( Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Prison Break.)
(Sara)
Sara stared across the still swimming pool her mind a million miles away. Well not a million, but how far was it from New York to Chicago? She sighed deeply and tried not to think about how screwed up everything had become. It was hard though. Every time she closed her eyes she would see him. Every time she passed his bedroom she would ache just knowing he wasn't there. And try as she might she was unable to get the night they had spent together out of her head.
Not that she wanted to forget that night, God no. Well at least she didn't want to forget being with Michael, that had been the most amazing thing in the world. But forget what had followed directly after? She would give anything to forget that!
When the lights came on they had both squinted against the glare. But any physical discomfort either might have felt was greatly over shadowed by her mother storming at them, and pulling Michael off of her. She could see it all as clear as if it were happening now. And her mother's words still rang loudly in her ears.
Sara knew the things Grace had said were spoken mostly out of anger, but none the less the look on Michael's face had been enough to wipe out any embarrassment Sara might have been feeling. She had stared in astonishment as her mother called Michael sick and perverted among other things, the most hurtful words being how one of her step sons was a drug dealer, but at least he wasn't fucking her daughter.
It hadn't been long before an awakened Aldo had entered the situation. Of the two he had handled it best. And Sara had been thankful for his calm demeanor, and how he had somewhat soothed Grace into merely pacing the room quietly, her eyes shooting daggers as her only daughter sat naked in her stepson's bed.
Yes, it was bad, Sara knew, but would she change things? No. She wasn't sorry she loved Michael. She would never be sorry for that. She was however sorry that things had turned out so badly. And she missed Michael so much!
It had been two days since he left for Chicago, and her mother was forbidding her to even speak to him on the phone. Sara felt like she was on house arrest. Even now, sitting out here by the pool she wouldn't be surprised to find that Grace was watching her from a window somewhere in the house. Sara's rarely if ever home, overly active in the community mother hadn't left her daughter truly alone since finding her with Michael. In fact the only things Sara knew were the few details she had managed to glean from her mother. That Lincoln was being charged and what with his prior arrest for drug possession, it didn't look good.
Sara leaned back in her deck chair closing her eyes. She knew it wasn't likely that she would ever see Michael again. She had to face the facts. They had been caught, and Grace would never allow him back here. She knew her mother only too well. And the look on her face that night had said it all. Grace wanted him out.
Sara felt a tear slide from her closed eyes only to be followed by another, the very thought of never seeing Michael again tearing at her heart. How could she live without him?
She heard the gate slide open and then close with a clank, prompting her to quickly brush the tears from her cheeks.
It was Kelly. Sara had completely forgotten her best friend was coming over for a tanning session by the pool. Kelly would take one look at her and know something was wrong.
"Sara, God. Are you okay?"
Sara tried to smile, but her friend's concerned voice only made it worse and the tears came faster and with more force.
Kelly sank down beside her, her beach tote falling unnoticed to the side, spilling out her tanning oil. She felt Kelly's arms go around her, and let her head fall onto her friend's comforting shoulder, her tears spilling onto the pink cover up that Kelly wore.
When Sara could speak again she pulled away and brushed at the tears that marred her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Kelly. I'm a big mess…everything is a mess."
Sara felt the tears fighting to reemerge, but fought them back. Kelly was looking at her expectantly, and when she didn't say anything else.
"So, what's going on, why are you so upset?" Her friend prompted.
Sara shook her head. "I can't talk about it, Kelly. I'm sorry, I just can't…but it's bad…it's so bad!"
Kelly's eyes grew big. "You know don't you?"
Sara just looked at her. "Know? Know what?"
She had no clue what Kelly was talking about, but the way her friend was twisting her hands it had to be something she should know.
"Tell me what we're talking about here Kelly." Sara demanded.
She certainly didn't need anything more on her mind, but not knowing would drive her even crazier.
"Well, I heard something, but I don't know if it's true. I mean you know how people make stuff sound far worse than it actually is? I mean it could have just been a friendly hug and kiss, but if the gossip…"
What was Kelly talking about, had someone seen her with Michael atthe dance?
"Just tell me!" Sara yelled loudly.
She saw her friend jump at her words and felt bad, but she was killing her here.
"Um… okay! Christy and David were seen together making out at the park!"
Sara blinked. And then she felt the laughter bubble up inside of her, spilling out until she was leaning back holding her ribs and tears were flowing down her cheeks again.
She knew Kelly was staring at her and she figured her friend probably thought she had lost it, but that only made her laugh harder.
"Sara, are you okay? I mean this is funny to you?"
Sara brushed the tears away and looked at Kelly.
"Nothing will ever be okay again, Kelly." And then she was crying again.
(Michael)
Michael lay back against the bed and closed his eyes. The last two days had been stressful to say the least. Lincoln was out on bail and his court hearing was scheduled for the following Monday. Michael knew it didn't look good for his brother and he was worried. He couldn't lose Lincoln too. He was pretty sure he had lost Sara, the stinging words from his step mother's mouth still ingrained in his head. She hated him for what he had done.
And his father? Aldo hadn't said much about the whole thing, choosing to concentrate instead on Lincoln's problems. Michael felt like he was alone in this; in everything. He certainly couldn't speak to Linc about it; his brother had enough on his mind without Michael adding to it.
He sighed deeply and rubbed his hand across his head. He wished he could talk to her, just for a minute, just to tell her he loved and missed her. God how he missed her! But the one time he had tried to call Sara, Grace had told him coldly that he was no longer allowed to speak with her daughter, and the least he could do after what he had done to the family was respect her wishes. This was followed by a soft click, leaving Michael with his mouth open about to voice a shaky response.
He didn't actually blame Grace though. He had known what would happen if their feelings for each other were to be discovered. And boy had they been discovered!
He felt his cheeks redden at the memory and tried to push it aside with thoughts of the precious moments before the lights glared to life shattering everything. Sara in his arms, her lips… her…He knew he was only torturing himself, but he couldn't help it. That one moment together was all he had left. He knew when Aldo went back to New York he would be traveling alone. Grace would never allow Michael back into her home.
The thought of never seeing Sara again ate a hole in his heart and he felt like he couldn't breathe. How could things have come to this, how could he live without her?
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. And then Lincoln's head peeked around the corner.
"You awake, Mike?"
Michael scraped a hand across his tired face and tried to look normal.
"Yeah, I was just, um, thinking."
At his words, Lincoln eased his large frame the rest of the way into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.
"You okay, Mike?"
His brother sounded worried and Michael vowed not to make things worse by burdening him with his problems.
"Yeah, like I said I was just thinking about stuff."
Michael knew his answer was lame, but it was the best he could do. And this whole drug arrest thing was weighing on him, so technically he wasn't lying.
Lincoln made his way through the dark room and switched on the bedside lamp erasing the shadows that had concealed his brother's face.
"Ah, Mike…Man I'm sorry…it wasn't supposed to be like this I swear. It was supposed to be a simple deal…" Michael looked at him, and suddenly he was pissed.
After his initial anger had faded he had been mostly numb, probably because of his own problems. But now he felt his anger grow. If Lincoln hadn't gotten busted none of this would have happened. He and Sara wouldn't have felt so desperate to be with each other that they would risk being caught…He would be with her right now if not for his brother and his stupid mistakes.
His anger aching to come out, he shoved Lincoln catching him off guard. His brother hit the floor hard and then he was swearing. But his words were knocked out of him as Michael's body slammed into his.
Michael felt his fist land a blow against his brother's rock hard abs and was pulling back to strike again when Lincoln pinned him to the floor. He fought to get free, but Lincoln being the stronger of the two, held him fast.
"Let me go you son of a bitch! This is your fault! I lost her, and it's all your fault!"
The words flew from his mouth and then he was crying and no longer struggling against his brother's firm hold.
He felt Lincoln pulling him close and clutched him tightly as all of it; everything he had been holding in came rushing out of him.
He knew Lincoln would demand to know what his words meant, but right now his brother was silent as he held him, and at least for this Michael was grateful.