joey.
"Fine, I don't care." Joey ended.
"Fine." Pacey agreed.
"Fine." Joey retorted.
"Fine." Pacey said equally hostile. They glared at each other silently. Jen bit her lip nervously.
"Uh, okay, let's go now. Glad you guys got that sorted out." She ended with a hint of sarcasm. Everyone was silent as they walked towards the hotel.
It was 10.00pm and Joey was sleeping in her room alone – she had asked to have a separate room. A knock sounded on the door. It was Jack.
"Hey, Joey you in there? We brought back some dinner for you, except that it's a bit cold now. Do you want it?" He called, his voice muffled through the door. She groaned inwardly.
"Jack, just leave it in here – the door isn't locked."
"It isn't? Why not?" He asked as he came in.
"Because I couldn't be bothered." He placed the bag on top of her drawers. She looked up at him. Her eyes were adjusting to the dim light streaming in through the half-open door from the landing light. Her hair was strewed around her on her pillow.
"What?" She asked as he stood there, looking at her.
"You should talk to Pacey. He's really upset about what happened."
"Yeah, so am I. I mean, you know that I say that all the time about everyone, when I'm nervous. I didn't mean it, not really." Jack nodded.
"I know that, but Pacey doesn't. He's so angry, because he loves you – and you know the way he is about people who call him a loser. So, please, just go see him, do it as a favor to me, please?" His eyes took on the look she knew so well – the puppy-dog look. She was won over,
"Okay, okay. I'll go. What, now? Okay." She sat up, and pulled herself out of bed. She pulled on a pair of socks and wandered out towards the corridor. "Oh, Jack, you just stay here." He nodded, as she closed the door. She walked towards the pale blue door across from her room and knocked on it.
"What?" A gruff voice called, irascibly. Joey stared awkwardly at the door.
"Uh, Pacey? Can I come in? I wanna apologize." He barked out a short laugh.
"Why can't you do that where you are?"
"Pacey, please!" Joey pleaded. She heard a thud – presumably Pacey dropping out of bed – and then a few more as he walked towards the door to unlock it. She pushed the door open and walked in, closing the door behind her. It took her a while to adjust to the darkness, and even longer to locate Pacey. She realized that he was lying in bed. She went and sat on the edge.
"Look, Pacey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry about what happened today. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings – it's just-"
"Just what?" Pacey asked harshly.
"Well, Dawson is still my friend and I guess I reacted kinda badly to your implication that Dawson had lied about having a girlfriend. It was because sometimes, I feel that you think of Dawson as a total geek-"
"He is." Joey shook her head.
"To a point, I guess, but why would Dawson lie about having a girlfriend? Dawson was your friend once. Do you think he would be that sad?" His face was hidden in the shadows.
"You say that he was my friend once. You're right, he was. And that means that I would know what he would do. This is exactly what he would do. Why? Because he wants to make you jealous. And do you really think he would get a girlfriend so soon? Aww, come on. Even Gretchen, guy-magnet, didn't get a boyfriend at university within the first month, because, you have to know who they are first, you have to find where you fit in. In the first few weeks, the freshmen wander about like kittens who've lost their mothers. And he's Dawson. Unfortunately for me, I know him."
"Well, okay, if that theory is anywhere near the truth, it didn't work because I'm not jealous. I was actually happy for Dawson when I read the letter."
"Yeah, but it sort of inadvertently worked for him. I mean, it didn't have the desired effect, but we argued, didn't we?" She looked down.
"Yeah, I guess so. So is my apology accepted?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry too."
"It's okay."
"Yeah."
"Well, I guess I'd better be going." Pacey turned away as she stood up. She reached the door and opened it, then turned, indecisively.
"Uh, Goodnight Pacey."
"G'night." Then Joey turned away, walking off; not getting what she had waited those precious few moments for.