A/N: Posting this a few days early...Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
"Good morning, Sunshine," Charlie whispered, leaning over Paige.
"Go away," Paige groaned. She pulled the blankets over her head, hoping to drown out Charlie's cheerful voice.
Half-asleep, Mike pulled Paige closer as he mumbled her name.
Charlie pulled the blankets off her and Paige promptly rolled over, burying her face in Mike's chest, trying to get back underneath the blankets. Charlie quickly caught onto her strategy and pulled the blankets away from both of them.
Ignoring Charlie's incessant chatter, Paige hugged hugged Mike tighter, using his body for warmth. The temperature of his room was comfortable, made colder by the fact that Charlie snatched their blankets away. She slid her feet underneath his legs, wishing she had on a pair of shorts or something, because in a few minutes her bare legs would be freezing. She couldn't remember if his window was open or not. It certainly felt like it was. She was starting to feel goosebumps on her legs.
"Get up, you promised."
"I was drunk when I promised, it doesn't count!" Her face scrunched up in annoyance as Charlie started prying her out of Mike's arms.
"Come on, Charlie, it's early," Mike sleepily said, halfheartedly trying to keep Paige next to him. "Can't you two head out later?"
"It's still dark out," Paige protested, pointing to the window. Sunrise was hours away. "We can shop online. I'll even buy you some Christmas ornaments. Full price!" She would agree to just about anything to get out of going shopping before dawn. What had she been thinking when she agreed to accompany Charlie on her Black Friday quest?
Mike buried his head underneath his pillow before snaking his arm around Paige's waist. Paige relaxed, thinking Charlie had given up and she settled back into Mike's embrace.
"Get your lazy ass out of bed or you're not eating any Thanksgiving leftovers," Charlie threatened.
Paige's eyes popped open and Charlie knew she finally had Paige's undivided attention.
"You wouldn't." Charlie knew how much she was looking forward to making a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and stuffing. She always made that sandwich the day after Thanksgiving. It was tradition! She had been eating them with her dad since she was a kid, and now that she was on her own, she was still ate one on Thanksgiving. If her parents hadn't gone to Greece for the holiday, she'd be at her parents' house right now. She'd be in her childhood bedroom and not under attack from her roommate.
"Try me." Charlie placed her hands on her hips, daring Paige to challenge her. "It'd be a shame if Johnny ate all the leftover stuffing and cranberry sauce by himself. Isn't stuffing Johnny's favorite side dish? Don't worry, I'm sure he'll put those leftovers to good use. Make a turkey ghetto scramble or something."
Paige was horrified at the thought of all those perfect Thanksgiving leftovers finding their way into a skillet and being scrambled with whatever ingredients Johnny grabbed from the fridge. Whenever he made a ghetto scramble it was weeks before she was able to eat eggs again. Weeks! She didn't have weeks. It would be a miracle if the leftovers lasted until Saturday.
Resigned to her fate, Paige gave Charlie a slight nod. "I'm up, I'm up." Paige sleepily rubbed her eyes, grateful that Charlie hadn't turned on the lights, although that probably had more to do with Mike sleeping than consideration for her eyes. "Why didn't you lock the door?" Paige asked, snatching the pillow resting on top of Mike's head and smacking him with it. "This is all your fault!"
"Hey! I did lock the door. You wandered downstairs for pie, you probably forgot..." Mike's voice trailed off when Paige shot him a murderous glance.
"She didn't forget. I picked the lock." Charlie picked up the blankets from the floor and tossed them on top of Mike. "Sweet dreams, Mikey."
He quickly pulled the blankets over him and rolled over, so he was facing away from the door, but wisely kept silent.
Paige nudged him, "Do something!"
"I'm going back to sleep." Mike reached behind him and grabbed her pillow. "I'll make sure Johnny doesn't eat all the leftovers."
Paige's jaw dropped at Mike's reluctance to help her figure a way out of this. "If you loved me, you'd do something!"
"I need new headphones if you see any on sale," Mike said, ignoring her plea.
Paige rolled her eyes and dropped a kiss on the top of Mike's head and she playfully shoved him before reluctantly climbing out of bed. She grabbed her phone and childishly flipped on the lights before leaving his room, but Charlie reached back in the room and turned them off.
Paige rolled her eyes, of course Charlie would wake her up in the middle of the night and not think twice about dragging her out of bed, but heaven forbid Mike's sleep was disturbed more than necessary. She was surprised Charlie didn't go tuck him in.
"Wear comfortable shoes, we have a lot of stores to go to."
"You told me three stores!"
"I told you three stores open at 5am. We're going to to hit all three, then swing by the mall and maybe an outlet if we have time."
Normally she loved shopping, but nothing about today sounded like fun. She was barely awake and Charlie wanted to drag her around town from store to store so she could save ten dollars on a blender?
Paige shuffled her feet as she made her way to her bedroom.
"Coffee's downstairs. I've got a bag with granola bars, energy bars and fruit. Do you want anything else?"
"More sleep?" Paige hopefully asked. How was Charlie even awake? She was positive that she went to bed after she and Mike went upstairs. Did she even go to sleep?
The look Charlie gave her let her know that wasn't even a remote possibility.
Paige headed to her room, throwing on the first outfit she found. She pulled her hair back in a messy bun and grabbed a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. The sun wasn't out now, but she would need sunglasses later. She picked up Mike's hoodie from the back of her chair and made a quick stop in the bathroom before meeting Charlie downstairs.
Hours later, Paige and Charlie made their way home, carrying dozens of shopping bags. Paige left her bags in the entryway and made a beeline to the couch while Charlie headed upstairs to put away her things. The last thing on Paige's mind was caring if someone peeked in her shopping bags.
Paige kicked off her shoes and grabbed the nearest blanket and curled up. Her feet were killing her. She was exhausted and hungry, but didn't even have the strength to get something to eat. If Charlie offered her another energy bar, she might throw it at her.
"Yo, P, you hungry?" Johnny asked, popping his head out of the kitchen. "I just made - "
Panicked, Paige quickly sat up. "You didn't!"
"Relax," Jakes said, sitting down across from her. "Levi made a plate for you."
Paige breathed a sigh of relief and sat up slightly. "Okay, good. I bought this panini press - "
"Panini press?" Briggs asked, entering the living room with Mike.
Mike sat next to her on the couch. He touched her forehead, "Are you feeling okay?"
Mike slung his arm over her shoulders and she leaned against him. "I'm just hungry." And tired. Not to mention cranky. The only thing she wasn't was hungover. But as exhausted as she was, she did have fun today. It was fun to spend the whole day hanging out with Charlie, not having to worry about CIs and covers. Just the two of them shopping and not having to deal with any of the drama of the house.
"You bought a kitchen appliance," Jakes pointed out.
"Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?"
"It was on sale and under $10!"
"You practically pushed over an old lady to get it!" Charlie announced, joining the group in the living room.
"I did not!" Paige insisted as the heat rushed to her face. Another person pushed her trying to make a grab for a blender and that pushed her into the grandmother reaching for another kitchen appliance. Taking advantage of her proximity, she grabbed the last panini press.
Everyone started laughing and Paige shook her head as she tried to explain what really happened.
"Where's this panini press? I'll make your sandwich," Johnny offered, wandering over to the entryway. "What store did you get it from?"
Feeling a burst of energy, Paige jumped up and ran into the entryway. She grabbed the correct bag and headed straight to the kitchen, with Johnny trailing behind her.
"Think they need a referee?" Briggs asked.
"I'll go supervise," Jakes offered.
"Seriously?" Mike skeptically asked.
"The summer before you got here, Paige was under at a diner and nearly burned the place down making hashbrowns. Johnny never reads the instruction book for anything. Either they're going to burn the house down or she's going to hit him over the head with it," Jakes explained, making his way to the kitchen.
"Touch my cranberry sauce again and I'll shoot!"
"Live a little, add some tabasco sauce."
"Johnny!"
THE END