Forget You: April 27th, 1997, the last time Stephanie Tanner was seen alive. Nineteen years later, a stranger stumbles into the Tanner's life, raising questions. One being, why does this stranger seem familiar?
You Would Hardly Recognise Me (2019); April 27th, 1997. The last time Stephanie Tanner was seen by her family. February 26th, 2016. A new stranger is thrown into the Tanner's lives. What's the connection?
1997, April
The road ahead was long and winding, seemingly never ending. After much complaining on behalf of her younger sister, Donna Jo, also known as D.J., was now taking that said younger sister on a day out. Stephanie had been asking ever since her older sister had moved back to college for the new year if they could get together one weekend and do something, anything. She had their younger sister Michelle at home with her, but there was only so much that she could take of the now ten year old before she went completely insane. Finally, their schedules had both cleared up, D.J. had a weekend where she wasn't already preoccupied with college goings and Stephanie was finally done with her final lot of finals as a freshman.
As they travelled, silence enveloped them, although it was not awkward – it was comfortable. For some reason, Stephanie felt complied to turn towards her older sister, taking a breath before saying, "Hey Deej?" Being the responsible person she was, D.J. did not take her eyes off the road and instead nodded her head and hummed in acknowledgement, a sign that the younger blonde should continue. "I'm glad we got to spend today together. I couldn't take much more of that house. Everyone's gone and it's just dad, Michelle and I now. It's kinda lonely."
Not being one to enjoy emotions, Stephanie turned her attention the road once more. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a smile make its way onto her older sister's face. "I know it's not my first time moving out, and it's almost time for me to move back for the summer, but I still can't get used to not living in a house with nine people."
Any thought Stephanie had was completely wiped from her thoughts as she caught sight of the car that was heading straight towards them. It was on their side of the road, coming straight at them. "Look out!" the blonde cried as D.J. caught sight of the care as well, trying to swerve onto the opposite side of the road to avoid being hit by this driver. That soon backfired as the car coming towards them copied her movements, this time moving onto the right side of the road while they were on the road.
She could feel her heart in her mouth as the car came closer and closer and in one final attempt to save them both, she spun the wheel back so that the car moved into her lane once more but it was too late.
After that, all picture was lost and all D.J. could hear was the crunching of metal, the scream of agony of her sister before the ringing in her years rose tenfold, leaving her with no hearing and shortly after, the world went black.
The next thing D.J. became aware of was the high pitched crying that seemed to be coming from somewhere, where, she wasn't sure.
That was soon followed by the realisation that she was covered in a cold sweat making her clothes and bed sheets stick to her tiny frame.
It took a moment to gather her surroundings. To her mind, the room that she was in was not familiar, she couldn't pin point it – and could someone stop that crying.
As her mind cleared up, her surroundings became more clear to her and she got her bearings. Once she realised that she was in her room, she recognised that crying she was hearing was that of her seven – month old son, Tommy. The alarm clock next to her bed told her it was 6:00 in the morning, nearly time for her to get up anyway.
Peeling the covers off her sweaty body, D.J. swung her legs over the bed and made her way across the room. Quietly opening the door to her room, she crept across the hallway to the nursery, opening the door carefully. Inside, her baby was sitting up in his cot, surrounded by a couple stuffed animals and his blanket screwed up at the edge of the crib. His crying calmed to whimpers when he caught sight of his mother, who picked him up as soon as she was at his side.
Instantly, she knew that the baby was in need of a change and carried him swiftly over to the change station, making quick work of the diaper change. Now dry, Tommy began to fall back asleep. Grateful that he was willing to sleep some more, D.J. carefully lowered him back into the crib and snuck back out of the room. She would use this time to shower.
Stepping into her en-suit, she twisted the lock behind her. It wasn't often that she got to have five minutes of peace in this house and like hell was she going to let this pass now. Peeling off the soggy tank top, she tossed it on top of the laundry hamper. Her sleep shorts followed quickly and she pulled open the glass door to the shower. Twisting the knob to activate that water, the jet spray hit her straight in the face with a cold stream of water before it began to heat up.
Since her hair was soaked from her nightmare, she reached out for the bottle of shampoo that sat in its usual place, squirting the right amount into her hand before lathering it into her hair. She rubbed for a few minutes, making sure that she got all the sweat and grime out before she leant back and rinsed it out.
While she was applying the conditioner to her hair, her mind began to wander and she did little to stop it. The nightmare – no, memory – had been so realistic, it was almost like she was reliving it again. Glancing down at her body, she traced a couple of the scars she had received that day and felt herself choking up a little.
Before it could progress any further, she stopped herself, knowing that she had too much going on that day to allow herself to break down. Rinsing the conditioner from her hair and the soap from her body, she turned the shower off and reached for the towels she always kept on the rack.
Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, D.J. grimaced slightly. The person looking back at her looked worn out and in need of more sleep (and since that wasn't going to happen, coffee would do). Her skin was red raw from the heat of the water, but her eyes were also bloodshot. At some point she had been crying again. She swiped at her eyes angrily for a moment before she turned her back to the mirror and unlocked the bathroom door.
She made quick work of getting dressed, nothing too flashy but nice enough for work before she moved back into the bathroom, which had now demisted and she could see herself clearly in the mirror. Brushing her teeth seemed to take no time at all and she quickly ran her comb through her dirty blonde locks before tying the already curling hair into a ponytail.
On her way downstairs, she unplugged her phone from its place on the dresser and made her way into the kitchen. People were just beginning to wake up for school and work, meaning that footsteps were beginning to sound from above.
Switching on the coffee machine, D.J. heard someone come down the stairs behind her and turned to find her dad stood at the bottom of the stairs. He offered her a small smile before grabbing his breakfast and sitting down at the table. Once her coffee was done, she too moved to sit at the table, enjoying the brief moment of silence they had.
"So how are things going with finding a place?" Danny broke the silence, looking at his eldest. She shrugged as she had a mouth full of coffee. Once she swallowed, she answered him.
"I think I've found somewhere for us. It's just so weird. We've been here a year and it's almost time to leave," She glanced up at him before turning her gaze back to the depths of her mug. "And you're selling this house. I never thought you would," She gave a small chuckle.
Danny gazed around the room before settling on the back window, "Remember when Steph drove the car through the back window and ran away to aunt Becky's?"
She smiled at the memory before it turned sad as she remembered her sister. Danny saw this change in demeanour and placed a hand on her arm but didn't say anything. He knew the feelings of guilt that D.J. still harboured even nineteen years later, no matter how much they tried to tell her otherwise.
"Are you ready for tonight?" D.J. changed the subject and Danny let it slide. "Yeah, you said you hired someone to plan it? Who are they?"
He saw his daughter grimace slightly and he raised a questioning eye brow. She gave a half-hearted smile but before she could answer, footsteps thundered down the stairs. Jumping from three steps up was Max, her middle son. He bounded over to his mother and gave her a hug before he leaned over the table to grab some of the cereal that had been placed there.
As he began animatedly chattering about his plans for the day and the party later on that night, more people began to trickle in and flutter around the kitchen, getting ready for the day.
Later that Friday night, everyone who would be attending the party had made it to the house. D.J. was stood over her son's crib, getting him settled in for the night before heading down stairs to join everyone else.
She heard movement from the doorway and turned around to see her youngest sister standing there. Once D.J. had acknowledged her presence, Michelle stepped into the room and over to the crib.
They stood in silence for a moment, neither saying anything. The younger girl leaned down to tickle her nephew while her sister just watched. It was Michelle that spoke first with, "How you holding up?"
D.J. blew out some air before answering, "I have three boys who count on me for everything so I can't worry about things I can't change. My husband died doing what he loved – fighting fires and helping people. He'd want me to be strong."
Michelle didn't have anything to say to that, instead choosing to stay silent. Seeing the opportunity to change the topic from her, she asked, "What about you? Are you ok?" There was concern laced into her voice.
"It's just –" The youngest paused, thinking for a moment. "This room. It was hers, you know? We both shared it with her and it's weird being in here without her. And now dad's selling it, I feel like I'm losing that last piece of her."
D.J. knew where her sister was coming from. She had lived with Stephanie in this room from the time she was ten until she was fifteen, and then after that, Michelle had lived with her for three years. Once D.J. had moved out, Michelle had taken back her old room giving Stephanie the biggest room. It had laid pretty much untouched for years, until last year D.J. had moved back in after Tommy Senior's death.
Wrapping an arm around her sister, she pulled her into a hug. "We'll be ok." She tried to reassure her. "We'll be ok because it's not like this forever and she's with us all the time."
The party had gone rather smoothly, which was a little shocking, if he was being honest. If no-one had told him, Danny would have never guess that the whole thing had been planned and executed by Gibbler Style Party Planning. Although she had calmed down considerably since going to college, Kimmy was still the same person she had been twenty years ago.
Before he could go about kicking her out (after thanking her for the party, of course), D.J. came into the room with a fussy Tommy in her arms. "Tommy's not feeling well," She announced as she sat on the couch with the baby and Max. "Kimmy, can you warm up a bottle please?"
While Danny didn't pay too much attention to the other activity fluttering around him, his concern for D.J. grew. She had been living with him and his wife Terri for almost a year now, she had never really been on her own with her boys. Even last night when she had exclaimed that they would be fine, he could see the doubt clouding her features.
Out of the corner of his eye, a canvas caught his attention. It had been taken in February of 1997, Stephanie's 15th birthday to be exact. Everyone had come around to celebrate with them and Becky had snapped the picture. It was of him behind Stephanie, D.J. on her left and Michelle on her right. They were all smiling at the camera, unaware of what was coming for them. Below that sat a smaller photo frame. This one contained him and his girls, Jesse, Becky and the twins and Joey. They had gone out for the day and a passer-by had offered to take the photo for them. This one was some time in 1995 and again, everyone in the photo was beaming up at the camera.
He stared at his middle child's face in the photo for a moment, making up his mind. Making his way into the kitchen, he heard his daughter tearfully talking to Tommy and that solidified his idea.
Everyone was gathered in the main room when D.J. came back downstairs. "Tommy's going to be alright. I thought you guys had to get going." She questioned seeing everyone still there.
Danny stepped forward to explain, "No, we talked. I'm not taking that job. I'm staying here to help you."
D.J. looked startled. It was all he had been talking about for months and now he wasn't taking it? Why had he changed his mind all of a sudden? "Dad, that's crazy." She began but he stopped her, "No. You're way more important to me than a talk show."
"And if Danny's not doing the show, then neither am I, so I can help, too," Becky added, smiling at D.J. and more importantly, the baby.
"And I can commute to Vegas in my Bonanza and move right back into the basement," This time it was Joey offering to give something up for her and she couldn't take anymore.
"No, you guys don't need to do this. You have lives to get to, don't let us hold you back," She argued.
Michelle then stepped forward, "You guys are doing your show," She pointed to her father and Aunt. "And you are moving to Vegas," She pointed at Joey. "You've all done your share, it's my turn now." The three adults began to protest before she pointed at the couch, "Sit."
Once they were sat, she turned to her sister, "We need to stick together. I can run my empire from right here and you need help, at least for a little while." When D.J. began to protest, Michelle stopped her. "No, let me do this. You've always taken care of us, let me take care of you."
"And I'll move in too!" Came from behind the sisters. Kimmy moved to join in with the conversation with a big smile. "I can help around the house too."
"Oh you do not have to do that," Michelle turned to face the older woman, disgust edging into her features.
Kimmy seemed to completely oversee this, however, "No, I insist!" She exclaimed.
"Well I guess I better find a bigger house," D.J. exclaimed, knowing she wasn't going to change Michelle's mind and secretly glad for the help, although she wasn't sure she wanted Kimmy's.
Danny then stood, moving over to the three, "No need. I'm taking this off the market. I want you to live here."
There was gasps of shock from around the room and Jesse piped up, "Do you know how much this is worth now?" He was quickly shut up, however, by Danny turning to glare at him. "I know how much this is worth," He explained. "But I can't sell it. It feels wrong now, and I know it would go to good use here," He quickly glanced at the canvas and D.J. caught on too, he didn't want to lose the last piece of Stephanie.
"Well," Michelle exclaimed and drew her out of her darker memories. "Looks like we're all moving in," She smiled, elicting a smile from her sister as well. Maybe they would be alright after all.
Welcome to my revised version of Forget You (2016). I recently got back into Fuller House/Full House and wanted to do some more work in this area. I also knew that this piece of work, while being popular during it's initial publishing, could really use some plot work. I also wanted to maybe work some new concepts from the three seasons that came after completing this story. I've started the story off completely different and the way I'm thinking about the story, it's going to be completely different. While it's going to have the same basic structure (in terms of the main framework) I am going to completely re-do the rest of it. So, if you want to see where this goes, make sure that you give this chapter a review - letting me know what you think version of the story - and drop a follow or favourite so you don't miss my next update!
Adiosmy readers!