LWLU – Another Proposal

“Are you on drugs,” she blurted before the full ramifications of what she was hearing washed over her.

“No. We both know I don’t do drugs.”

Sara ripped her hands away from Michael. “I don’t know anything anymore, but I can’t figure out what’s going on with you.”

“Sara…”

“No, Michael. Just stop. One minute you hate me and say the cruelest things, but the next you’re all over me to get into my pants.” She buried her face in her hands. “I just want you to stop whatever game you’re playing and come clean with me because if you aren’t on drugs…” She peeked through her fingers. “Then you’re just sadistic.”

“I’ve been trying to talk to you about this since yesterday, but…”

“But nothing. You’ve been attacking my relationship with Paul since yesterday. Actually, I’m a little surprised you’ve waited this long to start taking potshots at him because you’ve had a bug up your ass about him ever since you caught me coming home with him in high school.”

“I’d just watched another guy hug my girlfriends after a date. How was I supposed to…” He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Sara, what I’m trying to tell you now has nothing to do with that night. And I didn’t start hating him then, it was weeks later.”

“I don’t care when it was.”

“You need to.” He placed a hand on each of her arms. “Paul Kellerman did something back then that I don’t think you know about. Sara…I swear to you, it changes everything.”

She tried to shrug away from his touch, but he wouldn’t let her. Sighing, “It doesn’t matter. Whatever reason you have for hating my boyfriend doesn’t change a single thing that went down with us.” She leveled her gaze at him. “It doesn’t change the fact that you only want me when you can’t have me.”

“Sara…I’ve always wanted you.”

“Yes, of course. And spending the last two years getting serious with my best friend was the perfect way to show me that.”

“Things were never supposed to get serious with her.” His eyes begged her understanding. “It was just easier to be with her than to think about not being with you.”

“Touching. I’m sure she’d love to know you’re using her as a distraction.” Sara shook her head, wishing she could break free of Michael’s touch. She hated him for what he was saying, but…his touch. It affected her. It always had. “I have to say, Scofield, your ability to use other people to get what you want really isn’t one of your more endearing qualities.”

“Please…I don’t want to talk about Nika with you.”

“Fine. I don’t want to talk about Paul with you. Looks like there’s nothing left for us to say.”

“That’s not true.” He sank to one knee and stared up at her, his hands sliding down her arms until he could interlock their fingers. “Sara Tancredi, you’re all I think about. You always have been. Will you please do me the extreme honor of being my wife?”

If he wasn’t on drugs then he needed a vacation to the whack shack. What the hell did he think he was doing? Nika could come back from her walk. Paul could walk in to get a drink.

Wait. Was that what Michael wanted? Was he looking for the easy way out of his relationship with Nika by letting her walk in on this? Clearly, he wanted her away from Paul, but did he really think Paul would end things with her because Michael was insane?

When he just stared up at her with emotion swimming in his steely blue depths, she realized she had to say something. “No. This is stupid. Get up. You’re not proposing to me.”

“I am. I know I don’t have a ring, but…I’ll get one. Whatever you want.”

At least he wasn’t trying to offer up Nika’s engagement ring. “I don’t care about jewelry, Michael. Just get up.”

“Tell me you’ll marry and I’ll get up. Otherwise, well, I’m going to wait here forever.”

Under other circumstances…Dammit! Why was he doing this to her? She couldn’t say yes to him when she’d all but agreed to marry Paul. Even if she did, it wasn’t like Michael would stick around to see things through with her. It was about the hunt with him; the thrill of the chase.

That’s what it’d always been about with Michael Scofield.

“I don’t care how long you stay on one knee, I’m not going to marry you.”

With reluctance, Michael rose to his feet. “I love you, Sara. I don’t know why you can’t just admit to yourself that you love me, too.”

She heard the refrigerator door open. “Don’t mind me. I hear nothing. I see nothing. I’m just getting a drink.”

Michael turned his attention to Jane. “I don’t care what you see or hear. We’re in love and we’re getting married as soon as Sara stops being so damned stubborn.”

Jane shrugged. “Well, congrats. I’m just going back up to my room.”

Sara didn’t understand the blonde’s calm demeanor when she herself was tied in knots. “I don’t know what Michael’s talking about. I’m marrying Paul.”

“Omigod! You’re marrying Paul? He finally asked you and I wasn’t here!” Nika squealed in excitement and bounded over to give Sara a hug, shoving herself between Sara and Michael in the process.

Veronica hung back on the far side of the kitchen, clearly giving Jane plenty of space. “I’m really happy for you, Sara.”

Jane furrowed her brow and shrugged again. “Like I said, congrats. I’m going back upstairs.”

Michael moved to lean against the counter across from Sara. “Yes, we’re all very excited about Sara’s wedding plans.”

Nika shot him a dirty look. “Stop being an ass and let her be happy for once.”

“No…Nika, I’m very happy about the wedding plans. Extremely so.”

Was he living in a fantasy world made from his own delusion now? How many times did she have to tell him she wouldn’t marry him before he got it?

“Neek…what you heard me say…it came out wrong. Paul hasn’t actually proposed. We just, uh, were talking about it a little bit ago.”

Nika hopped around in excitement. “It so doesn’t matter. He’s going to ask and you’re going to say yes. Sara…Sara…Sara…” She clapped her hands together each time she said her name. “I saw the ring. I asked him about it this morning when he got out of the shower and he showed it to me. It’s totally perfect.”

“I do hope you’re talking about the ring, babe.”

Nika shot him another dirty look. “Would I be this excited if he’d shown me that?” She tilted her head to the side and thought about that. “Okay…maybe in the past, but right now this is all ring.” She turned back to Sara. “Although…”

Veronica spoke up. “We know. We know. Toe curling.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Don’t you think you should maybe tell Sara why he showed you the ring?”

“Ugh. Fine.” She inspected her manicure for imaginary flaws. “This is so not a big deal. When he talked to me on the phone about what to get you for your birthday, the man was half out the door to go ring shopping. When he gave you the book last night, I knew he had to have the ring as well.”

“Nika,” Veronica prodded.

“Well…I might have picked the lock to the bathroom door to take his stuff hostage while he was in the shower. I told him he could have his towel back when he told me where he hid the ring.”

Sara shook her head, more because she needed something to do than because she was surprised. Nothing Nika did shocked her anymore. “You broke into the bathroom while my boyfriend was taking a shower?”

“It’s not like I hopped in the shower with him to wash his back or anything. That’s totally your job, chicky.”

“Why do I always have ears when these conversations are going on around me? I don’t want to hear them.”

Everyone ignored Michael’s comment and Nika continued. “He told me where the ring was, I went for a peek and then came back to return his stuff. No harm. No foul.” She bit her lip. “Okay, I did stick my hand around the shower curtain to give him the thumbs up for his ring selection, but then I left…and ran into tattle-tale over here.”

“I am not. Sara needed to know before this one” she nodded in Michael’s direction, “decided to use it as another reason to hate Paul.”

Yeah, Sara decided, having his girlfriend hanging out with another guy in the shower probably wasn’t what Michael really wanted to see right now…even if he was going out of his way to try to cheat on his girlfriend.

Again.

Sara put up her hands to squelch the growing argument between Nika and Veronica. “It’s fine. Really. I don’t care. I trust you. I trust Paul.” She met Michael’s gaze over Nika’s head. “Completely. Now…I want to go check on Jane.”

She fled the room without another word, but Michael caught her wrist at the foot of the stairs. “Our conversation isn’t over.”

With a sigh, Sara turned to give him her full attention. He was right. Their conversation wasn’t over. Nothing would ever really be over between them, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

She wound her arms around his neck and drew him close, hugging him close despite her turmoil. In his ear, she whispered, “You’re right, Michael. I do still love you.”

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