She had never been in this bed before and had never been in this building this early in the morning, but it took Paige only a moment to realize where she was.

She had spent too much of the previous day a bundle of nerves to fully process what else she was feeling as her plane took her closer to California. Now, naked and a little sore but in an incredibly welcome way, Walter's body stretched out next to hers, Paige realized how everything about the previous day and a half had been a homecoming. She had perhaps been a little forward the previous night, when Walter got up to get both of them some water and she'd texted Lucy to put her son on the first possible flight, but now she was glad of it. He would be arriving in about ten hours, and from the Snapchat video Lucy had sent of him jumping around and screaming like a wild banshee, he was as thrilled as she was that they were going to stay in California.

At least for now. Paige wasn't so presumptuous to assume that this was where they'd spend the rest of their lives. But Scorpion, this new thing with Walter, even the shady looking garage felt righter than anywhere had felt in a long time, and she knew Ralph felt the same way.

"Morning," Walter mumbled, smiling at her.

"Hey," she said, craning her neck out to brush her lips over his. "Good morning yourself."

"How are you doing?" Walter asked. "You feel okay?"

She giggled at the sudden concern on his face, then felt bad. He was being sweet. She just felt so damn good that it almost surprised her someone might think there was a chance she didn't.

"I feel mighty groovy," she said with a grin, kissing him again. "How about you?"

"Well, you're here, so that's a good start to the day."

Paige remembered when she found his bluntness unappealing.

Walter sat up, stretching, and Paige pushed up into a sitting position as well. "I apologize for the mattress," Walter said. "It hasn't been flipped lately."

She almost giggled again at the apparent randomness of his apology. She hadn't noticed anything wrong with the mattress, but then again, she'd been sleeping on ones likely much older and cheaper. She wondered if Janice had commented on the mattress, and that was why he felt the need to acknowledge it now. Then she remembered what the others had suspected and Walter had confirmed the previous night, while they were sipping their waters and catching their breath – he had never been intimate with her.

Suddenly, Paige felt a tiny niggling that she recognized as guilt.

Call your girlfriend. It's time you had the talk. Give your reasons. Say it's not her fault. But you just met somebody new.

Paige bit her lip. She'd sung that song a couple of times. She had liked it, quite a bit actually. But she hadn't really understood it. Now that she did, she didn't like the way it made her feel.

Oh god. He had specifically and unarguably left Janice to be with her.

She was a homewrecker.

Tell her not to get upset, second – guessing everything you've said and done. And when she gets upset tell her that you never meant to hurt no one. Then you tell her that the only way her heart will mend is when she learns to love again. And it won't make sense right now, but you're still her friend.

"Paige."

She jumped a little. "Hmm," she asked, smiling at him. "What?"

"You're doing that…that thing that you do when something's the matter."

Paige tucked her legs underneath her. "I guess I just feel really bad for Janice."

"Janice?"

"Well, yeah." She sighed. "She probably thought you guys were going to…to be together forever and all that. And then you left her for me."

"Janice knew I didn't ever love her. Our being together was conditional on that not changing. Neither of us expected that to change of course, but…"

"But that's what I mean." Paige brushed her hair back behind her ear. "She didn't think that was ever going to end. And now it has, and I'm the reason. There are few things that hurt more than being replaced, Walter. Being broken up with because you're suddenly not enough anymore."

"I didn't break up with her," Walter said matter – of – factly.

Paige cocked her head. "I'm sorry?"

Walter took one of her hands. "She ended things, Paige. She could tell how I felt about you. And when you were gone yesterday afternoon, she said that she had a feeling that you were never going to be a singer in New York City."

Paige frowned.

"Not…not an insult to your talent," Walter said. "She had figured out why you came back. She knew that this place is a family to you that it was never going to be to her. And she told me that I had to tell you how I felt because it had to be special if I of all people was feeling it." Walter gave a slow nod. "I'm still not good at reading people, Paige. But I don't think she's angry, or ashamed."

She leaned over and kissed his shoulder. "I hope you're right."

Walter slid his arm around her waist, waiting when she lifted her head. When he kissed her, she smiled against his lips, and she eagerly shifted backward when he put his hand on her stomach and applied light pressure. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply as he settled his weight on her.

"When do the others get in today?" She mumbled between kisses.

"No cases," Walter said, his hand caressing her hip. "Not coming in."

She grinned. "Excellent."

"You know, today's been fun," Paige said, settling down on the upstairs couch next to Walter, a mug in her hand. "But we really should talk about how this is going to work. It's nearly three now which means Ralph's flight gets in in just under two hours and then everyone is back at the garage tomorrow."

"What do you mean…how this is going to work?" Walter asked. "I filed your paperwork before you got back yesterday. You're officially back to your previous role at Scorpion. And we'll arrange for you to bring all of your possessions…"

"That's…that's not what I mean." She set her mug down on the coffee table. "I know I'll get that apartment back and Ralph will be in school and all that. I mean how are we going to manage to be us and…and professional colleagues at the same time?"

Walter cocked his head. "I'm sorry. I need examples."

"Okay. Okay. So like…are you going to be easier on me because I'm your girlfriend? Or harder on me? Are you going to prevent me from doing my job because a situation might be dangerous? Am I going to do that to you? Or what about…" she shrugged. "What about if I let things you do slide when it should be a teaching moment? Or if you get upset on the job because I can't understand what you're saying? Or…or what if I get too hard on you because I'm projecting some internalized vision of a perfect boyfriend on to you?"

There was a silence. Walter sighed. "You have a lot of concerns."

She nodded, then saw the look on his face and realized he thought she was backing out. "No, not…I don't regret anything about last night or today. Walter." She kissed him. "I want this. And I know Ralph is going to be thrilled when we tell him. I'm just saying we can't go into this assuming that our work dynamic isn't going to be different now. We just have to be conscious of that, that's all."

"I understand." Walter nodded. "And I agree."

"Yeah?"

"Mmm hmm."

Paige smiled. "I've got a really good feeling about this, Walter," she said.

He leaned in and kissed her again. "I do, too."

"I really, uh, I really should head to the airport to get Ralph. It's a bit of a drive, especially this time of day. Did you…did you want to come? Or is that too…weird, soon, whatever?"

Walter smiled. "I'd love to come. I…this may sound stupid, but I've missed him."

She stood and held out her hand. "That wasn't a test," she said as he took it, "but that was a good answer."

Thank you so much to everyone who read this, reviewed it, followed or favorited. Especially to those of you who were unsure of or not fans of AUs that gave this fic a chance anyway. I appreciate your faith in me.

Look for my next multi – chapter fic in the next week or so. It's complicated as I've mentioned and I need to get most of it written before I actually start with it. In the meantime, leave a review if you're so inclined! I know I owe a few of you reviews as well and my goal is to get to that tomorrow!