Prompt: Secret Santa (part 1)
Pairing: Steve McGarrett x OFC (Autumn) / Fandom: Hawaii 5-O
The day for the team's Secret Santa was fast approaching and Steve had yet to buy his gift. It had been Kono's idea and, despite his early objections, he realized that it would be a good team exercise, after some convincing from both Kono and Danny. They all decided to pick the names from a hat and, of course, he had to take Kono's.
He had been struggling with what to buy her since he saw her name on that little piece of paper and even more as time went by. At first, he thought of getting her a second gun, one she could wear on her ankle or even as her personal gun, but was quickly shut down by his girlfriend, Autumn. As she so pointedly reminded him, the gifts had a price limit, so he was back at square one. That's when he decided to enlist Autumn's help and see if she could help him buy a gift for Kono.
Autumn had dragged him to the local mall to browse the stores and see if they saw something they both thought would be a good gift for Kono. So, that's where he was, walking around the mall through a sea of people, his arm wrapped tight around Autumn's waist and not having a clue what to buy.
Every once in a while, Autumn would give a suggestion but after thinking about it, they would both decide against it. Passing through a surfing store, Autumn thought it would be a good idea to give Kono something surf related, after all, she had been a professional surfer when she was younger and would still hit the waves every chance she could get.
Walking inside the store and after browsing for a while, they were both certain that they had found something that Kono would like. It wasn't nothing too expensive or flashy, instead being something that Steve knew that Kono would need.
Kissing Autumn, Steve lead her to the front of the store to pay for the item they had chosen, his arm still perfectly locked around her waist. They paid for the gift, having it wrapped in the store and made their way back into the hustle and bustle of the mall's hallways.
Once they had moved away from the front of the store, Steve pulled Autumn close and kissed her, thanking her for helping him chose Kono's gift. She told him that that was something that girlfriends did and that made him smile. He still couldn't believe that he got to call her his girlfriend.
They had only been together for a few months, but that didn't stop him from already loving her deeply. They had known each other since they were kids and he had always had a bit of a crush on her, so for her to be by his side now, it was beyond full-circle for them.
When they first reconnected, it was like no time had passed at all. They would text each other out of the blue, just to tell the other about some joke they had heard or about something they had remembered from when they were kids. At lunch time, they would call just to check in and to set something for after work. It didn't take long for Danny and Lou to start teasing Steve about it, but he didn't care.
It wasn't until Kono pointed out to him, after a particularly emotionally difficult case, that she had never seen Steve as happy as he's been since he reconnected with Autumn, that he realized that she was right. It was then that he had decided that he was going to ask Autumn out on a date. Her answer was fairly simple: "What took you so long?". He still chuckled every time he remembered that moment.
Now, just a few months later, he was sure he had never been as in love with someone as he was with Autumn. She meant everything to him and he knew he would go to hell and back for her. Looking back at her, Steve kissed the side of her head and pulled her closer. She had felt his grip on her tighten and it made her look back at him, a smile on her lips.
Walking around the mall, making their way back to his truck through the crowd, Steve couldn't help but think that, for him, Christmas had come earlier.
(To be continued in Part 2)