Author's Note: Right about now would be a conveniently timed commercial break to keep this T rated
"Alright, I gotta go." Mike buttons up his shirt and leans in to give Paige a casual kiss on the lips.
It was the sort of kiss a man might give a woman as he headed to work in the morning after fifty years of marriage. Paige didn't think she was ready for anything like marriage, but she wouldn't mind if Mike made that sort of kiss a habit.
"Look I'd love to stay but, Bello-" Mike tries to explain.
"No need to apologize. I get it. Go." Paige says, still flustered from what just happened between them.
"Look it was really fun. No. Wait, that came out wrong. I mean, you are… I really…" Mike is digging himself deeper into a hole. He struggles to find the right words and put on his shoes.
Giving up on the shoes he stands up straight in a huff. He runs his hand through his hair, frustrated with himself for not being more smooth. "Look, I want you to know, when I came in here I didn't plan on this. Not that I didn't want it to happen. What I am trying to say, very inarticulately, is…"
"Mike!" Paige grins, taking him by the belt loops and kissing him on the lips to shut him up. She pulls away and assures him, "It's fine. Really. Go."
"Really?" He snakes his arms around her waist and kisses her again.
"Really." She promises. "Go." All their words seem to be punctuated with kisses now. He'd never leave at this rate.
"Ok." He leans in and kisses her long and sweet, trying to tell her all the things he can't find the words to say.
"Mmm… Ok, now I really have to go." He groans, forcing himself to pull away from her. He pauses to give her one last shy smile, before heading out her bedroom door. "Bye."
"Bye." Paige sits on her bed grinning in disbelief, trying to process what just happened and calm the butterflies in her stomach.
"Listen this Bello thing might take all night, but will you have breakfast with me tomorrow?" Mike pops his head back into her room, and Paige jumps in surprise at his sudden return.
"Is this like when you say 'breakfast' but you really mean a freakishly early run?" Paige is not falling for that again.
"No, this is like when I say 'breakfast' but I really mean… a date." He smiles shyly at her, leaning up against her doorframe. "Like we go out somewhere just the two of us. You dress up. I pay."
"Is this an East Coast thing?" Paige raises her eyebrow skeptically at him.
"What? Undercover agents don't date?" Mike challenges.
"You do realize you've already gotten what most guys go on the date for?" Paige gestures to the rumpled sheets on her bed.
"Yeah, but I want to anyways." He insists. Holding his breath in anticipation of her answer, he asks again, "So what do you say? Breakfast?"
"Yeah. Sure. Breakfast." Paige smiles back at him shyly.
"Great! Good." He says, looking relieved. "Well, I guess I'll see you then. Seven AM. "
"Seven AM?!" Paige shrieks, but he's already gone. She jumps to her feet, and chases after him.
"Nine is a far more civilized hour!" She yells after him as he disappears down the hall.
"Eight then!" He yells up the stairs before she hears the front door shut.
"Seven AM my ass." She mutters to herself, a huge grin on her face. She skips down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"What are you looking so happy about, Sunshine?" She whirls around to see Briggs standing there, looking at her suspiciously.
"Who me? Nothing." Paige says innocently, but she can't wipe the grin from her face.
"Fine. Keep your secrets woman." Briggs concedes a little too quickly. "Hey, have you seen Johnny around?"
"I think I heard him say something about laundry day. So, my guess is he's that thing you smell upstairs." Paige smiles at Briggs, reaching around him to grab a water bottle from the refrigerator.
"Thanks. Charlie's not with him by any chance? Do you know?" Briggs asks.
"I don't think so, but if you see her, ask her if she wants to go shopping."
"Will do." Briggs agrees distractedly, leaving Paige in search of Johnny.
Paige grabs an apple to eat on the go. She has to go shopping for a new outfit, because she's having breakfast with Mike tomorrow.