Dawson's Creek s04e15 Episode Script

Four Stories

So we're okay with everything? -Totally and completely.
-Awesome.
But what if we had gone through with it? What if l hadn't stopped our ill-conceived fumblings? What if l had gotten pregnant, we had to drop out of school senior year to raise our illegitimate love child? Well, then there would come a day where we'd have to sit down and explain to our said love child that Mom and Dad can't have sex unless Daddy's thinking about Ryan Phillippe.
Hey.
l mean, don't think l wouldn't be thinking about him too.
Are there any other delinquent acts you care to commit before we embark on our journey home? No, sir.
No.
So, what's it gonna be? My punishment.
'' Punishment'' is the wrong word, Miss Lindley.
What l have in mind for you may just be the chicken soup your soul has been so obviously crying out for.
But, sir, l mean, they were only, like, airplane bottle-- What?! Kudos are in order, Mr.
Valentine.
Your tardy arrival has now put us off schedule entirely.
What part of ''we leave at 6:30 a.
m.
sharp'' were you not listening to? That's great.
But before we continue this discussion -could we stop at a Starbucks? -Get on the bus, punk.
Where are Joey Potter and Pacey Witter? -Probably off sucking face.
-Tell me about it.
Now l have to look for them, which is not on the schedule.
-Mr.
Kasdan.
-Yes? Looks like you were right.
lt's disgusting, isn't it? l was thinking more along the lines of something that required silverware.
Hey, bus tickets cost money, woman.
And you had me pay for that call to Gretchen.
So how's coffee and crackers sound? Lovely.
So.
You tell Bessie? Tell Bessie what? Does the word ''duh'' mean anything to you? About last night.
What exactly was l supposed to say, Pace? lf you say that l'm a woman now, l will vomit on you.
Okay, fine.
Well, what about Gretchen? Yeah.
'' Hey, Gretchen, sorry we missed the bus back.
By the way, your brother deflowered me last night.
Gotta go.
'' Do l strike you as the type of person who enjoys discussing my boyfriend's sexual prowess with his siblings? Okay, point taken.
But let me just pose this hypothetical.
Let's say you enjoyed discussing your boyfriend's sexual prowess.
What do you think you might say? About what? About the prowess? Yeah.
About the prowess.
Just when l think you're the antithesis of the typical male, there you are dragging your knuckles with the rest of the primates.
Never underestimate a primate's desire to hear about his abilities in the sack.
Pop-Tart? Come on.
Pick one.
Pick the other one.
l know it's not the most equal of exchanges, virginity for chocolate.
l thought l should get you something to commemorate the event.
lf l had known there were prizes, l would've asked for a car.
Nothing too expensive.
Just, you know, something to tool around in.
-How about the Witter Wagoneer? -The Witter Wagoneer? Do l look like some two-bit floozy to you? -No, you don't.
-No? No.
To tell you the truth, l don't think you've ever looked more beautiful.
You're easy.
Because l didn't even get a chance to shower this morning.
Apparently you didn't brush your teeth either.
This from the morning-breath monster himself? Oh, man, l could do this.
-What? -This.
The back and forth, the sweetness and the sarcasm.
l could do this for the rest of my life, you know? With you as my partner in irreverence.
Have you stopped to think that maybe you're just the first of many, Pace? Then l guess l have to be satisfied with being the Neil Armstrong of the bunch.
Typically when couples engage in the sort of activity we engaged in last night there's some sort of morning-after discussion.
-About what? -Well, it's a bit like a post-game wrap-up.
l see.
You want to know if you were any good.
Well, l'd really rather know if it was good for you.
Of course.
You being Pacey Witter friend to woman and all.
Precisely.
lt was very nice.
lt was nice? Yes.
Just '' nice,'' huh? What's wrong with nice? There's nothing wrong with nice.
There's nothing wrong with ''great.
'' There's nothing offensive about ''mind-blowing'' or ''transcendent.
'' Sorry, Pace, l left my thesaurus at home.
l didn't know l would get yelled at for my vocabulary.
l'm not too worried about your vocabulary.
Maybe nice means everything to me, Pacey.
Maybe nice is all a girl can manage the morning after her first time because it's not something l've experienced before so l can't sit here and say that something is great or mind-blowing if l have nothing to compare to.
Because there are certain benchmarks in the sexual experience.
What do you mean? Certain things happen or don't happen over the course of the evening-- -Are you asking me if l--? -Yes! -Can we please not talk about that? -Why? Because it's not important.
lt might not be to you, but it's really important to me.
This isn't all about you, you know.
You feel insecure? Do you have any idea what it's like to be me this morning? No, l don't understand.
Of course you don't.
Well, maybe you'd like to enlighten me, then.
Did you ever stop and think that maybe l might be wondering how l measure up? How l fit into the picture that includes not only one but two prior sexual relationships both of which meant a great deal to you? l didn't know girls thought like that.
Does the word ''duh'' mean anything? Jo, you were great.
-Great? -Yes, great.
-Which is a lot better than nice.
-But completely beside the point.
Jo, you were great.
You were fantastic.
You were every glowing adjective under the sun.
l want to tell the world what l did last night and who l did it with.
You're not planning on doing that, are you? -No, but.
-Good.
Why is that good? Because it's private.
And l really want to keep it that way.
l don't want the whole world to know about our sex life.
l think l get it.
By ''the whole world,'' what you mean is Dawson.
Why does it have to be about that? l don't want to hurt him -more than l already have.
-l don't want to hurt him, either.
l don't.
But l want to be able to have sex with my girlfriend whom l adore without having to worry about the repercussions of him finding out.
Let me ask you one question, Jo: What would you say to him? lf he were here right now and asked, what would you tell him? Well, l would have to tell him the truth.
And you'd do that? Yes, absolutely.
You wanna know something funny? You haven't touched me.
What? You haven't touched me all morning.
And here l was thinking that sex brought people closer together.
You wanna know why it was so nice, Pacey? You probably don't even remember but there was this thing.
There you were, above me, and you.
You brushed my hair over my forehead.
lt felt really nice.
Made me feel safe.
Like no matter what, you were gonna be there and you were gonna protect me.
Years from now, when l look back l'm really not gonna remember the clumsy positioning or the morning-after awkwardness or whether or not the experience itself met the textbook definition of great sex.
l'm gonna remember how sweet you were.
How you took me to this brand-new place.
Pace, l'm glad l had sex.
And l'm really glad that l had sex with you.
But now l really just kind of wanna go home.
So we can do it again.
lt's gonna get better, l promise.
So, what does Grams want, anyway? l don't know.
She told me to meet her here.
She said she'd be in the garage.
Prop from one of Arthur's pictures.
Maybe l could use this to keep my granddaughter in line.
l had no idea he kept all this stuff.
Oh, he collected all this over the years.
Sought it out, piece by piece.
No matter what he might have said, Arthur was fiercely proud of what he accomplished in his career.
lt was a lovely service, wasn't it? Yeah, quite a turnout too.
lt was a lovely service, Mrs.
Ryan.
How can we help? Arthur mentioned he didn't want this stuff collecting dust.
l thought we might donate it somewhere.
lf you have any suggestions, Dawson.
What's the point? Nobody knows he existed.
Maybe there's something you would like, something to remember him by.
No, let me.
l'm sorry, Dawson.
l know this can't be easy for you.
lt's not.
That doesn't give me any right to be rude.
l'm sorry.
l apologize.
Oh, there's no need.
Everyone deals with death in his own way.
Some cry, some pray, some get angry at the world.
There is no right or wrong.
Why would you want to be here today? lt's completely morbid.
Why would anybody want to subject themselves to this? Dawson, you and l have lost a very dear friend and the pain of that loss isn't going to disappear any time soon.
lt will pass, slowly, at its own pace and there's precious little you or l can do about it.
lf there's anything l've learned at my somewhat-advanced age it's the importance of closure in the grieving process.
l don't think it's lack of closure that's bothering me.
What is it, then? l don't know.
Maybe you should spend some time with him with his space, with his things find a way to say goodbye.
Maybe that will help you figure things out.
Look what l found.
''Delia and George by Arthur Brooks.
'' This looks like a screenplay.
No, it's not.
lt's a play, actually.
lt says 1 949.
He was my age when he wrote this.
'' l'm hopping mad at you, George.
'' Come on.
lt'll be fun.
Whatever for, dear? Because l find you to be a rather irritating fellow.
Well, is there anything l can do to make it better? You might go jump in that lake over there.
-But that would ruin my suit.
-Which would be a fitting punishment.
For loving a skirt like you? Funny, l thought l was a dame.
No, my dear, you're a skirt.
Most definitely a skirt.
Sorry, it was in the script.
Damn.
l thought you were improvising.
That was sweet.
Brooks was sweet.
Yeah.
Yeah, he was.
Once upon a time, before he gave up.
Five people showed up for his funeral.
Five.
You, me, my parents and Grams.
Which means three of the people barely knew him.
lf l hadn't crashed his boat nobody would have showed up.
l'm sorry, l find that pathetic.
l don't think Mr.
Brooks needs your pity, Dawson.
This is a guy who saw his wildest dreams come true.
That's a lot more than most of us get.
Yeah, and this is what he has to show for it? -What do you mean? -Look around you.
This is it.
This-- l mean, this is an entire life.
lt all comes down to this.
Stuff.
A garage full of stuff.
Now you sound like him.
Which is exactly what scares me.
Because at some point he decided it was easier to stop caring.
By the time he woke up, it was too late.
What's to prevent us from ending up like that? That's not you, Dawson.
-That would never be you.
-You don't know that.
l mean, how can you be sure? l lost the girl, just like he did.
Yeah, and you picked yourself up, you dusted yourself off and you took a chance.
Look, so what if he screwed up, you know? So what if he was a coward for more years than he was a hero? ln the end, he got it right.
Do you know when l realized my feelings for you were more than platonic? lt was that stupid movie.
-What movie? -The one we watched in your room.
Turn Away My Sweet.
Watching you watch that movie seeing you come alive in a way l've never seen you before.
ln that moment l knew l wanted to be part of your life in this bigger and better way.
l mean, in some weird way, Dawson, Mr.
Brooks brought us together.
l like you.
-Oh, God.
Why? -Because you're smart, you're funny and you always know what to say to make me feel better.
You're beautiful.
Beautiful in a way that makes me remember old-time movie stars like the ones in Brooks' movies.
All style and grace.
Plus, you smell good.
-l do? -Yeah, not in a perfume-y way but in a really '' pretty girl'' kind of way.
You have no idea what you're doing, do you? -No.
-Good, keep it that way.
The second you become aware of how charming you are you're gonna use your powers for evil.
-Gretchen, would you mind? -You wanna be alone.
-How'd you know? -Because l'm an awesome girlfriend.
-Make that an awesome skirt.
-l like that.
-l'll be outside.
-Okay.
-Just do me a favour.
-What? When you remember Brooks remember that great big thumping heart of his.
Remember how sweet he was to Grams.
Remember when he saw us under the mistletoe, he told you to: ''Quit flirting and kiss her already.
'' Remember that guy, Dawson.
Dawson? Dawson Leery? -Can l help you? -Oh, l'm sorry to bother you.
The young lady outside told me l could find you in here.
l'm Patrick Felker.
l'm handling the Arthur Brooks estate.
-Nice to meet you.
-My pleasure.
l was hoping that you'd come by my office this afternoon.
-What for? -lt's regarding Mr.
Brooks' will.
-What does that have to do with me? -Well, why don't you drop by and we'll talk.
Okay.
So who was this guy anyway? -What do you mean? -l don't know.
-Was he a movie star or something? -No, he was a.
He was a pain in the ass.
To be honest with you, he was a.
A grumpy, misanthropic, smarter-than-thou pain in the ass.
Barely a kind word for anybody who ever crossed his path.
But he was a.
He was a friend of mine and l'm gonna miss him.
Yeah, well, this afternoon then.
Okay.
-Hi.
-Jennifer? Yes, Jen.
-Tom Frost.
-Nice to meet you.
Oh, yeah.
l apologize for the mess.
Yeah, you might want to work on it.
Have a seat.
l take it you've never been in therapy.
You take it right.
Which is actually surprising, given my sordid history.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Oh, this is weird.
-So how are you today? -Fine.
Anything else you'd like to know? Why don't we talk about why you're here.
Do we have to? Why do you think you need to be here? Actually l don't think l need to be here.
-Then why are you? -l'm sure they told you.
Well, from what l understand, there have been some disciplinary issues.
All right.
See, l was on this ski trip and a teacher caught me throwing away empty liquor bottles.
-So you were drinking? -Yeah.
-ls that bad? -Depends why you were doing it.
l had just been through this really big ordeal with my best friend, Jack.
We'd almost slept together but l had put the kibosh on it, which is good because he's a homosexual, which is.
lt's not healthy.
Not him being a homosexual but sleeping with a homosexual.
l keep saying '' homosexual.
'' l sound like my grandmother.
Gay.
Gay.
Gay.
You could be gay.
Are you gay? ls that important to you? Just making conversation.
-Why do you think you drink? -Well, l don't usually.
-But you do sometimes? -Yeah, sure.
Sometimes.
Not like l'm an alcoholic.
-But you like to drink? -Yeah, who doesn't? Okay, what are you writing? l'm taking notes.
-Do l get a copy? -No.
-How long do these things go for? -Fifty minutes.
-Give or take? -Precisely.
What happens if we dig up some real juicy stuff? -That's what next week is for.
-Excuse me, that seems kind of cold.
-What do you do with the 1 0 minutes? -l rest up for the next patient.
Wait a minute.
You rest? Well, excuse me but you don't seem to be exerting yourself that much.
-Where'd you go to school? -Why is that important to you? Well, it's not, really.
Actually, it's not really important to me at all.
l'm just curious.
High school senior.
College on the brain.
You don't want to answer it's fine with me.
Oh, Boston.
l think that's kind of crooked.
Why don't l fix it for you? l don't want you breaking out in a rash.
Oh, my God! Oh, shoot! Oh, my God, l'm so sorry.
lt's okay.
lt's okay, Jennifer.
-l'll take care of it later.
Leave it.
-l really apologize.
Leave it.
You know, you're a lot younger than l thought you would be.
How old are you? l know.
''Why is it important to me?'' Forget l asked.
-Why don't we talk about your parents.
-Oh, yeah.
l was a bit of a wild child so my parents, they shipped me off to live with my grandmother.
-How's that been for you? -Fine.
Fine but crappy.
But l'm over it, honestly.
l've dealt with this stuff and.
So my parents are less than perfect.
What am l gonna do? l've got my grandmother, my friends.
They help me through all the rough spots.
l'm gonna be honest with you.
l don't think l'm a person that benefits from therapy.
l feel as though l'm relatively self-aware.
Yes, well, teenagers often confuse knowledge with wisdom.
-What's that mean? -What do you think? You think l'm stupid.
-ls that what you heard me say? -Yeah.
Well, l'm sorry if you feel like l've offended you.
Whatever.
-Busted.
-Excuse me? l saw you look at the clock.
Am l boring you? -Of course not.
-lf l'm boring you, let me know.
You know what? -This is not gonna work out.
-What do you mean? l mean that we're not a very good match for each other.
You're not a warm person.
ls that the relationship you expect from your therapist? What we're trying to do is based around talking.
-You're not very easy to talk to.
-That's something we need to work on.
No, that's something that you should work on.
Perhaps.
-Wow, a victory.
-ls that important to you? -To win? -l knew that was coming.
You didn't answer my question.
There's just another more irritating one looming on the horizon.
You should go.
And l'd like to, but l can't.
Of course you can.
l'll tell your school that you fulfilled the requirement.
-Really, you're gonna do that? -Absolutely.
All right then.
lt was good to meet you, Jennifer.
Nice meeting you too.
Okay, l'm just gonna ask.
Am l totally screwed up? lt's probably too early for me to guess.
-Take care.
-But were l to hazard one, l'd say the smart, sarcastic exterior masks a scared, lonely young woman whose relationship with her parents has scarred her in many ways.
She has a hard time trusting people, men, especially.
Who can blame her? When parental ties are severed it can send a person searching for love and acceptance in destructive ways which may explain your relationship with drugs, alcohol and a best friend whose sexuality prevents him from ever fully returning your affections.
But all that is really just dime-store psychobabble.
Truth is, we don't really know why you're here yet.
But l would love to help you find out.
You got me for the hour.
l'm not promising anything.
And don't think l didn't catch that reverse psychology you just pulled.
Why don't we start with your friends.
Okay.
Friends.
Well, l guess it really just started about two years ago.
lt was the day before my first day of my sophomore year and l'd just moved from New York City and.
l don't know, l got out of the cab and there they were.
They were right in the middle of making this movie.
Dawson? -Joey.
-What are you doing here? l just kind of felt like getting lost in a crowd, l guess.
What about you? l guess l had the same impulse.
Look, l'm so sorry about everything.
Yeah, thanks.
These past few days have sucked in ways l didn't know were possible.
-But, hey, how was the ski trip? -Oh, you know, it was fine.
Did l miss anything exciting? Jen bruised her foot.
Well, as Brooks was fond of saying, '' l'll alert the media.
'' You and Pacey have fun? Yeah.
Like l said, you know -everything was fine.
-Good.
Good.
Shall we? -Dawson-- -Yeah, what? -Never mind.
-No, what were you gonna say? Would you rather maybe go someplace and talk? Yeah, l would like that.
Me too.
Can l tell you something? lt's not a secret but l haven't told anybody else yet.
Of course.
Mr.
Brooks put me in his will.
Really? -Does that mean--? -That he left me money? -Yeah.
-You're kidding me.
-l couldn't be kidding you less.
-What are you gonna do with it? Well, apparently, l have to do something great with it.
The proviso in his will reads, and l quote: '' Mr.
Leery, this is the money with which one achieves greatness so don't go blowing it on women and booze.
But should that be your choice, make sure it's great women and booze.
'' Well, no pressure there.
l mean, l guess l could pay my entire college tuition.
You could make a movie.
Yeah, l could.
lt feels weird thinking about how l'd spend it, though.
-lt'd be one thing if l'd won the lottery.
-l understand.
What? You seem different.
-l do? -Yeah.
You look different too.
ls it your hair or something? -No.
No.
-lt's not bad different it's good different, it's just.
l don't know.
You wanna get out of here? Sure.
-The last time we were here.
-Was a very different time.
And to think we thought things were complicated then.
Oh, boy.
Little did we know, huh? -Dawson, l'm really sorry.
-Jo.
lt's okay.
-l've dealt with it from every angle.
-No, not about that.
l should've been there for you this weekend.
lt's okay.
Please, don't worry about it, really.
Dawson.
You've been in hell the last three days and l should have been there giving you everything that you've given me.
Where was l? lt's just.
l've made some big choices and some big decisions and sometimes l feel like l'm gonna wake up one day and realize that all there ever really was was friendship.
And if l wasn't any good at that then where does that leave me? Jo, you're not a bad friend.
l don't get to say it much anymore but you're my best friend.
You always were.
No matter where you are no matter where life may take you, and no matter who you're with.
You'll always have a piece of my heart.
Something like that.
Yeah.
-Doesn't have to be a huge piece.
-No.
-Not a huge piece.
-Just, you know.
-Just enough.
-A tiny piece.
Yeah, you're funny.
Joey, this is your coffee.
More sugar with a little bit of coffee mixed in.
Well, l.
l guess this is good night.
lt may sound silly, but thank you for a lovely night.
-Yeah, we'll have to do it again.
-Yeah.
-Good night.
-Good night, Jo.
-Dawson-- -Joey-- -You first.
-No.
You first.
Did something happen on the ski trip? -What do you mean? -Well, l have this feeling this kind of unshakable feeling that something happened.
lt's just a feeling and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but.
What are you asking me? l'm asking you if you slept with Pacey.
-lt's kind of personal, don't you think? -lt's really personal.
What if l was to stand here and ask you if you've slept with Gretchen? The answer would be no.
But you're right, it's very personal and it's none of my business, and l apologize.
-l'm sorry.
-Okay.
You know, Jo, l guess l just.
l want you to know that l'm not holding in anything that we might have said in the past.
Okay? l mean.
l want you to live your life and be happy and enjoy everything that goes along with that.
And sometimes you make a promise and you mean it at the time but then life gets in the way and it makes it impossible to keep.
A couple years ago, if someone were to tell me that we'd be standing here having this conversation l would have referred them to the nearest asylum.
But things aren't turning out the way that l necessarily thought they would.
A couple years ago, if you would've asked me who the first person l was going to have sex with was l would've answered unequivocally: '' Dawson Leery, that's who.
'' The possibility of sleeping with anybody else never even occurred to me.
Especially not Pacey.
So, what are you saying, Jo? No.
l have not slept with Pacey.
You.
l'm sorry, that was a sigh of relief you just heard.
Well, good night.
Good night, Jo.

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