A small tear made its way down her face when she rose from her lying position on her bed. The dream was very realistic and had repeated itself every night since the kiss. They had indeed worked out the problem but it still hurt to see him every day and know that they will never be together. She still didn't sneak out to see him but he was helping her catch up on her classes so she didn't have to leave Five-O.

Angel picked up her phone and saw the time was 10 in the morning. It was Friday but it was also her birthday and her parents let her stay home today. There were 2 text messages and 3 voicemails. The texts were from her sister and her cousin and two of the three voicemails were from her aunt and grandparents, which made her smile. But the last message broke her down.

"Hey there Angel wings. It's your big bro. I don't have long so this will be quick. I hope you have the best birthday ever. I'm sorry I can't be there for the big one-eight but you know I'm there in spirit. I got your care package the other day and finally read all of the letters you sent in it. I'm proud of you for doing the internship and sticking with it. Sounds like that McGarrett is quite a character. But it sounds like he cares about you a lot. Now don't get into any trouble today or I will have to kick your little ass when I get home. Hopefully that will be soon. But I have to get going. My turn to do patrol. I love you little sis."

She put her head in her hands and cried. She missed her brother, the two were always very close and she hated him being gone all the time. But she knew he was only doing it to keep the country safe and she was incredibly grateful. After calming down, she showered and dressed before going to the kitchen where she was greeted with...silence. The kitchen was empty, save her father who was sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Morning daddy." She said and kissed his cheek. "Where's mom?"

"She went with Laura to do some wedding stuff and won't be back until later this afternoon." He responded, not looking up from the paper.

"Oh." She nodded and grabbed a bowl and poured herself some cereal for breakfast. When she sat next to her dad, he slid an envelope over to her slowly, again without looking away from the paper. She cocked an eyebrow and opened it to reveal a birthday card. Shaking her head and smiling, she gasped when a gift certificate and 5 $100 bills fell out onto the counter.

"A gift certificate for a mani and pedi." She nodded to her dad. "Daddy I think you got me and Laura mixed up again."

"No I didn't. It was your mother's idea. I'm just the delivery guy." He said with a laugh. "Besides it's your birthday. Pamper yourself. Go buy some new clothes. Enjoy yourself today."

"Thank you."

So she did just that. Pampered herself. She lightly curled her hair before sprinting out the door and headed to the nail salon. It was hours before she returned home. At first it looked empty. There wasn't a car in the driveway or garage and all of the lights were off.

"Hello? Anyone home?" She yelled before flicking on the light switch. When there was no response, she shrugged and hauled her bags to her room. Her phone rang during the trek up the stairs and dropped 3 bags trying to answer it.

"Johnson."

"Angel. Hey we need you down at HQ."

"Um. Ok. Is everything ok Danno?"

"No. High profile case and we need your help. Try to make it quick ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be there soon." She said with a sigh. After finally getting her new clothing to her room, she grabbed a pair of jeans, low cut blouse and her favorite thing she bought that day. Black, knee high, leather riding boots. Since her training with Steve had caused her to tone her body, she had a whole new selection of clothing she was able to wear, to which she would use to her advantage. The blouse was low enough to show she had a chest but not enough to make her look like a slut. Steve wouldn't know what hit him.

Angel walked up the stairs to HQ nervously. Her self-conscious side starting to come through, silently wishing she would have worn a different shirt. But it was too late now. She reached the doors to a dark set of offices. Furrowing her brows in confusion, she slowly opened the door.

"Hello?" She yelled. "Steve? Danno?"

"SURPRISE!" She jumped back and clutched her chest in shock when a crowd of people appeared from hiding. Angel was greeted with a chorus of happy birthdays and was smothered in hugs.

"Happy birthday sweetheart." Her mother said and gave her a large squeeze. The room was decorated with streamers and balloons and a cake sat on the table where she did her homework.

"You guys are amazing." Angel said, slightly choking up. A few of her friends from the softball team were there along with everyone from her family (minus one) and Five-O. But the one person she was most anxious to see wasn't there. And the one person she was least anxious to see, was. Lori stood by Danny and Chin, looking very unhappy.

"Danno where's Steve?" She asked, walking up to Danny and Chin.

"He said he had some things to take care of at home. But he did ask me to give you this." He answered and handed her an envelope. She cocked an eyebrow and opened it quickly. Happy birthday was written in large, bright colors on the front but the inside was blank except a few words.

"You're finally 18. I suppose we should celebrate.

Steve"

Her heart started beating rapidly as she thought of the possible meaning to his words.

"He probably just wanted to avoid coming to a lame birthday party." Lori said rudely.

"Then why are you here? I sure as hell wouldn't have invited you if I knew this was going on." Angel told her, just as rude.

"I thought Steve was going to be here." Lori replied.

"And why would he want to see you outside of work? Trust me sweetheart. He isn't interested." Angel said and walked away before she could respond. As she was walking away, Grace and a woman came to them.

"Happy birthday Aunt Angel!" Grace said enthusiastically and threw her arms around her waist.

"Thanks munchkin!"

"Did you like my present?"

"I haven't opened it yet! But I know I will." Angel said lovingly to the child.

"Gabby helped me make it." Grace nodded to the woman standing next to her.

"Hi. We haven't met yet but I'm Gabby." The woman said and held her hand out for a shake.

"Angel. Pleasure to meet you."

"She's Danno's girlfriend." Grace said nonchalantly. Gabby's face flared in a blush and Danny gave a nervous laugh.

"Aww. Congratulations. It's about time Danno here found someone. He was kind of scaring me there for a while." Angel told them with a smile.

"Lets go open your presents!" Grace demanded before Danny could say anything in response. She grabbed Angels hand and pulled her toward a small table.

"Open mine first!" Kono yelled.

Angel laughed and tugged at the bright colored paper covering the box. She pulled the flaps open to reveal the new Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean cds both with matching t-shirts.

"Awesome! I almost bought them today. Thanks K!" Angel said and gave her friend a hug. She received gift cards and clothes and Grace bounced up and down excitedly when Angel got to her last gift. Angel lightly shook the box and smiled when she heard a light jingle.

"Well this must be from Miss Gracie." She said and started tearing apart the paper. When she lifted the flaps of the box her heart fluttered. Inside was two picture frames. Both were beautifully decorated with sea shells and glitter and held pictures Angel had forgotten had been taken. The first was of Angel, Grace, and Steve at the Pearl Harbor museum standing in front of one of the memorials. The second was of Angel and Steve at the beach. They sat next to each other on a towel, laughing. She remembered the day well. It was the day Kono had been reinstated to Five-O. Steve had invited everyone over for a cook out to celebrate and Grace had taken pictures of everyone for her scrapbook.

"Oh sweetie. They are perfect. Thank you." Angel said and knelt to give the girl a hug.

"I knew you would love them. Uncle Steve helped me pick the pictures out. Then Gabby helped me decorate them." Grace told her smiled proudly.

"Well I will have to thank Uncle Steve for picking out such great pictures then wont I."

After having cake, everyone started leaving. Angel received final happy birthdays and hugs while she gathered her gifts. Her sister helped her load her things into the car before Angel pulled her off to the side.

"Hey can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure. What's up?" Laura asked.

'Can you cover for me? I'll tell mom and dad that I'm staying at your place and I will but I need to go somewhere first but I don't want them to know."

"Going to see Steve?" Her sister smirked.

"Laura."

"Yes. I will. Go see your man." Laura answered and lightly pushed her toward her car.

Angels heart was beating faster the closer she got to Steve's. By the time she reached his house, it was almost as if she had been running a marathon. She took her time walking up the path to his front door. The lights were all out but the door was open and a soft glow was coming from the living room.

"Steve?" She called out when she entered. She slowly followed the trail of candles through the living room into the dining room and out the sliding glass door. Angel walked across the lanai, seeing Steve standing by the shoreline.

"Steve?" She yelled to him. The moon hung full and bright in the sky. When he turned to face her, she could see the smile grow across his features. She walked out to him and stopped a few feet away.

"You know, I never really come out here at night. It really is just as beautiful as it is during the day." He said with a smile. She didn't know what to say, so she blurted out the first thing that popped in her head.

"You know it's a fire hazard to leave all of those candles out like that right?" He laughed and she quickly recovered. "Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. I turn into such a dork when I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous?"

"Because I don't know what's going on." She replied quietly and looked to the sand. He closed the distance between them and softly lifted her chin with his thumb.

"I was wrong Angel. I was completely wrong. We need to be together. Age really doesn't matter. Your 18 now anyways. All that's left to do is try."

She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. But a tear made its way slowly down her cheek. She closed her eyes and willed herself to wake up so she didn't have to live this dream anymore, but she never did. This was real. Steve was really standing in front of her, telling her they should be together.

"You said you didn't want to though."

"No. I said we couldn't be together. You have no idea how much I've thought about it over the last few weeks." He said and brushed the tear away with his thumb. "I broke up with Catherine."

"When?" She gasped.

"After I kissed you." He nodded. "I knew I couldn't be with her after all I felt when I kissed you."

"Oh."

"I haven't stopped thinking about it since then." He softly brushed his thumb over her lips. "I've wanted to do it every second of every day since then."

"So what's stopping you now?"

"Nothing."

Finally his lips descended on hers.