Note: Set after Ragù and Promise. Thank you everyone for your continued support of the REAL World – it is incredibly heartening. Sammy and Mari – you girls are the best! Special thanks to EY for always being willing to work her editing magic.

No Argument (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

Catherine and Steve made their way down the stairs of Deb McGarrett's house after depositing their bags in the guestroom. Deb met them at the foot of the stairs.

"I bet you two are hungry," she said. "Dinner's all ready."

Steve reached the bottom of the stairs. "I hope you didn't go to any trouble, Aunt Deb."

"What trouble?" she chided. "I ordered take-out. They even delivered."

Steve and Catherine exchanged an amused look. Catherine smiled and said, "Well, we're no strangers to take-out."

"Okay, then, let's–" Deb began, but was cut off by the sound of Steve's phone ringing.

"I'm sorry, hold that thought," he said, taking his phone out and looking at the screen. "It's Danny. Lemme take this real quick."

He stepped around the two women, touching Catherine's lower back as he passed. Her gaze followed him before he disappeared through the kitchen and out the back door. Neither movement went unnoticed by Deb who was smiling knowingly when Catherine turned back to face her. She returned Deb's smile but crossed her arms.

"What?" Catherine asked Deb. "What's that look for?"

"What look?" Deb asked, trying for innocence.

Catherine smirked a little and motioned at Deb's face. "That . . . that patented McGarrett 'I was right' look. I'm very familiar with that look. Steve uses it a lot."

"Well, I was right."

Catherine raised her eyebrows in question.

Deb gave her another knowing look and said, "About you sticking around."

Catherine smiled, looking down briefly before meeting her eyes again.

Deb reached over and clasped her by the forearm. "I'm really glad you are. You're so good for him. He's . . . he's more relaxed than I've ever seen him. I know a lot of that is because of you." She motioned around them at the house. "I mean, here he is, visiting family. And it's not even a holiday."

Catherine laughed lightly at that, and then said, more seriously, "You're very important to him, Deb."

"Oh, I know. But I have to admit, I was . . . surprised when Steve called and asked if you two could visit for a couple days."

"It was his idea to come here."

Deb looked at her skeptically.

"It was," Catherine insisted. "I mentioned wanting to go see my grandma and he immediately thought we should come here, too."

Deb smiled at that, clearly touched.

Catherine continued, "After so long not really connecting with his family . . . some of that by his own choice," she added quickly when it looked liked Deb would interrupt. "He really does know how important it is to appreciate the time we have with the people who mean the most to us."

"I hope you know that you are one of those people for him," Deb said, regarding her seriously.

Catherine nodded with a soft smile. "And so are you."

Deb blinked back a few tears and stepped forward to hug Catherine who returned the embrace, her own eyes misting.

It was at that point that Steve returned. He stopped and took in the scene.

"I could . . . go back outside for a while," he said with a slight smirk and motioned back toward the door.

Deb and Catherine turned to him with lingering emotion on both of their faces. Immediately, Steve's teasing smile turned into a look of concern.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Oh yes," Deb waved him off with a smile. "We were just talking about you."

Steve rolled his eyes slightly and said, "Of course you were."

"Now let's eat, before the food gets cold," Deb said, walking toward the kitchen.

Steve moved sideways to let her pass but kept his eyes on Catherine, looking for a clue about the exchange. She just smiled softly at him and touched his arm before following Deb into the kitchen. He paused a moment in thought before joining them for dinner.

Catherine straightened on the couch beside Steve and looked between him and Deb. "Well, I think I'm going to head up to bed. Deb, thank you again, dinner was delicious."

"Oh, you don't have to rush off," Deb protested.

Catherine smiled and said, "Give you two a chance to talk. McGarrett to McGarrett."

Steve leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then gave her a small smile. She squeezed his hand once before she stood.

"Good night," she said, bending by Deb's chair to hug her briefly.

"Mm, good night, dear."

Once Catherine had disappeared upstairs, Deb turned to her nephew and said, "She didn't have to do that."

"She knows that," Steve said. "But as we've discussed, Catherine is–"

"Catherine is a very thoughtful person," Deb finished, nodding as she remembered their conversation at Thanksgiving.

He nodded his agreement.

"A very thoughtful person that you're lucky to have in your life," she continued, eyeing him knowingly.

Steve paused as he smiled. "No argument here."

Deb regarded him for a moment. "Well, I assume it's not your relationship with Catherine that you wanted to talk to me about. So," she reached over and patted his leg. "What's on your mind?"

Despite her question, the look on her face made it clear she had a pretty good idea of what he was going to say.

"I have to ask," he began. "Has your decision about not seeking treatment changed?"

Deb shook her head with a small smile. "No, it hasn't."

He paused before nodding. "Okay," he said quietly.

"I know it's hard for you to accept, Steve–"

"No, it's–" he started, but stopped. "I mean, yes, I'm not gonna lie, it's hard to accept, of course it is. But it is your decision. I accept that."

Deb leaned forward to grasp his hand, squeezing it. "Thank you."

He put his hand on hers and said, "Have you given any more thought to what we talked about at Thanksgiving? You coming to stay on the island?"

She smiled at him. "I have. And I appreciate the offer. I really do. But . . . things are actually really good here for me right now. I've been connecting with a lot of old friends, even singing at a few clubs." She gave him an accusing look and said, "Thanks to that little stunt you pulled at Thanksgiving."

His smile showed he felt no guilt about that surprise.

"Plus, I like being close to Mary and Joan right now," she added.

He nodded and said, "Well, it's an open-ended offer, if you change your mind."

She squeezed his hand. "Your father would be so proud of you. Do you know that?"

He looked at her with a half smile on his face, and swallowing hard, he gave her a slight nod of appreciation.

"What time is Mary due in tomorrow?" Deb asked as she straightened, sensing his desire to change the subject.

"Lunchtime. That's the idea anyway. We told her we'd rent a car and come to her place. It's not that far of a drive, but she really wanted to come here." He glanced at her. "I'm sure her enthusiasm has more to do with you than me and Cath."

"Oh, I don't know about that. You're her big brother and that's important to her. And she's very fond of Catherine." Her smile grew mischievous. "Apparently they hit it off right from the start."

Steve sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "Mary told you that story, huh?"

"Oh yes."

He looked down, chuckling a little awkwardly.

"Well, like I said," she continued. "You're very lucky."

When he raised his head to meet her eyes, she smiled and patted his forearm.

"I'm going to head up, too," she said, standing as he did the same. "Steve, I'm very glad you came."

He stepped close and hugged her. "Me, too, Aunt Deb."

Steve entered the guestroom where Catherine was sitting at the head of the bed reading. She set her book aside and looked at him expectantly. He shook his head at her silent question and she nodded her understanding.

After closing the door behind him, he came and sat at the edge of the bed by her hip, his back to her. When he didn't speak, she reached up and rubbed his arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, tilting her head to study his profile.

He exhaled and looked down, not answering.

Without a word, Catherine slid to the side and Steve moved back to the place she had vacated. Leaning his head back against the headboard, he let his hand drop to the bed between them and curled his fingers around hers.

After a moment, he said, "I don't think there's any argument I could make to change her mind, so . . ." his voice faded and he sighed. "It's just–"

"I know," she said and sat up to face him. "You see a problem and you want to attack it head on. So do I. But–"

"But it's her decision," he said, nodding. He shrugged and looked at her. "And she seems . . . content. Happy, even."

"Well, that's really good, Steve."

"Yeah, I just . . . I'm sorry this is what it took for us to reconnect, you know."

"Hey, don't do that," she said, putting a hand on his arm. "Okay? You're here now. And she appreciates that."

"Is that what you two were talking about earlier?"

She smiled, giving a little shrug, and said, "Kind of."

When she didn't continue, he asked, "You're not gonna tell me?"

"Nope."

"Okay," he said with a small, pleased smile on his face.

"Why don't you get changed for bed? It's gonna be a busy day tomorrow with Mary and Joan here."

"Yup," he agreed and sat up. He paused, looking at her for a moment.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Just thinking about something Aunt Deb said." Leaning forward, he cupped her cheek and kissed her. "I'm a lucky guy."

Note: Huge thanks to Sammy for letting me reference the "Catherine is a very thoughtful person" exchange and the idea of asking Aunt Deb to come to Oahu from her very excellent fic, Hard Truths.

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