olivia

You and Michael have been friends since as long as the two of you could remember. Your mum knew his mum, so naturally you grew alongside him and his brothers.

It was quite different being friends with boys, yet despite that fact, you and the Jackson brothers got along real well. You especially got along with Michael.

You and Michael were a lot closer in age, which easily gave you more stuff to bond over and relate to. Which seemed made way for Michael's multiple year long crush.

He's liked you for probably nearly 10 years by now, and the two of you are 19. Ten whole years of hard yearning that bordered on torture.

You've liked him all the same, don't get me wrong—but you've not been so keen on showing it as much as he has. He loves calling you so many cute names, like baby and often mama, even sweetheart. It's such a shock when he hears you call him Mike. Sometimes you'd even call him Michael!

He knows the two of you like each other; his brothers know, specifically. They're the reason he even found out in the first place, since they just never seemed to keep anything to themselves.

He's put up with being friends for the longest time, but even if he respects your boundaries, he finds himself talking about it to his brothers quite a lot. He usually ends up telling Marlon.

"She jus'—she never shows she cares," he'd complain, with Marlon often laughing it off.

Every time you'd meet someone with Michael by your side, you would find yourself telling them the two of you were "just good friends," even if the both of you wished you were more than that. It had stayed the same because neither of you were quite ready to admit your feelings.

Michael was beyond ready to take it into his own hands. You were just so beautiful, so perfect and such an interesting person. It has been far too long, and he was getting far too needy.

Michael had ended up calling you one morning, which is quite a regular occurrence for the both of you.

"Hey mama, it's Michael!" He responded sweetly when he heard the line pick up.

"Hey, Mike."

You were simple with your responses, even if your heart seemed to race in your chest.

"I was jus' wonderin'..." his tone suddenly got shy, "are you free? This afternoon?"

Why is he so shy asking me? you couldn't help but think. When he asks if you're available, he usually sounds excited. He was rarely so clearly nervous through the phone.

You answered after a few seconds of running your schedule through your head.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Awesome!" His shyness seemed to fizz away near immediately with your response. "See you soon, baby."

He hung up right after. Jeez, he didn't even give you time to ask if you wanted to hang out...

You got up and started to get ready anyways. He was such a dork... a dork you couldn't exactly say no to.

Thankfully you'd always lived in walking distance of Michael's place in Hayvenhurst, and as soon as you thought you looked satisfactory, you made your way out the door and towards his place. You wanted to see his face today, anyways.

He met you outside, shifting his balance from one foot to the other repeatedly. Jeez, why was he so nervous?

"What's got you so anxious?" You questioned.

"Nothin', nothin'..." he assured, "jus' somethin' on my mind, baby."

You brushed it off, letting him lead you inside. With how he was acting, it really seemed like he had a whole plan for this. So many of your hanging out was often just with you doing whatever.

When he took you inside, his hand gently resting at the small of your back to guide you, it ended up with you both on the couch, in front of his TV. Michael chose one of his tapes, being very particular about everything. He wasn't usually so focused on everything being perfect unless he was performing or something... what could he be planning? you thought.

Michael sat himself down next to you, and his nerves were practically radiating from his entire being. He was sweating so much, the reflection of it was visible from the light of the TV screen. Internally, his nervousness was tenfold of what was obvious and out in the open. He needed this to be perfect, he needed to be his best. But of course his brothers had to ruin it.

Marlon and Tito were walking through the room, when they both noticed what was happening. You were so obviously clueless, and Michael's clear worried expression was letting them know exactly what was happening. Michael was trying to ask you out.

Tito's comment came first, "oh, what's goin' on here?"

"What's got you so upset, Mike?" Marlon followed. The two had such smug expressions as they smirked at each other.

Michael turned his head towards them both, trying to give them a harsh glare. He fell through on that, since he just looked more panicked than angry.

Tito and Marlon only gave a little whistle before they left the room, leaving you and Michael alone once more. You gave Michael a look that said "what the hell was that about?" and it only served to worsen his feelings.

Michael took a deep breath, his tone softening at your gaze. "Jus' ignore them, baby," he spoke, the nickname leaving his lips with tenderness.

You stayed silent, and chose to ignore that whole situation. Tito and Marlon were just being themselves, nothing too odd about that.

As the tape he'd chosen continued to play, your eyes stayed on the television with interest. Maybe he knew you'd like it so much... it was pretty good, after all.

Your gaze remained on the thing playing, yet his gaze remained on you. The soft light illuminated your features so well, the curve of your nose, your lips... he felt so calm just watching you. He could look at you for hours and never get bored.

He reminded himself quickly what he'd brought you here for. He needed to tell you... he needed you all to himself.

Slowly sliding his arm around your shoulders, he cleared his throat to get your attention. You looked over, noticing his face was a clear rosy pink.

"Baby, I... I gotta tell you somethin'." The same shy tone from when they were on the phone was back.

You tilted your head in confusion, raising an eyebrow to encourage him to continue. He looked away from your eyes, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. You could see his wrist shaking a bit.

"Mama, um..." he hesitated, "do you... do you know how I feel about you?"

A bit taken aback from the question, you weren't entirely sure how to answer. Unsure about what he meant, you questioned him with another tilt of your head.

"What do you mean?"

He let out a little groan, taking both of his large hands to cover his face. When he took them back, you noticed how his cheeks got even rosier.

"You gonna make me repeat myself?" He let out a soft laugh. "I can't keep it to myself anymore, baby..."

He shifted closer to you, and in a moment of confidence, he let his feelings slip out entirely.

"I mean, do you know how crazy you make me? Mama, I'm insane about you..."

You started to feel your own cheeks get bright, but you stayed silent and let him continue.

"I think... I think you're the most beautiful girl I ever seen."

A trembling hand reached out, taking your chin and pulling your face a little closer to his own. Your eyes stayed on him, the television reduced to background noise as you forgot what you'd been watching.

"You make me feel... a lot of things," he let out a shy, breathy laugh. "Sorry, mama... I can't keep it in anymore."

Michael's eyes scanned your face closely, trying to see how you're reacting. He noticed your eyes go soft, your cheeks get pink. His eyes drifted down, seeing your lips parted slightly. He swallowed the pooling saliva in his mouth, and he leaned a bit closer.

"Can I...?" He mumbled. Finally finding your voice, you breathed out a small huff. "Oh, Michael..."

You find yourself remembering how much you'd loved him. Even if you didn't show it much, or didn't act interested, you still cared. And he knew you cared, too.

You leaned in a little bit more, not quite kissing him yourself but leaning closer enough for him to see you wanted it as well. He let out a puff of breath, his eyes closing as he finally brushed your lips together. It was hesitant at first, slow and soft. He pulled away after a few seconds.

"Baby..." he mumbled breathlessly.

He leaned back in, and seeing you do the same, he took your lips back onto his own again. This time much firmer and it felt so much more magical. His neediness was clear, he was pouring 10 years of love and affection he never got to give you into this one kiss.

You tried your best to do the same, and he couldn't help but giggle. Despite kissing him back, you still weren't great at showing your feelings. He found it real cute.

The two of you continued to kiss for a good while. It was real sweet and slow, his lips moving against your own with a worshipful smoothness. You two just could not seem to get enough of each other, and it was an entirely understandable feeling.

Michael had started to let out small whines, his hands on your waist tugging you closer even if you were already pressed up against each other.

"Can't get enough of y'... need y'closer..." he'd whisper against your lips. He'd only be satisfied if you were merged.

"Does this mean... you're my girl?"

You let out a little scoff, sighing as you nodded into his neck. He was pretty cozy.

"Yes, Michael."

"Nuh uh, no more callin' me Michael if we're together." He laughed.

You only rolled your eyes playfully and smiled against his skin. Maybe being more than just good friends wouldn't be too bad at all.