Sunshine and Roses
by Darth Stitch

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Belongs to CBS, Peter Lenkov, the Powers that Be that run this wonderful show.

DISCLAIMER TO SAVE MY SOUL FROM GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET: Slash of the Steve/Danny variety. Run if it's not your cup of tea. And somehow, it got just a tad bit smutty. Just a little bit. Because I suck at writing pr0n.

It's not always sunshine and roses.

Sometimes, their typical game of "snap-smirk-snark" turns into a real fight. Words are spoken that get under the skin, jab a little deeper than expected into old wounds or rip new ones into existence, jagged and bleeding. Sometimes it's all Steve's fault - sometimes he's a little too oblivious to something, a little too reckless heading into dangerous situations, sometimes too stubborn and bull-headed to listen to reason. Danny never hesitates to rip into him for it, call him out on his bullshit.

Steve's only human; he's not a saint after all.

Sometimes, it's both their faults - because Steve's not the only stubborn, bull-headed one in this relationship. And it's Chin and Kono who both call them out on their bullshit, because as Kono has cheekily put it: "We hate it when Mom and Dad fight." And although they've tried their damnedest never to fight in front of Grace - Danny remembers the bad old days with Rachel all too well - the little girl is almost always aware when things aren't right between her Danno and her Daddy Steve. They're ohana - and as Grace herself has wisely put it, saying "I'm sorry" is always the first step to make things right again.

And sometimes, it's all Danny's fault, him and his big damn mouth. He's got a knack, somehow, for just saying and doing the right thing to get to Steve and while this is generally a good thing, sometimes, he goes a little too far. For all his tough, BAMF Navy SEAL persona - there's a sweet, gentle side to Steve, something he keeps mostly safe from the rest of the world and shows only to a very, very few people.

Danny and Grace are two of them. And Danny knows what a privilege it is that he's allowed to see that.

So Danny can tell when he's gone and put his foot into it when Steve gets a little too quiet and he withdraws into himself, closed off and cold. They'll get through the rest of their work day fine, because they both take far too much pride in their jobs and their sense of duty is too strong to let their personal shit disrupt things. But Danny will go home alone because Steve will take off somewhere, some place he doesn't tell Danny about.

Danny's got an idea where that is, actually but he doesn't disturb Steve there. It's Steve's quiet place, where he'll go to get his head sorted out and his temper under control. Once, he told Danny that he needed space "to sulk" sometimes, ducking his head and giving him a wry, self-deprecating smile.

"You're allowed to, you know," Danny had answered him. "An hour is okay - any more than that means you're regressing to your teenage years and I don't think my blood pressure can take the notion of you all fired up with adolescent hormones."

Steve laughed at that.

Tonight's one of the days where Danny's really screwed up but good and he's home but Steve's house never feels like home if Steve's not there. He's spent the good part of an hour feeling sorry for himself, guilt and anger taking up equal time and he knows perfectly well he's not fit for human company at the moment. But Ma Williams didn't raise any idiots (well, for the most part) and he did tell Steve that an hour is pretty much the most a grown-up can feel sorry for themselves. So Danny spends the rest of the evening making dinner, because he knows Steve's favorite foods and an apology dinner's always a good first step towards saying, "I fucked up and I'm sorry."

But Steve doesn't make it home in time for dinner and Danny sends him a text because it's a rule of thumb that they don't hop off like idiots to God-knows-where without maintaining some contact. If none of them answer their phones, it generally means that it's time to call the cavalry and assume the worst.

And Steve gives him a terse, "At Mamo's now. I'm ok." and shit, Steve must be pretty pissed off this time.

Danny's a fucking idiot.

It's a miserable evening all throughout. Danny gets in bed, figuring out that he's got some serious groveling to do or face Kono's evil eye and Chin's disappointment the next day. And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is Steve's silence and the wounded eyes that he's going to try very hard to hide but never quite succeed in doing so.

Danny feels, rather than sees, Steve slip into bed next to him and Danny knows that he's forgiven without him saying a word when Steve slides his arms around him and nuzzles his neck. Steve's hair is a little damp and he smells of sun and seawater and Danny can't help but nose into the soft dark curls and press a kiss there. He nudges at Steve's cheek and steals another kiss, tasting salt and feeling the prickly hint of stubble. He breathes a "I'm sorry. I'm a fucking idiot." into Steve's mouth as he brushes a kiss there.

He has to say the words anyway. Steve's not good at accepting apologies and the goof has to learn that sometime. And Danny wants him to learn that, because sometimes Danny's human and stupid and he can fuck things up as royally as the next person. And he loves Steve far, far too much to let him think that he doesn't need that simple, human courtesy.

"S'ok, Danno," Steve murmurs back. "I got over myself -"

"No, no, no," Danny tells him, dropping a kiss over whatever part of Steve's face he could reach after each no. "See? This is me, groveling and you are going to lie back and enjoy the show, only, don't let me grovel too long, because there are rules to these things, especially if the grovellee is really, fucking sorry for being an asshole -"

"Rules?" And God, there it is, a hint of a smile in those beautiful eyes, curving that equally gorgeous mouth and Danny can't help himself, really, if he covers that mouth with his own in a hot, sweet kiss that Steve returns with interest.

"Rules," Danny gasps, because Steve's a sneaky bastard and he's already got his hands under Danny's t-shirt and is already moving the hem up so that they can be skin to skin and God, that feels good, better than good and he has to explain the rules to Steve before he's too distracted to even think - "I get to apologize and you won't want to accept that right away because you've got every right to be pissed off at me right now so you should let me grovel for a bit and - Jesus, Steven - "

Danny yelps because somehow he's on his back now and Steve's got a hand down his boxers and he bucks up reflexively, whimpers escaping from his clenched teeth and Steve's got his mouth fastened in that spot at Danny's throat, right at his pulse, a spot that is directly hotwired to his - "Steve, Steven..."

"You're done grovelling. Apology accepted," Steve mouths into his skin, lips closing over a nipple, making Danny whimper again and bury his hands into Steve's hair. He'll let Steve take him apart, inch by excruciating inch, let him wring out every last sound of pleasure he can make, so he can see those beautiful eyes turn cobalt-blue with lust and desire. And later, Danny will have the privilege of doing the exact same thing to his lover, love him until they're both panting and worn out and still want to be wrapped around each other, skin to skin, sharing breath and not wanting the sweetness of the moment to ever end.

It's not always sunshine and roses between them. And sometimes Steve has to be the one to apologize and sometimes it's both of them and sometimes it's Danny's turn. And sometimes, they both need to yell at each other and get things off their chests and sometimes they spend a little time apart to cool off tempers and think things over.

But somehow, it usually ends like this, the two of them, curled up in each other's arms at the end of the day and it will be all right again.

That's what they both know now, that no matter how much one or the other will screw up on occasion, it will always be all right again.

-end-

Author's Notes:

I wrote this after seeing just one too many fics where Danny tends to be ragey and forget Steve's got feelings too and I never get to see a decent apology scene. Also, this is me writing while feeling sorry for myself and the boys being sweet on each other always make me feel better. Heh.