Hello! And happy Boxing day! I forgot to thank lakergirl4life for encouraging this. I'm not really proud of this, since I haven't had time to give it a second and third read, but here you go. I also forgot to say this takes place after Season 1 and well, obviously Mike chose to stay in Graceland over going to DC ;) Thanks to all those who reviewed, favorite and read! Enjoy!

-xo, Mel

Paige Arkin was a caligirl. She was used to beaches, surfing, sun and occasional rainstorms, especially at this time of the year. She hated what she wasn't used to.

And right now she was hating herself for getting involved with this.

"I told you it'd be freezing out here, Paige. I don't know why you're even complaining." Mike told her, as he kept his eyes fixed on the road.

Their plane had landed in Arlington at 11AM and they had spent two hours stuck in the Christmas traffic to get to his house, which was only 40 minutes away from the airport: it hadn't been a smart move flying in on the 24th, seeing as they were both beyond stressed and tired of being closed up for so long in the SUV they had rented.

Paige rolled her eyes.

"But you didn't tell me it'd be this cold. I mean, snow?! Really?! How am I supposed to survive that?"

She hugged herself, rubbing furiously at the sleeves of her brand new coat - it was beyond Mike's knowledge how a person could own so many clothes, yet not even one good, warm coat. Or anything that resembled appropriate clothes for a trip out in the cold mountains. Surely, she had been out of California sometimes, right?

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Are you trying to make me say something cheesy? As in 'don't worry babe, you're hot enough to warm both of us up'or something like that?"

Paige looked daggers at him, before a tense silence took over the car. Both of them trying to hold their laughs back. Giving up, she let it out, holding her stomach. Mike followed soon after.

"Jeeze, Mike! That was the worst cheesy compliment I've ever heard!"

He squeezed the steering wheel into his hands, trying to calm himself down a bit, and briefly glanced at her. He nodded.

"Yeah, it was!"

"You could've just said I always look good, even in these suffocating clothes." She reached under her coat, scratching her lower belly. "And itching sweaters. Damn it!"

"Don't - don't do that, it'll only get worse. Trust me, I know." Mike's laugh faded into a smile, as he indicated that he was turning and pulled into a narrow road that ended uphill; terraced houses at both sides. "Many years of experience…" He trailed off, as his eyes adjusted to the Christmas lights blinding him over his window shield: he struggled to keep the car on going, due to the slippery ice on the asphalt.

Paige sat up straight, examining the grey and white street outside. "Is this your neighborhood? Where you grew up?"

Mike nodded, silently. She took into his features: his face was calm, almost quite resigned to the whole situation. Like he had to be there, but didn't really wish to. And yet, she had thought he missed the East coast.

There was something he wasn't telling her, judging by the way he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel; the music on the radio turned down so low it felt like a distant melody. Suddenly, he pointed at a building on the left side of the road.

"That's my old high school." He confessed. Paige smiled: it was a plain, grey structure that resembled the headquarters back in LA. Maybe he was destined to become an FBI agent, after all.

"It seems like a nice place."

"Oh no, trust me. It isn't. It's just like any other high school, if not worse." Mike hastily said, giving her a side glance.

Nodding, she took into the bare trees covered in snow in the playground they had just passed. She could clearly see a 5 year old Mike Warren running around, playing with his small friends. Chasing 'bad' boys and 'arresting' candy dealers.

She smiled, as he sped up, ready to take them uphill.

"You live at the end of the road?" Paige asked, sinking into her seat to get more comfortable.

Mike nodded, his eyes glued on the road in front of him. She snorted.

"Are you going to be like this for the rest of the week? I need to know stuff you supposedly told me as your girlfriend; or are you purposely sabotaging this so you can go back to LA? Might as well have said no in the first place."

Crossing her arms, she stubbornly stared at him. He looked at her with the corner of his eyes, sighing.

"I'm sorry," he laid his hand on her left knee. "There's just not much to say. I had a life here that doesn't belong to me anymore and that's it."

Paige nodded, skeptically. "Well, tell me about your family then? Who I'm going to meet, what they do, all the 'nothing but great things I've heard from you'?"

She saw Mike biting the inside of his cheek and her ears perked up: he was definitely hiding something. Grabbing his hand that rested on her knees, she dramatically got into his face and gulped, faking shock. "NO! Johnny was right? You came out of an experiment?!"

Mike rolled his eyes, sending her an annoyed glance.

"Funny, Paige. Really funny." He fake laughed, pushing on the gas pedal as he felt the SUV sliding backwards. Paige held onto the door handle.

"My mom's a retired nurse at the local hospital, her name's Patricia. My dad's an engineer, he worked in a private company in DC - used to travel a lot. His name's Derek, but he doesn't really talk; he was barely at home anyway throughout all my life here, so you won't hear from him that much. I have two brothers and one sister-"

Paige's face broke into a smile, pinching his cheek and cutting his words off.

"Aww, you're a big bro!" She exclaimed. Mike cringed, prying her hand from his face.

"More like a lil' bro. To all of them!" He said the last word with force, as he caught Paige's wrist in the air, to stop her from pinching his cheek again: he was starting to think she had a thing for cheeks, because of the amount of times she'd done that to him and almost everybody else in the house.

"You're the baby!" She chuckled, clapping her hands in a mocking manner. Mike hid a smile.

"Yep. Mascot of the house - just like at Graceland." He murmured, resuming his briefing on the background of his family. "Eric is a bus driver, married with two kids and a third on the way. His wife's name's Vanessa. He's the oldest. Then there's my sister, Mary. She's a flight assistant, she travels a lot. She was living with some pilot dude at some point - I think his name was Steve? And then there's Greg, he's five years older than me. I don't know exactly what he's doing right now. Probably getting wasted every night with a different girl."

There was something weird in his voice when he talked about his family. It wasn't shame, no; and it wasn't arrogance either - he sure seemed to be the only one among them to have a 'special' job, but as humble as Mike was, he wouldn't rub that in their faces.

It was more like melancholy and resignation, as if he really thought he didn't belong into his family anymore. She was about to ask him about that, when he suddenly turned left, pulling into a neatly shoveled driveway.

"We're here," he said, avoiding her eyes: he was staring at the house in front of him. A brown, three story victorian house, with wooden carvings decorating the white windows and porch. It was half covered in snow, but Paige could clearly see its beauty: it was a typical dream house, where you would want to build a family and have your children running around, giggling and playing. She smiled, another image of a young Mike flashing into her mind. Judging from what she was looking at right now, she perfectly understood why he had been brought up as such a good guy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud clack of her door: she was so caught up into her reflections that she hadn't realized Mike had got out of the car and walked to the other way to open her door. 'Golden boy', she thought, grinning. She took his extended hand, hopping out.

"Thanks!" Patting his cheek, Paige laced her fingers through his, trying to ignore the brief spark she felt when he flashed her his charming smile and tugged her along with him.

She liked how easily Mike could jump from showing one emotion to another; they'd always make fun of him because of that, but deep down they all envied this side of him. She couldn't help but think about how smooth and warm his hands were, comparing them to all those casual men she usually hooks up with. It felt nice; he felt nice.

When they reached the doorstep though, his grip tightened on her hand. Looking back at him, she noticed his tense figure: he was staring right ahead of him, but his jaw was clenched tight and his back was stiff.

"Hey," she whispered, locking eyes with him. "I'm here," she gave him a small, reassuring smile.

He nodded, nervously, right before the door opened. Mike licked his lips and put on the best smiling face he had.

"Hi mom."

X

Paige was never going to forget that squealing sound, nor the blow she had felt when Mike had been practically snatched from her; their hands snapping away from each other's. She took a step back, surprised, as a nice, blonde woman pulled him towards her chest, throwing herself at him.

"Mikey!" She screamed, her arms squeezing the life out of him. Mike chuckled.

Paige crossed her arms, stepping aside from the scene: she could clearly see how Mike had missed this woman; he had been bomb rushed by her over expansive personality, but the way he held her in his arms and his loving strokes at her hair showed perfectly how much he cared for her.

"Mom… mom! I can't breathe!" He kept chuckling, slightly pulling away.

"Sorry," the woman half released him, to dry her eyes. Mike touched her cheek, smiling.

Paige's heart clenched at the scene.

"I can't believe you're home!"

Chuckling, he gave her another hug. He murmured something into her ear that made her laugh and pull away instantly, slapping his chest: the smile on Mike's face was indescribable. He held her hands for a sec, before he stepped back to take Paige's hand he had been teared away from minutes before.

"I'd like you to meet somebody…" he trailed off, winking at the young woman beside him. He turned back to his mom, pulling Paige closer to him and resting a hand on the middle of her back. She smiled kindly at the older woman, strangely feeling self conscious: his mother was perfect. Yes, she was a middle aged woman, but her face was beyond beautiful. She had beautiful, bright blue eyes and full lips, just like Mike's: now she got whom he had inherited his looks from.

"Mom, this is Paige." Looking down at her with a mischievous stare that almost made her laugh, Mike smirked smugly. "My girlfriend."

"Hi, Mrs Warren. It's a pleas-" She didn't get to finish her greeting that she was tore away from Mike just like he had been moments before: his mom engulfed her into a big hug, rubbing furiously at her back.

She could feel Mike snickering behind her. 'I'm going to kill him', she thought.

"What's with the Mrs? Call me Patricia, dear!" Paige awkwardly patted her back, forcing a smile: it's not like she didn't appreciate the sudden burst of affection, she simply wasn't used to this.

When Patricia released her, she caressed her face for a brief moment and took her hands in hers, taking a step back to get a full glance at her.

Paige was definitely feeling self-conscious right now.

"You didn't tell me she was this pretty, Mikey!" She scolded him, patting Paige's hands. "Oh my God, she's stunning!"

Mike laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head. Paige giggled childishly, putting on her best girly facade.

"That's what I tell her everyday, mom." He cheekily said, knowing full well that the DEA agent was probably trying hard not to roll her eyes.

"You better do, son! Come on in, everybody's here already. Let's introduce her to the rest of the family!"

As Mike's mom turned her back to them, Paige punched him in the side; the blow making him silently yelp out in pain.

'What?' He mouthed.

'Stop it!' She mouthed back, following the woman.

She took into the interior of the house: it was just like she had previously imagined. Sober, but full of knick-knacks accumulated over the years. On the left wall, right next to the door, she could see tons of family portraits and certificates.

As she passed the self portraits of each member of the family, she wondered which one belonged to Mike; although, she could swear she had recognized his unmistakable, magnetic eyes that could make any girl swoon. Paige herself had been struck by the electric baby blues the first time they had met, but he didn't have to know that.

As they reached the entrance to the main living room, where she could hear many voices and laughs, Mike yelled back at them: she turned around, yet his mom didn't seem to mind. It was probably an old habit of his that belonged to his old life, like he had said before.

"You go, mom! I'm going to bring the luggage in first!"

Paige's eyes widened and she shook her head at him, motioning with her hand to join her instantly: she was the one doing a favor to him; if she had to be eaten alive by his relatives, he had to stay by her side.

Mike grinned sheepishly at her, puckering his lips and sending her an air kiss. He quickly turned around, running back out before she could march towards him and drag him inside.
'Dick.' She swore in her mind and joined his mother who was waiting for her with a sweet smile plastered on her lips.