Abandonment wasn't anything new to the Mariano twins, matter of fact, it was something that they were quite familiar with. Growing up, Jess and Jo's, father was rarely around for anything, birthdays, holidays, school games, award ceremonies, plenty of things. When he would come back, it was at random times but that didn't stop Jo from thinking that each time he showed up that he'd stay for good.
Each time he came, she gave him the benefit of the doubt and each morning she wakes up to a missing father and her heart broke again. It has been two years since they had seen or heard from their father, and they knew he planned to stop come back and neglect them altogether.
This left Jo heartbroken and Jess angry, he was mad at his father for emotionally damaging his sister and just leaving them. He started to get into some trouble, staying out late and mixing in the wrong crowd, soon enough he became a handful to their mother and she called her older brother, Luke. She asked if he could straighten Jess out, Jo was upset with her mother and her lack of the capability of parenting. She got into a fight with her, fed up with having crappy parents, and told her if Jess was leaving so will she, so her mother kicked her out as well.
"It might not be as bad as you think. Small town, new people, new scenery. It might be like Footloose." Jo said as she and her brother sat on a bus to Stars Hollow.
Jess looked away from the window to Jo with a raised brow, "Like Footloose? What are we going to do? Break into dances and sing the eighties music?" He asked rhetorically.
She rolled her eyes, "Okay, maybe not Footloose. Maybe like The Lost Boys--"
Jess chuckled, "What? Does this small town have vampires?"
Jo crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes to him, "You know, both of us can't be a pessimist and it is really hard to be optimistic with you. I hope this town is just like Children of the Corn and little kids want to murder you because I will let them." She said with a sharp tone clearly annoyed with him.
He sighed, he knew that she was trying to make the best of the situation despite their mother kicking them out and he felt guilty because she left her life in New York to stay with him. He gave her a sad look and nudged her shoulder with his, "I'm sorry for being a jerk. Forgive me?" she looked at his puppy dog eyes and couldn't help but to break into a smile. Jess took this as a 'yes' and smiled triumphantly. "Good and please don't let a cult of creepy kids try and kill me." He joked as the bus came to a stop.
