"It's such a nice day out for a hike. Thanks for inviting me along. I've lived here for years and didn't even know this place existed."

It was a perfect spring day, warm but not too hot, a soft breeze in the air, clear skies with the kind of fluffy clouds you could easily form shapes and figures with, and, though she had been surprised by the impromptu invitation, her company was just as lovely and welcomed as the weather.

"Well, the Griffith Observatory is just up that trail there. It's a great star gazing site, or at least as great as it can be this close to the city's light pollution. Perhaps later, when it's dark, if you're up for it, I could show you?"

"That sounds wonderful, Walter."

He had been very eager, but also very nervous, to ask her to come with him hiking. This place was always so peaceful and serene to him, a great contrast to their daily grind in Scorpion which was all stress and crisis. Coming here had become a habit to finding a balance of sorts. He had intended to come here today alone, but when he had awoken from yet another dream of her that he was unable to shake, his impulsiveness had taken hold of him before his rational mind had been able to stop him, pressing her number in his phone, and smiling when her sleepy voice had come over the line.

"Hello? Walter? Is everything okay? Do we have a case? I can be there soon..." Her somnolent voice sprung instant guilt to him, realizing how early it was.

4:47am.

Idiot.

He could practically see her fighting to open her eyes, could hear her yawn, could picture her stretching, and squinting to see the time on her clock.

"Oh, uh, no. No case, everything is fine." Her ears piqued. No case meant he was calling her before 5am on a Saturday morning for a... personal reason. "I'm sorry to have woken you at this hour. I realize now the time, and I shouldn't have called so early. And you said Ralph was having a campout last night too, I shouldn't have woken you, you need your sleep... I'm so sorry, Paige." He was rushing to end the call.

"No, no don't be silly, Walter, it's okay. You can call me anytime. I am usually up by 6 or so anyway. Don't worry about it." She was very curious now. Sleep be damned. Though, she may have fibbed a bit. Sure she was up by 6am during the work week, but on weekends, she would sleep the morning away. "Please, tell me what's on your mind. I'm awake now anyway, might as well tell me."

"I suppose that is... logical. I uh, just wanted to inquire...well, um, see that is, if you, uh, possibly, maybe would..." His rational brain was catching up to his sleepy, impulsive one and he became helplessly nervous to the reality of asking her. He could hear her breathing on the other end of the call and he half hoped she had fallen back to sleep. "Well, I... it's just, that... I was going to go for a hike today at the Fern Dell Nature Trail, and I wondered if, perhaps, maybe, if you don't already have plans of course, if maybe you might want to... join me... for a hike... at the Fern Dell Nature Trail... with me... if you're not otherwise engaged..." He continued to repeat details, nervous and immensely uncomfortable as the thought of Paige lying in her bed came to the forefront of his mind.

She had to bite back a laugh at his rambling invitation. She was shocked he was asking her, and would analyze that later, but for now, she was utterly enraptured by Walter, calling her at this ungodly hour on a Saturday morning to invite her to go hiking of all things. What had made him call? What had made him want her to go with him? Why was it so urgent he called at 4:47am? He was a mystery she would likely never understand.

"Oh, um, hiking. Uh, sure, yeah, okay. Ralph won't be home until tomorrow from his camping trip, and that does sound far more enjoyable than dusting my condo. Yes Walter, I would love to join you." She was pathetic. Her son was to be gone all weekend and her big plans of glamor and excitement had been to deep clean her condo and watch reruns of the X-Files.

She smiled hearing him release a breath and imagined he was far more nervous than she had even realized.

Was this a... date?

For his part, he wiped his hands on his pajama pant legs, feeling how sweaty they were with nerves and anticipation. He hadn't prepared for her to say yes. The outcomes had been carefully calculated, and his most likely - by a landslide - result was that she would claim to have other plans, a mindfully thought out cover story for she didn't want to, to be polite and spare his feelings. Followed closely by a harsher not in a million years approach. Then came faking a bad connection and hanging up. But no where had he considered her actually saying yes.

"Okay, uh, well, that's uh, that's, that's great. Okay then. Great." Crap. He didn't know what to do now. Right. He was taking her hiking. Taking her. Oh! "Right then, so I'll pick you up around nine so you can sleep a bit more?" His voice held so much excitement and all she could relate it to was when she gave permission to Ralph to do experiments with Walter, or stay late at the garage to work on whatever cool project they had going on. Nerds. They were such a unique bunch.

"That sounds great, Walter. Thanks for thinking of me."

"I always think of you." And before she could process what she had heard, the line ended. She laid, stunned, on her pillow just staring at her phone.

"What the..." Walter O'Brien always finding a way to render her completely speechless.

On his end, he, too, stared at the small glowing rectangle in his hand, questioning if he had just said that aloud. He definitely needed more sleep, this was bound to be an interesting day.

He had to admit that he had failed to think through several aspects of this day trip with Paige. The first being that, while they had been getting closer lately, very close in fact, that he forgot just how nervous he was around her when it was just the two of them. The second, which was definitely a major contributer to the first, was that he was not prepared for her to be dressed like ...that. Skin tight teal athletic capri style pants that rested high on her waist, coverimg her naval, a matching, but still revealing, sports bra, and an equally tight spandex jacket, which, after about 15 minutes of walking in the early California sun, had come off to be tied around her waist. Her hair pulled up in a high ponytail with her sunglasses covering her eyes. When he had arrived at her door step he had barely managed to stutter out a hello, and nearly dropped the coffee he had picked up, he had been caught so off guard. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but he had been entirely unprepared for this scenario. Now, he was thankful for his own sunglasses, helping to conceal his very overt ogling of her body. The way he could observe every curve, every muscle, could see the faint lines of her ribs, the full view of her neck. Not at all prepared.

Extending his hand to her to help her scale a rocky pass, he smiled at the contact. Hiking had been proving an excellent opportunity to have justified reasons to touch her and have her touch him. which baffled him since the act of touch was usually such an uncomfortable experience for him.

She laughed as she slipped on the edge of small climb, having Walter catch her, his hands wrapped around her back.

He loved hearing her laugh.

"Sorry, and thank you. That last step is a doozy." Her smile had been nearly permanent since he had picked her up, and despite his nerves, he was pleased that their conversations had been seemless and easy coming, and not at all awkward.

"You seem to be uh, enjoying yourself."

"Oh, yeah. I am. I'm really glad you asked me to join you. The views and everything about this place... it's so beautiful." She stopped, looking out over a revene, but he didn't notice that view. He was too lost in the view of her.

"Yes, yes it is." His mumbled distractedly. The response made her blush as she looked back to see that he was definitely not looking at the landscape.

She, like him, was thankful for her own sunglasses hiding her eyes from staring at him. She had never seen Walter wear shorts, and only rarely did she see him wear a t-shirt. He was always very put together, even when he was going for a casual look. He looked different today, relaxed, easy going, free of the Scorpion burden and complexities of his mind. She was drawn to his physique with the way his attire showcased it. Walter never focused on athletics or physical strength, often selling himself short, but he had saved her life enough times to know he was just as strong physically as he was academically, and seeing him in this light gave her a view of that strength first hand. She enjoyed how the muscles in his upper back tensed and relaxed under his tighter than usual t-shirt and how she could see his biceps flex.

She needed to stay focused and not get carried away with fantasies of what she'd like to do to him if they found a secluded trail.

She shook her head to clear the thought.

"So, uh, do you come here a lot? I don't think I knew you enjoyed hiking." She glanced a look at him as they kept walking the steep trail side by side.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Well, hiking is a great means of physical exercise. It helps with heart and respiratory health, builds stronger muscles and bones, and even improves one's balance. A study done by Stanford University actually showed that hiking reduces stress, calms anxiety, and reduces the risk of depression. Plus, being outdoors in nature can have a great improvement on a person's sensory perception."

Such a Walter response. She smirked, bumping his shoulder with hers playfully.

"So, you enjoy it."

He laughed.

"Yes, yes I suppose one could infer that I enjoy it." She smiled at him and the way the sun was hitting her face was making him feel warm inside. He always loved it here in an analytical sense, it was the right place for the job, and he did find it peaceful and relaxing, but having her with him made it serene. "I love coming here. I find it peaceful and quiet. Being here allows me to think without distraction."

That stopped her mid stride.

"So, if you wanted undisturbed thought and peacefulness, why invite me then?" She didn't know what she expected to get from her question, figured he'd make a Walter comment and she'd be left to wonder for eternity what he really thought.

"Oh. That's easy. You bring me peace." He said it so nonchalantly, like it was the simplest and most obvious concept in the world, just saying it over his shoulder as he kept walking, leaving her stunned in place.

After the initial shock wore off, she grinned, that big earth shattering grin, and shook her head with a laugh, jogging to catch up. Walter had such a way with dropping those one liners that had her question reality. Finding him at the top of another steep rocky climb, reaching out his hand to assist her up as he had been all morning. She grabbed it, red cheeked and jubilant, climbing up the rocky way. Only, when she reached the top, she didn't release his hand, instead she laced her fingers in his, gracing him with a smile and a shrug.

"Yeah. It is pretty peaceful here."

He looked down at their intertwined hands, and back to her face, matching her grin, and with a light nod of approval, moved to continue on the trail, and overwhelming feeling of peace and joy enveloping him.

"I'm finding new reasons to appreciate its beauty by the second." He tightened his grasp on her hand as he spoke, making her smile his way.

"You mentioned star gazing here later?" Walter nodded at her. "Let's do it. I'd love to spend the night setting stars with you, Walter." She smirked at the way he stopped and nearly ripped at her double meaning.

Yeah, this place was beautiful.

Very, very beautiful.