Sorry guys! I accidentally posted the chapter 9 from Vic's perspective instead of Walt's... here's the correct one! Thanks to those who pointed it out.

After admitting to Vic that I can feel what's happening between us, I'm finding it hard to act normal around her at work. We've kept things professional, and neither of has mentioned the confession. I think she knows how big of a step it was for me to admit that to her because she isn't pressing the issue again yet.

The key word here is 'yet.' Patience does not come easy to Vic.

It's Friday, and I'm sitting at my desk when my phone rings.

"Longmire."

"Walt. Hey It's Jimmy Larson, from over on Westbrook Avenue?"

"Hey, Jimmy. What's up?"

"You might want to head out over there. I just left my house and the Hopper's are in a real nasty argument, I thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Okay, thanks. I'll make a stop out there now."

"Be careful, Sheriff."

"I will." I hang up and grab my coat before walking out to Vic's desk.

She's on the phone while doodling absentmindedly on a pad of paper.

"Uhh, Vic?" She stops moving her pen and shoots a look up at me. "I uhh, I need you to come with me out to Marcy Hopper's place. One of the neighbors called in a domestic dispute, and uhh, it might get ugly."

She points to the phone with her pen, "I'm on the hold with the DOT about the Cooper case, where's Ferg?"

"He's out on another call about 30 minutes away. I don't think we can wait that long."

"Alright, I guess I'll finish with the DOT later." She hangs up and grabs her coat.

We get to the house in about five minutes. Before even pulling up to the house you can hear the couple screaming at each other inside the house. As I pull into the driveway, I see that the windows are shattered, which partly explains why their voices are carrying so much. It's mostly Marcy's voice that you can hear, John isn't doing much talking. It appears that John cheated on Marcy and she somehow found out. She is attempting to throw him out of the house, along with everything that he owns. There are random objects all over the front lawn.

"Sheriff's Department!" I yell as we approach the front door.

Marcy barely even looks in my direction. "Not now Sheriff, I'm busy teaching my worthless husband a lesson!" She pauses slightly before throwing a telephone at the corner of the room, where her husband seems to be hiding.

John peaks his head out from behind a recliner, "Woman, you're crazy! Sheriff, do something! She's destroying everything!"

I slowly make my way into the door way, with Vic trailing me for backup. I put my hands in the air as I get closer. "Marcy, I'm just here to help. The neighbors called and are concerned. I don't want anybody to get hurt."

"I'm already hurt, Sheriff. I just found out that this piece of shit has been sleeping with Candy from the strip club in Sheridan. Can you believe that? We've been married for 22 years and he's sleeping with a stripper." She picks up a speaker connected to the tv and yanks it unhooked and throws it out the window.

"Baby, pleeeeeeease, I said I was sorry! What more do you want from me?!" John pleads.

The more John talks, the angrier Marcy gets. She picks up a picture frame and chucks it across the room. The agony on her face makes me want to pull her into a hug and tell her that she deserves better.

Trying to diffuse the situation, I creep further inside and put myself between the two. "Marcy, just calm down. We can figure this out without anybody getting hurt."

As I'm distracting Marcy in my attempt to calm her down, Vic slips inside behind Marcy. "Marcy, just listen to me. Please calm down."

Marcy just shakes her head. She turns and grabs a vase of dead tulips and is about to throw it when Vic lunges at the last second and grabs her arm. Marcy fights back, which causes her to drop the vase and shatter the glass everywhere. She flips around and starts yelling at Vic while swinging her arms frantically.

"Who are you?! Leave me alone!"

I jump on Marcy and pull her off of Vic. "Marcy, calm down, that's my partner. CALM DOWN!"

Marcy breaks down and starts sobbing. Vic takes advantage of Marcy being distracted and gets the husband outside safely. After several minutes of convincing, Marcy agrees to let us check John into a hotel so they can get away from each other for a night or two. Once John leaves in his car, we hang out for a bit to make sure he doesn't come back before we head to the station.

"That was definitely one of the more interesting calls we've had in a while."

She looks over at me and laughs. I think it's the first laugh I've heard from her in a few days. It's a good sound. "You mean you don't always have crazy housewives try to nail you with a vase full of tulips?"

I chuckle back and nod in agreement. "That is definitely a first."

She lowers her voice a little, and her tone becomes more serious. "I don't really blame her for being upset, though. She took it a little overboard, obviously, but love makes you do crazy things sometimes."

I glance over at her, but her eyes are straight ahead. I think back to yesterday when she kissed me after yelling at me. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that."

We drive in silence for a couple more minutes before she speaks. "Hey, you called me your partner back there," I can hear realization in her voice. "Not your deputy."

I feel her eyes on me, but I keep my gaze on the road as I think back. I didn't do that consciously, but I guess I did call her my partner. Vic, Ferg and Branch are all my deputies, but Vic and I work more together than the others. I guess she is more of a partner to me than they are, but when did I start using that term instead of deputy? I don't know what to say back so I just give her a, "Yep."

We're both silent the rest of the way back to the station. Once we get to the door, Vic is about to go through the main entrance when I grab her hand and pull her in through my private entrance. She lets out a gasp as I push her up to the wall. For a second I worry that I've hurt her, but she doesn't move away from me.

I don't know what has come over me, and I'm not sure what I'm doing. I stand there hovering over her with both of my palms on the wall behind her. I know I shouldn't be doing this but I just want to be near her, just for a minute. I lean down and move closer to her and she brings her hands up in between us, as if she's trying to protect herself from my touch. My face inches closer to hers but I stop when our foreheads touch. I can feel her hands touching my stomach lightly. We stand like this for a couple of minutes, listening to each other breathe.

This isn't right. I shouldn't be feeling like this. Vic is too young for me. I'm her boss. I can think of a handful of reasons why this is a bad idea.

"Vic, you still are my deputy."

She takes a deep breath, and I can feel the warm air on my face. "I know."

I can smell her shampoo. "This shouldn't happen."

"I keep telling myself that." She replies quickly.

"You should probably go," I mutter, even though that's the last thing I want her to do.

"I should." She still doesn't move. Instead, she tilts her head up and kisses me lightly at the side of my mouth. "Walt, please." She begs, and I can hear a little pain in her voice.

I can't take hearing her voice quiver anymore, and I allow myself to lean down and place a soft kiss on her lips. I pull back and stare at her golden eyes looking back at me. I take a deep breath before my lips find hers again. I'm trying to be gentle, but her response is making it difficult. My hands move down to her hips and she lifts her legs up and wraps them around my waist. Her mouth is open, inviting me in. Her hands move through my hair, holding my head in place as if I'd back away if she ever let me go. Then her hands are clutching both sides of my face, and eventually moving them down to the back of my head. I move my mouth down to kiss her neck, and as I work my way back up she let's out a soft moan and pulls my head back up searching for my lips again. It's as if her moan brings me back to reality. My mind suddenly shifts, and I begin to slow down the kiss. My mouth still pressed to hers, I untangle her legs from around me and slowly lower her to the floor. She's clutching my shirt when I finally pull away.

We stand there in silence for a couple of minutes as we try to catch our breaths. I lean into her and stare into her speckled eyes, and I notice that they look how I feel: enlightened, but also sad. I'm very aware of my feelings for Vic now, even though I've been pushing them away for quite some time. I can't deny anymore that they're there. But it's a sad thought when you know that those feelings aren't enough. It's not right for us to be together.

"Vic, I…" I start, before realizing I don't have the words.

Her mouth creeps into a somber smile, and she brings a hand up to the side of my face. I lean my head into her touch as I fight the urge to bring my hand up to hers. "I know, I'll go," she whispers. She leaves her hand there for another moment before releasing it as she squeezes out and exits quietly through the private door.

I move over to my left and put my back up against the door, sliding myself down to the floor. I slump down with my head in my hands and wonder exactly how big of a mistake I just made.

I have told myself for weeks that this couldn't happen, and two little words from Vic and I cave.

'Walt, please,' she muttered and I was done for.

I've just changed everything. We can't go back to the way things were before, not after that kiss.

I close my eyes and I can still feel her wet lips on mine. I may never sleep again.