Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0.

The memories are in italics.

This is the seventh flashback. Please share your thoughts!

Two shout-outs for this chapter: amblue36 and SugarMuffin08. Thank you! The idea of the first time Steve had a crush on someone is great!

The question of when Steve will wake up has been asked a few times. I was planning on three flashbacks for each year, starting from three years old to ten years old. Steve is five in this flashback, so we still have ways to go, but I'm hoping to be updating more frequently now.

Thanks for the reviews and for reading the story!

Mary walks back into the hallway with a small smile on her face. She doesn't say anything as she sits beside Grace, but the little girl asks, "Is Uncle Steve feeling better?"

"He squeezed my hand," Mary says quietly, her smile growing. "I was talking to him and he squeezed my hand."

Catherine feels a new wave of hope when she hears Mary's words. She stands up and says, "I'm going to see him." She almost runs to Steve's room and sits beside the bed.

"Steve," she whispers, holding his hand. "Can you hear me?"

A few moments pass but there's no sign of Steve being able to hear Catherine. The level of hope she felt earlier is decreasing and she asks, "Can you hear me, Steve?"

A couple seconds go by before Catherine feels Steve lightly squeeze her hand. The movement was so faint that she thinks she might have imagined it, but then it happens again.

Catherine's hope returns to her and she can't keep the grin off her face.

She decides to tell Steve something she's remembered for many years, something that she's thought about a lot recently. "Do you remember kindergarten, Steve?"

Steve was five years old and in kindergarten, and he liked to think he was one pretty cool kid. He had a lot of friends and he was the best at the games he and his classmates played during recess.

But there was a problem and that problem was a girl in his class. Her name was Catherine and she was the fastest reader in the whole kindergarten. She could even write her name in cursive already, and they weren't supposed to learn cursive until second grade. The problem was Steve had a crush on her but he thought she didn't like him back.

One day at recess, Catherine and her friends Amy and Nicole were sitting under a tree. Instead of playing with his friends, Steve went to talk to Catherine. "Hi, Cat."

Nicole stood up and crossed her arms, sending a scowl in Steve's direction. "Go away! Cat doesn't want to talk to you so leave!"

Amy rose to her feet as well, also crossing her arms. She added, "Yeah, boys have cooties! Go away! Cat doesn't like you!"

Steve looked over at Catherine who was still sitting under the tree, and just like her friends, her arms were crossed.

"I don't have cooties," Steve tried to explain.

Catherine glared and walked over to him. "Leave me alone."

"But I just wanted to talk to you."

"I don't care! Leave me alone!"

A hurt look took over Steve's face. "But I like you."

"Well I don't like you!"

"But I want to talk to you and I don't have cooties and I like you and I'm really nice. My mom says so."

"Go away!"

"I just-"

Catherine raised her hand and slapped Steve across the face. "Now will you leave me alone?"

Steve brought his hands to his cheek, immediately covered the side of his face Catherine hit. He wasn't supposed to hit girls so he didn't strike back.

"And I hit you," Catherine recalls, smiling slightly as she thinks about her behavior when she was five years old. "You were the perfect gentleman, of course, and you didn't hit me back. Then we got sent to the principal's office, remember?"

Steve's dad walked in, dressed in his uniform, meaning he came straight from work. Steve's mom arrived not long after, still in scrubs. She also came directly from work.

Catherine's parents were there, too. Everyone was seated in the principal's office as they listened to Steve's and Catherine's story of what happened at recess.

"Catherine, you know better than to hit people," her dad said sternly, giving her a pointed look.

"I know, Daddy, I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me you're sorry, honey. Tell Steve."

Reluctantly, Catherine turned to face Steve. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

"I'm sorry for annoying you," Steve apologized.

"The next day I told you that I liked you, too," Catherine states, squeezing Steve's hand. "But we were never in the same class again until high school in our senior year. We had English together, remember?"

Catherine finds herself wiping away tears from her eyes. "Please wake up soon, Steve."

She looks up when she hears footsteps. Kono is standing there with a sad smile on her face. "Hi, Catherine."

Catherine weakly smiles back. "Hi, Kono. He squeezed my hand twice."

"He's getting better, even if it's slowly." Kono takes the seat on the other side of Steve's bed. "I would be nowhere if it weren't for Steve. Without Five-0, I would've been just some rookie who was never given a chance. I don't know if you know anything about Chin resigning from the force, but it was a pretty big deal, and since we're family, HPD would never have trusted me. Chin was innocent. He was protecting our family."

"That's very noble of him to protect the people he loves," Catherine says, respecting Chin's decision.

Kono nods. "It was. I have Chin, Steve, and Danny to thank for where I am today. They've taught me everything I need to know." Kono pauses for a moment before looking at Catherine. "I can't even imagine how hard this must be for you. I can see how much you love him. I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you if you need anything."

"Thank you so much. Everyone's been so welcoming since I came here."

"You're officially part of our ohana now," Kono explains.

Catherine smiles. "I'm very happy to be a part of it."

She thinks about how lucky she is to have Steve as her boyfriend. He's a truly amazing man. After listening to Kono's story, Catherine realizes how Steve will do anything for his family. He gave Kono, a rookie cop, a chance. Catherine's sure he's done countless other things to help his family.

During the time Steve had been in the hospital, Catherine fell deeper in love with him. The bad part about that was the terrible circumstance that happened under. She wishes something other than Steve being hospitalized after being shot made her realize how much she loves him.

Catherine smiles when Steve squeezes her hand again.