"Why did you let them do this to me, Y/n?" A cold hand gripped unto my wrist, lifeless eyes staring up into my own under the blood that was pouring out from a hole between them. "You were supposed to be my homie. My family. And you let them kill me."
"I tried to save you! I tried man! I swear I tried!" I sobbed, trying and failing to shield my eyes from the view of the dead man in front of me.
"You didn't try hard enough!"
"Mikey please! I'm so sorry!"
"You let them kill me!" The grip on my wrist became bruising, anger bleeding into the devilish tone of his voice. "You let them kill me! You let them kill me!"
I gasped as I woke up, breath finally rushing into lungs that felt too deprived.
Cold droplets of sweat ran down my skin, dripping into the already soaked sheets underneath my body, and I flung the covers off of me. I was too hot, the material almost suffocating in its hold.
A knock on the door made me sit up, bringing me out of my trance. "Come in."
Mikey's Mother, Bianca, came in through the door, eyes as bloodshot as I expected my own to be. "I heard some sounds in here. Another nightmare?"
I nodded silently as a pained sigh left her lips. "How is your head feeling?"
"The headaches are getting better. Doc said I should be fully healed within the week."
She nodded, a long silence following my words as we both got lost in our individual pain. "Well, you know I'm only two doors away if you need me, sweetie. I love you."
"I love you too, Mama Foster."
I laid back down with a sigh, staring out my open window at the downtown of New York City.
After Mikey's funeral, I came to stay with his family for a little while. I needed to escape from California, paparazzi, fans, questions, and most of all Republic Records. I knew they were somehow still watching me, making sure I didn't give up their heinous secret, but they didn't openly bother me... for now.
My phone buzzed next to me, a FaceTime call coming in from someone I had been trying to ignore.
Jasmine's name flashed across the screen, and I quickly hit decline. She had been trying and failing to reach me since the funeral. I knew she had questions, but I couldn't provide the answers she needed. It was too dangerous, and I knew Mikey would want me to protect her at all cost.
The longer I sat in this room the more suffocated I felt. I tried to open up the window for fresh air, but no wind could fight through the cloying oxygen that surrounded me.
I needed an escape.
Noodlehead🍜🥰:
You sleep?
(Read 3:21 A.M.)
Ari😍:
i'm awake baby, what's up?
(Read 3:22 A.M.)
Noodlehead🍜🥰:
Where you at rn?
(Read 3:22 A.M.)
Ari😍:
just made it back to ny like an hr ago. there was a delay at the London airport😪
(Read 3:24 A.M.)
Oh yeah, I forgot she was doing a show in London yesterday night.
Ari😍:
u still staying at Mikey's moms?"
(Read 3:24 A.M.)
I fought down a flinch when I read over his name.
Noodlehead🍜🥰:
Yeah, want to grab something to eat though? Kinda need to just get out of the house atm.
(Read 3:26 A.M.)
Ari😍:
yes! im so fucking hungry. i really want some Asian food
(Read 3:27 A.M.)
Noodlehead🍜🥰:
I know just the place. You at home? I can come pick you up in 15.
(Read 3:27 A.M.)
Ari😍:
yep, see you then baby❤️
(Read at 3:28 A.M.)
Deciding not to deal with explaining to any of Mikey's family where I was going, I just shimmied out of the window and climbed down the fire escape that was near me.
My bike was parked right on the street in front of their apartment, and I quickly fished my helmet out from under the seat before hopping on and starting it up.
The drive to upper Manhattan was relatively short, and before I knew it, I was sending a friendly smile to the security guard, and heading up the elevator to Ariana's penthouse.
"Baby?" I called out when I walked into her place and she was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly I spun around as I heard a voice behind me. "Hey babu. Sorry I was in the studio."
The sight of her, after not seeing her since before the funeral, caused emotions to whirl in my chest, and I quickly collapsed into her open arms when she noticed the look on my face. I buried my face in her neck, and though the position was slightly painful, I didn't want to move.
It finally felt like I could breathe again after drowning for so long.
"Hi baby." I whispered into her skin. Scared that if I spoke too loudly the universe might decide to take away the last sliver of happiness I had left.
I could feel her teetering back and forth on her tiptoes, struggling to maintain a comfortable height for our hug; so I just picked her up, feeling her legs wrap around my waist. "Hi."
I moved us over to the couch, sitting down comfortably and just relishing her presence.
When they talk about soulmates they never mentioned this part. They never mentioned how just their presence alone could help you feel so at peace no matter what you were going through. Even if the whole world was against me, and my heart felt like a sliced up piece of shit, I knew I had Ari.
That made things a little easier.
"What did you want to eat, baby?" She whispered against my neck, the warm wisp of her breath tickling my skin.
"You."
"Very funny. I meant for real; because I'm hungry, and as much as I love to swallow, I don't think that would be really filling right now."
My eyes widened at her words, and if I was in a better place of mind I would try to test that theory. I was nowhere near ready for sex yet though, and she knew that. "I wanted to go out at first, but now I kinda just want to stay here with you. Want me to cook something?"
"Yes please!" She excitedly raised her voice, sitting up to stare in my eyes as she lightly bounced in my lap. "I love when you cook for me baby."
"I know, I know." I couldn't keep the smile off of my face at how she was acting. "Watchu want me to cook?"
"Hmm.." she put her fingers on her chin, eyebrows crunching up as she thought about this extremely important question. "Stir fry?"
"Stir fry it is." Leaning forward I pecked her lips, smiling against her mouth when she tried to deepen it. Gently moving her off of my lap, I laughed when I was immediately swarmed by a horde of dogs and 1 pig.
"Hey Toulouse! Hi Piggy Smallz!" Ariana started dying in laughter when Myron came and knocked me off of my feet and all of the dogs decided it was time to jump on me. "Hey Myron!"
"Baby."
Ariana literally started coughing from laughing so hard, and I looked up only to find the flash on her phone pointed at me. "Little help here?"
"No, you look like you have it handled."
Moving the animals off of me, I stood and dusted myself off. "Letting me get trampled for a snapchat video.. I thought we were better than this."
"We are." She smiled. "But a snapchat and Instagram story video? Yeah, you ain't that cute."
Pretending to be mad, I scoffed and walked into the kitchen, going into the fridge and pantry to get the ingredients and tools I needed. "Keep that train of thought when I make enough food for just me."
"Well it's a good thing I love to eat off of your plate anyway."
She was not lying. One time I went to Sonic to grab something to eat because I was literally starving, and I specifically asked if she wanted me to bring her anything. She said no, but somehow half of my fries and at least three-fourths of my cherry limeade miraculously vanished when I went to pee.
Last time I made the mistake of not bringing her something to eat when I got food.
"I swear I could just leave, pick up food, and eat it in the restaurant before coming back. Where would that leave your hungry ass then?"
"Newly single."
My mouth closed faster than a Trump supporter after the inauguration. "So you wanted stir fry right? Two servings coming right up."
I swear her laugh was evil as fuck while I started to slave over the stove. Little annoying ass female knew she had me wrapped around her tattooed, perfectly manicured fingers.
It was quiet for a while, the only sound being the steam slowly hissing out of the covered rice cooker, and the vegetables sizzling in the pan.
I felt arms wrap around my waist, while Ariana leaned her head against me from behind. "I missed you."
"I missed you, beautiful."
"Can we never go three weeks without seeing each other again? I felt like I was missing a piece of my soul."
"You know we're both finna be too busy for that." I ruefully said, knowing I couldn't stay in hiding too much longer.
"How have you been feeling lately? Do you feel ready to go back? Cause if not you should take all the time you need."
I don't know if I would ever be ready or truthfully want to go back. This wasn't my dream alone, and doing this without Mikey felt like an obstacle I couldn't tackle. Also I didn't know if I could go back to working with the people who killed him so easily.
Could I tell her all of this though?
My mind briefly wondered to the thought of Ariana. She was famous. Wait. That was an understatement. She was mega famous, a superstar. Would they have let her get to her level of fame without doing the same type of heinous act they did for me? And if they didn't, who did she have to lose in their mad grab for money?
"I don't know if I'll ever feel ready to go back.. I miss him every second of the day, and making music feels like I'm betraying him. He was supposed to be doing
this with me. It was the two of us against the world, but now he's gone. How am I ever going to be ready to do this without him?"
"I don't think you're ever ready." She pulled back, turning me around to face her, as she looked into my eyes with nothing but love and sincerity. "I don't think there's ever a day when you just wake up and the sun is brighter and breathing is easier, and you just don't think of him. It's always gonna hurt a little bit, but he would want you to continue to do this. Maybe that's how you can honor his memory. By keeping the dream alive."
I nodded, turning back around to stir the rice and vegetables together as I processed her words. I would continue making music to make sure Mikey's family stayed protected, and to get enough fame that everyone would believe me when I finally took the fuckers who killed him down.
_____________________
*1 month later*
"This can't be real, is it fiction?
Somethin' feels broke, need to fix it
I cry out for help, do they listen?
I'ma be alone until it's finished"
The rest of the song continued to play out, and I listened as the radio host started to talk.
"That was Wishing Well a song that is already going triple platinum off of Y/n's new record breaking album, Legends Never Die. It's truly a work of art, but hopefully whatever or whoever hurt Y/n eases off a little bit. The pain you can hear in this album is heartbreaking."
The cohost picked up where they left off. "I'm on the opposite side of that. Whoever hurt you, please hurt her again! Because if we get music like this from her pain, I don't ever want it to stop!"
"You realize you're a truly horrible person right? Like honestly horrendous."
"Funny, those are the exact words my wife said during our divorce, yet I somehow still got the house."
"Coming up next we got some Ariana Grande off of her brand new album Thank u, nex-"
I sighed as the driver turned the radio off at my request. The host were funny, but I just wasn't in the mood.
I was currently on my way to Republic Records to plan my tour, and apparently Lipman would be there. This will be the first time I would see him since everything went down, and I needed to focus to act like the perfect, controlled artist. If I let any of the festering hate or anger inside of me out, I had no idea how I would stop myself from jumping across the table and strangling him to death.
The driver opened my door for me when we pulled up, but I was surprised to see my girlfriend waiting for me at the entryway. "Ari?"
"Hey baby." She smiled, running up to peck my lips.
"What are you doing here?" I smiled back, forgetting everything that was happening for a few seconds. "I thought you were still in NY doing publicity for the album."
She shook her head, hopping up and down slightly in excitement, and I knew something was up. "Nope, I talked to Scooter and the board, and apparently they think the idea I proposed was amazing!"
"What idea?"
"The idea for me to do a tour with you. We're going on a joint tour!"
I wanted to end it here to at least get sumn out to y'all before I pass my tired ass the fuck out😪
anyway, I got a job interview tomorrow.
Wish me luck guys!