Mariano Twins

Journey Back

Jo's POV 

After sitting for a while Rory goes up to talk to the driver. We learn that there was an accident.

"You don't look happy," the guy across from us says.

"I'm late," Rory tells him.

"These busses are the worst," he replies.

"Why are we making so many stops? The bus didn't make stops on the way into the city," she says.

"That was probably an express. This is a local. It makes a lot of stops," he replies.

I should have checked the schedule. I should have checked traffic," Rory says.

"There wasn't really any planning into today," I remind her.

"Note to self: impulsive definitely does not work for me," she says.

She looks at him.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, it's for my spit," he replies.

"Your what?" I ask.

"For my smokeless," he says.

I lean into Rory because, lucky for her, she's safe by the window.

"Ew," I whisper.

--

I borrow someone's phone to call Luke. It's almost seven and he's going to be furious.

"Luke's diner," he says.

"Before you get mad, just remember I never do anything bad, and what I did was for good reason," I tell him.

"Jo?" he asks.

"I'm safe. I'm with Rory, and we are on our way home. It's just taking longer than expected," I tell him.

"Where are you?" he asks.

"I'm sorry," I reply.

"Where are you?" he says again, with more firmness in his voice.

He's mad. He's going to yell. Tears well up in my eyes. Before I can freak out too much Rory takes the phone.

"I'm sorry Luke. This was spontaneous. No planning involved," she tells him.

I assume he repeats the question for her.

"On a bus" she says.

Again, I can guess what he asks her when she replies New York.

"Okay, we'll be home soon," she says before hanging up.

I take the phone and hand it back to its owner.

--

We get back to Stars Hollow. We both get our backpacks and I make sure Rory has her record before we get off the bus. I slowly make my way across the square as Rory runs home.

I walk up to the diner and stop outside. Luke is behind the counter making for coffee. The diner is mostly empty. I take a breath, walk up, and open the door.

He turns around as soon as he hears the bell rings. He walks over and pulls me into a hug. He pulls back to look at me.

"You went to see him, didn't you?" he asks.

"Yeah," I reply weakly.

He hugs me again.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have ran off like that, but I saw the bus and just hopped on it." I explain.

He moves me to a stool and sits me down.

"How did you get Rory in on this?" he asks.

"I didn't. I took the bus to Hartford and had to buy a ticket to New York. I got in line to buy my ticket, and there she was in line in front of me," I tell him.

I get quiet again and look down.

"When I was over there last night he called her. He barely talked and then hung up. It gave us nothing, so this morning I guess we both decided we needed more. On our own we both decided to run off to see him," I say.

"He mentioned spending a lot of time at Washington Square Park. We used to hang out there a lot, so we knew where to find him, so... we found him," I finish.

I look up at Luke and he just nods. Is he mad? When is he going to get mad?

"Are you hungry?" he asks.

"Um, not really," I tell him.

"Okay," he replies.

He gets back to work. After a few minutes he walks back up. I pour myself a cup of coffee and sit back down.

"You know we've never been apart," I tell him.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah. All the places we lived we always shared a bedroom and we didn't really have a lot of friends, so we never had sleepovers, or anything. We've spent all day away from each other before, but at night we were always together," I say.

"I've just-"

I sigh before talking again.

"It's never been just me. We've always been the Mariano twins, a duo. He kept me mischievous and I kept him from getting arrested. We balanced each other," I say.

Luke walks around and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"You'll be fine. I promise," he says.

I nod stand up.

"Thanks, Luke. I'm gonna head to bed," I say.

I head up the stairs.

"He'll be fine too," he adds.

I smile and keep walking. 

\ \ AN / / Shorter, but I hope you liked it. :) 

All grammar, punctuation, and spelling corrections are helpful, encouraged, and greatly appreciated. 

Thank you 

-- Izzy