Joey
[Answering her phone] Hello?
Joey
So, I was beginning to worry. You haven't called for 3 hours.
Oh, so you do like my calling.
Joey
What do you want, exactly?
Nothing, really. Just your address.
Joey
No problem. I'm at 359 No-Way-in-Hell Avenue on the corner of Get-Over-It and Main.
[The girls are awakened by a sound outside their window]
It sounds like a cat dying.
Joey
I think it's music.
[Charlie is outside playing guitar and singing]
Joey
No, but he could be more in tune.
Come on. This is so romantic. It's like that movie. It's like you make him want to be a better man.
Joey
Wouldn't it be better for society if I made him want to be a better guitar player?
Ok, it is official. You are the queen of negativity. There'll be a crowning ceremony later in the day.
You know what you were saying before, about how living my dream agrees with me? I've been thinking about that and I want you to know that I probably would not be living any dream at all if it weren't for you. I mean, more and more I keep on finding myself in these incredibly surreal situations and every time... I always kind of, in the back of my head just think, "what would Joey think if she could see me right now?" You know, I guess everyone has someone who challenges them and makes them shoot for something just beyond their reach. You're that person for me. So, yeah, maybe we didn't talk this summer, and who knows, maybe we'll find ourselves talking less and less as time goes on and life gets more and more in the way, but... I gotta say, Jo, I don't feel it. 'Cause you're with me everywhere I go. Happy birthday.
Joey
Thank you.
We didn't talk at all this summer, which was your choice as much as it was mine.
Joey
So I asked you to lie to me?
Joey, you and I both know if either one of us had stopped and thought for even a second last night, then what we did never would have happened, and I for one am not sorry that it did. If you are, then that's... that's a completely separate argument. That's actually a much bigger deal than...
Joey
Dawson, you have a girlfriend! How is that not a big deal?
Had a girlfriend, Joey. And, look, I'm willing to admit that the timing on this is far from perfect, but I'm sick of waiting for this so-called perfect timing that's obviously never gonna happen for us.
Joey
Oh, yeah, right. You know, it's... better to just get it over with and move on, you know? "Slept with Joey. Just... cross that off my list of things to do."
You know that's not how I think.
Joey
How do I know that, Dawson? I haven't talked to you all summer. Apparently you've changed so much that you're willing...
You really think I'd wanna sleep with you and not want it to mean more, Joey? You think I've been waiting all these years for us to have one night together and then go our separate ways?
Joey
Oh, I'm sorry you got sick of waiting, Dawson. I'm sorry that I wanted our first time to mean something more than just...
It does mean more, Joey! It... I mean, it... it means everything to me. I... I don't know what it means to you.
Joey
Oh, you're saying that I wanted this to happen?
No, 'cause that would involve you actually knowing what you want, which we both know is not likely to happen anytime this decade.
Joey
Oh, great, you know? Use something from when I was a child!
You're still a child, Joey. You're still the same scared little girl who...
Joey
Who what? Who what, Dawson? Who broke your heart? God! Is the statute of limitations ever gonna end on that one? Ever?! Dawson, I'm sorry I don't have the same dreams I had when I was 15 years old, and I'm sorry that I moved on faster than you did, but you know what? Maybe not everything that happens to you is my fault! And maybe just because I want more from my life than...
More than what? More than us? You don't know, do you? You've never known. The entire time I've known you, all you've wanted to do is escape. From me, from Capeside. I mean, you say that I'm the dreamer. I'm the one who doesn't wanna live in the real world. Well, I'm doing it, Joey. Right now. I'm living in the real world. It's you who wants the fantasy.
Joey
I want the fantasy?
Joey
Who lit the candles? Who bought the champagne?
Who dumped who 4 years ago? Joey, I know what I want. I've always known what I want. Before we destroy whatever chance we might actually have at having a relationship, I'm asking you, please, stop and think about this. Is this really what you want? Is this... really the way that you want things to end between us?
Why are you doing this, Joey?
Joey
We're doing this, Dawson. It's what we do. It's what we always do.
Last night was real. Today was real. It's you, not me, who doesn't wanna deal with the realities of an adult relationship.
Joey
You're right.
Joey
I want the fantasy. I want more than anything for us to be together. But not like this. Not screaming at the top of our lungs about things that happened 4 years ago.
But if we can't argue like this and get past it, then...
Joey
Maybe there's nothing here worth saving. Maybe last night was just...
Joey
Just two old friends making a huge mistake.
Wow. If that's the way you feel, then... then I... should go.
Oh, my god! You're still there, like a vegetable.
Joey
Writing a good e-mail is hard.
Yes, especially when it is a huge mistake.
Joey
Shut up.
Joey, I am serious. E-mail expression is the scourge of the modern age. The Internet has made it way too easy to express oneself. Ok, you have some fleeting thought. You send it. It lands with a thud in some unsuspecting person's mailbox. Said person then reads it, gets irked because you've recapped a conversation that you presumably already had. They fail to respond. You feel slighted. But if you must be one of these pathetic passive/aggressive e-mail types, far be it from me to stop you. What do you have so far?
Joey
Well... I had "Dear Dawson," and then I erased it.
Why? I think that's a nice start.
Joey
I seemed cold.
True. I mean, you did just nude-up with the guy. Oh, I'm sorry, or did you guys do it through a hole in a sheet because that's very Dawson and Joey to me.
Joey
Again, shut up.
Sorry. Ok, so what do you want to say?
Joey
I don't know. I mean, I don't like the way things ended, and I want him to know that I care, but I also want to hold on to my righteous indignation.
Obviously. Well, why don't you just pick up the phone and call him?
Joey
I'm afraid we'll just fall right back into our old patterns. Trust me. E-mail is a far safer alternative at the moment.
Ok, if you must do this, then I say that you go for it. You know, be gooey and be embarrassing, but most of all, just be real, Joey. Say all of the things that you can't say to his face, the whole nine.
Joey
You're right. I better get to work. But...thank you, Audrey.
No problem, sister Christian.