A/N: I forgot to mention that this story is totally written so I should be updating regularly.
Thank you for all the kind reviews as well as the follows and favorites. I love hearing everyone's theory as to what is going on - keep them coming! You can thank CinderH for an early posting today as she requested something to read over lunch. Here you go, CinderH!
Steve sat in his truck in the parking lot of HQ, phone in hand. He'd already been sitting there in the dark for ten minutes debating with himself whether or not he should call his partner. He winced. Ex-partner if Danny was serious about what he said when he left that morning. Steve threw his phone on the dash and rubbed both hands over his face as he thought over the last month. How had things gone so wrong so fast?
Steve wasn't even sure how everything had started, but roughly a month before, he had started noticing Danny's attitude was more negative than usual and their arguments had more heat than humor in them. Then one day Danny had lost it at a crime scene. There wasn't anything special about the scene, but after clearing the suspect's house, Danny had blown up at Steve over his "reckless endangerment of himself and any other law-abiding citizen within a ten mile radius." Whatever Steve's response had been must not have satisfied his partner as he was once again surprised by Danny's right hook. By the time he could see straight again, Danny had left in the Camaro stranding Steve at the scene, and Steve had been forced to get a ride back to the Palace with Duke.
From then on there was no reasoning with him, it seemed. Danny was cross and surly with all of them but most of all with Steve. Steve had tried to talk to him but with no luck. He'd invited Danny over for beers after work, a cookout on his lanai or lunch at Kamekona's shrimp truck, but Danny always said no.
"Screw it!" Steve exclaimed as he threw his truck in gear. He was tired of sitting there feeling depressed about the last few weeks. He had to go talk to Danny and figure out what was wrong. He watched his phone slide across the dashboard as he took the turn out of the parking lot a little too fast. He had decided he didn't need to call Danny first since he didn't want to give him a chance to tell him not to bother coming.
Steve pulled into the parking lot of Danny's apartment complex and tried to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and purged his mind of all of the arguments he'd been having with Danny in his head. He needed to go into this calm and with no preconceived notions if he was truly going to figure out what was wrong with his friend.
Steve knocked on Danny's apartment door and tried not to be anxious as he waited for an answer. He felt almost as nervous as someone going on a first date rather than waiting for his best friend of more than three years to answer the door. He knocked a second time and huffed out a breath. After a third knock with no answer he decided to let himself in.
"Danny? Hey, you in here, man?" Steve took three steps into the room and stopped short. Steve's jaw dropped as he took in the condition of Danny's living room. There were empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and floor. Chinese take-out containers, some with noodles hanging out, were piled high on the end table by the couch. Several plastic bags with Kamekona's face beaming at him told him Danny had indulged his shrimp scampi addiction a few times. Any other surface was covered with empty beer bottles and cans. A quick glance into the kitchen revealed a sink full of dirty dishes and even more beer bottles, mostly empty.
"What the hell?!"
Steve spun around to find his partner standing in the doorway, case of beer in one hand. "Danny, I..."
"What?" Danny growled as he set the beer down. "What could you possibly need that forced you to break in while I was gone, huh? Didn't get to harass me today so thought you'd come to my home and do it?"
"Danny," Steve didn't point out that he had a key to the apartment, afraid Danny would demand it back. "I'm sorry, man. I just came by to talk to you. You're upset about something, and I want to help. Is it Grace? Is she okay?"
Danny held up a warning finger, "Don't! Don't bring up my daughter! I said all I was going to say to you this morning. Now just leave me alone and get outta here."
"Danny..." Steve pleaded, taking a step towards him. He was close enough to catch a whiff of him now. "Geez, Danny, were you driving?! You smell like a brewery. I think you've had enough to drink for a while."
"Now you're going to criticize me! That's wonderful! Just wonderful!" Danny's tone was the nastiest Steve had ever heard. "I can't get any privacy with you around. You have to know every detail about my life. Well, that's over. I'm done! I'm done with Five-0. I'm done with being a cop, and most of all I am done with you!"
"C'mon, Danny, just talk to me," Steve was hurt and confused. He'd never seen his friend act this way.
"I don't wanna talk," Danny practically roared. "I'm warning you. You need to leave now before I call and have you arrested for trespassing."
"Okay," Steve sighed. "Okay, you win. I'll go, but I mean it when I say I want to help. If you decide you want to talk, give me a call. I don't care what time it is or what I'm doing, I'll drop everything and we can work this out."
"Just go," Danny snarled as he gave Steve a shove out the door and then slammed it behind him.
Steve stood there and heard Danny throw all the locks and then risking a peek through the edge of the curtain, watched as Danny stumbled to the couch, threw himself down and covered his eyes with an arm. He couldn't move for a full minute as he watched his partner through the window. "Oh, Danny, what is going on with you?"
