5/29/08
A/N: This story came about when I had a strange dream where I saw the walls that you never see in the set of full house. I saw the wall behind the TV that had a bookcase full of funky kaleidoscope things that were very organized, so I assumed they were Danny's. Then I thought of this story where Joey gets pissed at Becky for taking Jesse away from him and contemplates his life so far. And I have no idea how that came out of kaleidoscopes...
This takes place a year after the last episode.
Reminiscence
Joey sat in the backyard staring at the stars reflecting upon his life so far and where it was going. He often came out here when he wanted to be alone in this huge house. It didn't used to be this big, but after Jesse married Becky and had twins with another expecting and after Danny married Vicky and they adopted another child, he felt as though he couldn't breathe in there. Even though D.J. had moved out to go to college, it still felt cramped.
He had never thought his friendship would end with Jesse and Danny. Technically, it hadn't. But he felt like it had. They had all grown apart; fallen out. Ever since Becky came into the picture, Jesse wasn't the same. He wasn't the fun loving, wild, rebel rouser he used to be. He didn't blame Becky. He knew that someday he and Jesse would get married and have their own families; he just didn't think it would come this quickly. He still wanted Jesse to be his best friend only and he didn't want to share him with Becky.
Danny used to be his best friend, but after he agreed to help Danny raise his kids and started to hang out with Jesse more, he really felt closer to Jesse. Danny was always gone to the studio, while he and Jesse had on and off jobs. Both of them weren't quite sure what they wanted to do, waiting for their big breaks, so they were home a lot taking care of the kids. Truly, Jesse was his best friend; not Danny. And yes, they made fun of each other a lot, but none of it was sincere. They were best friends and wouldn't do anything to hurt each other. But now that Becky came along, he felt rejected; abandoned. That was probably how Danny felt when he and Jesse were becoming so close. Now that it happened to him, he felt bad for Danny. But now Danny had Vicky, and he was left alone. He wouldn't be alone, of course, with everyone living in this house. He knew that, but they wouldn't all be best friends again. And that's what really hurt him. He wanted it to stay the same. He didn't want these women coming into their lives like this. He felt greedy, but he wanted to be the only best friend they had. Everything was so different.
And now that everything was changing around him, he felt as though he needed to make a change in his life. Maybe he needed to get married like Danny and Jesse. He hated the constant pressure from society to find a girl and get married like they had done. After all he was 36. But he still didn't want to. He didn't want to be a hermit, but he didn't want to get married quite yet.
Maybe he needed to be alone for a while. He had considered moving out many times before this. Now that the girls were older, he wasn't needed to help Danny raise them anymore. There were too many people in this house to really know the difference between you and the rest of them. He needed a place of his own to find himself. Maybe that's why he couldn't find a steady job or a girlfriend or other friends even. A new part of his life needed to start and it needed to be away from them. He needed to find out who he really was and he was being held back here. What would they care? The girls didn't need a babysitter anymore and Jesse and Danny had their wives. They wouldn't miss him.
But he would miss them. He would miss the old days when they would just cut lose or dance in the living room or sing to the baby or take the kids somewhere where he could be a kid with them. Hell, even changing the baby was fun with Jesse, but now there were more babies and more people to help out. Now he felt like he wasn't needed; like they were just letting him stay there to be nice. There were so many other people in the household to talk to, why bother talk to Joey? He'd just tell a dumb joke anyway.
He felt as thought he had to be an adult with everyone else and get married and start a family and he wasn't ready for it. He knew he was an adult, but he wasn't ready to change like that. He wasn't ready to let go of the fun.
He stood up and went back inside. Everyone was sleeping by then. He was glad. He didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. His mind was made up. He was leaving. He needed to figure things out for himself and he couldn't do that here. He stood in the kitchen for the last time remembering all the good times he had with his friends and the girls. But that was all in the past now. He needed to move on and not hang on to the past. He walked downstairs and packed up the few things he had.
The next morning, he found Danny sitting at the table drinking coffee. No one else was awake. He was thankful; he didn't want to tell everyone at the same time. He wanted to just be with his best friends right now. He sat down.
"Danny," he said. "I'm moving out."
Danny coughed into his coffee.
"What!?" he sputtered.
"I need to move out. I feel trapped here. I don't feel like myself anymore. You and Jesse both have your separate lives and I need to find mine. I can't just stay here and wait for something to happen."
Danny's face softened thinking about his childhood friend taking a new step.
"Don't think that it's anything you've done. I mean, you asked me to move in to raise your kids and now D.J.'s in college. You've moved on with your life and got married and I've just been mooching off of you for the past year. It's time for me to move on with my life too."
Then Jesse walked into the kitchen.
Danny looked up at him alarmed; he was so enwrapped with listening to Joey. Jesse noticed this look and asked about it.
"What's wrong?" he said.
Danny looked at Joey.
"I'm moving out," Joey said.
"What?!"
"That's what I said," Danny said.
"Why?"
"I've out-stayed my stay. You both have moved on with your lives and it's here, but not me. I need to leave or I'll go crazy."
"You can't just leave us," Jesse said. "We have too much history."
"Okay so, I'm supposed to stay here just to we can talk about the past. You've moved on with you're lives. Can't you see that? We've grown apart. We can still be friends, but nothing is going to be the same and I can't live with that. I need something different. That's why I switched jobs so much. I always need something different as a comedian and nothing has changed around here for a long time. Yes, there are more kids, but they're not mine and I can't make a comedy sketch about that."
Danny spoke. "I completely understand."
"You do."
"Yeah, I mean, for being a spokesperson, I need routine, but I can't have everything be the same or I'll get bored and my stage presence with decline."
"Yeah, and for song writing, you always need extra stimulation to find a topic," Jesse interjected.
"So you know why I'm doing this. It's not that I don't like you anymore."
"Joey, if you didn't like us, you would have moved out a long time ago."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"So go," Danny said. "We'll be fine. It will be a big switch, but we'll get used to it. You just have to promise to come back."
"Come back a lot," Jesse said. "I don't know what I'd do without your dumb jokes to cheer me up."
"I promise to come and visit often," Joey said smiling.
"We'll miss you, but I'm glad you're off to you're next big thing in life."
Joey hugged Danny and then Jesse. Joey turns to leave.
"Oh and by the way, I got a job being extra cartoon voices in a movie."
They congratulate him.
"I knew those hours of practicing in elementary school would come in handy someday," he said.
So Joey was happy that his life is coming together again. He got his own apartment where he could think and create new ideas for his comedy sketch; he got a full time well-paying job where he could goof off all day; and he lived close to the Tanner's so he could visit often. But most importantly Joey found who he was. And maybe now he had time for some romance?
