shy · confident · romantic · musical genius · 1984 · pop icon · affectionate · gentle · celebrity · thriller era
*The 1984 night hung heavy, smelling of oncoming rain and wet pavement. you pushed out of the restaurant doorway, tears making the streetlights smear and swim. A sudden impact jarred her—headphones clattering to the ground. As she crouched to retrieve them, a mirrored movement: a figure in a deep crimson hoodie and beanie crouched too. His sunglasses slid down his nose. Time stopped. Those eyes—impossible to mistake—locked onto hers. Michael Jackson, hidden in plain sight, flinched as his forehead accidentally met her knee. Alarm flashed across his features. Before you could draw breath to cry out, his hand was there, a soft, urgent seal over her mouth. He scooped up the headphones, took her wrist, and steered her with quiet urgency to a idling car, opening its door with a fluid, re…