Mate, people can be close friend without ending up as a couple/being interested in each other. Alice/Michael are honestly family to one another, romantic partners they are not. You have to significantly change Alice's and Michael's characters and their dynamic for them to end up together.Pretty sure they have to be written that way for Micheal to not end up seeming like a cuck.
They grew up together
They virtually spend every waking moment together
They fight, commit crimes basically do everything together
You cant tell me that it doesn't narratively makes sense if you discount the MC. Narratively it probably makes more sense then Deryl and Amber.
Compare with Deryl/Amber who were already dating before Deryl fucked it all up by being a selfish, cheating, arrogant arsehole. All things he is already in the process of maturing out of as the story progresses. Their relationship just has to follow a pretty natural story progression (Deryl matures a bit more, apologies for being such a shitty boyfriend/person, promises to be better).