I thought of this late Thursday night, and all day Friday was out and about and making a six hour drive and it was so frustrating because I had it all written in my head but never had the time to type it out. I got home after two in the morning and wrote the first thousand words before going to bed and now it's finally finished and edited. I thought we could all use some established Waige to help get through the rest of the hiatus.

Paige's eyes were large. "We haven't even gone in yet and this is the most incredible housewarming party I've ever been to."

It was one of the most incredible houses they'd ever been to – including some of the larger ones they'd come across for their job. The valet took their keys, and Walter offered Paige his arm as they began to climb the steps to the door.

It was strikingly similar to the first time she and Walter had danced, years go, and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing as they walked to the entrance. This time it was no cover, no ruse, they were on no mission, it was simply a – very grand – housewarming party for a wealthy couple who Walter had helped on a side job the previous week. But still, they were walking arm and arm up to a large, extravagant home, and Paige couldn't help but think back on that night.

They approached the doors, and the women dressed in suits who had the guest list. The woman on the left was speaking with a couple. Walter angled them to the right, and a tall blonde smiled at them.

"What's the name?" The woman asked.

"O'Brien," Walter said.

"O'Brien," the woman said, using her pen to scan down the list. "That is Irish, isn't it?"

"It is," Walter replied. "I was born in Ireland."

"Really! But you don't have an accent."

"Well, when you live here for a long time, you pick up on their way of speaking," Walter said. "But," he added, and Paige caught a hint of a lilt in his voice, "I can still slip back into it if need be."

The woman's cheeks flushed slightly as she put a hand to her chest. "That's impressive. Wow." She gestured toward the door. "You two can head right this way."

Paige tightened her arm around his and stepped forward, nearly making him trip. He righted himself without complaint and fell into step beside her. She glanced at him as they proceeded down toward the grand hall. Walter turned to smile at her, saw her expression, and stopped. "Hey – hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Paige said.

He raised an eyebrow. Not in confusion; he knew she was lying. She shifted her weight. "That woman just seemed pretty interested in you back there. That's all."

"Ramona?"

"Wait, how do you know her name's...she had a name tag on." Paige hadn't even noticed. She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I mean, she was all...flirty. And stuff."

"That bothers you?"

"I mean, you used the accent and she got all blushy."

"I wasn't flirting with her," Walter said. "I was answering her question."

"I know."

He cocked his head. Now he was confused. "I don't understand. You were jealous."

She folded her arms and rubbed them with her hands. "Sounds like you understand." She looked at the floor.

"Hey." Walter slowly drew her chin up so she was looking at him. "Logically, this doesn't make any sense. I'm with you. Who cares if other people act like that? I'm not going to..." he made a motion with his hands, "go running off away from you because someone thinks I'm attractive. There isn't any reason to be jealous."

"I know, Walter," she said, shrugging. "But sometimes you just can't help it."

He blinked. "Interesting. Okay, well..." he looked in the direction of the hall. "We can get farther away from her if we go down that way, so..." Offering her his arm, Walter smiled. "Care to join me?"

Paige smiled back. "Yeah, let's go."

Dancing with Paige was one of Walter's favorite things to do. In the world. Including building computers and coding and all the other things his genius mind had a natural aptitude for. He'd choose holding Paige in his arms as they moved to the music over any of that, every single time.

And she looked beautiful tonight. He had always loved her in black, and the dark, dark purple she was wearing tonight almost looked black with the way the room was lit. Her hair fell down around her shoulders in waves, and she tossed her head, causing it to migrate over her shoulder and down her back.

"Damn."

Walter heard the voice, but it only barely registered. That often happened when he was dancing with her. Everything else sort of faded away, muted, blurred around them.

"Gary, you get a load of that girl?"

Walter was distracted upon hearing the same voice from before, and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two well – dressed men, probably mid – thirties, sitting at one of the tables near the dance floor. They were looking at him and Paige, well, probably not at him, Walter realized, an unpleasant feeling beginning to nudge its way to the forefront of his thoughts.

"What a looker," the other man – Gary? – responded. "If only she were here alone, huh?"

"Then what?" The first man said. "You think you'd have a shot?"

"A quicker one than you."

"Jessica did pick me."

"And how well did that turn out for either of you?"

Walter set his jaw, his feet beginning to shuffle rather than step, and before he even realized he was doing it, the tips of his fingers were pressing into Paige's skin.

"Walter," Paige said. He refocused on her, and was startled to see an almost amused expression. "It's not so easy now, is it?"

He grunted. Any hopes he'd had of hiding the pangs of jealousy from her had clearly not come to fruition.

"How...about...this..." she said, her tone becoming quieter, more playful. "Instead of us being jealous...why don't we make them that way?"

"Them..." he glanced to the side, noticing that Ramona and the other door greeters had entered the room. He looked back at Paige, reminding himself of exactly what he'd told her earlier. They were together. There was no reason to be jealous. There was nothing to be jealous of.

Unless of course, you were Ramona, or Gary, or the other guy who was looking at Paige as if she was the main course at a banquet. "What did you have in mind?" He asked quietly.

Paige leaned in, brushing her lips across his. She slowly slid her hand from where it was resting on his shoulder up his neck, cradling his face. They continued to dance, Walter slowly but purposefully stepping them a bit closer to the edge of the floor where Gary's table was.

"Ramona is looking," she said softly, her hand still on his cheek, their noses nearly touching. She kissed him again. He slid his hand a bit lower.

"I can't tell what they're saying," Walter said, not looking directly at the men. "But they're watching." He pulled her a little closer. "You look absolutely stunning tonight."

"They can't hear us either."

"That wasn't for their benefit."

Color tinged Paige's cheeks. "Thank you."

"That is a good color on you."

She smirked. "You just like it because it looks black in this light."

"Not true. It has a different tint to it and it suits you. Though most colors do."

He loved when she got that look in her eyes. "You're so sweet," she whispered.

He kissed her gently, wondering briefly if they were standing out like a sore thumb. This wasn't a school dance, where – he was told – couples kissed and groped and practically got pregnant right there in front of everyone else. This was a housewarming party, and an upscale one at that. If they really got down to it, what he and Paige were doing – as tame as it was – was probably inappropriate. He stole a quick glance around. No one seemed to notice. Apart from their targets, that is.

"We don't look obnoxious," Paige said, stroking his face. "Trust me."

He nodded, because he did trust her, with everything, and he hoped it wasn't evident on his face how the simple phrase, uttered casually by so many people on a daily basis, made him emotional. Damn, it was like his E.Q. went on overdrive whenever they were having an intimate moment.

Paige glanced off to the side of the room, and looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "I should probably call Ralph and say goodnight," she said. "Come with?"

"Outside?" He asked. He thought he saw some sort of patio area.

"Not exactly what I had in mind." Taking his hand, she led him off the dance floor. "There's a closet over here."

"And you...want me to...stand guard?" Walter asked, confused.

"Nope." Paige glanced around, then opened the door. Grinning at him, she curled her fingers around the front of his jacket and tugged, asking him to come inside with her.

It was a small closet, possible used to store things currently being used for the party, but there was room for the both of them. He pulled the door shut as Paige fished her phone out of a hidden pocket and dialed. Walter felt along the wall to make sure there was nothing to dirty his suit, then leaned up against it. After a few minutes, Paige poked Walter in the arm with her finger as she said into the phone, "do you want to say good night to him?"

Ralph's answer must have been affirmative, because Walter felt her cell phone being pressed into his hand. "Hey, buddy."

"Hi, Walter! How's the party?"

"It's...interesting, to say the least."

"My mom looks so pretty, doesn't she?"

Walter chuckled. Every time he and Paige went anywhere that required dressing up, Ralph always made a point to tell Walter – as if he didn't notice himself – how nice his mother looked. "Yeah, Ralph, she does. She always does." Sometimes the boy wrinkled his nose whenever either Walter or Paige got sappy in front of him, but he wasn't any better at keeping his facial expression neutral than Walter was. Ralph was positively giddy when they got like that, no matter how hard he sometimes tried to express disgust.

But Ralph wasn't in a pretending mood tonight. "Yeah, she does," he said. "I'm glad you're having a good time."

"We will tell you all about it in the morning," Walter said. "You get a good night's sleep now, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you, Ralph." As relatively new as Walter was to saying it, it was still harder for Ralph to use that word, even with Paige. So they said it first, and he could reciprocate with easier diction.

"You too, Walter."

"Here's your mom."

He handed the phone back to Paige, who echoed the good nights and I love yous and then hung up. "All his homework is done and he's maxed out a new game," she said. "It's a good thing we have Scorpion to keep him challenged."

"One day I think even we won't be able to do that," Walter said. "His capacity for knowledge seems to be...unparalleled. So, uh," he said, "are you going to tell me what we're doing in here?"

He could barely see her, but Paige stepped close to him, their bodies coming together as she slid her arms around his neck and put her lips back on his, kissing him slowly, deeply. He wrapped his arms around her. He was thoroughly enjoying their little game tonight, but kissing her in private was still his favorite way to do it.

She moved her lips to his neck, and he closed his eyes, but after a few seconds, shook his head. "Paige," he said as her tongue flicked against his skin, "we are not going to – "

"No," she said, lifting her head and his eyes had adjusted just enough to see a small smile, "but they're going to think we are."

"Ah." He linked his hands in the small of her back. "You're good."

She giggled quietly, then leaned in to kiss him again. "This is a lot of fun," she said after a minute, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. "Those men," she said, her lips against his skin, "are absolutely green with envy."

They should be. It sounded possessive. Walter didn't like to sound possessive. Paige wasn't a possession. But at the same time, he knew, firsthand, how sweet and loving and wonderful she was, so wasn't he the most qualified to know just what the rest of the world was missing out on?

He kissed her hair, rubbing her back gently. "So what do we do when we go back out there?"

"I'll go out first, tugging at my dress. Then you follow and be snapping the button on your pants."

"That'll get the message across?" Walter asked.

"I mean, I could go out there wiping my mouth, but I think we would both like to keep it a little classier than that."

Walter reached for the door, and looked at Paige in confusion when she grabbed his wrist. "What..."

"We're trying to make Ramona jealous too, remember?" Paige raised her eyebrows. "Wait a few more minutes." She smirked, stepping into him again and putting her lips back on his. He slid a hand up, cradling her face, pleased that she wanted to pass the time this way.

Paige wrapped her arms around him, keeping him near her. "Too bad we're at a party," she mumbled against his lips, "because you're looking..." she kissed him again, "really good tonight."

"We could leave," he mumbled, moving his lips to her neck, and she gave a breathy laugh, sliding a hand up into his hair. He didn't want to leave – not quite yet, anyway, but she was beginning to breathe just a little bit harder and if they had time to kill anyway...

A tiny voice in his head told him it was mean to want to work her up like this when they couldn't really do anything about it. A louder voice reminded him that last month she'd basically done this in front of the entire team and had giggled when he swore he'd get her back.

He thought he'd found that spot on her neck and got his confirmation when he swirled his tongue and her knees nearly buckled. He curled an arm around her, using the other one to rub his thumb along the side of her breast. Paige's breath grew hot against his ear. "Back up," he whispered, gently pushing her forward three steps until her back was against the opposite wall. He went back to kissing her lips, both hands coming up to massage her breasts over her dress. She whimpered into his mouth, her hands curling around the sleeves of his jacket. Walter moved back to her neck, eliciting a quiet Jesus and then his name. He found the spot on her neck again, and heard two things – firstly, a moan from Paige, and secondly, the sound of her hand clapping firmly over her mouth.

"No one can hear you out there," he mumbled reassuringly. "Everybody's dancing, and the band's top volume." He lifted his head, his lips against her ear. "The only one who can hear you is me."

"I hate you," she whined as he trailed kisses along her jawline, his hands still working, thumbs rubbing the hard nubs that were now protruding through her dress. Walter smiled to himself, going back to her neck, careful not to do anything that would leave a mark. He slid his hands down to her waist – he didn't want to get her too agitated, and tugged her against him, putting his mouth back on hers. She kissed him back eagerly, pushing against his mouth as she ran a hand through his hair, her nails lightly scratching his scalp.

"We should probably go back out there," Walter mumbled after another minute or so. "We don't want to draw attention."

"Mmm hmm," Paige said, pulling back and letting out a long breath. "Whew," she said breathlessly, and Walter couldn't help the grin that was coming over his face. Paige shook her head, grinning herself. "You are evil."

"Oh dear," Walter said, pretending to be concerned. "I don't know that Gary and his friend would be too impressed with evil."

"Hmmm," she said, sliding her hands up to his neck. "They should be."

"Shall we go back out?"

Paige nodded. "I'm pretty sure I'm flushed head to toe so Ramona should be pretty damn sorry I got ahold of you first."

Walter wanted to tell her it wouldn't have mattered. Even if he'd never met her, he wouldn't have ended up with anyone else. But he merely smirked and slid his hands around to the small of her back, then lower, squeezing gently. "As long as you're equally glad you got to me first."

"I just might be," she said teasingly, and he smiled, leaning in to brush his lips over hers again. "Let's go."

Paige cracked the door open and peered out, then pushed it farther open and exited, tugging at the bottom of her dress with one hand and using the other to fix the straps. Walter undid the button on his pants, then stepped back out into the room, immediately going to re – fasten it while pushing the door closed behind him. Struggling with the button, he tripped, stumbling forward into Paige. She caught herself – she had incredible balance in heels – and turned, helping to steady him as he finally managed to get the button closed. "Graceful," she whispered, looking amused.

He rolled his eyes. Paige took his hand, then reached across with her other hand to hug his arm, as they walked back to their table. He didn't know about the men he'd been worrying about – he couldn't see them – but Ramona was certainly looking at them like they were...what was the phrase Toby used?

Walter pulled out her chair for her as they reached the table and bent down to kiss her cheek before taking the seat beside her. "Did you see Gary and company?" Paige asked quietly, leaning in close to him."

"Hmmm, no," he said. "Did you?"

"Totally looking at us," she said.

"So was Ramona." Paige looked pleased at this. "Couple goals," Walter blurted, remembering Toby's phrase. "That's how she was looking at us."

She grinned, raising her eyebrows at him. "Aren't we, though?"

THE END.