I've been sick and painfully bored all week so I'm mostly just writing because I need to exercise my brain before it leaks out of my ears. Anyway, clearly this Tim/Paige thing is going way further than any of us expected or wanted it to. We can all agree that Christmas episode was tough, and I'm really just about to make it worse with some more angst. But my heart is always with Waige, so it won't end with her and Tim eloping in Cabo or anything.

I'm constantly going back and forth over whether Paige or Walter is responsible for this whole tragic mess. I'm pretty sure the answer is "both," so if it feels like I'm being unfairly harsh on one or the other, rest assured, they're both getting the blame in this story.

Paige hadn't spoken to him in two weeks.

She'd said words, of course, in his direction. She told him when it was time for lunch. She updated him on the status of projects. She made arrangements for him to spend weekends with Ralph.

But in all that time, she hadn't uttered a single word to him about herself or her relationship with Tim. No sign of anger, or sadness, or forgiveness. It was as if she'd simply walled Walter off from that part of her life.

The genius remembered her request after she found out about his interference at Lake Tahoe, and decided it would be wise to follow that course now. He kept his head down, waiting until she was comfortable discussing the subject. Though his argument with Tim was fairly cutting, the trainee had been willing to make peace. He'd tried to fix it, to put his ego and jealousy aside and ask Tim to stay. Surely Paige would cool down with time.

But patience wasn't one of the qualities he was currently working to improve.

"Can we talk?" he murmured. Paige glanced up from her laptop—she'd reluctantly agreed to keep the gift, under the provision that it was used strictly for work—and Walter noticed the generic snowflake design on the screen as she closed her files. She scanned the office, looking for Ralph and the other geniuses, but they were huddled in the back of the garage, preparing for Happy's controlled explosion.

She snapped the computer shut and rested both of her hands on top of it, sighing as she scrunched her nose. "Walter, I don't want to fight."

"Neither do I," he said quickly, stepping closer and lowering his voice even more, well aware of the team's expertise in eavesdropping. "I'm not seeking to defend my attitude toward Tim. I would merely like to…resolve…an issue that is clearly affecting our work environment."

Paige quirked her eyebrow, watching him carefully as if he was setting her up for an ambush. Eventually, she nodded and motioned for him to lead the way, standing to follow him to the loft.

She hadn't been up there in a while. Most of the memories he had of her there were good—she'd tended to his wound, following his fall from the rocket capsule; she'd bandaged his hand while they talked about his sister; she'd begged him not to risk his life because she and Ralph cared about him too much to lose him.

She'd almost kissed him.

That seemed so long ago.

Some of the memories were harder. Paige on the intercom, questioning the logic behind Megan's disease. Tearing him to pieces for endangering Ralph's future over a few stupid video games. Coming down in that devastating blue dress just to walk away with the interloper.

He used to believe they could get through anything. That felt less certain to him now.

Walter stepped aside to let her through and closed the door behind her, pausing for a second to listen for noise on the steps though, logically, he knew the geniuses didn't have to actually ascend to the loft to spy if they were so inclined. Paige stayed standing, leaning her weight against a concrete column and crossing her arms, and he abandoned his intended seat on the couch, realizing that the height imbalance would make the situation vastly more awkward.

"I, uh…" Walter cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest to mirror her. "I apologized to Tim, but the same apology should be extended to you. I was responsible for many of the complications in his integration into Scorpion. That was unfair. He was a valuable asset to the team."

"A team you said he would never be part of."

A team you've threatened to leave. We all say things in the heat of the moment.

"Yes," he admitted softly. "I felt t-threatened and I acted impulsively. I am sorry that Tim's place here was in question. It was never my desire to force him out."

That was, perhaps, not the full truth. But it wasn't entirely false, either. Just because he was jealous of Tim's burgeoning relationship with Ralph didn't mean that he couldn't see some benefit in it for the young genius. And just because he detested the trainee's romantic attentions toward Paige didn't mean he'd ever planned for it to be anything other than her decision.

She was quiet for a moment before dropping her arms to her side and shrugging. "Okay."

Walter coughed, thrown by her lack of a rebuttal. "Okay?"

"Yes. I accept your apology. It was good enough for Tim, so it's good enough for me." Paige paused, dropping her eyes, and the genius realized that she wasn't finished speaking. He watched silently as she toyed with the hem of her pink blouse, curling it under with her fingers and revealing the waistband of her jeans underneath. "But Walter, I, um…I need this to be over."

The genius blinked. "Tim has moved into his new position. It is over."

He didn't mean to sound so satisfied about it.

Paige shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut in the way she always did when she was supremely frustrated with him. He didn't know what she was thinking. He hadn't known what she was thinking for weeks and it was slowly driving him crazy.

"It's more than Tim. You know that." Her eyes fluttered open and she pushed herself away from the column, sliding her hands down into her front pockets. "You've done this before. Going behind my back to edge out and discredit Drew. Using my mother to gain information about my childhood. You didn't think I would recognize that?" she asked when he tensed. "I know when I'm being manipulated. That's one thing I have over on you geniuses. And it's like you have this…this need to insinuate yourself into my personal life through underhanded means. I'm tired of it, Walter. I give you a lot of leeway because I care about you, and you're different, I know that, but this is my real life and what you do affects it. I don't know if you understand that."

The genius swallowed, finding himself less capable than he would have liked of refuting her accusations. He could argue that he'd ended his arrangement with Veronica, but clearly Paige already knew or she would have confronted him earlier. "I d-didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't. You never do." Paige pressed her lips together and exhaled through her nose. "But you had a chance—a lot of chances—to be involved in that part of my life. And you chose not to be. Which means it's really just off-limits now. Whatever your reasons, whatever you think about my decisions, you cannot show up when you feel like it and sabotage me. I'm happy with Tim, okay? For the first time in a while. I'm happy. I need you to accept that."

He'd never meant to disrupt her life. He thought, in some stupid way, he might be able to undo his mistake in letting her go to Lake Tahoe, but that had only led to an avalanche of further errors.

I wanted to make you happy. I just didn't know how.

He'd never been so desperate to tell her the truth. Not in any moment since he realized it. But he couldn't, not when she was looking at him like he'd taken everything from her.

Paige stared at him expectantly, but even he was capable of realizing that there was nothing he could say that wouldn't make the situation worse. "If it happens again, this becomes strictly professional. Anything between you and me will just be about running Scorpion," she said in a tense voice. "It's the only way I know to protect myself. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes," he managed, cringing inwardly at the thought of Paige having to protect herself from him. The team was his family, his only defense against the outside world, and he couldn't lose that.

"Good." For a brief second, Walter though he saw her determined expression slip, something sad reflected in her eyes. But she was already walking toward the door, her back to him, and he assumed he'd imagined it. "I'll see you downstairs."

He waited until he heard her transition off the metal staircase and back onto the main floor before he sank down on the couch, propping his elbows up on his knees. That hadn't gone the way he expected. Not that most things did. Perhaps they viewed his actions through different lenses, but everything she charged him with was true. He'd given up countless chances to be with her, to have a say in her life, but he couldn't let her move forward with someone else. Cabe was right. He was selfish.

Was Paige really happy with Tim? The evidence was right in front of him, though he guessed he just hadn't been able to accept it. Walter had never known the trainee to mistreat Paige or Ralph. He seemed to genuinely care for them. This wasn't a repeat of Drew. And if she was happy—really happy, after all the heartbreak and hardship she'd endured—then that changed things. It wouldn't matter if he was emotionally ready or not. If he loved her, he wouldn't interfere at all.

She'd sacrificed for Tim. She gave up eight months with him. Why couldn't Walter sacrifice for her? Why was it so impossible to just let her live?

The genius dragged his hands over his face. Things had never been the same with them after Tahoe. He used to think that Paige understood him better than anyone, but now they were practically speaking different languages. Maybe he'd always been fooling himself, believing that this could work, believing that she would choose a lifetime of difficulty with him over a less stressful life with someone normal.

Maybe this was just the way it ended.