Here is the long awaited chapter I chose to share from my Michael fanfic. Enjoy 🖤
After spending the entire day surrounded by cameras and strangers, Michael returns home emotionally shattered and finds comfort in the one person who never looked at him like the rest of the world did.
warnings: emotional vulnerability, comfort, soft michael, proposal scene
The house was quiet when I finally walked in. Quiet in a way that made me hold my breath, like it knew I’d been through something, like it understood the weight of the day.
Jada was there. Not a word, just standing at the end of the hallway. Barefoot, hair loose, one of my soft shirts slipping over her shoulders. Just her. Just waiting. And in that moment, everything outside—the cameras, the court, the whispers—fell away.
“Jada,” I started, voice low, hesitant. “I—” I stopped. Words felt useless. How could I explain the relief, the exhaustion, the fear I’d carried all day?
She stepped closer slowly, like she was reading the tension in me, like she knew I needed to be held without speaking. I let myself crumble.
Tears came before I could stop them, hot and sudden. I hadn’t cried like this in years, not like this. Not where someone else could see me, really see me. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t move away. She just wrapped her arms around me, letting me fold into her.
“I didn’t know if it would ever end,” I choked. “I didn’t know if they were going to take me away from them… from you.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”
I let myself talk then, let her hear everything I’d bottled up for the day. About the court, about the fear of losing my children, about the helplessness I’d felt while sitting there in that sterile room with cameras flashing, with strangers watching me like I was some story instead of a father. She listened. I could feel her breathing, her heartbeat syncing with mine, letting me know I wasn’t alone.
“I don’t… I don’t want to be broken by anything again, Jada,” I admitted, voice tight. “I can’t… I can’t go through life hiding, pretending I’m okay. But you… you make me feel alive again. You make me feel safe, like I can finally… just be me. Like I can finally be happy.”
She kissed my temple softly, whispered my name, and the tension in my chest loosened just a little.
Her lips lingered there for a second longer than before, warm against my skin, and I closed my eyes because I didn’t think I could handle looking at her without falling apart again.
“Breathe,” she whispered gently.
I let out a shaky laugh under my breath. “I’m trying.”
Her hands slid up slowly along my arms until they rested around my neck, keeping me close. Not forcing me together. Just holding me there like she understood I needed to feel someone real after a day that hadn’t felt real at all.
“You don’t have to hold everything in anymore,” she said quietly.
That nearly broke me again.
Because she said it so simply.
Like she really meant it.
Like she was giving me permission to stop surviving for one night.
I swallowed hard and leaned my forehead against hers. “I was scared,” I admitted finally, my voice rough. “More scared than I’ve ever let anybody see.”
“I kept thinking about the kids. About what would happen to them if…” I stopped myself, shaking my head slightly. “And then I kept thinking about you.”
Her expression softened immediately.
I nodded slowly. “I kept thinking I wasn’t ready to lose you too.”
The words hung between us quietly.
Her eyes started filling again, and before I could say anything else, she kissed me softly. Slow. Emotional. Like she was trying to pour every feeling she had into it without words.
When she pulled back, her hand stayed against my cheek.
“You’re not losing me,” she whispered firmly. “Do you hear me? You’re not losing me.”
I stared at her for a moment too long because I wanted to believe her completely.
And maybe for the first time in a long time… I did.
We slid down the hallway slowly until we were sitting on the floor together, her legs tangled with mine, my arms still around her waist like I physically couldn’t let her go yet. The house around us was quiet except for our breathing and the occasional shakiness in mine when the emotions came back too quickly.
Neither of us rushed the silence.
We just sat there holding each other, faces close enough to count every freckle, every line, every shadow under our eyes.
“I hated seeing you in there today,” she admitted quietly after a while. “It didn’t even feel real. Everybody looking at you like that… talking about you like they knew you.”
I looked down for a second.
“You wanna know the worst part?” I asked softly.
“You start feeling like they’re right after a while.”
Her face fell immediately. “Michael…”
“I do,” I admitted. “You hear people say things about you long enough and eventually part of you starts wondering if anybody’s ever gonna see you normally again.”
Her hand tightened around mine instantly.
“I see you,” she whispered.
The way she said it made my chest ache. Not because it hurt. Because nobody had ever said it to me like that before. I looked at her quietly for a moment before speaking again.
“I didn’t think I’d ever find someone who loved me the way I love,” I admitted, voice barely above a whisper now. “I don’t think you understand what that means to me.”
Tears slid down her cheeks instantly at that.
I said quickly, my own eyes burning again.
“I’ve spent so much of my life giving people everything I had. My time. My heart. My trust. Everything. And eventually they always wanted pieces of me instead of… me.”
Her face crumbled softly hearing that.
“But you…” I shook my head slowly, overwhelmed again. “You hold me like you’re not afraid of me. Like you actually see me.”
She grabbed my face gently then, forcing me to look at her completely.
“Because I do see you,” she whispered through tears. “I see all of you.”
My head dropped into her shoulder and she held me tighter immediately, one hand sliding into my curls while the other rubbed slowly against my back.
I whispered against her neck, my voice shaking. “God, I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” she cried softly, kissing the side of my face over and over. “I love you so much.”
We stayed there crying and kissing and holding each other like the world outside the house didn’t exist anymore. Every few seconds one of us was whispering it again.
Like neither of us could hear it enough.
Like we needed the reassurance after everything the day had taken out of us.
After what felt like hours, I shifted slightly and reached into my pocket.
Jada noticed immediately, her brows pulling together softly as I pulled out the small velvet box.
“Michael…” she whispered shakily.
“I didn’t plan this tonight,” I admitted, already emotional again. “I swear I didn’t. But after today… after sitting in that courtroom thinking about everything I could lose…” My voice cracked hard. “I realized the only thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t wanna lose you.”
Her hand flew to her mouth as tears spilled down her cheeks again.
I opened the box slowly. The ring caught the dim hallway light softly between us.
And suddenly I felt nervous for the first time all night.
Not because I didn’t love her.
“I want you to be my wife,” I whispered. “I want you beside me through everything. The good, the bad, all of it. I don’t wanna wake up another day without knowing you’re really mine.”
She was already crying harder now, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I love you,” I whispered again desperately. “I love you so much, Jada.”
Her lips crashed into mine before I could say anything else.
The kiss was messy with tears and emotion and relief, her hands gripping my shirt tightly while she kissed me like she’d been holding it in for months.
“Yes,” she whispered against my lips. “Yes, Michael.”
I closed my eyes immediately, overwhelmed.
“Yes,” she cried again, laughing through tears now. “I’ll marry you.”
A broken sound left my chest before I could stop it, and I pulled her into me so tightly she almost fell completely into my lap.
“Oh my God,” I whispered shakily against her hair. “Oh my God…”
She laughed softly through tears again while I kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips—everywhere I could reach.
Then finally, with trembling hands, I took the ring from the box.
“Give me your hand,” I whispered.
She held it out carefully, still emotional, still looking at me like this wasn’t real.
Neither of us spoke while I slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly.
The second it settled there, she cried harder.
I just held her hand there between us, staring at it like I couldn’t believe something so beautiful belonged to me now.
“You’re really gonna marry me?” I asked softly, almost boyishly.
She nodded immediately, tears slipping down her face. “Yes.”
I kissed her again before she even finished the word.
Relief, joy, love, and exhaustion crashed into me all at once. I held her tighter, burying my face into her neck while she wrapped herself around me completely.
Eventually exhaustion crept into both of us. Her head rested against my chest while I played softly with her fingers, repeatedly glancing down at the ring like I still needed to reassure myself it was there.
“You keep looking at it,” she whispered sleepily.
I smiled softly against her hair. “Can you blame me?”
“I love you,” I whispered again.
And neither of us stopped saying it the entire night.
The morning light crept softly through the blinds, dust motes dancing in the calm. I woke first, still holding Jada in my arms, her warmth pressed against me. For a moment, I didn’t move, just breathed her in—the soft rhythm of her breathing, the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She looked so peaceful, so real, like nothing in the world could touch her here.
I traced my hand along her back, feeling the softness of her skin, the comfort she brought me. My heart ached all over again—not from pain, but from gratitude. From the sheer, overwhelming joy of having her here, of knowing she had said yes. She had trusted me. She had trusted us.
“Morning,” she murmured, her voice husky with sleep, and I felt that little tug in my chest that made me want to hold her forever.
“Morning, love,” I whispered back, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “Did you sleep okay?”
She yawned, stretching slightly against me. “Better than I have in months,” she said softly, nuzzling into my chest. “I didn’t even realize how much I needed this.”
Neither of us moved for a long moment, just holding each other. No words. No plans. No cameras. Just the two of us and the quiet hum of the house. I let myself feel everything—the relief, the love, the way my heart had been waiting for this moment without me realizing it.
“I can’t believe it’s finally… us,” I said, voice low, almost trembling. “I’ve wanted this for so long, Jada. You—you make me feel like I can breathe again.”
She tilted her head up to look at me, eyes still sleepy but shining, and I could see the honesty in them, the vulnerability, the way she had given me herself completely. “Michael… I love you,” she whispered. “I’ve loved you for a while. I just… didn’t know how to say it, or if I should.”
I kissed her forehead, then her temple, then her lips slowly, savoring the way it felt to have her so close. “I love you too. I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you. And I’ll keep loving you, every single day, if you let me.”
Her fingers traced along my jaw, pulling me back toward her, and I realized we didn’t need to say anything else. The unspoken promises were louder than words—the promise of forever, of trust, of building something together.
Eventually, she sat up a little, still leaning against me, and smiled sleepily. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “I can make us some breakfast.”
I chuckled softly. “I think breakfast can wait,” I said, holding her close again. “I’m not going anywhere. I just want this… I want you.”
She laughed softly, resting her head on my shoulder. “You got me,” she whispered. “Completely.”
And as the morning sun spilled across the room, I knew that nothing in the world mattered more than this. Not the trial, not the cameras, not the whispers. Just her, here with me, with the ring I’d put on her finger the night before glinting softly in the light, and the feeling that for the first time, we were both exactly where we were supposed to be.
I held her close, and for a long while, we just stayed like that—silent, connected, and finally free to let the world wait outside.
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