β ΰ£ͺπ€.α βunplannedβ
ΰ¨ΰ§ pairing β michael x fem!reader
ΰ¨ΰ§ synopsis β you and michael have been arguing for weeks, heβs worried heβs losing you but there turns out to be a reason behind you being so hormonal
ΰ¨ΰ§ themes β basically just unprotected sex mixed with a whole load of angst & tension, dom!michael, oral (f!receiving), pregnancy, cr3ampie, secrecy, no use of y/n
ΰ¨ΰ§ word count β 6.6k (i like to deliver)
ΰ¨ΰ§ note β i literally blabbed so much here that thereβs no real plot but i locked in and spent 2 days writing something hopefully good. canβt stop wonβt stop writing about thriller era michael (iβm obsessed) but you can apply this to any era really. i think i went into a lil too much detail this time because my previous two posts were lowkey shocking, so i hope this makes up for it !!
You and Michael had been locked in a bitter argument for the last few days, constantly at each otherβs throats. It didnβt stop you from loving him. It never could. But this paralysing shared stubbornness kept both of your apologies shielded, spinning the conflict into a vicious cycle. Unbeknownst to him, you knew why. You knew why you had been lashing out and angry all at once. A volatile mix of hormones and raw anger consumed you all at once. Oblivious to the truth, all he could do was pour fuel on the fire, turning defensive every single time a minor trigger set you off. Daytimes consisted of you both trading blows whenever he was home, but by night, if he was back before you slept, you found him in between your thighs. Just the way you liked it.Β
You were pregnant.Β
A baby. You had only just uncovered the truth, a positive test still fresh in your mind. The timing couldn't have been more inconvenient. Michael was currently buried under the immense pressure of preparing for the Victory Tour, while you were celebrating a hard earned acceptance into a modeling agency upon recently signing a contract. It just went to show how unfair reality could be, it had a habit of tossing unexpected complications your way.
But Michael was entirely oblivious. You simply couldnβt summon the courage to tell him. You had known for nearly three weeks by this point, yet a perfect moment never presented itself, there was never a viable window amidst the endless, bitter standoffs and exhausting late nights. He spent the vast majority of his time buried in grueling tour rehearsals with his brothers, leaving you terrified of how he might react to such monumental news. Would he choose to continue the tour, leaving you abandoned and pregnant by yourself? Or would he deliberately sacrifice his career to stay back and tend to you? Neither of those options sat well with you.Β
He had missed every single warning sign. The refused drinks, the hormonal storms, the empty calendar where your cycle should have been. Preoccupied by the relentless demands of his career, the thought hadn't even grazed his mind. And honestly? You were grateful for his distraction. It was safer with him not knowingβ¦ for now.Β
You remained wide awake that night, a concoction of anxious thoughts entrapped within your mind while you lay strewn across the bed. Typical. The sheer weight of the situation had hit you all at once. You knew deep down that keeping this secret wasn't doing you any favours, but for the sake of peace, maintaining the lie felt like your only choice. It was almost laughable, the two of you had been at each other's throats earlier over a completely empty milk carton. He thought you were just being dramatic, never realising that milk was the sole anchor keeping your morning sickness at bay. It was the only thing that settled your stomach enough to avoid raising his suspicion if you suddenly hurled in front of him. The atmosphere between you remained thick, but you prayed heβd put the petty argument behind him by now.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally arrived home. You caught the sound of his footsteps almost immediately, tracking them as they made their way up the stairs and into the bedroom. In spite of yourself, a subtle smile touched your lips. He looked so handsome. Ridiculously handsome. The way a few loose curls perfectly framed his face and the unreadable mystery hidden behind those pitch black shades he wore made your chest tight. He was dressed in a crisp white button up shirt and black trousers. It was a simple combination, yet more than enough to make your knees wobble right where you laid.Β
βYouβre home early.β You noted, your gaze unashamedly mapping out his features. Your eyes lingered for much longer than they should have, a weakness you mentally blamed on your newly hyper sensitized awareness of him. Ever since youβd found out you were pregnant with his child, your body simply refused to look away.
βMy brothers wanted to finish the session early tonight and I thought it was a good idea.β He spoke softly, offering a quiet reflection of your smile. Behind the dim shield of his shades, his gaze travelled deliberately upward from your ankles, taking in every contour of your body until it finally locked with yours. You couldnβt see his eyes but the heavy, unsaid weight of his gaze felt like a physical touch. βIt gives me a chance to... make it up to you,β he admitted. A faint fluster embellished his cheeks. It always amazed you how even after countless nights of absolute passion, he still managed to get shy over the slightest hint of intimacy, even when he was the one initiating it.Β
βMake it up to me how?β You questioned, rolling over slightly while keeping your gaze locked onto him. The shift in your position caused your breasts to press together, the natural pull of gravity creating a tempting display that instantly hijacked his attention. He stared down at you, captivated by the sight. You lay there, unapologetically beautiful, radiating an ethereal, soft glow that he couldn't quite take his eyes off of.Β
βOhβ¦ yβknow.β He paused momentarily, letting the silence stretch just long enough to shift the dynamic. βBy doing my job as a man to please you and make you feel good. As I should.β he whispered, as though your previous argument was nothing but a distant memory. It typically panned out that way. Argue, make love, repeat. A newfound wave of confidence had anchored his tone, the soft rasp of his voice sending a sudden, electric shiver straight down your spine.
Your cheeks burned with heat, an agonising ache pooling between your thighs from nothing more than his whisper. You utterly loathed how easy it was for him. He merely had to say the magic words and the volatile cocktail of your hormones and libido were completely taken over, ensuring you were no longer dry before he had even crossed the room.Β
βAnd how exactly do you plan on doing that?β You questioned, your tone laced with a dangerous invitation. You were intentionally coaxing him, hungry for whatever came out of his mouth next. Your body was already on high alert, your pregnancy fuelled senses completely taking over as a rhythmic throb pulsed down there in unison with every beat of your heart.Β
Michael shuddered slightly, the vivid image of you entirely naked plaguing his already dirty mind. The world knew him for his innocent, quiet persona, but little did anyone guess how perverted he became the moment the two of you were alone. His cock twitched briefly, the fabric of his underwear uncomfortably tightening around him as he hardened with every filthy scenario that flashed through his mind.Β
Lowering his chin slightly, he peered at you over the rims of his sunglasses, letting you see the dark intensity in his gaze. That familiar, knowing smirk crept onto his lips as he deliberately paced forward, stopping only when his knees pressed against the rim of the bed.Β
βIβm going to make love to you. Or fuck you... whichever one youβre craving tonight,β he murmured, his voice dropping to a low, intimate register. He leaned in closer, the heat radiating off him. βBut before that, I think I need a reminder of how good you taste baby. I think Iβve forgotten.β He added a playful, dangerous edge to the end of his sentence, pausing briefly as if trying to reclaim his fading self control. It was the only thing stopping him from pinning you to the mattress and taking you completely senseless until dawn.Β
Your heart missed a beat, fluttering below your chest as a wave of adrenaline collided with the pit of your stomach. He had such a way with words.Β
Before you could fully process his words, Michael had already shifted, positioning his body over yours on the mattress. A breathless thrill shot through you at his sheer impatience. He was so single mindedly intent on pleasing you that he didn't even waste a second to take off his clothes or settle in, even after a monotonous day of rehearsal.
He positioned his head between your legs, his hands coming up to rest on either side of them as he dotted a disorganised line of soft kisses up your right thigh, stroking your skin with such delicacy. Naturally, you would go between peeking at him and resting your head against the pillow to fully immerse yourself in the moment. To enjoy every last little sensation, knowing it would guide you to something better. A sigh broke free from your throat the closer his lips became to the jackpot.Β
Michael brought his left hand inwards, stroking his thumb over the crotch of your panties as he watched the colour darken, your arousal seeping through the material in a protruding circle. You couldnβt help but whimper, every sense heightened now that you were carrying an unspoken secret inside of you. He tucked his index finger within the hem of your panties, ushering you out of them as he intensely pulled them down, tossing them onto the floor.Β
βGod youβre so fucking beautiful I just need toββ he halted himself. No more words. Just action. He buried his face abruptly between your thighs, positioning himself closer this time as he wasted not another second. Michael licked a stripe vertically up your glistening pussy as he groaned, the sweetness of your arousal a sanctuary to his tastebuds.Β
Your neck formed an arch, your hand instinctively meeting with his head. Your slender fingers enmeshed with his jet black curls, grasp tightening. The friction of his tongue stimulating you was a godsend, something so perfect that not even words could encapsulate it. Only experiencing. βFuck Michael yes-β You moaned out, eyes rolling to the back of your skull as your hips simultaneously jolted forward, your body naturally craving for more as he fed your addiction. Or perhaps you fed his. Literally.Β
Michael grunted, his lips forming an βoβ as they encased your clit, sucking gently but enough to entice your flow of stimulation as his tongue rolled in calculated figures of eight. βYou taste so perfect.β He mumbled without interrupting his motion, the vibration of his voice sending an electric current through your entire body. You could feel your climax arising with every second that passed by.Β
Your thighs began to quiver beneath his grasp, muscles tense as you almost fed him your pussy. Very subtly bucking your hips up into his face, just the way he liked it. Savouring every last drop of you on his tongue as he ravished you, treating your pussy like a deathrow meal.Β
βIβIβm gonna cu-β The words broke apart before you could finish them, swallowed whole by the wave that had been coiling at the base of your spine. It hit without warning, a deep, pulse of pleasure that detonated low in your belly. Your walls clenched in tight, helpless contractions, each one dragging a sound from your throat you didn't recognise as your own. Your back arched off the sheets, fingers fisting hard into his hair as your thighs trembled against him. Not a gentle quiver, but a full body shudder you had zero control over. A ragged moan tore past your lips and dissolved into something closer to a sob as the intensity crested and held. Your legs fell wider apart, shaking violently. Every nerve felt raw and lit up like a live wire. But he didn't relent. His rhythm stayed exactly where it was, deliberate and undying as he dragged you through the peak instead of letting you fall gently from it.
βMmm, that's the perfect sweetheart. Let it all out.β He whispered, his eyes closed so he could savour the moment himself, his tongue continuing with those intense, familiar motions. Your thighs buckled, tensing around the sides of his head. Your bodyβs way of confirming he was sending you into overstimulation.Β
βPlease, I canβt take it.β You whimpered, a veiled note of desperation bleeding into your voice. He pulled away, a smirk tugging at the edges of his lips, glossy with your slickness.Β
Both of your chests rose up and down, frantically attempting to draw in oxygen. But Michael wasnβt yet done with you and you both knew that. He crawled upwards menacingly, his crotch landing directly where heβd just overstimulated you. You could feel, even through his pants, how hard he was. How hard he got just from pleasing you. It was somewhat flattering.Β
βWas that good?β He asked curiously, flashing you a playful smile, his demeanour softening a little, as though he was seeking your approval. He wanted to hear that heβd done good, that his job had sufficed.Β
βPerfect. A billion times over.β you reassured him, giggling softly as you grabbed a quick glimpse of the imagery between your legs, in which Michael was wedged. You noticed the outline in his pants, practically ready to burst its way through the fabric. βSomeoneβs incredibly impatient.β You joked, gesturing to his blatant bulge.Β
Michael laughed under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, well⦠maybe if you didn't look like that, it wouldn't be a problem."
Before he could form another word, your needy fingers were already at work, unbuckling his belt, sliding the leather free from its loops and letting it fall to the floor with a clink. Then came the buttons of his shirt, one by one, each pop of fabric sending a fresh wave of anticipation through the air. Your fingertips grazed his skin with every button undone, deliberate and slow, savouring the way his breath hitched beneath your touch. A few seconds later, his shirt joined the belt in a crumpled heap. In one fluid motion, you were both completely naked, skin against skin.
Michael nibbled gently on his bottom lip, his gaze sweeping over your face and figure with a hungry reverence. One last moment of stillness before he unleashed everything he had been holding back. His eyes traced the curve of your hips, the swell of your breasts, the parted readiness of your lips. A possessive heat flickered in his expression. He intended to ruin you. To leave you trembling, breathless and utterly undone. A complete, beautiful mess beneath him, with no thought left in your head but his name.
βWait one second.β He whispered, reluctantly pulling back for a brief moment. You watched as he reached toward the nightstand, the sharp crackle of a condom wrapper tearing open cutting through the quiet bedroom. βJust to be safe.β He murmured. The phrase hung heavily in the air, a striking contradiction to the reality he was completely oblivious to.
Oh boy, little did he know.Β
Without a coherent thought, your fingers closed around the foil packet in his hand and you tore it away, flinging it somewhere into the shadows of the room. The crinkle of plastic against the floor was the only sound before you locked your legs around his waist, thighs clamping tight, sealing him against you with no room for retreat. Your hands slid up the back of his neck, fingers threading through the damp hair at his nape and you pulled him down into a kiss that was less about tenderness and more about possession. A deep, open mouthed distraction that said you didn't want anything between you. Not tonight. Not with the ache pooling hot and heavy between your thighs, demanding nothing but the feel of him. Skin against skin. No barriers. No pretense.
The moment your legs tightened their hold, his body surrendered to gravity, his hips dropping forward in a single, fluid motion. His cock found your entrance as if it had always known the way and he slid into you in one long, unbroken stroke. It was slow at first, then he sunk deep, filling you completely. The sensation drew a trembling whimper from your throat, mirrored by the low, guttural sound that escaped his lips as your bodies fused together, the kiss breaking just long enough for both of you to gasp into the heated space between your mouths.
The thought of the condom evaporated from Michael's mind the instant he sank into you. The scorching grip of your walls pulling him deeper rendered any memory of latex utterly irrelevant. This was a sensation no thin layer of rubber could ever replicate. The raw, silken clutch of your body yielding around him, squeezing him with every flutter of your inner muscles, claiming him in a way no barrier ever could.
He broke the kiss just long enough to drag in a ragged breath, his forehead pressing against yours, his voice a low growl that vibrated against your lips.
"Fuck."
The word was half curse, half prayer, lost immediately as he crashed his mouth back into yours. The kiss turned sloppy, desperate. Tongues tangling in a wet, rhythmic dance as they slid past each other, tasting and exploring. He didn't waste another second. Whatever fragile thread of self control he'd been clinging to snapped entirely as his hips drove forward, plunging into you with a desperate, punishing rhythm. The heat of your body enveloped him completely, each stroke sliding through your wet folds before sinking deep. The raw, velvety clutch of you pulled him in with every frantic thrust. Every fight, every bitter word from the past days was eclipsed by the wet, slapping sound of skin meeting skin, by the way your legs tightened around his waist, heels digging into his lower back as if you were holding him hostage. He set a feverish pace, relentless and hungry, each drive of his hips pushing deeper, burying himself to the hilt until he was seated fully inside you. Your body gripped him like it never wanted to let go. His breath came in ragged, broken grunts against your mouth, the only sounds in the room besides the obscene, wet rhythm of your bodies colliding.
The bedroom was filled with the sound of breathless groans and heavy sighs, your fingers tangling at the nape of his neck as the intense pacing drove you wild. He moved against you with an unyielding heat, his lower body colliding with yours. βWe do this every night and it somehow... always feels better than the last.β He managed to mutter, his voice broken by desire. You squeezed your eyes shut against his shoulder. You had always used condoms, yet a split weeks ago must have been the silent catalyst for your pregnancy. Now, the rules were completely thrown out. He drove himself into you without a second thought, entirely unphased by the lack of protection, intoxicated by the raw, barrier free heat of your body.Β
Michaelβs hand pressed flat against the headboard, knuckles taut, while the other curled around your thigh, fingers sinking into the soft skin just enough to hold you steady. He slid his hand between your legs, tracing slow, deliberate lines through your flesh until he found your clit, aching and already desperate beneath his touch. He circled it gently at first, each rotation a little more insistent, building a rhythm that pulled you both closer to the edge. He wanted nothing more than to come undone at the exact moment you did, to feel your release shudder through you as his own broke free, the two of you spilling together in divine timing.
βThat feels so good donβt stop-β You whimpered, the words falling out of you in broken, desperate pieces, shredded apart by the ragged gasps tearing from your chest. Your back arched involuntarily, pressing into him as pleasure coiled tight and hot in your core, like a fire spreading through every nerve ending. His cock stretched you open with deliberate strokes while his fingers worked your clit in tight, knowing circles. The dual sensation was almost too much, almost unbearable. Your thighs trembled, slick with arousal and every thrust dragged a helpless sound from your throat. He knew exactly how to move, exactly when to press harder, when to slow down just enough to make you ache for more. The wet, obscene sounds of your bodies meeting filled the room, mixing with your moans and the sheer filth of it only pushed you closer to the edge. You were completely wrecked beneath him and he hadn't even finished with you yet.
You were close again. For the second time that night, pleasure was cresting inside you like a wave about to break and there was nothing you could do but let it take you.
His curls hung loose and wild around his face, damp with sweat, swinging with every powerful snap of his hips. You watched him, really watched him. His jaw clenched tight, lips parted around breathless groans that sounded almost pained. His body moved like something primal, muscles coiling and flexing beneath his skin, completely lost in the wet heat of you. And the sight of him unravelling like that, losing himself inside of you, sent a sharp thrill of satisfaction through your haze. All you had to do was lay there, spread open, flushed, looking up at him with those pretty eyes and he came undone.
"Let me fill you." He rasped, voice dropping into a low, wrecked growl against your throat. "Please, baby."
His restraint was gone. You could feel it in the way his grip tightened on your hips hard enough to bruise, the way his thrusts turned sloppier, chasing something raw and desperate. Inhibitions had dissolved into nothing. Consequences didn't exist. All that mattered was the tight pull of your body around him and the overwhelming need to push as deep as he could go and stay there. To spill himself inside of you and leave something of himself behind. An unspoken claim. A mark no one else could see but you'd carry all the same.
The risks were dangerous. But he was too far gone to consider that, too lost in you to realise that the worst case scenario had already taken root.
After what felt like an eternity of relentless thrusts, broken only by deep groans and the soft, ruined whimpers falling from both your mouths, Michael shattered.
His body seized above you, hips stuttering hard as he buried himself to the hilt and came with a broken groan against your neck. Warm, thick pulses spilled deep inside you, one after another, each one pulling a ragged sound from his throat like the orgasm was being ripped out of him. The sensation was primal, a fiery heat blooming low in your belly and spreading outward.
This wasn't some cheap, performative fuck from an 80s porno. It was deeper than that. Messier. More real. The kind of sex that couldn't be captured or replicated. Only felt.
Your walls clenched around him instinctively, milking every last drop from his cock with each greedy contraction. He groaned, low and broken at the sensation, his forehead pressed against yours. Your nails bit into the skin of his neck, crescent shaped marks blooming red against his flushed skin. But it wasnβt until then you realised that you were falling too. Your orgasm crashed through you like a second wave, pulling a sharp cry from your lips as your back arched off the bed.
Finishing together felt like something sacred. Your bodies locked, trembling and pulsing around each other. Two people reduced to nothing but the aftershocks still rolling through you in devastating waves. Like your souls had been threaded together and pulled tight. Like nothing outside that bed existed.
β β β β
Three days later.
The pharmacy bag crinkled against your hip as you fumbled with your keys at the front door, your mind still reeling from the conversation with the pharmacist.
Prenatal vitamins. Folic acid. Take one daily with food.
It all felt so clinical, so sterile, for something that had turned your entire world upside down. You stepped inside, dropping your bag onto the kitchen counter with a heavier thud than you intended.
That's when you heard the shower shut off.
Your blood ran cold.
You lunged for the bag, fingers scrambling against the paper as you tried to shove the small pharmacy bottle deeper inside, heart hammering so loud you were sure he could hear it from the bathroom. But your hands were shaking and the bottle slipped, rolling across the counter with a hollow plastic clatter that might as well have been a gunshot.
Footsteps. Fast.
Michael appeared in the kitchen doorway, damp curls clinging to his forehead, a towel slung low and loose around his hips, water still dripping down his chest. His eyes found you first, frozen, guilty, one hand still reaching for the bottle, then dropped to the counter.
Silence.
"What's that?" His voice was calm. Too calm.
"Nothing." You denied, as you grabbed the bottle and shoved it behind your back like a child caught stealing. "It's nothing, Michael."
He was already moving toward you. Not fast, not aggressive, but with a deliberate stride that made your stomach drop. He reached you in three steps and before you could react, his hand closed gently but firmly around your wrist, pulling it forward. The orange bottle caught the light.
Prenatal Vitamins. With Folic Acid.
His eyes scanned over the words, over and over again, jaw tightening.
"How long?" His voice was low. Controlled. But his eyes, almost hurt, told a different story.
"Michaelβ"
"How long?" He cut you off abruptly.
βThree weeks." You admitted, swallowing the achy lump that had manifested in the back of your throat.
The silence that followed was suffocating. He released your wrist and stepped back, running a hand through his wet curls, the muscles in his jaw working like he was physically biting back everything he wanted to say.
"Three weeks." He laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just disbelief. "You've known for three weeks and you didn't tell me?"
"I was figuring out how to-"
"Figure out how to what?" His voice rose, sharp enough to make you flinch. "How to keep it from me? How long were you going to let me walk around not knowing that you're carrying my-" He stopped himself, pressing both hands flat against the counter, head dropping between his shoulders. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter but rougher. "How? We were careful. I always-" Every sentence he spoke was cut short with an apparent uncertainty.
"The condom broke." You said softly. "That night. You didn't notice, but I did. I thoughtβ¦it only takes one time, Michael."
He stared at you. Something shifted behind his eyes, recognition perhaps. That night. The second time. When he'd been so lost in you that neither of you had stopped to check. When consequences had been the furthest thing from his mind.
But then something else flickered across his face. A memory surfacing. His brow furrowed and when he spoke, his voice had dropped to something dangerously quiet.
"Wait." He held up a hand. "That night. A few nights ago. I went to grab a condom and you-" He paused, eyes narrowing. "You stopped me. You pulled me back and told me not to bother. I thoughtβ¦" His jaw clenched so hard you could hear his teeth grind. "You already knew. Didn't you?β
It wasn't a question.
"That was after you found out." He continued, his voice rising with each word. "You already knew you were pregnant and you let me, you encouraged me toβ¦" He broke off, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. "What was the point of that? You were already pregnant. It didn't matter anymore, did it? So why bother with the condom?"
Something inside you snapped.
"Oh, that's rich." Your voice came out sharper than you intended, but you didn't take it back. "You didn't seem too bothered about the condom when I took it from you Michael. You didn't pause. You didn't ask questions. You just-" You gestured at him, frustration burning hot behind your eyes. "You were perfectly fine with it then. But now suddenly you're mad at me for being secretive? You didn't want answers three days ago. You wanted to get laid. So don't stand there and act like I manipulated you when you were very willing. I didnβt see you hesitate."
The words hung in the air like smoke.
Michael stared at you. His mouth opened. Closed. For a brief moment, he looked like he'd been physically winded, like you'd reached across the counter and slapped him. His jaw worked, but nothing came out.
Then his expression hardened.
"Don't turn this around on me." His voice was low. Dangerous. "Don't you dare turn this around on me. I didn't know what I was getting into. You did. That's the difference." He stepped closer, close enough that you could smell his soap, close enough that the water still clinging to his skin cooled the air between you. "You had all the information and I had none. That's not me being unhesitant sweetheart. That's being kept in the dark."
He turned away from you, pacing toward the window, towel riding dangerously low on his hips as he dragged both hands down his face. Then he stopped, slowly turning back to you. And the look on his face had shifted into something worse than anger, it was a realisation.
"And the last few weeks." He murmured slowly, like he was assembling a puzzle he hadn't known existed. "The snapping, the attitude. Every time I asked you what was wrong, you bit my head off like I'd done something. I really thought-" A bitter laugh escaped him. "I thought I was losing you or that I'd done something wrong. I was lying awake at night replaying every conversation trying to figure out what I'd fucked up and the whole timeβ¦ the whole time, it was hormones!β
He pointed at you, not accusingly, but like he needed you to acknowledge it. "You let me think it was my fault. You let me believe that."
"I didn't know how to explain it without-"
"Without telling me the truth? Yeah. I'm getting that." He exhaled hard through his nose, turning his back to you again, one hand gripping the back of his neck. "Three weeks. Three weeks of me walking on eggshells. Three weeks of you already knowing and you let me spiral."
He was quiet for a long moment. A moment that felt like years taken off of your life. Your heart ached beneath your chest, a mixture of fear and dread instilling within you. It made you feel sick, nausea nibbling at your gut.Β
"I leave for tour in two weeks." His voice was low now. Wrecked. "Two weeks. The boys are counting on me. We've been planning this for months and nowβ¦" He gestured wildly between you, his expression caught somewhere between fury and something close to disappointment. "Now you're telling me I'm about to be a father?"
"Michael-β
"I'm not finished." He spun to face you, eyes blazing. "Three weeks. You sat across from me at dinner, you slept next to me, you let me talk about the tour like everything was fine and the whole time you knew." His voice dropped, rough and bitter. "That's fucked up. You know that's fucked up, right?"
Tears burned behind your eyes, but you held his gaze. "I was scared." You admitted, hopeful that perhaps he would understand. Maybe if he acknowledged that you were afraid, he wouldβve comforted you.
"You were scared?" He let out a hollow breath, bracing one hand on the doorframe. "I'm about to get on a stage in front of thousands of people and pretend like my whole life hasn't just flipped upside down and you were scared."
The kitchen fell quiet except for the drip of water from his curls hitting the tile floor.
He didn't leave.
He should have. Every muscle in his body was coiled tight enough to snap, jaw aching from how hard he'd been clenching it and the way you were standing there. Arms wrapped around yourself, eyes glassy, chin trembling just slightly like you were fighting to hold it together, was doing something dangerous to the part of him that still wanted to fix everything for you.
But he didn't leave. Not yet.
"You know what the worst part is?" His voice had gone quiet. Not calm, simply quiet. The kind of quiet that came after the storm had already torn through everything worth destroying. He wasn't even looking at you anymore. His gaze had drifted to the counter, to the pharmacy bag, to the evidence of something that had detonated both your lives. "The worst part isn't that you kept it from me. It's that I can't even be angry properly without feeling like shit about it."
Your breath caught within your throat.Β
"Because I know you were scared." He swallowed and his throat worked visibly, his damp curls hanging in his face. "I know that. And I hate that I know that, because it means I can't just- I can't just be mad. I have to sit here and feel guilty for being mad at the woman who's carrying my child and that'sβ¦" He pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, blinking hard at the ceiling. "That's a really shitty place to be.β
"Michael, Iβ" you cut in before being sharply interrupted yet again.Β
"But I'm also.." He held up a hand and his voice wavered for the first time. Just barely. Just enough to notice. "I'm also really fucking angry and I don't know how to be both. I don't know how to hold both of those things at the same time."
The kitchen was thick with everything unsaid. Every sentence that started with I'm sorry or I understand or please that neither of you could bring yourself to say because the words felt too small for what was actually happening.
You watched his hand tighten around the edge of the counter. Watched his knuckles go white. And something inside your chest cracked open, not into tears, not yet, but into something worse. A guilt that was heavy and suffocating, settling into the spaces between your ribs like wet concrete.
Because he was right. Every word. He was right and you'd known he would be. That was exactly why you hadn't told him.
"I should've said something sooner," you whispered, words breaking into pieces through a sorry attempt to choke back your tears. Your voice came out smaller than you wanted. "I know that. I knew that. I just⦠every day it felt like there was a new reason to wait, and then one day turned into a week and then a week turned into-"
βThree.β He exhaled. Long and slow. The kind of breath that sounded like it cost him something. Then he pushed off the counter.
You watched him move toward the doorway, his towel still low, water still dripping, shoulders squared like he was bracing for impact and for one horrible moment, you thought he was going to say something else. Something that would either break this completely or start to mend it and you weren't sure which one you were more afraid of.
He paused in the doorway. One hand on the frame. His back to you.
"I need.." He stopped. His head dropped forward and you could see the tension running down his spine like a wire pulled too tight. "I need to not be in this room right now."
"Michael."
"I'm not leaving you." His voice was rough. Edged with something that might have been an apology if he'd let it be. "I just.. I can't look at you right now without wanting to either hold you or walk out that front door and I don't trust myself to pick the right one."
The words hit you like a knife in the chest.
He disappeared down the hallway. A door closed, not slammed and not the bedroom, but the spare room. The one with the pull out couch and the door that didn't lock because neither of you had ever needed it to.
And then silence.
You stood in the kitchen for a long time. Long enough for the light through the window to shift. Long enough for your tea to go cold⦠when had you even made tea? Long enough for the tears to finally come, quiet and slow, slipping down your cheeks without your permission.
He was right. All of it. The hormones, the condoms, the three weeks of silence. He was right and youβd known he would be and you'd kept it anyway because some stupid, terrified part of you had convinced yourself that if you just held it long enough, you'd figure out the perfect way to say it. The perfect way to make it okay.
There was no perfect way. There never had been.
You pressed your palms flat against the cool counter and let your head hang forward, hair curtaining your face, breathing shallow.
Down the hallway, Michael sat on the edge of the pull out couch which sat still unmade, still folded into itself with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
The anger was still there, loud and justified. But underneath it, curling up from somewhere deep in his chest, was something that tasted a lot like guilt.
He'd seen your face. Right at the end, when his voice had dropped and the words had come out crueler than he'd meant them, he'd seen it. The way you'd flinched. Not dramatically.
Not like he'd hurt you, but like you'd expected it. Like you'd already been bracing for the worst version of him and had stood there anyway.
That messed him up.
Because you were carrying his child. His baby. And he'd just stood in that kitchen in a towel and torn into you like you were an adversary instead of the woman he'd chosen. The woman who'd chosen him. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes until he saw stars. Three weeks. She kept it from me for three weeks.
The thought looped. Over and over, like a broken record stuck on repeat. And every time it surfaced, the anger surged back, but then immediately, like clockwork, it was followed by the image of you standing there, arms wrapped around yourself, saying 'I was scared' in a voice so small it barely reached him.
And then he felt like shit for being angry. And then he felt like shit for feeling like shit. And round and round it went.
He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. The house was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that amplified every sound, the hum of the fridge, the tick of the clock in the hallway, the faint, almost imperceptible sound of breathing from the kitchen that he couldn't tell if he was imagining or not.
He should go back in there.
He should go back in there and say what? I'm sorry? He wasn't sorry. Not yet. Maybe not for a while. It's going to be okay? He didn't know that. He didn't know anything right now except that in two weeks he was supposed to be on a stage and in several months he was supposed to be a father and the woman he loved had been carrying both of those truths without him for twenty one full days.
He should go back in there. But he didn't.
Neither of you slept well that night.
You heard him move around the spare room once, the creak of the couch, the soft thud of something hitting the floor, maybe his book, maybe a pillow he'd thrown and you laid in your bed with the sheets pulled up to your chin, staring at the ceiling, counting the seconds between his movements. At some point, close to 2am, you thought you heard him say something muffled. Maybe your name. Maybe nothing.
You didn't go to him and he didn't come to you.
The hallway between the bedroom and the spare room had never felt longer.


















