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After a seemingly endless and particularly difficult day at work the entire team is exhausted and Junior sensibly went to bed as soon as they arrived home, but since Steve isn’t sleeping so well these days and Danny knows it, they opted to try to unwind a little first, settling on the couch together to share a six-pack. They’ve been sitting in companionable silence for quite some time, not even looking at each other, when Steve makes the mistake of glancing over at his partner, immediately resulting in a depressingly familiar sharp pang of hopeless longing. Of course he has years of experience of ruthlessly suppressing such feelings, but recently he’s been finding the constant battle increasingly difficult, perhaps because he now has far too many other unresolved issues draining his mental energy.
Apparently his defenses are lower than ever while he’s bone-tired and slightly tipsy, since a question Steve has pondered internally thousands of times unexpectedly makes it out of his mouth without his permission; “Hey, Danny, do you think we would be married if one of us was a woman?”
His partner simply snorts and mutters, “No more beer for you.”
Steve doesn’t even try to stop Danny from stealing the current bottle out of his hand. He has bigger fish to fry, because he’s not letting this go now that it’s out there, even though he probably should. “Seriously,” he continues doggedly. “We love each other and everybody compares our relationship to a marriage… don’t you think it could actually become one if mutual physical attraction was added to the equation?”
Danny sighs heavily. “I think that if one of us was a woman, her life would probably have turned out so different that we never would have met.”
Steve frowns unhappily. Why can’t his partner cooperate with a simple yes or no? But despite his frustration he can’t help but ask, “How do you figure?”
“Think about it for a moment, buddy. If I was a woman, I might have chosen a different career, but even if I was still a cop, Grace definitely wouldn’t exist, so there goes my reason for moving to Hawaii. Sure, I would probably still have kids, but the odds of losing custody in a divorce and whatever schmuck I married subsequently deciding to move here are astronomical. Similarly, if you were a woman you may or may not have still joined the Navy, but you couldn’t have become a SEAL, so you most likely would never have ended up going after the Hesse brothers.”
“Huh,” Steve says in reluctant acknowledgement of Danny’s logic. “Well, just for the sake of argument, let’s say that we would still end up in each other’s lives some other way.”
“What, like fate would bring us together?” Danny pauses to chuckle dryly. “How romantic.”
“Damn it, Danny,” Steve grumbles. “Just answer the question already.”
Danny chuckles again. “I don’t think you realize what an absurd concept this is. But okay, fine, if one of us was a woman… I think it would have to be me, because you are ridiculously pretty even as a man, so female you would probably be completely out of my league.”
“That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said,” Steve declares. “You’re the best man I know and any woman would be lucky to have you. Besides, I’ve seen enough of your exes to know you don’t have a problem attracting beautiful women.”
Danny smirks, looking exceedingly pleased with himself.
“Oh my god,” Steve exclaims as realization strikes. “Were you seriously just fishing for compliments right now?”
The answering grin on Danny’s face is enormous. “By all means, tell me some more about how amazing I am.”
“You’re an asshole and I hate you.”
“Nah, you love me,” Danny replies with unmistakable confidence. “And yeah, okay, maybe that love would be different if one of us was a woman… or if you were a little less straight.”
That last part was muttered so quietly that Steve thinks Danny didn’t actually intend for him to hear it, but he did and he’s not about to pretend he didn’t, even though he suddenly feels like he can’t breathe. “If I was a little less straight?” he repeats incredulously. “What about you?”
Danny shrugs. “I’m only mostly straight. Like maybe ninety-five percent.”
Steve takes a moment to process that before breathlessly inquiring, “Am I in the other five percent?”
“Yes,” Danny confirms with admirable composure.
Steve feels as if the world has flipped on its axis and he’s unable to do anything other than stare at his partner in stunned disbelief.
“There’s no need to freak out,” Danny says eventually. “I’ve lived with this attraction for years without jumping you, so this doesn’t have to change anything. If you make things weird between us I’ll kick your ass.”
Steve can’t prevent a somewhat crazed laugh from bubbling out of him. “Oh, things are definitely gonna get weird,” he murmurs. “Just not the way you think.”
Danny’s confused and apprehensive expression is rapidly replaced by a look of wide-eyed shock which Steve only sees for the briefest of moments as he leans over to kiss his partner softly. Danny allows it for a few seconds but makes no move to reciprocate before firmly pushing Steve away with one hand against his chest while simultaneously curling the other around the back of his neck, presumably to stop him from retreating too far.
They gaze into each other’s eyes for a prolonged moment before Danny says seriously, “Our friendship is too important to risk for an experiment or a casual fling, so what is this to you?”
“Hopefully, it’s forever,” Steve replies solemnly. “Till death do us part.”
Danny laughs in a clearly startled way. “You’re lucky I’m already stupidly in love with you, or that would have been way too intense for an opening move.”
“I love you too,” Steve informs him earnestly.
They have just enough time to exchange matching elated grins before Danny leans in to give Steve an impossibly tender kiss. It’s more incredible than he ever imagined, which is really saying something because he’s imagined it a lot.
When they separate, Danny smiles brightly and whispers, “You were wrong. That wasn’t weird at all.”
“No, it was,” Steve disagrees. Danny’s happy expression instantly falters, so Steve rushes to clarify, “Weirdly perfect.”
Danny sighs in obvious relief then wastes no time initiating another breathtaking kiss. There’s a small part of Steve’s brain still flailing in absolute astonishment at this turn of events, but it’s easily overpowered by the profound joy he’s experiencing. He suspects that for the first time in a long time he’ll be sleeping soundly tonight.