“𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍’𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐘.”

For Michael, the studio was kind of like a school. He was there almost everyday for 8 (or more) hours for a time, he was always learning new stuff, thanks to Quincy, and his interest in the soundboard. And he even got graded on what he did, considering the critiques and advices he’d get from producers and directors whenever he needed to add a special adlib in, or when he had to lower or higher his pitch, he considered this place a one of educational purposes, like the ones children usually go to from 8-3, except his time consisted of standing behind a microphone in a booth with his brothers, practicing over and over and over until they finally got it right.

But, the best part about this lil’ “school” fantasy he had goin’ on though? He even found him a lil’ “school girl” he could be crushing on too. You, [name].

It all started when he first got signed to Motown, coming down to California, all the way from Gary, it was a big change, when he first saw the big ole lights, and street signs and skyscrapers, it all took him by surprise, and the best of all? How huge the recording studio was from the other ones he’d been in, in the past. So big in fact, he quite literally got lost on his third visit there, and being to hard-headed to ask an employee, or to simply just ask an adult that would’ve been more than happy to help, he decided the best idea was too go on his own journey and find the room all by himself.

That’s how he met you, 20 minutes , three circles around the facility, and about 7 side eyes from you later, you thought it’d be best to ask the poor boy if he needed some help.

“…are you intentionally doing laps around the building?” You snickered a little behind him, as he looked at a map on the wall, trying desperately to navigate where he was, and how he could get to where he needed to be. “…or are you… I dunno.. lost?” You kept laughing, more to yourself then at him. You had such a smart mouth, for what? He didn’t know.. he kinda liked it though, he thought you were funny.

“No.. this is.. this is all intentional.” The lie fell squeamishly off his lips, too the point he couldn’t even believe it, no matter how hard he tried.

….

“…You’re looking for B102… I know because I’ve seen you in there before-…” You started, breaking off the news to him, with a fingernail pressing against the cold, hard material of the map, dragging your finger down to the room where Michael needed to go. “-and…. I just seen like three of your brothers walk in there like 30 minutes ago.” You knowingly smiled, clapping your hands together. “You’re lucky I know where to go, or you would’ve been stuck in here like a maze.”

You, eventually got him to the room where he needed to be, which he thanked you multiple times for your help, to which you just shrugged, not thinking much but of helping a fellow “co-worker”, or he would call “classmate.”

After that day you ran into Michael a couple more times after that, each encounter growing a closer bond between the two of you, which is how a couple of years later, you two now consider eachother best friends. And, everytime Michael saw you, he swore his heart was sure to pump out his chest from how excited he was, a crush?? No… it can’t be, can it?

“(𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆) 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆, “𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔.”.”

𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒.

“Well, this has been fun, Mikey, but I’m sure my sisters are probably looking around this whole building wondering I am.” You giggled, pushing yourself up out of your seat,which was the rooftop edge of where you and Michael have been sitting for the past hour, you’ve two been catching up since you haven’t had a real, actual talk in a minute, just brief “hi Mikey”s, and short hugs in the hallways. You hated how the only time you two hung out was at the studio, and sometimes you maybe thought you guys could have a sleepover or something one day, but as snarky and snappy you were, you were nervous to ask Michael if he ever wanted to hang out outside of all the music producing, beat making, and busy nights where your voices were hoarse from all the singing.

But, until then? You were stuck taking “water breaks” in order to just say a quick and brief hi from him, not to mention how strict Joseph is, he’s lucky he came a few hours earlier so he could spend some time with you today.

“…mhm, you need me to walk you to your studio?” He grunted a little while getting up, brushing off small specks of dirt from his pants. In reality? He just wanted to stay with you a little more longer (and for your sisters to see him, and wonder who’s the boy who’s being so nice to my little sister?) . You two walked over to the door of the rooftop, as he reminded himself to make sure to open the door for you, you two slid down the stairs quietly, careful on not getting caught.

“…If you want too, I mean— I wouldn’t mind of whatever.. but I wouldn’t hateeeee it.. if you did.” You quietly answered him. who were you trying to convince, him or yourself? Okay.. to be completely honest with yourself, you have developed a (not so) small crush on Michael over these years, though you’ve been pushing it down and prayin’ it goes away, it’s like everytime you get around him, or when he just acts how he acts.. so nice and sweet, or how he speaks to you, all calm and gentle, not like most boys you’ve heard who are loud and rough and irritating , you couldn’t help but fall deeper and deeper, it was like he was the full package.

You soon-ly realized how stupid you sounded just a second ago, and you quickly wish the earth would swallow you fully and just demolish you, lucky for you, he doesn’t think your a total doof, and he actually found it attractive.

He saw the hard shell you made for yourself, he didn’t know how it got built up, or when you decided you were just gonna be a big ball of sassiness until a person got to know you, but he did know that he finally broke those walls, being able to see a side of you that most people wouldn’t be able to, a softer, sweeter, more caring, passionate, funnier side of [name]. And to be honest, it made him happy, like some kind of reward or accomplishment, he liked that you had a soft side for him that no one else would ever see, because if anyone else were to ask [name] that name exact question, it would’ve been a harsh “no.”, instead he had you stuttering like a nervous kid in a candy store, of course he wasn’t really proud of the stuttering part (well yes he was), but more proud of the fact of…. You felt like you could show your real self to him.

“… ‘m just gonna walk you.. it’s not like a gentle-men to leave you to walk all by yourself.”

“Yk wha?… you’re completely right.. you’re gonna walk me.. “

He playfully scoffed at your demand, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, your recording studio in plain sight now, and your two other sisters recording the background vocals for the song the three of you were producing. You just prayed you can sneak back in there without the oldest one potentially cussing yo’ ass out infront of Michael, you wouldn’t even know how to go on about life after that.

As soon as your sisters saw the sight of you and Michael walking together, you could hear their loud chuckles from the inside of the recording, rushing and pushing open the door to the hallway, where you two stood.

“So this the little nigga who’s been taking up all my little sister time??” The eldest one let out a dry chuckle, crossing her arms together. You flinched at the ‘nickname’ they gave him, and you wish you could cover his ears, or even better.. if he just left. This really wasn’t the best time to meet Michael.

“…don’t call him that.”

“what? A nigga? That boy is a nigga, he ain’t white?” Your other sister chuckled, poking at your arm a little. “Why you acting all soft, [name], what he don’ did to you?”

You sighed at their banter, they were so unprofessional when it was time, which is why you never brought boys over (not because you weren’t interested and only focused on Michael..), and if Michael thought you were snappy, he was in for a rude awakening meeting your sisters.

Michael stood their shyly, knowing how older siblings were he wasn’t really uncomfortable with the whole situation, but he knew he had to put on his best impression to try and win them over, so he quickly laughed off the name, holding a long, skinny hand out.

“I’m Michael.” He smiled, your eldest sister took his hand, shaking it a bit as the name rung in her brain.

“…you’re that singer in the Jackson 5? Is that why I’ve been seeing you around here?” She smiled more friendly now, she wasn’t mean of course, but she still had to make sure he was worthy of her little sister, even if they were just “friends”. “…Ohh, it’s all making sense now! That’s why [name] is always having to go to the bathroom! And the water breaksss.. and wanting to be here all early and shi-“

“Okay, mike.. you should go start recording with Jackie and Marlon and stuff.” You mumbled out now, tugging Michael by his forearm farther from the door of your studio, as he turned to face you (having to look down a little to actually meet your eyes.)

“[name], I was… I was actually thinking ‘bout sum..” Michael started with a slight gitter in his voice.

(All the while your siblings were watching the two of you. )

“I uhm.. we’re always hanging out in the studio.. and I feel like.. I wanna hang out like— more.. out of all the music and stuff.. and uhm, I was wondering do you maybe wanna come to my house? If your parents let you.. we can make like hot chocolate maybe.. and I really like Christmas movies so we can watch some even though Christmas is in a month.. but my brothers will be away so they won’t annoy us at all I prom-“

Your siblings snickered behind the door at his attempt to ask you to hang out, seeing how nervous he was they both made a mental note to go easier on him next time he’s around.

“…I would— I would love too, I don’t think my parents would care anyways and we can hang out practically whenever.. we can leave from the studio together and just go straight—… yeah, I would like to hang out.”

“Okay, cool… I’ll see you soon, [name].”

“Okay… bye Mikey.”

You smiled a bit, before making the impulsive decision to pull him into a hug, to which he reciprocated, pulling you a smidge tighter closer to him then you did, after the hug concluded, he walked away giddy, going too his room.

You stood there for a second a tad starstruck on what had occurred just a second ago, until your quickly pulled you at that trance with their nagging.

“Ooooo, Mikeyyyyyy!” The middle one started, pressing her lips together in a kissy motion. “Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mikeyyyy, oooo Mikey I would love to hang outtt, we can have a sleepover and go under the coversssss..”

Your eldest sister had a fit of laughter, slapping her hands against her knees as you quickly turned around, gasping at the comment.

“Ew?! Have you lost your fucking mind or something? Let’s just record this song so we can bounce outta here..” you groaned, walking inside the recording booth and slamming the door.

“There goes the [name] I know.”

…

Michael walked into the recording booth like he won 100,000 dollars, a wide smile on his lips, he was 5 minutes early so it wasn’t no nagging from his producers or anyone higher up, but it was definitely some nagging from his brothers. “…You were with that girl?” Jackie smacked on his sandwich, wiping away any crumbs that surfaced on the corner of his mouth. Michael nodded a bit as he sat in the rolling chair next to Jackie. His relationship with his dad was a little rocky, he couldn’t really talk to him about any problems, Joe only caring about music and money, he decided the best option to get advice and too vent too was his eldest brother, so he knew all good and well about Michael’s little crush on you, and has been trying to give Michael advice.

“….I met her sisters, kinda.. they referred to me as little.. ‘n-word’, but I think they like me..” Michael started, leaning more into the chair, playing with the small lint balls on his jeans. “…Then uhm, I invited her over to the house, because I’m sick of js’ hanging out in here, you know? I wanna actually hang out with her… I wanted to watch a movie but I know that can get boring so if she has any other recommendations I’ll be up for it.. I just wanna see her out this building, man..” His palm went to his forehead, rubbing small circles on his forehead. Jackie took in all this information, thinking on what to say to his best admission.

“…Then we hugged for a little.”

Oh that caught Jackie’s attention all right, and the attention of all his brothers because more and more, they started flooding in.

“..But like.. what kind of hug? Like was it a side hug.. or like a full on bear hug?” Marlon poked his head in, walking in from his previous spot at the snack area.

“No, it was like a full on hug, she kinda had her arms like…at my shoulders, and I had them around her waist a bit.” Michael cringed at the way he said it.

“Who pulled away first?” Jermaine chuckled, his fingers tapping at his chin a bit.

“…It was kind of a mutual agreement thingy… I dunno it was at the same time.

“Did she smell good?”

“Like vanilla.”

“Was this you twos first actual hug?”

“The first long one, it lasted like 10 seconds or so! Man… and her sisters were right there..”

He sighed now, now thinking about how your sisters could’ve took the hug.

“…Mike, ima say this one good finale time… that girl right there, she’s the one for you… when we talk to her she’s all snappy and dismissive, but when she speaks to you she get all quiet and understanding and puppy dog eyes, plus she calls you “Mikey”, ain’t no friend gon call you dat, man…” Jackie placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder, rubbing the spot a little.

“…Them ain’t no regular friend actions.. she’s feeling you big dawg.”

“𝐒𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐃𝐎?” (𝐎𝐎𝐇, 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘.)

“…It’s so cold, man… I swear I could freeze.” Michael shivered a bit as you two walked around his backyard, of course it was huge, so it wasn’t no regular back yard walking session, yall were 20 minutes in, and you hadn’t even reached the “destination” that Michael wouldn’t tell you about yet. It’s been about a month since the talk you and Michael had about hanging out, and you two finally made some free time in your schedules, so here he was, on Christmas Eve (and even though Michael didn’t celebrate, he knew how much it meant to you), guiding you to the secret picnic, lunch dinner surprise he made for the two of you.

This was all part of his plan to ask you out to be his girlfriend, he’d finally grown some balls to finally do it, and if he was gonna get rejected, he was probably gonna vanish off the face of the world, but it was still worth the shot.

“… The place I’m taking you has a heater, don’t worry.” Michael reassured, his arm “friendly” wrapped around your shoulder, to keep you warm, of course! You let out a heavy breath, the cold breeze blowing against your nose, you swore your boogers were freezing like little Isicles in your nose. Of course, it wasn’t that cold.. but when you live in California, the warmth is all you know, so it being below 40 degrees practically means you’re freezing.

“Mikey.. are we almost there..? I swore we’ve been walking for a hour-“

“20 minutes.”

“Same shit, Michael.”

You breathed out, a cloud leaving your mouth like you were a dragon, as you finally saw where Michael was taking you, a small hut in the middle of his backyard, with food placed on a small blanket big enough for the two of you, and the two of you only. You giggled a little seeing the sighting,

“Is this all for us?” You smiled a bit, it was random, sweet, yes.. but awefully random. “Yeah.. i did it the night before? Do you like it? ‘m sorry.. i didn’t know it was gonna be this cold, i would’ve did it inside or sum.” he sighed, finally making his way to the hut, holding his hand out, so you can take your place safely on the floor.

“it’s real cute… i love it..” you smiled, you really wanted to ask “why?”, but didn’t want to come off as too harsh. You sat down in the hut, shoo’ing off any lint pieces off your pants, as Michael sat right infront of you, a large smile on his face. “…brought the projector out and everything out, huh?” You smiled again, turning your face to face the white wall that had a movie playing on it.

…

20 minutes have passed since the movie started playing, and snacks have started being discarded. You swore you weren’t crazy, but you definitely felt michael’s hand scooting closer and closer to yours, aswell as his whole body, actually. So, you did the only reasonable thing a person who has a big fat crush on a person, who didn’t really have a nervous bone (an obvious lie) did.

You yawned fakily, tilting your head to the side so it rested on his shoulder.

How could it fireworks in the middle of December? Michael didn’t know, nor care because he swore he felt them exploding all in his stomach. He nervously lifted hand up, rubbing small circles on your shoulder.

…

“…Is this something?” You quietly whispered, scared to ruin what could potentially be going on here, you didn’t know if he was enjoying this? what if he just rubbed your arm because he was only trying to comfort you?

“Do you.. do you like it— this?” His voice so thin that if the wind gusted too loud you wouldn’t have heard it. “…I like it.” you quickly chirped back, but remembering to keep your eyes on what’s infront of you, and that was the movie that suddenly wasn’t as interesting anymore.

Another wave of silence hit the two of you, as yall “focused” on the movie; until Jermaine’s voice rung in Michael’s brain.

𝟐 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐎.

“So.. are we talking about like French kissing here or—“

“Ew! No! We aren’t that far, yet!”

“Yall aren’t far at all.” Jermaine chuckled, chucking the small tennis ball in the air, and catching it as quick as the threw it.

It would be quite embarrassing to talk to Jackie about how to make his first move on you, so he went to the 2nd best option, Jermaine. And God was he giving him a run for his money with how much teasing he was doing. “Jermaine, man! Can you help me or what?” Michael groaned, throwing himself back on the bed, covering his face.

“…grab that plushie off the floor.”

“…You kinda wanna lean— like not so close to the point where yall noses are touching, but.. to the point where it obvious that she knows your leaning— you know?” Jermaine held the Mickey Mouse plushie around his arm like a prop, slowly leaning into it closer, Michael sitting close by with his legs crossed. “…Look at the lips, then the eyes to see if she’s feeling it, then if back at the lips.” He mumbled, demonstrating on poor Mickey.

Michael nodded, he kinda wished he brought a note pad so he could study after this, but a visual of his brother kissing Mickey Mouse would be better anyways.

Then… just press the lips… after a few seconds just like.. pucker and unpucker.” He pulled away from the Mickey Mouse, of course not getting into detail with kissing Mickey, and instead chucking the plushie across the room. Jermaine pushed out of his seat on the bed, grunting a bit as he sat up to look at Michael, who had a mostly understanding look on his face. “…And I’m not teaching tongue yet, because that leads to baby makin’ and we don’t want that.” Jermaine chuckled, slapping Michael’s shoulder before walking out the room.

That wasn’t enough, so that night Michael searched every magazine and book for all the help he could find.

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘.

Out of pure curiosity, you decided to glance up at Michael. Luckily for him, that was his cue.

Your eyes caught the way that he’d been looking down at you for the past minute now, they also caught the way he’d been mumbling “pucker, unpucker, pucker, unpucker,” but of course you weren’t going to mention that. When you two first made eye contact, Michael quickly locked your head in softly with a subtle (and nervous) hand on your jaw, making sure you made sure to not turn any time soon.

Soon enough, his lips pressed against your forehead, down your nose, to the corner of your mouth, and then finally.. the sacred place. Your lips pressed together for a few seconds, before he started initiating the actual kiss, thankfully, you didn’t know what you were doing, as well as he didn’t, so the two of you fought it out together. After a few seconds of what you could call.. “making out”, the two of you finally pulled away from eachother, but not before pressing a few small pecks to eachothers lip, a small saying from the two of you that yall really didn’t wanna pull away.

“… I’m not— Its not weird, right?” He whispered out, his fingers shaking a tad bit, as they fell down from your face too your lap. “…Why would you be weird? I liked it— I really really.. liked it..” you smiled towards him a bit, before leaning up again to press another kiss to his lips.

He flinched a little, jerking back from your touch, and swore you thought you completely fucked up. “..I can’t kiss you again without knowing that you want to be my girlfriend..” he started scooting a little forward so you guys could be fully face to face. “[name], please.. pretty-please.. make me the happiest boy in the world, and be my girlfriend.” His breath shaky, and his lanky fingers scrambling to find yours.

You sighed a little as his nervousness, before leaning on your knees, and having your hand press to his cheek, before forcing out a measly nod. “.. Michael I’ve been waiting for you to ask that question for about.. 2 years now.” You chuckled out, leaning a little closer now. “So, yes.. I’ll proudly, and loudly.. be your girlfriend.”

And with that, you pressed the both of your lips together again, and started your really really unprofessional makeout session again.

“𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋, 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐎 (𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐎)

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟖.

“Mhm… wait— did you copy me in that little adlib you did?” You gasped, as you replayed one of the demos for his new album “Off the Wall.” Michael have been wanting to go solo for the longest time, so when he finally got the okay to go for it, he was more than excited to finally have his own creativity, what you didn’t know was he would be taking inspo from YOUR new debut single album as well, as you and your sisters finally separated with no hard feelings a couple of months ago.

“I didn’t— I didn’t copyy…” he giggled, spinning in the rolling chair a tad bit, with you sitting on his left thigh. “I took inspiration from my girl.. you did such an amazing job I just— I couldn’t help it..” he sighed, pushing up a little, so he can pause the slow beat playing in the background. “…speaking of this song.. this beat is definitely a keeper for the album, I already got the small little ‘doo doo doo doo doo dooo’s~’ for the beat, I just.. I’m so stuck on lyrics.” The pen that was in between his fingers tapped sharply on the piece of paper he was supposed to be writing on.

A wave of silence fell in between the two of you, you grunted a little, leaning forward to grab his notebook, and staring at the blank page.

“…You couldn’t help it, baby.” You stated, before jotting something down in the notebook, keeping it out of his vision. “…Mhm, basically.” He tiredly smiled, running a few fingers down your hair, and you let out a soft sigh as you concluded your thought on your notebook.

“Wait— wait..” your fingers started a new thought on the same page, a few seconds passed by, before you flashed the lyrics to Michael, a proud smile on your face.

“…How about you try… these?”

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐇 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑, 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟏.

Michaels face dripped down with sweat as he kept a grip on his microphone. It was one of the nights where you desperately found a free day to go to your boyfriends concert, you had your own private section to the side so you wouldn’t get recognized and potentially take the spotlight off him, or just mot to be squished by fans. You got a good glance at his sparkly outfit, and his damp curly hair, and lord did he look so good, you were gonna have to pull him to the side later on the tour bus.

Anyways, that was completely unrelated to the whole situation you were in right now, right now you had to focus on Michael and his performance, because you had to fulfill your awesome,e girlfriend duties and jot down every little thing he did that you liked after the performance.

The crowd quieted down a bit, as Michael glanced up at the lights of the stadium, then back at the crowd.

“…I never really perform this song, but.., there’s someone really special here tonight, and.. and they are usually really really busy.. and she made time out of her pretty schedule to come here.” He smiled, as he looked at you from your section. Once the crowd realized that he was indeed talking about you, they fell into cheers and yells and claps, you shook your hand in a shy wave, Michael looking back at you with a shy giggle of himself.

“…Hi baby.” He giggled to you, you blew him a kiss, before the instrumental of “I can’t help it.” Started playing.

Gosh, you always stay on that boys mind, huh?

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐃𝐎 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔.

Graduation couldn’t come by any faster the way Michael’s school year was progressing… yes, it was only August, and he wasn’t even a fraction done with his Senior year, but he could already taste the sweet freedom of Highschool being over, the freedom of being able to pursue more in his music (and his art, which he wouldn’t really openly talk about to just anyone), the mere thought of him going solo and out the group (no offense to his brothers) made him giddy on the inside. And, the best part about this so called “freedom” he was so close to having? Finally being able to focus on you.. like focus focus. Time to look for things more deeper, living together, maybe a nice apartment for the time being, he didn’t want to get a big house and burn out the fantasy of living together just yet, he wanted (and planned too) go to the same college as you, so it wouldn’t be no “long distance bullcrap”, and after you finish college, maybe things could get even deeper, kids, he meant. He deeply wanted kids, 18 of them if you will, but he knew that was unrealistic for some women, and some women being you, who firmly decided that kids weren’t even in your vocabulary right now, to which he sighed even thinking about the thought, but it was all alright, he’d find a way to convince you somehow.

But now? Now Michael had to focus what was infront of him, and that was you, popping on your gum while you dug in your locker, finding your biology books during the short 10 minutes before 1st period started. You couldn’t help but feel his eyes burning a hole on you, which probably wasn’t on purpose, since you knew his tendency of zoning out, knowing this, you decided on the best way to pull him out of trance.

You softly pressed your lips against his, not anything too serious, but something that would snap him back to reality. “…Mr. Pan.. you seriously gotta stop daydreaming.. it’s getting kind of concerning… maybe we gotta take you to the doctors or something.” You chuckled, going back too grabbing stuff out of your locker. “…Wait.. please tell me I didn’t leave my notes at your house last night, babe.. seriously? I always do this.” You sighed, mostly to yourself, finally looking up meet his gaze, this time his look was intentional, a small cocky smile resting against his face as he just stared, Gosh, you still looked as beautiful as you did the first day he’d seen you, he remembered it like yesterday.

1972, September 2nd.

“Michael quit staring at that girl..” Marlon chuckled, Michael flinching at the interruption of his constant zoning out, his eyes been on you since the first day of school, though words haven’t really been shared, due to rejection?? not really, Michael was humble, but he knew how girls were when it came to him, considering his upcoming musical career, girls his age practically came flying his way, what he was scared of messing it up, for him to finally talk to up, and for him to choke and stutter on his words, make a complete fool of himself, for you, to find out Michael Jackson, the upcoming lead singer who really had something coming for himself, was really just a nervous loser. And what intimidated him even more? The confidence that practically radiated off you when you walked past him, or anywhere, really. You always had your head held high, posture perfect, not a speck of dirt on your shoes nor clothes, always walking with a friend or two, smiling, giggling, happy, not even worried about Michael. That’s what made this whole thing harder on him, you hadn’t even glare at him once, while his almost whole school day resolved around you.

“Ain’t staring mane.. shut up.” Michael mumbled, mushing the nasty school “food” around his tray, desperately trying to keep his focus on something other than you. “If you don’t go up and talk to her ima do it myself!” His brother sung in his ear, he knew they were teasing, but still the mere thought of it happening made Michael’s heart drop, giving them a harsh look, a small sign of ‘don’t you dare.’. “…What.. don’t tell me Michael’s nervous?” His other brother, Jermaine sat at the table now, clearly already having a lead on where this conversation was at before he situated himself down.

“That boy definitely nervous.”

“I’m not.”

“That nigga petrified.” Jermaine cracked up, mostly to himself, which made Michael jump up out of his seat, startling his brothers, and a little of himself. “…I’m gonna go talk to her.” He briefly explained, before walking off, surprised by his own actions.

His heart thumped deep in his chest, yes, because he was doing this, but of the sight of you, you were way more beautiful close up, and he could promise on everything he loved that you looked straight out of a romantic shot of a movie, with all the slow down sappy music, and the hair flowing, just imagine that but in real life. His stomach churned in knots as he got closer and closer, quickly grazing you up and down to grasp on what to compliment you on to start conversation (a tip he got from one of his brothers), he settled for the the plaid skirt you had on that rested at the end of your thighs, since he felt he had a matching fabric at home in his closet, and it stool out to him the most.

Once he got around 2 feet close to you, he stood there like an absolute robot, it shouldn’t be this hard making conversation, considering you were finally by yourself (for the first time), vulnerability digging around in your locker. He ‘ahem’ed one too many times, which didn’t really catch your attention, so that tactic was completely out the window, so he finally made the executive decision that he had to use his big boy words, and say your name (which he totally didn’t found out by stalking your classes..).

In a quick motion, he dropped a spare pencil out of his pocket, making it purposefully roll too your feet, and a small fake gasp left his lips, boy was he doing too much. As he bent down, twiddling the pencil against his fingers, he put on that fake confident smile that he usually pursued on stage, not enough to show he was overly giddy, but enough to show he was showing interest, and was friendly. “ oh shoot.. ‘m so sorry, is this your pencil?” He tried to (but failing) say casually, holding it in the air.

“Oh!” You started, finally seeing the sight infront of you, a small polite smile bled onto your face, and Michael swore he could’ve fainted. “..It might’ve been, but you could keep it if you need it!” You smiled to him, your back now finally turned the opposite direction of him, getting a good look of who was infront of you, a nice well kept boy, it didn’t help he was a little handsome, but that was a thought you would keep to yourself.

“You sure..? It is the beginning of the school year, ‘don’t want to be already losing supplies.” Michael sheepishly giggled, the calm confidence in your tone already making him get slightly comfortable with you, some of the jitters shivering away, “Yeah, I have like a bunch of pens and they have like.. all the colors, and they’re kind of rainbow and they sparkle and—“ you quickly cut yourself off as you realizes you were blabbering, closing your mouth and pressing your lips together, the rough metal of your braces slightly scratching against the inside of your mouth. “..’m so sorry.. this is what my brother means.. I have a blabber mouth.” You scoffed, going to turn your back to Michael, before he quickly stopped you.

“I like gel pens too, I use them to draw sometimes… I also like your skirt, it’s pretty and.. and I think I have that same plaid pattern on one of my shirts at home.” He brought you back, the slight reassurance of that he liked the passion of your gel pens made you feel all… giddy and happy inside, a feeling you never felt inside, a feeling you didn’t know if you liked or hated so far. “..Really?” You asked confusingly, looking down at the print of the skirt, you thought it was cute too, until your brother, once again, said you looked like a librarian this morning, killing all your confidence right at the brink of the morning. “..My brother says I look like a librarian, and— and honestly he’s kind of just a doof..” you sighed, pressing down any invisible wrinkles in the skirt, glancing back up at Michael.

“My brothers are doofs too.. I have.. four older ones, so I know your pain.” He leaned against the vacant locker next to yours, shyly playing with his fingers, keeping his gaze on the way they twiddled with eachother.

“…Wow.. might as well start a group with all of those boys, like another “Jackson 5”. “ You joked to yourself, the situation flying right over your head, a small slimmer of silence fell in between the two of you, and Michael let out a small “well…”, the realization didn’t dawn on you yet, and honestly? He was scared for when it did.

Your eyes quickly looked at him when you realized, eyeing his face down and realizing that she did recognize this face somewhere, that this was the boy that she would notice when she flicked through television channels, and a certain boy band was performing, him obviously standing out because he was always in the front.

And, instead of doing exactly what Michael thought you were going to do? You did the complete opposite.

“Oh, wow! That must be fun.” You smiled, like it was the most casual thing in the world. Like Michael wasn’t.. Michael, like he wasn’t the same child popstar that everyone knew. He didn’t know if he loved or hated the feeling. “I was wondering where I heard the name Michael from, anyways.” You giggled, finally grabbing the book from your locker, slamming it with your shoulders. “…Don’t you have science with me anyways?” You questioned, swinging your backpack to the front, stuffing the book inside the tidy space. “..Do you wanna walk there together? I have an open seat next to me in that class anyways, so we can always sit next to each other, ‘need a buddy in that class anyways.” You smiled, finally zipping up your backpack, and swinging it on your back.

“I… I would love too.” He stammered, quickly stabilizing himself on his feet, seeing you were getting ready to walk..

“Aight, cmon Mikey..” you smiled, tugging at his arm, as you made you two made your way to science, his brothers snickering and laughing from their seat at the lunch tables.

And from that day onward all the way up until 10th grade, almost everyone and they mama knew Michael had the fattest crush on you.

Well, everyone except for you, at least.

1973, December 22nd,

“Can you believe that dipshit… standing me up at the winter formal, I looked so stupid, I had to walk in with my bestfriend as my date.. which no offense to you, because you’re a nice looking dude.. I just.. I told everyone he was gonna be there, you know?” You sighed, laying on Michael’s bed, feet dangling off the side of it, while your hands rested softly on your stomach. Meanwhile, while you rambled, Michael held the camera close to his face, ignoring you? Noooo…! Just.. zoning out, to his defense this was the billionth time you spoke about it, and it’s only been 3 days into the sleepover you begged to have for winter break.

“Can you quit allat cussin’ Tink..? You know how I feel about it..” he sighed, the nickname Tink slipping from his lips so effortlessly, from when you found out his liking for Peter Pan, the nickname Peter Pan, usually ‘Mr. Pan’, to be more funny, formed, and in return he called you Tink, you can guess for what’s that short for. “..How can I not curse, I’m angry, I’m mad, I’m fully intact with my feelings, I want to punch a brick wall, Mikey.” You sighed, rolling your face into a pillow, and screaming loud into it, a tip Michael gave you for when you couldn’t control your emotions, and were mad and heated, like now. Your friendship became super close over these years, to say the least.

Michael sighed, finally taking his gaze off the camera, placing it down on the desktop, walking over to the bed and sitting in the edge of it. “…He didn’t deserve you, none of the guys that played you like this deserved you.. I wish you could see that..” he mumbled, finally looking at your current state of your head stuffed in the pillow. “…You just need a guy who will treat you like how you deserve… someone who will see you for the beautiful person you are.” He started, a hand going to one of your braids, and twiddling it softly. “…I wish you would just take the time to get to know a guy before rushing into something serious with them.. because you see where it leads you.” He sighed, he was right, you always found yourself being love bombed, and trusting too early, always finding yourself back to square 1.

You sniffled a little, not even noticing the tears that spilled down to your cheeks, you bounced up from the spot on the bed, flinging yourself to Michael, wrapping your arms around his neck. “Why can’t anybody just love me, Michael.. is it that hard..? Am I ugly or something? You would tell me if I’m ugly, right?” You wiped your nose against his shirt, as he rubbed quick small circles against your back, pulling you deeper into the embrace subconsciously. “[name], you know you’re far from ugly..” he quietly chuckled, which made you laugh, making you realize you may have been overreacting.

“…you really are my bestfriend, Michael.” You sighed, and he could’ve did the exact same thing, for different reasons of course.

Of course, you only saw him as a “friend”, while he saw you as his whole moon and stars, while you were getting played by these jerks who didn’t care about nothing you had going on, Michael was sitting here looking stupid waiting for you to say the word so he could openly and willingly give you his all.

This clicked something in little 15yr old Michael, a realization in a sense. A realization, that if he truly wanted this, he was going to have to work hard to get it.

It started off subtle, small little complainants he had to push out, pushing down the fears of being so bold.

“You look s’pretty today!” He beamed out, pleased with the small blush that grew on your face once the compliment flooded your ears.

“Your smile is nice.”

“Your hair is pretty naturally— not like it’s not pretty when it’s straight too— I like both— I like them all actually!”

(He was still a dork, he didn’t just change to Mr. Cool guy in one night.)

Then, it led to small little actions that had his brothers looking proud (but more confused) on his certain boldness.

“Jackie, can you drive me and [name] to the movies… and pick us up in like 2 hours.” He peeked in his brother room, and Jackie swore he almost flipped in his chair. “…You and ‘Mrs. Pretty Smile.’ ? “ he chuckled, still focusing on his appearance in the mirror, as Michael still stood at the door. “…Yeah, I guess it’s kind of a date.. kinda… I’m gonna pay for everythin’ so you don’t have to worry about giving me anything.” He spoke quietly.

“So you and pretty thing are dating now?”

“Not quite.”

“Whatcha mean ‘not quite’ ?”

“I’m working something out, man!” Michael loudly sighed, clearly annoyed at all the questions. “…can you take us out or no, i already promised her I was gonna take her..”

Jackie stood up, spinning his car keys around his fingers as he made his way to the door. “…You better ask that girl out, man.. I’m not playing.” Jackie quietly mumbled under his breath. “And you better not be doing no frisky shit I’m not playing Michael!”

That night, Michael in fact did not ask you out, matter of fact, you made the first move on him, months later after the movie.

1974, May 27th.

Your feelings for Michael have deeply increased over the past years, at first you tried to ignore it, holding onto the sacred thought of him being your bestfriend, which is why you distracted yourself with other guys, who only seemed to make you want Michael even more. With the school year coming to a close, you decided that maybe talking with Michael with how you felt would be the best option, better to get off your heart, atleast, whether if he liked you back or didn’t. The issue here was.. you weren’t really Michael’s only friend no more, which kind of scared you, and made you a tad jealous.. yes, the group he usually hung out with was all boys, but this was deeper then your crush on him, you had other friends, but none of them were Michael, what if you two distanced and you hardly talked? Thinking about it had made you almost throw up, and you quickly retreated the last time you two hung out.. okay, it was two days ago, you two had a picnic.. but still, that’s too long.

You stood from afar as you watched Michael talk to his friends, all loud and annoying and…. boyish, ugh. Michael clearly didn’t fit in… well from your eyes he didn’t but everybody else thought he fitted right in, snug as a bug,

You couldn’t watch this no more, you got up from your table of friends, not announcing your departure from how annoyed you were. As you made your way to Michael’s table, the sound of the obnoxious laughing, and throwing paper balls, and doing immature teenage boy shit quickly flooded your eyes and ears, and what made you even more pissed off? Mike was sitting there acting the same exact way, nothing like how he acted when it was just you two.

As you made you appearance to the boys, you quickly ignored the slow whistles and “oooo’s” fell from their lips. Michael’s heart almost dropped to his ass when he saw the sight of you, and the look you had on your face, you were pissed. “…Mikey, can I talk to you?” You calmly, but confidently asked, still keeping your head held up high, and posture straight. You sighed at the brief moment of silence, a quiet spill of “mamas mad..” and “ooo she here for Mikey..” Michael looked around at the group of boys around him, knowing that he couldn’t let his “cool popular boy” facade down right here, he decided to do the worst thing possible.

“…You gon’ have to wait lil mama… don’t you see I’m busy?” He spat out as ‘cooly’ as possible, his voice dropping down to an octave that kinda scared you once he spoke, nodding his head at you like you were a little puppy, as the other boys around him laughed and dabbed him up.

Oh you could’ve lit up a fucking building with how pissed that made you, desperately trying to keep your cool, you asked him politely again, this time with a bit more tone. “Seriously, Michael. It’s something very important and serious, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a minute.” You desperately tried again.

“Aye, didn’t he just say he was busy?” One of his friends chimed in, which caused the whole group to start laughing loudly. You were a laughing stock, not just to those boys, but to your own friend bestfriend. You honestly felt like you could cry, throw up, and punch every single one in them in the face all at the same time, and to save yourself from doing it, you quickly walked away from from, mumbling a small insult under your breath. You had never felt so belittled in your entire life, and for the first time to be with the person you considered your closet friend? You didn’t know how to react. You made your way to the tree you usually sat under during free time, without the company of Michael though, it felt a smidge sad to even be over there, but you knew this was the only place people wouldn’t be able to find you and ask the most stupidest question to ever exist.

“Are you okay?”

The tone set back in the voice you just heard was one way to familiar, and one you quite literally wanted to beat the crap out of right now. Michael hesitantly scooted next to you on the tree, placing his body right there. “…You.. you get why I had to speak to you like that, right?” Michael started, not daring to make eye contact with you.

Was he dead fucking serious? Instead of an apology, that’s the first thing he says to you?

“Tink.. please, don’t gimme silent treatment.. you know how those guys are.. if they heard me speak.. how I usually speak to you… I wouldn’t have heard the end of it..” he tried to explain, but you weren’t hearing a lick of what he was saying, blood boiling deeply inside you, as you lifted your hand up, landing a hard slap from across his face. That felt good to get off your chest..

“Don’t you ever.. I mean.. ever… speak to me like that ever again, do you really really really understand that, Michael!?” He practically flinched at the way you yelled at him, knowing he full on well deserved it, he didn’t know how to fix this without letting you get your anger completely out. He sighed, going to put a hand to the back of your head to pull you closer, of course you backed away at first, but once you truly realized who was touching you, you ended up falling into the touch, hot tears streaming down your face from the evident embarrassment you had just faced, while Michael continued to whisper soft sorries against your hair.

After a few minutes, Michael decided to break the silence, still wondering on what was so important that you needed to talk to him about. “…Hey, Tink..? What was so important you wanted to talk to me about..?” He shyly whispered, still worried he might’ve crossed a boundary of even asking that question.

“It’s nothing, just please forget it..” you mumbled, finally pulling away from Michael wiping your own eyes as you focused on the school yard infront of you, grass bright and green, and sun blazing right intop of the tree you were sitting under, thank god for the branches and leaves to shade you. “No.. no, don’t do that, [name]…” He sighed, softly grabbing onto your arm to keep you from not going to far. “Cmon, please tell me… pretty please..” he playfully smiled at you, which made you loosen up a little, pushing some hairs from your face a little.

God, this was the time to do it, huh?

“…I just.. okay.. uhm.. I’ve known you for almost… two years now, and, and I think it’s been the best two years of my life, Michael.” You started, god, this was corny.. but you didn’t really have a script on how you wanted this to go. “…And.. and over these two years I’ve uhm.. I’ve realized some things about myself.. and.. and I was scared to tell hip, but now.. now I’m ready too.. and.. and… you don’t have toeel the same way if you don’t— like I’m not forcing you to do anything by the way— just so you know— and— I just wanna make it clear—“

“Tink, you’re blabbering again.” He softly reminded you, you giggled as you caught yourself, nodding slightly, scooting closer to him, finally ready to say it.

“Michael I think— no.. I know.. I have feelings for you.. I’ve had them since came up to me with that fake, cheesy, pencil trick.. I’ve just.. I didn’t know how to say it, and I didn’t know if you would’ve reciprocated the same feelings back..! Im sorry— I should’ve been—“

You quickly got cut off with a soft pair of lips pressing against yours, a small peck, but boy did it affect you, because you swore your head was gonna explode with how hot you felt.

Though the kiss lasted about… a second, you felt your brain got swiped from all the memories it held up until this moment, “ ‘m sorry… that was ungentlemen-like… I should’ve asked for permission…” he facepalmed himself, you quickly grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away from his face, you didn’t know what what you were doing, working on pure instinct, as you lifted his face up, pressing another gentle kiss to his lips, this time holding it there for about… 5 seconds.

Another second of silence passed, before you two started snickering, first little under the breath ones, too loud, silence breaking laughter, your grip still around his wrist as you tried to catch your breath, looking back up at him.

“Oh God… Jackie’s gonna kill me when he finds out about this..,”

“Why?! Does he not like me?!”

“What? Of course he does! It’s just—.. I was supposed to ask you out a long time ago… and now if he hears you made the first move… he’s never gonna let me hear the end of this.”

You two both continued chuckling at this, now slapping eachothers knees now, desperate gasps leaving your mouths as you desperately tried to catch your breath. Wow, this whole time… he’s been trying to ask you out for the longest, just for you to completely take over the wheel and do it yourself, sounds like something you would do.

After silence washed over you, Michael sat up to look at you, a focused expression on his face now, he looked nervous, which was weird because you should’ve been the only scared one here.

“…Do you… Uhmm… do you… [name], do you wanna be my girlfriend?” He finally squeaked out, eyes pushed tightly together, scared after everything that had happened, you were gonna reject him.

You scoffed at his shyness, sitting up to sit on your knees, one hand sliding in between his. “…would I be your girlfriend… do you even have to ask..?” You giggle, grabbing ahold of his hand., tugging him to stand up with you. “…Of course I’ll be your girlfriend… now cmon, I’ll walk you to P.E..”

Michael chuckled at how you talked so casually, it was something he liked about you, you never overreacted when not needed, it made him feel more down to earth, especially with him dealing with screaming fans and all that other stuff all the time.

It’s been almost two years since you and Michael been together, and everytime he thinks about the memory he gets giddy and warm inside, stupid? A little,, but who was he to act all cool and normal when he has you as his woman? No way that’s something to be mellow about.

Current Day / 1975, August 30th.

“Shoot.. you probably did leave your notes at my place… ‘m sorry, mama… should’ve grabbed them before I left for school..” he finally remembered about your notes while you two were walking home from your long, exhausting day at school, holding his basketball in between his hip and arm. Of course, he wasn’t really stressed out about your notes,,, he kinda just wanted you to baby him.. and for you to come over his house to “grab your notes”, though he’ll never quite admit that too you. “… it’s fine, baby.. it’s my fault, anyways.. I was so wrapped up in what I had going on.. ‘didn’t even grab the most important thing.” You chuckled to yourself, wrapping your arm around his longer one, keeping a good hold on him, though he wasn’t really going nowhere.

“If you didn’t grab the most important thing I would probably still be at home, Tink..” Michael chuckled into the air, now grabbing the basketball in his large hand, tossing it up and down in the air, the started playing basketball in Junior year ever since he got his growth spurt, and lord knows how annoying it’s been now dating a singer and a athlete, it’s like he wants to be dragged away from you. “…Can you please shut up with all your cocky, jock-y… boyish behavior..” a groan left your lips as your hands flew around in the air, it’s how you expressed yourself, and it was a habit you’ve had since you were little, with little to no thought of breaking it. “…that’s why your Afro is flat in the back..” you mumbled quietly, to which Michael’s hand flicked to the back of his head, fluffing out the back of the masterpiece he called hair. “Wait— don’t even joke like that, mama.. that’s serious business.” He groaned, hands still making pinching motions at his head, refluffing the already fluffed out space back there. “Okay, ‘m sorry.. your hairs fine..”

More time passed between the two of you, as you continued walking pass the many houses, no sign of Michael’s whatsoever. Michael kept peering down at you, a small smirk on his face everytime he looked at your face, he couldn’t help but be proud of what he has, and you couldn’t help but to be annoyed on his stares.

“…What’du keep staring for..” You groaned, now stopping in your tracks, causing Michael to jerk backwards a bit. “…It’s just..” he started, sighing a bit. “…You’re growing up.. kinda.. you don’t look like the little girl I met four years ago.” He chuckled, his hands resting on your shoulders now, leaning against a random gate of an elementary school that’s been closed for a coupe of hours now.

“Yeah.. you don’t either, that doesn’t make me stare at you creepily though.” You giggled at him, playfully poking at his rib. “You also didn’t have that snarky attitude when we were 14, either.” He mentioned, an arm wrapping around your waist confidently now. Yes, this was completely new to you, and you fully think your boyfriend’s teammates had brainwashed your once sweet, nervous, and quiet boyfriend to whatever.. this was, but at-least he kept the same soft tone, plus you didn’t really hate this… cocky confidence thingy.

“…Mike, what are you doing..?” You giggled, being pushed fully against his chest now, having to churn your head all the way up in order to get a good glance at him.

He smiles playfully, a hand resting on your cheek, bringing your face closer before pressing your lips together, starting a soft movement of eachothers lips. “…Come home wimmie.w..” he mumbles against your lips , he tells you more than really.. asking you…. But who were you to say no? “..Oh yeah..? And what are we gonna do when we get to your house..?” You smile, to which he chuckles a little, still keeping his hold on you.

“..Stuff..”

“…Stuff..? What’s stuff, Mikey..?”

“…Grown stuff..” he smiled innocently, a hand sliding lower and lower to your bottom, before you could reply to what he said, a honk of a car ruined the moment between you, making you jump in yall grasps.

“I know that ain’t Mikey and [name] !” Marlon yelled from the passenger seat, music blaring the speakers as the car stopped in the middle of the street, Jermaine sitting in the driver seat, tilting his head to get a better look at the two of you.

“Maneeee! Get y’all fast ass in this car!” Jermaine chuckled, the soft click of the door unlocking a small sign to hurry up. You and Michael quickly pulled away from eachothers arms, hopping into the backseat of Jermaine’s car as he sped off.

Man yall couldn’t wait to graduate.