WriterFreak001:

After almost an entire week of writing this, it is finally finished! I thought I had finished it once before, but I didn't like the way it ended so I changed it, and I definitely like its new ending a lot better!

Warning: M-rated stuff here.

Title | R e a l

Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)

Description | Post-2x14. This is my version of Walter, Paige, and Ralph's outing at Kovelsky's (and afterwards too!).

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated M for sexual themes.

POV | Limited Third Person

Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion, I am the owner of this masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

R e a l

Written by WriterFreak001

One-Shot

~ SCORPION ~

Walter O'Brien would be lying to himself (and to anybody else, really) if he said he wasn't thrilled when Paige voluntarily interrupted his dinner plans. Most nights, after everyone leaves for the day, he just hits up a local pizza or burger joint and brings his meals back to the garage, but for Paige and Ralph, he's always so quick to adjust his routine if it means spending a few extra hours with them.

(He would adjust everything for them if he could... if he'd ever allow himself to.)

(But, despite what he wants… what he's unwilling to let himself have, he knows any relationship he has with Paige beyond being professional is… among other things… risky, and he's not sure he's ready to risk losing her and losing Ralph to something completely (and painfully) avoidable.)

(Life truly does suck sometimes.)

"So…. The truth?"

"Hm?" Like a moth to a flame, Walter shook away his thoughts and gave Paige his undivided attention as she cocked her head and stared at him with piercing hazel eyes laced with curiosity and concern.

She mindlessly dipped her French fry into her vanilla milkshake and popped it into her mouth before speaking. "I told you about Elton John in the car, and we've been here for an hour, talking about anything and everything else except why we're actually here…." She paused and slurped from her milkshake straw before continuing. "Just so you know, Ralph is capable of sleeping on any surface so… if we have to stay here all night and wait for you to fess up, then," she smiled and threw another French fry into her mouth, "we will."

Walter propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on top of his locked, flexed fingers before leaning slightly forward to match the intensity of her determination. "I said I would tell you, and I will. I promise I will, but…," he smirked ear to ear, "what's the rush?"

Paige, completely taken aback by his response, lifted an eyebrow as Ralph, who had been in his own little world, looked up at Walter and matched the look on his mother's face. "Who are you, and what have you done with Walter "Everything in the World Must Be Efficient" O'Brien?"

"I like spending time with you two," he shrugged and reached for one of Paige's fries before tossing it into his mouth. "So… just this once… I don't see the problem in delaying the inevitable."

Paige still eyed him suspiciously and cocked her head. "Is that a… bended truth or a real one?"

"Real," Walter answered immediately, and when he saw the identical smiles on Paige's and Ralph's faces, he knew he had said something right. "And I mean it. I really do enjoy spending time with the two of you." Paige swayed side to side and bit her lip as Ralph beamed with happiness, and Walter, enchanted by their pleased expressions, couldn't help but continue. "And I wish the three of us could spend more allotted time together without the constant disturbances from work... and without," he cleared his throat and mindlessly tugged on his collar as he gazed into Paige's eyes, hoping she would understand what he was trying to say, "without Toby – or anybody else – insinuating th-things."

Ralph noticed the way his mother furiously blushed under Walter's stare and figured they were having an entirely different conversation he didn't understand. His curiosity bested him and found himself asking, "What things?"

"Just things," Walter's voice cracked as he directed his attention to the boy. "Your mother knows what I'm talking about."

Ralph shifted his attention to Paige and eyed her suspiciously. "What things, Mom?"

"Grownup things, honey." Paige answered quickly as she wrapped her arm around Ralph's shoulders and pulled him in for a side hug. "Anyway," she kissed the top of Ralph's head as she met Walter's deep brown eyes again, "Ralph and I really enjoy spending time with you too, Walter. And I agree," she smiled and resisted the temptation to reach across the table and squeeze Walter's hand, "I also think the three of us should spend more time together. That would be fun. And," she flexed her fingers, "if you're worried about," she cleared her throat, "insinuations, then… no one has to know about it. We can go out to dinner together, like this, after everyone else leaves for home…, or… we can go bowling or karaoke singing or something… Something social… and… engaging… and fun."

Though Walter wasn't entirely sure about bowling… or karaoke…, the thought of spending more time with Paige and Ralph made him smile. "I'd like that."

"Me too," Paige muttered as his response slapped a silly grin across her lips and made her all giddy inside.

Ralph, who was still under the impression that Walter and his mom were still talking about something else entirely, nonchalantly added, "I'd like that too." And as predicted, Walter and Paige broke their eye contact and smiled at Ralph.

Paige pressed her cheek to the top of Ralph's head and gave him another side hug as Walter redirected his eyes towards Paige and boyishly grinned. "Then it's settled," Paige eventually said as she released her son, "From now on, unless we have a dire case, the three of us will go out every Saturday evening and hang out."

"Works for me," Walter leaned backwards and folded his arms as his grin stretched ear to ear. He then reached over the table and stole another one of Paige's fries. "By the way," he paused and dipped his stolen fry into Paige's milkshake, "I did learn something else last night while speed dating."

"Oh?" Paige, slightly intrigued, crossed her arms and gave him her undivided attention. "And what would that be?"

"It's virtually impossible to connect with somebody and determine compatibility under only five minutes. I mean," he cleared his throat, "that certainly wasn't the goal of my social experiment, but I, uh, I guess I learned that I require a lot more time to process connection and determine compatibility than most people… because honestly, I think I scared every woman I met last night. Toby was right," he scratched the side of his face and awkwardly avoided Paige's gaze, "They hated me."

"Some people connect right away, and some people don't. Everyone is different, Walter, and just because you need extra time to establish an emotional connection with someone, it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you," Paige, after fighting the urge for so long, finally reached over the table and casually touched his hand. "And," she laughed, "I could have easily told you that you take longer than most people to process connections, but I think you already knew you process the emotional differently than mostly everyone else. Just… probably seeing it in effect compared to how easily others connected last night… is what hit you the hardest. But, you know what I think?"

"What?" Walter, ever so curious, leaned forward as his lips itched to smile.

"Anybody who hated you last night are missing out because if anyone gave you the time of day, then they'd see what I see, and what I see is that you are a great, loving guy who deserves to be happy…," she bit her lip and continued, "w-who deserves to let himself be happy."

Walter gazed at their conjoined hands and found himself twisting their fingers together. "You two make me happy," he quietly spoke as his thumb rubbed over hers. He cleared his throat and found the courage to look into Paige's eyes. "I'm happier than anything when I'm with you…," he let his thoughts hang as he spoke directly to Paige before looking at a very tired Ralph and smiled. "And you, too."

Paige, without removing her gaze from Walter, shifted slightly to make room for her son as he stretched across the booth and laid his head on top of her lap. She bit her lip and found herself saying, "Then why not let us make you even happier?"

Walter really didn't have a satisfying answer for her. He wanted more, but he didn't think he deserved more. He inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly as he ran his free hand through his short curls. "You could find better, you know? I won't," he quietly confessed, "but you could, and you should because you deserve better."

Paige absentmindedly threaded her fingers through her son's hair with one hand and squeezed Walter's with the other. "But what if 'better' is not what I want?"

Walter pursed his lips and gulped under the intensity of her stare. "I'm not the guy for you, Paige."

"You could be," her voice cracked as she tightly clutched his other hand. "I… I want you to be."

"And m-more than anything," he found himself saying, "I want t-to be the guy for you…."

"But?"

"But," he shifted his eyes away from her and stared at his dirty fork, unable to look into her eyes. "But I'm not normal."

"I don't care." Paige whispered as a small smile colored her lips. It wasn't the first time they've had this conversation, but it was completely under a different context now. "I never have, Walter," She twisted one of her hands in his and slowly rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, "and I never will. You are who you are, and I am so proud of you for your emotional and social developments, but underneath all of those small adaptations, you're still you." When his eyes finally met hers again, she carefully leaned over the table and whispered, "I… I didn't fall in love with a normal stiff, Walter. I fell in love with you."

Walter audibly gulped, unsure what to say next. Paige was the only person in the world with the power to render him completely and utterly speechless, but at this moment, he didn't seem to care. He was too preoccupied with the mere concept that a woman like Paige Dineenwas in love with a guy like him. Walter O'Brien, the paramount of all nerds and geeks united.

If she had told him she loved him a year ago, he would have royally laughed in her face, but now, all he wanted to do, for reasons he didn't particularly understand yet, was uncharacteristically climb across the table, grab her cheeks and kiss her hard on the mouth. He wanted her to know how much he had fallen for her, but… there were people in the diner…, Ralph was sleeping on top of her lap…, and he wasn't sure he could successfully deliver what his mind had envisioned without making a complete and utter fool of himself in front of her.

(With his romantic luck, he'd knock over her milkshake before his lips even touched hers, or… he might bonk his nose against her head and bleed all over her pretty blue blouse…)

The very thought slapped a frown on his face.

He would absolutely ruin the evening.

There was no question about it.

Paige suddenly backed away from him and smiled with a hearty laugh. "So, since this really isn't the place I had imagined having this conversation with you, I think we should go back to my place and finish our talk there."

Walter, at the sound of her voice, immediately pushed his thoughts away and met her eyes. "Did you say something?"

"I said," Paige playfully rolled her eyes and giggled quietly, "We should continue this conversation at my place."

He cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you were prepared to stay here all night until I told you the truth about the truth?"

"That was before Ralph put my leg to sleep," Paige mumbled as she pointed to her sleeping son. "Even so," Paige picked up a few fries, dipped them into her milkshake and popped them into her mouth, "I'm not going to let you leave my apartment until I have all of the answers I'm looking for."

"All?"

"All." Paige mumbled before she slurped from her shake.

Walter pursed his lips. "While I admire your tenacity," he slipped his hand into her basket of fries and grabbed a couple before dunking them into a glob of Ketchup on his plate, "your plan, in theory, won't work."

"Oh?" Paige lifted an eyebrow and watched him as he munched on the fries he had just stolen from her. "And why is that?"

"Because," he took a swig of his Dr. Pepper, "if we go to your place, I won't be able to get back home. We took your car here, remember? So, unless you want me to drive your car back to the garage and then pick you up tomorrow morning, we should probably return to the garage instead."

Paige shrugged. "Or, you could just stay the night."

Walter swallowed thickly. "St-Stay the night?"

Paige casually shrugged again, unable to hide the smirk playing with her lips. "Why not? We have a guest room you can use, and it would be more efficient. Unlike the garage, we would both be able to sleep on actual beds versus me and Ralph sleeping on the couches in the loft and you sleeping in your bed."

"Assuming you'd spend the night at the garage, that is."

"Correct," Paige nodded with a smile.

"Just one thing though." Walter cleared his throat and waited for the woman to meet his gaze before continuing. "If you and Ralph were ever to spend the night at the garage, I'd have the two of you share my bed, and I'd sleep on the couch."

"No matter how the bedding arrangements are at the garage, it would still make much more sense for you to spend the night at my place where we could all sleep in comfortable mattresses as opposed to sleeping on couches at the garage. Also, the last thing we would want, as you said earlier, is for Toby to make assumptions."

"That… is a good point."

Let's not forget I would be saving gas too," she smirked and tossed a fry into her mouth. "It's efficient."

Walter sighed. He couldn't argue with efficiency (nor the Toby issue). "I think," he mumbled quietly, "I've turned you into a monster."

"Hm?" Paige's eyebrows lifted to the ceiling.

"N-nothing." Walter said way too quickly, earning him a suspicious look from the woman. Luckily, for his sake, she dropped her suspicion and changed the subject. "Anyway, like I said, we should probably hit the road. Ralph's dead weight is killing my leg, and the last thing I need is to devour the diner's entire fry supply tonight."

"Okay," Walter nodded as he rose to his feet and stretched his leg muscles. After collecting and throwing away their trash, Walter waltzed over to Paige and carefully scooped the sleeping boy into his arms. "I'll take him to the car, and then I'll drive so you can rest your legs."

"And after when we get to my place and tuck Ralph into bed," she said while softly ruffling her son's hair, "You are finally going to tell me the truth about your comment earlier."

"Fair enough," Walter chuckled as Paige strained upward to kiss Ralph's forehead.

Slowly, she stood up, shook out her left leg and hooked her arm around his elbow, earning a curious (and slightly confused) expression from the genius. She lightly laughed and pointed to her thigh. "My leg's still numb…."

(Though, if she was being honest, she just wanted an excuse to be close to him, but… Walter didn't need to know that yet.)

"Ah," Walter smirked and then slowly walked the Dineens out of the diner, wondering if any of the other guests, as they were leaving, assumed they were a family.

(He secretly hoped so.)

(And so did Paige.)

~ SCORPION ~

"Ralph is a pretty deep sleeper so we won't have to worry about him waking up until morning," Paige whispered as she led Walter out of the boy's bedroom and tugged him towards the kitchen. "I'll make some coffee while you tell me whether or not you actually think my voice is lovely."

"I still don't understand why it matters to you whether or not you know the truth." Walter mumbled as he absentmindedly flexed his fingers and examined the pictures and paintings mounted on the walls around him. "You appreciate compliments…. Shouldn't simply receiving them be enough?"

"From other people, yes," Paige nodded as she released his hand and circled around the counter towards the coffeepot. "But not from you."

His eyebrows stitched downward. "Confused."

Paige laughed melodiously and shook her head as she spun around and approached him again. "You're right. I do like compliments. Everyone likes compliments, but…," she took his hands in hers and gazed deeply into his eyes, "when the compliments are coming from people we love… from people we respect and care about, then… their authenticity matters. Every person likes feeling special in some specific way, Walter, and… to be honest, you do that for me. You make me feel special in ways I haven't felt in a very long time, and so… your opinions about me really matter." She gently squeezed his hands and whispered, "No one wants to live a lie, Walter."

Walter wasn't really sure they were talking about compliments anymore and swallowed thickly. "W-which is why I f-find facts comforting…. Like I said before…, I like facts."

"Oh I know you like them," Paige laughed as she mindlessly rubbed her thumb over the grooves of his knuckles. "And… as I was trying to say before, though flattery can be a good thing from time to time, it's important to be truthful with those you care about…. Otherwise, all of the flattery and the deceit could come with a price." She took a step closer to him and added, "You can flatter and lie to megalomaniacal dictators any time you want, but…," she bit her lip, "don't ever lie to me, okay?"

He slowly nodded, earning a small smile from her. "So…," Walter, in an attempt to shift their conversation back to its original focus, cocked his brow and scrunched his face as he still tried to process Paige's advice. "Although flattery is an accepted form of deceit to occasionally win somebody over, the truth, in most regards, is still preferred and highly warranted."

Paige released his hands and shrugged. "Depends on the situation, I guess."

Walter closed his eyes and sighed as he massaged his temples. "Humanity can be so confusing sometimes."

Paige shook her head and laughed. "You see the world as black and white, Walter, and I know you're just beginning to understand that there's more color to the world than you originally thought, but… instead of trying to make sense of things all of the time, try… try just accepting them as they are and moving forward…. It's okay not having all of the answers."

"I know," Walter muttered as he folded his arms and released a heavy sigh. "It's just… not a concept I'm used to accepting yet."

"And it won't be for a while, but eventually, it'll be easier." Paige smiled and touched his arm. "Just be patient."

Walter silently nodded and was prepared to finally tell her what she had been waiting to hear, but something Paige had said to Toby earlier in the day bugged him, and he suddenly had an interest in hearing Paige's explanation. "So… since we're, uh, being honest with each other and everything, could you, uh, explain something for me?"

Paige crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow. "You still haven't told me what I want to know."

"And I will," he nodded quickly, "I promise, but, it's just… I, uh… W-well, you se—" he really didn't have a reason to delay the inevitable, but to his delight, Paige's mellifluous laugh stopped him from babbling like an idiot.

"I can see you really want to hold off answering my question for as long as you can," she shook her head and playfully rolled her eyes as she leaned against the counter.

"I, uh," he shoved his hands into his pockets and found himself saying, "Well, you know what they always say," he lit up with a smile, "'Waiting makes the heart grow fonder.'"

"That's distance, Walter," Paige dramatically rolled her eyes again as an amusing smile colored her lips. "But I know what you're trying to say so… what do you want me to explain?"

Grateful she didn't force him to elaborate on his reasons why he didn't want to tell her yet, he nodded quickly and jumped right into his question. "Right, so… while I was… how do I put this… busy flattering Rahal in the sauna, Toby was basically telling me everything I was doing wrong, and I'm curious about the comment you made during one of his annoying psychobabbles."

"Oh," Paige's eyes lit up with surprise, and her cheeks brightly flared. "I wasn't expecting that…. Okay, you, uh, you actually heard me?"

Walter silently nodded.

Paige bit her lip and nervously twisted her hair to one side. "So… what exactly do you want me to explain about it?"

"Well," Walter pursed his lips and look down to the floor before meeting her eyes. "I was wondering if… you said what you said because of…," he nervously laughed, "experience…, or if it was because of what you heard about my speed dating disaster."

"Okay, um…," Paige pressed her lips together and took a moment to collect her thoughts, "both?"

"Can you elaborate?"

"Do you really want me to?"

Walter, with wide and curious eyes, nodded swiftly.

"Okay, well… it was mostly based off of personal experience because… well… because of the obvious… because of my feelings for you and how you and I decided not to pursue a relationship and how I keep thinking we're going in one direction when you go off and speed date other women and have an interest in meeting other people… other women… other potential romantic partners and though I applaud you for wanting to take on social challenges," she paused and inhaled a deep breath, "and I think you're amazing for taking risks and getting out of your comfort zone, and all of that, I just wish you would rather want to improve your social skills with me and not with desperate speed dating lunatics looking for Prince Charming to sweep them off their feet. You're constantly confusing me because, in one instant, you say you want to rethink our no fraternizing agreement, but in another, you're pursuing other women. So…," she inhaled another deep breath, "that's why I said you don't know how to romance someone… because you really don't, and I'm sure you're trying, but," she forced out a laugh, "you just have a strange way of showing it."

Walter blinked, not expecting such a lengthy response from her. She made valid points, and he was pretty sure he could follow most of them, but he didn't realize his social experiment of speed dating would have troubled her so much. Though, the thought of Paige being jealous over him was not altogether unpleasant. (But, to a degree, it did bother him that he had unintentionally hurt her feelings – even if that wasn't the desired result.)

He cleared his throat loudly and gulped. "A-anything else you'd like me to know about?"

"Nope," she shook her head, "I think I covered it."

"Did you?" he squeaked.

"Yup...," she nodded, "I think so."

"If… it comforts you," Walter scratched the side of his face as he absentmindedly stepped closer to her, "the speed dating thing was just an experiment…. And I meant what I said about not doing it again…. It was just… and efficient way to test my social skills and gather data quickly. It was purely research and nothing else."

"Even if it was research," Paige raked her hand through her hair, "I wish you had told me beforehand instead of hearing about it from Toby after it happened."

"Dually noted. In the future, I'll be sure to consult you first before conducting another social experiment." Walter said quickly, wanting her to know she didn't have to worry about his social efforts anymore. "I promise." Paige smiled softly, and he couldn't help but smile in return. He was an idiot for not consulting her first, but he was glad she wasn't angry with him.

Walter could never handle Paige being angry with him.

"By the way," his eyes fell to her light blue blouse, "you, uh, you looked really nice in that black dress today, and… button-ups fit you well…." He suddenly wasn't sure what he was trying to say and quickly added, "E-everything fits you well, and you're always pretty, but," he gulped and found her hazel eyes as he forced out a nervous laugh, "I… I like button-ups?"

Paige, amused by Walter's confession, smirked and slowly hooked her arms around his neck. "I know," she grinned. "You wear them every day."

"You should wear them more often," he muttered softly as he brought his palms to her waist and held her closer to him.

"Is that a real or a bending compliment," Paige teased as her fingers wandered to his hair and twisted through his curls.

"R-real."

"You know…," she smiled, "they say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery."

"W-well," he stuttered as she smoothed out his collar, "I c-certainly am flattered." He almost stopped breathing at the mere thought of Paige only wearing hisbutton-up shirt instead. Suddenly, Paige's fingers started unbuttoning the top buttons of his button-up. She grinned when she realized he wasn't wearing an undershirt this time. "Uh… what're you doing?"

"I'll have you know…," she touched her fingers to his chest, aching to slide her hands inside his shirt and flutter her fingertips along his abdomen. "A lot of women find chest hair very sexy."

Walter, unsure of the direction she was taking their conversation, bit his lip and asked the first question that came to mind, consequences be damned. "W-what about you? What do you think?"

Paige smirked and cupped his cheeks. "I find everything about you sexy, Walter Patrick O'Brien."

He nearly choked on the saliva he had swallowed and just had to ask, "R-Real or B-Bending compliment?"

She grinned. "Real." She then inched forward and leaned in to kiss him but stopped just short of his aching lips. "So," she then hovered her lips over to his ear and lightly sucked on his earlobe, "about my voice," she hummed into the hollow of his ear as her fingers clutched his hair and started threading through his thick, curly locks again, "Real or bending?"

Walter closed his eyes as her mouth pleasurably assaulted the shell of his ear and mumbled, "R-Real. D-Definitely real." She grinned to herself as her lips slowly trailed wet kisses along his jawline towards his lips as he tightly gripped her hips and growled lowly, mindlessly muttering, "I love hearing your voice in my ear."

She pulled back slightly and gazed into his dark brown eyes laced with his desire for her as her fingers returned to their earlier task and freed the remaining buttons of his shirt. As she drew his shirt open, she took a moment to study his well-toned muscles and mumbled in a dry voice, "S-sexy may have been an understatement."

As her eyes met his again, he watched her intensely, trying to figure out what she was going to do next, but before either of them could realize what was happening, they were locked into an intimate embrace, passionately kissing each other. She slid her arms underneath his opened shirt and pressed her fingers hard against his back as he instinctively strung his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. She melted against him and moaned lowly as his mouth molded hard against hers.

Walter's lips, for days, tingled after kissing Paige the first time, but this…? This was something entirely different, and he didn't want to the feeling of her lips moving in synch with his to ever go away.

He was sure it never will.

And instead of jumping away from her like he did the last time, he clung to her and kissed her deeper, thrusting his tongue past her lips as she opened her mouth against his.

The power and the intensity of his lips kissing hers made Paige weak in the knees, and all she wanted to do was take Walter into her bedroom and do very wicked things to him all night long. She wanted kiss to him until his lips were bruised and make crazy, wild love with him until she couldn't feel her inner loins anymore. And she wanted to wake up with him still buried deep inside her, and the more she thought about everything she wanted to do with the man in her arms, passionately and insanely kissing her, the more she wanted them to be something real and become her reality.

She mindlessly pushed his button-up off of his shoulders and dragged them down his muscular arms, and as he completed her task by shrugging the material off of him, she raked her fingers across his broad back and wrapped her legs swiftly around his waist. Tightly, she then grasped his hair with one hand and cradled his face with the other as he rolled his tongue against hers and grabbed her ass to keep her from falling. Walter, driven by his own wild fantasies of Paige doing crazily, insanely sexual things to him, haphazardly carried her over to the nearest wall – accidentally turning off the lights in the process – and pushed his hips to hers, wanting her to know (and feel) just how much he wanted her.

And when she breathlessly whimpered his name quietly into his mouth as he rocked her hard against the wall, he had lost his resolve, and everything but Paige had vanished around him. He was as oblivious to the rest of the world as she was, and neither one of them could care less.

Paige's eyes rolled towards the ceiling as he feathered long, wet kisses down her neck, and after he slowly freed the buttons of her blouse, Walter glided the material off of her shoulders, tossing them to God knows where, and bowed his head to press his lips softly against her collarbone. Paige inhaled deeply and bit her bottom lip as his large, calloused hands covered her clothed breasts and squeezed them gently.

Good God! He was going to be the death of her.

And just as she arched her back and reached behind her to unclasp her white, lacy bra, a small voice called for her, and they froze. They both snapped their attention towards Ralph's bedroom door and inwardly cursed as they heard a long creak. Walter and Paige instantly jumped away from each other and scampered around the kitchen in the dark for their discarded shirts. Paige groaned as she felt the floor for her blouse but couldn't find it. Walter helped and quietly aha'd when he his hands landed on a puddle of soft material. Without thinking, he handed it to Paige, and she swiftly buttoned the shirt over her bosom as he scrambled off to find a hiding place.

Paige turned the light back on in time for her son to slowly exit his room and make his way to the kitchen. She swiftly approached him and smiled, hoping her son didn't wake up because of the noises she and Walter making only minutes ago. She cleared her throat and bent down to him as he rubbed his eyes. "Is e-everything all right, honey?"

He nodded and yawned. "I'm a little thirsty."

"All right," Paige ruffled his hair and pressed her puffy, slightly bruised lips to her son's forehead and rose to her feet. "I'll bring you a glass of water to your room. Okay?"

He yawned again and quietly approved as he slowly turned back around and headed for his room. Paige sighed and thanked the Lord that her son didn't suspect anything. The last thing she needed was for Ralph to catch her dry-humping Walter along the kitchen wall! As she walked towards the cupboard, her son called out to her again. She craned her neck towards him and blinked. "What is it, baby?"

Ralph yawned again and smacked his lips together. "Did Walter leave?"

"N-No," she answered before she could think of a reason to explain his sudden disappearance. "He's still here… I think he went to the bathroom. Why?"

Ralph shrugged and decided not to say anything. "No reason."

"Okay," Paige lifted her eyebrow but chose not to question him further. "Give me a few seconds, and I'll bring your water to your room."

"Kay," Ralph mumbled as he, once again, headed for his bedroom. Paige, as promised, filled a glass of water and delivered it to her son, and he took it without saying anything other than a quiet thank you. She kissed his forehead and whispered good night before exiting his bedroom.

And when she returned to the kitchen, the lights were off again, and she was whirled immediately into Walter's muscular arms. Her fingers pressed against the short hairs of his chest as he leaned her slightly backwards and powerfully crushed his lips against hers. After minutes of letting herself enjoy the way he was kissing her and holding her as she ran her palms down his stomach towards his belt, she slightly pushed him away and quietly laughed.

Not being able to see her expression in the dark, he frowned. "Is… something wrong?"

"Nope," she smiled before finding his lips again and giving him a short, sweet, wet kiss.

"Then…," he nervously laughed, "why push me away?"

"Because," she breathlessly muttered as her fingers fluttered over his chest, "as erotic as it sounds, I don't want my son finding us rolling around naked on the kitchen counter… or on the floor… or on the table…. Or anywhere in the kitchen for that matter. He almost caught us once; let's not make that a habit this early in our relationship."

Walter's lips curved to a smile, "So… we're in a relationship now?"

"Do you w-want us to be?" Paige, worried she had misread something, bit her lip and held her breath.

"God, yes," Walter mumbled as he pulled her in for a deep, open-mouth kiss.

As convincing as his kiss was, Paige playfully smirked. "Real or bending?"

Walter lifted an eyebrow. "Do you really have to ask at this point? After everything we've done so far and will most likely do tonight?"

She laughed as she weaved her fingers through his hair and pulled him down for a long, slow kiss.

And then the light turned back on again, but they were oblivious to it.

…

Ralph blinked as he saw his mother and Walter wrapped in each other's arms, deeply kissing each other and grimaced. Forgetting his question, he turned the light back off and slowly sidestepped into his room before quietly closed his door.

At least what he saw explained why he had found his mother wearing Walter's shirt earlier.

Nonchalantly, he pulled open his desk drawer and grabbed a pair of earplugs Happy had given him the last time he helped her with one of her projects, and as he heard his mom and Walter stumbling down the hallway towards her bedroom before shutting the door, he plugged them into his ears, turned off his light as he slipped into bed, and closed his eyes.

Though he wished he didn't see what he had walked in on, he couldn't help but smile. His mom was happy, and Walter was happy, and they weren't hiding from their feelings anymore.

Maybe someday they could be a real family.

(He secretly hoped so.)

(And so did his mom and his future step-father.)

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

HOLY HELL THAT WAS LONG!

I think that's the longest one-shot I've written in a few months! Anyway, I hope you liked it, but please let me know! Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. :3