Chapter 9
Itwas Saturday night and Joey and Dawsonwere meeting for movie night; the last night before Dawson would leave Capeside. Dawsonwas in his room packing, without much success. His mind kept wondering. He kept thinking about his friends, especially Joey. He knew that saying goodbye to her would be the hardest part, even harder then him leaving. He looked around his room at all of the empty boxes. He hadn't packed much. He looked out his window and saw Joey coming up the dock. He ran outside to meet her.
"Hey," Joey said when she saw Dawson coming towards her.
"Hey Joey, what's up?" Dawson asked her.
"Well... I thought if I don't help you pack, Dawson, uh, you're gonna end up in L.A. With just those clothes on your back, and chances are that after a while they're gonna start to smell a little, and that's no way to make a good first impression," Joey told him.
"So where are you headed off to?" Joey asked Dawson.
"The Potter B&B," Dawson replied.
"What was your excuse gonna be?" Joey asked.
"I was gonna work the whole "I haven't said good-bye to Bessie or Bodie yet" angle," Dawson told her.
"Ah. Not bad," Joey replied.
"Come on," Dawson said, as the two of them climbed up the latter.
Once they reached Dawson's bedroom, Joey took a seat on Dawson's bed.
"So what do you want to watch?" Dawson asked Joey.
"I thought that we were going to watch E.T.," Joey told him.
"E.T. it is then," Dawson said, popping the movie in the VCR. With that, Joey and Dawson started watching. As the movie comes to an end, Dawson glances over at Joey who is lying next to him on the bed. She wipes a tear from her eye.
"I caught that," Dawson said.
"Sue me. It's still my favorite movie. This won the Oscar, right?" Joey asked.
"God, how many times do I have to tell you? It was Gandhi," Dawson told her, as he got up to get one of the empty boxes.
"Right," Joey said.
"Wish we could just fast forward 4 years, and see how it all ends up," Joey continued.
"I don't have to, really. I mean... 4 years at Worthington, you'll know everything there is to know about the world," Dawson told her.
"Right," Joey said sarcastically.
"There's no denying it Jo," Dawson said.
"What's that?" Joey asked.
"How intelligent you are," Dawson said, looking into her eyes.
"Dawson," Joey said, sighing.
"Yeah."
"I know we always joke about this, but... I feel like I'm never gonna see you again," Joey said.
"That's crazy talk, Jo," Dawson told her.
"I know. I…I know I'll see you again, and it probably won't be too long from now, you know, holidays, most likely, but... you'll be different," Joey told Dawson.
"I will?' Dawson questioned.
"Well, you'll have a tan. And you'll have a girlfriend," Joey told him.
"I will?" Dawson asked.
"She'll be incredibly pretty," Joey stated.
"Really?" Dawson asked.
"You'll show me a picture, I'll immediately hate her, and the worse part is, deep down, I'll know she's as great as you say she is because...you like her" Joey told Dawson.
"You sound pretty sure about all this," Dawson told Joey.
"Well, you can't keep it a secret forever, Dawson," Joey told him.
"What's that?" Dawson asked, facing Joey.
"How incredible you are," Joey said, looking back at Dawson. Joeysat up on the bed and hugged her knees to her chest.
"All time favorite movie," Joey said.
"You want to play that game?" Dawson asked,as he satup on the bed.
"Uh huh," Joey said.
"Jaws. You, all time favorite song," Dawson said.
"Daydream Believer" Joey replied.
"Okay. All time most life altering moment,' Dawson said.
"Ever?" Joey questioned. "Ever," Dawson told her.
"Well…there are a lot of winners there," Joey said, sighing.
"But, you know, there was this one moment, um... a couple years ago... in this room. I was standing over there by the window, and, uh... and you kissed me. It changed everything. It's a pretty powerful thing when you get your biggest wish in one moment," Joey continued. Dawson and Joey sat in silence for a moment, thinking. That was until Joey noticed the "E.T." poster on the wall.
"You don't want to forget that one," Joey said,as she pointedto the poster.
"Gee, I almost forgot," Dawson said, walking over to take the poster down. Joey sat in silence for a moment as she worked up the courage to tell Dawson something; something that she had wanted to say ever since she found out he was moving. She leaned her legs off of the bed and stood up, arms crossed.
"Dawson…I want you to stay," Joey said, as she let out a breath.
"What," Dawson said, not sure of what he was hearing.
"I said I want you to stay. And there, I said it," Joey said, looking at the ground.
"You don't think you could have maybe said something before I packed?" Dawson asked her, taking the poster and putting it in the box. Joey looked up.
"No, I said it, and now I want you to forget it," Joey told him.
"Forget it? Jo, how do I forget that?" Dawson asked her.
"Well, it's just something that I've been thinking about, and I wanted you to know that I was thinking about it. You know, I was just gonna... keep my mouth shut and let you go... but..." Joey sighed, "It's not me. That's some merchant ivory movie, you know, where people suffer in silence, and you're supposed to be so impressed by their restraint. Well... you know... sorry, but forget that. My best friend in the whole world is leaving tomorrow, and a big part of me wants him to stay... so I hope you don't hate me," Joey said, looking down at her hands.
"I could never hate you, Joey,' Dawson said, sincerely. Joey moved towards the chest that was at the bottom of Dawson's bed and sat down.
"These past couple of years, it's been one big soap opera. I wouldn't take it back. I wouldn't... take any of it back, but... I'm glad that it's over. 'Cause I like the way things are now. My life being the cruel joke that it is, now that things are so nice... you're leaving," Joey told him. Dawson sat down next to Joey, facing her.
"Jo, believe me I don't want to leave, but I realized it's time to go. It's time for me to get out of this room, and it's time for you to discover who you are without us. This chapter's over Jo," Dawson said, toughing her leg lightly.
"Do you believe in magic?" Joey asked Dawson, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I never used to. I mean, how could I? 13, your Mom dies. You hope against hope for…for magic, something to make it all better. It never comes, and, you know, you look to your father who's unable to overcome all of his tragic flaws. Well, no abracadabra there. But, uh, then there's you. There's proof that someone out there is thinking of me…my friend who was with me always. It's pure magic. I guess this is pretty much just a long-winded way of saying that um…I'm going to miss you Dawson."
"I'm going to miss you too Joey," Dawson told her.
"Well, it's getting late and you need your rest so…I guess I better get going," Joey said, walking towards the window. Dawson followed.
"Wow. I guess this is, uh... this is really it, huh?" Dawson said.
"See you, Dawson," Joey said, hugging Dawson.
"See you, Joey," Dawson said, hugging her back. They stood like this for a brief moment and then backed away, still holding one another.
"So what was yours, by the way?" Joey asked Dawson.
"What was my what?" Dawson asked.
"Your all time most life altering moment?" Joey asked him.
"It would be this one right now... saying goodbye to you," Dawson told Joey. What that, they let go of each other. Dawson watched as Joey climbed out the window and down the latter. Dawson sighed, as he watched Joey run across the lawn and hop in the boat, rowing towards home.
"Bye Joey," Dawson said, as he poked his out the window and smiled at her.
"Bye Dawson," Joey said, as she looked up and smiled at him.
Dawson watched as Joey rowed out of sight; the moonlight casting it's shadow across the creek.