Take me to Paradise

Confession Time

Chapter 8

"My god. I can't believe you guys." the young woman was ranting while walking to and fro next to the hospital bed.

Both men looked at Clara who had given Danny and Steve a piece of her mind on the danger of their job.

While having a case, the Jersey cop was exposed to sarin and ended up in the hospital. After his vitals had been getting better again, Steve had come by the school to get Grace and had told Clara what was going on.

Ever since the Governor's Ball Steve and Clara had acted differently around each other, trying to avoid the topic of their relationship status. It was confusing to all people around them. Even the blind could see that those two shouldn't just be friends, but both were to dumb to acknowledge the fact.

So after getting Grace, the Commander drove back to the hospital, together with Clara, as she wanted to see her friend, too.

And now here they were, listening to her lecturing them. "Why can't you guys have normal cases like every other cop in a city, too. You always get hurt." she said pulling her hands through her hair.

Danny looked up from where he was laying in the hospital bed. "Clara, everything is alright again. I get to leave tomorrow, they just want to keep me for observation."

With a exasperated sigh the teacher sat herself into a chair next to the window. "I'm sorry, it's just...you guys are like family and I'm worried about you."

Steve had stood in the corner next to Danny's bed and watched her carefully. He had taken the time to think about everything concerning Clara. The days after the Ball he had spent some time with Catherine, who had gotten shore leave for a few days. And then he knew that his feelings had changed. He needed to tell Clara.

The door opened and Rachel walked into the room. She went over to her ex-husband and made sure everything was alright with him. It seemed as if they never were divorced. Pushing himself off of the wall, the Commander walked over to Clara and took her arm, indicating they leave the Detective and his ex-wife some room.

The young woman looked back at the pair and nodded her head, exiting the room with the ex-SEAL.

"I'm sorry for being so forward with you guys. But hearing what happened with Danny had me so worried." she told Steve, looking at his profile as they left the hospital. "And to be honest, I'm worried about you, too."

He stopped in his stride and moved his gaze toward Clara. "You...are worried?"

Her nod confirmed his question and Steve couldn't help the smile, that stole itself onto his face.

"Clara we need to talk. It's important."

"O-Okay."

She was unsure what this would entail. Usually when a guy said 'We need to talk' it meant something bad. The Commander led her over to a secluded area in the hospital park and sat down with Clara on a little bench there.

Steve took her smaller hands in his and stroked the skin on her palms. He looked deep into her light blue eyes, trying to find the words to tell her of his thoughts. Pulling one of his hands back, the ex-SEAL pushed it through his short hair.

"Is something wrong, Steve?"

He sighed, knowing what he was about to tell her, would change everything.

"No, nothing. In fact everything is fine, well besides the Danny-situation." he tried to joke about, which only resulted in a raised eyebrow from Clara. "Alright sorry."

"Steve, if it's something I did, than I'm sorry about it." She wasn't sure how to react. This was so unusual to Steve.

"Clara no, god no. I...fuck. Ever since I met I was feeling strange. I wasn't sure what it was. And when I saw you with this...with Samuel, I felt a little green eyed monster rising in me." Another sigh came from his lips and he leaned forward, pressing his lips softly onto Clara's.