I do not own Five-0. No copyright infringement intended.

This chapter is short, but it is a moment when realization breaks across their conscious thought. I didn't want to dilute the moment as it seemed like it wanted to stand on its own :)

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DPOV

As soon as I realized the pair had fallen asleep, I stepped out into the hallway to find Allie so that they could hold off on breakfast until Steve woke up.

I was still in shock over the information Lori had shared about her brother. I had known her parents died in a plane crash when she was a teenager, but she'd never spoken of her brother. Looking back on the events of the past week, I started to see how similar Steve's experience had been to her brothers. My stomach churned as I realized how stressful this must have been for her as she was forced to not only relive the experience but also reopen all of those wounds.

It was no wonder these two have been so drawn to one another. They'd each suffered innumerable losses, both as teenagers and as adults. There were so many parallels in their lives from the losses to the military backgrounds and law enforcement. They each understood the pain the other carried on a level that no one else could and that was pretty powerful. It was a connection I couldn't make with Steve, but I could see now that Lori did.

I stood in the doorway and watched as the pair slept. Lori was sitting to Steve's left with her legs draped over his, her head against his shoulder and her hand lay gently over his right shoulder.

"How long have they been together?" Allie whispered as she stood beside me in the doorway.

"Actually, they've never been together."

"Really? They seem like they'd be inseparable." She smiled.

"Well, in some ways they are. They are good friends. But, because of our jobs, his job specifically relationships can get a bit messy. Not to mention they've both been through a lot. Enough to make them both a little leery of relationships and love."

"Love is always worth the risk." She said.

"I think they are starting to realize that."

SPOV

Emotionally drained didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling. My heart and head had run the gamut from fear, despair, pain, exhaustion, and pure elation. The need to just shut down was overwhelming, but there was one thing that I just wasn't willing to close off from anymore. Love. It was that thought that made my mind flutter into wakefulness.

I'd never really gone looking for love. It wasn't something that I believed in because I had grown up in a military academy after my mother had been murdered. I had no real relationships that could breed the hope typically required to fall in love. And over the years, I'd decided that I was basically a selfish man.

But now as I lay in this bed, cradling this woman in my arms I realize that love isn't something that you give or accept, it just is. There is nothing selfish about it.

Sure, I'd gone through the motions a time or two in my life. And some of the women in my past were even deserving of my love, but today I realized it was never really mine to give away. You can't love someone strictly because you want to, or because they want you to. But, lord knows life would be so much easier if you could. It is not a gift you can bestow upon another human being. It is something that is alive and vibrant and courses through every cell of your being. When it's there it's like a powerful magnet, but in it's absence there is no lie big enough to hide what isn't there.

In this moment, the truth is that I don't know how it happened. I have no idea how long my heart has known what my head would not allow me to see, but what I am feeling is without a doubt, undeniably love. And it probably has been from the first second I'd laid eyes on Lori Weston. My head has just been better at ignoring what my heart couldn't possibly deny.

So, now I am faced with the dilemma of telling her that I love her before we even have our first date, or trying to keep my feelings to myself until we've both have the time to process everything that's happened. And have that crucial first date. There were a lot of firsts that we had yet to experience together.

For now, I decided that I could just enjoy her company and focus on my recovery. But, the words would hang on the tip of my tongue until I released them into the world.

LPOV

Sleep had claimed me quickly. But as I thought about all that had transpired in the last hour my thoughts made me restless. For the first time in four years, I told someone how I came to be alone in this world. And for the first time in as many years, I realized that I was no longer alone. As the words slipped from Steve's lips, it dawned on me that he meant every word he said. As that acceptance washed over me, it drained every ounce of energy I had been clinging to.

Suddenly, after all these years of protecting my heart in a little glass box I had a family again. There was no blood relation, but the love was there all the same. Kono, Chin and Danny were like siblings. And Steve, well I hadn't quite figured out what he was but for the first time in my adult life I felt like maybe, just maybe I could find real love.

Perhaps even in the arms of Steve McGarrett. If you'd have asked me about that possibility 12 hours ago, I might have laughed in your face, but now with the way he was looking at me, there isn't a woman on this earth that wouldn't want to be viewed like that.

"What?" I whispered as I met his ocean blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, what?" He whispered as he tried to shake off whatever he was feeling.

"You're staring."

"It can't be helped. All the time that I was dreaming, I spent every shred of my energy trying to get back to you. And, now that I have you right here I'm having a hard time taking my eyes off of you. For some reason every part of me knew on some level that you were the one thing I had to cling to. That you would keep me where I needed to be." He whispered against my neck.

"Your true north?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I think so. When did you turn into such a romantic?" He asked with a bright smile that lit up his eyes like a night sky with a full moon overhead.

"Somewhere between a close shave and a kiss." I whispered as I rubbed my thumb over his lower lip.

"To which close shave are you referring?"

I laid my hand on his chest and whispered, "This one," against his ear. "I watched the whole thing play out and the only thing that flashed across my consciousness was 'please don't take him, too'. I can't lose another person that I l…." My hand flew to my mouth as the word almost fell from my lips, but just as quickly his thumb brushed against my lip almost as if he could free the word I couldn't say. Not yet.

In that moment, I felt the hands of the loved ones we'd both lost had shifted our lives from two lines that ran in parallel to two lines that were about to collide. And it was a crash that both of us would welcome.