Author's Note: Hello all! Yes, I know a new story, but I couldn't ignore it, it wouldn't let me, besides if you've been reading Life Starts Now, you would know that this was coming. But have no fear I will not forget or ignore LSN, I promise! Anyways, this is my new story. Basically I got the idea from Michael's song Privacy. It made me wonder what would happen and how Michael would handle an accident he was in that was caused by the paparazzi that affected not only him, but an innocent bystanders also. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy :)

Prologue: Crash Into Me

" To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and its yours for the taking."- Agnes De Mille.

May 10th, 2005

My entire life had been leading up to this moment. One moment. I stare at the large envelope in my hands, hands that wont stop shaking.

" Well, are you going to open it, or stare at it all day?" my Aunt Kerry asks, her voice so like my mothers that I cant help but smile.

" Aye, I'll open it, I just need a moment," I murmur, taking a deep breath as I sink into one of the kitchen chairs. I

" Give the girl a minute love," Uncle Mark says, his deep rumbling voice thick with the southern accent forever ingrained in him by his hometown of Dallas making me smile. I look up at them. And for what seems like the millionth time I'm taken by surprise at what a beautiful picture they make.

Nobody would have guessed it. At least that's the way I was told. That my Aunt Kerry, a pixie of a woman with fiery hair and mischievous eyes would come to the states before I was even a thought and fall madly, and deeply in love with a good old southern boy. Yet somehow, their differences, all of them, seem to be the things that make them work.

" I am," she says, sitting down across from me, " But I'm just as nervous for her. We know how long our Brenna's been working for this."

And isn't that the truth. It was with a heart of fear and apprehension that my Mum and Da put me on the plane at fourteen to travel half way across the world for a chance at a good life, and the very best education. But it was their worry and caution that propelled me to work that much harder at achieving my dream. My dream to become a great dancer. No. The best dancer that the world has ever seen.

So the sacrificed parties, and normal teenage frivolities didn't seem to be too big a price to pay. I had a dream. My family had a dream. And right now, in this moment, I'm holding that dream in my hands.

" Just remember sweet pea," Uncle Mark's voice rumbles into my head, " Either way, we're proud of you." I nod my head, and with my heart trapped in a seemingly unshakeable ball of nerves, I turn the envelope over in my hands and with a prayer on my lips I peel open the seal.

" Dear Miss. Brenna McCullough," I say my voice shaking as my eyes scan the paper, but the words take a minute to sink in, " It is our great pleasure to inform you that you've been accepted into the Julliard School Dance Program 2005, 2006."

" My God, she did it," Uncle Mark says, his voice caught somewhere between pride and shock.

" That she did," Aunt Kerry says, her voice thick, and I just continue staring at the paper.

" I did it," I whisper, lifting watery eyes to my family, " Oh my God, I did it!" I scramble out of my chair throwing my arms around my Aunt and Uncle, crying tears of joy.

Michael's POV

August 20th, 2005

I stand in front of the window of my condo, staring down at the life going on around me. And I yearn to be a part of it, for just one day. One day of blending in, being normal. To shop and walk amongst every one else without fear of being photographed, or noticed. However with the name Michael Jackson that seems to be an impossibility.

" What's eatin' you Mike?" a deep voice asks from behind me, pulling me from my sad thoughts and I turn to see Max, my best security guard and one of my only, and closest friends standing behind me, his hands jammed into the pocket of his jeans.

" This," I say motioning my hands around me, " All of this."

" Ahh, so having a sprawling, multi million dollar condominium, billions of fans who faint at the sight of you, not to mention more money than you will ever know what to do with has you looking like someone just kicked a puppy in front of you?" he asks as he raises an eyebrow at me, hitching a hip onto the corner of the couch.

" Yes," I say flatly, rolling my eyes at him, " Do you know what I would give for just one moment. One moment to just be normal."

" I'm sorry," he says, immediately losing the humor that danced in his eyes.

" Don't be," I say shrugging my shoulders, " I just, I want to do something crazy."

" So why don't you? Your Michael Jackson for God's sake!" he says, and I lift my head to look at him, " Look, I'll go with you. It's a Monday, I'm sure Westfield wont be too crowded, we can go there, you can have your normal moment."

" I don't know," I say a feeling of nervousness washing over me at the thought of trying to blend into a crowd, " You know what? What the hell, you only live once right?"

With a booming laugh Max claps me on the back as he leads me through the front door.

Brenna's POV

August 20th, 2005

The August air is still hot, though not unbearable as I make my way from Toscanova, the job I have been working for a full year today, with a heavy heart. It was my last night with my coworkers, and their words of encouragement weigh on me as I slide my last check into my purse, jumping when my cell phone starts ringing almost the instant my hand touches it.

I pull it free, smiling when Declan's name lights up the screen, my heart slightly flip flopping in my chest, a flurry of butterflies scurrying into my stomach.

" Hello," I say into the phone, smiling brightly when my love's voice rings through the other end, slightly slurred by sleep.

" Hello Love," Declan says, and I sigh, almost melting as I prop my purse against the hood of my car, digging through it to find the keys to my black Saturn Vue, " I miss you."

" Aww, I miss you to lovey," I purr back, letting out a small grunt of satisfaction when I manage to wrangle my keys from the very bottom of my bag, clicking my car open, " Four days, eight hours, and" I pull the phone from my ear to see the time, " fifty four minutes and you'll be here."

" I know, but it seems like its taking forever," he says, his deep voice rolling over me as I settle myself in my seat kicking my shoes off, " But enough of my whining. How was your last night of work?"

" Long," I say pulling my red hair free from its hair tie, shaking my head slowly from side to side, " And a little bit sad. Everyone had wonderful things to say. Which was nice. But it doesn't make it any easier. Saying good bye."

" I know sweetheart," he says sympathetically, and its because of his understanding of this situation that I freely cry, hiccupping into the phone as he makes soothing noises from the other end.

" Sorry," I murmur, drying my eyes with the back of my hand.

" No worries love," he says, " Its as you said. Four days, eight hours, and forty seven minutes." I giggle softly, instantly feeling better. " I will let you go love, let you get home. Ring me as soon as your in."

" Aye," I say, hanging the phone up with his whispered 'I love you,' in my ear.

I drive down Santa Monica Boulevard, the window rolled down as the music blares from my speakers, and I smile. The summer air dances over my skin, as my mind wanders to what is to come in my life. So much is changing, and so quickly, but I welcome the challenge. No I crave it. I crave the sense of accomplishment that surges through my blood when I reach another level of my dream, dragging myself closer and closer to my ultimate goal.

I stop at a red light, and look down at my left hand, where the engagement ring Declan slid onto my finger just last Christmas sparkles under the traffic and street lights. Life honestly couldn't get much better at this moment. The light flips to green and I press on the gas, and just out of the corner of my eye I see the dark SUV coming, but there isn't anything I can do.

It's too late.

And then there's nothing.

Nothing.

Michael's POV

August 25th, 2005

The day had been almost perfect. Almost. I'd managed to go almost completely unnoticed. I had been normal. For a little while. Until I left the mall, and the paparazzi were laying in wait. My eyes still dance from the flashes of light as Max shoved me through the crowd, his voice deep and angry as he helped me into the car.

" Just step on it Max," I yell, shielding my face from the intruding camera flashes. This is my life. A seemingly endless sea of faces among faces, all of them blurring together as they demand more and more from. Stepping over every boundary that any human being is entitled too.

" You got it boss," Max says, peeling out of the parking lot, and much to my dismay a very noticeable van pulls out behind us, and I groan sinking down into my seat.

" So much for just one day," I mutter, my hands bunching on my knee's as we cut down a side street trying to shake the photographer behind us.

" I'm sorry Mike, I thought we'd be able to pull it off," Max says, a short stream of curses flowing from his mouth after his apology, but before I can say anything to him I'm thrown forward when Max slams on the breaks, the light in front of us suddenly flashing red, and I brace myself against the dashboard. My heart hammers in my chest, and just as I'm about to let out a breath of relief the van that had been following behind us slams into us, shoving us into the intersection, the sound of crunching metal filling my head as I see just a flash of the other car we hit, flipping over us.

Everything moves in slow motion as I stare in horror, watching the other vehicle flip in air before coming to rest on its roof.

" Mike," Max yells, " Michael are you all right." His voice sounds fuzzy as I nod my head wincing at the stiffness in my neck.

" I'm fine, I'm fine," I say scrambling to get my seat belt off as I shove through the door. My feet crunches over glass I come to a skidding halt at the wrecked and mangled car in front of me.

" Oh God, Oh God," I say, dropping to my hands and knee's. And that's when I see her. A red haired beauty whose eyes flutter open and wheel around frantically.

Blue. The brightest blue I've ever seen. That's the color of the eyes that meet mine. I lay flat on my stomach, reaching through the broken window my hand finding her, ignoring the blood that flows onto mine.

" Its okay," I say to the girl, " I've got you."