Chapter 4

Later that day, Allison went to the Tanner's after work. She rang the doorbell and waited. She couldn't believe that she had slept over that past night. Work had gone by so slowly that it felt like days ago. All she could think that day was what had happened at the Tanner's. She thought about how awkward breakfast was, but also how sweet it was of Joey to be concerned about her and how inconsiderate she was to leave so abruptly this morning.

The sound of footsteps coming from inside the house took her from her thoughts. Joey opened the door.

"Can I talk to you, Joey?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," he said, inviting her in. They sat on the couch.

"I want to thank you for coming and getting me last night," she said.

Joey looked surprised. He wasn't expecting her to say that.

She went on. "I know I can be really stubborn sometimes. I'm just so used to taking care of myself; I'm not used to people caring for me."

"You know we all care about you," he said.

"Yeah, I know." She smiled. It was so sweet, Joey melted. "All you guys have been awesome. I'm really glad I started babysitting here."

Joey smiled and took her hand in his. "Me too," he said.

She rolled her eyes, pulled her hand away, and smiled at him politely. She didn't want him to think she didn't like him; she did sometimes, but saying that made him sound so cheesy it didn't even seem like he was genuine. It seemed more like he wanted to say something that would smooth her over to get her to like him. And though that may work for some girls, it wouldn't for her and he should know that. It really bothered her that he wasn't being real with her.

But even so, he reminded her of something. "I'm really sorry for saying you wanted to take advantage of me. I just got really annoyed because it seemed as if you thought you could take care of me better than I could."

"Well, you know that's wrong," Joey said. "You proved that yesterday when you knocked me down."

She laughed. "Yeah, I'm sorry for that too. I hope I didn't hurt you."

He shook his head and laughed with her.

"Well, I guess I should get going." She stood up.

"Can I ask you a question first?" Joey asked following her move.

She nodded, unsure what he was thinking. 'If he's going to ask me out…,' she thought.

"How long were you out of the shelter and living on the streets?"

Relieved, she replied, "since right after I started babysitting for you guys."

"That long?" he asked surprised. "Where are you planning to live next? Do you know?"

"I was actually thinking of staying on the streets until I get enough money for an apartment. I almost have enough money for one."

"What if I told you, that I have a place for you to stay?"

"What?" she asked confused.

"Well, I asked Danny and Jesse today, if they would mind if you stayed here until for a while and they agreed."

"What!?" she asked, this time astonished.

"So, do you want to?"

"Are you kidding!! Yes I want to!! That would be awesome!!" She ran into his arms and hugged him. "You are absolutely amazing! I can't believe you did this for me."

"That's what you do for family," Joey said.

Even though that was a little cheesy, she was very grateful. She gave him a huge smile, kissed him on the cheek and hugged him again.

Since she carried all her stuff around with her, she moved in that minute. She put her bag in the alcove, when Joey told her where she was going to live.

"Oh my God! I can't believe I'm going to live here!" She was jumping up and down with Joey and screaming. This brought the rest of the family into the living room.

"So I take it, she's heard the news," Jesse said.

"What news," DJ asked walking down the stairs with Stephanie.

"I'm going to live in your library," Allison yelled to Jesse, causing both of them to laugh.

"Girls," Danny said, "Allison is going to be staying with us for a while, okay?"

Stephanie was excited and went to celebrate with her, while DJ wasn't so accepting.

"Why?"

"Honey, she had no where else to live, so Joey suggested she should live here. Just think of it as having an older sister for now."

"I don't want another sister," she yelled. With that, DJ ran up the stairs to her room.

Allison heard her and offered to go talk to her.

"DJ," Allison said. "I know I'm kind of barging in on your house and life, but can you let me live here for a little bit? I don't have anywhere else to go."

"You could go back to where you lived before."

"I lived in an alleyway before this."

DJ didn't know this and was surprised. "Oh," she said quietly.

"DJ, I'd like to be your friend now that we're going to be seeing a lot of each other. We can talk to each other. I can help you with your homework and problems you have in school or stuff with boys." She glanced at DJ.

DJ looked up and blushed.

"It kind of sucks not having a girl around to talk to sometimes, doesn't it? I mean you can talk to your dad and uncle and Joey about anything, but isn't it awkward talking to them about the girly things?"

DJ sighed and smiled. "You know it," she said.

They both laughed. "I hope you consider me to come to for some of those things."

"Yeah, I'd like that."