A summer in reverse
୨ৎ pairing — thriller!eramichael x fem!reader
୨ৎ synopsis — Stuck in a stressful life in 2026, you find an old cassette player in your grandma's attic. But when you press play on Michael Jackson's Thriller, you are accidentally transported back to 1985. Suddenly, you’re spending the summer with a teenage version of your grandmother and your next-door neighbor: Michael Jackson himself. Your only ticket home is a broken tape. But as you get closer to the shy superstar, you face an impossible choice: return to the future, or stay in 1985 forever.
୨ৎ themes — fluff fluff, kissing, back to the futur ish trope, grunge reader, oneshot
୨ৎ word count — 3,1k
୨ৎ note — sorry if it's weird, i'm dyslexic y'all so... i've tried my best!
masterlist
Finally summer arrived, you were a little excited about it. But the thing you were more exited about was going to visit your grandma, it had been a while since you had seen her. The last time was when you were still little, but now you had changed. You had drastically changed your style, you now had thin, pierced eyebrows and now you dressed in a grunge style. You wanted a break from your fast-paced life and your work, so you decided to go visit your grandma.
You started driving and lit a cigarette for the ride. After a few hours you finally arrived, the house was just like you remembered. The cute little pink fence that you and your grandma had painted, the vegetation all over the brick walls of the house. You sighed and rang the bell, all those memories you had always tried to forget started to come back.
A few seconds later your grandma opened the door, as she saw you a big smile spread across her face.
“Oh my God sweetie you’re finally back!”she said with excitement.
“It’s been a while, oh come in come in I just made tea”.
You didn’t say a word and came in,
“wow it didn’t changed at all in here” you said while looking around the house.
“Of course! Why would I change a thing” your grandma replied chuckling. You looked at her with emotional eyes.
“I missed you grandma…”. She looked at you surprised while bringing the teapot and two glasses in the living room. She stepped towards you and hugged you.
“I missed you too darling..”
You two sat and started talking about happy old memories. “Did you know that when I was young I was really popular” you grandma confessed to you. You looked at her with wide eyes showing that you were surprised
“No way” you tried
“I'm telling you!! At the time any lady who had a great blowout was really cool” she said while chuckling “I even have some objects that belonged to me at the time in the attic. You can go check them out while I do the dishes”
“Sure” you said softly.
“And stop smoking I smelled it when I opened the door, when I was your age I didn’t smoke!” you grandma yelled while taking the teapot into the kitchen.
“Yeah yeah I will…” you said while taking the stairs to go up to the attic
When you finally managed to get into the attic all you could see were boxes piled up and a lot of dust. You noticed a single box in the corner that was surprisingly pink. You opened it and found photos of your grandma with her friends in the ‘80s. She looked happy and as she said “cool” you mumbled with a smirk on your face. You then came across a lot of music tapes with a cute little pink cassette player. You searched for a tape that wasn’t broken and found ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. It was one of your favorite albums, when you put the tape in the cassette player and played it, everything went dark.
When you opened your eyes you noticed an unfamiliar ceiling with pastel colors, mostly pink. You took a look around the room, it was so girly and so… pink. Suddenly a girl opened the door with a bang, she came up to you and looked at you from head to toe.
“Girlie!! Are you okay!! My parents found you in our attic, you were passed out!!” she said loudly, concern in her voice
“I’m sorry but who are you and where am I?” you asked while rubbing your forehead still grabbing the tape in your other hand.
“You don’t recognize me?? I’m Tiffany!! Your best friend!! And you’re in my room right now” she said sounding a bit disappointed. You finally understood what was going on, the person in front of you was your grandma but when she was young. You looked at her and asked another question
“What year is it” you said sounding very serious
“You silly we’re in 1985” Tiffany said with a laugh. You got up out of bed and searched for her cassette player. You found it on her shelf next to a curling iron and a can of a hair spray. You tried to put the tape of ‘thriller’ that you still had in your hand but unfortunately the tape was broken.
You turned to look at Tiffany and said “Do you have any other music tapes?”
“Sure” she said, getting up to take a tape of ‘material girl’ by Madonna out of her drawer. You put it in the cassette player hoping to go back to the year you belonged to. But… nothing, just the song being played like normal.
You were stuck and you knew it, you lay down on the bed and sighed. Tiffany looked at the ‘thriller’ tape and asked “how did you get this tape? It’s sold out I couldn't even buy it yesterday”
“Oh my God I will never go back” you said with your head in your hands
“C’mon bestie, it’s going to be a good summer!! We’re going to spend it with Janet!! It’s going to be so much fun!!” Tiffany said with excitement
“With who?” you asked kind of shocked
“You know, Janet Jackson, our neighbor.” she point to the window, you stood up immediately and went to check out
“You’re neighbors with the Jacksons!!?” you yelled at her.
“yes…, anyway we’re late! As I said Janet invited us to her pool this afternoon, so let’s get ready!!” Tiffany said with excitement in her voice. At this point you didn’t even argue anymore and follow her.
A few hours later you and Tiffany arrived at the gate of the big Jackson mansion, bags filled with sunscreen and bikinis. Janet came and opened the gate
“Hey, girlies I’ve been waiting for y’all!! It’s going to be so much fun! Come on, come in.” she said holding both of Tiffany’s hand and yours with excitement. You smiled a little and followed her into the mansion with a little fear inside you that you might run across the man of your dreams. Michael Jacksons.
“Are we going to see any of your brothers?” you asked while getting changed in the only black bikini Tiffany had lent you.
“Well I don’t think so, but some of them might definitely join us.” Janet responded softly
“Oh I see…” you said a little bit disappointed. You three enjoyed your afternoon in the pool. While you were tanning you were also thinking of a way to go back to 2026. The only tape that could send you back was ‘thriller’ by Michael, what a coincidence, you thought. You took the tape out of your bag and tried to fix it, that’s when Marlon jumped in the pool and splashed water all over you and the tape.
“I lowkey want to give up right now” you said with the soaked tape in your hand. You then heard a voice coming from behind you.
“What does ‘lowkey’ mean?”, it was Michael, wearing swim shorts revealing his broad chest, sitting on the edge of the pool.
“Oh don’t even ask, since this morning she has been completely lost and speaks in a different way” Tiffany explained to him
“Oh I see…” he said still looking at you. You hid the tape behind you, you were too embarrassed and didn’t want to seem like a crazy fan to him.
In the evening, you were back in Tiffany’s house, on the edge of her window smoking a cigarette, looking at the Jackson mansion, thinking of today and how surreal it was. Tiffany noticed the cigarette and said “Can I have one too?”
You were a little shocked since your grandma always said that she never smoked
“Sure” you responded while handing her one.
“Don’t act surprised you know I smoke” Tiffany said while lighting it
“I should make her write it down..” you mumbled to yourself. You stared at the sky and took a drag of your cigarette.
“Tomorrow we’re going to the cinema. We’re going to see this new movie named ‘Back to the futur’,” Tiffany said
“Oh I love this movie it’s such a classic!” you said with excitement
Tiffany looked at you weirdly “How did you see it, it came out yesterday?”
“Oh well, maybe I’m confusing it with another movie I guess…” you said while scratching your head
“Yeah, Janet's mom doesn’t want us to go alone so Michael is going with us. I’m excited, cause you know I love her brother’s music” Tiffany explained while getting up to brush her hair.
“Yeah me too..” you said joining her and putting hair rollers in her hair, a little smirk across your face.
The next day, you woke up super early for the movie and prepared yourself with care.
“Tiffany!! Do you have some eyeshadow??” you yelled in the house.
“Yeah yeah, wait a second I’m using it” she said while rubbing her temples with bright blue eyeshadow.
“Here you go” She gave you her palette, there were only bright colors.
“You know what, never mind” you said while searching for something more your style. An hour after you two were waiting for Janet and Michael in front of Bill’s car. A few minutes later Janet ran towards us, wearing a cute pink top with a denim skirt
“So 80s” you thought to yourself
“Hey, sorry I am late, Michael couldn't find his sunglasses” she said while going in the car.
“Let’s just go” Michael said while putting his cap on. It was so hot outside that when you finally arrived you girls ran into the cinema for the A/C. Michael closed the door and said thanks to Bill.
“Isn’t that the girl you talked about yesterday?” he asked Michael
“Yes she is… but don’t try anything, huh?” Michael replied while putting a hand on his face, a little embarrassed.
“I won’t” Bill said with a smirk. You were too occupied with choosing witch popcorn flavor you should take instead of paying attention to what was going on with Michael.
“Girls let’s just get a mix of everything” Michael said interrupting y’all “Or else we’re going to miss the movie”. You nodded and did as he said. After a few minutes you were finally in the theater room, and the movie was just about to start. By pure chance you sat next to Michael. The movie just started and everyone was focused. At the time this movie was a shock, but for you it was just a regular old movie that you watched too many times. You got up and went to the bathroom, Michael was looking at you with a confused stare.
A few minutes later he decided to go check on you, he found you smoking in the bathroom looking all lost.
“Hey are you okay?” he asked with a bit of concern
“I don’t know, life is so… weird. I just wanted a break from my work and I end up in 1985” you said looking at your reflection
“Listen I don’t understand but, I’m sure it will be okay. At the pool yesterday I saw you had a tape of my album ‘Thriller’ right?”
“Yeah but it’s broken and I can’t find a new one since it’s sold out” you said looking defeated.
“Well you could have just asked me…” Michael said shyly, looking away.
“You know if you like my music that much you can maybe… come by the studio, I’m preparing a new album” he said while fidgeting with his fingers. A smile came across your face
“Really? Well yeah I would really like that”. You stepped towards him and gave him a little hug.
“Let’s go back so we can finish the movie” you said while letting go of the hug and going back into the theater room.
"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." Everyone clapped at the end of the movie, in the end you enjoyed it more than you thought. Michael was staring at you during all the movie, and you knew it
“It was so good, I hope the second movie is going to be great” Tiffany said to Janet
“Yeah I really hope so too” she replied
“Oh don’t worry girls it’s going to be really good” you said with a smirk knowing it’s going to come out in 1989.
“Girlies, do y’all want to come sleep at my place tonight?” Janet asked both of us while getting out of the theater room
“Yeah sure” you replied, peeking at Michael who had little smirk across his face.
“Let’s go, Bill is waiting for us” he said while walking towards the exit
In the evening you were just chilling in Janet’s room with her and Tiffany drinking wine, when you remembered what Michael had said earlier.
“Hey Janet, do you know where Michael’s studio is?” you genuinely asked her
“It’s the second door in the hallway when you go down the stairs” she responded while painting her nails with sparkly purple nail polish
“Why do you ask?” Tiffany said while looking at you suspiciously and laughing
“I just asked…” you responded slightly annoyed
“And what did you two do in the bathroom at the movies?” Janet asked while coming closer to you.
“Did you two kiss?” she said smiling
“No what? Never ew!” you said looking in complete denial
“Yeah yeah if you say so. Go find him” Tiffany said and got back to painting her nails too. You didn’t argue and got up to go to his studio. You were a bit tipsy but still decided to go see him, you didn’t know why but you felt like talking to him maybe could change something. You finally knocked on his studio door, he surprisingly opened it quickly.
“Hey..” you said looking at him straight in his eyes
“Hey… come in, I was just writing some lyrics” he said a little shyly. You entered the studio, it was filled with papers where lyrics were scribbled. It was a mess but it was just like his mind, you could really read what he was thinking of. While looking at some lyrics, you came across one title that stopped you. ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’.
“Oh I really like this song! You said while pointing to it with a smile.
“How? I just wrote it yesterday, it’s not even out” Michael said looking at you confused. You stopped and moved your finger to the title ‘Human Nature’
“Yeah, I was talking about this one” you explained awkwardly.
You sat on the chair and decided just to look at Michael. He was so handsome, as a person who knew all his history since you were from the future. You didn’t understand why people were so mean to him and told lies about him.
“Do you like being famous” you asked him, staring at his figure sitting in another chair. He was a little surprised by your concern
“Well… I really love my fans, I really do but sometimes they really cross the line and it hurts me. They don’t think about it and that’s sad I think, I also don’t have many friends to hang out with. Because what the people want is just pictures or interviews of me” he said while looking down.
“But… you’re one of the few people that understand me, genuinely. I really like that about you” he said lifting his head and smiling at you.
“Are you hitting on me right now” you asked as you stood up
“I kind of am…” he said smiling and locking eyes with you. He got up and initiated a kiss, you widened your eyes with surprise. But you didn’t mind it, maybe it was because of the alcohol but you deepened the kiss.
Suddenly someone knocked on the door, you stopped kissing and heard a voice.
“Hey, Michael do you know where the pink nail polish I left at your studio?” it was Janet, she seemed really tipsy.
“Huh I left it in your room” Michael replied, sitting in a chair, still looking at you.
“Okay…” she answered and got back into her room with Tiffany.
“I should probably go…” you said, while looking at him
“Yeah sure, of course..” he said looking away, embarrassed about what he did. You stepped towards him and kissed his cheek.
“Thanks for today” you smiled at him and got out of the studio. He was still in disbelief, he touched his lips and his cheek with both of his hands, still remembering your touch.
The next day you found yourself, in a roller skating rink with Janet and Tiffany and surprisingly, Michael. Since last night’s episode, he had been really sweet to you. You were wearing an aerobic outfit that was typical in the ‘80s. You were skating with Janet and Tiffany, you slowed down a little, they were now far in front of you, you were alone. That’s when you almost fell, but you felt a hand catching you.
“Oh be careful darling, you almost fell” Michael said with a smile. He took your hand and pulled you so that you could go faster
“C’mon!” You smiled and laughed with him, enjoying yourself for the first time in a while.
“Slower slower” you said to him and laughing with him at the people who were scared of your speed.
After a few hours, Janet and Tiffany were still on the rink but you and Michael were changing your shoes.
“You know I’ve wanted to give you something..” Michael said and started searching for something in his bag. He then gave it to you, it was a ‘thriller’ tape, just like the one that you had searched for days.
“Oh Michael… thanks I mean I’m really happy but…” you said looking at the tape. Now that you’ve experienced the life in the ‘80s you didn’t want to come back. You had always wanted to have a break from your work and just enjoy life, you even had Michael. You wanted to grow up with him and maybe even, change his fate.
“Listen Mike, I’ve searched a while for this tape just to go back where I belong. But I’ve never expected to have you on my road and change my point of view, so from now on I would just like to enjoy life with you, forever”
Michael looked at you and kissed you, “I understand don’t worry”
“Thanks and I love you…” you responded to him. He turned his eyes away with a bit of embarrassment.
“I-I love you too…”
“Hey you two lovebirds, stop that and come join us” Tiffany yelled at you. You locked eyes with Michael and laughed.
Thanks for reading!! Request are open too!