03x12 - A Weekend in the Country

[bunniefuu]

(Potter Bed and Breakfast - Dawson, Joey and Pacey are sitting in the living room watching 'The Big Chill')

Joey: Who are these people? I mean, they're dancing, nobody dances in the kitchen.

Dawson: Your parents danced in the kitchen. I mean, my parents love this movie. This is like the definitive movie of the entire Baby Boom generation.

Joey: (to Pacey) Do your parents dance in the kitchen?

Pacey: My parents? No, they definitely don't dance in the kitchen.

Joey: (handing popcorn to Dawson) Here.

Dawson: I don't know, I took all the movie pictures off my wall, everything's in question, I figured why not something unexpected for movie night.

Joey: Oh, so we're scaling new heights of Mount Lame?

Dawson: Sorry, Joey tonight's activities were meant to calm your nerves, not agitate them.

Joey: Well, that's impossible. I mean, this Bed and Breakfast has been open for a day, a very costly Bed and Breakfast mind you, and there are no guests. Have either one of you checked the reservations list? There's not a name to be found, not a one.

Dawson: Joey, it takes time to establish a reputation--

Joey: Dawson, Bessie and I have invested every dime we have. Along with guests, time is another thing that we don't have.

(The phone rings. Joey composes herself before answering.)

Joey: Potter Bed and Breakfast, can I help you? (her face falls) No, actually I'm perfectly content with my long distance service, thank you. But how 'bout you? I mean, thinking about a vacation? Come to the Cape, take a room at our lovely... She hung up on me. A tele-marketer hung up on me.

Pacey: Come on, Jo, keep the faith.

Joey: Is that all you have to say, considering that you were the primary force that escorted Bessie and I down this road to economic ruin?

Pacey: All I did was figure out a way to kick in some free labor.

Joey: You, Pacey Witter, single-handedly encouraged this pipe dream. I mean, you should know better than going around inspiring financially and spiritually bereft people, people who have no business being inspired.

(There's a knock at the door. Joey stops hounding Pacey, and again, composes herself. She gives the room a once over, to make sure it's neat.)

Joey: (pointing at Pacey's feet on the table) Feet. (Joey composes herself again and opens the door, finding a couple standing outside.) Can I help you?

Woman: Hi, we were wondering...

Joey: (hopefully) Yes?

Man: Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior? God loves you. (He hands her a pamphlet.)

(Capeside High Hallway - Jen is walking down the stairs when Henry catches up to her.)

Henry: Hey.

Jen: Hey! Stranger, where you been all week

Henry: Working.

Jen: Miss Freckling must be keeping you busy, I don't think I've seen you since Cape Fest.

Henry: Well, actually I've been working at 'The Bass'.

Jen: My favorite restaurant. Do you work there full time?

Henry: No, just a week-long gig. Miss Freckling heard that they had some roof problems so I offered my services.

Jen: That's an expensive place. They better pay you well.

Henry: They did, but instead of cash I opted for a free dinner.

Jen: The implication being?

Henry: That you and I are gonna meet there.

Jen: That's funny, cause I don't recall being asked.

Henry: You weren't. See, I finally figured you out, Jen. Given the opportunity to say no, you do. So, I'm not giving you the opportunity.

Jen: But then you're also not giving me the opportunity to say yes.

Henry: Would you? Say yes?

Jen: Probably not.

Henry: So I'm not asking.

Jen: Henry, we've been over this before. Dating is a consensual activity.

Henry: Don't get ahead of yourself, I never called it a date. I said we'd eat dinner, you know, get to know each other.

Jen: I've been around the block enough to spot a date in sheep's clothing. Henry: Do you really think a kid like me would deem to consider himself worthy of dating a woman of your silk?

Jen: Ilk. It... it's ilk.

Henry: See my point? What's it gonna be?

Jen: It's gonna be let me think about it.

Henry: Now we're talking.

Jen: Yeah, but I didn't say yes.

Henry: But you didn't say no. I'll see you 'round, I'm late for class.

Jen: Yeah, but I didn't say yes.

(Andie sits with her iBook and a bunch of papers outside of some classroom. Jack walks up.)

Jack: Hey, my sister the future bureaucrat. How goes it?

Andie: Uhh, to start with I have 42 ads, 10 bios and a director's note that I have to turn into a play bill by Monday. In addition to which, I have to pick up the posters, hang them around town, get the tickets to the community box office and check to make sure the local paper's running our ad next week. Oh, and did I mention that I'm a student with a little obligation called homework?

Jack: (looking at her iBook with a face) And you're not very familiar with this layout program, are you?

Andie: What gave that away?

Jack: Each of your words are in a different font.

Andie: It's a style choice.

Jack: And upside down.

Andie: It's a bold style choice.

Jack: Yeah, right. (He takes the computer from her.)

Andie: What are you doing?

Jack: Helping out a wayward sister. Where are the bios?

Andie: In there.

Jack: I don't know how you keep all that together. I mean, personally I wouldn't be able to handle all this.

Andie: You would if you had a supportive family to come home to every night.

Jack: Thanks, but I'm happy where I am.

Andie: You couldn't be happy at home?

Jack: Not with him there, no.

Andie: Dad misses you.

Jack: Yeah, I'm sure he does. All those father-son heart-to-hearts we used to have...

Andie: It'll be different.

Jack: Okay, so he knows that I don't want to move home so he enlists you to speak for him. That's what this is, isn't it?

Andie: (gathering her stuff) You know what, Jack, thanks for you help, but I can manage on my own. See ya.

(Loan Office - Joey and Bessie are speaking with a woman.)

Woman: Bess, I gotta be honest with you. I spoke to our manager about you, I made a personal plea. But you're a single mother with multiple dependents, and an income-to-debt ratio that doesn't even qualify for our most liberal profile.

Bessie: Is there something you could suggest? Some solutions?

Woman: Well, you could do what a lot of small businesses do, and that's leverage your assets.

Joey: Unfortunately, our Microsoft options have been called and our yacht is in hock.

Woman: Have you thought about taking out a mortgage?

Joey: On the house?

Woman: It is paid for, free and clear.

Bessie: Do you have an application?

(Potter Bed and Breakfast - Joey and Bessie have just arrived home and they make their way into the house.)

Bessie: I'm just thinking about it.

Joey: Bess, it's our house, where we live, the only connection we have to Mom. How could you even think about it?

Bessie: Joey, everything takes longer and costs more than we expect. If there's a way to take a little out, then maybe we should.

Joey: Well, you can't do something like this without my approval, and I'm not giving it to you.

Bessie: Actually, I can. I'm an adult, you're a sixteen year old girl.

Joey: Bessie, I am your sister, a part of this family. If this thing doesn't work out, I lose my house, the only tangible connection that I have...

Bessie: She left it to me, Joey. Just like she left me in charge around here until you turn eighteen. That's a responsibility you can't understand.

Joey: I know all about responsibility.

Bessie: Do you? Because until you know what it's like to humiliate yourself by asking some trust-fund snob who looked down on you in High School for money, I don't want to talk about it with you anymore.

(Bessie goes inside. Joey walks back down the steps and finds Dawson in her yard with his camcorder.)

Joey: Dawson?

Dawson: Hey. I figure, even if my film career is in no man's land, I can still at least put this thing to good use, right?

Joey: What are you doing?

Dawson: Making a virtual tour of Capeside's newest B&B. If we post this thing on the web, we get it to all the Cape Cod visitor information sites...

Joey: Dawson, we don't exactly have the money for such frivolous things known as advertising.

Dawson: Which is where this comes in.

Joey: Look, I really appreciate the offer but...

Dawson: No buts, Jo. This is actually a really good idea. I mean, look at this place. Who wouldn't want to come stay here if they could see it from every angle and meet the charming proprietors beforehand?

[Inside the house - Joey sits at the kitchen table with a scowl on her face as Dawson tries to film her.)

Dawson: Uh, Joey if you could try to look welcoming that would be great, because anxiety really doesn't fit in with this whole homey come-stay-with-us thing we're going for.

Joey: Dawson, I do toilets and I do windows. I draw the line at faux perkiness.

Dawson: Okay...

Pacey: Let me tell ya, kiddies, we are looking good. Looking good.

Joey: What canary did you swallow?

Pacey: Well, after having felt just a teensy, weensy little bit of guilt over having wrongfully inspired this establishment, I took it upon myself to expose the Potter B&B to the outside world via the mighty pen of Mr. Frederick Fricke.

Dawson: Fred who?

Pacey: Fricke. He's, I don't know, he's like the Roger Ebert of the B&B world. Writes for Travel, Travel and Leisure, and most importantly, he writes for the New York Times travel section, the next edition of which will have nothing but glowing things to say about this establishment, because one Mr. Fred Fricke is frequenting here.

Joey: He's coming here?

Pacey: Oh yeah, he's on his way back to Boston right now. Happened to fit into his plans, I gave him a call...

Joey: Are you insane? Have you seen the half-finished room? Have you tasted Bessie's blueberry pancakes? We're not ready for something like this! Not to mention that we don't have any guests...

Pacey: I beg to differ, we do have guests. Not only do we have guests, we have the perfect guests for the perfect heartwarming weekend at your local B&B. Guests, if you would, please? (Grams enters with Jen, Jack and Andie) We have the sweet, God-fearing grandmother here to help her grandkids try to reconnect to the magical Creekside village where she frolicked as a little girl.

Andie: I'll need an 8am wake up call.

Jack: I take my OJ freshly squeezed.

Jen: Black coffee for me, and God help you if you wake me up before noon.

Pacey: (Mitch and Gale enter) And just to make sure that our home is filled with happy, boisterous people, we have a loving married couple here to spend a romantic weekend getaway.

(Outside the house - Joey and Dawson have pulled Pacey outside.) Joey: One minor detail, Pacey, don't you think you could've asked me first?

Dawson: You think you could've left my parents out of it?

Joey: It was reckless.

Dawson: And insensitive.

Pacey: Okay, one at a time, shall we? Starting with you. (to Dawson) I only asked Mitch to help, okay? It was his idea to bring Gale along.

Dawson: His idea?

Pacey: Yes, his idea. So if you want to tear somebody's head off, why don't you try the guy that sired you? (To Joey) And as for you, how could you possibly be so ungrateful after just having witnessed an outpouring of love and support that would've made George Bayley proud?

Joey: There is nothing wonderful about my life right now, okay? (handing the phone to Pacey) So I don't care how you do it, but you get Mr. Fricke on the phone and you tell him that there is no room at the inn.

Pacey: Why?

Joey: Because you don't show a movie reviewer a rough cut, and you don't serve a food critic your first s*ab at a new recipe. Especially if that recipe is your last chance of keeping a roof over your head.

Pacey: What?

Dawson: What do you mean, last chance?

Joey: Bessie is thinking about taking out a mortgage.

Dawson: What? A mortgage? You can't let her risk the house!

Joey: Dawson, does the term "legal guardian" mean anything to you?

Pacey: Umm, I'm sorry, Jo. I'll make this right right now, okay?

(A knock is heard. Joey goes inside and finds a man standing in the entry way.)

Joey: (sarcastically) Don't tell me, the Fuller Brush Man?

Mr. Fricke: Hardly. (handing her a card) Fred Fricke, Bed and Breakfast Quarterly. Is now a bad time?

Joey: No. Not at all.

(Potter B&B - The Honeymoon Suite. Dawson walks in on his parents who are unpacking.)

Gale: Hi, Honey.

Dawson: So you two are staying in the honeymoon suite?

Gale: Well, we're just here to help out Joey and Bessie, Honey. Later tonight, after the critic is asleep, your Dad is gonna go home and crash.

Dawson: Don't you think it might be a little confusing, even hurtful to the child of a divorce to see his parents playacting a happy marriage?

Mitch: Like your Mother said, Dawson, we're just here to help out.

Dawson: Dad, Pacey asked you to help out. He didn't say anything about Mom.

Mitch: Easy, Dawson. Listen, you're seeing something dark and complex here. There's nothing there. Dawson: You know what I'm seeing? I'm seeing two people who don't know what the hell they want, and I'm sick of it. (He storms out.)

(Potter B&B - Mr. Fricke's room. Mr. Fricke looks around the room as if he's in a barn.)

Joey: So, is there anything else I can get for you?

Mr. Fricke: Heat.

Joey: I beg your pardon?

Mr. Fricke: It's freezing in here.

Joey: Well, that's because we're an environmentally friendly inn. We like to conserve our natural resources, not to mention save on our energy bills.

Mr. Fricke: What? No en suite commode?

Joey: Excuse me?

Mr. Fricke: Where is the bathroom?

Joey: Oh, just down the hall. It's communal.

Mr. Fricke: I see.

Joey: Well, enjoy your stay. Um, we serve high tea at five o'clock and breakfast tomorrow morning starting at seven. Enjoy your stay.

Mr. Fricke: You said that already.

Joey: You're right, I did. My mistake.

(Potter B&B - Jack and Andie's room. They are unpacking their things.)

Jack: Is it just me or is it cold in here?

Andie: So, you think we can successfully impersonate brother and sister this weekend?

Jack: I don't see why not.

Andie: Jack, I don't know how you do it. I can never get a good night's sleep if I'm not in my own bed. (Unpacks)

Jack: God, Andie. Listen to me. I get the message, okay? If Dad wants me to move back home that's fine, but you're not going to spend the next couple of days waging a subtle campaign to wear me down.

Andie: Who me?

Jack: I'm serious. Any mention of home, house, any kind of dwelling where people live, I'm gonna go stay in Jen's room. You understand?

(Potter B&B - Living room. Bessie and Joey whisper in the corner, looking at Mr. Fricke who is sitting on the couch.)

Bessie: Does he look like he's having a good time?

Joey: Does a lemon ever look like its having a good time?

Bessie: Be nice, Joey. He's just doing his job.

Joey: And we trust our entire future.

Bessie: Where's Pacey anyway? He said he'd help me turn down the beds.

Joey: He's in the bathroom, counting animals two by two.

Bessie: Why? What happened?

Joey: What else? A flood. The toilet overflowed.

Potter B&B - Bathroom. Pacey is mopping.) Pacey: Note to self. Career options. Delete hotel management.

(Outside Potter B&B - Dawson is at the dock looking out over the water. Mitch walks up.)

Mitch: You're right. I didn't ask her here for just any reason. Your Mother and I have enough of the same friends for me to know what's going on in her life. And she's hitting a wall, Dawson. Every network, large and small, it seems, is passing her by for a job.

Dawson: She never told me that.

Mitch: She didn't tell me.

Dawson: Well, no offense, Dad, but I'm her son. You're her divorced husband.

Mitch: I'm her friend. And I want her to know that, whatever our history, I am there for her. I'm sorry if that threatens you.

Dawson: It doesn't thr*aten me.

Mitch: Well, it does something.

Dawson: It pisses me off.

Mitch: It pisses you off that your parents have a cordial post-divorce relationship?

Dawson: No, it pisses me off that I don't know what to believe anymore, okay? You're married, you're divorced. You're enemies, you're friends. What?

Mitch: We are trying very hard to be friends right now.

Dawson: Well, it's a little late for that, don't you think?

Mitch: That's where you're wrong. There's no time constraint about how long you can care about someone, no limit on how much. Especially if they've been so much a part of your life already.

(Potter B&B - Living Room. Mr. Fricke sits between Joey and Bessie who are overcompensating in excuses.)

Bessie: Now, this is our first full week of operation, Fred.

Joey: So we're still trying to work out all the kinks.

Bessie: I think our family style approach is what sets us apart form all the competition, Fred. (She places her hand on his knee. Both Fricke and Joey look at her hand there.) Pacey: Bathroom's almost fixed!

Joey: We have great people working for us.

Bessie: Fred, have you met our on-site handyman, Pacey Witter? Mr. Fricke: No, I haven't had the pleasure.

Pacey: Rest assured, folks. I have everything under control now. Taken care of.

(A thud is heard overhead and a cloud of smoke pours out of the vent.)

Mr. Fricke: You might want to have Handyman Witter check the furnace.

(Joey bangs on the furnace.)

Bessie: Hey, we're in luck. Fricke went into town to grab dinner.

Joey: sh**t.

Bessie: I don't think swearing at the thing's gonna help.

Joey: Oh, and flirting with it might?

Bessie: What's that supposed to mean?

Joey: Nothing. I'm just a child, remember? I'll just stick with the little things, you know, like how we're going to prevent everyone we know from freezing to death in what's supposed to be the coldest night of the year?

Bessie: You know, you're certainly behaving like a child. What is your problem?

Joey: Bessie, do you even remember what it's like to be sixteen? Is it like some far off planet?

Bessie: I remember.

Joey: Because it's like you have all the responsibilities of an adult, but none of the authority. You can't vote, you can't drink, you can't make any definitive decisions about your life.

Bessie: You think getting older automatically gives you more say in your life? Get real, Joey. You think I wanted to be stuck here at 26 taking care of two kids by myself?

Joey: Well, I guess I missed the part where you begged and pleaded with Bodie to stay.

Bessie: I ask him to come home every chance I get, but he knows we can't afford it. Trust me, this is now how I planned for my life to turn out.

Joey: Well, I'm really sorry if Alexander are putting a such a crimp in your lifestyle, but with any luck, I won't be here much longer to trouble you.

Bessie: That's not what I meant and you know it.

Joey: That's certainly what it sounded like.

Bessie: You know, for a girl who supposedly wants to leave Capeside as soon as she can, you sure are putting a hell of a lot of effort into this place.

Joey: You're right. Maybe it's just time I stopped.

(Outside the Potter B&B - Pacey is chopping wood. Mitch walks up.)

Mitch: Whose head was that?

Pacey: Ah, not to worry, Coach. If anybody's head belongs on the chopping block, it's mine.

Mitch: What makes you say that?

Pacey: Oh, let me count the ways, shall we? For one, it was my idea to refurbish the old furnace instead of just buying a new one.

Mitch: Guilty as charged.

Pacey: Yeah, and this is the one you're really gonna love. It was my idea to bring Herr Fricke down to our little weekend in the country.

Mitch: You did?

Pacey: Yes. I did. Let me tell ya, it was no easy feat, okay? I had to pull out all the stops on that guy, use all my dazzling people skills. And for what? A comedy of errors that's probably going to put the Sisters Potter in the poorhouse.

Mitch: You know what I think? I think that if I were Joey and Bessie, I would consider myself very lucky to have you in my life.

Pacey: Why? Everything and everybody that I touch, I screw up, all right? You're aware of the Midas touch, right? You've heard of that? Okay, well the Midas touch, whatever that is, I got the opposite.

Mitch: Don't be so sure. I mean, look at you. You're still at it, right? You haven't given up. Pace, instead of dwelling on everything that's gone wrong this weekend, so far, um... think about what you contributed. You've put a lot of selfless work into this place, right? That is the real question. Listen, that goes to the heart of who Pacey Witter is.

Pacey: What?

Mitch: What makes you care so much.

(Leery Residence - Dawson is rummaging in a closet.) Gale: The heavy wool blankets are on the top shelf.

Dawson: I got it. Hey, Mom, I'm sorry.

Gale: For what, Honey?

Dawson: For blowing up at you before. I should've been a little more sympathetic. It's just the rules of engagement keep changing on me.

Gale: Tell me about it. The post-divorce landscape is like an emotional b*ttlefield.

Dawson: What I don't understand is that you and Dad seem to really like each other, still care about each other.

Gale: Well we do, Honey. Which is what makes the knowledge that were better off apart even more difficult to bear. I mean, think about your own life.

Dawson: What about it?

Gale: You and Joey. The decision to break up it isn't made in one sitting. It's cumulative. You have to re-decide over and over each day.

(Gram's House - Jack and Andie walk into the kitchen.)

Jack: Okay, I know there's a space heater in here somewhere.

Andie: (eyeing a note on the fridge) Hey, what's Jack Milk?

Jack: What?

Andie: It says, 'get more Jack Milk.'

Jack: Oh, that's whole milk. You know, Grams is skim, Jen's one percent.

Andie: Ah everybody gets their own milk.

Jack: Yeah, Grams isn't commenting, but she runs a tight ship.

Andie: (noticing a HUGE mug on the counter) Coffee much?

Jack: No.

Andie: What's this about?

Jack: That's an inside joke, it's kind of hard to explain.

Andie: It's okay, you don't have to. I get it. I mean, you're part of a family now. Families have three types of milk and inside jokes. Why would you want to move back into that big, cold house with a man who has no idea what kind of milk you drink or what kind of play you're directing. You're really lucky.

Jack: It's you, isn't it? It's not Dad that's asking me back home, it's you.

Andie: I miss my brother, Jack. Especially when my life gets crazy and I want somebody around to share it with. And that's not meant to make you feel guilty and its not meant as a sympathetic plea. It's just the truth.

(Outside Potter B&B - Dawson and Jen sit under the stars talking.)

Jen: Gorgeous.

Dawson: It's pollution. Certain, uh, industrial pollutants make the moon appear more vivid. Right about now, some factory in Boston just released something highly toxic into the air.

Jen: You know, there was a time when you'd just see the magic in a sight like this.

Dawson: I still do, it's just... you know, I have a bitter sense of the reality behind the magic.

Jen: Can I ask you something, just for the record?

Dawson: Yeah, sure. Fire away.

Jen: When we were dating and I told you about me, my past, um what was it that you were scared of?

Dawson: I think anything that we don't know or understand can scare us, and I had certainly never known anyone with your degree of life experience. I admit that I was madly infatuated with you.

Jen: And you have one very intimidated Dawson Leery. Do you think that most other boys would react the same way?

Dawson: I'd love to say no, but honestly I don't know. I can't know how anyone's gonna react. But I can tell you, just for the record, that how I reacted was wrong. And that now I can see that the only thing more beautiful than Jen Lindley is the reality behind her magic. And I feel sorry for any guy who's too insecure to see that.

(In the B&B Living Room - The men are around the fireplace trying to light it, as Gale, Jen, Joey and Andie sit around waiting to warm up.)

Mitch: Okay, let's get that right up there. Air vents, okay? Guys, blow, blow, blow!

(The fire doesn't start.)

Jen: We're so gonna freeze.

Grams: (walking in) You'll never get it started with the hickory on the bottom. May I?

(The men look at each other before stepping back and letting Grams take over.)

Grams: (rearranging the wood) Hickory is a glorious wood, but it's a hard wood. Will never burn on its own. Soft pine goes on the bottom, oak in the middle, hickory on top. (She lights it.) There we go.

Mitch: Wow, I'm impressed.

Jen: You know, she churns her own butter, too.

Grams: Oh, I used to build a fire after dinner every night in the winter. Jennifer's Grandfather would sit in his leather chair, feet on ottoman, and read to me. Some nights we'd travel with Ahab in search of the great whale. Or some nights we'd float down the perilous river with Huck and Jim. Nearly every night, at some point in our journey, he'd fall asleep, chin on chest, book in lap, content. You know you love someone when you can spend the entire night just sitting by the fire, watching him sleep.

Gale: Sounds like you loved him very much.

Grams: Love is the hardest of woods. Takes a long, long time to heat up, but it does.

Jen: God, it smells good in here.

Grams: Hickory burning in the hearth, smells like 46 years of my life.

Dawson: They say that smell is the most powerful sense of recall that we have. It can bring back all kinds of buried experiences.

Gale: Vanilla.

Mitch: Still?

Gale: Every time I smell it... Your Father worked in a restaurant when we first started dating...

Mitch: The Franklin Family Fish House.

Gale: And every night after work, when he would come to pick me up, he always smelled like vanilla.

Mitch: Well, I used to soak my hands in it to, uhh, alleviate the smell of the cod.

Dawson: Phenylene diamine. It's the main chemical used to process film, might've been the first time I ever opened a film canister. It's an intense smell. At the time, it smelled like possibility.

Jen: Mothballs. I love the smell of mothballs. No, when class would get out at the Chapin's School in New York, um, there was this old storage room in the back of the auditorium that the drama club used to keep all their costumes and props in. God, I would spend hours in there hiding under Guinevere's skirt, wrapped in Lady Macbeth's cloak. It always seemed like, no matter what had happened or how bad the day had been or how much I thought I was falling apart, there was nothing that could get to me in there.

Jack: Kickapoo juice. It was this grape juice, and they used to hand out a cup of it at the end of every day at summer camp. And the owner of the camp, Mr. A, gave it that stupid name. We all knew it was Hi-C.

Pacey: This might sound a little goofy, but do you think it's actually possible to smell snow?

Mitch: Absolutely.

Pacey: Well, that's my first memory, then. I don't know, I was maybe two or three years old. I just distinctly remember getting up on my tippy toes so I could look through this half open window at the snow falling down on the frozen creek, and everything just blanketed in stillness.

Andie: New car. We'd go on these family trips, and dad would always request a brand new rental car. And I guess, um, that smell just reminds me of all of us traveling together down some big open highway.

Joey: Bacon. Sizzling, crackling, wafting into my bedroom while I was still asleep, starting in my dreams and coaxing me into awake.

Bessie: I know that smell.

Joey: Mom.

Bessie: Yeah.

Joey: See, every Sunday when she didn't have to work, she would make breakfast. And I would find my way down the hallway and stand next to her by the stove. And we would talk about school, and boys, and we'd take the pancake batter and pour it into tiny molds shaped like pine trees and animals. My Mom always loved to cook and take care of everyone, and hated working at that bar every night. She always told me not to worry, because eventually she was going to make enough money and she was going to open up her very own, um, her very own Bed and Breakfast. She obviously didn't get the chance to see that dream happen, so I thought I would give it a sh*t. So, thank you everyone for coming and helping us. You're the best fake guests a girl could ask for. But really, you can all go home now.

(Joey goes to leave the room and notices Mr. Fricke has been standing in the doorway for an unknown amount of time.)

Joey: Mr. Fricke, I'm really sorry this has been such a horrendous experience. I realize it's no five star B&B, but I'm pretty sure my mother would've loved it.

(Potter B&B - Joey's room, the next morning. Voices are heard in the other room, and as she wakes up, a smile crosses her face. "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is playing on the stereo as she makes her way into the kitchen. Everyone is dancing around cooking breakfast, and setting the table to eat. Some are singing along, and dropping things while they dance. Generally having a good time.)

Joey: So is someone going to tell me what's going on?

Pacey: Hey. Want some coffee? Could someone please get this lady a cup of coffee?

Joey: I thought everyone was going home.

Dawson: Well you know you sleep late, you miss a lot. Okay you've done the bed thing it's time for some breakfast

(Everyone finds a place to sit at the table. Mr. Fricke is at the head.)

Pacey: This is for you, Mr. Fricke.

Joey: Morning, everyone.

All: Morning.

Joey: Morning, Mr. Fricke.

Mr. Fricke: Morning.

Joey: You know, I know we still have a few kinks to work out. We'll probably never have the fine linens and gourmet food that you're used to.

Mr. Fricke: The heat didn't work last night... (pause) But this is one of the warmest places I've ever stayed. (gesturing towards the pancakes) And these pancakes may be the best in the county.

Andie: All right!

Joey: Um, what am I missing?

Bessie: Why, whatever do you mean?

Joey: Well, for one thing your pancakes are nowhere near this good, Bessie.

Pacey: Well, then perhaps we should pay our compliments to the chef, huh?

All: (chanting) Chef, chef, chef, chef!

Bodie: (with Alexander in tow) Now who here wants seconds?

Joey: (hugging him) Bodie? What are you doing here?

Bodie: What do you mean? I wouldn't miss this for the world!

(Bessie pulls Joey into the other room.)

Bessie: I was up for hours last night, thinking about what you said by the fire. And I went up to the attic...

Joey: Look, Bessie...

Bessie: (holding up a Guest Book) Dad gave this to Mom for Christmas ten years ago. We signed it over breakfast... her first guests. How could I have forgotten her dream?

Joey: You've had a few other things to worry about, Bessie. The lives of two kids.

Mr. Fricke: (raising his glass in a toast) To the Potter B&B! May it live long and prosper!

Pacey: Here, here.

Andie: Yah!

(Potter B&B - The Honeymoon Suite. Mitch is packing while Gale goes to put a necklace on.)

Gale: (gesturing the necklace) May I bother you?

Mitch: Yeah. (helping her with the necklace) You remember last night around the fire, that whole nostalgia vanilla thing? That brought back another memory...

Gale: The Fish Bistro.

Mitch: Yeah.

Gale: How could I ever forget that pipe dream?

Mitch: We thought that up when you were pregnant with Dawson. Leery's Fresh Fish. But you know what? I think back to that time now, before the teaching and the coaching, that wasn't really my dream at all. It was yours.

Gale: Well, I don't know about that...

Mitch: I'm not saying that you bailed on it or anything, I mean, it's not your fault you were more successful doing something else. Anyway, I know that you're interviewing with a lot of different stations and everything, but there is this little empty place by the river. I, um, came across it the other day and wrote the number down, just in case you wanted to take a look at it. (hands her a little slip of paper)

Gale: Thank you, Mitch, but that dream was so very long ago.

Mitch: Seems like yesterday to me.

(The Dock - Henry and Jen are sitting and talking.)

Henry: So this is why you brought me here?

Jen: Henry, I just shared with you all the events of my sordid past, a veritable laundry list of sexual crimes and misdemeanors.

Henry: Yeah?

Jen: So, so you're not acting disgusted or self-righteous or intimidated or even agog?

Henry: Why would I be any of those things?

Jen: Because that's how boys always react.

Henry: Whatever you did before is part of what makes you who you are. And I'm thankful for that.

Jen: Did you just say what I think you said?

Henry: Whatever it was, I think I did, yeah.

Jen: Who are you, Henry Parker?

(Outside Potter B&B - Pacey is helping Dawson with his camcorder.)

Dawson: Pacey, do you have any idea what you're doing?

Pacey: Well, I have put a lens cap on before, yeah.

Dawson: I meant just in general. Everything's changing so rapidly, I'm having troubles finding my bearings, you know?

Pacey: I'll second that emotion.

Dawson: You know, I lay awake at night on my bed staring at my walls, which are now blank except for a Lennon poster, trying to imagine the future... and it's as blank as the walls. All I can see is a past that's barely recognizable anymore. Perfect example... you.

Pacey: Me?

Dawson: Yeah, you concocted this whole metamorphosis. You used to be glib and predictable. I don't know, I mean I thought it was, you know, your relationship with Andie, but now you're not with her and still... I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you.

Pacey: For what, man?

Dawson: For doing what I asked you to do: taking care of Joey. You really went above and beyond the call. I mean, you did something really special for her. I'm glad she has you.

Pacey: Let me tell you something, Man. It's no picnic, okay? That Potter girl, she ain't easy, alright? She's physically incapable of keeping her mouth shut for more than two seconds at a time. She's got an opinion about everything. I mean, it's uncanny, alright? So anytime you want to jump back in there, you just let me know, because I am eager to return to our regularly scheduled programming. That good enough for you?

Dawson: That'll do fine, Pace.

(Potter B&B Porch - Jen and Grams walk outside with the luggage when Jack walks up.) Grams: (singing) Sunshine all over the place, just put on a happy face.

Jen: Did you mix your red pills with your blue ones today?

Grams: I like that song. Ahh.

Jen: Oh, just in time to carry our bags.

Jack: Uh, listen there's something I want to talk through with you guys if you have a second.

Jen: Absolutely. What is it?

Jack: Okay, uh, Andie is, um, Andie's giving me the hard sell about moving back home.

Jen: Well, what about your Dad?

Jack: As much as I thought it was, my moving back home doesn't really have anything to do with my Dad. He's not there half the time anyway. It's about Andie. You see, when you guys invited me last summer to stay with you, I didn't have anything or anyone. And it was so generous of both of you and it's not that you just offered me a home, it was the act of reminding me that somebody cared about me when I didn't really feel like I deserved it. And now Andie needs to be reminded of that. I'm her brother. So look, I'm sorry. I want you to think that I appreciate everything and you did so much for me and I...

Jen: Go home, Jack. Go home.

(Group hug! The following scenes are a montage of everyone. Music plays in the background.)

Pacey: Potter? Potter, look, I talked to the furnace guy. He said he could come by tomorrow if you didn't...

(Pacey finds Joey asleep on the couch under a blanket. He walks over and kneels to the floor next to the couch as he covers her. After staring at her for a moment, he walks away. Outside of the B&B, Bessie, Bodie and Alexander sit on a blanket, looking at the stars. Henry and Jen sit on the docks talking. Gale is walking along a pier, when she comes across the property that Mitch told her about. Jack is packing his things up in his room at Gram's house, for his move back to his father's house. Dawson lays on his bed, staring up at his 'Imagine' poster. Joey is still asleep under the blanket, the room lit only by the fireplace. Pacey sits in the armchair across from her, watching her sleep. A look of contentment and awe is on his face. It's obvious he could sit there all night.)