Disclaimer: ABC Family owns Twisted and all it's characters. There is some dialog from the show in this story it also belongs to ABC Family. Some of the dialog isn't accurate.
Jo's POV
Johnny Cakes Diner
You know me better than anybody. Those words kept running through my mind as I sit here studying with Rico. Do I really know him? I used to or I thought I did. "Don't look behind you then up." Rico says. I do exactly the opposite of what he said. Oh god, not again. "Is there any way he didn't see me?" I ask. I can feel him approaching us. Is it weird I can still feel when he is nearby? "Still come here a lot I see. I'm not stalking you, I swear. I'm only here for the pie. Hey, I'm Danny." He says introducing himself to Rico. "Rico. I'm incredibly uncomfortable right now." Rico says pulling the pencil out of his hand. "You and me both Rico." Danny looks over at me again. "Do you think I wanted to come back here? That it was my choice? It wasn't. It was my Mother's. So I'm here if either one of us like it or not." I roll my eyes. "Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" I feel myself caving, but I suck it up. He deserves the cold shoulder. "You have every reason in the world to hate me, but for some reason I thought you would be the one person to give me half a chance." How dare he say something like that then just leave. I do have every right hate him. He ruined my childhood. Should I give him a chance? No! I rush out of the diner to tell him to stay away from me.
Outside of the diner
"Danny…Wait." I call after him. "Hey." Don't give into that hopeful but sad look. Just stay tough. "Look I know it must be hard for you, but you can't keep coming up to me at school and the diner. It's hard for me too." Okay that didn't come out as tough and mean I wanted it to. It was the harsh truth that is what's important. "Fair enough. I'll leave you alone." He says looking really sad. "Okay thanks." I feel like I should say something to make him feel better. He has had it rough. After all he just lost his Dad, and they were always really close. "I'm sorry about your Dad. He was always really nice to me." It is true. I am really sorry. I feel bad for him. "He was a definite Jo fan." Okay what was that? Why did my stomach feel weird and my heart skip a beat when he smiled? "You are wondering if I'm mimicking human emotion aren't you?" He asks me. "No, I'm not doing that." That's not what I was thinking, but that is a good question. Also a good slap back into reality. "Don't worry about it. After that crazy class I'm pretty much assuming everyone I see is a sociopath." He walks over to where I'm standing. "Look, um there's this party…" What! Did he not hear me a few seconds ago? "Danny I just got…Wait a minute are you talking about Regina Crane's party?" Lacey invited me to that party. "That's the one." He gives me a cute little smirk. Stop thinking like that. "How do you know about that?" I ask. "Cause I was invited to it." Seriously? "You, invited by an actual human?" Was that too harsh? I think I meant it as a joke. It seems like he took it that way. "Yeah. Of course it would be easier to show up with someone else. It might take the edge off." He is right. It might help. I kind of was curious about the party. I was invited. It would be rude not to at least stop by. Plus I get to spend time with Danny. Oh god, there are those butterflies again. I really need to stop thinking this way about him. He is a murderer who ruined my childhood. A murderer with beautiful brown eyes and adorable smile. Okay, this is obviously a bad idea. I can't go to go to this party with him. "Lacey invited me and I was thinking of stopping by. I guess it won't hurt to go together." I wish I could smack myself right now. That is not what I was going to say. "Great! I'll pick you up at 7. You're still living in the same place, right?" Maybe it's not a good idea to tell him where I live. "Yes." Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why can't I stop talking? "See ya at 7." He smiles at me and leaves. I turn and head back to the diner. What the hell did I just get myself into?
Danny's POV
Regina's Party
I am currently being mauled by Regina. I don't understand why this girl can't take a hint. I know most guys would jump at the chance to have no strings attached sex with a beautiful girl. Especially since I haven't even seen a girl in five years, but something was keeping me from taking her up on her offer. Every time I close my eyes I see a pair of beautiful blue eyes. I know I shouldn't think of Jo in that way, but I can't help it. She is so beautiful, and I just want to know everything about her. As I'm trying to get away from Regina I think I hear Jo yelling about something. I rush out of the kitchen to find out what's going on. "Get the hell off me!" I hear Jo yell. "Come on Jo, it's a shot for a shot. It's party law." I hear Sarita tell her. I wish people would get out of my way so I can get to her. "I don't care what law it is. Stop!" I am finally close enough to get to Jo, and I see some guy grabbing at her. "Hey, hey, hey!" I yell pulling the guy off of Jo. "Mind your own business freak." Really, this crap again. "Freak, really? So generic don't you think?" This douche bag is really pissing me off. First he assaults Jo and now he's starting that freak stuff again. "How about rope boy?" He says with a stupid smirk on his face. "Now that is a little more poignant. How about we just…" I try to make peace with him and then he shoves me. That's it. I promised myself I wouldn't use my reputation like this, but he leaves me with no choice. I whisper "If you ever touch Jo again I will kill you and enjoy it like I did last time." I grab Jo's arm and drag her out of the house.
Danny's POV
Outside on the street
I am having a very difficult time keeping drunk Jo on her feet. At least I have an excuse that's not creepy to be this close to her. She smells like vanilla and alcohol. I should probably stop smelling her. That would be considered creepy. I want Jo to trust me, and if she thinks I'm a freaky weirdo that won't help. She starts to ramble on. "That was amazing though. What did you say to him anyway?" Uh oh. I can't tell her what I said. What if she thinks I really meant it? I guess another lie can't hurt. "Something about assault and suing him." Thank god Lacey drives up so we don't have to talk about it anymore.
Jo's POV
The Desai House
I woke up with a horrible headache and a fuzzy memory of my really embarrassing night. I can't believe I licked Scott. What is wrong with me? This whole Danny thing is making me crazy and I thought drinking a mysterious liquid out of a solo cup would help. It didn't. I ended up humiliating myself in front of him. I left early so I could come over here to thank him and also apologize for my behavior. I ring the bell. Danny opens the door. It looks like he just woke up. He has no right to look that hot right out of bed. I always look like crap. I guess I should say something. "Hey." He smiles. "Hey." I guess he's not mad. He actually looks happy to see me. "Um, I just… I wanted to say thank you for getting me back home last night and for standing up for me with that want to be rapist jock douche." Danny laughs a little. He has such a cute laugh. "I think that may actually be his full legal name. Want to come inside? Come on, it's freezing. Come inside." Danny ushers me inside. We are standing in the hall when his Mom comes down the stairs. "Jo look at you. You've gotten so big. Taller not fat." She turns to look at Danny. "Well, well, well, two days back and you've already had your share of female visitors, sweetheart." Karen says then heads into the kitchen. Female visitors? Who else was here? "Visitors, as in plural?" I ask. "As in two. Lacey ended up staying the night here." He answers. "Oh, wow. You guys didn't…" Danny rushes to answer me. "No. No. I swear we just talked and went to sleep, but let's just try to keep that between us. I think that guy she's dating would love nothing more than to take it the wrong way." I know I almost took it the wrong way. "Okay." It's not like I would tell anyone any way. I don't talk to those people. "Danny, Jo, come here! Danny!" Karen yells from the kitchen. We rush in there to see what she is so upset about. Oh my god! According to the news Regina Crane is dead. I can't believe this. Everyone is going to think Danny did it. Did he do it? I don't know what to think.
Danny's POV
School auditorium
The whole school has been gathered together in the auditorium. I can feel everyone staring at me. I knew they would think I killed Regina. Why can't I catch a break? I just wanted to come back here and have a normal life. They don't know how wrong they are about me. I've never killed anybody. Jo was right about me. I would never hurt a fly. "Socio." Someone fake coughs my new nick name. "Socio." Then a few other people join in. I don't think this day can get any worse. I see Chief Masterson walk in with a couple of other officers and I know it just did. I know he's here for me. "Danny Desai." He calls. I knew it. Everybody points right at me. He walks over to me. "We would like you to come with us to answer a few questions." I start to get up and go with him. "Dad, in front of the whole school?" It's good to know Jo's got my back. "Sorry honey. Danny let's go." I start to go with him. I know the drill, but then Jo starts talking. "I know we are all scared. And sad and um angry. And it's easy to focus all that on the obvious person, but is that really fair. I don't know if Danny did this or not, but do you? Do any of us? I mean it's not like he's under arrest, right? Please just give him a chance. Don't ostracize him even more." I step closer to Jo and put my hand on her shoulder. I know that was a hard thing for her to do. "Well, this is going to do wonders for our social lives, huh?" I say sarcastically. As I leave with Chief Masterson I feel dread, but also a little bit of hope. She said she didn't know if I did it, but I don't think she would stand up for me like that if I didn't have a chance of gaining her trust again.
Danny's POV
Outside somewhere in town
After my Mother comes and picks me up from the police station I went to look for Jo. I found her walking home from school. "I hope you didn't catch to much grief for that little speech." I don't want to mess up her life anymore then I already have. "You stood up for me. I was returning the favor." There's that spark of hope again, but I know it won't last long. I have to tell why her Dad wanted to talk to me. This time I need to tell her the truth. "Look, Regina texted me before she um…" I start to say. "You mean after we left the party?" She asks cutting me off. "She wanted me to come back. And when I said no she… she insinuated she knew why I killed my aunt. I should have told you before, but I was afraid you would assume I killed her like everyone else. Jo, please, please." She starts trying to get away from me. I knew this would happen. It's happening again. I'm going to lose her. "Why did you kill her?" She says when I grab her arm to stop her from running. She thinks I killed Regina. "I didn't." She shakes her head. "Not Regina. Your aunt. Don't just say you can't tell me. I have to know." I can't tell her, and she is just to have to understand that. "I'm sorry. I'm protecting you." I can't tell her. He told me I can't tell anyone. He said people could get hurt. Jo could get hurt. "From what? I mean you want this second chance Danny, but you make it so freaking difficult by acting all weird and mysterious. If you just tell everyone why you did it then…" I interrupt her. "Then what? They will get over it? Laugh it off?" She will never understand. "No, but maybe they won't call you socio anymore." I'm glad she cares, but nick names aren't my biggest problem right now. "I can live with that. It's kind of a cool intimidating nick name." I grab her by the shoulders. "Please, Jo look at me. I need you to trust me. I may have killed someone before, but I never lied to you." Okay, that was a lie. I have told her a lot of lies, but I need her to trust me again. I know we can never truly be friends again if she doesn't. We definitely can't be more than friends. "I don't know if I can trust you again, but I will help you find out who really killed Regina. If you won't tell the truth about your aunt at least we can clear your name for Regina's murder." I guess that's all I can ask for right now. I feel like we are going in the right direction. I with charm Jo Masterson into trusting me again. I can be very charming when I want to be. I get that from my father. He could charm anything he wanted from anybody.