The car ride was silent - not a peaceful silence either, this silence was filled with anger and tension. Michael focused his eyes on the road, occasionally glancing over at his wife, who was staring out the window, sitting on the edge of her seat, as far away from him as she could get in the enclosed space. He sighed, turning his attention back to the darkness outside, illuminated only by the car's headlights.
It was just after midnight when they arrived home and Sara wasted no time in pulling off her seat belt and bolting for the front door, her keys already in her hand. Michael sat in the car for a moment, his head leaning against the steering wheel as he tried to brace himself before going inside.
Just as he stepped inside the house, he heard a door slamming upstairs. He slowly made his way up the stairs, coming to stand outside of their closed bedroom door. There was a pillow and a blanket that Sara had undoubtedly thrown on the floor seconds earlier. Stepping over then, he knocked on the closed door. When Sara didn't answer he tried the doorknob. Locked.
"Sara? Please open the door."
"I don't want to talk to you right now," she shouted, angrily.
"Sara, please. Just let me explain," Michael pleaded.
"There's nothing to explain. I saw what happened!"
"No, Sara, believe me. It wasn't what it looked like."
The door opened abruptly and Sara stood, arms crossed in front of her as tears spilled over her cheeks. Michael wanted so badly to wipe them away, but he knew that was probably not the wisest decision right now.
"Believe you?" she scoffed. "I've been cheated on before, Michael. I'm not going down that road again."
"Sara, I didn't-" Michael started, but she cut him off.
"I honestly can't believe I didn't see this coming. After all, our entire relationship started on one big lie." The look on Michael's face almost made her regret saying them. She knew how much it would hurt him, but right now, that's what she wanted. To make him feel as much pain as he was causing her.
He stood, speechless for a moment before his expression changed. It wasn't apologetic anymore - he was angry. "You know what, Sara? I did lie to you; the beginning of our relationship was full of lies and secrets. I didn't want to lie to you back then, but I did it, because I had to. I can't take any of those lies back and I've accepted that. But now? After everything we've been through, do you honestly think I would throw it all away from some stupid affair? Is that really what you think of me?"
"I saw you kissing her!" Sara screamed. "Don't you dare try to deny it. I'm not going to stand here and let you try to trick me into thinking I'm the one in the wrong here!" With that, she moved to slam the door in his face but Michael was faster, pushing through the door and into the bedroom.
"Get out," Sara said, gritting her teeth.
"Not until you let me explain." Michael said evenly.
"I don't want to hear it," Sara said, stalking towards the door to leave. Michael firmly grasped her arm, stopping her.
"DON'T TOUCH ME." Sara screamed, furiously trying to rip her arm out of his grasp. But Michael refused to let go, tightening his hold on her. "Michael, you're hurting me!"
Michael immediately loosened his grip, but still would not let go. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Let. Me. Go."
Michael shook his head. "No."
They glared at each other, willing the other to back down, but neither was willing to go without a fight.
"You know what, Michael? I really don't want to hear it. In fact, I don't even want to look at you right now," Sara said, her voice oddly calm. "So please, for my sake, just take your stuff and get the fuck out."
Michael stood there, shocked by her words. Never, in time that he'd known her, had he thought it would come down to this. And to think, she wanted him gone over something that wasn't even his fault - he wasn't having it. So, he lifted her up, ignoring her shouts and and her fist constantly knocking against his chest, he carried her outside.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Sara shouted, furiously.
"Taking what's mine and leaving," Michael replied, evenly.
Sara stood, dumbfounded for a moment before her expression hardened. "I'm not yours anymore. Take that stupid blonde with the big breasts, she seems like she'd love to be yours."
"I don't want the blonde, I already have you. You are, and you always will be mine. And vice versa." Michael replied.
Sara scoffed and opened her mouth to respond, but Michael cut her off.
"Sara, she was drunk and apparently she thought I was her boyfriend. She kissed me and I was about to push her off when you came back from the bathroom. That's it. I didn't even know her," Michael said.
Sara pondered over this before responding. "How do I know you're not lying."
Michael stepped closer to her, looking earnestly into her eyes. "Do you really think I would be stupid enough to hurt the one person who means the most to me? Sara, you're the only one I ever want to be with. Not some drunk girl at a work party."
Sara didn't say anything, thinking about what he was telling her. It made sense, and she wanted so desperately to believe him, but she kept thinking about her past experiences, how much pain it had caused her to find out the men she believed were just lying pigs. But, looking at Michael, her husband, the guy who had risked his own life for hers on countless occasions - he wouldn't put her through that, would he? She knew he wouldn't. Which means she also owed him a huge apology.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking up at him. "I-I should have let you explain. I'm so sorry, Michael."
Michael sighed in relief; part of him had been terrified that she still wouldn't believe him. "It's alright, I know how it looked and I probably wouldn't have handled the situation any better if the roles had been reversed."
"But still, I should have at least let you explain," Sara said, fresh tears forming in her eyes. "Michael, I'm so sorry." She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in her chest. She felt his arms wrap around her, cocooning her in his warmth. His hand ran up and down her back and she squeezed him tighter, guilt eating away at her very core as she sobbed into his shirt.
"Sara?" Michael said, after a moment, stepping back a little so he could look at her face.
"Yeah?" Sara asked, sniffling and rubbing her puffy eyes.
"I think the worst part of this is that you think I wouldn't plan an affair out well enough to not get caught. I mean, I've planned three prison escapes, don't you have even a little faith that I could plan an affair?" Michael said, his serious expression turning into a grin.
Sara slapped his arm as she unexpectedly burst out laughing. "Don't get cocky, Scofield," she murmured. "That's how most people get caught."
Michael chuckled, pulling her back into his arms. "I'm just saying...I'd like to think I have a little more tact than that..."
"As long as you don't try to prove it," Sara said, shoving him playfully. Her expression turned serious once more, "I really am sorry, Michael. I should have at least let you explain. And I really wish I could take back the things I said."
At this, she felt Michael's body tense. He paused for a beat and then sat down on the porch steps, pulling her down with him and then asked, "I know you've said in the past that you're not mad about it anymore but, I have to ask, are you still angry about how our relationship started?"
Sara sighed. "Honestly, I'm not. I know that you did what you did because you had to, not because you wanted to."
Michael watched her for a moment, "and you're completely okay with it?"
Sara hesitated, "I wouldn't say I'm okay with it...but I've accepted it, and it's in the past and we've come a long way from then. I honestly didn't mean what I said...I just..." her face turned red in embarrassment as she continued, "I wanted to hurt you the way I thought you were hurting me."
Michael wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "Do you...do you ever..." he sighed, briefly squeezing his eyes closed before continuing, "Do you ever think about the past and wonder if you made the right choice in agreeing to marry me?"
Without hesitation, Sara stated, "No." She shifted so she was looking into his eyes as she said the next part, "Honestly, Michael, I have never loved anyone as much as I love you. I would do anything for you and you've proven over and over that you'd do anything for me. I have absolutely no doubt that you're the only guy that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. I mean, I know it may not have seemed like a little while ago but, even through what I just put you through, you showed me that you're the only man I could ever want."
Michael smiled, cupping her cheek in his palm before leaning in to kiss her. Sara pulled back after a moment. "Do...Do you ever have doubts about us?"
Michael smiled. "Nope. It's not everyday you find a badass woman to take down a corrupt organization that's a threat to the world." Sara laughed, nudging him playfully. "But seriously. There isn't a single person I've met that understands me as well as you do. Being around you makes me feel like a better person and I honestly didn't know that I could love someone as much as I love you. You're basically all that's kept me sane throughout everything and I know I couldn't have accomplished any of the things that I have over the past few years without you."
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Sara replied.
"I know," Michael replied. "But I really hope we never have to do anything like that ever again."
"Agreed."
"Now," Michael said, slowly getting to his feet and holding his arms out to Sara, "how about we go inside. It's..." he looked at his watch, "a little after 1am, and if your shivering is any indication, it's time to get inside the warm blankets that are waiting for us."
"Sounds like a plan," Sara said, taking his outstretched hands and hoisting herself up. She wrapped an arm around Micheal's waist and leaned into his side as they made their way inside their warm, cozy home.
So I decided that if I'm going to be writing pages and pages for school, I should totally be able to write some stuff for myself, right? This probably isn't my best work but I hope you all like it :)
