The Oceans Call

|30| ke wehe ana

"Wow." I say taking a deep breath.

"Yeah. So just, keep an eye on her?"

"Of course." Everest smiles at me and goes into his room. I finish my coffee and hear the water turn off in Brooklyn's bathroom.

"Steve?" She says from the bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"Can you grab me a towel? I forgot one."

"Yeah. Hold on." I place my cup in the sink and walk down the hall to the closet. I grab a pink towel, I imagine it is hers, and knock on the bathroom door. She opens the door from behind it and I walk in. She closes the door and I just smile at her standing there. Water dripping from her hair and down her body. I open the towel for her and she wraps it around herself. 

"I know that you are both trying to figure out how to keep me busy. Like I'm gonna break or something." She says looking me in the eyes. I didn't really know what to say. "I'm fine." She smiles, but I can see the pain behind it. 

"Brook, you need to talk about this."

"Talk about what, Steve?" She steps around me and walks out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. I just follow her.

"Really? You're just gonna pretend like it never happened?"

"It did happen. But it's over with now. Can you shut the door?" I let out a deep breath and shut the bedroom door. 

"Exactly. Everything you have been worrying about. Looking over your shoulder for. Having nightmares about. All of it is done, and you don't have-"

"Wait." She cuts me off. She turns around and looks at me. "How did you know about the nightmares?"

"We rarely spend a night apart. I've noticed."

"And you didn't say anything?"

"What did you want me to say, Brook? 'Hey, by the way, you're having nightmares every night'?"

"I mean not like that...but something."

"I had a feeling it had something to do with what you didn't want to talk about, so I just didn't say anything about it. It's not like I didn't do anything about them, Brooklyn. Everytime I knew you were having them, I would just wrap my arms around you and pull you closer to me, and it seemed to work."

"Great." She says looking back in her dresser. "Now, not only do you know about the biggest mistake in my life, you know about those too."

"These are the things you're supposed to tell me about."

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Brooklyn, are you really gonna fight me about this right now?"

"I don't see why not!" She yells as she goes into her closet.

"Fine. These are the things you tell the people who care about you. So they can help you. So you don't have to go through it by yourself."

"I don't need help, Steve. I  am a big girl, I can do things by myself."

"Not these things. These are the kind of things where having someone there to help you get through it can really benefit."

"Benefit what?" She says popping out of the closet, trying to fasten her bra. I just close my eyes and roll them. 

"Do you need help with that?" I say a little quieter.

"No. I do not. I am a-I am- DAMN IT!" I just walk over to her and spin her around and fasten the back. "I didn't need your help." She practically whispers.

"I know." I back away and try and hide the small smile on my face as she goes back into her closet. "Listen to me for a second. I know you are a big girl, I know you can do things by yourself. I know you were doing all of this before me and I know damn well you can do it now. BUT, I don't want you to have to go through these kind of things by yourself. I want you to rely on me. I want you to need me." I sit down on the bed, in silence. Brooklyn doesn't say anything. I just hear shuffling coming from inside the closet. A couple seconds she comes back out, wearing black cut off shorts and a bright green, pipeline tank top. 

"Steve." She says walking closer to me. I can see her fighting back tears. "I do need you." She puts her hands on my legs, looking me in the eyes. "I need you so much. I can't tell you how much I need you, and how much happier I have become with you in my life. I just...I don't know. I just feel like I have to go through this alone. Deal with it all by myself. I'm not saying I want to. I'm saying I don't want to put this on anyone else."

"I want you too. I want to take all of your pain and deal with it. But I can't take all of it, baby." I set my hands on top of hers. "I want you to let me help you. I know that you are not okay with everything that happened yesterday. I know that deep down, you are hurting. You have kept this in for so long, and have been fighting this every day. I want to be here for you." I see a tear finally break loose from her eye and I reach up to wipe it away.

"Steve, I'm still scared." She admits. She takes her hands on my legs and walks to the other side of the room.

"What are you scared of?" I ask as I stand up and follow her. She stops as she reaches the wall, leaning against it. 

"I'm scared that everyone is going to treat me differently. I'm scared now that everyone is going to know my past, I don't ever have a chance of getting a job."

"No one, I mean no one, is going to treat you differently. Everyone that knows now, also has their struggles with things that have happened. Danny, Chin, Kono, hell, me. I have things I have done that scare me to this day. I have those times where the past comes back and shakes my world. But I know, that my team always has my back, and I have theirs. Because being in the police career, is scary. And scary things happen. Things go sideways. But no matter what, we get through it. And now, you have me, and you have the team. I know you say you don't want help, but they're not gonna take no for an answer. They will always, always, look out for you and so will I." There are tears streaming down her face and I do my best to wipe them away. 

"Okay." Her voice is low and shaky. 

"Yeah?"

"Okay. I don't want to hold all this in anymore. I need you to be here for me."

"I will always be here for you. Always." She smiles at me as I feel my eyes start to burn from tears. She leans into me and presses her lips against mine. I smiled back as I try not to break the kiss. "Now, I say I cook us up some breakfast, we come back to bed and eat and just watch movies all day. Maybe later we can go swimming."

"I like that." She smiles.

"Good." I kiss her one more time before we walk into the kitchen. "What are you hungry for?"

"Omelets?"

"Sounds good." I smile at her and open the fridge, grabbing all the ingredients we need. She opens the cupboard and grabs a pan. As I bring all the food over to the counter, and starts sprays the pan with oil so nothing sticks. "Bowl?" 

"Top right cupboard." I grab the bowl and hand it to her, but I couldn't help but stop and stare at her. Just watch her. Everything she does, everything she is. She just looks back at me and smiles...