"Hey, Steve?"

"Hmm?" Steve turned his head to look at Danny. They were sat on the ground, leaning against the truck. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Danny exhaled louder than was probably necessary, knocking his head back against the vehicle in frustration.

"Steve!" He bit his bottom lip. "You weren't even listening!"

Steve glanced at the man sitting next to him. "I'm a little distracted here, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, well… Figured we could get some stuff off our chests before we die." Danny said.

Steve clamped his eyes shut and ran both hands over his face. "I can't, I-" He sighed. "You're my best friend!"

"Back at ya. But for the love of God, will you please answer my question?"

Steve turned to fully look at him. "You know I love you, Danny."

Danny nodded. "I do. And I love you too, buddy, but that's not what I asked!"

"Yes, okay!" The words flew out of Steve's mouth before he could stop them. He looked shocked when he realised what he said.

"What did you say?" Danny itched to touch him, to lay a hand on his arm, but Steve looked as if he was going to run any second.

Steve's chest heaved, looking everywhere but at Danny before mumbling YesIwantustobetogether in one big breath.

Danny's tongue darted out to wet his lips. He suddenly felt like he was trapped in a small room with means to escape; fair enough, he'd just admitted his feelings to Steve while they attempted to disarm the bomb, and now he'd asked Steve if he felt the same way as they hid behind the truck. Talk about bad timing.

But he had to know now, because if they both died now - and Danny always saw the worst case scenario about everything so his mind automatically went to that - he'd never get the chance to ask Steve again. He needed to know that he hadn't broken up with Melissa for nothing.

Danny didn't trust his voice to speak, but he finally mustered up the courage to lay a hand on Steve's arm. Steve smiled as he looked down at his arm, before moving it so they could lace their fingers together.

"Yes, Danny." Steve repeated as he gazed at him.

Danny frowned. "But what about Lynn?"

"Broke up with her a couple of weeks ago, after our little group holiday."

"Why?"

A shy smile crept onto Steve's face. "Because… she's not you." Steve squeezed his hand. "I was trying to move on, first with Catherine and then with Lynn, but… it's always been you, Danno."

Danny grinned as if he'd just discovered a mountain of malasadas on his desk. He didn't think he'd ever been this happy, aside from when his children were born of course. But, his brain threw up another barricade.

"Say we survive - and by the way I'm not doubting your ability to disarm a bomb - what if we give this a go and… it doesn't work out?"

Steve pulled back slightly. "Why wouldn't it work out?"

Danny's free hand waved around. "I dunno! Office relationships, you know that sometimes they don't work out. Would we still be friends?"

Steve rolled his eyes and clamped his mouth shut. He couldn't believe Danny could be this stupid as to think that .

"Steve…" Danny pestered, squeezing Steve's hand that had gone lax in his.

" Yes , because Danny if we're not… together, we still, you know, we're still gonna… we'll be together still!" Steve snapped and shouted. He could feel his pulse climbing with each passing second. Danny nodded. Steve wasn't one to share his feelings, especially about relationships, but Danny believed him. With the vein on his forehead visibly throbbing and his lips pursed, Steve was the definition of serious.

"Very sentimental." His wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his free hand, scooting closer to Steve.

Steve nodded. "All right." He muttered, before looking at his watch. "Twenty seconds left."

Danny blinked. "Okay. Hey, do you-" He looked around before coming back to stare at Steve. He shook his head. "Nevermind."

Steve quickly looked at his watch again. "Ten seconds." He bit his lip before moving closer into Danny's personal space. "I love you."

Danny smiled, tipping his forehead against Steve's. "I love you too."

Neither man was sure who kissed who first. But Steve was definitely the first to make a beeline for the other man's clothes, grabbing Danny's shirt with one hand as his other buried in Danny's hair. Danny broke away from the kiss for a split second to gulp down some air, before diving back in with vigor. He ran his hands all over Steve's body (and hey, who knew that Super SEAL Steve McGarrett loved it when someone touched the back of his neck) and moaned into Steve's mouth when the man's hand brushed over the crotch of his pants.

Danny broke away from the kiss only to start nipping at Steve's collarbone, exposed when Danny ripped his shirt. His eyes briefly caught sight of Steve's watch and he pulled away, holding Steve still when he made to follow him.

"It didn't go off, Steve." Danny whispered. At Steve's confused face and mumbled Huh? , he shook his head and smiled. "The, uh," Danny cleared his throat, feeling as if he could still taste the other man on his lips. "The bomb didn't go off."

Steve craned his head to look behind him at the truck. "... No, it didn't." Realisation dawned on him and he turned back to look at Danny as if he'd just appeared in front of him. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Danny ran a hand over Steve's torso. The adrenaline rush was beginning to wear off and Steve shivered at the contact,. Danny noticed, and stilled his hand over his heart, where he could feel it thumping through his ribcage. "You alright? You good?"

Steve nodded, hand grasping Danny's over his chest for dear life. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Danny-"

"Shut up." Steve's head snapped up from where he was staring at their joined hands, but visibly relaxed when he saw that Danny was still smiling. "Just… shut up and c'mere."

Steve came willingly when Danny pulled him closer, toppling him over with his weight. Danny let out an omphf! as he hit the ground but didn't have the energy in him to complain. Instead he held Steve close as the man lay mostly on top of him, fingers twisted in Danny's shirt.

"Just gonna… lay here for a bit, Danno." Steve mumbled with a sigh. Danny tucked his chin to his chest to look at Steve, who'd already closed his eyes and was seemingly asleep. Testing the waters Danny found that he was effectively pinned by Steve.

"Great." Danny grumbled. Glancing around he noticed that Steve's button-down shirt was crumpled close to them on the ground. He stretched an arm and managed to snag it with his fingers, pulling it back and under his head as a makeshift pillow. The excitement from earlier was wearing off now and Danny couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He gave into the need for sleep as he wrapped his arms around Steve.

"Ah, there's the truck!" Chin pointed as it came into view. Kono and Lou were with him, all of them armed and wearing their tac vests.

"Oh my God," Lou muttered, spotting two familiar figures on the ground as they approached. "Guys, look over there!"

All three of them sprinted over to the truck shouting Steve & Danny's names, stopping only when they came to the small stream surrounding the side of the vehicle.

"Steve! Danny!" Chin shouted.

Kono sighed, her gun hanging at her side. "Are we too late?"

Across the stream, Danny begun to stir at the shouting.

"Ugh," He grimaced at the gravelly feel of his voice, before shoving at Steve. "Hey, wake up you doofus."

Steve moaned as he slowly raised himself up onto his forearms, ignoring the crick in his neck in favour of nuzzling at Danny's neck.

"Hey Steve! Danny!" Both men turned their head at Chin's shouting. "You guys alright?"

Steve looked down at Danny and smirked. One hand moved to toy with Danny's hair, much to the man's annoyance. "Yeah, we're good!" Steve hollered back, before nosing the blonde man's stubbled cheek. "Real good." He whispered, before claiming Danny's lips in a kiss.

Chin, Kono and Lou couldn't help but stare in disbelief at them from their place across the stream some several metres away.

"Wait, today's the 18th!" Kono grinned as she turned to the two men. "Cough up, boys!"

"Damn." Chin pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed over $50. Lou handed over a $20 bill.

"Remind me to stop by the ATM on the way back." He shook his head. "Why couldn't they wait another two weeks?"