"So how you been doing, man?" "You know, for the most part, I'm fine." "" For the most part." Which I'm gonna interpret as meaning though you're not down now, you have something on your mind." "So why don't you just tell me what's on your mind?" "Nothing, really." "Which, to tell you the truth, is kind of the problem." "I can't figure out what the hell to do with myself." "You're not going back to USC, huh?" "No." "And that I know is the right decision." "But, unfortunately, that's about all I know." "Come on." "You've gotta cut yourself a little break here." "Life did just throw you one hell of a curve ball." "All you really need is time." "Before you know it, you'll be full of confidence, up to your old tricks." "And you have come to the right place." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "You're talking to the king of directionless." "That's what I was doing with those years of high school folly." "I was perfecting the life without purpose." "Last year you could've gotten away with that burst of self-deprecation..." "...but this year, you seem fairly driven." "Yeah, I know. lt's terrible, isn't it?" "But what can I say?" "I love the kitchen life." "I even love the crass kitchen attitude." "Sandwich?" "Sure." "But, inevitably along with the crass kitchen attitude comes the grillside drama." "Yeah. lt all started with me trying to help this girl out of her very self-destructive relationship." "But then you throw in a little dash of my very poorly thought-out attraction to her and her absolute lack of attraction to me and you get where l'm coming from." "Oh, that sucks." "Wanna talk about it?" "No." "To tell you the truth, it's really not all that interesting." "And it's nothing you should be troubling yourself with given everything that's been on your mind lately." "Well for what it's worth, the Pacey I know would figure out a way to help the girl, no matter what the drama." "is that so?" "Without a doubt." "Okay." "Joey, it's time for a study break." "I've been nodding off on the same sentence to the point of drool." "lt's just-- lt's not pretty." "Well, you don't have to ask me twice." "Sweet." "So where's Jack?" "Deep in the land of Frat." "Did he tell you about this Winter Formal thing?" "Yeah, that actually sounds vaguely familiar to me." "But to be quite honest, all the Greek speak sounds like...." "Well, Greek to me." "I get it." "He wouldn't ask you to the caveman hoopla so I get stuck with the surrogate date duties." "I feel for you. I do." "Watching Jack pretend to be one with the thick-necked brotherhood." "Come on. lt can't be that bad." "I'm sure Grams has some prescription medication somewhere that would help you a lot through this, Joey." "Thanks, but I think I'll manage." "Hey, Jen...." "Speaking of the men in our lives how's Dawson these days?" "You're asking me?" "Well, it's" " You know I haven't seen him for a while, and I know that you two hang out and I guess I just needed to know that he's doing all right." "He's better." "He...." "He's been seeing a shrink, which I think is really good for him, you know?" "He's gonna be fine." "That's exactly what I needed to hear." "It's been.... lt's been kind of hard getting used to not being the one to see him through this, you know?" "And I think I'm finally okay with it which is hard to admit without feeling like a total jerk." "Oh, stop it, Joey." "You're not a jerk." "I've been meaning to tell you that I can't think of a better person to be there for him right now than you." "I'm really glad that you're there for him." "Thank you." "All right, simmer down, ladies." "No offence, Jack." "We got a lot to do for tonight's formal and little time after this meeting." "So let's get to it." "A, this is our biggest event before the break." "B, it must be perfect." "And C everybody must get laid." "You should all be hooked up with a date by now." "But for those of you chumps without one..." "...meet the list." "Yes, the list!" "In the spirit of house love, I need names, people." "Decent-looking honeys..." "...ready to put out." "What about Debbie?" "What about Suzanne?" "Alison!" "Alison!" "No, no." "What about those fine-ass Worthington chicks?" "Come on, dog." "We know you got some hottie friends." "And we know you're not looking to score with them." "Jacky!" "Talk!" "Talk!" "Come on, please, talk!" "All right, all right, all right." "I may know a girl that meets the specified requirements." "Hey, I got dibs on whatever this guy's got, okay?" "I've seen these quality chicks McPhee hangs with." "So our main man Eric's got himself a date." "Okay, I am aware how absurd what I'm about to say is gonna sound but I'm also aware of how miserable your love life makes you and I can't sit and watch you hurt especially when I know I can do something. I'm here to ask you out." "l can't go on a date with you, Pacey." "Okay, that's fine." "Then you don't have to think of it as a date." "Think of it as an opportunity to compare and contrast." "A free trial run at a life without heartache." "Pacey, you know I can't." "Actually, I know that you can." "You need a break from your relationship." "I need a break from your relationship." "I'm promising to leave the kinky underwear at home I might even stop by CVS and steal a bottle of cologne." "What do you say?" "Do I have any reason to feel hope?" "You have my word." "I will keep this whole thing completely platonic." "Fine." "A friendly outing on the town, nothing more." "Excellent." "You rock." "So pick you up around 7?" "Seven." "This is your friend Pacey you're talking about?" "Yeah, but it's not just him, it's all my friends. lt's like they...." "l don't know. lt's been two months and everybody's still...." "They're holding things back from me." "Like they're trying to protect me." "You know, I mean, they look at me like this" " As this fragile, breakable thing instead of just Dawson, the person." "And I know they mean well, it's just it makes it virtually impossible to move on." "Have you mentioned this to them?" "Yeah." "Well" "No, actually." "No, I haven't mentioned it to them." "What about the film festival you told me about?" "Isn't that coming up?" "It's this weekend." "Are you going?" "Hadn't planned on it, no." "It might be good to take life on the road for a little while." "Help clear your mind." "You could even take one of those friends you feel so estranged from." "Come on." "There must be someone you can take." "Well, this little ditty goes out to all you brave souls out there surviving a heartbreak." "Trust me, better things will come." "Hello!" "Hey!" "Oh, and don't worry." "That sleazebag formerly known as our boyfriend Charlie is not here today." "That's a good thing." "Yeah, that's always a good thing." "But you know what?" "Even if he were here, it wouldn't really matter to me." "Really?" "Yep." "I think that time has finally done its healing thing." "Hey, what's up?" "Nothing." "I just wish I had your self-control." "I mean, I know I should be puking at the mention of Charlie's name but I find myself daydreaming about him." "His latest attempt to woo us back with that whole " l've changed" pitch." "Which " l've changed" pitch?" "All those corny love letters he keeps sending." "Doesn't it seem, sometimes, in that moment when you crawl in bed alone like, " Hey, maybe he really did change"?" "Gosh." "I don't know which love letters you mean." "Hasn't he been sending you letters?" "No." "He's trying to woo you back, huh?" "That's" "Jen, I'm so sorry." "Are you okay?" "No, no, no!" "Please don't apologize." "I swear, it's fine. I was just saying to you that it doesn't matter to me." "I want corny love letters." "I just don't understand why he chose her and not me." "ls there something wrong with me?" "Jen, there's nothing wrong with you." "It's just...." "All this time, I thought he was cheating on us on equal ground, you know?" "But, no, she got to be the girlfriend and I was just the floozy." "Floozy?" "Yeah?" "You said "floozy"?" "lt's what I am. I'm a floozy." "Oh, Jen." "This is supposed to be the other way around." "l'm supposed to be consoling you." "No, please." "It's the least I can do, and believe it or not, it's helping me a lot." "I just don't wanna be here." "The thought of running into either of them makes me wanna puke." "Okay, so let's get out of here, then." "This weekend." "Well, I'm game." "Where do you wanna go?" "You ever been to Hooksett, New Hampshire?" "No." "Can I tell you something?" "I am so psyched to be going to this formal." "I was so excited when Jack called." "Granted, last-minute arrangements can be annoying and blind dates can be as dangerous as gator wrestling" " Joey you're hogging the mirror." "Freak." "Oh, God!" "Hello, hideous!" "Do I even like any of my clothes?" "Audrey, you look great." "Besides, I don't know what the big deal is." "As much as I wanna give Jack credit I'm sure it's just frat debauchery masquerading as an event." "Okay, killjoy." "First off, Jack said this Eric guy is hella cute which, right off, sounds interesting to me." "And for someone as progressive as you it's amazing how close-minded you are about frats." "The words " progressive" and "frat" do not belong in the same sentence." "What about this one?" "Joey, we're going on a double date." "A little cheer, please." "Okay, okay." "Well, if nothing else, at least I'll have a good time with Jack, right?" "Wait, wait, wait!" "Okay." "Hey." "Hey, handsome!" "Wow, Joey, you look beautiful!" "Thank you." "Audrey!" "How you doing?" "Hi!" "I'm great!" "Good." "Good." "Eric, this is Joey." "Hey." "Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you." "And this is Audrey." "Hi." "Hi." "Jack was right." "You're a stone fox." "Thank you." "You know, I guess you'll have to do." "Well, let's go, shall we?" "Yeah." "Yeah, let's go." "Can I help you yet?" "Yeah, I'm Dawson Leery checking in for the film festival." "Oh, my God." "You're totally wicked cute." "Way cuter than the picture." "There's a picture?" "is this your girlfriend?" "Oh, cool!" "Your movie's awesome!" "Your screening sold out." "You beat Oliver, you know." "He's the biggest thing around here." "l'm sorry." "Who's Oliver?" "He's our local celebrity." "I don't see what the big deal is, though." "Ask me, he looks kind of retarded." "He's, like, eccentric, Trevor." "God!" "Okay, let me make this clear." "It is more than an option..." "...to go back home right now." "Oh, I don't think so." "Granted, the people of this town are a little off but who can deny that we could both use the love?" "And what better way to spend an evening than as girlfriend to the biggest celebrity in town?" "Gee, honey, you shouldn't have." "Well...." "Wow, you guys really went all out!" "Sigma Ep." "Expect nothing less." "Way to deliver, man!" "Score, big daddy, score!" "What was that?" "Nothing." "The guys just being idiots." "Take your coats, ladies?" "Okay." "Jen should be sharing this pain." "I should call her." "No can do, she's gone for the weekend with Dawson." "That was great, thanks." "Just the check, please." "So?" "What?" "Oh, come on." "Was this good or was this good?" "Give me a little of credit." "l saw your face when we came in." "l did not have a face!" "You had a face." "But let's get back to giving me credit, shall we?" "You may also have noticed that I have kept us in crowded places because I wouldn't want you tempted to jump me on our non-date evening." "Well, I mean, you are wearing that really sexy outfit." "Damn!" "Who would have thought you cleaned up so good?" "And you're right." "A lesser guy would have not afforded my self-control such a generous security blanket." "You saved me from myself." "Well, it hasn't been easy, let me tell you." "I know you don't like hearing this, Karen but you deserve better than being an illicit affair." "A woman who is as giving and as beautiful as yourself deserves someone who's gonna be there loving you back just as hard." "Okay, that was good." "Yeah, that was really good." "Which just kind of puts the final nail in the coffin." "What nail?" "What coffin?" "How did I get top prize?" "Either my dad donated a wing to the Hooksett library or these people have no idea what's good and what's bad." "Okay, you" " This has gotta stop." "What's gotta stop?" "This." "The people of this town are perfectly nice." "And you blaming them for bad taste is obviously just a way to undermine your own artistic abilities." "You have a tremendous talent so would you please stop putting yourself down?" "Or I'll have to break up with you." "You can't break up with me." "You'll never break up with me." "The physical attraction is far too strong." "You got me there, tiger." "Hey, Leery!" "Hey." "Your movie better be good." "This festival consistently gives first prize to a film with a fresh voice and unique vision." "I've won it three years in a row." "And I just don't like the idea of being usurped by a Hollywood slickster, you know?" "It's just not cool." "Hi." "You're really pretty." "Who's gonna argue?" "No after-dinner cigarette?" "No cigarette." "I only smoke when I'm nervous or severely annoyed." "So then not nervous or severely annoyed." "I guess I should take that as a good sign." "In fact, I don't think I saw you yell or complain all night long." "It's amazing what being out of Civilization does for a girl." "If I didn't know you better, I would say that you positively light up." "Now, don't go ruin the moment with unnecessary compliments." "And why not?" "Enough of the cynicism." "I say that we ruin this night silly with unnecessary flattery." "Karen Torres, you are a beautiful young woman with fantastic taste in clothing." "And although your jokes do tend to bomb you make up for it with that sparkling smile of yours." "Okay, now it's your turn." "I had a great time tonight, Pacey." "Yeah, I'll take that." "Thank you." "You know, just seeing you have a good time is thanks enough." "Anyway...." "Good night, Karen." "The first time I saw this film I knew I was in the hands of a talented filmmaker." "But I was equally moved by a letter which accompanied the film's submission." "It was a letter from the filmmaker's father telling me that I absolutely could not ignore his son's work." "Honestly, I was predisposed to hate the film because, well it didn't show up until three days past the deadline." "But I'm a father myself and I know a thing or two about parental pride." "So I grudgingly put the video in the VCR and after five minutes, I knew Mitch Leery was right." "I absolutely could not ignore his son's work." "So, ladies and gentlemen I give you the filmmaker behind this year's top prize film:" "Dawson Leery." "I don't know what to say." "My dad loved movies." "He loved them in the truest sense in that he had no interest in making them, he just...." "He loved watching them." "He started taking me to movies at a very early age and I loved it." "He would take me to movies and then...." "And then talk to me about them." "And thank God he did." "Because there's no way I would be here right now if he hadn't done that." "Thank you so much for this award and for receiving this film so warmly." "I dedicate this film to my dad." "And I will remember him every time I look at this." "So thank you." "And a very special thank you to my girlfriend, Jen Lindley." "I'm gonna kill you." "I'm not saying that I bench that much, yet." "Yeah, but, I mean...." "Some of the guys, they do. lt's crazy." "Yeah." "So, what gym do you go to?" "What are you doing?" "Nothing." "Do you want another drink?" "Hey, McPhee." "l'm beginning to think you lied to me." "What are you talking about?" "Audrey." "This chick, she's all tease and no please." "It's only halfway through the night." "Give her some time." "She'll come around." "l don't know, man. lt's like...." "l gave my best moves and my best lines and...nothing." "What if she turns out to be prude?" "What?" "No, no, believe me." "Look, the last thing Audrey is is prude." "I don't know what you're so worried about." "Audrey's easy, all right?" "She's looking to have a good time." "I know she was psyched to come here tonight." "So just, you know, play your cards right and she'll hook up with you for sure." "Look, I know that this is complicated." "And despite what were my best intentions I promise you, I know that I haven't helped." "But there's no reason why we can't work this out." "This doesn't change anything, Pacey." "This doesn't mean that we're in a relationship." "I know that we're not having a relationship but now...." "Why the hell did you start this?" "Hold on a second." "You kissed me, remember?" "That was a mistake, okay?" "You're not worth what I'm risking." "So then why did you do it?" "I don't know." "Did you sleep with me to get back at Brecher?" "You did, didn't you?" "It's not that simple." "No. lt is that simple." "That's good." "Now squeeze in on the sides." "Hold it." "Great." "Thanks." "You know, you really piss me off, Leery." "I used to take pride in thinking I was the only geek in America that knew who A.l. Brooks was." "Seriously though, man, your flick is fantastic." "l'm blown away." "Thank you." "You know, you're not half the goon I thought you were." "I'm not a Hollywood slickster?" "Okay, I can get a little carried away sometimes." "So how do you like 'SC?" "Dropped out, actually." "It just wasn't for me." "What about you?" "Your movie is great." "Why are you hanging around here?" "Well, here's where l grew up." "I go to school in Boston this really weird visual arts place full of freaks and misfits." "Really?" "Yeah, you know, it might suit you." "Yeah." "Yeah, you should come check it out sometime." "Definitely. I...." "Thank you. I might." "Cool." "Here comes your girl." "She's...." "Hi." "Hey." "Jen, this is Oliver." "Oh, yeah." "God." "Your movie was fantastic." "Thanks." "And you're still really pretty." "Thank you." "You know, I was about to tell Dawson how lucky he is." "You guys make a great couple." "Well, thank you." "Very much." "No problem. I'll see you around." "Yeah, see you." "Yeah." "Do you hear that, baby?" "You're lucky to have me." "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one." "What?" "How do you talk about Audrey like that?" "You used to talk about her like that." "Yeah." "But before I knew her." "I wasn't selling her to the highest bidder." "It was just stupid, harmless fun, that's it." "I can't believe you just said that." "Jack what happened to you?" "When did you turn into this jerk?" "What?" "Hold on, you don't understand." "You're right, I don't understand." "Because you never cared to explain." "It's like you couldn't wait to get to Boston so you could drop us and get new friends." "That's not true." "No?" "Look, Jo" "What?" "I feel at home here." "For once I have a family that's not constantly on the brink of self-destruction." "I can finally live my life instead of worrying about someone else's." "Really?" "It feels like you're hiding, like you're pushing us and yourself away because maybe it's just easier to be another one of the meatheads." "Meathead?" "You don't even know any of these people." "I really don't wanna meet them all now that I know they're all wannabe pimps." "Okay." "Now you're exaggerating, Joey." "Every time something doesn't meet your standard of righteousness, you write it off." "Standard of righteousness?" "Yeah." "Jack, try common decency and respect." "Oh, Jo, look around." "Everybody here is having a good time." "Nobody's forcing anyone to be here." "That's true." "No one's forcing me to be here." "What you thinking about?" "My dad." "In a really good way. ln a way I haven't been able to in a long time." "Standing up there in front of all those people talking about him was just.... lt was so nice to remember him." "You know?" "And for the first time I was finally able to appreciate what a great father he was and how lucky l was without feeling guilty." "You know, without feeling like I let him down." "I don't wanna jinx anything but I daresay I'm happy." "Well, I hope so because you deserve it." "And I have you to thank in a big way." "How do you figure?" "You managed to figure out a way to be there for me." "And that...." "l'll never be able to put into words what that means to me." "Dawson, I.... lt's the least I can do for the guy who restores my faith in the opposite sex." "l do that?" "Yes, you do do that." "How do I do that?" "Because...." "No, when it didn't work out between us all those years ago you still managed to give me a place in your heart." "Why didn't it work out between us?" "You were in love with Joey." "That's too easy." "l recall you having broken up with me." "Yeah, but l" "Oh, God." "quickly saw the errors of my ways and proceeded to hurl myself at you in a very embarrassing fashion." "That's right, you did." "And I'm ashamed to admit it, but I really enjoyed that." "I did, I loved it." "Especially you being the first girl that had torn my heart out." "l did?" "God, yeah." "Temple of Doom style." "But, anyway...." "l'm fully aware of the reason it didn't work out between us." "Why?" "You weren't physically attracted to me." "ls that what you think?" "Yeah. I think you thought I was safe." "Look at you smiling." "So that's what everyone's talking about." "That's it." "It wasn't what I imagined." "lt's not?" "No." "Everyone always told me your first time is never as good as you'd imagine it to be." "But that was every bit the fantasy." "I mean, you were...." "We." "We were." "You're right." "We were great." "What's wrong, Witter?" "You're early." "l need to talk to you for a sec." "All right." "What's up?" "l quit." "This is about Karen?" "Yes, this is about Karen." "So you know things have gotten a little complicated, and I'm sorry." "l didn't mean for this to happen." "Yeah, you did." "There's no need to lie to me about it." "You're saying that?" "The guy who's cheating on his wife?" "You put me in the middle." "Did you ever think about that?" "Did you ever think about Karen?" "More than you'll ever know, kid." "Fine." "Whatever. I still quit." "Fine, that's cool." "Karen already beat you to it." "What?" "That's what she wanted, not me." "Look, I'm sorry you got caught up in this." "I should probably never have borrowed your boat." "I'm sorry that your image of me has been shattered." "I never said I was perfect." "Just the way things are sometimes." "Job's still yours if you want it." "Okay, I just...." "You okay?" "Yes." "I was just putting Jack through a pretty gruelling apology here but he passed." "Come here, you." "l'm so sorry." "I know, I know." "No hard feelings, okay, just a lot of making up to do." "And the next time you set me up it better be with someone secure enough not to resort to muscle and fitness talk." "Really, what was that about?" "Go easy on him, bunny." "Okay." "The thing is, Joey there really isn't much I can say to defend the way that I acted last night." "It just-- lt's really hard sometimes balancing things out, meeting new friends trying to bring them together with the old. I don't know." "It probably doesn't help when the old friends are quick to judge something they know nothing about." "Well, actually, that's what you need sometimes to keep from being such an ass." "You know, Jack, you grow up in this small town you know, thinking you have the most open mind and you're ready for anything." "Then you finally hit the big city and suddenly there are still so many surprises." "Like, no matter how open you thought your mind was there's still so much to learn in, sometimes, places you never even would have thought." "Yeah." "lf a fraternity is what you need we need to learn to accept that." "And I need to learn to be less extreme about it." "Come here." "So...." "Last night I never would have guessed we were gonna be sitting here like this." "I'm sorry for what I said, Pacey." "Last night was just as much my fault as it was yours." "For what it's worth I don't regret it." "Not a single second." "You forced me to make a decision I should have made a long time ago." "Then why don't you give it a chance?" "l mean, you don't have to leave, Karen." "No. I do." "I owe myself some major regrouping." "And I have you to thank for making me realize that." "You called me on a lot of things that need fixing." "Nobody can save you from yourself." "I probably would have tried anyway." "I know." "I gotta go." "Stick with Brecher, Pacey." "He's not such a bad guy." "He's got a soft spot for you." "Besides, you're good in there." "Thanks." "Take care, Witter." "Yeah." "You too, Torres." "Back to reality, huh?" "I guess." "Dawson we need to talk." "Okay." "So let's talk." "Okay." "I just feel awkward and there's too much at stake for me to let it slide." "What do you mean?" "l don't know." "I mean, part of me wishes that last night could just be a beautiful memory and...." "And the other part knows that sex changes everything." "And I just don't wanna lose our friendship." "Okay." "You're not gonna lose my friendship." "I promise." "Okay?" "Yeah, sex does change things, but who says it has to be for the worse?" "What does that mean?" "I don't know." "If I told you I knew where this was leading, I'd be lying, because I don't." "All I know is it happened last night and it felt right." "And if sex changes things, you know what, I say bring it on." "I'm ready to explore that." "Okay." "I'm in." "Oh, God." "I wish we didn't have to leave here." "So we stay." "Stay?" "Yeah." "We stay." "At least a couple days." "After all, this is the honeymoon suite, right?" "And I am your girlfriend." "Subtitles by sdl Media Group"