CHAPTER 15…

I JUST CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU

"Aw!" Kathy and Paris whispered quietly from behind the wall. Prince and Blanket rolled their eyes.

"That was so romantic!" Kathy said.

"That was so sweet!" Paris also said. They grabbed each other's hands and jumped up and down. They did that e noise quietly.

"I don't see what's so great about it," Prince said. The girls turned to him with their hands on their hips. "I mean, it was just a kiss." Kathy's mouth dropped.

"Just a kiss? Prince! We learned a lot by that 'just a kiss'! They obviously have loved each other for all their lives." She said. Blanket rolled his eyes.

"Same goes for you Blanket." Paris said.

"Kisses are nasty." He replied. Prince walked over to Kathy.

"Look, they are 50 year-" He was interrupted.

"Mike is 51." He rolled his eyes.

"I know that! I'm just saying, 50 and 51-year-olds kissing. It's gross." Kathy thought for a minute.

"Ok, that is a little weird when you put it that way, but I mean, love doesn't have an expiration date like milk." Prince looked down. "Love is forever."

"It's everlasting." Paris continued.

"It's not hate,"

"It's not greed,"

"It's not lust,"

"It's not jealousy,"

"It's a beautiful mass of good, gushy, feelings for one." They said together. Prince looked up at them then stopped. They saw his expression and were confused.

"I don't know that whole poem, but I'm pretty sure the last verse is not that." They cringed to hear Mikes voice. They turned to see him smiling at them.

"It was them!" Blanket yelled. They stared at him. Mike smiled.

"You have a point though." He said. They were surprised. "So, sit down and I'll tell you more of the story." They all did as Diana looked at them sadly.

"I'm just going out to smoke." She said. They were surprised.

"You smoke?" She nodded.

"You could get lung cancer and die." Kathy said. Diana looked at her.

"For once, could you not say something to put someone down because of their decisions?" She replied.

"I don't mean to-" Mike stopped her and just shook his head telling her to give up. She stopped as Diana went outside. Mike cleared his throat and began.

YEAR 1969…

Diana began to run toward Michaels house in Gary, Indiana as she saw him out breaking off a switch.

"Mike!" The ten-year-old girl yelled. "Michael!" A ten-year-old Mike looked up to see his friend running toward him. Her light Brown hair whisking in the wind. It was wavy flying everywhere. She usually had it in a ponytail, but it was down, and Mike thought she looked beautiful. She finally got to him and was breathing hard.

"What? What is it? I have to hurry or Joe will-"

"I don't care! I never get to see you anymore sense you started that stupid band!"

"One, I didn't start the Jackson 5. Two, it's not stupid! It's music!"

"Mike, you know as well as I do that this whole street is full of musical people, including me. What makes you think that you all are going to make it?"

"Well, we've made it for 3 years already." She sighed.

"Mike, I just want to spend some time with you like old times." He looked at her. It was the first time he thought of her as actually pretty. "Mike?" He snapped out of it.

"Sorry, it's nothing."

"Michael! You got that switch yet?" Joseph said yelling out the door. He saw Diana and was surprised. "Oh, hello Diana." She smiled back at him.

"Hello Mr. Jackson!" She replied. She looked at Michael and smiled. It was the first time she had actually thought of him as handsome. She looked back at Joe. "I was wondering if Michael could come over and play." Joe frowned.

"Sorry Diana but we're practicing for our gig tonight." He replied. She looked down and frowned.

"Joe?" Katherine (their mother) said as she got out of her car with the girls and the new baby Randy with the groceries. She saw Diana and smiled. "Hello Diana." She saw Joe and Mike frowning. She knew what was going on. "Diana dear, Michael can certainly come over and play." She smiled and grabbed Mike's hand.

"Katherine!" Joe yelled.

"Don't Kathy me, they'll be fine for an hour break."

"But-" She stared at him. He sighed. "Alright Michael, but you be back in an hour." He agreed and they ran off.

YEAR 1971…

"What do you mean moving?" A now 12-year-old Diana said with a more mature voice.

"I'm sorry Diana, it's not my choice. Joseph is making us." A 12-year-old Michael said. She looked down.

"But-"

"I'm sorry." He threw his last luggage in the back of the car. "We're meeting my mom there later on once we get there." Diana followed him as he opened the van door.

"Just like that? Here one day then gone the next?" He looked at her.

"That's how life works." She grabbed his hand to stop him from getting in.

"Without saying goodbye?" She started to tear up and Mike got close to her.

"I swear I won't forget you Diana." She stared at him. "I swear."

"That's not it Mike!" He looked at her. She stared at him sobbing a little. "I was going to tell you today and give you this." She held out a little red heart. "You gave it to me when we were 5 and I was going to give it back to you to remember what I said." He looked at her. "You know how we were studying those punnet squares in school about DNA?" He nodded. "Well, my parents are both pure bred for blue eyes, blue eyes and I have green!"

"That's it?" She stared at him.

"My dad is pure bred for his black hair and my mom for her blonde." Mike was confused.

"You know I have a C in science right?" She looked at him.

"Mike! This means I was adopted! And they never told me!" He was surprised at this. "I asked them about it and they admitted it was true. And then-" She paused and he looked at her.

"Then what?" She started to cry.

"Robert,"

"Who?"

"Robert was my supposive dad." Mike understood. "He said that he always thought I was pretty and since now I knew I wasn't his child it'd be ok." Mike looked at her. "He said it was legal to love someone more than that if it wasn't your own child. Celina agreed." Mike figured Celina was her supposive mother. "She said that it was legal to be bi." Mike stared at her and began to feel a tear run down his cheek. "So Robert raped me and she molested me." Mike grabbed her and held onto her. She cried her eyes out and cried on his shoulder. Mike silently cried to himself. Why would they do this? And to his best friend?

"You have to tell the police." She looked up at him.

"No! Robert said that if I told then he would kill me!"

"You have to!"

"No!" She stared at him. "Please no." He gave up as she leaned on him. "Guess this is our final goodbye."

"Guess so." She looked at him and he looked back. They leaned toward each other and silently kissed. They stopped as they blushed. "Never let Joe find out about this." She agreed. "Keep that heart." He rolled her hand back up to hold the little paper heart. "You'll need it for good luck." He sighed and stared at her. "Goodbye Diana."

"Goodbye Mike." He got into the van as Joe finally appeared and drove them away.

"Mike's got a girlfriend." Marlin mocked him silently.

"Shut up Marlin." Mike replied as he turned around in his seat to look out the back window. She waved goodbye on the other side as Mike put his hand on the glass and waved goodbye back. They went down a hill and Diana was out of sight.

YEAR 1972…

Michael was sitting on a lawn chair picking the pedals off of a daisy in front of his home that he had lived in for a year. It was still pretty warm for September. It had only been a few weeks after his birthday. He had got plenty of things, but still that image of Diana haunted him every time he saw happiness. How could he ever be happy when his best friend was being hurt and she wouldn't let him do anything about it? He swore he wouldn't say anything, he swore. He couldn't break a swear. Just then, a splash from the pool enveloped him. The water splashed all over him and he jumped out of the chair surprised. Laughter came from the pool as he saw his brothers in there. Mike grabbed the nearest towel and started to dry off.

"Come on Michael! It's just a joke!" Marlin said.

"It wasn't funny!" He replied.

"What's your problem Mike?" Jermaine asked. "Ever since your birthday you've been like this!" They all agreed. Mike stared at them.

"Leave me alone." He walked the other way. He finally got to this sort of slanted hill and sat on it. He could smell the new grass and felt the fresh wind blowing in his face. The warm September 7th day, this was Labor Day; soon he would have to go back to school. He closed his eyes and imagined Diana's face. Her sweet smile, her long coconut smelling hair, her tomboyish cloths, everything about her was beautiful, even her pimples. Mike smiled thinking about her, she knew him before he was famous, and she knew him while he was famous, and he knew that she would know him after he was famous. Eventually the cameras would go away he thought. Wouldn't they? They wouldn't stay around forever, would they? He shook his head at this thought. Of course the cameras would go away, surly after he turned 20 they'd go away. Mike sighed and imagined that he was on a deserted island with Diana and they had a family together. 3 boys and 2 girls. It'd be the perfect family. Most of them would all be a year apart, maybe the first three, then the last two would be extended age from each other. Mike nodded in satisfaction. He knew how to make babies, and sometimes he thought if it'd be ok for him and Diana to make some next time she came. He shook his head. His parent's would kill him if he had a kid before marriage. He knew! They would get married, and then have kids. He shook his head again. His parents would still kill him if he had a kid at the age of thirteen. Absolutely kill him! He still smiled thinking about Diana.

"Diana," He said to himself. "If we ever met again, I swear I'd protect you, we would have a family when we grow up, three boys and two girls, if you want three girls and two boys, that'd be fine, whatever you want." He started to sob. "I miss you so much Diana. I miss everything about you." He clutched the daisy that he'd be picking. He slowly plucked the last pedal off. "She loves me not." He said quietly. He started to sob again. "I love you Diana."

"You know, daisy's don't always tell the truth." Came a familiar voice. Mike turned around to see Diana there. He rubbed his eyes to make sure it wasn't an illusion. "No I'm not an illusion Mike." She said happily as he ran to her.

"DIANA!" He hugged her and she hugged back. He let go of her and was full of questions. "How did you get here?"

"By car." She joked.

"Why are you here?" She hushed at this and sat on the hill where he had been. He followed her over there, she looked different, her hair had gotten darker a little and she seemed to wear makeup and her cloths were girly.

"Robert and Celina brought me hear." Mike was filled with anger then. He hated those people, those betrayers, how could they do that to Diana? "After you left last year, I'd been begging them to make a deal with me to let me go to LA." He stared at her. "So, I finally met this man who owns this store here. He was visiting his mother at Gary, I asked him for a job and he agreed. He's paying me $200 a week. But, I made a deal with Robert and Celina that I'd give it all to them if they let me live in LA." Mike grabbed her hand. "So, we're living here now, we live in the house right beside this one." She smiled but Mike wasn't happy. "What's wrong? Aren't you glad I'm here, just like old times." He looked at her.

"That's the thing Diana, it's not like old times." She was confused. "Old times is when we lived in peace with your family, and they didn't hurt you, but now," She got the hint.

"You swore you wouldn't tell."

"I haven't."

"No, I want you." He looked at her. "I can't deal with it, I've tried to deny it but I can't, it's too much, Mike, Robert uses me like some sort of sex toy. Then, I have to go through every night knowing that any minute, he's going to jump on me and force me take of my cloths and have sex with him." Mike stared at her with horror as she started to cry. "I can't deal with it anymore, you got to hide me." Mike agreed. He held her hand and looked into her eyes.

"What job was that you got into?" He asked. She looked into his eyes and started to sob more.

"I told the man I'm 18, I'm a poll dancer." Mike was shocked. She started to wail and hid her face in his chest. Her held onto her and silently cried to himself. "I have to put up with the most difficult things Mike. I'm surprised I haven't got pregnant yet." Mike agreed. She looked at him. "I want it to be like the old days." He tightened his grip on her hand.

"Although we want it to be like the old days, it never will be, you're changed Diana, you're not a tomboy anymore, you're a girl that wants to get out of a bad situation." She looked down and slowly agreed.

"That daisy still lied." She said. They got close to each other and started to kiss again. They continued to kiss. The stopped for a brief second. "I love you."

"I love you too Diana." They started to kiss again. For the first time, everything seemed ok, the sun shined on them and the wind blew faster blowing through her thick dark hair. They opened their eyes to see how much they really thought of each other as cute. Maybe to other people they had pimples or big noses, but to each other, they didn't see the imperfections, they saw their beauty. It never mattered what they looked like, just how they acted like.

"Michael! Michael!" Mike heard his name being called off in the distant. They stopped kissing as he got up. He helped Diana to her feet.

"Coming!" He yelled. He looked at Diana. "Follow me, I'll hide you." She did as well. Mike put her in the pool house and told her to stay there for the night. He snuck into Latoyas closet and got some night stuff and day cloths out for her. He handed it to Diana. He turned to leave when he heard her say,

"Mike." He turned to face her. "I'm going to be lonely." He looked around.

"You want me to sleep in here?" She nodded. He smiled. "Be back." He left and ran into his house. He turned to his mother. "Mom," She looked at him. "I'm going to sleep in the pool house tonight." She looked at him strangely.

"Why's that?"

"I just feel like it, ok thanks!" He grabbed some cloths and ran outside. She put her hands on her hips. He ran back to the pool house and got in the bed beside her. "I'm back." She smiled. They kissed one last time before they went to sleep.

The next morning, Katherine (the mother) went outside to wake Michael. He had already got up though and had gone into the house to tell his mother. Since he couldn't find her, he was going to go back outside. Kathy though was already outside and looked in the pool house to see a girl lying there asleep. Her mouth dropped.

"Michael!" She yelled. Diana awoke at the scream and Mike came running outside. Kathy was furious. "Michael, what is going on here? Why is this girl here, is she a fan?"

"Mother!"

"Don't mother me boy! What is going on?" He looked down.

"That's Diana." She was surprised and turned around to look at her.

"Diana? What are you doing here?" They sighed as Mike began to explain everything to her. After he was done, Kathy was so awestruck that she immediately called the police.

Later on Diana and Mike met each other up on that hill.

"Thank you Mike." She said.

"For what?" He asked.

"For keeping your promise." He smiled.

"Well, my mother was the one who-" He was stopped when he felt her lips touch his. He grabbed her and held her close while they kissed. They stopped and Diana smiled. She unraveled her hand to reveal a small piece of red paper in a shape of a heart. Mike smiled. "You remembered."

"I'll never forget." She looked down then.

"What?"

"My uncle Ron was disgusted at what Robert and Celina did, I'm moving in with him."

"Where does he live?" She looked up at him.

"Washington State." Mike was shocked.

"You're moving?"

"Yes, I'm going to be gone tomorrow morning." Mike looked at her. She hugged him. She let him go and gave him the heart. "It's your turn to remember now." He nodded. They kissed one last time then Diana was gone, just like last time, over the hill.

***********

PRESENT DAY: SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

"AW!" Kathy and Paris once again said. Diana came back in.

"That is so sweet! You saved her." Kathy said.

"I wish a guy would do that for me." Paris said. All the boys rolled their eyes.

"Well, I think it's time for bed you 4." Mike said. They nodded and went away. He turned to Diana. "I'm not telling them anymore."

"Yes you are." She replied.

"No, I couldn't. I can't." She grabbed his hand.

"Give it time. Wait until after my sons funeral, and then maybe." Mike looked down.

"I still don't know all the details on that. To mention what happened 8 years ago." She looked down then.

"You'll find out soon enough." She got back into the bed then. Mike smiled and layed beside her as well.