10 Reasons To Love Pacey And Joey From Dawson's Creek

Mid-20 to mid-30 year olds, rejoice! This list is less about Joey, and more about why Pacey was the best man of the new millennium. Joshua Jackson via the year 2000... swooning!

10. The Second Kiss

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The first kiss is passionate and unexpected, awakening feelings that Joey knows will have lasting effects on her friendship with Dawson. She tries to ignore the truth, but admits to Pacey that she feels what he feels, and he gives her 10 seconds to stop him from kissing her for the second time. She gives in to the desire, and their love begins.

9. The Telltale Teasing

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Since childhood, Pacey has mercilessly teased Josephine Potter, his best friend's best friend. Early in the first season, it is clear why - Pacey asks Dawson if he can pursue Joey. The looks of longing begin, coupled with jokes and comments at her expense. The back-and-forth jabs at one another continue throughout the many forms of their relationship, all in good fun!

8. Renting the Wall

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Pacey always has a way of challenging Joey to go beyond her comfort zone. When she gives up on her school mural that is defaced, he whitewashes it and pushes her to start over. This leads him to rent a brick wall in town and give Joey a bucket of paint. While Joey drags her feet regarding the decision to disappoint Dawson and follow her heart with Pacey, time is running out on the lease for the wall. Pacey uses the empty wall to send a message to Joey: ask me to stay so we can be together. Otherwise, he'll sail away on the True Love for the summer.

7. "I Remember Everything"

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During junior prom, Pacey comments on the earrings Dawson borrowed from his mother for Joey to wear. They aren't her style, he exclaims, but her mother's simple, elegant bracelet signifies her perfectly. When Joey is surprised that Pacey remembers the day he first saw her wear the bracelet, thereby learning it had been her mother's, he responds that he remembers everything. It really connects with our own experiences of love, doesn't it? Everything about that person becomes of utmost importance, and we remember everything....

6. Summer on the True Love

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At the last moment (of course), Dawson finally sets Joey free to make her choice, and she runs to the docks, where Pacey is preparing to set sail for a summer away from Capeside. Instead of 'asking him to stay,' she declares her love for him and requests to come aboard. Family and friends can live without her, but she can't live without Pacey (awe). The two sail off into the sunset, the practical and cautious Joey throwing caution to the wind for her chance to find happiness. This is a pinnacle moment in the Pacey and Joey story, but not the last time Pacey inspires her to do something brave.

5. Patient Pacey Waits for Joey

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Their relationship blossoms during the summer at sea, and for nine months, Joey grapples with the decision to give herself fully to Pacey. He patiently waits, never pushing or loving her any less. It takes a moment of clarity from Dawson for her to accept that it is okay to give this gift to anyone other than her childhood best friend, but her reasons for choosing Pacey are sound. She tells him how beautifully he shows his love for her, and with that disclosure a new world opens up in front of them. Joey is forever changed, more mature and more confident (which proves part of a future problem, sadly).

4. No Ultimatum

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When Dawson finds out about Pacey and Joey, he forces Joey to choose between a continued friendship with him and a relationship with Pacey. For some time, Joey puts up with Dawson's selfish ultimatum. On the day of Pacey's departure on the True Love, Joey sheds tears in front of Dawson, at which point he finally does the right thing and "sets her free." Throughout this entire ordeal, Pacey never asks Joey to choose between the two. He simply tries his best to make it easier on her. This shows the difference between her two love interests, and Pacey comes out on top based on maturity.

3. Unconditionally Supportive

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Pacey actively supports Joey's dream of going to a great university, even though he knows it will take her away from him. He acknowledges that their paths are winding in different directions, set off by his rejection into college and barely graduating high school, while Joey prepares for university with increasing confidence. She no longer needs him to hold her hand at university events or give her pep talks before a speech at graduation. He begins to hate himself deeply and feels so inadequate that he can't stand being around her. Their relationship abruptly crashes down around them at senior prom, when Pacey unleashes his darkest thoughts on her in front of the school. She is understanding and loving, even after the heartbreak, and they are able to remain friends.

2. She Makes Him Want to Be A Better Man

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Pacey explains that he can't be with Joey while he hates himself for his failures, her love for him seemingly unwarranted in his eyes. A couple of years later, Joey comments that every guy she is with runs away from her, either to seek his dreams in Hollywood, pursue his passions for literature, or sail off into far waters. Pacey sets her straight, telling her that she is the kind of woman that makes a man want to be better, want to be worthy of her. Following this conversation, Pacey admits to a drunk Joey that he has never stopped loving her. It is left to us to know that his path up til now has been towards some kind of success, lately his success as a stockbroker, in his search for self-worth.

1. True Love Wins

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Post-university Joey must finally make a decision in order to fulfill Jen Linley's death wish in the very last episode of Dawson's Creek. It seems that both Dawson and Pacey have accepted the fact that she got away from them for good, but Pacey still loves her - think of the scene when she walks into his restaurant as it rains, and Pacey's heart stops for a moment. His last declaration of his intense feelings for her includes him setting her free to never come back to him and to move on with her life. It is as much to allow himself to move on as it is for her. Beyond his wildest dreams, the closing scene of the series unveils her choice: she chooses Pacey for her future. Yay, happy ending!