If there was one thing Walter had a love – hate relationship with, it was tedious work.

This job was easy enough – a major security update was happening and he was supposed to watch for any signs of hacking. Easy job, easy money. The downside was the update was going to take a full twelve hours and that meant he was stuck at the garage all night. Paige was at home, supervising a Skype call Ralph had to make for one of his foreign language classes. But Walter wasn't entirely alone.

"This job is real boring, Walt."

"I realize the entertainment value is not high," Walter said, "but you and I are the best to work on this job because you are the fastest at..."

"If we need to build anything for you to use to increase their security, I know," Happy said. "So how are things with you and Paige?"

Walter looked at her, confused. "You...don't ask people about their private lives," he said.

"Yeah, that was a dead giveaway, wasn't it?" Happy shoved her hands in her pockets. "I overheard Paige talking to Toby a few days ago. He did not betray her confidence and I will kill you with my bare hands if you ever let her believe he did. And I...I think you need to know something. Because she thinks she has to always know what to do, because she's the normal, and she's just as bad as the rest of us, in some ways."

"What are you talking about?"

"Can I get personal? I don't need an answer to this question, just think it to yourself." Happy raised her eyebrows. "Have the two of you had sex lately?"

Walter thought back. It had been almost...two weeks. Huh.

"You know how uncomfortable this conversation is making me, okay?" Happy said, standing in a near combat stance. "But Paige has been thinking about how you never initiate your...intimate encounters. And she's convinced yourself that that means you don't want to and you feel like she's forcing you. So instead of talking to you about it, she's decided that she's never having sex again because she loves you too much."

Walter let out a confused chuckle. "What? That d – doesn't...make any sense."

"I'm just telling her what she told Toby in tears on Monday." Happy crossed her arms. "I know this is hard for you, but this is absolutely destroying her. You need to talk to her because I don't know if she's going to talk to you."

Walter was completely still, his hands clasped together, staring straight ahead. Paige thought she was taking advantage of him? He didn't even know how to process that, why would...

Oh God. What had he done? Why had he become unapproachable to her? And what had happened to make her think he didn't want her?

Initiation. Happy had mentioned initiation. He never started things. She always did, but...but how had he given her the impression that he didn't enjoy it? There had been times his attraction to her, his response to her, had been overwhelming, almost to the point of embarrassment. She was undoubtedly his biggest weakness.

He needed to explain to her what was going on. He sat up straight, clearing his throat. "Happy, go upstairs."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Walter said forcefully. Happy lifted her hands defensively, then slowly backed toward the stairs.

Walter watched her go, then grabbed his phone and dialed, glancing at the time on his laptop screen. It was late – but not so late that she would already be asleep.

He realized as soon as she picked up that this probably wasn't something he should be doing over the phone. Maybe that was what Happy had been questioning. But he couldn't leave the garage, and he didn't want to wait until tomorrow. "Hey."

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Well, no-t exactly," Walter said slowly, tapping his pen against the desk. "Paige, Happy told me...well, first of all, she told me to tell you that Toby didn't tell her anything."

There was silence. A long silence. Then, "Oh...oh my God."

She sounded absolutely horrified. "No!" Walter said. "Paige, don't be angry."

Another silence. "I'm not angry, I'm..." her voice cracked and the last word trailed off, but Walter heard the beginning of it and knew the sentence ended with embarrassed.

"Honey," Walter said. "Please don't cry."

"I've been wanting to talk to you, I just...I just don't know...how...to..." he heard a couple of gasps as she tried to stabilize.

"I'm concerned," Walter said slowly. "I want you to tell me what I did that made you afraid to talk to me. I...I may have gotten complacent the past few months, taking you for granted, and I've tried so hard not to ever do that but maybe I've...I've just..."

"Walter, you didn't do anything," she said. "I'm the one who..."

"But you aren't."

Another silence. When she spoke again, she sounded hesitant. "I'm not what?"

Walter wished they were face to face. "You're not pressuring me, Paige. Ever."

"Walter..."

She trailed off. Walter waited a moment. "Is it okay if...if I say a couple of things? Because that's why I called, and I'd really like to..."

"Yeah." He almost heard her nod. "Yeah, go ahead."

He let out a long breath. "Paige, I don't...I am not good at...I am very...the focus is on the left hemisphere of my brain. So, I will, quite often, be distracted by logic and math and science, just as you might want to watch television or read a book, I might want to...solve a binary puzzle, or teach myself Morse Code, or...or things like that. And I throw myself into these things, because they are where my mind naturally goes. And when I do...when my mind wanders to how attracted I am to you, I'm worried about if it's appropriate, or if you're tired or if you'd rather be doing something else. And because...because I'm so naturally inclined to focus on intellectual pursuits, it's easy to distract myself. And you...you always let me know when you want to, and since I don't always, uh, as Toby would say, have it on the brain, I found it...easier...to let you take the lead."

There was another silence. "I know," Walter continued. "I realize now that maybe that came off as...as me being...less than enthusiastic. But it's just the way that I..." he cleared his throat, switching what he was going to say, "I can be better. Now that I know that that hurts you, I..."

"Walter." Now, he could almost see her shaking her head. "Walter, I was afraid that maybe you...maybe you weren't attracted to me anymore, and I was afraid that I was pushing you to do things you didn't want to. If you're telling me that you do want to...if you're telling me that you want to then I don't need you to initiate. Honestly. As long as you keep on telling me whenever you don't feel like it."

"H – H – Happy said that you were willing to...to stay with me even if..."

"Not willing," Paige interrupted. "Not willing. I would want to. In a second, Walter. I love you."

"I know you would," Walter said. "That's what I'm trying to say. It's not a bridge you have to cross, but...it means so much to me, that if that is what I needed, that you would. It uh..." he felt a lump in his throat. "It really shows me. How much you love me. Even though I...already know."

"God, I wish we weren't apart right now," she whispered through the phone. "I want to hold you."

He wanted to ask her to come over. But he knew she couldn't, and Happy was here anyway. "I'll come home in the morning," he promised. "This is going to be done in just about eight hours, I'll be there before Ralph leaves for school."

"Good. I know I saw you five hours ago, but I miss you all of a sudden."

Walter smiled. "I uh, I think maybe you should go to bed," he said, feeling a rush of confidence go through him.

"Bed? It's not even eleven."

"I know, but..." He smiled, imagining the way she would react to his words. "You should get good rest tonight, because..." He dropped his voice. "Because if things go the way I'm planning, you won't be sleeping much tomorrow."

One more chapter!