Chapter Text
“We’re not through with this discussion. Stephanie Judith, come back down here now.” Danny’s words echoed up into the hall as the middle Tanner stormed away from her father, climbing the stairs, rounding the corner and slamming the door shut to her shared bedroom with her little sister Michelle. Closing the curtains to the rising sun, she then crossed the room, flopping face-first into her pillow, the mattress giving a slight bounce and creak as she settled. Stephanie buried her head under the covers, hoping her father would show the good sense and decency to leave her be until she cooled down, but knowing Danny Tanner, any second there’d be a bony rap on the door with a Bonafide Dad Talk that would leave her feeling more guilty than anything.
The highly anticipated knock never arrived, however, and Stephanie spent the next hour sulking alone in a mostly dark room, intermittently watching the ticking hands of her bedside alarm clock illuminated by Michelle’s nightlight, her thoughts wandering like a bunny lost in a strange field, digging burrows and leaping bounds. Her mind’s eye flashed with memories buried deep within her heart, picking apart pieces taped together of a woman she hadn’t seen in nine years; her mother. Hot tears stung as they welled and threatened to fall, but Steph scrunched her eyes and furiously wiped her face.
The door whined as it opened, light from the hall flooding the space. “Stephanie?” a small voice rang. The girl in question sniffed away her despair, tightening the covers over her face. “Dad wanted me to bring you breakfast.. Or, dinner.”
“I’m not hungry,” Stephanie replied, matter-of-factly, although her voice muffled. The intoxicating aroma of microwaved leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans wafted up to her nose, through the thin fabric of the blanket, and her stomach betrayed her with a deafening gurgle. If Michelle had heard it, she hadn’t let on. She dropped off the plate on the round table in the middle of the room, leaving their shared space without another word, which Steph was grateful for. She allowed herself a few more moments of stillness before flinging her covers away, swinging her legs over the side of her mattress and taking a seat in front of her cooling dinner, settling in to satiate her appetite.
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Her meal sitting heavy in her stomach, wave after wave of nausea led Stephanie to toss and turn, interrupting what should have been a refreshing nap, after staying out all night. Why had her father left her alone all this time? Had she pushed her last boundary? Hurled one too many insults at her doting, if not overbearing family? Stephanie focused on the chirping birds singing outside her window, combatting the rapid rise and fall of her own chest and fluttering, thumping heart.
You really let me down, Steph.