Quill, Parchment, & Ink

Title: Together Can Never Be Close Enough (2/2)
Part One of Together Can Never Be Close Enough
Characters: Steve McGarrett, Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Catherine Rollins, various other characters who will appear as needed
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O AU
Series Honolulu 96731 'verse
Summary: Steve McGarrett is BMOC; he’s just got one problem—he’s got the major hots for the new kid at school. And Danny wants nothing to do with him.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Boys being stupid and dorky
Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-O doesn’t belong to me, but the High School verse does. And the dorky things the characters got up to as teenagers (also Danny moving to the Islands as a teenager) totally do too. “Marry Me” doesn’t belong to me either, but to Train.
Author's Note: So for those of you who enjoyed military verse…I’m sorry, that was totally a one shot and only supposed to be a one shot. This on the other hand? Oh I am so in love with the Hawaii Five-O team as teenagers and the things they could get up to. This is the first part of what will be an on-going verse, but I need to catch up on some other stuff first before I write the next couple of parts. This is for emocezi —always an enabler. whogeek —who has flailed over everything she’s seen so far. And just a little bit to swing_set13  who enabled this by calling Steve a stalker. And since music is and is going to be such a big part of this verse…I am working on a fanmix of all the music used in the verse including the songs used for titles. I’ve already got the ones that have been used already. Since the ‘verse is on-going it’ll be a bit before I get the final mix up though.


For a few minutes, he focused on his project. When Kono didn’t press him for an answer, he turned to look at her. She was carefully lining up the negatives to expose them on film and seemingly not paying any attention to him. “I’m not sure I want to date anyone here. Since I just want to go back to Jersey.”

“Are you going back to Jersey?” she asked. “I mean like now?”

“Not in the near future, Kono,” he answered before sighing. “And with everything going on probably not even after graduation.”

She practically pounced on his words. “See! There’s no reason you couldn’t get involved with someone. So what’s your type? Blonde, brunette, redhead? Tall, short?” She eyed him for a minute. “Guy?”

Danny was glad he didn’t have a picture in the chemicals when she said that, he would have ruined the print. “Ko-No!” he yelped.

She turned; the innocent look just barely visible in the red light. “What? Just because I’m younger doesn’t mean I don’t know things. I know lots of gay guys.”

“Oh, really? Who?” Danny retorted.

“Oh, please. You think all those surfer boys I hang out with are straight? Puh-leeze.” She flapped a hand in some combination of jazz hands and flamer that made Danny bite his lower lip so he didn’t laugh as her words lapsed into the weird surfer dialect he had yet to pick up. Finally she wound down. “So are you or aren’t you?” she asked bluntly.

“I…I…” Danny responded.

“Danny, brah. I don’t care. Unless you do.”

He took a deep breath. “No, I don’t care. I’m comfortable with who I am.”

“Soooo?” Kono asked.

“Kono, do you really want me to spell it out?” He turned to face her. He was sure she wasn’t as innocent as she looked, but she still reminded him of his younger cousin who’d walked in on him going down on the boy from down the street and that was an image he never wanted to deal with again. “Tall, brunette, ripped, okay? And anything else is none of your business.”

She considered this for a few minutes. “I might know a few guys like that.”

Danny hit his head lightly against the wall closest to him. “What part of I’m not interested do you not get? I just…I need to concentrate on my grades. And attempt to stay out of trouble. And Grace.”

Her eyes lit up even in the low light of the darkroom and she reached across him, snagging one of the pictures from his project. It showed a little girl, long pigtails flying as she whirled around to smile at the camera. “So when do I get to meet the infamous Grace?” she asked, turning the picture to face him.

Danny took the photo from her, shrugging. “I don’t know. It’s not like I let my baby hang out with borderline hoods.”

“It’s so cute that you call her your baby.” Kono giggled. She flapped a hand at his pictures and negatives. “Look. She likes the beach, right?” At his slow nod, she continued, “Why don’t you bring her to the North Shore on Saturday? You can get some more pictures for your project, cause, brah there is no Hawaii without surfing, and I can meet your little angel.”

“There is no bikini and my Grace in the same time zone,” Danny protested.

“Do your parents know you talk this way?” Kono asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Considering the amount of time I spend with her and the amount of time they spend with her…I doubt they’ve even noticed. She’s not wearing a bikini and she’s sure as hell not surfing.”

“No surfing and no bikini,” Kono promised. “Unless she really wants to. But Saturday? Please?”

“Why is it so important to you?” he asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the table.

Kono took a moment to appreciate the view he was presenting. Danny with his leather jacket on had a shield against the world. Danny right now was all firm muscles underneath a tight t-shirt and painted on jeans. Kono was woman enough to understand it was hormones that made her want to spend more time with him and teenage enough to wish he liked girls. “I want you to like Hawaii because it’s my home,” she answered. “And I want to meet someone important to you.”

He considered her words for a moment before nodding. “All right. I’ll bring her. But not for the whole day and we are not getting up at the damn crack of dawn to meet you.”

“No, that’s fine, but not too late, all right?”

After he nodded his acceptance of this, she considered him again and he could almost see her plotting. “Kono, I said no to you setting me up with someone.”

“No. No it’s not that. I was just thinking. You did sports in Jersey, right?”

“I ran track,” he said hesitantly. “But I can’t do that now. I’ve got Grace.”

She held up a finger. “Ah, but practices for sport teams are the last period of the day and I happen to know you have that period free. So you could at least come today and run with me and see if you want to join the team.”

“Kono, please don’t try to take over the world,” he begged as he began to clean up his supplies. “Your plotting is scary.”

She giggled in response and got to work on her own supplies as they hurried to put the darkroom back to rights before the bell rang.

H50 AU H50 AU H50 AU H50 AU H50 AU H50 AU H50 AU H50 AU

Danny shrieked as a pair of hands landed on his hips. Twisting around, he peered up at Kono’s grinning face. “Seriously. Gonna bell you, girl!” he growled.

She bumped him with her hip, her grin widening even more. “You scream like a girl, haole,” she informed him.

“Hate that word,” he grumbled as he straightened up, shaking his feet to check the fit of his sneakers. His blue eyes scanned the field as he fell into the rhythm of stretching; something he’d not forgotten although it’d been a while since he ran.

Beside him, Kono did the same as she replied, “But I say it with love.”

“Only you, surfer girl,” Danny replied.

“So I’m thinking we take it nice and easy,” Kono suggested. She nodded at his knee. “For both of us.”

Danny picked up his iPod from where he’d set it on the bench beside his bag. “You gonna talk my ear off?”

Kono stuck her own earbuds in her ears. “Not unless you’re gonna do it to me. Set the pace?”

Danny stepped onto the track in answer and set off at once, grinning as the younger girl easily caught up with him. Within moments, they were striding along side by side. And he remembered why he enjoyed this so much.

The football hit Steve in the chest, luckily not doing much damage since he was wearing his pads, considering it was thrown by Chin Ho Kelly. “What the hell?” Steve demanded as Chin jogged over to join him, scooping up the ball and lobbing it back at his friend.

“You better not be perving on my cuz, brah,” Chin responded, bouncing the ball off Steve’s head.

Steve rubbed his head where the ball had landed, looking at the other boy in confusion. “Who?”

“My little…” Chin took a good look at the two runners pacing each other on the track and sighed. “Never mind. Not a good idea, Steve.”

Steve caught the ball that Chin tossed to him, asking, “What part of it isn’t a good idea?”

“Um. All of it?” Chin jerked his head at the two as they got farther away. “What do you know about him? Have you even talked to him?”

“No. I haven’t. But I don’t need to. Not yet anyway.” Steve’s hazel eyes drifted towards where the runners were rounding the curve again. “I need to learn more about him first.”

“You don’t.” Chin blinked. “I’m thinking that’s a really bad idea. Steve, you cannot just…plot and learn…and no.” He knew that look in Steve’s eye. Steve was about to do something really stupid.

Steve threw the football back to Chin. “Pass it to me.”

“Steve,” Chin warned. “You’re gonna…”

Steve’s eyes hardened and for a second Chin could see the elder McGarrett in him. “I know what I’m doing, Kelly,” the taller boy responded. “I did the math.”

“He did the math,” Chin grumbled, even as his posture automatically altered, converting so he could whip the ball in a long, graceful arc. If Steve angled right, the ball would land safely in his hands.

Instead the normally graceful boy fumbled, sending the ball spinning out onto the track and directly into the path of the two runners. Steve widened his eyes, his hazel ones appearing just a bit too innocent as Danny’s shocked blue ones met them. Kono had time to dodge, easily avoiding both player and ball, but Danny collided with him and they tumbled into the dirt.

Steve rolled, wrapping his arms around the smaller more compact body, and taking the brunt of the impact as he twisted them so Danny landed on top of him. There was a vicious curse as the two of them fell to the ground. Despite Danny obviously trying to slow his pace, he hadn’t seen Steve in time, and he hit the footballer with enough force to knock the air from Steve’s lungs.

For a moment, Danny’s body was laid out across Steve’s and then the other boy was scrambling to his feet or attempting to as Chin ran over to them. “Danny, you okay, brah?” he asked, offering his hand to the blonde.

“I’m sorry,” Steve apologized as Chin and Kono combined to help Danny to his feet. “I have no idea what happened. That should have been an easy catch.”

Chin threw a look over his shoulder that stated with no uncertainties that Steve sucked at lying as Danny stood up. He shook his head as he looked at the boy still sprawled across the track. “Seriously. Do they drop you people on your heads when you’re babies? What the hell were you thinking? Are you brain damaged?” As he spoke he held his hand out to Steve who looked at it like it was going to bite him. “Really? Come on. That ground can’t be comfortable. Get your ass off it. But really. If you wanted to say hello, there are less painful ways.”

“I…um…” Steve responded as he accepted the hand. Danny braced himself and hauled Steve to his feet, the other boy’s hazel eyes widening as the mainlander easily pulled him up. “Sorry?”

“Sorry? For what? For ruining a perfectly good run? Or for crashing into me? Or making Kono leap over you? Or for…” Danny’s questions were interrupted by the cheery strains of “My Girl” coming from his shorts. “Hold that thought.” He rooted around in his pocket for a second, finally digging out a cell phone. He hit the answer button and put it to his ear, a wide smile breaking out as he said, “Hi, sweetie.”

Steve looked at Chin and Kono, both of whom shrugged in response as Danny walked a few steps away from them. He listened to the person on the other end, answering cheerfully whatever she was saying, but glancing over at the group every few seconds. After what seemed to Steve like an interminable time, Danny’s voice raised enough to be heard clearly, “I have some friends waiting. I’ll see you soon, okay? Danno loves you.” He smiled at whatever was said in response before shoving the phone back in his pocket. Rejoining them, he said, “I need to go. Kono, I’ll see you Saturday.”

“Sounds good, brah,” she answered with a grin. “Have fun with Grace.”

He grinned in response before nodding at the boys. “See you in class, Chin.” With a wave, he jogged off towards the school.

Steve grabbed Kono as she turned to go away. “Kono, who’s Grace?”

She eyed his hand where it gripped her arm. “Now you know my name? I don’t think so, McGarrett. Remove your hand. Or I’ll do it for you.”

Steve jerked his hand away quickly. Kono could be vicious when she chose. “Sorry. Please tell me what you know about Grace.”

“Maybe you should find out for yourself by trying to spend time with him. Or talking to him. Instead of attempting to injure him,” Kono replied. “He’s spending time with me on Saturday.” She stuck her earbuds back in her ears and jogged away.

“Chin.” Steve turned to his best friend. “What do you think about checking out the North Shore on Saturday?”