I want you to want me

Fanfiction
Title:	I want you to want me
Author(s):	sirona
Date(s):	21 August 2011
Length:	45,097 words
Genre(s):	slash fanfiction
Fandom(s):	Hawaii Five-0
Relationship(s):
External Links:	I want you to want me (AO3)
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I want you to want me is a Steve/Danny story by sirona.

Summary: It's all his damned knee's fault. If it wasn't for his body's betrayal, no one would have found out about the fight club, or about his dad practically leaving them to fend for themselves after their mother's death. And they certainly wouldn't have sent the four of them kids to Hawai'i, to live with their aunt and uncle. Although, Danny has to admit that the class president offers a not-so-small consolation... A.k.a. Danny gets sent to Hawai'i to finish high school, and meets the gang, and kind of falls in love.

Author's notes:

Written for h50_bigbang. At its heart this is a High School AU where the boys meet pretty much 16 years before the events of the series, and follows their relationship up to 1.08 -- although due to the nature of the story, it is AU throughout as it allows for the fact that the two of them know each other. It follows canon as much as possible, although I admit to fibbing Mrs McGarrett's time and date of death to suit the story. This story would honestly not exist if it wasn't for zolac_no_miko. She talked me off ledges, researched and explained all things Hawai'i like a superhero for me, and practically glued this story together with her enthusiasm and support, for which I am pathetically grateful. I could not have done it without her, and that's the truth. Thanks, babe. ♥ All remaining mistakes are my own. Art by Sparklycockles.

Recs and Reviews

Why we love it: This is a great high school AU that leads right into present day. Danny gets hurt in New Jersey and, due to his family’s circumstances, is sent to Hawaii. He meets several very familiar characters, and the story follows Danny and Steve as things progress. The story ends just after 1x03, and seamlessly melds the AU with canon.

Why You Should Read This: This fic starts off as an AU and then segues into canon neatly. The author did a wonderful job with the emotions in this fic – the death of Danny’s mother is so sad, and the children’s reactions to said death are believable. I could see teen!Danny as the author wrote him – hurt, trying so hard to keep it together while he takes care of his siblings, resorting to fighting as an outlet. The author was very good at creating younger versions of our beloved characters and making it clear that they will grow into the people we know from the show. Steve is a goof, Danny is so responsible, and everything is lovely.

You know those fics that keep you reading until way to late because you have to see how it ends, and then you spend the next three days floating in a happy buzz of amazing post-fic feels? That’s what happened to me with this fic. It’s a high school AU, but not really. A sort of canon divergence. And it works beautifully. Sirona caught the characters, particularly the banter and snark between Danny and Steve, and she caught the feel of the situation, too. But the best part was the resolution, which could only make me feel that much because of everything that came before, and those happy warm vibes from a fantastic fic.

By now I’ve read a few H50 high school AUs and I have to say I like this one the best. The premise was realistic and I thought the Williams kids reactions, positive and negative, showed real thought into the reactions of teens and children that have suffered a loss. One of the things I really liked was the emotional resolution, I really felt that though I was gutted in the middle the end brought everything back and tied things up satisfactorily.