In Pieces
By Zuimi
Chapter One:
Where She Admits It
Liz was already curious the second she picked up her phone, hearing Maka's pleading voice to meet her at Death Café in approximately ten minutes… alone. Pulling on her clothes with haste, she was already 100% sure what this was going to be about. It wasn't going to be about a nerdy problem related to school or souls or fighting. Maka would call anybody else to talk about that. Today, in that café, Liz was going to be delivered some nice, hot, juicy gossip too serious for anyone else's ears save for hers. And she was absolutely ecstatic.
She pulled on a yellow tank top and black mid-shin leggings with yellow sandals. A genuinely nice outfit for a genuinely interesting day, she thought. But she immediately regretted looking so nice when she saw what Maka came to meet her in. Her blonde, petite friend showed up wearing gray gym shorts, and an old navy shirt from when she must've been in middle school. Her feet wore worn, plain white flip flops that slowly were slipping off her toes as she swung them rather miserably. Her hair was pulled into a very messy bun (she stopped wearing pigtails when she turned 18), and she hunched her back so she can rest her head on the table.
Maybe Liz misunderstood the kind of gossip she'd be hearing.
She slid into the booth across from Maka and said, "Hey, what's up?" She made sure her tone showed utmost concern. By the way things were looking, Maka was going to be a mess.
"Oh my god, Liz," Maka mumbled miserably. She lifted her head up from her arms, and one of her hands came up to partially cover her face. And good thing because Maka's face was ridden with evidence of lack of sleep and anxiety.
"Oh, god, what happened?" Liz reached over to grab Maka's other hand, coaxing her to spill the beans.
"Liz, I fucked up," Maka muttered, looking like she was about to cry. "I fucked up really, really bad. Oh my god, it was so bad." The following second was accompanied by several tears slipping out from underneath Maka's eyelid. They rolled down her cheek, and her entire face began to grow red with gloom.
Liz tightened her grip on Maka's hand for comfort, but the girl's shoulders were already shaking up a storm, "Don't cry. Oh, Maka, oh, please don't cry. Tell me what happened. Just tell me. It can't be as bad as you're making it sound."
"It can," Maka said through a sob. She sniffled, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her tee shirt.
"No, you always do this," Liz shook her head, trying to get her friend to look at her in the eye, "You're definitely overreacting. I'm sure we can think of a way to fix it. Tell me."
Maka wailed, "You're gonna be sooo disappointed!" Her puffy eyes closed, and when they opened, more tears sprang out to cover her face. And Liz was not going to lie, Maka was a really ugly crier. But that was not the issue. She simply wanted to calm Maka down enough for her to listen to the story about how Maka 'fucked up really,really bad'. I mean, how bad can a little nerdy bookworm fuck up?
"I'm not going to be disappointed," Liz promised.
But Maka insisted, "No, you really are."
Liz, at this point, rolled her eyes and sighed, "Well, you're going to have to tell me if you want my help about it."
Maka already knew this. She knew that she was too damn clueless about these kinds of things to help herself. Liz was experienced. She was the matchmaker and the love expert. And though Maka had read up on many subjects, Liz was genius in certain areas of knowledge pertaining to certain emotions while she found herself at life's mercy.
"Don't tell anyone, though," Maka started to wipe the tears in her eyes and breathe more evenly, "I mean… don't tell Black Star."
Liz gave her friend a small smile, "What do you think I am? An idiot?"
Maka chuckled, "You have a point."
"So," Liz rested her head on top of her arm, similar to Maka, "From the beginning. Tell me everything. Don't leave out any details. I want you to narrate your every breath."
Maka chuckled once again and said, "Well, I'll try."
"Go on!"
"Okay," Maka took a deep breath, "You know how my birthday was last week?"
"Yeah…"
"And do you remember what you got me?"
"Yeah, that black thong!" Liz laughed as she said this.
"Well, I thought it would be nice to wear it and then things got crazy and he was, he was- oh my god, I can't believe I did that! I can't believe it! Shit, I fucked up." Maka confided in her and then burst back into tears.
Liz's eyes widened immensely. Had her little nerd… had she…?
"Did you-?" Liz started to say her thoughts, but Maka quickly slapped her hand over Liz's mouth.
"Wait," Maka said, suddenly energetic, "Wait, I forgot to start at the beginning!"
"Wait, but let me ask you-!"
"No! Nope!" Maka objected. "From the beginning!"
"Maka-!" Liz almost whined.
"It was three weeks ago," Maka began, "when I first kissed Soul."
Liz, forgetting about her prior distress, clapped her hands and squealed, "Yes! I am not disappointed! Not even close!"
"No!" Maka slapped her hand over her friend's lips once again and said, "Not done yet."
"I kissed him seven times," Maka admitted uneasily, biting her lip.
"I am still not disappointed!" Liz replied enthusiastically. She was absolutely and completely surprised that she had not known that her two friends, whom she desperately wanted together for God knows how long, had been smoochin' like mad behind her back. But Maka's uneasiness rubbed off on her. There was catch somewhere, and they were going to get to it.
"I mean, yeah, I didn't mind the kisses. Kind of liked 'em…" Maka blushed slightly and a miniscule smile appeared on her mouth. The look did not match her still-puffy eyes, but Liz saw Maka's small shred of happiness as adorable.
"How did it even start?" Liz interrogated, completely intrigued with Maka's information.
"The first one," Maka said, "was after I got out of the hospital for my shoulder wound a while ago. Remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," Liz nodded. "Go on."
"And I came back home, and he was there," she told Liz, "And we talked. He said he was glad that I was back and not really that hurt. And he said some lame joke, and we laughed. And he said to be more careful, like he always does when I got hurt… and he planted one on me."
"Maka, that is so vague!"
"Those are a lot of details for three weeks ago, Liz!"
"No, but 'planted one on me' doesn't really help me visualize the scene really well in my head!"
Maka huffed, "Fine! It was no big deal. A peck. Barely. Like, a touch. A brush. But it still caught me really off guard. And he just walked away! Like he didn't steal my first kiss!"
"Aw!" Liz squealed, "It was your first kiss! Oh my god, that's right!"
"Shut up!" Maka said. But she was glad she was telling Liz this. Usually, she'd keep secrets away from Liz, because she'd always made such a big deal about everything. Usually, she'd run to her long-time best friend Tsubaki. But she felt like Tsubaki seemed to be more for serious issues, and Liz was for love and relationship advice. And she was right.
"And?"
"And we didn't say anything after it," Maka continued, "We just acted normally."
"What?!"
"Until a few days later, after one of our battles," Maka shifted in her seat, fixing her pants, "And it was a really hard fight. I told you about it remember? With the dude with the ax?"
"Yeah."
"And I was kinda bruised?"
"A little bit more than kinda."
"Yeah. So, right after he ate the thing's soul, he went up to me, and he kissed me again," Maka looked away because she reddened once again. Liz smirked because it didn't take a genius to figure out how much Maka had loved that kiss.
"How was this one?"
Maka reddened again and answered, "It was longer. Like at least 10 seconds."
"Ooooh!" Liz laughed lightly, "And then?"
"And then nothing… like last time," she said. "And we didn't talk about it. Ever."
Liz frowned, "Well, why the hell not?"
Before Maka could answer, a girl leaned over the front counter and asked, "Would you two like anything?"
Liz ordered a cup of coffee, but Maka needed to let go a little bit. She ordered a chocolate smoothie with cinnamon and a piece of strawberry cake. The girl nodded and turned to give their orders to the barista/cook in the back.
"The next time he kissed me was after- I mean, this time I kissed him…" Maka shook her mind to focus once again on what she was trying to say. "He came back from a day of playing video games with Black Star, mumbling about how he hates him and how Black Star's such an idiot. And he sits next to me on the couch and I turn towards him, expecting him to rant, but he shut up. And then I got closer. And I kissed him. And he let me! For probably 10 seconds like last time."
"And you still didn't talk about it afterward?" Liz asked. Maka nodded.
"And we didn't talk about it after we kissed while we watched Inception. Or when we made out after I bought a new perfume. Or when we fell on top each other during training and made out again. Or the time after when I was busy doing homework all day, and the bored baby that he was flipped me towards him and…" Maka stopped herself, blushing bright red when she realized that she was saying all of this out loud… to a real person! She mumbled, "Too many details."
Liz shook her head, "And this all happened…"
"Within two weeks… before my birthday…"
Liz analyzed the situation, "So you liked the kisses… a lot. But you're not sure if… he meant it in the way you did?"
Maka, not saying a word, nodded and grunted an approving sound.
Liz sat back in her booth, "Damn… the situation sucks, but there's a really simple solution: just talk to him about it. I mean, sugarcoating it doesn't seem fair, so I'm giving it to you straight. You're going to have to have a hella awkward conversation about your little lip games."
"I wish it was just about that but…" Maka looked away, in shame, "On my birthday, after the party…"
"Oh…! You totally put on your fucking birthday suit and let him fuck your brains out. Well, shit, I thought it was gonna take a lot longer for you guys to work up the guts to do that!" Liz guessed. Rather loudly. In a public place. And Maka wanted to die even more. Hearing it from another person… in that crude manner…
"Ugh… don't say it like that…"Maka said. But the longer she thought about it, the more she wanted to curl up into a small ball, never to see sunlight again. She remembered how Soul pulled out and collapsed next to her, both feeling like infinity before reality caught up to them. His smile slowly faded, and he got up abruptly. She saw him discard of the condom. He pulled on his boxers and the rest of his clothes without anything to say to her. The whole time, she just watched him. Lying there, naked, and by then, embarrassed out of her mind. He left her room muttering a pathetic good night. He left her there. And they were both virgins before! How did he not see what was wrong with it? How did he walk away so casually when she was so in love with him?
Tears ran down her cheeks once again. Maka's shoulders were shaking, breath becoming uneven. Some saliva rolled down her chin as she began to weep once again. She buried her face in her arms to try to hide. Hide from everything altogether. There were no sounds coming from their table except for Maka's occasional staggered breath followed by a jolt of her shoulders.
The girl from behind the counter set down Liz's cup of coffee and Maka's drink and cake. She whispered, "I hope you guys enjoy… Feel better."
Liz said thanks in reply but then turned to Maka, "Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put it like that."
A muffled wail that Liz deciphered as 'It's not you' came from Maka. Liz became occupied with her coffee for a while before she couldn't bear to hear another sob from her friend.
She reached across the table and held Maka's arm, "Let it out. I'll listen. Just let it out."
Maka didn't lift her face from her arms, so her rant was muffled, "I was a virgin! And so was he! And yet he just put on his clothes and left! And I just lied there on my bed, embarrassed, and feeling just infiltrated emotionally and physically. Because…" Maka lifted her head and said with confidence, "Because I love him so much. I love him so much it doesn't feel like it could be real. He's my best friend and my partner, and I had to start making out with him. And I had sex with him. We haven't talked since then, Liz. For a week! I ruined our friendship and our partnership!"
"Maka…"
"And what if he doesn't love me?" Maka bursted into even more tears, "I've tried so hard to not care this past week… to say it'll be better. I tried to say that these feelings are stupid but… I can't. I cracked."
"… and now you're here…" Liz said, "Talking to me so I can help you fix it."
Her friend nodded and said, "I used to not care. Hell, I used to not even believe in love. But look what it made me go out and do!"
Liz got up from her seat to go sit on Maka's booth. She hugs her, pushing Maka's head onto her shoulder. And Maka, hugs her even tighter. She cries on the shoulder offered to her while Liz whispers into her ear, "Love is weird. And it's gonna fuck you over. But we know Soul. And I know that he cares about you. He must be nervous, that's all. He might be thinking the same exact things you are now!"
Maka calmed down significantly with a person to wrap her desperate arms around. She felt the warmth another human could provide that she had lacked for a week. For a whole damn fucking shit-ass week.
Author's note:
Thanks you so much for reading the fanfic! I thank in advance for anyone who might favorite/follow/or review! And all reviews are much appreciated, so please. I hope you liked the first chapter! My plan for the story is to make it three chapters long – I hope you'll read those too. I don't own Soul Eater, which should be obvious.
Some more information: Maka just turned 19. Soul's 19, as well. Liz is around 20-21. Everyone else's age is in that zone.
-Zu