End Game

Thirty-Two

Of course the one night Jackie decided to go out was the night Jo felt she needed her sister the most, but no twin telepathy power seems to get Jackie to realize she was needed at home...

Sitting wrapped in a thick blanket on the couch, Jo watches the front door, willing her sister to walk through it, to see her crumbled into a broken mess and hold the pieces back together. She'd gone to LA with the sole intention of making everything right, of letting herself be happy, and somehow that plan had turned on its head for her. She startles hard as something hits the front door, hearing two sets of giggles and what sounds suspicious like a moan. Dropping from the couch as she hears Jackie's keys jingle she lays still and quiet on the floor between the couch and coffee table.

"You're sure your sister isn't home?" She doesn't recognize that voice...

"She went to LA to be with her boyfriend, they'll be back tomorrow and I'll have you out of here before then." Jackie sounds slightly drunk, but Jo can't help but be happy her sister found someone at least for the night.

"Perfect." The other voice comments.

"Come on, my room is this way." Jackie's voice comes again.

"Gladly." Is the last thing Jo hears before Jackie's bedroom door shuts. Giving it a minute, she meticulously climbs to her feet, making sure to not bump into anything as she tip-toes to her own room across the house from the other occupants. Slowly and quietly shutting herself into her own room, she sighs, conflicted even further now. She's upset, and more than anything she'd wanted Jackie to fix it for her, at least for tonight. But hearing her sister sound so happy... whoever the person she brought home is, they are more important tonight, and Jo has to figure out how to make it until morning without the assistance of her sister. Jackie deserved that.

Luckily though, the flight she and Michael were supposed to be on tomorrow landed at about 8am, meaning Jackie will have her friend out of the house before then. Jo plans to pretend she was passed out and never heard a thing, wanting Jackie to come to her when she feels ready to share, not even sure if it is something to share honestly.

Crawling into her own bed, Jo lets out a long breath, closing her eyes as the day fully envelopes her. She'd woken up this morning in Michael's bed, and since then everything has simply gone to shit, one piece at a time. Part of her hopes when she wakes tomorrow it will have all been a bad dream, that he'll have sent her a text about his flight and she'd pick him up from the airport with the entire fight and break up only a vivid memory from a terrible nightmare. But she knows that's wishful thinking, she'd broken his heart, and as much as it hurt her to do it, she stands by the fact that it was the right call, it was what's best for him.

Shifting her body around until she can pull the covers up over herself, she tucks herself fully under the comforter, hands holding the blanket closed over her head. She wants to be numb, to feel the world disappear around her, to rid herself of the deep scarring ache in her chest. But she can't, so instead she lets her tears fall finally, the first she'd shed since stepping out of Michael's front door hours before, wallowing in her own pain and self pity. This was no one's fault but her own, but for tonight, she's going to let herself feel the hope of happiness slip away...

Jo startles hard, her head pounding for a moment as she orients herself, digging herself out of the covers that had fully twisted around her body in the night. Realizing her phone ringing is what awoke her she grabs it, half expecting it to be Michael, but that's when reality crashes back down on her.

"Hey." She answers her sister's call, everything from the night before hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"Where are you? Your flight landed an hour ago. I expected you guys home by now." Jackie sounds chipper.