"mhhhh" he mumbled under his breath as Catherine left a trail of kisses on his chest and made her way up to his cheeks before placing a longer one right on his lips "that was…" "amazing" she finished for him with a smile all over her face "I missed you, Sailor" she stated as she laid her head on his chest, snuggling as close to him as possible.

Steve gently placed his palm on her head, holding her close.

"Hey Steve?" she asked after a while, head still on his chest, unsure she had the courage to really say what she was about to say. "Mh?" "I… um… I'm sorry I didn't reply" she replied hesitantly "Reply to what, Cath?" he mumbled "are you gonna make me say it?" she smirked at him while raising her head, looking him directly in his blue eyes, getting lost in the silver of them. "I love you too, you dork" she said while rolling her eyes, trying to lighten the mood. Steve couldn't help but smirk at her, feeling a rush of happiness taking over his whole body. "Isn't it crazy that after all these years this is the first time we've said it to each others face?" "It is" she replied calmly, her mind wandering back to the day he finally told her he loved her when a smiled formed on her lips "Do you wish I would have told you sooner?" he asked, aware of where he mind just went, reaching his hand out to hold hers while never losing the sight of her eyes. "Always know just what I'm thinking mh?" she smiled "No I don't." he continued honestly "I'm not saying that I would have liked to hear it sooner" she winked "…but in hindsight and knowing everything that happened in the meantime I love just how it turned out. We are starting over, right?" he nodded as he squeezed her hand, waiting for her to continue "see. So we're doing it right this time… from the very beginning. And I think you finally manning up to say the L-Word is a very good start." She finished, giving his hand a gentle squeeze and lowering her upper body to his face, giving him a passionate kiss on the lips.

"I agree, it is a very good start" he winked at her with a smirk on his face, giving her another kiss. "What times is it?" he asked her when she laid her head back on his chest "almost ten" "mhm. Check-Out is at eleven. What do you think Rollins? Do you wanna stay another night or do you have somewhere else in mind you wanna go?" he asked while gently playing with her hair. "I don't know. What do you have in mind?" "Nothing really, if you want me to be honest, I was on my way looking for you. I didn't really calculate you coming after me and finding me literally on my first step towards you… as far as I can tell, my op is finished" he laughed "well, looks like you owe me another favor then if I finished yet another op for you" she answered. "Sure, just put it on the list" he smiled, hugging her a little tighter in his arms. "Okay" she agreed with a smile "how about I cash that favor in right now and instead of dinner you go on a vacation with me?" she continued before he had a chance to possible deny her offer "We're both off work, we have all the time on her hands, why not do it? We've never really taken a vacation before, just the two of us.. other than those quick visits in various countries during deployments but that doesn't really count, does it?" she realized she was rambling when she looked up at him smiling. "What?" she asked, brows furrowed at the fact that he found it funny "You don't have to convince me, Cath. I'm all yours – wherever you wanna go, I'm down" he said in a firm voice, letting her know that he was serious.

She immediately relaxed at his reply, excited about this new side of him. A side that was not worried about work or a new case coming up, the side that made plans for the long run, that told her he loved her to her face rather than with actions, and that would go on a vacation with her. Steve was never the one to go on vacations – they had met up here and there during R&R's, even in Europe or Asia but he never took a week off to simply do nothing in a place that was not Hawai'i. They had taken day trips or a weekend getaway to Maui but never far away enough for him to stop thinking about work. For a moment she thought about mentioning O'ahu and going back home but decided against it. She did not want to take any chances of him getting caught up in a case again. This was her time with him and she sure as hell was not going to pass up on one on one time with Steve.

"How about we stay here a couple more days? I've only ever passed through L.A., I'd love to see more of it. Plus, this hotel is kinda nice…we should at least make us of that Jacuzzi" she said as she raised her eyebrows up and down at him, implicating the plans she had for him. Steve let out a loud lough at her reaction "You're unbelievable, Rollins" he said while still laughing at how damn cute she was. "Oh come on, Sailor. I know you've been wanting to get in that thing since you saw it" she laughed back. "I have actually. I just didn't think we'd be going back to our normal so soon. These past 24 hours have been an absolute dream, Cath" he replied calmly while grabbing her hand once more, looking at her with only love in his eyes. "Thank you for coming to find me." He finished "Thank you for coming to find me" she repeated, "I guess good things really do come to those who wait, hm?" she asked while never losing eye contact with him. He smiled at her, just like he had 24 hours ago on that airplane ride that was going to change both of their lives forever. "I would love to make use of that Jacuzzi" he concluded as he grabbed her body from under her, carrying her over to the bathroom as she squeaked and held on to him, fingers interlocking behind Steve's neck.

Author's note:

Thank you guys for your feedback, I really appreciate it and it totally is what keeps me going! Sorry for the late updates, I'm trying to get you new chapters as soon as possible

Please let me know what you think of this one!

Love, L