Title: Observational Study

Summary: Walter finally decides to take Paige out on a date. He takes Toby's advice on how to go about it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

Chapter 1

Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies. ~ Dorothy Allison

Walter eased the blue Malibu around the curved drive and parked alongside the walkway, as close to the building as he could get.

"Um, Walter. I don't think we can park here." Paige's head was swiveling on her shoulders as she observed the nearly empty parking lot and grounds. "Are you sure this place is even open? There's no one here." She turned a questioning look at her companion.

The genius wasn't feeling very much like a genius in that moment. He cut the engine and sat staring, unfocused, at the instrument panel. "I can't do this," he muttered.

"Do what?" Paige asked. "Walter, what's going on; you're acting really strange."

He turned then to face her. The waning light of dusk softened her features. Walter had been aware for some time that he found his team liaison aesthetically pleasing, but he couldn't remember a time when he'd been so struck by her beauty. For a moment, he was unable to answer, partly because he was committing the image of her in the twilight to memory, and partly because he felt guilty about the ruse he used to lure her here.

"I…um…I lied to you."

Paige sat silently beside him, looking confused. Walter continued, speaking fast as he blurted out his confession. "This is all a trick and if you want to forget all about it, I'll understand and I can take you home, but this was Toby's idea and I just figured he must know something about this since he and Happy are together now, even though from what I heard he made some really stupid mistakes before they got together but it all worked out, so I thought I should take his suggestion and it seemed like it was working ok, but I just don't feel right lying to you."

He was beginning to feel lightheaded so he stopped and took a deep breath, during which Paige placed a hand on his arm.

"Walter, you are not making any sense at all. What did Toby tell you to do and what are you lying to me about?"

Staring down at her hand, Walter took a few more deep breaths. He raised his eyes to look into hers and tried his best to explain something he didn't really understand himself. "Toby said that I should pretend that I was bringing you here to help you learn more about Astronomy, since Ralph loves it so much. He said that would take the pressure off; that neither of us would be nervous this way. But lying to you about this is making me so nervous I don't think I could tell Cassiopeia from the Big Dipper. So it's obviously not working and I should just take you home and we should both pretend this never happened."

"I still don't understand what this is. What are you lying about?" Paige repeated.

"It's a date," Walter mumbled.

"A what?" Paige gasped.

Authors Notes: Short, I know; but this will be about 4 or 5 chapters, so there's more to come.

April 10, 2016