SUMMARY = Michael spends another day with her family and slowly discovers what a normal life is supposed to feel like.
But the closer he gets to happiness, the harder it becomes to return to the life waiting for him at home.
WARNINGS = fluff, hurt/comfort, slow burn, emotional intimacy, soft moments, comfort fic, healing themes a little of emotional abuse, controlling parent, childhood trauma, crying, emotional vulnerability, loneliness, unhealthy family dynamics.
The house was already quiet when Michael came in. The warmth hit him first but it didn’t feel comforting tonight, it felt heavy.
He closed the door gently behind him still carrying the calm of the café in his chest, still hearing faint echoes of laughter in his head.
For a moment he even smiled like he was still somewhere else.
“Where were you?” The voice cut through everything.
Michael went completely still, his father was standing in the living room waiting.
Michael straightened. “I was out,” he said carefully. “With someone.”
The atmosphere changed immediately, his father’s expression hardened. “Out where.”
Michael hesitated. “…Around the neighborhood.”
“For how long?”
Michael swallowed. “The afternoon.”
“You don’t just disappear all day,” his father said firmly. “You don’t leave without telling anyone where you are going.”
Michael lowered his eyes a little. “I didn’t think it was dangerous.”
“That is not the point,” his father cut in sharply. “You are not a normal boy walking around without consequence. You are recognized everywhere you go.”
Michael didn’t respond because he already knew that part. He always knew that part.
His mother appeared near the hallway softer and cautious. “He was just-”
“No,” his father interrupted again. “This is exactly what we cannot allow, distraction and decisions without control.”
Michael’s hands curled slightly at his sides. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” he said quietly.
That line made his father pause, after that “You don’t decide that.”
~~~
The room shifts, it was the same house but different night. Christmas.
Michael walks through the door holding something in his hands, the gift he received wrapped carefully.
Voices come immediately. “Where have you been?”
He stops. His father was waiting.
But this time was just worse because Michael is litteraly holding the proof of where he has been.
His mother behind his father immediately noticing his expression, already trying to soften the air before it breaks. “He was invited,” she says gently.
That word lands badly.
His father’s eyes drop to the gifts in his hands. “Invited by who.”
Michael hesitates. “…A family in the neighborhood.”
“You don’t go into strangers homes ! Even more on Christmas!”
Michael looks up slightly.“It wasn’t like that.”
But it doesn’t matter because the structure of the world in that house is already fixed.
There was no moments, no feelings. The house feels too small for how loud the tension is.
His father steps forward slightly. “You don’t understand what this means. You cannot just leave and participate in things without thinking.”
Michael looks down at the gifts again and for a second, he looks younger than he is. “I just wanted to…”
Then he stops because there is no correct ending to that sentence here.
His mother tries to help him again, softer: “He just wanted to experience Christmas.”
But that only makes it worse, his father’s answer is immediate: “No! This is not how we do things!”
Michael’s fingers tighten slightly around the paper.
He doesn’t argue anymore because something inside him understands that this moment will not be understood.
~~~
The memory fades and Michael is back in the living room, standing.
His father’s voice is lower now, controlled. “You cannot afford distractions like this. Not now.”
The word hits differently again.
Michael nods slightly. “I understand.”
But his voice is flat and empty of everything he felt earlier that day.
His mother watches him carefully but doesn’t interrupt anymore because she knows this version of the conversation too well.
Michael turns toward the stairs and leaves quietly.
Upstairs in his room he finally closes the door.
And the silence changes again, it was not like with her, it was not peaceful.
He sits down slowly and for a long time he doesn’t move. Somewhere between Christmas Eve and today…he started learning what it feels like to have something that isn’t allowed to stay.
~~~~
The morning didn’t feel like it belonged to anything in particular.
It wasn’t peaceful, not really. It was just… empty in a way that made her notice everything else more sharply. The ticking clock in the kitchen, the faint sound of traffic outside or the way her thoughts kept drifting back to the same place no matter how many times she tried to pull them away.
Michael.
She hated how easily that had become normal in her head.
She stood by the window for a long moment, arms loosely crossed staring at the street like she expected something to change if she waited long enough.
But it didn’t.
Eventually, she exhaled. “I’m going out,” she said already grabbing her coat before she could talk herself out of it.
And no one questioned her.
She knew where Michael lived even though she had never been to his house, after all, it wasn’t a secret, everyone knew where he lived.
After about ten minutes of walking as she turned the corner she slowed down immediately.
The sound reached her first, there were too many voices.
Then she saw them. People crowded against the gates of the house packed tightly together, some calling out, some holding cameras and some just standing there like they had been waiting for hours. It didn’t feel like curiosity anymore.
She stopped walking for a second taking it in properly.
So this was what it looked like from the outside. Michael’s life.
She swallowed and moved closer anyway, instinctively lowering her head slightly as she approached the entrance. Two guards stood near the gate both alert, both used to this kind of constant presence.
She hesitated, then spoke. “Hello, I’m here to see Michael.”
One of the guards barely reacted. “Name?”
Her fingers tightened slightly in her sleeves. “I’m a friend.”
“Everyone say that”
Her chest tightened a little. “No, I really am!,” she insisted a bit more carefully now. “He knows me.”
Still nothing.
The second guard looked at her properly this time, skeptical but not rude, just cautious in the way people become when too many strangers try the same sentence every day. “He went to my house on Christmas,” she added quickly. “I invited him!.”
They exchanged a look and that was when a voice interrupted from behind them. “Is there a problem here?”
She turned then saw a man walking toward them.
He looked at her briefly then at the guards. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“She says she knows Michael,” one of them replied.
The man’s eyes shifted back to her, more observant now. “What’s your name?” he asked directly.
She hesitated again. “Come on I’m just here to see him,” she repeated softly. He sighed slightly like he had heard this exact sentence too many times in his life.
“Listen,” he said more gently, “a lot of people try to get in. You need to understand-”
“I’m not lying!,” she interrupted a bit more firm now. “I invited him. He was at my house on Christmas you can ask him.”
That made him pause cause he knew about Christmas.
He studied her for a moment longer. “Mhh, well, tell me what gift he gave to your family ” he asked slowly.
She looks at him choked. "Is that a joke?? He brought chocolate, flowers, and games!"
He looks at her then nods his head“…Wait here.”
He walked a few steps away speaking briefly with one of the guards. She couldn’t hear anything.
Then he came back. “All right,” he said finally. “You can come in.”
Relief hit her instantly before nervousness replaced it just as quickly.
The man walked slightly ahead of her leading the way without speaking much now.
“You know him personally?” she asked carefully after a moment, still unsure who he was.
He glanced back briefly. “Yeah, since he was little,” he said simply. And then she saw him.
Michael was standing in the garden mid-step like he had been doing something before he saw her
The second his eyes landed on her, he was confused.
“…Hi?” he said like he wasn’t fully convinced this was real.
She smiled immediately. “Hi.”
He looked past her and saw the man behind her "Hi Bill..." He blush as he realized he had met the girl he spoked to him about then he rested his gaze on her “Why- why are you here?” he asked voice softer now.
“I got bored,” she said honestly.
That made him laugh under his breath, as he watch Bill leaving while waving at them
“You came through all of that?” he asked, glancing toward the gate without fully turning.
“I didn’t know there would be that many people,” she admitted.
His expression shifted slightly at that “Mmh,” he said quietly.
Then she stepped closer brushing snow off her sleeve.
“I was thinking,” she said lightly, “you should come to my house again.”
Michael blinked. “Again?”
She nodded. “We can bake something. Or just… do normal stuff.”
The word made him pause slightly. Normal.
He repeated it in his head before answering. “…Yeah,” he said after a moment. “Yeah, okay.”
Her smile softened. “Good.”
They started walking toward the side of the house together, away from the front gate.
The noise faded as they moved further back.
Quieter, somehow, like the world had decided to lower its voice the further they walked away from the front gate. The noise of the crowd was still there, faint and distant, but it no longer pressed against her ears in the same way. Here, it was just wind, snow, and the soft sound of their steps on the ground.
She followed him without really thinking about it, still slightly overwhelmed by how easily she had been allowed inside in the first place. Nothing about this felt normal, even if he was acting like it almost was.
Michael walked a little ahead not fast, just naturally guiding the way hands tucked close to his body against the cold. Every so often he glanced back at her like he was quietly checking she was still there still following.
“You’ve never been here before,” he said suddenly as if it had just occurred to him again.
She let out a small breath of laughter. “Obviously not,” she replied. “You think I just casually hang out in your back gardens?”
That made him smile a little but he didn’t answer.
They turned the corner of the house moving into the side yard where the space narrowed slightly. The fence came into view ahead, it was tall, wooden, unremarkable at first glance, just part of the property like any other boundary.
Michael slowed down near it. “This is where I usually…” he started then stopped like he wasn’t sure why he was explaining it.
She looked at him, then at the fence. “…What?” she asked.
He hesitated for half a second before stepping closer and gesturing lightly toward a small almost hidden gap between the wooden panels and the corner structure. It wasn’t obvious at first glance, it’s something you would only notice if you were looking for it, or if you had seen someone use it before.
“I use this sometimes,” he admitted more quietly. “To get out without… everything.”
She stared at it for a moment processing then she blinked. “You’re joking.”
He looked at her quickly as if worried she misunderstood. “No, I mean- it’s just easier sometimes.”
For a second she just stood there looking between him and the small opening in the fence. The idea of it felt so strangely ordinary and so completely not ordinary at the same time that her brain didn’t quite know where to place it then she laughed.
“You really just have a secret exit in your garden?” she said, shaking her head slightly.
Michael blinked at her reaction “It sounds worse when you say it like that.”
“It is worse when I say it like that,” she replied still smiling.
The tension in his shoulders eased slightly at that like he had been half-expecting judgment and didn’t find it there.
She stepped a little closer to the fence peering at the gap properly now, then looked back at him.
“I can’t believe I just walked through a crowd of people to end up leaving by your secret escape tunnel,” she said.
He shrugged lightly, a small almost shy smile forming.
“It’s not really meant to be secret,” he admitted. “Just… less noticeable.”
She nodded slowly then tilted her head at him. “And you’re just showing me this?”
For a second he looked like he was thinking about the question properly then softly he murmured “I trust you.”
She didn’t answer right away. Instead she just looked at him for a second longer, something softer settling in her expression.
Then she stepped through first, carefully brushing snow off her sleeve as she moved to the other side.
When she turned back around he was still watching her like he was making sure she really was there.
~~~~~
The house looked the same as always from the outside but she still noticed the way Michael slowed down for half a second like he was taking it in again. The warm light coming through the windows, the faint sound of movement inside, the smell of something already sweet in the air.
He didn’t say anything at first and followed her up the path. “You okay?” she asked casually unlocking the door. He nodded once. “Yeah.” But he was still a little quiet.
The second they stepped inside the warmth hit them properly. And so did Lily.
“You’re back!” she announced immediately already appearing in the hallway like she’d been waiting there the whole time.
Michael blinked at her. “Hi,” he said, a little cautious but polite.
“YOU BROUGHT YOUR BOY-” she shouted immediately when she saw Michael behind her sister.
“LILY STOP!” She cut off her sister, blushing, hoping that Michael did not understand their altercation
Michael gave a small smile, glancing between them.
From the kitchen, her mother appeared wiping her hands on a towel. “Oh, you made it,” she said warmly. Then she noticed Michael properly and smiled. “Hello again.”
Michael straightened slightly, polite immediately. “Hello.”
Her mother’s expression softened at his tone. “You two are going to bake?” she asked, glancing between them.
“Yep,” her daughter replied.
Lily raised her hand. “I supervise.”
“No one asked you.”
“Yes they did. I am essential.”
Michael glanced at her quietly, then at the kitchen like he was already mentally preparing for whatever “essential supervision” meant.
She caught his expression and smiled. “Don’t worry,” she said softly. “It’s mostly sugar and chaos.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah.. That’s… what I’m afraid of.”
The kitchen was warm when they walked in.
With music playing low, counter already half-covered with ingredients. A normal kind of mess.
She tied her sleeves back and grabbed a bowl. “Okay,” she said, “cookies first.”
Lily climbed onto a chair immediately. “I supervise.”
“You don’t supervise anything.”
“I supervise vibes.”
Michael stood a bit to the side at first, watching.
She noticed and just nudged a bowl toward him. “Here. Stir this.”
He looked at it like it required more thought than it did. “Just… stir?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded and started carefully like if he messed up the whole kitchen would explode. She smiled a little to herself not saying anything, just letting him figure it out.
“Chocolate chips?”said Lily as she opened the fridge
“Yes.”
“Extra?”
“No.”
“Wrong answer.” Her mother laughed quietly from the sink.
At one point flour somehow ended up in the air. No one admitted responsibility immediately which automatically meant Lily.
Michael turned slightly and blinked. “…Did it just snow inside?”
That made her burst out laughing. “It’s Lily,” she said simply.
“I didn’t do anything!” Lily yelled instantly.
“You were literally holding the flour bag.”
“I was just inspecting it.”
Michael shook his head slightly smiling now more openly like he was slowly getting used to the rhythm of this place.
She looked at her hands full of flour and without thinking she threw some on him.
It landed on his sleeve, Michael froze then looked down then back at her. “…Did you just do that on purpose?” he asked.
She bit back a smile. “Maybe.”
He hesitated holding the bowl clearly thinking about revenge but he was not moving.
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not gonna do anything?”
“I am working.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
He looked at the flour on his sleeve again then shook his head slightly. “No.”
She laughed under her breath. “Wow.”
And that was when Lily jumped in. “Nope. There is no way. ” A handful of flour flew across the counter directly onto Michael’s shoulder. He blinked slowly turned his head. “…Okay.”
And that was it, he put the bowl down.
What followed was chaos.
Michael tried to stay polite at first, dodging, laughing and not really committing to throwing anything back properly until Lily declared herself “team chaos” and suddenly it wasn’t optional anymore.
“Hey!” he said laughing, trying to defend himself as Lily and her sister basically teamed up. “I didn’t start this!”
“You didn’t end it either,” she replied wiping flour off her cheek.
At one point he finally threw a little bit back at her and immediately looked slightly guilty after doing it.
She noticed and laughed. “You can hit harder than that.”
“I don’t want to-”
But Lily cut in again. “WRONG. THROW MORE.”
And suddenly he had no choice.
~~~
By the time they finally stopped there was flour everywhere, on the counter, on sleeves, in hair and on the floor.
Michael leaned back against the counter slightly, laughing under his breath, still a little surprised at himself. “I think I made it worse,” he said.
“You did,” she agreed.
“But it was fun,” Lily added proudly still holding a spoon like a weapon.
Her mother shook her head from the door smiling to herself. “You’re all cleaning this.”
“No,” Lily said instantly.
“Yes,” her sister replied.
Michael just looked at the mess, then at them still smiling.
The kitchen downstairs was finally clean.
It had taken them a while wiping counters, stacking bowls and brushing flour off the floor until nothing really showed what had happened earlier except the faint smell of sugar that still lingered in the air.
Upstairs, her room felt softer now in the late afternoon light. The sky outside was starting to shift toward that winter orange fading slowly through the window. A record was playing some music, the kind that just filled the silence gently.
They were sitting on her bed, not facing each other fully just angled slightly backs resting against the wall legs stretched out comfortable in a way that had slowly built up through the day without either of them really noticing.
At first they were just talking small things like Lily, the cookies, the mess in the kitchen or how he almost dropped the eggs again and how she “absolutely did not trust his cooking skills yet.” Michael had laughed at that, more relaxed than before like the tension from earlier had melted away.
But at some point the conversation slowed and then changed.
Michael went quiet for a while staring at his hands in his lap. She noticed immediately “You okay?” she asked softly.
He blinked like he had to come back to the room. “Yeah,” he said quickly. Then, after a pause: “I just…”
He stopped and looked down at his hands. “I don’t know how to explain it,” he admitted quietly.
She didn’t interrupt and he let out a small breath, almost shaky. “I feel like… I was just a normal kid today.”
The way he said it made her slow down.
It was like the word “kid” didn’t quite fit, but it was the only one that made sense to him.
He gave a small and uncertain laugh. “I know that sounds stupid. I’m not- I’m twenty-one, I know that, I just-”
He stopped again, swallowing while his eyes lowered. “I never had this.”
Her expression softened immediately.
Michael looked at his hand like he was trying not to lose control of the words now that they had started coming out. “When I was younger,” he continued, voice lower, “if I did something wrong… even small things… I would get punished for it.”
He hesitated not cause he didn’t want to say it but because he was choosing how.
“I didn’t really get to be… like this,” he said gesturing vaguely around them. “Laughing, making a mess or not worrying about everything I do.”
His voice cracked slightly on the last part and he laughed again but this time it wasn’t really a laugh.
“I didn’t know it could feel like this,” he whispered.
She didn’t move at first just looked at him. “Michael,”
His voice cracked a little. “It feels good,” he admitted. “But it also… hurts.”
He shook his head slightly, like he was trying to explain something that was impossible to understand. “Because I keep thinking about what I missed,” he said. “What it could’ve been like if things were different,”
“I just don’t know how to carry both at the same time.” That was when his voice finally broke and the tears came before he could stop them.
He turned his face slightly away immediately, embarrassed trying to breathe through it. “I’m sorry,” he whispered quickly. “I didn’t mean to- I’m okay, I just-”
But he couldn’t finish cause she moved closer immediately and took his arms.
His breath caught slightly at the contact like his body reacted before his mind could.
She didn’t say anything at first, she just held his arms tighter.
Michael kept his head slightly down, shoulders tense, tears slipping quietly without him being able to fully control it.
“I just wish,” he said voice breaking again, “I wish I could’ve had one normal day back then.”
That made her eyes water too as she squeezed his arms gently.
And this time, she spoke. “Michael…”
He looked at her then, finally.
“I’m really sorry you had to go through that,” she said softly.
His lips trembled slightly then he shook his head.
“No,” he said quickly still crying quietly. “You don’t need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything.”
He took a shaky breath.“I just… thank you.”
“For Christmas… Yesterday and today,” he added. “For letting me feel like… I was just a person.”
She shook her head slightly, tears spilling now too, quieter but real.
He shook his head slightly like he was embarrassed. “I just- sorry.” he tried quickly.
But she was already pulling him into a big hug, she melted into tears at his touch, she was blaming herself for not having appeared earlier in his life. Someone who did not have a childhood was inconceivable to her? It hurt her heart and at that moment she promised herself to make Michael discover everything he could not have experienced.
She realized that in a short time, she had become terribly attached to him. He was her friend.
Of course she had several friends in her life, but after high school graduation she withdrew into herself while all her friends took different paths.
At the end she only had her little sister and now Michael.
For a second he froze completely like his body didn’t immediately understand what to do with being held without expectation. Then slowly and carefully he leaned into it.
His hands stayed unsure at first, hovering slightly before finally resting lightly at his sides like he didn’t want to break the moment by doing too much.
His breathing was uneven then quieter. They didn’t say anything, they just stayed there.
Then he spoke it was very softly at first. “I’m tired,” he said.
She looked up at him him but he didn’t look at her yet. “It sounds stupid,” he added quickly almost instinctively. “I know I shouldn’t say that.”
She shook her head gently “Don’t do that,” she said quietly.
“I’ve been tired for a long time.” His fingers tightened slightly against each other. “Since I was a kid.”
That word landed differently, he swallowed, eyes still lowered. “My life was different..,” he admitted. “Not like other people.”
A small breath left him shaky. “There was no birthdays. No Christmas, nothing like that.”
He laughed faintly but there was nothing funny in it. “Just… work. Always work.”
The room felt quieter around them. “I love singing, that’s what I like most, but not like that.”
“And now I’m twenty-one,” he said softly, “and I’m experiencing things I was supposed to have years ago.”
Michael finally looked at her but only slightly like he wasn’t sure he could hold eye contact fully.
He then saw that she was also crying, he felt guilty but said nothing when he noticed that she was hesitant to speak.
“Mike, I… I wanted you to know that I’m here for you,” she said softly, still holding his hand between both of hers. “Like really here. Whenever you need to talk, or if you just wanna get out of the house, or do anything… I’m here, okay?”
Michael stayed quiet his eyes fixed on their hands for a second before slowly lifting toward her face.
She gave him a small smile, even though her eyes were still watery. “We’re friends now,” she continued gently. “And friends help each other. You’re not alone anymore.”
The room went completely silent after that. Michael looked at her like he didn’t fully know what to do with words that kind. “You… really mean that?” he asked quietly more tears coming out of his eyes.
She frowned a little immediately “Of course I do.” She say slightly pushing his shoulder while laughing with streaming tears, she didn’t even knew if it was sadness or joy.
He lowered his eyes again visibly emotional now, a small breath leaving him as he tried to compose himself.
“I’m not used to people saying things like that to me,” he admitted softly.
Her expression softened completely at that. “Well, you better get used to it,” she whispered with a tiny smile.
That made him laugh quietly through the tears still caught in his voice then after a small pause, Michael squeezed her hand gently for the first time.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “Really.”
He hesitated before speaking again, almost shy now. “That means more than I can explain.”
For a moment he just looked at her, eyes glossy and unbearably sincere.
And then, very quietly he admitted “I don’t feel alone when I’m with you.”
They hugged for several minutes, it was comforting,
~~~
Eventually the house felt silent.
The music upstairs had stopped at some point and the light outside had dimmed into early evening.
Michael stood near the front door now, coat back on and still a little quiet like the emotion hadn’t fully left him yet, just settled deeper.
She walked him outside onto the porch.
The cold air hit softly again, it was sharp but familiar.
He stopped at the bottom step and not of them spoke.
A second after he looked at her. “Thank you,” he said, softer this time. “For everything.”
She smiled a little through the lingering emotion. “You already said that.”
“I know,” he admitted. “And I mean it every time.”
Then he looked like he wanted to leave but couldn’t quite do it immediately, like something was holding him there.
So she stepped forward instead and this time, it was her that leaned up slightly and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
It was quick, but gentle and warm
Michael froze instantly, not because it was uncomfortable but cause it surprised him completely.
When she pulled back she was smiling a little. “I’m really glad you came today,” she said softly. “And I can’t wait to see you again.”
His face was slightly red now, eyes still a little wet but his expression softened in a way that looked almost overwhelmed.
“…Yeah, me too,” he said quietly. “Good night...”
He hesitated one last time then finally turned and started walking down the path.
She stayed on the porch for a moment, watching him leave. “Good night Mike” she said to herself.
He walked slowly at first then a little faster.
Hands close to his coat, head slightly lowered like his chest couldn’t decide what feeling to hold first.
Halfway down the street he glanced back once.
And when he saw her still there, he lifted his hand slightly in a small wave.
She waved back then he kept walking.
And even though there was a strange heaviness in her chest from everything he had told her, there was also something else growing quietly under it.
Michael on his side, was probably the happiest person in the world, but he had to come back to reality
He was mentally preparing to get yelled at by his father when he got home for spending the afternoon with "strangers"…
uuuuuuuuhhh okayyyyy
i cried while writing this, so i hope you did too i suppose???
let me know if you liked it and if you have any ideas about things they could do, or discussions etc.
anyway tell me and i’ll include it!
taglist = @a-dal7490 @itzdollysblog @booklover @awriana @wtfisgoingonlol @lilizdrones @darkgreengrl @ariitashi @fandomsarefamily1966 @kietourhrt @julia-harrys-only-angel @khiarsa @jaafarsbaby @sorasomi @darkgreengrl @madelynfulman @nands88 @ari8fr @alonelovelygirl (lmk if you want to be added)
That was the first thing you noticed when Michael walked in at almost four in the morning, still smelling like stage lights and sweat.
You were sitting on the edge of the bed half asleep, TV flickering soundlessly across the walls.
He looked beautiful and that was the worst part.
He was beautiful in the tragic kind of way with his curls damp against his forehead, his dark eyes heavy with fatigue and his oversized jacket slipping off one shoulder.
“Hey,” he whispered.
You smiled softly. “Hey.”
He tried to smile back but it faded too quickly.
The silence between you wasn’t awkward anymore. It had become familiar over the past few months with long-distance calls cutting out, missed anniversaries and airport goodbyes that started feeling rehearsed.
Michael moved slowly around the room, taking off his jewelry piece by piece and leaving it on the dresser without looking. He looked exhausted down to the bone.
“You should’ve slept,” he murmured.
“I wanted to wait.”
“For me?”
You laughed quietly. “No Michael for the hotel wallpaper.”
That got a real smile out of him this time. Small and tired, but real.
And God you missed him even when he was standing right in front of you.
He sat beside you on the bed with a sigh, elbows on his knees, hands covering his face for a second too long.
“How was the show?” you asked gently.
He shrugged. “Crowd was loud.”
“That’s all?”
“Mhm.”
You turned toward him fully now, studying his profile carefully.
Most people saw Michael Jackson.
But you saw the man who forgot to eat when he was stressed. The man who woke up gasping after nightmares he refused to explain. The man who apologized too much for things that weren’t his fault.
The man who looked unbearably lonely in crowded rooms.
“You okay?” you asked quietly.
He nodded automatically quickly, you looked down and there it was again, that invisible wall.
You know it wasn't because he didn’t love you, but because the world kept taking pieces of him before he could bring them home.
“I missed you,” you admitted.
His expression changed immediately. It was Softer. “I missed you too.”
The room went still.
Outside somewhere below the hotel windows, fans were still gathered near the entrance. You could hear distant screaming every now and then whenever security moved.
He heard it too.
You watched his eyes drift toward the sound automatically like his body belonged to them now and not you. Not even himself.
“You leave tomorrow,” you said softly.
“A few hours, yeah.”
“Then Japan after that.”
“Mhm.”
“And then rehearsals.”
He stayed quiet.
“And then another tour date.”
Still quiet.
Your throat burned. “When does it stop, Michael?”
He exhaled shakily leaning back against the headboard. “It doesn’t.”
The honesty in that answer nearly destroyed you because for the first time he didn’t try to comfort you, he didn’t promise more time, he didn’t say “after this tour.”
He just looked tired, so impossibly tired.
And you stared at your hands to avoid crying too early. “I don’t remember the last full conversation we had,” you whispered.
“That’s not true.”
“It is.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Michael-”
“I call you every day!”
“You call me between interviews!”
His face fell silent.
“You always fall asleep on the phone,” you continued quietly. “Or managers interrupt. Or you forget what we were talking about because somebody’s asking you for something.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I know... I know it.”
And that was the problem because it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Fame was just ruining him slowly and neither of you knew how to fight something that big.
Michael rubbed his face tiredly. “I’m trying.”
The crack in his voice made your eyes sting instantly. “I know you are.”
“And I love you.”
You closed your eyes for a second because hearing that somehow hurt worse now. Of course he loved you, that had never been the issue.
The issue was that the world loved him more loudly.
You looked at him again like really looked at him.
And he looked like someone constantly being pulled away from himself.
And suddenly you realized that if you asked him to choose between you and the stage… he would probably break before making a decision.
Not because he loved you less but because music was the only place he still knew who he was.
Your chest ached so badly it felt difficult to breathe.
And he noticed immediately. “Hey,” he whispered softly.
You shook your head. “Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you can still fix this!”
His entire expression cracked, you saw in real time the exact moment he understood.
“No…” he breathed.
You started crying before you could stop yourself, the kind that comes from mourning something that’s still technically alive.
Michael moved toward you instantly.“Baby, please-”
“I tried so much Michael but I can’t keep missing someone who’s standing right in front of me.”
Then pure silence and he looked like you’d stabbed him.
His eyes filled immediately with tears. “Please don’t do this tonight,” he whispered.
God that voice, that fragile exhausted voice. You almost gave in right there and almost said nevermind or pretended love was enough but then he glanced toward the clock.
3:47 AM.
Michael looked down at his shaking hands.
“I don’t know how to be both people,” he admitted brokenly. “I don’t know how to be him and still be yours.”
A sob caught painfully in your throat because that was the truth neither of you wanted to say out loud.
You reached for his face carefully, thumbs brushing against his skin and for a moment he leaned into your touch with his eyes closed like he was starving for tenderness.
“I wish the world had met you later,” you whispered through tears.
His brows pulled together instantly. “What?”
“Before they took everything.”
Michael broke, one tear slipped down his face before he looked away, ashamed of it.
You had never seen him look so young and so human.
“I tried,” he whispered again.
“I know.” And you truly did.
That’s what made it tragic, he loved you, he loved you so much but every airport, every stadium, every screaming crowd kept pulling him further away until loving him started to feel like holding water in your hands.
By the time the sun began rising faintly through the curtains, neither of you had slept, you just stayed there together in silence.
His hand in yours like if you held on tightly enough, morning wouldn’t come but it always did.
heyyyy so it’s the first time i wrote something like that, i didn’t really know what to do at the end sorry if its bad, tell me if you have any ideas for other one shot or series
just a shy Off the Wall era MJ that starts secretly meeting the girl outside their houses after their first Christmas together, trying to feel like a normal boy while hiding from the world.
Soft fluff with winter walks, record store and cozy café moments <3
She stood frozen on the porch long after he disappeared down the street snow continued falling softly around her, the cold biting at her cheeks but she barely noticed it.
All she could think about was the feeling of Michael’s lips against her skin, it had only lasted a second but somehow it made her heart beat so hard it almost hurt.
And the worst part was the way he’d looked afterward completely embarrassed like kissing her cheek had taken every ounce of courage he had.
The kiss stayed on her cheek long after Michael disappeared down the street.
Not physically of course, she wasn’t insane.
…Okay maybe a little bit
She stood frozen on the porch for a good thirty seconds after he left, staring at his silhouette getting smaller beneath the glowing streetlights while snowflakes melted slowly into her hair.
And the more distance grew between them, the more her brain seemed to replay the moment against her will.
The way he had hesitated first, the way his face had turned bright red immediately afterward.
And the way he had practically fled down the sidewalk like kissing her cheek had been the boldest thing any human being had ever attempted.
A laugh escaped her softly into the cold air.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
She nearly jumped.
Lily stood in the doorway wrapped in a blanket like a tiny suspicious grandmother.
“I’m not smiling.”
“You are.”
“I’m literally not.”
“You look weird.”
“Go to bed.”
Lily narrowed her eyes dramatically.
“Nevermind…Did Michael kiss you?”
Her entire body stopped functioning.
“What?!”
“I KNEW IT-”
“LILY!”
The little girl burst into evil laughter before sprinting back inside the house while she stood there in complete horror, face burning so badly she thought she might actually evaporate into the snow.
~~
That night she barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes she saw him again, his curled hair dusted with snow, shy smiles hidden behind his sleeves, glossy eyes beneath Christmas lights.
And worst of all, the way he had looked at her like kindness was something rare.
She think that part hurt the most because underneath all the laughter and softness and awkwardness she had noticed it constantly.
Michael always seemed surprised whenever somebody cared about him, like he didn’t fully trust happiness when it stayed too long.
And somehow after only one night she already missed him.
Which was ridiculous right ? like absolutely ridiculous.
She had known him for barely twenty-four hours?
and yet the neighborhood already felt emptier without him walking through it..
The day after passed painfully slowly, mostly because she kept accidentally looking for him outside the house.
At first she told herself it was subconscious, then Lily caught her staring out the front window for the fourth time in the afternoon and said “You’re waiting for your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Mhm.”
“He’s literally not.”
“Then why do you keep looking outside like a sad Victorian woman?”
She hated how funny that was. “I’m gonna throw you into traffic.”
Lily gasped dramatically.
“You wouldn’t say that if Michael was here.”
“Exactly. So where is he?”
Lily grinned smugly. “AHA.”
Damn it.
The truth was she hadn’t seen Michael since Christmas night.
And she hated how disappointed she felt about it.
A part of her wondered if maybe he regretted opening up so much ?
Maybe he thought he had embarrassed himself.
Or maybe he was hiding somewhere replaying every conversation the same way she was.
And honestly… knowing Michael, he probably was.
Another day later, snow covered nearly every sidewalk in the neighborhood.
The house was quiet for once, Lily was at a friend’s house and her parents were out shopping, soft music drifted lazily through the living room from the vinyl spinning near the window.
She sat curled up on the couch with a blanket over her legs and a book resting open in her lap, only half paying attention to the words.
Outside, the sky was pale gray and slow snowflakes floated past the windows.
The whole afternoon felt sleepy and comfortable.
The kind of winter afternoon that made time feel softer.
She turned a page absentmindedly while music crackled gently through the speakers then she froze.
A familiar figure was walking down the street.
It was Michael.
And her heart reacted before her brain did.
She practically launched herself toward the window so fast the blanket tangled around her legs and nearly killed her.
“Oh my God-! ”
The couch attacked her ankle on the way down.
By the time she finally reached the window, Michael was already halfway past the house walking slowly beneath the snowy trees completely unaware.
She shoved the window open immediately.
“Michael!”
He startled so violently she thought he might actually fall over, his head snapped upward in confusion and for half a second he looked genuinely alarmed before recognizing her.
Then his entire face changed, it softened instantly into the shyest and happiest smile she had ever seen.
And God that smile was dangerous.
“There you are,” she called down breathlessly from the living room.
Michael laughed softly below her, visible relief crossing his face so openly it made her chest ache.
“I was just walking.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
He looked embarrassed immediately.
“I mean- not in a weird way. I- I was not-”
“Michael,” she laughed, leaning against the window frame, “you literally live in the neighborhood.”
“Right.”
Snowflakes landed in his curls while he stared up at her, cheeks already pink from the cold.
Or maybe from her.
For a second neither of them spoke and somehow it still felt easy, like they had known each other longer than one Christmas.
“You disappeared,” she teased softly.
Michael lowered his eyes for a second at that.
“Sorry.” The apology came too quickly.
Like he had spent his entire life apologizing.
Something inside her softened immediately. “You don’t have to apologize for disappearing for two days,” she said gently.
“I know I just…” He hesitated awkwardly. “I didn’t know if maybe you wanted space after…”
After I cried on your porch and kissed your cheek.
The unfinished sentence hung between them anyway.
She smiled despite herself. “Michael.”
He looked back up.
“If I wanted space from you, I wouldn’t be halfway out a window right now.”
That made him laugh enough to make her stomach flip stupidly.
God this was getting embarrassing.
“You busy?” she asked.
Michael blinked slightly like the question caught him off guard. “…No.”
“Good.”
He waited. She waited. Neither of them seemed to know what happened next.
Finally Michael looked around awkwardly before gesturing vaguely down the street.
“I was actually going to the record store.”
Her eyes lit up immediately.
“Oh my God wait.”
Michael looked alarmed. “What?”
“Don’t move.”
“…Okay?”
She disappeared from the window before he could ask questions, and Michael stood there in the snow looking deeply concerned about whatever was happening upstairs.
Two minutes later the front door burst open.
She ran outside still pulling her coat on properly while trying not to slip on the icy steps.
Michael instinctively stepped forward like he was prepared to catch her if necessary which only made her grin harder.
“You run like Lily,” he informed her.
“That’s sooo rude.”
“It’s true.”
“You literally almost fell over when I yelled your name five minutes ago.”
Michael looked personally attacked by this information.
“I got scared!”
“You jumped.”
“I did not jump.”
“You absolutely jumped.”
He hid part of his face behind his scarf immediately, laughing into it while snow continued falling around them.
And standing there watching him try unsuccessfully to defend himself,
She realized Michael looked happier now.
Like maybe Christmas had stayed with him too.
~~
She noticed it the second they started walking together.
Not because Michael said anything, he almost never said things directly when they involved himself.
But she noticed the way his shoulders tensed every time a car slowed down near the sidewalk or the way he instinctively lowered his head slightly whenever people passed too close.
The way his eyes kept flickering toward strangers before relaxing again once they walked by without recognizing him.
At first she thought maybe he was just shy then a teenage girl exiting a bakery suddenly stopped mid-conversation and stared openly at him.
“Oh my God… That’s…”
Michael’s entire body stiffened beside her.
The girl squinted harder.
And immediately Michael stepped closer to her side like it was instinct, like hiding beside her somehow made him less visible.
The girl kept staring for another painful second before her mother dragged her away down the sidewalk.
Only then did Michael breathe normally again.
“You okay?” she asked quietly once they crossed the street.
Michael nodded too fast. “Yeah.”
Liar.
He shoved his hands deeper into his coat sleeves afterward, curls falling slightly into his eyes as he kept walking beside her.
“You don’t like being recognized, do you?”
The question made him glance at her briefly before looking away again.
“It’s not that.”
“It kinda seems like that.”
Michael hesitated for several seconds, snow crunched softly beneath their shoes while distant music drifted from somewhere down the street.
Finally he sighed quietly. “I just…” His voice came out softer this time. “I wanted today to feel normal.”
Something about the honesty in his tone made her heart ache instantly. Normal, such a simple word.
But somehow it sounded impossible when he said it.
Michael kicked lightly at a pile of snow near the sidewalk clearly embarrassed he had admitted that out loud. “I know it sounds stupid.”
“It doesn’t.”
He glanced at her again, uncertain.
“You’re allowed to want normal things, Michael.”
A small silence followed that.
Then, almost shyly he say “Yeah?”
The way he said it nearly destroyed her emotionally, like nobody had ever told him that before.
She smiled softly. “Yeah.”
He looked down immediately afterward, but she still caught the tiny smile pulling at his mouth.
And suddenly she understood something terrifying:
making Michael happy was becoming dangerously important to her.
The record store sat between a tiny bookstore and an old diner near the corner of the street.
Warm yellow light spilled through the fogged windows, and the second they stepped inside the smell of old vinyl and dust wrapped around them comfortably.
Michael visibly relaxed almost immediately, it was subtle but she noticed.
His shoulders loosened slightly, his expression softened and the nervousness in his eyes faded just enough to let curiosity replace it.
“You come here a lot?” she asked quietly while pulling off her gloves.
Michael nodded.
“Sometimes.”
The older man behind the counter looked up briefly from his newspaper. “Afternoon, Mike.”
Michael smiled instantly. “Hey.”
“You’ve got secret places,” she teased softly as they wandered between shelves.
Michael looked adorably defensive immediately.“I don’t have secret places.”
“This is definitely a secret place.”
“It’s just a record store.”
“Mhm. And you’re just Michael.”
The second the words left her mouth, Michael went quiet.
He looked down toward the records in his hands for a moment longer than necessary fingers lightly tracing the edge of the vinyl sleeve.
And when he finally smiled again, it looked smaller like she had touched something fragile without meaning to.
“That’s my favorite part,” he admitted quietly.
Her heart genuinely forgot how to function for a second.
Good Lord this man was going to ruin her life.
To recover emotionally, she immediately grabbed the nearest record from the shelf.
“Oh absolutely not.”
Michael blinked at her. “What?”
She held up the album dramatically. “Bee Gees?“
“They’re good!”
“You’re unbelievable.”
Michael gasped softly like she had deeply wounded him. “They are good!”
“You have terrible taste.”
“That is incredibly rude.”
She laughed while Michael followed her farther into the aisle still defending himself passionately under his breath and honestly? Watching him like this felt surreal.
Just a shy twenty-one-year-old boy arguing about music.
There was something strangely intimate about seeing him relaxed enough to be playful.
He teased softly, he laughed, he even forgot to hide his smile.
And every time he did she caught herself staring.
At one point Michael crouched down near a lower shelf looking through old vinyls while quietly humming to himself.
She watched him for a second too long, he looked peaceful.
Really peaceful.
And she realized that this might be one of the only places where nobody expected anything from him.
Michael glanced up unexpectedly and caught her staring.
Immediately she looked away pretending to inspect another shelf. “…Why are you smiling?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Oh my God you sound exactly like Lily.”
That made him laugh loudly enough that the man behind the counter glanced over with an amused smile.
Michael noticed instantly and lowered his voice again out of habit.
Eventually they made it to the front counter carrying a small pile of records after nearly twenty minutes of arguing over music like an old married couple.
Michael insisted she had “no appreciation for good songs.”
She insisted he was emotionally attached to terrible albums for no reason.
“You called Stevie Wonder overrated.”
“I said one song was overrated.”
“That’s worse.”
“It’s really not.”
The older man behind the counter watched them with poorly hidden amusement while ringing up the records. “You two are cute,” he said casually.
Silence.
Her brain stopped functioning immediately.
Across from her Michael froze so hard he looked genuinely petrified.
The poor man continued counting change completely unaware of the emotional destruction he had just caused.
“You remind me of me and my wife when we were younger,” he added warmly.
Michael nearly dropped one of the vinyls. “We’re not-”
“At all-”
They spoke at the exact same time, then both stopped in horror before accidentally making eye contact which somehow made it worse.
The man blinked slowly. “…Right.”
Her face burned violently.
Beside her, Michael looked seconds away from evaporating into dust.
“Anyway!” she blurted out way too loudly.
Michael shoved money onto the counter with the speed of a man escaping a crime scene. “Thank you so much mr Lewinson, okay bye-”
The bell above the door practically screamed as they escaped into the cold winter air.
The second the door shut behind them, both of them kept walking in complete silence for several steps then Michael suddenly hid his face behind his scarf.
“Oh my God.” She burst out laughing instantly.
“That was terrible.”
“You looked like you were gonna faint.”
“He thought we were together!”
“You almost threw the money at him and ran.”
“I panicked!”
“You absolutely panicked.”
Michael groaned dramatically while she laughed beside him hard enough to nearly lose balance in the snow.“This isn’t funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
“It’s deeply traumatic!”
That only made her laugh harder, and despite his embarrassment she noticed the tiny smile he kept unsuccessfully trying to hide behind his scarf.
God she loved making him laugh.
The realization hit her so suddenly she almost tripped over her own boots.
~~~
Snow had started falling harder by the time they reached the café near the corner of the street. Warm golden light glowed through the windows, fog curling softly against the glass while people sat inside nursing coffee cups and talking quietly beneath strings of Christmas lights.
The second they stepped through the door, warmth wrapped around them completely and Michael visibly melted.
Honestly there was no other word for it, his curls were dusted with snow, his cheeks pink from the cold and the second warm air hit him he let out the softest sigh imaginable.
It was so cute she almost had to look away.
“You look freezing,” she laughed while pulling off her gloves.
“I think my head stopped working fifteen minutes ago.”
“That explains your terrible music opinions.”
Michael looked offended again.“You’re actually evil.”
The café smelled like cinnamon and coffee and melted chocolate. Soft jazz played quietly somewhere near the counter while people murmured sleepily over steaming drinks.
It felt impossibly cozy like stepping into another world after the cold outside.
They found a small table near the window and Michael immediately chose the seat facing away from most of the room without even thinking about it.
A few minutes later they sat curled around oversized mugs of hot chocolate topped with absurd amounts of marshmallows. Lily would have definitely lost her mind over this place.
Michael stared down at the marshmallows floating in his drink with genuine fascination.
“You’ve never had hot chocolate with marshmallows before?”
He looked up sheepishly. “…Maybe?”
She gasped dramatically. “Michael.”
“What?”
“That’s actually sad.”
“I’ve had hot chocolate!”
“But not properly!”
He laughed softly under his breath before carefully taking a sip then his eyes widened slightly. “It’s good,” he admitted quietly.
“It’s literally sugar.” she laughed
“Yeah but it’s good sugar.”
She smiled into her cup.
Outside, snow continued falling heavily past the windows while people hurried down the sidewalks bundled in coats and scarves.
Inside, everything felt warm and comfortable.
Michael rested both hands around his mug, shoulders finally relaxed again after hours of subtle tension.
“You seem calmer here,” she noticed softly.
He glanced at her briefly before looking back down at the chocolate. “I like places where nobody expects things from me.”
The honesty in his voice made her chest ache all over again and before she could stop herself, she asked quietly “What do people expect from you?”
Michael went still for a second then slowly he smiled a little sadly into his drink. “To always be perfect i guess.”
The way he said it hurt because it sounded exhausting.
By the time they finally left the café, the sky had gone darker.
Snow covered almost everything now, soft white layered across rooftops, sidewalks and parked cars. The whole neighborhood looked quieter beneath it, like the world had been wrapped carefully in cotton.
Michael held the door open for her as they stepped back outside, immediately pulling his scarf higher over the lower half of his face when the cold hit again.
“You know,” she said while walking beside him, “you’re getting suspiciously good at this.”
“At what?”
“Normal people activities.”
Michael laughed softly through his scarf. “I had hot chocolate. I think that’s a low bar.”
“You also survived social interaction.”
“That part was harder.”
She grinned.
The walk home felt slower than before but not awkward.
Snow crunched beneath their shoes while warm light glowed from nearby houses, and every now and then she caught Michael glancing around the neighborhood with that same soft expression he always got here.
Like he loved watching ordinary life happen around him.
At one point a family passed them carrying grocery bags and arguing loudly about wrapping paper.
Michael smiled watching them disappear down the street.
“You do that a lot,” she noticed.
“What?”
“Watching people.”
He looked embarrassed immediately, eyes lowering toward the sidewalk. “Sorry.”
“There you go apologizing again!”
A tiny laugh escaped him. “I just think it’s nice,” he admitted quietly. “Seeing people together.”
The simplicity of the answer nearly broke her heart.
God everything about him felt too tender for this world.
~~~
Her house came into view a few minutes later but before either of them could reach the front steps, headlights suddenly turned into the driveway.
“Oh,” she blinked. “My parents are back.”
Michael subtly straightened beside her almost instantly. He was nervous.
The car doors opened and her parents stepped out bundled in coats while carrying shopping bags.
“Well look who’s here!” her father smiled immediately upon spotting Michael.
Michael gave a shy little wave. “Hi sir”
Her mother’s face softened instantly seeing him standing there beside her daughter beneath the snow.
“There’s our favorite guest!”
Michael visibly melted and panicked at the same time somehow. “Oh- um…”
But before he could fully react her mother stepped forward and hug him warmly like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Michael froze like his brain had completely stopped processing then her father pulled him into a quick side hug immediately afterward and Michael looked even more startled.
She had to bite the inside of her cheek not to smile too hard.
Because despite how shy and flustered he looked, she could see it clearly that he liked it.
He liked being included so naturally, being greeted like someone familiar and someone wanted.
Michael laughed softly under his breath afterward, face visibly pink beneath the cold. “You all hug a lot,” he mumbled shyly.
Her father looked confused. “You don’t like it?”
Michael immediately looked like he regretted saying it out loud. “No I just- it’s nice.”
The quiet honesty in his voice made all three of them soften instantly.
Her mother touched his arm gently.
“You’re always welcome here.”
There it was again. That look in Michael’s eyes every time someone cared about him too openly.
She watched him lower his gaze with a tiny smile tugging at his mouth, curls falling into his face while snowflakes melted against his coat.
And suddenly she realized that Michael had probably spent most of his life starving for affection without even knowing how hungry he was.
Eventually he glanced down the street toward home.
“I should probably go before your family adopts me permanently.”
Her father grinned. “Too late.”
Michael laughed quietly, cheeks pink again.
God he was cute when he got embarrassed.
“Goodnight,” he murmured softly.
Her parents disappeared inside first after another round of warm goodbyes, leaving her alone with him near the porch steps beneath the glowing lights and immediately the air changed again.
Michael looked at her for a second like he wanted to say something but couldn’t figure out how then finally: “Today was really nice.”
She smiled. “Yeah?”
He nodded. “I like being around you.”
The words came out so sincere and unguarded that her heart practically collapsed on itself.
Michael seemed to realize what he’d just admitted immediately afterward because he looked down at the snow with visible embarrassment. “I mean- obviously- not that I don’t like other people-”
She laughed softly. “Michael.”
He groaned quietly into his scarf. “I’m making this worse.”
“A little.”
That made him laugh too.
Then slowly, shyly he stepped closer.
Close enough now that she could see tiny snowflakes caught in his eyelashes.
For one nervous second he hesitated again then he leaned down and pressed another soft kiss against her cheek. “Goodnight,” he whispered.
And before she could fully recover emotionally he turned and started walking down the snowy sidewalk toward his house.
Halfway down the street he even spun once briefly against the snow before immediately looking around to make sure nobody saw him.
Unfortunately for him she did and she laughed so hard she had to grab the porch railing.
~~~
The second she walked inside both of her parents looked up from the kitchen.
Oh no, Immediately no.
Her mother smiled way too knowingly. “So…”
“I’m going upstairs.”
“Mm no,” her father said calmly. “Come back here.”
She groaned dramatically while dropping onto one of the kitchen chairs.
Neither of them said anything for a moment.
Which was worse then finally her mother smiled into her tea. “He’s very sweet.”
She stared at the table. “Mhm.”
“And shy,” her father added.
“Mhm.”
“And clearly likes you.”
Her head snapped upward instantly. “He does not.”
Both of them looked unconvinced. “Oh please,” her mother laughed softly. “That boy looks at you like you hung the moon.”
She nearly choked. “That is literally insane.”
Her father grinned.“We saw him kissed you didn’t we?”
Absolute silence then both of her parents started laughing while she hid her burning face in her hands.
“Oh my God.”
“You’re blushing,” her mother teased.
“I hate this family!” She laughed thinking about the afternoon she spent how eager she was to see Michael again.
okay I love this part and I still have plenty of ideas to develop, I’m really trying to establish their relationship slowly! tell me what you think!! <33
look at him he’s so cuteeee
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if u want to be added to the taglist let me know!!
i posted my first post and i didn’t expect so many like reblogs and comments??? it makes me so happy and motivates me to keep goingggg
i thought about doing a series?? because i have lots of ideas in mind😝😝
and please remember that i am new, i don’t know how to do it well, and i suspect that it doesn’t make you want to read, but i promise i will improve myself!!
if you have any ideas for the rest of the story, don’t hesitate to share them i would gladly include them!!
Just a shy and lonely Off the Wall era MJ accidentally gets invited to spend Christmas with a girl and her family after she catches him staring at her decorations outside.
Soft fluff, awkward Michael and him finally getting to feel like a normal boy for once <3
5k+ words
This is actually the first time I’ve really written something like this, so it might not be perfect
I’m still learning and I’ll probably improve with time, so be nice pls <3
The neighborhood was glowing, every house on the street seemed alive in its own way with warm yellow lights spilling through windows, Christmas music drifting faintly into the cold air, families moving around behind curtains like scenes from a movie Michael had spent his whole life watching from the outside.
He walked slowly beneath the strings of lights hanging over the sidewalks, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat.
He should have been elsewhere tonight, like at the studio or at home. Anywhere but wandering alone in his neighborhood on Christmas Eve.
But the closer the holidays got, the more difficult it became to ignore the silent pain that reigned somewhere deep in his chest.
People talk about Christmas as if it were magic, with childhood memories, family traditions, staying up too late to decorate trees and fall asleep on sofas while old movies were playing in the background.
Michael had been hearing people talk about these things for years, smiling softly while listening as if he understood.
But honestly he didn’t do it, Christmas has always been something distant. Something that other families have done.
And at twenty-one years old standing in the middle of a quiet street with snow clinging slightly to the edges of the sidewalk, he realized that part of him still wanted it anyway.
He really wanted it, not the celebrity, not the crowds screaming even though he loved his fans.
He just wanted that.
His steps slowed down when he arrived at a house near the end of the street, it looked almost unreal.
They were colorful lights wrapped around the porch railings shining softly against the snow. A huge Christmas tree stood by the front window filled with ornaments and garlands that sparkled every time someone walked past it inside.
Michael watched a little too long.
Laughter spilled through the open front door for half a second before it closed again and something about the sound made his chest tighten unexpectedly.
He wondered what it felt like to grow up with noise like that.
To have sisters and brothers pulling you into snowball fights and parents yelling from the kitchen. Friends showing up unannounced because they knew they were welcome.
He tried to imagine himself as a little boy in a house like this and the image hurt more than he expected.
“Um…”
Michael blinked out of his thoughts and he saw two girls standing in the front yard now.
The younger one was bundled in a bright red coat, snow clinging to her boots while she stared at him with absolutely no subtlety. The older girl, probably around his age looked nervous.
“Lily, you can’t just stare at people” she whispered harshly to her little sister.
“But he’s been standing there forever.”
Michael looked down immediately suddenly embarrassed.
“Sorry” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to be weird or anything.” His voice came out softer than intended, almost swallowed by the cold air.
The older girl looked at him.
There was something strangely sad about him despite the gentle smile on his face. Like he’d been caught longing for something he wasn’t supposed to have.
“It’s okay” she said carefully. “You just looked a little lost.”
Michael laughed softly at that, though it barely sounded like a laugh at all.
“Maybe I am.”
For a second nobody said anything.
Snowflakes drifted lazily between them. Somewhere down the street children were yelling over a snowball fight.
Then the little girl suddenly stepped closer.
“Do you wanna help us build the snowman?”
Michael looked genuinely startled.
“Me?”
“Yeah.” She pointed at the half-finished snowman beside them. “He looks ugly.”
The older girl groaned. “Lily-”
But before she could apologize again Michael laughed.
A real laugh this time. Warm and bright and surprised enough that it caught even him off guard.
And somehow standing there beneath the Christmas lights with snow melting slowly into his curls, he looked younger all of a sudden.
Just a lonely boy being asked to play for the first time in a very, very long while.
“I’m freezing” Lily complained dramatically after another failed attempt at fixing the snowman’s lopsided head.
She stepped back to examine it, frowned deeply then pointed an accusing finger at Michael.
“You made him ugly.”
Michael looked genuinely offended for half a second before laughing softly under his breath.
“I think he had problems before I got here.”
“Nope. It was definitely you.”
Her older sister rolled her eyes fondly as Lily huffed and brushed snow off her mittens.
“I’m going inside. Mom made gingerbread cookies and I deserve at least four for suffering through this.”
“You already had five!”
“Exactly. and i need more.”
Before either of them could answer, she spin around and sprinted toward the house, nearly slipping across the icy porch. The front door swung open, warm light spilling briefly into the yard before disappearing again behind her.
And suddenly it was quiet, the kind that only seemed to exist on winter nights.
Snow drifted slowly from the dark sky settling over the sidewalks and rooftops while distant Christmas music floated faintly through the neighborhood. Somewhere farther down the street people were laughing loudly enough for the sound to carry through the cold air.
Michael stood beside the half-finished snowman with his hands tucked into his coat pockets staring at the glowing lights wrapped around the porch railing.
He looked calmer now that Lily was gone but quieter too.
Like her presence had distracted him from his own thoughts for a little while.
“You don’t talk much, huh?” she teased gently, mostly to ease the strange nervousness she could still feel radiating off him.
He glanced at her, visibly caught off guard by the question before smiling shyly.
“I do sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“Depends who I’m around.”
His voice was soft and almost careful, and she noticed he still avoided holding eye contact for too long. He kept looking away toward the lights, toward the snowman, toward the windows of her house glowing gold against the dark street.
He seemed lonely.
And somehow that felt far more important than the fame.
Michael noticed the way she kept talking to him naturally, like he was just another guy from the neighborhood standing in her front yard on Christmas Eve.
There was no expectation in her eyes, just warmth and kindness and it made his chest ache in a way he wasn’t prepared for.
Because God he’d wanted this for soo long.
Not the screaming crowds or the attention people swore he should be grateful for.
He just wanted to stand outside in the cold talking about nothing important with somebody who saw him as a person before anything else. Somebody who didn’t look at him like a star. Somebody who laughed at his terrible snowman skills and didn’t seem to care who he was.
For years he had watched other people his age form friendships so easily, had watched them move through life without constantly wondering whether they were loved for themselves or for the name attached to them.
And standing here now beneath glowing Christmas lights, he realized how badly some part of him had always wished for a normal life.
A normal childhood, friends.
Memories that didn’t involve stages and cameras and pressure.
The thought sat heavily in his chest while snowflakes melted quietly into his curls.
“You okay?” she asked softly after noticing how distant he’d gotten.
Michael blinked, pulled abruptly back into the moment.
“Yeah” he murmured quickly, though his smile this time looked smaller. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”
His gaze drifted once more toward the house behind her, toward the silhouettes moving warmly through the windows.
“Your family seems really nice.”
“They are” she said with a small laugh. “A little insane sometimes, but nice.”
Michael smiled at that. A real smile this time, soft enough to make him look almost boyish.
For a second neither of them spoke.
Then slowly, Michael shifted his weight backward and glanced down the street behind him.
“I should probably head home.”
Something about the way he said it made her chest tighten unexpectedly.
Like he already sounded disappointed before even leaving.
“Oh.”
He nodded lightly, hands curling deeper into his sleeves against the cold.
“I just wanted to thank you before I go.”
She frowned a little. “For helping ruin the snowman?”
A quiet laugh escaped him.
“For this moment.”
The humor faded from his expression after that, replaced by something softer. More vulnerable.
“I know it probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, but…” He hesitated briefly, eyes lowering toward the snow beneath his shoes. “I’ve never really done this before.”
“Done what?”
“All that things.”
The word left his mouth carefully, almost embarrassed.
“I mean..” His voice softened further. “I’ve never stood outside making snowmen or listened to Christmas music coming from somebody’s house or…“
He laughed quietly to himself, though there was sadness hidden inside it.
“I don’t know. I guess I never really had that kind of childhood.”
The honesty in his voice hurt to hear.
Michael looked back up at her then, smiling gently despite it all.
“But it was really nice.”
His eyes flickered toward the glowing lights one last time.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”
Something inside her heart cracked completely at that.
The fact that this tiny moment, just standing in front of somebody else’s house while snow fell around him and trying to fix a snowman meant so much to him made her chest ache unbearably.
Before she could think twice, she blurted out “Wait here.”
Michael looked startled. “What?”
But she was already hurrying toward the front door before he could say anything else.
He stood frozen near the sidewalk while she disappeared inside the house, the warm light swallowing her instantly. Through the windows he could see her talking rapidly to her parents in the kitchen while Lily bounced excitedly beside her.
Michael’s stomach tightened immediately.
Maybe he’d made things awkward. Maybe she regretted talking to him. Maybe her parents were upset she’d been outside alone with some strange man lingering around their yard on Christmas Eve.
He almost convinced himself to leave before she came back.
But then the front door flew open again.
She ran back down the porch steps breathlessly, snow crunching beneath her boots as she hurried toward him with the brightest smile he’d seen all night.
“They said yes.”
Michael stared at her in confusion.
“Yes to what?”
“To you coming tomorrow.”
He blinked slowly.
“For Christmas,” she clarified softly. “Dinner, presents, watching movies.. all of it.”
For a moment, he just looked at her completely speechless.
She watched every emotion cross his face all at once confusion, disbelief, hope so sudden it almost looked painful.
“You mean that?” he whispered finally.
“Of course I mean it.”
He laughed shakily under his breath, overwhelmed in a way he clearly didn’t know how to hide. His eyes had gone glassy beneath the porch lights, and for a second he looked younger than twenty-one.
Nobody had ever invited him into something so normal before.
Not because he was famous.
Not because he was useful.
Just because they wanted him there.
“Okay” he said quietly, almost breathlessly.
Then he smiled.
And she thought she had never seen anyone look so genuinely happy over something so simple.
Later that night, Michael walked slowly back down the snowy street toward his house with his hands pressed tightly against his sleeves, trying helplessly to contain the warmth blooming inside his chest.
The neighborhood looked different now. Softer somehow.
He could still hear her laughter in his head. Still picture the lights glowing around her porch.
Halfway home, emotion overwhelmed him so suddenly he had to stop walking.
He stood there alone beneath a flickering streetlamp, tears slipping silently down his cold cheeks while he laughed quietly at himself under his breath.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt wanted somewhere without needing to earn it first.
And the feeling was almost unbearable in its gentleness.
By the time he finally reached home, he already knew he wanted to bring them something tomorrow.
Something thoughtful. Something that could somehow express the gratitude sitting far too heavily inside his heart for words alone.
Meanwhile, only a few streets away, she and Lily were bundled in ridiculous Christmas sweaters while wandering through crowded little shops together, debating chocolates and books and warm winter gifts.
“Do you think he likes reading?” Lily asked seriously while holding up a mystery novel.
The girl smiled to herself.
Somehow, she thought he probably liked anything that made him feel understood.
The front door closed softly behind him.
The warmth of his house hit Michael immediately but it didn’t feel the same tonight.
He stood there for a moment in the hallway, still carrying the cold on his coat.
“Michael?”
He looked up.
Bill was standing here, arms crossed clearly waiting.
“Where have you been?”
Michael hesitated, then slowly stepped further inside taking off his gloves like he wasn’t fully present.
“I was just walking” he said quietly.
Bill raised an eyebrow. “Walking where?”
Michael looked down at his hands.
“Around the neighborhood.”
“For that long?”
“Humm yes.”
Bill stared at him for a second longer, then his expression softened slightly when he noticed something was off. Michael wasn’t just tired. He looked different, quieter.
“Alright” Bill said more gently. “Sit down.”
Michael did, slowly sinking into the couch as if his body had finally caught up with his emotions.
“What happened?”
Silence stretched for a moment. Then Michael let out a small breath, almost like he’d been holding it all night.
“I met someone. She is Kind.”
Bill blinked. “Okay…”
Michael rubbed a hand over his face, embarrassed by how difficult it was to explain something so simple.
“She lives in the neighborhood.”
“And?”
“She invited me to Christmas.”
That made Bill pause completely.
“She what?”
Michael gave a small, almost helpless shrug.
“I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do” he admitted.
Bill looked at him for a long moment, then sighed, sitting down across from him.
“Mikey” he said more softly, “Christmas is just… people. Being together. Eating too much food. Giving each other things that don’t matter that much but feel like they do.”
“That’s it?” Michael looked up slowly.
“That’s it.”
A faint smile appeared on Michael’s face, uncertain but growing.
Michael leaned back into the couch, staring up at the ceiling. And for the first time that night his chest didn’t feel heavy anymore.
That night sleep came slowly.
Michael lay in bed staring at the dim light coming through the curtains, replaying everything in his head over and over again thinking about the snow, the laughter, her voice saying you can come tomorrow.
It didn’t feel real, and yet it was the first thing in a long time that made him fall asleep smiling.
The next morning he woke up too early.
Not because he was tired but because his mind wouldn’t stop moving.
He sat up immediately already thinking. Already worrying and already excited.
“You’re awake early Mike” Bill said when he found him in the kitchen.
Michael was half-dressed, hair still messy, holding a list he had clearly written too carefully.
“I don’t know what I’m doing” he admitted.
Bill glanced at the list. “Games. Chocolate. Flowers. That’s what we say yesterday.”
“What if it’s bad?”
“It’s not bad.”
Michael hesitated. “What if they don’t like it?”
Bill chuckled lightly. “Mike, everybody like chocolate and games. ”
That helped a little, but not enough to stop the nervous energy in his chest.
The shops were loud, warm and crowded with last-minute Christmas chaos.
Michael moved through carefully, almost overwhelmed by how normal everything felt. People arguing over gift wrapping, children pointing at decorations, music everywhere.
Bill stayed close guiding him when he hesitated too long in front of shelves.
“Pick something” Bill said.
“What if I pick the wrong game?”
“There is no wrong game.”
Michael picked one anyway, then put it back, then picked it again.
“This one?”
“That one.”
He added chocolate next, then stood frozen in the flower section.
“Flowers are hard” he whispered.
Bill smirked. “They’re literally flowers.”
Michael chose them carefully anyway, as if they mattered more than anything else in the store.
By the time they were done, his arms were full and his nerves were worse than ever.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say when I get there” he admitted on the drive back.
Bill glanced at him. “Just be yourself.”
Michael let out a quiet laugh. “That doesn’t help.”
“You’re gonna be okay.”
When the car stopped in front of the house, Michael’s stomach tightened immediately.
He could already hear faint voices inside. Smell something sweet. See the same lights from last night, only brighter in daylight.
“You fine?” Bill said calmly.
Michael nodded, though it didn’t feel like he believed it.
Then the front door opened and she ran out.
“You came!”
The words hit him harder than he expected.
Before he could even respond Lily came barreling behind her, nearly crashing into his legs.
“YOU BROUGHT PRESENTS?!”
Michael laughed instantly, tension breaking all at once.
“I… I tried.”
“Lily! He came, that’s the most important.” the girl said softer.
Michael looked at her, and for a second forgot how to be nervous.
“Hi,” he said simply.
“Hi,” she replied smiling.
Inside, the house was exactly what it sounded like from the outside.
Her parents greeted him like he was expected. Like he belonged there.
“So you’re the friend,” her mother said kindly.
Michael blinked. “Friend?”
“Yeah that’s what she told us.”
The girl shrugged innocently ”What else was I supposed to say?”
Michael laughed under his breath, something loosening in his chest.
The day blurred into something he didn’t think he’d ever get to experience properly.
They were sitting around the living room watching Christmas movies with too many blankets. Laughing over burnt cookies.
Lily stealing chocolate and getting caught every five minutes.
“She’s a professional thief,” Michael whispered at one point.
“She’s eight,” the girl whispered back.
“Exactly.”
At some point, someone put music on and Michael instinctively started moving to it without thinking, making Lily scream “HE CAN DANCE!” like it was the greatest discovery of her life.
He went red immediately. “It’s not that serious—”
“IT IS.”
When gifts were exchanged Michael looked almost overwhelmed again.
He watched them open his carefully chosen things. The game, the chocolate, the flowers, he was holding his breath like he was waiting to be told he did it wrong.
But they smiled.
“It’s perfect Michael thank you,” she said softly.
“Okay!” Lily announced loudly, crawling toward the tree. “Now it’s Michael’s turn.”
Michael immediately looked alarmed.
“Mine?”
“Yes, yours,” she said like it was obvious.
The room laughed softly, but Michael only smiled shyly and lowered his eyes for a second, visibly trying to hide how much it affected him.
Her mother reached toward the tree first and handed him a small wrapped box with a gentle smile.
“This one’s from us.”
Michael accepted it so carefully it almost hurt to watch, like he was afraid of doing something wrong.
“You really didn’t have to get me anything,” he murmured immediately.
“Open it,” her father said warmly from the couch.
Michael glanced around the room once before slowly peeling back the wrapping paper, trying not to destroy it too badly. Lily groaned dramatically watching him.
“You unwrap presents like an old man.”
“I’m trying to be careful!”
“Rip it!”
His laugh came out soft and surprised again, and for a second he looked younger than he had all night.
When the paper finally fell away, Michael blinked down at the box in confusion before opening it carefully.
Inside was a thick knitted scarf, dark red with little stitched stars along the ends.
His fingers froze against the fabric.
“My wife made it,” her father explained gently.
Michael stared at the scarf for a long moment without speaking.
Then he touched it again, slower this time like he was trying to process the fact that somebody had sat down and made something specifically for him.
“You made this?” he asked quietly, looking toward her mother.
She smiled softly. “Of course.”
Michael swallowed hard enough for her to notice.
“Nobody’s ever…”
He stopped himself before finishing the sentence, eyes lowering quickly back to the scarf in his lap.
Nobody’s ever made me something before.
The words hung there anyway, unfinished but understood by everyone in the room.
“Do you like it?” Lily asked impatiently.
Michael looked up so quickly it almost startled them.
“I love it.”
His voice cracked slightly around the last word.
He immediately laughed under his breath afterward, embarrassed by his own emotions, and rubbed quickly beneath one eye before anybody could pretend to notice.
But she noticed, of course she did.
She watched him hold the scarf carefully against himself for another second before Lily suddenly shoved another gift directly into his hands.
“This one’s mine.”
Michael blinked. “You got me another one?”
“Open it.”
He obeyed this time a little faster, smiling despite himself while tearing through the wrapping paper more confidently under Lily’s intense supervision.
Inside was a box of chocolates covered in ridiculous Christmas drawings and a tiny handmade ornament shaped like a star.
A crooked star.
“That’s you” Lily informed him proudly.
Michael stared at it. “Why?”
“Because you looked sad yesterday.”
The entire room went quiet.
Lily continued innocently and completely unaware of the effect her words had.
“But stars make things less dark, so…” She shrugged. “Now you can hang it on your tree.”
Michael’s face crumpled so subtly most people wouldn’t have noticed it.
He looked down immediately, blinking hard while turning the little ornament carefully between his fingers.
Nobody rushed him, nobody laughed.
The room just stayed patient around him while he silently tried to hold himself together over a child’s handmade gift.
“Thank you,” he whispered eventually.
Lily grinned proudly. “You’re welcome.”
Then finally, her turn came.
She reached beside the couch quietly and held out a small rectangular package wrapped in gold paper.
Michael looked at her uncertainly before taking it carefully from her hands.
“I didn’t really know what to get you,” she admitted softly.
“You already invited me here.”
“Still.”
Michael looked down at the gift resting in his lap for a moment before opening it slowly.
Inside was a soft cream-colored sweater with tiny embroidered snowflakes near the sleeves… and beneath it, a book.
His expression shifted immediately at the sight of it.
“Peter Pan,” he murmured quietly almost to himself.
“ I thought maybe you would like it..”
She trailed off when she saw his face properly.
Michael looked overwhelmed. Completely overwhelmed.
His fingers rested lightly over the cover of the book while something unbearably tender moved across his expression.
“Michael?” she asked softly.
He looked up quickly, eyes visibly glossy again.
“Sorry,” he whispered immediately, laughing shakily at himself. “I just…”
He stopped because his voice was betraying him too much to finish properly.
The room stayed quiet.
Michael looked back down at the gifts in his hands and smiled in a way she knew she would remember for the rest of her life.
Like somebody who had spent years convincing himself he didn’t need softness suddenly being handed more of it than he knew how to carry.
“This is the first and the nicest Christmas I’ve ever had,” he admitted quietly.
Then after a tiny pause, voice even softer
“Thank you for letting me be part of it.”
Dinner came later someone passed him food before he even had to ask. Someone else made him laugh mid-bite and Lily insisted he try everything twice.
“You’re part of the family now,” her father joked at one point.
And Mike froze slightly at that then smiled.
“Thank you” he said quietly.
When night finally settled and the house grew softer they ended up back in the living room, wrapped in blankets again, a Christmas movie playing in the background no one was really watching anymore.
Michael leaned back against the couch exhausted in the best way possible.
For once, he wasn’t thinking about stages or schedules or expectations.
Just this, people around him laughter and happiness.
“You’re very quiet,” she said softly beside him.
He glanced at her.
“I’m just… happy,” he admitted.
The simplicity of it made her smile.
“Good,” she said.
Michael looked back at the room, and for the first time in a very long time, he didn’t feel like Michael Jackson.
He just feel like Michael, and that somehow, was everything.
The house had finally quieted down.
Not completely, not in the way empty houses were quiet but in that soft and warm way that comes after a long day of laughter, food, and too many voices overlapping at once.
The Christmas tree still glowed faintly in the living room casting golden light through the curtains. Somewhere inside, Lily had fallen asleep on the couch mid-movie, and her parents were clearing plates in the kitchen with tired smiles.
“I’ll be right back,” she murmured after another round of laughter from the living room, standing up from the couch and brushing cookie crumbs from her sweater. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Michael smiled softly as she disappeared down the hallway, but once the room quieted again, he found himself glancing toward her parents with something more thoughtful lingering behind his expression.
Michael didn’t really want to leave.
He realized that painfully while slipping his coat back on that for the first time in a very long time, going home felt lonelier than staying.
“You heading out?” her father asked gently from the living room.
Michael nodded a little.
“I should probably let you all rest.”
“You survived Lily for an entire day,” her mother laughed softly while drying her hands with a towel. “That deserves respect.”
“I heard that,” Lily mumbled sleepily.
The room laughed quietly, and Michael felt warmth bloom in his chest all over again at how easy it had become to laugh with them.
God he didn’t want this feeling to end.
He lingered awkwardly near the doorway for another second afterward, fingers tightening slightly around the scarf folded over his arm.
Then slowly, his expression softened into something more serious.
“Can I…” He hesitated briefly. “Can I say something?”
Her parents immediately gave him their full attention and suddenly Michael looked nervous.
“I just wanted to thank you,” he said quietly.
His eyes drifted around the room while he searched for the right words.
“For letting me stay here today.”
her mother smiled softly. “Michael—”
But he shook his head quickly, like he needed to say it properly before he lost the courage.
“No, I mean it.”
His voice grew quieter after that. More honest.
“I don’t think you realize what this meant to me.”
The room fell completely silent.
Michael lowered his eyes briefly, visibly embarrassed by how emotional he was becoming again, but he kept going anyway.
“I’ve spent most of my life around people,” he admitted softly. “But not… like this.”
He glanced back up slowly.
“Today felt real.”
Something in her mother’s expression immediately broke at those words.
Michael laughed faintly under his breath afterward, almost apologetically.
“I know that probably sounds stupid.”
“No,” her father said gently. “It doesn’t.”
Michael swallowed hard.
“I just…” His voice cracked slightly before he steadied it again. “I’ve never had a Christmas before.”
The sincerity in his voice hurt to hear because he wasn’t fishing for reassurance.
He truly meant it.
Her mother crossed the room before he could retreat back into himself too much and placed a hand gently against his arm.
“Michael,” she said softly, “you never have to earn being welcomed somewhere.”
Michael looked down immediately at the words visibly overwhelmed by how naturally it had been said.
Like she meant it, like he belonged there enough for tenderness to come naturally.
“And besides,” her father added with a warm smile, “you made our daughter happier than we’ve seen her in months, so I think we should be thanking you too.”
Michael’s face flushed instantly.
“Oh- no, I didn’t- ”
her mother laughed softly “You’re blushing.”
“I am not.”
“Michael.”
He hid his face slightly behind the scarf in defeat while her parents laughed quietly.
And standing there in the middle of their warm living room surrounded by soft and blinking Christmas lights, Michael felt something settle deep inside his chest that he hadn’t realized he’d been searching for his entire life.
Home.
Michael carefully gathered the gifts back into his arms, holding the scarf and book almost protectively against his chest while he slipped his shoes back on near the door.
“Thank you again,” he said softly, looking toward her parents with that same shy sincerity that had been in his voice all evening. “Really. For everything.”
Her mother smiled warmly. “You’re welcome here anytime, sweetheart.”
Michael visibly softened at that, lowering his eyes with a small, almost bashful smile.
“Drive safe,” her father added jokingly before remembering Michael literally lived three streets away. “Or… walk safe, I guess.”
Michael laughed quietly. “I’ll try my best.”
He glanced once toward the hallway where she still hadn’t returned from the bathroom, hesitating for a second before looking back at them.
“I’m just gonna wait outside for her,” he murmured. “I wanna say goodbye.”
Her mother’s smile turned immediately knowing.
Michael noticed and nearly tripped over his own gifts in embarrassment.
“I just- before I leave-”
“Mhmm,” her father hummed innocently.
Michael’s face turned red almost instantly as he escaped onto the porch while Lily’s exhausted laughter followed him from the couch.
The cold air hit him gently this time, nothing like the loneliness of the night before. It felt more like a pause than an absence.
He sat down on the front porch steps carefully, like he wasn’t fully sure he was allowed to be there and rested his elbows on his knees.
A few seconds later he heard the door open again behind him.
She didn’t say anything at first. She just sat down beside him close enough that their shoulders almost touched, and pulled her sweater tighter around herself against the cold.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
The neighborhood was quiet now. Snow falling slower. Lights still blinking softly across the street like the world was breathing more gently.
Michael stared at his hands.
“I don’t really know what I’m supposed to say,” he admitted quietly.
His voice sounded smaller outside like this. More honest.
“Today was…” He paused, swallowing. “It was a lot.”
She turned slightly toward him. “In a good way?”
He gave a small nod. “Yeah. In a good way.”
Another silence followed, but this one felt heavier.
Like something in him had been holding on all day and was starting to loosen now that everything was quiet again.
He let out a shaky breath and looked away toward the street.
“I never thought I could have such a good time ” he said softly.
“Why?”
He hesitated searching for the right words.
“I was always made to believe that it wasn’t right ”
His voice broke slightly on the last word, and that was enough.
He pressed his lips together quickly, trying to stop it, but the emotion had already built too much inside him.
“Sorry,” he whispered immediately.
But she shook her head.
“Don’t be.”
And before he could overthink it, she shifted closer and gently wrapped her arms around him.
It wasn’t sudden or overwhelming. Just warm and careful. Like she was giving him space to decide if he wanted to stay or pull away.
Michael froze at first, his whole body went rigid the way it always did when someone touched him unexpectedly like his mind needed a moment to catch up to the idea that he was safe.
Then slowly almost hesitantly he leaned in.
His head lowered until it rested against her shoulder and that small movement alone seemed to undo something inside him completely.
He exhaled shakily and this time he didn’t stop the tears.
They weren’t loud or dramatic, just quiet and tired like they’d been waiting a long time for permission to exist.
“I always thought…” he began, then stopped again, voice trembling.
She didn’t rush him.
Just stayed there, holding him gently.
“I always thought I’d have more of this,” he continued after a moment. “Friends. Normal things. Growing up like other people.”
A soft breath escaped him, almost like a laugh that didn’t know how to form properly.
“But I didn’t.”
The words weren’t bitter. Just honest.
“And I didn’t even realize how much I wanted it until tonight.”
Her grip on him tightened slightly, just enough to reassure him without saying anything.
“You have it now,” she said softly.
Michael stayed still for a moment longer, as if trying to believe that sentence could be real.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “I guess I do.”
They sat like that for a while the world quiet around them, snow drifting lazily past the porch light.
Eventually Michael pulled back slightly, rubbing at his face quickly like he was embarrassed to have cried in front of her.
“Sorry,” he said again, softer this time.
“Stop apologizing,” she replied immediately, lightly nudging him. “You’re allowed to feel things, you know.”
That made him laugh a little through his remaining tears.
“I’m not very good at it.”
“I noticed.”
He smiled properly then, real and small and tired in the best way.
The silence returned again, but this time it felt different. Not heavy. Just… ending.
Michael glanced toward the street leading back to his house.
“I should probably go,” he said quietly.
She nodded, but didn’t look sad about it. Just understanding.
He stood slowly, brushing snow off his sleeves, then hesitated.
Like there was something still stuck in his chest he didn’t know how to say out loud.
“Hey,” she said gently, noticing.
He looked at her.
“If you ever need someone,” she continued, “I’m here. Okay? Like… actually here.”
Michael blinked, something soft flickering in his expression.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Michael stepped closer without thinking too much about it, then paused like he was suddenly aware of everything again
But this time he didn’t step back.
Instead, very gently he leaned forward and pressed a quick shy kiss to her cheek.
it was soft, almost hesitant like he was testing courage he didn’t know he had.
When he pulled away his face was already red.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
And before she could even fully process it, he turned and started walking down the snowy street toward home.
Except this time, he wasn’t sad.
Halfway down the road, he laughed to himself with his breath visible in the cold air and started walking in little excited steps with a big smile on his face
He held the gifts tighter under his arm like they were something precious, glancing back once at the glowing house behind him.
And that night was probably the best of his life, he fell asleep with a smile on his lip and tears of happiness in his eyes.
Also, let me know if you’d want a part 2 maybe?? I could focus a bit more on the girl’s feelings or expand the story more. And if you have any feedback at all, like if I should change the writing style or write in first/second person instead, I’d honestly love to hear it :)))
As the days pass, during a holiday stay at Hayvenhurst, your need for Michael grows more insistent, leading you to beg for his touch while everyone else is home.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ innocence*
Wanting the best for his angel, Michael takes you to your dream vacation place and makes your first time unforgettable, more special than you could have imagined.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ not like the movies
it's a cliché love story isn't it? The global superstar and a die hard fan who manages to catch her idol's attention during a concert. it's that simple, right?....right?
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ good luck charm*
Michael is a meticulous performer, driven by the pursuit of perfection in every show. Thus, he has crafted the perfect routine to reach his goals and you're an integral part of it.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ first kiss (captain eo)
You confess to EO that you've never kissed anyone before. Rather than judging, he guides you through your first kiss with care and tenderness.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ in the studio*
After weeks of no intimacy due to his demanding schedule you decide to pay Michael a visit at the studio in a short skirt. Oblivious to the effects it has on him you face the consequences.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ crestfallen
After Michael cheats on you with Diana Ross you cross paths again at the Grammy's.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ through the keyhole*
While Michael attends to his duties as a devoted husband (taking you to pound town), the maids arrive unnoticed. Drawn by the sinful sounds echoing from your bedroom, they find themselves unable to resist eavesdropping.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ fast learner*
(related to/continuation of innocence) After taking your virginity and focusing solely on your pleasure, Michael hasn't asked for anything in return, leaving you doubting your ability to please him due to your inexperience. Determined to return the favour you ask him to teach you how to give him a blowjob.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ freaky friday
One ordinary night, you and Michael unexpectedly switch bodies, forcing him to navigate life as you. With no choice, he has to go on set and do his best to act like you.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ heartstrings & rings
A thoughtless act on your part leads Michael to mistakenly believe you're planning to divorce him. Consumed by fear he spirals, thinking he's about to lose you.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ porn stash*
Alone at home, consumed by boredom, you stumble upon Michael's secret stash of tapes. Lost in curiosity, you're oblivious to his return until he catches you red-handed.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ tied & taken*
Michael finally indulges one of his most sinful fantasies: tying you to the bed like the perfect present you are and fucking you stupid over and over, until you're utterly spent.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ word to the jealouss!!*
Spotting the pathetic voyeur through the door, Michael makes sure he is put back into his place and reminded that he'll never measure up.
Summary: A snow day spent with Michael just like it should be outside!
♡ He will wake you up so excited, practically bouncing out of bed impatiently waiting for you to get up.
"Baby it's snowing outside come on!! No time to be lazy we need to enjoy this"
♡ Michael of course has matching sweaters for the two of you. Bought them in secret a long time ago, now handing one over to you with that gorgeous smile you love so dearly
♡ Breakfast? Forget that it is straight out the door to the wintery wonderland
♡ Michaels eyes filled with childlike joy that makes his whole demeanour sparkle
♡ You rarely see this side of him, pure unfiltered joy and cherish every second of it
♡ Immediately starts making a snowman, he needs a whole army of them of course!
♡ Sneaks in a snowball fight in the middle while you have your back turned. His laughter chiming through the air as he sees the look of pure shock on your face
"Cat got your tounge sweet girl?"
♡ He immediately gets karma when you pepper him with 5 snowballs at once yelling for mercy as he nearly falls down from laughing so hard.
♡ Tackles you (gently) into the snow and starts making snow angels.
"Aw my baby is showing her wings, I've always said you looked like an angel"
♡ The joy in him brings out such a soft side as he gently holds you close as you lay there in the snow watching the sky up above.
♡ Long walks around the ranch ending with stolen kisses in the frozen landscape.
♡ Making hearts in the snow, writing your initials in the middle.
"It's important Michael! Need to show off how much I love you"
♡ Michael asking Bill to get them ingredients for hot coca and gingerbread cookies.
♡ Spending every second of daylight outside even as his cheeks turn bright red from the biting cold.
♡ Wrapping you up in his arms as you start to shiver from a day spent outside. Walking inside the big house.
♡ Taking a warm bath together, just chatting about the day you shared
♡ The evening is spent baking gingerbread cookies with loads of giggles as Michael fools around in the kitchen making you double over in laughter
♡ When the cookies are done the two of you cuddle up with hot chocolate under a fluffy blanket on the couch putting on a Christmas movie. A fire crackling in the background
♡ You falling asleep in his arms, content and happy about the day. Him just enjoying your presence
♡ Waking up to him carrying you up the stairs, thanking him for the magical day and Michael kissing you softly
♡ Falling asleep in each others arms as the snow whirl around outside safe from the bitter cold
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
jacobvanloon
2087
dailybridgerton
titsay
