This chapter is very heavy on dialogue, but I felt it was the best way for us to find out what is going on in Shauni's head. It's best to hear it from her own mouth. There is also a description or re-telling of an incident of domestic violence, so please skip this chapter if that bothers you.

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Shauni looked at Steve and every bit of emotion she had felt after leaving him came to surface. There was no hiding what was in her heart. She had missed him more than she thought possible, but she was also conflicted and felt uncertain at the intensity of what she felt for him. How many times since meeting Steve had she told herself it was lust…not love?

However, despite having this discussion with herself many times over the last couple of weeks, it didn't seem her heart was buying into that theory. And regardless of the war going on within her heart, Shauni felt an immense sense of relief and happiness seeing Steve in front of her. Her heart threatened to overflow and one truth was running through her mind: He came after her. She had followed her normal status quo and pushed him away, but Steve had followed after her rather than staying away. Yeah, she had a feeling he was going to give her hell for that later…and she probably deserved it. After all, he would want to know why, and he wouldn't give up until he knew the story behind her disappearing act.

It didn't matter. She could have actually sighed in contentment realizing he'd come after her. In spite of the fact they had a lot to talk about, all she really wanted in this moment was to run to him, wrap her legs around his waist, and kiss him until neither of them could breathe.

Yes, she would love to do that. If only her defenses weren't up. But they were…..and at the moment they were stronger than her desire to be with him.

"What are you doing here?" she found it hard to speak and was surprised at how her voice merely squeaked out.

"Why did you stop answering my calls?" Steve countered.

Not ready to tell him just yet, she asked another question, "How did you find me?"

Steve took a step towards her, "Your sister told me where you were."

Shauni's eyes widened in surprise. "You called my sister?"

"No actually she called me. Then, your Mom and Dad called me. I guess you could say it was a family effort."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Steve confirmed, "Sasha called to tell me I needed to…..and I quote….. 'talk some sense into your stubborn ass'…..which I had already decided to do right before she called me. She told me you were here. Then, as soon as I started looking for a flight, your parents called and basically told me the same thing. In fact, your dad was the one who gave me the security code to get in."

Shauni glanced towards the house, "And what about Isa?"

Steve smiled at her, "She's in on it too. Your parents called and told her I was on my way."

He's so sexy when he smiles, Shauni's heart skipped a beat.

But my family turned against me?

No, not against you…..Maybe they are trying to help you.

But, I should still be angry. I mean whose side are they on anyway?

Oh, but look at that smile. He's so damn sexy when he smiles.

Feeling ridiculous for the way her mind and heart were arguing inside her head, Shauni contemplated whether or not she really was losing her mind. Or maybe just losing her heart? Who was she kidding….Her heart was already gone and it had Steve McGarrett's name written all over it.

Oh this is ridiculous. Snap out of it!

She stood in stunned silence trying to comprehend the effort all of them had gone through to get Steve there. Not to mention how he had flown a great distance to be with her.

Steve walked a little closer to her and was the first to break the silence. "Soooo…You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Shauni feigned innocence.

Stubborn woman. Steve kept his voice calm, but firm. "Cut the crap, Shauni. You know as well as I do that you didn't need to leave Hawaii early to go back to L.A. Especially considering you aren't even IN L.A., but in Tahoe. So why did you leave? And why are you here? Why are you shutting me out and hiding?"

Shauni tried again, "Who said I'm hiding?"

Steve let out a sarcastic laugh, "Are you serious? I mean…..Are you seriously going to stand there and pretend that that's true?" He waited for her to respond, and continued when she said nothing. He inhaled a deep breath, "Okay…..For starters? Your mom and dad say you're running away. So does your sister. So do John and Stacy. And so do Chin, Kono, and Danny. Shall I go on?"

Shauni had the decency to look embarrassed, "ALL of them?"

"Yes. All of them. And so do I." He took a couple more steps towards her until he was within reaching distance of her, but rather than doing what he wanted to do, he kept his arms at his sides. One touch would be all it took to forget his resolve to talk things through with her first. "So why don't you start by telling me why you left and why you've been ignoring my calls?"

Frustration showed on her face as she threw her hands up in frustration. "Okay, fine. Here it is: Relationships with someone in showbiz don't last. It's a recipe for disaster and a guaranteed 'fail'. Trust me, I was doing you a favor."

"I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."

Shauni tried not to let her mind wander on his "big boy" comment.

"And why are you worried about relationships that fail? Haven't your parents been together for….."

"Thirty years," Shauni finished, "Yes. They have been together for 30 years. But they are the exception. There aren't many relationships that last long-term in Hollywood…It just doesn't work."

"So let me get this straight. You're trying to tell me that you backed away all of a sudden from what we have together because you had this epiphany on 'showbiz relationships' not working?" Steve was trying not to lose his temper.

Shauni stood speechless and tried to stand her ground. It didn't sound nearly as good coming out of his mouth as it had when she said it herself. She crossed her arms and huffed a breath in frustration before looking away from his penetrating gaze.

Since she refused to answer, he continued, "Okay, first of all, you can't compare us to every other couple you may know. We aren't going to be a 'Hollywood couple' just because you live and work there."

Shauni opened her mouth to speak, but Steve held up his hand to silence her. "I'm not finished," he practically barked and Shauni clamped her mouth shut in surprise. "And second, you didn't even talk to me about it. You went from hot to cold. Then you left, lied to me about why you left, and shut down. You gave me no explanation…..at all."

Shauni's chin rose up in defiance, "Yeah, well, I didn't think guys liked to talk, so this just made it easier. Consider yourself lucky….I saved you the trouble of talking things out and then figuring out we aren't right for each other."

"So basically you're saying you left me before I could leave you. Right?"

Shauni hated to say it, but it was true. Sort of. "Yes," she answered.

Shauni instantly knew she had pushed too far as she saw anger flash in his eyes. "Why would you even think that? I'm not leaving…..I'm not going anywhere. As for 'not talking', you didn't even give me a chance! And by the way, this is a great story and all, but I'm not buying any of it. There is something else you aren't telling me."

Steve saw her bottom lip tremble as she kept her arms crossed in front of her. He hated to push her so hard, but it seemed to be the only way to break down the walls she'd constructed around her heart. He saw her façade breaking, so before she had a chance to gain control and shut herself down again, he pushed again. "Dammit, Shauni, talk to me. Tell me the real reason you shut me out."

Steve was certainly no expert on love. If anyone had reason to distrust relationships, he would be first in line. But what had happened between him and Shauni was strong enough that it made him at least want to try. He couldn't understand why she would fight it.

Finally, he couldn't wait to hold her anymore. He pulled her to him and held her close, "Tell me who hurt you and made you afraid to let anyone close again."

Her voice was heavy with emotion as she answered him, "I can't."

He pushed her away gently and looked down into her eyes, "Yes you can. And I'm not going anywhere until you do. Understand?"

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Unbeknownst to Shauni and Steve, Isabella was inside watching their interaction with interest. Normally, she wouldn't eavesdrop. She had a very good life with the Steele's and was fiercely protective of her extended family. However, this time couldn't be helped. Olivia had called to 'check in' and see if Steve had arrived safely. Upon hearing that he was there, Olivia wanted a full rundown on what was going on between them.

"I've only heard bits and pieces of their conversation, Ms. Olivia, but it looks to me as if you were right about this Steve McGarrett?"

"Oh? How so?"

Isabella couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, it appears as if he definitely has the upper hand. Every time she has tried to give him an excuse for leaving, he is pushing her for more of an explanation. Shauni isn't fooling him and now I think she is finally opening up to him."

"Oh, thank God." Olivia sighed. "I'm telling you, Isa, he is the real deal. If he can get through to her and figure out what it is that makes her close herself off, he'll be sticking around for a while. Mark my words."

"Good. And if I may say so, you were right about another thing. That man is definitely easy on the eyes." Both women laughed before Isa told Olivia she had to go. Steve and Shauni were making their way inside and she didn't want to be caught talking about them. She promised to fill Olivia in later and hung up just as the two walked into the house.

They made their way to the large great-room before sitting beside each other on the couch. Isabella made herself scarce and tried her best not to disturb them.

Steve reached over and took one of Shauni's hands into his own, "Now, tell me what has you so scared?"

"Before I tell you anything, you have to promise me this will not get back to my parents. Do you understand?"

That can't be good, Steve thought, but he knew he would have to make the promise if he wanted to reach her. "You have my word."

Shauni gathered her courage and finally told the story no one besides her sister knew in its entirety. "Several years ago, I started dating someone. He was an 'up and coming' actor and was being dubbed as the 'Next Big Thing'. At that time, my music career hadn't started, so I was basically just known as Derek Steele's daughter. Tabloids loved us which made him happy because the exposure was good for his career. Things were great for a while. Really great, actually, and I fell head over heels in love. Then…"

She looked up at Steve and his heart broke at the pain he saw in her eyes, "Then what?" he gently urged her on.

"Then…I made my first album and my first single made it to Number One on the charts. The second single did the same thing a few weeks later, and from there things skyrocketed for me. He got jealous…..and I didn't see it at first, but now I realize a lot of our problems were caused over his jealousy of my career. I was making a name for myself and he was intimidated by it I guess. It was all fine when I was just Derek Steele's daughter, but once I started my own career, he couldn't take it."

"So what happened?"

"Isn't that enough?" She was practically pleading with him to let it go.

"I might be able to understand why that would cause a break-up for a guy who is insecure, but not why it would cause you to run away from what we could have together. So tell me the rest."

She sat still for a minute in silence. "He got very possessive and started accusing me of cheating on him. Every time I went to any business thing or personal appearance without him, he would accuse me of flirting with guys or accuse me of going out on him even though nothing could be further from the truth. It started getting worse and Sasha begged me to end it, but I was in love. Stupid and in love."

"How much worse did it get?" Steve asked even though he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. "Did he ever hurt you?"

Shauni turned away but there was no hiding the tears that quickly filled her eyes. "My dad started filming on location, so he and my mom were gone for a couple of months. He came over one night after I had gone to an industry party without him and we got into a huge fight." She breathed in a shaky breath and Steve reached to rub his hand up and down her back comfortingly. "He had been drinking, which didn't make it any better. He pushed me up against the wall and had his hand around my throat. Sasha heard the commotion and found us, but by the time she got there, he had me on the floor choking me and had bloodied my lip."

Steve raked a hand over his face, "Son of a bitch," he bit out. "So tell me how it is that no one besides Sasha knows this happened? How did you keep it from your parents?"

"Because I begged her not to tell anyone. Especially not my dad because he would have killed him."

Steve shook his head in agreement. He'd like to do the same thing.

"Since they were out of town, I laid low for a few days and told John that I had the flu in order to get out of some appearances I had scheduled. Within a few days, my face had pretty much healed and I hid the bruises on my arms by wearing long shirts or jackets. Momma and Daddy knew we broke up….and I think they were relieved…..but they never knew how bad it was."

Steve waited a few minutes before speaking again so he could get a grip on his anger as well as think about everything she'd told him.

"So you're afraid of that happening again?" he asked, "You're afraid I'm going to get jealous or hurt you?-Because you have to know I would never do that to you. Never. I will probably kick his ass if I ever see him, but I would never hurt you. And as far as being jealous over your career, I can honestly tell you I have no desire to go down that road myself. I just want you. Just you. But you have to be willing to give us a chance."

He reached up to wipe away a tear that had escaped and was rolling down her cheek. "Can you do that?" he asked.