A/N: Hoping to get Ch 5 up tonight as well. Fingers crossed. But this chapter and the next will run together a bit.
xoxo
The team gathered around the wooden table in the center of the garage, the glow of the monitor tree giving a blue hue to the table's surface, each member hunched over laptops and case files, diagrams, and calculations as they worked through the details of a new case. A complex security breach issue, for an illustrious banking firm, the kind that required every bit of Scorpion's expertise.
Happy sat at the end of the table, her arms crossed as she studied the schematic on her tablet, her ever unreadable expression painted just so to her face.
"So… let me get this straight…" She said, her voice sharp but focused. "We need to figure out where these guys are tapping into the system… before they can wipe out the accounts." Walter nodded.
"Is it possible that this is random attacks on these offshore accounts?" Cabe asked from behind his file folder, trying to keep up with the genius workings.
Sylvester looked up from his monitor, adjusting his glasses nervously.
"It's not just offshore accounts, it's all tied to data buried deep in their encryption. The patterns show that the breach is designed to pull very specific financial details. If we can identify the breach point, we can implement a countermeasure."
Walter, who had been typing furiously for the last few minutes, stopped to glance at Sylvester's screen, his expression focused.
Working was good. This case was a blessing, keeping his mind as occupied as possible whenever possible. And off of certain lavender scented women sitting entirely too close to him.
"Sly's right. Whoever's behind this knows what they're doing. The data retrieval is too precise to be random."
Cabe stood, stretching his legs, letting out a low chuckle.
"When you're dealing with millions of dollars, people start getting creative. No surprise they're looking for the best of the best to clean up their mess."
Toby leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head.
"So, what you're saying is… someone's getting filthy rich off this heist, and it's not us. Great. Seriously… Paige, come on, what's our cut on this? Sure the multi billion dollar professional money launderers could afford to tip their servers… get it? Servers?" Sly eyed him over his tablet, and Happy rolled her eyes, but other than that, he received no response. "Servers? Guys… come on. Cause we're the tech guys…"
"Yeah, I was a short term stand up comedian, and even I did not find that funny." Happy chided.
"Truly terrible. Awful." Sylvester deadpanned.
Paige was only half-listening. She was focused on her work, but her attention kept drifting far, far away… or, very very close, depending on how you thought about it, to Walter, sitting less than a foot away, directly beside her at the table, fighting for elbow space while also avoiding touching each other in any way, shape or form. Including elbows. She briefly thanked the God's above for making them both part of the 10% of the population, being lefties. This surely would have been worse if only one of them was. He hadn't looked at her once since the meeting started, hadn't acknowledged her in any way since their brief and awkward exchange earlier. The tension between them was so thick not even King Arthur wielding Excalibur itself could cut through it, and she hated it. She hated the silence between them, hated the fact that she couldn't focus on anything but the conversation they weren't having. It was the louder silence she'd ever experienced, and it was giving her a headache.
Tim, sitting to the other side of her at the edge of the table, was being as Tim like as ever, bringing a structure to the table, a sense of decorum. He looked over a few notes in front of him, his concentration unwavering, soaking in the case details, asking questions. Keeping to business, strategy, but his hand always seemed to find her back, or her knee under the table, giving loving and gentle caresses, just so she knew he was still there. That was Tim. He was reliable, solid, a constant in the midst of the uncertainty swirling inside her.
She needed that. Maybe it wasn't exciting, but it was what she needed. She needed solid footing.
Solid footing from the uncertainty storm inside her… and beside her in the form of one genius nerd.
Then Tim's phone buzzed on the table, breaking the quiet rhythm of the conversation, and breaking her from her thoughts. He glanced down at it briefly before standing up.
"Sorry, I need to take this…" He said, his voice apologetic as he looked at Paige. "It's about that thing we talked about…"
Paige nodded, her smile tight but understanding.
"No problem."
Tim gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before stepping away from the group, phone pressed to his ear as he moved toward the back of the garage for privacy. His voice faded as he disappeared out of earshot. But all she noticed was how Walter's eyes only for a split fraction of a second raised, looking toward her, at the minute gesture of Tim's hand on her shoulder, before he went right back to working.
She tensed, hating how she could see those micro moments of him letting down his guard.
The room grew a little quieter after Tim left, and Toby, ever observant, and ever so tactful, leaned forward from his place directly across Walter, his eyes flicking between Walter and Paige, the pen in his hand mirroring his motions.
"Soooo… anyone else notice the awkward tension between our fearless leader and the lovely Miss Dineen here?" Toby rested his chin playfully in his hand, his elbow resting on the table, a coy smirk on lips as he looked back and forth between them.
Walter's fingers, which had been drumming steadily against the screen of his tablet, stilled. His jaw tightened, but he kept his eyes on the tablet in front of him.
"There's no tension." He said flatly, his tone just a little too sharp.
Paige stiffened beside him, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"Everything's fine, Toby. We're just… focused on work."
Toby raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.
"Uh-huh. Suuuuure. If by work you mean you're both working extra hard at avoiding each other while sitting at the same table. Looking at each other, talking to each other, touching each other. You asked Cabe to pass you a pen, which was in front of Paige, Walt… I mean, if this were a new sport in the Olympics, you'd both be gold medalists. And we all know Walter sucks at athletics."
Happy glanced up briefly from her tablet, her eyes narrowing slightly looking between the two, but she didn't comment. She seemed content to let Toby handle the ribbing. Sylvester, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the middle of this conversation, and Cabe just shook his head while silently questioning if Toby could be right. They had been quiet around each other all morning, and Walter had looked none too pleased when Cabe had taken the seat across from Paige, leaving the only open seat for Walter for the meeting being directly next to her, and very squished together given all seven of them trying to fit around the table.
Walter finally looked up, his eyes landing briefly on Paige, though she was sure it was to prove a point and not actually to look at her, before flicking back to Toby.
"We're not avoiding each other. We're working. I'd suggest you do the same."
Toby smirked, his gaze shifting to Paige.
"Sure thing, boss. You know I'm just here to help."
Paige bit her lip, forcing herself to focus on the paperwork in front of her, and not make eye contact with Toby, knowing full well he'd be able to read her like a book. She could feel Walter's presence beside her, could feel the agitation coming off of him, could hear his heart breaking, even though neither of them was acknowledging it. She hated that Toby had called them out, hated that it was so obvious to everyone else, when they couldn't even understand it themselves.
But the truth was, they were avoiding each other. And no matter how hard she tried to act like nothing had changed, she couldn't shake the feeling that everything between them was on the verge of unraveling.
As Toby turned his attention back to the task at hand, Walter's voice broke the silence, sharper than before.
"We need to run a simulation of the breach. If we can isolate the exact entry points, we'll be able to implement a countermeasure before they access anything else."
He looked at Sylvester, then at Happy. His focus was on the job, but Paige could feel the underlying frustration at having been called out in his clipped tone.
Sylvester nodded, clearly relieved to be back on familiar ground and away from the mess of his friends' personal issues.
"I'll run the simulation and check the data."
Walter's eyes flicked back to Paige for the briefest of moments, but he didn't say anything. His fingers tightened around the tablet in his hands, the apprehension radiating off him even as he tried to maintain his usual detached, professional demeanor.
Paige swallowed hard, her chest tightening painfully as she glanced back down at her papers. Her mind raced, caught between the conflicting emotions inside her… guilt, confusion, frustration, longing. She knew Tim would be back from his call soon, as grounded and supportive as ever, and she would have to put on the same ridiculous mask she'd been wearing all morning.
Like it was Halloween.
But right now, with Walter sitting so close that their knees nearly touched, his feelings barely contained beneath the surface, she couldn't ignore the intense need to be closer, a feeling of being pulled to him, like an invisible string was tied around her and he was slowly pulling her to him. No matter how hard she tried to push those feelings away, to cut that strong, away, it was still there. And it wasn't going away.
Minutes passed into well over an hour, and the conversations around the table slowed as everyone continued working through their tasks. Happy, Toby, and Cabe were already growing restless, exchanging looks that suggested they were more interested in lunch than continuing to dissect the case, which was at a standstill until Sylvester completed the simulations. Paige remained glued to her seat, needing to finalize the contracts that had to be sent over.
Toby had been right, as she continued to sit beside Walter, she decided they definitely were not getting paid enough for this.
Sylvester, engrossed in running the simulations, barely looked up from his screen. Walter, focused but tense, worked through potential countermeasures, his eyes never straying far from his tablet, his body rigid and cautious in its placement. Paige glanced up every few minutes, her fingers brushing her hair back as she tried to focus on the contracts in front of her, but it was impossible not to feel Walter's presence beside her. The silence between them was agonizing.
Tim had returned from his call with a bounce in his step, but then had otherwise returned to his usual calm demeanor, back to being engrossed in the job. Though, he, like the others, was growing restless.
"You almost done? You've been working on those for hours." He asked Paige, his tone light but genuinely worried for her and how long it was taking to complete the contracts. He glanced at the clock, weary. "I was thinking we could grab lunch, but if you need more time…"
Paige shook her head, offering him a small smile, and noticed the way Walter shifted beside her.
He had also noticed how long it was taking her, and while he wouldn't say anything about efficiency to her knowing he'd put her in this position, it did make him question if she was struggling just as much as he was to focus.
"I uh… yeah, you know how it goes… the contracts are always so daunting. But this is a big job. Just want to make sure I don't miss anything with such intricate involvement, and so much money on the line." She dismissed it, not exactly a lie, but not exactly the truth either. "I need to get these sent over before two o'clock, so unfortunately takes priority over lunch. Raincheck? You can go ahead with the others..."
Tim hesitated, then smiled warmly.
"Alright. Well, you should still eat. I'll grab something from the diner for you. Usual?"
Without thinking, Paige replied.
"Yeah, and the fermented fish…" She froze, realizing what she had just done. Her eyes widened slightly as the suggestion of her words settled between them, the atmosphere in the room shifting instantly. She instantly felt everyone's eyes on her, and Walter's entire body went stock still.
Walter's favorite order, fermented fish, a detail everyone on the team knew, had tumbled out of her mouth without a second thought, slipping seamlessly into the gesture Tim had made as her boyfriend, not her teammate.
The silence that followed was alarming. Paige blinked, quickly looking up at Tim, whose expression remained warm and unassuming, though there was an underlayment of confusion and perhaps suspicion, but she could feel the looks in the room. She swallowed hard, her voice faltering as she added to her statement covertly.
"...and Sylvester's hamburger, extra well done no bacteria, extra ketchup and a milkshake…." She attempted to cover her tracks. She didn't even know why she had said it, offering Walter's order like that, it had just rolled off her tongue in a moronically instinctive act of stupidity…
…or love.
The awkwardness hung in the air for a second too long, making her shift nervously. Toby raised an eyebrow, his smirk widening as he glanced between Paige and Walter, but he said nothing, opting to simply observe the trainwreck instead.
Tim, playing off as being blissfully unaware of the charged moment, simply smiled and nodded.
"Sure, no problem. I'll get everyone's orders."
He gave Paige a gentle squeeze on her shoulder before stepping away from the group, heading toward the door with Happy, Toby, and Cabe. As the door closed behind them, the garage fell into an oppressive quiet, with a wide eyed Paige praying for an asteroid to take her out as she abruptly got up from the table and moved to her desk. The clatter of the team's departure seemed to echo in the stillness, leaving only the awkward trio behind, Walter, Paige, and Sylvester.
Paige tried to refocus, her hands trembling slightly as she fumbled with the papers on her desk. She could feel Walter's eyes on her as he returned to his desk as well, just a few feet away, boring holes into her, no doubt also trying to determine what her slip up had meant, and her mind raced, replaying that very slip up. She hadn't meant to include him in the gesture, hadn't meant to treat him as if he was part of that intimate routine with Tim, but it had come out so naturally.
She was in big trouble.
Walter sat stiffly at his desk, his fingers gripping the edge of his tablet, his posture tense. He hadn't said a word since the exchange, but words weren't necessary to see the feelings radiating from him. His eyes broke off of her, refocusing on his screen, but she knew he was processing it, probably in that meticulous, methodical way of his, dissecting every word.
Sylvester remained at the big table, pretending to focus on the simulation, but it was clear from the way his eyes darted between Paige and Walter that he hadn't missed a thing and was wishing he had gone off to the diner, cursing his simulation for taking so long to compute..
The silence stretched on, and Paige finally stood, gathering the contracts in her hands, needing desperately to break this unbearable tension, even if just for just a moment.
"Walter…" She spoke softly, clearing her throat, stepping over to his desk. "I need you to review these before I send them over. If you don't mind."
"Sure." Walter replied, his voice curt but controlled as he pushed his chair back slightly and gestured for her to hand them over.
Paige stepped closer, standing beside his desk as she passed him the documents. Their fingers brushed lightly as she handed him the pen, and she caught her breath, the simple contact sparking a wave of heat between them. She felt the warmth rise on her chest, up her neck and settle in her cheeks at the contact. Walter's hand hovered over hers for just a moment longer than necessary before he took the pen, his jaw tightening slightly as he looked down at the paperwork.
"Thanks." He muttered, his tone clipped. His eyes flicked up to meet hers briefly before he focused on the contract, scribbling his signature with a tense, deliberate movement. "Here?" He pointed to one of the pages, and she had to question if he truly wasn't sure, or was just trying to break the walls down between them.
"Uh, yeah…" She leaned over, having to get uncomfortably close to him, close enough to smell the subtle scent of soap on him, pointed to the line for his signature, and then another smaller spot. "...and initial here."
The distinct sound of him breathing in deeply caught her attention as she turned her head to him, realizing he was breathing her in, being so close. Their eyes met, locking for just a moment, swirling with so much emotion and desire, before Walter broke the spell, clearing his throat and moving back to contract.
"Right… um, yeah. Of course."
Paige swallowed hard, the awkwardness between them settling like gas station sushi in her stomach. She stepped back slightly, arms crossing over her chest as she stood beside him, watching him work. Dead silence other than the flipping of pages, and scrawling of the pen, and even though they were only inches apart, it felt like miles.
Sylvester, quietly observing from across the room, raised an eyebrow as his eyes shifted from Walter to Paige. He wasn't saying anything, but the looming discomfort between his teammates wasn't lost on him.
Walter finished signing and handed the pen back to her.
"Here." He said quietly, his fingers brushing against hers again as he passed the pen back. The contact sent another jolt through her, and for a moment, neither of them moved.
"Thanks." Paige whispered, swallowing hard, willing her eyes to look away, her body to leave that spot, for her mind to process a single thought that wasn't what it felt like to kiss this olive skinned genius before her. The sound of Sylvester shifting nervously, causing his stool to scrape against the concrete gave her mind the zap it needed, tucking the documents back under her arm and stepping away from his desk giving her a moment of reprieve. She was flustered, her heart racing as she tried to regain her composure, feeling his eyes following her as she stepped back.
It felt intoxicating… and so very wrong at just how much she enjoyed his attention on her.
The silence was broken by the shrill ring of the phone on Walter's desk, positioned directly between the two of them. Without thinking, both Paige and Walter reached for it at the same time, their hands colliding gracelessly over the receiver. Paige froze, her cheeks flushing as she quickly pulled her hand back.
"Oh… sorry… I uh… yeah… you, um, go ahead…" She stammered, stepping back as Walter grabbed the phone and her cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson.
Walter hesitated for a split second, his hand hovering over the phone before he picked up the receiver.
"Scorpion." He said, his voice low and controlled.
Paige stood there for a moment, her heart pounding in her chest before she rashly turned away, retreating to her desk to hide her face, the tension between them only growing as the minutes ticked by.
Sylvester, still silently observing, shook his head slightly, his eyes flicking back to his screen. The awkwardness was so thick, it was impossible to ignore, but he wisely chose to remain quiet, letting it play out between them, actively choosing not to question what was happening between them.
As Walter wrapped up his call, Paige sat at her desk, trying to focus on her work. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that she would not be able to keep up this resolve if things kept up like this. She was already falling apart. The slip-up with Tim, the brush of hands, the awkwardness of working side by side with Walter…
It was all too much.
And Sylvester, though silent, was watching it all unfold, his presence a quiet reminder that nothing stayed hidden for long in Scorpion.
And Sylvester, though silent, was watching it all unfold, his presence a quiet reminder that nothing stayed hidden for long in Scorpion.
The garage was quieter than usual with the rest of the team headed out for lunch… well and the fact that Walter and Paige were refusing to speak to each other, and Sylvester was too worried about coming in the middle, so stayed silent himself. The lingering volitity between Walter and Paige filled the space, thick and uncomfortable. Paige sat at her desk, trying to focus on finalizing the contracts in front of her, but the silence between her and Walter had become impossible to ignore, and she knew if this continued, Toby would not respect the silence and would absolutely be calling it out.
Walter sat at his workstation, his eyes glued to his tablet, but he wasn't reading anything. He was too aware of Paige's presence just a few feet away, and the weight of everything left unsaid, how close he'd come to kissing her, the words shared between them from the night before was pressing down on him.
Paige finally couldn't take it anymore, going insane. She stood up abruptly, slamming her pen down with a thud, walking the skirt distance over to Walter's desk. While she kept her voice low, her words were sharp, but quiet enough that she thought, hoped, Sylvester, who was at the far end of the garage, couldn't hear them.
"Walter." She whispered harshly, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Sylvester wasn't paying attention. "A word please? We need to talk."
Walter didn't look up, his fingers tapping absently at the edge of his tablet.
"There's nothing to talk about." He muttered under his breath, his voice tense and dismissive, with that aire of arrogance that made her want to strangle him.
Paige's eyes narrowed, and she stepped closer, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him toward the kitchen, just behind the loft stairs, leaning into him so that only he could hear a he tried to continue avoiding her by looking down to his tablet.
"Stop. Avoiding. Me." A flash of something hit his face, but otherwise, he showed no reaction. "Last night… things… were said… and things… happened. We can't change that. But this isn't going to work if you keep acting like this, and avoiding me. Toby's already onto us, and it's only a matter of time before the rest of the team starts asking questions if they haven't already. Including Tim."
Walter's jaw clenched, but he kept his eyes on the screen, his voice barely a whisper.
"I'm not avoiding you, Paige. I'm trying to focus on the job." He attempted to pass by her and return to his desk, but she pushed him back, blocking him from being able to do so.
Paige huffed quietly, crossing her arms.
"Well, you're doing a lousy job of it." She snapped, again peering back at Sylvester. "You've been avoiding me all day Walter and it's making everything worse."
Walter finally looked up, his eyes flickering with frustration.
"I'm not avoiding you." He repeated, his voice more insistent. "I'm trying to--"
Paige cut him off, her voice still low but laced with annoyance.
"You are avoiding me, Walter. And I get it… you're uncomfortable with whatever happened last night, or didn't happen, or whatever. But we don't have time for this, and with the work we do, we don't have the luxury of being distracted. Toby was right, and if we don't get our heads back in the game, and off of… whatever this is… the whole team is going to be investigating us instead of this case."
Walter's eyes darkened, but he remained quiet for a moment, processing herto words. He glanced briefly at Sylvester, who appeared to be absorbed in his work, and then back at Paige. His voice softened, but the intensity remained.
"I'm not sure what you expect me do." he whispered back. "What happened last night… I don't know how to make sense of it."
Paige's heart twisted, but she forced herself to stay composed.
"I'm not asking you to make sense of it. I'm asking you to push past it. We can't afford to let this affect the team, Walter."
"You know, I don't get you, Paige. You're all about honesty, about recognizing emotions, expressing one's feelings… I do that, what you taught me, and you're upset with me about it."
"Is that what you think? That I'm upset you told me?" He didn't need to answer, his expression told her. "Walter, I'm not upset that you told me, that we told each other. I'm upset because doing so was not appropriate, and now as a result, you have barely said two words to me all day, and any time i go near you, you look like you'd rather jump off a cliff."
"So what is it you want me to do, Paige? Pretend that what happened didn't happen?"
"Yes. No. I don't know." She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it taut at the root in frustration. "Look, Walter, I'm sorry about last night. I am. I know I hurt you. But whatever happened or didn't happen, or could have happened… we need to move forward. Put it to rest. Bury it. Because it can't be, and it can't happen again."
Walter looked down, his fingers tightening around the edge of his tablet.
"Fine." He muttered, his voice resigned. "If that's what you want."
Paige nodded stiffly.
"Yes. That's… what I want." She thought so anyway. It was the right thing to do. It had to be.
The two of them stood in the loudest silence for a moment, the tension between them still thick and uncomfortable, though a slight ease came from speaking. Paige glanced over at Sylvester again, satisfied that he hadn't heard them, or so she thought.
Sylvester, however, sitting quietly at his workstation, had been listening to the entire conversation, though he pretended to be focused on his screen. He fought the urge to move uncomfortably in his seat, feeling the weight of the secrets pressing on him. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but it had been impossible not to hear the quiet exchange between his two friends. He had excellent hearing.
He didn't want to get involved in whatever was happening between them, but hearing Paige mention that the team might start investigating them if they didn't get their act together along with something having happened between them, made him anxious. He felt torn. He wanted to stay out of it, but at the same time, he knew something was off between them, his dearest friends, and it was starting to affect the team dynamic.
Sylvester anxious beyond reprieve, tried to ignore the knot forming in his stomach. He desperately hoped that whatever was going on between Walter and Paige wouldn't spiral into something bigger. He hated the idea of being caught in the middle of any drama, of keeping secrets, especially when it involved his friends.
"Okay. Thank you for this information. I will do my best to integrate your feedback into my future interactions." Walter said robotically.
"Thank you, Walter."
As Walter and Paige moved away from each other, going back to their respective workstations, the silence that followed was suffocating. Sylvester remained hunched over his computer, his fingers trembling slightly as he pretended to type.
He didn't want to be involved. He didn't want any part of this.
He wanted the team to come back.
Later that afternoon, Paige stood at the coffee pot, filling her cup with the bitter brew that had become a staple of her workday, and an excellent hiding spot. She leaned against the counter, her mind still tangled in the events of the morning, the strange energy between her and Walter, the feelings they were denying between them, and the way it made everything feel off-kilter. She sighed softly, stirring the coffee absentmindedly.
Definitely destabilizing.
Suddenly, a pair of warm hands slipped around her waist from behind, and a kiss landed softly on her cheek. She jumped, startled, her heart racing for a split second before she realized who it was.
"Oh!" She gasped, her breath catching in her throat as she turned her head. "Oh god… Tim… hiii. You uh, you startled me."
He chuckled, his arms still wrapped around her.
"Didn't mean to scare you." He said softly, his lips brushing her temple. "You're really jumpy today. You okay?"
Paige forced a smile, trying to shake off the moment of panic that had flared in her chest. For a fleeting second, a fleeting wonderful, terrifying second, she had thought it was Walter, his touch, his presence, but it wasn't. It was Tim. Solid, dependable Tim.
Her boyfriend.
"Hmm? Oh, um… yeah, I'm… fine." She replied, her voice light. "Just… tired, I guess. Didn't sleep well last night."
Tim frowned slightly, his concern evident.
"Are you sure that's all? You've been a little off all day." He studied her face, his brow furrowing, before he made a humored sound. "You didn't watch that horror movie again did you? You handle the low budget cheesy horror flicks just fine, but I saw how you were jumping at shadows for days after we watched The Shining…"
Paige let out a soft laugh, her body relaxing against him.
"Nooo, I didn't rewatch it." She answered, turning in his arms and giving him a playful nudge. "But maybe it left a lasting impression. The melting mud lady is just creepy." She shivered at the memory.
Tim grinned, clearly reassured by her teasing tone.
"Well, if you start hearing noises in the garage, I'll be your bodyguard." He winked before releasing her and stepping back slightly.
Paige smiled, turning back to the coffee pot as she poured him a cup of his usual - black coffee, plain and simple. As she handed it to him, she found herself musing about how predictable his order was. Boring and predictable… or maybe bold, strong and uncomplicated. It was easy, familiar. Exactly what she should want.
She handed him the cup, her fingers running over his as she did, an intentional act, toreplace the feeling of Walter's accidental touch. "Here you go. Just how you like it… boring."
Tim laughed, taking the cup from her.
"Hey, just because I don't need all that fancy cream and sugar doesn't mean it's boring. It's strong. Straight to the point."
"Yeah… it's uh… it's uncomplicated." Paige added with a smirk, her voice quieter now, more thoughtful.
Tim took a sip of the coffee, savoring it for a moment before his face turned more serious. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper, keeping their conversation private.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier, but that call I took… It was from that surgeon in San Diego."
Paige raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious, remembering the conversation they'd shared over dinner last week about him
"Yeah? How did it go?"
Tim's eyes lit up, excitement creeping into his voice.
"They've agreed to do an evaluation of my back! To see if they can remove the shrapnel… first surgeon that's agreed to even try… It's not a guarantee but… it's something."
Paige's heart skipped a beat as she processed his words. The shrapnel in Tim's back had been an ongoing issue for as long as she'd known him, a reminder of his time in combat and the trauma he carried with him. The idea of finally having it removed, of him being free of that pain, mentally and physically, was monumental.
"Oh my God, Tim, that's amazing!" Paige exclaimed, her face lighting up with genuine excitement. She placed her hand on his arm, her voice filled with warmth. "I'm so happy for you. That's… that's huge."
Tim's grin widened, the weight of his own anticipation evident.
"I know. It feels like… like maybe things can get back to normal, you know? I'll be able to do things I haven't been able to in years. And the pain… if this works out… it'll be gone."
Paige's heart swelled with happiness for him, and in that moment, she was fully present with him, caught up in the excitement and relief he was feeling. No thoughts of Walter, of what could have been, just fully in the moment with her boyfriend and hope for his future. Without thinking, she leaned up and kissed him, her hand resting on his chest as she pressed her lips to his. It was soft, warm, and filled with the genuine affection she felt for him. For the first time since Walter walked through her door, Paige was entirely engaged, not thinking about anyone else or the complications surrounding her.
Just as the kiss deepened slightly, Walter walked into the kitchen area, his eyes focused on the paperwork in his hands, completely unaware of the scene in front of him.
"Paige…" He started, his tone brisk as he glanced up, clearly about to ask her a question. "I need you to--"
His voice trailed off as he realized what he had walked into. His steps faltered, and the papers in his hand lowered slightly as his eyes took in the sight of Tim and Paige, locked in an intimate moment, feeling his heart seize just as it had that night in Tahoe. Paige immediately pulled away from Tim, her own heart pounding as she caught Walter's gaze, so broken and defeated.
For a moment, the three of them stood frozen, the troubled air thick and heavy coating them like an itchy blanket. Walter's expression was hard to read. His eyes flickered with something she couldn't quite name. Hurt? Frustration? Whatever it was, it disappeared almost as quickly as it came, replaced by his usual mask of detachment.
"I… uh… sorry," Walter stammered, his voice strained as he quickly looked down at the papers in his hand, and then half spun, as though he couldn't figure out how to stand still in that moment. "I didn't realize you were… uh…" He stopped, his jaw tightening as he shifted awkwardly on his feet. "I'll come back… later. Uh, right. Okay. Uh, carry on."
Before either Tim or Paige could respond, Walter turned on his heel and left, disappearing back into the garage. The sound of his footsteps echoed down as he swiftly climbed the stairs to the loft above, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake.
Paige stood there, her mind spinning. The moment with Tim, once so warm and light, now felt messy, tainted by Walter's unexpected interruption. She hadn't meant for things to get so complicated, hadn't meant for her feelings for Walter to seep into every aspect of her life, but now, it felt like she was trapped in a web of her own making.
Tim, completely unaware of the tension that had just passed, passing off awkward Walter as just that, Walter being Walter, smiled down at her, still basking in his excitement.
"Anyway, I've got a lot to think about with this evaluation. But I'm really optimistic."
Paige nodded, her smile forced as she tried to push aside the knot forming in her stomach.
"I'm really happy for you, Tim. This could be life-changing."
He kissed her again, briefly this time, before heading back toward the garage.
"I'll catch you later, okay?"
Paige stayed behind, staring into her cup of coffee, her thoughts spinning. The warmth she had felt just moments ago with Tim had already faded, replaced by the familiar weight of her unresolved feelings for Walter.
She sighed, staring into the cup in her hands, wondering if she'd ever be able to untangle the mess her heart had gotten her into.