A/N The house search has begun and maybe the reconciliation between the friends has as well. Getting near the halfway point of the story, let's see what's in store today. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading and reviewing!

Railman - Toby likes to stir up trouble for sure. Maybe what he needs is a 13 year old to put him in his place once and for all. Wouldn't we all like to have one of those magical checks!

Margaret - Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying it. Toby can always use a good kick in the gooty, or a foot up his...

Part 14 Tuesday June 10, 2018

"I can't believe we made it to the last letters. I feel so bad it took us two weeks to come to our senses Walter. I overreacted so bad to you that night."

"I shouldn't have lied Paige. I knew from the moment you walked out of the garage that night that I should have done everything in my power to fight for you. I made mistake after mistake over those two weeks. I kept over thinking everything, which wasn't the first time I've done that, and I can assure you it won't be the last." Walter said with a laugh.

"Walter, I'm just as guilty about that. I must have driven past the garage twenty times, and I just felt so bad for hurting you, I couldn't bring myself to face you. I will say, the most important thing is we made it. And I do think we are stronger because of it."

"I agree, and if it took us going through that and learning from it, to be where we are now, I'm glad it helped to strengthen our relationship."

"You ready to read? Hey, where are we going today anyway, you never told me." Paige asked before twisting towards Walter to give him a kiss.

"And ruin the surprise." Walter said with a smile.

"Fine, let's read the letters. I love you so much."

"I Love you too Paige."

12:01am 1 Year Anniversary would have been today

I was going to ask Paige to marry me today.

I don't know if I will ever be happy again without Paige

All I want is Paige and Ralph to be happy

2:22am I wonder if she would have said yes, I thought she would have. Maybe I made her happy.

Maybe I wasn't meant to be alone forever

7:15am It has been over 12 full days since I've seen Paige.I miss her so much. She understood me.

Ralph said she is sad. I don't like when she is sad. Why did I push her away

8:06am Meeting with Cabe and Florence today about Gettleman

Florence will no longer be affiliated with Scorpion 2.0

9:07am I need to be with Paige

10:14am How long should I keep recording my thoughts

They are all about Paige and sometimes Ralph now

11:23am Watched Megan's videos again. She knew I loved Paige. She called them my family.

I wish they were my family. I wish Paige was my wife. I wish Ralph was my son. I want them to be my family.

12:31pm Cabe brought lunch. I told him I was going to find Paige tomorrow

He called me a dumbass. Said I should have done that two weeks ago. I agreed with him

I am a dumbass.

1:47p PAIGE

2:14 PAIGE

3:01 PAIGE

7:18pm I haven't slept in over 250 hours. My brain is still functioning.

If I feel asleep, I would dream about Paige.

She is so beautiful. And amazing. And kind. And caring. And charming. And loving. And understanding. And brilliant. Any giving. And I wish she was here.

I want to hug Paige. She gave the best hugs. And kisses. I love her voice. It soothed me.

I love everything about Paige. Except that she is not with me anymore.

Maybe she will forgive me. I won't ever lie to her again.

9:19pm I hate Scorpion 2.0

11:11pm Ralph should be asleep now.

11:14pm Paige looks so beautiful when I watch her sleep. She's always beautiful.

"Walter that was so sweet, I love you so much. And what you wrote at the end was very special to me. I always feel safe when I sleep next to you. And you gotta love Cabe. But I'm really sad because it said you were going to propose today in the letter. I'm so sorry baby."

"You do look beautiful when you sleep. I never get tired of laying next to you or beside you holding you tight and just listening and watching you sleep. You are so stunning. I forgot stunning when I wrote those notes. And irresistible. And gorgeous. And sexy. How could I forget sexy. And yes, I was a dumbass."

"You're kind of sexy too. And you know you're not that bad of a hugger or kisser yourself, mister." Paige told him as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Not when you have all those parts that drive me crazy when they press up against me." Walter whispered in her ear as they found themselves in a deep kiss.

Walter, Today was a hard day for me. I don't know if anyone remembered it would have been our one year anniversary of dating or not. No one said anything to me. I gave Happy and Toby some flowers for their anniversary. I wish you were holding on to me right now. Your body always felt so warm. I miss you so much Walter. I think this is the last letter I am going to write you. Not because I've given up on us. I haven't. I never will. I am so bad at this Walter. I let you down. I lied to you. I need to make things right. You deserve so much better than me. I was such a fool to not come back to you sooner. I am never leaving you again if you take me back. I hope I find you tomorrow. If I don't, I won't ever stop trying until we get to talk and make things right between us. I want to be with you forever. I think I always have since the first time I met you. It just took me a little time to realize how amazing you are. I will never love anyone the way I still love you. Paige

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain and grief Paige. And I'm glad you followed through and found me. I'm not sure how much longer I could have gone without you. And after that morning I was so confused again after I knew where I wanted to be hours earlier. Thank you for never giving up on a wierdo like me."

"I never will, I promise. Come here." Paige told him before letting Walter know how much she loved him with a long and slow sensual kiss.

Today they had decided to read the letters before their date. Walter told her today was going to be a casual date.

"For the first part of our date we are going to go look at a few of the houses we narrowed our choices down to. I called Patty and told her the three we were most excited to see."

"I love it. What time are we meeting her, and which one first. And if we find one we really like maybe we can take Ralph by to see it tomorrow. Walter I am so excited to do this, are you?" Paige squealed she was so excited.

"Paige you are so beautiful. I love your smile when you look happy. We are meeting her at 11:00 in front of the house on Truman. And yes, I am excited to see what it looks like. This was our third favorite house, I figured we would start with this one and then see the one on Oak and then the one we liked the most on Winchester."

"Thank you Walter. Today could be such an amazing day. This was a great idea for a date."

"I hope so too. And I'm glad you approve of the date idea, and if you're lucky there might be a second part to the date." Walter told her as he was pressing send on a message he needed to get out before they left for the first house. "I'll let her know we are on our way."

The first house wound up being a showstopper. They loved everything about it. The layout, the size and the patio. Oh, and the big yard. The only thing that bothered them was the proximity to a few of the not so nice establishments that were less than two blocks away.

They drove to the second house and loved the location it was in. And it was a nice house, but they liked the first one so much more. They wished they could swap the location of the houses.

As they were pulling up in front of the last house, Patty met them as they were exiting their car.

"Before we go in the house, I want to show you guys one other listing that is just coming on the market. It's a little bigger house and a little over your budget, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I don't think it is going to last long. It's priced at 4.75 million dollars, but it was appraised for well over 6 million dollars, almost 6.75 million dollars actually. The sellers are needing to do a quick sale due to a job opportunity overseas. I just wanted to at least let you see the listing."

"Oh wow, Walter it looks beautiful. Is it nearby?" Paige asked.

"Yes, it is. It's in one of the nicer neighborhoods in the area. As you can see, it has a few neighborhood pools and a bunch of walking trails. Lots of other amenities as well. There is a neighborhood association fee, but it is on the lower end, compared to some of the other neighborhoods that have pools. It's only 2000 dollars a year. If me and my husband could afford it, I would be jumping on it myself." Patty told them.

"Do you want to see it Paige?" Walter asked Paige.

"Could we?" Paige asked with another one of those smiles spreading across her face.

"Well let's look at this one first, this was the one you guys liked the best, so let's take a look at it and then we can run over to the other one. You guys will be the first ones to see the other house, I promise." Patty assured them.

They looked through the house and really did love it. It checked off all their boxes and was in a great neighborhood. One of Ralph's good friends actually lived a few blocks away. But neither one of them could get the other house they just looked at out of their heads.

"Walter, I really like this house, but I can't stop thinking about that other one, is that bad?" Paige asked him.

"Paige, I was thinking the same thing." Walter told her.

"You okay with at least seeing it?" She asked him scrunching her face.

"I am usually not good at being impulsive, I think we can both attest to that, but if we see it and love it, I think we maybe should make an offer on it."

"I'm actually in agreement on everything you just said. I know we talked about involving Ralph, but I think he would be okay with it if we both are in agreement."

"What do you guys think?" Patty asked them.

"We love it, but we can't stop thinking about the one you just showed us, you really think we could go see it right now?" Paige asked her.

"Of course, just follow me. You are going to fall in love with it." Patty told them with a smile.

They followed Patty into the neighborhood and could instantly see how much nicer the houses were.

"Walter, oh my gosh, these houses are so pretty. Every house looks amazing. Can you even believe this?"

"Here it is. Patty just pulled into the driveway." Walter told her as they first saw the house.

"Oh, Walter, wow. It's so nice. It's huge." Paige said with a bright smile.

Patty walked them up to the front door of the big 3700 square foot two story home. It had a big oversize three car garage with a separate workspace in the back. Views of the serene lake out the back windows and a giant deck that ran across most of the second story as well as a smaller patio off the kitchen that also faced the lake.

"My husband told me how nice you two were to him and how you two stayed behind to make sure everyone stayed safe. He told me to find you guys something special and I have never had a house this nice come through my listings and I had to make sure you guys got a chance to see it." Patty told her with glossy eyes. "I think you guys were supposed to get to see this house first before anyone else. So look around and tell me what you think."

Walter and Paige spent thirty minutes looking over the house. There was a huge bonus room upstairs, perfect for gaming and sleepovers. Four dedicated bedrooms, five bathrooms and a big office. The kitchen was huge and stunning, and the views were amazing. There wasn't a single thing either one of them didn't like. But when Paige saw the house address was 197 Lavender Lane, she knew it was meant to be.

"Walter, I think we need to buy the house. Did you see the street address?" Paige asked him pointing at the address.

"Huh. You don't think everyone is gonna make fun of us for living at 197 Lavender, do you?"

"Do you care, it's beautiful." Paige told him.

"Stunning. The house isn't too bad either." He told her with a kiss.

"So, what do you guys think?" Patty asked as she approached them.

"We'll take it." They both said in unison.

"Oh yeah, let me get a contract drawn up for you, I would recommend not to try to offer less than asking price, if you love it, don't miss out on it over a couple thousand dollars. And with it being an all cash sale, the seller should accept your offer right away if it's strong."

"I say we offer a little over asking price then, all cash. I think we offer 4.85 million. That should be an agreeable offer." Walter told her and Paige agreed.

"Let me get in contact with their realtor right now." I think that is a perfect price. I don't know why they wouldn't accept it." Patty told them as she took out her phone and hit call.

There were a few anxious moments spent between Walter and Paige as they waited to see what was happening, and when Patty re-emerged with a big smile on her face, they were pretty sure it was going to be good news.

"I don't know what to say, other than congratulations, you just bought yourselves a house." Patty said with a huge grin. "We will have to go back to my office and fill out some paperwork, but those will all just be formalities. And in two weeks, after closing, you guys will be the proud owners of this beautiful house."

Paige jumped into Walter's arms and let out a big shriek as she kissed him on the lips and had one of those smiles on her face that he melted over. Neither one of them could believe how quickly the whole thing happened. But the one thing they had come to learn over the years, was when they worked together on something and they both wanted the same end result, the two of them were pretty much unstoppable.

"Oh my gosh Walter, what did we just do? Did we really just buy this house? What do you think Ralph is going to say when we tell him, I mean he doesn't even know we were thinking of getting a house." Paige rambled to Walter when they got back in the car. "I'm gonna call him and see where he is, he was spending the day with Tommy at the waterpark, but I just want to check in with him. Can we bring him back over to look at it tonight?"

Walter smiled and took Paige's hand. She was so excited and happy, and Walter loved her even more when he got to see her truly happy. He just kept smiling at her while she was waiting for Ralph to answer, and if it was possible, he thought she looked even more beautiful at that moment.

"He didn't answer, I'll just leave him a quick voicemail. Hey sweetie, I was just checking in with you. Me and your dad had something we wanted to show you tonight, call me when you get a chance. Have fun but be safe. Put on some sunscreen okay. We love you." Paige pressed end and looked back to Walter who was smiling at her while he was driving. "What's that smile for?"

"Just seeing you happy like this. It makes me smile." Walter told her while holding on to her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

"I am happy." She said with a big smile. "I still can't believe we just bought a house."

After they got back to Patty's office, they filled out the official contract that needed to be sent to the seller's agent and they also filled all the other paperwork out they had to. Walter and Paige told her they would have the funds transferred over to the account when the time was needed. They also thanked her for allowing them the chance to see the house first.

"Since we are out this way, I know a little place to go eat at, if you want to grab a quick bite for a late lunch." Walter told her.

"Sure, I would love to grab a bite, I wish Ralph would have responded to me. Maybe I should have you call him, he would probably answer the call on the first ring." Paige told him with a smirk.

"I'm sure he is just having a fun time at the water park with his friends. He will call you when he gets a chance."

"OK. If you think so. Where are you taking me? I'm hungry." Paige told him not paying attention to where they had been driving.

"There's a little diner over here I've been to a couple of times, although the service isn't as good as it used to be." He told her with a smile.

"Good servers are hard to find, so don't be too hard on them, okay." Paige told Walter.

"I've always had a soft spot for waitresses." He told her with a smile.

"Puh-lease. Wait, are you taking me to Nemos? Walter O'Brien!" Paige said with a big smile, "I haven't been here in years, oh my gosh. You have been on top of this date thing today. I'm very impressed."

"Welcome to Nemos, find a sea… Paige is that you?" Nemos asked her after not even looking up at first when they walked in.

"Hey Nemos, how have you been?" Paige said going up and hugging her former boss.

"You know, some days are good, some days are still real shitty. Come sit down."

"Thanks, do you remember Walter? He was the guy who fixed our Wi-Fi that day Homeland took over the diner." Paige asked while she was holding on to Walter's hand.

"Yeah, I mean I remember him being here, he also stole you away from here. You were still the best waitress I ever had. You interested in coming back, I could use some good help." Nemos told her.

"Thanks, but I actually love my job I have now. I don't have any intention of ever leaving." She told him as she squeezed Walter's hand.

They sat down at a booth and Paige looked around at the familiar setting bringing back memories of when they first met and a time in her life when she wasn't able to relate to her son.

"So, what's good to eat here?" Walter asked her.

"You told me in the car you had been here a couple of times, so you tell me mister." She told him trying to play along with what he told her in the car.

"I have been here twice, like I said. Once to fix the Wi-Fi and the second time all I got was a glass of water from the most stunning and beautiful person I had ever seen in my life. I had to leave before I ever got to try the food."

"Is that so. What else did you notice about this stunning person?" Paige asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Well, she was anemic, she loved her son, she was working a couple of jobs and had an ex she couldn't stand."

"Walter."

"I was kidding. But she did have a son who she adored, and I felt instantly drawn to him, almost as much as I did to her." Walter told her.

"Aaaww, that's so sweet. So um, what do you think ever happened to her, I mean them?" Paige asked Walter, so totally in love with him.

"You know, some days I think the same thing. How different my life would have been if I had told her what I thought about her and her son that night." Walter told her with a smile on his face.

"Oh, she invited you to her place that first night? Shame on you. Doesn't sound like someone you can trust to me." Paige told him still playing along.

"Well you see, she helped me and my team save a bunch of lives that day and I went to her apartment to offer her a job and a chance to understand her son better."

"That sounds exactly like something you would do, and you know it sounds kind of familiar now that I think about it." She told him with a matching smile to his.

Paige reached for his hand and wanted him to sit on the same side of the booth with her, which he gladly did. They took some time eating their food after it arrived.

"I wouldn't change a thing, you know." Walter told her, now being more serious. "From the day I first met you until right now. All the bumps and bruises. The missed chances. Me being such an idiot. I wouldn't change any of it."

"Me either, you idiot. I wish I hadn't caused you so much misery with some of the decisions I made along the way, but I'm so so so happy right now and the life we are creating. Hey, and in case I've never told you this before, thank you for everything you have done for me and our boy."

Nemos came over to check on them after they finished their meals and asked them if they wanted some dessert. Paige kindly declined but Walter told him he would like to have one of the warm chocolate chip cookies.

"Do you remember the first thing you ever baked for me?" Walter asked her as he held her hand.

"Of course I remember that. I baked you a special batch of my chocolate chip cookies." Paige smiled at him.

"It was a plate of chocolate chip cookies. You thanked me for helping you with a problem you were having, and you told me it was your way of saying thanks." Walter told her as she leaned into him for another hug. "No one had ever baked me anything before. They were really good."

"One Chocolate Chip to table 7." Nemos yelled back to the kitchen.