"NOOOOOO!!!"
"YOU WERE WHAT?" Michael and I screamed simultaneously.
"THEY TOOK HIM!"
"Took who?"
"You were drugged?!" Michael and auntie Dorothy exclaimed at the same time.
"THEY TOOK HIM! THE POLICE TOOK HIM!" I yelled in panic. I wanted to break the window, jump out and run after the car to make them stop, but I needed to be more realistic than that.
"Benjamin?"
"YES!"
"He was the one who drugged you? I thought you said he saved you?" Michael asked, sounding angrier by the moment.
"Of course he saved her!" auntie Dorothy snorted, and gave Michael the eye. "Why are you even here?"
"HE'S HERE BECAUSE HE'S MY FRIEND, AUNTIE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I screamed and wiped away my tears just enough to see clearly. If only for a few seconds. But no matter how hard I wished, the police car didn't come back with Benjamin.
"Oh, my God. It's my fault. It's all my fault," I cried, and wrapped my arms around myself as a lousy excuse for comfort.
"How can it be your fault that Benjamin..."
"Because it is!! I don't know how or why, but I know it's my fault! He beat up Ryan to protect me, and that's why they took him!"
Auntie Dorothy tried to make me lower my voice, but all I could think of was Benjamin's sad, blue eyes. And now they were going to put him in jail?
"This can't be happening," I sobbed, while I repeated myself over and over. Auntie Dorothy tried to make me sit down on the bed to calm down, but I just couldn't have it.
"Take me there," I said determinedly. I didn't know how smart that was or if I could do anything to help at all, but I needed to go there.
"Mia, I don't think..."
"TAKE ME THERE, OR I'LL DRIVE MYSELF!"
"Okay, okay!" auntie Dorothy muttered and held up her hands in surrender. "I'll call Patrick and see if he knows what's going on with his son. Maybe he can tell us what to do."
Auntie Dorothy had a frown so deep it looked like her forehead was going to split into several pieces. She excused herself, and mumbled an apology to Michael on her way out. Good. The last thing I needed was for them to start arguing. What did she have against him, anyway?
"I feel so lost here, Mia. What happened? Someone drugged you, and...?"
Michael seemed calm, but he couldn't hide the underlying tension in his voice.
"I don't know, honestly. Benjamin knows, but he wouldn't tell me."
"But you weren't...?" he began, but couldn't bring himself to pronounce the word. The one that I'd been trying to ignore for as long as possible.
"I think he'd brought me to the hospital if that happened. And he told me that he beat Ryan up before he could... That."
"Oh, thank God!" he exclaimed in a short exhale. "But tell me who this Ryan scumbag is, so I can cut his dick off and feed it to him."
My eyes widened. The way he said that so casually almost made me laugh. Almost. Instead I told him the few things I knew about him, which mostly consisted of two words; 'intimidating' and 'deceitful'. I didn't know where he lived, how old he was or even his last name. He didn't go to school, at least not the one Benjamin and I went to, but I didn't know if he had a job. Did he live with his parents or did he have his own apartment? Why was he even friends with Benjamin in the first place? The other people in their group were nice, but Ryan... He was the misfit that didn't belong there.
"So there were witnesses?"
Michael's question ripped me out of my rant, and made me feel nauseous. If there were witnesses, that would mean more people had seen me in whatever state I was in, before Benjamin brought me home. And when I woke up, my dress hung on a chair, and I was... naked...
"Let's not talk about that," I mumbled, but Michael wouldn't have it.
"If there are witnesses, they can give their statement about what happened, and Benjamin will be out in no time."
"But I don't know, Michael! And I don't have their phone numbers or..."
"Give me their names and I'll take care of it."
"But I... I..."
Michael looked at me expectantly, and I tried my best to remember.
"The Black Legend," I whispered.
"The what?" Michael chuckled.
"Rowan - The Black Legend..." I snapped my fingers. "Knox Parker!"
Michael immediately pulled out his phone and dialed a number, and just as auntie Dorothy came back, he walked out while talking to someone who seemed important. Hopefully important enough to get Benjamin out of jail.
"Patrick's on his way down to the police station now, but he doesn't know much either. Only that Benjamin's arrested for assault."
I was already head first inside my closet, picking out something more appropriate to wear. And even though I was in desperate need of a shower, that would have to wait until later.
"I put a couple of Advils and a glass of orange juice on the kitchen table, and there's a sandwich in the fridge, if you're hungry. I'll go start the car."
The look of gratefulness I sent my aunt spoke louder than any words could do, and she returned it with a sympathetic smile. Then she was off, and I followed right after her with the sandwich already halfway stuffed into my mouth. Maybe Gabby and Benjamin were right when they teased me about my eating habits? I shrugged the thought off and stuffed the rest into my gape as well. I could learn to eat like a lady some other day. Right now we had to get into the...
"Limo?!" I coughed, just as I saw auntie Dorothy climb into the vehicle together with Michael.
"Who on earth drives a limo to the police station?"
Auntie Dorothy just shrugged and looked close to laughing.
"Obviously, he does," she said and pointed at a snickering Michael. I kept chewing, although a little slower, processing both the food and my thoughts thoroughly.
Of course he did. He was Michael Jackson, after all.
<><><>
I'm sorry I can't go in there," Michael said sadly, when the limo pulled up outside 'William J. Kinney police faculty'.
"My manager says it's..."
"No, it's fine," I said a little too quickly, but I meant it. I could only imagine the outrageous headlines on the front pages tomorrow, if someone spotted a superstar like him at a random police station far from where he lived. He had absolutely no reason to be there if it wasn't for me, and the realization stunned me. So instead of following auntie Dorothy when she stepped outside, I remained seated and stared at Michael, probably looking like a retard.
"Babe, I..." Michael spoke silently, but I cut him off again, although with my voice low and powerless.
"I'm not your babe."
He was quiet for a moment, before I heard him take a deep breath.
"I know. But I'm here for you, no matter what we call each other, okay?"
I bit my cheeks and almost groaned from annoyance and guilt. Mostly the last.
"Why are you being so nice to me? I don't deserve it the way I've been treating you."
He chuckled for some reason, and it pissed me off. But it wasn't him I was angry with. It was everything. The entire situation. Everything that led up to this moment. A whole year where everything was as messed up as it could possibly get.
"Well, that goes both ways, I think," he said with a shrug. Then he placed his large, warm hand on my knee as comfort, and stole my breath too, without even knowing it. The magnetic pull was still there, no matter how many times I'd tried to convince myself that it had just been a phase, like my therapist said. That I wasn't in love with him, and that I'd just been a little star struck and nothing more. It was all a lie. His hand on my knee told me that right now. My body betrayed me together with my heart.
Last time we met, I was angry. Now I wasn't anymore, and being this close to him again made my cheeks burn, skin tingle and heart flutter. Even in an absurd situation like this, he made me feel something that I most likely wouldn't with anyone else. Not even with Benjamin.
Benjamin... Oh, my God! I'm such a terrible person!
Michael noticed my change of expression, and he quickly tried to calm me down. If only he knew the reason.
"It'll be okay, babe."
I groaned and hid a tiny smile. It felt so wrong to giggle in a moment like this. And the guilt made sure I didn't. But I appreciated Michael's attempt to cheer me up.
"Thank you, Jake. Even if it turns out to be bullshit."
"I promise it's not," he chuckled, and his eyes sparkled. "And you have a filthy mouth to be such a pretty girl."
"That's the lamest pick up line in the least suitable moment I've ever heard," I commented, and rolled my eyes.
"Yeah. But it made you smile, didn't it?"
I bit my lip and huffed at myself. He was right.
"God, this is so surreal," I mumbled to myself and made Michael giggle more.
"Okay, so... I'll go talk to them now."
I smiled awkwardly, and Michael gave me an encouraging one in return. Why was he so irritatingly perfect?
"Call me when you're done. I have a surprise for you."
"Please... No more surprises," I groaned.
"Mia! Come on!" auntie Dorothy yelled, but I struggled to tear myself away from Michael.
"Don't worry. It'll be fun."
"That's what Benjamin said, too," I sighed, but Michael kept smiling while he leaned forward and hugged me. Then I couldn't see his face, but his breath felt warm against my neck when he whispered:
"We're going camping. Just me and you. Your aunt knows where it is, so if I don't behave, I will be the one in there instead of Benjamin."
He chuckled when he looked at auntie Dorothy, who was tapping her foot repeatedly to make me hurry up.
"Camping, you say?"
"Mhm," he grinned.
"Out of all things..."
"Mia!"
"I'm coming!"
I gave Michael one last glance, and I'm sure he could see how confused I was. Confused, yet very, very curious. But as for now, Benjamin was my main priority.
"We'll be nearby, just..."
"...call," I finished and nodded. My eyebrows seemed to have glued themselves way too far up on my forehead, and I was pretty sure auntie Dorothy saw my startled expression, too.
"What are you waiting for?" she yelled.
"Uhm... Nothing," I mumbled. And while she pulled me after her into the police station, I saw Michael's limo slide out of the parking lot and down the street.
Camping.
With Michael Jackson.
That was definitely... Something.