Before The Storm - A Michael Jackson Love Story

Chapter 27 - This I Promise You

Michael's POV
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"Wait.." Selena said pulling my arm back, I looked at her confused as she looked at me with sweet eyes, she cupped my cheek in her hand before slowly reaching up to me and placing her lips onto mine. I felt her arms wrap around my shoulders and pull me closer to her. I was in such shock, I felt I had no time to react or pull away. Before I could even say or do anything, Selena quickly pulled away and looked over my shoulder behind me letting a small gasp escape her mouth. I instantly turned around and met eyes with Ariana already staring at me.

My heart sank when I saw the look on her face, I've never seen her look so hurt.

"Ariana.." I managed to say as I approached her reaching out for her hand, but she kept her arms folded and backed away slowly from me.

"You .." Her eyes started to water, "You disgust me." She finally spoke with a single tear streaming down her cheek.

"Sweetheart, you don't mean that." I tried reaching for her hand again but she backed away even more. I could hear my voice full of fear, fearing she'd walk away from me forever and I'd never see her again.

"Please." Ariana closed both of her eyes with a couple more tears falling down, "Never talk to me again, please." She said opening her eyes. Her voice wasn't soft and gentle like it always was when she spoke to me. I parted my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I was stuck, and my heart was broken.

Ariana turned to walk away from me, I watched her until I couldn't see her anymore. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and I wanted to fall to my knees, but I kept myself together. Anger filled me knowing Selena was still standing right behind me watching the whole thing. I quickly turned around and walked up to her, "You are fired. Pack your things and leave, now." I said firmly pointing my finger in her face.

"Michael, don't do thi-"

"Now!" I shouted before walking to find Ariana. I couldn't let her walk away from me so easily, not without a fight. "Ariana!" I yelled down the hallway as I ran towards her, she hadn't gotten too far. Ariana didn't respond when I called her name, she kept her head down with her arms folded walking even faster.

I picked up my pace to catch up to her and I grabbed her arm gently, stopping her in her tracks, "Listen to me." I told her simply. Ariana refused to look at me, "Ariana, please."

Ariana sighed before turning to me, "What's done is done, Michael. We can't fix this, it's done." She told me, her eyes were dull and full of disappointment.

"No, no, no, what you saw back there wasn't what it looked like. She kissed me, Ariana!"

"She kissed you, you kissed her .. It doesn't matter. I sat there and watched, Michael." Her voice cracked, "You didn't stop it." She managed to say above a whisper. As much as I wanted to disagree, I couldn't. She was absolutely right, I didn't pull away from Selena.

"I'm sorry." I felt myself get choked up and my eyes fill with tears, "Give it a couple days, please just think about it. You have an interview, and we have a show tonight. Let's just focus on that." I reached and brushed a piece of Ariana's hair behind her ear.

She nodded, "Yeah." That's all she said before grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze before walking away.

"I love you," I whispered to myself as I watched her walk away.

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"Good morning everyone, I'm here with upcoming singer and songwriter, Ariana Grande, how are you doing today Ariana?" The interviewer asked Ariana before the camera switched to her, she smiled sweetly but it wasn't real, I know her real smile and that wasn't it.

"I'm great, thank you." Her voice was sweet and soft.

"I hear you're on tour with Michael Jackson right now, am I correct?" He asked.

"That's correct yes, our first show is tonight. It's really exciting." I was surprised by her response and how her mood didn't change at all when they mentioned my name.

"Is dating him just as exciting?" The interviewer asked, obviously trying to get answers out of her. It angered me.

Ariana laughed, "I don't know how to answer that."

"You don't know how to answer it? Aren't you guys together?" The interviewer asked her. Her expression changed slightly, only something a person who knew what was going on between us would notice.

"Michael and I are close, yes." Ariana blinked a few times.

"And you and Prince, how the heck did that happen?" He asked, I felt my whole body tense up.

Ariana laughed, "It's an interesting story, too long to explain."

"I'm sure we can keep up." The interviewer smiled politely. It bothered me because I warned her about this, I told her they would hound her down for answers. She's a smart girl though, she's too smart to let them know anything.

Ariana chuckled slightly, "Uh, I mean okay." She paused for a moment before speaking again, "He was one of the first people I met in the beginning of my career, he helped me out with a lot, I'll appreciate him for that forever. We both really just got closer than we expected and we fell for each other.." Ariana's eyes filled with slight sadness, "We couldn't make it work, obviously. But I will always support him from a distance." She smiled weakly. She looked so empty and drained after talking about him.

"That's really nice, very nice. I just have to ask, was there any conflict between Michael and Prince that caused the break up?"

I couldn't help but to stand up from the hotel bed and walk towards the television, "No, absolutely not."

"You don't seem so sure about that."

"I'm positive." Ariana's voice grew more stern towards the interviewer.

"Ariana, you sing about love and relationships a lot of the time. Can you tell me what is your definition of true love?"

She inhaled deeply, "Well, I think love is simple. It's not easy, but it's simple if you do it the right way. There's been times when I thought I was in love; and maybe I was, I was loving the best way I knew how," Ariana's eyes started to water and she brought her sleeve up to wipe away her tear quickly.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to myself. She was crying on national television because of me.

"But it wasn't true, it was just a bond. A bond I didn't want to be broken. But I loved him deeply, so I had to let go." Her voice was full of sadness. My heart was broken watching her struggle through the interview like this with a freshly broken heart.

"If you love them, let them go." The interviewer stated.

"If you love them, let them go." Ariana repeated.

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