I'm doing a bit of a time jump here, because 1. It would be more same old, same old for the next five chapters and 2. This prompt was suggested to me in the form of a oneshot prompt so I was never planning on making this a 20K fic or so. There will probably be three more chapters, after this one.


Walter closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep while Toby talked his ear off.

He had made the mistake of accompanying the psychiatry student to get their printout results of the – it wasn't exactly a brain scan, but that's what Paige kept calling it and Walter began defaulting to that name.

Of course Toby had zeroed in on Walter's results and pointed out how much Walter's brain reacted when he was talking about Paige, how much he was especially affected by seeing the photograph that they provided. "Look at that," he had immediately commented. "But being romantically affected by another person is junk science, huh?"

"The results show that I enjoy Paige's company," Walter said. "We are friends. If these results showed no affectation, then that would be a red flag in the validity of the experiment."

"These aren't friend levels, 197," Toby was saying now, hours later, he and Happy standing over Walter as he pretended to nap. "And Walter, you've seen how she's been looking at you. Hell, that kid Sylvester who toured our lab the other day has seen how she's been looking at you. And you just keep playing it off as if you two are just friends. Aha!" He said triumphantly when Walter opened an eye to look up at him. "Buddy. Seriously."

"Seriously, shut up." Walter and Paige hadn't talked about their kiss in the month since it happened. They'd continued to hang out, and they went together to their appointments with the study coordinators, but something was different now, and Walter didn't like it. "We're lucky that the scan was so apparently telling. Because we sure aren't connecting like we were then."

"It's because you're pushing her away," Happy said. "You used to call her up before we went anywhere, to see if she wanted to go. Now you don't – actively suggest routes that don't go by her house."

"I go by the house all the time," Walter protested. "My sister lives there, remember?"

"Yeah," Happy said, "you go see Megan. When you know Paige is in class. You left your laptop open on Monday, when you took a shower. I saw your little calculations about how often you have to hang out with her without people thinking it weird. Since when did spending time with her become a chore?"

"Since he realized how much he feels for her," Toby said. "Walter, she's crazy about you. You're crazy about her."

"Yes," Walter said, "and in just a couple of weeks, she's going to have a baby. The last thing she needs is to have confusing feelings." Happy and Toby didn't know about the raw desire in her eyes after they'd kissed. They didn't know that when he'd walked her back to her house, she'd kissed him again on the porch in the sunset light, her hands on his chest. They didn't know she'd asked him if he wanted to come in with her. They didn't know that he'd said no. They didn't know that he could still see the disappointed look on her face as if she was still standing in front of him, her hands falling limply to her side. They didn't know that it was since then that it had been harder to spend time with her.


Three days later, Walter had another reason to avoid focusing on the situation with Paige.

"She was experiencing numbness from the chest down, coupled with vomiting. We haven't yet determined if this is because of her MS or an outside factor."

"When can I see her?"

"I will take you back now. She is asking for you."

The doctor – Walter couldn't remember her name – led him down the corridor, knocking on a door before opening it. "Megan? Walter is here?"

She was laying in the bed – looking startlingly pale despite the complete whiteness of the sheet and pillows – and she gave him a small smile. "Hey, little bro."

"Megan." He walked to her bedside, letting her reach out and grab his hand. "When did this start?"

"Just last night."

"Why did you not tell me?"

"You were out with Paige," she said, and Walter tried to hide his frown – he didn't want to talk about Paige now. "I wasn't going to die yesterday, Walter. I didn't want to bother you."

He and Paige had just gone to one of her history club meetings together. They'd sat off to the side, holding hands because they still had to pretend to be a couple for another week, when they'd have their last interviews. Then a week after that, they'd receive their money. And this charade would all be over. "You never bother me, Meg," he said, squeezing her hand. "If something happens I want to know about it."

"I did tell you, Walter. That's why you're here now." She looked annoyed. "You can't let my condition dictate your life. You gotta have your own, because then what would you do when I'm gone?"

"Don't talk like that," he said, shaking his head. "Medicine is advancing more and more every day. You'll beat this. I know you will."

"For now," she said with a weak smile. "At least I'm not puking my guts out anymore. They gave me some wonderful drugs."

Walter gave a brief chuckle. "Okay." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "But keep me updated, okay? I want to know what's going on with you."

She nodded. "Okay. I promise."

"Good."

"But little bro?"

He raised his eyebrows attentively. "Hmm?"

"Don't let what's going on with me prevent you from living your own life."

"What did Paige tell you?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. Why would Paige tell Megan that she was afraid he wasn't living his life?

"Paige?" Megan frowned. "Is what's going on with me hurting your relationship with her?"

Walter had no idea what to say in response to that, considering his current conflict surrounding Paige actually had nothing to do with Megan or her condition. He was just feeling so many upsetting things he didn't know how to respond to any of them. "N-no," he stammered. "Just...she's our main...mutual contact, so...I thought if anyone expressed concern to you, it would be her. That's all."

Megan smiled. "You know, I'm glad you guys are so close. You deserve relationships like that, and I don't talk to Happy or Toby much. But I live with her, and it makes me so happy to hear the way she talks about you."

Walter wanted to ask what Megan meant. What does she say about me? How much do I come up in conversation? But there'd be no point in knowing. If it wasn't a lot, he knew he'd be disappointed. If it was a lot, he'd feel guilty for getting close to her when the last person who'd been important to her had broken her heart. The look on her face when he'd turned her down that night on her porch had shown him that he was already in danger of doing what he was so desperate not to.

If he was going to feel awful either way, better to just not know.

"Walter?"

"Hmm?"

She was regarding him curiously. "Is something...wrong? You're acting strange today."

"No." He squeezed her hand again. "Nothing's wrong.

She didn't look like she believed him. But he would convince her. In just over a week, the relationship study would be over. He and Paige would no longer have to pretend anything. Things would go back to normal.