*the living room, immediately following the conclusion of the Jersey episode*
"Mel?" Joe questions.
Mel opens her mouth but struggles for the words to force out. "Joe... Austin just stopped by... I..."
Mel stumbles so Joe cuts her off with a "well I hope you two have fun catching up" and practically runs to his room. Mel watches him go, wearing a horrified expression even after he disappears from view.
*Joe's bedroom*
Joe is packing furiously. Mel bursts in, opening her mouth to say something before realizing she doesn't know what it is she wants to say. After a few short seconds she notices that Joe is packing... and therefore he is leaving.
"What are you doing?" she half-shouts.
"Packing. I have to go." He replies curtly.
Mel watches in silence and saddened confusion as Joe stuffs in the last few muscle shirts his backpack can hold and turns to leave.
Suddenly, Mel blocks the door, blurting "Please don't go." She racks her brain for a reason. "The kids need you." she finally exclaims.
"Lennox and Ryder will be fine. They're practically all grown up." Joe replies.
"Well I need you!"
Joe looks in her eyes, searching them for something to make him stay. He believes her when she says she needs him. She's always needed him... just not in the way he needs her. Finally he looks down and back up again and asks "Don't you need to get back down to Austin? He's still here, isn't he?" He wants her to say no... to either question... to both of them... but she doesn't.
"Yeah, he's still here." Mel replies.
"What are you going to do Mel?"
"I don't know. I don't know..."
Of course she doesn't, Joe thinks. His mind races slowly... She could make this so easy. All she has to do is say she doesn't love him, that Austin means nothing to her and that Joe means the world. No, she wouldn't even have to say that to make him stay... just something, something to give him hope that she wants the same thing he does.
Mel doesn't say anything.
He exhales, feeling his heart drop. "I need to go now, Mel."
"You can't Longo! You can't just go without giving me any notice! Who will take care of the kids? I have meetings all week!" she says, knowing full well her schedule for the upcoming week is unusually light.
"So what? So you're going to keep a man from his beloved grandmother's funeral?" Joe snaps in a disbelieving tone.
Mel steps aside from the door. "I... No... I guess not... So you'll be back after the funeral?"
Joe looks at her and then turns, opens the door, and exits, leaving Mel standing alone, feeling her heart drop.
