A/N : Yes, I know I am moving at the speed of a snail, but you know what? I'm actually proud of that. (grins) It's just that I usually can't write this...I always write the 'reunite!fast!' type of story.
But I promise that the next chapter (if you still want one) will be screaming 'PROGRESS!!'.
XO
PS : Please review?
When the sun sets around me
My daydreams confound me
And the long night surrounds me
You turn me around.(Aqualung)
The yellow headlights cut through the darkness of yet another backroad that they were driving, and the moon cast a soft glow over the treetops. It was 2.32 am and Michael had been up all night.
"Michael, I think you should call it a night." Her worried eyes rested on his worn face, seeing the evident exhaustion playing around his handsome features.
He shook his head decidedly. "I can't...It's still too far."
"So?" Sara shrugged with a slight smile. "I'll drive."
Flashback
He stared at her for a good ten –fifteen – thirty minutes,then urged himself to get up before she would awaken and come to the conclusion that she'd made a big mistake. Before she'd shake her head of sleep and then of utter horror.
He unwound his fingers from her hair and slipped away from her body, moving to the bathroom. Michael studied his own expression in the bathroommirror for a few minutes, before he heard her scream his name in fear.
Immediately rushing out to the bedroom, he raised his brows at her. She gave him a crooked smile. "I thought something had happened to you."
He glanced at her, then trained his eyes back on the road. "It's too dangerous. Besides, you wouldn't know where to go."
She laughed, and the sound stirred something in him. Something that would best be left slumbering. All his feelings, unreturned..He couldn't think of it. "You're not one of those men who are convinced women can't drive, navigate or park, are you?"
A small smile slipped out. "I wouldn't think of it... But Sara, I can't stop driving and I certainly can't sleep."
She chuckled. "You can't sleep...listen, I'm not asking you to fall into a coma, I'm just asking for the wheel."
He bit the insides of his lip, knowing that Sara could be damn stubborn if she had her eye on something. A warm hand was placed on his shoulder, and her voice leaned in, closer to his ear. "Doctor's orders."
Michael playfully sighed. "Yes, doctor."
"Now, be a nice boy, pull over and gimme the keys."
For a moment, it seemed if they were just a man, and a woman, determined to make it to their holidaydestination. Michael was a good boy, and he pulled over, tossing Sara the keys over the hood of the car. She caught them expertly and sat behind the wheel, letting her fingers glide over the places Michael's long digits had gripped. When he got in, next to her, she turned to him with a soft smile, and quietly ordered him to "Sleep.".
He shook his head. "I told you, I can't."
"Michael, I told you that I could take care of it, now stop behaving like an idiot and catch up on some needed sleep." Her hair flew around her head, showing him that she felt that he was, in fact, a complete idiot. As if he needed a reminder...
"It's not that." Smiling at the way her brow furrowed and her hair was tucked behind her ear, he continued to explain. "I just can't sleep anymore. Haven't slept in about...two months, a week and six days." She looked as if she pitied him, and he couldn't stand it. He shrugged. "It's no big deal."
A smile fluttered across her face. "Do you know what my mother used to do when I couldn't sleep?" The tenderness in her voice was unmistakeable, and it made Michael wonder if maybe he was wrong about her feelings for him. But, no – she'd said what she'd said, hadn't she?
Watch as fingertips touchAnd the life floods in. (Aqualung)
Sara leaned in and pressed her fingertips to Michael's and travelled them along his upperarms, towards the crook of his neck. There, they rested for a few minutes, working circles.
"Close your eyes." Her voice whispered next to his eyes.
He, the good boy he was, closed them and yet saw her face clearly etched on the inside of her eyes. She was wearing that concerned expression she sometimes got. Her fingers, meanwhile, were making warmth flood through his veins and it was the best feeling he'd ever had. Even if it wasn't love, at least it was something like it.
She smiled when she heard his breathing even out. Mission accomplished.
Please, she silently begged him, Michael, please understand that this isn't something I just – do for anyone.
Sara thought of her mother and how kind she had been to her. She smiled. Her mother would have really liked Michael : a handsome, curtious young man with a warrant for federal crimes. Shaking her head, Sara watched the road ahead.
He woke up by the sound of her singing. Letting out a smile, he kept his eyes closed, hoping to stay in this reality forever. The reality where she was singing for him, some corny song along with the radio.
But it wasn't meant to be. "'Morning, Michael. I know you're awake and laughing at my pathetic excuse for singing, so no need to pretend anymore."
His eyelids fluttered open and her breath caught when the pure chrystal orbs connected with hers in the soft morninglight.Sitting himself up, he yawned and stretched his body in the close confinement of the car. "I wah-an't laughing at you."
She rolled her eyes and huffed a laugh. "Right."
"Damn," he said, "I haven't slept this good in a long time." His eyes tried to connect with hers, and did. "Thanks."
Sara smiled brightly. "Don't mention it."
"So," he continued, "where are we?"
She hummed. "Open up the map for me, will ya?" Her finger trailed the roads and finally rested on a small spot. "We're here."
Michael's eyes widened. "Wow – you've done good."
She grinned and pretended to look hurt for a second. "Did you ever doubt it?"
"Never." His voice was so soft that she had to keep herself from kissing him right there and then. But she didn't. She couldn't. Even though they'd had two or three good days, it would still be too soon.
She just hoped that he was beginning to get the message.
So? What did you think?
XO
