songs for the chapter:

savage- blxst ft. bino rideaux (Michael's pov)

it kills me- melanie fiona (from Diana's pov)

michael pov.

the weather out here in Los Angeles is confusing as hell. As I sit in the passenger seat of Chris' 64 Chevy Impala driving down Sunset Blvd, I see the clouds shift ever so fast yet slow as we drive underneath them. Their unique shapes convey the winds within their paths, letting them move with the breeze.

Snoop Dogg's "Who Am I?" was blasting from the radio and getting us in the vibes of what this upcoming summer had for us. All the beach trips, house parties, and most importantly to me: my next album would start to be in the works. All this drama with Diana starting up again I hoped to never come in contact with them again. Then again, that's not going to happen.

Chris nudged me a little, knocking me out of my little thought train. "Mike, you've been zoning out all morning dude.. are you alright?" I nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking about that shit with Diana. She texted me last night," I said honestly and saw Chris roll his eyes in annoyance. "Bro.. let that hoe go. I normally don't call a girl that, but she doesn't have any other thing going for her except that," he spoke and I nodded.

"I've never claimed her ass.. she needs to drop me at this point," I groaned annoyingly, earning a chuckle from Chris.

"What did your sister say when she first saw her? Shes deluluuuu," Chris said sassily, getting a laugh out of me. Chris has been my best friend since we were five. Even though he has focused on the acting world like the rest of his family, he always understood how fame gets to me at times and knew how to bring me out of my distorted reality.

"I can't even say it's delusion.. that's just Snapped-level obsession. I have seen too many episodes of that show with my mom to know the signs," I joked and received a laugh from Chris.

"Do you think Kyree's going to get that girl back? I don't think he could," Chris said and I scoffed. "Why the fuck is that dude even in that fraternity anyways? Don't you all have to agree to allow him to join or some shit?"

"He was initiated during winter break last year. I wasn't involved so I got the same question as you at this point, but it's obvious who could've agreed to that," I said as soon as we came to a red light and looked at him with a knowing look.

"Jermaine," we said in unison with a laugh to follow. One thing about Jermaine is that he was a power-hungry type of man. Think of alpha male Andrew Tate-loving kind of guy. Everything has to go his way or no way, just like our father. Can't say I blame him since he's the rebel of the group and he needs the dopamine hits anyway, but at least he knows his power has limits.

Chris pulled up to a nice building with two stories and balconies on each level. The gold and white lights made the glow on the plants around it shine against the green scenery. The familiar 808s of 2000s RNB could be heard from outside like a dayclub in West Hollywood. "Welcome to Kandi's Brunch and Sushi Bar," Chris said and I chuckled a little as he parked.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" I said as my gut feelings started to get full of butterflies. I knew something was up but couldn't pin it just yet.

"You shouldn't be," Chris spoke as we got out of the car. I closed my door and shrugged. "I shouldn't be but you never know I guess."

We walked in and waited for the waitress to seat us. A dark-skinned brunette with a Cindy Crawford haircut told us the wait would be 5 minutes, which we nodded with a smile but could see Chris making googly eyes at her which prompted a nudge from me to his side.

"Shoot your shot with her idiot," I said with a smirk and Chris looked at me cockily.

"Best believe I am.. single as a motherfucker but could need some sexual chocolate in my life," he spoke and it got rewarded with a snort from me to hold back my laugh. I took my glasses off and felt a set of eyes on me. I couldn't pinpoint where but then I saw her: the girl from last night. I saw the other unoccupied chair and thought that there was just someone sitting there, but no confirmation. Her eyes connected with mine and the butterflies crept up then, but decided to give her a small wink in return. Reward: a blush from her which was kind of cute.

Suddenly I saw Diana rush up to me, more so storming like a tornado. Her curly hair was a mess but still kept its shape somehow. Her sundress covered her legs (for once) and her makeup looked like she placed it on in the dark. I mentally prepared for the yelling brigade that was soon to rain down on me.

"What the hell are you doing here with him for?!" she said pointing at Chris angrily and I stared at her blankly. Clearly unfazed, she took note and got even angrier. "Answer the damn question, Michael!"

"First of all, you better lower your voice. I'm two feet in front of you. Second, I don't recall you ever having the privilege to determine who the hell I hang out with. I'm not your man nor will I ever be. We," I said pointing between me and Diana a few times, "never happened. I don't know what kind of delusional reality you are in right now, but you need to let it go. We never had anything special and we never will. So leave me the hell alone Diana," I said, and could see how fuming she looked. Red in the face to be exact.

Chris gave her a little nudge, telling her to get gone. "Gon' head and step away before I tell the security people here that you're harassing us." Diana huffed then walked away to be back at her table.

"I was wrong," Chris said laughing a little and I rolled my eyes playfully. This chick will always pop up in the most random places and I have no clue why. Obsessed isn't even that big of a word. I soon felt that gaze again. Why not shoot my shot?

"Wait a minute.. ain't that Kyree's ex-girl right there?" Chris said and connected the dots. "You do know you're about to break bro code right?"

"Fuck the bro code. Kyree ain't a bro to me and technically he screwed himself over. Free game," I smirked earning a chuckled smile from Chris.

"Watch." I walked my way over to the table where she was sitting. The first thing I noticed was the mimosa on the table, a classy girl who could drink. Already on a good start. "Looks like a beautiful woman caught my eye," I spoke giving a soft smile showing I meant well. "I saw you staring and thought I'd come and say hi. I earned a blush from her.

"Well you did catch my eye first so I think I should be in your shoes," she spoke and I chuckled.

"You're right, but I'd rather much be the one to pursue...After all, you're gorgeous and I couldn't help it," I said and was gifted with a deeper blush from her. "Where are my manners? My name is Michael. But a lot of people call me Mike." I spoke with a soft smile. I could tell from her body language that she was starting to like this so I decided to take it up a notch.

"My name is Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N," she said and it took me back a bit. Her family has quite a reputation. But why did it have such weight to me for some reason? I shook that question from my thoughts and ended up raising my eyebrows in surprise. "You mean as in the Y/L/N family? You guys are pretty well known around here," I said giving a playful bow to her making her laugh.

"You don't have to do all that," she giggled and I couldn't help but smile. The vibe from this girl felt very comforting, more so like I knew her before I even knew her. There was a kind and warm energy that I felt so comforted by that I thought the butterflies in my stomach would flutter again. This feeling hasn't happened in a long ass time, but I'm happy that it's from her instead of any other person.. like Diana.. ugh.

"I know I don't have to but I wanted to," I chuckled and out of habit, I bit my lip. A nervous tick if you will. I do it without fully thinking about it. I saw her demeanor change slightly... similar to her liking what she saw. "I was wondering... I would love to have something from you.. preferably something that involves the number 10," I mention to her and I saw her eyebrow raise a little.

"And what exactly would that be, Michael?" Y/N teased, putting extra emphasis on my name. I have no clue why but I liked the mix of her voice and my name. A small smirk slipped onto my lips as I witnessed her stand up to me, her height making her stand up to my jawline. This girl got me so distracted that I couldn't fully focus on her. Her attitude gave off the right amount of confidence that I'm not going to lie... I felt intimidated in a good spirit. A challenge if you wanna call it that. As she waited for my answer, her head tilted slightly to the side. There goes the butterflies again. Dammit this girl.

"Your phone number.. those 10 digits will be more than enough to let me get to know you better," I answered and got hit with a smile.

"Seems to me that you earned it, so why not?" she said and grabbed a pen from her purse and wrote her name on a napkin. A chuckle escaped my throat as I watched her tuck the napkin into my varsity jacket pocket.

"So I earned it huh?" I said curiously and she smirked a little. "Seems to me you'll already have me wrapped around your finger won't you?" A giggle emerged from her. "You won't know until you try, now won't you?" Y/N said and I smiled.

"Okay Y/N.. I like the confidence. Suits you so well," I said looking her up and down, unaware of my voice dropping slightly. I wanted to respect the fact that she had just gotten out of a bad relationship from what it seemed, so I wanted to roll with her time. I don't want her to think that I'm a pervert or a fuck boy like Kyree was. This one will be different, I can feel it. I don't even think I could shake her if I really wanted to.

Soon I heard Chris call for me. "Mike you ready to order? The waitress ain't got time for all that," Chris said and I gave a quick nod to him then turned my attention back to Y/N.

"Looks like I gotta go, but I'll definitely be in touch with you. I'll message you tonight.. Y/N," I said giving her name a little extra emphasis like she did me. She gave me a nod. "Okay, Michael." She spoke and I began to turn away but decided to give one more little glance at her, with a little mischief on my face while I put my glasses back on. I walked back over to the table and conveniently chose the side of the booth where she would be in my direct line of vision.

I saw the guy she must have come with sit back at the table and looked at Chris then the waitress. "I'm sorry about that," I looked at her name tag and saw her name being Majesty, "Miss Majesty." She smiled in a friendly way and began to take our orders.

"I'll take two dragonfruit mimosas," I said showing my ID, "and I'll take the French toast combo with the turkey bacon and scrambled cheddar eggs," I said and looked over at Chris, seeing him drooling over this girl too. This boy is a selective hoe, but I can't blame him.

"I'll take the classic mimosa," Chris said showing his ID as well, "and I'll have the Snoop special," he finished and smiled when Majesty finished our order. As Chris spoke, I saw Y/N looking at me again and I returned it with a small smile. She blushed and began to dine on her food while my gaze shifted to Chris again. As soon as Majesty left, Chris looked right at me.

"So.. did you get her or not?" he said and all I had to do was show the napkin with a smile. His jaw dropped a little. "How the hell-" he stuttered and I chuckled a little.

"Y/N is a lot prettier in person than from last night," I said and quickly glanced back at her then to Chris again.

"Don't get played man.. the sweet ones are the biggest players, but you know that," he said and I shook my head.

"This one is different, Christmas," I said and sipped on the water brought to us. "She got this energy that I can't quite explain. It's so comforting and warm. Like you feel so calm and relaxed with her but the way she was talking to me," I said biting my lip again. "She would've had me falling right then and there."

"This nigga is sprunnng," Chris said teasingly and I giggled.

Diana POV

Look at that son of a bitch Michael. Talking to that girl like he doesn't realize that he is mine and only mine. Michael better stop playing in my fucking face like this before I embarrass his ass.

What we had was special to me and I'll be damned if I let another bitch get in the way of that. He'll never come across another girl again. Watch.

I sipped on my mimosa as I began to craft a plan to take both of them down, until I saw the other guy she was with. He looked familiar but then I remembered him. A student that always came to my SI sessions.. Jadyn I think his name is.

Might have to use him to my advantage.

Authors Note!
Happy belated birthday to my angel baby Michael! 🤍✨ I was supposed to update this yesterday (on his actual birthday) but Wattpad being Wattpad didn't publish it so I had to republish it. Fuck. 🙄 Anyways, hope you guys love the chapter and once we reach chapter 7 I'll post the Spotify link to the soundtrack associated with it (It will update as the book goes on). Might have a separate part as well with a list of songs as well. I love y'all and thank you for the support! 😇

A. 🤍