A/N: Hey everybody!! I'm so glad you chose to read this story! (I probably should stay on topic if I don't want you to decide to read an other story! ) So, this story was insipred by a line that Sara said to Katie back in season1. She was surprised that a guy like Michael, who lives in her neighborhood, could be locked up in prison. So I took that idea and... voila! I already apologize for the grammatical horrors you'll find in it, but I didn't really want to wait for a beta-reader to correct it. I just wanted to post it here! :P So, uhm... enjoy! Probably see ya at the bottom!
SPECIAL THANKS: I just wanted to say thanks to Anna, my "twin sister", who gave me the idea to turn this story from a one-shot to a multichap story. I don't know if she will ever read this, but she was the very first person who decided to waste her time by reading my stories so... Thanks sis! Can't never thank you enough! And well, I wanted to thank another girl, Nady, who showed me several times how much she appreciates my style. She would probably never read this either, but hey, I like to pay my dues! :)
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I still don't own Prison Break nor its characters... They all belong to FOX.
It was one of the hottest Aprils on record, when Sara decided to finally move in and turn her life in something better. She decided to look for a new apartment in one of the quietest areas of Chicago, because all she needed now was peace.
All her life was in those few closed boxes in the boot of her car, the same car that just stopped in front of her new house.
Still in her car, she was mesmerized by the sight of it. The house had two floors and the only thing going on her mind now, wad the she had to change those horrible yellow curtains. The colour of her new house reminded her of cream and the big front door was of a light brown that Sara loved.
"It's quite anonymous." She thought the first time she saw it and it was because of that that she decided to take it. "As the daughter of the Governor, it's impossible to walk in the street without having everybody's eyes on you! That's exactly what I need!" Said to herself while coming out of her car. She throws a quick glance to her house, and then headed toward the boot of her car, to take those few boxes out.
"You chose a bad time to move in!" Said a voice behind her.
Sara quickly turns her head to see whose that voice was. In front of her there was a gorgeous guy with very short dark hair, wearing an expensive fawn suit and that had the most beautiful blue eyes she ever saw. "Well, you know what they say…" She said a little embarrassed. "Carpe diem! I was tired of waiting so… Here I am!" She smiled, getting her eyes slowly used to the sight of him in front of her.
"Well, then let me help you with those boxes!" He smiled her back, lifting the heaviest boxes. "Even though it looks to me that you're not staying here for long!" Said noticing that she hadn't many boxes with her.
"Well, actually I hope I'm moving in here for good!" A nervous smile appeared on her face. "But seriously, don't bother about these." Said pointing at the boxes he was holding. "They're not that heavy and you're wearing that expensive suit…" She pointed at it. "I could really feel horrible if it'd become dirty because of me!"
"The lady working at the laundry would be very thankful though!" He said with a smirk that made Sara suddenly feel comfortable. "Plus, it would give me an excuse to go home and wear something less… fancy? Anyway, where do you want me to put these?" Asked pointing at the boxes he was still holding.
"Oh right!" Sara said almost surprised by his question. Those blue eyes had on her the same effect a ball has on a kitty. "Actually in the house in front of you." Said few steps before him.
"Seriously?" He asked amused by the coincidence. "So you're the famous neighbour everybody's talking about!" He pointed his house, the one next to Sara's. "Feel free to come and ask for some salt whenever you want!" Smiled, few steps behind her.
They both laughed for that weird coincidence, while they were in Sara's leaving room. He left the boxes next to the couch, and then asked her: "So, if you don't wanna be known as the 'newbie' for the rest of your life, you should tell me your name. You know, I'm one of the most powerful people in here…" He tried to sound threatening, while a smirk appeared on his lips.
"Oh well, if you put it that way…" She said, pretending she was scared by his threat. "I'm Sara." She moved her hand toward him.
"I'm Michael. Michael Scofield." He said shaking her hand. "So you're a woman with no surname, uh? A lot of mystery surrounding you, I like it!" He said ironically.
"Tancredi." Sara said, letting go his hand against her will.
"I'm sorry, what?" He asked confused.
"Tancredi. Sara Tancredi." She explained. Where did her plan to stay anonymous go? That was the main reason that pushed her to give up her old, fancy apartment and now she told that guy, the one who lives next door, that her surname was Tancredi. The same surname the Governor had. Not a great move for a girl who wanted her life to be anonymous. And now, her punishment would have been a lot of questions about her father. "Well girl, you can only blame yourself for that!" Said the annoying voice in her head.
"Tancredi?" He asked curious, raising his eyebrows. "You mind me asking something?"
"No." She lied. "Of course not!" She lied again. She knew this moment would have come sooner or later and even though she preferred later, now she wanted this conversation to be over ASAP.
"Your last name…" Michael said, never moving his gaze from her brown eyes. "You think it has something to do with Italy?"
"Uhm…" Sara looked Michael with a surprised look. "Yeah, I think it does." She said chuckling.
"Hey, what's so funny?" He asked surprised by her reaction and experiencing how good it was to have her laugh filling his ears.
"Uhm, nothing." She giggled, pretending to be interested in something that was happening out of her house, so that she was not forced to look in those magnetic, deep, blue eyes. "It's just that, nobody has ever asked me that about my surname." She finally turned to look him in the eyes. "Actually I think you're the first!" She said laughing.
Sara could feel it, he wasn't an average guy. He had something different from all the guys that quickly entered and exited from her life in all those past years, leaving her nothing more than sad and lonely.
With Michael… Well, she wasn't sure yet, but she had a feeling she would have enjoyed to spend time with him, to have him around. "Girl, you've known him for 10 minutes. Take it slow!" The voice inside her head warned her. Sara knew the voice was right, but she couldn't help but feel that way about him.
"Well, you know. I like the idea of being a black sheep among all the white ones." He gently smiled to her. "So, how come you decided to live here?" He asked, trying not to sound annoying.
"Well, I looked for a quiet place and… voila!" Sara explained, tucking some of her tresses behind her ears.
"Well, unless you don't like old people, this is the right place!" He said serious.
"Oh, I can get used to them!" She laughed with him. "What about you?"
"I've always lived here with brother and my mother." He said, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. "I've been living here by myself, since my brother got married and my mother died.…" He took a deep breath. "I can't even think about living somewhere else, basically because my mother would never forgive me for leaving her old apartment!" Explained with a sad smile, remembering his mom.
"I'm sorry, Michael…" Sara said, gently brushing Michael's arm. Those were the only words that came out from her mouth, but the thankful smile on Michael's features, made her understand that he really appreciated them.
An embarrassed smile appeared once again on her lips. That was the side effect of having those blue, burning eyes once again focused on hers. She was forced to drop her eyes to her shoes, so Michael couldn't see how good she felt there, with him.
"Awesome!" She thought sarcastically. "The last thing I needed right now were these stupid butterflies in my stomach! I don't even know him and I already feel this way? C'mon girl, just take a deep breath…" She thought, trying to calm herself down.
"So, how about coming at my house and drink something?" He asked. "And if you're thinking to say no, let me remind you that your refrigerator is pretty much empty!" He said, sounding like he was blackmailing her.
"Thanks for making me remember that!" Sara said sarcastic. "But seriously, I don't really wanna bother you."
"What if I insist?" He teased.
"Oh well, in that case…" She smiled, following him outside.
The two quickly reached Michael's house.
"As they say, mì casa es tù casa! I think is a Spanish way to say 'make yourself comfortable'!" He quickly explained.
Sara was surprised that a guy could have such a tidy house! No underwear all over the place, no empty cans of coke on the table in the living room, no chips forgotten on the couch. Everything was simply perfect there. Well, she should have already understood that Michael was way better than the other guys she knew.
"So, what will you have? Coke, juice, beer…?" He asked while checking the things he had in his refrigerator.
"Beer?" She said with a smirk. "So you're one of those guys who invites a girl home just to get her drunk?" She asked laughing.
"Got me!" He said, pretending to be just busted.
"Coke sounds perfect, thanks." She smiled.
"Here!" He said giving her the coke. "So, how about a little tour of the house?" He suggested. She nodded.
"Great, follow me." He said with one of those smiled that Sara liked more and more. "So, uhm, this is the kitchen." They quickly entered and exited from the smallest room in the house. "This is the bathroom." He pointed the only room with blue walls and floor. "This is what my nephew calls the 'guest room'." Said smiling, while pointing the only room with a locked door. "This is my study." They entered in that room. Sara noticed the big desk in the middle of the room, with big sheets of paper on it and a tall library with all its bookshelves full of books. "And, well… This is my bedroom." He said a little embarrassed, showing her his room. Sara gave a quick glance and noticed a big double bed under a window, a desk with a laptop on it and a big, brown closet next to the bed. "And then, we're back to the living room." He said, ending their little tour of his house.
"Wow, my house will never be this perfect!" She said while sipping a bit of her coke.
"Just give it some time, you just moved in!" He told her with a sympathetic smile, while sitting next to her. "And if you need some help, all you have to do is nock on my door."
"Thank Michael." She nodded in agreement. Was a feeling of protection what she was feeling right now? Just hearing those words coming out from his mouth, knowing that he would be there to catch her if she falls, made her feel more confident. Safe. That was an almost unknown feeling for her, since she has spent most of her life fighting her own battles and demons all by herself.
"You mind me, leaving you here just a sec?" He asked her. "You know, gotta put something more comfortable on." Explained, seeing a quizzical look on her face. He would have changed in front of her if that wouldn't be so… inopportune? He liked to talk to her; finally he had someone of his age to talk to. He loved the old ladies living in his neighbourhood, but all they talked about was how they grandson never called them or how easy was to do a figure eight with their needles. He really loved 'em, but with Sara… Well, he couldn't give a logical reason to it, but with her everything just felt right.
"Oh sure! No problem!" She nodded.
He headed to his bedroom and few seconds later, while he was changing, he asked her. "Hey, you haven't told me yet what you do for living!"
Sara smiled noticing how shortly the silence between them lasted. "Oh, I'm a doctor. I work at the Chicago Medical Centre."
"A doctor uh? You never know when you might need one of them!" He joked.
"What about you?" She asked, still smiling for his last joke.
"Oh, I'm a structural engineer you know; I'm the guy who draws the blueprints and try to do it in a perfect way, or else…"
"Oh, now I understand what those huge pieces of paper on your desk were! Wow, great responsibility, isn't it?" She said, while her attention was caught by some pictures on a table.
"Oh well, I can pretty much say the same for you!" He joked reaching her in the leaving room. Now he was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, a white shirt with long sleeves under a blue polo shirt, that he was finishing to put on, and a pair of black Converse on his feet. "That's my mother." He told her, noticing the picture she was holding.
"Wow, she was very beautiful." A bit of sadness in her voice, while she was putting the picture back on the table.
"Well, I think that's pretty obvious since she had a son like me!" He joked, showing her his cocky side.
"Oh really?" She said blushing, amused by this side of him. "I gotta remember to spread the voice and tell everybody that the best thing of you is your humility!" She teased him.
"These are my brother Lincoln, his wife Veronica and their son LJ." He said, pointing at the picture next to the one of his mother.
"They look very happy." She said moving her gaze from the pictures to Michael. She was stunned of how gorgeous he could look with just a pair of old jeans and an average t-shirt on.
"Yeah, they're amazing and they really are as happy as they look." He smiled. "You know, they're a perfect match and I can't deny that sometimes I really envy them." He said bitter, biting his bottom lip. "They met when they were both kids and from that moment, they've always been inseparable. It was only a matter of time before they finally understood that, what was between them was something different from friendship." He explained with a smile. "Can't say I was that lucky!" He joked. "At least so far." He would have said, but he thought he would have sound so pathetic. He hated those people that, after 5 minutes of talking with someone, start to think that the girl in front of them is the right person, the one. He wasn't that type of guy. So why did he feel that way with Sara? Maybe it was because of the apricot smell of her hair? Or it was just the good smell of her porcelain skin? He shook his head, amused by the fact that, for not being that type of guy, he noticed a lot of things about her.
"I know." She smiled as she knew perfectly what he was talking about. "But I also know that is in everybody's destiny to meet the one, the soul mate. So, sooner or later, it will happen to you too." Said, looking like she was more trying to convince herself.
"You know, I'm pretty sure that my mom would have liked you!" Said, while a smirk appeared on his lips. "She was a fighter; she never gave up because she had faith. No matter what, she always had a smile on her face, sure that things would have worked out for us." He told her, with a bit of melancholy in his words.
For the first time since they met, there was an embarrassing silence in Michael's house.
"So, uhm, engineers too are allowed to wear something comfortable at work?" She teased him about what he was wearing.
"What?" He asked confused. Then, giving a quick glance to himself, smiled for her joke. "No, I'm done with work, for today. Actually I promised Linc and Vee that I would have stopped by for lunch."
"Oh, and you're late because of me, right?" She realized, looking at the clock next to Michael's TV. "I'm so sorry!" She apologized.
"No Sara, don't worry! I'm not late." He lied, giving a quick glance at his watch. Actually he would have already been at Linc's 10 minutes ago. "Linc will understand!" He thought.
"Well, thanks for everything." She said, while her cheeks slowly turned red. "The boxes, the coke, the little tour of your house…" She chuckled.
"Well, thank you for standing all that!" He teased. "Uhm, you wanna come?" He finally asked, after mumbling it for a few seconds. He regretted immediately that rush of confidence. "I mean, it looked to me that you hadn't nothing ready to eat so…" He tried to put it like he asked her to go with him because of all the moving in thing and not because he really wanted her to come and meet his family.
"Oh, don't worry about it Michael, I'll survive!" She joked, appreciating that Michael was worried about her. "Plus, I already have plans for lunch, you know with a friend of mine." She explained. "Katie." She felt the urgency to let him know that this friend was a woman, not a man. "But thanks." She chuckled, while laying on his hand the keys he was desperately looking for.
"Thanks!" He said, raising his eyebrows, surprised by that situation. It looked like she's known him since forever. "But you can't leave me like that!" He said pretending to scold her, while they were both coming out from his house. "How about dinner, tonight?" He asked, locking up the front door then turning his gaze on her face.
"I love pizza!"
"Sounds perfect. And this time I didn't have to insist!" He smiled.
"Oh well, let's just say that I can't really argue with your point!"
"Well, I have to thank my sister in law for that then." He said reaching his car. "So, pizza and movies at my house at… 9 'o clock?" He offered her his hand.
"Sounds perfect, but I'll choose the movie!" She responded, shaking Michael's hand.
"Sounds like a threat!" He teased her. "But it will be worth the risk." A mischievous grin appeared on his face. He quickly reached his car, while Sara was still thinking to the look on Michael's face.
"Thanks for not mentioning my father." She told him, before he could get into his car.
"Well, I don't judge anyone by their parents' actions or inactions." He said with a sympathetic smile before to get into the car. Before he started the engine, he threw, once again, a quick smile to her, noticing her waiving at him. He waived back, and then left.
Sara followed his car with her eyes 'till the car turned right. She shook her head smiling, while she covered her face with both hands. "Smart, kind, polite and… Gorgeous! I think that moving in here could turn out to be a more interesting than I ever thought!" She said to herself while going inside her house. "See you at 9 o'clock!" She finally said to herself, feeling once again all those fluttering butterflies in her stomach.
A/N: So, hope you guys liked the 1st chap! It will probably be a while before I'll post the second chap, 'cause I wrote it in Italian and I have to translate it before I can post it here (Well, d'uh! LOL!) So,uhm... No doubt this little baby will keep me busy for a while! LOL! Well, if you liked it... YAY ME!! But if you really liked it, then let me know with a comment, will ya?