Title: Just Surf Buddies?
Author: Mykkila09
Setting: coda for episode nineteen, season two: Kalele (Faith)
Summary: Danny is in a mood over Steve's comment to Mary about them being surf buddies. Can Steve figure out why Danny is upset?
Story Word Count: 2,937
A/N: Ok,I loved this episode! Especially the banter between Steve and Danny, and of course, the McDanno fan in me, saw it as more, so this idea was born and I just had to write it…enjoy…
Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-0 and all its affiliates belong to CBS Productions, 101st Street Productions and K/O Paper Productions. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended, so no money is profited from this story.
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
When Danny woke up that morning, everything was perfect; he had breakfast with his daughter, spent time with her before taking her to school and then, he and Steve had decided to go surfing. Of course, things do go completely smoothly due to the commotion out in the water with another surfer, but that aside, his day was still going good. Even Mary's arrival, though a surprise, kept him in a good mood. That was until Steve's comment about them being surf buddies.
From the moment the words left Steve's mouth, he had felt like someone had sucker-punched him or had twisted his heart. After everything they'd been through, he couldn't believe that Steve would call them surf buddies. It made him sad and that in turn made him angry and then the anger diffused into irritation, which is why he was sitting at the table in Steve's dining room, a slight frown on his face as he watched the two siblings.
He was happy to see Mary, of course he was, he just really hated how Steve had categorized them to her.
"Just surf buddies he says," Danny grumbled as he sat the table in Steve's house. When Steve told Mary they were surf buddies, he wasn't angry; he was hurt. He had thought he meant more to Steve than that and that the man would be comfortable enough to tell his only sister that, not only were they living together, but they were dating as well.
They had gotten together after Steve had come back from his training, or whatever he had gone on with Catherine. The night that Danny had introduced Grace to Gabriella had left a sour taste in his mouth and he had realized that the reason he had been putting it off for so long was because he didn't want the two to meet. And he had realized how jealous he had gotten knowing that Steve had spent weeks with Cat on the navy ship and then, later that night at Steve's place, hearing the man encouraging him to be more open to Gabriella had made him angry until he had shouted at the man that he hadn't wanted her, that he wanted only him. To say Steve was shocked was an understatement, but he Danny had gotten a shock himself when Steve had admitted how he felt. The next step had been to move in together, as they already knew each other better than anyone, and they'd been together ever since.
Sure they had their ups and downs, and their fights, but at the end of the day, they knew the other loved them, and they were more than happy to express that. But now, it seemed as if Steve was ashamed of their relationship. His unwillingness to let Mary know made Danny's stomach clench into a knot. He wasn't ashamed of Steve; despite all of his obvious flaws, he still loved him and was proud of him. To him, Steve was perfect.
He was drawn out of his thoughts by Mary walking over to the table and Steve coming from the kitchen with a cup in his hand, which he handed over to his sister. After Mary explained to them what she was doing in Hawaii—a new job working as a stewardess—she left them to go back to her hotel room and then, Danny turned to Steve.
"So," Danny said, making his voice sound casual even if he was anything but, "just surf buddies?"
Steve raised an eyebrow in Danny's direction and couldn't help the amused and somewhat mocking smile, "You feeling sensitive today or something Danno?"
Danny frowned and leaned back in his chair, "yeah actually, I am feeling a little sensitive today. However, the fact that you find this all amusing tells me all I need to know." and it did. While he was proud of his relationship with Steve and was willing to tell everyone he knew—his parents did, hell, even Rachel knew the two were together—it seemed as if Steve preferred that his own sister didn't know and that hurt Danny more than he cared to admit.
With a sad and resigned shake of his head, Danny stood up from the table and left the room, leaving Steve staring after him in confusion and a hint of worry.
~…~
For the rest of the day, Danny kept things professional. When they found out that Mary had been arrested on charges for stealing, it sent not only Steve, but the whole team for a loop. They knew Mary hadn't done it and that there was more to the story than was seen, so they focused on clearing her name.
For Steve though, as much as he portrayed the intense and yet cool collected guy, inside was another story; he was worried. The entire day, he had felt that something was off with Danny, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Sure the blond teased him and smiled and ranted, but he still couldn't help the weird feeling he got, almost as if Danny was holding back.
When he had found the grenade cake in the trunk of the car and saw Danny's face, he had believed that things would go back to normal, but he was wrong. Danny still gave the smiles that never reached his eyes, his rants were given with hands that didn't move as much and not once, did Danny call him Steven or teased him about being Army instead of Navy. All of it left a very uncomfortable feeling in his chest and he was starting to get scared—something that he rarely felt unless Danny was in trouble or Grace.
Chin and Kono could tell something was wrong. Throughout the day, on separate occasions, they cornered Steve to find out what was up with Danny. Steve though, couldn't answer as he too was at a loss. By the time the case had been closed and Mary's name cleared, things hadn't improved. Steve and Mary were in their childhood home talking while Danny had gone to see Grace.
Steve had just told Mary about her still having her job, which she couldn't be happier about, when she decided to ask about what was going on with Danny. She knew how close the two were and how much her brother cared about his blond partner. She may not be around much, but she knew enough to know that Danny wasn't his usual "Danny" self today.
"So," Mary started as she grabbed her bag, "what's up with Danny today? I mean, I know with the whole me getting arrested situation things wouldn't be as happy go lucky as they normally are, but Danny seemed, well, he seemed off."
"You saw that too?" Steve questioned. He let out a sigh as he leaned against the back of the couch, "I don't know. I've tried talking to him, but," Steve let out a frustrated sound and ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know what's going on Mare. Danny won't talk to me, but I know something's wrong."
Mary chewed her bottom lip, "well did you do something?" at her brother's look, she smirked, "Steve, for all that I love you, and you know I do, and for all that you are scary smart when it comes to tactics and strategies and all that fancy stuff the Navy taught you, you can be pretty dense at times, you know that, right?"
Steve, of course, protested, "What? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Let's see," Mary smirked, "you didn't know about Nick, no offense, you had no idea Lori was in love with you—
"Those are just two examples," Steve interrupted, "and for the Nick situation, I suppose I didn't know because I didn't want to believe the man I trusted, the person I served with could do something like that." He sighed, "Maybe I did do something, but I doubt that. Usually, if I did do something, Danny would've let me known already."
"You'll figure it out bro," Mary patted his shoulder, "I know how close you and Danny are, and I know you guys won't let this come between you."
Steve opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, he heard the door open and they both looked up to see Danny walking in.
"Hey Danny," Mary smiled over at the blond man.
"Mary," Danny nodded back with a slight smile as he walked over to the two of them, "I thought you'd left already? Not that I'm running you off or anything."
Mary laughed and waved his words away, "it's fine. I was just getting ready to leave actually." She reached down to grab her bags, but Danny stepped forward.
"Let me get that," Danny said as he grabbed one of them.
"Thank you," Mary smiled at him.
"Come on," Steve said as he grabbed her other bag.
The three of them walked to the door and got outside just in time to see the taxi pull up. They walked outside and Steve and Danny placed Mary's bags in the trunk.
"Well," Mary said as she turned to the two of them. She smiled at her brother as she reached up to hug him tightly, "I love you, you know that?"
"I love you too Mare," Steve replied softly as he returned the hug just as tightly.
Mary pulled back and turned to Danny, pulling him into a hug. "Take care of him, because you and I both know he won't do it himself."
Danny chuckled and when they pulled back from the hug, he kissed her forehead, "I will. Have a safe flight."
Mary smiled and got into the taxi, "I'll call when I get there."
"Alright," Steve nodded and waved her off, "See ya."
"Bye," Mary waved as the taxi pulled out of the driveway. The two watched it go before turning around and heading back inside.
"Hey Danny, you want something to eat?" Steve asked as he headed to the kitchen.
"No," Danny answered curtly as he went directly to the stairs.
Steve stopped at Danny's tone and reached out to grab his arm, "Whoa, whoa, what was that?"
"What was what Steven?" Danny raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Steve.
"That right there," Steve cocked his head to the side, "that tone of voice. Danny, what is going on? You've been acting weird all day and I don't know why." Steve took a step closer to the shorter blond, "Did I do something wrong? If I did, just tell me what it is, and I'll fix it."
Danny ran a hand over his face and sighed. He loved Steve, he really did, and while he wasn't the type to shout from the rooftops, he didn't shy away from having anyone know he was in a relationship with the goofball. Sure they hadn't been together long—they'd only gotten together just a few weeks ago after the mess with the Governor's ball—but Danny knew that what he felt for Steve was stronger than anything he'd ever felt with anyone else, including Rachel.
"Danny," Steve moved closer to Danny, "Talk to me, please."
"I love you, you know that," Danny started, "I love being with you Steve. What I feel for you, I've never felt about anyone else, not even Rachel and I know, you're it for me. And I can understand if you don't feel the same and you don't want to be me with 'cause you're ashamed of our—
"Ashamed? Why would I be ashamed of our relationship?" Steve asked, completely puzzled at Danny's words. "If anything, I'm proud of our relationship."
Danny bit his lip, "then why did you tell Mary we were surf buddies?"
Steve's brows furrowed as he remembered talking to Mary on the beach;
"So what are you guys surf buddies now?" Mary grinned as she looked at her brother and Danny.
"Yeah," Steve threw a quick look at Danny, "we're surf buddies."
Steve's mind then flashed to when they were at the house,
"So," Danny said, "just surf buddies?"
"You feeling sensitive or something today Danno?"
Steve gave a mental head shake and then looked down at Danny. "Shit, Danny, I'm so sorry. This is why you've been acting weird? It wasn't just because of my birthday, but because of what I said to Mary."
"Yeah," Danny nodded, "and look, I get it, ok, I do. You've been a Navy SEAL and they had the whole DADT thing going and I know that this is your first real relationship, and the fact that it's with a guy might just be a little overwhelming and you may be having second thoughts—
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Steve cut Danny off, unable to believe what he was hearing, "Danny, what the hell are you talking about? Second thoughts, why the hell would I have second thoughts about being with you? Danny, if I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't have started anything with you in the first place. I'm not the kind of guy to mess with someone's feelings or string them along."
Steve leaned down and kissed Danny; it was brief yet deep and passionate. He pulled back after a few minutes, and smiled, "Danny, I love you, and I want to be with you, and I am not ashamed of our relationship. I'm sorry that you thought that, and Mary doesn't know because honestly, I didn't even think to tell her. I mean, Kono and Chin know because they work with us; Rachel knows because of Gracie and pretty much everyone on the island knew before we did."
Danny grinned at that, "that is true; all those "how long have you been married" jokes."
Steve continued, "and on top of that, I think I really didn't tell her because deep down I was little afraid that she wouldn't accept this…accept us. I know Chin and Kono are family, but Mary, she's all I have left of our family and we just started getting close and—
"And you didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that," Danny cut him off, "Babe, I understand, I really do."
Steve kissed Danny again, "You're it for me Williams. I trust you, more than I trust anyone, including my sister and Joe and I've known them a hell of lot longer than I've known you. You get me and you accept me; the good and the bad. I love you."
"I love you too," Danny wrapped his arms around Steve's neck. "And I'm sorry for freaking out and acting all weird. I just thought since Mary didn't know about us, that meant—
"You thought it meant I wanted out of the relationship," Steve finished, "I don't. And, if it'll make you feel better and more secure, I'll call Mary right now and let her know."
Danny rolled his eyes, "you don't have to, but she is your sister, and she should know."
"Alright," Steve nodded. He took one hand off of Danny's waist and dug through his pockets for his cell phone. Pressing speed dial three—voicemail was one and Danny two—Steve called his sister. After three rings, she picked it up.
"Hey bro," Mary grinned into the phone, "I just left your place like ten minutes ago."
"I know," Steve smiled, "I just realized that I needed to tell you something. I forgot to do it when you were here. Actually, it's something I should've told you a while back."
"Well what is it?" Mary asked, concern creeping into her voice, "you're not dying on me or anything, are you?"
Steve rolled his eyes, "No Mare, I'm not dying. I just wanted to let you that Danny and I are together."
"I know," Mary said, a little confused as to why he was telling her
"I don't mean together like you just left us at the house so we're together," Steve grinned, "what I meant was, Danny and I are in a relationship; we're seeing each other."
Mary snorted, "really Steve; tell me something I don't know."
"What?" Steve's eyes went wide with shock.
"Yeah I know and I'm happy for you, the both of you," Mary laughed, "I'll call you when I get back home. Talk to you later Steve." With that, she hung up.
Steve hung up his phone and looked down at Danny.
"What is it?" Danny asked in concern after seeing the shocked expression on Steve's face.
"She knew," Steve said.
"What?" Danny asked.
"Mary," Steve clarified, "she knew about us."
Danny grinned, "Well she is your sister, so it doesn't really surprise me." He leaned up and kissed Steve, "and you were worried about her knowing."
Steve laughed and shook his head before kissing Danny again, "I'm sorry I made you doubt my feelings and our relationship. I love you and you are more than a surf buddy."
"I know," Danny nodded before he leered at Steve, "but, I wouldn't be against it if you wanted to prove it to me."
Steve's eyes darkened with love and lust and he gave Danny a bruising kiss, "I'd be happy too. Upstairs…now!"
Danny pulled out of Steve's arms with a laugh and hurried up the stairs, his body already responding as he heard said guy follow. Steve caught him at the bedroom door and threw him on the bed and as he looked up at the man he loved, Danny knew without a doubt that Steve was right; they were more than surf buddies; they always had been and they always would be.
A/N 2: so that's the story. How'd you guys like it? I had fun writing it. Anyways…leave a review so I can know what you thought of this one-shot.
A/N 3: Here's some news, it's official, Michelle Borth (Cat) will be joining Five-0 from season three as a regular cast member. And for all McDanno—even those that just loved the banter between our favourite duo even from a platonic point of view—fans, I'm sure that the dynamic between the two will be significantly reduced. I really hope not. I like Cat, but I'm afraid if she's a regular cast member, I will grow to hate her. I preferred it when she popped up every once in a while. I thought that with Lori gone, it meant they'd finally decided to leave it at the Core Four—Steve, Danny, Chin, Kono—plus Max, but, apparently not.
Kila