"You want some coffee?" Lori offered as she turned the coffee maker on.
"Yeah, that'd be great," John answered, making himself at home and taking a seat on the couch.
"What's this?" he wondered, eyeing the still full thermos on the table.
"Well, I originally made some for you this morning, but you were too busy with Juliette, so I never had a chance to give it to you…" she explained slightly awkwardly. "It's cold now, but I'm making more," she continued to explain as she sat down beside him.
"Oh, thanks. It's the thought that counts anyway. I appreciate it," John thanked her, liking the idea of her thinking of him that morning.
There was a small silence before John started, "Look, I'm sorry—"
"No, let me go first…" Lori started, cutting him off. "I'm sorry for acting so irrational today. I had no right to yell at you like that. I just got defensive—"
"It was my fault. I brought Juliette here on purpose. You were right. I know I said I didn't earlier, but I did. I wanted to make you jealous, and I shouldn't have. I promised to leave my personal life outside the studio and I failed."
The coffee timer dinged and Lori walked over to pour them both a cup. She walked back, handed one to John, and sat back down.
He smiled. "Thanks," he replied, taking a sip.
"But it wasn't your fault, you did nothing wrong. I'm sorry," John continued. "And you're right, I was an asshole. I should have never said those things about your marriage."
Lori shook her head. "It's okay, we both got heated. And I never called you that and never will. Plus…you weren't entirely wrong about my motives…"
John raised an eyebrow. "Really? Was someone jealous?"
Lori laughed and playfully smacked him on the arm. "Shut up."
"Ooh, I succeeded in making the sexy Lori Loughlin jealous! Score one for Stamos," John teased playfully.
"Wipe that grin off your face," Lori laughed cutely. "Any respected woman would be jealous of the woman standing next to John Stamos," she stated, sipping her coffee shyly.
"Ah, but I succeeded in making Miss Lori Anne Loughlin jealous and that makes all the difference," John declared, naturally placing his hand on Lori's thigh.
Lori looked up from her coffee mug and blushed a bright red. She looked up into John's eyes before they soon fell to his lips. She gulped as she bit her lip and could feel them both leaning in. Lori forced herself to stop and stand up. She walked to the other side of the trailer, across from John.
There was a tensioned silence between them before John looked to the left of Lori, spotting a small table by her vanity.
"Wow," he murmured.
Lori looked around, confused. "What?"
"Those roses. You still have them?"
"Oh, of course, you gave them to me," Lori answered, a small smile coming to her face.
John noticed a trend and instinctively smiled back at her.
"I don't know if I properly thanked you for giving me such a beautiful gift…" Lori started, walking back to John and standing in front of him.
She held his hands in hers. "Thank you." She hesitated for a moment, but decided to give John a small peck on the cheek.
"You're very welcome," John replied sweetly, looking into Lori's eyes before giving her a kiss on her hand. He then rubbed his thumb against hers.
"And I can't believe you remembered my favorite type of flower," Lori continued.
"'51 flowers for our favorite fun girl, hashtag Happy Birthday Becky.'" John recited the caption he posted of their picture with Bob and Dave behind them. In the picture, Lori's hand was comfortably and secretly pressed against his.
"'Happy Birthday LoriLoughlin, love you Lori,'" Lori continued, remembering what John had posted on his twitter page that same day, "dedicating my whole social platform to my favorite fun girl...' And you even attached a picture of us from the early 90s," she recalled, a grin on her face.
Lori continued looking deeply into John's eyes. "Why must you be so darn charming?" she asked him.
"Because that way, I can see that beautiful smile on your face," he poked her nose playfully and answered without hesitation. He then took her hands back in his, and swung them in between the two of them.
It's no wonder women everywhere fall for this man.
Lori smiled. "You know, you don't always have to be so irresistible. It burdens women when you make their hearts flutter all the time and they can't do anything about it."
"Well, what can I say? John Stamos doesn't want to be resisted."
Lori scrunched her face up in disgust. "You did not just say that," she smirked. "How nauseating."
"Hey, take that back," John laughed in response.
"Never," Lori chuckled.
"Take it back!" he exclaimed, still laughing as he tickled Lori's stomach playfully.
"Nope," she denied, the laughter only continuing.
"Don't make me chase you around set like I did on your birthday!"
Lori narrowed her eyes at him. "If that means it'll end with you lifting me up into a back hug, I may take you up on that offer," she teased.
"You don't need an excuse for me to hug you. If you want one, all you have to do is ask," John reminded her, flashing one of his famous smiles.
Lori blushed harder, if that were even possible.
"Anyway…" Lori forced out, changing the subject as she sat back down. "Once again, I'm really sorry for everything today. Seeing you with her just felt a lot different than I expected. It's hard for me to watch you love someone else. But that's not my place, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it, but just so you know, I never said I loved her," John assured her, looking into her eyes.
Lori gazed back at him in silent understanding of what that meant.
"Let's just agree: no more trying to make each other jealous," John announced.
Lori laughed. "So you admit I made you jealous too?"
"I'll always be jealous of the man who was smart enough to never let you go…" He paused. "Anyway, no more talk about what happened. What's done is done. I'm sorry. You're sorry. Everything's okay. Are we good?"
Lori nodded.
"Good, now let's talk more about this you-keeping-everything-I-ever-gave-you thing," John suggested with a smile.
Lori laughed. "What do you want to know?"
"You kept that bear from when we were 18?" he looked at Lori, amazed.
Lori smiled and nodded. "I was actually 17," she corrected.
"How did you manage to keep up with that and lose almost all of the Full House memorabilia?" John inquired, knowing there had to be more to the story.
Lori looked at him, debating whether to explain or not.
"What?"
"I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to make any stupid comment. Deal?" Lori ensured.
John raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Ooh, this must be good," he teased.
Lori shook her head at him. "Nevermind, I won't tell you."
"No, no, I'm sorry. I promise. Tell me. Pleaseee?" John begged cutely.
Lori laughed. He was such a child sometimes.
"Okay fine," she replied, giving in. "I kept it on my bed. Are you happy?"
John smirked and Lori picked up the pillow on the couch and hit him playfully.
"Hey! I didn't even say anything!"
Lori laughed. "Your look said it all. Anything else you're curious about?"
"A few things."
"Hold that thought," Lori interjected, getting up off the couch and walking over to the fridge, "if we're going to continue with this game of 'Twenty Questions,' I'm going to need something a lot stronger than coffee. Would you like something?"
"Sure. What do 'ya got?" he asked enthusiastically.
She laughed, catching onto the fact they were quoting the scene from season two of Full House where Aunt Becky and Uncle Jesse meet for the first time.
"What do 'ya like?" she replied, reciting the next line.
"Whatever you have," John answered before they both burst out laughing from quoting the show.
"I actually have wine or beer," Lori finally proclaimed.
"Wine, please," he responded and Lori poured them both a glass before rejoining him on the couch.
"Alright, hit me," she dared, handing him his glass and taking a drink from hers.
"Actually, I just asked you one, so why don't you go?" John offered.
"Anything goes and we have to answer truthfully, right?" Lori inquired, clarifying the rules.
John nodded in agreement.
"You're going to regret giving me that much power," Lori replied, giggling.
"Oh, no," John laughed.
"I'm kidding. So, is there anything you kept from me after all these years?"
John laughed. "That's what you use your question on?" he teased.
Lori smiled. "You didn't answer the question," she pointed out as she took another sip. She was not going to let him smooth talk his way out of this one.
"Okay, okay. You win. As a matter of fact, there is," John admitted, setting his glass down on the coffee table and pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. He turned so his body was facing Lori's and flipped his wallet open. He pulled out a tiny square that he then unfolded into a rectangle and handed to Lori. "I've kept this in my wallet since our first date."
Lori always refused to call it a date, but this time she didn't argue. Instead, Lori looked down and couldn't believe her eyes. It was the photo strip from the pictures they had taken in the photobooth at Disneyland. The pictures faded over time, but when she looked at the last two, she blushed. There was one of him kissing her on the cheek and the last one was her full on kissing him on the mouth. She had caught him off guard, she remembered.
"I can't believe…"
"That you kissed me first? Yeah, see, I told you all these years it was a date."
Lori shook her head. "No, that you have this. Why… how?"
"Oh no, you already asked one question. Now it's my turn," John argued.
"John…" she pleaded, looking into his eyes, her fingers tracing the picture in her hands.
"Okay, I guess I'll break the rules just this once," he gave in, taking the picture back from her, holding it in his hands as he explained.
"I originally put it in my wallet when we were at the park to keep it safe, but after that date I couldn't stop thinking about you. You were different than all of the other girls I went on dates with. You were special. You were beautiful and smart and unpredictable. You were the only girl who was able to keep me on my toes and put me in my place when you needed to. And the moment you kissed me, I felt something I'd never felt before. I couldn't get you out of my head. I was just too young and stupid to do anything about it then and we didn't live in the same city. Every time I went to change wallets, I just moved it to the new one. It reminded me of you and that one day we'd end up together... or at least I thought we would," he looked up at her, sadly.
"John…" she murmured, putting her hand on his leg.
"It's okay," he assured as he smiled a fake half-smile.
"I'm so sorry," she apologized.
"It wasn't your fault… So... about that bear on your bed?" he questioned, changing topics.
"That's what you waste your question on?" she mocked him from earlier as she smiled, thankful to be on a somewhat lighter note.
"What? I'm curious," he insisted.
"You winning that bear for me that night was always my fondest memory of you."
"Even more than the kissing?" he teased.
Lori laughed and nodded. "It was just so sweet and your intentions were so pure. You were so determined to win it and you were up against all of those other guys. You should have seen the look on your face. I always felt so secure in that moment, like you would have done absolutely anything and everything to make me happy. When I went back to New York, I thought it was over. That I was never going to see you again and it wasn't even because something dramatic happened between us. It was just due to timing. I kept the bear on my bed as sort of a comfort thing. I slept with it every night. It made me feel safe, like no matter what happened, everything was going to be okay because that's how I felt that night with you." She paused for a moment and then decided to let him in on a little secret. "It's funny because it had become such a habit that whenever I made the bed I always set the bear right in the middle. When Bella was born, she used to steal it off my bed and wouldn't fall asleep unless I laid it in her crib. The same thing happened when I had Olivia. They had so many toys and stuffed animals of their own, I never understood why they were so entranced by it, but I always thought it was because somehow they knew how much it meant to their mom."
He gazed into her eyes in disbelief. "I never knew it meant that much to you…" he murmured.
"Well," Lori looked down at their hands, a small smile coming to her face as she slightly stroked her finger against his leg and looked back into John's eyes, "you mean a lot to me."
He smiled, "You mean a lot to me too." He wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there but he forced himself to resist the temptation.
They sat there for a moment in silence, just looking into each other's eyes.
"It's your turn," John reminded, breaking the silence.
Lori snapped back to reality, but thought for a moment about how to word her question.
"Are you okay?" John asked, concerned.
"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking," Lori apologized. "Anything's on the table?"
John nodded. "Anything," he repeated.
Lori then looked at him. "Why didn't you tell me back then that you loved me?"
John looked away, grabbed his glass and downed a big gulp before looking back at Lori. "We weren't ever official. It was sorta dating. We had that one date when we were teenagers and uh, I was this young hotshot. I always had one foot out the door. You were the only girl I ever loved. But I didn't know what I was doing. And then you left and I didn't think I'd ever see you again, like you said. Then we were cast on Full House and all I could think was it was fate. I couldn't believe you had resurfaced in my life. Of all the people they could have cast for those roles, it just had to be us. But by that time, you were married. I didn't want to overstep. When your divorce came, I wanted to respect it. We had one week where things could have happened, and I didn't want to just swoop in. I felt like it was a bad time. I thought the timing was all wrong. I thought that I had forever. And shortly after, I met Rebecca and I didn't think it would get serious, but it did. And you had Mossimo and that also did. I guess I thought at some point the relationships would end and that's when I'd make my move. But that's the thing about timing. It's delay, delay, delay and then suddenly it's too late. You married Mossimo. I married Rebecca. And I never told you because I didn't see the point. Since then, you've been so happy. You deserve to be happy, Lori. You were so amazing—you still are. I was this young kid that made a bunch of mistakes. I didn't deserve you. I still don't."
Lori was taken aback by his words. Everyone thought of John as a huge ladies man, not really ever falling hard for a woman or wanting to settle down. While she knew John to be so much more than that, at the same time, it made her feel special that he thought that way about her.
"Why would you think that you don't deserve me?" Lori asked softly, looking deeply into his eyes.
"As cliché as it sounds… You're perfect in every single way, Lori. I realized this the first time I met you when we were teenagers and I still know it to this day. You make me a better man and always have," John answered without hesitation. He paused for a moment, let out a breath, and then stood up.
John walked up to a window in front of them and looked outside.
"If I hadn't wasted all those chances I could have been with you, Lori…" he sighed before pausing again. "The world wouldn't know me to be some sex-symbol player who sleeps around, able to get any woman he can… I wouldn't be considered 'unromantic' or 'not willing to settle down.' I would have put you on a pedestal: I would have been romantic with you. I would have settled down with you. Every time I'd wake up, I'd give you and our family the world."
Lori looked at John before her eyes fell to the ground. She was at a loss for words.
"I erm…" John started, turning his eyes to the ground. He glanced back at Lori before walking past her. "I should probably get going."
"John, wait—" Lori called out loudly, a lump caught in her throat.
But John was already out the door before he could even react.
"There you are! We've been looking all over for you!" Candace exclaimed to John. She, Andrea, and Jodie were leaning against Candace's trailer across from Lori's and seemed to have been there for awhile.
John simply shook his head at the women, walking past them in a hurry.
"Damnnnn," Jodie uttered.
"Wow," Andrea added.
"Oh my lanta," Candace finished. "That was weird."
"And to think we spent three hours waiting out here for this," Jodie interjected.
Once John had left her trailer, Lori walked back to the roses he had given her weeks back. She leaned in to smell them and without realizing, a small smile arose on her face. She thought for a moment and slid her hand underneath the small, circular cloth the vase was resting on. Lori pulled out an envelope.
The lines in the script of the "War of the Roses" episode they had just filmed derived from the note John had written in the birthday card to Lori.
"Happy birthday, Lori," the card read, "I'm forever thankful for getting to wake up every morning and fall in love with you all over again."
Lori smiled softly, sliding the card back in its envelope and underneath the cloth.
She and John had vowed to keep the note and line a secret between the two of them.
