SECOND DANCES AND SECOND CHANCES
AN: This story is for pamz. This was her original brain child, but she didn't have time to write it with her two WIPs clamoring for attention. (If you haven't read them, I highly recommend them) So she let me play with it. Thanks, friend. I hope it meets your expectations.
This is an alternate ending fic for "Don't Burst My Bubble". It's what all the Waige shippers wish would happen, darn it! It has a K+ rating and a high fluff warning.
"Ask her," Ralph hissed.
"Hmm?" A preoccupied Walter stared down at the tablet on his desk, fully concentrating on tweaking the algorithm for the bone marrow match probabilities. His thoughts were miles away.
Ralph poked him in the bicep. "Now's your chance. Ask her."
The older genius blinked up at the boy rubbing at his arm with a frown of puzzlement on his face. "Ask who? What?"
Ralph rolled his eyes in the usual style of preteens and gave his favorite role model a look of exaggerated exasperation. Eyes wide and speaking slowly as if the person he was addressing was particularly dense, he said, "This is supposed to be a dance. You should try dancing," Then he continued in a stage whisper while his gaze darted toward the company shrink who was sporting a pair of long, lavender gloves and twirling with Sylvester, his attention safely elsewhere. "Dance. With. My. Mom."
The boy added a nudge with his elbow and jerked his chin toward the area of the garage where Paige was slowly circling with Cabe.
Finally catching on, Walter ducked his head, focused on his tablet again and mumbled, "Oh, uh… she-she's already dancing. With-with Cabe." And he added a bit petulantly, "Happy's not dancing either."
Narrowing his eyes, Ralph shoved at the man's shoulder again. Determination liberally limning his features, he stated, "When this song is over, I'm going to ask Happy to dance with me. You can ask my mom then."
Walter colored a little when he replied, "It's not like that. She doesn't want to dance with me. We are caring friends now. I want to give her space. I don't want to intrude…"
"The rationalizations won't fly, you know. They aren't based in logic. Cabe is a caring friend too. He's not afraid to dance with her…"
Scowling vaguely at his computer, Walter muttered, "I'm not afraid. I'm just not much of a dancer. That's all."
The boy scoffed at that, "Well it just so happens my mom is an expert. I'm sure she can teach you. She taught me. Just ask her." Then pulling out the biggest weapon in his arsenal, he added, "For me?"
Emitting a long-suffering sigh and dropping his forehead into his palm, it was a minute before Walter reluctantly got up from his desk and dragged his feet, trying and failing to look casual, toward where the others were dancing. He heard a soft 'yes!' from behind him as Ralph placed both hands on his mentor's back and gave him a little push toward the unsuspecting woman.
The last notes of the song reverberated through the garage and floated away. And the genius with a 197 IQ stood awkwardly beside Paige and Cabe tongue tied and frozen. Why couldn't he say 'no' to that kid? It would make his life a whole lot easier.
Cabe's mouth kicked up at the corner and he raised one eyebrow in expectation. Paige gave him a questioning look.
Walter's eyes cut to the side where he saw Ralph asking Happy for the next dance. The mechanic accepted with a grin and they started toward the other dancers. Ralph silently mouthed, "Go on," and nodded vigorously at him.
Walter cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Your, uh, s-son… Well, he told me… He said I, uh, should be dancing instead of working. So, I was wondering if-if…"
Having pity, Cabe said, "I'm sure you aren't wanting to cut in and take me on as a partner, so I'll give you the opportunity to crush Paige's toes for a while."
Her eyes were on Walter's and her answering smile was indulgent. "Cabe, you are a lovely dancer. My feet are just fine. But I already know Walter won't tread on my toes, so I think I can take my chances. He's actually not a bad dancer. He automatically calculates the beats per minute and everything."
The tempo of the next song was a lot faster and Walter's nervousness increased along with it. At a loss, he said, "I-I don't know how to dance like this." He looked over at the way Toby was dancing. He closely resembled a frog in a blender. Surprisingly, Sly's movements were a lot more coordinated and smooth.
Paige touched his arm and he jumped. When had she moved that close?
"Relax, Walter. I won't make you." She smiled up at him, but her eyes were clouded with the earlier sadness. She started to turn away.
He couldn't stand the dejected slump of her shoulders, so he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "No. Uh, could you show me?"
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure?"
Well, no. He'd never been more unsure, but he couldn't stand to see her disappointed. And Ralph was glaring at him as he and Happy gyrated crazily to the beat of the song. He concluded it was worth the embarrassment.
"I'm sure. Can you teach me?"
Paige's smile was genuine this time and just a touch amused. She placed her hands on his waist and said, "Well, first you have to loosen up. Feel the music and just move to it."
That instruction made very little sense to him. In order to 'feel' the music, the volume would have to be increased exponentially so the sound waves would make stronger vibrations. But he wasn't about to complain, because Paige's hands were on him. He could feel their warmth through his shirt. So he shuffled a bit from side to side, swinging his arms in a semi-controlled fashion.
Snickering a little bit to herself, Paige let go and began to move too. Walter was disappointed at the loss of contact, but he soon became mesmerized by her movements. Her dancing was lithe and almost fluid and… sexy. Oh, boy. Walter felt a little disloyal when that thought crossed his mind. After all, they'd decided to just be special friends. But he was still so in love with her. He couldn't tear his gaze away.
Flushing under his admiring look, Paige's eyes locked on his and twinkled up at him. And there it was. He could actually see it. She was having fun. And he'd helped her have fun. Took her mind off of being sad. Distraction was a useful tool just like the article on friendship said. More progress. Good for him. Ralph flashed him a discreet thumbs up from across the room.
So he started having fun too. He felt the grin stretch across his face. He couldn't help it. He even started to mimic a few of Paige's movements. That seemed to delight her and she laughed up at him. "That's actually pretty good, Walter."
Giving her a fake offended look, he replied, "Don't sound so surprised." Then they both laughed. Together. As if no one else was around.
The fast song ended abruptly and the music soon morphed into another slow song. After a moment's hesitation, she placed a hand on his shoulder; he placed one of his on the small of her back exactly the way she taught him over two years ago. They clasped their free hands together.
And as they swayed the rest of the world dropped away. He felt intoxicated by her nearness and her touch. He breathed her in, indulging his senses the way he'd wanted to do for months.
Walter found himself exerting a bit of pressure on her back to draw her even closer. Wanting more contact. More closeness. Craving more of her scent. More of her body heat. Before long they were pressed together as close as two people can be and still be decent. Her hand crept up his neck and threaded through the short hair at his nape causing him to shiver a little. His eyes slowly slipped shut and his arm twined all the way around her. Their clasped hands were curled together against his chest right over his pounding heart. Caught up in a haze of heady euphoria, they drifted together long after the song ended.
Until they were jarred rudely back to reality as Toby tripped when Sly sent him into another spin and he slammed into them from the side.
Just like that the spell was broken.
Unable to make eye contact, Walter dropped his arms and stepped back. Not knowing what to say, he started to turn and walk back to his desk.
But Paige's voice caught him. Sounding a little dazed and breathless, she said, "Thank you for the dance, Walter."
Turning back around, his eyes drifted over her beautiful, flushed face. Walter O'Brien had never been more sincere in his life when he murmured, "It was my pleasure."
