The Long Road

by DivaLola

Steve thought his life was crazy before. Now that his childhood best friend Maddie is back in his life, will all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place? Will he finally find the answers he's been searching for? And who will he choose to be with?

35. Chapter 35

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Hawaii Five-0" or any of its characters. I do, however, own Maddie, Pete, Tina, Ryan, Doc, Kendall, etc.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello everyone! So, I've been working my butt off on this chapter. It's realllly long... 51 typed Microsoft Word pages! So, I hope you enjoy!

To answer some of your questions about future chapters...

- The next chapter, Ch.36 will be FILLED with a lot of things that happen. It is the last chapter where everyone is at the venue before the show. A LOT happens in this chapter.

- Chapter 37 will be Maddie's show.

- Chapter 38 will be when they head back to Maddie's house. Steve learns a few things...you'll see how that goes over with him...

There will be a couple more chapters after that where some of Maddie's team is still in town. Once they leave and it's just Steve left with Maddie, the story starts to move faster. I will skips days, even weeks here and there. So we'll get to what you guys are DYING to happen a little faster.

I just thought I'd answer some of your timeline questions.

Thank you so much for all the reviews! For those of you that are just readers and not authors, they really make our day! It's 5 seconds, if that, out of your day. And it makes us want to update more often. It made me work really hard on this chapter. It might have taken me a bit, but that was because it was 51 pages. I will let you know that I might post Ch. 36 in two chapters if it's looking like it's going to take me a while to write the entire thing. That way you get an update sooner. I'll play it by ear. As of now, it looks like I'm not super busy this week and I'm pretty inspired. I've been dying to write a lot of what happens in Ch. 36.

As always, thoughts are in italics. In this chapter there is a flashback. You can't miss it. Also, in this chapter, text messages are in bold.

Anyways, I'll let you guys get to reading. I really hope you enjoy it! Please, please, please REVIEW! The more I get the sooner I'll post. That's a promise! In fact, I'll give you the first piece of Ch.36! YAY!

ENJOY!

xo

Laura

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Chapter 35

"Go ahead and sit there," Doc instructed Tina as she followed him inside the room that he was given to use at the arena. It was where he was throughout the day; well, when he wasn't with Maddie. The room anyone on her team would go if hurt or not feeling well.

As Tina walked inside, she took in her surroundings. It wasn't a gigantic room, but not small either. On one side, the right side, was a large L-shaped couch, coffee table, and a pretty big flat screen TV. A small kitchen containing just the basics was located on the back wall, behind the couch.

As her eyes drifted towards the other side of the room, Tina saw a table and four chairs sitting in the middle of the room, effectively placed between both sides.

The left side of the room, the side in which he was directing her towards, was set up as his office. There were some basic medical equipment; nothing too extreme. However, she only saw a few medical supplies. She assumed the rest were in the stacks of drawers set up near the cushioned, cream leather doctor's chair that Doc was pointing to. She walked towards it and carefully pushed herself up onto it.

Although it was comfortable, very high-end for a doctor's office, and leaned back, having the capability to completely recline, she couldn't relax. She was tense.

"Relax, T," Doc smiled, taking in her rigid demeanor.

"Sorry, I don't like going to the doctor's," she quietly replied. Her eyes darted around nervously. She could feel her heart rate increase and her breathing quicken. It was the start of a panic attack. Don't panic, T. Just take a deep breath, she told herself, hoping it would help her calm down. You're fine. It's Doc. He's completely trustworthy. You know and trust him.

"Does anyone?" Doc joked, hoping to ease her discomfort. She forced a smile and did her best to try to relax; however it was pointless. It just wasn't going to happen. Especially with her encounter with Pete from only a little while before so heavily on her mind.

"So, how do you feel? Your head okay?" Doc asked after taking a seat on the rolling stool. He repeatedly pushed a lever on it, making the stool taller, as he waited for her to answer.

"I'm okay," Tina answered.

"You sure? You were unresponsive for almost a minute and a half after you hit your head," he stated. Now that he was eye level with her, he watched her carefully.

"I really didn't hit my head that hard," she lied. In reality, she had a pretty decent sized headache. One that seemed to only be getting worse as time went by.

"Let me be the judge of that," Doc told her as he studied her. She was definitely a bit pale. Something he knew could be attributed to her lack of sleep over the last four days, but could also be from a head injury. "I'm just gonna run a few quick tests, okay?"

Tina paused, hesitant. She really wasn't a fan of doctors. She couldn't help it after her childhood. However, she knew there was no way out of this, so she nodded. Knowing she needed to distract herself she thought back to her encounter with Pete less than thirty minutes before.

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...FLASHBACK...

Tina turned right after exiting Maddie's dressing room and headed towards the main room, where Craft Services was. Heading down the hallway Maddie's dressing room was located in she smiled, hearing Pete's voice in the near distance. She continued her walk down the hall, anxious to see him. Just as she turned right down the next hallway she spotted his tall, muscular frame about 50 feet in front of. His back was to her as he spoke on the phone. She wasn't able to hear him very well, but she assumed that whomever he was talking to had something to do with Maddie. However, as she continued towards him, she was able to make out more of his side of the conversation. At first, it wasn't really his words that had her stomach suddenly feeling a bit heavy, but the tone of his voice. Instead of the professional tone she was so used to hearing him use on the phone, it was lighter. More playful. Flirty even. Tina swallowed hard as she slowed her stride. The smile that had been growing bigger with every step, anxious to see him, began to fade as she heard him say, "It was good to see you too. Sorry it wasn't for very long."

See who? Who did he see? Tina wondered as she slowed her pace even more. She tried to tell herself that he was just talking to a friend, however her gut told her that wasn't the case. Her brows furrowed as she listened further. Although she knew she shouldn't be eavesdropping, she couldn't help herself. "Tomorrow night?" He paused briefly before continuing. "Sure, tomorrow night would be great! It's a date!" Tina abruptly stopped, freezing in the middle of the hallway.

The headache she'd been feeling since her fall suddenly became worse as the word 'date' echoed in her head. She thought it couldn't get much worse, that is until he spoke again. "I miss you too." A pang shot through her chest as she felt her eyes begin to moisten. She didn't know why she was getting so upset, it's not like they were dating or anything. However, if she was honest with herself, they'd had a few moments lately that had her wondering if maybe Pete felt something for her more than just friendship. Apparently she couldn't have been further off base.

Feeling more tears welling up, Tina quickly turned around. She couldn't risk Pete seeing her cry. He didn't know how she felt about him and she had no intention of ever letting him find out, especially now. Desperate to get away from him she began taking hurried steps back in the direction she'd come from. Of course, this was in the opposite direction of Craft Services, but she didn't care. She'd just take the long way around.

Just as she began to walk away, Pete turned around. He inwardly tensed, immediately spotting her. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," he said to the person on the phone. He didn't wait for a response before hanging up and walking down the hall, hoping to catch up to Tina. His brow furrowed slightly as he took in her hurried pace. "Hey! T!" he called. "Wait up!"

Tina froze, knowing she couldn't continue walking as if she hadn't heard him. Her eyes closed as she forced away the tears that wanted to fall. Once she took a deep breath, hoping to breath through the aching in her heart, she turned around to face him.

Pete smiled as he approached. He was always happy to see her. Having her gone for nearly two months had triggered something within him. Something he wasn't sure he was ready to acknowledge. Maybe that was why he was really making an effort with Melika, the woman he'd met the last time he was in Hawaii with Maddie. He wondered if he was using her, so he wouldn't even entertain the idea of Tina. He had to take care of Maddie, keep her safe. Steve was counting on him. Getting involved or falling for Tina would distract him, which, with everything going on with Maddie at the moment, the stalker and attempts to hurt her, not to mention how withdrawn and secretive she was being, he couldn't afford to be distracted.

"Hey," she greeted, trying her best to hide the hurt she was feeling as she returned his smile. She knew she needed to pretend like everything was fine, like she hadn't heard anything he'd said to the mystery woman on the phone.

He studied her as he reached her, wanting to see if she still seemed as tired as she had earlier. He'd hoped Steve had convinced her to get some rest, but seeing as she was standing in front of him, that obviously hadn't happened. Taking in her appearance he immediately noticed she seemed reasonably pale. "Everything okay?" he asked, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her. He noted how tense she seemed.

Tina forced a smile. "Of course! Just going to get Maddie and Steve some food." She paused as she briefly looked away. "So, uh, if you'll excuse me." She took a step in the original direction she'd been going before she'd seen Pete and turned around. She needed to get away from him as soon as possible. She needed to let soak in the fact that he had a woman in his life.

What was that? Pete wondered. She'd basically just dismissed him. However, although he was surprised at her strange behavior, he didn't act it. He cocked his head slightly in question as he smirked at her. "Then why were you headed in the opposite direction?" He immediately saw her tense at his question.

"I had a question about Steve's order, but I, uh, … I figured it out," she lied, unable to look at him as she began walking away, down the hall in the direction of Craft Services.

Why's she trying to get away so fast? he wondered, bewildered at her odd behavior. "You know, I was headed in the same direction," Pete claimed, taking a few large strides and catching up to her. "So, I'll walk with you." He was concerned. Something was off. He could feel it.

"Okay," Tina smiled as she nodded, acting as if she was okay and happy to have the company, his company, although she was anything but okay with it. Normally she was ecstatic whenever it was just the two of them, but right now she just wanted to get away from him. Be alone to digest what she'd just heard and discovered.

As they made their way to Craft Services he continuously glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was much quieter than she normally was. She was usually chatty and joking around, but she wasn't saying a word. He noticed she seemed distracted, like something was weighing heavily on her mind. Maybe it's just because she's exhausted, he thought.

Wanting to break the silence, Pete asked, "What's going on in there?" He nodded his head backwards towards Maddie's dressing room. "Have they killed one another yet? Or better yet, have they kissed and made up?" He smirked, chuckling softly as he shook his head. Those two are so damn stubborn, he thought. "Has Steve said anything to her about what happened Sunday?"

Tina was so deep in thought that it took her a moment to realize what he'd been asking. She glanced over at him and found him looking at her questioningly, a small crease beginning to form between his eyebrows. Her face flushed slightly realizing she'd been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn't responded. She looked away quickly. "Still alive, surprisingly. And no kissing," Tina answered, her voice sounding strange to him.

"And Sunday? Did he say anything to her about it?" Pete asked again, once he realized she wasn't going to say anything else.

"Oh, um," Tina paused, trying to will her mind to stay present in the moment instead of wandering off and obsessing over the fact he had someone in his life. "Yeah, he's mentioned it, but more in a 'should we talk about this now or wait till we're back home' kind of way."

He waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't he asked, "What did she say to that?" God, it's like pulling teeth, he thought, confused at how distant she was being with him.

"What do you think?" she countered, her voice laced with a bit of attitude, something extremely uncharacteristic for her. She caught herself before saying anything further. However, she wished she'd been able to stop before letting her emotions get the better of her and copping attitude with him. Hoping to cover up the tone she'd just used with him, she looked over at him walking beside her and forced a smile. "She pretended she had no idea what he was talking about." She shook her head at the thought of her best friend, forcing a slight chuckle.

Tina's slight tone took him by surprise. Up until then his gut had told him something was off, but now he knew for sure. Something was definitely wrong. He immediately grew concerned knowing how completely out of character this behavior was for her. Wanting to keep her talking in hopes of figuring out what was going on, he asked, "But he's not forcing the subject?"

She shook her head before answering softly. "Nope."

Pete let out a sigh of relief, happy that at least Steve recognized that doing that before the show was a bad idea. "Finally he does something smart." Just as he was about to say something more they entered the main room and she bee-lined it over to Craft Services. He followed her, not ready or wanting to be done talking to her. Standing on her right, he studied her as she ordered Steve and Maddie's lunches. He noticed how tense she still was. In fact, she seemed to be more so than she was when he'd first run into her a few minutes before. He didn't understand; she was usually so relaxed, especially around him.

As Tina finished ordering, she unconsciously rubbed at the sore spot at the back of her head; near the area that had smacked against the glass coffee table. She winced slightly at the pain she felt. I guess I really did hit my head, she thought.

Pete's forehead wrinkled in both confusion and worry, noticing the almost imperceptible pain that flashed across her face. Sure, it was slight and gone almost as quickly as it had come, but he had seen it. He leaned his head a bit closer to hers. "You okay?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. He made sure to speak quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them or have anyone overhear.

She tensed as he got closer. Not realizing why he'd asked that, her head shot to her right, her face and eyes filled with confusion as she looked at him. She immediately noticed the concern on his face, which matched what she'd heard in his voice.

"You have a headache or something?" Pete asked, trying to clarify for her as he glanced towards her head.

Damn, Tina inwardly cursed, realizing what she'd done. "No, I'm okay," she lied, hoping it was believable. As much as she loved that he was a Navy Seal, there were those few times she also hated it. Now being be one of those times, knowing how hard it was to get away with lying to him. That and he picked up on everything, just like Steve. She shrugged her shoulders hoping to distract him from the fact she'd just lied to him. However, it didn't. He knew she was lying; he just didn't know why.

Tina doesn't lie…What the hell is going on? Pete wondered. Great! Is she hiding things from me now too? He eyed her carefully, licking his lips quickly. Just as he was about to press the issue, Gladys from Craft Services interrupted.

"It'll just be a few minutes dear."

Thank God, Tina thought, happy for the interruption. She turned to the sweet woman and smiled genuinely. The first genuine smile Pete had seen out of her since running into her. "Thank you!" Tina glanced over her shoulder. Seeing the nearest table to her empty, she turned back to Gladys. "I'll just be right there waiting."

"Sure thing, honey," the woman smiled.

Tina grinned at her once more before turning and walking the short distance to the nearest picnic style table. With the headache that had slowly been growing worsening, she was anxious to get off her feet. Plus, she was tired. Really tired.

She sat backwards on the bench, her back leaning slightly against the table. Instead of facing the table, she faced towards Craft Services, wanting to be sure she could grab the food the second it was done. Partly because she wanted to get it back to Maddie and Steve, but mainly because she wanted to get away from Pete. It was hurting her to be near him right now. She'd be fine eventually. She always was. But, she needed time to process and accept what she'd learned. It's not like she really ever thought they'd end up together or anything like that, but finding out the man you love was with someone else, whether you thought you'd be together or not, hurt.

Pete watched her sit, staring off into space, obviously lost in thought. He continued to study her as he walked the short distance to the table and took a seat next to her on her left. She could feel his eyes on her as she sat there staring straight ahead. It was making her nervous and uncomfortable. Try and act normal Tina. He's picking up on the fact something is wrong, she told herself. She was doing her best to act like nothing was bothering her, but she wasn't as good at it as Maddie.

She looks like she's paled a bit more in the last few minutes, Pete thought, worrying. He had never seen Tina like this. He'd seen her sick, sure. But never this tired or pale when she wasn't. And never shut down and quiet like she was. And quiet in a 'something's wrong' kind of way. It wasn't an 'I'm content' kind of quiet.

The silence between them was getting to them both. It was beginning to make them feel a bit awkward and uncomfortable. Finally, Pete couldn't take it anymore. He had to say something. "So, you're sister. How is she?" Wanting to get her talking, he chose a topic he knew would make her happy and be easy for her talk about.

Thinking about her older sister, Tina smiled slightly. "She's good."

"Yeah? That's great!" He paused. He'd been hoping for more than a short answer, although he didn't know why he was surprised. She'd been giving him nothing but quick, straight to the point responses since running into her. "The baby?"

Pete couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face as her smile brightened. "She's gorgeous! So cute!"

"Yeah? Got any pictures?" he asked, wanting to see them, but mostly wanting to keep their conversation going. Plus, he wanted the smile to stay on her face and he knew thinking about her baby niece would do just that.

She looked at him as if he'd asked the stupidest question. "Of course! What kind of aunt and Godmother would I be?" She pulled her phone from her back pocket and immediately went to the picture folder she'd created just for pictures of her adorable new baby niece. She handed the phone to Pete.

He smirked at the cute, chubby baby girl on the screen. "You're right, she's really beautiful!" he told her, briefly meeting her eyes before returning to the pictures. He flipped through more. "She's gonna be a heart breaker when she's older!"

Finished looking through the folder, Pete handed Tina her phone. "I feel sorry for Tom."

The two chuckled at the thought.

"Oh yeah, her Daddy's gonna have a hard time when boys enter the picture," she smirked slightly, thinking about it. She hit the power button on her iPhone, putting it to sleep, and pocketed it.

Silence descended over the two as the slight comfortableness that had existed while talking about the baby disappeared. Once again, Tina was acting weird.

"Hey, that reminds me," Pete suddenly said.

She glanced over at him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Are you planning on leaving the arena any time before the show tonight?"

Tina thought about it. "Actually, I think so. I need to grab a couple things for Maddie. Why?"

"While you're out, and if you have the time, can you stop by a Verizon store and change Maddie's cell number?" Pete asked.

Tina turned her head to look at him, confused. "Yeah, why? Everything okay?" She immediately saw him tense. Her gaze dropped to his hands at his sides as she watched him ball them into fists.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Jesse's been calling her."

"Ah, I see," Tina said, suddenly uncomfortable, something Pete quickly picked up on.

"What?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Tina questioned, refusing to look at him, but instead stared straight ahead at Craft Services. She inwardly prayed Gladys would finish the food and interrupt their conversation.

"T, look at me," Pete said, his voice suddenly serious.

Crap, she thought, hesitantly turning her head to the left and meeting his gorgeous hazel eyes.

He narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched her carefully. "Does he call her a lot?" he asked. He studied her to be sure what she told him was the truth.

Tina knew there was no way she could get away with lying to him this time. It was pointless to even try; she had to tell him the truth. She sighed. "He's called a couple times since the… incident… for lack of a better word." He suddenly seemed taller as his anger flared. "Seriously, Pete. A couple times. That's it. She's never answered and from what I know, he hasn't called her recently."

"He has," Pete growled. "He called her several times when I was sitting with her Monday night. Ant that was just what I witnessed. Who knows how many other times he's called."

"Really?" Tina asked, the surprise evident in both her voice and face. "News to me." I'll have to remember to ask Maddie about it when I have a chance, she thought.

Knowing they needed to change the subject, she said, "But yeah, I'll get her a new number when I'm out later."

"Thanks," he mumbled, still angry. Something that happened any time Jesse's name was brought up.

Tina turned to look straight ahead at the Craft Services area. "Mm hm."

Silence descended over them once again and just like before she could feel him eyeing her every so often, making her nervous and uncomfortable. However, it didn't last longer than a minute or two thanks to Gladys. The friendly older woman smiled and caught Tina's eye as she waved slightly, letting her know the food was ready.

Anxious to get away from Pete, Tina jumped up quickly. However, she suddenly felt slightly dizzy thanks to her worsening headache combined with how tired she was. Woah, she thought, standing in place as she waited for the feeling to hopefully pass before walking forward. However, she knew she couldn't remain standing in one place for too long or Pete would notice. Feeling she'd waited as long as she could, she took a step forward even though she was still fairly dizzy. She immediately realized it was a mistake as the feeling worsened causing her to sway back and forth slightly.

Pete had been watching her closely. He thought it was odd that after rushing to stand and grab the food she stayed rooted in place for a few seconds. His eyes widened and concern filled him as he saw her begin to sway. He wasted no time and urgently reached for her as he rose to his feet. "T, you okay?" he asked, immediately placing his hand on her waist.

She nearly flinched when his hand made contact with her. Thankfully, she caught herself just in time, forcing herself not to react. However, she didn't realize that she tensed, something he noticed. What the hell? Pete wondered. Is she upset with me for something? Is that what's going on?

Although having his hand on her made her heart ache more, she noticed how gentle his touch was. As if he was holding some delicate and important object near and dear to him. However, she almost wished she hadn't noticed because it made it that much harder for her. If he was that gentle with a simple touch with a friend, she could only imagine how he'd be if he was in love with the person. The thought caused her heard to constrict. It felt as if someone was literally squeezing it between their hands. I gotta get away from him, she thought. Just act like nothing happened and everything's okay. Tina took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her slightly pale face. "Yeah, I'm fine! I just stood up too fast! What can I say? I guess I've been hanging out with Maddie too long. Her dizzy spells are apparently contagious," she joked, forcing herself to laugh. She exhaled a sigh of relief as she felt the dizzy sensation begin to fade.

As she casually pulled away from Pete, he took a step towards her, worried. Although his hand was no longer on her waist, it was still outstretched, close to her in case he needed to steady or grab hold of her again. She shrugged, her pale cheeks a light shade of pink showing her embarrassment, as she began to walk the short distance to Gladys.

Tina's smile broadened as she approached Gladys, the older woman who was not only the main chef, but also ran Craft Services,. "Thanks so much!"

Gladys' eyes glanced behind her, seeing Pete hot on the assistant's heels. He looked concerned the older woman noted. She looked back at Tina and took in her fairly pale appearance. "No problem, honey!"

Tina took the boxed up food and turned to her right as she headed towards the exit to the room. She was trying to hurry, to get away from Pete before he could ask more questions. In general she just needed to get away from him. Her heart was breaking and she could feel the earlier suppressed tears beginning to resurface. She knew it was only a matter of time before some slipped from her eyes and she refused to let that happen in front of him. Plus, she was embarrassed he'd seen her on the verge of fainting.

She's really trying to get away from me, Pete thought as he quickened his pace wanting, and needing, to catch up to her. Just as she exited the door of the main room and entered the empty hallway, he reached her, grabbing her arm gently to stop her. He turned her towards him. "Tina, are you sure you're okay?" he asked, his eyes filled with worry as he searched her face.

Tina stared at him, unsure of what to say or do. All she could hear were his words to the mystery woman on the phone echoing in her head. When she didn't respond he became even more concerned. He took a step towards her, closing the distance between them. "Tina? You okay?"

Seeing the worry on his face intensify, she swallowed hard and forced herself to answer. "I'm fine. Really, I am." She plastered a small smile on her face and shook his hand from her arm.

Pete continued to search her face with his eyes as his hand dropped to his side. It was then he noticed it. Her eyes seemed glassy, like she might cry, something, like Maddie (or the old Maddie), she didn't do very often. His eyebrows furrowed as the concern he was feeling multiplied. "Tina, talk to me. What's going on? What's wrong?"

Tina couldn't handle it anymore. She absolutely had to get away from him. Unfortunately, her emotions got the better of her and she was unable to stop the next comment from leaving her mouth. "I'm not yours to worry about Peter, so stop," she snapped.

She watched his eyebrows arch and his eyes widen in shock. Hoping to counteract not only her words but also her tone, while trying to play it off as a joke of some kind, she forced a small laugh. However, it didn't work and instead of happy, it came out pathetic and sad. Mortified she let her emotions get the best of her, she spun around and quickly started walking away.

Pete came to as the shock of her little outburst wore off. "Wait! Stop!" he called to her retreating figure. However, he stayed rooted in place, not running after her.

Tina didn't ignore him, but she might as well have. She quickly glanced back and shook the food containers around in her hand, not bothering to stop walking as she did so. "I gotta get this back to them. Mads needs to eat before she can take her medicine," she told him before turning back around and hustling down the hallway. Reaching the end of it, she turned left, leaving Pete behind. As soon as she did, a few tears made their way down her face.

"What the hell just happened?" Pete asked aloud, as he scratched the back of his head, completely and utterly confused. He stayed there, rooted to his spot, thinking over their entire encounter. Tina didn't look good. He knew she was exhausted; she had to be. She hadn't gotten much more sleep than Maddie over the last four days and she couldn't go nearly as long as Maddie could without it. The fact she'd nearly fainted when she stood freaked him out. Well, scared the hell out of him was more like it. Great! Now I'm worried about both Maddie and Tina, he thought. He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples as he sighed deeply. Opening his hazel eyes, he brought the walkie-talkie hanging from his belt up to his mouth. (He'd use the small mic down his sleeve once he changed back into a long sleeved shirt or had a jacket on. For now, he was in a short-sleeved shirt, so it wasn't ideal. The walkie-talkie worked better and because he had his earpiece connected to it, his team's voices went straight into his ear, so no one around him could hear what was being said.) Still staring down the empty hall, the hall where Tina had been just a minute before, he said, "Hey, something's off with Tina. Keep an eye on her and report back to me regularly." A chorus of "Yes sir's" and "sure thing's" filled his ear.

Sighing, Pete turned around and headed back into the main room. He wanted to go check the outside perimeter, see how many paparazzi, reporters, and fans were camped outside. He knew more and more would be arriving as show time grew near. Afterwards, he'd go check on the Five-O team and see what they were up to. Ryan had taken them somewhere while he, Steve, and Doc had taken care of Maddie. However, knowing Maddie, he knew as soon as she had lunch she'd want them in her dressing room even though Steve would argue and say she should be resting. He rolled his eyes at his best friend and fellow SEAL, wishing he'd get his head out of his ass and just realize that he was head over heels in love with her already. It would make things so much easier, he thought.

However, the two didn't occupy his mind for long. As he walked he thought about how strange Tina had been with him. He made a mental note to head back to the dressing room in a little bit to check on her. Given her comment to him and the way she'd called him by his full first name, Peter, he had a feeling whatever was going on had to do with him. He just had absolutely no clue what it could be. As he exited the main room and entered the hot, spring, Hawaiian day, he heard Josh in his ear.

"Tina just walked back into the dressing room. She seemed upset. And, uh," Josh paused. He didn't want to say the next part into the walkie-talkie. He didn't feel the entire team needed to hear it.

Pete's pace slowed, hearing the hesitation in his voice. "What? What is it?"

Josh debated whether or not he should say it and let everyone hear, but eventually decided against it. He quickly pulled his cell phone from his belt and began typing.

Pete was growing impatient over the silence from Josh, his concern for Tina worsening. He was just about to tell him to spit it out when his iPhone dinged. He pulled it from its holder on his belt and glanced at the screen. 1 Text Message Joshua Cudney

Pete furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Why is he texting me when he can just talk to me? he wondered, a sinking feeling beginning in his stomach.

He opened the message and read it, immediately understanding Josh's reservation on telling him over the walkie-talkie. She'd been crying.

His concern grew. He had noticed her moist eyes, so he wasn't really surprised. However, it still worried him. She just wasn't a crier. And with her odd, distant behavior and little outburst? He knew something was definitely wrong. He sighed. Just what I need right now, he thought, Tina upset and hiding things when I've got rebellious Maddie and a crazy person to deal with and worry about.

Pete quickly typed back. Hard?

He only had to wait a few seconds for Josh's response. I didn't see her actually cry. I saw her wipe some tears away. That's it. But she looked really upset.

Thanks. Keep an eye out, Pete replied. Once he placed his phone back into its holder on his belt, he sighed heavily. What the hell is going on? Am I missing something? he asked himself.

...END FLASHBACK...

---

"Were you bleeding?" Doc asked Tina suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts. From recalling her encounter with Pete.

Busted, Tina thought. "A little bit," she quietly answered.

"You should've said something immediately, T." He paused looking closely at the back of her head, his hands holding back her chocolate brown hair. "And it looks like it was more than a little bit." He sighed, releasing her hair and sitting back on the stool. "How long did it bleed? A long time?"

"No," Tina answered truthfully. "I just held a towel to it for maybe five minutes and then it stopped."

Doc looked at her, thinking. "Okay…Have you, or are you, experiencing any dizziness?"

"Nope. None," she lied, smiling slightly. After all, it's not that much. Barely any, she told herself, trying to justify and make herself feel less guilty for lying.

"Okay! Great! Well then, looks like you were lucky! Really lucky!" He stood, pushing the stool to the side. He reached for her hand to help her down from the cushioned, cream leather doctor's chair. "I gotta tell you, I'm surprised it isn't worse. You really should have a slight concussion." Once standing, he let go of her hand.

"As hard as a rock," she smiled as she lightly knocked on her head with her knuckles.

Doc chuckled lightly, walking over to the door. Before he pulled it open he met her eyes, a serious look appearing on his handsome face. "You probably have a slight concussion, but when a patient doesn't experience any of those symptoms, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, etc., we don't really refer to it as a concussion. However, you hit your head hard, enough to break the skin and leave you unresponsive for a minute and a half… It's still pretty early… It didn't happen that long ago." He paused, taking a breath. "I wouldn't be surprised if you start to experience some of those symptoms. And to be honest, with how hard you hit it I wouldn't be surprised if the symptoms are quite prominent." Doc paused, thinking things through. "You know what? I wanna check on you in two hours. Do another quick exam. However, If anything changes before then, if you have a headache, or you experience any dizzy spells, or nausea, let me know immediately."

Tina nodded. "Of course!" To be honest, the information Doc just shared with her scared her a bit. If I'm already experiencing some light dizzy spells and a bad headache, how much worse will it get? she wondered. I mean, I didn't hit my head nearly as hard as Maddie. For a brief second, she debated telling Doc she'd lied and was already experiencing some of the symptoms. However, she decided not to. Maddie needed her too much and she knew Doc would tell her she couldn't do anything except rest. And then what would Maddie do? She'd be screwed. She needed Tina to help her get through the show. She could rest after.

"We don't need both you and Maddie falling apart!" He laughed lightly as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"That's for sure," she smiled, hoping he couldn't see the apprehension and fear she was feeling.

Doc pulled the door open and held it for her. "Still going to grab a bite? Wanna eat together?"

"Sounds great!" Tina said, forcing a small smile. In all honesty, she wasn't hungry at all. She had just said she was gonna get food to give Steve and Maddie some privacy.

"Alright, let's go." At that, Tina walked through the door with Doc following close behind.

---

With Steve still standing to the left of the couch and Maddie sitting in the middle of it, they stared at one another as they found themselves alone for the first time since Sunday. It was as if neither one knew what to do or say. Things have definitely changed between us, he thought, as he tried to squash that little ball of fear and panic that popped up every time there was any kind of thought or feeling of Maddie in a more than friends way.

Maddie was beginning to panic, although she was doing a damn good job of hiding it. However, Steve did notice the way she seemed even more rigid and tense since Doc and Tina left, but he just figured she was a little uncomfortable and nervous to be alone with him. He didn't realize how freaked out and panicked she was. How much she wanted to run. Run from him. From her love for him. From her broken heart. And to be honest, run from her life.

The fact that she wanted to run from him was the most upsetting part for her. In fact, as she thought about it, her chest began to tighten and she felt the familiar, as of late, spike of emotions build behind her eyes as she looked at him. She hated that she wanted to run from him. From. Him. Him. Steve. The one constant in her life. How did it get to this? she asked herself. He was always the one she ran to, not from.

"Mads?"

Her eyes began to clear as she pushed her thoughts from her mind. She realized he was looking at her, concern evident in his eyes.

"Hm?" she quietly asked.

"You okay?" Steve licked his bottom lip out of habit.

She forced a smile. "Of course."

He studied her for a minute as he wondered where she'd gone off to. He'd been trying to get her attention for at least a minute while she just stared at him, a distant look in her eyes.

Feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable under his gaze, Maddie began to move around. However, she moved just right, causing pain to shoot through her still bleeding foot and up into her injured knee. She couldn't help the slight wince that crossed her beautiful, but extremely pale, features.

"Let's eat lunch, so you can take your pain pills," Steve said, noticing the pain that had flashed across her face. He took one last look before hesitantly taking his eyes off her. He bent over and grabbed the large knee brace he'd set on the floor next to the ice-filled tank. "But first, let's get this on." He took the few steps forward, closing the distance between them. He knelt next to her elevated right leg in the space between the couch and the glass coffee table.

"Do I really have to put that on?" Maddie asked, her voice tiny.

He could definitely tell that all the talking she'd done over the last hour had made her voice worse. She cleared it, hoping it would help.

Steve glanced up, meeting her big, sad, blue eyes. If things had been good between them he would've leaned forward and kissed her, but they weren't, so he didn't. Instead, he stifled the urge and gave her a small, sympathetic, but sexy, smile. A smile that made her want him more, which of course only led to remind her he didn't want her back. She clenched her jaw, trying her best to stifle her emotions and act normal with him. Normal like they'd always been. "Yes, you do. Gotta keep ice on that knee."

Act like nothing's changed, Maddie reminded herself. She buried her broken heart deep within and did exactly that. She pushed her bottom lip out and raised her eyebrows to make her blue eyes look larger.

"Maddie," Steve warned. "Put the face away. It's not gonna work." He was doing his best to fight the smile that wanted to sneak through. She has no idea how cute she looks when she does that, he thought. Unfortunately, he lost the battle and the smile slipped through his tough façade, appearing as a small, sexy smirk.

"But it makes me so cold Steve," Maddie told him, her 'sad face' still in place.

The small smirk became a smile as he responded. "Well, good thing you have a blanket then." His eyes shot to the blanket on the back of the couch and then back to her. He didn't think she could get any cuter, but then she pouted. God I wanna kiss her, he thought. However, he knew he couldn't. He was afraid of how she would react. He was worried she'd push him away and he just didn't think he could handle that right now. Plus, he was worried she'd get upset and he wanted to keep her as calm as possible, so she'd hopefully fall asleep and get some much needed rest before the show. So, in order to keep himself from leaning forward and kissing her, he looked away, focusing on the huge brace in his hands. "Don't worry, I'll be careful," Steve told her as he held the brace under her elevated leg. He wanted to be sure she knew that he'd do his best to keep from wiggling her knee around causing more pain in it as he did so. However, there was no need for him to tell her. She wasn't worried he'd hurt her knee. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. Well, not physically, she thought. However, he has no problem shattering my heart into a million pieces. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at the irony.

Steve repositioned himself so that he was now only kneeling on his right knee and instead placed his left knee under her leg, using it to hold the brace in place. It would have been easier if she'd been lying down on the couch or on a bed. But because her foot sat on the coffee table, nothing was under her leg supporting it. So, he used his knee to support the brace, keeping it in place.

Carefully he began fastening the straps, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye every few seconds to make sure he wasn't hurting her.

For a tough and often times abrasive Navy Seal, he was always so gentle with her. This time being no different. He didn't hurt her at all as he fastened the brace to her leg. Of course this simple and mundane task only reminded her why she loved him so much, which made her heart hurt as she thought about how he didn't feel the same.

Maddie swallowed hard, hoping to push the emotions she was feeling deep down inside. However, she forgot how raw and sore her throat was. She winced at the excruciating pain she felt.

Steve had just finished getting her knee in the big brace when he looked over at her and caught her look of pain. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, concern on his face. He'd feel awful if he'd been the source of further pain for her. He'd already caused her so much. Not physical, but still. It was pain and he hated himself for being responsible for it. All he wanted to do was undo it, not add more.

Maddie shook her head, not wanting him to think he'd hurt her knee. "Throat," she mumbled, her voice cutting out in the middle of the word before coming back in at the end.

Understanding, he flashed her a sad, sympathetic smile as he hit the "On" switch on the tank that he'd placed under the coffee table. The device immediately came to life as it began circulating the ice-cold water into the brace. He stood quickly, turned around, and headed to the kitchen table behind the couch. He grabbed their food and brought it back, setting it on the coffee table. "Let's eat."

Tina had been so sweet and emptied their To-Go containers onto normal plates. However, she'd left Maddie's soup in the Styrofoam container, not wanting it to get cold.

Steve sat down next to her, noticing the way she positioned herself the littlest bit away from him as he did so. He felt a quick pang in his chest although she wouldn't have known as he kept his emotions from showing. Before he could focus too much on how much he'd hurt her that she didn't want to be close to him, he caught her shiver. He quickly turned and grabbed the blanket that had been set on the back of the couch when Tina had helped her into her leggings. "Here baby," he mumbled as he gently placed it on her, making sure it wasn't just on her lap, but also on her elevated right leg. He placed it in such a way that allowed her to be able to pull it up over her shoulders if she wanted. He didn't realize what he'd called her until it was out of his mouth. As hard as it was, he dared a quick glance at her, wanting to see her reaction to the pet name. His stomach sunk seeing how tense she was. It wasn't just the way her back slightly straightened. Her face was even tense. And he could tell she was clenching her jaw. What did you expect? You hurt her Steve, he told himself. You're such an idiot. How the hell are you going to undo what you did? Can you even fix the damage you caused?

He could've continued to dwell on the subject, but her coughing brought him back to the moment. His eyes softened as he watched her face slowly become red from the coughing spasm she was experiencing. Her face slowly began to contort in pain from the sharp pain the coughing was causing in her throat.

"Try to relax," Steve softly instructed, seeing her becoming more tense as the spasm continued, which only seemed to be making it worse. Not able to help himself he placed his hand on her upper back and began to gently rub it, hoping the gesture would help her relax.

After a minute longer, the coughing spasm began to die down, instead leaving her to cough once or twice every thirty seconds or so. Maddie took deep breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart. Crossing her right hand across her body, she began gently rubbing the area between her left shoulder blade and left side. She winced, feeling the pain.

"Sore from all the coughing?" he asked her.

She turned and met his face, slightly startled at how close it was to hers. She nodded, meeting his blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mads." He slid his right hand from her upper back down to the area she was rubbing, lightly nudging her hand out of the way. Having him so close and touching her made her want to snuggle into him, close her eyes, and never leave his arms. However, she had to protect herself. If she did that, it'd only make it hurt that much more. But, you have to act normal, she told herself. The old you wouldn't have thought twice about snuggling into him right now. She didn't know what to do. Finally, after going back and forth, she decided to do something that was in between the two; she leaned into his touch a bit.

A warm sensation filled Steve's belly as he felt her lean into his hand just the littlest bit. She looked up, meeting his eyes again.

God, she's so pale, he thought. She's beyond exhausted. I don't know how she's still going.

Thankfully, he could feel her begin to relax. It was the first time she'd done so near him in the last hour. He watched as her blinking slowed down. He could see her fighting exhaustion.

"Let's have some lunch, baby." Relief filled him when he didn't see her react to the pet name.

As much as Maddie loved when he called her that, it also killed her. Her heart ached as the term of endearment left his mouth for a second time in the last few minutes. As much as it hurt, she kept herself from reacting, reminding herself for what felt like the millionth time in the last hour to act normal. Behave like she did before the stalker and, more importantly, before she realized she was completely and utterly hopelessly in love with her best friend.

Steve leaned his head down towards hers and placed his lips against her forehead, kissing her gently. Her eyes fluttered closed, reveling in the feel of his soft lips against her skin.

He didn't pull his mouth away, but instead kissed her again, letting his lips linger longer. "God, you're on fire, Mads. You must feel awful."

Yes, I do, she answered his question inwardly. She knew if she told him how awful she felt he'd only worry more about her and she just couldn't handle that at the moment. "Eh…it's not so bad actually," she lied.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Nice try." Reluctantly, he pulled completely away from her, scooting forward on the couch and reaching towards the coffee table. He knew they needed to eat so he could get her to take all the medication Doc had left out for her.

Maddie sniffled as she opened her eyes and leaned back against the couch, immediately missing the contact with Steve, even though she told herself she didn't. That she couldn't miss it because it would only make things harder for her.

"Here you go," Steve said, handing her the plate with her lunch on it while offering her a small smile.

She sniffled and coughed. "Thanks," she croaked out, taking the plate.

Leaving his plate on the coffee table, Steve positioned his body so that he remained seated more towards the edge of the couch, but was turned a bit so he was looking to his right at her. He wanted to be able to see her.

As he dug into his lunch, Maddie stared down at the grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, and piece of bread on her plate. God, I'm not hungry, she thought, the food not looking even the least bit appetizing to her.

Steve watched her stare at her food while he ate, a worried, sinking feeling building in his gut. The words "eating disorder" played on repeat in his head.

Knowing she just needed to suck it up and force herself to eat or else Steve was going to drive her crazy worrying, she sighed and slowly cut the chicken up. She didn't want him to think the rumors the press were saying were true. She stabbed a piece with her fork and slowly brought it to her mouth.

Steve felt himself relax slightly as the food entered her mouth. He watched her chew and swallow the small piece of chicken, wincing as she did so. He felt bad she was so sick. That was the last thing she needed on top of her injuries.

In the past, when there was silence between them it was always comfortable. That was one of the things that had always been so cool about their friendship. They didn't need to constantly be talking when together. They were completely content to just be in one another's company. However, it was different now. The silence was deafening. It was so loud, filled with the unresolved issues, secrets, and hurt feelings just hanging there in the air, waiting to be dealt with.

Finally, Steve had to say something. He couldn't deal with it anymore.

"Is everything okay with Tina?" he asked. It was the first thing he could think of that had nothing to do with the two of them. "She seemed a bit off before she left."

Maddie thought back to the way her best friend and assistant had been acting. She shrugged. "I dunno," she quietly answered. She cleared her throat slightly, hoping it would help the state of her voice.

"She didn't say anything?" Steve asked, watching her slowly take a couple more bites of her food.

"No. She didn't want to talk with you and Doc here," Maddie responded, meeting his eyes.

Steve nodded slightly, more to himself than to her. "So, she was upset."

"Yeah," Maddie answered, sniffling and coughing once. She set the fork down on her plate, unable to eat anything more.

"Mads, you gotta eat more than a quarter of that piece of chicken," he told her. "Plus, what about the vegetables? And the bread?"

"I'm not hungry," she answered. She met his eyes and immediately saw the concern and fear he was so desperately trying to keep hidden. She knew he was terrified the press was right.

"I don't care. You gotta get more in you." He paused. "Did you have any breakfast?"

Maddie nodded.

"What?"

She sniffled. "Bagel."

"How much of the bagel?" Steve asked. He wasn't an idiot; he knew she'd probably had half of it or something. He knew she was on Prednisone and that it killed her appetite.

She wrinkled her nose at him slightly, annoyed that he saw through her lack of information. "A quarter of it."

"Yeah, you need to eat more," he told her, his voice taking on a more serious tone as he used his fork to point towards the plate on her lap.

"But," Maddie began, but stopped, not wanting to continue. She reluctantly picked her fork back up.

"But what, Mads?" he asked, taking another bite of his lunch as he eyed her.

She sighed. She might as well tell him. "It hurts too much when I swallow this." She pointed at her chicken with her fork.

Steve sighed, feeling bad for her. "Well-" His eyes scanned the table. Spotting the closed Styrofoam bowl-type container he'd carried over with their food, he pulled the top off and peaked inside. "Tina also got you some chicken noodle soup. Try this. It'll feel better on your throat, plus it'll hydrate you. Electrolytes."

Maddie stared at him, trying not to smile. It was dorky, but cute, that he was talking electrolytes and hydration with her.

"What?" he asked after she'd been staring at him for a good minute, her eyebrows slightly raised as she tried to keep from smiling.

"You're a dork," she answered, the smile finally breaking through. A genuine smile. One that warmed his heart, especially knowing it was for him.

"What?" Steve looked at her questioningly. "No, I'm not." He feigned hurt. However, inside he couldn't have been happier. She was being herself at the moment. They were having a genuine, real moment, reminding him of how it used to be between them. The only difference is I want to see her naked, he thought. Touch her, kiss her, have… He interrupted his train of thought, already feeling his pants begin to tighten at the mere thought of her like that. Yeah, that's definitely different, he thought, referring to the fact that thinking about her could so easily make him hard.

"Whatever you say, Steve," Maddie replied, rolling her eyes, a small smirk still on her pale face.

He stared at her, grinning widely before finally saying, "Mads, take this," as he slightly moved the open, Styrofoam soup container in his hand.

Sighing, she did as he instructed. He watched her, waiting until she began eating it before returning to his own lunch. He inwardly sighed in relief as she brought the first spoonful of the warm liquid to her mouth.

They ate in silence for the next ten minutes. Only saying things here and there. It wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been before, but it still wasn't comfortable at the same time. He continued to watch her. She was eating. Slowly, that's for sure. But at least she was eating. The soup seemed to have been a bit more tolerable on her sore throat, although she still winced nearly every time she had to swallow. Finally she leaned forward and set the soup on the coffee table. She leaned back, groaning at the intense achiness she was feeling in her body.

Hearing her groan, Steve's eyes immediately darted to her. He tried to hide the worry the noise elicited. Before he had a chance to really study her, her eyes met his. Not wanting her to see how concerned he was, he averted his eyes. Instead, he looked into the bowl. She hadn't even eaten half of it. "Mads, you gotta eat more than that." He sighed, looking back at her. She wasn't looking at him anymore, so he took her in. Somehow, she'd gotten even paler. How that was even possible he didn't know. "You have a ton of pills you gotta take. I don't want them upsetting your stomach. That's the last thing you need right now."

She turned to look at him, her eyes half open. She looked miserable. "I can't eat anymore."

"Maddie, you have to," he argued. She was surprised at his tone. It wasn't forceful or angry, but instead gentle.

She sighed as she fought the tears that wanted to escape. "Stevie," her voice was thick with suppressed emotion. Something he heard. He immediately set his fork down on his plate and turned fully towards her, studying her. "I don't feel good."

Steve knew that for her to finally admit that to him, she had to feel absolutely awful. He could see the unshed tears in her eyes. "Okay, baby." He rubbed his hand lovingly up and down her upper left arm. "Okay." He slid his hand up and rested it on her left, burning hot cheek. "Damn, your fever's higher." Worry filled him. Her fever had been 104.2 when Doc had checked it less than an hour before. He could definitely tell it was higher. Not a ton, but higher all the same. He felt himself begin to slightly panic. Calm down, Steve thought to himself. Freaking out will only make this worse. Just gotta focus on getting it down.

He forced himself to take a deep breath. "Lets get this Advil in you first. Get this fever down." He leaned forward and grabbed the Advil bottle from the table. He began reading the back to figure out the dosage.

Seeing this Maddie whispered, "Three."

Steve glanced back at her. "Three? You sure?" She nodded. "Okay then. Three it is." He quickly shook three pills into his hand, closed the bottle, and then set it back on the coffee table. He grabbed the glass of water Tina had set on the coffee table for Maddie before she left and handed it to her with the pills.

She sat up and took them. As she took another big gulp of water Steve looked at the remaining three bottles of pills and the one bottle of liquid cough syrup on the coffee table.

Suddenly the door opened and Pete walked in. "How are things going in here?" he asked.

Steve met his long time friend's eyes quickly. "Okay," he sighed. He glanced at Maddie's barely touched lunch before looking back at her. He was so hesitant to have her take all this medicine when she didn't really have much in her stomach. He'd noticed that each of the remaining medicines, including the cough syrup, said they needed to be taken with food.

"I see she didn't eat much," Pete said approaching them. He didn't have to see her abandoned food to know this. He could see it in Steve's face.

"Not hungry," Maddie mumbled. She coughed a couple times.

"Can you force yourself to eat a little bit more, Mads?" Steve asked. "I'm concernced these are gonna upset your stomach if you don't."

She wasn't trying to be difficult. She really just couldn't eat anymore. She was worried she might puke if she did. She just had absolutely no appetite and the thought of food made her stomach churn. She'd forced herself to eat as much as she could and that had been a battle in itself.

Maddie met Steve's worried, blue eyes and shook her head. She winced at the pain the movement caused in her head.

"Do you have a headache?" Steve asked, trying to hide the worry the idea caused. She shouldn't still have a headache after 4 days, he thought. However, he then remembered Doc telling him her concussion wasn't really any better than it had been on Sunday.

Maddie only met his eyes. She said nothing. However, the look she was giving him gave him his answer. She didn't need to say anything. He sighed loudly. It was becoming more and more obvious to him that she should not be performing that night. In fact, it was becoming more and more real to him that she very well might not be able to physically. The idea worried him, but also gave him a sense of relief. He didn't want her performing anyway. Not when she was in such bad shape.

Seeing Steve was only getting more concerned by the moment, Pete spoke up as he walked to the kitchen. "What's been working really well when she hasn't been eating with the medicine is a glass of this." He pulled a carton of fat free milk from the refrigerator. He grabbed a tall glass and poured the white liquid in it, nearly filling it to the top. "Doc says it coats her stomach and protects it from the meds," he explained as he walked back to the sitting area. He handed the glass to Steve. "I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go check on something." In all honesty, Pete had been worried about Tina and was hoping she was in Maddie's dressing room. He wanted to find her and make sure she was okay. After seeing her dizzy and sway on her feet, he wanted to be sure she wasn't passed out somewhere. Plus, he knew she was upset about something.

Steve barely acknowledged Pete with a quick nod of the head before he left the dressing room. He set the glass of milk on the coffee table for a second while grabbing the bottle of antibiotics for her foot. While he opened the bottle and shook two pills into his hand, he said, "Mads, with your foot so infected, Doc wants you to take two pills twice a day, instead of just one." Subconsciously licking his bottom lip, he handed Maddie the pills and then the milk. She quickly took them. When she started handing him back the milk he said, "Drink some more before you take the next pill."

She sighed and nodded before taking small sips of her milk while he poured the liquid cough syrup into the little cup Doc had left next to it. "Here Mads," he said, handing it to her. She quickly took it, making a face at the nasty taste, an expression reminding him of a little kid's reaction to taking medication. Steve couldn't help but smirk at suddenly had the urge to touch her in some way. Knowing she wasn't going to and hadn't believed him when he told her he didn't mean what he said on Sunday, he had decided that he would have to show her. So, instead of fighting the urge, he went with it. He placed his right hand on her left, uninjured knee and began lightly rubbing it.

Maddie tensed slightly as his hand made contact with her. She looked away, not wanting him to see the hurt she was trying so desperately to hide.

Steve did his best to ignore the twinge in his heart as she tensed. Instead, he told himself to just keep going and he moved his hand up her leggings clad leg. Her eyes met his as he lightly rubbed her thigh in a loving gesture. However, he was respectful and didn't go too high. He stopped just past her mid thigh before bringing his hand back to her knee. He repeated the motion, returning to her mid thigh. He could see the uncertainty and hurt in her exhausted blue eyes, making him feel even guiltier for hurting her. He really hadn't meant what he'd said the other day. It had come out of his mouth before he knew what was happening. He gave her a small, sexy smile before turning his gaze back to the coffee table.

Using his left hand, Steve grabbed the open bottle of antibiotics and put the cap back on. While he did this, his right hand remained on Maddie's left leg, continuing to rub the same path: from her knee to her mid thigh and back to her knee.

As Maddie continued to sip from the glass, she watched him, curious as to what was going on in his head. He was acting as if what he was doing was completely natural. As if it was something he'd always done with her. But it wasn't. This was new. Sure, they'd snuggle every so often, like if they were watching a move and she got cold, or if she was sick or upset and he was comforting her. But even then, it was more of a friendly snuggle.

There were times Steve would come up from behind and squeeze her shoulder in a sort of 'Hey, how ya doing?' manner. She'd do similar things to him as well. And of course, there was the way he'd kiss her head, forehead, and nose. He usually did it when she was upset or stressed out about something. At those times, she'd never say anything. Instead, she would keep it all bottled up, but somehow, he always knew. He'd trick her into talking about it, a secret power of his, and help her figure out a solution to whatever was going on. Or the times she refused to talk about whatever was bothering her, he'd give her a little pep talk, reminding her that she's one of the strongest people he knows and that whatever was going on would work itself out. Then he'd lean forward and kiss her forehead and/or nose.

Things were a little different when it came to him. Not only was he Steve, not someone who easily expressed his feelings, but he was a Navy Seal. Most of the time when something was bothering him, he couldn't talk about it, even if he wanted to, because it was classified. Maddie understood this. She understood him. At those times, she'd give him a big smile while usually rubbing his upper arm in a comforting and understanding way before leaning forward and ether kissing his forehead, nose, or cheek. She'd then snuggle into him and let him wrap his arms around her. Depending on what he needed, she'd distract him with a movie or a recent story from her life, while other times they'd just lay there quietly, enjoying one another's company.

In all the moments they'd shared, there were never any romantic undertones or intentions, on either end. It was always just about the two best friends being there for one another. Supporting each other. Just like it'd always been. Since they were four years old.

But with what Steve was doing now? No, it wasn't a normal "just friends" gesture. Now, the way he dished her medicine out to her and made sure she ate something? That was normal for him to do with her. He'd do this on the rare occasion he was with her when she was sick and she'd do the same thing when he was. But the way he was rubbing her leg? It was different.

Maddie continued to watch him as she thought about it all. Maybe everyone is right… Maybe he does have some sort of feelings for me, she thought. But then she reminded herself the way he flirted with Lori in front of her. How he'd left her home after making out with her, so could go on a date with Lori, which resulted in them hooking up. She knew he'd told her they didn't, and hadn't, had sex, but she wasn't sure she believed him. She had when he'd told her that night, especially when he proceeded to kiss her right after, twice. But, with what he'd said the next morning? How he'd laughed at the idea of them ever being more than friends… she didn't believe him. And she wasn't even factoring in all the other things he'd said and tried to take back after the fact. Like how he told her he cared about her like a sister and then tried to take it back when it upset her.

As Maddie thought about it all, she unknowingly began to tense, something Steve noticed. As soon as he felt her begin to tense under his hand, he turned his head to look at her, wanting to know what had suddenly changed. He unconsciously licked his bottom lip out of habit as he studied her, his brow furrowed. She was staring at him, but she was somewhere else, as she hadn't even realized he was looking straight at her. God, I wish I knew what she's thinking right now, he thought. Whatever it is it's upsetting her.

Steve said nothing as he continued to observe Maddie. About a minute later her eyes suddenly cleared as she returned to the moment, no longer lost in her thoughts. She tensed as she realized they were staring at one another, and even more when she noticed he was no longer rubbing her leg. When did he stop, she wondered.

"You okay?" Steve asked as he started rubbing her leg again. The same way he'd been doing a minute before. The same way that sparked the train of thought she'd just gone down.

She only nodded, not trusting her voice to hide her broken heart and the sadness she was feeling. It was difficult, but she forced herself to keep from looking at his hand on her thigh, doing her best to pretend like it was completely normal for them.

"Where'd you go?" he questioned.

Maddie cleared her voice, hoping it would clear the raw emotion that seemed to be lodged in her throat. She was supposed to be acting normal, like her old self, and being broken hearted because her best friend didn't love her back was not normal. She forced a big smile on her face. "Somewhere truly awesome," she lied.

Steve was quiet for a second as he debated what to say. Once he decided, he took a deep breath, praying he wasn't about to make another mistake with her. "Really?" he asked. "Because it didn't look like you went to a very fun place."

Maddie froze; she was not expecting that response. Her body went rigid as her jaw clenched. What do I say to that? she wondered. Not the truth! I don't want to talk about this with him. Ever. It's already embarrassing enough… falling in love with your best friend when he doesn't feel the same. Only to have him make a fool out of you and think of you as a joke. I just want to pretend nothing ever happened.

"Mads," Steve said.

Maddie knew what was coming next. He was gonna bring it up. He was gonna try and talk to her about it. No, this can't happen, she thought as she began to panic. Beginning to squirm under his gaze, she started to move around, feeling anxious. "Ow! God damn!" she cursed, accidentally hitting the bottom of her right, cut up foot with her left. Her eyes squeezed shut as her face contorted in pain. She leaned her head back against the sofa. "Damn," she whispered, trying to do her best to keep from crying at the unimaginable pain she was experiencing.

As her face contorted in pain, Steve immediately abandoned the conversation he was going to try and have with her. He could tell she was in agony. Seeing her upper body wiggling about as she tried to handle the pain she was feeling, he pulled the glass of milk from her hand and set it on the coffee table. He was worried she was going to spill it all over herself and the couch.

Maddie started coughing from getting worked up and he began rubbing her leg again, hoping it would help her relax. "Take a deep breath, Mads," he instructed. "The pain will die down in a second."

As much as she wished it wasn't, his hand rubbing her thigh was helping her relax. Slowly her coughing began to lessen, followed by her breathing evening out. She sniffled as her muscles relaxed, causing her to sink further into the couch.

Steve met her eyes and smiled at her as he sighed, happy and relieved to see that he'd helped get her to calm down and relax. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand from her leg and brought his gaze back to the remaining two bottles of medication on the table. He wanted to get the rest of it in her as soon as possible. Their conversation would have to wait until after the show, once they were back at her house.

Maddie watched his entire body tense as he picked up one of the bottles. His jaw clenched. She immediately knew which one it was. "Steve, give it to me."

His hand tightened around the bottle as he tried to decide if he would give it to her or not.

"Steve," Maddie whispered, pushing away everything she'd been upset and thinking about a minute before. She sat forward and reached her left hand out, placing it on the right side of his upper back. She rubbed it slightly, however he could tell her touch was hesitant. But hey, he thought, at least it's something. He turned his head to look at her, the bottle still clenched in his right hand. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, and nervousness, as she realized how close their faces now were. He turned his body towards her, causing her hand to slide from his upper back to his arm.

"Mads," Steve began, his voice uncharacteristically small for him. Before he could continue, Pete returned, entering the room. He walked across to the sitting area and plopped in the big, overstuffed armchair on Steve's left. He said nothing, his thoughts on Tina. He hadn't been able to find her. However, he knew she was around because members of Maddie's security team had seen her. He figured she'd be heading back to the dressing room soon, so he decided to wait for her there.

"Steve," Maddie gave him a little smile. "I'm okay this time, I promise." At his unbelieving and hesitant expression, Maddie looked behind him to Pete. "P, tell him it's fine."

Hearing his name, Pete was pulled from his thoughts. He looked to Maddie. "I don't know what we're talking about," he responded truthfully. He hadn't been paying attention to what was going on. He'd been too consumed with concern and confusion over what was going on with Tina.

"Prednisone," Maddie whispered. Suddenly a tickle hit her throat. She quickly turned her head to the right and covered her mouth with her free hand as she coughed.

"Ah, yes. Prednisone," Pete stated, now noticing the bottle clutched in Steve's hand. "I knew this one was gonna be an issue." He sighed. To be honest, he was on Steve's side when it came to this. He'd been her head of security for maybe six months when she'd gotten sick from it four years before, so he was there for it. He'd witnessed her reaction to the medication and it was scary. However, what was really frightening was that it wasn't a gradual thing. One minute she'd been fine and the next she wasn't and he'd rushed her to the hospital where they kept her for more than a week.

Pete sighed. "Mads, I agree that you shouldn't take that medication. But, unfortunately, you're already on it. However, Steve, Doc's kept an insanely close eye on her. She's right, she's okay right now."

Maddie reached her right hand forward to take the bottle from Steve, however he wouldn't release it. "Steve…" she whispered. He said nothing, only continued to stare at her as he clenched the small bottle in his hand. "You know how this medication works. You have to wean down off of it. I'm on a high dose, Steve. You can't just not give it to me. That will make me sick."

Steve sighed, knowing she was right. He shook his head, pulling the bottle in his hand away from hers. Just as she was about to protest he said, "I'll give it to you. Grab the milk."

Maddie could hear the concern and fear in his voice, something so foreign for him. Even if he was feeling those emotions, he would keep them hidden, never showing them.

She leaned forward and grabbed her glass of milk with her right hand before straightening. She sat waiting for him to give her the pills. She watched as he shook two from the bottle. When he stopped she hesitantly said, "Four," and prepared herself for his reaction.

Steve's head shot up before quickly turning towards her. His eyes were wide, shocked. "Four?!"

She nodded.

"Are you kidding me?!" His voice had risen. "That's more than you've ever been on!" He paused. "No, I'm not giving you four," he said adamantly.

"Steve," Maddie began. She tried to stay as calm as possible, reminding herself that he was just scared. That that's why he was being so overprotective and controlling. "You need to give me four pills. Before I go to bed it will be three, as well as in the morning. Tomorrow afternoon and night it will be two pills each. And then Friday I will take one pill twice a day. Saturday and Sunday, it will go down to one pill." She gave him a minute to process the information she'd given him. When he still hadn't moved to give her the medication, she said, "Steve…" Her tone was slightly warning this time.

Steve clenched his jaw even more. So much so that she knew it had to be painful. He was fighting an internal battle as he tried to decide if he'd give her the medication or not. However, in the end, he knew it really wasn't his decision. And he knew she'd been kind up to this point and not reminded him of that fact. However, he knew her well enough to know that if he waited any longer to give it to her she would remind him that this wasn't his call and he had no right whatsoever to tell her what she could and couldn't do. Steve inwardly sighed, closing his eyes briefly. As he opened them he sighed loudly and shook two more pills into his hand. He set the bottle down on the coffee table and then slowly, and reluctantly, handed them to Maddie.

As he outstretched his hand to her, she realized that her left hand had remained on his right arm the entire time and she hadn't even noticed. Maddie visibly tensed at the realization. She was annoyed with herself that she'd once again gotten so caught up with him that she'd let her walls come down. Damn it, she inwardly cursed. She pulled her hand away quickly as if Steve's arm had burnt her. He smirked as he thought happily, I might still have a chance to fix things after all.

Maddie took the pills from his hand, avoiding looking at him as she did so. She quickly swallowed them before he had a chance to change his mind and further fight her on the issue.

Steve tensed significantly as she took the Prednisone. He was beyond concerned she was not only taking the medication, but was on such high dosages of it. And, he knew he'd be worried until she was completely off of it.

Maddie pulled the glass of milk from her mouth and he immediately smiled. "What?" she asked, her voice small.

Pete started laughing and she suddenly became incredibly self-conscious. Her eyes darted between the two men's smiling faces. "What?" she asked again.

"You look hot with a mustache, Mads," Steve grinned.

It took her a second to realize what he was referring to. Once she did, she grabbed the napkin next to her abandoned plate and wiped her "milk moustache" from her face. She shook her head slightly at the two Navy Seals, trying to keep from smiling at them. Especially Steve. He was so handsome when he smiled. Even when his face was stitched up and bruised. But then again, Pete's face was no better, except he hadn't needed stitches after their fight at the barbeque.

Maddie bent forward, even though it caused a ton of pain in her injured tailbone, and placed the napkin back on the table. As she did so she accidentally bumped her plate, which barely grazed her elevated foot. "Ow," she mumbled, her face squinting in pain. "Not again! Damn it!"

"You okay?" Steve asked, his hand coming to rest on her upper back. He could feel that she was holding her breath, waiting for the surge of pain to dissipate. Just before he was about to tell her to take a breath, she did so. She sat up, straightening her back and taking the pressure off her injured tailbone. Steve removed his hand from her back and studied her face. "That foot is really painful, isn't it?"

She met his eyes, pausing before answering. Her instinct was to lie to him, tell him it wasn't that bad. That it was nothing she couldn't handle, but she was trying to act like the old Maddie, especially when it came to the two of them. Plus, she didn't see the point in lying to him on this one. It was obvious the infected lacerations on her foot were excruciatingly painful.

Slightly nibbling the right side of her bottom lip, she nodded. "Yeah."

Steve sighed. He had no idea how she was going to be able to walk, let alone dance and perform, on her infected foot. He looked back to the coffee table and grabbed the last remaining prescription bottle, reading the directions on the front of it. He popped the top off and shook two pills into his hand. "Here baby," Steve said, his tone soft. "This will help a lot with the pain."

Maddie held out her left hand and he dropped the pills in her palm, doing her best to ignore the way the pet name made her insides tingle while also making her heart ache. She looked up at him questioningly, her brows furrowed. "Two?" she asked. "I can't take two."

"Yes you can, Mads. It says so on the bottle," Steve replied, giving her a small smile.

"No, I mean, I can't take two because they go straight to my head. I have to perform later. I can't be all loopy and out of it during my show."

"Mads, take them both. You're in a ton of pain. You'll be fine by the time you have to perform. They'll wear off way before show time. I promise," he said.

Maddie looked between the pills in her palm and Steve's face while she tried to decide whether to take both or not. However, he was right. She was in agony. Just slightly wiggling her toes caused incredible pain in her foot. And it wasn't just her foot that was hurting either. It was her tailbone and her knee too, not to mention her pounding head and aching body.

Making up her mind she threw both pain pills in her mouth and washed them down with the rest of the glass of milk.

Steve smiled, happy she'd taken both pills without any kind of real battle or arguing. Unfortunately, that only confirmed that she was in terrible amounts of pain.

Now that she had taken all her medication, Maddie leaned back, sinking into the overstuffed couch. Once she got comfortable, her eyes fluttered closed as she continued to fight exhaustion. Steve had noticed that every so often her eyes would close for a few seconds before she'd force them back open. However, now the intervals were getting closer together, which he hoped meant she'd fall asleep soon.

Feeling the empty glass leave her right hand, Maddie slowly opened her eyes. She watched as Steve set the glass on the table before turning back to her. She then watched as he pulled at the bottom ends of the fuzzy blanket, making sure her legs and feet were covered. Well, except for her infected right foot since Doc wanted it to get some air. However, he covered as much of it as he could knowing her feet got cold easily.

Since the blanket had fallen down to her waist while she'd eaten, he pulled it back up to her neck, so it covered her arms and chest. It was then that he realized her eyes were back open and she was staring at him. His face pinked a bit; slightly embarrassed she'd caught him.

Although she knew she shouldn't be thinking it, Maddie thought it was so sweet how he'd carefully taken the empty glass from her hand, thinking she'd fallen asleep. To make it cuter, he'd then covered her up, something she knew he'd done before. However, it was different this time. It was the way he did it. She saw how careful and gentle he was. Maybe he was telling the truth? she found herself wondering as he continued covering her with the blanket. Maybe he didn't mean what he said on Sunday? When she saw the way his face began to flush when he realized she'd caught him covering her, she couldn't believe it. Steve wasn't one to blush. In fact, she couldn't remember ever really seeing him blush before. Maybe he does have feelings for me, she thought. Wait, no. Maddie, don't go there, she told herself. You know what? Just stop over thinking everything. She was driving herself crazy. Just act normal with him and stop over analyzing.

Steve's instinct was to pull away and pretend nothing had happened once she caught him, but instead he reminded himself what was at stake. He gave her a small smile before leaning forward and kissing her burning hot forehead. His eyes slightly widened when he realized she'd leaned her head into his lips. He debated maybe kissing her nose and then trying to kiss her quickly on the lips, but then again, he didn't want to push her. Not with what she had going on. And especially when it looked like she might finally surrender and get some sleep. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her because he knew she'd force herself to rehearse and then she'd never get any sleep before the show. So, instead, he kissed her forehead again, inwardly smiling at the fact she leaned her head even more into him.

Steve hesitantly pulled away. As he did he made eye contact with her. He couldn't help himself as his eyes flitted to her mouth and then back to her eyes as he licked his lips in yearning. Maddie's heart began to race. She wanted him to kiss her so badly, but at the same time she didn't. She was afraid she'd get hurt again. However, her fear and hesitancy didn't keep her eyes from falling to his lips as he licked them.

Seeing her eye his mouth, Steve found himself wondering if maybe he should go for it. As he debated it, a man's sigh pulled him from his thoughts. He turned to see Pete sitting in the armchair, staring off into space. A deep indentation had formed in between his eyebrows. It was obvious he was somewhere else, completely lost in thought.

Steve turned back to Maddie. Even though Pete was there, he could go for it and he wouldn't even notice. However, as much as he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to be able to have a conversation about what happened on Sunday and that just wasn't going to happen. It was obvious she wasn't going to lit it. So, reluctantly he pulled the rest of the way away and turned to the coffee table. He dared a glance back at Maddie and could see she had a funny look in her eyes.

See, that's exactly what you're protecting yourself from, Maddie told herself. One minute he looks like he wants to kiss you, the next it's gone. He's just playing you Madeline. Let him go. He thinks you're pathetic. That you can't take care of yourself. That you're a mess. A pathetic joke.

Steve watched her stare straight ahead, obviously lost in thought. His brows furrowed as he saw her eyes begin to look watery from unshed tears. However, they were gone as quickly as they'd come. He noticed her begin to tense as each moment went on. There she goes again! What the hell goes on in her head to make her react like that? he wondered. He watched her yawn, wiping at her face as she did so.

He could tell she was exhausted, but knowing her, she was going to keep trying to fight it. He thought back to when they were at her house. Every time she was snuggled into him, she had fallen asleep pretty quickly. He wondered if he could get her to do the same. He knew how badly she needed to sleep. And he knew she'd feel so much better if she did.

Knowing he needed to try, Steve stood, grabbing some dishes from the coffee table first. He knew he'd need to put his feet on it to try and get comfortable with her and right now, there was no room for that. Plus, he didn't like leaving a mess. It was all those years in the Navy.

He quickly walked to the kitchen and set the dishes on the counter before returning for the rest of them. Once they were all in the kitchen he began loading the dishwasher.

"Is my foot still bleeding?" Maddie suddenly asked Pete, effectively pulling him away from thinking about Tina.

He leaned forward in his chair to get a better look at her foot. He tried to keep from making a face at how gross and painful it looked. "No, it looks like it stopped."

"K," Maddie mumbled, sinking further into the comfy couch.

"No problemo, Shorty," he said, leaning back into the chair. He eyed her, taking her in. She was beyond pale. She looked exactly how he was pretty sure she felt: awful. "You ready to get some sleep?"

Her eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head twice.

"No?" he asked. "You look like you're gonna pass out at any second." He chuckled.

"No, I'm not! I'm fine," she whispered. "I'm not tired." Of course, as she said this her eyes fluttered closed, staying that way for at least 5 seconds before she had to force them open. At that point Steve was back from cleaning up and was taking a seat next to her on her left.

"Yeah, Shorty. I can really see you're not tired," Pete laughed.

"I'm not!" she claimed, her voice a bit louder than before, however it was still basically a whisper. The sudden volume to her voice caused her to cough a couple times. Once finished she groaned quietly. She was so sore from coughing. Plus, she was so achy. The two were not a fun combination.

Steve only rolled his eyes as he took a sip of the glass of water he'd brought himself. She may not be herself, thanks to whatever she's trying to hide, but she definitely hasn't lost her stubbornness, he thought.

"P?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah."

"Where is everyone?"

"Who's everyone? Five-0?" he questioned.

She nodded in response, coughing a few more times.

"They're with Ryan."

"Will you go get them?" she asked.

"Mads," Steve immediately said. He just wanted her to get some sleep, not hang out with everyone.

"Why don't you get some sleep first and then I'll go get them," Pete proposed, trying to help Steve and get her to compromise.

"No, we left them an hour ago. They must think I'm so rude."

"Maddie, they don't think that at all. They understand," Steve told her. "Pete's right. Sleep first and then have them come in."

Maddie shook her head. "No, now." Her tone was forceful; she wasn't going to back down.

Steve sighed, frustrated. However, he suddenly had an idea. He reached forward, grabbing the piece of bread off the coffee table. The one she hadn't eaten from lunch. When clearing the table, he'd left it behind in hopes he could get her to eat it. "They can come if you eat some of this." He held it up to her.

"Steve, I'm just not hungry," Maddie told him.

"I know, but humor me. Come on." He gave her a cute smile, hoping to weaken her resolve. "Just a few bites." He wiggled his eyebrows at her a bit, hoping to make her smile.

Maddie couldn't help but grin at the cute look he was giving her. He just doesn't give up, does he? she thought. "Fine." She reached her left hand out and took the bread, narrowing her eyes as she tried to give him an angry, annoyed look. However, he didn't buy it since she couldn't keep from smiling at the same time.

As Maddie took a bite of the bread, Steve looked towards his fellow Seal, meeting his eyes. The two had a silent conversation and after a second, Pete stood and headed towards the door. "I'll be right back with them, Shorty."

"Thanks P," she whispered, yawning as she took another small bite of the bread.

Still sitting on the edge of the couch, Steve looked over at her. He noticed the way her small body seemed to be disappearing into the over-sized, stuffed couch as she nibbled on the bread. Not only was she pale, but she had dark bags under her eyes, which were only about three quarters of the way open. Anyone who saw her, whether they knew hr or not, would immediately know she was exhausted. In fact, Steve was pretty sure that if he asked, Doc would tell him she was. That by the clinical definition and standards, she was suffering from exhaustion. And Steve knew that it took a lot for a doctor to declare someone exhausted.

He glanced at his watch. He and Pete both hoped she was going to pass out shortly. Not only was she obviously exhausted, but she'd taken two Vicodin. One of the reasons Steve had wanted her to take two was because he knew it would make her really sleepy and she hopefully, once they kicked in, wouldn't be able to fight and keep herself awake anymore. She'd taken the pills about fifteen minutes earlier, so he imagined they'd start working in the next fifteen to twenty minutes. Until then he'd just have to wait.

---

A few minutes later Tina entered the dressing room. "Hey! How goes it in here?" she asked, walking across the room and taking a seat on the couch on Maddie's other side.

"Good," Maddie whispered before taking another teeny tiny bite of bread.

"Mads, mice take bigger bites than you're taking right now," Steve joked from his spot next to her. Although he was sitting on the couch, he was more towards the front of the couch cushion, his back slightly against the armrest on his left. This way, he was able to see Maddie better.

She glanced at him. He raised his eyebrows at her, a cute smirk on his tanned, but cut up and bruised, handsome face.

"Well, I guess I'm done then," she said, her voice laced with a light, playful attitude. He shook his head at her, the smirk still in place. He knew she was giving him a hard time. "Well then, I guess I'll have to tell Ryan to keep everyone with him." She glared at him playfully before taking a very exaggerated tiny little bite from the bread. As she chewed she raised her eyebrows silently asking, 'happy?'

Steve grinned in victory as he chuckled quietly. Although he knew she was putting on an act, hoping that everyone, including him, would think she was back to her old self, there were moments, such as the one they'd just shared, that were more authentic, reminding him of how things used to be between them.

"I take it you didn't eat much," Tina surmised from their banter.

"Nope," Steve answered. Tina could see the worry that briefly flashed across his face. It was quick, but she saw it.

Remembering that she'd seemed off earlier, like she was upset, he looked to Tina, a look of concern on his face. "How's your head? You okay?"

She smiled at his concern for her. "I'm fine! Apparently it's made of cement. It's like it never happened," she lied. "Thanks for asking though."

Steve studied her as she answered. Although she seemed happy, he could tell there was something wrong. Something seemed to be on her mind. She seemed bothered and distracted. He was worried it was her head, that she'd really hurt herself when she fell. He made a mental note to ask Doc if he'd checked her out.

Apparently Maddie noticed too because she turned to him and said, "Can I get a glass of water? Would you mind?"

Steve understood what she was doing. He smiled at her. Here she feels absolutely awful and she's more concerned with Tina and whether she's okay or not, he thought, smiling at her. She's a good friend. A good person. "Of course, Mads." He stood up and walked to the kitchen, giving them a couple minutes to talk.

As soon as Steve was out of earshot, Maddie straightened and leaned to her right towards her longtime friend and assistant. "What's going on? You okay? Is it your head?"

Tina smiled sadly at the concern not only on her friend's face, but in her voice as well. "My head's fine," she lied. She felt awful lying to Maddie, and if the circumstances had been different, if there wasn't a huge show that night and she wasn't needed in such a huge capacity, she would've told her the truth. That her head was pounding and getting worse and more painful as time went by. But the circumstances were different.

"T, what is it?" Maddie whispered. "I know something's wrong."

Tina sighed loudly, a sadness coming over her face as she did so. Seeing this, Maddie's eyebrows furrowed in concern. Tina glanced to her left to the kitchen, wanting to make sure Steve couldn't hear them. She smiled as she saw him leaning against the kitchen counter, a glass of water for Maddie sat next to the sink. His legs were outstretched and crossed in front of him and his phone was in his hand. She guessed he was checking his emails or something, giving them time to talk. He might put his foot in his mouth, but he's a good guy, she thought.

"T?" Maddie whispered, pulling her back to the question at hand. She knew Pete would be back any minute with the Five-0 team; they didn't have a lot of time. "What's up?"

Tina sighed, trying to force a smile on her face. However, the more she tried to force it, the more she felt the emotions she'd been suppressing come bubbling up.

Maddie's face squinted in concern as she watched her friend's green eyes begin to well with tears. "Hey Steve?" Maddie said eyeing her friend before turning her head to the right to look over the back of the couch at Steve in the kitchen.

"Yeah?" he looked up from his phone and met her eyes. She silently told him he needed to leave and give them a few minutes. His eyes flitted to Tina's face. He couldn't really see it because she was looking straight ahead at Maddie, but he could tell by her rigid demeanor that something was definitely wrong.

"Can you go check on your team? Make sure everything's okay?" Maddie gave him a reassuring smile at his questioning and concerned look. He understood what she was really wanting. Of course she was saying they needed privacy, but she was also telling him to make sure Pete and the Five-0 team didn't come in yet.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled as he walked forward towards the back of the couch. "But, don't leave this room. Okay?"

"Okay," she smiled appreciatively at him. She knew he didn't want to leave her, but he was doing it because Tina needed him to.

"I have my phone," Steve said.

She nodded, reading between the lines. He was telling her to text him when he could come back in. "K," she nodded, inwardly smiling. They might've been in a weird place, but they were still incredibly close if their silent 'read between the lines' conversation had anything to say.

He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back in a few." He pulled away, smirking at her. "Keep eating that bread. Don't think I won't check to see how much you ate when I come back." He smirked at the way she wrinkled her nose and shot him a look. Shaking his head, a smile on his face, he walked out of the room.

Maddie quickly glanced at the door to make sure it was closed and no one could hear before turning back to Tina. "What's going on, T? What's wrong?"

As hard as she tried, Tina couldn't hold back the tears anymore. As a few spilled down her tan cheeks, Maddie reached her right hand forward and took hold of her friend's hand, lacing their fingers together. She could count on one hand the amount of times she'd seen Tina cry. They were a lot a like. They weren't big criers. Well, that is until I turned into a big cry baby the last week, Maddie thought.

"I'm so stupid," Tina mumbled, sniffling as she tried to keep from crying further. However, her attempts were futile as more tears spilled from her green eyes.

"What? Why?" Maddie asked. She reached her left hand forward towards the coffee table and grabbed a box of tissues from it, groaning at the pain shooting out of her tailbone and into her legs. She pulled a tissue from the box and handed it to her sad friend.

Using her right hand, her left still laced with Maddie's, Tina dabbed at her eyes. "Pete…" she mumbled. Her voice was so soft that Maddie almost missed it.

"What happened?" Maddie asked, confused. "I thought things were good between you guys! I saw you two have a few moments over the last few days."

"Okay, so you picked up on that too?" Tina asked, her voice rising slightly at the question. Maddie nodded. "Me too!"

"So what happened?" She asked again.

"It was when I went to get you lunch," Tina began. Maddie nodded, letting her know she was listening and following along. "Well, as I walked down one of the hallways I saw Pete at the other end. His back was to me and he was on the phone." Tina paused, taking a second to wipe at some more tears that were falling down her face. She cleared her voice, sniffling before continuing. "I just figured he was talking to someone about your security or something business oriented, but-" Tina's voice caught in her throat as she remembered what she'd overheard.

"T? Who was he talking to? Could you tell?"

Tina shook her head, her lips pursed as a couple more tears fell from her eyes. She sniffled, taking a deep breath. "No, I don't know who he was talking to, but I heard him say, 'It was good to see you too. Sorry it wasn't for very long.'"

Crap, Maddie thought. She knew who Pete was talking to. It was that stupid woman he met last time we were here in Hawaii. The one he met with the other night when Steve called him back so he could go out with Lori.

She'd debated telling Tina about it. However, she didn't think it was anything serious. But she had decided that if it did seem like it was heading that way, then she would. Looks like I have to tell her now, she thought, not looking forward to the conversation. Before she could say anything on the subject, Tina continued.

"Then I heard him say that tomorrow night was good and that it was a date." Tina bit her bottom lip, trying to keep herself from crying harder and Maddie immediately knew there was more. She squeezed her long time friend's hand, encouraging her to continue. "Then he said he missed her too."

"What? Really?" Maddie asked, her jaw dropped in shock. Maybe it is getting serious? she wondered. But how could that be? They've seen each other only two or three times, and from what I know they haven't been talking very often. Maybe here and there, but nothing consistent or serious. Maddie was shocked. Dumbfounded. Hearing this and seeing how upset Tina was she felt guilty, like a terrible friend. I should have told her before she found out like this. "What happened after that?" she asked, pulling another tissue from the box and handing it to her.

"I turned around to try and get out of there before he saw me. I was upset. I couldn't let him see me like that." Tina wiped at her face, tears still falling from her eyes.

"So he didn't see you?"

"No, he did!" Tina's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Uh oh. What happened? What did he say?" Maddie asked, her words coming out quickly, showing how anxious she was to hear the rest of the story.

"He saw me once I started walking away. He hung up quickly and called out to me. I couldn't ignore him or else he'd know something was wrong, so I had to stop and turn around." Tina said, shrugging as she raised her right hand, her palm facing up in a gesture saying, 'what could I do?'. "He asked me what I was up to and I told him I was getting food for you guys, but of course I was so flustered I wasn't thinking and he immediately called me out on the fact that I was walking in the wrong direction."

Maddie smirked. "Stupid Navy Seals."

Tina laughed. "Seriously." She took a deep breath, sniffling, before continuing. "Even though I was trying to act like nothing was wrong, he knew something was up." She shook her head, annoyed at herself. "I'm just not as good at that as you." She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's hard T. I've just had a lot of practice from when I was a kid," Maddie honestly told her. This time it was Tina who squeezed Maddie's hand in comfort. "So, what happened?"

"He walked with me to Craft Services. He was watching me though. I could feel him studying me. I gotta tell you, I don't know how you've been able to handle it as well as you have. It's unnerving." Tina paused, giving Maddie a look as she shook her head. Maddie just smiled and shrugged. "Anyway, he made small talk with me while I waited for your food…. And then-" Tina stopped, suddenly realizing she couldn't tell Maddie the entire story. She couldn't tell her how she'd gotten dizzy and Pete had grabbed her.

"Then what, T?" Maddie asked, her brows furrowed, confused at why she'd suddenly stopped.

"Just that, he followed me out once I had the food. He asked me if everything was okay and I told him it was." She sighed. "Of course, he didn't believe me, and when he asked again I was stupid. I let my emotions get the best of me." Tina shook her head, annoyed at herself.

"Oh no, I've been there. What did you say?" Maddie asked, biting her bottom lip in preparation.

"I told him that I wasn't his to worry about…and," Tina paused, placing her right hand over her eyes as she remembered what she'd said.

"What?" Maddie questioned, squeezing her friend's hand, still in her own, in support.

"I called him Peter," Tina admitted, spreading apart the fingers that were over her eyes so she could peek out at Maddie.

"What is it about us? When we're upset with them, we use their whole name, completely giving it away when we don't want them to know?!" The two giggled for a second. Maddie didn't want to say anything to Tina and interrupt her, but she'd begun to feel the affects of the Vicodin. It wasn't too bad, but it was definitely kicking in. She knew it was only a matter of time before she got really loopy. She'd always been very sensitive to medication and their side effects.

"Seriously?! God, I can't believe I said that to him!" Tina groaned, throwing her head back and closing her eyes.

"You know, this is totally fixable, T," Maddie said confidently.

"Yeah?" she asked, her voice filled with hope.

"Definitely," she smiled reassuringly. "I mean, you're exhausted. We all are."

"Hold up! Did you just admit that you're exhausted?!" Tina interrupted, a huge smirk on her face.

Maddie laughed, causing her to cough. Once it passed, she said, "Ha ha. Yes. Does that make you happy?!"

"Yes! It does!" Tina laughed.

"Good! But, just, keep it to yourself! I'll deny, deny, deny if you tell anyone!"

"Sure thing boss. You're secret's safe with me!" Tina saluted, joking. "Safe along with all the other ones." She rolled her eyes as Maddie smirked, shrugging her shoulders. "Anyway, so, I'm exhausted….continue."

"Right. Okay, so when Pete asks. Because he's going to ask. There's no if about it." Tina threw her head back and closed her eyes, groaning at the thought of having to talk to Pete about her little outburst. "So, when he asks, just say, 'Sorry Pete. I don't know what got into me. I'm just exhausted. My bad!' Leave it at that. He might doubt you, but if you make sure you're acting like your usual self, then he'll eventually let it go. Trust me."

"But Mads," Tina said, her voice and face appearing incredibly serious. "I don't know if I can act normal with him right now."

"T, you've been in love with him for four years and he hasn't figured it out. You're better at hiding your feelings than you think," Maddie pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I never thought about it like that." Tina was quiet for a minute as she thought it all through. She wiped at the last remnants of tears that were no longer falling from her gorgeous green eyes. "I don't know. I just… I need some time to digest this information and then I'll be fine. Then I'll be able to act like my old self. But until I do, I just don't think I can."

"I get that, T. I really do," Maddie said, her voice sad as she thought about her own situation with Steve. "Well, just avoid him for now. I'll help you. After today you don't need to see him much anyway. I think he leaves Saturday and you leave Monday…so, that's really not that much time."

"True. Good point." Tina sighed. And not in a sad way, but in a sort of relieved way. She was definitely feeling better after talking it through with Maddie. "I just can't believe he has someone in his life. I dunno. I'm being so stupid. I don't know why I'm so upset about this. It's not like I really ever thought we'd get together, but it still hurts when the man you love is interested in someone else."

Maddie's eyes welled up with tears with Tina's statements hitting close to home. Especially after Steve had been taking care of her and the way he'd been touching her the last hour. It was like she'd get a taste of how it could be with him, but then she'd remember that he didn't feel the same way. That he thought of her as a sister. "I get it, T. It sucks."

Tina glanced at Maddie. "I'm sorry, Mads." She squeezed her friend and boss' hand.

Maddie shook her head trying to force the tears, that wanted so badly to be released, back inside. She quickly swiped at her right eye before a tear could spill out. "It is what it is, T. Oh well. I can't make him fall in love with me." She shrugged her shoulders. Wanting, and needing, to change the subject, she said, "You never know T. Pete could have feelings for you. He said something to Steve when we came back to the dressing room after he went Navy Seal on George." Maddie rolled her eyes at the memory of Steve scaring the crap out of her tour manager.

"What'd he say?" Tina asked, her interest piqued.

"He told Steve you'd be coming in and he asked if he could please try and convince you to get some sleep." Maddie paused, thinking back. "But the way he said it. I dunno, it wasn't just him being a good friend….Oh and he was in here for a few minutes before you showed up and he was acting really weird. His mind was somewhere else big time. He was probably thinking about you and what you said to him."

"Nah, there's no way. I'm sure he hasn't thought twice about it," Tina replied. "He was probably thinking about the mystery woman." She nibbled on her bottom lip. "I wonder what she looks like? Or what she's like? I wonder when he met her."

Not hearing Maddie say anything she looked up at her friend. Seeing the guilt on her face, Tina asked, "What? What is it? Do you know something?"

"T," Maddie began.

Suddenly Tina understood Maddie's apprehension. "Are you kidding me? You knew there was someone and you didn't give me the heads up?! What the hell Madeline?!" Tina pulled her hand from Maddie's and jumped up. However, she had to stand for a second as she willed the dizzy feeling to go away. She couldn't let Maddie see she'd hurt her head when she fell. Not with a big show that night.

"T, hold up. Give me a second to explain," Maddie said, reaching for her arm, but she shook her off.

Even though the dizzy feeling hadn't passed, she walked to the other room, looking for her purse. She needed to get out for a while, go for a drive. She just needed some space. However, Maddie wasn't going to let her leave without making sure she got to explain herself.

Desperate, Maddie leaned forward and unhooked her knee brace from the ice water tank. Pain immediately shot through her legs from her tailbone. Leaning forward seems to always do that, she thought. Son of a bitch, that hurts. However, she couldn't focus on it. She needed to catch Tina before she walked out. Using her hands she quickly lowered her elevated leg onto the floor. She hissed at the pain the movement caused in her foot. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the intense pain she knew she'd feel in her right foot and knee. With her hands she pushed against the couch cushion, trying to take as much weight off her right leg as possible. "Oh fuck," Maddie mumbled as she made it to her feet. The pain was worse than she had been expecting, but that wasn't her biggest problem. The problem was that thanks to the two Vicodin Steve had had her take, her head felt fuzzy causing the room to move around slightly. "Woah," Maddie mumbled as she looked around the room.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?!" Tina asked as she stopped dead in her tracks inside the doorway to the adjoining room, the bedroom as they called it.

"Huh?" Maddie asked as she tried to turn and face her. She nearly fell on the coffee table as she did. "Woah." Come on Maddie, focus on what's going on. That's Tina. She's upset, she told herself, trying to talk herself through the fuzz in her head and the moving of the room. I was feeling it a bit sitting down, but standing…wow it all went to my head now, she thought. She began walking towards her, something that would have been incredibly difficult if she hadn't been doped up on pain medicine. She couldn't bend her right leg, thanks to the humongous brace on it, and she couldn't really put weight on her right foot thanks to the painful, infected gashes on the bottom of it. She wobbled back and forth as she tried getting to Tina.

"Shit Maddie. Stop walking. Don't move. You're gonna hurt yourself!" Tina exclaimed.

"Wait, T! Listen…let me…explain," Maddie said, ignoring her instructions and taking another couple steps towards her.

Tina began walking past her, crossing the living room area and heading towards the door. She knew she couldn't help Maddie get back to the couch. She needed Steve or Pete or whomever was stationed at the door. And she needed them fast. "Maddie, stay there!" she cried. "I'll let you explain as soon as I get Steve or someone. Don't move!"

"I'm completely fine," Maddie slurred turning around and passing the coffee table, trying to get to Tina. "Oh fuck!" she cursed. She hopped on her left, uninjured foot for a second as she wait for the pain in her right foot to go away. She must have stepped just right, putting too much weight on the biggest laceration on the bottom of her foot. She assumed it was the area Doc had been digging in trying to get the glass out. "Fuckity doodle."

Tina felt bad, but she laughed as she reached out for Maddie and wrapped her arms around her waist. "You can't hop on one foot when you're in a huge knee brace and doped up on meds! You're gonna fall. Lean on me," Tina instructed. She just hoped that if Maddie did fall that she fell on top of her. She didn't want her hurting herself even more. She could break her fall. Maddie was tiny.

Maddie did as she was told and wrapped her arms around Tina. "By the way…what the hell is a fuckity doodle?" Tina asked laughing.

"I have no idea," Maddie answered, giggling as she did so. Feeling like she could put a little weight on her right foot, she pulled away from Tina. "T, I'm sorry. I really didn't think it was anything serious. From…" Maddie paused as her head moved around, the moving room was tripping her out. "what I know, he'd seen her like, two times. I was gonna mention it to you if he saw her again. If I'd known it had gotten to-" Maddie paused, swallowing hard before continuing. "-'miss you' " she said in a girly voice. "and 'miss you too'" she said in a low voice Tina assumed was supposed to be her imitation of Pete. "Then I would have told you right away."

Tina was still laughing at Maddie's imitations of Pete and his mystery woman. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just upset and not at you. I just took it out on you. Everything's okay." She smiled at her completely loopy friend. Maddie returned it, giving her a big toothy grin.

"I love you Tina." Maddie reached forward and hugged her, unintentionally putting most of her weight on her.

"Love you too Maddie," Tina responded, hugging her back as she tried to keep them both upright. "But, you gotta let go or we're both gonna fall."

Maddie laughed and did as she asked. "Sorry!"

Once she felt Maddie was as steady as she could be, Tina began walking away. "Stay there. Don't move. Let me get someone to help you back to the couch."

Just as Tina was almost to the door, Maddie replied, "It's okay. I don't need help. I'll go back to the couch."

"No! Madeline Lily, don't you dare move!" Tina said, but it was too late. Maddie had begun trying to walk back. The combination of the brace not letting her bend her right leg, not being able to really put any weight on her right foot, and the fact she was completely loopy from the pain medicine, she fell.

"Oof", she mumbled, landing on her left side. She rolled to her back.

"Shit Maddie! You okay?" Tina asked, rushing to kneel beside her.

Maddie's only answer was laughter as she started cracking up.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes. Just stay there," she said, shaking her head as she tried hard to keep from laughing herself. She popped up and hurried to the door, quickly opening it. To her relief, Steve was across the hall leaning against the wall as he spoke to Josh, who was still guarding Maddie's dressing room. The two immediately quieted as they took in her rosy cheeks, the slightly guilty look on her face, and the fact she was a bit out of breath.

Steve pushed off the wall and took a step forward. "Wha-" he stopped mid word, a smirk appearing on his face as he heard Maddie's laughter coming from inside the room. "I take it the pain medication hit her," he said, walking towards the door.

"Yeah, but uh…" Tina wasn't sure what to say, however she didn't need to say a word.

As he walked through the door he looked to the couch expecting to see Maddie where he'd left her. What the, he thought, a crease forming in his forehead. Still hearing the laughter, he followed it. He found her to the right of the couch and coffee table area lying on her back on the floor. He walked calmly towards her. He wasn't panicked or worried since she was obviously fine. Well, if her hysterical laughing was anything to go by.

Steve stopped, standing on her right near her lower stomach. He looked down at her laughing, smiling face. As hard as he was trying to appear mad, he just couldn't pull it off. Not when she was laying on the floor, her eyes closed and her leg in a humongous knee brace, laughing so hard tears were rolling down the sides of her face. He hadn't heard her laugh like that in forever. He almost hated interrupting her.

"What is going on?" he heard Danny's voice behind him.

Steve glanced over his shoulder to see Danny and Chin entering the room. Better get her off the floor, he thought, trying so hard not to laugh along with her.

"Whatcha doin Mads?" Steve asked.

At the sound of his voice, Maddie opened her eyes. Steve immediately came into view. He was standing next to her, looking down at her, a handsome grin on his face. He doesn't look mad, she thought, surprised. She quickly wiped at the few tears on her face. "Stevie, I've fallen and I can't get up," she answered. The second the sentence was out of her mouth she broke out into hysterics again. Steve couldn't help but chuckle a bit with her.

"What did you do to her Steve?" Danny asked, laughing as he came to stand to the left of his partner.

"I resent that question. I've taken amazing care of her over the last hour," Steve replied, narrowing his eyes slightly at him.

"I can see that, babe," Danny quipped, staring down at Maddie lying on the floor.

"Sorry, I went in the other room for just a second and I came back and she was on her feet," Tina explained, coming to stand on Steve's other side, his right side.

"I didn't want you to go," Maddie said, her laughter disappearing as she looked up at her assistant and longtime friend.

Steve glanced at Tina, studying her quickly. Her eyes were a bit red, obviously from crying and she seemed sad and upset. He immediately knew there was more to what happened than Tina said. As much as he wanted to know what was going on, he reminded himself that it wasn't any of his business and as long as Maddie didn't get hurt, he would let it go.

He squatted down. "You hurt yourself?" he asked her.

Maddie smiled at him, shaking her head.

"Okay," Steve smiled back. "Let's get you back on the couch." He reached for her hands, which she immediately gave him. No hesitation, he thought. Thank God. He assumed the pain medicine had relaxed her, forcing her to bring down a few of the invisible walls she'd built to keep him out.

He looked up to his left at his partner. "Danno, would you help? I don't want her to do any of the work. It'll aggravate her tailbone injury." Steve had had a minor tailbone injury back when he had first joined the Navy. He hadn't jumped out of a plane before and he and the guys in his unit were learning the proper way to land. They were jumping off a mini tower that was about five to six feet high and as each man jumped they would have to sort of tuck and roll once they landed. Their commanding officer had them practice this over and over wanting to make sure that the landing became automatic without them even thinking about it before they jumped out of a plane for the first time.

The two guys behind him in line started arguing. Eventually it escalated and just as it was Steve's turn to jump the two started fighting. As they did so, they accidentally pushed Steve and he fell off the tower. Because it wasn't by choice he fell slightly on his tailbone. Luckily he didn't fall completely on it, but it was still so painful. He soon realized how much you use the muscles surrounding your tailbone and found that the most mundane tasks were nearly impossible because of the pain. Sitting up and leaning forward was one movement he remembered causing a lot of pain.

"Sure, what do you want me to do?" Danny asked, eager to help in any way he could.

"Get behind her and place your hands under her back. When I pull her hands, you help push her up. I don't want her to do any work."

"Got it," Danny said, squatting by her head.

"Helllllloooo," Maddie said, laughing as she looked up at Danny so close to her head. She would have been loud if she could've, but because she had nearly no voice, it came out as no more than a whisper. A raspy whisper.

"Hey there, Mads," Danny smiled down on her. "Ready?"

"Why yes, I am."

The two partners shared a quick smirk.

Still holding her hands, Steve smiled at her as he said, "Okay Danno. Go." Gently, he tugged on her hands as Danny pushed her back up until she was sitting up.

"Fuckity doodle," she groaned, feeling pain in her tailbone.

"Sorry baby, we did the best we could," Steve apologized, feeling guilty for causing her pain.

Maddie smiled at him. I shouldn't love when he calls me baby so much, she thought, hating that it literally made her insides melt every time he used the pet name. Although it also made her heart hurt because hearing him call her 'baby' made her want him more even though it would never happen. "S'okay," she whispered, yawning. She repositioned their hands so their fingers were laced together. It was more intimate and a gesture that gave him some hope.

Seeing her eyes flutter closed after she yawned, Steve said, "I'm gonna pick you up now."

"It's okay, I can walk back to the couch," she mumbled. Now that the adrenaline from her laughing attack had worn off, she was suddenly feeling really sleepy.

Reluctantly letting go of her hands, he disregarded her declaration. He quickly placed his right arm around just below the middle of her back, and his stitched up and bandaged left arm under her knees. Before she even realized what he was doing he was standing and holding her.

As soon as she was in his arms, Maddie laid her head against his right shoulder, her hair tickling his chin and neck. Steve couldn't help himself and dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head as he walked the short distance to the couch. He carefully set her back down in the middle of the couch. "Thanks for the ride Stevie," Maddie mumbled, smirking at him as she realized that it could be taken dirty.

I know she's loopy from the pain meds, but go with it, he told himself. "Anytime, Mads. Anytime," he answered, his voice quiet while he gave her a slightly mischievous smirk. She could see he wasn't just talking about carrying her. That he was insinuating more.

"Oh yeah?" she whispered, her eyebrows arched in a questioning, flirty manner. She wasn't completely sure what made her flirt back, but she guessed it was Vicodin that had helped loosen her up.

Steve nodded at her, as they stared into one another's eyes, longing and want in both. Steve could see it in hers, but Maddie couldn't see it in his since she was still convinced he didn't want her. That he thought of her as a joke. However, in that moment, she wasn't thinking any of that. She was too loopy.

Knowing he needed to break their moment or he couldn't be held responsible for what he might do, such as kiss her, he grabbed the small hose that connected the tank to her knee brace. The one she'd unplugged when she'd gotten up. Luckily, the device was made to automatically shut down if the hose ever got detached without the tank getting turned off, that way ice water wouldn't spill out of the hose, making a mess. Resetting it, he turned the device off and then back on, and it immediately started up again.

"No, do I have to?" Maddie asked him, leaning back into the big, comfortable, overstuffed couch as she yawned.

"Yeah, sorry, Mads," he replied, sitting next to her.

As the ice water entered the brace, she shivered. She reached to her right for the blanket and began covering herself with it. Steve grabbed the bottom and pulled it down her legs, helping her.

Now all cozy again, Maddie looked around, spotting Danny and Chin. "Hi guys!" she smiled.

"Hey kiddo," Chin greeted. "Feeling any better?"

"I felt fine before and I feel fine now too," she responded, covering her mouth and coughing.

"Good to hear," Chin smirked, knowing she was lying.

"Take a seat, make yourselves comfy comfy!" She wrinkled her nose giggling.

Now that they weren't alone, Steve made sure to hide the fact that her cute expression got to him. Knowing that everyone would be watching their every move and throwing their two cents in, he decided he'd hold back a bit when it came to touching her or trying to show her he had feelings for her. At least while all their friends and his co-workers were there.

Danny and Chin took a seat. Chin in the armchair to Maddie's right and Danny on the other couch opposite her and Steve.

"Where's Kono?" Maddie asked, realizing she wasn't with them.

"Restroom," Chin responded.

Maddie nodded in understanding.

"Lori with her?" Steve asked.

Maddie tensed a bit at his question. It served as a reminder that he had feelings for another woman. A woman he'd started a relationship with. She might've been loopy and feeling silly from the Vicodin. And it might have made her relax enough to put some of her walls down, but it wasn't enough to keep her from forgetting what was going on. In fact, Steve asking where Lori was caused her to throw the few walls she'd brought down back up.

Stupid, Danny thought. Why'd he just ask about Lori? Of course Maddie is going to read into that even though there was no deeper reason to him asking. He shot his partner a look.

Maddie scooted a bit to her right, away from Steve and towards Tina, who had taken a seat next to her. Damn, Steve thought, noticing the tiny bit of distance she'd just added between them. Putting your foot in your mouth again.

"Your foot okay Mads?" Chin suddenly asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I think it's bleeding?" he stated.

"What?" Steve asked, scooting to the edge of the couch and leaning forward to get a look at the bottom of Maddie's elevated, right foot. "Damn," he muttered, seeing that Chin was right. "You must've aggravated it when you walked on it." He sighed. "Mads, you have to stay off this foot until the show tonight. That means no more walking without crutches."

Maddie didn't say anything to him. In fact, she wasn't really listening. Her thoughts were on Lori instead.

"Did you know there's a little blood on the floor?" Kono asked as she entered the room, plopping down on the couch next to Danny.

"Is that from her foot?" Pete asked, taking a seat in the armchair on Steve's left.

"Yeah, she got up and walked around a few minutes ago. Something she was not supposed to do," Steve replied. He glanced at Maddie out of the corner of his eyes. He was hoping the fact she'd suddenly gone quiet meant that she'd fallen asleep, but instead he saw her deep in thought as she stared off into space.

Lori stopped just beside Pete, looking around for a place to sit. There was really only one choice and that was on the couch with Kono and Danny. Unfortunately, that wasn't anywhere near Steve. Damn, she thought. To make matters worse she noticed he was sitting next to Maddie. Great. Although unhappy about it, she sat next to Kono, a smile plastered on her face.

"I love your dressing room, Mads," Kono said, hoping to pull her friend from her thoughts. She had a feeling that whatever she was thinking about had something to do with Steve. And, she could tell that it was upsetting her by the way she scooted and leaned away from Steve to her right every minute or so.

Steve leaned back into the couch, trying to hide how much the growing physical distance between he and Maddie was bothering him. Just as she was about to scoot away from him the littlest bit more, he inconspicuously used his fourth and pinky fingers from his right hand and rubbed against her left hand, which was under the blanket so no one noticed.

Maddie's heart ached as his fingers touched hers. Although her head told her to move her hand away from his, her heart wouldn't let her. The gesture had its desired effect and she stopped putting distance between them.

Thankful that she hadn't pulled her hand away from his, he continued the gesture under the blanket as she answered Kono. "Thanks, it works perfect for what we need while rehearsing and touring."

Before the pain medicine had made her feel silly. Now, it was making it incredibly hard to keep her eyes open. They were just so heavy. She'd close them for a minute, unable to keep them open any longer. Not wanting to fall asleep, she'd force them back open before she could. Steve watched her do this out of the corner of his eye and knew it was only a matter of time before she lost the battle.

As he continued to lightly rub his fingers against hers, she unknowingly began leaning back in his direction.

Pete caught his attention as the group chatted back and forth, well everyone except Maddie, who chose to listen instead. He motioned to her with his eyes, silently making sure Steve knew she was almost asleep. He nodded in acknowledgement.

Knowing Maddie was going to pass out at any moment, Steve began to reposition himself. He knew exactly what was going to happen and wanted to be ready for it. He carefully pulled his right hand out from under the blanket and set it behind Maddie, but on top of the couch, so it wasn't touching her. He toed his boots off and set his sock clad feet on the coffee table as he leaned back into the couch, making sure he was as comfortable as possible. Once he was, he glanced out of the corner of his eyes at her. She was still fighting to try and stay awake, but he knew it wasn't a battle she was going to win.

"What'd you guys do?" Steve asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. He knew if there was suddenly a lull and it got quiet, Maddie would notice and worry that no one was having a good time. He knew that she'd then try and stay awake to act as a good host.

"Ryan took us and showed us a couple of the different rooms," Lori answered, wanting to pull some of his attention from Maddie and onto herself. "Their dressing room is awesome."

"He also took us to this cool room where they have games set up. They have Wii, Xbox 360. They have an air hockey table as well as a ping pong table," Danny relayed. "It's pretty sick!"

Suddenly Maddie's body fell against Steve's as she passed out. Relief filled him as he smiled. Wanting to make sure she was as comfortable as possible so she'd sleep longer, he brought his right arm down from the back of the cough and wrapped it around her back, pulling her tight against him. Tina rose slightly, taking the large blanket and covering her best friend better. In fact, now it was also halfway on Steve.

"Thank God," Pete said. It was incredibly obvious he meant every word as his eyes closed and his head dropped forward a bit. After a few seconds, he looked up and met his fellow Navy Seal's eyes. He silently thanked Steve for getting her to get some rest. Steve nodded, understanding how badly she needed the rest.

Maddie wiggled around against him trying to get comfortable. She rubbed her head against his chest until she found the perfect spot. What no one could see because the blanket covered it, was that while her left hand was tucked against the left side of her body, the side that was against Steve, her right hand was placed directly below the middle of his stomach. Finally getting comfortable and finding the perfect spot in her sleep, Maddie sighed contently and made a couple clicking noises in her throat as her right hand unconsciously rubbed his stomach a few times before stopping. He knew right away how his body was going to react to her touch. Think about anything other than her touching you, he told himself as he felt his manhood begin to stir. He forced himself to think about what the press was saying about Maddie and that did the trick. Luckily her hand stilled as she fell further into a deep sleep.

He glanced down at her sound asleep on him. Even though she's so pale, there's just something about her when she's asleep like this, he thought. Although he was doing his best to keep the smile from his face, it peaked through his tough exterior. Something the entire team noticed, including Lori.

While everyone continued talking, Steve turned his head to the right and laid a quick kiss on the top of her head. Then he bent his head even closer to hers and whispered, "Sleep tight, baby." Of course it was so quiet no one heard it. However, even though she was asleep, Maddie must have heard him because she snuggled closer to him, sighing happily. He smiled slightly, unable to keep it from his face as he rubbed her back under the blanket with his right hand.

Lori watched the way he was with her and couldn't help the aching she felt in her heart. She wished he'd be that sweet with her. Someday soon, Lori, she told herself. She'd make sure of it.

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Thank you guys so so so much for taking the time to read my fic! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave a REVIEW!

xoxo