Disclaimer: Hawaii 5-0 and all of its characters belong to Peter Lenkov and CBS Studio Productions.
SPOILER: 3x10, the camping episode.
"I can't believe you got another one of my shirts ruined." Danny grumbled, poking his thumb through the hole in his favorite grey sweater and wiggling it at Steve. "You're the reason that I can't have nice things."
"Wait a minute," Steve held his hands up in front of him, his palms facing Danny as his expression slipped into Aneurysm Face. "Are you implying that the psycho showing up in the middle of the jungle, and shooting you before taking me hostage is, in some way, my fault?"
"I'm implying that you are not a magnet for trouble?" Danny quirked a brow and rested the hand on his good arm on his hip. Steve opened his mouth to protest, but it quickly turned into a pout as he brought his beer to his lips, huffing out a sigh. They had long since collapsed onto the well worn cushions of Steve's couch, their hands clutched around the necks of Longboards, as they worked through decompressing from the camping trip.
"How's Gracie?" Steve questioned. Danny had taken Grace back to Rachel's after they'd finished getting the rest of the Aloha Girls back to their families, and Steve had been busy trying to coax Lucy back into her mother's minivan from the death grip that she'd had on his leg. Not that Danny could blame her. Steve was one of those kind of people that attracted hero-worship like honey attracted ants, and he'd saved that little girl's life. She was bound to be rather...attached to his partner.
"She's doing okay. Apparently her 'Uncle Steve' is the talk of the Aloha Girls all over the island. You and Lucy are superstars, bud." Danny chuckled, shifting on the couch and trying to mask a wince. Of course, that was never an effective tactic where Steve was involved, so the larger man was in his personal space bubble inhumanly fast.
"Your arm okay? Let me see." Steve reached for the stark white bandages that he had insisted on redressing when Danny had turned up on his doorstep with a six pack in his hand. Danny swatted away Steve's hand and scowled at him.
"Get your paws off me. Animal. I'm fine, you worry too much." Steve settled back against the couch, his body closer than was strictly necessary, but Danny still counted his reluctant relenting as a 'win' in the Detective Williams column. "It's ridiculous, you know."
"Here we go," Steve muttered under his breath. "Okay, Danno, I'll bite. What's 'ridiculous' now?" Danny shot him another attempt at a 'thousand yard SEAL death stare' before responding. The twitch at the corner of Steve's lips that looked a helluva lot like a smirk was enough to tell him that it wasn't exactly having the desired effect.
"It is ridiculous, Captain Smartass-."
"Lieutenant Commander."
"I'm sorry?" Danny scoffed, his brows furrowing.
"I was Lieutenant Commander, not Captain. Big difference." Steve replied, his tone coveying that he was being serious.
"You know what? I'm gonna call you Petty Officer Smartass. Now, as I was saying," Steve glared at Danny, who seemed to be pointedly ignoring it. "It's ridiculous that we are a week away from Christmas, and there is an obvious lack of snow. How are you supposed to get into the Christmas spirit when it a hundred God damned degrees outside?"
"Okay, first of all, it's not a hundred degrees, Danny. Second, Christmas spirit isn't about snow or presents or...Santa Claus. It's about being with your family, your ohana, and it's about helping out people that are less fortunate." Steve replied, draining his beer before pulling another from the bucket of ice on the coffee table (that had been Danny's idea so that they didn't have to commute the fifty feet between the couch and the fridge. Steve had rolled his eyes, but relented because his partner did, in fact, have a bullet hole in his arm). "Besides, snow is overrated."
"Oh really, G.I. Joe? You live in Hawaii and you spent most of your adult life burying yourself in the Middle Eastern sandbox. How in the hell would you know that snow is 'overrated'?" Danny chuckled, leveling a curious gaze at Steve.
"Because I spent some time in Rus-." He cut himself off, his eyes wide as he caught sight of Danny's grin that spread all the way across his face. "In some really cold places during the winter and I hated it. It's why I like living on an island. No chance of frost bite here." He lifted a barefoot and wiggled his toes in Danny's direction with a broad grin.
"Hey, you never know, babe. Global warming and all of that jazz. Good save, by the way. Don't think I didn't notice that." He smirked.
"You know, I never had this much trouble keeping things like that secret before I met you. You're a terrible influence."
"I'm...I'm the terrible influence, he says." Danny laughed a bit manically, running his fingers through his hair, cautious of his bullet wound. "One of these days, my friend, I'm going to open up that 'top secret' file you've got going in that li'l ol' SEAL brain, and it is going to be glorious."
"Yeah, I seriously doubt that, Danno. I keep that file in the same place that I keep those peppermint patties that you are so fond of that I keep telling you will rot your gut." Danny's jaw dropped as he glared at Steve.
"And where, pray tell, might that be, Steven?"
"The one place that I know you won't get them, Daniel." Steve responded with a smirk. "On the tippy-top shelf. You better start looking for a step-stool now, Short Stack."
"I hate you. I hate you so much." Danny shook his head and took another sip of his beer, making a point to ignore the look of pure joy on Steve's face. "Why must you mock my height?"
"Hey, it's not mocking you. I am a strong activist for the rights of the vertically challenged. My partner happens to be of that persuasion. Cutest damned thing you ever saw. He really is." Steve grinned, nudging Danny's shoulder with his own. Danny couldn't help but smile at the ease with which Steve teased him. They truly had come quite a ways since that first day on the job together.
"Cutest, huh?" He mumbled, a blush creeping up his neck. Steve chuckled and nodded, moving even closer. Close enough that the scent of sandalwood (which he immediately recognized as Steve's cologne), the faint scent of salt from the swim Danny knew he would have taken when he'd gotten home, and the familiar smell of beer on Steve's breath mixed and rushed through his senses. The combination of scents, for some unknown reason, was having quite the heedy effect of Danny, causing his thoughts to swim and his equilibrium to tilt as he became slightly dizzy. What the hell?
"Cutest. Well...maybe not cutest, because I'm pretty sure his daughter has that title. She's cute as a box full of puppies in bow ties, but he's a damned close second. Doesn't even realize it, humble guy that he is. Which, is surprising with those conceeded Jersey roots." Steve was seriously invading his personal space now, their noses brushing as Danny's eyes almost crossed trying to keep an acurate proximity gauge on the other man. His tongue suddenly felt three times too big for his mouth, which was as dry as the Sahara.
"St-Steve?" He muttered, trying to work through what was happening. Steve's hand was heavy over Danny's heart, his palm searing through the thin material of his t-shirt. He swallowed around the thick feeling in his throat. "McGarrett." He finally said, more firmly.
"Yeah, Danno?" Steve's voice was thick and dark like molasses as it dripped off his tongue and coated Danny's entire body, causing his skin to hum with some sort of energy just under the surface that he couldn't put a name to...or didn't want to put a name to.
"I...what are you doin'?" Even though the question was whispered between them, it sounded like he was screaming through a megaphone into the stunningly silent apartment. Even the crashing waves seemed to have dialed themselves down to '1' on the volume setting as Steve's hands moved to set both of their beers on the coffee table before landing on Danny's shoulders.
"I didn't think I was going to see you again, Danno." He stated, his thumbs brushing over Danny's collarbones and the hollow just above them. A shudder ran through his body, but his hands remained splayed on his thighs. He could literally feel his hands sweating through his jeans. "When that guy shot you, all I could think when you dropped was that I had so much I never got to tell you." Danny fought the urge to drop to the floor in a bastardized version of a Williams-puddle when Steve brushed his lips across the tip of his nose.
"Like what?" His voice was croaky and strained when he finally collected his thoughts enough to speak. "What do you have to tell me, Steve?"
"I..." Steve hesitated, his hand clenching and unclenching on Danny's shoulders a couple of times before sliding up to cup his jaw. He ran the pad of his thumb over the day's growth of stubble on Danny's jaw before pulling back enough to look him in the eye. "Aloha au la 'oe, Danno." He rasped, his hands sliding into Danny's hair, pulling him close and pressing his lips to Danny's.
Were you to ask Danny, he would tell you that the needy, whiny little whimper had not come from his throat when Steve's teeth scraped over his lower lip. His hands moved from his thighs to clutch at Steve's back like it was the one thing that was keeping him grounded to the couch. When Steve's tongue swiped across his lips, warm and comforting, he opened to him without hesitation, allowing the larger man to control the kiss as licked at the little breathy moans that hovered at the back of Danny's throat.
His chest was heaving when he pulled away, lack of oxygen blurring the sides of his vision...or perhaps that was just the way that he seemed to be getting drunk simply from the feeling of Steve's hands on the back of his neck.
"What, uh," He swallowed and pulled back to look at Steve. Danny didn't miss the flicker of fear in Steve's eyes. The look put a twist in his gut as he realized that Steve thought he was saying no when, in reality, that was the furthest thing from his mind. "What did that mean? The thing that you said before." His hands slid down Steve's sides, and he smirked when Steve tried to wiggle away. Steven McGarrett was ticklish. He was most definitely bookmarking that fact.
"It means," The last half of the sentence was lost as Steve's voice trailed off into a mumble.
"Gonna have to say that louder and slower, babe. I don't possess bat-like hearing, like some of us." He winked, trying his best to put Steve at ease. If the small grin he got was any indication, it was working.
"It means...I love you." Danny's eyes watched the embarassed flush creep up Steve's neck. The long, lean fingers on his neck tensed as Steve's eyes searched his face, waiting for some sort of response. "Danno?"
"Hmm?" Danny muttered, allowing his fingers to trace patterns through Steve's thin t-shirt.
"You've got to give me something here, because I have no idea what's going on in that head. I...I don't want to freak you out or mess this whole thing up between us, but...I seriously thought that I lost you today, and I can't handle that, Danny. I cannot handle the thought of not having you around for the rest of my life."
"Steve, I-." He tried, but it seemed that Steve had gotten on a roll and was not going to be interrupted.
"There were years at a time when I was active in the SEALs that I didn't come home at all. I missed so many things in Mary's life, and I missed all of these oppourtunities for things with my father. Holidays, graduation, awards ceremonies, concerts. I missed it all. And, to be honest, when I came back for my dad's funeral, I was just here to tie up a few loose ends, and then I intended to hightail it back to my team. Then I met you, and everything changed, Danny. For the first time since I graduated Annapolis, I want to be here for all of that. I never want to miss another birthday, or Christmas, or...fuck, even Fourth of July for God's sake. The only thing I want is to be here. With you." He ran his hand over Danny's hair to smooth it back into some semblance of order. "And with Gracie. And with Chin and Kono. And I want to spend every day of the rest of my life kissing you."
"Steve, slow down, babe. You're going to hurt yourself talking that fast." Danny chuckled, reaching out and covering Steve's mouth. "Aloha a...oh, fuck it, I love you too."
"I know that it's...wait..." Steve blinked several times, looking as though he'd been slapped by nun. "You...you love me?"
"God, you are really lucky that you're so pretty, babe, because you're a little slow on the uptake. Yes, I love you. I've loved you since you bought a weekend at an expensive ass hotel just so that Gracie could play with the dolphins. And since you let me crash on your couch. And since I saw you swimming in the ocean the first time, because you can sure as hell wear a bathing suit well." He winked, leaning in to kiss him softly.
The sound that escaped Steve when they pulled apart could only be described as a sob of relief, but the grin on his face was what really got to Danny. It was brilliant and practically illuminated the entire room by itself.
"Oh!" Danny added, raising his index finger as if he'd just figured out the answer to the entire universe. "And, if you ever hide my peppermint patties on the top shelf again? I will casterate you with your own combat knife. We clear, Princess?" He asked with an obviously phony smile plastered to his face.
"You know something? I'm not even going to make a comment about how you are obviously the woman in this relationship, because I'm so incredibly happy right now. But, all of those holidays and such that I mentioned aren't going to last very long if you keep shoveling that shit down your throat." He frowned. Danny chuckled and reached out to smooth the lines in Steve's forehead with the pad of his thumb.
"Babe, if you are really that concerned, you and Gracie can team up and put me on some diet that I'm sure I'll despise, but that I will stick to because I cannot resist both of your adorable faces. I have a feeling that you two will be a force to be reckoned with."
"We'll get right on that first thing next weekend, then." Steve chuckled, pressing a kiss to the side of Danny's neck. He let out a content sigh when he pulled back and let his eyes roam over Danny's face. "Mele Kalikimaka, Danno."
"Mele Kalikimaka, Steven." Danny replied.
"See? Look at that, you said something in Hawaiian and you didn't combust. We may convert you from your Haole ways yet, babe." He laughed. "Next step: ham and pineapple pizza."
"Oh, no, no, no. We are not going there again, Steven! It's ridiculous! Fruit is not a viable pizza topping! It shouldn't even be a discussion!" Danny was in full on rant-mode, his hands waving, when Steve pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his lips, effectively silencing him. Danny was scowling when they pulled apart.
"You know what I want for Christmas, Danno?" Danny quirked an eyebrow curiously. "A 'Silent Night'."
"Oh, well, see that won't be a problem, Steven. Because you are sleeping on the couch." Danny patted the pillow and smiled at him.
"You are diabolical." Steve muttered, reaching out to snag his now warm beer.
"Hey, maybe if you're a real good boy, you wait for back up in the appropriate places, follow all procedure, and make me pancakes in the morning, REAL pancakes not those wheat bullshit abominations that you call pancakes, maybe Santy Claus will bring you something special." Danny waggled his eyebrows. "And, perhaps, that something will have a pretty blue tie wrapped around it. Just a pretty blue tie, Steven." Steve swallowed and shifted on the couch, reacihng down to readjust his cargo pants.
"I get ya, Santy Claus. But, uh," He swallowed again. "Can we maybe make that a Santa Suit and that pretty blue tie?" Danny chuckled and shook his head.
"If you're a good boy. You're a sick man, Steven McGarrett."
"Hey, I love you, don't I?" He chuckled.
"This is true. Danno loves you too, McGarrett. Now, I'm going up to enjoy the comfort of your bed. You get comfy on the couch and I'll see you in the morning." Danny smiled, patting the side of Steve's face and moving up the stairs to Steve's room. Steve waited for half a minute before sprinting up the stairs after him, content to deal with Danny's ranting about him not listening as long as he got to shut him up any way he wanted to. Maybe that Silent Night thing was overrated...