CHAPTER 8

What was he supposed to do? The car was nearly pitch dark inside. But even if he could see her features clearly, he still wasn't much good at reading emotions in others. He'd spilled his guts and his usual interpreter was sitting in the adjacent seat, immobile and staring at him, her breaths catching on each exhale and her eyes welling with tears. Walter had never seen a look quite like this one on Paige's face. Was it bad? Was it good?

What the hell.

Even if his words upset her somehow, kissing would prevent the immediate need for more talking. So that was the next logical action, right?

Walter leaned over the console, brushed his fingers along the side of her neck and laid claim to her lips. She melded her mouth to his. He took advantage of her little gasp and let his tongue glide into her warm mouth. And for a few minutes he forgot how to think. Paige shifted in her seat and slid her fingers through his hair, her nails drawing circles on the back of his neck until he shuddered and a low, feral noise rumbled in his chest. The whole dynamic of the kiss changed in that instant, as they nipped at each other and their tongues stroked and their lips pressed and parted in a fevered need to get ever closer.

But getting close in a car across a console isn't easy and curtailed any of the more exciting forms of petting Walter really wanted to engage in. Damn bucket seats.

Paige leaned away from him, breaking the kiss. "Wow," she sighed, her eyes still closed.

It was another quiet few seconds before she finally said, her voice a little husky, "You really love me?"

"I thought we established that already," Walter answered frowning.

"I'm sorry. It's just you said love is junk science; a chemical reaction in the brain. I'm having a little trouble reconciling… I didn't think you would ever… What made you change your mind?"

"Not what. Who. That would be you. My whole world has been turned upside-down since I met you and Ralph. In-in a good way."

"Walter," Paige whispered, her eyes filling again, but a little smile wobbled on her mouth.

"I don't understand. I keep making you cry. Is that bad? Is it good? You have to tell me. I'm new to all this. I'm not perfect like Tim. Please don't let me mess this up. I don't know what it means or what you need me to do."

Still teary, Paige laughed a little. "I'm sorry I'm confusing you. I'm not sad. I'm just touched and surprised is all. I never thought I would hear you say those words. It's good, I promise. Because I love you too. Tim may be perfect to everyone else, but you're perfect for me. And Ralph. I couldn't ask for anyone better for us."

Walter's found his own eyes prickling with gathering moisture. "Okay," was the only word he could force out around the sudden tightness of his throat. All at once he was very grateful for the lack of light.

Luckily, Paige took the opportunity to touch her lips softly to his again giving him another focus. She always did know the right thing to do.

When she backed away this time, they were both staring. But she had a soft, almost bashful smile on her face. He answering smile was a little crooked and sheepish.

"Can Ralph hear us, do you think?"

Walter had to swallow hard before he could reply. Somewhere along the way, his brain disengaged from practical notions for a few minutes. "I'm not sure. Is your phone in the car?"

"It's in the tent with Tim. It's dead. My charger was in the bag with my clothes back at home."

"Probably not then. Why?"

"Well, just in case…" Paige leaned into him and her lips brushed his ear, both her sultry tone and her warm breath making his pulse jump as she murmured. "I think we should take this discussion to the backseat and maybe I can show you how to have a mutually satisfying experience. I'd like to test my theory and prove Tim wrong about a few things."

Walter gulped and without a word, nearly folding himself into a pretzel shape, stuffed himself between the front seats in his haste to get to the back seat, making Paige giggle. "I'll take that as a yes," she said as she followed him, dragging the blanket with her.

XOXOXOXOXO

Ralph didn't have a way to listen in without powering up Walter's car and releasing the manual override, so when curiosity got the better of him, he decided to peek out of the tent to see what was happening with the couple in the car. Trying to be as covert as possible, he opened the zipper on the door just a few inches and peered through his binoculars. That's when he saw two silhouettes become one and the windows were just beginning to become misty with the fog of their combined exhalations. Yep. They would be perfectly fine until morning.

Grinning, the boy genius crawled back into his sleeping bag congratulating himself on a successful operation. He just might turn his efforts on Happy and Toby next. And He fell asleep dreaming of a new set of schemes.

AN: And there we have it! Just a short and sweet little wrap up. I hope you liked it! Gotta love that Ralphie boy!