I'm glad you guys are still liking this! This one is a little short because it was actually supposed to be part of the last chapter, but that one was getting too long, so I decided to cut it into two chapters.

As Ralph and Veronica waited in line, Veronica nudged Ralph, "So, you think they're smooching yet?"

"Grandma!" Ralph scrunched up his nose, even though he was smiling.

"I'm sorry," she laughed in a way that said she wasn't really sorry at all. "Anyway, I have a feeling it's gunna take a lot more than a romantic dinner to get those two together."

"You don't think this will work?"

"No, no, honey, I do. They just have a lot to talk about, is all. They won't completely patch things up over one dinner, but your plan is great to open the lines of communication for them." She continued with a tone of sarcasm, "Apparently, they haven't been able to do that for themselves."

"Tell me about it," Ralph replied, rolling his eyes.

When they got back to the dining area, Paige and Walter were in the middle of a quiet conversation, sitting closer than when they had left. Ralph and Veronica shared a wink just before Paige noticed them.

"Oh, hey guys! Did you have fun?"

Ralph nodded, and with a smile he asked, "Did you?"

Paige, confused at his choice of words, glanced briefly at Walter and answered, "Uh, yeah, I guess so."

Then Veronica nudged Ralph, and leaned in toward him and whispered so the other two couldn't hear her, "Don't be so obvious."

Paige and Walter shared a confused glance, and Walter gave a small shrug as if to say, 'Don't ask me.'

When Veronica leaned away from Ralph again, Paige said lightly, "Um, if you two are done sharing secrets, are we ready to go?"

Everyone conceded, and decided that they would head over to California Adventure. Their first ride? Tower of Terror.

As they waited in line inside a beautiful model of the famed Hollywood Tower Hotel, they were pleasantly surprised by a singing performance of a swinging twenties-style trio. Paige took Ralph's hands and began dancing with him in line, three feet in front of the singers, thoroughly embarrassing him. She then took a picture of all four of them, the singers in the background, just before they were herded into a big room by a bell hopper making spooky puns in a deadpan voice. They crowded inside, and Walter was forced to press shoulder to shoulder with a man who smelled strongly of beer. His aversion to touch and to intoxicated people was making him extremely uncomfortable.

Just before the lights went out, Paige caught the sour look on Walter's face, and nearly laughed. She touched Walter's wrist to get his attention, then shifted so that he took her place on the perimeter, and she was squeezed between Walter and the drunk guy. She only hoped the guy wouldn't lose his dinner on a ride like this.

But this new arrangement presented another dilemma for Walter: Paige was faced away from him, her back brushing his chest. The scent of lavender wafted up to him, and her hair stirred just in front of him, where if he just tilted his head a fraction of an inch... Peach shampoo. And with one side tucked behind her ear, if he bent forward a little, he could...

He surprised himself when a low growl rose from his throat. He hadn't known he was even capable of making such a sound. His mouth was just inches from her ear, so he could only hope that the TV playing a black and white video as an intro to the ride was loud enough to cover it up for him. Though he knew the odds weren't in his favor.

He grunted with the effort of lifting his head high and fixing his gaze on the TV screen, but before he could begin to compose himself, Paige leaned onto him, the full length of her body against his, and she reached back to grab his wrist.

She'd felt all of it. His breath stirring her hair, lowering his head near her neck, and God that growl. She'd found it... hot, in a weird, new-side-of-Walter way. She'd suddenly couldn't balance on her own, and apparently her body figured Walter was the best stabilizer. I'm swooning, she thought. Actually swooning. She chastised herself for getting so worked up over something so little. But that voice was soon overwritten when she felt his hand grip her hip, his breath back on her ear, and his barely audible voice, even to her, "Paige."

She slowly turned, still holding his wrist and his other hand still on her hip, until she could look at him. Their faces were inches away, and she shuddered when his eyes dropped to her lips, and stayed there. The voice in her head giving her all the reasons it was a bad idea to slam her lips on his became less and less dominant, as her need to be close to him became stronger...

"Mom!" Ralph's impatient voice came through, though when she tore her eyes away from Walter, he had a wide smirk on his face. Then she realized the video was over, and the room was lit and nearly empty, the last two people filing out to get on the ride.

"Oh, sorry." She knew her voice was breathy and a bit shaky, but she'd already given up any hope of hiding what just happened.

Then the bell hopper commented as they passed through the door, in the same deadpan voice, "Might I suggest you rent a room here at the Hollywood Tower Hotel?"

They were both blushing furiously, and when Veronica couldn't hold in her snicker anymore, Paige gave her a glare that had her pressing her lips together to contain her amusement and putting on an innocent mask. But as soon as Paige and Walter turned their backs, Veronica grinned widely at Ralph, and they shared a silent high-five.

But their excitement didn't last for long. For the rest of the night, Walter barely uttered a word to Paige, and the few times they did interact, they were both fumbling and awkward.

We almost kissed, Walter kept repeating in his head. He was sure that if Ralph hadn't interrupted them, there would have been no almost about it. He should have known this would happen. Now what were they going to do? He was sure that ignoring it was a bad idea. They'd tried that for a long time and it never worked out well. But what was he supposed to say? 'Hey, Paige, I just wanted to say that I love you, but we shouldn't be together yet because I'm half-baked. We can talk about it later.' No, he would have to wait until they had some privacy, but even then he wasn't sure what he would say. For now, all he could do was try to avoid her. That was the only way he could keep himself from kissing her, or blurting something out about how beautiful she was or how much he loved her. He didn't want to be rude, but he saw the hurt in her eyes a few times, and it took everything in him to not kiss her right then and there, letting her know that he didn't want to reject her.

We almost kissed, Paige kept thinking, We would have kissed. She had no idea what she was feeling. One thing was for sure, though: she suddenly found Walter much more attractive, and he seemed to be having a lot more cute moments. And she was feeling incredibly awkward around him. When she realized she'd been babbling to him about cotton candy for five minutes, she quickly shut herself up. God, I'm like a teenager. And she couldn't say it didn't hurt her when he refused to engage in a conversation with her. The almost-kiss made it clear that he still had feelings for her, but... Was this it? Was this how it was going to be? He didn't seem to be willing to admit his feelings any more than he had a year ago. What reason did she have to believe he ever would?

They almost kissed, Ralph thought, every time he saw them fumbling around each other, occasionally sharing an exasperated glance with his grandma. Gosh, it was frustrating. There was nothing getting in their way except themselves. He could only hope that what he had planned for tomorrow would fix it once and for all. If it didn't, well... This plan may have done more harm than good, if they were going to continue avoiding each other like this.

There's going to be two, maybe three more chapters. Anyway, this gets sweet again before we really get into the angst... Love you!