Summary: a party, a small getaway and a hero - this Valentine's Day has it all
Warnings: None
Episode: Season 7 - Episode 16
Hello lovelies,
Another slice of Steve & Romy for you this wonderful Saturday. Thank you for all your comments, and likes and kudos! They make my absolute day! Please keep them coming and know my DM's are always open, if you want to chat anything about The Romy Files.
Enjoy xx
—xx—xx—
"A party? You guys want to throw a Valentine's Party?" Steve looked at the assembled teenagers in front of him. Grace, Will, Nahele and even Samantha had ambushed them at home, pleading with them to let them throw a party.
"What are your parents saying to this?" Romy raised her eyebrows, she really wanted to be there when Grace asks Danny.
"Well, you know…" Nahele scratched the back of his neck.
"You thought you ask one set of parents first and then tell the others we already said yes." she looked at them over the top of her glasses. "And you think we're what? The pushovers?"
"What?" The kids and Steve screeched, he was not a pushover.
"It's just you know...from all the parents..." Samantha started, with encouraging nods from the others. "You guys you are the cool ones."
Romy scoffed and then needed to bite her lip at the way that Steve's chest puffed up at being called cool.
"Alright guys, take it down a notch" she tried to rail them in. "Give it to us straight." Romy put down her laptop bag and toed out of her shoes. She and Steve headed into the kitchen and the gaggle of teenagers followed her and Steve.
"Well and we wondered if we can have the party here."
Ah there it was, Romy shot Steve a knowing look, who handed her a beer and then hopped up onto the counter next to her.
"Please, Aunt Romy, please!" Grace grabbed Romy's hands "Danno will never say yes if you don't agree."
Romy looked over at Steve and shrugged, they were teenagers, they should have a party if they wanted to.
"From our side, it's fine. But there will be some ground rules..." the rest of Steve's sentence was drowned out by screaming teenagers, and the next thing they were enveloped by way too many arms.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
—xx—xx—
"And you're really ok with that?" Renee slung her arm around her bend leg and turned her towards Romy, who nodded in response to her question.
"And that this happens here, in your house?"
"Yes," Romy answered. "We raised good kids. Why shouldn't we trust them to have a party in our house."
"Hey, I'm with you." Renee patted Romy's hand. "Lou took a bit of convincing, though."
"I feel you, I needed to bring out the whole spiel with Danny too."
"What did you say to him to get him to agree?"
"Ah" Romy grinned "I think it was one of my better speeches. I just told him, that I trust the kids to throw a decent party and to be responsible while doing so. And if they aren't well then there'll be consequences, but how can I say, I want independent kids when I never allow them to be one."
"That worked with Danny Williams?" Renee couldn't believe it.
"Mhm," Romy shrugged "And then I told him I am currently menstruating and he better not piss me off."
"Mention the word menstruation to any guy and they'll agree to anything." Renee giggled and Romy joined in wholeheartedly.
—xx—xx—
"I must say I do love your job sometimes." Steve grabbed Romy's waist after dumping their duffle bag next to the door "A free upgrade on Valentines Day."
"It does have its perks." Romy looked over her shoulder at him and squealed when he lifted her up and walked two steps to the balcony.
"And the view is amazing." he sat her down right in front of the window. "Staying in town was a good call."
"We're not at home, but should something happen during the party we can be there quickly and I'm just glad you're not on call this weekend." Romy leaned up to kiss him.
"Hell yeah, spending some quality time with you, enjoying the perks of room service and no calls, I call this the best weekend in a while." Steve's lips moved over hers more insistently. He groaned in disappointment when she ducked underneath his arm a second later.
"More of that later." she grinned "Why don't you grab yourself a beer, enjoy the view and I'm gonna unpack real quick."
"If you insist," he smirked.
Romy grabbed their bag and disappeared into the bedroom. She heard the telltale sound of opening a beer bottle and then Steve stepping outside. She checked her watch, by her calculations she had 2 more minutes before it all unravelled around her, but what choice did she have?
"Romy!" Ah, there it was.
She pushed her hair behind her ears and squared her shoulders, this was not going to be pretty. She joined Steve back out on the balcony and saw Danny and Melissa standing on the one next to them. Sliding her arm around his waist, she whispered in his ear "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"You better explain that one," Steve whispered back.
"I will, I promise." and then louder "Surprise!"
"Yeah, well I am surprised. Woohoo!" Steve said sarcastically.
"And you know you've always been saying how we should spend more time together." Melissa put her arms around Danny's neck.
The tension on the balcony could be cut with a knife.
"Well! You guys finish your beers." Romy patted Steve's peck. "I'm gonna get ready for the beach."
"Oh yes me too!" Melissa exclaimed and disappeared from her balcony.
Romy could hear the balcony door being slid close by Steve and turned around. Her hands clasped in front of her she mouthed 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' Earning herself an eye roll from her husband, before being shooed away.
He came back inside after 5 minutes, and let out a big sigh before falling face-first onto the bed. Romy stepped out of the bathroom all changed, and he lifted his head, she was already in her new bikini, a high waisted 1940's inspired number. He hummed appreciatively and pulled her onto the bed "Spill!" Steve raised his eyebrow sternly.
Romy tugged her leg underneath and buried her forehead in her palm. She let out a deep groan "After Melissa found out that we gave our house to the kids, she wanted to know what we're doing, so I told her and then it kinda snowballed from there..."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You would have told Danny!" Romy slapped his arm good naturally. "And then he would have said no and then Melissa..." she rambled.
"Hey!" Steve caught her chin between his fingers, stopping her rambling. "It's ok." His lips finding hers in an unhurried kiss. "I will survive a weekend with Danny."
"Thank you!" Romy was relieved, she had not been too keen on the idea herself, but Melissa had been trying to be part of the group and Danny had not been very helpful, the antisocial weirdo, that he was. So, here they were.
"Oh and Danny is worried about being to be romantic in front of us, so we got a safe word." Steve got off the bed changing into his swim shorts and a top.
"A safe word?" Romy got up as well and slid into her beach cover-up "We really need to have a chat about the nature of your guys' relationship."
"Don't!" Steve tried to stop her teasing, getting a giggle for his efforts. "He just doesn't feel like he can show his true romantic self with onlookers."
"True romantic self" Romy snorted "And that from the guy who can't properly commit to the woman he wants to be romantic with."
"Not our sandbox, gorgeous." Steve pinched the skin of her leg softly.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." Romy shook her head and followed Steve out of the bedroom. "So, what is it?"
"What is what?" Steve turned around to her.
"The safe word." She grabbed her beach bag, checking she got everything. Book, sun cream, hat, glasses.
"Chicken Salad."
Romy looked up from her bag, her eyes wide "Chicken Salad?"
"Chicken Salad." He nodded.
"As a safe word? Really? How is he planning to weave that into a bloody conversation?" Steve pressed his lips to hers. Romy made a little sound in the back of her throat in protest, before she let the kiss take over, melting into Steve's arms. The conversation about Danny and safewords completely forgotten. She hoped this would never stop, the way he made her smile, the way he made her feel, how his kisses made her feel. Cherished. Loved. His.
—xx—xx—
Romy hated volleyball, well that's not right she hated playing any sports where she needed to hit a ball. Her eye - ball - hand coordination was abysmal and that's being nice. She knew that and Steve knew that, but when Danny suggested Beach Volleyball and Melissa happily agreed, her chances of swimming and then laying at the beach with her book were shot.
Steve passed the ball to Danny underneath the net "Want to switch the teams up a little bit?" He had almost forgotten how bad Romy was at ball sports.
"No, I don't want to switch the teams." Danny whispered back before he shouted louder "He wants to switch the teams."
"Are you serious?" Steve hissed. "It's just an idea. I'm trying to be a good sport and mix it up." He turned around to Romy with a sheepish smile.
"A Good sport, right?" She smirked at him, slightly enjoying his pain. Well, he should have known better than making her play volleyball.
Danny grinned widely "It's eight to three, and this is the highlight of my weekend, beating you- I mean, aside from spending time with you, obviously." He threw a wink at Melissa.
Their match ended abruptly when a frisbee hit Melissa and Danny felt the need to teach the kid a lesson. Romy shook her head at Steve, who enjoyed the scene in front of him way too much; not that the kid didn't deserve the lesson, but he was a teenager in front of his friends. What did Danny think this would achieve.
After being fully trounced by Melissa and Danny in Volleyball, the women moved onto the spa. Finally an activity she could fully enjoy. Romy frowned at Steve when he begged off to go for a swim with Danny. Despite his very manly front, her husband loved a good Spa day. Manicures, pedicures, facials, massages you name it and he was there. The first time she had put on a face mask at his house, he had looked at her sceptically but once she smoothed the goop over his face, Steve was hooked. Hooked so much that it became a regular occurrence in the McGarrett household.
He chatted excitedly with the beautician about the ingredients and if they'd be helpful against his crow feet when Melissa interrupted his musings.
"Steve you're ruining my Zen!" She scolded him across Danny and Romy.
Romy needed to bite her lip not to burst out laughing at his outraged look. She leaned over to him and interlaced their fingers. She winked at him conspiratorially when she caught his eyes, making his frown lessen into a pout. While Steve was completely immersed in his Spa experience, Danny was violently munching on the piece of cucumber intended for his eye.
"What pissed into his cheerios?" Romy squeezed Steve's hand.
"Mmh" Steve inhaled deeply at the relaxing face massage he was receiving. "Ah he thinks that kid, that threw that frisbee, stole his sunglasses and won't give them back?"
Romy rolled her eyes "You know Danny, I'm more than happy to buy you a new pair if that will - "
"Don't" Steve interrupted her "Tried that one already."
With a huff, Danny got up "Okay, you know what. I'm done. I can't deal with it. Can you just... Uh, uh, babe, I'll see you in a little bit. I'll catch up with you guys later." And with that, he stormed out of the Spa.
"Where is he going?" Melissa stared after her boyfriend.
"I don't care." Steve turned to the beautician behind him "Can I use his leftover face mask?"
—xx—xx—
"You sure you want to come to Yoga with us?" Pulled at their interlaced hands trying to slow Steve down a bit.
"Yes! I want to spend some time with you."
"It's just" Romy let out a breath "your flexibility skills are about as good as my ball sport skills."
Steve looked at her in mock outrage and drew into her side "I remember you were very impressed with my flexibility last night." He murmured with a smirk, letting his hand wander down to her bum, giving it a little squeeze.
"Steve!" Romy slapped his chest, grinning all the while.
"Guys, please!" Melissa averted her eyes, at the obvious display of affection.
"Look she makes the same face as Nahele." Steve pointed out.
"So it must be us then?" Romy pursed her lips.
—xx—xx—
"How are you doing there?" Romy looked over at Steve from their position in downward facing dog. He was holding his breath trying to keep the posture.
"Good. Fine." He grunted.
"Really?" Romy moved into a lunge, with the rest of the class.
"Yeah."
"Sure about that?"
"Yeah."
She chuckled and switched into Warrior One. "Seems like you're struggling a bit."
"I'm not struggling." Steve breathed hard trying to follow her and the rest of the class. "It's awesome."
"Maybe we should switch up the teams." Romy threw his earlier comment back at him sliding from Warrior Two to Peaceful Warrior.
Steve grunted again, of course, she would have not forgotten that "There's not... there's no teams in yoga, Romy." They moved back through the vinyasa, and his descent from plank to cobra was a bit more graceful than Romy's due to his upper body strength, making him grin. "Ah. Okay. Yeah, I understand what just happened. I just see what you did there. You were referring to the, uh, comment I made on the volleyball court." They moved back up into downward-facing dog, and Steve held his breath again. "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to upset anybody."
"At least your boyfriend's here." Melissa chuckled from the other side as they stretched for Three-legged dog.
"I don't think I can hold this." Steve muttered, and the next thing Romy knew he collapsed onto her yoga mat "Okay, you know something, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go check on Danny." He pressed a kiss to Romy's head.
"Seems like a good idea. Your concern for him must be affecting your concentration and balance." She teased him, and then she and Melissa burst out laughing watching him limp away.
After yoga they settled at the pool bar, waiting for the guys. Two large tropical cocktails stood in front of them and Romy contemplated how the massive amount of fruit didn't make her glass topple over.
"I just want to thank you again." Melissa pressed her hands together. "For letting us barge into your Valentine's plans." She continued as she saw Romy's confused gaze.
"It's no problem." Romy smiled and meant it. The day has turned out better than she thought. Once Melissa stopped being so nervous all the time, she was incredibly funny. "I told you, we're not Valentine's people."
"Still! It means a lot."
They whiled away their time sipping at their cocktails and chatting, Romy looked up when a shadow appeared above her.
"Hey, Camilla!" She exclaimed happily, Camilla was her friend that made this short notice reservation possible in the first place. "Is everything alright?" She asked as she saw her friends expression.
"I'm sorry Romy. But could you come with me, there's an issue."
"Sure, yeah." Worried at Camilla's serious tone, she got up straight away. "I'll see you in a minute, Melissa."
"What happened?" She asked as she was lead away by her friend.
—xx—xx—
Romy could not believe it! How fucking dare he! Accosting the kid at the beach and then again at the pool and then to top it all off Danny broke into their hotel room. She was absolutely livid.
She was shown in a small office next to the reception, where Danny and Steve were waiting.
"I'll talk to you later." Camilla took her leave, closing the door behind her.
"Start explaining now!" Romy crossed her arms over her chest. Listening to Danny and Steve, she got even more annoyed.
"What the fuck were you thinking? These are my colleagues! This my reputation you put on the fucking line here and to top it off you thought that accosting a teenager twice and then breaking into a hotel room was the answer to get your fucking glasses back?" She was pacing now. "Why didn't you speak to his parents?"
"Don't you think you're overreacting a little bit?" Danny tried to calm her down.
"Overreacting? I'm overreacting? This was supposed to be a lovely weekend until you started to have a feud with a fucking teenager. And please do not tell me you would have been ok if another adult treated Grace like this?" Danny tried to interrupt, but Romy was on a roll now, her voice rising with each sentence. "Also let's not forget you coercing an employee to give you access to their hotel room, which I think is breaking and entering."
"We do have immunity and means, Romy," Danny interjected.
"Good for you" Romy scoffed. "The housekeeper you talked into giving you access to the room doesn't and she now faces a gross misconduct dismissal from her job here. So well done to the both of you!" With that she stormed out of the room, leaving the two men behind.
—xx—xx—
Steve knocked on the door to their hotel bedroom, before venturing in. He could hear the shower running and stepped into the bathroom.
"I'm sorry!"
"And I'm mad." Romy stuck her head out from behind the glass wall.
"I get that. And I told Danny that it was a bad idea, but he was...in an alternative reality I think. He wouldn't have listened to anybody." he tried to explain. "What about the housekeeper? Is there anything I can do?"
Romy turned off the water, she grabbed for the towel and stepped out of the shower "No, I talked to Camilla. Tried to explain the whole 'Danny Williams craziness' and she let it go. He's lucky he didn't get kicked out." She said while applying her face toner and cream.
"Thank you!" Steve kissed her shoulder blade. "I'm really sorry."
"Ok. Danny better is doing some grovelling though. He put me in right hot water. I promised Camilla we invite her for dinner in return and I ordered a bouquet to the housekeeper and charged it to Danny's room." Romy looked at him through the mirror, paying close attention to how his shirt stretched over his muscles, she licked her lips. Forgetting about Danny for a moment.
"That and the dinner he pays for that family, he's going to be fuming." Steve pulled her out of her little daydream.
"To be quite honest, I don't give a damn. I'm still mad at him." Romy grouches.
"Well, rest assured grovelling is already in the plans for tonight." Steve let his hands slide over Romy's arms. He stepped into the shower himself now "A full evening at the beach, with a romantic dinner for the four of us."
"Nice. He better enjoy it too." Romy reached for the hairdryer.
"Why?"
"It will be his last meal here for a while." Her words almost drowned out by the hairdryer "As of tomorrow he's banned from the property.
—xx—xx—
The beach setting for dinner was absolutely stunning, the tiki torches, the table, the atmosphere, the Ukulele player. Romy stopped short, why was there a Ukulele Player? She grabbed Steve's arm as he pulled out her chair and asked that exact question. "You do know how I feel about dinner music? It's awkward after the first 5 minutes."
"Apparently Melissa likes it and Danny has stuff to make up for." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the skin right underneath her ear. Romy let out a sigh and turned around to him.
"For Melissa, I'll smile through the awkwardness." She leaned up and moved her lips gently over his, and then more insistent, letting her fingers curled into the lapels of his shirt. She couldn't say how often she had kissed Steve, lost count, to be honest, but to her, it was still one of the best feelings in the world.
—xx—xx—
Danny refilled their champagne glasses the second time, trying to make the atmosphere less tense.
"Um, I-I want to apologize... for, uh, being a little distant this afternoon. Uh... And I want to tell you that you, um... I want to let you know, um..." he bumbled his way through his apology "You know, I can feel you." He turned to Steve, who stared at him during his apology "It's like you're on my face. I can- it's-it's like you're judge-y. You're judging me and I can... What? No. It's, like, right here, okay? It's... "
"No, I got you, I got you, I got you." Steve tried not to facepalm how badly Danny was messing this up, going simply by Romy's very not impressed raised eyebrows.
"You got what?"
"I got you. Listen. What Danny is trying to say, is that what he did this afternoon was wrong. And he's incredibly sorry for jeorpdazing your business relationships" he nodded over to Romy "and that he'd didn't show how much he appreciates you, Melissa. Well, in general, we wanted to show you guys how much we appreciate you both, so here... here's to you two. And thank you." They all clinked glasses
"Thank you." Melissa smiled brightly.
They started to look at the Menu when Danny just blurted out "Chicken salad."
Romy and Steve's head shot up, sharing a look. Romy pursed her lips smirking and Steve winked at her. Danny deserved a payback, so he asked innocently "You want the chicken salad?"
"Chicken salad." Danny repeated again, looking now desperately at Romy "Chicken salad. Chicken salad."
—xx—xx—
"I'll drop Melissa off and then I come over to yours to pick up Grace," Danny said, after his eyes had bugged out at his hotel bill, Romy might have charged another bottle of champagne to his room. Let's just say, champagne tasted better from Steve's skin than out of a glass.
"Great" Steve shouldered their bag and let his hand settle on the small of Romy's back. "Lou and Renee are on their way to pick up Samantha and Will, as well."
—xx—xx—
"What the heck" Romy whispered quietly as she stepped through her front door, Steve directly behind her. She could hear faintly two other cars pulling into the driveway.
The entire first floor of the house looked like a tornado had gone through it. By instinct, Romy took a step back, right into Steve's chest. His hands steadying her shoulders. With measured steps, Romy and Steve ventured inside, followed closely by Danny, Lou and Renee.
The kids were currently trying to clean up. Grace and Will pushing furniture back to where it belonged, while Nahele and Samantha were pushing piles of party rubbish into black bin bags.
"Fuck!" Samantha let out when she spotted the parents standing in the door, making the others look up immediately. They were all so screwed!
Fifteen minutes later Danny was still berating them, with Lou putting in his two cents whenever Danny needed to take a breath.
Danny turned to Romy and Renee, who was still marvelling at the destruction to the house "You ladies want to add something? Feel free!"
"I don't know what to say." Romy started.
"Well, that's just peachy, because I've got enough to say for all of us!" Danny continued to shout.
"I...I never thought you guys would do something like this." Her quiet voice somehow managed to drown out Danny's ranting. Romy let her eyes wander from one teenager to another. "We trusted you. We trusted you that you could have a party here. Here in our home." She surveyed the carnage, the trail of litter leading everywhere even upstairs. "I...I thought you respected us enough to not let it escalate like this." She scratched her forehead. "I mean, we go away, allow you to have a party in our home. I stuck my head out for you guys, I convinced everyone that you were responsible enough to host a party. I guess I was wrong." Romy rubbed her fingers over her lips, a sure sign she tried not to be too emotional.
"I never thought you could do something like this." The teenager stared down at the floor. Why was this so much worse than Danny's shouting?
"I'm so disappointed in all of you." her mouth curled in disdain "I can't even look at you right now." With that, she turned around and got upstairs, carefully sidestepping all the party leftovers on the stairs.
"Well, I think that summed it up pretty well." She could hear Steve clasping his hands. "What are you still standing around, staring at us. You better clean this shit up."
"You've got to be kidding me." Romy breathed out. Someone definitely had been in their bedroom, the mused sheets spoke loud and clear. Quickly she stripped the bedding, shuddering at the used condom she found on her side of the bed. At least they knew how to wrap it, even if they had no common decency at all.
"What are you doing?" Steve stood in the doorway.
"Someone definitely had way too much fun up here." She held up the condom, making Steve gag.
"He's so fucking grounded until the end of times," Steve growled, this was one step too far.
"Come on, we're going down to the pub for some lunch and drinks." He held out his arm to her. Romy snuggled in his side, and let her be guided downstairs again.
"My poor bedroom." She pouted at Steve.
"We gonna burn these sheets and they gonna deep clean upstairs those little shits." He kissed her forehead, then looking over to the teenagers. "Once we're back this house better be sparkling. And don't forget our bedroom, some of your friends thought it'd be a good place to get their rocks off."
"Eww!"
"Your party, your responsibility," Renee said unamused at their antics, leading them out of the house.
—xx—xx—
"I'm so sorry!" Nahele almost fell over his own two feet, when Steve and Romy came back.
"Come on kiddo, sit down." Romy sat down heavily on the sofa, she was exhausted.
Steve shifted in his seat next to her, letting her lean into him. "What happened?" He prompted Nahele.
That's all it needed for Nahele to pour out what happened the night before. Friends of friends who weren't invited came as well and they didn't feel like they could turn them away, so a party set out for 20 people suddenly had 50 or more, and somehow they had lost control over the crowd and then they just gave up and join in.
"You do know that this will have consequences right?" Romy asked.
"Yeah" Nahele sniffled "if you...if you no longer want to ado -"
"Shut your mouth right there!" Nahele's head shot up at Romy's harsh words.
She leaned over to him, her face right in front of his "I want you to listen to me and listen to me well because I'll only say this once." She waited for his nod to continue "Us adopting you will never, NEVER, be a way to punish you, ok. You're our kid. You'll mess up. You're a teenager, that's your prerogative. There'll be consequences when you mess up, but never this. 'Hele, never this" she implored him, hoping it would sink in, "You're stuck with us, kiddo. No matter what you did in the past or will do in the future." Steve picked up from her when he heard that sob that got stuck in Romy's throat. "Now" he let out a breath "You're grounded for" he looked over to Romy who lifted up 2 fingers "for two weeks. School, Track practice and then straight home. No shifts at the shrimp truck, no meetups with the others."
"Ok.." Nahele mumbled his gaze still firmly affixed on his shoes. "I'll guess, I go upstairs into my room."
Romy pressed her lips together as she watched her son trot up the stairs dejectedly "Nahele!"
He turned around to her. "We still love you." A smile started to grow on his face, which Romy mirrored.
"Love you too." And with that, he disappeared up into his room.
"Come on!" Steve got up from the sofa and held out his hand to her. Romy eyed it sceptically, unsure where he was going with this. All she wanted was to curl up with him on the sofa and forget this weekend ever happened.
"We're losing daylight." Steve wiggled his hand at her impatiently.
"Why?" She pouted at him, hoping he'd feel sorry enough for her to be persuaded to stay on the sofa.
"There's no way that I'm sleeping in a bed that somebody else but us had sex in. We're going to buy a new mattress, gorgeous" Steve declared with a grin, watching as Romy's pout morphed into a brilliant smile.
"You" she let herself being pulled up by him "are my hero, Steve McGarrett."