✴️

|Thursday, May 21st, 1987|
|Santa Barbara County|
|Neverland Valley Ranch|
|10:00 pm|

Prince

Michael and I still remained on the couch in his living room, cuddled up underneath the blankets that were covering our bodies. I had made love with a woman before, multiple times, so this time, was very, very, very different. However, it felt so right and meant to be, and it contained so much bliss that I have never felt before in my life. We were so lost in each other's touch that we had made love all day. There would be times were we'd finish, take a breather, have a small conversation, then we would get right back to it. It sounded silly, but it was true. I said this before, but I couldn't believe how in love I was. It's a rare thing for me to feel, so for me to feel it for him instantly, said it a lot. I couldn't get enough, it's like I craved him in a way. I wasn't sure how this was going to play out in the future, but I was enjoying the happiness I was feeling at the moment.

Currently, Michael's head was laid onto my chest as I looked up at the ceiling in thought. My hand slowly reached up and started playing with his soft curls as he continued to sleep, and two seconds later, he stirred a little bit then woke up completely.

His eyes met mine, he smiled a little bit then looked around the room with a slightly confused expression, "How long was I out?"

"You only fell asleep like twenty minutes ago." I chuckled, tightening the hold I had on him a little.

He rolled his eyes playfully, and he sat up, mumbling, "Smart ass."

As I stayed laid down on the couch, I just watched him in awe. I never really realized how handsome he was, from head to toe. His face was heavenly, his smile was like no other, his eyes sent me into another dimension and his body had me hypnotized. But then, I immediately started to feel guilty. My feelings were finally out in display, which I was relieved about, but I had forgotten the real reason how we got here in the first place.

Michael had saw what happened between Sheila and I, which I knew hurt him a lot, and I knew it was the real reason why he left. I knew I was nervous about telling him how I felt, but it shouldn't of had to take Sheila forcing herself onto me in order to make that happen. Our relationship could've crumbled, if I didn't do anything about it. So even though that might of been the least of his worries, I owed him an apology.

"What are you staring at?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. I cracked a smile, giggling a little bit, forgetting that I was staring at him then I sit up as well. I reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Michael.." I sighed, caressing the top of his hand with my thumb, "I'm sorry."

Michael's small smile dropped and he looked down, understanding what I was apologizing for. He then shook his head, and looked back up at me, "Prince you don't have to apologize-"

"I do." I cut him off, scooting a little bit closer, "I hurt your feelings, and I'm sorry. That was far from my intention. Michael, the reason why it took me so long to tell you how I felt was just because I was scared. I didn't know if it was going to ruin our friendship, not only that, I pushed you away that night we almost kissed. I should've never done that, and when we almost got to the point of talking everything out, everything fell into pieces. It broke my heart when you left, and I felt really guilty, because I knew that was the real reason why you did. I know I have a bunch of shows that are jammed packed, but I couldn't move forward without telling you that I loved you."

Michael was speechless. He had an unreadable expression on his face as my hand was still interlaced with his. Shit, did I say the L word too soon? Was it too much? I started to feel a little self conscious. Even though I was very much in love with him, and I wouldn't of said it if I wasn't, he might not feel the same for me. Besides, being in love is a very strong thing. It's different from loving someone, than actually being in love with someone.

Then, a smile started to show on his face, and he tightened the hold on my hand, "I love you too." He said.

Thank you, Jesus. I sighed in relief, and put a hand on my chest, Michael and I both laughed as I said, "You had me thinking for a second."

"I'm just shocked to hear you say it." He started, "I know how hard it is for you to admit those types of feelings."

"It's different when it comes to you." I said truthfully, "I really mean that."

Michael smiled, and leaned forward, leaving a small kiss on my lips before saying, "I also apologize."

I furrowed my eyebrows a little bit and said, "What do you mean?"

He sighed, then opened up, "I also took a very long time to tell you how I feel. I was just as scared as you were. I didn't know how you were going to react, and I had the same exact worries as you did. You're right, I was hurt, and that was the real reason that I left. I just didn't want to put you in an uncomfortable situation. Since we weren't quite sure what was going on between us, and then with what happened between you and Sheila. I didn't want you to be overwhelmed, and I thought giving you space would be best."

"That's not true." I said softly, gripping his hand in reassurance, "None of that was your fault. What happened between me and Sheila was a mistake."

"Then how come you two kissed?" He asked but in a none aggressive way. I sighed, and looked down for a second then looked up at him.

"She kissed me Michael." I explained, his expression changed into a realization look, and he nodded slowly.

"Oh.." He said at a low level, "Why?"

"Well.." I started, "She said she still had feelings for me. I tried to decline her reasonings multiple times when she started to push it but it was too late. I should've asked her to leave from the get go, but knowing her, she probably wouldn't of listened."

Michael looked at me, with an unreadable expression again. It's like he wanted to get something off of his chest and be fully honest with me, but something was holding him back. He didn't look upset, but he didn't look happy either. He was puzzled, I could tell.

"Have you talked to her about it?" He asked, I sighed, shaking my head, being honest.

I haven't had a discussion yet with Sheila about what happened between us. In some cases, if Sheila were to pull this with anyone else, she would've been fired. But since I've known her for so long and she's been apart of my music journey for awhile, I can't just take her off of the tour. I didn't appreciate what she did, she should be the first to know when I say no, then it means no, but she's one of the baddest drummers out there, hands down, if she leaves then there's no way I could replace her. I also really did love the girl, but just not in that way anymore, and I hope when I do have the conversation with her about what happened, she won't do anything like this again, which might I mention, she had never done this before until now. It was very confusing overall.

"No." I said, "But you have nothing to worry about, I love you and you only. If that point still doesn't get across to her, then it won't change my mind either way."

"Prince, Sheila doesn't even know about us." He corrected, "No one does, and they can't. How do you expect her to get a point when she doesn't even know?"

Damn, he was right. Sheila had no idea about us, and she couldn't know. No one could know. Me and Michael had a agreed earlier that we would keep our relationship private and figure everything out later on, but it made things like this even more difficult and it had me thinking. Sheila had very good timing at telling me her feelings, so did she know? I wasn't sure. But that couldn't be true, because I doubt that she would even go that far into thinking.

"I understand, and you're right." I said, "I will talk to her about it soon. Everything will get sorted out, I promise." I pecked his lips twice, which made him smile, and lightened up his mood a little. I sighed in a relief, hoping to leave that topic and jump into another one.

"So, how's the album?" I joked, knowing Michael lied about the tracks having technical difficulties in the letter he gave me. He chuckled, then shrugged.

"It's halfway there, I guess. Still have work to do." He says, then we both laid back down on the couch, and this time I laid my head on his chest, "How are the shows?" He asked.

"They're good." I said, sighing, "I had a day off from one today, but I have one tommorow. I have to get on a flight to Germany early in the morning tomorrow."

"But you just got here." He whined, then rubbed his hand up and down my arm, "Can I come?" He asks, with a hoping tone.

"No." I said sternly, then I sat up to look at him, "You need to stay and finish the album, Michael."

"I'll finish." He rolled his eyes, defending himself.

"Please, Michael. I know you, and that's a lie." I scoffed, shaking my head. Even though I had a small habit of procrastinating, Michael's habit for that was even bigger. He never failed to do things at the last minute, and this example right here shows.

"Seriously, Michael. You stay, finish the album, and I'll continue with my tour. We'll find a moment we can spend together, we always do." I smiled small at the last part of my sentence. Michael sighed heavily, clearly in defeat, but then smirked. I raised my eyebrow at him while he continued to look at me in a devilish way.

"Well, if you're leaving me.." He trailed off, then scooted closer to me once again, trapping all the space between us, "I think I deserve a proper goodbye."

"No more, Mike. I'm tired." I whined, scooting away a little from him, knowing I had to get up early in the morning, and if we continued what we were doing, I would never wake up.

He rolled his eyes playfully, then wasted no time in trapping space between us again, pulling me on top of him roughly and locked eyes with me. He licked his lips, and said "You'll get plenty of sleep on the plane."

I was frozen in place, looking at Michael in shock. Damn, and I thought I was a freak. No, Michael was one hell of a freak, he was just more on the low about it. But, then I ended up giving in, engaging in a kiss with him and we continued to make love for the rest of the night.

〰️

|Wednesday, May 27th, 1987|
|Chanhassen, Minnesota|
|Paisley Park|
|9:00 pm|

The shows had been going wonderful, as usual, busy as hell, but they were amazing.  Since I was free from any shows for two days, I thought it would be the perfect time to go back home and have a little bit of time to myself. It was even more perfect that my house was finally done. The studio was finished, and the small things around the house had been perfected. A house like this had been my dream for years, and I was blessed that the day had finally come that I would be living in it.

Currently, I was in the living room, writing random lyrics down on a piece of paper like I always found myself doing when I was bored. It wasn't anything specific for a song, it was mainly anything that was running through my head at the moment, and I realized that everything that I had written down was related to Michael. Since I had been so busy with the tour, and Michael was trying his best to finish his album, which I'm glad I stressed that he should stay to finish it, we never had the time to plan anything for us to meet up. So instead, we made sure to keep in touch on the phone every night. But even that, couldn't stop me from thinking about him, which explains why his name was written over ten times on the piece of paper in front of me.

As I stared at the paper, I heard the phone ring, interuptting my thoughts. I sighed, startled by the ring of the phone, then I got up and walked over to wall where the phone was hanging.

I lifted the light, purple phone off of the hook, "Hello?" I said into the speaker.

"Prince?" I hear the voice slur from the other end.  I widened my eyes, quickly recognizing the voice. My heart started to beat in a nervous manner, since I haven't heard from this person in a long time.

"Tyka?" I questioned, noticing that she sounded a bit off.

"Oh my God, Prince! I've been trying get a hold of you for so long." She slurred again, then I realized that she was definitely drunk. I was feeling all types of emotions, I was happy, confused, and worried all at the same time. I was happy that I had finally received a call from my little sister after multiple attempts of trying to reach out to her, I even felt tears well up in my eyes after not hearing her voice for so long.

But, I was confused and worried about why she sounded completely buzzed to the point where she sounded like she was talking a bunch of gibberish, and where she was at the moment. Let me explain a little bit, so my sister and I had always been close when we were younger. I had practically raised her, since my parents were going through so many issues that it made it damn near impossible to do that themselves. So, when my parents split, and when I got kicked out of the house, I rarely got to see her and our contact eventually fell apart. A little bit before my career took off, I had successfully gotten back in contact with her, however, so much time went by between us that there were so many drastic changes in her life that I had no idea about.

When she was just eighteen years old, she had gotten pregnant. The father, to this day, I have no idea who he was. She refused to tell me, and as far as I knew, he was never involved in her life to begin with, to the point when she was pregnant, until after she had the baby. So the father of her child remained a mystery, which made my blood boil. I had no idea what my sister was thinking, but I furious that the man had the nerve to leave her. I figured it might of been a hit it and quit it type of deal in his eyes, but didn't realize the consequences that came after it, and left her to deal with it on her own. I felt guilty, because I wish I could've been there for her at that time, and even put my hands on that asshole, but I wasn't due to us losing contact.

So, when I got back into contact with Tyka, I found all of that out and I had officially met my newborn nephew. His name was President Lenard Laeil Nelson. I love my sister don't get my wrong, but in my opinion, she wasn't the best with names. So, I just called him Lenard for short, since it was more of a common name and it was better than calling him President. All jokes aside, he was a very beautiful baby, and I just adored him completely. Since Tyka at the time was struggling with money, I made sure that they had everything they needed. From pampers, to food, a home to live in, a car, anything, I wanted to make up for me not being there when she was going through so much hell by herself. It was all fine at first, and she was trying her best to find a stable job to make ends meet, I even offered some jobs for her in the music business, but instead of things getting better, things got worse.

Instead, she had taken a huge interest in drugs and started to abuse them very dangerously. Not only that, also in drinking, and prostitution. She ended up having another kid with a guy, because of that reason, unprotected sex, once again. Again,  I had no idea who the father was, because he wasn't present and she wouldn't tell me. But this time, I was able to stick with her every step on the pregnancy.

She ended up having another baby boy, named Sir Montece Laeil Nelson, but I just called him Montece for short, and he looked exactly like Tyka. I loved my nephews from the bottom of my heart, but I was so worried about my sister I couldn't even put it into words. I tried to put her in rehab so many times but she refused, not only that, I tried my best to keep her off of the streets and out of prostitution. There would be times where I wouldn't be in Minnesota because of the shows I would be doing, and she would go out there and do it because she needed some money for her kids, or mainly, which is very disappointing, she went out to get money for more drugs and alcohol. Which I don't understand why she didn't let me know sooner, even if I was all the way across the country, she was my sister and she's all I had, so if she needed help I would've bent over backwards to do that.

But it was something that she grown to be addicted to, not only that, when she would be out of the house doing God knows what, her children would be at home by themselves. There were so many times where I had to take her home because she would be so drunk, and since the kids were so young, I'd find them in their cribs, screaming and crying from being left alone for so long. I would have to make sure Tyka got to bed safe and sound, then I would stay up all night with the kids trying to get them to fall asleep. I've tried to hire a nanny for her to take care of the kids if she ever randomly decided to leave the house, but she refused, because she didn't want anyone raising her kids. I make sure all of her house bills, which is the house I bought for her, goes straight to Paisley Park because I know she won't be able to pay them.

I knew my sister was going through a really rough time, but as time grew on, my schedule started to get really packed, and not only that, I stopped hearing from her. I felt guilty for giving up on trying to contact her again, because I realized my nephews were also suffering in this situation, and it totally slipped my mind. I still paid her bills and everything, but it was starting to weigh on me so much, that I didn't know how much I could take. She needed to change, not only for herself, but for her children. They don't deserve this at all. I realized how much I let her get off easy and continue with her bad habits, and now that I finally heard from her, I wasn't going to let that happen anymore.

"Do you know how long I've been trying to get a hold of you?" I said, disregarding her comment, knowing she hasn't called me once,"Where the hell have you been? Are you drunk? Where the hell are you-"

"Slow down." She giggled, but in a very drunk way. I sighed, already knowing what she was doing.

"Tyka.." I started, taking a breath, "I thought we talked about this. You can't keep doing this! Do you realize the danger you're putting yourself in? You have kids!"

"Relax, they're at home, safe and sound." She said, sounding like she took another sip of alcohol, "I just needed some time to myself."

"You left them by themselves?" I said, not feeling surprised but very irritated about how many times she's done this.

"Yeah?" She said, not finding one thing wrong about that. I face palmed my forehead, and sighed heavily.

"Where are you, Tyka?" I asked impatiently, knowing I would have to come and get her out of trouble like I've always done in the past.

"Houlihan's." She said, then laughed like a maniac right after. I rolled my eyes, and then recognized that place instantly. That was the place I always use to catch her making drug deals and buying alcohol.

No wonder why she's drunk, I thought.

"Don't move, Tyka. I'm serious, I'm coming to get you." I say, then I slam the phone back on the hook, and walked out of the living room.

〰️

Since I had no security with me of course, I took it upon myself to put my driving skills to work. I rarely drove since my security team did it for me most of the time, but when I did drive, I was pretty good at it, so I wasn't worried at all. I had a line up full of cars in my garage, but since I wanted to make it less noticeable to the public that I was there, I picked the 1964 Buick Wildcat. It was blue, pretty old, and it was actually the oldest car I owned. I actually used this car for my film Under The Cherry Moon, but I doubt that people were going to recognize it since the movie was in black and white anyway.

The windows were slightly tinted, but I made sure to wear shades just in case to hide my identity. About twenty minutes later, I finally arrived to my destination. I put the car to a stop, and I looked to my left, and saw Tyka. She was leaned up against the wall, chugging an entire bottle of alcohol while she was talking to this random guy, mind you, she could hardly keep her balance. I sighed, shaking my head as I looked at her in disappointment.

Then, I impatiently honked the horn loudly, wanting her to get in the car already. Everyone who was outside looked over at the car weirdly, but thank God they didn't recognize me. Tyka jumped at the sound at first, but when she realized it was me, she waved goodbye to the guy that she was talking to, and she slowly made her way to the car, not trying to fall over.

When she finally reached the car, she opened the door, and fell right in, closing it. We had been through this routine so many times that it wasn't new, but this time, I felt really hurt. It hurt me so much to see her like this. I wanted her to quit this lifestyle so bad. Everytime I thought she was so close to the right path, she would turn around and go back to her bad habits. She wasn't only letting me down, but she was letting her kids down. They need her, what if something were to happen to her? They wouldn't have a mother, and I wouldn't have my little sister anymore. I gave her all of my support for years, but she continued to do this in return, and emotionally, I was just tired of it. I didn't know what else to do, and I was all out of options.

I looked over at her, and she was passed out in her seat so fast, I wasn't even in my thoughts for that long. But, it was better than to hear her drunkenly talk all the way home like she usually did. I sighed sadly, feeling lost for words as I reached over, buckling her seatbelt. I took the alcohol out of her hand, putting the cap back on and setting it in the back seat carefully so it wouldn't break.

I leaned back into my seat, gripping the wheel harshly, trying to fight back my tears as hard as I could, then I finally drove off.

〰️

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to her house. It wasn't too far from Paisley Park, but her house was located in a nice neighborhood and a good area for her kids to grow up in, even though, what's been going on inside of the house, wasn't so nice due to Tyka's habits. I took of my shades, then got out of the car, and walked over to the other side to help Tyka out. I wrapped her arm around my shoulder, then we both made our way to the front door of the house.

I put my hand on the door knob, twisting it and we finally made it in. All of the lights were still on, and I heard the TV from the living room blasting cartoons. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering why it was so loud. As I held Tyka tight in my hold, I walked to the living room, to see Lenard and Montece, both passed out on the couch. I felt my heart flutter and slowly break as I saw them.

It has been so long since I've seen them. They've gotten so big, I thought. Lenard was around 9 years old, while Montece was 6 I believe. The last time I saw them they were so little. It's crazy how time flies, but I felt even more guilty that I wasn't there every once in awhile to check on them as they grew. They were both in their pajamas, and coloring books, and boxes of cookies were all over the coffee table as cartoons continued to play on the television. I cracked a smile to myself, and shook my head.

Well, that's one thing that hasn't changed. I remember when I would always come home to huge messes they made and I would have to clean them up. Two seconds later, I broke the eye contact I had on them and made my way upstairs, making sure Tyka was in bed. I took off her shoes, and placed the blanket on top of her. I looked down at her sadly, and I felt a tear escape from my eye.

Not being able to look at her any longer, I wipe my tear, leaning down, kissing her forehead, then I left the room. I walked back downstairs to the living room, and cut off the TV. Then, I walked over to the couch, picking up Montece carefully and walked back upstairs, tucking him into bed first.

I went back down to get Lenard. I carefully picked up him, and walked upstairs to his room to tuck him in. After I kissed his forehead and was about to leave his side, I heard his soft voice speak up, "Uncle P?"

I turned around, and saw his eyes tiredly open a little bit. I smiled softly, and bent down to his level, "Yeah?"

"Why does Mom keep leaving?" He asked tiredly, put I could sense a hint of sadness in his voice. My heart broke a little, and my smile slowly disappeared from my face for a second. I had no idea what to say. I couldn't tell him the truth, but I couldn't make up an excuse.

It hurt me deeply to lie to these children about their mother's whereabouts. They were suffering so much from this. Since Montece was a bit younger, he wasn't really aware about what was going on. But as Lenard was getting older, he started to recognize everything. I felt like he had an idea deep down, but I just didn't have the heart to justify it for him.

"You don't have to worry about that, anymore. She's not going anywhere, I promise." I lied, knowing that wasn't true at all, but like I said, I didn't have the heart to tell him.

"And I'm not going anywhere either." I said truthfully, knowing that was a promise I could keep. I saw him smile a little bit, then two seconds later, he drifted off into a deep sleep. I leaned over, kissing his forehead,

I stood up, looking at him one last time before I leave the room and make my way out of the house. I walk over to the car, opening it, sitting down and starting the ignition. I look over at the house for a couple seconds, and sigh heavily.

What am I gonna do? I thought. I took a deep breath, then slowly drove off and headed back home.

〰️

|Thursday, May 28th, 1987|
|Santa Barbara County|
|Neverland Valley Ranch|
|8:00 pm|

Michael

Even though it was two more months until August, the release date for my album was getting closer and closer. Me and Quincy had spent all day in the studio, and surprisingly, we had managed to get a lot done. But, there were three songs that we thought wouldn't fit on the album, so we cut them off and the task I had at hand was to write another three more in place of those songs that would fit perfectly on the album.

Quincy had left not too long ago, and I was currently in the kitchen, sitting at the table, brain storming ideas in my notebook. Normally, I never write the song, I always let the song just naturally come to me from God and let it do it's work by itself. However, I didn't have that much time waste, I had to make as much ideas as I could.

"Liberian Girl.." I trailed of singing, trying to figure out the next line of lyrics. As I sat in deep thought, I heard a loud knock on the door. I raised my eyebrow, feeling sort of hesitant to check who it was. It was kind of late, no one had called or anything to tell me that they were visiting, and everyone that I knew that would have access to the ranch were mostly out of town, including Prince, since he's halfway across the country and I know he loved making surprise visits, so I knew it wasn't him.

I slowly stood up from the chair, and walked over to the front door to check anyway. I put my hand on the door knob, twisting it, then opened the door fully. I stepped outside, and looked to my left, then my right. No one was at the door.

What the hell, I thought. I crossed my arms, feeling a little eerie from the mysterious knock, then as I took one step forward, I accidentally kicked something that was on the ground to the side. I looked down, and saw a tape.

I reached down, picking up the tape, and I looked around at my surroundings, trying to figure out why a random tape was in front of the door. First off, no one was at the door to begin with, second, if there was no one at the door then how did a tape appear?

I was never a fool to fall for this type of BS, but I began to feel so curious, that I had to see what this tape was exactly about. I took one last look around, before I walked back into the house and shut the door behind me.

I walked to the living room, and sat down looking at the tape for a good ten seconds before I looked up at the video cassette player that underneath the television. I might as well see what this random tape is all about. I stood back up, walking over to the cassette, pressing the button to open it, then I slid the tape in, closing it right after. I sat back down on the couch, reaching for the remote and turning the TV on. Then, the tape began to play.

As the tape was playing, it showed a recording of the entire ranch. Each scene lasted for a good twenty minutes. The first scene, was a recording of the amusement park, the second recording was of the Zoo,  the third recording was the of the Movie Theater, the fourth recording was of the recording studio, and then the last scene cut to my house. The audio to the tape was completely silent, and the picture was just a chilling, quiet, and still video of the house. The tape continued to roll for a very long time. The seconds estimated on the tape just kept going, and going, and going.

My blood instantly went cold, my hands felt numb, I could no longer feel my feet that were placed on the floor. My breath hitched, and my eyes were glued to the screen, not being able to look away from the disturbing sight. What the hell was this? Who was taking these weird, long tapes of the ranch? Was someone creeping around the ranch that I didn't know about? Was I truly alone? Was this some type of prank?

So many thoughts were running through my head as I continued to stare at the bizarre, mysterious tape. My eyes slowly peeled away from the screen, and I looked around the living room, unsure about my surroundings. As my heart rate started to pick up, the phone started to ring off of the hook. I jumped at the sound, and started to breath really fast, after two seconds, I calmed down and took a deep breath. I quickly reached for the remote, turning off the TV, then I walked off to pick up the phone.

Since I was shaken up by what I had just saw, I carefully took the phone in my hand, putting it to my ear and I stuttered into the phone, "H-Hello?"

"Oh Lord, what's wrong with you?" The voice said playfully, and I instantly recognized it. The minute I heard it, my nerves slowly went down, the fear I was feeling slipped away, and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

"Sorry." I sighed heavily, and smiled to myself, "Hey, P."

"Hey." His deep, calming voice said, "You okay?"

I bit my lip, replaying everything that just happened not to long ago in my head and then shaking it off, "Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, just sounds like you got something up your ass. As usual." He replied, and I could feel him smirk on the other end.

"Nasty ass." I rolled my eyes playfully, "Whatever. How about you, are you okay?"

I heard him sigh heavily, and he stayed quiet for a good second before he said, "I heard from my sister yesterday, Michael."

My eyes widened in shock, and I was speechless, unsure of what to say, "Tyka? Wait, how? Is she okay?"

"Not even close. She called me practically out of nowhere last night, after I've tried to get a hold of her for so long. And she was very drunk. I had to go and bring her home, once again, and she left the kids home alone, again. I honestly don't know what else to do, Mike. She won't go to rehab, but she keeps getting worse. She's not changing for the better, and it's affecting the kids, and it's affecting me. I've supported her for so long, and I've done everything I could, but I'm running out of options. I don't know if I can keep doing this." He said, sounding very pressured by everything that was going on.

Prince had already told me the entire story about the relationship between him and sister, and what Tyka was going through. It hurt me deeply that she was going through that, and it hurt me even more that Prince was trying everything that he could to help her, but nothing was working. I knew that he had nephews involved, but I had no idea that the kids were being left in harms way while their mother's drug addiction was getting worse. It was not only shocking, but it was very sad to hear. They all deserved better and no one should go through that.
But I refused to let Prince undergo that stress, especially since he was in the middle of touring. He declined help from me multiple times because he didn't want to be a burden, but when you're in love with someone, you'll bend over backwards and do anything for them when they're down. I understood that me and Prince had just started our relationship, but I had an idea that could fix everything and make things better on his end.

"Maybe you don't have to." I said confidently, hoping that he would accept my offer, "I have an idea."

"What do you mean?" He asked, sounding confused.

"Prince, I understand that she's your sister, and you love her, but you also have so many things on your plate, including a tour, and that's the last thing you need right now. You should let me help out."

"Michael, I already told you, I can handle this myself." He stressed, "And how were you going to help anyway?"

"Well.." I started, "This is what I was thinking. You go ahead and continue with your tour, while I help your sister and try to check her into a rehab center myself, then when that's done, I'll take in the kids until your tour is finished. My schedule isn't packed at all. All I'm doing is recording and working on the album, and I have a lot of time to get that taken care of."

Prince sighed on the other end and disagreed, "I appreciate you trying to help, babe. But, that's a terrible idea."

"Why?" I asked, feeling defeated.

"There are so many reasons, Michael. First of all, I thought we made it clear that no one was suppose to know about us, not even our family. Tyka hasn't even met you, she knows that we are friends, but she'll find out that what we have is bigger than that. So will everyone else, because they'll start getting suspicious. Even if this was done in private, the media always find out. Our secret will be told to the entire world. Second, getting her to check into rehab isn't easy, she refuses to go. I've tried, Mike, believe me, several times. Not only that, she's not gonna let anyone, especially someone she hasn't even met, take in her kids unless it's me. Plus, there are legal things that go into this as well. Bottom line, it's a lot that goes into that and it's not an easy decision to make. We also just started dating, Michael. That's a huge step, and I don't want you to make a huge commitment when you also have a huge schedule and priorities of your own."

I stayed quiet for a little bit, acknowledging everything he was saying, but it still didn't change how I felt, "Our secret won't get out, Prince. Just because I'm helping your sister out, and taking in your nephews until you get back from tour, doesn't give away the fact that we're together. Just think of it as a friend doing you a huge favor. I'd do the same if any of my close friends and family was in the same situation. No one will know, not even Tyka."

"You're right, me and Tyka haven't met before, so this is a great opportunity where I would love to meet her and get to know her, even your nephews. You wouldn't even have to say a word, I'll propose the offer to her and try my very best to get her to agree, that's something I'm pretty good at."

"Michael, you don't understand, she's very stubborn-"

"Exactly, Prince. So I know what I'm doing, I have previous experience from you. So if I got you to open up, then I'm pretty sure it won't take me long to get her to agree. Not only that, she can trust me with her children. You know me, Prince, I'm great with kids, and I wouldn't do anything to hurt your nephews. I'll take care of them while you're off on tour, and until you come back. You don't have to worry about the legal rights, I'll take care of everything, I promise. Don't worry about this being a huge step either. I understand that we just started our relationship, but I love you, and in times like this when I do have the opportunity to do something about it and help you, I'm gonna do it. Please, let me do this for you."

Prince remained silent, taking in everything I said. After awhile, since there was still silence, I spoke up, "Please?" I begged, slightly in a whining tone but serious at the same time.

I heard Prince chuckle a little, but he still stayed quiet. Then, he spoke, "I don't know, Mike."

"When's the next time you have a day off from the tour?" I asked.

"June 5th and 6th, why?"

"Come to Minnesota, and I'll be there. That will give me a chance to meet your sister, and hopefully work everything out." I plead.

Prince contemplated in silence, for a good, long, twenty seconds. But after awhile, he finally agreed.

"Alright, fine." He sighed, "We can do that. I'll let Tyka and the kids know that you're coming. Under one condition, Michael. We cannot rush this, and can't pressure her into agreeing. This has to go smoothly, if this doesn't work-"

"It will work." I defended, wanting him to stop thinking negatively, "I promise."

Prince scoffed, "You know, I don't really appreciate you cutting me off."

I chuckled, then smirked, "That's too bad, get use to it."

Prince laughed a little, then his laughter slowly came to a stop, then he softly said, "You really don't have to do this, Mike."

"I'd do anything for you, Prince. You know that, seriously, don't over think it."

"Anything?" He asked curiously, I rolled my eyes playfully and shook my head.

"Seriously, Prince? You need to stop making everything so sexual."

"Well, I can't help it." He chuckled, then said sweetly, "I'm in love with you."

"Alright, don't get all cheesy on me now." I laughed, leaning against the wall.

"I mean it, Michael. I don't know anyone else that would've done this for me." He said truthfully, "I love you."

I bit my lip, and twisted the cord in between my fingers, meaning every word I was about to say.

"I love you more."

✴️

Authors Note
Who do you think left the mysterious tape at Michael's door step? Do you feel like this is a huge step to make very early in their relationship? Will their secret will blown? Tell me your thoughts in the comments. :)