Warning: Adult Content, 18+

Monday, January 18th, 1982

Havenhurst, 2:01 A.M.

It's early. It has to be, it's still dark.

Refusing to move from my position of comfort on the bed, I allowed the foreign - but familiar - body to maneuver its way towards me on the mattress. He's really not that good at being subtle, is he? My back dipped with the mattress just then, making me almost fall off the bed. Nope, I guess not. My eyes are open now, lovely.

His warm hands wrapped around my abdomen, bringing me close. I wanted to groan because he woke me up, but instead I stayed silent, letting his comforting scent and temperature take over my senses. Michael's nose rubbed back and forth against my neck, making goose bumps break out on my exposed skin. I hummed in contentment. These are the moments I live for.

Moments where nothing else mattered, just us. Alone, yet together. No words needing to pass between us... Only, this time I needed to speak. I need to tell him, to ask him...

You're going to ruin the moment, Briggs. Aw well...

But he spoke before I could.

"Sorry, I woke you." His voice was gravelly, making my knees touch roughly in false anticipation. Now is not the time, though I was ready for him. My hands moved so they were placed on top of his that still rested comfortably on my stomach, I longed to touch him. My tongue moved around in my mouth, creating saliva out of nothing before I replied.

"It's alright, Michael." My voice sounded just as bad as his did, but it didn't matter. Sleep was beginning to consume my conscious again, making me drift away slowly. He spoke once more before dreamland took me away while in his protective arms.

"I love you, Ash."

"I love you too..."

I was gone.

11:36 A.M.

It's too early in the year to be outside, even in southern California. Grey clouds covered the sky, threatening to pour over anyone brave enough to be out surrounded by the elements. I longed to see the rain, missing my home as I looked longingly at the darkened sky. I pushed off the sliding glass doors that led to the back patio of Havenhurst. I've spent enough time looking out the window, but what do I have waiting for me?

All my current projects are finished. Now, all that's left is the waiting game for the songs and albums to release. Part of me still wasn't satisfied with what I'd been doing recently; producing, yes, the music... lacking, at best. I need something new, but where do I find it? How exactly does one discover something new? Think Briggs, you're smart. You're innovative, young.

I'm going to be 25 this year. Is that still young?

Of course 25 is still young, you're boyfriend is 23 going on 24. You're young. Next!

Ok, now in order to find a new group what did Capitol Records instill in you all those years ago? Come on, think! I wracked my brain, trying to remember what I'd been told back in December of 1976 when I first got hired. It felt like the answer was on the tip of my tongue, like a single thread was holding it back from being revealed to me again. Shoot. This isn't working.

Standing in the middle of the room, I had a hand to my chin, partially covering my mouth as I tried to think of a way to make my next idea work. Nothing was helping though. Your brain's officially deep fried like a Chicago-style pizza, great! Both of my hands raised into the air at my thinking process, making the arms of my sweater recede up past my wrist significantly. They rested against my either side of my hips once my hands came down from up in the air. I bet I looked like a sight right now to the innocent passerby, crazy perhaps. Isn't that what this business attracts though, crazies with ideas and talent?

And where do you find crazies with talent?

Hold up! Is my brain actually working again? It's a bloody miracle.

The answer was so simple I could have screamed - instead I did a little jump with a fist pumping into the air at the same time. The bar! But I can't go to the bar right now. What time is it? My eyes looked down to find the time clear as day on my wrist watch, the second hand ticking away without a care in the world. Lucky bastard. I've got time to kill. Ok, that's groovy.

Groovy? Did I just time-travel?

"Ash!" I turned around at the feminine voice moving up behind me. It's Janet.

"What's up?" I asked, crossing my arms as I looked down at her smiling face. Her arms were behind her back.

"Guess what?" She had a secret, and something told me I was about to find out what it was too. I shrugged my shoulders, pretending to be clueless.

"What?"

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Teenagers can be so much fun to play with, especially Jan. I heard her click her tongue at me, officially done with my antics.

"Girl," She held up a hand in my face, making me raise an eyebrow. She slowly brought her other hand around so I could see the fanned out, cold-hard cash in my dainty hand. "Guess who just got paid!" Her mouth got big, and against my better judgement, so did mine. I mirrored her actions as if I was 15 again too, and you know what? It was fun. We screeched together, fingers touching in the process.

"How much is your allowance, Jan? Seriously?" Squealing aside, I was curious. Janet fanned herself with the cash before responding to me.

"Enough."

"Enough?" She nodded as I tisked her cocky response, hands back on my hips for the moment.

"So, you know what this means?"

"I think you skipped a question there, kiddo." Janet and I were great friends now, and I loved the girl to death. She's become a little sister to me too, but sometimes we both got so engrossed in little things that we'd forget: I'm an adult. We're pushing ten years apart, and although age is just a number when it comes to friendship... I'm not 15. Once Jan becomes 25 and I'll be 35 *shudders* things will be a bit different, but until then... She rolled her eyes at me, knowing exactly what I was hinting at.

"Do you have any plans for today? Are you busy? And yes, I've asked Mama if we can go to the mall. I have no homework, my tutor told me it's the end of a 'semester'. So, I'm free. Are you?" I chuckled at her.

The first time Janet had asked me to go anywhere with her, it turned out that no one else knew about it. Naturally, everyone freaked out once they realized the youngest princess of the royal family was missing; however, 20 minutes into the search and rescue party that was filing through the huge house calling out her given name, we had walked through the front doors. I'd taken Janet to the Los Angeles Zoo for the day, they had been having an interactive exhibit on orangutans.

Once she'd told me about the orangutans, I was sold. We drove there immediately and were able to physically interact with two different orangutans, one was named Percy and the other Moxie. A boy and a girl. Percy gave me a high-five and I freaked out inside, it was the most amazing thing. Janet got to dance a little with Moxie as a zoo keeper played the bongos. It was safe to say, we'd had an amazing day... until I got her back home.

Everyone had been rushing all throughout the house, calling out for Janet like she was a lost puppy in need of coaxing from her secret hiding place. All eyes had been on her and I as we stood frozen in front of the front double doors, a stark contrast to the beginning of our day. Hell, we had even walked inside the house laughing because Jan had finally finished telling me the story about her 10th birthday when she'd smashed cake all over Michael. Which was a great story, let me tell you...

"I am not busy, thank you for asking." I paused, "And you asked Mama K if it was cool?" She nodded, tired of playing the game of pleasantries.

"Yes! I did! Now let's go, girl!" A grin spread across my face as she took me by the hand, pulling me along through the house and to the front door.

"Hold up," I let go of her hand, letting our fingers slip apart. "I need my purse and keys, Jan." I started towards the stairs as she gave me a impatient look. "I'll be two minutes, I swear. Gosh, kiddo." I hopped up the stairs, out of her sight as I hurried to Michael's room where everything I needed resides.

Keys, keys, keys... Purse?

"Michael? Babe, have you seen my keys?" I knew he was around here somewhere, as he'd still been asleep in bed only 45 minutes ago. He couldn't have gone far. As I flipped through the bed covers the bathroom door opened to reveal Michael, in a charming disheveled state. He was rubbing his tired eyes as he walked sleepily back to the bed. His pajama bottoms hung loosely around his hips, making me bite my lip.

He plopped back on the mattress face-first with his arms out, making me snicker. He's adorable when he's sleepy. My legs carried me around the bed to where he laid, "Michael, baby?" I rubbed his back, sitting down next to him. A muffled response barely registered through the air. "I can't understand your mattress-speak, Applehead." He raised his head to the use of his nickname, making me remove my hand.

"I said, 'Let me sleep'." He stated, leaning his head on his hand. His hair was a complete mess, but I ran a hand over it anyway. Michael never minded if it was me that touched his hair - girlfriend privileges, I guess. His eyes closed as I ran my fingers through his no longer discernible curls, content.

"It's past noon." I mentioned, still enjoying the feel of his soft, dark hair rush slowly through my fingers. He hummed at my actions.

"Is it really?"

"If you hadn't stayed at the studio so late then maybe you wouldn't be so tired." I removed my hand from his hair, making a point with my next sentence, "You're acting like we went three or more rounds last night, Michael." I chuckled at him as he opened his eyes to glare at me. He's not mad, just... perturbed.

"I wish. Nah, some of the guys at the studio decided it was good time to have a water balloon fight out back around midnight." I gave him a look, "It wasn't my idea, honest!"

"Yeah, alright. You keep saying that, Applehead." Shaking my head at him, "Have you seen my keys anywhere?" He grabbed my hand with his free one, bringing it up to his lips, kissing it.

"Over on the desk."

"Hmm." Smiling, I got up off the bed and walked over to the desk. And there sat my keys, I don't know why I had thought they might have been wrapped up in the bed sheets. Keys in hand I walked back over to Michael, who had rolled over onto his back. His eyes found mine as I stood in front of him. "Janet and I are going to the mall it looks like, so I'll be back later." His pink tongue licked his lips, holding my gaze. I had to advert my eyes. "Ok, you're not allowed to do that anymore."

"What -?" He sounded like he was grinning, but I began to walk to the door. "Do you have to go now?" I stopped to face him once more, now at the threshold of the bedroom.

"I told her I'd be two minutes," I glanced at my watch, "It's been seven." He groaned loudly.

"Fine then. Be that way. Leave me to the dogs why don't you."

"Drama queen." With that, I walked out of the room. I heard his protest come from behind me as I walked through the hallway and back down the stairs.

"How dare you!" He had said as I left. I found Janet waiting impatiently by the front doors, tapping her foot.

"That was longer then two minutes, Sis." Waving a hand at her protests, we walked out the doors and headed to the Los Angeles Mall. Time for some fun...

12:45 P.M.

Time to get in the shower.

I stripped off my pajamas and hopped in the steaming shower, feeling thankful for hot water as I did. I told my friends I wouldn't be in the studio today. I needed a day off, ironically. Lathering up a washcloth, I began to scrub my body thinking about the plans I had for this year.

Another album perhaps? I'd already been talking about making another album soon, instead of helping other artists with songs for theirs. It's my turn. It's time to be a little selfish, a bit conceded. Off The Wall had went over so well, which had not been entirely surprising. Selling more than 20 million copies and going platinum eight times over here in the United States... but a part of me said I can do even better. It's a small part of me, a flicker. That flicker excited me though, it made my nerves tingle in anticipation - like whenever Astoria smiles at me, or whenever her hand grazes mine...

No, not now. God help me...

I felt an all-too-familiar feeling stir within me, but it's not something I wanted to do right now... Not really. I'd rather her be here to take care of it - shoot, it won't go away. Both my hands braced against the wall of the shower as water fell down on my head. "Shit." I been here before way too many times, and it was clear as crystal that my erection wasn't going away unless I helped it.

You're in the shower, it'll be an easy clean-up.

I thought of her curves as my hand met forbidden skin, how she moves when she rolls her hips - naked or not. Words that she'd whispered in my ear recently found solid ground as I pleasured myself in the shower. My head whipped back. Touch me, Michael...

"Uhhg, oh..." My hand moved quicker along my length. There she was kneeling before me, taking me into her mouth. Her lips wrapping around me like a bow on a present, moving back and forth with tantalizing speed. "Faster, baby. Please." I begged aloud, startling my conscious. Her delicate hand gripped my base, me being too large for her to take in her mouth all at once. Although she's tried. Do I make you feel good? Her warm tongue swirled around my head, making my breath catch as I arched my back.

I felt my member twitch in her mouth. I bit back an moan, almost drawing blood from my bottom lip. My right hand banged against the shower wall in an effort to release some of the building tension - it didn't work. Cum for me, Michael.

A feeling of euphoria broke across my being. I felt like a freshly broken glow stick that was still being shook so it would glow brighter. After a moment of breathing heavily with my back pressed against the tile, my eyes wandered down to find a white substance on my left hand and on the hot water handle.

Classy...

The soapy washcloth lay forgotten in the corner.

1:12 P.M.

"Janet, I don't see what the big deal is." I flipped through a rack of clothes, leisurely. She scoffed.

"That's because you're old." I stopped mid flip of a group of hangers.

"Excuse you, little miss?" She stopped as I gave her a fierce look from under my eyelashes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just... he's so cute, Ash." She jumped a little as she told me about the guy she's been crushing on recently. Her bottom lip stuck out ever so slightly. Dang, Jan. She's gonna be a heart breaker, that much is for sure.

"I'm sure he is cute, but there is so much more to an individual than simply looks sweetie. Is he respectful? Does he have ambitions?" I cocked my hip out to one side, continuing to flip through the rack of clothes. "Does he do his homework?"

"Ash... That stuff doesn't matter." That's it. I had to walk over to her. This was getting serious, but she cut me off. "I mean, being respectful does matter. But we're both fifteen, the only guys I know that are thinking about the future are my brothers."

"And you'd do well to use them as an example. Hey, do you know what this store is even called?" I'm sure it took a lot of effort for Miss Sassy Janet to not roll her eyes at my question, instead she simply smirked and leaned on a sturdy dress rack.

"It's called 'Steynay'. I think it's French."

"Huh. I like it. You find anything you like?" She went back to looking around at clothing that was hung close by.

"Not for me..." I saw out of the corner of my eye Jan pull something off a rack so she could show it to me. "But for you, perhaps." She grinned at me as she displayed a heavily beaded, midnight blue jacket. "This looks like something you might look good in, Astoria." The jacket was moved side-to-side in front of my face. I caved.

"Ok, ok. I'll try it on. I don't normally wear sequins though..." I'll admit, I was skeptical about the jacket but I didn't mind humoring her in the least. With the jacket on I walked over to a mirror so I could see what I looked like... Surprise is the only word I could think of.

The jacket was styled somewhere between a classic leather biker jacket, and a marching band jacket. The zippers were bright silver, standing out against the dark material. The cut tapered to give the wearer the illusion of having a smaller waist, showing off what seamstress' called 'The Perfect V-Line'. I hadn't even zipped it up yet either. The more I gazed at myself in the mirror from different angles, the more I knew I needed to buy this jacket.

"That's totally hot, Sis." My eyes flickered over to Janet who had her arms crossed.

"Thanks." I turned around again. "But where would I wear it?"

"Anywhere! I don't know... The Grammys, the American Music Awards, girl's night? Oh! Your friend's bachelorette party, that would be a great one."

"Hmm. It'd look good with all white, wouldn't it?"

"What'd you have in mind?" Once you get Janet talking about clothes - bear in mind, it wasn't as bad as when one did this with Latoya - she went into the zone, quickly becoming as professional as any other personal dresser or stylist out there. Now, I feel like I should clarify: Latoya simply pours over brands, Janet doesn't. They're both about style, but Latoya enjoys seeing a large price tag over anything. I think she just loves being able to afford such things, what with how she grew up.

"Tight white jeans, crisp white button-up. Maybe a crystal brooch, or a skinny, black tie to cover the button at the top of the shirt? What are your thoughts?" Her eyes scanned me, visualizing what I'd described to her.

"White would make the jacket pop, for sure." She walked up to stand behind me, her hands on my shoulders. "If you're going for the rocker style, maybe unbutton the top of the shirt? A crystal brooch sounds like a bit too much glitter, this jacket is clearly a centerpiece. A focal point, not a side dish." I gave her a curt nod as we looked at each other through the mirror.

"How much is this French centerpiece, anyway..." I shrugged the hefty jacket off with care, finding the white price tag attached underneath one of the armpits. My eyes became huge. "Janet, are my eyes bad?"

"Hmm?" She found what I was looking at. "Oh my..." The price was mainly four digits, six if you counted the two zeros that represented the cents.

"A grand? I just had a grand on my shoulders!"

"What the hell."

"Girl, I know. I think I'm gonna put this back on the rack, it's nice but for a thousand dollars? Um, I'm good." I put the glittering jacket back on the hanger, getting ready to hang it back up but Janet's hand grabbed my wrist. "Jan -"

"I've never seen a jacket look like that on anyone. Ash, it was made for you. Clearly. Plus, you make plenty of money to afford a one-time purchase like this. It's not like you're the kind of person who wears something once and throws it away, or donates it. Think of it as an investment, lady."

"You really want me to get this jacket, don't you?" She nodded, still holding onto my wrist. "Um, how about this: I'll think about it." She knew that was the