Now or Never

a Dawson's creek story

Pairings: Joey/Charlie; Pacey/Audrey; Dawson/Madisyn

Plot Summary: My story goes AU after " Separate Ways (worlds apart)" It has Joey going with Charlie instead of him leaving without her. Joey takes the rest of the semester off and the summer to be with Charlie, leaving her friends behind and baffled

Rating: PG-13 to R

Season: End of season 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Maddy. Everything else belongs to Kevin.

Chapter one

Joey was faced with an impossible decision. Did she go on the road with a guy she barely even knew? Or did she pick the safe route, and stay at Worthington? She had no idea which she should pick, but she only had two hours to make her decision. She was about to have dinner with her friends, in which Charlie was tagging along with her. He was wanting to spend as much time with her as possible before he left, and she honestly didn't want to be away from him. At first, she was wanting him to just go away, and leave. Somehow, he'd managed to get underneath her skin, and she didn't like it. Dawson was back from his Spring Break trip, so everyone was getting together at Jen and Jack's place for a supper. She really needed to talk to Audrey, because she didn't know what to do. It wasn't fair, that they'd just started this relationship, and now he was leaving. He was being nice, though, and not mentioning his immanent departure. They walking towards the house hand in hand. It wasn't going to be pleasant, because Jen and Dawson hated Charlie, but Joey really didn't care. Jack had told her to bring him along, and that's exactly what she was going to do. She looked over at him, and he smiled at her. It was as if he was reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. She sure hoped it was going to be.

They got to the front door, and with her free hand, Joey rang the bell. It was Pacey who answered the door, and he smiled at them, and moved aside to let them in.

" We were beginning to wonder if you were going to get here. Dinner is about ready, and we were so not going to wait on you two. Charlie, glad you could make it. I understand that you're leaving tonight, right?" Joey rolled her eyes. Leave it to Pacey to say the things you were trying to avoid. Charlie nodded at Pacey.

" Yup, we're going on tour for a few months. We're opening for a really awesome band, so we'll get a lot of attention, and maybe a record deal. I tried to get Joey to go with me, but she won't do it. I'm sure gonna miss her, and I was hoping you guys would stay in touch with me." Pacey nodded and patted Charlie on the back.

" Oh absolutely Charlie, only because you're going to get famous, and I can say I knew you once." This made even Joey crack a smile. They walked into the living room, where Jack, Dawson, and Audrey were. Jen was in the kitchen helping her Grams with dinner. Dawson didn't say anything at the sight of Joey and Charlie, but his face did harden, and he soon excused himself from the room. Jack cleared his throat to break the tension.

" Come on guys, sit down. Joey, don't worry about Dawson, he'll be okay." Joey nodded and sat down on the couch with Charlie. Joey tried to get Audrey's attention, but it didn't work. Jack on the other hand did see her look, and spoke up.

" Hey Joey, could you and Audrey help me with something in my room?" Audrey looked up completely surprised by this statement, but seeing Joey's eagerness to do so, she quickly stood up, leaving Pacey and Charlie in the living room.

When they got in Jack's room, they shut the door, and looked at Joey. It appeared as if Jack wasn't going to leave Joey alone to talk to Audrey, which was fine. Jack moved his hands as if to say, 'lets move this along', and spoke up.

" I saw the look you were throwing Audrey, so I figured I'd help you out, plus I'm not going to miss this." Joey had to smile at him.

" The thing is, I need advice. Charlie asked me to go on tour with him, not as a singer, but his girlfriend. At first, it didn't seem like such an attractive offer, but we've spent the past week together, and I don't want him to go. I don't know what to do. I'm sure I could defer Worthington for a semester, and not have any problems, but do I wanna do that?" They had all sat down on Jack's bed while Joey was talking. Audrey was the first one to speak up.

" I think you should go, Jo. Sure, I'll miss the crap out of you, but you should be happy. This has been a really rough year for you, and I think you should go. Plus, you never do anything wild, and this will give you a chance to blow off some steam." Joey smiled at Audrey's attempt to make her smile. She turned her head towards Jack.

" I'm not so sure about this one. He was awful to Jen, but he seems to be a lot different towards you. You've been semi seeing him for awhile now, and he hasn't made a pass at you has he?" Joey shrugged.

" He's made some comments to me, but nothing too bad." Jack nodded.

" Well, maybe Audrey is right. I have an even better idea for you than deferring for semester. You could take the classes online, and that way you wouldn't be behind us when you came back." Joey sighed.

" So, both of you think I should go? I really want to, I just don't know if I could do something like that. It's nothing I've ever done before, but I think I'm going to really miss him when he leaves." Before they could say anything else, Jen opened the door.

" Come on guys, dinner is ready. I want to get this over with, because I really don't like having Charlie in my house." With that said, she turned on her heel, and walked out of the room. Jack just shook his head, and patted Joey on the back.

They all sat around the dining room table, which was full from everyone being there. Grams smiled at everyone and asked if everyone would let her say a blessing. They all agreed, and the meal began. Jen kept throwing glares at Charlie through the whole meal. Dawson didn't speak through the whole thing, which left Jack, Pacey, and Audrey trying to hold a conversation. Joey and Charlie were in there own little world of each other. He leaned in to whisper to her.

" Wow, it's really tense in here. I have a feeling that there are a few people who don't want me here, which is understandable." Joey smiled at him, and leaned in towards him.

" Charlie, don't worry about it. We have to leave in about an hour so you can go pack. I still can't believe you put off packing until now. I think it's cute, and annoying at the same time." Charlie smiled at her, and kissed her on the cheek.

" I only did it so you could come back with me. I told you I want to spend every second I have left with you. I'm gonna miss you, Potter." She sighed and looked away.

" I'm sad to say, that I'm actually going to miss you, charlie." He grinned.

" I've been waiting for you to tell me that! If you tell me to, I'll stay right here, Joey."

Joey shook her head at him. She refused to let him throw away this opportunity. Before she could say anything, Jen spoke up.

" Okay, I can't do this anymore. Joey, I can't believe you're sitting there, having a cutesy conversation with him. You know what kind of person he is. I'm just wondering if this is retaliation on me for sleeping with Dawson." At this statement everyone at the table shook their heads, except for Joey.

" I told you once, Jen, it has nothing to do with you at all. I've gotten to know Charlie, and he's not like you told me. Sure, at first he through the cheesy lines at me, but I saw through that, and he's had to show me his true self...mostly." Jen threw her fork down and got up.

" I don't know why you're kidding yourself, Joey. You just want some attention, so you're going after Charlie. I just never thought you could be so stupid." Charlie spoke up then.

" You know, Jen, you don't even know me. We went out for like three weeks, and it was over. The only thing we did the whole time was sleep together. I've been trying for over a month for Joey to pay attention to me, and now she is. We've been hanging out for about a month now, and we haven't slept together, not even close. If I was trying to use her, don't you think I'd have moved on by now?" Jen shook her head.

" No, I don't charlie, because that's just a challenge for you." Everyone in the room, looked up at Jen in shock. Joey was very angry, because she stood up in her spot and leaned over the table.

" Jen, I still don't understand why you care so much. You're not my friend, and we never really have been friends. I think I'll be going now. Mrs. Ryan, thank you for a lovely evening." With that she walked away from the table, leaving Charlie to follow her. Charlie and Joey were about to walk through the door, when Dawson stopped her. Charlie kissed her hand and excused himself outside to wait for her.

" What is it, Dawson? Have you come to lecture me too?" He ran his hand through his hair, and sighed in frustration.

" I just can't believe you're doing this. Jen is only trying to look out for you, and you're being a brat about it. You know Charlie is only going to hurt you, leaving us to pick up the pieces." Joey laughed at this.

" As if I'd come to you for that reason, Dawson. We haven't really been best friends since I got on that boat with Pacey. I've been spending a lot of time with Charlie, and I'm usually a good judge of character. Plus, you won't have to worry about me coming back to you guys. I'm going with Charlie." With this said Joey walked out of the house, leaving everyone stunned by her remark. She vaguely heard Audrey squeel.