AN: Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! And thanks so much to Jen, this fic is so much better for her help! She's the best!

She watched a flicker of hope, and happiness flash across his face, and in return her body responded to his happiness with butterflies; if he was happy, she was too. His face soon lost his expression of happiness, as he began to concentrate and process this new information. The news he had wanted to hear for so long, was finally just uttered to him, and he didn't know what to do with it.

"What?" He managed finally, that glimmer back, as his mouth formed a smirk.

She smiled in return. "I'm going to leave him. I'll tell him tonight - " She was going to continue to explain that she was going to invite Karl over that evening so she could sit down with him and let him know that she could no longer see him, as her heart belonged to someone else and truth be told always had.

But he cut her off, in quite an unexpected but very welcome way. He glided towards her in a few large strides, and pulled her face towards his, crashing their lips together in a passionate kiss. Running his hands through her hair, he muttered how much he loved her. This being the first time he had spoken his love to her since his return after his years away from her.Her breath hitched in her throat at hearing him say this, and in response she kissed him with twice the passion. After many breathless minutes Sara pulled back, and looked him in the eyes.

"We should stop…" It wasn't fair to Karl, officially she was still seeing him. She didn't want to mention why they should stop, she knew Michael would understand why – But she didn't want to bring Karl up, because every time she did, she noticed Michael shrank in size, metaphorically speaking. He seemed to close off, and pull away from her, and she couldn't handle that.

Michael nodded, and smiled – a genuine Michael smile, putting his forehead against hers, he answered her. "I know"

He leant in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow?" It was supposed to be a statement, but Michael always seemed to be a little insecure where Sara was concerned – so it came out as a question.

She nodded, closing her eyes. Relishing in the feel of his lips on her skin. Memories of their first night together flashed before her eyes, suddenly making her very hot and flustered. She turned away from him slightly, hoping he wouldn't notice her blushing.

He did. And he knew why too. He felt it. He had the exact same flashes before him just moments ago too. So he smiled simply, and kissed her cheek once more; just for the sake of teasing. She grinned cheekily at him this time, knowing why he did it again with such a playful grin upon his face.

He leant in to kiss her again, and Sara didn't have the will to stop him, because it felt so good, and she had wanted to be with Michael like this for so long. Just them. But before his lips touched her skin, he breathed in her scent and moved away.

His eyes twinkling, he gave her the cheekiest grin, "Actually, I should go".

She tapped his arm, mirroring his smile. "Tease…"

Sara got home about six, she was exhausted from work, and what she really wanted was to take a nice hot shower and then get into bed and drift into a deep sleep and not wake up for a decade or so. Or even better, she wanted Michael to come over, and then get a shower – with Michael. Then her mind began to drift. And she got slightly sidetracked. And hot.

Finally pulling herself from her daydream, she decided she should ring Karl before she had her shower. Picking up her phone she pressed number two speed dial. That should have said something to her years ago, he wasn't even number one on her speed dial. Nobody was up until a few weeks ago. But now of course it was Michael. After a few rings he picked up.

"Hello." It wasn't a question, he knew who it was.

"Hi" She tucked a curl behind her ear, and forced herself to invite him over, so she could get this over with. "Do you want to come over tonight? We need to talk."

No answer.

"I'm really sorry about the hospital, but I was working Karl. You shouldn't have come."

Still no answer.

"Karl. Would you say something?"

She heard him sigh. "Look would you just tell me now, and save me from wasting my time." He asked her.

She stayed silent. What did he want her to tell him?

Karl understood her silence, so he explained further. "Is there something going on with you and Michael? Do you actually want to be with me?"

Yes and no. It was that simple. Yes, something is going on with her and Michael. No, she doesn't want to be with him, him being Karl.

Sighing, she tried to dodge his questions. She couldn't answer them over the phone. She didn't want to tell him the truth at all, but doing it over the phone was plain cowardly, and she wasn't a coward. "Karl, would you please just come over. We can't do this over the phone. Its (it's) not that simple." She told him.

Giving in, she heard him sigh. "Yeah…"

She sucked in her breath, and let out a deep breath. This was going to be a stressful night. "Do you want to come over for dinner? Around …" She glance at her watch, it was half past six already. "At about eight? Is that okay?" She asked him.

"Sure, I'll be over at eight then." She was about to say bye, and hang up. But he interrupted. "Hey, do you have anything cooked, or do you want me to pick up Chinese?"

She didn't have anything prepared, she really couldn't be bothered cooking anything now, and she simply couldn't cook at all anyway. Plus it would just delay his being here, and she just wanted to get this over with. She hated hurting people.

"Yeah that would be great actually" She found that she was smiling. "Thanks, So I'll see you in a bit. Yeah?" She confirmed.

"Okay, eight it is, and with Chinese." He sounded more relaxed again, more like Karl. They said 'bye' and both went their separate ways.

She got in the shower, and relaxed immediately. Hot water could do wonders. Climbing out of the shower after about thirty minutes of slowly turning into a prune, she dried herself off with a large fluffy bath towel. She wasn't going to get dressed up, it was Karl, and she was going to be breaking up with the guy. It was hardly fair to rub it in his face that he wasn't with her anymore. Throwing on some comfy cotton pale pink pajama bottoms, and a plain pink tank top, she walked into her living room, whilst towel drying her hair.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. She let Karl in and led him into her living room.

She smiled at him, "I don't think I need to tell you to make yourself comfy…"

He grinned, no, he had been here enough, it was his second home. He practically lived here before Michael. He inwardly groaned as that thought entered his head, and pushed it to the back of his mind. He sat down comfortably on her sofa, and handed her the bag full of their takeaway.

"I'll just grab some plates." She said as she headed into the kitchen, seconds later she emerged with a couple of plates, and two cans of their favorite chilled beer. Handing him one of each she sat down opposite him.

They both dug into their meals instantly, suddenly remembering just how hungry they both were. After a few minutes of a comfortable silence, Karl broke it, for which Sara was thankful for, she had been spending the past two minutes thinking of a what to say to break it – and she came up with nothing. "So, where shall we start?" He laughed, the situation was hardly funny, but it was easier to laugh about it than to cry about it. Karl liked taking the easy way out.

Sara shrugged, like she didn't know. But she did, she wanted to explain to him then and there, that she couldn't marry him; she couldn't be with him anymore, because she was in love with someone else. And she has been the entire time they have had this relationship. It wasn't fair to either of them to continue with this relationship. But she couldn't find the courage to tell him this, so she sat there, in silence.

He stared at her. "Okay…" He put his Chinese on her coffee table, wiping his hands on his trousers, he sat back. "Well, let's start with what happened at the restaurant?"

Sara copied Karl's earlier movements, placing her plate on the coffee table. She stuttered slightly, then finally found her voice. "I was just shocked, and I'm not ready…" She was never going to be ready to marry Karl. It wasn't Karl that she wanted.

He nodded, "I understand that you're not ready, maybe it was too fast. But I love you; I'll wait as long as you need."

How could she tell him now? She couldn't focus on what had to be said, he was totally on the wrong track. She couldn't just throw him off it now, he would be heartbroken. She wasn't ready to be the cause of that pain.

So she nodded. The rest of the night passed in a blur, they had meaningless friendly conversations all night, until she finally said she wanted to go to bed. Afraid that Karl would ask to stay, she explained how she had to be up for work in the morning, bright and early. And then led him to the door. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, which she ended as fast as she could without causing suspicion.

She felt bad for lying, she didn't have work bright and early tomorrow, she didn't even have work tomorrow. But she couldn't be bothered explaining to him that he couldn't stay, she just wanted to simply avoid telling him about Michael – for just one night.

Climbing into bed, she fell into the deep sleep she had been yearning for all day. And as she thought about things she had been yearning for all day, her dreams turned into hot passionate ones including a certain tattooed genius.

Sara woke up with a start at nine the next morning. Wondering what it was that woke her up so suddenly, she sat upright in bed, listening intently.

Someone was at the door. Sighing she climbed out of bed, and checked her hair in the mirror down the hall. Bed hair, great. Quickly running into her bedroom she grabbed a brush and dragged it through her hair. "Coming!" She shouted.

Seconds later she was at her front door, staring into gorgeous hypnotizing blue orbs. "Michael." She smiled.

"Hey." He smiled. "Forget I was coming?" He asked.

She nodded, "Actually yeah… But it's first thing in the morning, I'm - "

"Really?" He laughed. "First thing in the morning? Could have fooled me." He laughed again, that husky laugh, the one that made every woman melt.

She opened the door wider, allowing him in. He turns to her and holds up a white bag. "I brought breakfast." He smiles again. He's in a good mood today.

He places it down in the kitchen and walks out to meet her in the hallway. Taking her hand he pulls her body flush against his. Looking down at her, he tucks a curl in behind her ear. Slowly approaching her, he fixes his lips to her, brushes hers softly a few times, before asking her for entrance by licking her bottom lip. At first she doesn't comply, so he nibbles her bottom lip, she giggles slightly and allows his tongue in to dance with hers.

After a few minutes of bliss, she pulls back, placing her hands on his chest. She looked at him, ready to tell him that she didn't finish with Karl. Holding the bridge of her nose, she squeezed her eyes close, trying to shut out the stress.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Michael asked. Taking her hand in his, he stroked his thumb back across her silky skin, leading her back to the sofa.

Sitting down next to each other, she turned to him, their knees touching. "I'm sorry…I didn't get to talk to Karl last night about us."

At first he looked shocked, and then he looked angry, but then he just looked plain hurt. His throat tightened, and he swallowed hard, trying to help his body get these words out. "You didn't tell him? You didn't break it off with him?" Before she had time to answer, he continued. "Did you change your mind? Do you want to be with him now?" He asked, and she could hear the fret in his voice.

She shook her head, and put her hands on his face. "No." It was that simple. "I just don't want to hurt him. I got ready to tell him, but then he just didn't have a clue, and he thought -"

He cut off her rambling state. "Hey, it's okay. You just need to get the strength to tell him." Well that was obvious. Rubbing her back he continued. "I don't want you to stress about this, but you have to tell him. We can't have anything until you do." He said softly.

She nodded, and then a small grinned edged its way onto her features. "Yeah, because that's stopped us so far…" She joked sarcastically.

He smiled a little at her, and then his expression turned serious.

"I know, Michael."

He nodded, "Well I'm going to go, because I'm not going to be able to keep my hands off of you…" He grinned.

She playfully glared at him, "Fine, punish me…"

He laughed at her pouting. "I have to work too."

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "That's all I get?" She whined.

He nodded, with a cheeky grin. She moved her cheek towards him for another kiss, he sighed – pretending to be annoyed. But in reality her asking him for his lips to be upon her skin was a blessing. She quickly turned her face before his lips touched her cheek, and captured his lips with hers. He pulled back seconds later with a huge grin on his face. "That's cheating."

She laughed, and stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll see you later?"

He looked down at her from his standing position, serious now, "Are you going to talk to Karl today?"

She sighed and nodded, "Yes."

"So am I going to see you tonight?" She asked again.

He shook his head, "Sorry, I have a meeting until late, and then Linc wants me to pop over, I haven't seen him in ages. But tomorrow, I promise." He kissed her cheek again. "Call me when you've talked to Karl okay?"

She nodded. He kissed her cheek again, a grin upon his face again. He couldn't get enough of her.

Michael hadn't seen Sara in two days; work had been so hectic. And on top of eating and sleeping, in his free hours, Linc and Veronica have wanted him over there, to give him the big news. Veronica was pregnant; so they have wanted lots of family time, and support. He called Sara each night, and they made small talk, but not a lot. Michael hadn't even been able to call her to have a long enough conversation to see what went on when she told Karl. Too busy, was a big understatement.

So finally two days later, here he was again. At Sara's front door, breakfast in hand. Hopefully this time able to eat it with her. He knocked on her door, and seconds later he was back in her apartment, sitting on her sofa once again.

"Do you want a drink of anything?" She asked. He noticed an unreadable expression on her face, and he didn't like it.

"No, thank you." She came back into the living room, and took a seat on a chair near the television. Michael noted this was the chair furthest from him.

Sara was fidgeting, and she looked uncomfortable. He knew it, there and then that she hadn't told Karl yet.

He looked at her, and he felt anger run through his veins. Was she playing games? "You haven't told him yet?" He asked through his teeth, trying to keep calm.

She avoided his eyes, "I can't do it Michael, I can't hurt him. I don't like hurting people. Why do you think I became a doctor?"

He sighed, "Don't try changing - " He cut himself off, "Did you ever stop and think that your hurting me? In the process of trying not to hurt him, you're hurting me?" He asked her, through gritted teeth.

She hadn't thought of it that way. And she wished he had of said that sooner. If she thought of it like that it was so much easier, if someone was going to get hurt either way, she would rather it be Karl. She knew how harsh that sounded, but Michael came before Karl. He always did, and always will. She shook her head. "I'm sorry…"

He sighed. He wanted to say you're always sorry. But that could easily be thrown back in his face. So he avoided it. "Just answer me this…" He looked into her eyes. "Deep down, who do you want? Me or him? No games, just the truth. I need it Sara."

She looked at him, and she felt angry. She stiffened her jaw, to stop herself from shouting how stupid he was; of course it was him she wanted. Why would she be going through all this, if it was Karl she wanted? It would be pointless. How could he not see how much she wanted him, was it not obvious?

Her silence only heightened his anger, standing up he flared his arms up. "Who do you want?" He shouted.

His rage suddenly scared her, and tears began to pour down her face even faster. This situation was going too far, she wasn't going to be able to handle much more. She didn't understand why his rage was scaring her, she knew he would never hurt her, she would bet her life on it. "You." She whispered through her tears.

"What?" He shouted over her. If she had just said Karl, he would break down.

She stood up, and copied his earlier actions, throwing her arms in the air, she shouted back through tears. "You! I want you!" She roughly wiped at her tears. "It's always been you. It will always be you." She told him, a little softer than her tone just seconds ago, but her still burning anger didn't go unnoticed by either of them. She sat down, and her breath hitched from the tears. "I love you." She whispered so quietly he wasn't sure if she had said it.

He softened as he looked at her. She looked so sad and broken. He had done that to her. You don't do that to someone you love. "I'm sorry." He said softly. She looked up at him through her tears. He leant over and took her hand in his, pulling her over to him, and she fell into his lap.

She giggled slightly at this. "I'm sorry" He said again, burying his head into her hair.

She nodded, "Me too."

He looked down at her, and cupped her face, bringing his lips to hers. He brushed her lips once, then twice. Allowing their mouths to make an apology of their own.

AN: Okay, I hope you all liked it. Sorry it took so long to get it up, been very busy… That's my excuse. LOL. Well hopefully the wait was worth it. Pretty please review! And thanks for reading. :)