Fernando Sucre had never as much as questioned his sexuality. He liked women. Liked them a lot. Then he had found the right one and she had become all that he could think about. He didn't have gay friends, didn't have out family. His exposure was limited to light homophobic teasing between pals and television. Then, he had been arrested and sent to Fox River. Then he had met Michael Scofield.
Plenty of the inmates in Fox River held relationships between them. Most were only temporary, existing for sex. After years locked away, a man tended to become touch starved, hungry for attention. Very few of them were romantic in nature, and those that were had such a slim chance of lasting outside of the penitentiary walls that it wasn't even worth thinking about.
Fernando's new cellmate garnered a lot of attention from the other inmates. T-Bag, the vile head of the white supremacist outfit in the prison, had made his desires particularly known. But he was far from the only one, just the one with the most clout.
He had been glad when Michael had given T-Bag pushback. They would have started to have serious problems if his cellmate were to join a hate group for any reason, whatsoever. And, beyond that, Fernando really liked Michael. They had bonded right away, and he had taken the fresh inmate under his wing to teach him the ropes of prison life.
Michael was smart. Really smart. Fuck, that was putting it mildly. The man was a damn genius. And he was loyal, brave, just all around bone-deep good. He had given up his entire life, his entire body, to tattoo the blueprints to Fox River State Penitentiary to his torso, his back, his chest, his shoulders, his arms, to save the life of his brother. They were escaping together, the three of them, along with a handful of other guys that Fernando would rather not have had to think about.
Fernando would be lying if he said he never noticed Michael's lithe torso, the slender muscles in his back, his chest, his shoulders, his long and graceful arms, all inked up in gorgeous blue and gray. Michael tended to wear long-sleeved attire. Outside of the showers, Fernando was the only one who got to see those parts of Michael Scofield up-close. He liked it that way.
Beyond the escape, what really sat at the heart of Cell 40, was their friendship. Fernando Sucre and Michael Scofield adored one another. Anyone who encountered the two together could see that clearly.
Michael had admitted to Fernando once, that on the outside, he hadn't been the kind of guy who would have become close to an inmate. He would have looked down on Fernando, had they met on the street, a few years prior. Now, there was no one that Michael felt closer to, other than his own brother. Fernando had felt special when Michael had told him that.
Michael always made Fernando feel special, the way he let him into his head, the way he teased and joked with him when he wouldn't with anybody else. That was the problem, though. Making him feel special caused him to ache in a very specific way. A way that he used to feel when he was around his now ex-fiancée. But when he was around Michael, it felt deeper, more painful, like he was out of breath after chasing after something that couldn't be caught.
Michael Scofield had been the cause of the first time that Fernando questioned his sexuality. He questioned it a lot, these days. He didn't ever talk about it, of course. Maybe he would someday if it was still bothering him a year from then. But for the moment, talking about it would only cause trouble.
Fernando tried not to watch Michael, as he paced on the floor below him. He tried to focus on the magazine he had been flipping through. But the engines in those cars would never match the one running in Michael Scofield's mind. He wanted to know what it was powering that day.
"Hey, man, what's got you riled?" Fernando questioned his cellmate, putting down the magazine and dangling his legs off of the edge of the top bunk, where he was sitting.
Michael sighed, looking up at him with an intense, icy blue stare, "Thinking about taking a chance on something that wasn't part of the plan."
Fernando blinked in surprise. Michael had been highly diligent about every step of his plan being completed to perfection. Or, at least, as much as it could be while within Fox River's walls.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, hopping down from the bunk.
Michael turned to face him, leaning with his back against the wall.
"Well, when I got in here, I had the intention to charm somebody. I needed access to certain things, certain spaces. And in order to make sure everything went smoothly, unfortunately that meant seduction. It's the part of the plan I like the least," Michael grimaced. "What I wasn't expecting, was to fall for someone, myself, while being locked up in here."
Fernando's heart gave a small tug of disappointment, much to his chagrin, "So, the doctor, huh? You fell for her for real?" Fernando asked.
"No," Michael replied, eyes going from their usual resolute to something else. Something more uncertain. A little anxious.
Fernando cocked his head in confusion. There weren't that many women employed by Fox River. There was Katie, the nurse, and Becky, who was the warden's secretary, two or three COs. But he had never seen Michael interact with any of them before.
"It you, Sucre. It's been you for a while."
Fernando felt his heart leap into his throat. Him? Michael Scofield was in love with him?
"I don't want it to be weird or anything. Just wanted to air it out. If it makes you uncomfortable, forget I said anything," Michael said, voice coming out in that soft rasp that Fernando had grown to adore.
"Whoa, whoa! I didn't say that," Fernando said, taking half a step closer. They didn't have much room to maneuver in the tiny, concrete cell. "You serious about this, Michael?"
"I wouldn't risk everything and tell you that I'm in love with you on a whim," Michael said, smiling faintly, hope glimmering in those beautifully blue eyes.
Fernando opened his mouth but was unable to speak. He was standing before his closest friend, the most brilliant man he had ever met, the most attractive person he knew, and he had just told him that he was in love with him. His mind had become static.
Michael chuckled softly at the response, moving from the wall to close the distance between them. "Can I kiss you?"
Michael was beautiful and he was his best friend. But Fernando was in love with Maricruz. He had asked her to marry him, she was going to have his baby.
But, then again, Maricruz had left him. She had decided that she wanted to marry his cousin, Hector. That was the choice she had made. And Michael was right there, and he wanted him. It was time for Fernando to made his own choice. He knew what he wanted.
Fernando nodded, and Michael leaned down, softly pressing their lips together.
The spark of Michael's lips touching his eased the static in his brain immediately, and Fernando found himself kissing back, eyes fluttering closed. The kiss was chaste and only lasted a few seconds. But Fernando's stomach found itself flipping in excitement.
Fernando needed a moment to gather his thoughts, once the kiss had broken.
"Do you want…do you want me to go further?" Michael asked, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the height of Fernando's cheekbone. Fernando shivered. He had never been treated so…softly before.
"I don't know," Sucre admitted, taking Michael's hand in his. "I've never…been with a guy before, y'know. Never thought I might want to."
"Would you come with us? With my brother and me? To Panama?" Michael asked, thumb softly stroking over the back of Fernando's hand.
So few relationships that started within Fox River's gates ever remained to see the outside of them. But Michael Scofield was not your average convict. If he said that he wanted Fernando there, he believed him.
"Yeah…yes…I—"
Michael's lips were on his again, kissing him more fervently that time. He tasted clean and sweet. His lips were soft. His breath was warm. Fernando felt dizzy.
"Sorry, I…got excited," Michael laughed, softly against Fernando's lips, as they parted. He grinned at Fernando in that smug, wild way that made his heart flutter.
Fernando couldn't help but chuckle at this, "Papi, if I woulda known that I got you that worked up, maybe I would've said something sooner."
Michael kissed him again in response. It was more heated than the last, his cellmate's tongue thoughtfully poking out to run itself across Fernando's top lip. Fernando allowed it to slip in, pressing his tongue to Michael's in kind, lifting his hands to Michael's face to cradle it.
"I love you, Fernando," Michael whispered, once they broke apart, pressing his forehead to his. "I…I didn't mean to be. There's so much that went into planning for the escape. But I couldn't plan this. Couldn't plan for you, how you'd make me feel—"
"It's okay Michael," Fernando smiled at him, ardently, a warm feeling erupting in his chest as he looked to the other man. "I love you, too."
Michael pulled him into a desperate, clinging hug.
"You know, when you left, it hurt. It wasn't just about being stuck with Haywire, or being behind on the plan. I missed you."
Michael looked vulnerable. Raw. Fernando wasn't used to seeing him like that.
"Hey, I missed you too," he said, softly. "But I'm here now, and you're stuck with me. You want me to run away with you? I'll run away with you. No more hesitations."
Michael smiled at him and kissed him. And kissed him. And kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him. Fernando couldn't help but laugh a little by the time Michael let him surface for air.
"This is crazy, man. This whole thing," Fernando chuckled, as Michael held him.
"Too crazy?" Michael asked, sitting down on the bottom bunk.
Fernando joined him, picking up his hand in his. He kissed the back of it, gently.
"Not for me. Not if it's you. Just the right amount of crazy, I think," he grinned at him. This was really it. He was giving his heart to Michael Scofield. To his best friend. It felt right.
"I need you to know I'm not gonna push you to do anything you don't want to," Michael stated, voice becoming serious.
"I know that," Fernando replied. "And I'm gonna be honest, I'm not…sure I'm ready for more than this right now. Definitely not while we're stuck in here. Maybe I sound like a sap, but…I want it to be special, y'know. Not in a place like this."
Michael was incredible. He didn't belong in a place like Fox River. And if Fernando was going to have him in his entirety, he didn't want to soil it by doing it in their cell. He deserved so much more.
"I'm not that choosy," Michael said, squeezing Fernando's hand, "But I appreciate the sentiment. We don't go further until you say so."
"We could…uh…cuddle, though," Fernando stated, looking away slightly, as his face quickly began to heat up. He really was a sap.
Michael chuckled at this, clearly taken a little aback by the suggestion, "I'd like that."
Carefully, Michael pulled Fernando into the bed with him, pulling him close. Fernando was used to being the big spoon, but Michael was so much taller than him, it was easy to just settle, pressing his cheek to his chest. Happily, Fernando listened to his heartbeat, felt the rise and fall of his chest. Fernando was grateful to be able to have the privilege of witnessing both. Michael had been through so much. He was lucky to be alive.
As long as they were together, Fernando was going to make sure he stayed that way.
It didn't take long, before the two men began to drift off, tangled up in one another like that. The heaviness and the warmth had won out, and Fernando was asleep.
He dreamt of running off into the sunset with Michael Scofield. It was the best dream he had ever had.