Work Text:
Paige didn’t know what she was thinking when she dialed Mike’s number. She just got back from dinner with the others, and it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right because Mike wasn’t there. Mike was in D.C doing his new job, while the others’ were stuck in California without him. No, scratch that. They were stuck in Graceland without him.
Paige remembers Johnny talking about that dumb bounce house again, ‘God, he has to let that go.’ She thought quietly. She remembers Jakes making some sarcastic remark at Johnny, and how Charlie was telling them to ‘Shut up because nobody wants to hear about the bounce house ever again.’ But what she didn’t remember was Mike being there, because he wasn’t.
She forgot she dialed Mike’s number, till she heard the ringing in her ear. She was thinking way too much about the past, and not of the present, or the future. ‘The least you can do it pick up.’ Paige mumbled, picking at a piece of lint on her shirt. Having returned to her room after they got back, she was alone. Alone, and maybe a little out of it from the wine she had at the restaurant.
“Hello?” Mike answered his phone, sounding tired and half asleep. Shit. She forgot about the time difference, while it was only 11 PM in California, it was 2 AM in Washington D.C.
“Shit, Did I wake you, I’m so sorry,” She rushed out, turning red. Thank god Mike wasn’t here to see that, Paige checked to herself.
“Paige? What no, it’s fine. I’m good.” Of course Mike was good. It’s not like he was going to tell her off for waking him up, even though he was surprised at getting a call this late in the night.
“Oh. Good.” Paige mentally kicked herself. Why had she even called Mike in the first place? Oh that’s right, she missed him.
“I’m sorry but is there a reason why you’re calling this late? Did something happen? I-“
“What, no. Everything’s fine actually.” Lies, “Everyone just got back from dinner if you wanted to know.”
“Oh? Was it fun?” Mike asked, forgetting about how sleepy he was, forgetting about how late it was. Because, Paige called him, and he always made time for Paige.
“Somewhat, I don’t know, it was different.” Pinching her leg to get a hold of herself, she took a deep breath. ‘Why am I telling him this?’ She couldn’t help it. She couldn’t stop herself.
“Different? Why?” He sounded amused, ‘different’, he thought to himself. ‘Nothing was ever different at Graceland.’
‘Different, because you weren’t there.’ She wanted to say, but it became choked in the back of her throat. “I don’t know, it just was, like we were missing someone.” Hopefully he got the hint because she was too scared to say it herself.
“Oh.” Was all he said, it felt different in D.C, too. There wasn’t Johnny there being a sarcastic fuck, like always. There wasn’t Briggs there being mysterious and leading. There wasn’t Charlie, or Jakes. It was just him and a few friends he made on the job.
“Yeah,” Paige carried on, “I miss you Mike.” That sounded selfish. “Everyone misses you, but I miss you the most.” Correcting herself, Paige leaned back and rested on her bed.
“Paige, I-“ Clearing his throat, he continued. “I miss you, too. I miss everyone actually, but I miss you the most.” He didn’t want to sound ignorant, because he did miss everyone, but he just missed Paige a little more.
“Yeah.” Was all she said, she didn’t know what to say actually, she didn’t think he’d even answer his phone, so she didn’t have a script planned.
“Do you miss it, though? Graceland, I mean.” She didn’t know why she was asking this, she just needed something to say.
“Yeah.” Was all Mike said. Just a simple ‘yeah’, like how simple it was when he first came to Graceland, first came into Paige’s life. But then everything started to become crazy, with Briggs and Bello. But, he always made time for Paige, because Paige was simple just like him.
“I’m gonna go, I think I need to sleep, I’m exhausted. It was nice talking to you again, Mike, I missed it.” Paige could feel her eyes well up with unshed tears.
“Of course, call me again sometime, I missed it too.” Mike was about to hang up when he heard her voice again.
“Wait,” She didn’t know where she was going with this. “You’ll come back though, right? To visit at least, I mean.” ‘It’s the least he could do, since leaving me – since leaving everyone.’ she thought to herself.
“Yeah, I’ll come visit sometime, don’t let anyone take my room.” He joked, trying to lighten the thick tension that could be felt through the phone.
“I won’t, or I’ll try not too.” She tried to play along because that’s what friends do, they play along with each others jokes. “I’m gonna go for sure now, bye Mike.”
“Yeah.” Was all he said, because it was simpler than saying good bye. With the click of his finger, he hung up and tossed his phone back on his night stand, and laid back down, hoping to have dreams of Graceland and his friends, but mostly dreams of Paige.