A/N: A bit of a shorter chapter, but it's my bridge to the next segment. I'm enjoying toying with this will-they-wont-they dynamic, but I was also rewatching S1-S3 and Walter and Paige's ability to BOTH get in their own way, and talk themselves out of being together is truly uncanny, and equally frustrating, and I wanted to add a bit of that. They are in such dumb love with each other, they have no idea how to process it, and it makes me feel so much for this weird couple.

@LouBe96, I actually went back and added the blanket into the last chapter because of your comment. It had me giggling like crazy reading it! Great catch!

I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! Again, I Have no experience with rich and powerful people, so if any of this seems far fetched, just know I watch entirely too much television.

Anyway! Onwards!

Xoxo

--

He needed to find her. Embrace her. Kiss her senseless. Remind her that what these people thought of her, of him, of them, didn't matter, because he wouldn't be scared off by some elitist old, spiteful woman in a tailored pants suit. He was Walter O'Brien, and it would take a lot more than her to change his mind on anything. Hell, even Paige struggled to change his mind on things.

And she was Paige Dineen, and she was far superior to the ignorant minds of the Thompson family.

But how to do so without telling her. How to act perfectly normal, when everything was so imperfectly abnormal.

He had meant his words to Betty, Paige was worth the risk to Scorpion. But knowing that didn't completely erase the pit forming in his gut at her threat. Toby would have been equipped to tell him if she had been bluffing, but, in his absence, he only had his own very unequipped intuition to rely upon, and well, he didn't think she was bluffing.

Betty would destroy Scorpion, just to hurt Paige.

But… why?

Why would anyone, least of all her grandmother, want to hurt Paige so deeply?

And why come after Scorpion? He would stand by his word, if Betty stood by hers, but there had to be a reason, something he wasn't seeing. It made no logical sense. These people barely saw Paige, didn't even know of him or Scorpion prior to a week ago. Though, Paige did say she had told them about Scorpion, though they had denied that.

What would he do without Scorpion if she followed through?

What would he do if he lost Scorpion and Paige?

He would have nothing.

It wasn't as if they were in an actual relationship. He could lose Scorpion for nothing. For a ruse. Everything he had worked for, built. Just… gone. And then still not have a relationship with Paige.

Had he just given up everything?

He was going to be sick.

He needed to make a call.

Protect Scorpion.

Protect a possible future with Paige.

--

She had rushed from the building, an overwhelming feeling of betrayal, hurt, abandonment, and fear coursing through her every being. She had brought Walter into this mess. She knew how vindictive they could be, but even she couldn't have seen this coming. Never in her life of being on the receiving end of their abuse had she encountered such a hateful ploy. Not even Veronica herself would stoop to such low depths in attaining her goal. This was a low blow, and hit her everywhere it hurt the most.

Her only remaining family, despite her struggles with them, were still her only remaining family. She loved them, cared for them, wished only the best for them despite their atrocious behavior. But, this. This was a whole new level of heinousness that she simply could not even conceive of as a possibility, could not cope with.

She would lose Walter before she even officially had him. He had made it clear to her that Scorpion was not worth the risk for love before, he would protect his company, his home. The home of the others. Greater good. Scorpion saved thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives, closing it down for a relationship that wasn't even real would be preposterous. It would go against everything Walter believed in, stood for, and lived by. But she would lose him. Forever.

She would then lose Scorpion. There would be no way to continue to work for Scorpion, even if Walter allowed her employment to continue, it would be far too painful to face him every day, knowing what her family had done to him, knowing how close she came to having everything with him, knowing her grandmother would certainly be keeping tabs on them. Spend a lifetime side by side with the man she loved, within reach, but completely out of reach. It was far too painful, too much to cope with. She would have to leave.

Ralph would resent her, not understand, perhaps even resent Walter. It would cause a fracture between all of them. If she told him the truth, he would hate her family more than he already does, and he would probably do something rash and stupid in retaliation, get himself into trouble.

This was it. The end of every good and wonderful thing in her life.

She wouldn't fault Walter for his decision. If it weren't for her whipping his name out like the fumbling buffoon she was, he wouldn't have even been here. They wouldn't have had anything to use against him. Had she been able to just face her grandmother without feeling like an invalid, he wouldn't have placed that perfect, impromptu kiss to her cheek, and played the role of boyfriend, and her grandmother wouldn't have to threaten him to end a relationship with her.

Try as she may, she couldn't see a way out of this one.

Perhaps she could tell Nana the truth, that it was all a ruse, but she would question it, especially with the immensely convincing job they had both been doing to appear otherwise. And she weren't a fool. There was real love there, and especially this weekend, it was obvious. Even she felt it herself. Her grandmother wouldn't be fooled. Even if she could somehow convince her it was all a lie, that would only serve to guarantee two things. The first, that she was in fact a con woman like her mother, and everything they said about her was right. That what they were warning Walter of, was right. And second, that she would never be able to begin a real relationship with Walter, because her grandmother would learn of it, and carry through with her threat. She would keep tabs on them, she had no doubt. There was no winning this one.

She would lose Walter. That was the ultimate guarantee.

"Hey there. It's Paige, isn't it? You alright sweetheart?" Paige looked up from her spot, leaning on her forearms on the wooden fence, absent-mindedly staring off at the spot she and Walter had shared just an hour prior. The voice broke her from her angst and she looked up, feigning a smile.

"Oh, yeah. I'm… fine."

"I know that look. Family trouble or boy trouble? If I'm not mistaken, that boy of yours seemed quite the catch. Y'all looked awfully sweet on each other this morning watching that sun rise." Paige smiled, a solemn, longing smile, that held so much pain, but also so much love.

"It's Claire, right?" The woman, still adorned in her jeans, muddy boots and flannel, leaNed Her back against the fence rail, giving Paige a warm smile, the kind that made you feel instantly comfortable in her presence, like you may be meeting for the first time, but your souls connected on another plane long ago. Something about her was comforting, safe. Her light, shoulder length hair, starting to gray, shone softly in the early morning sun, and her dark eyes - the color of which matched Walter's - had an air of experience and wisdom. Paige figured her for maybe her mid-50s, but well cared for. Her skin was naturally tanned, from years on the fields she'd assume, her hands calloused, with dirt around her nail beds, and wrinkles surrounding her mouth and eyes, but ones that spoke silently to years of laughter and a life well lived, not old age. This woman, from her brief chance meeting this morning, suddenly felt like her only friend.

"That's me. Claire Luchessi." The woman extended her hand for Paige, and with an inquisitive brow, Paige shook it, while speaking.

"Luchessi, as in…" Her eyes scanned the fields surrounding them in question.

"The vineyard? Yup. One and the same. My husband, Leonard and I, own all of this."

Paige noted the wistful, adoring grin that ever so quickly flashed on Claire's face. She was proud.

"Wow. I didn't realize. It's beautiful here."

"It sure is. Which is why I don't like seeing sad faces here. It's not great for the scenery, nor for business. If you look sad, people will think it's terrible here. I much prefer the lovey dovey dopey smiles you and that fella, Mr Tall Dark and Handsome, were exchanging while you were messing with my water disbursement." Paige could tell she was being lighthearted in her banter, and inwardly thanked her for it, needing reprieve from anymore criticism. "So, which is it? Family or that boy who can't keep his eyes off ya?"

"Walter… the uh, boy. His name is Walter." Paige chuckled as a stranger, who had seen them for only a few minutes, being astute enough to see such affection from Walter. It both earned her heart, and shattered it, knowing their private moments held so much love and adoration that a stranger was able to identify it. "I guess it's sort of both? I don't even know. My family is…" She paused, unsure how to even describe them.

"Insufferable?" Paige looked up, shocked that Claire would speak of them in such a way.

"Well, yes. I was going to say complicated, but yes, yours works."

"I've been doing this a long time. Leonard and I have plenty of staff, but we like being hands on around here, so we see a lot more. Learn fast now about our guests. This place is our baby, y'know? So, we don't take kindly to when people treat it unkindly. And well, you learn quickly the good eggs and the bad ones. Leonard had you two pegged as good ones as soon as you walked in the door. The rest of them, not so much."

"Yeah… they're difficult people."

"So, what did they do? Cut you out of the inheritance or something?"

"Ha. No. I don't think I was ever even in it."

"Oh, a black sheep. I see…"

"Something like that."

"So, what's got you so bothered that your burning holes in my field with your sad eyes?"

"I shouldn't say anything. And please don't say anything to Walter. I overheard a conversation between my grandmother--"

"She the one that looks like the evil stepmother from Cinderella, but in modern day political rally suits?"

Paige laughed.

"Yep. That's the one."

"She's a bit scary. Alright, continue."

"Indeed she is. Well, I overheard a conversation between she and Walter. She isn't a big fan of mine, but for a reason even I don't understand, is forcing him to choose between me or his company. His company that means absolutely everything to him. And she will follow through on her threat."

"Wow. Granny is a bitch." Paige quirked an eyebrow in her direction, amused. "Sorry, got a horrible mouth, it's why I stay in the field and Leonard handles the people. I'm not so good with social situations."

"No, don't apologize. You're right. She is."

"So what are you going to do?"

"There's nothing I can do. Every scenario I play out ends the same, I lose Walter. I lose everything." A silent tear slipped down her cheek as she spoke, the raw unadulterated pain bubbling up into her chest.

"Well that's the dumbest crock of shit I've ever heard."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Tell me Paige, do you love this boy? Walter? And I mean, really love him?"

She didn't hesitate. Didn't even blink.

"With my whole heart."

"Then who says y'all only got two options? You gonna let that old hag tell you how to live your life? To hell with her. You need to find option number three, where you get to have your love, your business, and you get to find a way to kindly tell the evil spinster just where she can shove her damn threats."

"That sounds great in theory, but I don't think there is one, Claire." She suddenly felt so tired.

"Sure there is. There always is. I know from experience my dear. If you want the next 25 years of your life to be spent watching the sunrise with that boy, you have to fight for it. These things don't just fall in your lap. It takes work. Real work, and bravery, and a willingness to tell people off to protect your relationship. But you do that, and you get that boy who you love so much, that you stopped to dance with him instead of run for shelter from the sprinklers. If that ain't worth fighting for then I don't know what is."

Paige mulled it over for a few moments, digesting her words, absorbing her meaning.

"You're right. If I want this I have to be brave enough to fight for it." She flung her head around searching the grounds. "I've gotta go. Thank you, for everything!" She hastily told Claire, taking her hands in a measure of gratitude.

She needed to find Walter.

She would not go down without a fight.