Lunch heard no more about Dawson and Gretchen from either Pacey or Joey, but rather, Dawson entertained them all with stories of the daily drama on the set of the Creek, and how the actress he'd cast to play the cradle- robbing English teacher was actually robbing the cradle, she'd been sleeping with the actor he cast to play his own alter ego. Everyone thought it was a fairly ironic twist to what became one of the stranger episodes in their melodramatic lives. Well, at least it all made good TV. After lunch, they all went to look at the church where the grand event would be taking place. Everything seemed to be coming along fine with the plans for the ceremony, and Joey shared her elaborate vision for how the sanctuary would look for the ceremony on Saturday with Gretchen, while the guys checked out the small chapel located just off the sanctuary that would serve as their dressing room on the big day.

"So, what do you all have planned for tonight?" Pacey was relaxing in one of the room's many folding chairs.

"Actually, we're babysitting my sister, while my mom and Tom go out for their anniversary." Dawson found himself examining every facet of lighting in the room, envisioning where he would place cameras and position actors to get the best shot.

"That should be fun; you'll get to spend the evening together, with no expectations or need for pretenses. Good job, man." Pacey smiled as Dawson joined him in one of the other seats.

"Yeah, real quality time. Babysitting is not my idea of a date."

Pacey smiled at his best friend. "Yeah, well, we'll see. Remember what happened the last time the two of you tried to entertain kids?"

Dawson sat for a vacant expression on his face for a couple moments, a look of realization finally dawning on his face. "You're eighteenth birthday party, when you caught us making out on the couch in your parents' basement."

"Right you are, my friend. Not one of the more pleasant moments in my life, I must say, but it definitely bodes well for the two of you."

At the same time, in the sanctuary, the girls had finally stopped picturing how the sanctuary would look in a few days, and found themselves sitting in one of the front pews, talking. They talked about what Gretchen and Dawson had planned for the evening, and Joey was similarly insinuative to Pacey about what the night might hold for them. At first, Gretchen took things in stride, but she began to grow noticeably uncomfortable, until she finally said something.

"How did you know, Jo?"

"How did I know what?" Joey responded, unsure of where this was headed.

"That you and Pacey were supposed to be together."

"That's a funny, and yet profoundly sad story." Joey paused, checking to see if Gretchen wanted to actually hear the story. It appeared that she did. "It started a year ago, today. We were at Gayle's wedding reception, and Pacey and I were dancing, when this married woman he'd been having an affair with showed up. He'd been beat-up by the lady's husband and some of his friends the night before and wanted nothing further to do with her, so he asked me to do him a favor, and then he laid the biggest kiss on me. I about passed out."

Gretchen just nodded her head, so Joey continued, "Moments later, Jen was unconscious on the dance floor, and everything got all confused in my head. The next day, I went in to talk to Jen, and she was the one that told me I had to go for it, and stop running away from love like I had been for the past six years. She knew that it was Pacey, even though she never said it."

All that Gretchen could manage was a hushed, "Wow."

"Now, don't get upset with me, Gretchen, but I'm going to give you some advice. Quit running, you can be happier than you ever thought was possible, and I'm living proof of that."

Gretchen only looked at Joey, unsure of what to say. After a couple of contemplative minutes, Joey got up and helped Gretchen to her feet at which point they went to find the guys and head back to their respective places of temporary residence. Dawson and Gretchen got back to the house at around 5:00pm, just in time to see Gayle and Tom off to their anniversary night out. The moment they were out the door, Lilly was all over Dawson and Gretchen. She wanted to go into town to get something to eat. They both considered it for a little bit, wanting to make her sweat, but then agreed, so they set off for town.

When they arrived in downtown Capeside, they headed for the old diner for some supper.

"So, what can I get for you three?" The very young waitress, Dawson didn't think she could have been more than seventeen, pencil and order pad in hand, asked them just after they'd sat down.

"I'll take a bacon cheeseburger and fries, with a strawberry milkshake to drink." Dawson ordered first.

The waitress then turned to Gretchen. "I'll have the same, only make mine a chocolate shake, and I'll also need a cup of coffee, black."

"What about your little girl, what will she have?" The waitress asked, looking from Gretchen and Dawson to Lilly.

"I'll take a cheeseburger and fries," responded Lilly, noticing the look of bewilderment on her brother and Gretchen's faces.

Gretchen finally said something. "She's not our little girl."

"She's my little sister," finished Dawson.

"Oh," replied the waitress, her cheeks beginning to tint slightly. "You two just make such a cute couple, I just assumed. I'm sorry."

Dawson noted the waitress' embarrassment and smiled at her. "Don't worry. You just surprised us."

Gretchen joined in. "If it makes you feel any better, we used to be a couple."

The waitress smiled, uneasily, before saying anything, "I'll have your coffee and some glasses of water out after I put in your order."

Gretchen and Dawson looked at each other as the waitress walked away, each trying to suppress slight laughter. The rest of the meal passed fairly uneventfully, the two of them spent most of it laughing and joking with Lilly. It was around six when they left the diner.

"Hey, Lilly, do you want to go see a movie at the Rialto?" Dawson asked, pointing across the street at the Lighted Marquee showing the new releases. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is playing."

Lilly jumped up and down. "Yes!"

"Ok, then lets go. I've been wanting to see that movie ever since the book came out. It was one of the first things I ever reviewed for the newspaper. I loved it." Gretchen took Lilly by the hand and led her across the street. Dawson trailed behind them, smiling, watching Gretchen's hair sway as she and Lilly ran over to the box office.

Almost three hours later, the three emerged from the theatre, Dawson was carrying Lilly, who was crying slightly into her shoulder. The movie ended just like the book, and Lilly had been crying since then. By the time the got back to the car, Lilly was asleep, so Dawson strapped her into the backseat and they drove quietly home. When they reached the house, Dawson carried Lilly in and laid her down in her bed. After he was sure she was all tucked in, he went back downstairs, where he found Gretchen sitting on the couch, in front of a newly lit fire.

"I had fun tonight," Gretchen greeted Dawson as he joined her on the couch.

"Me, too."

"I nearly died when that woman thought that Lilly was our daughter." Gretchen paused. "Do I really look that old?"

"Of course not. You're even more beautiful now than you were eight years ago." Dawson reached over and put his hand on hers. She didn't try to move it away.

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course I do. I've been wanting to tell you that ever since I saw you at the airport. I just wasn't sure how you'd take it." Dawson scooted closer to her, taking her hand in both of his. "There's something else I've been wanting to say to you for almost as long, but I'm even less sure of whether I should."

"What is it?" Gretchen asked, her eyes now fixed on Dawson's.

"I've never stopped loving you, Gretchen. I'd forgotten about it, with all the time and distance between us, but when you walked into that gate at LAX, it all came rushing back to me." Dawson paused, to allow Gretchen time to react.

At first, there was no reaction. Gretchen just sat there, a small smile and what looked like a single tear on her face. Then, she picked up her other hand and placed it on top of Dawson's and hers. After this, she finally spoke, "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that."

Dawson moved one of his hands up to hold against Gretchen's cheek. "I've been in love with you since I was thirteen years old, before Joey, before Jen, and before I even knew what it mean to be in love. Those few months we had together during my senior year were some of the purest, most wonderful times in my life. It broke my heart when you left, but I knew it was the right thing to do. We both had our mountains to conquer, our own roads to travel."

Gretchen smiled and picked up there, "And look where they've led us, right back here, together."

The sat there, both just staring into each others' eyes, Dawson occasionally wiping a tear from one of Gretchen's cheeks. They then leaned in and kissed. It was light, and loving. It was closed-mouth, but lasted for several moments. But then, the front door open and Gayle and Tom walked into the living room.

"So, how was your evening?" Gayle asked her son and Gretchen as she hung up her coat.

Gretchen and Dawson had separated somewhat when they heard the door open. They weren't entirely sure why, but they both wanted to make sure they knew what was happening before they told anyone about it.

"It was nice, Mom, very nice."