mana'olana (hope)

RECAP: They both sat down and she rested her head on his shoulder as they both looked out towards the ocean and all of a sudden she just blurted it out.

"Steve, I need help"

*Steve's POV*

After hearing those words leave her mouth his heart skipped a beat. Had she finally come to her senses about that waster of a boyfriend she had. He didnt realise he had made her feel awkward by not saying anything but so many things were running through his mind.

"Steve?" she asked quietly. He turned towards her and saw her face; her beautiful face that harboured a bruise that shouldn't have been there, a face that he longed to see every minute of every day. "What do you need help with Jess?" he asked already knowing what she needed help with.

"This bruise, the reason I didnt text you back, it's Ryan but I know you already know that" and that's where she started opening up to him about how horrible he was, how she couldn't stand going home knowing he'd be sat there drunk and angry. "I can't do it anymore Steve but I need help. I'd understand if you don't want..." and she was interrupted by a voice that didnt come from Steve.

"We'll all help you" and she turned around to see Danny, Chin and Kono stood there looking at her. Kono offered her a small smile and knelt in the sand next to Jess. "We heard it all," Kono told her, "we were coming to say goodbye before we headed home but we'll all help you, it's what family do" and that's all it took for Jess to realise that she wasn't alone. As she shed a few tears Kono, Chin and Danny gave her a hug before leaving for the night.

After a couple of minutes of sheer silence, neither one of them knowing what to say, Steve spoke up. "You aren't alone Jess, ever since we were kids I have never left you alone and I don't intend to do so now. Yeah I knew it was Ryan but I know how you hate people interfering, always have done, so I vowed to leave you alone until you came to me. I'll help you" he told her as she took his hand and smiled.

She rested her head on his shoulder again and she instantly felt safe. Steve looked on into the ocean and told himself that he was going to make this right. He was going to help his best friend, the woman he loved. "Where are you gonna stay tonight?" he asked her, worried of the answer he knew he was going to receive.

"I'll have to go home, I can't just leave. Tomorrow I'll tell him I'm gone, but when I leave I don't know where I'll go" she answered. He sighed knowing she would have to go back there tonight, he wanted nothing more than to take her home and hold her as long as possible. "Okay, well I want you to text me if anything's wrong, I mean it" he said as he lifted her chin up to look at him "tomorrow you'll tell him you're gone and you'll find me outside waiting for you. You will stay at mine, no arguments" and he smiled, happy that maybe things would turn out okay after all.

*Jess's POV*

She chuckled at Steve ordering her about like this. He'd always done it, ever since they were children. Even playing games resulted in him turning it into some kind of mission. But she liked it, it gave her that familiar sense of security that she'd always had around him. "Okay" she told him and that's all he needed to hear. She grabbed her phone out of her bag and looked at the time, 1:07am.

"Shit, Steve I gotta get back. He's gonna go mad as it is, I'll text you when it's clear. Oh god, I didnt know it was that late!" she started to panic and Steve could see. "Jess... JESS, it's okay. I'll get us a taxi and I'll drop you off. All you need to say is that you lost track of time because you're not in work tomorrow and went for a drink..." he could feel her shoulders relax a tiny bit underneath his hands and he smiled at her. He was right, she did have a couple of days off so she could, theoretically, do whatever she wanted. "Come on" he told her as she felt him wrap his jacket around her and left his arm resting on her shoulders as he led her back towards the bar.

The taxi ride was pretty silent. Both thinking about how it was all going to play out. Neither of them were stupid and didnt think for a second that Ryan was just going to open the door and let her go but both were hoping that maybe, just maybe, things would work out for them. As the taxi stopped outside her house and she had got her keys out of her bag she looked at Steve. "Thankyou for tonight, I'll text you tomorrow to let you know when to be here?" and once again her stomach was in knots thinking about how it would all go down. "Yeah do that, aloha ahiahi Jess, akahele" and she nodded and left the taxi. She waved to Steve as she got to the front door and she heard the taxi drive off. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door, taking her shoes off and locking it behind her. She called out quietly "aloha" hoping that maybe Ryan had fallen asleep and she could just save the explaining. She got no reply and felt a sudden sense of relief and she walked into the kitchen smiling to herself knowing that all she had to do now was wait until tomorrow to leave. She quietly switched on the kitchen light and jumped out her skin when she saw that Ryan was stood at the end of the kitchen island leaning forwards on the counter. Act normal, she told herself, and smiled at him before stating "you're up late, why are you stood in the dark?" and gave a small chuckle to ease the tension.

"I'm up late? You're out late..." he told her and she could easily see that he wasn't going to let this go so easy. "Well I don't have work tomorrow and Steve asked..." and she could see his face scrunch up as soon as he heard her mention Steve's name. "I just went for a few drinks with friends Ryan, nothing major" and she turned around and headed towards the stairs hoping to just get a hot shower and a night's sleep. She had made it up about 5 or 6 steps when all of a sudden she felt her leg being yanked out from underneath her causing her to hurl forward and whack her head on the stairs. "You really think that's gonna work huh?" she heard him snarl as she tried to get her bearings back from hitting the stairs so hard. He grabbed her foot again and started to pull her towards him, she could smell the alcohol on him, and she kicked out trying to get him to release her foot so she could go upstairs.

"Ryan please! Just leave it" and his grip tightened on her ankle as he brought his fist down to her face busting her lip. "Leave it? You are with another man the whole night and you want me to leave it!" and she could feel her lip throbbing as sheer pain flowed through her. "He is just a friend you know that" she screamed and finally attempted to stand up as he let go of her ankle. She was crying and looked at him "Ryan please, just stop, no more" and just like that he turned around and stumbled into the front room. She just stood there, reminding herself that she'd be okay. Come tomorrow you can go she told herself, she heard Ryan turn the TV on and open another beer so she took that as her chance to go upstairs. She skipped the shower, too tired and upset to bother, changed into her pyjamas, tied up her hair and lay on her bed. Her phone was on the bedside table and she heard it vibrate. As she sat up and grabbed her phone her screen notified her that she had a text.

"Hope you are okay, everything will work out I promise. Get some rest, Steve x"

Even in the crappiest situations he manages to make her smile with even the simplest of words. She found herself just lying there staring at the window until sleep finally consumed her.

Aloha ahiahi – good evening

Akahele – be careful