Love Is A Battle Field (Fourth Part of "Love In The Spotlight") MJ Fantasy

Chapter 10: Old Love

One week later

Neverland Ranch

Michael's POV

"Mike?" Zoe called to me.

"Yeah, come in!"

She opened the door and stepped inside. I observed her as she walked over to my place on the couch, trying not to make it obvious that I was staring.

She sat next to me and smiled. "I just wanted to thank you for having me over for dinner... The kids seemed to like it a lot."

"No problem. And we need to do more things together as a family... Cause we're still a family, ya know?"

She nodded. "Yeah..."

She caught a glimpse of the coffee table in front of me and I immediately became embarrassed. I had a bunch of photos from when we were together scattered everywhere.

She picked one up and grinned. "Oh my god! I forgot all about this..."

She turned it so I could see and I smiled as well. It was a picture of a silly two person pajama party that we had back when I was still living at Hayvenhurst. I was dressed in Mickie Mouse pajamas and her in Minnie Mouse. We were on the floor, which was padded with blankets. Zoe was sitting upright and I had my head in her lap. We were both laughing hysterically.

"Janet took this picture, right?" She reminisced.

"Yeah, she was mad that she wasn't invited so she tried to crash it..." I giggled.

She shook her head with a chuckle. "Crazy girl..."

She continued to shuffle through the pictures, pointing out funny memories and laughing at our silly poses.

There was one, however, that didn't make her laugh. She picked it up slowly and stared at it for a long time. I glanced over her shoulder to look at it and understood her reaction.

It was two different pictures, printed side by side onto one image. One picture was of our first wedding in 1990. The other picture was of our second wedding in 1998. In both pictures we were standing at the alter, facing each other, with tears in our eyes. Even though we were in the exact same pose in both pictures, they were very different. For one, Zoe was battling cancer in the second picture. Her hair was significantly shorter and she weighed much less than in the first picture. Another difference was our love. You can clearly see in the second picture that our love is much more developed. It's stronger and deeper. You can see it in our eyes.

"Best days of my life..." I whispered, as she continued to stare at the photo.

She looked over at me with cloudy eyes and a half smile. "Me too."

The entire moment was extremely intense, and a part of me wanted to just change the subject to get rid of the tension. But I couldn't, because the other part of me wanted to be completely honest with her.

"Will you ever let me love you like that again?" I asked with a sudden burst of courage.

Her eyes widened a bit as she cast them away from my gaze. "Well... I think it's too late for that..."

I leaned closer to her. "Is it really? How many times did we say it was too late in the past? We always worked it out, though..."

She sighed. "Yeah but we actually got divorced this time..."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Signing those papers and taking my ring off didn't make me lose any love for you..."

I could tell that this conversation was difficult for her by the look on her face. "We had a great relationship, but it's over now... That's just the way it is..."

I nodded as if I understood, even though I didn't. Ignoring her attempt to end the conversation, I spoke again. "Was it the right decision?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"Divorce. Do you still think it was the right decision?"

She took a deep breath. "Maybe not, but that doesn't change anything... I can't go back in time..."

I reached out and grabbed her hand. "So let's focus on the future instead."

She shook her head. "I don't think-"

"Do you love me?" I questioned.

She looked surprised. "Michael-"

"Do you love me?" I interrupted her again.

She gazed into my eyes and gulped. "Of course I do..."

My heart sang. I can't even believe she admitted it. I mean, I knew she loved me because we've been together for so long. But I didn't think I would ever hear her say it again.

I scooted so that I was sitting right beside her, our bodies grazing. "Shouldn't that be all that matters? That we love each other?" I whispered.

She seemed nervous, and I lifted a hand to her cheek to calm her down. She relaxed a little, but her breathing was still shaky. Seeing the effect I had on her again made my heart pound.

Afraid of overstepping my bounds, I leaned in just a little, testing her reaction. When she didn't pull away, I decided that I had my answer and went in for the kiss.

My lips touching hers for the first time in almost a year felt like pure magic. As our lips moved together, she moaned very softly, so soft that I could barely hear it. Her hands snaked up and down my back, as I caressed her cheek and held onto her waist.

In that moment, I didn't see her as my ex-wife. I saw her as the girl in the Minnie Mouse pajamas that I loved enough to marry twice. I'm smart enough to know that this situation will only lead to confusion and possibly further heartbreak. But for now, it's worth it, and I'm going to enjoy every second while it lasts.