The Crying Game

The Crying Game by: Kathryn

Rating: SAME AS THE DAMN SHOW

Summary: Do I have to tell you?! Well I'm not gonna! SO THERE! (READ Conspiracy Theory, The Favor, The Big Green, and Fierce Creatures)

The Crying Game

Setting: Dawson's bedroom
Characters: Dawson and Pacey (Joey and Jen enter later)

(The sounds of Pacey's even breathing are starting to put Dawson to sleep. Pacey moans, and Dawson becomes alert. He is thankful because he's desperately trying to stay awake to the end of SNL.)

D: *What am I going to do?!*

He think back to what Pacey said before. He had confessed that his father had been riding him a lot more lately and his mother had started to get it on it, too. Talking had made Pacey even more upset and exhausted. Dawson tries to remember the last time he had ever seen Pacey cry.

Flashback: Dawson's room
Characters: Dawson, Joey, and Pacey (All about 7 years old)

Two thin brunettes, a boy and a girl, and one shorter, pudgier blonde boy, are sitting on the bedroom floor. The little boys are playing with action figures and the girl is glancing at the clock. It reads 6:30.

"Oh no!! I killed your guy, Pace. I'm sorry," Dawson says. He looks truly sorry.

"It's just a game, Dawson. You act like you really killed it. But, OH NO!! LOOK OUT," Pacey exclaims.

"What?"

"COUNTERATTACK!!!!!!!!" Both boys squeal, crashing their figures together. Unexpectedly a figure hits Pacey's forehead. He bursts out laughing.

"Pacey. Go wait for your mom downstairs," Joey says coldly.

"JOOOOEEEEEY! It's only 6:30. My mom's coming at 7," he says softly. He feels bad correcting her, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"Yea, Jo. Play with me and Pacey. You're staying 'till 7:30. When Pacey leaves, we can do something else," Dawson states reasonably. Pacey nods. They go back to playing.

"NO!! Pacey, I wanna play with Dawson now!!" "You can play, too, Joey. Then when I leave, you play what you wanna play."

"NO!! Go downstairs. Anyway, Dawson's my best, best friend! Not you. You're just my best friend. We don't wanna play with you." He looks up at her, his blue-gray eyes filled with tears, his chin quivering. He gets up and runs out of the room. Dawson just looks at Joey, on the verge of tears himself. He can hear his mother asking Pacey what's wrong. Then he hears his father pick up the phone to call Pacey's mom. As Dawson moves into the doorway he can hear Pacey sobbing, telling Mrs. Leery how mean Joey is.

"DAWSON! JOEY!! GET DOWN HERE NOW!!" Mrs. Leery yells. Dawson walks down and puts a hand on his sobbing friend's shoulder. Joey looks ice cold standing on the steps, glaring at Pacey. Mrs. Leery proceeds to chastise them and inform Joey that her mom is coming to get her. Dawson apologizes to Pacey and tells him he can come over tomorrow and play. Pacey forgives him, but keeps on crying. There is a knock on the front door and Mr. Leery answers it. Pacey's mom walks in and Pacey runs up to her. His mother scoops into her arms and starts to talk to Mrs. Leery. She says goodbye to Dawson and Joey and instructs Pacey to do the same. He refuses and buries his face in her shoulder. And after that, Pacey never cried again.

Present

The room is still filled with Pacey's soft breathing. He moans again, softer this time. Dawson smiles. He remembers when it used to scare him, but he became accustomed to the strange noises over the years. Finally he lets his head hit the pillow and he too is asleep.

Setting: Jen's bedroom
Characters: Jen and Joey

Je: "So after you screamed at him what happened?"

Jo: "I grabbed Pacey and left. Then Pacey made up some lame excuse and I don't know where he is."

Je: "Oh! I just remembered. I saw Pacey climb into Dawson's window. He might have gone out the front because I didn't see him leave."

Jo: "He might still be there!!! C'mon let's go!"

Je: "Jo. It's kinda late."

Jo: "That's okay. C'mon."

(Jen shrugs and follows Joey out the door and down the stairs.)

Setting: Dawson's bedroom
Characters: Dawson, Joey, Jen and Pacey

(The girls climb up the ladder quietly to find the boys sound asleep. They giggle and tiptoe towards the foot of the bed. Then they hit the guys' feet, hard.)

D: "What the?"

(He looks up at the two girls who are now hysterical. Then they look disappointed because Pacey hasn't budged. He is in the same position, his chest silently rising and falling.)

Jo: "Oh, that sucks. He didn't even wake up!"

Je: "Yea. What's the fun in that?"

D: "Leave him alone guys. He had a rough night."

Jo: "What's wrong? Why is he here, anyway?"

D: "I'm assuming you already know what happened, Jen." (She nods.) "Well, Pacey came to apologize. He was really upset. I haven't seen him act like that since we were seven."

Jo: "Like what?"

D: "Well.... He was um .........."

Jo: "What? He was what Dawson?"

D: "He was crying, okay? Pacey. Crying. I couldn't believe it. Don't look at me like that, Jo. It's not my fault. It was about his dad and everything. He was really upset. Well, maybe I was part of it, but he was feeling guilty and depressed about it before, you know."

Je: "Wow. I can't imagine Pacey, crying. It's just too weird."

Jo: "Yea. Is he.... is he okay?"

D: "Doesn't he look okay?"

(She nods and smiles, gazing dreamily at him, watching him sleep. All of a sudden he moans. Loud. Jen jumps. Dawson and Joey just laugh.)

Jo: "Relax, Jen. He always makes weird noises when he sleeps."

Je: "Oh. Jeez, that scared me."

D: "It used to scare me, too. But we're used to it now. You wanna know what's really funny?" (She nods.) "He still doesn't know that he does it!"

(They all laugh and Pacey stirs. He rubs his eyes and sits up.)

P: "What's going on?" (His voice sounds like a frog's.)

Jo: "We didn't interrupt your beauty sleep did we? God knows you need it."

(Everyone but Pacey laughs. He just yawns.)

P: "That's nice. Good night." (He falls back onto the bed and is once again asleep. They all laugh.)