Hey, firstly I wanted all of you to know that I am Brazilian and I might commit some mistakes on my English, so pleaseeee forgive me for those and feel free to correct me. I'm used to write fanfics in Portuguese but this time I decided to try something new. This is my view of what would be the best to happen with our couple against this unnecessary storyline the authors put they into. It's going to have 3 or 4 chapters, I'll try to update fast. Hope you enjoy!
xx
She was stretched out on her couch, the lights off, watching some random animal show on the TV while hugging a pillow. She was feeling something weird in her stomach, as usually happens when she knows things are slowly getting messed up. The fear, the loneliness, the way he pushed her away for the second time earlier and her mixed thoughts made her wanna cry, but she was fighting deeply against it. She was supposed to be sleeping right now. With him by her side, or at least, talking to him on the phone before going to bed. She knew something was terribly wrong, and what most made her upset was the fact that he didn't even noticed.
"Mom." a tiny voice startled Paige in the darkness. When she saw the boy standing next to her, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Hey, honey. Weren't you supposed to be sleeping?" She adjusted herself and glanced at the cup of tea in the boy's hands.
"Yeah. But I couldn't. You seemed a bit bothered with something. I'm not asking what is it, but I figured I could make this to cheer you up." Ralph handed the cup to his mother, who genuinely smiled.
"Oh, that's really cute, my little man. Come here." She pointed the empty space next to her, where her son quickly jumped in. Paige was definitely not mad at the boy anymore. "You know what? You are gonna be an awesome man for some woman someday. You are so attentive, Ralph."
"Is that an important quality?" the kid was embraced by Paige. He rested his head on her chest. He loved to feel the mommy smell she had, even if he found it hard to express to her.
"Of course it is. Girls want someone who pays attention on her and actually notice when she wants company or something like that." The woman kissed his forehead and took a sip of the tea.
"Oh. So that's what you are upset about? Walter seemed to be totally regardless tonight when he told that lie and sent you home, hum?"
"Lie?" She blurted, kind of baffled. What was he talking about?
"Ahm... did you really believe the lecture was cancelled? I mean, it was all over his face he was not being honest. He certainly doesn't know how to lie. It's Walter."
Paige swallowed, she truly hadn't noticed. Maybe teaching him about white lies were not a pretty good idea so. And now she was feeling even worse. Actually, things were sounding almost nonsense in her mind that moment. Why did Walter lie to her? And if he decided not go to the lecture anymore, why just push her away the way he did? They could have spent the night together, the three of them. Unless maybe he figured she didn't wanna go and was pissed at her. Or he decided to go by himself. Damn it, there were too many options for Paige's mind to list, and they all made her feel terrible. The first time he coldly sent her home was the day Dopey Walter appeared, and then tonight she got this. It seemed like they were getting more and more distant from each other every single day.
"Mom?" Ralph brought her back to reality. "Is that the reason?"
Paige sighed. It would be useless to deny it and come up with some other excuse. Her son was smart enough to know that the whole thing was about Walter.
"Honey, it's not that simple. He was really attentive and careful when I got the flu for instance, but other times, like tonight he just… he just don't seem to care whether I go with him or not, or if it's been a while since we don't spend some nice time together, you know? But I guess this is a natural Walter behavior. It happens. I'll be fine. W-we'll be fine." Paige wasn't sure about what she was saying, however she couldn't let Ralph worry about this. Although deep down she knew he would. He was also smart enough to know things were probably not getting any better soon.
"I think you both need to communicate better." The younger said with a concerned voice. Paige played with his hair.
"Do you?" the mother bit her bottom lip, suppressing a grin. It was sweet how Ralph wanted to help them. "I know, baby. Working on it."
"Promise me?" He lifted his head to look at her eyes. "The three of us... we're real family."
"I promise. Now let's get some sleep, it's already late." The woman made Ralph lay down on her legs. A few minutes after she kept caressing his hair, she noticed her son had fallen asleep. Then, she was free from holding back the tears she wanted to pull out. The angst inside her stomach became water drops falling from her eyes.
She was scared as hell. She thought things with Walter would be different than things she had with other men. Of course she had clear they would run up against some difficulties, but this was not being the same. Now she was just feeling left alone and being totally insignificant for him, and she couldn't understand why he lied about the lecture. Fine, she had also told a lie about being excited to go there with him but this case was totally not the same in her mind. She was just making efforts to do something of his interest, efforts he found so hard to do for her. That's what couples should do in fact. They don't need to always like the same stuff, but surely make some sacrifices for each other instead. Who knows, she could even enjoy the experience after all.
She was sad. She wanted him with her in that moment. Paige just wanted to hold him and feel that unique warm body that was able to fill the missing space in her life. Paige wanted so badly to throw away all their issues and be with him, quietly and kindly. Suddenly she deeply regretted the teaching about lies. She should've known Walt would get it mistaken. What he did, no matter the reason, was far away from white lies. Now, he'd hurt their already fragile relationship and it was totally her fault.
"Hey. Just wanted to know if you're okay. I'm feeling something weird. Maybe we should talk tomorrow? Good night. Love you, my nerd."
She texted. No answer. Sighing, she decided the time has come for her to sleep. Struggling hard to turn off her mind, she closed her eyes in that same position she was and spent the rest of the night like that, in the couch with her kid, waiting for a not easy day that was coming.