Joey ran out of the restaurant and into the falling snow, which picked up since they entered the restaurant an hour earlier. Without her coat she was cold, but knew she couldn't go back in for fear of losing Dawson in her sight. Seeing him walk across the street, she ran after him again, trying to keep up in the accumulating snow and high heels.

"Dawson," she screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to yell over the street noise. "Dawson, wait, where are you going? Dawson!" On her final scream, which caused her voice to slightly crack, he turned around and looked at her standing on the sidewalk a few feet away from him with a confused look on her face.

"Go back to your party Joey we can talk tomorrow," he said, turning again.

"No, I'm not going back in there without you, why are you leaving?" she said softly, watching him sigh before facing her again.

"What the hell are we doing Jo, what is going on?" he asked, frustrated.

"What do you mean, we're going to this party together." she started, moving closer to him.

"No not what we're physically doing this minute, what are we, you and me doing, what is going on between us," he said, raising his voice. "I mean are we friends, are we more than friends, are we dating because I just talked to Carla the marketing rep and she thought we were married, something she talked to you about and you didn't dispute with her."

"I'm sorry that's not what happened," she said, noticing he was getting angrier.

"So what the hell is happening because somehow I got left out," he yelled, raising his voice louder. "Joey I know our relationship is a bit out of the ordinary and I know that what we have defies normal rules of friendship, but what we have is more than that and it's more than what we talked about on our picnic bench. Friends or soul mates who are not dating don't do what we do. They don't spend all of their time together, they don't hold hands all the time or kiss each other on the lips like we do. And people who are just friends do not have friends who think they're together, if they're just friends there would be absolutely no thought of them romantically involved."

"Dawson I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you," she said, shaking from the cold and the fear of what she felt coming on.

"Why did you change your dedication a few days ago," he said, finally calming down a bit. "What does 'so much more' mean in your dedication to me?"

"It means your more than a friend, you're someone who means everything to me, someone I can be me around even after all those years apart." she stammered.

"Do you love me Joey?" he asked boldly.

"Of course I do Dawson, you know that," she said, shocked that he would doubt her.

"I know you love me as a friend Joey but I want to know if you love me as something more," he asked again, pressing her. "Because whenever I touch you, whenever we kiss, whenever I'm with you I feel like I'm floating. I spend all my time with you and Matthew because I hate it when I'm not with you guys. I have pictures of you two on my desk and gush to my co-workers about Matthew like he was my son and he isn't, even though I love him as my own. I know you feel something too Joey, I see the looks, I feel what you feel when we're together and I want you to tell me know if I'm crazy."

There was a deafening silence between them, finally bringing to the surface everything they kept silent for months. She tried to say something but she stopped, unsure if it would come out right. Seeing that same old confused look on her face, he knew she would say nothing in response, giving him the impression that he was really crazy, imagining that she really could love him back. With a bitter laugh, he turned around again, taking a few steps in the opposite direction. "Wait," she said faintly, wondering if it actually came out of her mouth. He stopped for a minute but when she paused again he continued to walk. "Wait, Dawson, I do."

"You do what?" he said, turning around slowly again to her.

"I do, I love you as something more than a friend," she said, moving closer to him. "I do feel something when we touch or kiss, I've felt it since I saw you again and we had drinks at Tavern on the Green. That night that you kissed me on my steps brought up all these feelings again, feelings of nervousness and anxiety, but they were good. I felt like I was fifteen again and I liked it. Every time I held your hand or kissed you I felt something and I wanted to do all those things because they felt just right, like it made sense. I see you and how you are with Matthew and he loves you so much, maybe even more than I do. That's why I wanted you to come over all the time, that's why we went to the opposite side of town three days a week to have lunch with you and that's why I spent all those hours on the phone with you because I missed you, I missed your voice, you laugh. I missed.everything about you."

"So what does that mean Joey because I know what I want but I need to hear you say it," he asked, moving a few steps closer to her.

"I want you, I want you in my life and in Matthews Dawson," she said, finally feeling like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. "I want you to be there for holidays and birthdays and movie nights and everything. I want you to be there morning, noon and night with us. After Kyle left I felt so alone and so angry and so empty and being with you again and doing the Dawson and Joey routine makes me feel whole for the first time in a long time."

"But we're not the same Dawson and Joey," he said softly. "We can't be those people that run from trouble and give each other up so easily."

"No we're not those people and I don't want it to be exactly the same as it used to be," she said, moving closer. "I want it to be more, I want it to be better, I want it to be everything. I don't want to be without you anymore."

"Neither do I," he said, watching tears fill in her eyes, her body now shaking from the cold. They stared at each other for a minute, feeling their hearts racing and minds spinning.

"How do I know that you won't run away from me if things get bad or close yourself off to me? How do I know you aren't just using me to fill the void that Kyle left because I don't want you to settle for me," he said, afraid yet curious to hear her answer.

"You aren't just filling that void because I never loved Kyle the way I love you now as the guy standing across from me, as this man that is so selfless and loving and would do anything for the people he loves," she said, tear filling in her eyes. "I see you in this whole new light as this whole new person and I love you more now than I ever did before. I know you're afraid that I'll run, but I'm not that person who was scared of love of letting someone love her back, a person who was scared to give someone her whole heart. And all I can tell you is that I'm yours, heart and soul and the only thing I want to run to is you, to us, and I want to show you that I'll never leave you again or run from this, if you'll let me. I'm sorry Dawson I don't know what else to say to make you believe me."

"A part of me wants to believe you Jo, I do, but can you blame me for being hesitant here, despite the fact that I love you more than anything?" he laughed, running his hand through his hair.

"I can't blame you Dawson, I would be just as hesitant if I was in your position," she said. "I can tell you it'll be different, but I know you'll still be just as hesitant so I can only suggest one thing. That we go slow, take our time, but both promise each other, on our friendship, on our bond, on everything that we're in this 100% and in for the long haul, no secrets, no lies. I'm willing to make that promise to you Dawson, I am willing to gamble everything on this because I know what we'll have together so is much more than what is here right now, are you willing to make that promise to me?"

"I never gave you anything less than that promise Joey before and I wouldn't give you anything less than that now," he said.

"And I won't give you anything less either, never again," she said. She saw him nod, looking at his shoes for a minute, trying to think of where they go from here. "So now what?" she laughed, wiping the corners of her eye, rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Well we should probably get you back inside so you don't get pneumonia, but I think there's something that should be done first," he said, moving closer as well.

"What-" she said, cut off by him rushing to her and pulling her into a tight embrace, holding her as tight as he could without cutting off circulation to her body. Holding on to him just as tight, he picked her up slightly so her feet dangled over the sidewalk, burying his head in her shoulder, feeling her do the same. "I love you Dawson," she said, her words muffled by his shoulder.

"I love you too," he said into her shoulder, pulling her back for a minute to look into her eyes, which were filled with joy and excitement. With a loving gaze he leaned in again, just like he did on her steps and kissed her softly, letting their lips linger together before becoming more passionate and loving.

They did return to the party to pick up her coat and say goodbye to the last few guests before catching a cab to go back to her townhouse. Matthew was already in bed, so after saying good bye to Annie, they kissed again, enjoying the moment together, knowing that this kiss would be one of many for a very long time. Leading him up the stairs they changed for bed, Dawson sleeping in his dress shirt and pants, curling up next to her in her large bed, watching it snow outside. She ran her fingers along his face, looking at him in the light from the street for a minute before pulling him close to her, wrapping him in her arms, where he fell asleep and woke with the same feeling of contentment. The next morning they woke to three inches of snow and a glowing review from the New York Times book critic with a picture of Joey and Dawson on the cover of the Arts & Leisure section, but nothing could compare to the feeling that radiated between them as they began the new day together.