Hi everyone. So sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter. I'm definitely committed to this story and have a plan so hope you stick with me. I just want to do the subject matter justice. Probably a good idea to read the prologue again it's been so long lol!
18 MONTHS EARLIER (TAHOE) ...
Walter?! Wha-what are you doing here? Is everything okay, oh my god, Ralph, is he ..."
"Ralph's fine" Walter interrupted nervously. He was standing at Paige and Tim's hotel room door, having taken a good 10 minutes before plucking up the courage to knock. He didn't have a plan, and for Walter this was an extremely unsettling feeling. He didn't think he'd ever felt so out of control as he did right now, and he didn't like it. And the look of shock followed by suspicion on Paige's face was anything but helping.
"Walter ... Tahoe is a 7 hour drive from LA. I'm guessing you didn't take a wrong turn?"
"No, umm of course. It would be impossible for me to take a wrong turn because I have memorised all of California's major roa..."
"Walter" Paige interrupted. "It's 2 in the morning and I'm tired."
"Sorry, um yes" Walter stumbled. It was now or never. "Is Tim inside?"
"No, he's gone for a walk. He wanted to stretch his legs after the long drive."
"Good, umm I don't mean good that he's not here, just that what I need to say would be best without him in the viscinity and ..."
"Walter!" Paige exclaimed, the exasperation clear in her voice. She wasn't making it easy for him, but then he hadn't given her any reason to.
"So here's the thing" said Walter, clearing his throat nervously. "It occurred to me tonight, and it was pressed upon me by a very inebriated Doctor Curtis, that I, well I may have been a bit of a jerk recently." He allowed himself to glance up at Paige and could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile forming on Paige's lips.
"Go on" she said, folding her arms defensively, but unable to hide her inquisitive tone.
"And yes, well" Walter continued. "Obviously, this doesn't mean Toby is always right, but on this occasion he may have had a point."
"A point about what?" Paige asked, confused. "You being a jerk, because if you want me to back Toby up on that one ..."
"About my genius" Walter interrupted abruptly.
"Oh my god, Walter please don't tell me you drove 7 hours to brag to me about your superior intellect, because honestly I don't care!" Paige snapped.
"No, I didn't, umm I just mean that ... I'm trying to explain Paige but you're not making things easy for me right now!" Walter grumbled frustratedly. "It's just that, my whole life, the only thing that has made sense to me is my own intellect. I can control that and it makes me feel safe and secure, and so I arrogantly pursued that at the expense of my feelings. Because, I, um, I know I have spent most of my life denying their existence, but the truth is, I only did that because I didn't know how to deal with them, you know. Because with science, there's always a solution. A reason for the way things are. But feelings, I can't control them, and, and ... it scares me.
"Walter"
"No let me finish, please Paige. I thought that denying my emotions didn't matter. I was happy because I had Team Scorpion, people who understood me, and they're my family you know. But then, well you and Ralph, you came into my life and all of a sudden everything fell apart. All of a sudden I began feeling things ... for you ... that I haven't felt for anyone before. Things that I had previously refused to believe existed. Suddenly everything that was secure and safe before was on a precipice and so I made the decision to push you away. Because, because my brain, it doesn't know how to handle the emotions I've been feeling Paige. But, well I guess I've realised that it's not that easy to push someone away, to deny the things I've been feelings ... when I'm pretty sure that, umm, those feelings I have are for you, and are telling me that ... well, that I love you Paige."
Oh crap, he'd really done it now. He immediately stared at the ground, hoping it might swallow him up. He didn't want to know what Paige was thinking right now, but the silence wasn't a good sign. Thankfully it didn't last long.
"Walter? ... Walter?! Are you going to look at me."
Paige's voice was soft, stern, and a little bit shaky, and Walter forced himself to look at her, immediately alarmed to see that she had tears in her eyes.
"Paige I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ..."
"You're an idiot you know that?" Paige managed as she wiped away her tears. Walter couldn't tell if she was happy or angry at that moment. Probably a mixture of both.
"Is that a ... good thing?" Walter dared to ask.
"I don't know" Paige laughed bitterly. "Because Walter, after 2 years of you denying that love exists at all, you pushed me away, to Tahoe, with another man" she added with emphasis, "and just as I was accepting that you are never going to be ready Walter, you decide to drive 7 hours through the night to tell that everything you'd previously believed in was a lie and that you do in fact love me after all! The entire journey up here I've been so mad at you. And I'm still mad at you by the way. By treating feelings, human emotions as if they're a failed scientific theory, you belittle everything that matters to me ... that matters to most people, to ~normals~ - and yes Walter, what us normals think and feel matters just as much as your ~superior~ beliefs."
Paige was getting angry now, but she couldn't help herself. Months of frustration were boiling over, and it needed to be said.
"Do you even understand that you hurt me Walter? Do you?! And, and I don't just mean about us, and my feelings for you ... I mean about all those times you declared love to be a fraud. What gives you the right to say those things? Because you've got a superior intellect and you think that makes you a better person? Well it doesn't Walter! It just makes you more intelligent than us, and so freaking what!"
"That's what Toby said" muttered Walter, more to himself than anyone else. "Ummm, are you done?" he added nervously, feeling completely I'll-equipped for how this conversation was going. It certainly wasn't the happy ever after ending that always seemed to happen in the movies Paige liked, that's for sure.
"I don't know Walter", Paige retorted angrily. "Am I done?"
"Look, Paige. Everything you've just said. It's true. I don't blame you for being mad at me. I've, umm, I know I'm not easy Paige. I know I don't always say the right things. I know that I can be rude, arrogant, insufferable even. I, I don't mean to be. I, I just, I've never known any other way of being. It's not an excuse, but it is the truth. But everything changed, the day that I met you and Ralph at Kovelskys. Not consciously, but I realise now, through you, that emotions, humanity, they do count for something ... they count for a lot. I, I, it's just hard for me to admit that, after I've denied it for so long. It would be like suddenly being faced with the possibility that the earth wasn't actually round you know when all scientific theory pointed otherwise. I'm, I'm sorry, I'm not doing a good job of expressing myself to you.
"No Walter" Paige managed to laugh. "You're not. But that's okay. I know you have trouble expressing yourself. The issue I have Walter is that you say you're the way you are because you've known no other way, and that might be true, but it's your active choice to be like that. Are you so arrogant Walter that you honestly believe that your opinion on love trumps the 99.9% of the world who feels otherwise? Truth is, you're full of feelings andemotions, but you choose to keep them locked in and perpetuate this myth that they don't exist or matter, but it doesn't fool me Walter. I see it every day ... in the way you are with my son, the team. That's love Walter. It's what binds the team together, don't you see that? You're so obsessed with this idea that love, relationships, will get in the way of the team, that you can't see that it's the opposite. Team Scorpion functions the way it does not because it's full of geniuses. It functions because of the love we have for each other, as humans. Because we're a family, and we have each other's backs, no matter what. Take that away and it falls apart."
"Okay, now I'm done" she added, wiping away her angry tears, staring at Walter and daring him to speak.
"Walter, what are you doing here?!"
Walter spun around to be greeted by a shocked looking Tim, not too dissimilar than Paige's initial expression.
"Is there a Scorpion emergency? Are we needed? I haven't heard from Cabe."
"Ummm, no I ..." stuttered Walter, before Paige interrupted him.
"Everything's fine Tim." Paige interrupted quickly, smiling at him reassuringly. "But we need to talk" she added, moving aside from the door to let a confused looking Tim in. "Just give me a second will you?" she said to him quietly, before shutting the door behind her, leaving just her and Walter standing awkwardly in the corridor.
"Walter, I suggest you book yourself into a room, get some sleep. I think we all need some."
"But Paige" Walter began, suddenly panicking that if he didn't resolve this now he never would.
"Walter, it's late, and I need time to process everything." Paige said, cutting Walter off. She'd calmed down now, and her voice had a weary tone to it rather than the anger of moments ago. "I'll speak to you in the morning okay? ... You've waited this long Walter, you can wait a little bit longer" she added pointedly.
"Point taken" Walter muttered. "Well I, ummm, I'll speak to you tomorrow then. Goodnight Paige" he said, forcing a smile, before turning away from her and making his way down the corridor.
"Goodnight Walter" he heard her call after him.
