I hadn't seen any compilations of I love yous yet, so I decided to try to make one (with some bonus scenes because they felt relevant)! It's very possible I missed something, because eight and a half seasons is A LOT, but even more than that they just keep saying it over and over and over again. Some stats for how often things occur:
- Danny says or implies he loves Steve: 9
- Steve says he loves Danny: 12
- Mutual I love yous: 3
- Steve calls Danny a beloved curmudgeon: 1
- Danny draws a heart in the air way back in the very first season when they've only known each other for a couple of months: 1
- Danny implies that Steve has only ever said 'I love you' to his guns when Steve talks about how serious those words are and later that same season Steve outright tells Danny three times in two episodes that he loves him: 1
- Other people use the word love for how Steve and Danny feel about each other: 6
- Kono says they're IN love: 1
- Really strange editing choices that make it so that Steve glances at Danny just when some random witness in a case says the word "love": 1
Honestly, what suprised me about all of this was that Steve ends up saying it the most by far? Danny is the first to start saying things like it, but in the later seasons Steve just... seems to have realized that it's something he CAN say, something he's allowed to say, and so he does it at the most random moments whenever he feels like it, and it's beautiful.