Chapter 8: The Incidents
{A}
"Thanks for the ride home," Autumn said quickly as she opened the car door. Michael followed her out and walked beside her. "Uhm, what exactly are you doing?"
"Being a gentleman and escorting you home," he said cheekily. Well then, she thought.
"Okay, then," she said as she opened the door of her house. "Good night."
"Woah, woah. Aren't you going to invite me in?" He chuckled.
"No."
"Why not?"
"First, it's late. Second, your driver's waiting. Third, I'm too tired to entertain guests, so please leave."
"Hm, okay. On one condition."
"You can't do that, you dumbass. I'm not asking anything from you."
"You're basically asking me to leave. I can stay here outside your door all night if I want to. So?"
"I can't believe this."
"It's nothing big. I want us to have lunch together tomorrow," he said suavely. Autumn choked on her breath as those words came out of his mouth. "My treat. As friends, okay?"
"I know you mean well, Michael, but it's not actually the right time to--"
"Yes, I know. Too much things happened in such a short moment, but come on. You got to have a little fun at least. Please?" He looked at her pleadingly, and she swore she felt her stomach do a somersalt. She nodded and silently cursed herself for giving in so easily. She couldn't help it though. After looking at those beautiful brown eyes, who could resist? "Great," he gave her a smile and a hug, and walked away.
---
{M}
Michael woke up early morning groggily, still tired. He didn't get enough sleep last night. Not that it mattered, he always couldn't sleep. He should really see a doctor soon, his case of insomnia is getting worse every time.
In what city was he in now? When was the next show? He asked himself these questions until he realized he was in New York, and the tour was on hold. He also realized he has a date with Autumn. A smile formed in his face then dropped after a few seconds. 'It's not a date, it's just a friendly get-together,' he told himself. 'Get a grip, Michael.'
'It technically is a date, and you know you would prefer calling it more of a date than a friendly get-together,' a voice inside him said. 'You like her, and you know it,' he heard what his subconscious mind just told him, and his mouth dried up, as if he hadn't drank for 3 days. What the hell? They were friends, not a long-time separated lovey-dovey couple. What kind of person would fall for his best friend? Hah, obviously not him.
He pushed away those (God, forbid.) thoughts. He went to the bathroom and took a shower, thinking of his agenda for the day. What was he going to do after he takes a bath? It was still too early to go to the funeral parlor, and he knows the people there would just whisper things about him. He's rather not stay there.
He stepped out of the shower and dressed up. He decided he would just buy a book and read it while waiting and go pick Autumn up at lunchtime and have a friendly time. Though he wouldn't expect her to be all jolly, after what happened to her mom and last night. Why things happened so fast, he didn't know. Fate was just playing with them, he guessed.
After he dressed up, complete with his aviators and fedora, he left his hotel room to go to a bookstore. He told his bodyguards not to go with him though, it was just a short walk anyway. He loved books, it helped him escape the terrible reality of the world's pain and sorrow. He made a note to himself, that if he buys another house, he would make sure that he would have a personal library with thousands of books. Hayvenhurst was too crowded with too much things already.
He enjoyed walks. What he didn't enjoy was getting mobbed by people. Sure, he loved every single one of his fans, but he couldn't take short simple walks to, well, everywhere. He just wanted to buy a book, and now he was surrounded by about 50 people. And they groups of people were rapidly increasing. He calculated that by 5 minutes, there would be a hundred more people. He knew he had to continue walking before he gets trampled by everyone, but he couldn't. He couldn't even advance a single step. There were fans and reporters and photographers everywhere.
"Look," he said calmly. "I just want to buy something, and I have an appointment later, and I really don't want to be late for that. Can all of you kindly move so I can walk without hurting anybody?" A few listened to him and backed away from his path, but most didn't care.
"Michael, I love you!"
"Michael, you're so goddamn sexy!"
"Michael, what happened to your tour? Why are you suddenly here?"
"Sign my forehead!"
"Michael, please look here!"
He knew he shouldn't have left the hotel without his bodyguards. Now he's trapped in some human vortex. That wasn't supposed to sound mean, but that's what it is.
"Guys, please back up, I really need to go," he pleaded, but not everyone hear it. Like come on, a small voice of hundreds of screams? Then what he heard was not pleasant. Anger and rage boiled inside him.
"Are you seriously dating that Autumn slut?"
He forgot about everything. He forgot about being scared of hurting anybody. He forgot the fact that he was trapped by some kind of human barricade. He just forgot everything, except for that horrid comment about his childhood friend. He walked towards the voice, and he found a man with a black eye on his left.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Michael answered, spite dripping from his words. Everybody turned silent, even the most hardcore of fans. They just watched him in shock. He swore he just saw fear in the man's eyes, though it vanished quickly. He managed a weak chuckle.
"Oh my God, you really are dating her? Damn, lots of luck to you. She's impossible, I swear. You don't even want to know."
"You don't even know her, so back off."
"Oh, please. I've known her better than anybody. She acts like this goody goody person that everybody likes when in reality she's a whore."
That fucking did it. His face was probably red from anger, but he didn't care. Nobody, and that means nobody insults her like that. She was his friend. He would stand up for any of his friends. Nobody has the right to call someone that. Those words hurt. He knew how it felt, being called eccentric and ugly and overrated, and God, it did not feel pleasant.
He shoved him off, making the man fall on the stone-hard ground. Every watched him wide-eyed, not really expecting the person with such a peaceful nature pushing someone down. He knew this would all be recorded and put ont he news and whatsoever, but at the moment, he didn't care. He'd worry about it later. What matters most now is that nobody insults Autumn and gets away with it.
"Watch what you're saying. I don't care if this is being broadcast worldwide right now, but you better just watch your words because nobody insults my friends and gets away with it. Nobody. I don't care who you are or how rich you are, but I'm saying this again. Back off," and with that, Michael walked away. He heard the shutter sounds of the cameras and the whispering of the people, but again, he didn't care. Even the nicest people have limits.
He walked to the funeral place already, for he had very little time. He figured he should just go buy a book for his future reading some other time and just pick Autumn up now. The walk wasn't supposed to take long, maybe just 10 minutes, but with everything that just happened, it took him almost an hour. Time really moves fast, whether you like it or not.
God, he was going to be the "talk of the town" again. Of course, being Michael Jackson, it wasn't just of a town, but of the world. Now he sees the possibilities that might happen. Why didn't he think of this sooner? It would've stopped him from acting so violently. He hated attention. He got too much of it.
Then he realized something. When that man accused him of dating Autumn, why didn't he deny it? Well, deny isn't actually the word. Why didn't he say something simple like "No, we're just good friends."? It would've made things simpler. Now everybody will assume he's dating her, when in reality, they're just good friends. Why did he have to be so stupid?
You didn't deny because you really do like her. I told you so.
He's hearing that voice again. Wow, is he going mentally ill or something? He should really see a psychiatrist soon. It's unhealthy and weird to involuntarily contradict yourself in the mind.
He finally reached the place and he knocked on the door before he entered. As he opened the door, the small tinkling bells on top made small tinkling sounds, making everybody aware he arrived. The people started whispering, some in hushed tones but some loudly, but again he couldn't help that. It always happens anyway.
The news must've already arrived in the room because he heard words and phrases such as "I didn't expect that, wow," "Was it a hard shove?," "He must've been really angry," and the likes. He didn't mind them, not really knowing how to react.
He looked around for Autumn, and there she was, sitting on the front pew. Maybe he should just cancel this lunch thing, after what just happened. She'd probably be embarrassed to go out with such a jerk like him. He walked towards the pew and sat down beside her. Before he could speak, she whisper-shouted.
"About time you got here. Let's get out of here, please, these people are driving me nuts. I'll explain later, and you better to," she said quickly and grabbed his arm. She practically dragged him out of that place. Not that he minds.
---
"Okay, what the hell did you do?" Autumn asked right away as soon as they were far enough from the funeral.
"Hm, nothing much. Just pushed a guy, 's all."
" 'Pushed' is putting it lightly."
"How did you even know?"
"There was a TV in the room, stupid. Everybody saw everything."
"Oh. Hey, did you know that g--"
"Yes, I know him," she snapped. Well, someone's moody. He decided not to comment and just gestured her to go on. "Look, I just want lunch. I'm starving. I'll tell you some other time," she said, this time in a calmer state.
"Sure, but come on, we have to hurry. If anybody catches us together, I swear we are dead."
"Why? Don't you want to be seen with me?" Wow, what kind of question was that? How would he even answer that? That was kind of a bit sudden. Caught him off guard.
"It's not that. Of course I- Well, I would be okay to be seen with you. But you know, that thing just happened awhile ago, so it's not going to help my situation. Our situations. So, yeah. Don't want us to get so much attention, you know?" He explained, and she just nodded. He hadn'r noticed how stunning Autumn actually looked. Her black dress hugged her figure, making her look extremely fit and -though he hated to admit it- hot. Her brown hair was down on her shoulders, and they smelled.. pleasing. Very pleasing. "You look lovely," he managed to choke out.
"Oh. Thanks, means a lot. You, too."
"I do? But I practically wear the same thing everyday. Well, I don't, but all my clothes are similar."
"Well, you do, okay? So where are we going?"
"Do you want me to spoil you?" He chuckled.
"You know I hate surprises."
"We're going to the carnival," he gave her a genuine, childlike smile.
---
A/N: Hi. Yes, I know, I take too long to update. I'm sorry. Plus, this isn't actually a good chapter, so yeah. I feel bad for letting you ((all)) wait for this sloppy chapter. I apologize, really. But you guys know I love you, right? x
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