Disclaimer: See part 1Author’s Note: If you haven’t figured it out already, this is set in the future. I kinda forgot to tell y’all that in the first part. ( I know these parts aren’t especially long, but I can only pack so much emotion in one piece. Remember to send feedback to daizylee0@hotmail.com.
Joey awoke to the smell of something wonderful cooking. She let out a sleepy sigh and stretched. Groggily, she rolled out of bed and got to her feet, sliding into slippers and a bath robe. She walked into the kitchen and found Jake already dressed and at the table, with Bessie at the stove.
“My, someone’s up early this morning,” she said as she took her seat.
“More like someone slept in this morning,” Jake replied.
“What time is it?” Joey asked.
“It’s past ten.”
“Oh, wow. I’m sorry, Jake, I don’t normally do that.”
“I know. Were you up late last night?” he asked casually.
“Um, yeah. I was.” She shrugged, figuring she might as well tell the truth. It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong. “I was talking to Dawson.”
“Really?” he said, trying to look as supportive as possible even though both of them knew he wasn’t happy.
“We were just reminiscing. I think he’s scared things are going to change once I’m a married woman and I’m trying to give him something to hold on to. He’s always been a little weird about moving on to new things.”
“So what’s the plan for today?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know. All the plans for the wedding are basically set. I figured we could just use these next few days to relax and enjoy being home,” Joey replied.
“Sounds nice,” he said with a smile, taking her hand.
She smiled back at him. “Hey, I know this great place we should go. Have you ever been out to the ruins?”
He looked at her blankly. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll take that as a no. We’ll have to sneak out there sometime. It’s very romantic,” she said, raising her eyebrows.
“Sounds interesting,” he said.
The phone rang and Joey habitually rose to get it.
“Potter residence,” she answered.
“Hey, Jo.” She knew it was Dawson right away.
“Hi,” she said, her face brightening. Then she noticed Jake looking at her and she returned to her normal look. “What’s up?”
“Not too much. I was just wondering if you’d like to go to lunch or something today.”
“Um…let me see.” She covered the receiver with her hand and turned to Jake. “Jake, Dawson wants to know if I can go to lunch today. Do you think that’ll be okay?” she asked giving him her best puppy doug pout.
He looked at her sternly, but melted beneath her gaze. “Alright. But just lunch.”
She blew him a kiss. “Thanks.” She picked up the phone again. “Yea, Dawson, that sounds great.”
“Alright then, so how about noon? I’ll pick you up.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
Joey sat back down at the table and noticed that Jake was watching her suspiciously. She decided just to get it out in the open.
“Jake, you’re not jealous of Dawson, are you?” she asked.
“Of course I am. I’m jealous of any guy who’s ever looked at you.”
“I’m serious. Because I really don’t want you two to be angry at each other. I just have to give Dawson some time together. You have me for the rest of your life and I don’t know how much more I’ll see of him.”
“I know. You’re right. It’s just that as soon as everyone from home found out we were dating they were horrified. I got all these people asking me what I was doing with Dawson’s girlfriend. I’ve spent so long trying to get out of his shadow and I barely even know the guy. It’s just frustrating. I hope you can understand that.” He spoke softly and straight out. Joey could never argue with him. He was always so rational and understanding.
“Yea. I know. When I told everyone about you, they all got mad at me like I’d betrayed Dawson. I know exactly what you mean.”
“Okay then. We’re all settled. So if Dawson gets lunch, I get dinner, right?”
“Sounds good. How about we have a nice little picnic out on the rocks. My treat,” she smiled. “I’ll have to take you up on that. I’ll be here at 6.”
“Great. I have to shower if I am ever going to be able to do anything today,” she said, rising to her feet.
“Alright, I guess I’ll head out. I’ll be by tonight, okay? And if somehow you can’t make it through the day without me, you know where I’ll be.” He walked over and kissed her goodbye.
“Bye, Jake.”
“Bye, Jo.”
After he’d gone out the front door, Bessie turned away from the stove.
“You know, Jo, I have had my doubts about this guy. I admit that I always thought you’d marry Dawson in the end. But he is such a doll. You made a good choice.”
Joey smiled thoughtfully. “Yea, he is great, isn’t he? The only thing I’m worried about is having him and Dawson in the same place at the same time. They hate each other.”
“They’re just jealous. They each consider you to be theirs and can’t stand that some other guy has a part of you. You can still have both of them. It’s just an adjustment they’ll have to make. Jake will have to deal with you telling Dawson every intimate detail about your life and then the two of you talking about it until it’s dead. And Dawson will have to deal with you being Jake’s wife. I mean, that relationship of marriage is the only one closer than the one he’s had with you. Now someone is taking his place. It’s natural male behavior.”
“You’d think that now I’m practically married, I’d get less lectures from you, Bess,” Joey said playfully.
“Never. I’ll be lecturing you when you’re dead.”
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Joey took a sip of water and gazed at Dawson across the table. She smiled as she took in his face and the familiar surroundings. Being home was having an invigorating effect on her.
“So, will it be a big wedding?” Dawson asked.
“Well, kind of. I mean, Jake’s family is one of the most respected in Capeside.”
“As well as one of the most loaded,” he added.
“True. So many of my least favorite blue-bloods will be there. But I’m going to enjoy that. I, Joey Potter, the trailer trash down the creek, is going to be a Gustafson. More than that, I’m marrying the only male child they have so I beat out several big-haired boarding school girls. I’m going to enjoy rubbing it in their faces.”
“Joey takes revenge.”
“You bet I do,” she said. “And they deserve it.”
“And who will be sitting on the bride’s side?”
“A couple friends from college. You, of course. Basically, anyone I’ve ever known ever. I wanted to invite just as many people as Jake. But I didn’t succeed. He beat me by a long shot. But as far as percentage of attendees goes, I win. Most of the people he asked are vacationing in Europe.”
“Anyone I know?” he asked.
“Well, I invited Pacey, of course. And even though she’s not a close friend, I asked Jen. And Jack. And since I asked Jack, I had to ask Andie. So it looks like the old gang will be here.”
“If they all show up,” Dawson added.
“That’s true.” She took on a more serious tone. “Dawson, thanks for being so good about this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Talking about the wedding, being supportive of me, I really appreciate it. I know this isn’t easy for you to see me go.”
“Jo, no matter who you’re marrying, you’re still my best friend.”
“And I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Shoot,” he said.
“Well, we decided not to go with bridesmaids and groomsmen and all that since I don’t have any close friends that are girls and it would look funny with groomsmen and no bridesmaids, but I do need one member of the wedding party at least.”
“And what’s that?”
“Would you walk me down the aisle?”
Dawson’s face broke into a smile. “Of course. How could I not? It’s actually kind of symbolic, you know? Me passing you to him.”
“No, things won’t change that much. I know it’s going to be different and our relationship will have to adjust to this, but I’m still going to call you at 3 in the morning. And I’m still going to miss you all the time. No one else can deconstruct relationships like you can.”
“Thanks.”
“Really. I just want you to know that I’m still your Joey. No matter what. And no matter how much I love Jake, I’m always going to love you too.”
He looked deeply into her eyes.
“I know. You’re completely right. I’m just going to miss…this. And you. And being the biggest guy in your life,” he said.
“I’ll miss it too.”
End Part 3
Main Page | Part 4More of Jake and Dawson, I promise. I think I’m actually moving pretty quickly on this one. It’s really close to my heart. Remember to email me at daizylee0@hotmail.com