"I hate finals." "What kind of a sadist bases one-third of a grade on whether or not you can recite the opening to The Canterbury Tales?" "Joey, we've been over this a thousand times." "Your pronunciation is flawless." "Maybe, but I'm gonna continue torturing myself until test time." "l have to." "Of course you will." "I'm well aware of the Potter neuroses." "I prefer to think of them as quirks." "Do you?" "Yeah." "Well, whatever works for you." "I could get into the Leery neurosis." "We don't have to do that." "Besides, I'm nervous enough on my own right now." "Why?" "Well, there's a...." "There's an event looming on the horizon." "And I seem to recall a certain pact made by two high-school freshmen regarding said event." "Junior prom." "We both agreed, if we didn't have dates, we'd go together." "So you do remember." "Are you asking me to prom?" "I don't want to go with some random person and have it mean nothing." "You know, I want to go with my oldest friend." "That'll be something I'll always remember." "Or we can both agree that it's a meaningless event and not go at all." "But it does mean something." "There are reasons why proms are ridiculous." "But we made that pact because it obviously mattered to us." "It's a rite of passage." "And I can't think of any better way to move forward than to fulfil a pact made by two old friends and just have a good time." "Okay." "Okay." "But I have two rules." "No cheesy corsage for me and no blue ruffle-y, tuxedo-y shirt thingy for you." "Done." "Let's schedule lunch for right now." "l have to go to the restaurant." "You do not." "l have to go, honey." "You know what?" "I'm not wearing a watch but I'm probably late for something I should probably be at, so...." "l'll see you guys later." "See you." "Sweetheart, we should probably talk about what you just saw." "You know what?" "I'll talk to Dawson." "You should probably go ahead and get to the restaurant." "Okay." "This should be good." "You okay?" "You know what?" "Yeah, I am." "About what you just saw" "What I just saw was something I've seen about 5 million times over the course of my life." "But under the circumstances, don't you think we should talk about it?" "At this point, I'm numb." "You're numb?" "Yeah." "I mean, you and Mom have always had a relationship that's been a little dramatic." "I've been in the middle through the backs-and-forths and ups-and-downs." "And a little while ago, I realized I don't need to do that." "I can just kind of sit back, detached and watch from afar." "You can do that." "But you should know that what's going on between your mother and me is a lot more than casual." "Are you saying you're back together?" "No." "We haven't discussed that." "In that case, I'd prefer you left me out of it entirely." "I'm enjoying the numbness." "You haven't talked to Mom." "You don't know even what she's feeling." "I was married to your mother for 20 years." "There are things I know without having to ask." "How's the studying going?" "Fine." "Do you want anything?" "Can I get you water?" "Lemonade?" "No. I'm good." "Okay." "Do you want me to go?" "Why would I want you to go?" "I don't know." "I just get the feeling that...." "l don't know, that you want me to go." "I don't want you to go." "Okay." "Look, I just" " Sometimes I...." "l just feel kind of...." "Thirsty?" "Tired?" "Mad?" "Sad?" "Yeah." "Sad?" "Yeah." "I don't know. lt's something like that." "Maybe it's time that you come out of this cave." "Just get back out there." "Back out where?" "Out there." "You know, go to the prom." "With who, Andie?" "l don't know." "Anybody." "A girl." "You could go with me if you wanted to." "You don't have a date to the prom?" "I am currently sifting through offers." "I have just yet to make my final decision." "Do you want me to ask you to the prom?" "I just want to see you happy again." "I don't think that the prom is going to act as some magical happiness elixir for me." "And you're probably better off taking one of those other guys up on their offer." "I'm sure I will." "Dawson asked me to prom, and I said yes." "And now I feel like I made a huge, horrible mistake." "He assured me that it will only serve to re-cement our shaky friendship, but...." "l don't know." "What about the undeniable romantic implications?" "Not to mention Pacey." "What about Pacey?" "What did you think accepting Dawson's invitation would do if not put you in the middle of his tug of war with Pacey?" "I know. I'm just-- l'm trying. I'm trying so hard just to get things back to the way they were." "Come on, Jo." "You're not that naive." "l have to be." "I'm backed up into a corner." "I don't have any choice." "You always have a choice." "No appealing choice." "So you're looking to me to provide the magical key to this problem?" "Yeah." "I gotta say, you've been a little thin in the advice department lately." "Give me a problem that actually has a solution and I'll solve it." "You're right." "I mean, no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt including me." "I hate this stupid prom." "Stupid prom can kiss my ass." "What's wrong with you?" "I thought that Pacey was gonna ask me to the prom." "But no. instead, I must humiliate myself and go alone." "It's better than you going with an ex-boyfriend that you're not over yet." "I am so over him." "I am!" "That's why I want to go with him, is because it'll be safe." "What about you?" "Did you get your tickets yet?" "No." "Working on it." "You see the theme this year?" "Couples." "They're gonna have every couple's names on balloons, place cards on those cheesy prom souvenirs." "So?" "So when you go to buy your tickets, you gotta say who you're bringing." "Which means I have to tell the world that I'm bringing a guy to prom." "Don't you think that when you show up with Ethan..." "...they're gonna figure he's your date?" "He's not my "date" date." "We're going as friends." "He calls it:" ""Taking the next step towards self-acceptance and actualisation."" "Whatever that means." "l don't see what you're worried about." "It's not like you to care what other people think." "You see who's selling the tickets?" "Barbara Johns?" "So, you know, what they're having this weekend is the junior prom." "Really?" "Yeah." "God, is there a more ridiculous and embarrassing ritual than the prom?" "The way that it totally reinforces traditional gender roles rewards the cool kids, punishes the geeks." "The pressure that this one single night exerts on the common teenager to make awkward romantic gestures like pinning a corsage on taffeta having sex with some guy whose name you won't remember then puking in the back of some rented limo." "I mean, it's all just so overwhelming." "You've never been to a prom before, have you?" "Well, no." "But I know enough about them to know it's just a sad" "So in other words, you're asking me to go." "Yeah." "I'd love to." "Okay." "The theme of this prom is couples." "State your name as well as the name of your date." "Yeah, it's.... lt's Jack McPhee and Ethan Brody." "Excuse me?" "Ethan Brody." "lt's E-T-H-A-N" "No, no." "A boy cannot go to the prom with a boy." "The definition of a prom date is a boy and a girl." "I don't think that's any of your business." "I don't understand why you need to cause a spectacle and ruin the prom for the rest of us." "But if you feel you have to do so I can't sell you a ticket until I talk to Mrs. Meyer." "You're not gonna sell me a ticket?" "What exactly is it the two of you will do?" "Take a nice prom photo for Grandma's photo album?" "Dance stubbled cheek to stubbled cheek?" "Share a romantic kiss under the moonlight?" "That's gonna weird out even the ones sympathetic to people like you." "You can't do this." "Like I said, Jack I'll check with Mrs. Meyer, and you can come back and try again." "Next!" "What's up, Jack?" "You okay?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." "I gotta go." "The theme of this year's prom is couples." "State your name as well as the name of your date." "Barbara, you're in my gym class." "You know my name." "State your name as well as the name of your date." "Dawson Leery and Joey Potter." "Happy couple back together?" "Something like that, yeah." "They can't do this to you." "We won't let them." "We'll lodge a formal complaint." "Not only will you get your tickets for free but we will get Barbara Johns to apologize in front of the whole school." "On her hands and knees." "Guys...." "Or we could go to Mrs. Meyer and tell her what Barbara did." "She has to sell you the tickets." "It's discrimination." "Guys!" "I appreciate the support. I do." "But it's okay." "I'm not gonna go to the prom." "What?" "You have to go!" "At this point, it's political." "That's just it. lt's a prom." "It's supposed to be fun." "Why does my life have to be a fight?" "Why is something that's normal for someone else so political for me?" "That's the way it is." "And until things change, you have to fight." "And we'll be there with you." "All the way." "I just wanted to go to the prom." "That's all." "If you're not going, I'm not going." "Me neither." "Good!" "Then we'll boycott, and we'll organize." "Yeah." "l've got a better idea." "Jack, you're right." "Let's hold our own prom." "Right?" "An alternative prom." "Think about it." "Why are we paying 80 bucks to sit where they tell us, eat rubbery chicken and listen to a selection of Barbara Johns' favourite tunes when we can hold the anti-prom?" "Where it's not about who you bring, it's about who you are." "l like it." "Yeah, I think it's a great idea, Dawson." "Yeah." "What would an alternative prom be without a couple of gay guys?" "Should you choose to take me up on this, I worked it out and the revenue from ticket sales will offset the cost." "I'm telling you guys, we can totally make this work." "You've obviously given this a lot of thought. I only have one question:" "Why?" "I don't know." "Big things are happening all around." "I'm just gonna try and facilitate my own big thing." "If the answer is yes." "Should we say yes now or continue to torture him?" "Mom, thank you." "You guys will not regret this, I promise." "But you do realize this is my restaurant, so I will be here." "And every prom needs a chaperone." "Okay." "Great." "I'm gonna go hang some flyers." "Well, he seems to have gotten through yesterday's events unscathed." "He says he's numb at this point." "ls that a good thing?" "I don't know." "But he did seem, remarkably enough, totally okay." "Well, that's a relief." "Kind of got me to thinking, though." "Oh, who put cayenne pepper in this marinara sauce?" "Gale?" "Yeah?" "I thought maybe we should discuss what we're doing here." "What we're doing where?" "This thing you and I are doing." "I thought maybe we should discuss what it means." "Can't we just enjoy it, see where it leads?" "Why do we always have to analyse everything?" "Hello?" "I asked a question." "Who put cayenne pepper in the marinara sauce?" "Yeah, two." "Two, please." "Thanks." "Here you go." "I know." "This thing could actually turn out to be a success." "In a manner of speaking." "Hi." "Just because the dregs of society go to your prom does not make it a success." "Nobody that matters would be caught dead there." "l certainly wouldn't go if you paid me." "That's a good thing." "We don't want your kind." "And what kind is that, the good Christian kind?" "You know, it's just not about religion." "I mean the kind that hates people." "You know, the intolerant, judgmental, hypocritical kind." "Close-minded, immature, bigoted kind." "With bad fashion sense." "Really bad." "At least I'm not going to hell." "That's it?" "That's your whole comeback?" "I'd say the threat of eternal damnation is a pretty good comeback." "Well, that threat is not yours to make." "You just don't get it, do you?" "You're totally missing the point." "Next!" "And to think I was going to give this to the Goodwill." "You're gonna look great, Henry." "I feel like a busboy." "It's the burden of men, dear." "While out on the town, you must stand in the background and let your woman shine." "Oh, I think that Henry shines just fine on his own, Grams." "He certainly does." "There's my tea." "I'll be right back." "Okay. I...." "l think it's time that you and I had the talk." "The talk?" "Yeah." "The prom sex talk." "The prom sex talk?" "Come on, Henry." "Like it wasn't gonna come up sooner or later." "Not necessarily." "Oh, okay." "Tell me that you weren't thinking that you, me and the prom didn't mean the distinct possibility of a little drunken, back-seat, rented-limo nookie?" "l didn't rent a limo. l" "Okay, that's not the point." "The prom puts a lot of pressure on kids to do it just for the sake of it." "You end up doing it 1 5 minutes before curfew." "It's completely unromantic, and it's way too fast, and it" "And it just generally sucks." "And you can never take that back or change it, so...." "So I thought that maybe we could make the decision right now not to do it." "Oh, I'm...." "I'm in no race." "You know that." "Yeah." "But we...." "We are gonna do it eventually right?" "Come here." "To what do I owe the honour of this visit?" "I'm just bored, I guess." "You always know how to flatter a girl." "I try." "So...." "Guess you're probably gonna be going to that alternative-prom thing." "You're not gonna believe what I did." "I threw my ticket back in Barbara's face." "Get what that witch said when I bought it?" ""Oh, that is so brave, Andie." "A girl going to the prom alone."" "Why would you go to the prom alone?" "I thought you were sifting through offers." "Yeah." "Well...." "Turns out that I didn't have any." "Why didn't you just tell me that?" "Because I didn't want a pity-ask, okay?" "And it doesn't matter, because all my friends are gonna be there." "At this point, I'm just going to support the whole stupid alternative-prom thing." "You should have been able to tell me." "And it wouldn't be a pity-ask." "Because it can't be pity if it's an honour." "Andrea McPhee would you go to the prom with me?" "Hi." "You look.... lt's just a dress, Dawson." "Okay, picture time!" "We should go." "We don't want to be late." "Always hated having your picture taken." "Well, so, Dawson, where's the corsage?" "We made a deal." "No corsage." "But I had to bring something." "So I thought I'd bring these." "Diamond earrings?" "Dawson, I can't take these." "Relax, they're my mom's." "They're on loan, like at the Academy Awards." "I thought they would look amazing on you." "I can't wear them." "What if something happens?" "If something happens to what, your earlobes?" "Stop it." "Put them on." "They're beautiful." "So put them on." "And then I'll get one more picture." "One two, three!" "Interesting crowd." "Lock the cash register." "I'm on it." "Hey, can you believe we wore the same thing?" "Yeah, well, I thought it was pretty funny." "Jack, I'm not expecting you to dance with me..." "...if that's what you're worried about." "No." "No, I'm not worried about anything." "Okay." "Hi there." "Hey." "Hey." "Hey, Jack, Ethan." "Hey, you guys." "Joey, love those earrings." "Thank you." "Hey, Andie." "Hey, sis." "Hey, guys." "What's going on?" "Shall we dance?" "Come on, sit down." "Great." "Wow, Jen, your dress is fabulous." "Thank you so much." "You look awesome." "Thank you." "Thanks." "Hey, Ethan." "Henry." "Hey." "So here we are." "Yep." "At the prom." "Yep." "So, what are you thinking?" "I wasn't thinking about sex, okay?" "Henry, chill." "You're allowed to think about sex." "Well, l- l wasn't." "No, I'm sure." "I'm just saying, you know, if you were, that it's fine." "I mean, you can think about sex, I can think about sex." "It's just that, tonight, that it's not a factor." "Right?" "I'm glad, you know." "About what?" "That you had the courage to bring me, Jack." "I know it's not easy." "I mean, even for me." "When Brad and I first told people what was happening" "Can we maybe put a pin in the "When I was a young gay boy" stories?" "It's not providing me with a lot of solace right now." "What I was gonna say is that Brad and I never did anything together." "In fact, for all my bravado, I've never asked a guy to anything like this." "What?" "You mean, all that crap about actualisation you've never actualised?" "I thought it was a hurdle we could jump over together." "At my high-school prom, where you know no one, and I know everyone?" "How "together" is that?" "You win in the courage department." "No, I don't. I was tricked into it." "Courage would have been telling you however healthy this might be for my identity..." "..." "I really don't want to be here now." "Well, I'm sorry." "So am I." "Where are you going?" "I'm going to get a soda." "You know, I was wondering, wise, gay sage that you are Coke?" "Diet Pepsi?" "What's better for my self-actualisation?" "You know, there are other things that we can talk about besides sex." "Of course." "We could talk about...." "Summer." "We could talk about what we're gonna do this summer." "We could take a couple day trips up to Nantucket." "Go see some concerts up in Boston." "And then" "Sure." "When I get back from football camp." "What-ball camp?" "Football camp." "In Cleveland." "Eight weeks." "I leave at the end of June." "You're leaving for the summer to go to football camp and you tell me this now?" "Well...." "What's wrong with now?" "You don't devastate your girlfriend with news of a separation in the middle of prom." "That ruins the night." "l've ruined the night?" "As far as later goes, whatever possibility existed that you and I might have sex you can forget about that." "We established we weren't gonna have sex." "That's what you say to alleviate pressure and make it spontaneous when you do it." "Of course there was a chance." "It's our prom." "Damn." "Could I ask a brazen but obvious question?" "Yeah." "Of course." "Why did you bring me here tonight, Dawson?" "Was it just so you could throw jabs at Pacey?" "What are you talking about?" "I had no idea Pacey would be here." "You don't think I get the subtext of those looks you keep throwing his way?" "You might as well get on the PA and scream, "She's mine, Pacey. I win."" "Actually, that's not what I'm thinking." "Then what are you thinking?" "What right did he have to show up to my mother's restaurant at a prom I organized?" "What is he trying to accomplish?" "Given the circumstances under which this night originated how can you exclude anyone?" "I'm not excluding, Jo." "I haven't said a word to him." "That hasn't stopped you from parading me around..." "..." "like I'm a prize." "Parading you?" "I'm not parading you around." "You're my date. I'm dancing with you." "It's not my fault if they keep staring at us." "You're right." "None of it's your fault." "None of it's anybody's fault." "It's just happening." "And who cares what it's doing to me?" "Okay." "You know, let's just start over, okay?" "It's just Dawson and Joey at the prom having a good time." "Okay?" "I need a breather." "Care to make a run for it?" "Yes, please." "So, what are you hiding from?" "I am hiding from Barbara Johns." "She's here?" "No." "Yeah, in a way, she is." "Oh, man." "She was right, Joey." "I don't belong here." "I'm not gonna dance with Ethan." "I'm not gonna have my picture taken with him." "Whatever good time I was gonna have tonight I just ruined it by the way I treated him." "You really like him, don't you?" "I remember a conversation less than a year ago under these very stars." "And all you could see was the pain and the loneliness that made your life different from everyone else's." "As opposed to now, when all I can see is the pain and loneliness that makes our lives the same?" "Look, I know how sad it is to hide from something that you really want." "I just want everything to go back to the way it was, you know?" "All of us friends again, and me not caught in the middle." "Well, if you want things to get back to the way that they were you have to set the example." "Dawson and Pacey, those two aren't gonna do it themselves right now." "How about we hide out here for a while first?" "Sounds good to me." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I know this might be a tad presumptuous but I took the liberty of packing a bag." "I thought maybe I could stay over." "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Gale." "Mitchell, what are you talking about?" "I'm not here just for your whim, Gale." "Excuse me?" "Go ahead, laugh." "But we've gotten back to this point in our relationship by being honest with each other." "I'm not gonna stop that honesty now." "Okay." "So if the honest thing is to talk about it, let's talk about it." "I can't keep playing this game." "is it a slip-up?" "is it a relationship?" "is it a Saturday-night arrangement?" "What is it?" "What do you want it to be?" "You know what?" "I'm sick of being the one always anxious to define our relationship or lack thereof." "What I want is for you to define it for once." "I've been meaning to ask you something all night, Pacey." "Would you like to dance with me?" "Yes." "How come this feels so right?" "I think it was those dance lessons." "Where did you get those?" "They're not you." "Why, because I'm just a poor tomboy or because Dawson gave them to me?" "Neither." "You see this?" "This is you." "It's not showy or gaudy." "Just simple." "Elegant." "Beautiful." "It's my mom's bracelet." "I know." "How do you know?" "Well, because you told me six months ago." "You were wearing that blue sweater with the snowflakes that you have." "We were walking the hallways at school." "I was annoying you, as per usual." "You said, " Look, Pacey, I found my mother's bracelet this morning so why don't you cut me some slack?"" "You remember that?" "I remember everything." "Dawson." "Dawson, wait." "Dawson, wait." "How could you do that to me?" "Are you trying to hurt me?" "No!" "I'm trying to set an example, to get things back to the way they were." "You can't go back to the way they were." "Get it?" "You can't climb through my window, pop in E. T. and have it be the same." "You can't dance with him at the prom I organized and expect me not to be hurt." "You said tonight was about our friendship." "If that's the case, it wouldn't matter who I dance with." "I said it was about moving forward." "What did you think that meant?" "You can't have thought that that's all I wanted." "The reason I suggested this stupid alternative prom wasn't about Jack." "It was about you." "Maybe I tried too hard." "I didn't want to miss my chance to dance with you to make you remember what it was like between us." "I thought maybe, you know if I could make it perfect, then...." "That I would pick you?" "Say it, Dawson." "You thought if you orchestrated this whole evening that I'd be convinced into picking you over Pacey, right?" "You have to pick somebody, Joey." "I just wanted to remind you what you'd be missing if you didn't pick me." "You'd be missing a lot." "And so would I." "We'd be missing everything." "That's how the evening was supposed to end." "I think I can take it from here, thanks." "Those were the most words you've said..." "...since I told you about football camp." "l'm not in the mood." "Fine." "Then let's talk about something else." "Why would you make a big deal about there being no possibility of sex if you were planning to do it all along?" "I wasn't planning on anything." "I mean, I thought that maybe if it happened if it felt right and natural, then maybe we would." "But it doesn't even matter." "Because of football camp?" "I hate it when you do this." "You get extreme about the future of our relationship..." "...at the first sign of your insecurities." "This isn't about my insecurities." "lt's about your cowardice." "What?" "And the fact that I planned our entire summer together and you weren't thinking about spending time with me." "For the first time in my life, I made myself vulnerable to somebody." "And now I just feel stupid." "Jen, my decision to go, it's- lt's got nothing to do with you." "Exactly." "If this were a real relationship, your choice would have had at least something to do with me." "Good night, Henry." "Jen, I won't go through this again. I can't." "This time, there won't be posters or grand declarations of my feelings towards you." "You walk in that house and it's not just "good night."" "It's goodbye." "Goodbye." "Ethan, wait!" "Wait." "What are you doing?" "You leaving?" "Are you kidding me?" "Look, l-- l'm sorry for the way I acted tonight." "No, Jack, I'm sorry." "You clearly weren't ready for this." "That's just it." "Because I don't know what "this" is." "So maybe we should define "this" before we decide who's ready." "What are you saying?" "I'm saying...." "Okay, I'm saying that tonight I don't think that I was uncomfortable with bringing a guy to the prom." "I was uncomfortable taking someone that doesn't feel the same about me as I feel about him." "Jack." "I really like you." "Then why all the hurdles?" "Why this journey to be together when all you had to do was lean over and--?" "Kiss you." "Yeah, something like that." "Because, Jack, I don't wanna kiss someone who isn't ready." "And I don't know if you're ready." "So I'm afraid you're gonna have to kiss me first." "How do you know that I couldn't?" "I don't know." "I'm guessing." "Then maybe you're guessing wrong." "Maybe I am ready." "Okay, so here we are." "A lone train station." "No one around." "No lights, no cameras no network television to cut to commercial." "It's just you and me." "So kiss me, Jack." "I dare you." "I honestly believed that when I came over to invite you to the prom it was because I wanted to go to the prom with you." "And I can't tell you how much I wish that were the truth." "But as soon as I got there I realized that I wanted to go to the prom because-- l know why you wanted to go to the prom, Pacey." "And I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you." "But at least you got to dance with her." "What can I do?" "Really, I would do whatever it takes to make this up to you." "What it would take is something that I don't think you can give me right now." "And I'm not mad at you, Pacey." "Honestly, I'm not. I just-- l just really feel bad for you." "Did I tell you what I'm gonna be doing this summer?" "I'm gonna sail True Love down to Key West." "Just me and the sea." "How's that for Hemingway-esque, huh?" "So when are you gonna leave?" "Right after finals." "Have you told her how you feel?" "Andie she already knows how I feel." "I mean, have you really told her, Pacey?" "You can't just leave without letting her know." "I mean, that's not like you." "You don't just stand and let things happen." "And you don't run away, either." "You have to tell her that you love her." "And you have to try to get her back." "Because if you don't I promise you, you will regret it." "Maybe." "No, Pacey." "You will." "Hey." "Hey." "I brought these back for you." "They're so beautiful, I...." "l'm not quite sure they're me, but I had a really fun time wearing them." "So I'm not going to deny that when you kissed me last night I felt something." "Something that I wasn't expecting, and something that probably will always be there." "I can't keep hurting people, Dawson." "And I can't choose." "So I'm telling you the same thing that I told Pacey." "Please don't make me." "I'm not ready, and I can't do it." "Okay." "Okay?" "I'll wait." "You can call me an eternal optimist but I have faith." "This whole year, I've been on this soul-searching journey." "And I feel like I've finally come to the end." "And what I found was you." "Mitch!" "What?" "Mitch." "Come here." "What is it?" "Just come here." "Here, sit down." "What are you up to?" "Just this." "Last night, you asked me to define this relationship." "And I wasn't ready to do it." "I have just been so afraid of screwing up of making the same mistakes twice." "But I'm not gonna let that fear stop us from being together anymore." "So if our fate is to make the same mistakes all over again then, by God, I hope we make those mistakes as well as we did the first time." "is that a yes?" "Well, you didn't ask me a question." "You know the question." "You know the answer."