Locked In The Rain
"Soul, stop it." Maka claimed as she adjusted her blonde pigtails and straightened out her knee length pink dress.
"I'm not going to Maka." Soul replied, sarcasm and irritation dripped from his voice. Maka huffed and flipped around so she was now facing him instead of the mirror.
"What's your problem today? We're just going out for dinner." Maka claimed as she crossed her arms firmly over her chest.
"Maka, he's a jerk. Don't. Go." He replied with a sharp glare in her direction.
"How would you know? You never talk to Chad anyways." Maka claimed as she sat down on a chair by the kitchen table and began to strap up the short heels she wanted to wear.
"I've heard enough about him to know he's bad news."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Maka asked, suddenly growing defensive over her date for the evening. She had been looking forward to this night ever since Chad asked her out to dinner two weeks ago, and once the day of the date had arrived, Soul started getting all tense about it.
"He's dated three girls in the past three weeks."
"Maybe that's just a rumor."
"But what if it's not?"
Maka sighed and stood, grabbed her small purse with her as she huffed and started for the door. "Look Soul, you don't have to like him but the least you could do is be happy for me." She angrily grabbed the doorknob and squeezed it in her palm until her knuckles turned white. She refused to turn it however, until Soul had answered her in any form. A grunt, a snarl, words, anything.
"I'm not happy for you. I never will be, because I know he's going to hurt you."
Maka squeezed her eyes shut at the comment, and without another word she slammed the apartment door shut and scurried down the hallway. "Jerk!" She mumbled loudly to herself as she ran down the several flights of stairs until she reached the main floor of their building. She proceeded to head towards the tiny restaurant only a few blocks away, where she would be meeting him.
"The least he could do was not say anything. So what if he doesn't like him? It's my date not his." She continued to grumble to herself as she pulled out a compact mirror and stared at herself in it. She pulled out her pigtails and fixed her long, straight hair with a tiny wave to it. "Perfect." She whispered as she slid the mirror away and sat down at the tiny bench outside of the italian restaurant.
And she waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Maka checked her watch after what felt like forever and saw that it had already been an hour. "It's fine, maybe he got caught up with something."
Suddenly, Maka felt something cold and wet on her nose. She gently used her finger to brush it away, and realized it was water falling off of the tiny balcony hanging over the eatery. Maka gasped and smiled in awe as it began to rain down upon the streets, causing couples and families to pull out umbrellas, pull on jackets and for little kids to run through the growing puddles. There was something about rain, something that Maka couldn't describe, but she loved it. Just the thought of eating dinner with Chad while rain falls down out the window gave her goosebumps. That's the perfect idea of a date. Then they could walk home through the rain together sharing the same umbrella, and the whole way she would laugh and smile because of what a great guy he was.
Maka didn't realize she was daydreaming until a couple left the restaurant doors beside her, causing her to jump slightly. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost reaching an hour and a half of him not being there. Maka stood and began to pace back and forth, placing pressure on her heels and then slowly falling onto her toes; a habit she does when she's worried or stressed.
"Maybe he had extra work, or maybe something happened with his family, maybe he's late getting back from something..." She mumbled to herself as people after people began to leave the restaurant behind her, always being indicated with another ring from the small bell hanging over the edge of the door frame. It was almost as if it was mocking her, like every time a person left, there was a free table for her and Chad. Chad; who still wasn't there.
An hour and forty-five minutes.
An hour and fifty-five.
Two hours.
Finally Maka threw her head into her lap in defeat. He wasn't coming. He stood her up. Worst of all, Soul was right. She grabbed her cell phone out of her bag and glanced at the text message she had sent to Chad after she had been waiting for half an hour.
Hey :) where are you? I'm waiting out front of the restaurant.
Tears began to cloud her vision as she realized that he hadn't replied because he was planning this all along. The whole time he just wanted to stand her up. Soul was right; he was a jerk.
Soul.
Maka looked back in the direction of their home together. How was she supposed to go home and say that everything went well? Soul could tell when she lied. How is she even supposed to get home when she told Soul that Chad was driving her home? Ugh, Chad. That name even sounded foul in her mind now. She glared mentally, but her physical body didn't chance from the blank expression she wore.
Cautiously, she took one step out from underneath the balcony of the restaurant as the fast falling rain began to drip down her bare arms, soak her blonde hair and darken her pink dress. She quickly brushes away a falling tear mixed with a raindrop as she started down the sidewalk back home. "Maybe I should come clean? No, then Soul would do that 'I told you so' smirk and leave me to wallow alone." Maka mumbled to herself as she walked, not minding the odd stares she got from strangers. Dry strangers might she add; with coats and umbrellas. "What if-"
"What if you stop walking around through the rain and hop on?"
As soon as the voice spoke, her fists clenched and her expression turned fowl. However, she stood still and refused to look at the white-haired teen parked on the street beside her. She refused to give him the upper hand by getting on. So, after a brief moment of standing still, she continued to walk forwards.
She could hear a sigh escape Soul's lips over the pounding rain. Of course he was wearing a jacket, so his clothes weren't dripping. "I can just leave you know! Leave you alone out here to freeze!"
"Pft!" This time, Maka said that aloud. Soul wouldn't leave, she knew him too well. He would either wait, or follow her along the sidewalk on his motorcycle until she got on. He was only bluffing.
But suddenly, she couldn't hear the purr of the engine anymore. Maybe she had walked too far? She didn't dare turn around however, if he really was still there then he would see and know that she didn't want him to leave, and because of that she wouldn't let her curiosity get the better of her. A sinking feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. Maybe he had left, maybe he got sick of her always being so stuck up and refusing to take help that he gave up.
A warm hand wrapped itself around her left arm and spun her around him she was face-to-face with piercing red eyes. Her eyes widened as she stared over his shoulder to see his bike locked and turned off.
He ran after her.
With a frustrated sigh, his leather jacket came off and was thrown over top of Maka's shoulders. Maka moved her eyes and her eyes only so that she could see Soul. Unlike she predicted, he didn't smirk, he didn't flick her forehead and say 'I told you so.', he didn't even speak. He wrapped his arm over her shoulders and started dragging her back to his ride. Maka was tempted to break away, toss his jacket back and stomp off, but what's the point now? Soul won, Chad had won. Maka was the loser, and she had to face that. She can't change the fact that she's always stuck with guys who want nothing more than to see her fail and be hurt.
"Hop on." Soul's gruff voice stated as he ran his hand through his ruffled and damp hair. He was already seated on his bike, had just unlocked it and was just about to start the engine. Sluggishly, Maka sat on and wrapped her arms around his waist so that she didn't fall off. Finally, the engine roared to life, and Soul sped down the street towards their home. They cold rain added with the wind from their ride made Maka sneeze and shiver. She couldn't imagine how cold Soul must be; jacket-less.
Speaking of which, why did he give up his jacket? He didn't even say a word when he threw it over her. Why? She had treated him so horribly before, and now look. Look at her. Look at them. Soul had picked her up, given her is jacket, and chased after her...for what? She couldn't even feel Soul shiver, no goosebumps, not even a tiny cough or sneeze. Soul Eater was made of steel. Slowly and carefully, Maka rested her head against his back.
Nothing.
No reaction, no movement, nothing.
Soul had no emotion whatsoever.
Maybe he was too frustrated and couldn't do anything, or maybe he was saving all his emotions until they were in the confinement of their home where nobdoy could see him mocking a helpless girl. Finally, once they reached their home, Soul jumped off the bike and offered Maka a hand. She stared at it curiously before taking it and following him off. Soul was silent as he held the door open for her, walked up the stairs and unlocked the apartment door for her.
Almost...like he was being a gentleman.
"Go get changed into something dry." He stated as he ruffled his soaked hair. Maka turned and stared at him. He didn't even make eye contact with her. Where's the Soul she knew? The Soul that would tease her for letting this happen again, the Soul that would make her yell and slam doors, the Soul that would always smirk and laugh and tease her? Why has be been replaced with his boy-no-this man who's doing kind things for her and never giving a second thought to a nice gesture? Why? Where did the REAL Soul go? Before Soul had a chance to leave the room, she spoke.
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
Soul turned his body to face her as he gave her a what-the-heck? type of look. "What?" He asked, emphasizing the 'wh' sound.
"You're being so nice! Why?" Maka asked, growing more frustrated. "I'm expecting you to tease me or something because I did it again! I picked another guy that is just a jerk!" Maka's voice cracked at the end of the sentence as her eyes began to well up with frustrated tears. Soul's gaze softened slightly at the sight of his friend, his partner about to break down. Maka never cries. "I want you to tease me and make fun of me! Not show me what I can't have by holding doors open and giving me your jacket! Why did you pick me up?! You KNEW he was a jerk and I still went so why don't you make fun of me?! Being nice to me is just making me feel ten times worse because it's just telling me that you PITY me!" Maka's voice grew to yelling.
"Maka-"
"No Soul!" Maka yelled taking a step away from his out-stretched hand that he was offering to her; almost as a gesture to calm down. "I don't want you to pity me! Don't be nice because you know that I'm just a failure when it comes to finding a person to truly care about because there isn't one! I'm just a loser Soul!" Soul's eyes widened at the statement. "I know that I'm never going to find a person to care about me and now you know that too! It's a fact! I'm just a-"
Maka felt two strong arms wrap around her body and pull her into Soul's chest. "So-"
"I don't pity you Maka." Soul whispered into her ear. His whispering oddly calmed her as she closed her eyes and relaxed into his chest, her arms pressed against him as well. "Yes, admittedly you do pick guys who are jerks. But you don't deserve that, you deserve a person who treats you right. Like the princess you are." He claimed with a small chuckle. "You deserve a guy who cares about you. Can't you see that that guy is closer than you think?"
Maka's eyes widened. 'Is he...'
"I want to be that guy." He said softly as his lips rested on the top of her damp blonde hair. Maka could hear his heart beat increase drastically. Was THE Soul Eater-nervous? Maka let a tiny gasp escape her lips as a tear rolled down her face. "I know you better than anyone Maka. I want to make you feel happy and loved."
"Soul..." Maka whispered softly as she pulled away slightly to get a look at his face.
"Will you let me be that guy?"
Maka stared into Soul's blood red eyes for a moment. He was telling the truth. Maka slid her hands to the side of his head and pulled him down closer to her face so she could press her lips against his. They remained like like for several moments, their lungs gasping for air as Soul's arms found her waist. 'Sparks flying' would be an understatement. Their hearts were fumbling everywhere, sparks were going crazy all around them. They could be flying and they wouldn't be able to tell. Finally after what felt like an eternity, they pulled away from each other, their arms still linking their bodies.
"I take that as a yes?" Soul asked, his classic smirk returning to his face. That smirk that Maka loved and had been wanting to see all evening. He had been saving it for her, for this moment.
"Yes." Maka replied with a tiny smirk of her own. Their lips were just about to touch again when Maka pulled away and lightly sneezed. Soul laughed and ran a hand through his hair, causing beads of water to fall to the floor.
"Better go get changed first. I'll do the same." He claimed as he headed off into his room. Maka giggled happily and twirled in a circle before she headed into hers. She changed into her classic PJ's while Soul grabbed some grey sweats and a white t-shirt. Soul managed to grab a blanket as well. Maka stepped out of her room just after Soul had left his. He placed a large blanket over her head, but left room for her to see as he wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her to the couch. Soul plopped down into a half on-half off the couch lying position and tugged Maka down on top of him. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it tightly around her body and grinned.
"Now, we can relax." Soul claimed as he switched on the TV and relaxed against the couch. They had-only been watching TV for a good 5 minutes before he felt added weight to his chest and felt Maka's steady breathing. He gave an inwards chuckle and grinned. "Sleepy-head." He claimed as he gently kissed-the top of her head. He gently pulled her into a tight embrace to keep her warm as he closed his eyes as well.
Being the guy to treat Maka right is the coolest thing he's ever done.
With that thought in his mind, he drifted off to sleep, right next to the girl who will now be his.
FIRST SOUL EATER FANFIC I REALLY HOPE IT DIDN'T SUCK!
And if it did...whoops. If that's the case don't worry because I ALREADY HAVE AN IDEA FOR A FRUITS BASKET FANFIC AND I'M GOING TO WORK ON THAT TOO AHHHH
Anyways, bye! Thanks for reading and please leave me a review :3
- tayrox
