Part 7 – The Morning After
It was morning before he knew it, and he was about to be in a situation he had never been in before. One he didn't know if in his life he would ever be in. Spending the night at someone else's apartment. What was protocol? Should he help out with breakfast? Pretend to still be asleep? Just stay seated on the couch? Kiss her? Hug her? Excuse himself and find a ride home? Talk to Ralph? Not talk to Ralph? Before he knew what was going to happen; Paige made it simple for him.
"Hey Ralph, look who is here to help me get you to school this morning." Paige said.
"Hey, Walter." Ralph said while he made his way to the living room after getting out of bed.
"You think we can talk to Ralph's principal today about getting him tested and placed in the gifted class?" Walter asked. Not wanting another day to go by with Ralph getting treated poorly at school.
"Oh wow, I guess. If you go with us and help me know what to say and what questions to ask, sure." Paige told him.
"It would be my pleasure. What do you think Ralph, does that sound good to you?" Walter asked.
"I would like that. Maybe there would be something in there for me to do." Ralph told him.
And like that, Tuesday started off just as well as Monday night ended. They both sat down with Ralph at the table while he ate some breakfast. Walter accompanied them to school, sat in with Paige on a meeting with the counselor and the principal and helped them to see the mistakes they had been making with Ralph. She couldn't believe how much Walter was fighting for Ralph. He was a little abrasive at times, and more so at others, but luckily Paige was able to step in and take over at those moments. Seeing how well she was able to step in and talk when he was starting to get a little out of control got him to thinking. Walter started to formulate a plan.
"Walter, thank you for helping me back there. You really fought hard for Ralph. I do think you came on a little strong though."
"I'm sorry. Not about fighting for Ralph though. I told you I was going to help you and him and I am going to keep my word on that. But I do have trouble relating to most people. I tend to rub many people the wrong way or say the wrong things; quite often actually."
"It's nothing to worry about, just something to maybe work on. Maybe something I can help you with! So where is home, Walter O'Brien, I'm sure you are ready to get away from me for a while before you have to get back to work."
"Quite the opposite actually, I was hoping to spend as much of the day with you that I can. After the case we had yesterday, I gave the team the next couple of days off. So, I have nowhere to be until Thursday." Walter told her while taking in her comment on her helping him.
"That's funny. Neither do I. I was supposed to be in cold and wet Portland the next couple of days." Paige told him while giving him a playful nudge with her elbow to his arm while showcasing a smile that Walter found irresistible.
"Would you allow me to take you to breakfast this morning?" Walter asked her.
"No, but I would like to take you to breakfast. As a thank you for everything you did for me yesterday and this morning at Ralph's school." Paige said and flashed him that smile again.
"I guess I can allow that on one condition." Walter told her with thoughts of her running all through his mind.
"And what condition is that?" Paige said still smiling at him.
"Then, I take you out for dinner tonight. With Ralph of course." Walter told her politely.
"I don't know, dinner two nights in a row, you sure you're up for it?" Paige said kidding.
"Of course I'm up for it. I would be thrilled to eat with both of you again tonight." He told her.
Breakfast was quite enjoyable for them both. And somehow Walter was able to confiscate the check and pay for the meal again. Paige didn't seem to mind. She thought it was sweet of him to pay for the meal again. They continued to talk. Conversation had never been easy for Walter, but with Paige it felt so natural. Everything did. They walked around after they ate, even held hands from time to time. Walter sometimes didn't even realize when he would grab her hand or she his. His aversion to touch with her was nonexistent.
"I don't think I ever told you how beautiful you were." Walter said to her out of the blue.
Paige blushed, not knowing what to say or do.
"Um, thank you Walter, but what made you say that?" Paige said through another beautiful smile.
"I just felt like I needed to tell you for some reason. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I never could get my words out. I still struggle with my thoughts, and I often don't know what should be said out loud or kept to myself. I felt like that should be said out loud, was that ok to say?"
"Yes, it was. It was a very nice compliment. A girl never gets tired of hearing something like that. Thank you." She said with a brilliant smile that let him know he said the right thing.
Walter told her more about his struggles with EQ. How many geniuses struggle with it. Just the way their brain works. Again trying to help her understand what Ralph goes through. The entire time he had been with her he never talked about his IQ.
"Would you like to see where I work now? It's not much though." Walter asked her after they finished eating.
"I would like that, you've seen where I work, and where I live, so it's only fair I at least get to see where you work. Since you still haven't told me where you live." Paige told him with a wink.
"I um actually live and work in the same place. It seemed to be efficient!" Walter told her hoping she caught the word that Ralph also used yesterday.
He brought her to the garage where Scorpion was located, like he said, it wasn't much. He showed her the work areas they each had and told her a little about each of the people that worked with him. He pointed upstairs to the loft and told her he lived in the area up there. She asked if it would be okay to see it so he brought her upstairs and showed her around. Paige left about an hour later after they sat around in the loft and talked some more. Before she left, she told him she looked forward to seeing him for dinner. They shared a brief kiss before she left as well. Walter was still working on a plan that he was hoping would soon change everything.
Dinner went well. Great might be a better word to describe it. Ralph seemed to be very comfortable again in public with Walter around. Paige had worried about how he would be tonight. Hoping all the stimulation from yesterday wouldn't have a negative effect on him tonight. But she was glad to see how easy everything was with Ralph when he was around Walter. He was still shy with everyone else, but she saw that Walter was the same way too.
In fact, when they were ordering their food, the waitress trying to be overly nice, touched Walter's hand while he was looking at the menu and he instantly pulled away from her. And then when she touched his shoulder to apologize, he did the same thing. The waitress left after Paige told her they needed a little more time to make a selection.
"Hey, you ok?" She asked Walter.
"Me? Um yes. Why do you ask?"
"You kind of over-reacted to the waitress being a little flirty with you. She was hoping to get on your good side for a bigger tip." Paige told him.
"Flirty? I don't really um care for physical contact with um people."
Paige knew he had told her that yesterday when she first met him, but she didn't realize how severe it was. He seemed not to struggle with it at all any more when it came to her.
"Other than with you, that is." Walter said low enough for only her to hear. Paige smiled at him.
They talked throughout their meal and enjoyed themselves.
"Was school any better today buddy?" Walter asked Ralph.
This time Paige didn't even try to answer for him like the other day. She thought it was cute that Walter called him buddy. She liked it.
"After you guys left they gave me a test to take for the gifted class." Ralph told him.
"Was it really hard sweetie? Maybe we shouldn't have pushed to take it so quickly?" Paige asked.
"No. I got them all right. They were all easy questions. So they gave me a high school level one next." Ralph told them.
"What? They can't expect you to take a high school test, you're only 9." Paige started to say.
Walter started asking him if certain types of questions were on the exam and Ralph nodded.
"How would you know what questions were on the test?" Paige asked Walter.
"I don't know the exact questions just the topics that would probably be covered, they had me take the same test when I was about Ralph's age back in Ireland."
"And how did you do on it?" She asked.
"It was easy." Walter and Ralph told her in unison causing them to smile at each other.
"Easy, so what was next a college level test?" Paige asked sarcastically.
"Yes." They both answered in unison again.
"I think the principal is going to call you with some questions. But they let me go to a different class today with a nicer teacher who showed us some cool stuff. The room had some computers in there too." Ralph said which got Walter's attention.
"Good." Walter said nodding his head. "We will make sure you get the best teachers available. Do you like computers pal?"
"Well I haven't really gotten to work with them because mom uses the one at home and before at school my class was never allowed to use them. But they look pretty cool."
"Huh, we will have to fix that. I would love to show you all about them. Do you think that sounds good?" Walter asked while ruffling his hair.
"Yeah, I would like that. Thank you." Ralph said politely.
Paige looked at Walter and had to smile. There was just something about him she thought.
They took separate cars to dinner, so when the meal was finished, Walter walked them back to their car. After Ralph got in the car, he gave Paige a kiss goodnight and thanked her for the nice day they spent together. He told her he hoped to contact her tomorrow at some point, to which she smiled and told him she would look forward to it.
A/N three chapters left after this one. Let me know if the story should continue onto the next episodes or just leave it as is. Thanks and hope you have enjoyed it so far.