At precisely 5:00 in the morning, a disoriented Steve woke up abruptly and automatically reached for his gun. It took him a second to realize he was at Danny's and another second to remember why he'd fallen asleep here. As the realization hit him, all the emotions came bubbling up. He cried in silence, he didn't want to go back home just yet, but he wasn't about to wake Danny or his kids. An expert in repressing his emotions, he decided to turn back over and try to sleep again.
When Danny got up for work, he was surprised that Steve was still there. Running on only two and a half hours of sleep put him in a mood, and he was grateful Steve was taking a personal day because this was a prime day for them to fight. He tried to be as quiet as he could, thankful the kids were on spring break and didn't need to move around the house just yet. He texted Grace to watch her brother and left the house to get a jump start on work.
Preoccupied with Grace's words from last night led him straight to Rachel's house, even though he had meant to go to work. He knew he had no business going to see his ex-wife at this hour and in his current emotional state, but the heart does what it wants. She doesn't say a word as she lets him in and abruptly walks to the sofa. Danny locks the door and takes a deep breath.
"Rach…"
"Danny don't. Please. I'm not in the mood."
He understands. He has no right to come to her with his problems, he knew without Grace's admission that Rachel was hurt he'd gotten back with Melissa. He remembered how they'd screamed at each other, she cried, and then they fell into bed together, just for Danny to call Melissa the next day and beg her forgiveness. Rachel and him hadn't spoken for months after that, beyond the necessary co-parenting conversations.
"I'm sorry Rachel. I am. I know you're hurt. I was stupid and impulsive, and I shouldn't have done that to you. Look I messed up, and I'm sorry."
"Are you still with her?"
"Yes."
"Then get out." The iciness in her voice chills him to the bone. He doesn't say anything else to her as he leaves.
He's glad Duke's asked for 5-O's help with a case when he arrives at headquarters. The team doesn't miss a beat, their suspect is apprehended, and Danny's back at his desk doing paperwork all before lunch. Tani and Junior had hoped for lunch at Kamekona's, but Danny decides to treat the team to a working lunch, and he orders Chinese. The atmosphere is awkward, but no one has inquired about Steve's absence to him yet. He figures Grover has told them that Steve's taking a few personal days.
During the two o'clock lull he texts Steve to make sure his partner is okay. An ordinarily prompt Steve takes two hours to reply with, "I'm fine."
Danny knows he blew it with Rachel this morning, but he still has questions about the party they're throwing her on Saturday. It's in three days, but he can't imagine being in one room with Melissa and Rachel. Steve, Lynn, and potentially Catherine will all be there and so will Kamekona. Why the hell did Catherine come and mess up the new normal? Why was he so stupid juggling Rachel and Melissa? He knew he should have never agreed to a joint birthday bash. Divorced parents had separate parties all of the time. There's some wisdom to that, he laments.
He texts Rachel asking if she minds if Melissa will be there, she responds coolly that she expected as such. He wants to inquire if Catherine's showing up, but he's already on such thin ice, he knows he's better off dropping it.
Steve's surprised he didn't wake up to Grace making Charlie breakfast. He feels a little awkward getting up and stepping into the kitchen, but when Charlie runs to him yelling "Uncle Steve!" all he can do is grab Charlie up and tickle the little boy.
Grace acknowledges him, and he sees a plate out for him. It's nothing special, just two waffles and breakfast sausage, but he realizes he hasn't eaten since Kamekona's.
"Uncle Steve are you busy today?"
"No Grace, I'm off. Why?"
"I was wondering if you could take me to party city? I need a few things for Saturday, and I was going to ask Danno, but if he gets off work late, I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I've already asked my mom and Aunt Cath, but both of them can't take me today." She knows she doesn't have to tell him about Aunt Cath, but now that the secret's out, what the hell?
"Yeah, I can do that. I…uh won't be able to help you with shopping though. I'm no good at that."
"That's okay I know what I want. Besides Danno told me he has to pick out everything for the restaurant because you and Uncle Kame don't have taste."
"Well he's wrong; I've got great taste." He hopes she didn't notice his bristle at the mention of Kamekona. Instantly he's infuriated with Kamekona, but he knows that the fury he feels at Kame is fueled by his anger at himself. Sure, Kame didn't tell him Catherine was back, that she was okay, and he had told Steve not to see her. But he had found out, talked to her, and made an even bigger mess.
When it came to Catherine, every feeling within him was confused. He wants to be with her, but he doesn't want to get hurt again. He also wants her to be hurt the way she's hurt him. But he doesn't want to see her hurt or know he's the cause of the hurt. He loved her so much, but he couldn't move past the pain. And yet, he wanted nothing more than to let go of the hurt and reconcile. Everything was better with Catherine in his life; the sun shone brighter, food tasted better, time moved slower, without her life was incomplete. The sex was insane, not only was she a great lover, but infused with the sex was love, safety, and commitment. He couldn't recreate that with Lynn no matter how hard he tried. And boy had he tried.
Grace snaps him out of his internal monologue and asks if they can go soon. She and Charlie are ready in record time, and she's back begging him to go home, take a shower, and shave. Charlie calls him "Caveman Uncle Steve," and he laughs.
After two trips to two different party cities, Grace is satisfied that she's got all the necessary items for her party and Steve is tasked with creating party favors. He's happy he had decided to stay at Danny's because he needed a break from work, from thinking about Catherine, from Lynn – yep crafting with his niece and nephew was definitely what he needed. He thought about Mary and Joan and decided he would call to check in sometime this week.
When he finally looked at his phone, he saw the message from Danno. He didn't want to get into it with Danny so he responded as concisely as he could and focused on the party favors.
"Uncle Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you want me to tell Aunt Catherine not to come? I don't think she will, but if she does, will you be okay?" It touches his heart his niece is so perceptive.
"What? No, of course, tell her to come. I know she's back and how much she means to you. She's ohana. This party is for you."
"Is Lynn coming?"
"Yeah, she is, why?" Steve had been excited when Lynn had received an invitation a few weeks earlier. He knew that Grace like Lynn, but she loved Catherine. It was a measure of progress that Lynn was now invited to some 5-O events.
"I just wanted to know so I could tell Aunt Cath she could bring her boyfriend. I think she'll feel more comfortable with him there and seeing you with someone else won't be as awkward." At least Grace was honest. He wanted to tell her that if Scott showed up with Catherine, he'd kick his ass, but he remembered he was with Lynn.
"That's fine with me." Grace could tell he was lying, but she wanted Aunt Cath there. Maybe seeing her with another man would light a fire under Uncle Steve's butt and he'd realize he was missing out on the greatest thing to ever happen to him. Or maybe they would never get back together and could become friends, but Grace wasn't about to give into that line of thinking. If Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine couldn't reconcile, her parents were hopeless.
Steve decided to do the adult thing and reach out to Catherine, asking her to come to Grace's party. If Danny, Melissa, and Rachel could be in one room for a few hours, he could handle this party. Grace was only turning 17 once. He was happy she instantly responded she'd come.
Catherine hadn't expected a text from Steve so quickly. She was a little disappointed it was about Grace and not them talking about them, but she let it go. She hadn't decided on going to Grace's party, but Steve's request emboldened her. Thank God she had therapy after work today because she needed to offload all her problems onto her therapist the minute she walked into the session.
