Author's Note:

I bet by now a few of you are beginning to realize I'm not from the States:). I got my state abbreviations wrong in the first chapter, as my 'editor', Miss Cheeky, pointed out to me, for which I am eternally grateful. If it weren't for Miss Cheeky, I wouldn't be here! She's been such a big help to me and it's so nice to talk to someone else that understands the crazy mind of another who writes stories for the love and the 'need' of it. Publishing my stories here on Fan Fiction has been one of the best experiences of my life and for all of you that LOVE Longmire and especially those of you that LOVE Walt and Vic I say a huge THANK YOU for taking me in to your lives, for welcoming me here and for allowing me to share my stories with you! #LONGLIVELONGMIRE! - and now, on with the story...:) Enjoy! I certainly enjoy writing them and living in their world for a while...

CHAPTER TWO

Vic stirred, blinking her eyes a few times as she blearily looked around. I sat perfectly still, the arm that had been around her now resting its hand on the steering wheel, my gaze fixed innocently straight ahead as I looked out the windshield. I was doing my best impression of my usual stoic self, but inside, I was a mess.

"Where are we?" Vic mumbled sleepily as she rubbed her hands over her face; she hadn't noticed she was propped up against me, not yet, anyway.

"At the Pony" I informed her

"We're not in Whitefish anymore?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes. I couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped me.

"We never were, Vic. We went to Bozeman. Didn't realize my company would put you in a coma" and she grunted and then gave a little gasp; yup, she'd noticed how close she was to me. She moved away quickly and the shock of finding herself against me seemed to have woken her right up. She looked out the passenger side window, then back at me, all signs of sleepiness gone from her face.

"What are we doin' at the Pony?" she demanded.

"Almost New Year's" I told her after a quick glance at my watch. "Thought you might want a beer to ring it in. I'm buyin'" and I smiled.

"You're just tryin' to make up for the trip" she smirked and oh, that smart-mouth of hers did crazy things to me. I saw her do a quick double-take, looking out her window again and then out front.

"Was there a fire? I thought we saw a fire on the way home."

"No fire. Don't think you saw much of anything. You were out cold".

"Oh…" was all she said, but she sounded disappointed. I wasn't sure what that meant.

"If you just wanna go home, I can – " but she cut me off.

"No!" she said emphatically and then softer," I mean, no, it's okay. A beer sounds great right about now and ya, you fuckin' owe me anyway" and she raised one eyebrow meaningfully at me. This was not Vic's 'happy' face.

"You okay?" I asked and she took a deep breath before answering.

"Yeah, fine….just had a weird dream is all" but she was avoiding looking at me for very long. Just quick little glances. Her behaviour was confusing me and I was having second thoughts about following through…but I'd had enough second thoughts already. It was now or probably never….She went to open her door.

"Whoa!" I couldn't help I it, I reached out and caught one of her hands with my own, meaning only to stop her. That made her look at me, like I knew it would.

"Before we go in there, there's something I want to talk about," and my heart rate kicked up a notch, but I ignored it. I was gonna do this! She looked down for the briefest of moments, at my hand holding hers. When she looked back up at me, there was that old spark of defiance in her eyes and maybe a little…trepidation? I wasn't sure about that last part, but when she spoke, I got it.

"Ok, Walt, I know I was a bitch most of the way up to wherever the hell it was we went, but, y'know…I didn't really mean most of it…some of it, but not ALL of it! It's just that, shit, you barely say a word and trying to keep up the whole fucking conversation by myself makes things just a little hard, y'know? No fuckin' wonder I fell asleep," she grumbled

She thought I was gonna give her hell and she was squirming but at the same time almost daring me to go ahead and call her out. I felt a smile tugging at my lips.

"Ya" I know," I agreed, "but Vic, now you're the one that's making things hard," because I really did feel she was being a little too tough on me. To my surprise, Vic's eyes grew wide and her jaw actually dropped. God, what was wrong with her? What was wrong with me? Vic's jibes at my lack of conversation never got to me before. Maybe the arousal south of my belt was playing havoc with my head. I thought about that for a moment….

"Oh, Jesus," she muttered, "I'm still fuckin' dreaming…" I heard the click of comprehension in my head.

"Is that what you were dreaming about?" I asked, trying to make it sound casual. I squeezed her hand hopefully, wanting her to tell me that she had been dreaming about me because the guilty look on her face was telling me just that, but I should've known better; she snatched her hand out of my grasp and yeah, she was WIDE awake now! So much for thinking this might be easier than I'd thought….With Vic, nothing was easy!

"Like I'd tell YOU what I dream about! I'm gonna plead the 'fifth' on that," she replied.

"Okay then," I nodded slightly, "that's fair. You don't want to talk about it, but I think it's time I said some things to you."

"You? You wanna actually say something to me now? You're the asshole who won't even let me turn on the goddamned radio in this piece of shit truck 'slash' hearse you drive", (and she actually did the air-quotes) "not that there's a decent radio station to be found here in Butt-Fuck Nowhere anyway and you're also the same asshole that thinks grunts and huhs count as intelligent conversation and then you go and say that…that 'hard' thing….and now you wanna TALK? HERE?" and she swept her hand across the windshield, "in this fucking parking lot? Don't be so goddamned romantic, Walt" and oh, that last bit just screamed sarcasm and I knew she was trying to put me off which only confirmed my suspicions about the nature of her dreams. I found it all strangely delightful and definitely a turn-on; I hadn't seen Vic this fiery in a while. I did my best to keep from grinning. Pretty sure she'd kill me if I did.

"Fuck YOU, Walt" and she grabbed the door handle; wasn't quite expecting that so I grabbed her arm instinctively and she glared daggers at me. I glared back knowing I couldn't show any weakness. It was hard though…I just wanted to kiss her so badly in that moment.

"I couldn't say what I wanted to say with that tweeker sitting in the back" I told her.

"So you couldn't say anything?" she snapped back.

"I said plenty." And it was true.

"For you", she agreed, "but not for a normal human being."

"I was thinking."

"What else is fucking new?"

"I was thinking that I needed to talk to you about…us…" and Vic's reaction was instantaneous and unimagined, given her seemingly pissed off state. She softened, just a bit, squared her shoulders, let go of the door handle and turned to face me head-on, bringing one knee up on the seat to help hold her position. It looked to me like I'd finally found the magic word. I had to admit that 'us' certainly did feel like the most powerful word in the English language at the moment.

"This better not be one of those monosyllabic conversations you're so damn proud of, Walt" she warned me quietly.

"Not feelin' any pressure here" I replied sarcastically, and took her hand in mine. Amazingly enough she let me. Words, don't fail me now, I thought. I took a minute to gather my thoughts.

"Go on" she quietly encouraged me and the storm that had been Vic only moments ago seemed to have passed. I cleared my throat, removed my hat with the hand not holding hers, set it brim-up on the dashboard, needing that good luck now more than ever. Out of habit and a nervousness that I couldn't deny but was going to do my best to ignore anyway, I smoothed down my hair. Vic absently tucked a stray blonde strand of her own hair behind her ear, giving me all her attention, making no effort to take her hand from mine.

I ran my thumb up and down over the back of it, intrigued by the softness of her skin and wondering if I'd get the chance to find out just how soft the rest of it was. As I looked in to her eyes, preparing myself to tell her how I felt, my heart gave a lurch and I was so suddenly full of love for this woman. She was waiting, patiently, and I never thought I'd see the day when Vic waited, period, let alone patiently, but she was doing it right now, doing it for me.

"Vic, I, uh…" oh, smooth start there, Walt, I chided myself. Why the hell was I stammering? If I didn't get it together I really was going to make an ass of myself before I'd even said one word, no doubt about that. She smiled. She smiled and gave my hand a little squeeze and that made everything alright. I sat there staring at her, mesmerized by her natural beauty. I wasn't stalling, I really wasn't. I just wanted to look at her. The lights in the parking lot cast a warm glow over her features; the slight tilt of her big eyes, her sweet little nose, her incredible cheekbones…and her mouth….those perfect lips….

"Walt, beer's gettin' warm, car's gettin' cold…." She sighed, giving a little nod over her right shoulder to indicate that maybe we should get going inside. Had I been gazing at her that long? Probably; I was totally lost in this woman and all I wanted to do was stay lost, forever…but if I didn't do something, the storm might just come around again and I could feel it waiting in the wings.

"If you're cold" I told her, the words seeming to come from a secret part of myself, "I can keep you warm" and I reached out with my free hand, brought it to rest on the side of her beautiful face and leaned in just a little nearer to her. I watched her close her eyes, saw her turn her face in to the warmth of my hand, felt her soft, full lips against my palm and heard her give a contented sigh as she nuzzled me, her own hand coming up to press mine even harder against her face.

"Walt…." And my name was like a blissful exhalation from her lips. I felt her warm breath and realized that talking could wait, had to wait. There were better and more satisfying ways to show her how I felt about her. Action was always my first choice over speaking anyway. Yup, words could wait, but I couldn't, not while I was touching her like this. Not when she was responding to it in a way I'd only dared hope she would. Not when I wanted to touch her even more. All my big plans for conversing went flying out the window and what I really wanted to do was feel those soft, warm, full lips of hers on mine, instead of on my palm. I slid across the bench seat, while pulling her closer to me. We met somewhere in the middle and she opened her eyes and looked straight in to mine.

"Walt" she whispered," I know you're not good at this shit, but this isn't talking….this is doing…" Her hand left mine and came to rest on the side of my face. She searched my eyes with her own. "Is this what you want?" and the tip of her tongue slid quickly over her upper lip, nervously, but enticingly as well.

"It's a start" I managed to get out. God, I could hardly breathe. "Do I really need to say it?"

"You never were too damn big on words", she breathed, "but I'm with you on this. I get your point" she grinned, "Just tell me I'm really not dreaming all this" and that last part sounded like a plea. Vic sounding vulnerable? Oh, sweet Lord….I felt on the verge of free-falling.

"Talkin's overrated" I whispered as I leaned closer to her. "I'll show you you're not dreaming."

We let go of each other's hands and both of hers were on my face, just as mine were on hers. I felt her fingers slide through my hair and I cupped her face, both thumbs stroking her glorious cheekbones. I slid a thumb over her bottom lip and she closed her eyes again and tilted her face up to mine, taking my thumb between her lips and gently sucking it. I shuddered. I closed my own eyes. I brought my face down to hers. I was about to finally kiss the most enigmatic, head-strong, passionate, profane but adorable woman I'd ever known, and God help me, she was showing me that she wanted it just as much as I did…