Again a thousand thanks go to my beta reader Jen for all her help!
Enjoy!
"No! Don't do it!"
Andrew anxiously sat at the edge of his hospital bed watching the TV screen in the upper right corner of his room. On the screen was a dark haired vixen along with a dark haired man.
"Don't do it man, she's your half sister!" Andrew cried out to the fictitious TV character.
He watched in complete horror as the dark haired man closed off the gap between him and the woman and brought his lips down on hers. Andrew threw his hands up in the air and groaned. Suddenly the doorknob to his room began to turn. Andrew scrambled for the remote at his side but it slipped from his hands and clattered to the floor.
"Good morning," Sara said as she stepped inside.
She saw the remote control on the floor and reached down to pick it up. As she stood and handed the remote back to Andrew her head turned to the TV at the sound of small moaning.
Sara raised an eyebrow. "Are you watching a soap opera?" she asked as she turned to face him.
Andrew snatched the remote from her hand and quickly flipped the television off. He was turning red.
"No."
Sara smiled, trying to suppress a giggle. "Sure," she said sarcastically.
Andrew turned even redder. "Okay, fine. I was," he admitted, "but there's not much else to watch. This place has only like five channels."
Sara chuckled as she looked him over, doing her daily doctor routine. "Well most of our budget goes towards saving people's lives, not their entertainment wishes."
"What's the point in saving someone's life if they can't watch TV?"
Sara laughed again. "You're going to be leaving tonight anyway. Then you can watch whatever you want on your own TV. Soap opera or non-soap opera."
"Yeah," Andrew said, "I'm really happy to be finally getting out of this place. No offense, I like seeing you and Lindsey everyday, but I don't think I can stomach the Jell-O another day." Sara laughed at that. She knew what he meant. "You're coming tonight, right?"
Sara glanced at him as she continued his final check up. "To your 'Welcome home' party? Of course." She gave him a smile. "Both Lindsey and I will be there."
Andrew smiled back at her. "Great!" He then became quiet as Sara finished looking him over. It wasn't until Sara moved to mark notes in his file when he spoke up again, "Um Sara?"
"Yes?" Sara asked, not looking up from the paperwork.
"There's something I want to ask you about."
Sara tensed a little bit. "If it's about Mich-"
"It's not," Andrew interrupted her, "it's about me, actually."
Sara finally looked up at him. He looked flustered. If it's not about Michael, what could he want to ask her? And, was he beginning to blush?
Andrew played with the fabric of his hospital gown between his fingers. "Is it okay for me to... you know... in my condition?"
Sara raised a curious eyebrow at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "Excuse me?"
Andrew became even more flustered and his blush became a deeper shade of red. "You know, is it okay for me to you know with my leg in a cast?"
Sara blinked at him, not understanding, but then it hit her. She fought the smile that threatened to break out on her face. She decided to toy with him a little bit.
"No, I don't know, Andrew," she told him, "you're going to have to be direct with me. I'm not a mind reader."
Andrew couldn't take it anymore. "SEX SARA! Is it okay for me to have sex!" he yelled out, his face completely scarlet.
Sara chuckled at his outburst. She was sure anyone out in the hall had heard him, maybe even the entire hospital did. Andrew huffed at the way she was using him for amusement. He then calmed himself down.
"Well?" he asked, impatiently waiting for her answer.
Sara looked down at his file trying to hide the grin on her face and keep the small giggle from escaping her throat. She was feeling mischievous at the moment and decided to do something a bit evil. Sara feigned looking at his file, checking his condition, and then looked back up at him with the most serious face she could muster up in that moment.
"Actually Andrew," Sara began, "having sexual intercourse in your condition could very well cause severe complications ranging from paralysis from the waist down and in the worst case scenario even death." She added the last part for a more dramatic effect.
Andrew's eyes widened in horror and the color was completely drained from his face. Sara couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. It took only a moment for Andrew to realize that Sara was only joking.
"That was mean," he said, pouting, "you're as mean as the evil doctors in the soap operas."
"Sorry Andrew," Sara said stifling her giggles, "but the look on your face was priceless!"
---
"You're in a good mood today," Michael pointed out as he and Lily walked up to the hospital entrance.
Lily beamed. "How can I not be? Andrew's finally getting out of the hospital."
"And away from the peering eyes of doctors and nurses," Michael teased.
Lily slightly blushed as the two of them went through the automatic doors of the hospital. Michael chuckled as they walked down the hall, heading up to Andrew's room. It was their lunch break from work and they were going to spend it with him. The pair rounded a corner only for Michael to collide rather hard into someone.
"Oof!" the petite figure said as she lost her balance while papers scattered down in a shuffle to the floor.
Michael recovered and recognized who he had bumped into. "Sara!" he said. He saw her stumble and quickly grabbed her wrist with a gentle but firm grip to keep her from falling to the ground. "I got you!"
"Thanks," Sara breathed out, looking up into his eyes.
"You're welcome," he said.
Sara smiled at him then stooped down to pick up the spilt papers. Michael and Lily bent down to help her. At the same moment, Michael and Sara reached for the same paper. Their hands brushed together in the gentlest of touches, sending warm tingling sensations up their arms. Sara was the first to withdraw her hand.
"Sorry," she said.
Michael shook his head and picked up the piece of paper. He held it out to her along with the other papers he picked up. "It's okay."
The two of them smiled at each other. Lily shook her head at the pair. She wondered if the two of them realized that they were acting like a couple of middle school kids with crushes on each other. The three of them gathered the rest of the papers and then stood up.
"Sara!"
The doctor looked past Michael and her eyes became wide with surprise. "Robert? What are you doing here?" she asked him as he strode up to her.
"I had a free hour in my schedule, so I thought we could have lunch together," Robert said with a smile at her. He then noticed the company that Sara was in. The smile faded and his eyes narrowed in recognition at Michael. He may have only seen him that brief minute at Sara's doorway that morning after, but how could he forget the 'other' man?
Michael watched Robert as he silently jumped to conclusions. His eyes steeled over as he calmly took in Robert's small glare. "It's not what you think."
"Really?" Robert asked, taking a step towards him.
Sara stepped in between the two men and placed her hand on Robert's arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Robert, Michael's here to visit a friend. He and his friend were in a car accident a few days ago. His friend broke his leg in the crash."
"My boyfriend, actually," Lily chimed in.
Robert glanced at the blonde woman next to Michael, noticing her for the first time. "He's your boyfriend?"
Lily looked at Michael. "Michael? Of course not! Andrew's my boyfriend!"
"The guy with the broken leg," Michael explained.
"I see," Robert said with a twinge of disappointment, "my mistake." He then straightened himself out to stand tall before them and extended his hand. "Allow me to properly introduce myself then. Robert Spencer."
Lily tentatively shook his hand. "Lillian Hart."
Robert then moved towards Michael. Michael stared down at Robert's extended hand and then looked up at him. Robert's eyes were just daring him to shake it. The two women in their vicinity could clearly see the hostile tension between them.
"Michael Scofield." And with that Michael shook Robert's hand.
Once the two men separated from each other, Sara spoke up. "I'm sorry Robert why did you say you were here again?"
"I was hoping to take you out to lunch," he repeated, turning to her.
"That's very sweet, but I'm swamped with patients and paperwork today."
"Oh. Then how about dinner later?" he asked, not giving up.
"I can't..." Sara choked out, glancing over at Lily and Michael. Robert followed her glance.
"She has plans with us," Lily spoke up, "we're having a 'welcome home' party for Andrew. He's leaving the hospital today."
"Oh." Robert turned back to Sara. "You could have just told me."
"Sorry," Sara said sheepishly.
Robert faced Lily again. "Do you have an extra plate?"
Lily blinked. "Wait, you want to come?"
"Sure," Robert said putting on a smile. "You guys are Sara's friends. I think it's time I got to know you all a little better," he slipped his arm around Sara's shoulders, "seeing as we're in a relationship."
Sara shifted uncomfortably in his hold. She knew that Robert was trying to irk Michael, sending him not so subtle signals that Sara was with him. And Michael knew it too. His hands involuntarily twitched when Robert had placed his arm around Sara's lab coat covered shoulders, but the blue steel gaze remained.
"Well I guess..." Lily said awkwardly.
"Great!" Robert said quickly, not giving Lily a chance to change her mind about the invitation. "I will see you all later tonight."
He then turned to Sara and cupped her face, bringing his lips down onto hers in a forceful kiss. Sara was caught off guard by the kiss and flinched at first. Lily looked at Michael and saw his hands unconsciously clench into fists. He then stuck them in his pockets. When Robert finally broke away from Sara's lips he quickly threw Michael a smug grin, said "Goodbye," and walked off.
Sara turned to both Lily and Michael. "I'm sorry about that you guys. If you don't want him there then we won't show up."
Lily shook her head. "No Sara, we want you there. Besides, I kinda want to get to know him better and form my own opinion of him."
Sara nodded slowly and then looked towards Michael. He was avoiding her gaze. She knew that he was just as uncomfortable about all this as she was, maybe even more so. "I should get back to work," she said.
"Okay, we'll see you later then," Lily told her.
Sara nodded. "Bye."
She walked down one hall while Michael and Lily went down another. Lily glanced at Michael with concerned eyes.
"You okay Mike?" she asked him.
"I'm fine," he said with a forced impassiveness.
Lily flinched at his stoic tone. That usually meant he was upset. "Listen, you can't let Robert get under your skin like this."
"Who said he is?"
Michael sped up his pace as they headed towards Andrew's room. Lily had to lengthen her strides to keep up with him. As they entered Andrew greeted them both with a grin, but immediately saw something was up.
"What's wrong?"
Lily sighed. "Guess who's coming to your party."
"Angelina Jolie?"
"Robert," Lily stated.
"WHAT?" Andrew screeched, "How the hell did that happen?"
"We ran into him downstairs and he kind of, uh, invited himself," Lily stammered lamely.
"Why didn't you tell him no?"
"Sara was right there! What was I suppose to say?" Lily asked, her voice rising in volume.
"Oh I don't know; maybe 'Sorry Sara but we don't want your asshole boyfriend at the party tonight' would have done the trick, don't you think?" Andrew said, his voice also becoming louder.
"Guys!"
The sound of Michael's shout caused both Lily and Andrew to turn towards him. In the heat of their argument they forgot the reason why the whole thing bothered them. It was because of how the whole thing would affect Michael.
"It's okay," Michael said, "I'm all right with it."
Lily softened the features on her face. "Michael..."
Andrew wasn't the same. "That's a load of bull! It's not okay and you are not all right with it!"
"Even so, I want to get to know the guy, see if he's..." Michael trailed off.
"Better than you and right for Sara?" Andrew said, taking the words right out of his mouth. Michael nodded. "He's not you know."
"How do you know that?"
"First of all, I'm a hundred percent sure that you're a better man than he is. Second of all, the way Lindsey talks about him he sounds like a jerk. And third of all... uh..." Andrew paused. "Okay, I don't have a third reason but I do know the bastard's not right for her and you are."
Michael looked away from his friend. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. Lily grabbed her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Enough Andrew," she said softly in an attempt to calm him down.
The whole thing was upsetting Michael and in turn that upset them. It was how the friendship between the three of them worked. When one was upset and the others can't don anything to help, they all become upset and the whole thing just becomes depressing.
"Damn," Andrew said, "today was supposed to be a good day too."
---
"WHAT!" Lindsey shrieked like an angry harpy. Her reaction to the news was just like Andrew, only she was louder. Sara flinched at her high pitched screech. "Tell me that you're kidding. Tell me that Robert's not coming tonight," Lindsey pleaded.
"He's coming tonight."
"Why?" Lindsey whined.
Sara opened her mouth to say something but then shut it. She really didn't want to admit why.
"You know this isn't going to end well, right?" Lindsey asked her. "I mean it's bad enough to have me and Robert in the same room, but to have him and Michael together..." she trailed off. "At least with me you know what to expect: bitchiness and snark, but with Michael..."
"You think Michael and Robert would get into a fight?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"Michael's not like that. Neither is Robert."
Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Oh please! You know very well Robert can be antagonistic and provoking when he wants to be."
Sara let out a long sigh and plopped herself into her desk chair. She was right. "Maybe I shouldn't go."
"That's just what he wants though," Lindsey said, "you want to go to the party tonight, right?"
"Yes."
"Then go. Don't let him scare you into not doing something you want to do. Besides, I need you there because I don't know Andrew, Lily and Michael as well as you do."
Sara sighed once more. "This really isn't going to end well, is it?"
Lindsey shook her head.
---
Michael stood in Andrew's kitchen watching the large oven that had a pizza baking inside it, but his mind was somewhere else. He was dreading what was to come with the setting of the sun, namely the arrival of Robert.
It was quite clear from their earlier encounter that Robert didn't like Michael and didn't want him anywhere near Sara and that was the one place he wanted to be. Michael sighed. Robert was practically rubbing it in his face, asserting that Sara was with him and not Michael and Michael expected more of that behavior tonight.
Ding dong.
Michael looked up from staring at the stove. He uncrossed his arms and began walking to Andrew's front door. There on the other side was Sara and Robert.
Sara smiled at him. "Hi."
It was reflex, he smiled back. He couldn't help it. When she smiled at him, he smiled back. Her smile was one of the first things that drew him to her in the first place. "Hi."
"Are we early?" Robert asked, noticing the too warm smile between the two of them.
The smile quickly faded at the sound of Robert's voice. "Uh, kind of," Michael said, stepping aside to let them in, "no one else is here yet and Lily's picking up Andrew from the hospital."
"Oh," Sara said softly. But that meant that she was alone. In a house. With just Michael and Robert. Not good.
Ding Dong.
Sara breathed a sigh of relief. Michael went to answer the door and there was Lindsey standing before them.
"Hi Lindsey," Sara greeted her friend.
"Hey Sara," she then turned to Michael, "Michael," and then she turned to Robert, her eyes narrowing in a small glare, "Robert," she said icily.
"Hello to you too, Lindsey," Robert replied back with the same amount of hostility.
Sara cleared her throat, interrupting their glaring match. "Something smells good."
"That would be the pizza I have in the oven," Michael said.
"You cook?" Robert chuckled a little. "That's usually a woman's job," he said mockingly.
"Not necessarily," Sara spoke up, "Some of the best chefs in the world are men." She turned to Michael. "So you know how to make pizzas?"
Michael chuckled. "No it's just store bought pizza. I'm just heating it up."
"Oh, well it still smells really good. Do you need any help?" Sara offered.
"No, it's fine," Michael said, "uh, make yourselves comfortable while we wait for Lily and Andrew."
"Don't mind if we do," Robert said, slipping an arm around Sara's waist as he sat them on the couch.
"Is it just us?" Lindsey asked as she sat herself into one of the arm chairs.
"Uh yeah," Michael said, "we invited some people from work but they couldn't make it. So it's just us, Lily and Andrew."
"Oh gawd! It's so good to be home!"
"And that would be Andrew," Michael said with a small chuckle.
Lily stepped in the living room with Andrew on crutches. He turned to Lily. "I want to say it, come on, let me say it!"
Lily chuckled. "Fine! Then say it!"
Andrew grinned. "There's no place like home!"
"Great, now all we need is to get you some ruby slippers and a blue dress and then we could act out The Wizard of Oz," Lily said.
"And Michael can be Toto!" Andrew exclaimed. Everyone laughed.
Robert threw a smug look at Lindsey and said, "And Lindsey could be the Tin Man since she has no heart."
Lindsey glared back at him. "And you can be the Scarecrow since you have no brain! Better yet, why don't you be the witch in the beginning and get crushed by the house?"
Sara stepped in between her boyfriend and her best friend. "Easy, it was just a joke," she said nervously, biting her bottom lip. With the way she was looking at the moment, Michael couldn't help but think that Sara would play the role of the cowardly lion.
"I think the pizza's almost ready," Michael said, stepping in as well. "We should all go sit down and eat."
Everyone walked on over to the dinner table while Andrew hobbled on his crutches and Michael headed towards the kitchen. He came back with a big pan of pizza and set it on the table before taking the only open seat left which was next to Lindsey.
"That looks good!" Andrew exclaimed as he dived for a slice, eager for non-hospital food. Lily shook her head at him, but smiled.
Everyone picked a slice off the pan and they all began eating. "So," Robert began, "what do you three do for a living?"
Lily was the one that answered. "We work at Middleton, Maxwell & Schaum, the architectural firm."
"Oh," Robert said but continued, "So how did you all meet?"
Andrew, Lily and Michael looked at each other. It was Andrew who spoke up. "Well we all kind of met through Sara and Michael."
"Really?" Robert glanced from his girlfriend to Michael. "And how did the two of you meet?" he pried.
Sara swallowed the piece of pizza she had in her mouth and answered him. "We bumped into each other at my dad's last charity dinner."
"Actually," Lindsey spoke up, "someone bumped into Sara and Michael caught her to keep her from falling to the floor. Right?"
Both Sara and Michael shyly nodded remembering the first night they had met while Lindsey smirked. She was trying to get underneath Robert's skin using Sara and Michael's obvious attraction to each other.
"Oh, that's nice," Robert said dryly. "I would have been at that dinner but unfortunately I was out of town that night."
Lindsey brought her drink up to her lips. "Too bad you're not out of town tonight," she mumbled before she took a sip.
"What was that?" Robert asked irritably.
Sara kicked Lindsey underneath the table. "Ow!" She shot a glare at the red head. "Nothing."
Andrew snickered at the scene. He leaned over to Michael and whispered, "Looks like Lindsey's doing a fine job of annoying Robert. Makes our lives easier."
Michael couldn't help but grin at that. He then glanced at Sara and guilt began to fill him. She was avoiding everyone's gaze and shifting in her seat with discomfort. This must be just as awkward and uncomfortable for her as it was for him, seeing as how she was seemingly caught in the middle of it all.
"What about you Robert?" Lily asked. "How did you and Sara meet?" She decided to ask him the same question.
"We met a few years back through her father. He introduced us," he said with a proud smile.
"Oh," Lily said. She turned to Sara. "Did he ask you out right then and there?"
Sara opened her mouth to speak but Robert answered for her. "Of course I did! How could I not? She was too beautiful to let pass by."
Lindsey glared at the way he had interrupted her best friend. "You know, Lily asked Sara, not you Robert. She can answer for herself."
"You know Lindsey," Robert began, "with your rude demeanor I don't understand how you could be a great doctor. Your bedside manner must be quite atrocious."
"My bedside manner is just fine, thank you very much," she retorted back. "I'm only rude to people who are complete-"
"Whoops!"
Everyone turned to the sound of a glass dropping to the floor, shattering. The glass had been Michael's. "My bad, sorry." He got up and went to the kitchen to get a towel and a dust pan to sweep the mess up.
Sara breathed a sigh of relief and she caught Michael's eye when he came back from the kitchen. His look told her that he purposely knocked over his glass to interrupt the fight before it got out of hand and she silently thanked him for it. Michael gave her a small smile before he bent down to clean up the mess. Robert didn't miss that smile. The rest of the dinner was still thick with tension but it went without any fists flying, so that was an accomplishment at least. They all retreated back to the living room after the pizza was all eaten.
Andrew hobbled on his crutches towards one of the armchairs and sat in it. Lily came over and sat on the arm rest of the chair, while Lindsey sat on the sofa. With his arm around her waist, Robert led Sara over to the other arm chair and mimicked the way Lily and Andrew were sitting together. Michael took the only seat left next to Lindsey on the couch.
Robert looked at the two of them on the couch together. He then turned to Sara and said, "Don't you think Michael and Lindsey would make a cute couple?"
Sara flinched. Lindsey's lower jaw dropped and her eyes narrowed at the politician. Michael shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Andrew glared at Robert and his hand clenched into a fist but Lily placed her hand on his in order to keep him from flying at the guy with intent to hit. What he said was so out of line.
"Sorry," Lindsey said, turning to Michael, "no offense, but you're not my type."
"No offense taken," Michael replied. He glanced over at Sara to see how she was taking in all of this. Her gaze was cast downwards.
"How about we play a game?" Lily suggested in a sorry attempt to keep the party at least somewhat light.
"What kind of game?" Lindsey asked.
"Ever played 'I never' back in college?" Lily asked with a grin. Lindsey shook her head. "Okay we go around the room saying 'I never something, something' and if you have done that something, you take a drink."
"It's usually played with alcohol, but seeing as how we have jobs to go to in the morning, we'll just drink coke," Andrew said with a grin. "First one that has to go to the bathroom loses."
"Okay?" Lily asked everyone. They all nodded and agreed on the rules. Lily passed out shot glasses and filled them up with soda. "I'll start. I never got a speeding ticket."
Andrew and Lindsey took a drink. Andrew was next.
"I never had sex at the hospital."
No one drank. Andrew faced Sara. "See, Lily and I didn't do it in the hospital."
Sara smirked at him. "I kinda figured that one out when you asked me your little question this morning."
Andrew frowned. "Shut up." Sara just chuckled. "Your turn Lindsey."
"I never kissed a girl."
Andrew, Michael and Robert took a drink... so did Lily.
Andrew looked at his girlfriend. "You kissed a girl?"
Lily smiled. "It was a dare back in college. Do you find it strange?"
"No I find it kind of hot actually," Andrew said with a chuckle. Lily lightly smacked his shoulder.
"Okay, okay," Michael said. It was his turn. "I never kissed a guy," he said, copying Lindsey a little bit.
Sara, Lily and Lindsey each took a drink, but none of the guys did.
"Oh come on! You guys never experimented back in college or anything?" Lily asked lightly. They all shook their heads. It was Robert's turn.
"I've never been arrested."
Michael flinched. He picked up his shot glass and downed it. Robert tried to hide his smirk.
"Really Michael? What were you arrested for?" Robert smugly asked.
"Bar fight," Michael simply said. He knew that Robert was trying to paint him in a bad light for Sara, but Sara already knew the story behind his arrest so he wasn't worried. Just annoyed.
Sara was up next. She thought for a second and then faced Andrew. "I never watched a soap opera."
"You're mean," Andrew said before drinking his shot glass.
Lily chuckled at her boyfriend. "You watch soap operas?"
"It was only during my time at the hospital," Andrew whined. "Stop making fun of me." Everyone laughed. Lily was up again.
"I never had unprotected sex." No one drank. Lily chuckled. "Nice to know that we're all responsible."
Andrew grinned mischievously. "I've never masturbated."
Everyone tentatively reached for their glass and drank it down with blushes on their faces. Andrew snickered after downing his glass. "Nice to know that we all know how to get ourselves off." Lily smacked her boyfriend's chest with the back of her hand.
Lindsey was next. "I never voted for Governor Tancredi. Sorry Sara."
"It's okay, I didn't either," Sara replied back. Only Robert drank.
"Why not? He's your father," Robert said.
"I don't have the same views as my father."
"So you voted against him?" Robert frowned.
Michael coughed. "It's my turn. I never voted."
Robert was the only one to drink again. Sara turned to Robert. "There's your answer."
Lindsey smirked. She knew that Sara's lack of support for her father bothered Robert to no end, seeing as how he practically worshipped the ground the man walks on. "Go on Robert," she said in a mocking sing song voice, "it's your turn."
Robert threw her a quick glare before saying, "I never coveted something that belonged to someone else."
Michael knew that one was aimed at him, again. He looked down at his glass. Should he drink it and basically admit that he still wanted Sara? Michael took a deep breath and downed his glass. Andrew saw him do it and decided to drink too so his friend wouldn't be alone. He did want to have his neighbor's new sports car after all.
Sara shifted uncomfortably where she sat. She knew that she was a part of why Michael drank. It was her turn. "I never save the cookie dough last when I eat cookie dough ice cream."
Michael looked up at her and smiled. Sara gave him a playful smirk back. Both he and Sara drank. Robert's eye twitched. Lindsey bit back the smile that threatened to come out on her face.
"I never fell in love at first sight," Lily said.
Robert reached for his glass and so did Michael. They both drank and looked to Sara. She also drank from her glass. The two wondered who she was thinking about while she downed the shot of soda.
It was Andrew's turn again. "I never had sex outdoors."
Sara looked at him with a laugh on her lips. "What is it with you and the sex statements?" she asked.
"I think he has a one track mind," Lily said. Andrew chuckled.
"Would sex in the back seat of a car count as outdoor sex?" Lindsey asked. Andrew nodded. She downed her glass.
"How very refined of you Lindsey," Robert remarked sarcastically.
"Why thank you," she replied back with even more sarcasm. Lindsey cleared her throat. "I've never been rejected after proposing marriage," she said, looking straight at Robert. Sara had finally told her the story of what made her break up with Robert in the first place.
Robert narrowed his eyes at her in the tiniest of slits. "I didn't actually propose to her you know."
"Yeah but she knew you were going to and broke up with you, so technically, you got rejected. Drink up!" Lindsey said with a smirk.
Robert grumbled as he drank and Sara shifted uncomfortably again. Andrew, Lily and Michael had no idea what they were talking about.
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Andrew asked.
Still with the smirk on her face Lindsey said, "A long time ago Robert here planned on asking Sara for her hand in marriage. But little Sara here found out about it before hand and broke up with him before he could ask her."
"Really?" Lily asked, intrigued, "Why?"
Sara looked down and bit her bottom lip. "It's a long story."
"But it all worked out in the end," Robert said smiling and slipping an arm around Sara's waist. "It's funny that you can handle bleeding chest cavities and severed limbs but you run away at the sight of a pretty diamond ring."
"I don't think she was running away from the diamond ring, Robert," Lindsey said.
Robert shot her a glare, but Lindsey was headstrong and unfaltering. Sara cleared her throat. "Michael, it's your turn."
Michael looked at Sara. He could tell that the game was taking on a more personal tone for her. She was becoming more upset with each "I never."
"I never hated a pair of high heeled shoes," he said in an attempt to make her smile.
And she did. A small chuckle escaped from her lips as she remembered those horrible shoes that her stepmother bought her. But then again, without those shoes, she would never have met Michael and she couldn't hate them for that. But she still hated what they did to her feet that night, so Sara drank. Michael smiled.
Robert didn't like the smiling going on between the two of them. "I never stood up my date."
Michael flinched and Sara was back to shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Michael reached for his glass and drank it down, guiltily. Lindsey eyed Robert with a death glare. "Why aren't you drinking Robert?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well I seem to remember many a time when Sara would bitch to me about how you were late for your dates and how sometimes you canceled them completely on her and at the last minute even."
"Well, at least I actually called her to let her know," Robert said in his defense.
Sara shrunk in size. But Michael did call her. She just didn't answer it. She glanced over at him and saw that he was averting his gaze to down to the ground. Guilt began to build in the knot of her stomach. She needed to know something.
"I never had my heart broken," Sara said.
Everyone looked at her, surprised at how softly she said it. They weren't even sure they heard her say it. Lily then reached for her glass and drank from it, remembering the guy that had broken her heart. Andrew took her hand in his and cooed "Oh baby," to her, planting a small kiss on her cheek. She turned her head and kissed him lightly on the lips.
Michael looked down at his glass for a few seconds. Sara carefully watched him. He drank. Sara looked away, feeling even more guilt. She knew that drink was for her.
Lindsey watched Robert and saw that he wasn't drinking. Again she asked him, "Why aren't you drinking, Robert?"
Robert looked at her. "I beg your pardon?"
"Well, when Sara broke up with you that must have broken your heart, right? Especially since you were going to ask her to marry you."
"You're right, for once," Robert said reaching for his glass, "I just didn't think about it since we're back together now." He drank the soda down.
Michael looked at Sara once more and saw her agitated state. Clearly this game was getting way too personal for her. It had to end.
"I have to go to the bathroom." "I have to hit the head."
Both Michael and Sara looked at each other. They both had spoken up at the same time. Andrew looked at the two of them. "You two lose then."
"That's okay," Michael said, standing up from the couch. He began walking down the hall towards the bathroom. Sara followed after him. They both stopped in front of the toilet room. "Ladies first," Michael said to her.
"I know you were trying to stop the game for me Michael," Sara said her face turned into a light smile, "thank you."
Michael shyly smiled back. "You're welcome, but it looks like you had the same idea anyway." They both chuckled. "You still need to use the bathroom?"
"Uh, yeah," Sara said with a small laugh. "Excuse me," she said as she brushed past him and into the room.
Michael leaned against the hallway wall as he waited for Sara to finish up. He heard a cough and turned his head to see Robert walk up to him.
"At least you're enough of a gentleman to let her go before you do," he remarked.
Michael narrowed his eyes at him and began to speak in a whisper so Sara wouldn't hear him. "You know, I don't mind it that you're trying to antagonize me because that's understandable. But I do mind that your antagonizing seems to upset Sara."
"Well if you weren't around Sara so much then I wouldn't antagonize you and Sara wouldn't have to get upset."
"You're a bastard, you know that Robert!"
Both men turn their heads to see Lindsey come up to them in the hallway. Robert glared at her. "And you're a real bitch Lindsey."
"Michael's done nothing wrong and yet you're such an asshole to him! And poor Sara is caught in the middle of it!" she screeched in fury.
"Hey!"
They all turned at the sound of Sara's voice. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom. "That's enough dammit!"
Robert growled and roughly grabbed Sara's wrist. "Exactly, let's just leave." He began to pull her down the hall with him.
"Ow!" Sara cried out as he tugged on her arm. They stormed out of the hallway and up to the front door.
"Hold on you son of a bitch!" Lindsey yelled out at the politician as she followed him. Michael was behind her.
"I am not going to stay here while a stupid harpy of a woman yells her head off at me!" Robert roughly grabbed his and Sara's coats off the coat hanger. "We are leaving!" And with that he threw open the door and stomped out with Sara in his hold.
Lindsey screamed once she heard tires screeching. "Argh!" Her hands turned into talons. She felt like strangling something.
"Lindsey, I think you need to calm down," Lily said to the woman. She, Andrew and Michael stood a good three feet away from her, a little afraid that she would take her frustration out on them.
"But he's everything that is wrong for her!" Lindsey yelled. "Why can't she see that?"
Lindsey huffed and puffed, but she managed to calm down a bit. But she was still scowling.
"Well this party was a bust," Andrew retorted.
---
"You're angry at me, aren't you?"
Robert sat in the driver's seat of his car as he drove Sara back home to her apartment. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since they left Andrew's house.
Sara sighed. "Not angry, just frustrated."
"I'm sorry Sara."
"I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to," Sara snapped at him.
"Lindsey was the one that started it."
"That's real mature, Robert," Sara said. "Even so, you didn't have to be rude back to her and to Michael."
Robert growled at the mention of Michael. "I don't want you anywhere near him."
"Excuse me?" Sara asked her face turning into a scowl. "Michael's my friend, Robert."
"I don't like him."
"I don't like a lot of your friends yet you don't see me telling you not to hang out with them."
"That's different."
"How?"
Robert didn't answer her. Sara scowled even more. "Just drop me off. I don't want you to walk me up to my apartment."
"Sara..."
But she ignored him when he parked in front of her apartment complex.
"Sara..." he tried again but Sara cut him off.
"Goodnight Robert," she said curtly and slammed his car door shut.
---
In another car sat Lindsey and Michael. She had offered him a ride home since his car was still in the shop being repaired from the accident.
"Thanks for the ride," Michael said, "I really need to get a rental car though."
Lindsey slightly laughed. "Yeah."
There was an awkward silence between them.
"Sorry you had to see me like that," Lindsey said, "you know with the yelling and the bitchiness."
"It's okay."
Another silence.
"How do you feel about Sara, Michael?" Lindsey asked him.
Michael turned to look out the passenger window. He shifted in his seat.
"You like her, don't you?" she pressed on.
Michael still didn't answer her. Lindsey smiled. "She likes you too, I know it."
Michael turned to look at her.
Lindsey quickly glanced at him and then focused back on the road. "She smiles more when she's with you. I like that look better on her." Michael smiled slightly at that.
"It's just Robert..." Lindsey sighed, frustrated. "Sara's a smart girl, but she doesn't always make the decisions that are right for her." She paused. "I don't know you well enough Michael, but I can tell that you're a good guy and that you would be good for Sara. Just give her some time and I know she will come around. Just don't give up on her."
"I don't intend to."
Lindsey smiled at that. "I just want to let you know though, when she does dump Robert again --and I know she will because let's face it, he's an asshole-- I'm going to be cheering for you two to get together."
Michael chuckled and nodded again. "Thanks."
---
Sara parked her car in the small parking lot of a diner she occasionally went to for breakfast. Robert had left her over seven messages on her cell phone overnight and she ignored every one of them. She knew she would probably be getting many vases of flowers at work. The symbol of disappointment for her. Sara sighed and walked into the diner. She spotted Michael in corner by himself.
"Hey, mind if I joined you?" she asked him as she strode up to his table.
Michael looked up. "Not at all, sit." Sara sat down while he called a waitress over to bring her a cup of coffee. "How are you?"
"Fine, considering what happened last night," she said.
"Yeah," Michael agreed.
"Michael, I want to apologize to you for Robert's behavior last night."
Michael shook his head. "You don't have to. It's not your fault."
"Yeah but still," Sara said, "I'm really sorry about the whole thing." She looked down at her coffee. "It's just that I think he was..."
"Jealous?"
Sara looked up and nodded.
"I'd probably be a little jealous and wary if I was him. Maybe even act the same way."
Sara shook her head. "I doubt that. You and Robert are very different."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Michael asked her.
Sara pondered that question for a little bit. She then smiled. "It's a good thing."
Michael smiled back. He remembered Lindsey's words from the night before. Maybe she was right. The waitress brought over some pancakes and the two of them began to eat breakfast, starting off a pretty good day.
