"Alright, Rollins" he said, snapping her out of her daydream, still standing in the middle of the hotel room. "I can take the floor if you want" he offered, hoping for her to decline his offer as he spoke the words, not really wanting to sleep on the floor or making this situation any more awkward.
"What? No!" She replied a little too quick, with a little too much disappointment in her voice "Don't be silly Steve, we've shared a bed a million times. Plus with your crooked back sleeping on the floor wouldn't be any good to you, old man" she tried to lighten the mood. When he didn't answer right away but instead shot her an unsure look, she tried to pull back "I mean.. unless you want to… sleep on the floor I mean. If you want to, you uh... you can" she smiled nervously, embarrassed at how she stumbled on her words at such a stupid topic.
"No" he reassured her firmly. "I just thought… um…" he nervously wiggled with his arms, not wanting to say anything to change her mind "I'm guessing you want the right side?" he said, not wanting to discuss him maybe or maybe not staying in a bed with her. "Yes, please" she said with a smile on her lips, happy that he remembered after not having slept beside her for about three years now.
"I'm gonna hit the shower real quick" she announced as she made her way to the bathroom. Steve mentally kicked himself when he found his mind was wandering, imagining her in the shower barely five feet away from him, no clothes and wet hair, soap running over her body in steaming hot water. He shook his head trying to think about anything but Catherine naked, just one door away from him… about Catherine's curves that aligned her perfect body, her beautiful face and the smile she would always give him when he joined her in the shower.
For a second he contemplated just going in there, grabbing her face under the hot water and telling her everything he has been wanting to say with the simplicity of a kiss. He decided against it though – even though the thought of her in the shower nearly killed him, this was not the time for in-the-moment-reactions. He wanted to it right this time. There was never going to be a "getting Catherine Rollins back" op in Steve McGarrett's life ever again after this one. This was the last time he was going to ask her for forgiveness and to start things over with her. Because once all is said and done, he is never going to let go of Catherine Rollins again. This one was the one he was going to make sure would last a lifetime. So no, he did not need to join her in the shower right now, he didn't want five to ten minutes in heaven with her… he wants a lifetime of showers with her and for that, he was willing to wait.
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Catherine took her time showering, feeling every drop of the hot hotel shower hit her tired and exhausted body. She closed her eyes and stood there for a minute, letting her mind wander. She found herself going to a place where Steve was in the shower with her. She has always loved showering with him and she was fairly certain that this was the first time he was just a few feet away from her, and not joining in. She smiled a little to herself imagining what they would do, if he in fact did join her right now.
She turned the shower off after a few minutes, slipped in her shorts and a comfy tank top, thought about putting a bra on but decided against it and opened the bathroom door to the hotel room to find Steve under the covers, on his typical left side of the bed. She smiled at the fact that they still had this little ritual of always sharing a bed the same way – with him on the left and her on the right. Catherine lifted the covers and snuck under them, feeling the warmth of Steve's body immediately under the blanket. He laid on his stomach with his head facing in the other direction, so Catherine switched off the lights and scooted down to lay on her back.
When she woke up the next morning, she found herself with her head on top of Steve's chest, cuddled ever so closely next to him with his strong arms holding her tightly.
Catherine tried to breath in slowly, not wanting to wake him, when she felt him move a bit "mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" he let out with a rispy voice as he stretched his body "good morning Lieutenant" he said calmly as he hugged her a little tighter. Catherine felt her heart race with his tight grip around the small of her back "mhhh" she replied with closed eyes "good morning Commander".
"Sleep good?" he asked as he slightly turned his head so that his nose and mouth was on top of her head and barely in her hair. "I did indeed… can't remember the last time I slept this good" she smirked to herself. "How about you?" "same here" he replied with not so much as a move.
They lay like that for a while before Catherine sat up on her knees, looking at him and his still closed eyes "Come on, Sailor! You can't possibly still be tired after all this sleep" she said as she took her pillow and threw it at his face. Steve opened his eyes wide and shot her a shocked look "You did not just do that Cath…." He said slowly, threat in his voice. "What?" she asked, playing an innocent tone in her voice "oh.. you mean this?" Another pillow hit Steve right in the face.
"Oh..Ooooh… Hold on Rollins, you're going down" he said as he got up and tried to grab her, underestimating Catherine's ability to jump up from the bed with a pillow safely tucked in her side. "Gotta be faster than that old man" she winked at him as she threw the last pillow she had on her.
"All out of ammo huh?" he said as he got up and chased her around the hotel room, quickly having caught up to her, he grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her over to the bed "You do know that my job is Law Enforcement, and no harm can go unpunished, right?" he asked as he threw her on top of the bed, crawling over her and kneeing on either side of her body as he grabbed the pillow to her right side. Steve took the pillow and held it up over his head "Apologize" he said with a smile on his face. "No!" she screamed at him, covering her eyes with her hands as she laughed "Please don't Mister Officer, I promise I'm innocent" she joked at him, fully aware of the direction she was going with this.
"Oh really? You've never been innocent a day in your life young lady" she joked back at her, "Now you better apologize or…" he started when he felt Catherine's body rise under him, her face coming closer and closer to his, stopping right before his mouth "Or?" her voice was barely a whisper, eyes locked on his lips.
His heart started racing the second she made her way up to meet him, unsure if this was real right now, her under him, finally so close.
Catherine was teasing him and he was fully aware of just how close she was right now. Steve felt his breath quickening and his stomach flipping when she stopped just a breath away from his lips and dipped his head, finally closing the gap between them, kissing her with all he had in that very moment, saying all the things in just one kiss.
Catherine returned it immediately, heart racing at his touch with a rush of happiness coming over her like she had not felt in year. She absent mindedly sat up a little straighter under him, allowing their bodies to scoot closer, grabbing him by the neck and pulling him closer to her, deepening the kiss.
The kiss was passionate and deep, neither one wanting to break a part, making up for all the kisses that were lost between them in the last years.
Steve pulled away just an inch, locking eyes with her and catching his breath. "What?" she whispered, doubt suddenly creeping in, unsure if this was not what he wanted as well and if she had just speculated it all wrong. "You're so damn beautiful, Cath." He said, barely audible, never losing the sight of her. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he asked, a tear dwelling up in the corner of his eye. Catherine felt her heart beat out of her chest, kissing him again ever so deeply, still unsure if maybe this was all a dream, making sure he knew by the next hour or so that he was keenly aware just how much she loved him right back.