On Friday, later in the afternoon, Stephanie found herself standing in the mall with Michelle and Aunt Becky. She'd been sent out by Dad to take care of some errands and came home to see Uncle Jesse waiting for her beside the front door, his face showing relief when her car came into sight. He took her aside, explaining the whole thing once again.

"Okay, Steph, remember the plan?" It didn't matter if she did or not, Uncle Jesse was telling her again. "You're going to ask Becky if she wants to come to the mall with you and Michelle. She'll say yes and then you can go through the stores, stop at the food court until I call you and give you the signal to come back, capuche?"

"Yeah, uh, but Uncle Jesse," Stephanie began, "what if she doesn't want to come?"

There came silence. Her uncle stared at her, unblinking.

"Just do what I tell ya to, heh."

"Aunt Becky, what do you think of this?" She held up a dark green plaid shirt. There was only one left and what do you know! It was in her size.

"Looks great," Aunt Becky smiled. "I bet it would look nice with a white shirt."

"And those dark jeans you have," Michelle added.

Stephanie's gaze fell onto the price. It was on clearance and a whole two dollars. For such a nice shirt, she'd never get this good of a bargain again. "Should I get it?" She asked the two of them. "It's cute. I need another white shirt, though. My other one has a spaghetti sauce stain on it."

"Have you tried putting soap on it?" Aunt Becky said. "That always works for me."

"I already did that," She sighed. "It won't come out. Not even Dad's super stain removal could get it out."

"Yikes," Aunt Becky remarked wryly.

"That's saying something," Michelle muttered. "That stuff gets everything out."

Well, almost everything.

"I know," Stephanie said flatly.

Aunt Becky pursed her lips. "Where's the stain at?"

"On the bottom."

"Hmm," Aunt Becky was thoughtful. "You could tuck it in or put a belt around it."

Stephanie considered this. "Hey, yeah. That's not a bad idea." It would be a cool way to accessorize without overdoing it and she could get by with wearing the shirt. No one would be able to tell the difference. "Thanks, Aunt Becky."

"No, problem. We girls have to stick together," Aunt Becky winked.

She laughed. "True. hey, let me go pay for this and I'll be right back." She went to the front counter to pay for her shirt, enamored by the sight of the cute cashier boy. He had to be around her age. His hair was dirty blonde and his eyes an almond green. He was taller, more so than Charlie or Harry and had a piercing on his lip. Okay, so a little on the wild side. Dad wouldn't be thrilled about the piercing. She smiled bashfully when the guy-Nathan-looked her in the eye as he told her the total. Once she was finished, she spared a glance behind her before joining her aunt and sister by the entrance. "Where to next?" She asked them.

"Can I pick the store this time?" Michelle wanted to know. "I need some new clothes."

"You'll need a bigger closet at this rate," Stephanie retorted. It hadn't been that long ago since the last time they were at the mall and Michelle had used what was left of the money she'd received from relatives for her birthday. Dad wouldn't let her spend it all at once so she had to spread it out gradually.

Aunt Becky ruffled Michelle's hair. "Sure, you can. Wherever you want to go."

Her sister brightened up. "Oooh! Let's go to that tie dye shop! We should all get matching shirts!"

Stephanie wasn't really fond of the idea of matching but if they ended up doing it, she could always just wear it as a pajama top instead. As they crossed over to the other side of the mall, her cell phone buzzed. If this was Uncle Jesse, he was calling early. He'd told her it might be a while so they would need to ensure that Aunt Becky wouldn't want to leave early.

Oh, well never mind that. She saw it wasn't Uncle Jesse at all. Rather, it was Charlie.

"Hey," She placed the phone near her ear. "What's up?"

"Tanner," he greeted and then corrected himself, "Stephanie."

She couldn't help but laugh. "You're really stuck on that, aren't you?"

"Shut up," he said, halfheartedly.

"You can call me Tanner if it's easier for you," She shook her head.

"You told me not to call you that."

"I didn't think you'd really listen," She shrugged.

"Ouch..."

"Oh, don't pretend that hurt you," She rolled her eyes at his dramatics. Stephanie followed her aunt and sister into one of those stores geared towards younger girls. Aunt Becky gestured that she was taking Michelle over to the back section. She nodded, striding over to the corner where she wouldn't be in anybody's way.

"How do you know it didn't?" He challenged. "Maybe you hurt my feelings."

"You'd have to have them first."

"And there's another brilliant comeback by Stephanie Tanner," He said loudly. "What will she say next?"

"Is there a reason you called?" She said instead.

"I figured you I should grace you with my voice."

"You're so generous."

"I know," he agreed. "You should be more appreciative of me."

"I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude."

"You should be," he told her.

"The reason, Charlie?"

"So impatient," He mock-scolded her. "But don't worry, I'll fix that."

"Oh, you will, won't you?"

"I will," he said with confidence. "But don't ask me how, I don't share my secrets."

She hummed. "I'll survive."

There was background noise on his end. It kind of sounded like a chair creaking. It took a moment before he started speaking again. In the meantime, she waited-patiently. "It's Friday."

"Congrats, you finally learned the days of the week." her smile widened when she heard a laugh from him.

"Okay, Tanner, that was a good one," He conceded with one last chuckle.

"Of course it was."

"You didn't let me finish. I thought you'd want to hang out, you know, since you don't have any plans."

"How do you know I don't have plans?" She said.

"You told me the other day."

She'd forgotten about that.

"Well, you're wrong. I do have plans," She said matter-of-factly.

"Sitting at home with your dog doesn't count, babe."

"I'm not sitting with Comet," She then lowered her voice, "I'm helping Uncle Jesse surprise Aunt Becky."

"What are you whispering for?" he wondered and she imagined he was raising his eyebrows, giving her a look like she'd lost it.

"Uncle Jesse told me and Michelle to take Aunt Becky to the mall to distract her. I don't want her to hear me." Technically, it probably didn't matter whether she whispered or not; the store was playing music overhead and there was the general noises that came from being in the mall. Aunt Becky likely wouldn't have caught what she said but still, Stephanie didn't want to take any chances of ruining the surprise.

"Oh," Charlie said and his voice lost the playfulness from before. "So you can't hang out at all tonight?"

Was it just her or did he sound disappointed?

Well, it isn't like he has a lot of friends...or anyone besides me, she frowned.

"No, sorry," She apologized. "Maybe some other time?"

"Yeah, sure," He made his voice sound a little more upbeat this time. "That's cool."

"Great!" Stephanie only then realized she was standing in front of a display of shirts that someone wanted to look at. The mother was holding her daughter's hand, giving Stephanie a scathing look. She was sheepish as she moved to the right.

"So, your uncle has a surprise for your aunt, you said?"

"Do you really care?'

"No," he said honestly. "But I suck at this whole conversation thing sooo.."

She didn't expect the admission. For one, because he hadn't put up a fight in telling and also, she'd never really gotten the impression that he wasn't good at talking to people. Sure, yeah, the first time they talked together there was a lot of silence but she figured that was more so due to being away from each other for so long. And the circumstances that made him leave.

She decided to help him out.
"Uncle Jesse has a date night for Aunt Becky all planned out," She said and then added, "he's trying to make up with her."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"She's still upset with him and Dad for spying on Michelle," She said. "So Uncle Jesse has this candlelight dinner planned." A dreamy sigh came from her. "It's pretty romantic."

"Didn't think you cared about that stuff, Tanner."

She huffed. "You're telling me it's not cute?"

"Not really."

"Ugh. You're such a guy."

"Good catch there, Tanner," He said with approval.

"You really don't think it's romantic?" She asked again with a frown.

"No."

"Then what is romantic to you?" She pressed further.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't but I suck at this whole conversation thing sooo..."

"You're dumb."

"You're stupid."

"You're annoying."

"You're a pest."

"How's the mall?" He abruptly switched topics.

She blinked. "Fine...?" She didn't understand why he changed it up so suddenly but she assumed there was obviously a reason for it and not because he actually wanted to know. "Oh, man. I've got to tell you about this shirt I got! It's amazing."

"You really don't," He sounded disinterested.

"Hey, you called. Now you have to listen."

"I'll hang up," He threatened mildly.

"No, you won't," She disagreed. "You're too bored."

Silence.

"Maybe," he begrudgingly agreed.

"Ha, I knew it."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"So, about my shirt-"

"I don't care."

"It's totally cool. I got it for like two dollars," Stephanie said.

"No way," Charlie mocked and she was certain he was trying to imitate her voice. "Tell me more."

Whether she knew it or not, a smile was forming onto her face. It just kind of happened naturally around him. She supposed now that she knew he wasn't really a jerk like she thought he was, he was actually pretty funny.

"It's plaid and green and totally cool. You'd never guess it was on clearance," She added, satisfied with her purchase.

"You always manage to blow my mind..."

"I just have to find the perfect pair of jeans to go with it."

"Are you still talking?"

She ignored that. "I saw a pair I really liked in the same store but they were over a hundred dollars. My dad would flip if he knew I paid that much."

"You could put someone to sleep, Tanner, you know that?"

"But that wasn't even the best part," She told him brightly.

"Don't you have someone else you can talk to about this?" He wondered.

"I saw this really cute guy at the counter and-" She was cut off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I draw the line at talking about other guys. Go tell one of your friends about your girly problems," He ordered her.

"You asked!"

"Not about that!"

"You're being ridiculous," She chided him. "You wouldn't have an issue talking about girls."

"Exactly, because they're girls. I don't want to hear you telling me other guys are cute."

"Chicken," She couldn't resist from saying.

"It's gross," He whined and was probably scowling.

"You're such a child."

"Says you." He went quiet and then said in a strained voice as if he was regretting every life he'd made thus far, "You have five minutes."

She beamed, even though he couldn't see it. "He was really cute."

"We've established this already."

"I thought about giving him my number but I didn't want to be too forward, you know?"

"Uh, huh," He said, bored.

"I'm just not sure he's my type," She said.

"Did he look like a nerd? Seems like your type," Charlie said cheekily.

"First of all, rude. And Second, he does not."

"Oh, like I'm taking your word for it," he scoffed. "He's got glasses, doesn't he?"

"No and-" She stopped. "Wait a minute, I wear glasses."

"And that makes you a nerdy goodie goodie," he said slowly, as if to a small child. She huffed. "Braces?"

"Nope."

"You think he's good at math?"

"How should I know? We talked for like two seconds," She said.

"Then how do you figure he's not your type?"

"Well...he has a lip piercing-stop laughing!"

It was hardly funny. And yet, Charlie had lost it.

"Crap, can you imagine? Squeaky clean Stephanie Tanner and a guy with piercings? Your dad would hate it. Hey, tell me how that goes. I wanna hear every detail."

"Oh, now you care."

"Now it's interesting."

"Well, you know what-" Aunt Becky approached her with an intrigued facial expression. Stephanie remembered how this was supposed to be a day of distracting her aunt and hanging out with her, not spending all that time on her phone. "Uh, I have to go."

"Did I upset you or something?" Charlie asked in a strange tone.

Stephanie turned so her aunt couldn't read her lips. "No. Aunt Becky's right near me. I'm supposed to be spending time with her."

"Oh. Right."

"I'll call you back later," She told him.

"Okay, cool." Wow, odd. His voice had brightened up somewhat. "See you, Tanner."

'"Bye." She shut her phone, looking at her aunt with a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"Who was that?" Aunt Becky gestured towards her phone.

"What? Oh. No one," She said with a horrible attempt at sounding innocent.

"No one?" Her Aunt repeated doubtfully. "It didn't look like it was no one."

"Well, it was," She was feeling uncomfortable because of her aunt's persistence.

"Why were you so smiley then?" Michelle raised her eyebrows.

"I wasn't," Stephanie denied.

"Oh, yes, you were," Aunt Becky teased her. "You were very happy just now."

"I was just talking to Charlie," She said, giving up the pretense. "That's all."

"You've been talking to him a lot," Michelle grumbled. "You're always talking to him."

"He doesn't have a lot of friends," Stephanie shrugged.

"Is that why you talk to him even after you're supposed to be sleeping?" Michelle said.

Stephanie's eyes widened and she looked at Aunt Becky, stammering, "Aunt Becky-"

Her aunt held up her hand. "Don't worry. I won't tell your dad."

She relaxed.

They walked out of the store, turning in the right direction. "I'm hungry," Michelle said. "Aunt Becky, can we eat?"

"Sure," Aunt Becky was fine with that. "I'm a bit hungry myself. Steph, you want anything?"

"Okay," Stephanie agreed.

Michelle walked in front of them. It gave Aunt Becky the opportunity to pull Stephanie closer to her, smiling slyly. "So, what's up with you and Charlie?"

"Nothing's up," Stephanie said. "We're-"

"Just friends," Aunt Becky finished for her. "Right, but the way you two are acting doesn't exactly stand out as just friends."

"Aunt Becky, I've been through this with Dad and DJ already; there's nothing going on. Guys and girls can be friends. I'm friends with Harry."

"I've seen you with Harry," Aunt Becky unknowingly echoed DJ's words. "You and Charlie just click differently."

Stephanie was confused. She didn't think their friendship was any different than her one with Harry. "How?"

"You're happier, more relaxed. You smile every time you talk about him."

"I do not," She denied.

Her aunt merely smiled. "Alright, if you're so sure."

"I am," Stephanie muttered.

They found a seat for the three of them; it was further back which meant they weren't surrounded by the crowds of people. Michelle got a burger, fries and a soda, claiming she was really hungry; Aunt Becky ordered a medium sized tea and a brownie while Stephanie drank a chocolate milkshake. It was silent for nearly a minute as they dug into their food and drink, enjoying it. Michelle was the first to break the silence.

"Marcus is avoiding me," She told them unhappily. A firm scowl came over her. "Wonder why..."

Aunt Becky was sympathetic. "Oh, Michelle. Your dad and uncle care about you very much. They just wanted to protect you." She then sighed heavily. "True, they could have gone about it differently. And not been so stupid."

To avoid their aunt going on a rant like she'd already done on a different day, Stephanie asked, "How'd you even know they were here, anyway?"

Michelle was no longer actively eating. Rather, she moved a few fries around. "Dad was hiding behind a display and fell when Joey bumped him."

Stephanie and Aunt Becky winced.

"It was so embarrassing," Michelle was covering her face, obviously the memory was still vivid. "Marcus said, "Isn't that your dad?" and I didn't think it was. I didn't think Dad or Joey or Uncle Jesse would actually follow me here." Her face was buried in her hands and then it reappeared. "He's never going to talk to me ever again."

"I'm sure that's not true," Aunt Becky put a comforting hand on Michelle's shoulder. "I'm sure if you go explain everything, he'll understand."

"But what if he doesn't?" Michelle looked every bit of her age. Miserable, too.

"Sometimes things don't work out," Aunt Becky said softly.

"It sucks," Stephanie chimed in.

Aunt Becky nodded. "It does. But I think it happens for a reason. I remember my first heartbreak. I was devastated when he broke it off. But imagine if I'd stayed with him, I never would have met your uncle or had Nicky and Alex."

Michelle was making a face. "So you're staying this is a good thing?"

"It can be," Aunt Becky said carefully. "

Just remember you don't know how Marcus feels yet."

Her sister sighed. "I wish I did. I really like him, Aunt Becky."

"I know you do," Aunt Becky leaned over to give her a hug. Michelle reciprocated. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out."

Her sister shrugged, looking helpless. "I guess." She looked away but brought her eyes back onto their aunt. "Aunt Becky?"

"Yes, Michelle?"

Her sister momentarily hesitated. "If me and Marcus did go out, would we last?"

Stephanie's eyebrows flew into her hairline.

Even Aunt Becky wasn't expecting that question.

Michelle continued, "Aaron keeps saying we won't. He doesn't like Marcus, he's always saying something about him. Teddy says he never shuts up sometimes."

Stephanie shared a look with her aunt.

"Michelle," Aunt Becky's voice was gentle and calculating, "did you ever consider the possibility that Aaron may like you more than a friend?"

Her sister is stunned by their aunt's question. It took several seconds for her to regain her bearings and form something even somewhat resembling a proper sentence. "No! No way! That's crazy talk. Aaron doesn't like me."

"Are you sure about that?" Aunt Becky asked her.

Michelle didn't seem so sure. "Yeah," She tried to play it off anyway. "Besides, he said he liked Lisa."

"Does Lisa know of this?" Aunt Becky said.

"Yeah," Michelle repeated. "She thinks it's gross."

"Maybe he's just saying he likes Lisa so you won't suspect anything," Stephanie suggested. It felt nice to focus on someone else's love life for a change instead of her own. Not that she really had a love life in the first place. Nothing had really sailed within the past couple of years. If she was being honest, she felt kind of left out. So many people from school were hooking up; some for long term, others for a short time. All but for her, it seemed. No one had caught her eye and she didn't catch anyone else's eye, either. Harry said she shouldn't worry about it, she'd have plenty of opportunities in college. Gia told Stephanie not to listen to him-cue the look of offense on his face-she'd definitely find someone before senior year was over.

Aunt Becky nodded, her eyes looking from Stephanie and back to Michelle. "True. Could be. You never know."

"You could ask him," Stephanie said, knowing her sister wouldn't ever do it.

"I can't do that!" Michelle's voice went up in pitch. Ouch. That was worthy of breaking glass. "If I ask him, he'll think I like him."

"Do you?" Stephanie asked, just to irritate her.

"Oh, please. It's Aaron. I've known him forever."

"Sometimes that's the best kind of relationship," Aunt Becky said wisely.

Michelle was making a face. "I like Marcus, Aunt Becky. I wanna go out with him."

"Yeah, because Dad will totally let you," Stephanie snorted.

"It's not fair," Michelle scowled, managing to chew her fries angrily. "You were younger than me on your first date."

Stephanie grimaced. "It wasn't really a date."

"Still," Michelle said dismissively. "I wanna go on my first date but I don't think Dad will let me."

"Face it, Michelle," Stephanie took another long sip of chocolaty goodness, "Dad's gonna keep you a kid for as long as he can. You'll be lucky if he lets you go to high school."

"Steph," Aunt Becky was amused.

"You know it's true."

"Possibly," Aunt Becky conceded. "Tell you what, Michelle, I'll have a talk with your dad and see if I can smooth this whole thing over."

"You'd do that?" Michelle was relieved.

"Sure. Like I said, we girls gotta stick together. But only if you talk to Marcus," Aunt Becky compromised.

Michelle blanched. "I don't know if I can do that."

"Sure you can," Aunt Becky said encouragingly.

"But how?"

Stephanie piped up, "Make sure you guys are alone."

"Why?"

"He's not gonna wanna talk about whatever you two are in front of people. Besides, he might deny any feelings he does have for you if people make fun of him," Stephanie said.

"Steph's right. Wait until after school when you guys can be alone and just ask him how he feels, maybe explain about the other day," Aunt Becky said.

"What if he never talks to me again?" Michelle worried

"Then he wasn't worth your time," Aunt Becky smiled warmly.

Stephanie's phone buzzed again. Excitement built up within her. Her aunt had no idea what she was walking into.

/

"Go outside," Stephanie told Aunt Becky when they arrived home. "Uncle Jesse's waiting for you."

Her aunt was confused. "What?"

"Just go outside," Stephanie gestured.

"What's going on?" Aunt Becky looked from Stephanie to Michelle.

"You'll see!" Michelle bounced on her heels.

Aunt Becky frowned at them before she did as Stephanie told her too. She went through the kitchen and out the back door. Michelle and Stephanie followed her; by the time they got outside, Aunt Becky stood in front of the table that Uncle Jesse had put up, hands covering her mouth.

"Jess...what-"

Uncle Jesse gently pulled her by the waist. "You were right, Beck. We shouldn't have spied on her."

"You're just realizing that?" Aunt Becky was smiling, despite what she said. She leaned in to him, her head resting on his shoulder. "What's all this for?"

"You've been working hard; what with the show and taking care of Nicky and Alex. You deserve a night off to relax. I cooked your favorites and I even got that wine we had on our wedding night."

"Oh, Jess," Aunt Becky sniffled. "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me," Uncle Jesse kissed her soundly on the lips. Stephanie felt like she and Michelle were starting to intrude on a personal moment. She motioned for her sister to follow her and they quietly went back inside while their aunt and uncle continued to kiss in the backyard.