1. Dawson’s Creek: Episode 3.20, The Longest Day
Joey and Pacey decide to end their developing relationship after sneaking around best friend Dawson’s back.
2. One Tree Hill: Episode 1.15, Suddenly Everything Has Changed
Peyton and Lucas decide to end their developing relationship after sneaking around best friend Brooke’s back.
TeenDramaWhore 
They are very similar scenes. Personally, I prefer the Dawson-Joey-Pacey triangle dynamic to the Brooke-Lucas-Peyton one. DJP is more compelling and heartfelt. I’m one of the few people that never really found that much sympathy for Brooke. I have a whole list of reasons for that, but I won’t get into them. However, everytime I re-watch DC eps I can’t help but feel really terrible for Dawson.
Alyssa, your comment has me so intrigued! I would expect most people to be more upset by BLP than DJP considering that Brooke and Lucas were dating at the time, while Dawson and Joey had been broken up. Even still, I also didn’t have much sympathy for Brooke, but I didn’t for Dawson either. Though the intensity of my feelings for/towards each of them changes each time I watch the episodes, I generally feel Dawson is being a selfish ass and Brooke has an inability to put things into perspective. Still, I would hate to be in their position and definitely (to a degree) understand their reactions and feel bad for them.
The scenes themselves are quite similar, though, which is why I posted them (though I think the PJ one tugs at my heartstrings a little more). But the backstories and developments thereafter have many differences. For instance, Pacey and Joey were back on by the season’s end while Lucas and Peyton took forever to officially be a couple. Furthermore, PJ was a plot device at first to breathe new life into the show, whereas LP was established from the very beginning. Still, LP ended up being the underdog just like PJ was, and they are both two of my all-time favorite couples.
Dawson’s Creek was undertstandable – Dawson and Joey were (at that point) the IT COUPLE of the show. Remember, before PJ there was the soulmates of Dawson and Joey. And Dawson always believed that they would be back together some day…
I always liked Pacey and Joey better.
The Lucas-Peyton-Brooke thing seemed to be a lot more forgivable in the long run. Dawson never stopped pining for Joey, even though she moved on with the better man!
I felt sorry for Dawson for about 1 second – he did seem to be the baby after Pacey and Joey came back from sailing…but that’s another story!
Melissa: Thanks for commenting. Not sure I agree with all of your points. While I do understand Dawson’s reaction to an extent, he did repeatedly push Joey away. It took losing her to another guy to realize that he wanted her, which isn’t exactly fair. In terms of the show itself, yes, before PJ there was the soulmates of Dawson and Joey, but season 3 was spent building the PJ relationship. It didn’t come out of nowhere (though I can see how it sort of did to Dawson).
I’m an LP fan, as well, but I’m not sure how forgivable what they did to Brooke was. Justifiable, sure, I can justify it (Peyton liked him first, Lucas and Brooke weren’t serious, etc). But nothing excuses it. At least Dawson and Joey weren’t still dating when she took up with Pacey. Brooke and Lucas were.
And Dawson was a baby long before PJ returned from sailing!