It took exactly 11 hours and 59 minutes for Danny to get home, not that he was counting of course.
1 hour and 19 minutes of it were spent waiting; Danny silently cursing his watch every time he looked at it, the minute hand barely seemed to be moving, not that he was counting of course
10 hours and 20 minutes of it were spent in the air. Even though it was the quickest and only direct flight it seemed a lifetime to him; not that he was counting of course.
18 minutes of it were spent at baggage claim; the carousel going round and round until finally, his black case appeared, not that he was counting of course.
1 minute of it he spent walking through arrivals, his eyes scanning the crowds of people welcoming others. He spotted him almost immediately, not that he was hard to miss. He towered over most people with his broad shoulders and specks of tattoos peeking out from the sleeves of his t-shirt. Danny's legs seemed to turn to jelly when their eyes connected and his heart, his heart ached. It had been too long. He was less than a minute from him, not that he was counting of course.
The last minute was spent in his arms; wrapped around Danny's smaller frame, hugging him tight. He needed this, needed to feel him, needed to see those eyes, needed to feel those lips, needed to hear that voice.
"12 hours Danno. 12 hours." Steve mumbled, his lips resting on the top of Danny's head as he spoke. One hand trailing up and down his back, the other resting on his neck, fingers idly playing with Danny's hair.
"11 hours, 59 minutes." Danny mumbled back, his head resting against Steve's chest, the soft thump, thump, thump of Steve's heart echoing in his ears.
"You counted?" Steve said; more as a statement than a question and pressed a kiss to Danny's head.
"I counted."