McDanno - Camp 5O

24

Steve stood in the background as he watched Mrs.Williams fuss over Danny. He couldn't help but smile at how cute the whole thing was.

That is, until Mrs.Williams said, "this is why you need to find yourself a nice girlfriend Danny."

Steve's smile instantly turned into a scowl. Danny just rolled his eyes.

"You need someone to take care of you. Now that you and Rachel are divorced; you have no one." She chided, fluffing his pillows for the fourth time.

I have Steve. Danny wanted to say, but found himself unable to. "I have Grace." He said instead.

Danny glanced at a glowering Steve. And I have you. He said with his eyes, hoping Steve understood him. Instantly, Steve's expression softened.

Danny smiled, happy to confirm the mental connection he and Steve had established.

"That's not the same thing and you know it." said his mom, unaware of the love flowing around her. "I mean someone who-"

"Speaking of Grace." Steve interrupted, "I'll be leaving to pick her up from school in a few minutes, if you're interested in coming. We're just going to stop for some shave ice and come straight back here."

"I forbid you from letting her have any more of that pineapple shrimp monstrosity!" Danny quickly said, pointing an accusatory finger at Steve.

"Hey! I wasn't the one who introduced her to that flavor, yell at Stan!"

"But you're the one who introduced her to pineapple pizza, ergo, any liking of any pineapple hybrid that should not exist is your fault!"

Steve smirked as he walked over to Danny's bed rest, his hands gripped the railing, eyes momentarily flickering to Danny's lips. This was weird . A few days ago he would have felt guilty for such a stolen glance, brushed it under the rug. Yesterday he would have felt exhilarated to know the glance was a welcome one, become giddy with the knowledge that he could follow up on it. But now, in front of Danny's mom, he didn't know what to think. They hadn't talked about it before Steve went to go pick her up. And Danny hadn't said or initiated anything since his mom arrived, so Steve wouldn't either. This was Danny's decision, he would follow his lead.

Instead of leaning down and kissing Danny like he wanted to, Steve opted to finish off their playful banter. "Danny, we're in Hawaii. She was going to be exposed to pineapple pizza eventually. Just be glad she did it in the safety of your presence." Steve felt daring and added a wink at the end, sure that Danny's mom wouldn't see it.

"Whatever you schmuck," Danny said after a second, a grin aching to form on his lips.

Steve walked towards Mrs.William, pulling his shoulders back and biting his cheeks he nodded at her.

"Let's go see my granddaughter!" She said with a smile. She turned and walked out the door. It closed behind her with a Whump.

Steve was tempted to run back to the bed and kiss Danny, now that his mom was gone he turned back to look at the man. He stood still, puppy dog eyes on Danny.

Danny grinned and chuckled. Reading Steve's mind, Danny blew him a kiss instead and returned the earlier wink. "Go." He said, then mouthed and pantomimed—as best he could—I love you, with his good hand.

Steve's grin could have probably powered the whole hospital. He did it back at Danny, blowing him a final kiss before walking out the door.

He was so euphoric that he almost forgot he was supposed to bring along Danny's mom. She called after him when he walked past her at the vending machines. He apologized profusely the rest of the walk to the car.

"So.." Steve said starting the engine, "what-what kind of music do you like?"

"Do you have ABBA!?"

"Uh, ha, of course I have ABBA! Psh, do I have ABBA." Steve said, heart racing, opening up Spotify and searching for the band—praying they had it—yes! "ABBA's the best!"

"Um..." Steve said as he pulled out and Dancing Queen started playing from the car speakers, "do, do... do, do you want anything? Are you, do you want a water? Are you thirsty? We can go buy a water. Have you had pineapple juice? You'll love it! Do you like pineapples? I like pineapples. Danny, Danny likes pineapples. Grace likes pineapples. We all like pineapples. Danny says he doesn't like pineapples, but, he likes them. Okay, I mean,maybe not on pizzas but... you know... Grace likes pineapple pizza. Do you like pineapple pizza? Have you had pineapple pizza? Is that a thing in Jersey? You guys have a lot of great Italian food huh? Danny, he's always talkin about your home-cooked meals. He misses that... I think he misses a lot of things from home... I think there's still a big part of him that would go back in heartbeat, to be honest—if, of course, Gracie was going back too... But, I think he's starting to like Hawaii too, you know. I mean, obviously, he misses you and the rest of his family—talks about you guys allthe time—but... I'd like to think that this is starting to feel like home for him now too—despite him only being here for a few months. You know, he's made some great friends here. At the hospital—that first day—a whole waiting room was filled up with people there for him. Basically his whole division stopped by. Everyone from camp was there too. Even some teachers and parents from Grace's school showed up; and some other locals—like Kamekona, you'll get to know him—but, yeah he's—Danny—got a lot of people here who care for him. He's got a family... He means a lot to a lot of us."

By the time Steve stopped talking and Mrs.Williams was able to say that she in fact did not want water—or anything—they had almost reached Grace's school.