Disclaimer: I do not own Joey, Dawson, etc., the name "Dawson's Creek" or anything related to them. They are the property of Kevin Williamson and the WB.

Author's Note: I've written other fanfics before, but this is the first Dawson's Creek one. Consequently, I won't have the built in review base that I do for my ER fanfics, so any and all reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated, especially those with suggestions/ constructive criticism. Also, the title of this fanfic comes from the album containing a Laura Doyle song called, "This Love" which was played at the end of the season 6 premiere episode of Dawson's Creek. You can hear a good portion of the song at Dawson's Creek Music Guide.

Setting: End of "the high school years", maybe a month or so before graduation. An alternative version or "what might have happened."

            "There are no easy answers in life. Write about a time in your life when a situation wasn't black and white, but completely gray." Joey Potter stared at her paper in disbelief. Of all the prompts that were given out in her senior English Creative Writing class, she had to get this one. Look, she wanted to tell Ms. Patterson, my whole life has been a gray area. Couldn't you give me a nice, simple prompt, that didn't require me to delve deeply into some personal areas of my life that I'm really not all that interested in going into right now? But she didn't, because she knew that Ms. Patterson would just tell her, "The best writings come from things that you have experienced, that are personal to you." Joey was sure she was right, but at that moment, she really didn't like that fact.

            "Brriiing!" School was out for the day. Joey ran out the door of her English class, which was, thankfully, her last class of the day, as it was for all of her senior friends. This included, of course, her boyfriend Pacey Witter.

            "Hey," she said, kissing him quickly, then grabbing his hand and walking outside with him.

            "Hey yourself," he replied. "What's wrong? You look sad," he added.

            "Nothing, I'm just tired. It's been a long day." She smiled, hoping she had convinced Pacey that that was all it was. He seemed placated, because they continued walking without him saying anything else about it. As they reached the doors of Capeside High, they met up with their other friends- Jack, Dawson, and Jen.

            "Hey, guys, what's up?" Jen asked.

            "The sky, the birds, some really tall trees…" Pacey drifted off.

            "Cut it out, Pace," she retorted, gently smacking him on the arm.

            "Anybody doing anything this weekend?" asked Jack.

            "Well, let's see. I have to watch Alexander tonight, work at the B&B on Saturday, and maybe on Sunday I'll attempt to do the massive amounts of homework the teachers are piling on in order to completely ruin the end of our senior year," said Joey.

            "Well, I'm glad to see some of us aren't taking things too seriously," replied Dawson.

            "Just because some of you feel that you can slack off because it's-,"

            "Calm down, Jo, I was just teasing."

            "Anyway," Jack butt in, "Do you guys all want to get together and do something on Saturday night? Maybe go out to dinner, see a movie, just walk around in this wonderful weather we've been having recently?"

            "Sure, sounds good," said Jen. "We can all meet at my house."

            "My shift at the B&B is done at 6:30, so anytime after that is okay," said Joey.

            "How about we all meet at Jen's at 7, then? We can decide what we're doing there," said Jack.

            "That works for me," added Pacey.

            "It's a date, then," said Jen.

            "Nice date. A couple, two exes, and one single gay guy," Pacey pointed out.

            "It's a figure of speech, Pacey. One of those things you learn about when you actually pay attention in class," Jen retorted as they all groaned.

            "Alright, I gotta split, but I'll see everybody tomorrow night," said Jack, waving as he walked away.

            "Bye!" "See ya!" "Bye-bye!" everyone chorused as they all went their separate ways.

            "Well, at least I have a little something to look forward to this weekend," said Joey, turning back to Pacey.

            "Yeah, this should be fun. Do you want me to walk you home?"

            "No, that's okay, I'll just walk by myself."

            "Okay, see you tomorrow night."

            Joey walked the rest of the way home in silence, knowing that there would be none once she arrived home. She tried to think of an easy way to do her English assignment, but the only things she could think of were extremely personal. Not that all of Capeside didn't know about most of them already; she just didn't want to drudge up subjects that she hoped were mostly buried and forgotten. She sighed as she turned into her driveway, having gotten nowhere. The essay would just have to wait until later.