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A/N: Hey guys! It's our anniversary! A year ago today I started writing this story! Can you believe that guys? Would you like to know the stats for this story? As of today I've written 136 chapters, 1,577 pages, and 804,515 words since i started. Can you believe that guys? I mean really? Can you?! I'm honestly shocked by this mammoth of a story, and we're not even half way yet.

Kay, I know this is bad timing, cause I ended the last one on a cliffhanger… but I mean… this fluffy little chapter should make up for it. So what I've decided to do here is post up SPOILERS! This here… is Rowan and Steve's proposal! So just a little background this is going to happen in season 7 after episode 7. There is a bunch of filler between episode 7 and episode 8 (I think about 10 or more chapters of filler) and the proposal is one of them. A bit of the back story is Steve and Wo Fat had to go on a bit of a rescue mission to get Rowan back, (I know right? Wo Fat and Steve working together?) and as a little vacation, Wo Fat gave them a vacation at a romantic getaway. This is where the proposal happens. That's all you're getting for spoilers! Just a little bit of fluff

Thank you, guys, so much for making this story what it is today. Thank you for your continual love and support. Thank you, AJ for all the inspiration that I will be using later in the chapters. Thank you, PJ and Alex Lover for always having a positive thing to say and sharing your emotional reactions to the story, I honestly love reading them. And thanks to Runningwyld for being my story soundboard, I love bouncing ideas off with you. And I hope you enjoy this little look at Steve and Rowan's eventual happily ever after (see I wasn't lying, I do have it planned out). Regular schedule updates will continue on Monday!

Chapter 116

The all-inclusive Paradise Island Romantic getaway was everything Wo Fat had said it would be. They had couples outings where they could swim with marine life, hike up and down the many trails, both with tours and without, they could go on boat rides, and kayak rides, go snorkeling, diving, all kinds of swimming, and go out for dinner at a different restaurant every night. In five days they had done everything there was to do and had as much sex as a pair of rabbits in the spring.

Steve fucked her everywhere. In the bed, in the bath, on the balcony, in every swimming pool the hotel had to offer, on the beach, in the ocean and against every tree he could find. They even fucked during one of their scuba diving sessions.

It was tricky but it was worth it.

That's what this incident had proved. That Rowan was worth everything. She was worth chancing his position with Five-0. She was worth going to jail over. She was worth dealing with Wo Fat for four days. She was worth every little bit of frustration she caused him over the years. Worth every fight, every scar and every shed tear. Because it all came down to one thing:

Steve McGarrett was nothing without Rowan Pierce.

So that morning, waking up shrouded in soft white, the sound of the surf lulling him into a sense of a serene calmness, Steve found himself staring at the sleeping face of the woman he loved. His heart sung, filling his chest with this glorious happiness at finding himself in bed with her and wanting nothing more than to stay just in this spot for the rest of his life. With the rising sun illuminating the highlights in her dark brown hair and playing across the features on her face, Steve McGarrett made what would be a life changing a decision for him.

He was going to propose to Rowan today.

This was a gamble for Steve. He had offered Rowan marriage earlier that month and had been shot down out of the sky. Wo Fat had helped him see that it was because Rowan had wanted him to be romantic about it. She wanted a proposal and a proper wedding, not have him turn to her while she was making breakfast and tell her that they should go to the courthouse that day and get married. And looking back at it now, it made sense. His girl had always been a romantic, how many times had he made Danny plan the perfect date for them? And if Rowan wanted romance, then Steve would just have to deliver. How often had she done something just to make him smile? All those hikes, for one, Rowan hated hiking, hated camping, hated being out in nature, but she went to be with him, because it made him happy.

But even though Wo Fat told him that Rowan would say yes. Even Rowan had told him that she wasn't against the idea of marrying him, she just wanted him to propose to her properly like he had been willing to do with Catherine. He worried. Irrationally he worried whether or not she'd say yes to him, whether or not she had changed her mind.

The ring Wo Fat had given him waited in the hotel safe. Nestled behind his badge, his gun and their passports. It had been in the back of his mind ever since Wo Fat had given it to him. The circlet of rose gold would look like bejeweled ivy on her finger. He kept imagining it there, he wanted to know if it would shine the way it did in his mind.

But it was obviously stolen.

He wanted to be mad, but Wo Fat was right, that ring was Rowan's. That ring would get a yes from her before he even asked the question. And there was no way in hell he could propose to her with the ring he had gotten Catherine and he didn't have the time to find a suitable ring for Rowan, or the money for one that she deserved.

Steve found himself looking at Rowan's face, his fingers entangled in her hair, remembering the words Wo Fat had told him sitting on that boat in the middle of the Tokyo bay.

When you decide to do things right, call me, I know everything she wants and I can make it happen.

He slipped out of bed, out from under her arms, and out into the cold world. He had a wedding to see to and he wanted it to be a surprise.

He slipped out into the hallway with his phone already to his ear. He shot one last look at Rowan who was still asleep in their bed and felt a twinge at leaving her. But once the call connected he shut the door.

"I've decided to do it. How quickly can you get it done?" he asked instead of saying hello.

There was silence on the other end and then a sigh. A smile crept up on Steve's face. He was really going to do this and he wasn't afraid at all… mostly.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Rowan awoke to the bed shifting and Steve sliding on top of her. Immediately her arms came up to encircle his neck, her fingers brushed against the hair on the back of his neck. She moaned when he began to press soft but insistent kisses to the edges of her mouth.

"Mmmm, morning my baby," she whispered sleepily to him as his hands found their way under her to pressed her chest closer to his. She opened her eyes lazily and let her hands drift under his shirt. What was his shirt doing on? She made sure to throw that damn shirt as far away as she possibly could the night before. "Did you go somewhere?"

"I went for a run," he told her between kisses, his hands dipping lower causing her to lose her train of thought.

She found herself trailing a series of kisses down his jaw before she remembered to be mad that he left her alone in a hotel room to go for a silly old run. "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked.

Steve pulled his head out of her neck to stare at her, his eyes glimmered in the morning light, that breathtaking sky blue she was used to. His nose pressed against hers lightly like he was about to give her an Eskimo kiss.

"It was early, I wanted to let you sleep," he replied. Mm, how thoughtful.

He still needed to be punished though. She sunk her nails into the skin of his lower back and dragged them slowly up to his shoulder blades. The startled gasp that broke out from behind his clenched teeth warmed the skin of her shoulder as he pressed into her touch, arching his back up to get every inch of that motion.

When he could breathe again, when he was hovering over her again she found that the smirk playing across her lips was mirrored on his face. "You're playing a dangerous game Miss. Pierce," he warned her.

She licked her lips and then kissed him quick, pulling away before his tongue could delve into her mouth. The growl that echoed through the room caused her to laugh and for Steve to dig his fingers into her sides.

Rowan squealed as he tickled her. Her hips bucked against his as she struggled to get away from him, though she was only half trying. They laughed together until his mouth slammed down on hers and then there was a different reason for Rowan to be grinding against Steve's hips. Their hands found their ways under clothes, trying to pry themselves loose of any constraints.

His lips left hers so she could pull his shirt off and revel in his rippling chest. She was pantingly frantic to get her teeth into his shoulder, to feel him in places she didn't remember having until he awoke them. But there was something on his face, a sort of fear she only saw when he worried about losing her.

"I… I love you," came out of him and Rowan found herself coming to a standstill. It wasn't often that Steve said those words to her, yes he'd reciprocate if she said them to him first, but they very rarely came out of him first.

In fact the last time he had said it to her first he had thought they were going to die.

"What have you done?" she asked immediately and Steve faltered.

"Done?" he echoed.

"Yes, either you've done something to upset me or something has happened. Do we need to run? Is the Yakuza back?" she asked sitting up.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed, she could see his one track mind was frantically trying to find a way to get them back to what they had started.

"Rowan, I just wanted to say it to you," he said and Rowan had to think about that for a minute. Steve was very guarded with his feelings the way she was guarded about her family and her past. It wasn't like him to just volunteer emotions like that.

Looking into his eyes she knew then that he was lying. Something was wrong and he didn't want to tell her what it was.

"Oh… okay," she said softly being sure to watch his eyes. "I love you too."

His smile seemed genuine, his kisses seemed sincere but there was something he wasn't telling her. She thought of all the times he had pushed her away when his emotions got too much for him. And it was at that moment that she realized that Steve was thinking about breaking things off with her.

But she didn't want to argue with him at this moment. She wanted him over her, on her and in her. So even though she knew something was wrong she threaded her fingers through his hair and dragged him back down to the bed. His mouth like liquid metal against her skin, branding her, claiming her, finding those apex points and stroking the fire between them both. She tried to keep her mind on the task at hand, she wanted to lose herself in the pleasure, but her mind wasn't in it.

She was going to have to convince Steve to stay with her.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Steve had gotten a call while they were getting ready and he excused himself briefly to deal with it. When he came back he said he had something to do and he'd meet her for dinner in the hotel lobby. To her this was both a godsend and a curse. He had been distant since they had fucked that morning. He didn't take up her offer to join her in the shower, and he hadn't ever turned that down before. Sometimes he didn't ask her, he'd just step in and ravish her fully. He left the hotel room giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing off.

He was definitely upset about something. Definitely worried. She couldn't help but think that it was because he wanted to end things with her.

She had wanted to cling to him. Tell him he wasn't allowed to leave. But this time apart would be good for them. They had just spent the last five days practically joined at the hip. Okay that wasn't true, they had been joined at the pelvic region. Maybe he would just need some time to himself and he'd be alright and it would give her a chance to think things over and make a plan.

Still she had to come up with a plan, a way to make him see that they were great together, and yes, this incident with the Yakuza had been scary but at least it was over. They were safe. Wo Fat had vanished with his Nurse girlfriend. He didn't have to be worried, for the next little while she was safe.

She would beg him if he had to.

A text came in, reminding her about dinner. Asking her to wear something nice. She hadn't brought anything nice with her, she hadn't brought anything with her at all. That meant going all the way back down to the lobby to ask where the best place to buy a dress was.

She was handed off to an in-hotel boutique. It was a good thing the royalty cheques were still rolling on in because these dresses were pricy. But it provided her with an opportunity. She could pick an amazing dress. One that would wow him and remind him that he wanted to stay with her.

She looked at all the options and found the perfect one, actually with the help of the cashier girl who had practically shoved that dress in her face. It was a white mini dress strapless dress. The fabric was gossamer underneath but the cotton fabric on top was punched out to look like daisies, the little holes in the fabric showing skin in all the right places. It was perfect. It was everything she needed, and it had matching white heels with a leather daisy on the toe.

Oh yes, he wouldn't be able to resist her in this dress.

Once the dress was purchased, she went back to her hotel room, hoping to bump into him there. He still wasn't back. She had another text from him. Telling her to go down to the restaurant to meet him at 6pm. He may be a bit late but he was still coming. Rowan sighed. She wanted him there now. She wanted to put on that dress and see his reaction. As much as she loved their inventive sex out in public, she preferred to be in a bed. Not perched precariously on a bathroom counter, sand in unsavory places from the beach he dragged her down to or getting splinters from the tree he had her up against.

Plus, she wanted to see Steve in whatever "nice" outfit he had picked. If he showed up at their table in a suit… she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off of him.

At 6pm she was nervous. She headed down to the hotel restaurant clutching her white clutch and glancing around for him. She had pinned half of her short hair up in an elegant do and was wearing a set of pearls she had bought just for this occasion. God was her bank account going to hate her when she got back. When she couldn't spot him right away she went to the maître d' and gave his name.

A strange smile lit up his face. "Ah, yes, follow me," he told her and then led her to a table that was right by the stage. There wasn't going to be live music was there? Because she hated live music in small environments like this. Steve knew that. In places like this she was too close to the music, she'd get distracted too easily, and hotel cover bands, even in fancy hotel restaurants, had a habit of covering her songs… badly.

She sat down and carefully opened up her clutch to check her phone. Nothing from Steve. But he had said he might be late. People started filing out onto the stage and Rowan tried not to groan. Good god it was a live band. She was going to have to sit in front of them and smile. She tried not to glare at them, tried not to stare in an accusing way, trying to avoid making eye contact entirely.

But it was only one person on the stage. One person in a very nice suit. Rowan looked up and her mouth dropped open in surprise.

Why was Steve standing on that stage, dress to the nines and carrying a guitar? What was happening? Was she hallucinating?

She looked around at everyone else to see if they were seeing what she was seeing, and judging by some of the faces of the women around her were making she assumed they all saw him too. She turned back to Steve who smiled shakily at her and watched him take the mic.

"Hello," he said into it and a chorus of high-pitched hellos answered him. Well he was certainly the female's favourites already. And of course, he would be, dressed in a beautiful crisp navy-blue suit. God, she loved him in blue.

"It's been a very long time since I've done something like this," he told the crowd as he went about tuning his guitar. "And I've just learned the song today, so I'm sorry in advance if I hit any wrong notes."

This earned him a few chuckles and one drunken shout of: "Take your shirt off!"

Steve laughed himself, the microphone picking up the deep timber of his voice. That combined with the suit was a lethal combo alone, if he started singing she was going to have to fight girls to get to her own man.

"Not right now," he told them which got a chorus of aws. "Uh, so, this song was written by my girlfriend. She's uh sitting right there. This is… uh… this is for her."

He gestured at her and Rowan inwardly swore at him. All eyes were on her now, he knew she hated the lime light on her like this. What the hell was he doing? And then he started playing the guitar. She knew immediately what song he chose and her mouth went dry. Who had given him the music for that song? She had left all her sheet music at home.

"She recently told me I don't have a single romantic bone in my body," he announced to the crowd and that dazed smile fell right off her face and turned into a sour frown. Really? He was going to bring the whole restaurant into one of their arguments? REALLY?! "So I figured I'd take the time to prove her wrong."

Rowan knew Steve had a past history of not being able to perform in person. She wanted to launch up to her feet and tell him that he didn't have to do this. That when she said she wanted him to be romantic she meant buying her flowers, planning picnics on the beach or candle light dinners. She didn't mean she wanted him to face his fears or to make himself vulnerable in this way. But she didn't get the chance. He had already started singing.

Spent 24 hours, I need more hours with you. You spent the weekend, getting even, ooh ooh. We spent the late nights, making things right, between us.

Those were her lyrics. A song she wrote, once again as if he were speaking to her, and there he was singing it. His voice beautiful and rich, perfect like him. How had he ever thought that no one would like this voice? He kept his eyes focused on her and she realized that he wasn't being vulnerable to all these people. He was singing for her and her alone.

'Cause girls like you, run around with guys like me, 'til sundown. When I come through, I need a girl like you, yeah, yeah.

She could hear women swooning all around her. Hell, her own panties had dropped the second he started playing the guitar and she had thought herself completely immune to most of his charms. In the sense that he could flash her that dazzling smile and she could still remain mad at him. But with the dapper navy blue suit, the dazzling smile, the guitar playing and the singing she was helplessly enthralled with him. He could fuck her right here on the table in front of everyone and she wouldn't have given a shit.

A smile had stretched on his face as he stared at her. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. After this he could anything to her. Anything at all.

Maybe it's 6:45. Maybe I'm barely alive. Maybe you've taken my shit for the last time, yeah. Maybe I know I'm not fun. Maybe I know you're the one. Maybe I think I'm better with you around.

He had changed her lyrics. She had made them general, he made them specifically about them. He thought he was better when she was around? But the song was slowing and his eyes had focused on her and for the next few bars she felt like there was no one else in the world except her, Steve and that guitar.

'Cause girls like you, run around with guys like me, 'til sundown. When I come through, I need a girl like you, yeah yeah.

This was the part where it was just a few lines of music with no lyrics. She always left a few bars in her pop songs for where a rap interlude would go. For a collab, in case the artist wanted that. If they didn't she'd include a third verse. But she had yet to write the verse for this song.

She expected Steve to keep playing, but he carefully took the guitar off and handed it off.

TO ALEX?!

Rowan watched Alex take the guitar and start strumming along to the song. His band mates, Paul, Dan and Barry all joined him taking their respective instruments, but none of them had started playing yet.

Steve still had the microphone.

"These past few years and last week in particular have been very hard. I had to chase you around Japan wondering if the last time I saw you was going to be the very last time. Wondering if the last thing I said to you would be our last words. And getting you back, well it made me realize that we've wasted so much time trying to protect one another and ourselves from getting hurt. Well I'm done wasting that time," he said. He took the mic from the stand and walked off the stage. All eyes were on him at this point, women were reaching out to touch him as he went by like he was some rock star. Still Steve only had eyes for her.

He got to where she was sitting and he carefully arranged himself as he got down on one knee. A hand to his jacket as he unbuttoned it, the other hand put the microphone down on the table. Oh my god, if he did what she thought he was about to do, she'd scream.

"Rowan. You're my everything. Without you I'm worse than lost, I'm nothing. I've lost you so many times, Ro, I've let you slip through my fingers over and over, but I won't let that happen again," he said to her. He pulled a small black box out of his pocket and Rowan felt the air leave her body. She stared at Steve with misty eyes, oh my god she was going to start full on ugly sobbing in front of everyone and ruin her make up. She spent a lot of money getting this look done for me.

"Rowan Pierce, will you marry me?"

Though she could hear the people around them murmuring, some girls screaming with shocked delight for her, she knew that was Alex on the guitar, Paul on the Piano, Barry on the Base and Dan on the drums, Rowan's world had gone silent as she stared at the man she loved more than anything. Everything else was static to her. All she could see was that beautiful ring in that black box and she could hear was Steve.

Her ring. The ring she found in Venice. Where had he gotten that ring? She knew where he had gotten that ring. Goddamn Wo Fat. He told her he had returned the ring. But there it was, the rose gold ivy band she had loved so much. Twinkling out at her from the hand of the man she loved.

"Yes," she whispered, so quietly everyone else but Steve might have missed it. How could she say no to him when she wanted him oh so badly? All over the legitimacy of the ring.

"Yes?" he echoed.

Rowan laughed at him. "Yes, of course! Of course I'm going to say yes!" she cried. She was doing well at keeping herself composed but as soon as that ring slipped onto her finger she was crying. She just couldn't keep it in. Steve stood, sweeping her up in his arms and kissing her as the lyrics she wrote about him swirled around them and the people in the hotel restaurant all clapped and cheered.

Once Steve pulled away she whispered: "You know this ring is stolen right?"

"Oh of course, but I checked the price of it and it's not something I could afford. So, I figured I'd just overlook that little factoid," he admitted.

"Oh, Steven," Rowan groaned. Didn't he know that she would have said yes to any ring? He didn't need to get her an expensive ring.

"I know, I know, but it's your ring. I knew it the second I laid eyes on it," he whispered.

Rowan looked at the ring on her finger. She moved it about in the light so the diamonds set in the ivy leaves would twinkle and the fire opal gem that hung like a teardrop blazed against the backdrop of her golden skin. It really was her ring.

She put her hand to his cheek. "I could care less about the ring," she told him. "Anything would have been fine coming from my man."

He laughed and kissed her again as the song finished and it all died down. Steve's tight embrace was returned by Rowan. She clung to him as if he might trickle right through her fingertips and then once again looked at her ring.

How did she ever manage to land herself the most perfect man? She was the luckiest woman in the world.