Joey was woken up early the next morning by the feeling of soft kisses being placed on her arm and shoulder. Lying on her back, she turned her head to see Dawson's soft blue eyes resting on her, both breaking into a slow smile.

"Morning," he whispered, tracing his finger gently against her sensitive skin.

"Morning," she whispered back, rubbing her nose against his, moving closer to him so he could wrap his arms around her. After a few minutes though of touching and passionate kisses, Joey pulled him on top of her, resuming the previous evenings activities.

A few hours later, Joey woke to the sound of a phone ringing in their room. Thinking it was part of her dream, she hesitated to answer it, but eventually her eyes fluttered open and blindly reached for the phone, tapping her hand against the nightstand several times before reaching the receiver.

"Hello," she muttered, barely conscious.

"Hey gorgeous, I'm sorry I woke you up but I just had to hear your voice," Jason cooed into the phone, causing Joey to snap back to reality.

"Jason?" Joey asked, looking around and closing her eyes in horror. A light sheet was wrapped around her body and Joey prayed she would find her underwear or dress on underneath, but she was wrong. Her dress was lying on the floor, along with her wrap and Dawson's dress shirt, pants and tie. "Oh shit," she muttered.

"Joey? Are you okay? How was the wedding?" Jason asked, adding a sense of concern in his voice.

"Fine, the wedding was fine," Joey stammered, wrapping the sheet around her before crawling out of bed and dragging the phone as far as it would go.

"I'm glad you had fun, I hope Dawson behaved himself," Jason joked, causing Joey to panic slightly.

"He did, he was just.fine," Joey whispered, sneaking a glance to see if Dawson was awake, but he continued to snore lightly in bed.

"You guys are still coming back today right?" Jason asked.

"Yes we are, ah we are hoping to be back this afternoon but I'm not sure, we're pretty beat from the wedding," Joey said, trying to drag the phone further away.

"I bet, well I'll stop by your apartment late this afternoon then, if you're going to be later than six though can you give me a call?" he asked, unaware of what was going on.

"Sure, Jason I have to go I'll see you later honey, bye," Joey said hurriedly, hanging up the phone and briefly burying her head in her hands. "Oh my god I slept with Dawson, my best friend, what the hell was I thinking?"

She could hear him stirring in the next room, slowly waking up. Joey quickly dragged the phone back in the room and crawled back in bed, rolling on her side to watch him slowly wake up. He looked so peaceful sleeping next to her, she almost didn't want this moment together to end. Moments later it did though, with a soft groan he opened his eyes, noticing her staring at him.

"Hey," he breathed, moving closer to kiss her again, letting their lips linger softly together. Joey wanted to pull away but she didn't because part of her didn't want to. Having him kiss her again, feeling the sparks she did all those years ago when they were together was too strong to deny. Even though she just got off the phone with Jason, her technical boyfriend, she wanted to stay here in bed with Dawson, just for a bit longer. She wanted to enjoy this afterglow feeling before it got complicated and confusing, more so that it already was.

"Dawson it's almost noon, we have to get going so I can get back to the city," Joey breathed, reluctantly pulling away from his kisses, feeling him follow her, continuing to kiss her neck.

"Hmmm Joey come on, just a bit longer, please, I promise I'll make it worth your while to stay with me a bit longer," Dawson said seductively, kissing her neck and moving back to her lips.

"Dawson I would really like to stay here and do this, but I can't, remember our deal?" Joey asked, moving over in the bed, away from him.

"Forget the deal Joey, stay with me," he said softly, reaching for her hand.

"I want to Dawson, but if I don't get back and do this work I could get fired and then I'm Capeside-bound for good," she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek and then getting out of bed to shower and pack.

The ride home was a bit awkward, especially since Joey was terrified to touch Dawson or be within arms distance from him. The ride home was mostly silent, Joey lost in thoughts of what happened the night before and what she would do now, returning to New York and Jason, who knew nothing about what happened. Dawson was also lost in his own thoughts, smiling privately, remembering the night before, both of them declaring their love. Deep down in his heart, Dawson knew Joey still loved him and wanted to make love the previous night. He saw the look in her eye, the look of love, want and need. He heard her whisper and repeat his name when they made love, feeling her nails trace over his back and the way her breath labored after they climaxed together, clinging to one another with him kissing her cheeks, nose, eyelids and chin. Knowing Joey though, Dawson knew she would try to back off, claiming it was a mistake, especially since Jason was in the picture for now. But he was ready for whatever she tried to do to push him away, he wouldn't let her go this time. She loved him, she said it several times pre and post-coital the night before and he loved her too, which he also managed to repeat several times the previous night. Jason was an issue, but a temporary one, because there was no way Dawson would let Joey go again.

"Dawson," Joey said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Dawson we're here, at my apartment, I need you to unlock the door." He shook his head and looked at her, taken with how lovely she looked in the sunlight that streamed through the car door and how she had this glow around her.

"Sorry," he said, unlocking the doors and popping the trunk for her to get her suitcases.

"Dawson you don't have to help me I only have one bag," Joey joked, trying to keep it light. He got out of the car to help her and now they just stared at one another, unsure of what to do.

"Oh ah so I guess you have to go," he said sadly, wanting her to invite him in.

"Yeah, work stuff.you know work.stuff," she said uncomfortably.

"Yeah work stuff.so I had a good time this weekend, it was nice just you.me.," Dawson said nervously.

"Yeah it was fun, thank you for inviting me, it was nice to get out of the city," she said, shuffling her feet.

"So lunch this week?" he asked, feeling the tension rise.

"Yeah um we can talk tomorrow or something and decide," Joey said, cautiously wondering if she should hug or kiss him goodbye, something that used to be natural but now was a bit confusing.

"Okay, sounds good," Dawson said, looking up at her, both just staring at one another. Silence just fell between them, both unsure of what to do now. Joey felt herself slipping, she saw the look in his eyes, of confusion and it just made her melt again.

"Screw it," she said, dropping her bag and taking one step before throwing her arms around him, kissing him deeply on the mouth. It took only a second for his arms to wrap around her, pulling her as close as he could, both getting lost again in one another.

"Joey? Dawson?" someone said, causing Joey's eyes to fly open and pull apart from Dawson roughly. Both were dazed by what happened and Joey began looking around furiously to see if someone saw them. When she saw no one she relaxed for a minute, but then she heard the voice again. "Guys are you there?"

"Oh god," Joey breathed, smoothing down her shirt and hair before grabbing her bag and turning away from Dawson quickly to move around the car.

"Joey.wait," Dawson hissed, reaching for her, but she was gone. With a deep sigh, Dawson closed his trunk and moved back to the driver side of the car, catching a quick glance of Joey and Jason in a deep embrace. It was Jason that was speaking to them, he came over to see Joey and saw Dawson's car. With a slightly pained expression, Dawson watched them the embrace and remembered back just a few minutes ago when he was kissing Joey, holding her tight in his arms. With another sigh, Dawson started the car and took off, catching a quick glimpse of Joey looking at him with a pained expression on her face before Jason pulled her in for a kiss and Dawson looked away to concentrate on the road.

For the next week things were painfully awkward between Dawson and Joey. Phone calls were less frequent and usually consisted of awkward pauses or lapses in conversation. Dawson tried to keep it light, chatting aimlessly with her, but they both knew things had changed. Joey conveniently couldn't make lunch all week and claimed she had to work or had plans with Jason for dinner every night too. Dawson felt sick, knowing that Joey was slipping away from him again. He wanted to talk to her about it, he wanted to tell her what he was thinking and what he wanted from her but he chickened out. Suddenly he didn't know what to say or how to act around her, feeling like he did when he was fifteen. As they began to talk less and less during that week, he began to feel more jealous and alone, wanting just to hold her and tell her what he was thinking.

Jason, who was still oblivious to everything, didn't help matters either. He talked about Joey all the time, how great she was, how much he liked her, how he thought she might be "the one." Dawson tried to ignore him, but he couldn't because Jason knew more about her right now then Dawson did and he was her best friend. Now more than a week after their night together, Dawson was in his usual routine, work and then going home to watch some TV, take notes on his film and then trying to work up the courage to call Joey and resist the urge to go see her. Tonight he was busy half-watching Conan when he heard a soft knock on the door. Putting his books down, he went over to answer it, shocked to see Joey standing on the other side.

"Dawson," she whimpered, tears streaming down her face. Without a word he opened his arms and held her tightly, feeling her body shake a bit from sobbing. They stayed there, holding one another while Joey continued to cry with his apartment door wide open. After a few minutes though, he picked her up and kicked the door shut, carrying her over to the couch.

"Joey what happened, please tell me," he said softly, wiping her tears with his thumb.

"Bessie called me today and told me that while she was on vacation with Bodie and Alex she ran into my dad," Joey sniffed, trying to breathe normally again.

"Your dad's out of jail?" Dawson asked.

"Apparently he's not only out of jail but remarried with a baby son, which he neglected to tell us about," Joey said, feeling the sobs start up again.

"I'm sorry Joey," Dawson said softly, pulling her closer to him, brushing the hair away from her face.

"How could he do this Dawson?" Joey asked, burying her face deeper in his chest.

"I don't know Joey, I don't understand it either," he said, lifting her chin up to look him in the eye. "But for whatever reason he did this, he doesn't deserve you and Bessie. You guys have stood by him when he's done nothing but hurt you, but you'll get through this Joey, I know you will. You're too strong to let this one thing get you down."

"Thank you Dawson," she whispered, wiping away a tear. "I'm sorry I just came over like this I know you're busy but I just needed to go somewhere safe and I ended up here."

"You don't ever have to explain to me Joey, you're always safe here with me, always and any time," he said, getting lost in her eyes, hating to see her so hurt.

"Why are you so good to me? Why do you put up with me all the time?" Joey laughed, feeling herself getting lost in his eyes again too.

"Because I love you Joey, you're the most important person to me, you're everything," Dawson said softly. She smiled weakly and leaned in to lean her head on his shoulder, but when she leaned in, Dawson put his hand gently on her cheek and kissed her again, letting their lips linger together.

"Dawson." Joey breathed as his lips pulled away slowly, waiting for her to say something. Looking into his eyes again though she saw the look that always made her heart melt. She saw the look of pure acceptance, knowing he cared for her just the way she was and didn't judge her.

"Joey." he said, leaning in for her again, somehow knowing she wouldn't push him away. As he continued to kiss her, laying her down on the couch, he clung to her so tight, he felt like he couldn't breathe. But he didn't want to stop, knowing things would only get more complicated after this.