Memories

21. Cease-Fire

Steve McGarrett stalked the living room of his home. It was the fourth night of the silent treatment between him and Bailey. The fourth night he had slept away from her down on the couch. Not that he had done much sleeping the previous three nights and didn't expect to do much that night either.

They did talk to each other at work, but only what was strictly necessary. There was no playfulness between them throughout the day or shared looks. It was all strictly professional. It was killing him.

Steve wished for the millionth time that he knew why she was so upset with him. But she still refused to tell him. Hell, she refused to even look at him unless she had to. It was driving him crazy.

He replayed the last time they had spoken four nights before. They hadn't spoken, he reminded himself they had yelled. They had hurled insults at each other like hand grenades. Finally, it was Bailey who had said she was done fighting with him and would sleep on the sofa. They had fought about which one should be sleeping on the sofa. Steve remembered that he had loudly said he would be the one to sleep on it. He yelled at her to just take the goddamn bed and shut up. He remembered how wide his wife's eyes had gotten and how she'd looked like she was on the verge of tears. Then he remembered her storming up the stairs and slamming the bedroom door. A picture of them in New Orleans together fell off the wall and shattered. Seeing it lying there on the floor broke his heart. Steve had picked it up and put it on his desk. He then got the broom and swept up the broken glass. The mess was long since cleaned up, but the broken picture remained untouched on his desk.

It was 2 am when Steve heard their bedroom door open. He looked up and saw his wife come out of their bedroom with her memory book in her hands. He watched her as she went down the stairs seemingly unaware of his presence. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked at him. She looked like she hadn't been sleeping any better than he had been since they stopped talking. Bailey held out the memory book to him and Steve took it from her. He desperately wanted to say something to her. But after she handed him the book she quietly walked to the kitchen, still not speaking to him.

Steve looked down at the memory book and smiled seeing the usual post-it note stuck on the memory book. Steve looked at the post-it note a little more carefully and read: I'm sorry. He walked over to the coffee table and gently set the book down. He then headed for the kitchen. Steve entered the kitchen but did not see Bailey. He knew she had come in but was now nowhere to be seen. He concluded she must have exited through one of the other doors. He walked over to the sink and looked out the window over it. Through the window, he saw Bailey sitting in her usual chair. He left the kitchen and headed into the backyard. Steve sat down in his chair next to his wife.

"Can this be over and we both go to bed now, please Vi?" Steve asked looking at his wife's profile.

"Go read the memory first and then ask me that," Bailey replied.

"Is it going to explain why you are so angry with me?" Steve wanted to know.

"Only if you can read between the lines," Bailey responded.

Steve scrubbed his hands with his face. Her note said she was sorry. He was too. Fighting with the woman he loved was the last thing Steve McGarrett wanted to do. The memories in the book were of course important, but so was their present and future. She had said he would find out why she was upset if he could "read between the lines". What the hell did that mean?!

Steve sighed, got up, turned back to his wife, and said, "Are you going to stay up until I am done?"

Bailey turned and looked at her husband. She could see that he was tired and frustrated, She didn't blame him. Their fight and the proceeding silence had been draining. Bailey stood up and walked over to her husband. Steve smiled as he saw his wife approach him. When she was in front of him he opened his arms for her and hoped she would step into them. Bailey looked at her husband's open invitation and took it. She rested her head on his chest, breathed in his scent, and snuggled against him, allowing herself and him to enjoy the closeness.

Bailey raised her head off her husband's chest, looked up at him, and said, "Let's just go to bed, Mac. Everything else can wait until after we wake up. We both really need some sleep."

"You sure, Vi?" Steve asked, searching his wife's face.

"Yes, honey. I'm sure, the past four nights have been rough and it's damn near impossible to sleep without you next to me." Bailey replied.

"Glad, it's not just me. I love you, ya know." Steve said.

Bailey nodded but did not say it back. A part of her still doubted that he was being sincere and was only saying it because he felt like he had to. Steve noticed that his wife had only nodded her head, but decided to let it go until after they both had gotten some much-needed sleep.

Bailey pulled out of her husband's arms, grabbed his hand, tugged softly, and walked back to the house with Steve in tow. The two of them walked through the house, then went up the stairs to their bedroom. Steve let go of Bailey's hand and closed the bedroom door. Bailey went around to her side of the bed and climbed in. Steve followed a moment later and climbed into his side. Bailey closed her eyes, hopeful that she would finally be able to get some sleep. Her husband, on the other hand, turned on his side and still wide awake watched her. Steve lay there for a while staring and thinking. Eventually, he heard the sounds of his wife's slow and even breathing telling him that she had fallen asleep. He lay there staring at her for another half of an hour until he too fell asleep.

Erg. Erg. Erg. The alarm clock yelled waking up both of the McGarretts. Bailey groaned and shoved her pillow over her head wanting to hit the stupid thing with a hammer. Steve rolled over turned it off and got out of bed. It was 5am time for his morning run. Steve looked over at his wife and smirked. He then got his running clothes out of his dresser drawer and put them on. He walked around to his wife's side of the bed, casually lifted up the pillow, leaned down, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Bailey opened one eye to look at her husband as he straightened up and let go of her pillow, dropping in back on her head. She sighed and listened as her husband left the room to go on his run. After hearing the front door close Bailey got out of bed, grabbed her clothes for the day, and went to the bathroom for a shower. Once she was cleaned, dried off, and dressed Bailey went downstairs, into the kitchen, and started the coffee.

Once the coffee was done Bailey made a cup for herself and one for Steve. She took both cups to the living. She set Steve's on the coffee table next to the memory book and sat on the sofa with her own. As Bailey sipped her coffee it occurred to her that at the moment she and Steve were only in a cease-fire. A truce would only be called after he read the memory and gave her his answer to the question she had left him at the end of it.