Chapter Seven: Sisterly Troubles

Rusty's POV:

My first Christmas present for Stephanie had to be perfect.

Christmas was three weeks away, but I knew that if I didn't do it now I would keep putting it off until it was Christmas and I was empty handed. And I could not let that happen.

My mother had given me $300 before she left, and so far I hadn't used it. I knew Stephanie wasn't expecting anything big because she had told me so, but I wanted it to be special nonetheless.

My first stop was a jewelry store. It was at an outlet mall, so I was sure everything was cheap. Somethings were, but not everything. I decided on a necklace with a heart on it. It only cost $20, it was on sale for Christmas, perfect.

I was very enthusiastic for Christmas because Stephanie was finally letting me go to her house. I had actually gone over to the house a few days ago, and it had been fun. Michelle was as annoying as ever, DJ was horrified to see me again, and Jesse passed out when he saw me. Yup, I had left my mark on the Tanner family.

That night I called Stephanie.

"Hi, it's Rusty."

"Rusty? This is Michelle."

"Hi Michelle. Can I talk to Stephanie?"

"No."

The little girl had nerve.

"Why not?" I asked her.

"Because I don't like you."

"Your sister likes me." I bragged.

"So? Go away!"

I heard some muffled voices, then a bang, and then Stephanie was on the line.

"Rusty, this is Stephanie. Somebody is mad at me because I threw her drawing away!"

I resisted the urge to laugh because that was something that usually happened in the Tanner household.

"It was pretty!" Michelle shouted. "I hate you! All you care about is your stupid boyfriend! You never play with me anymore! And you don't even care that I'm growing up like you anymore!"

I felt awkward now.

"Rusty?" Stephanie said. "I'll call you back."

"Okay."

And she hung up.

Stephanie's POV:

"Michelle, what was that?" I asked her. I was shocked. First she was rude to my boyfriend, then she yells at me. I didn't know Michelle was that mad about me dating. She had never been upset about DJ dating. But then she and DJ had never been as close and DJ and I were. Michelle and I were pretty close, actually. No wonder. She felt as left out as she had felt when Gia and I had acted like sisters and left Michelle out.

"It's just that you never care about me anymore. You and Rusty go on dates, and even when you get back, you lock yourelf in your room and talk to him all night! And he even comes over, and I saw you guys kissing in your room! You don't even care that I was trying to tell you that Derek kissed me." Michelle was blinking back tears.

I felt genuinely bad.

"I'm sorry, Michelle." I said honestly. "I didn't know you felt that way. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Rusty is your first love, and I thought you would be mad. But you're my best sister-friend and it felt like you were ignoring me."

"Well, that won't happen anymore."

"You're breaking up with Rusty?" She exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

"No." I said, shocked. "Michelle, I love Rusty, and I'll keep on seeing him unless I decide our relationship isn't going to work out, you have to understand that. But I love you, too, because you're my only sister now that DJ is in college. I promise we'll spend more time together."

"Okay, that's good enough." Michelle said, hugging me. "But as I recall, you have a boyfriend to call back."

I smiled. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yeah, it's okay."

Rusty's POV:

"Hi Rusty, it's Stephanie."

"Oh, hi. Is everything okay with Michelle?"

"Yeah, we sorted things out."

"That's good."

"So anyways, we have a Christmas Party at my house every year. I was wondering if you could come. A lot of people are coming anyways, so it won't matter. Gia and a lot of other people from school are coming. Actually, its one big party at the Smash Club, and then a smaller party later at my house."

"That sounds great. It's not like my dad cares about Christmas."

"Cool."

A/N:

Aww. Heart-to-heart talk between sisters! Haven't had one of those in awhile. Well, hope this chapter is long enough. Chapter Eight will be the Christmas party, but get ready for some drama. :-) I don't know exactly what drama, but I need to have a climax in this story. I'm planning on about fifteen to twenty chapters, no more than twenty-five. But don't worry because I'm planning a sequel :-) Which just may involve a wedding but I don't want to give anything away.

Have you guys like my contests? I have already selected winners which have both given me the info I need to involve them in this story and I hope they're satisfied with what I do.

I'm not planning any more contests yet, but hopefully you guys can give me ideas for this:

WHAT SHOULD STEPHANIE BUY RUSTY FOR CHRISTMAS?

Also, do you think I rushed into their relationship? They already kissed once in season four, but I'm not sure if that counts because they were just lil' kids then, so what does it matter? But I liked the idea of them reuniting and instantly falling in love so thats exactly what I did. Do you think Danny should have been more upset?

Please hurry answering these questions because this was supposed to be the Christmas Party Chapter, and was originally named The Christmas Party, but then I realized I didn't know what Stephanie should get Rusty! He got her such a nice gift! (If you don't remember, it was a metal necklace with a heart charm!)

Best Wishes to my Devoted Readers and Suscribers,

Alex Luceli Whitlock