A/N: I'm picturing this set sometime during/after Season 1, before Season 2.

"Don't do this," Paige tearfully whispered, desperately pressing her lips against Mike's. If he would just kiss her, she could show him how much he meant to her. Show him that he didn't need to push her away. She could fix this if he would just let her. Mike asking her to leave his room in the middle of the night was not how she envisioned this night going and she wasn't leaving until he gave in.

Mike lightly gripped her wrists and stepped away from her. "I can't do this on-again, off-again thing that we've been doing. If you want to be with me, then be with me. If not..." Mike's voice trailed off, sadly smiling as he ran his finger along her jaw, "Then let me go."

"Does this have anything to do with her?" Paige defiantly asked.

"Does this have anything to do with you wanting to be with me or because of what happened earlier on the beach?" Mike gestured to the lingerie she was wearing.

She normally wore shorts and a tank top to bed. Or maybe just a tshirt. But not tonight. Tonight she put on something short. Lacy. Semi-sheer. Something she bought earlier today with Mike in mind. They had been sleeping together long enough for him to be familiar with she normally slept in and this was definitely not what she normally slept in. Paige undid the sash on the too short robe and smoothed out the hem of her baby doll nightie, noticing how Mike's eyes followed the path of her hands. Maybe he turned her down. Maybe he was seeing someone else. But that didn't mean he didn't want her. "The two don't have to be mutually exclusive," Paige said, desperate to hang onto some of her dignity. She and Mike were - she wasn't exactly sure what she and Mike were doing. Although they had been sleeping together for the past few months, they weren't dating. But she wasn't seeing anyone else. And up until earlier this evening, she thought he wasn't either. But that was before she saw some redhead wrapped up in his arms.

Mike didn't respond to her comment, instead he folded his arms across his chest and waited for her to continue. It drove her crazy when he did that and he knew it.

"Okay, fine, I'm jealous. Is that what you wanted to hear? If you're going to date someone you could at least have the decency to take her somewhere I won't see her."

"Jealous?" Mike smiled and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer. "What I would like to hear is that you're done pushing me away."

"I don't want to hurt you," Paige confessed.

"Pushing me away the second we get close is hurting me. When we started doing this, it wasn't supposed to mean anything. I didn't go into this with any expectations of you, or us. But that was over two months ago. Things are different between us. Or at least I feel like they are. Or they could be. You're not just some warm body to me, but I'm starting to wonder if that's all I am to you."

"I never meant - I'm sorry," Paige said, backing away from him, wishing she could just disappear and pretend this night never happened. "This was a mistake. I screwed up. I'm screwed up. I don't know how to do relationships." The longest relationship she had ever been in was eight months, and that was her junior year of high school. To her long term meant a month.

This was why she never got too attached. Why she kept the men in her life at arm's length. But Mike was different. With Mike she wanted more and it scared the hell out of her. Made her push him away when she wanted him close. Only now she was starting to believe that she had pushed him away one too many times.

"Is that what this is, a relationship?"

"You tell me - will your girlfriend have a problem with that?" Paige bitterly asked. She and Mike were in this cycle of being consumed with each other, sneaking off to be alone at every opportunity, but the moment things started to get a little more defined or tense between them she would push him away. Lose herself in her work for a few days. Then she'd turn to him. Or he'd turn to her. But this was the first time he had turned her away. The first time she saw him with someone else.

"The woman you saw me with earlier, we went to high school together. Before you ask, we never dated and she's married."

Mike's words sank in and she shook her head, feeling foolish for how she reacted. Instead of going to Mike and asking him about the woman she saw him with at the beach, she jumped to the wrong conclusion and went shopping for lingerie. Only to be turned down before finding out the woman in question was an old friend of his and and not some secret new girlfriend. "Is that what we are? Dating?"

"You're not waiting for me to ask you to go steady or anything?" Mike playfully asked, stepping closer. He looked her up and down and lightly fingering the silky material of her robe.

Paige breathed a sigh of relief. His simple question signalling that they were back on track. "Going steady? Are you going to give me your class ring too?" Paige teased, wrapping her arms around his neck. Without waiting for him to respond, she kissed him, relieved when he didn't push her away. She slipped out of her robe and started backing them up towards the bed.

"Paige, wait - " Mike protested, untangling himself from her embrace.

"Mike..."

"If we're dating, officially dating - we should go on a date."

She stared at Mike in disbelief. Seriously? Mike was turning down sex because of some old-fashioned notion that he should take her out on a date because they were officially dating? They had been sleeping together for over two months! He couldn't possibly be serious. But of course, he was. This was Mike Warren. The most disciplined man she knew. He was dead serious. Unless he was trying to punish her for the push and pull of the past few weeks. She quickly dismissed the thought. Mike wasn't that kind of guy. "We can go to dinner tomorrow. I'll even let you pay." She teasingly brushed her lips over his and started unbuttoning his shirt. Pushing it off him, she kissed his chest as she lightly ran her fingers along his abs.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's wait." Mike reached for her hands and kissed them as he started to gently lead her towards the door, stopping to pick up her robe.

Paige groaned, but wasn't ready to give in. She could be just as stubborn as Mike. "Technically this isn't our first fight, because we fight a lot."

Mike laughed, "That's an understatement."

"But I want to be clear that you're turning down makeup sex? It's a great way to resolve some tension," Paige suggested, brushing her hand over the front of his jeans. "You had a long day. Let me take care of you." She quickly kissed him, trailing kisses along his jaw, before settling her lips on his neck, feeling triumphant once his hand moved to tangle his fingers in her hair.

"I want to do things right. Take you out on a date. A real date. Hold your hand in public."

"Mike that's sweet, but we're not in public, although if that's a thing for you, it'd be kind of exciting to wonder if someone was watching us. We can talk about that." Paige could see his resolve weakening, she needed to go in for the kill. She walked around him, like she was stalking her prey and when Mike turned to face her, she shoved him against the wall and undid his belt, before sinking to her knees. She looked up at him, daring him to push her way.

Mike looked down at her, "You're not taking no for an answer, are you?"

"I can be pretty persuasive." She started unzipping his jeans, keeping her eyes on his. "You can take me out to breakfast tomorrow. That counts as a date. I'll even let you hold my hand. Let me make it up to you for being so difficult."

Mike pulled her to her feet and kissed her hard, before pushing down on her shoulder, signalling that he wanted her back on her knees. "Persuade me."

THE END