Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize…

A/N: Okay, at first I have to state that the plot's idea is not mine. I read it on tumblr and I totally forgot who posted it (If you happened to read this, please PM me so I can give you full credit for it!) and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I mentioned it to my partner in crime, Tiana-P and we got hooked on this and we threw a huge load of ideas around and this came out. I hope you'll like it.

Tell me what you think!

Steve knows that being at Huntington Beach and watching the US Open is a form of self torture but he still goes there every year when he isn't on a mission. He just stands close to the beach, far enough from the crowd, watching the surfers as they ride the waves and for a few hours he can pretend that he's back at home and his family didn't fall into pieces years ago.

It's very late now, the beach is almost empty and he's walking down the shore, barefoot with his jeans rolled up and his shoes dangling in his hand when he notices the girl.

She stands motionless in the shallow water, staring up at the star filled sky and she looks almost ethereal in the pale moonlight.

"Are you okay, Miss?" He asks because his military training kicks in and he doesn't like that she's out here all alone in that ungodly hour.

"Yeah, brah, I'm good." She answers but doesn't move.

"You sure?" Steve knows that he's being stubborn but there's just something about this girl.

"Absolutely." She finally turns around and starts to walk out of the water and towards the opposite direction without a backwards glance.

"Hey." He catches up to her in a few long steps.

"Can I help you with something?" She stops and looks at him with a raised brow. "Want an autograph? A picture?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Steve asks confused. "Are you some kind of celebrity?"

"Maybe." She flashes a smile and even if it's almost completely dark, he can see that she has dimples.

Steve looks her up and down subtly; she's wearing shorts and a thin tank top and holds a pair of flip flops in her hand. He doesn't think that she's an actress but with legs like that she could be a model or something but with the casual way she stands he thinks otherwise.

"Surfer?" He guesses.

"Yes." She nods and she isn't as stealthy as he was a few moments earlier with checking him out. "Actually, I have to go back to my hotel. I'm competing tomorrow."

"Want some company?" He asks without thinking. What? It's late and dark and his mother raised him right.

"No thanks." She grins and starts to walk again. "I grew up with a bunch of boys; I can take care of myself."

"Good luck for tomorrow, then." He shouts after her and heads towards his own hotel.

.

.

He's back at the beach the next day and tries to convince himself that he isn't looking for the mystery girl among the surfers. Yeah, good luck with that.

It's not even hard to find out who she is, because she wins her quarter final's round and her name is announced loud enough to hear it.

Kono Kalakaua, Hawaii.

Steve can't help the quiet scoff, because what's the possibility to run into a girl from home in California in the middle of the night? That will cost him serious karma points he's sure of that.

He waits for her at the exact same place where he met her the day before and she doesn't disappoint him. It seems like that she's a creature of habit too. He likes that.

"You were great today." He says as a greeting.

"Thanks." She shrugs with a smile, not affected by the praise, she must hear that a lot. "Still don't want an autograph?"

"Maybe after you win tomorrow." He grins. "I'll buy you a beer in return."

"I can do that myself, if that's what you're wondering about." She drawls and he laughs. Sure.

"I'm Steve by the way." He steps closer but doesn't hold out his hand because the air suddenly shifts around them, it gets heavy and thick, charged with something he can't name at the moment but it's dangerous, he knows that much.

It seems that she feels it too, her big brown eyes go wide and dark, her breathing turns a little shallow. What the hell?

"Kono?" His voice is low and he isn't sure of what's coming next but he has some ideas.

She shakes her head, like she wants to clear her mind but her eyes still a little glazed over when she meets his questioning gaze.

"Tomorrow." She rasps out the word.

"Okay." He agrees because he needs to cool down too. "Knock 'em dead."

"Good night, Steve." She turns and wills herself not to run but her steps are quicker than usual.

What the hell happened?

Fuck.

.

.

Kono wins the competition and the adrenalin is thrumming through her veins, a special kind of high but she can't relish it fully because she has a meeting in a few hours that makes her heart beat so hard she can feel it slamming against her ribcage.

It's insane, seriously crazy and too reckless even for her but she is still sneaking out of her own celebration and heads towards the beach to meet a complete stranger.

There's this strange tingling feeling at the base of her spine when she notices that he's already there, holding up two beer bottles with a lopsided smile.

"Congratulations!" Steve clinks his bottle against hers.

"Thank you." She says and wonders why he makes her so nervous.

"I think you owe me an autograph." He grins. "Maybe a picture, too."

"Sure." Kono grins back. "Where do you want me?"

Steve almost chokes on his beer because he has a few not so gentlemanly answers for that but he doesn't say them out loud, he just pulls out his phone, throws an arm around her shoulders and snaps a picture.

He doesn't really care about the outcome because the moment he touched the bare skin of her shoulders something just fucking leapt inside of him and he turns her towards him without thinking it through.

Their lips meet and the whole thing spirals out of hand fast because there's no slow build up just an explosion so huge it consumes them completely.

Her body arches towards his, pressing herself close and he tries to slow down, to let them think or stop but he can't.

He pants out her name and she looks at him with eyes almost black from want and everything is a blur after that.

"This is crazy." Kono laughs later when they are dressed again. "I don't even know your last name."

"McGarrett." He says and kisses her shoulder. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon." She sighs when his mouth touches that incredibly sensitive spot behind her ear.

"I have a bed, you know." His voice is low and rough in her ear.

She'll regret this whole thing tomorrow, now she just wants him.

.

.

A month later Kono's phone pings signaling an incoming message.

'I have sand everywhere. Reminds me of you. SM'

She can't help the laugh and her skin heats up on instant. Damn this man to make her hot and bothered from hundreds of miles away.

And how does he know her number anyway? She didn't give it to him, she's sure of that. Then she remembers that he said that he's in the Navy and he hunts down terrorists or something like that so finding out her number couldn't be so hard after all.

'Thanks for the reminder. Now I have to take a shower. Sadly, all alone. KK'

She's smirking when she hits 'send' and she doesn't want to think about how much she misses him.

.

.

Kono's in Australia two months later and she thinks that this is it, she finally lost her mind because she's certain that Steve is standing just a few feet away from her.

But he's coming closer and the way his fingers tangle in her hair as he angles her face towards him is painfully real and she does something incredibly uncharacteristic when she jumps into his arms and she welcomes the hot press of his palm on her lower back as he steadies her body against him.

"I couldn't stay away." He breaths his confession against the skin of her neck when she pulls her mouth away from his for air.

It hits her like a hard fist in her face, this isn't about how hot he can make her, it's something alarmingly more and she can feel the fear slowly seeping into her bloodstream but she knows she's stuck when his teeth nips lightly at her collarbone and his body pressing tantalizingly against hers.

"How long?" She asks quietly.

"Six days."

Maybe it's enough.

.

.

"I shouldn't want you like this." Steve says out of the blue two days later.

They are lying on the bed, their sweat slicked skin cooling slowly as they are basking in the afterglow, at least that's what she tries to do but apparently he has other ideas.

Steve turns onto his side, eyes sweeping over her naked form and they are darkening again and he still can't believe how he just can't stop wanting her.

It's dangerous, he knows, he knew it from the moment he met her. He can't do commitment, he's too fucked up and ten kinds of broken already and the last thing he wants to do is to hurt her in any ways. Like dying on a mission because let's face it, it's a strong possibility in his profession.

But when she looks at him, her sable eyes full of warmth and want and her dimpled smile promises things he never thought he can have. She feels like home and it's scary because she's too close and it's too deep and this can end badly.

"Then don't do it." She offers an easy way out and his heart wrenches inside his chest.

"I don't think I can walk away." He can't believe he said that aloud.

Then she's moving, straddling his hips, pressing her soft hot skin against his and she's bending over his mouth with a small smile on her lips.

"Then don't do it." She whispers and kisses him.

.

.

When Steve learns about her accident he has to pull some serious strings to leave the base immediately but he is on the next plane and he tortures himself with the video of her going down and he'd never been this scared in his whole life before.

Kono lies in the hospital bed and everything feels broken around her. Her life, her dreams, her career and her body. The tears are hot and burning, like acid in her eyes; she feels helpless and very much alone.

.

.

She wakes up to the gentle touch of fingers against her face and her vision is still a little blurry but she recognizes his smell.

"What are you doing here?" She murmurs; her voice is thick with sleep.

He doesn't answer he just raises a brow at her in a way that means she's acting crazy again and he pulls a chair beside her bed, sits down and reaches for her hand.

"You scared me to death." He says simply but the look in his eyes tells her so much more, it tells her everything he just can't say out loud but it's okay, she understands him just fine.

"Now you know how I feel every time you go on a mission." She shots back.

.

.

"Marry me." Steve's face is dead serious like it's a delicate hostage situation and not a proposal.

It's three weeks after her accident and she can leave the hospital soon.

He kneels patiently before Kono, holding back his breath, waiting for her response.

"Have you lost your mind?" She whacks him with one of her crutches. "You don't even know me."

Well, it's not going as good as he expected it. Trust him to fell for a girl who doesn't give a shit about grand romantic gestures.

"I have the rest of my life to find out." Steve shrugs and flashes his most charming smile. "So?"

Later Kono will blame her pain medication, but now she just looks at him and she sees in his eyes that it's not a joke and her chest feels tight, and fuck, she's going to cry.

"Okay." She croaks out.

.

.

They get married three days later because apparently Steve knows people who knows people.

It's small and simple but it doesn't really matter because the only thing is important to them is that when they kiss it feels like home.