Chapter 2: I'd do anything for you!
Author's note:
Sorry - I had the best intentions of posting this a lot faster - to make up for it, I have pulled Chapter two and three together into one bigger chapter. I hope you enjoy the second instalment.
Railman - yes, others like to hurt Walter, I like to make Paige cry… we do need a bit of drama to have a story to tell…
Margaret: yes, it's not easy for Ralph, seeing his mother so distraught and himself missing Walter. Staying out of other people's business is not Toby's strong point - it will bite him in the butt eventually.
I also forgot to add disclaimers in chapter 1: I do not own any of these characters - the entities involved in producing the tv show do and I only borrowed them for my and our entertainment.
Chapter 2: I'd do anything for you!
Walter slowly opened the door to Paige's bedroom and his heart immediately started to ache at the now louder sounds of distress.
Paige lay on her bed, halfway on her side, clutching her pillow as if she was clinging to another person, her head pressed into it as if she was pressing it into someone's shoulder.
Walter swallowed. If Ralph was correct, and Walter had full confidence in the thirteen year old's observation skills, the pillow was a poor substitute for Walter himself.
At least Walter hoped he would be considered superior to the pillow. After the things she had hurled at him four weeks ago he was not without doubt.
He ached to trade places with that pillow, to be the one to lend comfort to the distraught woman he still loved so much.
As he slowly closed the distance, he hoped Ralph - and by extend - himself had not miscalculated. What if his presence would only make things worse?
Before his doubts could get the better of him, Walter reached the bed and automatically crouched down to be at Paige's eye-level.
"Paige?" He asked softly.
There was no reaction at first, then, as he repeated her name once more, her head lifted slowly, reluctantly.
For a long moment she just squinted at him through bloodshot eyes, swollen and red-rimmed from crying. Then she slurred his name.
Walter winced. Paige really had had a glass too many - or five.
He hesitated for a moment, unsure on how to proceed, but suddenly Paige sprang into action.
She abandoned her pillow and launched herself at Walter with surprising speed, but unfortunately with not equally impressive aim.
Walter was almost knocked over backwards as he caught her before she could fall off of the bed.
Paige clutched onto him as her alcohol addled brain felt the sensation of falling, almost suffocating Walter as she tightened her arms around his neck for support.
Once he had balanced himself and avoided a hard impact with he floor, Walter gently moved Paige back onto the bed, then climbed in after her as she kept her arms firmly around his neck in a vicelike grip.
Walter followed Paige's own movements for guidance and a moment later he found himself mirroring Paige's pillow when he had entered the room.
Unlike Paige's pillow, Walter possessed arms. Unsure about the best course of action, Walter settled on loosely wrapping the arm she was practically snuggling into around her and resting the other arm next to his body.
Paige shifted slightly a few times as if to find the best position while mumbling incoherently. But her tone sounded happy, so Walter didn't worry about it.
After a few moments the movements stopped and eventually Paige's breathing evened out.
Walter lay awake for a while longer, trying to suppress the worry that he might have to pay dearly for this the next morning. Both by facing a potentially sober but angry Paige and his own emotional backlash when she eventually kicked him out.
But even his worried mind could not fight off the tiredness indefinitely - not when the woman who calmed his mind finally lay in his arms again.
xxxXXXxxx
The first sensation Paige felt as she slowly rejoined the land of the living was a splitting headache. The next, that she was hugging her pillow like she was hugging a person - again.
Her cheeks burned with shame as she remembered how she had first stuffed herself with ice cream, crying her heart out to her thirteen year old son of all people, then once he had gone to bed - probably fled from the mess of a mother he had - she had gotten herself drunk with wine until she had passed out. And all of that because she had allowed her own temper to ruin her live in a fit of jealously four weeks prior.
No wonder Walter would not want her back. Toby was absolutely right!
But instead of owning up to her mistake, she hid in her bed, drank herself out of her mind and hugged her pillow as if it was Walter, pretending it was him, holding her, telling her that Toby was wrong.
Of course that had only ended in tears, with more pillow hugging and even more tears because the stupid pillow didn't hug her back or murmured the words she longed to hear.
Her mind grated to a halt as she realised that the pillow WAS hugging her back. It was also more solid than she remembered - and it rose and fell as if it was breathing.
Oh god! What had she done?!
Her first instinct was to switch on the lamp on her nightstand, but what if that disturbed the person half lying under her? Did she even want them to wake up right now?
Since light was not an option, Paige decided that trying to catch and recognise the scent of the person with her was the best course of action right now.
/Please don't let it be some random stranger!/
Her nose picked up the scent she associated with Walter - her heat skipped a beat. Then the smell of cheap wine hit her nose and brought her back to reality. If she smelled it, Walter had smelled it too. Shame burned on her cheeks once again. But her curiosity why Walter was here won out.
"Walter?" She asked perplexed.
Her fingers searched and found the switch for the lamp on her nightstand.
As the lamp illuminated her bedroom in a soft yellowish light, Walter stirred beneath her.
Paige stared at him as if she expected him to turn back into an ordinary pillow at any moment.
Her pillow always turned back the next morning once she was fully aware of her senses.
But not tonight.
Walter looked at her as if he expected to be chased out of her condo screaming at worst and being slapped at best.
How could he possibly be here?
Ralph! It was the only logical conclusion.
Why had she thought that her genius son would not see and understand what was going on with his mother?
And Ralph had decided to take things into his own hands and find a solution.
She would deal with him later. How, she didn't know yet. It would depend on the outcome of her current predicament.
xxxXXXxxx
Walter could literally see the wheels turning in her head - and the moment she drew her conclusions.
"Uuumm… Do you want me to leave?" He asked uncertainly, unsure how to read her expression.
Paige's eyes grew wide with panic as his words registered.
"NO! I have to go!" She paused. "To the bathroom, I mean!" She scrambled out of his arms and out of her bed, then turned around to him. "Please don't turn into a pillow while I'm in there!"
Before Walter was able to understand what she meant, Paige had turned again and wobbled unsteadily into the bathroom and closed the door behind herself.
xxxXXXxxx
Paige had barely seated herself on the toilet when her head rolled forward and she let out a loud groan.
/Please don't turn in to a pillow while I'm in there!/
Had this really just been the first words she had said to Walter after he had come to comfort her in the middle of the night? Despite the words she had hurled at him four weeks ago when she broke up with him?
/Smooth girl, really smooth!/ she thought to herself.
She moved on to the basin, washed her hands then cupped them and splashed cold water into her face. She looked up and checked herself in the mirror.
She looked horrible!
She hadn't removed her makeup from the day before. Her hair was all over the place and her eyes were a mess of their own from all the crying.
It was a wonder he hadn't taken one look at her, turned around and left as quickly as possible.
Her mind wandered back to a few months ago, when he had thrown out all of her beauty products because he thought they took up too much space and she was beautiful enough without them anyway. He had even made her a basic product to replace the numerous ones.
Now that she thought about it, it had been kind of sweet. Both the thinly veiled compliment and that he would look into making her beauty products himself. What kind of man did that?
/The one that thinks you're the best thing that has ever happened to him and drives off of a cliff because he can't bear the thought of you leaving him before you even were a couple./ her mind helpfully supplied.
She blew out her breath, then wrinkled her nose at the combined smell of cheap wine and morning breath.
Her mind suddenly turned against her again. /That has to put his fermented fish to shame!/
She whined as she reached for her tooth brush.
/What if he wants to kiss you!?/
The thought of Walter kissing her short circuited her brain and before she knew what was happening she knocked over a big bottle of body lotion. The almost full plastic bottle bounced off the floor, skidded across the small bathroom and soundly slammed into the bathroom door.
Paige groaned again.
xxxXXXxxx
Walter frowned at the noises coming from the bathroom.
First he had heard groaning, then what appeared to be normal bathroom noises. He jumped as something hard slammed against the bathroom door close to the ground, then another loud groan came from behind the closed door.
He had called out to her, worried that she might have hurt herself. She had slept a few hours, but not enough for her body to fully deal with the alcohol in her blood. He had never seen Paige this drunk, so he was not sure how much she would still be affected by the wine - but the short walk into the bathroom had not looked very steady to him.
But Paige had called back through the door that everything was fine and that he was going to be back in a minute.
That had been fifteen minutes ago.
He was getting a bit worried as time dragged on. But he still could hear the sounds of someone moving about the bathroom like one would expect.
He glanced at the nightstand - it was 5:17. Perhaps he should check in again?
Before he could take any action, the door opened and Walter couldn't help but smile.
Paige had obviously used the time to touch herself up a bit.
Her hair was no longer unkempt, but softly touched her shoulders. She had removed the old make up and even put in the effort to put on some light make up - the kind of no -make up look that had confused Walter from the moment he had heard about the concept - why would someone put on make up to make themselves look as if they weren't wearing any?
Her lips shone invitingly from the lip gloss she had used.
It had to be a good sign that she made herself look pretty in this situation.
She smiled shyly as she climbed back onto the bed and below her covers, then settled against him.
Walter decided to wait where Paige wanted to take things.
"Ralph called you, didn't he?" Paige finally asked.
"Yes, he was worried about you."
"And you came…" Paige's voice still held the amazement she had felt when she first realised Walter and come to comfort her.
"Of course I came." How could she think there was any other option?
"I was so mean to you . I tore you down in front of the whole team." Paige said in an almost accusing tone. "Why are you still helping me?"
"Why should I not?" Walter asked back. "I love you. I know it is illogical, considering you don't love me anymore, but I can't change how I feel about you."
Paige grabbed Walter as if she was afraid he would vanish. "I DO LOVE YOU!" She almost yelled over his own words.
"Those things I hurled at you. Those stupid, stupid things! I was jealous and angry and I hurled anything at you that just sprang to my mind. Such stupid small things that shouldn't matter. Like. -. parsley? Really?" She trailed off and Walter waited for her to continue, unsure how to respond.
His patience was rewarded as more words started to spill out of Paige.
"Ralph was right. I have been trying to change you too much and too quickly. You wanted to change for me. You said so yourself, but I wanted too much, too soon and instead of stepping back and giving you the time you needed, I kept pushing and when you didn't live up to my expectations I became impatient and annoyed and then Florence came and she seemed to fit so perfectly with you. She was like a female version of you."
Walter snorted. "Do you really think a female version of myself would be the perfect match for me? Our egos would clash the first time we had a disagreement and not in a good way. Besides, she might stimulate my mind, but so do Ralph and Sylvester. Or my projects. Or our cases. But she doesn't stimulate my heart. No one stimulates my heart like you do and there are only two other people that come close.. One of them is Ralph…:" he trailed off.
"And the other?" Paige asked trying to not be jealous of that third person. She could live with sharing Walter's heart with Ralph - but a third person?
Walter's expression saddened a little as he said only one word. "Megan."
Paige immediately felt bad for her heart feeling lighter that the only other person aside from herself and Ralph who was able to stimulate his heart was his deceased sister.
"And you can't even stand Florence's touch…" Paige mumbled instead, then noticed Walter's questioning gaze.
"I saw you at the coffee shop this afternoon." She sighed. "But I guess Ralph already told you that as well, didn't he?"
Walter nodded silently.
"It made me realise how stupid I was to think you'd ride off into the sunset with her…" Paige scoffed.
"And then Toby reminded me that you would never want to be with me again, that you'd never trust me again or want my touch…" as if to spite Toby, Paige brushed her fingers along Walter's arm and felt delighted that her touch was accepted without the faintest flinch.
"Toby…" Walter growled darkly. He wasn't sure if Happy would ever understand, but he'd have to kill the shrink. There was no way around it. He just had to find the perfect way to commit the crime so he would not go to jail.
"… and yet you are here." Paige looked up at him with wide eyes as if she was still amazed he was there.
"Did… did you mean it that you still love me?"
"Yes, I do. And I promise you, that is not something I would ever lie about."
"I love you, too." Paige felt relief. "Back when we were in the seed bank when the air was laden with that fungus? I never told you what it made me see." She swallowed. "I saw you with another woman. She just walked up to you and kissed you and I thought my heart would freeze up on the spot and break into a million pieces!" She let out a shuddering breath.
"I have no intention of being with another woman as long as you are willing to put up with me!" Walter promised.
"And I want to be with you again! I promise you, I will be more patient. I won't try to push you for change you aren't ready for yet. And.. and no more lies. Not even the whitest ones. Nothing but the blunt truth, no matter how hard it is."
A smile crept onto her lips "Though I would appreciate it if you would put some effort into the delivery and sugar coat it a bit before slamming me with the truth".
"I'd like that, too." Walter agreed. "And Paige - no more telling me it's fine when it isn't. If you are annoyed or angry with me, you need to tell me. Please don't expect me to figure it out by myself. I can endure you being angry with me as long as I know you still love me."
Paige laughed. "You know, a lot of normal men have a problem realising when they are annoying their girlfriend or wife, so you're not doing so bad in that regard. It's going to be hard for me to throw courtesy out the window - but I'll do it for you."
She rubbed her forehead. "And I'll see Dr. Rizzuto about my abandonment issues…"
"Perhaps we could go together?" Walter suggested softly. "He could help me learn understand you better, so I can be a better boyfriend for you?"
Paige's face lit up. She had wanted to suggest it herself, but it made her happy that Walter had beat her to it.
"You'd do that for me?"
"I'd do anything for you." Walter smiled at her. "I want us to work and I am willing to change as many variables as it takes to make it work."
"So you want to reach a fixed outcome by changing the approach to fit the desired result."
"Exactly!" Walter smiled warmly.
"Sounds like a plan!" Paige thought for a moment.
"I have a variable I want to change. No more separate sleeping arrangements. On school nights you'll sleep here at the condo and on the weekends and the holidays, Ralph and I sleep at the garage."
"I like that." Walter hummed. "What about school holidays?"
"Depends on Ralph being here or with Drew."
"He still visits with Drew?"
Paige harrumphed. "Ralph only has contact when he initiates it. Drew never calls on his own. He even forgot Ralph's last birthday. So I guess it's not very likely he'll stay with Drew."
"We could plan a trip of our own. The three of us."
"Really? A real vacation trip, no work, just us?"
Walter chuckled. "You do realise you'll be travelling with two geniuses."
Paige laughed. "We'll find a compromise."
More laughter bubbled up in Paige's throat.
"Look at us! Yesterday we were barely able to talk to each other and today we are making travel plans and talking sleeping arrangements."
A deep sigh followed. "I missed you so much every night."
"I missed you, too, Paige. I barely slept. I was constantly thinking about you. I wasn't able to distract my mind from you with any of my usual methods."
"I can tell." Paige looked up into his face, then traced the dark circles under his eyes with her fingertips.
"That's an advantage women have over men - you have products to cover up the evidence of too many sleepless nights."
"Men can use products, too, you know."
She laughed at Walter's expression, which left no doubt about his opinion.
"I have another variable I want to change." Paige suddenly added. "Since me telling Ralph not wanting to go to that lecture is what started this whole mess… If one of us doesn't want to go to an event, the other wants to go to , we'll be honest up front and give the other a chance to find someone else to accompany them. Like, the next time you want to go to a lecture and I'm not interested, then you have enough time to ask someone else or to only buy one ticket. I'm pretty sure Ralph would be happy to accompany you on most occasions. Just maybe don't ask Florence until I am more confident in us again?"
"I have no intention to ask Florence out on any lecture or other event again unless there is at least another person coming. If I had known it would lead to this or give her any ideas, I would not have asked her."
"Walter, we would have blown up over something else then." Paige touched his cheek gently.
"We have been horrible at this. We didn't communicate properly and I expected changes from you you were not ready for yet. I promise you, no more silly boyfriend lessons. I'll be more patient and allow our relationship to grow organically. You improved so much and so quickly in some areas, I kind of got a bit greedy and wanted more and more."
"I agree, we should communicate more and better." Walter agreed.
Paige did her best to not show that it stung that Walter allowed her self assessment to stand and didn't tell her she was wrong. But that would have been a white lie and they had agreed less than five minutes ago no lies whatsoever between them.
Her spirits improved as she realised that even if Walter fully agreed with her about what she had just admitted, he loved her despite of it - otherwise he would not be lying in her bed with her right now. She silently thanked herself for her inherent ability to see the positive side of things before she concentrated on Walter again.
"So… this is it…," Paige laughed nervously. "We are officially back together again?"
"I think we are." Walter smiled. "Do we have to do something to make it official?"
"We could seal it with a kiss." Paige suggested, as she pushed herself upwards to reach Walter's lips with her's.
"And thank the person who brought you back together…"
Paige let out a small cry of surprise as she jumped at the unexpected voice from the door. She felt Walter flinch beneath her, as she bounced on him.
"RALPH!" Paige gasped, as she turned towards the door. "Have you been eavesdropping on us?" She scolded.
"I woke up when you made so much noise in the bathroom. I knew it would also wake up Walter and I knew you would be talking once you came out of the bathroom."
Paige didn't look impressed, but Ralph only rolled his eyes.
"Mom, you can't expect me to go back to sleep when my parents are about to get back together. I had to keep an eye on you, so I would be able to intervene in case you two messed it up."
Paige's jaw dropped. She was too surprised by Ralph's statement to register the part about his parents getting back together.
It was not lost on Walter, however, who grinned goofily behind Paige's back, unintentionally sabotaging the strictness she tried to display.
"Ralph, you better get back to bed now, before I decide to ground you. It's a school night!"
Ralph scoffed, then suddenly switched on the puppy eyes.
"You seriously expect me to go to school tomorrow?"
"Walter, can you…"
Paige turned to Walter for support, but stopped short, when she met another set of perfectly executed puppy eyes.
She groaned.
"We're back together for less than ten minutes and the two of you are already teaming up on me again."
"Our IQs allow us to adapt to new situations faster than a normal person." Walter pointed out, earning him a glare from Paige, though it lacked bite.
"Fine!" She turned back to Ralph. "But I expect breakfast in bed for Walter and myself and you will call in sick for me. If you aren't going to school, then I'm not going to work either. There's nothing I can't do a day later."
Ralph pulled a face at the prospect of calling the others. He had refused contact with them the past weeks. Paige had been so glad her son had stopped giving her the silent treatment after the first week she had broken up with Walter, she had not dared to force the issue and risk Ralph getting angry with her again. Refusing to talk to her was the worst he could do to her.
"Or do you have to head back to the garage early?" She turned to Walter, who shook his head.
"We have nothing coming up until after lunch. I'll just send a text to Cabe that I will be in later.
"It's settled then!" Paige decided. "You are heading back to bed, kiddo." She looked sternly at her son. "Walter is mine and mine alone until breakfast."