Pehea wau i ʻike ai i kou makuahine

Based on the characters and stories of Hawaii Five-0.

Hawaii Five-0 is owned by CBS and their respective creators.

"Mistake." As soon as her eyes opened the next morning and she realized just where she had ended up after the wedding, Catherine ripped the covers back and jumped out of the bed, making a beeline for her bag.

Steve rubbed his eyes as the morning light poured into the hotel room. "What time is it?" Catherine had already pulled her jeans on and was midway through yanking her sweater over her head. "Cath?" He pushed the covers aside and scrambled out of the bed. "What are you doing?"

"This was a mistake." She stated firmly as she threw the rest of her belongings back in her bag and frantically zipped it up.

He reached out and gingerly placed his hand on her back, "Catherine, what are you doing?"

"I need to go."

"Go? Go where?" Her hurried packing had him concerned. "Catherine - calm down." He stationed himself in front of her and dropped his hands to her hips. "Where do you have to go?"

Catherine pushed him aside, "Anywhere but here."

Steve caught her arm as she blasted by him and yanked her back, "Stay."

Tears immediately welled up in her eyes, "Steve, please let me go. We shouldn't have… I shouldn't have…."

"Not until we talk." His whisper was husky. His hand released her arm but slid down and held her waist firmly in place.

Catherine shook her head and did her best to escape his grip. "One dance turned into two that turned into four that turned into three more glasses of champagne and me coming back here with you. It doesn't change anything that happened. I need to go."

"Catherine!" Steve exclaimed in frustration. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and groaned, "God, come on. Can't you just let me explain?!"

She laughed in disbelief as tears peeked out of the corners of her eyes, "What's there to explain?! You told me that you couldn't deal with me being in the field. You called me a liability. You said that you didn't want to have to deal with worrying about me anymore."

"It was a stupid mistake! Just let me exp-"

"No!" She shouted. "Us having sex last night was a mistake. A mindblowing and thoroughly satisfying mistake, but a mistake nonetheless." She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. "Just because I've moved on from you doesn't mean I've forgiven you. You hurt me."

Steve grimaced, "I know."

"No you don't!" Tears streamed down her face but she didn't care. "You don't know because I didn't hear a damn thing from you! If you actually thought that you had made a mistake and you actually still cared, you would have called me to see how I was instead of going behind my back and pulling my files and calling my parents! You know I keep things from them for their own good! I told you that! I told you I didn't want them to know about injuries and details of my deployments, but you couldn't respect that, could you? I'm done being in relationships that exist only on someone else's terms!"

Steve reached out and grabbed her hands. "Can't we just… can't we just talk about this?! Catherine, I want to be with you." He pleaded.

She attempted to yank her hands away but he held on. "No, you don't."

"Yes, I do." His stark contradiction was full of resolve and grit. He wasn't losing her again. Not without one hell of a fight.

Catherine gritted her teeth, "No, you just want someone to be there for YOU. It's supposed to go both ways! You can't just take in a relationship! It's a two way street!"

Steve quickly dropped her hands but cradled her face and held it steady as he kissed her. Her lips were tight, but he didn't care. He pulled away and kept her head in his hands. "I can't guarantee I won't screw up…. I just need the chance to try to win you back."

She shook her head and pushed him away, "I'm a fucking human being. I'm not something to be won." Catherine muttered as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"You never used to swear…"

She laughed in disbelief, "Yeah, well, up until now I really haven't had anything to swear about."

His hand gripped onto her bag. "What do I need to say to make this right?"

Catherine locked eyes with him. Her tears were gone and all that was left was utter disdain. "Nothing." Her set jaw and firm tone were threatening. "There is absolutely nothing you could say to make this right."

Steve's gentle touch nearly shocked her. His finger tips grazed the star tattoo on the back of her neck, "I know you don't need me to watch your six." He murmured. "But I want to."

How the hell did he know about her reasoning for the tattoo? Catherine opened her mouth to protest, but Steve filled it with a kiss. He pushed the bag off of her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her as close as he possibly could as his mouth matched hers. She gave into the kiss just as much as he was giving it to her. She pulled away for a split second and whispered, "I'm not your girlfriend."

"Fine." He kissed her again as he pulled her sweater over her head.

Catherine yanked down his boxers and pushed him back on the bed. "I'm still mad at you."

Steve quickly unzipped her jeans and wiggled them down her hips. "Fine." He grabbed her waist and threw her down on the mattress. "Then I'm not gonna be a gentleman about this."

Her panties disappeared as she stated, "Fine."

He positioned his body in between her legs and gave her all of himself in one swift motion. Catherine saw stars. She saw the sun, the moon, the planets - the whole fucking universe appeared in her mind as a scream of pleasure began in her core and ripped out of her mouth.

They say there's a thin line between love and hate. Whoever 'they' is forgot to mention that on that line is the possibility of earth shattering sex.

Catherine reached out to touch him, but the moment she did, he grabbed her hand and slammed it into the sheets. Damn right he wasn't being a gentleman and she was loving every second of it. Her fingers and toes curled as she writhed underneath his muscular form. For someone who was such a mass of power - who moved her body at his whim, she trusted him completely - and she hated herself for it. She didn't want to trust him. She wanted to be able to have a passionate round of angry, break-up sex and then wash her hands of Steve McGarrett, but even she knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Steve." She begged. It was a cry for release. A cry for intimacy. A cry for him.

He shook his head as he continued his rhythms, "Told you. Not gonna be a gentleman."

She opened her mouth to plead his name again, but he silenced her with a hungry kiss. As he pressed their bodies together, the contact was just enough to tip her over the edge. Catherine collapsed underneath him and Steve wasn't far behind. A few minutes later, he rolled off of her and laid with her, side by side. As they caught their breath Catherine muttered, "I'm not your girlfriend."

Steve exhaled slowly as his pulse returned to normal, "Fine."

"I mean it." Catherine stated as she leaned back against his chest. Steve had positioned himself so that he was sitting up against the headboard and had pulled her into his arms. "I'm not your girlfriend anymore."

Steve pushed her hair aside and slowly kissed her tattoo. "Can I change that? Eventually?"

A smile flickered on her mouth as she relished the feeling of his lips tenderly loving on her skin, "Maybe someday. But I'm serious, Steve. This thing between us? I- I need some time. And I need you to figure out if this is what you really want."

"I want thi-"

"You think you want this… Until the next time I get hurt or you get hurt or something happens. So until you figure out what you REALLY want and until I can even think about forgiving you, I'm not your girlfriend. I can see other people… You can too if that's what you want."

Steve closed his eyes to push out the notion that she might be with someone else. "So it goes back to the way it was when we were on the 'E' and I was your C.O. … Where we, uh, we PRETEND that there's nothing here…" He sighed as he nuzzled his nose in the crook of her neck and murmured, "I'll take what I can get…. But just so we're clear." His hands slid up and down her arms, "I'm not gonna push it. I'm not going to, uh, push you. Not now, at least. But one of these days we're gonna have to revisit this conversation…" His hands dipped lower and massaged her thighs, "Because the way I want you - the way I need you… it doesn't just go away." He kissed behind her ear, "And I think if you were, uh, were honest with yourself, you'd agree."

Catherine sucked in a sharp breath at his touch, but maintained her newfound confidence and her unmistakable, characteristic stubbornness, "I'm not making any promises. If you want this, you have to work for it."

"How are you?" He kissed her shoulder, changing the subject. Steve had enough interrogation experience to know that if you stay on a touchy subject too long the person will shut down. He wasn't about to risk Catherine shutting him out even further. "I know I was, uh, I was kind of an ass after what went down between us in Kabul… After I found out what happ-"

"Kind of an ass?" She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to get a good look at his face. "Try again."

"A total ass." He admitted. "How are you? After what went down on your recon and surveillance op."

Catherine allowed herself to curl up in his arms, "I've been better… physically. I've gotta rehab my leg and my back if I ever want to get out from behind a desk again."

"You on your 120 day leave?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Gonna head back to California and do P.T. until my new orders start. I'll be stationed at the base in San Diego." Catherine looked up at him, "What about you? How long are you stateside?"

"Couple more weeks." He kissed her forehead. "Me and Freddie share a place at Coronado to crash when we're not on an op, but uh, I've got a deployment coming up. Long term stint in the Green Zone."

Catherine exhaled a content breath, "Lucky you. Iraq's better than the 'Stan right now."

Steve gently traced circles on her forearm, "How's your arm? It was, uh, it was broken, right?"

"It's fine."

"Tell me about what happened out there… When you went MIA."

Catherine peered up at him, "You already know what happened. Remember?"

He lifted her chin and kissed her. As he pulled away, Steve murmured, "Tell me. Let me worry."

She began to recount going MIA in Afghanistan the same way she had for Billy. This time, however, she set her facade of strength aside and told Steve things she hadn't told anyone else. She told him how scared she was during the ambush. What she dreamed about when she was unconscious, and how much she prayed that he would find her - that even though she still hated him, she hoped that his promise to always have her six would save her. Too bad. She saved herself.

"So that's why you got this?" He kissed the tattoo again. Catherine nodded. He chuckled. "I like it. It's, uh, it's cute." Steve smirked, "Your mom's gonna hate it."

"Hey, Steve?" Catherine looked up at him. "How'd you know why I got it on my neck? Earlier… you touched it and made a comment about watching my six… How'd you know?"

Steve tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and locked eyes with her as if he were making his mark on her soul, "Because I know you."

Steve's teeth sunk into the star tattoo on the back of Catherine's neck. He kissed his way down her spine, pushing her towel away to access the gentle curve of her hip. "Mmm. Steve..." Catherine whined. "I'm exhausted." She mumbled listlessly as her eyes closed.

He chuckled and pulled her back into his chest. "I know. You fell asleep after you got out of the shower."

Catherine yawned, "I was just… gonna close my eyes for... five minutes…"

"It's been two hours." He laughed quietly, "Time to eat. Your mom made tacos."

She laid her head back on the pillow, "You can keep kissing me." She mumbled as she closed her eyes again. "I like it."

He smirked and rolled her over to her back. "Careful what you say, Lieutenant. Don't bite off more than you can chew." His fingers trailed up and down her sides.

Catherine's eyes opened again and narrowed on his face, "Or what? Commander." She smirked.

"Or I might not be a gentleman and we might not make it to dinner." He grinned.

She tugged on his shirt and drew him closer. "You're always a gentleman."

Steve hovered over her and nipped at her lower lip. Right as he did, her stomach growled and he chuckled, "C'mon, Rollins. Gotta feed the mini-Steve." He grinned as he pushed off the bed and headed for the kitchen.

Catherine quickly dressed herself and chased after him through the farmhouse, "We are NOT calling him mini-Steve."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Have a wonderful week, you amazing people! Spread kindness, not germs!

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XO,

-Mags-