Summary: Part 1. Walter is on his way to Lake Tahoe. A "5 Things" Fic collaboration by WeBuiltThePyramids, WriterFreak001 and FoxPhile. Cover art designed by WriterFreak001.

Author's Note: This fic is part of a collaboration between WeBuiltThePyramids, WriterFreak001 and FoxPhile, inspired by discussions on the Scorpion FanFiction thread on FanForum. Each Author has written two stories that, together, make up the collection. The stories are best read in order. You can find information on the next story in the series at the end of this chapter. Links to all the stories can be found on my profile page.

And so there's a change in your emotions, and all these memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind.

Paige. Paige, Paige, Paige.

As his car rocketed out of the garage parking lot and onto the road, her name was on the cusp of his lips every time he exhaled, but he never quite said it.

She was headed away to spend the weekend with Tim, at the romantic hotel he'd chosen for him and Linda because TripAdvisor said it was the place to be. It was his fault. He let her go. He told her to go. As she exited the garage, she made sure he saw her – she looked right at him. Then she was gone.

The realization that this feeling he had for her was love came with dozens of simultaneous flashbacks, the memories rushing like feral waves to his mind, to the night they danced and he first felt something different, to when he replaced the woman kissing him on his lap with her in his mind, to when he really, truly felt like he was dying and without realizing it reached for her hand. He remembered teetering on the edge of a cliff and struggling to stay conscious while he begged his friends to find her. Their kiss in the garage, her telling him that he had to stay alive for her and Ralph, then her sitting beside him as he talked about his sister, her physically holding him up as he mourned Megan's death. Singing together – a song he of course knew, otherwise how would he know what the 'boy parts' were? – and her staying late at the garage with Ralph, night after night, so the three of them could spend more time together. The tornado...their refusals to leave the other alone. Not to mention Chernobyl, God, was that only two days ago?

We're getting out of here together.

If only that was still true.

He activated the voice commands on his dashboard. "Call Paige," he said desperately, his voice laden with emotion. He didn't think he could do this over the phone. But he had to do everything he could to stop her.

The moments of silence were agonizing, and for a moment – just a moment – his heart leapt when he heard her voice. The sinking feeling that followed, upon the realization that he'd reached only her voicemail – was nearly agonizing.

Sweat broke out on his forehead, and he knew his breathing was audible as he disengaged the call. "Dammit!" He cried in frustration.

He flew past a sign and caught the words Lake Tahoe on it – but he missed how many miles the sign stated. It didn't matter. He knew exactly how far it was. He'd done extensive research on conversations to have in the car so Linda wouldn't be bored.

He shook his head. He'd fooled himself for several weeks into thinking he liked Linda. And she was a really sweet woman – but now, the idea that he'd intended to do this with her was unbelievable.

He turned on the radio – an oldie, one he actually knew. The guy was crooning about how wonderful his woman was; all these words were pouring out of him as if expressing his love was the most natural thing in the world. He turned the radio off. He was hours from Paige and already on the cusp of being overwhelmed, and hearing the song only made him realize that he had no idea how exactly to go about it once he found her.

Sometime around midnight, his car dialed another number for him.

"Toby, I need your help."

"With what?"

"With..." Walter let out another breath. "What do I say? How do I tell her?"

"Well," he heard his friend begin, "how do you feel?"

Toby spoke as if it was just that simple. "I can't just..." Walter moved into the other lane and blared his horn at the car that was driving too slowly.

"Hey, hey, easy there!" Toby said. "You don't need to take this out on the road. Unless your plan is to get into another major car accident because you're too emotional. While it did succeed in bringing Paige back last time, your survival is kinda at risk each time you do that."

At the moment, it felt like his survival was already at risk. "Toby, I need advice!"

"And I gave it to you," Toby said. "Your inability to recognize your feelings is what's caused this whole mess. But now you know that you love her."

"That doesn't mean...I mean..." he wet his lips. "I can't just come out and say that."'

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Listen to me, Walt. Or did you just call to refute my advice no matter what it is?"

He sighed, loudly. "Fine."

"Imagine. She has these feelings for you. But she's going on this romantic weekend to Lake Tahoe with Tim Armstrong because she believes that you don't feel the same way. But then suddenly you're there, standing in front of her, and you're confessing your love. That's what she wants, Walt. If you give her that, she'll be in your arms faster than you can finish the sentence with her name."

"It's three words," Walter said. "That's not enough. That's not enough to explain how I feel about her."

"They're some of the most powerful words on the planet, when put together like that."

He bit his lip. "So I should just run up to her and say it."

"Well, you could write a song, but recent history suggests that'll blow up in your face."

Walter realized that relying on Toby right now probably wasn't fair – he was dealing with his own distress. He also realized that before Paige, he never would have made that realization.

She trusts you, you trust her.

She was also really, really good for him. And if he believed the rest of the team, he was good for her too.

"I'm not going to catch them before they get to Lake Tahoe."

"She's worth the drive, Walter."

"I know."

"Good luck."

When Toby hung up, Walter shook his head, focusing his eyes on the road. His mind was wide awake, and physically, the rush of adrenaline had so far distracted him from the fact that he hadn't slept in going on twenty four hours. But his eyes were starting to hurt. And he still had another four hours to go.

Don't forget to check out the next chapter, written by the lovely, talented FoxPhile!