A matter of trust
McRoll Pairing
season 3, episode 18
Chapter 5
It was a little later in the morning and another round in the shower, and breakfast later, the two of them were on their way to the marina where they were going to spend the day on a boat just relaxing and having a fun day out in the sun and water and then go on that hike that he had been talking about as well. Steve knew that he needed to add a little more romance to their relationship and he was excited to be able to finally spend some time with her out on the water.
Watching her relaxed posture as she sat in the passenger seat of the corvette and sang to a song on the radio, he smiled, his hand moving to rest on her thigh, her eyes glancing over at his as she rested her hand over his, and laced their fingers together. After the stressful week she had endured, scrape that, stressful few months she had endured at worrying what this would do to her relationship with Steve, she was finally glad it was out in the open and that he seemed to have understood the difficult position she had been put in.
"This is nice", she spoke, breaking the silence as the wind on her face made her hair blow in the breeze, "Being able to spend time with you and know that a phone call isn't going to take you away on a case". As much as she understood his job and that he was essentially on call at all times even when he wasn't officially on duty, it still stung a bit whenever they were in the middle of something only for his phone to ring and him to have to go and leave to go to work.. She was still in the Navy and trying to figure out her next move, Steve had seemed happy and relaxed on the island and had a reason to stay here now, and there was a big part of her that had begun to dread when she might get another assignment that would take her away from him for maybe months at a time and so whenever they had time together, she hated when it was interrupted.
Squeezing her hand as he drove the corvette, he turned his face towards her for a moment and smiled, "I know my job takes a lot of my time and I'm basically on call all the time, however I do promise to do this more often, to just delegate and let the team handle things for a day or two at a time. While I love my job, I also need to learn to prioritise and balance my work/home life more. I love spending time with you, and while a bit part of that is the time we spend in the bedroom, I also want more of this.. Going on dates and showering you with love and affection".
Her heart skipped a beat at his rawness, he rarely was open like that but hearing him say that he wanted to make sure he had more time with her without work interrupting them, it meant a lot to her. "I'd love that a lot Sailor.. I know I'm still in the Navy and that often takes me away from here and I'll be honest.. I don't know what my decision is going to be yet, but I'm thinking about my other options as well, mainly options that could see me stay here on the island more permanently but I'd need to know your thoughts on that as well".
Pulling up at the marina, Steve cut the engine and watched her expression as she spoke about her desire to be here more. Before his father died, Steve didn't know how long he would be with the Navy, he figured for as long as he possibly could be, but everything changed for him when his father and Freddie died. Now that he was back on the island, he couldn't imagine his life being anywhere else at all. He had found peace, and a calm that he hadn't felt in a long time, and part of that was having Catherine in his life. "Wow, I had no idea you were thinking of leaving the Navy but honestly Cath?.. You should know by now that you are my girl, and my family and I'd love nothing more then to be able to have you here with me every day and night.. I'm think the last few years being on the island, it's gotten me ready to move forward with me life, and you are a major part of my life".
Unbuckling her beat, she smiled as she leant forward, cupping his cheek in her hand and kissed him softly before pulling back slightly to look at him again, "I used to love getting a new assignment, not knowing where I was going to, but now". She shook her head and sighed softly, "Now I am starting to dread it, the not knowing how long I'll be away from you.. I used to deal with that so much easier when I knew you were always away as well but now that you are back home and are settled, I look at your life and what you have, and I want that too.. I don't know yet, I haven't made any decisions but I just thought I'd let you know it's something that I'm thinking about".
He understood her hesitancy, The Navy was all they knew for a long time, and it was scary to move outside of the known and into the unknown, "I'm sure you know what I'd love you to decide but this is one decision you have to make on your own and whatever you do decide Cath, you can know that I am one thousand percent behind you". Hearing those words meant a lot to her, she knew what he would want her to do but he wasn't going to push her or make her feel like she needed to leave the Navy for him if that was not want she wanted. He could sense she wanted to but just felt a little unsure of the future in terms of work though Steve knew she would land on her feet and be amazing in whatever job she did.
"Thanks, I think I needed to hear that more than anything.. I haven't spoken to my folks about it yet, you are the first one I've brought it up to, but just the last week, and us not talking, it really reaffirmed to me that I love you and don't want to lose you, and it make me realise that you will support me no matter what decision I make". He took her hand and moved it to his lips and kissed her hand softly, "I love you too Catherine and wether you decide to stay for another few years or you decide to retire, I'll never stop supporting you and your dreams".
He pulled away to open the car door, and then make a point to tell her to wait on her side, her laughing and shaking her head knowing what he was planning on doing, he went around and opened the door for her and pulled her into his arms, "I'll admit, I'm liking this romantic gentleman side you got going on right now", she added as she stepped forward so he could close the door on the corvette. "Mmm I thought you would like that", he hummed as he kissed her softly, wrapping his arms around before he lifted her into his arms, and she giggled, "Steve⦠I can walk you know". He chuckled and smirked, "ohh I know, I'm just not done being Mr Romantic today".
Shaking her head and laughing softly, she let him pick her up and carried her up onto the boat, leaning forward to kiss his lips softly, closing her eyes as her hand rested on the back of her head, "I must say Commander McGarrett, you certainly are being very romantic today.. and I gotta say", she whispered as she pulled back a fraction to look into his eyes, "I like it a lot".
Grinning, he kissed her back softly as he put her down on the boat, "I thought you would, Let me just grab the rest of our stuff out of the car and I'll be right back". Leaving her on the boat for a moment, he headed back to Catherine's corvette to grab the picnic basket and lock the car, he sighed softly, loving the fact that he was having a day alone with his girl and so far hadn't had any interruptions from anyone at all.
Barring any unforeseen issues with his team or his sister, he wasn't planning at all to be interrupted either. He still hadn't seen his mother since he stormed out on her yesterday afternoon and if he could help it, he wouldn't be seeing her this evening either, he was planning on staying at Catherine's again tonight, and he had to admit that he liked that a lot.. No one seemed to come over and walk in unannounced like his mother or even Danny, not that he minded Danny walking in unannounced but when he was having alone time with Cath, he didn't want to be called in for a case right now.
As much as he had been upset and annoyed what happened with Catherine listening to his mother and not telling him about Mangosta, he knew that she didn't do it on purpose and he understood that she had been in a hard place, wanting to tell him but also wanting to respect his mother as well and he was sure a small part of it was that she had wanted to try to impress his mother by not sharing what she knew as well.
"You coming Sailor?", he heard Catherine's voice as she pulled him out of his thoughts and he smiled over at her and waved, "yeah, I'm coming", he grabbed the picnic basket out of the back and then locked up the car, walking back over to the boat and climbing back aboard. There had been something about Catherine talking about potentially leaving the Navy that had him filled with hope, and excitement at the fact that they may have a real future in front of them together, "You good?", she asked him as he put the basket down on one of the seats, and he nodded his head, with a smile only reserved for her, "I'm more then good Cath".
As he began to get the boat ready for heading out, including making sure the anchor was brought up and the knots were undone from the boat dock, he repeated those words to himself, "I'm more then good", feeling more relaxed and at ease then he had been in a long time.
Author's Notes.
Thanks for reading my stories and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I have to say that I never liked that Steve found out Catherine was thinking about retiring from the Navy from Billy, to me it felt like a way to try to cause issues between Cath and Steve about why Billy knew that and he didn't. It made me feel like it was done to make it seem like there was more to it with Billy and Catherine when there wasn't. I do think he still had an issue with it even though Catherine specifically told Steve that it wasn't her that told Billy so for me, I decided to plant the idea here after this episode that Catherine was thinking about it, not anything specific yet but to give Steve the idea that she wasn't emotionally and mentally thrilled with that life anymore.
I might do a more detailed conversation about her and Steve having that discussion as well when she does finally decide to leave because I never enjoyed that Billy felt he had this power over Steve where he knew a major life decision of Catherine's and Steve didn't. In my version when Billy comes to Steve, I want Steve to already be aware of not only her intention to resign her commission but that Billy offered her the job. I feel like the only reason why Billy was even brought in was to test the waters and try to create friction between Steve and Catherine but it never really worked because we all know that some guy isn't going to come beteeen those two.
SteveMcGarrettLover:
Thanks again for the review, I always love that you read and review my stories, I haven't seen you around for a bit so I hope you are doing well, and hope if you get a chance to read this chapter and my latest ones I have updated and done recently you will enjoy those as well.
