It's certainly been interesting reading everyone's theories and interpretations of characters' actions in this fic. I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying it so far.

I've had a couple inquiries as to how many chapters this fic will be, and the answer to that is honestly I don't know. I always have my stories planned out before I start publishing, so I know where I'm ending it and I know the major events that happen between now and then, but until I know word count and extra scenes, I can't answer on a chapter number because sometimes I'm editing and decide to break in a spot I wasn't initially expecting to.

"You doing okay, Dineen?"

Paige jumped. She hadn't even noticed Toby approaching her. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied.

"No you're not." He gestured to the couch cushion next to her. "May I?"

Paige shrugged. It wasn't like she could dictate who was allowed to sit on any of the furniture in the garage.

Toby tossed his apple core at the nearest trash can. It hit the edge and fell in. He threw his arms up, looking around the garage for anyone who might have noticed. Paige pulled a corner of her mouth up in a half smile. Satisfied that he got some reaction, Toby sat down. "You know," he said, folding his hands in his lap, "I am a Harvard trained psychiatrist."

Paige kept staring straight ahead. They had no case today, and she really should get to the paperwork from their K2 mission. But she was just feeling so down. She never thought she was the type of person to take advantage, especially not when it came to someone she loved so much.

One of the things that always got to her about Walter was just how much he wanted to make her happy. And he'd been making that effort years before they got together. She knew he didn't like cinnamon in his coffee. He didn't use to enjoy holidays, but he always gave her freedom to decorate the garage. She'd once told him she enjoyed when he made jokes, and he'd actively started making more of them. He did all of these things as if making her happy actively made him that way, too.

He was so, so good to her, and she'd been…

"What does enthusiastic consent mean?"

"You mean like for the dance with no pants?" Toby asked.

"Yeah. Like, if you're making out, or something, and you want things to go farther, and they don't say no, and they do it, but maybe internally they don't want to, is that…is the other person…bad?"

Toby turned to look at her, leaning back against the couch. "Well," he said slowly, "I think that depends a lot on context. If the person who wants to is guilt tripping, or manipulative, then that's definitely a problem. Now, there have been times I've been stressed out and Happy and I have slept together, and I know she's just doing it to help me and she'd probably rather be doing something else in those specific moments, and that's a different story. I know when I was with Amy, there were times I was exhausted and she wanted to and so I did it anyway. She wasn't wrong for that, I maybe wasn't feeling it at the time but I still wanted to do it for her, because I loved her." He tipped his head in concern. "What brought this on?"

"Oh, uh," Paige said, being careful not to touch her nose, why the hell would you have erectile tissue in your nose. "Ralph had this Sex Ed…thing…at school, and there's this worksheet they have to fill out about boundaries and stuff, and I want to talk to him about it too."

"I could do that if you…"

"No!" Paige straightened up and shook her head. "No. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't even mention it to him." If she was Pinocchio, she'd have impaled Toby by now. Oh my God, Pinocchio is NOT a children's story. "Please, it's just awkward. I want to be able to do these awkward parent things for my son, even though they're awkward."

Toby nodded. "Fair enough."

Paige wanted to ask him what if the person has always been uncomfortable with touch and now you're worried that you've exploited their general enjoyment of being touched by you? But she stayed silent. She didn't want Toby to know this was about her and Walter.

When Walter suggested packing up Ralph's telescope and going to the ocean, the boy had lit up like a Polish church. Paige had been excited by the suggestion too; she loved the beach, she loved the way the sun looked when it set over the water, and she especially loved when the three of them went out together.

She folded her arms against the slight chill in the air, her feet buried in the sand, as Ralph knelt several yards in front of her, fiddling with the settings on the telescope.

Walter had returned to the car for their water bottles, and she heard him come up behind her. There was a slight sloshing as he set them in the sand, then she felt his chest come into contact with her back as he slid his arms around her, his arms covering hers. He kissed her ear, then pressed his cheek against hers. "This is nice," she commented.

"Yes," Walter said. "I saw how clear it was going to be tonight, and thought it would be the perfect time to bring the telescope down here."

Paige bit her lip. Yes, this was a great night for her son to star gaze, but that wasn't what she was talking about.

"For a moment," Walter continued, "I was distressed at the realization that I didn't bring a jacket. But then I thought well, I can hold her, and I like holding her, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing."

She closed her eyes, pressing her cheek harder against his. There you go, saying the perfect thing. "You're much better than a jacket," she said.

Ralph turned toward them, yelling something about the star he could see, then, grinning, turned back to the telescope. Paige felt Walter chuckle.

Yeah. She loved this. At the end of the day, it was this she couldn't live without. If she and Walter stopped having sex, or only did so on occasion, she'd be okay. It wouldn't be easy – at least not at first – but it would be okay. "Hey, Walter?"

"Mmmm?"

She twisted in his arms until she was facing him. Placing her hands on his chest, she smiled, a little nervous. "I just…" She stared down at one of her hands, biting her lip. Looking back up at Walter, she took a breath. "I just really love you." I love you more than I love having sex with you. It's not even close. "I've honestly never been this happy." She didn't want to talk about what was bothering her – she had no idea how to bring it up and was terrified of what he might say and anyway, Ralph was right there – but she did want to somehow reassure him anyway, that it was okay. That it was all okay, because they loved each other.

Walter smiled. "You already know this," he said softly, "but I've never been close to as happy as I am now."

He was leaning in to kiss her, and Paige closed her eyes, humming quietly when their lips met. She slid her hands around his neck, holding him in place, relishing the warmth from his arms and their shoulder to hip contact.

"When the two of you reach a natural stopping point," Ralph said loudly, "I want to show you this star."