Aloha Au La 'Oe (I Love You)

Longer chapter...

Evening outfit in profile...

*Jess's POV*

She truly was having one of the best days of her life. She was walking out of the sea after swimming by herself when she spotted Steve sat on the beach towel not too far ahead of her just staring. He looked happy yet she could tell something was bothering him. There were times when they'd have trouble controlling their laughter yet then there were times where he'd be silent and just look at her as if he had something to say but didnt quite know how to put it into words. And quite frankly it was making her both curious and nervous at the same time.

"Nice swim?" she heard Steve ask as she sat herself down on the towel next to his. She smiled, "yeah it was lovely, you too scared to come in?" she joked with him as she playfully knocked his shoulder. He gazed at her and showed her that perfect smile of his that he always did, "me scared? Definitely not. I was just enjoying my view," he winked and she immediately could feel the heat in her cheeks. He smirked to himself, almost as if he was enjoying making her blush.

"What time do the guys get here?" she asked trying to change the subject onto anything other than her being Steve's 'view'. He knew what she was doing, trying to change subjects, but he humoured her. "In about an hour I think, told em I was gonna do a BBQ so of course Danny wanted to come as early as he possibly could" and with that they both chuckled knowing how much of a fan Danny was of BBQ meat. She looked down at herself, she was covered in sand, and her hair was now a curly mess with being wet and drying naturally. She had to sort herself out before everyone came. She stood up and picked up her towel and looked down at Steve, "I'm gonna go get a shower and make myself look presentable, won't be long," she smiled and started to walk back towards the house.

"Jess..." she heard Steve shout out to her. With that she turned back to look at him, "yeah?" she asked curious to know what he wanted. She could see him thinking but all she got was "never mind, clean towels are in the bathroom, I put them in before". Surely that wasn't what he was going to say? But it was obvious she wasn't getting anything more out of him at this moment in time so she smiled and continued to walk back to the house.

*Steve's POV*

All day they had been having fun. He'd thrown her in the sea a couple of times which led to her chasing him around the beach bringing back so many childhood memories. She was the one. There was no doubt about it, he felt carefree when he was with her; like they were the only people on earth. He found himself time and time again just looking at her, looking at how beautiful she was and how he longed for her. She stood up to go for a shower and change before the guys came and he so wanted to just tell her exactly how he felt. "Jess," he called out to her. And he bottled it. For some reason he bottled it and couldn't do it. Was it too soon? Too soon from her splitting with Ryan? He sighed after telling her some lame excuse as to what he wanted her for. He rattled his brain as to when the perfect moment would be to tell her whilst he picked up his own beach towel and headed back.

*Jess's POV*

She had left just enough time for her to get changed into some clothes after having her shower. Yet she was stood in front of the drawers that she had unpacked her clothes into trying to find something to wear. She didnt want to dress up too much as it was only food and drinks on the back porch with her closest friends yet she wanted to make an effort. She wanted to look nice for Steve. And then she shocked herself. She was trying to make herself look nice for Steve... All she wanted was for him to tell her how he felt when he called her back earlier on in the day but maybe it was all one-sided? Maybe that was just her wishing that he loved her back as much as she did him.

She decided on a cute summery night outfit which was pretty low in the front with a nice necklace and started on her hair and makeup. Her makeup was minimal, some eyeliner this time to make her eyes stand out a bit more and her hair was curly with a bit pinned up at the front to keep it from her eyes. She could hear Steve downstairs greeting the guys into the house, the familiar roar of Danny as he came in and tackled Steve, Kono and Chin laughing at the show. She turned to look at herself in the mirror. She felt pretty. But would Steve?

"You look gorgeous," came a female voice from her bedroom door. She turned to see Kono stood there; she hadn't even heard her come up. "Thanks Kono, it feels nice now I can actually make the effort without having someone hate me for it," she told her referring to Ryan. "Steve will love it," and before she turned to go to the bathroom Kono winked at her. What does that mean Jess thought to herself? How did Kono know she was trying to look nice for Steve?

She shrugged it off and started to make her way downstairs. The house was quiet to which she assumed everyone was already out in the back. She entered the kitchen and saw Danny leant against the counter texting on his phone. "Hey Danny" she greeted and with the sudden interruption he looked up whilst putting his phone away into his pocket. "WOWWWW look at you! You look great," he exclaimed as he ran to the back door. She was a bit surprised at his reaction and followed him to the door as he stood there. She heard him shout to the guys outside, "Oh my lord Steve, can we swap houses? I want the one with the pretty gal inside," and she chuckled as she heard the others joining in with the laughter. Danny stepped out to allow her room to exit and she saw Steve stood with his back to them placing the meat on the BBQ and Chin sat at the table drinking his beer. By this time Kono had come back down and was taking the seat next to Chin.

"Wow Jess!" she heard Chin say as he placed his beer back onto the table. 'Okay now I feel totally overdressed' she thought to herself a bit taken back by all the reactions. Had she over done it? Steve took one look at her and she saw his eyes open as wide as they possibly could. He was speechless. She looked gorgeous. Utter perfection was the only way he could describe her. "You look amazing," he told her. And with that she relaxed. As long as he liked it, she was okay. She smiled at Steve and went to grab a beer before joining the others sat at the table and joined them in their conversation.

Steve couldn't take his eyes off her. "Don't you have a job to do?" he heard Danny ask him as he playfully punched his shoulder. Steve looked at him and continued with putting the meat onto the BBQ. He didnt answer Danny as such, just smirked, "we are definitely not swapping houses," he told him as Danny laughed. "I figured that'd be your answer," Danny chuckled as they raised their bottles to one another and took one big swig of their beer.

It was late and they were all full and all a bit tipsy. They were all talking about cases at work which had made them laugh and one in particular had Danny nearly in tears as he remembered Steve fall off a cliff and break his arm. Of course it wasn't as funny as he made out, Steve had broken his arm after all, but being intoxicated didnt let that get in the way for him. Steve shook his head and laughed as he turned his head to look at Jess. She had held his attention all night. All he wanted to do was tell everyone to leave so he could be alone with her. He wanted her; he'd by lying if he said otherwise.

Kono stood up which caused Steve to look away from Jess, "well guys I'm gonna head home, we're all up for work early tomorrow," and with that Danny and Chin stood up too. Truthfully Jess was kind of glad that they were wrapping up the night. She had loved tonight, it really had been great but she was so tired. They all hugged and said goodnight to each other and Jess stayed in the back as Steve walked them all to the front door.

She was gathering the last of the plates outside as she heard Steve shut the front door. She entered the kitchen, placed the pots in the dishwasher and looked down the corridor to see Steve walking back. It was then she realised that he had drank a lot more than she had. He stumbled a bit coming back into the kitchen as he greeted her with a big grin. She smiled as she grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. She knew he'd need it.

"You really do look beautiful tonight Jess," she heard Steve say from behind her. Turning round from filling the glass she had she realised he was a lot closer than he was before. Being this close to him made her nervous. "Thankyou," she whispered looking at his face studying hers. "Here, you'll need this later on no doubt," she chuckled handing him the glass of water. He smirked but still didnt take his eyes off her. Grabbing the glass from her hand he set it down on the counter behind her. The house was silent. The only thing you could hear was the calm and steady breathing of Steve and the ever quickening breath of Jess. Bringing up his right hand he pushed a stray piece of hair from out of her face and placed his hand on her cheek.

The silence was getting to the point of being unbearable for Jess, but just as she was about to reach that point Steve had leant down and placed his lips upon hers. His lips were soft, as she had remembered from the last kiss they shared. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the moment. Steve must have noticed the tension leave her body as he took the opportunity to move even closer to her and deepen the kiss. His left hand that had been leaning on the counter behind her, almost as if to trap her in his arms was now at the bottom of her back pulling her as close to him as was possible. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he she heard him groan softly. Next thing she knew he had lifted her up onto the counter and placed himself in-between her legs as he continued to kiss her. She could feel Steve trying to push the kiss further. She had wanted this for so, so long and she still did but she couldn't help thinking that maybe they should wait until they were both sober.

"Steve," she tried to say but he was so in the moment he didnt take notice and continued kissing her. Placing her hands on his shoulders she pushed him a tiny bit trying to get him to pay attention, "Steve," she said again and nothing. Trying again for the third time she spoke up a bit louder than before, "Steve, please," as she broke away. He looked confused.

*Steve's POV*

He was so confused and he didnt know whether it was the drink or the situation. He was completely under the impression that she had wanted this just as much as he did. And that's exactly what he asked. "I thought you wanted this?" he asked her. She remained silent for a couple of seconds which to him seemed like hours. "I do," she told him quietly as she looked down at the floor. "So what's wrong? Why did you stop?" he asked and he hadn't even noticed that his voice was getting louder with each sentence. She looked up at him and placed both her hands on his cheeks and looked him in the eyes as she told him, "Steve I want this more than anything, I just want us to do it when we have clear heads. You've had a few to drink, I'm beyond tired, and you're up early for work..." and he remained speechless. She was right. He had drunk quite a bit. Her hands left his cheeks as they were placed in between her legs again and he saw her fiddling with her nails. Something she did when she was scared or nervous. She'd done it since she was young. Then it clicked. He had scared her. Besides the drinking he had raised his voice a bit. It must have reminded her of Ryan.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed like that," he told her as he took her hands. He took his right hand and lifted her chin. "I'm sorry," he told her again. She gave him a soft smile, "It's okay, look let's get some sleep. You're up early, we can sort things out tomorrow when we've both cleared our heads?" she asked him. He didnt want to wait until tomorrow but he could tell she was tired. He nodded softly as she kissed his cheek and hopped off the counter. She touched his shoulder gently as she walked out of the kitchen towards the stairs leaving him standing at the counter.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't go another night or day without telling her. He wanted her to know. He turned and jogged to the stairs to find her half way up. "Jess," he called out to her. "Yeah?" she asked quietly as she turned to look at him.

"I love you".