NO EYE IN CYCLONE
AN: Happy Friday. Please review. It'll make my whole weekend.
She was petrified.
Paige tried to give herself a pep talk as she loitered over washing dishes, drying every last drop of water from their surfaces and stacking them precisely in the cupboards and drawers. Things had become a little haphazard since Paige and Sylvester had been there. It made Sly nervous for things to be chaotic and organizing always helped calm Paige down.
Well, usually. Not that night.
She'd chosen to clean up in the downstairs kitchen, telling herself an orderly office space would help the negotiations go more smoothly while they were combining companies.
She was outright lying to herself.
In reality, she'd needed to put some space between her and the sight of Walter and Ralph, two dark heads bent together, in some intense discussion about satellite coordinates and communications. It was doing strange things to her resolve.
She was well aware she had things she needed to say to Walter. Important things. Paige never dreamed she would be the one to avoid an emotionally fraught conversation with the genius. This time, however, she couldn't quite drum up the courage. Part of her was terrified Walter would take the logical approach and want to go back to being strictly friends. Another part of her was just as scared he'd want to go right back to the way things were before. Living with either option wasn't acceptable.
But seeing him interact with Ralph never failed to make her weak.
When she'd finished straightening and restraightening the placemats and kitchen linens, she could no longer defend lingering downstairs. Everyone else had already left, and she needed to get Ralph home. It was a school night and since he'd skipped his classes that day, the two of them would have to show up early in the morning so they could suck up to his homeroom teacher. Detention was still likely.
Fabulous.
That would mean several more early mornings for them. Maybe she could ask Walter to drive him… Or maybe not.
Paige really missed sharing the parental responsibilities. It'd been a tremendous help, but she didn't want to be a pretend family any longer.
Paige sighed wearily. Time to face the music.
She strolled through the office, dragging her feet a little, not eager for the inevitable conversation.
Glancing at her desk as she passed, Paige was grateful to note that Florence hadn't taken over her spot like Ray had. In fact, the arrangement hadn't changed much in the four weeks since the team had split.
It was incredible how much she missed glancing up from her work to find Walter's eyes on her. Or exchanging secret smiles or knowing looks with him. In fact, many things about working at Centipede felt wrong from the start. It was the same way during the time she worked for Elia.
And in an honest moment, Paige could admit it was because she missed everything Walter. Frankly, she was tired of being dishonest.
She slowly made her way up the stairs, pausing to take a bracing breath before entering the loft.
Paige spotted Walter immediately. He was sorting some extra components into tiny drawers in the organizer on his desk.
"Hey," she said softly, so she wouldn't startle him, "Where's Ralph?"
He bent his head to indicate the sofa. "Out cold," he replied with shrug and a crooked grin. "I guess all that scheming wore him out."
Paige walked into the galley kitchen, leaned her back against the counter and crossed her arms, giving him a wry smile in return. "I cornered Cabe before he and Allie left. They were in on it, you know."
"I kinda figured. I made it clear to Ralph I didn't condone his tactics, but… I couldn't help marveling at his cleverness. He always seems to know how to manage us, doesn't he?"
A loaded silence fell.
"Walter." "Paige." They started to speak at the same time.
"You go first," she conceded.
"I think you know what I want to say. I'd like to reiterate how sorry I am. I truly never had any ulterior motivation. I was… rather immature about… things, but I honestly never had romantic feelings for anyone but… you. I had no idea, uh, F-florence thought of me like that or I would've never asked her to go with me to that stupid lecture. I certainly didn't return her, uh, re-regard…"
Paige's mouth curved into a rueful smile. "Oh, I figured that out pretty quickly after Flo and Sly spent the whole day flirting and you didn't even bat an eyelash."
He frowned and shook his head, "They did?"
"You're making my point for me. But, yes, they did. I think flirting is all it is for now, but who knows…"
Walter shrugged. "Okay. Good for Sylvester…for-for both of them, I guess."
An uneasy sort of quiet stretched between them.
Paige cleared her throat. "I need to apologize too, Walter. I humiliated you in front of everyone and said some pretty harsh things to you…"
"Your temper can be a-a little fierce at times. Believe me, I've noticed. But I sensed you were being truthful at least. No white lies that time." His focus dropped to the floor.
"See, that's where you're wrong. Not the part about my temper. It can get ugly, I know. You aren't always tactful when you should be, but you don't often say cruel things with the express purpose of hurting someone. But that's what I did. One of the downsides to opening yourself up to someone else… of being in a truly intimate relationship with someone, is they know exactly how to hurt you. Unfortunately, that's what I did."
Paige bit her lip to stem an anxious flow of words. She refused to rationalize her behavior to him. He deserved the truth.
"So…so you really aren't tired of me? B-bored with my science lectures? I know you think we-we're too different. I'm too much for most people, Paige. I figured you'd had enough… of-of me." Walter sounded sincerely confused but she couldn't make herself look at him to read his expression.
"Our differences don't bother me as much as I was worried they would. No. I was hurting, so I hurt you. It's as simple as that."
"How…? Why would…? I would never..."
"I know you wouldn't. It's ironic, but that actually makes you a better human than me in some ways."
They went silent again while they both processed what was said.
"I read an interesting fact in the same ladies' magazine I used to learn about how to become a better friend. It said the person in a relationship who loves the least has the most power. Is-is that what happened? Did-did you stop, um, loving me as much?" Walter's voice trailed off in a whisper.
Paige's eyes flew up to meet his. He looked wounded. It made her hate herself a little. "No. No, Walter. I reacted vengefully, that's all. I justified it by convincing myself you were purposely sneaking around with Florence behind my back. You guys didn't hook up after we split up and seeing you interact with her today, after the edge of the pain and anger wore off, convinced me you never wanted her like that."
"I did try to tell you…"
"I was feeling too betrayed and hurt to listen. Again, I'm sorry. And I never should've encouraged you to lie. Lies are poison in a relationship. I might wish you'd use more tact, but I really need honesty. I may not always want it, but that's what I need. Do you understand? Now, which one of us sucks at relationship stuff?" Paige replied.
"Does this mean you'd like to try to, um, be w-with me… again? If-if I promise to be honest and avoid being alone with Florence…"
He sounded so hopeful, it was killing her. But she was determined to be candid. "I don't think so."
"Oh. Okay. So-so we'll go back to being, um, sp-special friends then?" He swallowed and pasted on a fake smile before turning away as if to leave.
She caught him by the arm.
"Wait. Walter. Stop," Paige continued haltingly, unsure of how to relay what she needed to say, "I love you," she had to pause and take a shaky breath, "I do. I just don't want to go back to the way it was. Before. I-I mean, it was great. Don't get me wrong. But we were treading water. You never brought up having a future with me. We were together for nearly a year and you… you never even mentioned moving in together or anything. It felt like we were heading somewhere the night you and Ralph fixed the antennae. At least you hinted that we were a family. The three of us together. But that's it. You never said… you didn't… One of the reasons I'm so insecure, is because I've never been offered security. My mother… Well, you know her. Drew took off as soon as things got difficult. I would bring up getting married and he would always change the subject. He refused to discuss it. No one has ever offered me any kind of permanence so I'm always waiting for things to fall apart. I'm always poised to pick up and move on…"
Walter snorted and stalked off leaving Paige to look after him, deeply offended. She'd just poured out one of her deepest fears to him and he was walking away?
She watched as he yanked open a drawer in his bureau, grabbed something and marched back, stopping when he was nearly toe-to-toe with her. He picked up her slack hand and dropped a small, square velvet box onto her palm.
"Happy Anniversary," He said sarcastically, his lips compressed.
Her mouth dropped open as all the breath was knocked out of her. Her free hand went up to cover her open mouth as her eyes flooded.
When she stood there like a paralyzed fool, Walter took the box from her trembling hand and opened it revealing a gorgeous engagement ring winking and sparkling as if mocking her.
"In my defense, you never mentioned the future either. And I've never paid much attention to what's considered normal in relationships before. I've never really thought about it. The only relationships I've observed closely, the people were engaged before they moved in together. Happy and Toby. My parents. Sylvester and Megan. Even Cabe and Allie don't live together. Yet. I simply didn't consider cohabitation as an option. I didn't know how else to proceed. But I thought our one year anniversary would be a good time to bring up the possibility of marriage… I've always thought of you and Ralph as the family I wanted and didn't know I could ever have. I never saw us going any other way."
Before Walter could explain further, Paige's arms were around him and her lips were on his, stealing his breath.
When they finally came up for air, her eyes shining, she exclaimed, "Yes! The answer is yes!"
It was his turn to kiss her senseless.
Ralph cracked open one eye and an enormous grin spread across his young, smugly satisfied face.
AN2: There will be one more chapter - an epilogue so sweet it'll cause diabetes. Please don't sue the author.
It's already half written, so it should be up the first part of next week.