Dawson awakened to discover Joey was not beside him. She had been there when he had gone to sleep, so she must have left during the night. No big deal, Dawson was sure she had a good reason. So, he set out to look for her。

His first stop was his parent's restaurant, Leery's Fresh Fish. Before he had a chance to ask if they'd seen Joey, they gave him an errand.

"Honey, could you take this down to the docks and give it to Pacey?"

"Sure mom, what is it?" he asked tentatively

"Its a banner. we're sponsoring Pacey in the Capeside Regatta" Dawson's dad informed him

"Really? This is the first I'm hearing of it" Dawson observed

"I'm surprised Pacey hasn't mentioned it to you at some point" Mitch offered

"I guess I've been out of the loop on this one" Dawson observed (ominously) and then left for the docks

Pacey and Joey were making out in the cabin of Pacey's boat, the True Love

"This is wrong" Pacey said between kisses

"So very wrong" Joey added

"We should stop..."

"Before we get caught"

They exited the cabin and went in for one last kiss, only to discover someone standing over them with their arms crossed and a disproving look.

The person who had caught them was Jen (fortunately).

"What do you two think you're doing?" She said in an accusative tone "What if I was Dawson. Or Andie?"

"Well, that's not going to be an issue, because this is the last time this will ever happen" Joey said firmly

"It was just a slip up, but it won't happen again" Pacey reassured her, but Jen wasn't so sure

"What won't happen again?"

It was Dawson who had spoken. He could tell there was something up, but didn't know what it was.

"The hull sprung a leak, because I repaired the last leak with the wrong materials. Won't make that mistake again." Pacey said thinking quickly "What brings you here?" he added, changing the subject

"My parents wanted me to give this to you" Dawson said, handing him the banner "You never told me you were competing in the Regatta" he added, without a hint of the resentment he was feeling

"I guess it must have slipped my mind" Pacey said, innocently

"That seems to be happening a lot lately. Good luck" Dawson said, and left, leaving Pacey, Joey and Jen feeling rather awkward.

Dawson returned to Leery's Fresh Fish, contemplating what he had just seen.

"Mission accomplished" he told his parents, and then spun around to see Jack and Andie sitting at a table. He decided to sit with them, and explained what he had just witnessed.

"Something's definitely going on with them. I just don't know what" he explained

"I don't think all this speculation is healthy" Jack suggested

"Um, actually, Pacey has been acting weird ever since our visit to your Aunt's. Joey too, I think" Andie interjected

"Think about what you're saying though." Jack said "Are you seriously suggesting that Pacey and Joey are..." Jack decided not to finish the sentence, instead just letting the words dangle in the air, uncomfortably

"Okay, new topic. I want to enter the Regatta. I'm sure I can get Bessie to sponsor me. I'm sure your dad has a boat in storage at the Capeside Yacht Club?" Dawson asked

"Yeah, and I think that's a great idea" Andie said in an encouraging tone

"I'm not so sure" Jack said, trying to put the brakes on the idea, but added "I'll think about it"

"Dawson, you've sailed before, right?" Andie asked

"Yeah, with my Dad. I'm sure he'll give me some pointers" Dawson said, glancing in his father's direction

"And I'll talk to Bessie" Andie added. At that point, Jack got up to leave.

"Now, if the two of you will excuse me, I have a date"

"ooh la la, Who's the lucky guy?" Andie asked, excitedly

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Jack said, almost incredulously

Earlier that day

Jack and Jen left the house to discover Will waiting for them out the front.

"I have a radical suggestion" he said. Jack and Jen were intrigued "I think the three of us should go out for dinner, together"

"This isn't some kind of scheme to have a three way with the two of us?" Jen asked suspiciously

"Not at all. I just want to have dinner with the two of you" Will insisted

"Just dinner? Alright, I'm in" Jack said

"Okay, I guess I'm in too" Jen said, half heartedly

They agreed on the details and parted ways.

Grams overheard the whole thing and was more than a little confused

That evening, they had dinner at Entre Nous, Capeside's best French Restaurant. It also happened to be Capeside's only French restaurant (as seen in the season 2 episode 'Reunited').

The dinner and the conversation had been going well and Will had been working up up the courage to tell the two of them something important. However, before he got the chance, Jack started talking about what happened earlier that day.

"So, Dawson thinks there's something going on between Joey and Pacey. And now Andie's thinking it too. But they're just being paranoid, don't you think?"

There was an uncomfortable silence for what seemed like forever. Just like Dawson did earlier in the day, Jack could now tell there was something going on, without knowing what.

"What makes you think that?" Jen asked nervously

Another few seconds of silence

"Whatever is going on between Pacey and Joey, or isn't, is their business and no one else's" Will insisted

"That's bull!" Jack said angrily "If you believed that, we wouldn't be sitting here having this dinner now."

Jack stood up and dropped some cash on the table, to cover his share of the meal.

"If something is going on, Dawson and Andie have a right to know" and he stormed off.

He then went straight to Dawson's house, climbed up the stairs, knocked on his bedroom door and when Dawson answered, he simply said "I'm in".

Dawson was in the middle of watching a movie and Jack calmed down and decided to stay and watch it with him.

As it turned out, Bessie had no problem with sponsoring Dawson in the regatta (much to Joey's chagrin). Dawson was able to borrow Mr McPhee's boat, the Carpe Diem, on the condition that Jack entered with him, which he did. Meanwhile Will had agreed to enter with Pacey. Finally, Mitch agreed to give Dawson a refresher course in sailing. However, he wasn't able to explain everything and some of the things he left out proved to be vital.

As the True Love and the Carpe Diem rounded the final turn, they were neck and neck. While the True Love had right of way, the Carpe Diem failed to yield, and was thus disqualified. However, Dawson didn't realise this until after the race was over and was prematurely celebrating on the dock.

"You were supposed to give way. I guess that didn't come up in your lessons with your Dad" Joey yelled angrily to Dawson.

Pacey then joined them on the dock and Dawson decided this was the perfect time to clear the air, but not before Pacey also decided to chew him out.

"What the hell's wrong with you man? Are you trying to get both of us killed?"

"Is there something going on between the two of you?" Dawson asked

He then realised that Andie was standing at the other end of the dock. She would not have been able to hear, if they weren't all yelling.

Pacey shot back an incredulous look, but said nothing.

"No, Dawson, nothing is going on between me and Pacey." Joey said "Nor is anything going on between you and me. And if you're not careful, there won't be anything going on between the three of us" Joey drew a triangle between the three of them with her index finger. Her meaning was quite clear to the three of them. She then turned around and stormed off, walking past Andie at the end of the dock, who had silently observed the whole thing.

"Joey..." they both yelled and went to go after her, only to discover a hand grabbing each of their arms. The hands belonged to Will, who along with Jack had now joined them on the dock.

"You should probably talk to your actual girlfriend, while you still have one" Will said to Pacey, which he did, leaving himself, Dawson and Jack on the dock.

"And you should think very carefully about what you do next, before you put an end your two oldest and most important friendships, because I might not be here next time you get the urge to do something stupid" Will said matter-of-factually to Dawson

"What do you mean?" Jack asked "Are you going somewhere?"

"Maybe. I've applied for a scholarship to Rawley Academy. It's a prestigious boarding school and it might be my ticket out of that hellhole of a town"

"Good luck" Dawson said sincerely, having calmed down

"You stormed off before I had the chance to tell you at dinner" Will added, looking at Jack

Joey went one way and Pacey and Andie went the other

"Listen Andie, I know I've been…." Pacey said, struggling to think of the right thing to say

"Weird? distant? suspicious?" Andie suggested

"Yeah, all of those and I'm sorry. But I should probably tell you something"

"Oh..." Andie said, expecting something quite different from what she was about to hear

"You see, I'm planing on taking the True Love around the Bahamas this summer, getting odd jobs where I can, you know, and..."

"And…?"

"And I want you to know that I'm really going to miss you"

Andie was now really shocked

"I-I'll miss you too Pace"

Now Andie was really freaked out and suspicious, but her exterior betrayed none of her feelings.

"But before that, we have a prom coming up and I would love for you to accompany me" Pacey said

"Of course" Andie said, and the two embraced, thus postponing dealing with anything else.