Been losing grip,

Oh, sinking ships

You showed up just in time

Prologue

It was another killer shift. Paige felt horrible that Ralph had to stay for it. It sucked and Paige hated that to provide for her son she had to work as a waitress. Part of her knew that she could do better; it just wasn't that time.

Ralph's year in school so far was not the best; she was told that he was often distant. Paige had been working to try to figure out why. She just hoped that the next year would be better.

She had been working at Kovalsky's for a year now and was just starting to get to know the regular customers. Paige was wiping the counter down by where Ralph was sitting. He looked to be making lines with pencils that the waitresses used to jot down orders. Paige dropped the rag behind the counter and walked over to Ralph.

"How are you doing?" Paige asks as she puts a hand on Ralph's shoulder.

Silence.

He rarely replies. But at least he does talk to her. Some of his tendencies go to not talking to anyone. This was one of the reasons that he hasn't been doing well in school. She pushed her hair behind her ear and stood by Ralph for another minute before going back to some of the other tables to take orders.

Once she finishes getting the orders she walks back to take them to the cook. She sets them back on the tack and walks back out. As she walks out the bell above the door dings and Paige looks up.

She sees two men walk in; one that's about 5'10 or so with scraggly brown hair with streaks of gray and stubble that looks like it hasn't been shaved in days. He has some identification card for a nearby university. The other man next to him is about an inch or two taller, with curly black hair and a tan hue to his skin.

The second man interests her instantly and she doesn't know why. It almost bothers her that this guy interests her. She ignores it and continues to do her job; trying to ignore what she thinks might be that one man staring at her.

Paige looks around her to see the other waitresses busy so she takes it upon herself to go up to them. Paige walks carefully up to them and flashes a smile at them.

"How may I help you today?" Paige asks.

"Just an um, table for two." The second man says. Paige nods flashing another smile at them.

"Follow me," She says motioning for them to follow her. They follow her as she shows them to a booth. Paige tries to keep a steady pace as she leads them to their seat.

"Here are your seats. My name is Paige and I will be your waitress today. I'll be back to get your drinks." Paige says as the men nod along. They seem not to be as interested in what she was saying but there were several customers that acted this way.

Paige walks away and back behind the counter to get the other orders for customers. Paige carefully carries them out to their tables and set them down. When she glances back at the table with the two men; they had gotten out pounds of paperwork and a laptop. They looked to be hard at work and Paige would almost hate to interrupt. They were in a heated conversation about probably whatever they were working on or studying.

Paige plastered a smile on her face as she walked up to the newest person walking in. She greeted them and led them to another seat. She let the smile slip off her face as she walked over to check on Ralph. He had taken to angling the pencils at different directions and Paige let him.

Paige walked back through the restaurant and wove in and out of the tables, checking on people's orders and making sure that they enjoyed what they were having. She walked up to the table taking a deep breath.

"Anything I can get you?" Paige asks smiling. The men look at each other before either of them responding.

"Water," The second man says as he ducks his head back down at his papers. Paige nods in response and turns her gaze to the first man.

"Coffee," The first man responds and then converses quietly with the other man. Paige nods jotting it down before walking away. She puts her pad into the little pocket in her apron. Paige walks back to the counter and looks over at Ralph to see him changing the pencils again. She looks back at the two men as she gets the coffee pot ready. She catches the second man staring at her before looking back down.

"Could I use those condiments?" Ralph asks quietly as Paige passes by. She nods and passes him the specific condiments he was asking for. Ralph nods and sets them up a specific way that only he knew.

Paige walked over to the coffee pot and poured it into a cup; she set the pot down once she was convinced that the cup was full enough. She walked over to the water pitcher and poured the cup. She placed the cup of coffee and water onto a tray and made her way to the table. She placed the drinks in front of the people that ordered them and flashed them another smile.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" Paige asks as she looks them over a second time.

"No thanks," The second man says. Paige nods and takes the tray with her as she walks back to the counter. Paige watches for a moment as Ralph moves the salt and pepper shaker around.

For the next couple hours Paige will refill their glasses. But she never knows their names; they are talking about some complicated subject that she probably couldn't hope to understand.

As her shift was ending she had finished up with most of her customers and the two men were finishing up. They were putting away their papers and such; Paige noticed the way the second man's muscles rippled through his shirt. Paige watched as Ralph kept playing with the condiments, he was moving the sugar around and she was hoping to understand what he was doing.

Paige was wiping down the counter on the farther side from Ralph as she saw the first man walk out the door. But the second man was standing by Ralph moving the salt around the other condiments Ralph was using. Paige cocked her head at him wondering why a stranger would be moving cooking ingredients around with her son.

"Excuse me? Can I help you?"Paige asks as she walks up to the man and her son.

"No, but you should help him." The man says. Paige looks at the man like he is crazy. What does he mean, to help Ralph? Who the hell does he think he is to tell her about her son?

Paige walks closer to her son and watches as the man's eyes follow her.

"Excuse me?" Paige asks as she scrutinizes this stranger.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your son is a genius." The man says and Paige looks at him strangely. He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"Your son is a genius, so he um tends to have harder times with emotional situations…" The man starts. Paige motions to a booth.

.

.

They talk for hours. He informs her about geniuses and a few that he works with. Ralph sits next to her and continues playing with the condiments. Occasionally while talking to her the man will move the condiments around to match Ralph's movements.

"We should probably get going." Paige says as she glances at a yawning Ralph. The man nods.

"Oh, I'm Walter O'Brien." He says as she looks back up at him.

"Paige Dineen." She says smiling. He nods and starts to get up. Paige stands up and Ralph slowly moves after her.

"Um, if there is anything you need help with. With um him you can call me." Walter says rubbing the back of his neck.

"Alright, and here is mine just so you know that it's me." Paige says writing out her number on a napkin as he writes his out on another napkin to give to her.

After they exchanged their numbers he, very nervously asked her out.

And she said yes without hesitation.

A/N: Another sneak attack from the plot bunny. I feel bad for starting another story after already having so many active. The song is This Love by Taylor Swift. Please follow, favorite and review if you want me to continue.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.