"The Young and the Hopeless"

Shakespeare's Lemonade

Rating: T

Genre: Friendship

Summary: What if Danny and Steve were best friends in school? Years later, they meet up again and it's not exactly a friendly reunion.

A/N: So, once again, my AU-ness strikes. The title comes from the Good Charlotte song. I know I should be working on my other stories, but this one won't go away. Also, I don't know where Steve moved when he was 16, so I just made something up. If anyone knows, I would appreciate the help.

Prologue

"I'm young and I'm hopeless. I'm lost and I know this. I'm going nowhere fast. That's what they say."~Good Charlotte

He promised we'd be friends forever. It's not like I cared so much, but he did promise. Sure, I didn't know the whole story, but you'd think he would explain it to his best friend. But I guess that's just a word to him. It doesn't mean anything.

So, yeah, I let myself think he gave a crap about me. He put on a good show of it anyway. No, all he cared about were cars and guns and... I don't know. I don't want to know.

But that's why I left. To spite him. He made such a big deal of how wonderful Hawaii was. Well, I decided to live in New Jersey. You couldn't get much more un-Hawaii. People often asked me why I would leave Honolulu for Newark. It was true enough that I didn't care for the beach and I loved big cities. I loved pizza. After a while, those became the only reasons. I wasn't about to admit, even to myself, how much it hurt.

Then there was Rachel, then Grace, and all too soon, Stanley Edwards. Stan had no idea I'd even lived in Hawaii. I couldn't blame him, no matter how much I wanted to. Rachel did know, so she was the bad guy. And they couldn't move to Maui or anything. It had to be Honolulu.

I never ever told Rachel why I left. She thought I was just being difficult, which wasn't a stretch. I let her. It was better than telling her the truth.

The truth was, freaking Steven J. McGarrett was an ass. Imagine my delight at finding that he wasn't there and hadn't been since 1992. I briefly allowed myself some sympathy, before going back to hating him.

He deserved it, after all.

Chapter One "The Early Years"

He wouldn't cry. It didn't hurt that much anyway. But when another boy, bigger than the other two barged in, Danny thought he might reconsider crying. However, the punches stopped and the black-haired boy glared at the other two.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" he said.

"Like you?" one of the boys muttered.

"You wanna say that again?" the biggest one demanded.

The other two quickly dispersed and Danny realized now was time to preserve his pride.

"I didn't need your help," he said, dusting off his pants and taking mental inventory of his injuries.

"Yeah," the other boy said. "Okay." Then he held out his hand. "My name is Steven J. McGarrett. What's yours?"

Danny just stared at him. "I'm Danny," he finally said, but didn't shake the offered hand.

"You wanna race down the slides?"

"No," Danny grumbled.

"Oh." Steven seemed disappointed. Then his expression changed. "You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine! Leave me alone already." Danny sat down on the curb around the playground and crossed his arms.

Steven's face fell. "Well, okay." He turned and walked away from Danny, his shoulders a little lower than before.

Danny rested his crossed arms on his knees and pouted. Not only was he beat up again, he had to be rescued by some other kid. Danny had never met this Steven person, but he already didn't like him.

"Hey!"

Danny looked up to see the bullies were back.

"Where's your body guard, haole?"

The taller of the two stood with his feet apart and hands on his hips. Just perfect. Danny aimed a kick at a rather sensitive area and then ran away as the other bully threatened to cream him. The trouble was, there was nowhere to go. Danny was fast for his size, but he didn't really have many options. As he ran under the big slide he slammed into something hard. He fell back, scraping his elbows on the playground bark. Then he looked up and saw the person he least wanted to see: Steven J. McGarrett. Danny quickly got up and looked over his shoulder.

"They giving you trouble again?" Steven asked.

Danny glared at him. "No. I just like running."

Just then, bully number two caught up, but before he could do anything, Steven grabbed him by the collar and punched him in the gut.

Later in the principal's office, Danny swung his feet back and forth. Steven was tall enough that his feet reached the floor.

"That was pretty awesome," Danny said.

"Yeah?" Steven asked, looking pleased. "It was nothing."

"Where did you learn to do that?"

Steven shrugged. "My dad's a cop."

"Oh. Well, it was cool anyway."

"Do you think we're in lots of trouble?"

"I don't know. He was trying to pound me."

"But I made him throw up."

"Maybe you don't know your own strength, Steven. At least, that's what my dad tells me when I play with my little brother."

"Thanks. And you can call me Steve."

The secretary told Steve that the principal was ready to see him, so he jumped up and headed for the door. He turned back to see Danny sitting there waiting for him. Somehow, he knew Danny would be there when he got out.

In the end, Steve was let off with a warning. As he and Danny headed back to class, he remembered something.

"Hey," he said. "My birthday's tomorrow. You think you could come?"

"Tomorrow?" Danny asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. I mean, if you can't come, it's okay."

"No, no. Your birthday is tomorrow? As in August 24th?"

"I think that's what I said. Why?"

"Because today is August 23rd. My birthday."

"Seriously? You're older than me?"

"Yeah, by one whole day."

"That's crazy. So, can you come?"

"I'll ask."

"Cool. Hey Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we're gonna be best friends."

H-5-O

They were best friends. From first grade up until their junior year of high school. Every birthday, since their eighth, they celebrated together. Bullies didn't pick on Danny for being small anymore, because Steve taught him how to defend himself. Eventually, Danny could even win a few fights with Steve.

But there was one fight, he wished he'd lost. It all started when Steve's mom died. But if Danny had been honest with himself, he would have admitted it began much sooner.

For a long time, Danny had resented Steve. He always felt like he had to compensate for his height around the guy who had been six foot since junior high. Danny knew he was strong and smart, but something ugly in him reared up when he saw the looks he got around Steve. He felt like he had to be loud and forceful to make up for the supposed lack.

So, when Steve told him he was moving, Danny didn't let on just why he was upset.

"Why?" Danny demanded.

Steve shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"That's not an answer. Come on."

Steve stared out his bedroom window, offering no reply, not even the acknowledgment of a question. Danny knew he was upset about his mom, but he couldn't understand this.

"So that's it?" Danny said. "You're just gonna run off to the mainland 'cause your mom died?"

Steve stood up suddenly, but had nowhere to go. He ran a hand through his hair. "You don't get it."

"No. I don't. So explain."

"I don't know. Dad thinks it'll be good for us."

"And you think what? You agree with him?"

"It's not like I have a choice."

"Have you even tried? Have you told him you don't want to go?"

"Danny, you don't understand."

"You keep saying that. I'm so tired of everyone telling me I don't understand!"

Steve went over to the boxes in the corner of his room. Most of his things were already packed, but he started tossing in odds and ends, just to distract himself.

"You want to go, don't you?" Danny finally said. Then he shook his head. "You might have said something so I didn't have to hang around here like an idiot."

"Would that have made a difference?"

"What?"

"Whether I wanted to go."

"Yeah. It makes a difference. See, here I thought you were my friend... My mistake."

"Danny—"

"Don't even, okay? Go. Move to Montana or whatever."

"Maryland."

"Who cares? You're leaving, so just... leave."

Then Danny got up and left. He didn't return Steve's calls after that and he didn't go to the funeral. But he watched the planes go by, wondering which one Steve was on before reminding himself he didn't care.