The Science And Theory Of Beating The Fuck Out Of Yourself

Can we lose our minds and call it love?

Mike's POV

For some reason Vic never showed up to practice and left us hanging at the studio like a bunch of losers. Eventually we gave up after he wouldn't answer his phone and headed back home. We walked in and Vic was leaning against the counter, not even acknowledging our presence.

"Dude, what up? I thought you were coming to practice." I said when we got in. He sighed and looked up.

"Sorry guys. I just got back from taking Jo to school." I was about to ask him why it took so long when I noticed Jaime and Tony making out like high school sweethearts.

"God guys, get married and adopt a kid already." I said, rolling my eyes at them.

"Pssh, you're just jealous that you don't have an amazing boyfriend." Jaime shot at me. Tony turned his face back towards him and kissed him.

"Yeah, like me." Tony mumbled. I almost aww'd the hell out of the moment until Vic groaned.

"If your kid is anything like it's cousin, you can make Mike the godfather." He said. "I don't want anything to do with it." I furrowed my eyebrows and went over to him.

"Vic you don't mean that. What happened with you and Jo?" He sighed and glanced over at Tony and Jaime who looked slightly offended.

"Shit, sorry. You know I'd love your kid, guys." He chuckled dryly and looked back to me. "She put up a fight this morning when I was taking her to school." I shrugged.

"Didn't you expect that?" He nodded.

"I expected her to not pack her bag. I didn't expect her to pack it full of whiskey and vodka." My eyes widened.

"Are you serious? She brought alcohol to school!?" Of course that wasn't uncommon, I did it all the time. But I thought Jo would have at least tried to make a good first impression if for nothing else, then for Vic.

"Yeah... Then when we got there she bolted away from me and met up with some kid. They were drinking until I found her...and the principal found us..."

"Oh shit!" I said, kind of amazed at Jo's behavior.

"Yeah, she only got a week of detention, but I'm still pissed." Vic sighed.

"They let her enroll?" Tony asked. Vic nodded.

"Principal said something about 'molding the minds of the troubled into the minds of the gifted.' Meaning she's all for discipline I guess..." We nodded, understanding where he'd be coming from. Vic huffed and covered his face with his hands. "What the hell am I going to do with her?" I slapped his shoulder in encouragement.

"You two will be fine, you always are." He took his hands away and hesitated.

"Yeah, I don't know. Now she's pissed and I'm pissed and I can't control my own daughter anymore." I chuckled and he glared at me.

"Vic let's be honest here; when have you ever been able to control her?" He shrugged and waved me off. "Where is she anyway?"

"In her room. I kinda blew up at her after." I nodded and lost interest in their argument. They fight a lot, but they alway make up. I wasn't too concerned.

I was heading up to my room which was near Jo's. I kind of wanted to talk to her about the whole alcohol in school thing. Not to yell at her, but to give her tips on how not to get caught next time. Rookie mistake. As I neared the door, I heard something that sounded like crying. Was that Jo? I went closer and listened. Yup that was definitely her and she was definitely crying.

"Jodie?" I called. She didn't answer. I was starting to get worried; Jo didn't cry often, and if she did, it wasn't like this. I twisted the knob and gasped when I saw her. "Shit Jo! No way, stop!" I yelled and ran over to her. I looped an arm around her waist and pulled her back into her room. She was sitting on the window sill about to jump, no doubte about to try running away again.

"No! Let me go! I don't wanna talk to you! Let go!" She cried as she pounded on my arms. She tore out of my grip, but I spun her around.

"Hey, hey. It's just me, relax." She stopped trying to fight when she saw it was me and not Vic. I looked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt and then she fell into my arms crying. "Hey, shh, what's wrong?" I asked, trying to calm her down.

"H-He ha-hates me!" She sobbed into my chest. I held her tighter and sat her on the bed with me.

"Who, Vic?" I asked. She nodded and I sighed. "Jo, he doesn't hate you! He loves you to death, you know that. Your dad, he was jus--"

"He's not my dad." She cut me off. I looked down at her, shocked. She shut her eyes and sniffed.

"Jo, what are you talking about? So you two got in a fight, it's nothing new." She sighed.

"Well maybe he is, but he doesn't want to be." I cocked my head and lifted her chin to make her look at me.

"What did he say to make you think that?" I asked, hoping to understand what had happened. She looked totally distraught and her tears were replaced faster than I could wipe them away.

"He c-called me J-Jodie Mae Andrews. H-He doesn't even consider me his daughter anymore." I hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head.

"Jodie that's not true, you have to know that. Vic loves you more than anything. He was mad at you and started yelling; he probably doesn't even realize he said Andrews instead of Fuentes. He wasn't thinking clearly." I started. She pulled away from me and looked up.

"Really?" I nodded.

"Yes, Jo." I hesitated. "But this is more than your dad yelling, isn't it?" I asked. She cocked her head and I continued. "I think this is more about you than anything." Jo swallowed and nodded slowly. She leaned her head on my chest. "Talk to me." She sighed.

"I don't know...Just, when he was yelling, he said I screw everything up, and I know I do. But then he asked me why I never thought things through. And I..." She trailed off. "I didn't have an answer for him. Because I didn't know." Her crying picked up again and she buried her face in my shirt. "I can't even control myself anymore."