Hello! If you're reading 'Palpitations', you've probably read about my "New Year's eve" one shot. Well, I'm not really good at them. In fact, I ended up writing a looong one (3 chapters). I don't know if I'm going to post it all yet lol But here's the first chapter. Enjoy!

- xo, Mel

"Go, go, go, go!"

"C'mon Briggs!"

"Yo, Jakes, almost there!"

"He's gonna win!"

"Hell no, he is!"

Graceland had seemed like a though place to live at first: given the circumstances of when he had been sent there, Mike had always felt like the wrong piece of a puzzle he desperately wanted to be part of. Especially after realizing how cool and close they all were with each other.

He had never been a part of anything like that and he really wished to, so much.

Maybe it was because of their generous and loving personalities, the atmosphere of trust and brotherhood you could smell in the house, the fact that you could always have somebody to lean on.

Or maybe it was because of crazy fun nights like this.

It had all started off as a joke, but quickly turned into a serious matter: during Charlie's memorable and special Thanksgiving sauce night, Paul had jokingly remarked Jakes badskills as wine sommelier after he had tasted the -even Mike had to admit that- horrible supermarket bottle he had brought home that night.

They started bickering about how one was better than the other at tasting and drinking, up until the point Jakes challenged Briggs to a fair 'beer contest', which apparently meant war to them.

They were both at 8 bottles now and time was running out: Mike had set the end time of the chronometer of his rather expensive diving watch at 15 minutes and they were slowly coming to an end.

Throwing his empty bottle away, Paul reached for his 9th, his eyes well set on Jakes, who was close on his tail, as he drank the last drops out of his beer.

"1 minute left!" Mike shouted, trying to drown out all the other voices screaming at the two.

Jakes titled his head back and opened his mouth wide, pouring the bottle empty down his throat; Briggs reached for his tenth beer, grinning victoriously.

As Mike prepared himself to shout at them to stop, his phone started buzzing in his pocket: keeping his eyes on the watch, he picked it out and glanced quickly at the screen.

His smile faded and his face fell.

Paige, who had been at his side trying to be a fair referee -but clearly wasn't, as she kept cheering for Paul-, looked back at him, frowning.

"Mike," she turned to him. "You alright?"

As he heard his name being called, he nodded at her absentmindedly and turned to walk outside on the beach porch. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I've got to take this…" He whispered more to himself than to her.

Everybody looked at him, silence taking over the place.

"Hey! Where you goin' man?! We need ya here!" Johnny screamed after him, pointing at the two agents still drinking, even though their eyes were sending interrogative stares at the rookie outside. Mike held one finger in the air, as he closed the french doors to have some privacy. 'Sorry', he mouthed.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked Paige, who shrugged.

They all watched, as the young agent leaned on the railing and started fidgeting on his place. It seemed like his feet had a mind of their own, as he talked on the phone: he was nervous, so nervous Paige started to think he had been assigned with another investigation on Paul.

Or even worse, somebody else in the house. Her guessing was interrupted by Jakes head bumping loudly on the table.

"I think I'm gonna throw up."

X

Mike sighed, as he eyed the screen of his phone. This was a problem. Not one of his biggest problems, but it was definitely something he'd prefer not to deal with.

This was why he never called or skyped. This was why Graceland sounded even more a better option than DC.

Sliding the french doors open, he went back inside. The kitchen had been tidied up, the bottles were gone and both Paul and Jakes were lazily thrown on the same chairs he had left them in; only, their legs were now spread open and their heads dangled back. They were lucky to still be able to think properly because to him, they looked totally wasted.

At that exact moment, Johnny came back into the kitchen with an apple in his hand. He held a hand up, greeting him as if he hadn't seen him in years; that made both Charlie and Paige -who had been too busy with the trashcans to notice he had come back- turn around.

"Mikey Mike! 'Sup, man? You seemed a little off back there!" Johnny pointed to him with his head. "Who was that?"

Mike rubbed the back of his neck, not missing a worried glance from Paige. She had probably started making up stories into her mind about how he was going to become a rat again.

'No, never again.'He thought.

"My mom", he murmured. "She wanted to wish me a happy Thanksgiving." He slapped his phone back and forth into his hands, ready to drop the bomb. "… and invite me back home for Christmas."

Behind him, Paul laughed, holding his hand up. "Mama's boy!" He screamed, making Jakes snicker on his side. They high fived, earning an irritated glance from Mike.

"Paulie, shut up!" Charlie exclaimed, crossing her arms and looking at the mortified agent. "You plan on going?"

Mike shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "I don't know."

"Well, I think the real question here is… you have a mom!? We've always thought you were scientifically designed and created in a lab or shit like that." Johnny said, with his mouth full, as he took a bite at his apple.

"That's… disgusting, John. Close your damn mouth!" Mike yelled at him, squinting his eyes at the sight of apple juice drooling at the corners of his mouth. The Mexican agent grinned. "See? Too much of a two goody shoes! That's not human!"

"Oh shut up, Johnny! Let him be!" Paige slapped him on the back of his neck, making him wince. It worked, though, because he went to sit down next to Jakes and finish his apple in silence. She turned to Mike. "What does she know?"

"Not much. She knows I'm a fed, but she thinks I was sent over here for a desk job. She doesn't know I'm an undercover agent." He confessed. "…and she doesn't know about you guys nor Graceland. She thinks I live with my girlfriend."

Paige raised her eyebrows. "She thinks you live with… Abby? But it's been over for what? 5 months now?"

"No! I've never even mentioned Abby. She overheard Charlie when I last spoke to her two weeks ago and I had to come up with something." Mike promptly said. He didn't even know why he felt the need to clarify that. He just did.

"So she asked you to bring her along." Charlie pointed out and he nodded.

"I could tell her we broke up, though."

Paige looked thoughtful for a minute, before she spoke up. "No, you can't. It'd mean either you or she decided to break up around Christmas time. If she's as of a goody two shoes as you are, she'd probably kick you out of your own house." She reasoned, looking at him with an amused expression. "I could be your imaginary girlfriend for a week, Mikey."

Crossing her arms, Paige watched as Mike looked at her with slightly widened eyes: he shifted uncomfortably, sliding his hands into his back pocket to give himself a confident posture; it only made him cuter at her eyes. Sometimes he looked just like an innocent boy; something she rarely saw anymore. 'Rookie', she thought, hiding a smile.

"Um." Mike stuttered, masking it by trying to act like he was actually thinking about it. Truth was, he desperately wanted to accept her offer. Hell, from the very first moment he had hear his mother's offer, he had wished she would come up with that.

He had always had a huge crush on Paige and, although knowing she would never even look at his way, seeing as she only considered him a rookie or some kind of little brother, he knew that he had to take any chance to be closer to her.

Spending an entire week with her on the other side of the country, just the two of them, formally being boyfriend and girlfriend, was the greatest chance he had had up until now.

"Are you sure? I mean… it's pretty cold out there right now."

Paige scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "Do I look like a pretty doll to you? I can deal with a little cold, Levi."

He shook his head. "No, of course not. I mean- you are pretty, just not weak pretty, tough pretty- whatever." He tried to correct himself, but soon decided to shut up when he saw her face trembling with held back laughter. Just like everybody else's in the room.

Mike closed his eyes, irritated. When he reopened them, he puffed his chest out and straightened his back, trying to act nonchalant.

"I'm up for it if you are." He concluded, fixing his eyes into hers.

Charlie smiled smugly at Johnny, as he grinned, winking back at her. 'The only ones not knowing about those two are those two.'

Paige uncrossed her arms and held her hand up, walking closer to Mike. She patted his face with her other hand, waiting for him to give her an high five. When he reluctantly did, she smirked, winking at him.

"Let's do this, baby."