Prompt: No Power (part 1)

Pairing: N/A / Fandom: Hawaii 5-O

It was a heatwave like no other, which was saying a lot in Hawaii. It was a matter of time for the power to go out. Steve was expecting it, but not on his anniversary with Emily. This was their third year together and he wanted to make it special. He even had asked Danny to cook his family's Italian recipes for dinner, since Emily loved Italian food.

He had met Emily while surfing one afternoon after work, accidently hitting her with his board. He quickly apologized to her and even offered to take her to the hospital, but she had said that she was okay, telling him that he could buy her a beer instead.

They started surfing together almost everyday and, after a few months, Steve gathered the courage necessary to ask her out on a date. It was a short date, since his work got in the way, but she still agreed to go on a second date with him, and then a third and a forth. Three years later and he was still falling in love for her every single day.

Steve had everything planned out. He put a table out on the back porch, with a checkered table cloth and cloth napkins. A good wine was chilling in the fridge and he already had all the ingredients Danny would need for the meal. He had put up fairy lights all around the porch, a suggestion that came from Grace and that it gave a more romantic feel to the whole evening.

That's when the power went out. At first, he thought that it was just his house fuse box, but then realized that his whole neighborhood was out. "Now what?", he thought, not wanting to cancel their evening in. Calling Danny, he was hoping that he might be able to give him an idea. The idea actually came from Melissa, suggesting that he could use candles to light their dinner and the space around them.

Steve took her suggestion and ran with it. He grabbed as many candles as he could from the house and spread them around the back porch and the closest part of the backyard, using also some tiki torches to light the rest. Taking a step back and looking around, he couldn't help but to feel proud of his work. "I gotta remember to buy a thank you gift for Melissa.", he thought, knowing that her suggestion had just saved their night.

He had also remembered that he had a small generator in his garage, so he hooked it up to just the essentials, such as the fridge. Steve knew the generator could power the house for the night, but he didn't know how long it was gonna take for the power to come back, so he decided to go just with the essentials. Besides the backyard looked perfect with all the candles, he was sure she was gonna love it.

A knock on the door signaled that it was Danny coming over to cook their dinner. When Steve had asked, Danny played hard to get but eventually agreed. Steve knew that Danny wouldn't say no. Danny and Emily were kindred spirits, liked some of the same things, mostly how they both worried about Steve and his crazy stunts. Steve also knew that the moment that Grace had given her stamp of approval on uncle Steve's girlfriend, there was no way that Danny wouldn't like Emily.

Steve opened the door and let Danny and Grace in. They said their hellos and quickly got to work. Danny was making them lasagna and stracciatella cheesecake, two of Emily's favorites. Steve tried helping but was shot down by both Danny and Grace. He couldn't help but laugh at how Grace looked like her father in that moment. Grace took a look at the clock and told him that he should get ready, while they finished things.

He agreed and made his way towards his bedroom. Stripping down, he jumped in the shower and had one of his famous "three-minutes" showers. Wrapping a towel around him, he moved back into his room and got dressed. He was going to wear a summer suit, without the tie. He knew how much Emily loved to see him in a suit, but he had also told her to dress up, giving her the impression that they were going to go out. Sure, it was a small lie, but he knew Emily would much rather spend the evening in the house than going out.

Coming downstairs, he found that Danny and Grace had just finished and were just cleaning up. Walking in the kitchen, he heard Danny whistling and Grace telling him that he looked nice. He thanked and hugged her and sent a look Danny's way. Danny told him that all he had to do was turn the oven off in thirty minutes and then let it settle another five minutes, before serving. Steve nodded in understanding and thanked them both for helping him. They both hugged Steve and said their goodbyes before leaving.

Steve was nervous, it had been a while since he had been in such a long relationship, which with his work with 5-O and the Navy, wasn't easy to accomplish. But Emily had been amazing and so understanding, that he knew he had to go all out for their third anniversary.

Now, all he could do was wait for her to arrive. She should be there around the time he had to turn the oven off, so it was perfect. It would give her time to settle in and drink some wine before he would bring dinner out. Danny had planned things perfectly.

Thirty minutes passed and he turned the oven off as instructed. That's when he heard the unmistakable sound of her car engine coming down the driveway, towards the house. "Let's hope she likes it.", he thought, walking towards the front door.