Hi everyone! Thank you so much to those who continue to read, review, follow, and favorite! One question I got this week was if I planned on introducing other characters into the story like Danny and Jesse - I certainly do! So please stay tuned. This story is out of my element in a few different ways. I'm not one for drama writing and that's what most of this seems to be - I'm hoping that after these first few chapters setting up Stephanie's backstory and as I introduce more characters into the story some of that Full House humor will come into play. I can also genuinely say that I'm not really sure where this story is going to go. Usually, I've got a pretty clear view of where I'm heading and right now I've got about three different road maps I'm playing with. So to those who are staying tuned, thanks for hanging in there! I've got another chapter I'm in the process of editing and hope to have it up this week!
Chapter 4
Stephanie paced the length of her bedroom again. He was there, not even six feet away from her, sitting on her bed and nervously fidgeting with the edge of her bedspread. She paused briefly and watch him. There were small differences – he'd always been athletic, but there was a new definition to his muscles, his hair was a little longer, he was wearing glasses instead of his usual contacts, but it was Leo. He still made her heart flitter nervously inside her chest, still made her stomach do somersaults. In a matter of ten minutes, he had untied and unburied everything that had taken Stephanie nearly a year to pack away. She caught herself falling and shook her head and continued pacing. She had made her decision.
Leo's soft blue eyes didn't leave her as she continued her back and forth path across the room. Stephanie tried not to look at him, but Leo had always had this magical way of locking in on Stephanie's gaze. There was something special about his eyes. She had always been sure Leo's eyes could see straight through her. She was fairly certain he was the only one who could see her for what she was, past her hidden disappointments and insecurities, and still love her. She couldn't dwell on the look of pain and hope that lingered at his surface, and she quickly looked away before he was able to read her thoughts. I'm doing this for you, she thought desperately, trying to make herself believe it.
"Do you want to go first, or should I?" He asked. Hearing his voice made Stephanie stop. Gosh, she had missed him.
She wanted to say that she was sorry, tell him the reason she had been dating all these guys was to try to move on. She wanted to run to him, let him scope her in his arms, feel his lips against hers, listen to him tell her it was all going to be okay. But she could see the hope in his eyes – the hope that all of this was going to end happily ever after like one of those books she would read to Tommy. He deserved that happy ending, and she knew that it wasn't going to happen with her. "Did you bring the papers?" she asked, hating herself a little bit more as the words left her mouth.
She watched the expression on his face fade. He ran a hand through his hair. "I did," he whispered, and Stephanie felt her heart sink. This is what you wanted, she reminded herself. This is what you have to do. For Leo. "And if you really want me to sign them – if that's really what you want," he continued, "then I will. But I want answers first. You at least owe me that much."
Stephanie sighed. He deserved some measure of closure, but giving Leo answers would require her to walk a delicate line. She could tell Leo everything, every last detail, and she knew that he would shred the papers and refuse to leave her. And as much as Stephanie wanted that, as much as these last fifteen minutes with her husband had made her remember why she married him in the first place, she couldn't let him give up his change at a happy life for her. She silently nodded her head. She'd tell him what she could, just enough to give him closure, but not enough to stay.
