Forever and a Half || Michael Jackson

Chapter Thirteen - Bond

Chapter thirteen – Bond

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"See you soon dad ... and you Clover," I bid farewell sweetly, heading towards the door with Michael. Yes, Michael actually heard me tell him we're leaving, this time, "Bye!"

"See you soon darling," father responds, "And happy birthday, Michael."

"Yeah ... hope the rest of your day's great," Clover adds, a warm smile on her face.

Michael nods in acknowledgement, "Thank you. Bye for now," he answers them both slightly shyly.

We both exit the house, and once we're outside, a smirk can't help but form on my face. However, I choose to remain silent so that Michael doesn't notice the smirk – most likely, because it's aimed at him, because of his bond with Clover. I don't want him to notice.

Sadly, my little wish isn't granted, as Michael turns his head and sees my smirk, so I try to get rid of it quickly, as if nothing happened.

"What you smilin' at?" he asks, a hint of amusement in his tone, "Huh?"

He keeps his eyes locked on mine, waiting for an answer, so I scoff and swat the air with my hand, "Smiling? Me? I'm ... just a happy person," I lie partially, "Why do you ask?"

He grins, rolling his eyes and exhaling, "And you tell me I'm a bad liar." He walks a couple steps ahead of me, causing me to snicker at his over-dramatically confident behaviour, "Nope. Michael Joseph Jackson ain't nothin' on Citria Tiannah Espinosa."

The way he pronounces my middle name is so sweet. Normally, I pronounce it as "Tee-ah-nah". Him? He changes the first syllable to pronounce it as "Tay-ah-nah". I find that really quite adorable.

"And what proof do you have that I'm lying, heh, Michael?" I challenge as we walk.

"I got plenty of proof, Citria," Michael chuckles, "But I'm not tellin' you what it is."

"So it's like that, is it?" My tone is jokey.

"Yeah, it's like that." His tone is the same as mine.

"Alright." I decide to change the subject, "Okay, how 'bout this?" My eyes scan our surroundings, seeing the grass, hills, countryside, fields, etcetera, "How 'bout we race back home?"

He cocks an eyebrow, "So we're ... five years old?" he teases, but when he sees me pout, gives in, "I'm kidding. Sure ... let's race. What's the harm in that?"

"Exactly. You know the way back, right?" I ask in clarification. When he nods, I begin to explain, "Okay, so ... the rule is, you can only use your legs. Can't get any cars, bikes, or anything. Just you," I explain, "You ready?"

He nods, a hint of a competitive glint in his eye, "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Okay," I brace myself, "Three ... two—"

"One, go!" Michael finishes the countdown for me, darting off ahead.

I cup my hands around my mouth, "Cheat!" I name-call, starting to run after him. My experience of running in the fields helps me with my speed, so I quickly gain on Michael, ending up only a matter of meters behind him, "I'm coming to getcha!" I taunt.

"No, you're not," he argues playfully, picking up speed and running even further away.

Feeling more of an adrenaline rush within me now, I increase my speed and manage to catch up to him. However, Mother Nature appears to be on Michael's side, as I kick a rock on the ground, resulting in me tripping over and slashing my knee against the ground. Despite it being mostly grass around here, there's still rocky, sharp surfaces and grounds, too, and – to my luck – I had to trip on one of them.