Christmas Waltz

A Toby & Happy Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Toby rescued her and not a moment too soon. A stranger had Happy trapped under the mistletoe and was about to kiss her because it was tradition.

"I'm sorry but she promised me this dance," Toby said, pulling her away before Fish Lips had descended upon her in something that promised to be an awkward kiss on the mouth.

"Couldn't you wait, like, one minute!?"

"Sorry, I'm not good at waiting!" Toby answered curtly. "Now if you'll excuse us, I have to dance with this beautiful woman."

"You didn't have to do that," Happy told him as he swept her onto the dance floor while the orchestra broke into a slow, jazzy version of the Christmas Waltz. "I could have had it completely under control if you hadn't come along and tried to play my hero. Again."

He dipped her and then pulled her closer when she was upright again. "You're grateful."

"And you're full of yourself," Happy replied but she smiled at him as he moved her around the room, her red dress swishing around her knees.

"Well, you look lovely tonight," Toby told her.

Happy sighed. "Paige picked the dress and the shoes. Between you and me, the heels are killing my feet. I'm ready to ditch them, but the dress isn't long enough the fact that I wouldn't be wearing any shoes."

"Cabe said we only have to stay a couple of hours," Toby replied. "And a couple of hours are almost done. As soon as we can get to the car, you can remove them."

"I'm planning to," Happy answered as the song ended. "Well, thank you for the dance. And for saving me from that guy who couldn't keep his lips to himself."

"No problem," Toby said, taking it as his cue to let her go. He watched her go over and sit next to Paige; the two girls looked at him and then exchanged a few words.

Happy nodded at something Paige said and then got up again, coming over to him slowly and uncertainly. Her clicking heels sounded louder than the orchestra did, Toby wasn't sure what was going to happen next. But he wanted to find out, so he stayed put, waiting for her to make the first move. To say the first thing.

She cleared her throat and looked at her feet before forcing herself to look back at him. "I was wondering if you wanted to dance again. Maybe. I mean, it wasn't too horrible dancing with you the first time around."

Toby grinned. "Of course I'll dance with you again. If you really want to."

Happy looked back at Paige, who smiled and nodded encouragingly at her. She turned around and nodded too. "Yes. I really want to. Even though my feet do hurt."

Toby looked around and then offered her his hand. "Here, I'll help you out of them. Nobody will be paying attention to your feet. Come on, you know you want to."

She hesitated for a moment and then took his offered hand, reaching down to pull the offending red shoes off before he waltzed her onto the dance floor again, careful not to step on her bare toes as they danced to the instrumental cover of All I Want For Christmas Is You.

It wasn't a bad way to spend the rest of their time at a party nobody really wanted to be at, Toby reflected as Happy let him lead for once, surrendering completely to him for a few minutes.

Before he knew what was happening, Walter was telling them that they could finally leave. They stopped dancing, embarrassed to be caught doing nothing wrong. But their leader seemed totally oblivious to what was going on between them as he walked away to find Paige.

"Until next time?" Toby asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Happy answered, turning into her old self again as the orchestra put their instruments away and the hotel staff started to disassemble the ballroom. "Maybe if we ever have another opportunity to dance."

Toby smiled.

Because maybe wasn't an automatic no.

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Toby rescued her and not a moment too soon. If she had to listen to Drew talk to her about baseball, she was going to punch him. And she didn't think Paige would appreciate it if she punched her ex, especially on Christmas Eve and when Ralph was right around the corner. Instead of whisking her off to the dance floor, he brought her to the kitchen and made her a hot chocolate at the hot chocolate bar that Paige had set up for the occasion.

She stirred her cocoa with a candy cane and watched him add marshmallows to his own drink.

"Thanks," she said after a beat. "I didn't know how much more I could take from Drew without hitting him or something."

Toby smiled at her. "Anytime," he replied.

Happy took a sip of hot chocolate and sighed, at a loss of what to say next. But Toby seemed content to just sit in silence with her while everybody else celebrated Christmas Eve in the other room, including Walter, even though he had put up the biggest argument about it the drive over because he hated celebrating major holidays.

Happy observed that his tune had changed completely, but she didn't mention it to Toby. She was sure he already knew, anyways.

"Come on," Toby said, interjecting into her thoughts. "Let's go and see what everybody else is doing."

"Okay," Happy agreed, picking up her mug and following him into the living room where the rest of the team was.

They sat on the couch together, squeezing in between Sylvester and Ralph. Paige was playing the piano, singing a song that sounded vaguely familiar to Happy. Something about frosted window panes and Christmas waltzes. It was the melody she and Toby had danced to just a few days earlier.

She bit back her smile and swallowed another sip of hot chocolate. Toby noticed and grinned at her, silently sharing a memory with her as Ralph looked between them like he knew exactly what was going on.

And maybe he did, Happy thought, he was a genius after all. And he was Paige's son; she seemed to have powers of perception when it came to her and Toby.

As the last notes of the song faded and Paige started to sing O Holy Night, Happy put her hand over Toby's hesitantly without looking at him. His pulse seemed to jump in excitement as he held her hand in return.

When she went to bed that night, Happy dreamed happier dreams than she had dreamed in a while, she dreamed of red dresses and Christmas waltzes and being rescued by a shrink in a fedora and of a dozen next times.

_The End_

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Author's Note:

I hope you guys enjoyed this story. I am looking forward to hearing your feedback on it. I am sorry for the lack of Walter & Paige this season. I tried hard to write something, but I couldn't quite capture his voice. And then Dominoes happened and it was better than anything I could ever write for them around Christmas. But if you are a Paige/Walter fan, I do have ideas for them.

Anyways, Merry Christmas everybody. Thanks again for reading!

Love,

Holly, 12/23/2014_