Since Down the Rabbit Hole is so angsty, I thought I'd skip the angst for awhile with this short little one-shot. Hope you like it :)

Walter walked into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, and found Paige emptying the dishwasher. She closed a cabinet door after putting away a glass, and reached behind herself to rub her shoulder. She'd had a lot of extra paperwork lately, and it was murder on her neck and shoulders.

Noticing her apparent discomfort, Walter asked, "Is something wrong?"

Paige glanced behind her briefly, and tried to give a reassuring smile, "Yeah, it's just all this paperwork. My neck is killing me."

"Oh, here." Walter appeared behind her, tossing the towel he'd been holding on the counter in front of her.

She was surprised when she felt his palms on her shoulders, pressing into the tight muscles. She smiled, "Oh, thank you, Walter." Ever since he found out that she'd broken up with Tim, Walter had been more... proactive. He always stopped if he thought she was uncomfortable, but most of the time she appreciated it, craved it even. It had started out with just a few brushes of his hand, on her shoulder, on her arm, on her back. Then one day on a helicopter ride home from a case, he'd clasped her hand in his. She still smiled at the memory. Since then, they'd been getting closer... She didn't think she could quite consider them a couple, but they were definitely, solidly past friends and colleagues, and the thought sent a tingle down her spine.

Walter had also been making a lot of references to fears he has conquered. She was pretty sure he was trying to be tactful about it, tying them into other conversations and attempting to pass them off as casual comments. He usually ended up being pretty obvious, sometimes embarrassingly so, but she didn't really care. Sometimes she actually found it quite adorable. Once they even had a conversation about Megan's words to him about love. The intense look in his eyes when he said he was finally getting over that fear still set her heart racing.

Paige startled and gasped when Walter's thumbs pressed into her neck on either side of her spine, hitting a particularly sensitive spot she hadn't known was there. "That hurts."

Walter immediately lightened his touch, to the point that he was no longer massaging. He kicked himself for not warning her he was going to do that. His thumbs brushed lightly on her skin, giving her goosebumps, as he replied, "I know, I know. It's supposed to hurt. I promise it'll make you feel better. Just... try to relax, okay?"

He waited for her response, "Okay," before continuing. Paige closed her eyes and breathed deeply, concentrating on relaxing her muscles, despite the pain they were currently enduring. After a few seconds, she suddenly felt her muscles release on their own, and Walter's hands moved up to the base of her skull to do the same. She exhaled, "Oh..."

She could hear the smirk in his voice, "Feels better, doesn't it?" Paige didn't bother replying, too busy enjoying the relaxation that was beginning to seep into her muscles. Walter's hands moved down to her shoulders, and he grunted, "You have a lot of knots here."

It was Paige's turned to smirk, "Tell me something I don't know."

He worked his way down to between her shoulder blades, and his voice mumbled low in her ear, "Tension in the neck and shoulders can stem from as far down as... as the lower back." That wasn't completely true. It actually could stem from as low as the glutes, but he didn't think that was a decent thing to say, considering the implication might be that he had intentions to massage her... he had to stifle a groan at that thought.

Once he reached the small of her back, he hit another very sensitive spot, only this time he hadn't expected it, so he wasn't easing into it like he had before. She gasped and leaned against his chest for support, and he came back to the spot more gently. Paige breathed, "Wow, forget Scorpion, you should've been a masseur." Walter bit his lip, thinking that it sounded like the perfect profession if his only client was Paige. "Where did you learn how to do this?"

Walter chuckled, "I might not be a Harvard trained doctor, but that doesn't mean I don't know my way around basic human anatomy."

Wow, her mind really went to the gutter with that one. A furious blush crept up her cheeks as she briefly let her mind indulge in wandering with that, before reeling herself back in. Another few seconds of those thoughts and she was sure she'd tackle him to the floor in the middle of the kitchen.

The sounds she was making in response to Walter's hands were... alluring. And the scent of lavender which had been irrevocably imprinted in his mind as expressly Paige wafted up to him. He swallowed, and realized he was breathing heavier than he should be. He stopped massaging briefly, needing a break else his attraction manifested itself physically in... other ways. His fingers slid onto her waist as she leaned on his chest, tilting her head back to rest on his shoulder. He was embarrassed to realize that she could likely feel his labored breathing in the rise and fall of his chest, perhaps even hear it escape his lips that were suddenly too close to her neck. He was about to back away, when she reached a hand back to curl behind his neck and up into his hair. He shuddered, all thoughts of moving away from her abandoned. He ducked his head to get a better whiff of her scent and whispered, "Paige..."

Paige didn't know if he was doing this on purpose, but God she was getting more frustrated by the second. When he whispered in her ear but still refused to take action, she couldn't take it anymore and whirled around to firmly plant her lips on his. He grunted in surprise, and took a swift step away from her. He stared at her in shock, and she immediately started to regret her move, thinking she must have gone too far too quickly. She opened her mouth to apologize when she was suddenly cut off, his tongue exploring her mouth and his body pressing her into the counter. His warmth was a sharp contrast from the cool tile of the counter, and she sighed into his mouth as his fingers curled into her waist.

Desire was quickly warming her body, and she was about to scoot back to sit on the counter so she could wrap her legs around his waist, but then he was gone, only his hands still resting on her waist. She whimpered slightly at the loss of contact and reluctantly opened her eyes, her hands sliding from his neck to his shoulders. Walter was staring at her again, panting and his eyes hooded. He exhaled, "W-wow."

Paige nodded in agreement. This kiss was like their first but on steroids. After a few seconds, she licked her lips, missing his, but held back, "Um, I know that we, um, we've been hinting at this for a while..." Her voice was less steady than she would've liked, and she struggled to control it as she continued, "B-but we haven't really talked about it, um, explicitly," she swallowed, "So is this... are we..."

Walter searched her eyes, "I want to, if you do."

Paige nodded, "Oh, I so do."

Walter almost swallowed her last word as his lips were on hers in a rush. He wrapped her arms around her, almost fearing the inevitable moment when they would have to break away from each other. This kiss was calmer, deeper, and slower, like they were trying to memorize every feeling of every second.

"Hey, Walter?" Ralph's voice echoed from the next room, and Walter grunted in disappointment as their lips parted. He turned to exit the kitchen, but found the boy standing in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear. "Are you guys together now?"

Walter glanced at Paige, the reality of it just hitting him. He'd wanted this for so long, and so many times he wondered if it ever would happen... Slowly a grin that matched Ralph's spread on his face, and Paige wondered how they could be so alike when they shared no biological connection. She hugged him from the side and told her son, "Yeah, we're together now."

Then Ralph showed his preteen age and rolled his eyes, "Finally."

Paige found herself thrown into an uncharacteristic fit of giggles, "Yeah, finally."

The end!