A/N: hope you guys enjoy this!

Disclaimer: Soul Eater is not mine (do people still do this anymore *shrugs*)


Standing on the pegs of Soul's BMX was a lot more hazardous than Maka had initially thought. She's pretty sure there must be finger shaped bruises blooming on his shoulders from where she'd fiercely gripped him for dear life.

The bike skids to a stop as they reach her house, grit flying in all directions from the gravelled path-way. He glances over his shoulder at her, fixing her with a lopsided grin, clearly pleased with himself that he'd managed to get them here in one piece.

He wore self-assurance well. It was a rare sight and Soul's proud expression was doing funny things to her insides.

"See! You're fine!" he prods as Maka clambers off the back of the bike, doing her best not to fall over. Soul was obsessed with being cool, landing straight on her face right in front of him would not help her stay in his good graces.

"Don't get all cocky! I thought we were gonna die at one point!" she huffs, flattening out the skirt of her dress with her hands.

"That dog came out of nowhere!" he squeaks defensively, voice still in the clutches of puberty "You're alive aren't you!"

"Only just" Maka mumbles under her breath, starting to walk up the path to her front porch, surprised when she hears the clatter of his bike being tossed to the floor, glancing over to see him following her up to the front door.

"Just making sure you get home safe" he shrugs at her questioning glance.

"I think I can handle the last couple of steps, thanks" she rolls her eyes, unable to fight back her smile as they climb the steps onto the front porch, shoulder to shoulder.

He stands a little taller than usual, temporarily ditching his trademark slouch. When at his full height he's a couple inches taller than her, a fact that surprises her a little. He looks suddenly nervous, shoving his hands into his pockets, glancing down the darkened street as they stand before her door.

"You didn't have to come all this way to drop me off" Maka says softly, breaking the silence. The atmosphere has changed as they've grown closer to her door. She was no longer sure what to do with herself, clutching the hem of her sundress tightly.

"S'not cool to let you walk all this way alone" he shrugs again, but there's a slight curve to his lips and something affectionate in his eyes when he looks down at her. It makes Maka's heart swell inside her chest.

"Well thanks, Soul" her gaze flickering anxiously between the floor and his face. "What time are you leaving?" she asks, chewing her bottom lip lightly. She has always hated the last week or so of his visits. They were always so full of reminders that he wasn't going to be there anymore, not for another year anyway.

"Tomorrow mornin'" he sighs and Maka takes solace in seeing that he looks just as disappointed as she is. "It's gonna suck back home without you guys".

He never talks much about his life back home but Maka is pretty sure he not happy there.

"Yeah….Blake's really gonna miss you"

He snorts, his mouth twisting upwards "and what about you, Pigtails? Will you miss me?"

"I'll be positively heartbroken" Maka deadpans, trying to fight off a grin "how will my heart ever be whole again?" she teases, but it was only half an act, really. It always hurt her to see him go.

He snickers and Maka can't help but join in.

"I'll be back next year, I promise" he smiles, reaching out to tug on her left pigtail playfully.

"You better" Maka smiles warmly, gripping his wrist loosely. She normally hated it when he tugged at her hair, would usually grab his arm and twist it until he stopped. But she couldn't scold him or whack him with one of her books now.

Everything had felt so different between them this summer, like they were teetering on the edge of something bigger. No more so than in this moment. His fingers linger in her hair, wrapping the strands lazily around his fingers. His thumb lightly brushes her cheek and then, before Maka knows it, they're both leaning closer.

Maka's heart is in her throat. Was this really happening?

"Can I…?" he murmurs as Maka tilts her chin upwards, green eyes heavy-lidded. She's all pale-lashes and flushed cheeks.

"Yes…" she exhales breathily and then his lips are on hers.

His mouth is so soft and tastes faintly of chapstick but she doesn't really have time to be self-conscious about her own cracked lips. The kiss is chaste but it make her chest burn all the same. When he pulls away a few seconds later, she follows with him, wanting to pull him back to her, wanting him to stay.

Because for the first time in her life she had a proper crush, a crush who actually liked her back and now she wouldn't get to see him until next summer.

"I'll definitely be back, Maka" his lips press against her cheek this time, and Maka believes him.


Death City, Maka had always mused, was a really bizarre choice of name for a small town in the middle of nowhere. Hell, calling it a town was being generous, Death City was a tiny little village surrounded by nothing but farmland and a small forest. It was a 40 minute drive to anything exciting and all the children had to commute to the neighbouring town to go to school.

Not only did the City part make zero sense to Maka, but the Death part was so macabre it was no wonder they had next-to-no tourists, despite the rather lovely scenery.

Maybe the morbid title was more in relation to the population of Death City than the place itself. The locals often liked to joke that there was something funny in the water as its inhabitants were unusual to say the least, with their strange names and even stranger appearances.

Apparently, elsewhere in the US it wasn't very common to name your child Kid and vivid blue was not considered a natural hair colour. Even Maka herself hadn't escaped these Death City trends, with outsiders often mistaking her name for a certain caffeinated beverage (if she was called Mocha one more time!) and her green eyes which were so vibrant it bordered on the unnerving.

But as crazy as Death City might be to outsiders (and some insiders too) Maka couldn't help but feel emotionally tethered to it. She'd lived there her whole life, hadn't really known anything else other than the quaint town. That's why, as the time for college drew ever closer, she was finding it so hard to make a decision.

If you'd asked her before she turned fourteen if she'd ever thought about leaving Death City the answer would have been a resounding no, but sadly, her life here hadn't always been sunshine and rainbows. It was hard when this place held such bad memories for her. There were constant reminders of her mama everywhere she went, not to mention that she had to live in the same house where everything had gone so terribly wrong. Where her mother had felt so trapped. It's hard to stay in a love with a place when it constantly reminds you of the day when your whole family fell apart.


Marie is trying to sort through the mountain of boxes in Frank's office when Maka calls round one afternoon. She'd been visiting her Godparents a lot more frequently this summer. As Marie's due date grew increasingly closer she needed more and more help to get things organised and Maka was more than willing to assist with the preparations.

They'd spent most of last week packing up all the stuff from the spare room into boxes before piling them into the office, making it completely useless. Maka had spent the rest of the week rounding up the girls and painting the old guest room a suitable colour for a new-born. Liz was still complaining about all not being able to remove the pastel yellow splotches from her nails.

It was a little bitter-sweet when she painted over all the tired magnolia walls with the new colour. This had been her second bedroom in a way, she'd always stayed here whenever her parents were too busy with work or when their fights became a little too raucous. It was a shame to let it go. But Maka was willing to make sacrifices for the new baby. This wasn't her house, at the end of the day, and she isn't a kid anymore, no matter how much she liked to cling onto the past.

"Anything we haven't used in a year is getting tossed" Marie declares, flicking through a box of knick-knacks on the kitchen table. Maka was handling all the lifting, her body felt a little sore but Marie's belly was way too rounded these days for her to be able to pick up anything large.

"Are you sure?" Maka asks, looking at the ever growing stack of items in the 'junk' pile. It seemed like half the contents of the house had been thrown onto it.

"I can't afford to get sentimental" Marie sighs "the baby will take up so much room…"

Marie will make a good mother, Maka has absolutely no doubts about that. She'd been a mother figure to her Maka's entire life, especially after Kami left. She doesn't know where she'd be without Marie's gentle brand of guidance.

It's a lot of work, they probably won't get it all done today. Marie and Frank were both Death City born and bred, they probably moved straight from their family homes to here. That's a lot of years to spend in one place and the sheer amount of their belongings reflected that.

"Whilst you're here Maka -" Marie begins and there's something tentative about her smile, it spells bad news to Maka.

"What is it?" Maka asks, pausing what she's doing. Was something wrong? It wasn't the baby, was it? Or Frank?

"It's nothing bad, really" Marie assures her "Spirit was just saying something the other day –"

"What's he done now?" Maka scowls, her papa had a bad habit of talking about her to everyone they knew. Not bad things, embarrassing things, the sort that would make anyone cringe. She pities all those in town who still have to hear the story of how quickly she learnt how to ride a bike 11 years after the fact.

"Nothing! He just mentioned that he'd noticed that you'd been looking at a lot of colleges recently"

Aww crap, and she'd been trying so hard to be discreet. She knew how papa could get, any sign of her leaving and he'd freak out. She'd wanted to avoid anyone here finding out, wanted it to stay between her and mama.

"And he wants to know if I'm leaving, is that it?" Maka lips purse in annoyance. Her papa wanted her to stay, her mama wanted her to leave. She couldn't win.

"No! He was just worried and so I am to be honest" Marie's mouth is a thin line.

"Worried?" Maka frowns, about what?

"You put a lot of pressure on yourself Maka, with school, work and your extra circulars. College is still two years away, don't start focusing on it too much yet. Enjoy yourself"

Maka sighs. Oh, that's what they were worried about. She wishes her mom had that same mentality. Maka would love to put this to one side and just focus on her remaining time at high school but her mama wouldn't let it drop and now Marie and papa knew something was up.

At least they didn't know that it was mama who was fuelling her sudden interest in colleges, her papa always got so closed off when she was mentioned. Probably from the guilt, Maka can't say that it was unwarranted.

"There's no rush" Marie pats her shoulder lightly, before offering her a drink. She's all ease and warm smiles.

It hurts to hear Marie saying the things she wishes would come from her own mother's lips.


Maka tucks a few strands of damp hair behind her ear, opening up a rather weathered college brochure (one of many that were strewn across her bed) as she sits, cross-legged, in a nest of paper and booklets.

She'd had a good morning so far, had gone for a nice run, hopped in the shower and even had time to finish the book she was reading. The call from her mother had been am unexpected perk and Maka was feeling quite happy.

Even if the conversation with her mama had headed straight into college territory again.

Her fingers drum an uneven rhythm against the cover as her eyes scan over the familiar images and paragraphs. The NYU brochure was, by all standards, impressive.

She could understand why her mama was so keen on her applying, even if Kami was a little biased. Her mama had studied there, after all, had moved to the big city to follow her dreams to become an MD. All before she ever met Spirit Albarn, the charming young police officer from a small town. Long before she traded in the big city life for her husband's childhood home and a small medical practise. Before Maka was born and before her father's infidelity began.

"You'll love it there, Maka!" Kami had told her so emphatically during their (rather brief) phone conversation "an intelligent girl like you would be wasted stuck in that place"

She didn't really like the way her mama talked about Death City. It wasn't the town's fault that her mama had been so unhappy there, it was her father's fault for cheating. Just because mama had found her happiness by moving away didn't mean that Death City wasn't a worth-while place

Maka exhales through her nose, flicking the brochure shut and instead picking up a prospectus for the local university. It wasn't half as prestigious as NYU but Shibusen was still a good school, Tsubaki would start classes there soon and it wasn't too long a commute every morning. She could stay in her childhood home and wouldn't have to leave any of her friends behind.

Maka was still so torn though, maybe looking around would help her make up her mind? What if she fell completely in love with Shibusen though? That was her biggest fear by far, having to tell her mama, to hear the disappointment in her voice. She didn't want to make her mama unhappy again.

Her phone vibrates against her sheets, giving her a much needed excuse to forget all her concerns about her future. Time to get ready for work. Sliding off her bed she began changing into the faded yellow dress and white apron of her uniform. Gathering all the pamphlets into a semi-neat pile before shoving them under the bed and hurrying down stairs. She wouldn't make the mistake of leaving them out for papa to find again.

She makes sure Blair has enough food and water to last her the day before grabbing her keys out of the ceramic dish by the door, locking it behind her.

It's during her shift at the Diner that she finds out that Soul Evans is back in town. It feels like all her organs have been swirled around inside her body. She stares blankly at the text from Blake, his obnoxious, all-caps writing style mocking her through the bright glare of her screen.

U WON'T GUESS WHOS BCK! ;D

He'd sent her out of the blue, it wasn't often that they spoke via text, they saw each so much in person that it wasn't always necessary.

Who?

She typed back warily, not all that interested at first, setting her phone onto the counter beside her as she served a customer.

NO!

GUESS!

Maka huffs in annoyance. Blake always liked to play these games, usually the answer was something boring and mundane. Last time it had been that the fast food joint outside town was serving the gross rib-sandwich-burger-monstrosity that he loved so much.

Your mom?

Mira had gone to visit her mother in the retirement community out of town a few days ago but it didn't really make sense for Blake to be so hyped about her return. But, then again, was there ever a time where Blake wasn't all pumped up about something stupid?

NOPE! AHAHAHAHAHA! U'LL NVER FUCKIN GUESS PIGTAILS!

Just tell me then!

A BELOVED MINION HAS RETURNED INTO THE FOLD!

Maka's stomach plummets. No, pleas no! She frantically watches those three small dots bob up and down as she awaits his reply. She has a terrible feeling about this.

MY BESTEST BRO! MY BROCHACHO!

MY BROBI-WAN KANOBI!

BROBA FETT HIMSELF!

HAN BROLO!

Just spit it out!

Maka types back anxiously, she was not in the mood for his annoying, dudebro puns right now!

OK OK!

SOUL. IS. BACK!

AWESOME RIGHT?!

COME OVR L8TER K? THE 3 AMGIGOS BCK 2GETHA!

All her fears had been confirmed. Nope, no way, she did not need this now, did not need this ever!

Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!

Maka lets her phone drop onto the counter with a clatter, ignoring it as Blake begins to blow up her phone with plans for the three of them. It hurts knowing how excited he is, he thinks that it'll be like how it was before, the three musketeers all back together. But Maka cannot see Soul. Not without it being super uncomfortable anyway.

She's was still upset, damnit! Still torn up about a stupid broken promise he'd made when they were kids. She doesn't know how to act around Soul anymore, not after he let her down, not when she'd trusted him and he made her feel like a fool.

It was just for the summer though, right? She could avoid him for a few weeks!

She blows Blake off because (luckily) she's working late and pockets her phone. She tries to throw everything into her work but the Diner is nowhere near busy enough to be distracting and her stomach doesn't sit right for the rest of the day.


"See you tomorrow" Ox mumbles out, not even glancing at them as he leaves through the front door, letting to clatter closed behind him.

"Ugh, why Mira doesn't fire his ass I'll never know" Liz grumbles as she wipes down the last of the tables with more aggression than was needed.

"We weren't that busy today so his slacking wasn't too bad" Maka says, more trying to keep the peace between the staff than actually in defines of Ox Ford, their rather insufferable fry-cook.

"True, but he still shouldn't be texting Kim all hours of the day. I would love to be on Tinder all day but I manage to keep things professional!" the older girl sniffs haughtily, packing up the cleaning products, taking them to the supply cupboard.

"Mira can't be too picky with her staff these days, with so many people leaving, she's got limited choices" something curdles in Maka stomach when she thinks of all the closed businesses and empty houses around town, it was starting to feel like the town was dying.

"I guess so" Liz admits begrudgingly "you want a lift home?" she asks, changing the subject.

"Yeah" Maka blinks in surprise "yeah, that would be great" she really didn't fancy walking all the way home, even if it was still quite light outside "but you don't have a car"

Maka's own car had packed in a couple of weeks back, the poor old thing was now rusting away in a junk yard. She missed it, she'd forgotten how hard it was to get around on foot.

"Yes" she smiles triumphantly "but Kid's back from New York and he's offered me a ride, I'm sure he'd be fine dropping you off too"

"Okay, cool. Thanks!" Maka smiles warmly, feeling grateful that Liz was the sort of person who always liked to ensure her friends got home safe. There weren't a whole lot of street lamps in town and Maka's house was pretty near the outskirts which made walking home a rather terrifying experience. Hell, Liz used to make Maka text her when she got home even when Maka still had her car!

"No problem, you've given me hundreds of lifts" Liz shrugs, sitting herself down in one of the booths as they wait for Kid to pull up "us girls gotta look out for each other" she hums, resting her cheek in her palm.


"Oh hello, Maka" Kid greets politely from the driver's seat as they climb into the car, Liz in the passenger's seat, Maka in the back.

"You don't mind giving her a ride, right?" Liz asks, adjusting her hair in the wing-mirror.

"Not at all" Kid gives Maka a slight smile before glancing back at the older girl "seatbelt, Liz"

"Really?" Liz sighs in exasperation.

"Really" Kid confirms sternly, folding his arms as if refusing to drive until she did it.

"Fine! Fine!" Liz huffs, plugging in her seatbelt "happy?" she asks, shooting him a glare that is rather tame by Liz's standards. That woman could shrivel up a person's soul with a single glance if she wanted.

"Yes" Kid acknowledges, gripping the steering wheel again, starting to turn the car around in the parking lot before pulling back onto the quiet street.

"How was NYU?" Maka questions, leaning forward slightly, resting an elbow on the back of Liz's seat, not at all surprised by their bickering.

"It was good. Their campus is very impressive and I really think it would be a great place to attend"

Liz makes a little noise in the back of her throat, somewhere between snort and a whine "but Shibusen is also really good, plus your dad's a pretty big deal there, right?" the way she says it makes it seem like she was clutching at straws "besides, who'd wanna stay in crappy dorms with a bunch of strangers when you could stay in a house like yours".

Liz has a point. Kid's dad was the richest man in town, his big stately house was perched on a hill at the other end of town, surrounded amazing scenery and a massive pool in the backyard, Maka wouldn't pass it up easily if she were Kid.

Maka, Blake, Tsubaki and Soul had spent many hours running around Kid's back garden and dive-bombing into his pool, often whilst Kid sat reading in the shade, watching them with a bemused expression.

Thinking about that past hurt. Thinking about Soul hurt.

"I'm still considering it, Liz" they share a look and Maka gets the impression that this was a common topic between them. Worry is evident in Liz's crystal blue eyes and she's so sincere and so beautiful that it's a wonder to Maka that Kid doesn't give in then and there.

"Fine" Liz mumbles petulantly, sinking a bit lower in her seat, fixing her gaze out of the window. It was understandable that Liz wouldn't want Kid to go too far away, he'd been good to her and her sister, letting them stay in his dad's pool house when they showed up in Death City a year ago, kicked out by their mother with nothing but a rusted old car and the clothes on their backs.

Liz and Patty had come so far since then.

Guilt twists in her stomach. If she and Kid both left would Liz and Patty be okay? Would the town be okay? Kid's dad and her Papa were two of the pillars of the community, if Kid and the police chief's daughter up and left would others follow suit? She didn't know what Ox and Kim's plans were after school. Could Death City survive if the new generation were all gone? Maka doubted it.


Blair is perched on the end of the swing chair when Maka makes it back onto her front porch, nearly scaring the life out of her in the darkness.

"Blair!" Maka hisses, clutching her heart "you nearly killed me!" but she still outstretches a hand to pet the black cat, starching her behind the ears.

"See you later, Maka!" Liz calls to her, having to lean across Kid to wave at her through the open driver's side window.

Maka waves back, gathering Blair into her arms as they drive off. Pulling her keys out of the pocket of her apron, she opens the door, placing Blair down carefully as they enter the darkened hallway.

As expected, the house is empty. She closes the door behind her, turning lights on as she goes, finding a yellow sticky note attached to the fridge as she steps into the kitchen.

Working late tonight!

There's take-out in the fridge. I'm super, super sorry, baby girl! I'll make it up to you!

The message is followed by a rather wonky drawing of a heart and as many hugs and kisses her papa could cram onto the small slip of paper.

Sighing, she peals it off, crumpling it in her hand and tossing it in the trash before shoving the takeout leftovers her father had saved for her into the microwave

She's not really surprised that her papa's gone again, more disappointed than anything. She's not 8 years old anymore, Maka doesn't buy his lies about working late. There hadn't been a major crime in Death City in years, he had no reason to stay at the station after hours. She knows full well he's sat in that sleazy old bar in the next town over, knows that he's probably chatting up some poor, unsuspecting girl this very minute.

"Hey" Maka greets softly as Blair's tail curls around her leg, reaching down to tickle under the cat's chin just as the microwave dings.

Sitting on the couch in the semi-dark living room, all alone (sans Blair) and watching some crappy romcom was not Maka's idea of a good night but she'd gotten used it, had to get used to it after her mother left. It was just her and papa now and, considering papa was out more often than not, she spent most of her time in this house by herself.

The mornings were fine, good even. She could handle waking up in an empty house, sunshine streaming in, going for a jog, making breakfast alone and then heading to work. That was all fine with her. It was the evenings she hated.

It was sad to think how full of life this place had been when she was younger.

Her mama helping her with homework on the breakfast bar, Blake running around the yard stark naked, reading with Kid on the back porch, making lemonade with Marie in the kitchen. Skipping with Tsubaki, her parents holding either end of the jump-rope, laughing and happily married. Water fights when it grew unbearably hot, super soakers and strawberry popsicles, first loves and first kisses at sunset with white haired boys who liked to disappear.

It was all gone now and she'd tried too long and too hard to get it back. This house would never be like that again. It was just any empty shell filled with memories of a broken family.

Perhaps mama was right, maybe she should just go to New York, a new start might be good for her. Even if her instincts said otherwise. They'd been wrong in the past, she had to remember that.


Rattling the door knob to make sure the front door was locked, Maka began her way upstairs, smiling slightly to herself when she hears Blair following after her.

Stepping inside her bedroom the first thing that catches her eye is the unfamiliar book laid on top of her neatly made bed. It was the sequel to the book she'd finished this morning.

Her heart clenches.

Her papa really wasn't all that bad, certainly not as clueless as she sometimes liked to make out. He was always trying to keep up with everything in her life, had always tried his best to make her happy even if they didn't spend that much time together these days.

Blair climbs into her lap as she sits down, firing up her laptop. Maka begins reading the blurb of her new book whilst she waits, spinning herself back and forth in the chair as the computer loads.

As soon as her desktop flickers on she puts the book aside (being more tender than she usually is with her papa's gifts), opening up her emails, scrolling through to make sure she was up to date. Her mama had mentioned that she might send her some pictures of Italy, it was probably a little soon to be checking, her mama had only brought it up this morning but she might as well be sure!

Instead all she was greeted with were endless Facebook notifications from Blake.

"What the…?" she mumbles, brows furrowing as she scrolls downward.

ALMIGHTY BLACK*STAR has uploaded a new album, ALMIGHTY BLACK*STAR has updated his profile picture, ALMIGHTY BLACK*STAR has updated his cover photo.

Why was it telling her this? She didn't need to know the ins and outs of Blake's life! Maybe she shouldn't have set him as one of her 'close friends' on the infernal site, maybe that's why she was getting spammed with his bullshit.

Seething, Maka types in the address at the top of the screen, hell bent on cutting off the endless stream of notifications. Within two seconds she's greeted by her news feed, a ridiculous selfie of Blake being the first thing her rather tired eyes focus on.

What the hell was he up to?!

Looking further down her feed she notices more pictures, one in particular catching her eye, making her do a quick double-take.

'SHADY'S BACK!' Blake has captioned above. It was a selfie, Blake was pulling a face and doing some sort of gang sign with his hand (looking like a complete moron) whilst a rather annoyed Soul Evans sat beside him on the Barret's couch.

Shit, they had hung out tonight, hadn't they? Hell, knowing Blake they'd probably be partying till dawn, maybe even terrorising the village by this point.

She moves to her window, Blair jumping off her lap. Ignoring her cat's noises of displeasure, Maka pushes the floral curtains aside so she can squint through the window at the Barret's house. It's a fair ways down the street and Maka has to open the window and hang her head outside to get a proper view. But it seems quiet, only a few lights were on downstairs. Well, at least those two numbskulls weren't throwing a party in Mira's absence.

It was a little disappointing really, she'd have loved to have seen them getting shut down by the cops. Well, maybe not so much Blake…

Stomping back over to her seat she clicks on the picture, enlarging it on the screen. What she had found cute when she was 13 she now considered down-right attractive. Puberty had been good to Soul Evans. His bone structure was something to be envied, all high cheek bones and square jaw, no more pudgy cheeks or baby fat it sight. His red eyes were narrowed into a disapproving glare, pink lips pursed slightly in annoyance. He even wore his old scruffy hair style well!

Damn, life was unfair.

Maka still looked the same as she had when she was 13, still very slim with a round face and large eyes, still bony kneed and flat chested. The same body type he'd mocked her for having. Scowling, she clicks on the name that Blake had so faithfully tagged in the picture.

Soul Evans' page was a definite surprise. She'd expected, with a face like that, to see pictures of him everywhere, hell, if she looked that good she doubts she'd ever stop taking pictures of herself. Instead, his profile pic was of a grand piano and his cover photo was of some stock image of night time scenery.

Strange to say the least. It looked like the profile of a technology inept 40 year old, not an attractive 16 year old. In fact, the only pictures of his face on his entire profile were the ones Blake had just tagged him in, all the others were artsy, aesthetic shots of skylines and architecture, the sort of stuff that would probably find more success on Instagram.

A weird feeling settles in her stomach the more she looks. Was it because she was being a stalker? No. It was only a bit of innocent snooping after all, she had only been curious! Maybe it was because Soul wasn't quite the annoying dudebro she'd painted in her head (at least not on Facebook). It was easier to think of the boy who had broken her heart as some douchebag rather than the awkward, shy boy she had once been friends with.

Now she was having doubts again.

Shutting down the page quickly, Maka moves away from her desk, choosing to settle down on her bed with her new book. But it was hard to concentrate now, something about his profile wouldn't stop nagging at her.


She should've known that Blake would see right through her excuses and he'd never been very good at just letting things lie. That's why Maka wasn't entirely shocked to see Soul being frogmarched into the Diner by said loud-mouth after 3 solid weeks of her brushing them off.

Even if it wasn't a complete surprise, Maka still wasn't ready for this. Maybe if she could just stay behind the counter she wouldn't have to interact with them? During the few weeks since Soul had come back to Death City Maka had become a master of deceit. She'd used every lie in the book to get out of each and every one of Blake's scheduled 'hang sessions' for the 3 of them, even managing to fake a sprained ankle and a sudden bout of the flu.

She hadn't even been able to go to the store in peace, having to dive into the fruit and veg isle at the first sign of blue or white hair. It was the one place she was sure neither of them would ever go.

It was only a matter of time before her luck ran out though.

"OI, PIGTAILS!" Blake bellowed "CAN WE GET SOME SERVICE OVER HERE?" he bangs his fist on the table, making the condiments rattle loudly. He was doing all this on purpose, his smug, self-satisfied smirk said it all.

Aw fuck.

"Just a minute! And be quiet, there's other customers than you, y'know!" she bristles, looking frantically around for her boss.

"Mira?" she calls, her heart pounding as she rises onto her tiptoes, trying to see through the hatch that went through to the kitchen.

Ox's face pops up instead and Maka has hold back a scream at the sudden appearance of his grouchy face. That last thing she needed was to have to deal with his annoying ass too!

"She's in the back and she's busy" he says snidely, arms folded across his chest.

"Fine" Maka grits out. There goes that idea. If she went running into the back looking for Mira's help it would just make a scene and would properly make her look completely incompetent. She was a good waitress, damnit!

She could do this, she could do this. Just take their order, make some small talk and get out of there. It's just one table.

It was only Blake, it was only Soul, for Christ's sake!

"AH! THERE YOU ARE! God, talk about crappy service!" Blake exclaims as she reaches their table. She tries to keep her gaze locked on him and not the man sat across from him. It was lucky that everyone in town knew that Blake had no concept of an 'inside voice' or he might've drove off customers.

"Oh shut it Blake, what do you want?" she asks, flicking to a clean page in her notebook.

"Cheese burger, fries, soda -" he lists on his stubby fingers

"It's 10am!" Maka says incredulously, his bizarre eating habits really shouldn't surprise her by this point.

"You're not my fuckin' mom, Nerdling!" his loud voice at this time in the morning is making her wince.

"No! But your mom is in the back right now, I wouldn't want her finding out about that order if I were you."

"FINE! Scrap the burger!" Blake huffs, throwing his hands up in defeat. Good. It seemed he was at least smart enough to remember not to cross Mira Nygus-Barret.

His expression turns from kicked puppy to spawn of Satan in approximately 0.2 seconds as he glances between her and his companion.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Blake says in what is meant to be an innocent tone "you and Soul haven't seen each since he got back!"

God did she wanna punch him.

"Don't take it personally, bro! Pigtails is super busy" the way he says it makes it utterly apparent that he knew she'd been ditching them. To read books no less.

Maka glances over the table at the man in question, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. It was a little easier to look at him after stalking him on Facebook because now, at least, she wasn't completely unprepared to see how well he'd turned out.

But the picture had only shown him from the neck up, it didn't show his broad shoulders, or the tanned arms. And his hands! She forgot what a sucker she'd been for his hands!

He glances up at her, elbows leaning on the table (who knew forearms could be so attractive?!) his mouth twists in a way that was meant to be a smile but just looks incredibly forced to her. He'd never really been good at pulling the wool over her eyes.

Minus their last encounter of course.

"Yeah, it's been a while" Maka acknowledges, pleased that her voice comes out (mostly) steady, even if her knees feel like jelly.

The last time they'd been face to face he'd kissed her.

"Yeah, hey" Soul grunts and God is his voice deep, that's so not fair! His fingers drum quickly against the table, his gaze all over the place, as though he couldn't focus on her. It somewhat pleases her. At least he seems embarrassed about how he'd left things with her.

And so he should!

"Here for the summer?" she asks a little tersely, she might as well gather Intel now that she's in this shit-show.

"Nah" he shakes his head "gonna finish school here and look after gran" he mumbles.

She felt like she was gonna puke. How was she meant to avoid him now?! She's never thought it a possibility that he'd be here permanently! God, she's gonna have to live on the fruit and veg isle, isn't she? It's the only way she'll be safe!

"He's gonna be at our high school, Maka! GREAT NEWS, RIGHT?" Blake grins wickedly, slapping her on the back, nearly knocking her into the table.

"Ouch, Blake! Don't do that!" she barks before clearing her throat, getting back to the job at hand. She's a professional, after all.

"Okay, so what would you like?" she asks Soul, not trusting herself to make any comment on his plans to stay in Death City. She'd probably end up saying something snarky, definitely something she would regret.

He had always wanted to come off as the cool guy, well, she'd show him how cool she could be!

She marches back the register once she'd jotted down their orders, giving the details to Ox before opening the door the supply cupboard. Throwing herself onto a wooden crate. She buries her face into her hands and lets out a muffled sound of anguish, kicking her heels into the box.

Okay, maybe she couldn't be cool. But he didn't need to know that!


Blake is sat on the curb outside the Diner when she leaves work several hours later. For a brief second it feels like she's gone back through time. Like she was 9 years old again. That she can just join Blake on the curb, count the cars that pass by, that they could play tick-tac-toe in chalk on the tarmac, maybe even jump on their bikes and head to the old Evans' farm to see if Soul could come and play.

Perhaps she'd worked too hard in this heat, maybe she needed to sit down.

"What're you still doing here?" she questions, slinging down her bag, neatly folding her skirt underneath her as she sits down beside him.

"Waiting for Mira" he snaps into life as he catches sight of her, smirk firmly in place "Sid's working late at the farm, soooo I'm in charge of getting her home!" he looks rather proud of himself, that his dad would actually give him responsibilities.

"Oh okay" she hums, not exactly sure why she'd decided to join him, her shift was over, she should be at home, relaxing with a nice book.

"HEY! What the fuck was that earlier?!" he asks after a few seconds of silence, turning his whole torso to look at her, green eyes squinting suspiciously.

"Oh my God, Blake, can you take it down a few octaves, please!" she hisses, jabbing a bony finger into his side, not wanting her business broadcast to the whole of Death City.

"FINE! FUCK, JUST DON'T JAB AT ME AGAIN, YOU'VE GOT FINGERS LIKE FUCKIN' SKELETOR!" Maka shoots him a withering glare. It's not quite up to Liz's standards but it's the best she can do.

"Fine!" he says, much quieter this time "what the fuck was that earlier?" he stage whispers.

"What do you mean?" she plays dumb. It's an oldie but a goodie.

"You and Soul? I've seen you talk to complete strangers better than you talked to him! What's your beef, Maka? I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL BROS!"

"Oh, that" Maka sighs "I don't know, he's been gone for such a long time, things are bound to be awkward" she can't meet his eyes, not when she was constantly reminded of first kisses with his 'bestest bro'.

"It wasn't with me and him!" Blake insists.

"Well that's because you're great at filling silences" that was certainly one way of describing Blake's conversation style.

"I ain't that dumb Maka, you aren't that awkward with people, 'specially with people you already know. I SMELL BULLSHIT!" he tugs at her pigtails roughly.

"He was awkward too!" she protests, wrenching his hand away.

"HA! He's always like that!" Blake shakes his head "but you're not!"

"I can't explain it, Blake!" her hands flail around exasperatedly.

"Why? You wanna tap his ass or somethin'?" his eyebrows wiggle.

"NO!" she roars, smashing her face into her palms as he cackles, clutching his own stomach.

"Is this about your mom?" he sobers, wiping tears of mirth away with his index finger, tone suddenly more serious.

"No!" she groans, peaking at him through her fingers.

"Because he couldn't have known, Maka, don't go blamin' him for that shit. It was all just bad timing!"

"Really bad timing" Maka mutters darkly "look, I don't blame him for that. It's not his fault about that. I just….I don't know, maybe I'm still a little mad about him disappearing on us". It was the truth, even if things ran a little deeper than her friend was aware of.

She remembers how distraught they'd both been when the emails stopped coming. It was the February after their last summer together when Soul stopped all contact. Blake had kept trying and trying to get some sort of response out of him, practically spamming him with questions but they never heard anything from Soul after that. When summer rolled around again they were to be informed by a rather sad looking Ruth Evans, that her grandson wouldn't be visiting that summer. He didn't come the following two summers either. It was like he just slid off the face of the earth.

"Well you're gonna have to work that shit out between yourselves because me and him, we're cool Maka, we're all good. I ain't gonna hold no grudges just 'cos he fucked up once when we were kids" Maka stares at him, mouth slightly agape. "But there's clearly still something stuck up your ass about it. So, you should just get it all out in the open!"

Of course Blake was fine about it. He probably just gave Soul a bit of a hard time, a few punches in the arm, a couple of taunts and they were all good. But Soul hadn't made any promises to Blake, he hadn't taken Blake's first kiss and ran off into the night (or at least she hoped not!).Blake hadn't had his heart broken the way she had.

"God, I can't believe you of all people are encouraging me to talk about my feelings" she mumbles, resting her cheek in her palm.

"Tsu's a great influence!" he looks a bit dreamy at the thought of his girlfriend, Maka has to stop herself from gaging.

"But seriously, he's staying and you're not going anywhere either" Maka tenses, NYU coming to mind "I wanna bring him into the group, Maka! But I can't do that if you've still got your panties all in a twist!"

He wants the best for the both of them, her and Soul. He's trying to look out for them in his own strange way. He's asking for her permission first though, because she's his 'oldest bro', his first friend. She knows that if she really didn't want Soul hanging around with them he'd listen, but she doesn't want to do that to him.

Because when all else in her life had crumbled away Blake had still been there. An unmoving presence in her life.

"I'll try and sort it, okay? Just stop yelling about my panties!" she gives in reluctantly "I can at least be civil, Blake. It's not like I'm gonna turn the Thompsons against him or anything either. He can hang out with the group if that's what he wants"

"Alright, cool!" he grins, seeming to relax at her words "ENOUGH OF THAT DOCTOR PHIL SHIT FOR TODAY!" he rolls his shoulders forward, making Maka wince when his joints pop.

"Agreed" she sighs.

"Hang around a bit longer and I'll give you a ride too!" he grips her shoulder roughly, jostling her in a way that was affectionate by his standards.

"Okay…thanks" she says, trying to hide her warm smile by biting the inside of her cheek. Because Blake Barret, for all his flaws, was a good friend. Probably her best friend, even if it felt like he was gonna rip her shoulder off if he wasn't careful.


"Oh my God! They're so cute!" Maka squeals, bobbing up and down as she stood on the bars of the fence, leaning over to look the seven baby piglets, her pigtails dangling wildly.

"Yeah" Soul shrugs from inside their pen, filling their troth with fresh food "they were born the night I got here. A pretty good welcome home present"

"You're so lucky, I wish I could keep one!" she sighs longingly, pink lips pursing into a pout.

Soul snorts, leaning against the fence from the other side "that's a stupid idea, have you seen how big they grow" he gestures to their mother who's fast asleep in the corner "you want that fat lump running around your house?"

"Don't be rude!" she swats his arm "Bessie is beautiful! You leave her alone!"

He did have a point though, her mama would kill her if she brought home a pig (even if it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen!) she doubts Blair would be too fond of it either.

"Whatever" he rolls his eyes.

Maka wants to hit him again because she hates his one word answers. But she finds herself distracted as he rakes his long fingers through his messy hair. Damnit, were her teenage hormones kicking in or something? She'd only just turned 13, wasn't it too soon to be getting this flustered over a boy?

Soul was her friend! He wasn't someone she should be swooning over.

"Have you shown Blake yet?" she asks, dragging her eyes away from him and his stupidly pretty hands.

"Nope" Soul grins a little, dimples now visible, making a popping sound on the 'p' "you're the first one"

He was making her head hurt. How dare he be this cute!

"Really?" Maka beams at him, oblivious to the blush that was now creeping across Soul's cheeks.

"Yeah" he clears his throat a little "you can name one if you'd like"

Maka bounces on her heals excitedly "oh my God, okay, hmmm" she peers into the pen, looking at each baby in turn "can I name that one?" she asks, pointing to the one in the back corner.

"Typical that you'd pick the runt" he shakes his head exasperatedly.

"Clearly I have a soft spot for the losers of the world. Why else would I hand out with you?" she smiles at him smugly, rather pleased with her come back.

"Oh haha, laugh it up, Maka" he grumbles "do you wanan name a baby or not?" he tries to play it off but Maka knows the comment has him irked.

"Fine" she sticks out her tongue at him "okay ummmm" she ponders, chewing on her bottom lip as she watches the piglet snuffle its snout into the hay.

"Ah, I've got it! Crona!"

"Crona" Soul deadpans, giving her a flat look "what kinda name is Crona?"

"It's a perfectly good name!"

"God, you Death children are into some strange shit!" he smirks, resting his forearms on the top of the gate.

"Like Soul is any better"

"My name is cool!" he defends, puffing out his cheeks.

"You keep telling yourself that" she smiles sickly sweet, patting the top of his head patronisingly.

"Piss off" he grunts moodily, waving her hands away.

"Don't swear, Soul! I'll tell your gran!" she threatens, tugging at a tuft of his hair

"Like hell you will!" he reaches through the bars, attacking her sides, manging to hit all the ticklish spots on her ribs and belly.

"No! No! SOUL!" she squawks, half screaming, half laughing as her feet slip off the gate, making her land on her butt onto the dusty ground with an 'ooft'.

"Tch," he snorts "dork" but still climbs over the fence to tug her back to her feet.