SWEETHEART • MJ [ORIGINAL]

Eight.

THEY STAY THAT sisters are the best of friends. This saying didn't apply to Ariah or Stella McCartney though. Even though the two girls had lived under the same roof for their entire lives, they simply weren't best friends. They were barely acquaintances and that didn't bother them. It wasn't that they had something against each other. It was only the fact that they never tried to make a connection with each other. That's just the way it was.

Ariah laid on her canopy bed a couple of days after she saw Michael, thinking of him and debating on whether or not to listen to Michael's older music or watch The Flintstones.

"Are you and Michael dating yet?" Stella poked her head into her sister's bedroom doorway. Ariah kind of smiled at her curiosity and concern, especially since they weren't close at all. Then, the young girl sighed softly at the truth of the matter.

"I wish."

"I wish, too." Stella sighed. "You guys are really cute together. You'd have cute babies, too."

"I'm only seventeen years old, I'm not thinking of having a baby yet." Ariah pointed out. "Neither is Daddy, so neither should you. Hey, neither is Michael. I'm just thinking of my feelings for him."

"Well, I mean, your feelings could lead to cute babies." Stella furrowed her eyebrows at her sister, who was only younger by one year. "If you're trying to decide what to listen to, choose Off The Wall. I love it."

"I was thinking of Jackson Five stuff." Ariah motioned to all of her Jackson Five records. "I like that music a lot."

"Sure." Stella kind of giggled, thinking that the music was so cute yet so good. "Little Mike is the cutest."

"Look, I don't know why things were always weird between us." Ariah finally mentioned to her older sister, wondering her thoughts aloud. "It's not like I ever had anything against you. We never really talked and you're my sister. This isn't right."

"I understand." Stella simply nodded slowly. "I mean, I've always been a little jealous of you."

"Jealous of me?" Ariah was shocked and looked around her room, almost amused at the words that had just come out of her sister's mouth. "Why?"

"Mum and Daddy adopted you." Stella began to explain. "I always thought they loved you more and that they cared for you more."

"I thought that it could've been the other way around." Ariah leant back onto her bed. "Since you were the firstborn and biological child, I thought they could've loved you more than they loved me."

"Hm." Stella hummed her comment. "Well, that's obviously not the case more. They're all over Zuri."

"Yes, but she was adopted as well." I chuckled. "She's a cutie though. She's my sister, I don't see her as anything other than that."

"Me as well." Stella smiled at me. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure." Ariah patted a spot on her bed for Stella to sit down. Stella made her way over to the bed and took a seat.

"How do you feel about the divorce?"

"Mum is wrong about Daddy." Ariah simply said in confidence. "I know it's been hard since JoLenn died," A smile curved on both of their faces remembering "JoLenn" was what Ariah called John as a baby and the nickname just stuck as years went by. "But, then again, he's not cheating. Why would he cheat on his beloved?"

"He always says their marriage was dead for years." Stella rolled her eyes. "Hey, he's so calm about it while Mum stays outraged."

"I don't want them to get divorced. They're the people who took me in. They're my saviors. Hell, they are my parents." Ariah stressed, holding back tears. She was the individual who was the most emotional, yet always tried to be strong for everyone else in her family. "I wouldn't ever want Mum and Daddy to split up."

The girls both sighed in unison.

"It'll be alright though." Ariah added, hoping that what she said was true.

"Yeah, and we're gonna be alright."

"So," A smile began to play on Ariah's lips as Stella raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she had to say to her. "Guess what me and Michael were doing in the studio the other day?" Stella began to smirk and think of all the possibilities that her sister and the entertainer could've done in the studio.

"I don't know, Ri." Stella shrugged, placing her chin in the palm of her hands. "Tell me everything."

This was the very beginning to a new sisterly bond between Stella and Ariah that would become strong and that would only grow from that day forward.

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I WAS LISTENING TO KENDRICK LAMAR, SORRY. THIS FILLER CHAPTER WAS SHORT AND I HOPE IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH. (: