"You wanna stay tonight? I have room for both of you and you've had too much to drink."
Danny nods his thanks, and Grace's eyes open as they step into the darkened house. She stirs for a few seconds before Danny lowers her to the decked floor. "Hey, Grace, we're gonna stay with Steve again tonight, okay. You go get ready, and I'll come crash in your room in a minute."
"Okay," Grace's voice is quiet with her lack of energy. "I'll go get Mr. Stripes from Steve's room."
Grace disappears up the stairs, and Danny turns to face Steve with a look of confusion. "Why is Mr. Stripes in your bedroom?"
Steve gives a half shrug in response before realising that he and Danny never perceive situations in the same way; that's what makes them such good partners. It's also the reason behind a lot of the bickering. "She, umm…she ended up in my bed last night."
Steve closes his eyes as he predicts a shouted response from Danny, but his reply turns out to be more of a shouted whisper because Grace is still in earshot. "Please, please, please tell me you are joking. Tell me that this is some kind of sick joke. You slept with my daughter?" Danny knows immediately that he's overreacting, but he can't help it. Something like this crops up, and just the sight of Steve's face riles him. Of course, Danny knows there is nothing untoward happening here, and there is probably a completely reasonable explanation, but the wild hand gestures come anyway.
"No!" Steve returns. "Well… yes. She sleeps in the same bed as you at your place, doesn't she?"
Danny's face calms a little and he leans back unsupported. "Seriously? Are you for real? Grace is my daughter! I'm her father! And if I had room for another bed, then she would have her own," he says to reiterate his point.
Steve puts his hands in the air in an insistence of innocence. "Look, Danny, I'm sorry." He begins to explain. "Grace woke up in the night, and when she came into my room she said she heard noises." He lowered his arms as calm and reason continued to make their way to Danny's expression. "She was upset, and crying." Now Danny's face was also upset, and he began to regret leaving Grace without her parents. Steve saw the worry. "So, I checked the house just in case any of the noises were anything to worry about. She put on a brave face, but she still looked frightened so I asked her whether she wanted to stay with me and she said yes, and so she fell asleep in my bed." Danny's face is no longer angry, it's grateful. Grateful that in absence of Grace's mother or father, Steve was there to comfort his daughter. "Danny, I'm sorry."
Danny shakes his head and his face is soft now. "Nah, thank you. Thank you for looking after her." After all, to Danny, this is what matters, and this is what makes living in the pineapple-infested hellhole that is Hawaii, that little bit easier.
Yes; Steve is difficult, abrasive, and most of the time just plain arrogant, but he is always there when Danny needs him. More than that, this weekend, Danny has discovered that not only is his unlikely best friend there for him, he's there for his daughter too, and that's why, despite the occasional less than inviting local, despite the uncomfortably hot weather, despite the never-ending sound of the waves and the annoyance of the abundant sand, Danny thinks that maybe – just maybe – he'll grow to kind of like this place.
A/N: And that is all. Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, etc. I'd love to hear what you guys all thought of the final product. I'm going to be posting the first chapter of my new fic tonight, though I'll warn you now that it's a Danny and Steve romance.