Right here waiting

Pairing: McRoll

Based on Season 9, episode 12.

Chapter eight

It was just after nine thirty in the morning, and Steve, Catherine, Mary and Joan walked into the Wailana coffee house to have breakfast, taking a seat in one of the booths, Mary and Joan on one side and Steve and Catherine on the other. The waitress came over to hand them all menus and gave Joan some pencils and a colouring competition sheet of paper, and then brought over a pitcher of water, which Steve reached and poured the four of them some water in the glasses on the table.

"Mmm I see you got some colouring to do there", he spoke to Joan smiling from across the table while Mary and Catherine both watched on, sipping on their water.. "It's a lot of work though Uncle Steve, what if I don't finish it in time before we leave?" Joan was good at colouring, however this one was very detailed, and required a lot of work.. "Well sweetheart, I'm sure you can finish it at home and then we can drop it back in once it's all done", Catherine the solver piped up.

"Yeah, that's a great idea Aunty Cath", She smiled happily as she began to take the colouring pencils out of their holder and start to work on her colouring in, "Wait up sweets, what would you like for breakfast?", Mary asked her, chuckling at her daughters enthusiasm. She looked at her mother as though she was crazy for not knowing what she wanted.. "Okay, I know.. you want the Banana pancakes with some maple syrup on it and a mug of hot chocolate don't you?" Joan gave her the thumbs up and grinned, just then the waitress came back, "Do you need another moment or can I take your order?", she asked as she looked around the table..

Steve looked at Mary and Catherine, both of whom nodded and he smiled at the waitress who was old enough to be his grandmother, but was a lovely lady who she always complimented whenever he was in.. "I think we're good to go.. I'll have the blueberry pancakes, with maple syrup and a cup of coffee, cream and two sugars", she wrote down the order quickly and looked at Catherine smiling.. It was nice to see her again, it had been a while, "Let me guess.. Eggs Benedict for you and a coffee, made the same as Commander McGarrett as well?" Catherine smiled brightly and nodded, blushing a little.. "It's nice to know you remembered my order".

Nodding her head, she chuckled, "Of course I do, I never forget a pretty face". Writing down the order, she turned to Mary and Joan, "I'll just have scrambled eggs on toast, and a coffee, cream, two sugars and for Joanie, she will have the Banana pancakes, maple syrup and a small hot chocolate please".

Nodding her head, writing down the orders, she smiled at the group when she looked back up, "It won't be too long". Steve nodded and said thanks, not even noticing that Lynn and Ellie were sitting not too far away having breakfast themselves.. "Is that Steve over there?", Lynn asked pointing over to them, "with his ex girlfriend of all people". Steve's arm was around Catherine's shoulder as he sat comfortably in the booth seat.. "I believe it is", Ellie looked over in the direction Lynn was pointing, "They look pretty cozy", Lynn added, crossing her arms defensively. "And who is that with them anyway?"

Lynn had never met Mary or Joan, despite them being on the island a few times when he and Lynn were dating.. "I believe that is Steve's kid sister Mary and his niece Joan, and yes, they do look cozy together but it's really none of your business Lynn.. He broke things off with you, just leave it alone okay".

Sighing softly, she uncrossed her arms to take a sip of the rest of her coffee, "I don't get what he sees in her to be honest". Ellie sighed in frustration, ever since Steve broke things off with Lynn, she had been insufferable like this.. Ellie was still friends with Steve and still worked out with him in the gym, and their paths still crossed when dealing with cases as well, so she got annoyed at her best friend sometimes..

Steve had expressed to her privately that he felt it wasn't working for some time, and that he felt terrible to hurt her, but that he just couldn't remain in a relationship that didn't make him happy or fulfilled and though Lynn was her best friend, she understood and didn't hold it against him at all.. She knew how long it had taken for him to get back into the dating game, and that no matter what he said, he was never going to be over Catherine Rollins.

"I get you are still hurting and that you thought Steve was the one, but you can't just keep sitting around in this funk forever.. Go out, meet someone new.. but just don't stay in the past with the hurt and pain forever.. You deserve love and you will find the one". Ellie had known that Steve was back in touch with Catherine after he came back from getting justice for his team and Joe White that had been killed, Steve had mentioned it in one of their sparring matches.

She liked Catherine, and had even had met her once or twice when she had been in town before, when one of her CIA assignments brought her back to the island, she had stopped in to drop some paperwork off at taskforce HQ and seen her there, Steve happily introducing her.. but she had never said anything to Lynn because she knew she would get this way.. She was a good person, she just didn't handle rejection well, especially when dealing with jealously as well. She could sense Lynn was nearly ready to go over there, but Ellie put her hand on hers to pull her back down..

"Don't do it Lynn.. you will cause a scene in here and nobody wants that.. Let's go, we were nearly finished anyway, and we need to both get to work". Lynn huffed, but realised that Ellie was right, she didn't want to cause a confrontation in front of other customers and staff, and she didn't want to come off as the crazy jealous ex, especially in front of Catherine and Steve's sister Mary.. "Fine, but only because I don't want to upset the kid", was her reasoning behind listening to Ellie.. They paid for their meal and then headed out the door, Lynn not helping. one last look back as she walked out the door, huffing as she walked out onto the street.

As she walked out of the door, Catherine noticed her, and leaned into Steve to tell him, not aware that Lynn was still watching them from the window outside. "Lynn just walked past us on her way out". Catherine had not forgotten the woman whom had dated Steve while they were broken up. She trusted Steve but now she completely understood why Steve seemed a bit off when Billy Harrrington arrived in Hawaii.

"Who's Lynn?", pipped up Mary who had really good hearing and had heard Catherine's whisper. It really showed that Steve had never considered Lynn a serious girlfriend because he never introduced her to his sister. He might have had a complicated history with her, but being introduced to his baby sister pretty much meant you were wife material.

"Just a woman I dated for a while after Catherine left to go to the CIA", as he spoke, he sighed as he looked out the window and noticed Lynn and Ellie still standing talking in the street. "Excuse me for a moment".

He began to move as though to to get up and head out to speak to the two women but the moment Catherine put a comforting hand on his arm, he stopped to look at her, neither having to say a word at all to know what each other was saying, though from Mary's eyes, Steve caught on and understood Catherine's intent because he got comfortable on the seat again.

"Wow, bro, Catherine has some kind of spell on you", she liked that Catherine could easily calm the man down and stop him from going out there and having a confrontation with the woman in question that Steve was referring to. He couldn't help but duck his head and give a sly smile at his sister. "We just understand each other Sis, and she is right. There is no point causing a scene because an ex I dated causally happened to be at the same place at the same time".

It was at that moment that the waitress came back with their food, "Thank you, this looks amazing", Steve smiled at the waitress.. "Mmm looks really good", echoed Catherine, smiling back at the waitress. "Thank you, I'll let you eat, let me know if you want anymore beverages".

Glancing out the window, Catherine noticed that Lynn was still standing near the building, pretending to talk on a phone, Ellie having already left not long after they existed the building. "Let it go babe, she's got nothing on you", Mary piped up, wanting her to know that she was always in her future sister in laws corner. "She's the one being silly and acting jealous, watching her ex and his girlfriend having breakfast".

Steve had begun eating and stopped when he heard that Lynn was still there, "You sure you don't want me to go and say anything to her?", he asked Catherine, who shook her head and sighed. She wasn't jealous, after their talk this morning, she felt more secure in their relationship, "No, it's okay really, it's not worth it Steve, let's just forget she is there, have breakfast, go pick up a card and a present for Gracie, then we can go to see her at the hospital".

Nodding his head, this time, Steve leaned into Catherine's side and kissed her sensually, "I agree with Mary, she has got nothing on you". Then using one hand to cut and eat his pancakes, he placed his hand on her thigh and kept it there the entire time he ate, rubbing his fingers gently along her inner thigh, wanting to comfort her as best he could. He had been there with Billy, as much as he trusted Catherine and wasn't jealous, he knew that Billy had intentions of making his way into Catherine's life again, and so he knew how she felt now, and wanted to ease any fears that she might have.