Still haven't watched any full episode past season 1, so I'm sorry if this is really out of character for Waige once they're dating!

The bed was still warm, so Paige had just gotten up.

Walter sat up blearily, looking around before he made out the time through squinted eyes. 3 AM.

The woman he loved was most definitely not someone who liked getting up at 3 AM. Him, maybe. Not her.

So he managed to stand up, running a hand through his hair. He could hear some light movement downstairs - she was purposefully moving quietly so not to wake him or Ralph up. She didn't know that he'd become accustomed to sleeping with her that it was odd when he reached out sleepily and felt nothing.

He didn't want to wake Ralph up, so he made as little noise as possible as he went down to the garage. And there she was, with a broom in hand, sweeping under his desk as though this was a humane time to be doing something like that.

"Paige?" he mumbled, making her turn around. "What are you doing?"

"Oh! Walter, why are you up?" She put the broom against the wall and walked up to him, naturally sliding her arms around his neck. "I was just doing some light cleaning."

He raised a brow, rubbing his thumb on her waist gently. "Oh yes. I must have forgotten that the best, most efficient time for cleaning was while it was still dark and while you should be sleeping to give your mind the energy it needs for the day."

Paige let out a small laugh, leaning closer before brushing her lips against his. "You said you've been meaning to clean but never have the time. So I thought I'd take care of it. Now you can focus on saving the world." Her lips quirked up amusedly.

"I don't save the world," he responded, tugging her just a little closer because he knew she would rest her head on his shoulder. Walter loved it when she did that.

She didn't have to do it. That was the first thought he had. She was usually as exhausted as he was after a day's work, and she had just as much on her plate. She'd said once that him and Ralph and Scorpion were her "whole world and beyond" so technically, she was the one who saved the world, not him.

That wasn't even him being sentimental, that was just a fact. The sentimentality would come in a few minutes, he knew, when they were both back in bed and Paige would press into him and he'd be hit with an overwhelming wave of feelings as he watched her sleep.

But for now, all he did was hold her close and murmur, "Thank you."

Walter admired Ralph as much as he knew the kid admired him, and not just because of how smart he was, but also because he could very much get away with putting himself in danger with little to no reprimanding from his mother.

Walter didn't have that luxury, despite being the adult between the two.

Instead, he had Paige Dineen pressing ice on his hand while giving him the most furious glare he had ever seen in his life.

She was muttering things like, "I can't believe you," and, "Scared the living crap out of me," under her breath, pressing the ice harder every time she got particularly passionate.

Before, Walter had tried to protest that the man they were after was getting away, and Cabe was too far away, so he had to tackle the man, and he had gotten a sprained hand in the process. It wasn't even a big deal. But Paige had lectured his ear off at that one, so he shut up.

"Honestly, it's like I'm mothering the lot of you all." She scowled, not looking at him. Fortunately, he could see her eyes, and she didn't look angry anymore, only cross. That was enough permission for him to lean forward.

"I'm sorry." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "I won't do it again."

"Yes, you will."

He opened his mouth to protest, but then resigned, shrugging. "Yeah. I will."

"Jerk," she said, with no real malice.

Walter tried to stop himself from smiling.

Paige stood up after he took the ice from her, grabbing her bag. "I'm going to go meet up with that girl I was telling you about. My high school friend," she clarified, as though he didn't remember.

"Right. The red-haired one."

"Yup. There's soup and fish in the kitchen. Fish is a little burned, but if you put some sauce on it, you can't tell." She started to pace. "And I brought extra cream, that's on the table. Some bandages, even though it's a sprain - you could manage to hurt yourself before I get back. I picked up that book you were meaning to get from the library too, so that can keep you busy for, I don't know, half an hour."

Something fluttered - fluttered? - in his chest. "Paige, I have a sprain, I'm not dying. I'm not even sick."

Paige rolled her eyes. "And you say that as though you wouldn't protest even if you were dying."

"Fair point." There was a part of him that really, really loved when she took care of him like this, when she so easily showed that she cared about him, that she loved him. He hated that he couldn't show it as naturally. Paige had so much love to give, and he considered himself lucky that she gave such a huge portion to him.

"Paige."

"Mm?"

I love you so much, he wanted to say. And keep on saying. Instead, he said, "Have fun."

She stopped, leaned down, and gave him a lingering kiss before leaving the garage.

Walter didn't know how wide his smile was, but he knew it was enough for Toby to make fun of if he came in.

The red-haired girl was a nightmare.

Walter remembered her name, but he chose to call her Hoops in his head because of the giant earrings she was wearing. She was a big talker, and not in the Paige way, where it was meaningful pep talks or quiet murmurs. It was loud, and obnoxious, and God, he'd really rather be alone with Paige instead.

It wasn't even Hoops. There were four other girls there, all of whom had brought their partners, and he knew what was coming.

"Why don't you guys take your own space? Me and the girls have some gossip to catch up on." Hoops winked at Paige, who laughed (her constant laughter was the only reason he wasn't lost in his own thoughts - he wanted to be alert because he really, really loved her laughter).

"Oh, sure, babe." The guys stood up and Walter joined them, hesitantly and slowly letting go of Paige's hand. They locked eyes for a second and she was looking so eager that he bit back any reservations and walked off with the jocks.

It made him feel...well, bad. Paige hung out with geniuses. Her son was a genius, her boyfriend was a genius. She craved being with normal people for once, talking about normal things and having fun without hearing a lecture.

He could do this for her.

"So man, you catch the game last night?"

"Which game?" Walter muttered, not really focusing - if he strained his ears, he could still make out Paige's laughter.

Hoops' boyfriend snickered. "The football game, what else?"

The other three guys had a good laugh over that, even though it wasn't remotely funny, and Walter thought back to when he, Paige, and Ralph were watching Finding Nemo and Marlin told a joke that no one thought was funny but him.

"Well, there are other sports, last time I checked, and not only one game happens per night. So me asking you that is perfectly reasonable."

The guy looked bewildered. "Okay, dude. Just - just teasing."

He exchanged a look with one of the other guys and Walter found his annoyance growing. So now he was some kind of overreactor (never mind that he was).

The four guys continued to talk and Walter sneaked another glance at Paige, who, he was surprised to find, was staring right back at him. Her brows were furrowed, and then she leaned in to tell the girls something before getting up and walking towards him.

He immediately turned, grateful to have any excuse not to engage in the conversation happening in front of him. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah. I have this - this huge headache." She was lying, but he didn't say anything. "I think we should go back home. I can reschedule with the girls another time."

She didn't even make him say any proper goodbyes as they left, only side glancing the girls as they walked back to the car.

There was a light lump in his throat. "You don't have a headache, Paige."

Her head snapped up and she smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "No, I don't. I guess I was just - I was bored, you know? It was - it was pretty dull."

Another lie. She left because she saw how he was feeling.

So now he was stopping her from being happy. Walter clenched his fist as he got in the car, not wanting to bring it up because she would deny it, but also wanting to apologize to her, to say sorry that he couldn't be normal. That he kept her from these things. He hated himself for it.

And he wanted to show her every bit of appreciation he could for knowing him so well and for thinking of him and for getting him out of somewhere he didn't want to be.

"Hey, now we can watch that documentary." Paige snapped her fingers and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Walter?"

"Mm?" He glanced at her.

"Thank you for coming with me," she said with another brilliant smile, and Walter knew, at that exact moment, what it felt like to have your heart swell and break at the same time.

"You're going to have to close your eyes," Paige said, her eyes lit up with excitement.

Walter leaned back and did as she said. A few years ago he would never do something so ridiculous (why close your eyes when you could receive something just as well with them open?), but he had grown and it was her and he was ready to do any request of her's.

He felt a package in his hand. With her permission, he opened his eyes and saw a large screw in his hand, his eyes widening.

"W-what is this?" he asked, even though he knew.

"A piece. For your rocket." Paige was grinning. "Ralph was talking my ear off telling me how much you had to have it, and how he wouldn't ask for anything on his birthday as long as I bought it." Walter acknowledged that Ralph had inherited his mother's sweetness. "Little did he know, I already ordered it, along with a separate birthday gift."

"You -" Walter looked up at her in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because you said you needed it," she said matter-of-factly, settling down next to him on the couch. "Did you not need it?"

"Yes, I did." Walter let the screw slip onto the couch as he slid his arms around her and planted kisses on her shoulder. "But you can't get me everything I want, Dineen."

"No, but I can do my best, O'Brien." Paige smirked, leaning forward to kiss the corner of his lips.

Maybe, Walter thought, she was trying to kill him. Maybe she was trying to send his EQ into overdrive where it would eventually crash and he would start blubbering out his feelings for her in a never-ending cycle of cheesiness.

If that was her plan, she was definitely succeeding.

Only a few things could disturb him when he was typing away at his laptop, and Paige was one of those things.

It didn't even take her too much effort.

All she did was lean down and press her lips to his hair, and his fingers halted, still staring at the screen but no longer focused.

"I love your curls," she mumbled, kissing him again as he felt heat rush to his cheeks. Paige could be quite straightforward with her compliments.

"G-generally, on males, spiked hair or smooth hair is found to be more attractive," he said, clearing his throat. He didn't know if that was true or not, but he felt a certain need to say something self-decapricating, to prove to her that he knew his own flaws.

"Generally, people are flawed in their tastes, then." Paige sat down onto his lap, running her fingers through his hair with an adoring expression. "But that's good, because I get to appreciate your hair all on my own."

She leaned forward to kiss his ear, and he didn't know what the real feeling he felt could be called, but it could be described as falling more in love with her than he already was.

Walter slid his arms around her as she snaked her's around his neck, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. "Tell me, generally, do people find brown eyes on males attractive?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly, his breaths quiet.

"I find them very attractive." She leaned even closer and Walter closed his eyes as she placed light, feathery kisses on both his eyelids. "Especially your eyes."

What had he done, though? They hadn't even interacted much today, and when they had, he hadn't said or done anything for her, so what had he done to deserve the beautiful woman telling him that she loved his hair, or his eyes.

Her kisses weren't just for those, though, they were evenly distributed across his face. He felt a pleasant warmth on his cheeks as she gave him the undeserved attention, and it was as thought he couldn't stop smiling.

Paige pulled back, and his expression was mirrored on her's. "God, Walter, you are…" She bit her lip almost shyly, and lowered her voice as she continued. "You are so beautiful when you smile. I love it when you smile. I love you. I - I love you," she said again, kissing his lips.

Typing was completely forgotten as he kissed her back fervently, as though he couldn't kiss her enough. How could he focus on anything else when Paige was there, perfect and amazing and sweet? When she was so willing to give compliments he couldn't return the same way she could?

"Paige," he murmured against her lips, "I've done nothing to deserve this."

"You don't have to," and just like that, he was kissing her again.

Breakfast in bed was just the beginning.

Paige Dineen was going to be absolutely spoiled today.

It was a bright Saturday, and there was no occasion, so it was perfect.

She had smiled brightly when she saw the pancakes. She gave him half a dozen kisses for it too, but he stopped her because today was going to be about her, not him. And he was determined to keep it that way.

After the sun was really up, he asked Cabe to stay in the garage with Walter while him and Paige went to the park. They walked around, not hand in hand, but their fingers did brush more than a few times. He bought her ice cream, pleased when she gave him a long kiss for that one, her hand tugging on his curls gently.

"Paige," he said later, as they were walking, "there's a carnival in town. Do you want to go?"

"Okay, what's up?" She turned to him with a knowing look on her face, crossing her arms. "Tons of kisses when I wake up, breakfast in bed, not a single grammar correction, and now the park? Are you feeling okay? Getting enough oxygen?"

"Ha ha," he responded dryly (no one was ever going to let him forget the hypoxia episode), "no. I'm just being nice like you."

"Like me?" Paige raised a brow, holding his hand. "I'm not nice like this."

"That is, pardon my language, the biggest load of crap I have ever had."

"Pardoned. Because I'm pretty sure Ralph could curse better than you." She pressed a short kiss to his lips. "And please, I'm not nice just because I cleaned up the garage that one time."

He scowled, shaking his head. She didn't get it, she didn't...how could she not get it? "You take care of me. You sacrifice what you want for me. You - you surprise me with gifts and compliments and you don't take anything for it."

"Because I love you." Paige placed a hand on his cheek, looking concerned. "Because I don't need nor want anything in return. I just…" She gave him an amused smile. "I'd very much like if you loved me too."

"I do," he choked out, pretty sure that he had never been more honest in his life. "I love you."

"I know."

They hugged each other simultaneously, and were quiet for a few seconds until Walter mumbled, "That was a Star Wars reference."

Paige laughed, pulling back and grabbing his hand as she tugged him forward. "Good job, nerd. Now let's get to that carnival. Maybe you can win me an anatomically correct teddy bear."

"There are none!"

"Then I guess you're screwed!"

He ran with her, laughing as they continue to banter, content with knowing he didn't have to treat her the same way she did him, but that she didn't either, and he would show her his appreciation for that every day.

You could have carpal tunnel, the doctor said. You have a five page paper due this week, the teacher said. You were absent and have to catch up on homework, the friend said.

Write me, Waige said.

Screw you, I said, doing it.

(I'm thrilled to write this much after such a long time but also my hand hurts like a bitch).