Tani is almost out of the door, with Junior right beside her and his arm loosely around her waist, when she realizes she left her sun glasses back on the table. She hands over her bag to Junes to load it into the car while she heads back inside to get the shades. She backtracks her steps across the living room towards the dining area where they all had breakfast together, when she catches sight of them in the kitchen—and she can't not look.
Of course she knows that Steve and Danny are together, like romantically. Of course she has seen them being affectionate with each other occasionally, but never like this. Never—
Danny is sitting on the kitchen counter, one hand curled into the collar of Steve's shirt, while Steve is standing in front of him, close, right between Danny's legs. There's no height difference between them like this and their faces are just inches apart, their noses almost touching. Steve's hands rest on Danny's thighs, innocently but intimately, and Danny reaches up with his other hand, gently brushing back Steve's hair.
Steve says something in a low voice that Tani can't hear but it's something that makes Danny laugh. Tani can see Danny's whole face light up, morphing into that affectionate smile that he only ever directs at Steve. Anyone who sees this look can tell how Danny feels about Steve immediately, anyone who watches the two of them interacting on any given day can probably tell after an hour, but this—
Tani knows this moment isn't meant for her to witness and it catches her completely off guard—but she can't look away.
Of course she knows they love each other, she's been working with them for over two years, thank you very much. But there's something in the way Danny has now cupped Steve's face in his hand, in the way he gently caresses Steve's temple with his thumb, in the way Steve leans into the touch—
Belatedly, she realizes she has never even seen them kiss, not once.
They do, now.
And there's a tenderness to it that she had never expected from either of them; especially not with each other. Steve lets Danny pull him closer and Danny kisses him, gently, slowly, with so much devotion and care as if he has only this one moment to get all his feelings across to Steve. And Steve—
Steve stands there, lets it happen, kisses back softly, moves his hands up a little, gripping Danny's waist, holding on. It melts her heart in the best way possible, they deserve this kind of peace and comfort and happiness more than anyone else she knows.
Tani still watches as Steve eventually takes over. He leans in, into Danny, into the kiss and slowly moves his hands along Danny's sides and shoulders to place them on the back of his head, gently sinking his fingers into Danny's hair. For an absurd moment Tani wonders if Steve misses Danny's longer hair in moments like these, or if he likes it with the sides cropped short like now.
She pulls a face at her own ridiculous thought, and she stops herself from letting out a giggly snort at the last minute, biting her lip. She can't let them know she's here, she can't let them know she's seen what they so clearly want to keep private.
There's a huge pang of regret bubbling up in her chest. It's almost painful to think that they feel they need to hide their love for each other from the world when it's such a beautiful thing. What the hell have they been through that makes them hold back in public, while they are longing for each other so badly?
She and Junes hadn't even been out of the door and they had been all over each other. Had Steve and Danny been waiting for them to leave? Tani is suddenly acutely aware of all the moments this morning when neither she nor Junes had kept their hands to themselves. Not once had it occured to her to hold back or tone it down. They had kissed at least twice in front of the guys. Not like this, obviously, but how much must it have hurt them to see it?
Tani takes one last look at them, their love for each other evident in every touch, every kiss, every smallest caress. They look happy, content, deeply and intimately engrossed in each other. She's sure they have both completely forgotten about the rest of the world for the moment.
She thinks that this is what she wants, too. She hopes that maybe this is what she can have with Junes one day: true love.
With a heavy heart she beats her retreat as silently as possible. As she tiptoes back to the front door, she vows to herself to reduce the PDAs in front of them, to talk to Junes, to make him stay at her place more often—
She can't take away their fears but probably she can help giving them more privacy, more space and safety and happy moments like these.