Yes, I noticed that too. That's why she had to pick him in the end. Joey really and truly loved him. I can't even imagine her calling Dawson "sweetheart", or Dawson calling her anything like that either. My niece and I were watching Be Careful What You Wish For and he called her "My Joey" and even that sounded weird. I liked their friendship much better, and I'm not even saying that just because I'm a P/J fan.

Before that episode was Psychic Friends, and the psychic tells Joey that she will come to a crossroads and she will be fine as long as she follows her heart. I know the writers were referring to get father and whether or not to turn him in, but to me that was more of a cerebral/moral choice. I like to think the psychic was referring to Pacey in season 3. It was amazes me how much unintentional foreshadowing there was. Pacey and Joey were truly the ones destined to be together.

I choose #3.