A/N: I know this drawing out a bit. Things will start moving a bit more in the next few chapters. Hope you're enjoying! Thank you so much for the amazing reviews! They've had me laughing and crying!

xoxo!

Days passed, and the latest shift between Walter and Paige was nothing short of drastic, and dizzying. Instead of the awkward avoidance and forced professionalism that had clouded their interactions before, they had seemingly flipped a switch, going all in on the idea of being 'just friends.' But in their efforts to prove it to each other, and themselves, they had taken the concept to almost absurd extremes, drawing the attention of everyone around them.

It started with strange, overly friendly nicknames that felt forced even to them.

"Hey, Walt, buddy! Good morning, you're looking well today." Paige greeted Walter one morning, her voice overly chipper as she walked into the garage. She threw him a grin that was a little too wide, like they were lifelong pals who never had a complicated history, and had definitely not had a near kiss the night before.

Walter looked up from his computer and, after a beat of hesitation, responded with an equally bizarre greeting.

"Good morning, pal! I trust you had a lovely ride in this morning." He tried to match her energy but ended up sounding awkward, the word "pal" sticking in his throat like it didn't quite belong.

Happy, who had been working on one of her machines, paused mid-weld, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she watched the exchange. Toby, ever the observer, leaned over from where he was sitting on the edge of her desk and muttered under his breath.

"Did I wake up in an alternate dimension, or did Walter and Paige just turn into middle-aged dads greeting each other on the golf course?"

It didn't stop there. Throughout the day, they peppered their conversations with overly familiar language, trying to act like everything between them was perfectly normal.

"Hey, Paige, you want to grab lunch later when you're done with those reports?" Walter asked as they worked side by side on a project. His tone was casual, too casual, as if they hadn't been avoiding each other just days ago.

"Sure thing, Wally!" Paige replied, giving him a thumbs-up. "Maybe we can hit up that sandwich place you like. We're just two buds, right? Two buds having lunch."

Walter blinked at the use of 'Wally', a nickname no one ever called him, before recovering quickly with a nod.

"Yeah, uh, sure. Sounds… great." He forced a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

Sylvester, standing nearby, shifted uncomfortably, capping his white board marker.

"Are you two… okay?" He asked, his voice tinged with genuine concern.

"Better than ever!" Paige chirped, patting Walter on the shoulder like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Just being good friends, right, Walter?"

"Right, Paige. Just two friendly friends." Walter agreed, though there was a tightness in his voice, his posture stiff.

"I know a song about that…" Happy muttered, to which Toby raised an quizzical eye at her suggestive undertone.

The rest of the team watched the charade unfold over the next few days, each exchange more bizarre than the last, yet somehow they managed to keep up the act. Toby couldn't help but comment on it every chance he got.

"So, Paige…" Toby drawled one afternoon as they gathered around the table for a meeting, "I couldn't help but notice that you and Walt here have been getting pretty… friendly. Anything you want to share with the class?"

Paige rolled her eyes, her smile tight.

"There's nothing to share, Toby. Walter's been struggling with something lately, and I'm just trying to be a good friend. That's all."

"Right." Toby said, drawing out the word as he leaned back in his chair. "Because nothing says 'just friends' like calling each other by weird nicknames and… whatever this psychotic break from reality is." He gestured between the two of them, clearly amused.

But it wasn't just Toby who had noticed the change. Tim, who had been quiet about the situation for the first few days, was starting to get suspicious. He cornered Paige after one of their exaggeratedly friendly exchanges, his brow furrowed with concern.

"Paige." Tim began, his voice calm but serious. "Are you sure everything's okay with you and Walter? You've both been acting… different lately. Weirder than you were before."

Paige gave him a reassuring smile, though it felt forced even to her.

"Everything's fine, Tim. Things were tense between us for a while, but we're just… trying to find a balance. And well, Walter's just been going through something, and I'm trying to be there for him. It's nothing more than that."

Tim didn't look convinced.

"You know you don't have to force it, right? If something's going on, you can talk to me about it."

Paige sighed, her heart heavy as she tried to brush off his concern.

"I know, Tim. But really, it's fine. We're just friends. Albeit, strange friends. But just friends."

The words felt void, even as she said them. She was trying so hard to convince herself that it was true, that she and Walter could go back to being just friends, but every time she looked at him, she was reminded of the near kiss they had shared. Twice now, they had come so close to crossing a line, and no amount of forced friendliness could erase the anything but friends thoughts that kept creeping into her mind.

That, and she'd remind herself that even though they had been just friends for years, they were never really just friends. They were friends in love with each other. They just had been better at hiding that fact. Keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Thoughts that were consuming her now.

Like the way she'd catch herself staring at the curve of his jaw when he wasn't looking, or the way his hands seemed so capable, how his forearms flexed with his sleeves rolled up, so sure when he worked on his projects, making her mind forget anything else existed. Or how, despite all the awkwardness, their eyes would meet, and for a split second, it felt like the rest of the room faded away.

She loved Walter, yes, his mind, his heart, but she was being consumed by far less wholesome thoughts. She was also very in love with his body.

It was happening to Walter, too. Every time Paige brushed against him in passing, or gave him one of those wide, overly friendly smiles, he could feel his resolve crumbling. He tried to focus on the work, on the friendship they were so desperately clinging to, but the tension between them had only grown stronger since their second near kiss. He wanted her, more now than ever before, and it was getting harder to ignore.

Their attempts at being friendly friends flagged Tim once more, and after Paige again dismissed it, telling him she didn't want to rehash her issues with Walter, Tim went to the next best thing. Toby.

Tim found Toby leaning back in his chair at the garage, flipping through a stack of papers that didn't seem to hold much interest for him. His usual playful demeanor was present, but Tim had something on his mind that had been nagging at him for too long. He wasn't sure how to broach the topic, but he knew he had to.

"Toby? Got a sec?" Tim asked, coming up to the side of Toby's desk, standing just behind him in his backwards chair. Toby dropped his feet, turned in his chair, raising a curious brow.

"Timothy! My favorite muscled hunk of military man meat. What brings you to my humble office? Here to inquire about the secrets of the universe?" Toby smirked, clearly in a good mood.

"Not quite." Tim said, forcing a small chuckle, and quickly looking around to ensure they were alone. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something about Paige... and Walter."

At that, Toby's smirk faltered just a little, his eyes sharpening.

"Paige and Walter? What's on your mind?"

Tim leaned against the table beside Toby, crossing his arms as he chose his words carefully.

"Look, I don't want to sound paranoid, but lately… I don't know. Paige has been acting strange around Walter. I don't think there's anything going on, like an affair or anything, but it's just... different."

Toby kept his face neutral, but inside, his mental wheels were turning, having been seeing the same thing for weeks.

"Different how?"

Tim sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She's more... tense around him, I guess. And now they're like this weird friend thing that's just… odd. I know after the whole Tahoe thing, Walter said he was in love with Paige. And I know she cares for him. But whenever I ask her about it, she insists they're just friends, coworkers. And I want to believe her, but..." he trailed off, his frustration showing. "I just feel like there's something I'm missing. Some part of the story she's leaving out. That there's something about their friendship that is unsettling to me, but I don't know why."

Toby hesitated for a moment, looking at Tim's earnest expression. The guy wasn't wrong to feel off about it. Everyone within a blast radius of Walter and Paige for years knew there was more than what rested on the surface.

"You're not crazy, Tim." Toby finally said, keeping his tone light, but firm. "Walter and Paige's relationship has always been... complicated. Their bond, it's not a normal friendship. Never has been. They connect on a pretty profound level. They have to trust each other with their lives doing this job. That kind of bond, it's like law enforcement partners. They'd die for each other, kill for each other, but don't take their sandwich from the community fridge, you know? A lot of LEO spouses struggle with the partner relationship. It's just different from anything else. And where Paige is Walter's lifeline to humanity, and Walter is Paige's lifeline to Ralph, it only intensifies it." Toby attempted to explain the complexities of the Walter-Paige saga, without betraying what he really worried was going on, keeping it as light as possible. He wasn't wrong, and just like they'd protect each other, he would also protect them until he knew for sure what the hell was going on.

Tim's eyes narrowed slightly.

"So, has anything ever happened between them? Paige won't say."

Toby leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the desk.

"Well, shes probably worried that saying something will cause a problem. But if we're being completely honest here, yes, 197 and Diss Dineen, they did lock lips. A couple of times, actually."

Tim's posture stiffened immediately, his eyes widening.

"What? They've… kissed?"

"Hey, hey, before you jump to conclusions, it wasn't like that." Toby said quickly, holding up his hands. "The first time was when Walter was unconscious in the hospital after that whole nearly dying in the cliff fall thing."

Tim blinked, clearly taken aback.

"Paige kissed him while he was unconscious?"

"Yup." Toby said, popping the 'p'. Then laughing a bit. "A little Sleeping Beauty moment. She thought no one would know. Of course, she didn't count on Walter hacking the hospital's security feed and it going on display on repeat in the middle of a life or death mission in front of the new Homeland Director we were trying to impress. The jokes wrote themselves on that one for months."

Tim let out a breath, processing that.

"Okay... And the other time?"

Toby shrugged nonchalantly.

"That one's a bit funnier, actually. They kissed later on, but they both brushed it off as an 'experiment' to see if they had feelings for each other. You know how Walter is, trying to quantify everything, even feelings."

"And you're sure it didn't mean anything?"

Toby softened his tone, sensing the uncertainty in Tim's voice.

"Look, Tim. I enjoy messing with them, I do. I gotta get my kicks off somewhere, and well, Happy isn't easy to mess with, and Sly is just too easy to mess with. Messing with them, it's a nice balance. Keeps the days interesting. But if I thought there was something serious going on, I wouldn't sit here making jokes. Do they have feelings for each other? Sure, there's no denying that, but those feelings are dead and buried. Paige is with you. You're the guy she chose."

Tim exhaled, clearly still uneasy but nodding slowly.

"I just... I needed to hear it from someone else. Every time I bring it up, Paige insists it's nothing."

Toby placed a hand on Tim's shoulder, his usual sarcasm melting away for a moment.

"Listen, man. I don't think you have anything to worry about. If Paige wanted to be with Walter, you'd know. Trust me. She's not the type to hide things like that. So yeah, they kissed a couple times, but they've moved past it. Moved on. Walt dated Linda, and Paige has you. Right now, you're the one she's with, and that means something. Especially to her."

Tim looked down, his jaw tight, before nodding once more.

"Thanks, Toby."

"No problem." Toby said with a reassuring grin."

Just then, the door opened, to laughter and playful bickering as the rest of the team walked in from meeting with a client. Tim smiled as Paige made eye contact with him, walked the distance of the garage to meet him.

"Hey you." She smiled, kissing him.

"Well, hello to you, beautiful. How was the meeting?"

"Well, if you ignore Sylvester screaming like a little girl and jumping onto the conference room table because they had a mouse, it went great. We even managed to increase our fee on account of the unfavorable working conditions." She played, her eyes sparkling with laughter at Sylvester's expense.

"Unfavorable? Paige! That place needs to be shut down." Sylvester scolded, his voice high and squeaky.

"Oh hush, ya big baby. They hired a pest control company." Cabe chided, shaking his head.

"Wait, I missed Sly seeing a mouse? Man, I missed all the good stuff." Toby whined, making Sly narrow his eyes at his friend.

"They are diseased vermin, Toby!"

"He's just trying to get back to Disneyland, Sly. You're gonna deny him his one true wish!"

"Oh! I get that! Mouse. Disney. Because Dinsey is represented by an animated rodent… wearing shorts. Very clever." Walter jumped in, proud of himself for knowing.

"Mickey Mouse, Walt. Mickey Mouse." Paige laughed, shaking her head, her arms resting gingerly on Tim's shoulders.

"Sounds like I missed quite the day." Tim laughed, always amazed at the absurdity that was the Scorpion team.

"Mmm. Very. How was your training?"

"Self Defense training… Babe, I'm a Navy SEAL. This thing was being run by a junior agent, maybe 22 years old, and max of 110 pounds. Face full of acne. It was a joke."

She scrunched up her nose in amused sympathy.

"Sorry. But at least you'll be able to go on solo missions now, right?"

"That's the idea, yes. No more being tethered to Cabe."

"Well, that's great. Even if it did mean a boring day."

As they talked, she was eager to hear about his day, enjoyed the feel of his hands on her lower back as he held her, enjoyed the conversation, but despite all that, she still could feel the burning of Walter's gaze setting her neck on fire.

--

One afternoon, as they worked together in the garage, Paige stood beside Walter, going over a set of reports for a new project. They were standing close, closer than they needed to be, and she leaned over to point something out on the page, her shoulder brushing against his, her top opening just enough to reveal a bit of forbidden flesh. The warmth of her touch sent a shiver down his spine, and his breath caught in his throat. Every inch between them felt like a chasm they were both desperate to bridge.

"So…" Paige said, her voice a little too casual, her breath warm against his neck, "I was thinking we should rewrite this section, to give more leeway in terms of damages before it hits our insurance. What do you think, partner?"

Walter blinked, his mind struggling to catch up. He had no idea what she said. Not one word. His thoughts were consumed by the faint scent of her perfume, the way her body leaned just a little too close to his, the way her breath seemed to hitch when she spoke. She smelled amazing, and all he wanted was to feel her skin under his fingertips, to close the space between them.

"Uh, yeah. That sounds… good, friend."

Paige smiled, though her eyes flicked to his lips for just a split second, a moment so brief that it would have been easy to miss. But Walter didn't miss it. He never missed it. His heart raced, pulse pounding in his ears, and he fought to keep his breathing steady, knowing that if he let go for just a moment, he would be lost in her. He cleared his throat, desperate to focus on the contracts, on the words she was saying, but the heat rising between them was impossible to ignore.

She could feel it too, her own heart hammering as her gaze lingered on the curve of his jaw, the way his fingers curled around the edge of the table as if holding on for dear life. How had they gotten here? How had they reached this point, where every interaction felt charged with something they couldn't control? Every touch, every look—it was like they were walking a tightrope, and she was terrified of what might happen when they fell.

"Great." Paige said, her voice a little too bright as she straightened up, trying to put some distance between them, though it only made her more acutely aware of how much she didn't want that space. Her fingers brushed the back of his hand, a fleeting, accidental touch, but it set her nerves on fire. She was enraptured with the distinct scent that was Walter, the proximity between them, the way he was looking at her like he was starving and she was the only thing that could satisfy him. She swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady. "Just two friends working together. Nothing weird about that."

Walter nodded, his hands still clenching the edge of the table as if he might break it under the strain. His mind was a chaotic mess, a whirlpool of everything he wanted to say but couldn't. "Nothing weird at all," he muttered, though his tone was strained, and they both knew it.

But the truth was, everything was weird. Everything was wrong, and yet so right at the same time. They were trying so hard to be 'just friends,' but every interaction, every forced smile and awkward nickname only reminded them of how untrue it was. The effort was almost laughable, and they both felt the weight of the lie between them, like an invisible wall they kept building but neither of them really wanted there.

Their being just friends had been the most bold faced lie she could muster, she knew it, but it's how it had to be. But, the fact that Walter was being so friendly, so kind to her, was keeping her off balance. For the last week and a half, he has been going out of his way to be a great friend to her, but she knew it was more than that. It felt like more. It meant more. And it had her mind rattling with thoughts of him 24/7, no matter how hard she tried to bury it, no matter how much she denied it, no matter how much she gave her full, and exuberant, attention to Tim.

She was standing on a sinking ship, trying desperately to find a life preserver as it was, but Walter going out of his way to be so kind to her when she was so undeserving of his affection, so undeserving of Tim's, of anyones, was just making her sink faster.

Paige crossed her arms, turning slightly to face him, trying to gauge what he was thinking.

"So um… you've been… really… nice lately. I mean, to me." She said, anxious, her voice quieter now, more vulnerable. "I mean, fixing my car, bringing me dinner when you drop Ralph off."

"Oh, um, well, that's what, uh, friends do…" He awkwardly responded, unsure how to interpret her words. He thought he had been doing the right thing… following this bizarre friendship pact correctly, but her tone suggested that perhaps, he had been wrong.

"Well, yeah. It can be." She sighed, wringing her hands. "It's just--" She hesitated, the words catching in her throat. "It's making things harder, Walter."

Walter's eyes flicked up to meet hers, and the tension in the air thickened.

"Oh… I was just trying to help…" He said, but there was something in his tone, something defensive, something that hinted at the truth he wasn't saying.

"I know. I do." Paige said quickly, shaking her head. "And I appreciate it, I really do. But… it's just… every time you do something like that, it reminds me…" Her voice trailed off, and she bit her lip, trying to keep the flood of emotions from spilling over. "It reminds me of how much harder this is than it should be. And I need it to stop. I need you to stop."

Walter swallowed hard, his heart sinking.

"You want me to stop helping you?"

"I want you to stop doing things that make it impossible for me not to think about you." She admitted, her voice trembling now, his eyes going wide at her statement. "Because I can't stop thinking about you, Walter. No matter how hard I try. And it's not fair. To anyone."

He stared at her, the raw honesty of her words hitting him like a freight train. He'd been trying to be 'nice,' to help her, to be there for her, but in reality, he had been selfish. He'd wanted to stay close to her, to be near her, even though it made everything more difficult for both of them.

"Paige, I--"

"I'm with Tim." She said, cutting him off, her voice firm but laced with sadness. "I can't… I can't do this. I can't be thinking about you, and what something you did for me means."

Walter's chest tightened, and he nodded slowly, his gaze falling to the floor.

"I know. I just…" He let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know how to stop wanting to be there for you, for Ralph. I tried being overly friendly, and thats not working. I tried being just professionals and that didn't work. I tried avoiding you, and that didn't work. I just… don't really know how else to handle this, Paige. But I'm trying."

"I know you are, Walter. And I know this hasn't been easy for either of us, but I truly am sorry for how hard this has been for you. Maybe… maybe we can just try to be normal around each other? I mean, we did that for over two years, right?"

"Normal, right. Um, sure. Yeah. I can… give that a go. Whatever will make things easier for you. And uh, I'll try to be less helpful."

"I appreciate that." She gave him a sad, lost look. She wanted so many things with him, but right now, staring at how hard he was trying, for her, to make things work, she just wanted to hug him. But she knew she wouldn't be able to stop at just that.

"Paige?" She gave a nearly imperceptible nod of acknowledgment, encouraging him to continue. "Friends… Colleagues… Whatever we are, whatever you want us to be... It doesn't change the fact that I care for you, and for Ralph. So, I will stop doing things for you, but if you need something, will you please ask? I don't want you or Ralph to suffer because of whatever is going on between us. I'd still like to be there for you when you need me. We were friends before all of this, and I would still like to be your friend."

She smiled, a small, light half sided smile, but it was there. The most comforted she'd felt in weeks. She was constantly working overtime in her mind to convince herself what a bad idea it would be to risk things with Walter because he was all head and no heart, but then, times like this, with that genuine kindness in his eyes, his undeterred willingness to put aside absolutely everything to be there for her, including his own pain, rejection, and love for her, just to be her friend… it was overwhelming, and beautiful, and confusing. And so distinctly Walter.

Walter O'Brien had his faults, and plenty of them, but underneath all that, in a vault he kept hidden from the world, he was just a sweet, kind man, wanting to do good in the world, to make the world a more beautiful place.

Taking a shaky breath, she stepped forward, placing her hand, tentatively on his cheek, reveling in the warmth of his skin and the way he leaned into her touch.

"You're a good man, Walter O'Brien."

They stood there, the silence between them thick and heavy with unspoken desires, both of them too afraid to move, too afraid to break the fragile barrier that was barely holding them apart. The tension between them was a ticking time bomb, and no amount of friendly banter or forced distance could stop the inevitable explosion.

And they both knew it.

With a light brushing of her thumb over his cheek bone, she looked away, slipping her hand from his face, and walking away. The moment over, the spell needing to be broken.