Living With The Enemy

Chapter Sixteen

Michael stared at the phone in shock before putting it on the cradle. How could Prince say that to him, especially when he thought they were in a good place? How was he pathetic and ridiculous when all he did was tell Prince that he was acting irrational? He stood and crossed the floor, making his way towards the door. He opened it and headed to Prince's room. When there, he knocked upon the wood and waited to hear his green light to come in. He could hear nothing, so he knocked again. Nothing. This time, he banged as hard as he could, then kicked it once, unaware that he caused Prince to jump sky-high. "What, Michael?" And of course he knew it was Michael. No one else would've came to his door, except maybe Amir, but Amir was on Prince's 'Go to Hell' list as was Prince on Amir's. 

      "Prince, open the door. We need to talk."

      "There's nothing to talk about, now go away," Prince argued like a spoiled teenager. Strangely, he also sounded like he was much closer to the door. Michael could tell he had his arms crossed with a big frown displayed on his face.

      "Prince, stop being unreasonable and open this door. Now," Michael spoke in a calm, but annoyed, voice. When the door still wouldn't open after that attempt, he just gave up and started from there. "You know, Prince, you had no right to curse ne over the phone. Seriously, that was uncalled for."

      "Oh, I'm sorry. Would thou perfer that I do it to your face like every other motherfucker that's walked all over you like you were some kind of doormat? Because I can, if you want," he smartly remarked. That made Michael angry, but he had to hold it in, not wanting a repeat of what happened prior. He knew violence would never solve anything.

      He sighed. "I'd perfer you not to do it at all, guy. I mean, all I was doing was telling you how unjustifiable you were being. And for no reason at that." Suddenly, the door flew open and revealed a still-frowning Prince with his hair now in a ponytail. Michael gave him a half smile. "Are you ready to talk to me the right way now?"

      "Fuck you, Michael. Fuck you!"

      Michael threw his hands into the air, asking in exasperation, "What did I ever do to you, Prince? I go out of my way to make sure you're comfortably comfortable here, and you treat me like I just disrespected your mother. What is the matter?"

      "You know what? You disrespected me, okay? Me. You're calling me names because I'm telling you how Amir has been around here, and you just don't want to hear the truth, do you? Michael, since the first time I laid eyes on that man, I've noticed how sneaky and sleazy he can be. And you're just letting him het free passes like he owns the damned place. Michael, this house is your and only yours. You have to stop letting him run over you," Prince explained.

       "And just how am I letting him rule over me? I'm pretty aware that this is my house, and I know you know that, too, but how has Amir been, Prince? He's only trying to help." He placed a fist to his hip and cleared his throat.

      "That's exactly what the fuck I'm talking about, Mike. You don't see it, but I do; he's bringing up old shit to start fights, and he's trying to ruin this agreement for both you and I. That's how he's trying to run over you: he's trying to ruin what you and I have going, and  you're too blind and naive to see it. He doesn't want me here, and...I wish you could just see it, Michael. I want you to see the real him. Please," he practically begged. Michael and Prince stared at each other long and hard, trying to make sense of everything that was just said. 

      What the two of them had was a love - if one could call it that - hate relationship. They were enemies, but acquaintances. They lived together, but on Prince's part, he still hated Michael's innocent guts. Michael tried his hardest to become more than an acquaintance to Prince - maybe a friendemy, but there was always something in the way of that attempt. The point of this whole arrangement was for the pair to finally end the stupid feud that the masses put them in, but at the present rate of how everything was going and turning out, there just was enough room for a possible friendship to come around.

      Without asking, because it was his home, Michael walked into the room and sat on the bed. Prince closed the door and follwed suit, sitting next to Michael, a fair amount of space between the two of them. Michael cleared his throat as he did when he was out in the hallway and bit his lip, looking at his lap. Prince unknowingly did the same. "Prince, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you felt that way, but now I see," he confessed quietly. Prince nodded and twiddled his thumbs in his lap. "I know you've been very vocal about your disregards towards Amir, but I guess my eyes weren't open like they are now. Prince, I promise you that though I was blind-- hey, look at me," he softly said. Prince slowly and hesitantly brought his eyes towards Michael's. "Though I was blind, I can see now. I see everything that I didn't want to see. Everything I refused to see for the sake of this contract."

      Prince shrugged and gave him a shy smile and exhaled a breath. "Well, Mike, I guess you were so fixated on everyone getting along..." he trailed off, looking for the right words to say. "I...you... Help me out," he chuckled. Michael smiled, glad that Prince had finally displayed a smile.

      "You and I both got blindsided, man. We just..." he then sighed. "I don't know, Prince. I mean, I want this to continue, but if though and Amir get out of hand, I just may have to terminate the contract altogether." That made Prince's eyes go wide for some reason. Did he actually not want to leave. Did he actually want to stay at Neverland?

      "Mike, don't end it all for just a couple of dumbasses like Amir and I. I mean, if I have to, I'll stick it out, an--"

      "No!" Michael exclaimed, standing. Prince jumped at the sound of Michael raising his voice like that. "That's just the problem: I don't want anyone to 'stick it out,' Prince. I...I want us to all get along like we know how to, and to stop acting like babies. Like immature asses." Prince nodded and stood as well, still trying to regain a normal heartbeat from his previous scare. "Prince, you may not realise it, but this eats away at me, too. I stay up night after night to think of things to bring you and Amir together as partners, not like soldiers in World War Three. And the same goes for you and I, Prince. Prince, if we're going to do this, we have to be with each other one hundred percent. No matter what the media says we're doing to each other to be on top, no matter what goes on at Neverland, we have to learn to come together when it's all over. Okay?"

      Prince took a second to think over Michael's words. He had never heard such a voice that ready, that demanding. His father, yes, but with Michael, it was different. He knew Michael meant business and couldn't let him down. After a moment and a half of thinking, Prince slowly began to nod as he licked his lips. "Okay, Michael. Okay. If you're down, I'm down," he finished.

      "Yes."