Tell Me You Love Me

Ruin the Friendship

The year 1986 was drawing to a close and 1987 was just around the bend. It had been nearly three months since Michael formally met Prince for the first time, and he couldn't help but feel that he dug himself a grave far deeper than six feet. They have been practically inseparable for the past few months. Michael, despite how hard he tried, fell harder for Prince with each passing day. Every day was a new opportunity for him to catch a glimpse of the different elements to Prince's personality which only made him even more beautiful than before in Michael's eyes. 

He couldn't help himself, but every time he was around Prince, he was practically all over him pushing the boundaries of the "friendship" he adamantly insisted on maintaining. His friend didn't seem to mind the extreme physical contact though; in fact, he seemed to enjoy it more than anything. Michael desperately wanted Prince, but his father's words were forever embedded in the back of his mind, looming over him like a ghoul and watching his every move. He was terrified to cross the line separating him from what he wanted and what was in everyone's best interest except his own, but he was already walking on it and was unable to step off. He was having a hard enough time balancing on the line, teetering back and forth but mostly leaning towards the wrong side. 

He never really considered himself to be depressed before now. Keeping his true feelings hidden inside darkened the world around him and he felt trapped in the darkness. Prince was the only glimmer of light he could see. His light was dim, but he knew it would shine bright enough to bring back the light to his world if he could just be with him the way he wanted to. His fear was holding him back; he was afraid his parents would disown him if he expressed his love for Prince, but he was mostly afraid that his mother would be disappointed and push him out of her life. 

Prince invited Michael over to his home for New Years Eve so the two of them could celebrate it together. He received several invitations to parties from his friends, but he turned them all down because he wanted to spend time alone with Michael. Naturally, they spent time alone together nearly every day, but this was going to be special. A new year meant new beginnings and hopefully a new era in their friendship. Michael's idea of a platonic "friendship" was becoming gradually more romantic and sensual. He was hoping casual lip locking would be the next "friendly" gesture they were going to normalize. He felt that they were dabbling more and more in homosexuality, but he wouldn't dare complain; he enjoyed it entirely too much. Practically nothing was off limits except for explicit sexual contact. They held hands, cuddled, and kissed each other's faces. They laid together, slept together, and held each other close. After the first month of their friendship, he found that his attraction for Michael was just as emotional as it was physical and he wanted to explore those feelings.

He knew it was cliche, but he lit a fire in the fireplace in hope that things between the two of them would heat up quicker. He wasn't sure it would work though. Despite their continuous displays of affection and the previous confessions of mutual attraction, Michael continued to insist that he was completely straight. Prince, however, accepted the fact that he wasn't as straight as he thought he was a while ago. He wished Michael would accept it too.

He brought out a bottle of wine and two wine glasses to make the set up even more corny. He knew Michael liked corny jokes. As long as he played it off as a joke, Michael wouldn't protest against it for being too romantic. He remembered what Michael said the first day they met about their situation not being a cliche romance movie, and he wanted to blow that out of the water for the sake of entertainment. He knew Michael would get a good laugh from it, and he loved to hear him laugh.