let me love you ~ michael jackson & ariana grande

valentine's day

February 14th, 1985

Ariana

My eyes flutter open and are met with the golden sunlight hitting my pupils just enough to make me throw my hands to block the light.

Once I'm fully adjusted to the brightness that the morning brings, I sit up, stretching my arms out for a couple of seconds before dropping them back to my sides.

I look at my surroundings and let out a yawn. My stomach then growls, letting me know I need to get food in my system immediately.

I slip out of my bed, arms wrapping around myself as I scurry to the washroom to brush my teeth.

After I'm finished washing up, I run downstairs and walk into the kitchen.

It's empty to my surprise, a note on the fridge catches my eye. It reads:

Left with Nonna and Grandpa on a breakfast date to celebrate Valentine's day. We'll be back in a few.

Love, Mom.

I smile at the thought of my grandpa and nonna celebrating their relationship, I mean, they have been together since the beginning of time.

Snapping me out of my admiration for my grandparents, I get overwhelmingly startled by the phone ringing.

"Hello?" I say as I hold the cordless phone to my ear.

"Ariana? Hey, It's Michael." Michael's gentle voice comes through the phone so softly.

Before I can continue to swoon over the man who has forever taken over my life, I remember catching him in his little lie. I can't possibly just never bring it up, I have to get to the bottom of why he lied to me.

"Michael.." I have to make sure I don't sound too suspicious . "I feel like I haven't spoken to you in forever, I missed hearing your voice."

He chuckles over the line and continues "Ditto, baby. Would you like to come over today? I know we can't celebrate Valentine's Day with me being a Jehovah's Witness and all and I'm sorry about that but-"

"Of course," I interrupt his rambling. "I always love going over to the Jackson Residence no matter what. And if it makes you feel any better, I really don't care about Valentine's Day. Never have and probably never will." I make sure to keep my casual tone in my voice, just waiting for the perfect moment to bring up his lie.

"That does make me feel a tad better but it's still kind of crappy, I would love to celebrate our relationship together. You know I love you, Ariana, so very much."

It's now or never, Ariana.

I huff before letting my words run wild, "Is that why you lied to me about where you were yesterday, Michael?"

I could hear his breathing hitch over the phone almost immediately.

"Hello? Don't go silent on me now, Michael." My tone becomes slightly bitter.

"How did you find out?" His voice deepens.

"Yesterday, I called Quincy and asked for you, he then told me that you didn't step foot in the studio."

Worry fills my stomach as I don't hear him say anything else.

"So, are you gonna tell me why you lied to me, Michael?"

His heavy breathing overwhelms the phone. "I...can't."

My worry then turns into anger. "What do you mean you can't tell me?" I go to pace around the kitchen but the cord pulls me back once I hit the hall.

"If I tell you, I'll lose you for sure." It sounds like his voice is breaking through the phone which makes me want to cry.

My mind then goes to the worst places, I eventually get sick of tiptoeing around the truth. My curiosity just has to know.

"Michael, did you....did you cheat on me?"

I expected to hear an overbearing amount of denying from him which would have made me reassured to know that I was just crazy for thinking he would do something like that. Instead, I was met with silence which pretty much gave me my answer.

What I don't understand is who he would cheat on me with, I've known Michael long enough to know that he wouldn't just go out and engage with a random girl. He doesn't open up like that to just anyone.

It must have been someone he's had history with, someone that has gained his trust and means a lot to him.

"It was Diana, wasn't it?" Tears cloud my eyes as my hands shake due to the hurt and betrayal I was experiencing.

"Ariana, I-"

"Save it, Michael. I was stupid to think you could ever love me like you loved Diana. How could you give yourself to her while you were with me? Was I not satisfying you enough? What was I doing wrong?" I scream into the phone, letting the rage take over me.

"It wasn't you at all, it was my own stupidity. I'm so sorry, Ariana. All I can say is that I'm sorry, I know no amount of apologies will make up for what I did. I messed up and I hate myself for it."

I stay quiet for a bit, muffling my sobs with my other hand.

I really thought Michael and I's relationship would be a dream come true but it seems like I've never been hurt this bad in my entire life. The last person I thought who would ever cause this much pain to my life was Michael.

"Michael, I think we need to break up." I whisper, the cord tangled around my finger while it's wet with my cries.

"You can't be serious." Panic is evident in his voice but I could really care less about how panicked he sounded.

"I am. As much as I hate myself for it, I still love you so much that it hurts. It hurts to think about how much I love you and know that you don't nearly love me as much as I love you."

"But we've been through so much together, we can't possibly end things here. I love you too much to let you go." He's no longer hiding his cries.

"Don't call me ever again, please. Or come to my house, or talk to my family." My weeping has subsided and now I feel drained of all emotion.

With the last strength I have, I slam the phone down and stand there in silence for a while. Completely forgetting about my hunger, I run up to my room and can feel my chest getting heavy.

The sobbing starts to leave my body and I don't even try keeping quiet. The screams of hurt escape my mouth and I get to the point where I'm so upset, it hurts to breathe through my crying.

I slide back under my comforter and let my emotions lull me back to sleep at 11 something am.

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so this is awkward haha....

ik i haven't updated in literal months but i got a burst of energy so i decided to upload once again, who knows if i'll post another chapter lol but for the sake of ur guys love for this story, i'll try writing as many chapters as i can while i'm at it.

okay bye