Chapter 9 - Moment

The door opened and he stepped inside.

He froze when he saw her.

"Hi," said Joey, forcing a smile, "Wanna watch a movie?"

He closed the door without returning the smile.

"What are you doing here, Jo?"

She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear, a clear sign that she was nervous.

"I don't know, Dawson," she said, "I honestly don't know. On the way here, it was all I could think about. This moment. And I thought I had it figured out, I really did, but..." she felt the tears come again, "But, but standing here, and looking at you... The moment's just too much."

"Its always gonna be too much Jo," he said, and there was only sadness in his voice, "Everytime. We've blown this, this thing into such operatic proportions that we can't even see why we fell in love in the first place."

"I can still see it," she whispered, "I can still see you. The boy you were is still there," she gave a little giggle at this, "The dreamer. The stargazer. He's still there, Dawson, that little boy I fell in love with a lifetime ago, and that's what scares me. Every time I'm with you its like I'm a little girl again, and I haven't left Capeside, I haven't found my dream and the only thing I have to cling to is you, and that scares me so much."

"Then just cling to me, Joey," he pleaded, "Your dreams are there, we can find them all together, you know we can, but... But let me be the one beside you when you do. Because, all our lives we've shared our dreams. Your hopes belong to me as much as my own, and what scares me is that they won't be worth anything if you're not there to see them happen," he paused, collecting himself, then he looked at her, "Its simple, Joey. Just one question. Do you love me?"

She gave a soft smile through the tears.

"With all the pieces of my heart," she said.

He didn't say another word. He just looked at her, before slowly raising his hand. She frowned, but took his hand.

He led her over to the window, and they climbed out onto the roof. Dawson sat down and patted the spot beside him. Joey sat.

They looked out over the creek, winding its way along below them. The night was clear and the stars were so many diamonds on the water.

Dawson's breathing was heavy, and he leaned over and kissed her.

To Dawson, it was like a rainbow exploding behind his eyes, and for a second he lost himself in the light. All the doubt, the fear – it just melted away.

He was with Joey, and it was right. She'd made her choice, and it was him.

For Joey, it was different.

It was as if all this time, she'd been looking at the world through opaque glass, that at long last had been wiped clear.

She knew now that she no longer needed to find happiness in strange places or new people. Dawson was it. The only one to soothe her soul.

In that one moment, she knew that what she'd been looking for, had been there all along.

They broke apart, but didn't pull back. Their eyes held each other in orbit, and each could see their soul reflected there.

Because, this was love.

And it was real.

He smiled at her, a boyish grin.

She smiled back.

He turned his gaze back to the creek.

Then he pointed, and started counting the stars.

"One..." said Dawson.

"Two..." said Joey.

"Three... Four... Five..."

-----

"So, we were friends, and then we were a couple. And then friends again, and then we were a couple."

"So?"

"So what are we now?"

"Dawson and Joey."

"Do you think every Joey has a Dawson, and every Dawson has a Joey?"

"I hope so... For their sake..."

fin