Mitch went out with Kono for drinks.

She asked him about his plans for the night and he said he was going to hang around the house— clean up, watch TV, dig through his dad's things, swim. He told her to go out and have fun. She rolled her eyes and said, "Don't wait up."

As she spoke, her phone lit up. The smiling face of an attractive dark-skinned man with bright eyes popped up on her phone. "Morgan" read the name on her screen.

"Hey Sugar," he heard the man say before she lowered the volume and put the phone to her ear, grinning as she walked out the door. Suddenly, he felt his chest tighten. Suddenly, he was angry. He recognized the name. Morgan was the 'friend' packing her things. Morgan was the friend she told everything to. Morgan wasn't the best friend he originally thought. Morgan was a guy, and Morgan seemed to him like more than a friend— he made her smile too easy, too affectionately, too something and it made him mad.

It was five minutes after she left that Catherine called and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to see her. They went out for drinks —two, a record low— before they were leaving. He stayed at her apartment.

He could tell she didn't understand why they didn't go back to his place but she didn't ask and she didn't complain. Instead, plastering her lips to his and nudging him back into her bedroom. Catherine was off-land more often than not, on this ship or that one. Her apartment was sparsely decorated and pristinely clean, almost like a hotel.

She was just as beautiful and charming as always and they fit together just as easily as he remembered.

He woke first in the morning. Turning on his side, he watched her. Her dark hair splayed across the pillow behind her, a stark contrast against her pale skin and white sheets. Her eyes were closed as she breathed deeply and evenly, lying on her left side with one hand under the pillow and the other up by her face.

He swallowed, scratching lightly at his chest. He didn't feel the relief that usually came after a night with Cath. He felt almost more tense than the night before. He looked at her, searched for the connection between them that had always been such an easy thing to hold onto. It was still there. He could still see everything that had attracted him to her in the first place— strong figure, pretty face, bright personality, confidence, clear voice, and intelligence.

He paused. She'd be gone again in a weeks time. For once, he'd still be here. He was home now. He was building something here on land. Five-O was quickly becoming more than a job. He was building a life outside of the Navy.

He wasn't sure Catherine would ever want that. Still, when her pretty brown eyes opened, he said with a grin, "Good morning, Lieutenant."

She blinked at him sleepily, then smiled. "Good morning, Commander," she responded in kind, inching closer to lean over him and pressing her soft lips against his. Then she pulled back, looking at him strangely. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing," he said, one hand brushing over her side.

She didn't look like she believed him but she didn't push. She never pushed.

"You know I think I owe you dinner," he said, wondering why it didn't feel like the right thing to do. He felt hesitant. He never felt hesitant, least of all about Catherine.

"Yeah, somehow we just never quite make it to dinner," she smiled, leaning against him.

"We had dinner in Coronado," he said.

"No," she pointed out, "We had reservations."

He smiled but said nothing further.

"You know, we both have the day off today," she said, a suggestive lilt to her voice that had his eyes widening slightly. "We could go back to your place… have breakfast on the beach," she said. They could not go back to his place. Mitch would be taking a swim after her morning run, trying to rid herself of a hangover. She'd be wondering where he was.

He felt something that was not unlike fear at the thought of the two women meeting like that.

"Or…"

"Or?" he echoed just before she kissed him.

She made a surprised noise into his mouth, almost like a yelp. She braced herself on his shoulder and pulled away slightly. "I think I'm vibrating," she said.

"Mm?"

"No, I think I'm actually vibrating," she repeated. She sat up, fishing his phone out from beneath the covers. "Who's Michelle Jabari?" she asked, handing him his phone, a picture of the former FBI agent in a white Yankee's tank top and sunglasses sticking her tongue out at him popping up as her contact photo.

He sat up straight, taking the phone from her hand. "She's a- uh, friend," he said, not looking at her. "A friend from work," he glanced at Catherine. She looked a little confused, had she been Mitch an eyebrow would have been raised and her head tilted to the side. "We go way back."

Catherine nodded as he answered the phone, holding it between his shoulder and ear as he leaped out of her bed and hurried to dress. He only just remembered their goodbye kiss before he was out the door.

"Sorry," Mitch said when he got to the house. Her jaw clenched when she saw him, her back going straight and her face going blank as she spoke to him. "Didn't mean to ruin your fun," there was a distinctly mean note to her voice he'd never had directed at him before. "But your sister just got into town and you wouldn't pick up your phone," she said harshly.

"Mary-" he began.

"I picked her up from the airport," Mitch cut him off, her eyes sliding away from his as she turned to walk up the stairs. "She's in the living room," she said not bothering to look back at him.

He sighed, running his fingers through his tangled hair.

Mary raised her eyebrows at him when he walked in the room.

"I'm sorry, Mary. I didn't have my phone on me," he began but stopped when he saw the smirk growing on her face. "What?"

"Nothing," she held up her hands. "Mitch and I had a great time," she said. "Drinks, movies, manicures, the whole shebang. What were you doing?"

"I-" he didn't know how to finish that and drew a blank on any lie he might've been able to construct on the spot.

Mary's eyes widened. "Did you-" Steve did not like the surprised and offended tone in her voice. "Oh my god," Mary gasped, "You did, didn't you?"

"What?"

"You're doing the walk of shame!" she said, "Right in front of her!"

"Mary-"

"You idiot!"

"Mitch-"

"-totally loves you," Mary finished for him, whacking him in the chest with a half-closed fist, "You asshole."

He shook his head.

Mary looked at him strangely. "Do you not… what? You don't like her like that?" His jaw clicked, as he ground his teeth together. He did care about Mitch like that, he just knew he shouldn't. He couldn't care for her like that, because she- Mitch- "You do, don't you? You asked her to move in here with you… you two hang out, like, all the time," Mary said gently. "She's kind of amazing— smart, funny, a total badass…"

"I do, okay," he murmured lowly.

"Then why-"

"I already promised Catherine a date," he said, "I wasn't going to cancel and-" he paused, "Cath's pretty great."

Mary looked up at him. "And?"

He sighed, shook his head with a tight jaw. "I don't know."

"You can't have both, big brother."

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA for a while... lots of things have been going on. I got a job for the summer, cut part of my thumb off, went back to work and now I'm being transferred, all on top of summer classes. Anyways... this chapter and the next few took a while because I wasn't sure if I liked the direction I went. Lemme know what you think.