All You Want In the World
Summary: Josslyn doesn't understand why her mother kicked Morgan out of the house all those years ago. She doesn't understand where he disappeared to. Or why she'd heard no mention of him since he left. Now, at eighteen, she's off to college in Boston and she runs into her past.
Josslyn John Jacks sighed as she packed the last of her bags into her vehicle with Michael's help. Spencer already sat in the front passenger seat, watching her talk to her mother and brother. "That's the last of it." She said, offering them a smile.
Michael smiled at his baby sister, immediately pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead. "Well, we're going to miss you. You have no idea how proud of you I am." He said, running his hand through her long, blonde curls.
She pulled away, beaming up at him before pressing a kiss to his cheek. She turned to her mother then, opening her arms. Her mom immediately wrapped her in a tight, warm embrace, sniffling softly.
Carly framed her daughter's face with both hands, drinking her in. "You've grown so much. It seems like just yesterday, you were nine years old and scheming with Spencer."
Josslyn laughed at that, cheeks reddening in embarrassment. She brushed some locks of hair from her face and bit her lip. "I'm going to miss you guys!" She murmured softly, throwing herself at them once more, hugging them all the more tighter. She sighed, this time, turning to go to her car, waving at them from inside it as she and Spencer drove off.
Morgan Corinthos-or as he went by now, Morgan Mitchells smiled at the customers before him, placing their drinks in front of them and taking their orders. He'd been working here for six years now. He'd lived in this town for seven. And he hadn't been home in eight. For...well, for good reasons. All in all, he liked it here. He had friends and a life. He'd even been dating a woman named Catherine for two years. But Morgan would be lying if he said that he didn't miss his family.
"Morgan?" A soft, worried voice said to him.
He looked up, eyes meeting the ones of the kindly older woman who was his boss, Terri Shaw. Morgan nodded and swallowed hard. "Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about that."
She gave him a motherly look of concern and reached out a hand to touch his forehead like his mother used to do when he was sick. "How about you take the rest of the day off? Your mind seems to be a bit scattered today. Maybe you'd feel better if you got some rest. After all, you're always working."
Morgan smiled and nodded, giving her a grateful look as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. He knew better than to argue with Terri and her stubbornness.
He arrived at his small apartment about an hour later, after stopping at the grocery store for some groceries. He hurried into the kitchen and began to put the food away, eyes catching the blinking light on the answering machine.
His brow furrowed in confusion as he pushed the button and froze in shock as Kiki's hesitant voice filtered through.
"Hey Morgan. I know it's been two years since we last spoke. But I figured I'd tell you. Your sister, Josslyn is headed near where you live for college. She and Spencer. You're probably wondering how I know that considering I haven't been in Port Charles in years, either. My father told me about it while we were on the phone the other day."
The message cut off abruptly, leaving Morgan still frozen in place, hardly even breathing. Of course, Josslyn was eighteen now. The age of when teenagers headed off to college and began their own lives. But hearing this made it all so real. It had been eight years since he'd last seen Josslyn. She'd been ten then and full of fire, stubbornness, and independence. He wondered what she looked like now and what she thought of his being gone all of these years. Did she miss him? All in all, despite the issues that he and Michael had had and what he'd done, he thought he'd been a fairly good brother to Josslyn. Taking her out every other weekend, to the movies or an amusement park. Wherever he'd seen fit. And he doubted his parents or Mikey had informed her of why he'd left.
He chewed on his lip, thinking for a few minutes before heading to his room to grab his laptop. He got online and quickly looked up her facebook. It was public to everyone and his breath caught in his throat, tears stinging his eyes as he saw her profile picture. She had a huge smile upon her lips in it, long blonde locks curling around her, her eyes were bright and she looked so lovely and so much like their mom and her father that he felt his heart clench. He looked through more of her pictures. Seeing photos of her with Morgan and Sabrina. With Avery who was looking so beautiful. With her friends on the cheerleading and soccer team. With Emma, Spencer, and Cameron. He saw a picture of her with Lucas and Brad. And...he stopped short as he saw the picture of he and Josslyn. It was taken during one of their many outings and her arms were wrapped tight around his neck as they both smiled at the camera. Under the photo were the words, "missing my big bro."
Morgan didn't even notice the tears falling down his cheeks until they began to land on his laptop keys. He took a deep breath and shut the laptop, trying to calm himself down. Trying to remember that he'd chosen to leave instead of face the consequences of his actions. He had no right to mourn not being able to see his sister.
"I'm hungry!" Spencer complained, ignoring his best friend's glare as he put his feet on the dash.
"We've only been on the road for an hour!" Josslyn exclaimed, incredulous as she turned down the volume of the radio.
"I can't help it!" Spencer whined, sounding very much the spoiled prince.
The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed, catching sight of the small diner. It was one that she and Morgan stopped at once. "Fine, we'll eat here." She answered as she turned the car, parking it. The place was fifties style and Josslyn smiled as they stepped inside, recalling the last time she'd been here. It was the last time she'd seen Morgan before he'd left. They'd really enjoyed themselves and he'd promised her that they'd go back. But a month later, he was gone. She never understood why. As if on autopilot, she led the way to the booth in pastel blue, back in the far corner, next to the jukebox.
Spencer watched his best friend closely, concern filling him as he watched her practically caress the table, pretty blue eyes all wide and sad. He took a seat, not really knowing what was going on and reached out a hand, taking her's.
She met his eyes and whispered. "This is the last place Morgan took me before he left."
The brown haired young man didn't answer, just squeezed her hand, letting her know that he was there for her. Through everything.
To be continued: Josslyn and Spencer arrive in Boston, at the apartment they rented. Morgan tells Catherine about his sister. Josslyn and Morgan are in for a surprise.