|21| aloha wau iā 'oe (I love you)

I wake up the next morning to Alex whispering 'wake up' into my ear.

"Hey silly goose."

"Hi, auntie. Mommy said I can wake you up because it's past noon."

"Is it really?" I say as I grab my phone from my nightstand to check the time, but I notice three missed calls from Danny and about 10 texts. "Alright bud, I'll be out in a minute okay?"

"Okey doke. Better hurry. We're gonna have lunch on the lawn."

"Awesome." I say trying to fake a smile as I read all of Danny's texts.

'Brook answer your phone'

'Brooklyn'

'Look there's something going on and I need you to answer your phone'

'Steve's hurt. He won't leave me alone until you answer.'

'He's in surgery now. I will update you.'

'He's doing good. Doctor just updated us.'

'He's out of surgery. They were able to get everything and they set his arm back in place.'

'im going in to see him now'

'he says...well grumbles, hi and to tell you he's fine. which is what he always says, but he's looking much better'

'call me when you wake up'

'we are headed home now. he wouldn't let the doctors keep him there any longer. he's doing okay, i'm gonna stay with him for today'

I felt like I couldn't breath. I don't know what happened to him and it scares me. There's a knock on my door, but I don't say anything. I was just staring at my phone.

"Hey, alex said- woah what's going on?" Emily says shutting the door and walking over to me.

"It's.. it's Steve. I guess he was hurt. He had to have surgery, i'm not really sure why, but I think it had something to do with his arm.. I guess the surgery went well and he was able to go home about ten minutes ago."

"When did this happen?"

"I don't know. The first text from Danny was from about two in the morning."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I just saw all of these. I need to call Danny."

"Okay. I'm gonna stay right here." She says sitting on the side of my bed. I dial Danny's number and it only took one ring for him to answer.

"Hey Brooklyn."

"Danny, what happened?"

"Steve got caught in some cross fire and he got shot a couple times and beat up pretty good. He's got a couple stitches around his eye, but everything is okay.  Brooklyn he's fine now. He really is. He's sleeping right now because of the pain meds. He's got some stitches and broken bones in his arm, but he's doing great."

"Why isn't he still at the hospital?"

"You know Steve, he told them if they didn't let him go home, he'd shoot them."

"Of course he did."

"Do you want to come over?"

"Uhmm no. Not right now. Let him rest. Just tell him I called and to call me when he wakes up."

"Will do."

"Thank you for keeping me updated."

"You're welcome. Try and relax. Spend time with your family. I will continue to keep you in the loop."

"Thank you." I hang up and take a deep breath.

"Everything okay?" Emily asks me.

"As good as they can be I guess. He's sleeping right now."

"Are you gonna go see him?"

"Uhmm, not right now. Alex seemed pretty excited to eat lunch on the lawn. I'm just gonna keep myself busy right now."

"That sounds like a good plan. Get dressed and come out when you're ready."

"Okay." I smile at her and she leaves my room. I quickly put on a pair of shorts and a billabong t-shirt and go out and eat lunch.

"Brook...BROOK." Emily says snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"What's going on in your head?"

"Nothing."

"Try that again."

"Emily..." I say looking over at her.

"Brooklyn."

"I don't think I can do this."

"Do what?"

"Steve. I mean, be with Steve. There's just...I told myself I wasn't gonna get involved with anything that had to do with police. And here I am, dating one."

"What are you saying? Why?"

"I mean it's the whole reason I moved here. Get away from it all. Start fresh. That was nothing can catch up to me...I can't handle that."

"I understand that's why you moved here. BUT, that being said, you can't just say that your past is going to catch up with you just because you are with Steve. If anything, if everything does resurface, you would be more safe. I mean you have Steve right by your side, along with his whole team."

"I don't want anyone knowing!" I yell. "I can't" I say a lot quieter as I look out into the water. Emily just looks at me, not knowing what to say. "Look at what I've gotten myself into here, already. I mean I am dating a cop. Then he goes and gets himself shot. He could of died."

"But he didn't, Brook. He is fine. From what I hear, he always is."

"I can't handle that. I can't handle any of this." I say as I stand up.

"Where are you going?" Emily stands up and starts following me.

"I need to put an end to this, before it goes to far."

"Goes to far?! What is to far? He finds out what happened? So what!? Then at least you won't have all of this guilt, that you don't even need to have."

"First of all, why wouldn't I have any of the guilt by telling him? I still messed up. If he knew, he would look at me differently. Secondly, I mean who's to say that because of all that, I won't bring danger to the team? Huh? I mean if it catches up to me, who's to say they won't go after them?"

"Then let them!" She grabs my arm as I try and grab my keys. "Stop. Just thing. Okay? Yes, he is a cop. And sure, your past could catch up to you, even though you did NOTHING wrong. But with him by your side, you are so much safer."

"I can't put that on him. I can't do this."

"Would you stop?! Please!" She yells as I grab my keys off the side table and go out to my car. I'm not being unreasonable. I have a past that will eventually catch up to me. And a lot quicker being with him. I can't live with all this worry. I get in my car and speed down the highway to Steve's house.

"It's the middle of the night...what are you doing-are you okay?" Steve asks as he opens his front door, noticing the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"I couldn't sleep. I need to talk to you." My voice shakes.

"Okay, do you want to come in?"

"No. No right here."

"Okay, Brook, what's going on?" Steve walks out onto the porch and shut the front door.

"Steve, you got shot today, and god knows what else looking at all of the bruises and cuts on your face."

"Brook, look at me. I am fine. I'm okay." I look him up and down, noticing all of the cuts and bruises, and that his arm was in a sling. He takes a step closer to me. I step back. "Brook, seriously, what is going on?"

"Steve, I thought you were going to die. The thought of it broke me, Steve. I can't live like that. I can't. I can't spend everyday, worried sick that you're not going to make it back home at night. And that's all I can ever think about."

"You can't think like that, Brook. I am fine. I knew what I was doing. I wasn't even close to death."

"Did you?! I mean Steve, your arm is completely snapped in half. You have god knows how many stitches, and your lip is still bleeding." He just stand there and stares at me, as more tears stream down my cheek. "Steve, I can't do this. I can't worry like this. I can't" I say trying not to look at him. "Needless to say what will happen if anything else happens. I would blame myself."

"If what else would happen?" He says with a confused look on his face.

"I'm just saying, I can't put what might happen because of me, on you."

"Because of you? What are you talking about?"

"Why do you think I moved to Hawaii, Steve?!"

"To be with your brother?"

"To get away from being a cop. To get away from it all. I want a clean break from being involved with the force. And here I am, with you."

"Yeah, you are with me. I mean I'm still a little confused about why you think anything would happen because of you, but I can say that you would be much safer with me."

"I can't put that on you. I can't just rely on you to be my bodyguard or something. Steve, I just can't do this."

"What are you saying?"

"Steve. I think it's for the best we end this. Okay? I don't want to be worried sick about you all night. I don't want you to be worried about coming home to me every night. I can't put us through that."

"I am going to worry about coming home to you every night. Whether I am working that day or not. You are the one thing that gets me through the day, because I know that at the end of a long day, or a easy day, you're going to be there. You are going to be there because I'm not going to let you do what you're doing."

"STEVE! Listen to me! I can't do this!" I say as I start to cry.

"Brooklyn, listen to me. Okay? You can, I can, because at the end of the day, I will be there. I promise you that."

"That's not a promise you can keep though, Steve. It's just not."

"You're right. Nobody can, okay? But you have my word, and I always follow through with my word. I will always fight like hell to make sure I always, always come home to you."

"Steve..."

"Brooklyn, why are you really doing this? What is going through your head?" I just stand there, trying to not look at him, but I can notice he's walking closer to me, and I don't move. "Brook..."

"Because damn it, Steve. Can't you tell?! I love you, okay? I love you more than anything I have ever loved! And I'm scared I'm going to loose you, and I can't handle that. I know that it's way to early to say that, I do, but it's how I feel. It's been a week and I am more sure about it then anything I have ever known.  Ever since I saw you at Kamakonas, trying to pretend you didn't see me...Steve I feel like I have known you my whole life." He stands there in shock that I just told him I love him. "I love you." I murmur.

"Brooklyn, I have known since the moment I met you that I loved you. I've never known anything this quick before. It's that love that drives me. You. You are what drives me." He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear and doesn't stop looking into my eyes. I slowly start looking up at him. "I love you, more than I can even describe. Okay? I love you." I feel his thumb wipe a tear away from my cheek, and I notice a small tear forming in his eye.

"I'm scared, Steve." I say quietly.

"I know you are baby. I know. But I am here to remind you that everything will be okay. That at the end of the day, you don't need to be scared. That when you wake up in the morning, you know everything will be okay. There's going to be bad days, but there are going to be so many good days that we will forget about the bad days. Today was just a bad day, but remind yourself of all the good days. Keep that in your mind, and just focus on that. I am here, and I am just fine. This was a just a bad day at the office, but my team always has my back, and I will always have yours, because I love you." A small smile forms on my lips.

"I love you, Steve."

"I love you, Brook. Forever I will love you." There was a brief moment of silence, just trying to let everything settle in. "Are you okay now?"I nod my head.  He slowly leans in and I close my eyes as I feel his lips connects with mine. "You're staying here tonight." He demands.

"I can't. I have to be on a plane early in the morning to get over to my dads old house to set up for the party."

"Okay, then I'm staying at your place."

"There's no open rooms."

"There is a very comfortable couch. We'll watch movies and you're going to get some rest. And in the morning, you'll wake up, and I will be right there holding you, loving you."

"Okay." I say smiling.

"Yeah? Okay. Let's go." We get into my car, Steve drives obviously. As we pull away from his house he grabs my hand and squeezes. "I love you, Brook."

"I love you too." The ride to my house was quiet, but a nice silence. We pull into the driveway and we both get out and go inside. The house was dark and everyone was asleep. "I'm gonna go get a blanket and some pillows from my room."

"Okay, baby." I quietly walk into my room and go into my closet to get blankets.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Emily asks me.

"Oh, hey sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. It's a long story, I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good now."

"Okay." She rolls over and goes back to sleep. I grab the blankets and walk back out into the living room. Steve was putting the small pillows onto the floor in just his shorts. I smile at him and set the blanket on the couch. He lays down and throws the blanket over him, holding up the blanket next to him, waiting for me. I lay down facing him. I rest my head in the crook of his next and take a deep breath.

"You scared me today." I say.

"I know. I'm sorry. But I'm here now. I will always be here. Just go to sleep baby." He kisses the top of my head and rests his broken arm on my side.

STEVE'S POV

I hear a loud noise in front of me and slowly open my eyes. I see Emily picking up a couple dvds off of the ground.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine." I say with a smile. "Are you guys getting ready to go?"

"Slowly. You don't need to wake her up yet. My kids aren't even awake yet. Are you coming with us this weekend?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna fly over a little later. I have some paperwork I have to finish up before I go."

"Okay. Are you okay? I heard you got hurt yesterday."

"Yeah. Yeah I'm all good." I whisper as I look down at Brooklyn cuddled up to me.

"Good. I know she was pretty scared."

"Yeah, I know. I feel bad for putting her through that."

"She's tough."

"Yeah. She really is. I wake her up in a few. We were up pretty late."

"Okay." Emily smiles at me and walks into the kitchen. I continue to look at Brooklyn, realizing how lucky I really am. In a matter of almost two weeks, I have met the most perfect woman I could ever dream of. I never believed in love at first sight until I met her, and I just knew it was right. I knew that this is the woman I'm supposed to be in love with. Go through life, good and bad. I notice her start moving a little bit, trying to wake up. I feel her move closer to me, which I didn't know she could get any closer. She lets out a small groan and opens her eyes, looking up at me. I just smile at her and lean down and kiss her. She just smiles and kisses me again.

"Sorry about last night." She whispers.

"Don't be. I'm not. I'm glad you came to me and told me all of that. All of it."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'm glad that you can tell me all of that and that we could work through it. I'm sorry I scared you so bad."

"It's really okay. I get it's all apart of your job."

"I don't want it to scare you though. I want you to know I'm gonna be okay."

"I know that. I do. It's just all of the what if's."

"I know. Sometimes they scare me too. But everything is okay."

"ALEX! GET THE UNDERWEAR OFF OF YOUR HEAD!" We hear Emily yell from the bedroom.

"Oh boy." Brooklyn says. "Have they been up long? Crap, what time is it?"

"It's okay. They're just now all getting up. It's only 6:30."

"Oh okay. I should probably pack. I think they wanted to leave to get to the airport by seven."

"Okay. I'll help you." She just smiles and we both get up off of the couch and go into my room. Emily was in there zipping her bag up.

"Hey, sorry. I'm almost done." Emily says.

"You're fine." Emily picks up her bag and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind her. "You're coming this weekend right?" Brooklyn asks me as I sit down on her bed.

"Yeah. Yeah I just have to finish up some paperwork at the office and go home and grab my bags and I'll fly over in a little bit."

"Okay." "Steve?" She says walking over from her closet.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." I wanted to say I love you, but I feel like I said it to early last night. Way to early. And maybe if I don't say it again for a while, well maybe he just doesn't remember.

"For what?"

"Everything. Just thank you."

"I will do anything for you." A smile grows across both of our faces. She puts her hands on the side of my face and presses her lips against mine. I wrap my good arm around her and pull her down on the bed, causing her to laugh. "You're perfect." I say over her. "Absolutely breathtaking in every way." She grabs my face and brings me down to her lips, and I crash my lips onto hers. She moves her head up as I kiss down to her neck, finding the sweet spot that always causes her to moan. She closes her eyes and throws her head back, pulling me down on top of her. The door starts to open and I quickly roll off of her, laying down on the pillow beside her.

"Should of knocked. Sorry." Emily says smirking at me. Brooklyn lets out a sigh and gets up and goes into her closet with her sister.

BROOKLYN'S POV

"What uhh, what happened last night?" Emily says quietly.

"I got upset, clearly, and went over to Steve's and may or may not have yelled at him a little bit."

"You yelled at him for getting shot?"

"I was scared okay?"

"Okay. Okay, I get that."

"I then told him I couldn't do it anymore and kind of tried to break up with him."

"What??"

"Again, I was scared and overthinking. I then blurted out that I was in love with him." I say grabbing some clothes off of my shelf and throwing them in my suitcase on the ground.

"Woah woah woah. Come again? It's been like what, two weeks?"

"I know. But it's how I feel and I was letting all of my emotions out."

"What did he say?"

"That he's been in love with me since the moment we met."

"Oh wow. Okay. And you don't think this is moving to fast?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. In any other case, with any other guy probably. And I thought I had scared him off when I said it, but he feels the same way. I don't know Emily, I mean it sort of feels rushed but it also feels right."

"Have you said it again after last night?"

"No. I'm to scared. I'm gonna wait it out until the time is right. I think last night I was just so scared and I'm still trying to figure him and I out, you know? I can't just go blurting that out when I get freaked out."

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't either, but I don't think it's possible with him. I know the risks I'm taking but god, I already love him so much. I really do. But I know it's really to soon. I just don't want to do anything to mess this up."

"Just slow it down. Okay? Both of you need to take a step back and really figure everything out."

"I know. He just makes me so happy. God he makes me so happy."

"Well good. Really. I'm not here to keep you in check so I'm glad he his."

"Thanks." I say with a laugh.

"Well, I will grab my sweatshirt and be on my way. I will lock the door this time."

"Good idea." I say and she winks at me. I just laugh and she leaves. I throw a couple more random things I needed in my bag and bring it out onto my bed.