Jo came back earlier than she told her family she would be. She also didn't tell them that she had dropped out of college and she was trying to intercept the letter from the school before Darry did. He wasn't going to take it well, not after how much he had pushed her and sacrificed for her to go. She wanted to spend the summer break dropping hints about how she didn't want to go back, and by the end of the summer it would seem almost natural for her to stay back and think about it, take some time off and work, or maybe even transfer to a local college.

The key was still in the same place it had been since she could remember. The house still looked virtually the same since her parents died, they couldn't afford new furniture or anything so things stayed the same, although it was a bit messier. She dropped her stuff in what used to be her parent's bedroom, she was the only one that had the guts to move in there after they died. It almost started a fight, but they eventually agreed it was best for them to not leave the room like a shrine. Besides, Darry had been the only one to not share a room growing up, and it wasn't a big deal for Pony and Soda to share, but there was a big age difference between Jo and Victoria. After the initial shock, Darry agreed it was best for Jo to have her own room as a teenage girl.

She started picking up the house, mostly to kill time and almost like a bad habit kicking in, and before she knew it she had cleaned the living room, kitchen and bathroom. She started dinner and she was finishing up the dishes when she heard the front screen slam. She left the front door open so they would know someone was in the house and not panic if they heard her before they saw her.

She stepped into the living room and barely had enough time to say anything before Victoria ran into her. She smiled as she held her little sister and reached out for Pony to join the hug. He had grown so much he was now taller than her and could easily wrap his arms around both of his sisters.

"Jo!" she said excitedly. "You're back!"

Victoria was the youngest and the most affected by everything. She was the baby, but she was growing up. Darry was going to have his hands full and they were already full enough with Pony. Jo tried to treat all her siblings the same and had a special bond with them all, it let her avoid being in the middle like Soda often was. Darry babied Victoria and was strict with Pony, which caused Soda to pay extra attention to Pony and make Victoria feel left out and turn back to Darry, which started the cycle all over again. Soda may be Darry's little buddy, but Jo was Darry's partner in crime and he really missed her.

"I thought you weren't coming home until next week?" Pony asked.

"I lied," she smiled. "So, I could surprise everyone."

"Oh, no way!" Soda yelled as he came through the door. He picked Jo up and spun her around as he hugged her tightly. "When did you get here?"

"A few hours ago," she laughed as he put her down. "Miss me?"

"Hell yeah," Soda said and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Does Darry know?"

"Nope, no one knew," she said. "It's a surprise."

"Well, Darry will be surprised at how clean this house is, and he will be home soon," Soda nodded at his two younger siblings. "You two need to get a start on your homework, and I'm going to start dinner."

"Jo already made dinner," he mumbled. "And, I only have math to do."

"That's the one you struggle the most with," Soda said. "Best to start it now, and Tori I know you have that book report due tomorrow."

"Come on, Soda," Victoria whined. "I want to talk to Jo."

"Jo ain't going anywhere," Soda said as he pointed to the kitchen table. "Sit and get to it."

Jo raised her eyebrows at him in surprise as Pony and Victoria dumped their bags on the table and started in on their homework. It wasn't like him to be stern like that, and it wasn't like them to be so compliant either. Soda gestured for her to follow him into his shared room with Pony, and he closed the door behind her as she walked in.

"My twin senses are tingling," Soda said. "Why are you really here?"

She sighed and sat down on his bed. "Promise you won't tell?"

"Duh," he frowned. "Of course."

"I dropped out," she admitted.

"You what?" he said as his hands rested on his hips.

"Shh," she said with a frown. "It's not forever, it's just too far. I miss being here with you guys."

"You couldn't wait to go," he said as he joined her on the bed. "You wanted the freedom, remember?"

"I know, but the novelty of that freedom wore off months ago," she said. "You know I didn't want to go back after Christmas break. You had to talk me into it and drove me back and I cried most of the way."

"Yeah, but I figured you'd work through it," he shrugged.

"Well, I tried," she said. "You guys are kind of hard to forget."

"I guess it's kind of hard when one of us is calling you every night," he said.

"With some new problem," she nodded. "Although, you seem to be handling things differently."

"Yeah, and they're fine," he said. "They call because they're used to it. You're the talker in the family, well, the listener."

"I just feel like they need me, and I need all of you too," she said.

"Jo, you do this all the time, put everyone ahead of yourself," he said. "The school wanted you to skip a grade how many times? You kept refusing until I dropped out and then you finally did something good for yourself. You finished high school a year early and got into good colleges. Now you want to throw it all away, and for what?"

"For them," she said desperately.

"They're fine," he matched her tone. "Darry and I are fine too. We've got it handled."

"Okay, well I'm not fine," she said.

Soda sighed and reached out to wrap his arms around her. "I know," he said. "I could feel it and I could hear it every time I talked to you."

"What am I going to do, Soda?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I don't know," he said. "But, at some point you're going to have to tell Darry."

"I'm the listener, but he's the problem solver," she said. "You're the unwavering support."

He smiled and squeezed her a little tighter before they separated. "Always," he said. "I won't say anything, but I'll be here for you when you do."

Their twin moment was interrupted by the sound of Darry's truck pulling into the driveway and the screen door slamming behind him. Darry walked into the house and noticed how clean it was and he immediately frowned. He wondered if social services called with a surprise appointment. Usually he had to bark orders to get everyone to pitch in and do their chores and the house rarely looked this good. He looked around and noticed Victoria and Pony doing homework at the table, while a freshly made lasagna cooled on the counter.

"Either you two were replaced by clones or," he smiled at he turned around and saw Jo leaning against the doorframe. "Or, Jo is home."

Jo grinned and jumped into his outreached arms. He held her tightly and it was one of the first times in weeks Darry seemed to visibly relax. They weren't sure if it was because he was happy she was back and they were all together again, or because she seemed to reduce his stress level by managing things at home. Once she was gone, he had to handle financial stress and the stress of raising his siblings alone. Soda tried to step up, and he had some luck keeping things in line, but Jo had a motherly effect on the house that they all had missed.

"You're early," he said as they separated. "Not that I mind."

"I wanted to surprise you," she said.

"Well you did," he said as he dropped a kiss to her head. "And, you made my favorite dinner, cleaned the house, got these two doing their homework?"

"That last part was all Soda," she said as he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, we wanted to spend time with Jo and he wouldn't let us," Victoria pouted. "He just wanted us out of the way so he could talk to her."

Soda smirked and cupped her chin. "I wanted you to finish your homework before dinner instead of leaving it until the last minute and having a meltdown before bed," he said with raised brows. "You know, like last night, and the night before."

"Well, I'm done," she smiled at him and held up her work.

"Good girl," Soda smiled back and dropped a kiss to her head. "Pony?"

"I'm done too," he said. "Darry, can you check it?"

"Sure, little buddy," he said. "But, after dinner. Set the table you two, I'm going to change."

"Maybe you should go back to school, Soda," Jo said as she plated the lasagna and he put it down on the table.

Soda smirked. "There's a reason Pony didn't ask me to check his math."

"I'm serious," she said. "You could do it."

"We need the money," he said. "And, I'm happy working on cars."

"I know," she said with a shrug. "But-"

"Jo, are you really giving me the education speech after what we just talked about?" he said with a raised brow.

"What did you talk about?" Victoria asked innocently.

"Nothing," she smiled and placed a basket of buns and a large salad on the table. "Everyone eats some of the salad, or no cake for dessert."

"What about for breakfast?" Pony grinned.

"No cake for breakfast," she said as Darry came back into the kitchen. "Do you ever feed them vegetables?"

"I do," he said. "But, if I want them to help with dinner, I let them cook things they'll eat."

"Yeah, Jo," Pony said. "No one likes salad."

"I like it," Victoria said. "And, Jo is the only one that changes the portion size. You guys fill my plate like I'm one of you."

Jo smiled, she had cut a piece of lasagna in half for them to share and they both filled their plate with salad. She ripped one of the buns in half and passed it across the table to Victoria. "You barely eat," Soda said to Jo. "Now I gotta worry about her eating habits too?"

"I eat," Jo rolled her eyes. "I just don't eat cake for breakfast and bread with every meal."

"What's left?" Pony grinned at her.

"Seriously," Victoria said. "You guys are making me fat."

"You're not fat," Darry and Soda said at the same time with heavy frowns.

"You're crazy, Vic," Pony added.

"I'm getting pudgy," she said.

"Alright, pause," Jo shook her head before her brothers could start in on their speeches that never went well when it came to girl issues. She nodded at her little sister. "Let's go have a chat."

"Jo," Darry said.

"I got it," she reassured. "Cake is in the icebox, eat dessert, do the dishes, check Pony's homework. I don't care, just leave this one to me."

She gently pushed Victoria toward her room and followed her down the hallway. "Finally," Victoria said as she flopped down on her bed and Jo closed the door and joined her. "Do you see what you left me alone with?"

"You seem just fine," Jo smiled. "Just don't wind them up like that."

"But it's true!" she insisted. "They're going to make me fat with all that food."

"Vic, you're not fat, you're getting curves," Jo explained. "It's part of becoming a woman, speaking of which, did you at least tell Darry?"

"That I got my period?" she looked appalled. "No, do you know how awkward that would be?"

"He can handle it, he used to pick me up tampons," she said.

"He did?" Victoria frowned.

"Yeah, Vic, I didn't always work, someone had to buy them," she said. "I paved that path, he and Soda got pretty used to me saying I needed them, or at least money to buy them."

"Maybe, but that was years after you go it, you had Mom for the first few years," she said.

"That's true," she nudged her. "But, you have me, and I won't give you the incredibly awkward blooming flower talk she gave me."

Victoria laughed, but she looked kind of sad. "I miss her," she said.

"Me too," Jo said. "And, for what it's worth, I wish she was here for you during all this like she was here for me."

Victoria shrugged. "I probably would have told you first even if she was."

Jo smirked. "Well, I'm here now."

"For the summer, and then you leave again." Victoria sighed.

"Come on, tell me what else has been going on." She smiled.

Jo came back out to the living room after talking to Victoria. Soda seemed to slip out of his and Pony's room right around the same time and they both joined Darry in the living room. Victoria and Pony weren't great at sleeping alone and often had nightmares. It made for some sleepless nights for Darry and Soda sometimes, but mostly they went to each other since Darry and Soda had to work in the mornings.

Soda flopped down on one of the couches and Jo sat with Darry on the other one. He had the TV on low and she stretched out and lifted his arm to drape across herself. He gave her a slight squeeze which she returned and he frowned momentarily. She often looked for comfort from him when something was bothering her, but he chalked this up to missing them for now.

"Jo," Soda said slowly. "Want your job back at the DX?"

She frowned. "They still haven't found anyone?"

"They found someone half a dozen times over," Darry commented. "Couldn't handle working with Steve."

"They hired a couple girls, but they couldn't handle the guys coming in hitting on them, or Steve hitting on them," Soda shrugged. "They'd hire you back in a heartbeat."

"With all that college you could get a good office job for the summer," Darry said.

Jo exchanged a glance with Soda that didn't go unnoticed by Darry. "I dunno," she shrugged. "Might just want a fun summer job, Darry."

"Well, it's up to you," he said. "Soda, if Pony is sleeping later you can bunk with me. God knows we don't need to be waking that kid up."

"I thought his nightmares were getting better?" Jo frowned.

"They are," Soda sighed. "He's just having issues falling asleep now. If I wake him up going into the room, he might not get back to sleep and then I don't sleep either. Usually I stay in your room if he's already asleep." He said with a grin.

"You can still stay in there," she mumbled. "Dar, can I stay with you?"

"Sure," he said with a slight frown as he looked down at her and rubbed her arm. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just missed you," she said quietly without taking her eyes off the TV. "Sometimes I just need my big brother."

"Uhm, I'm your big brother too," Soda said to distract Darry from asking more questions. Jo was dying to tell him, he could tell, but he knew she wanted to plant the seed.

"By two minutes!" Jo said.

"And, don't you forget it!" Soda grinned.