Haha, day late on this but here is Day 2: Trust
It was pitch black outside, with the moon and stars hidden behind the thick clouds, matching the inside the Soul and Maka's apartment. It was around one in the morning and the meister was wide awake sitting in the living room, staring into the darkness without seeing, lost in her thoughts. 'Why?' she thought. 'It's not fair. It was supposed to be my day. Why did it have to be like this?' Her throat tightened and she felt a tingling sensation behind her eyes and in her nose but refused to cry. She had done plenty of that earlier tonight.
She sighed gently, bring her knees up closer to her chest to hide her face in them. She tried to keep her mind blank but when that didn't seem to help she just tried not to focus on the thoughts that filtered through her head. She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that until she heard the door to Soul's room open.
She looked up to see the white haired weapon step out, probably to head to the fridge to drink out of the carton of milk again, but stopped when he saw her. "Maka? What are you doing up?"
She smiled, but she was sure it didn't reach her eyes. "I should be asking you the same thing."
He huffed. "I'm just... getting a glass of water?"
"You're a terrible liar," the meister countered but turned her head away. "Just get your milk and go back to bed." She was just too tired to deal with him tonight. She was expecting him to follow her orders but was surprised when he sighed and came to sit next to her, flopping down on the sofa.
They both sat there in silence without looking at eachother. Maka wasn't sure what he was doing until he sighed again and asked, "Alright, what's wrong?"
"What makes you think something is wrong?" she countered looking over at him.
The white haired boy glared at her a little conveying 'I'm not a complete idiot.' "For one you're up at 1:30 in the morning and for another you didn't yell at me when you know what I am going to do. So what's up? Is it about what happened at the party?"
Maka unintentionally flinched before looking quickly away, bringing her knees closer to her chest. They both sat in silence again. "So it is about the party?" Soul asked, sounding more like he was stating a fact. "You know Black*Star is an attention hog-"
"It's not that," Maka interrupted quickly. "It's..." She fell silent, unable to voice her problem.
"...I can stay here all night Maka," Soul said when he realized she wasn't going to be forthcoming with information. "Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me." He stared at her, sitting up more to know that she had his full attention.
"...Papa was at the party," she said in a frank manner.
Soul blinked rapidly. "He was? I didn't see him."
"I saw him when I went outside for some fresh air after Black*Star took over the mic on stage," she continued. "He... he was drunk, Soul. He tried telling me things like how much he loved me and would never do anything to hurt me... the usual things."
"But he always says things like that," Soul said, still not understanding. "You just ignore it, or hit him."
"I know...," she said quietly as her hands gripped her pajama bottoms. "It's just... it was my birthday- my Sweet 16- and he... he used to tell me those things when I was a kid..." She bit her bottom lip to stop them from trembling. "When he was telling me those things I was just reminded of all the things that he had said in the past. I trusted him so much back then but now... I can't..."
Soul sat back a moment to think about what she had said. He knew that even though she hated the Old Man's actions she still loved him. She may deny it, but he knew.
"And then Mama didn't call...," she went on, interrupting his thoughts. The sound of a half sob escaped her lips and she immediately moved to head back to her room. "I'm sorry I'll just-"
"Now wait a minute!" Soul quickly said, snatching her wrist to bring her back down on the sofa. "We need-"
"NO!" Maka yelled yanking her hand back. Both of them finally looked at each other for first time, Maka's eyes watery while Soul's were shocked. His mouth was hanging open, eyes wide, and his hand was still in the air. Beneath the shock though, the meister saw something... hurt. Had her outburst hurt Soul? Why?
"Sorry..," Maka said quietly, breaking eye contact to look at the floor. Neither of them spoke again for a few minutes and she debated with herself on whether she should just head back to her bedroom when he spoke again.
"...Maka do you trust me?" The meister looked up at him, surprised by the question. The white haired weapon though wasn't even looking at her, instead looking down at his hands that rested in his lap.
"Of course I trust you," Maka said fiercely. "We're partners."
"Then why won't you let me help!" Soul snapped looking up at her. "You keep pushing me away whenever we... you know, have talks like this. Like, me seeing you cry or show any weakness is going to change my opinion of you! I have been with you for two years and in those years when have I ever let you down? Well... let you down on the important things!"
Maka stood there, wide eyed. Soul was angry at her, really angry. She could count on one hand the number of times he had ever snapped at her like that. "I..."
"Don't think! Answer the question!"
"None!" she snapped back. "None alright!"
"Exactly!" Soul countered. "Not once have a lied to you about the important things! Not once have a broke a promise to you! I may have withheld information but never lied! I am not you Old Man, Maka!"
That stopped Maka's thoughts. "Wh-What does that have to do with anything!" she shouted stomping her foot.
"Everything!" Soul shouted back, jumping up. "Every time someone tries to get close to you, you push them away! I trust you completely, you've seen me at my worst! But when I ask for the same thing you run away! You're letting Spirit rule your life! Stop it! Talk to me!"
"I can't!" she shouted, anger and frustration controlling her now. She closed her eyes, pushing back tears, as she continued her rant. "One day you're going to be like Papa! You're going to promise me something and then not do it! Or worse be like Mama and go away! I won't be hurt like that! Not again!" She let out a loud sob and covered her face feeling for the first time the tears that lined down her face. She couldn't stop the sobbing no matter how hard she tried and felt absolutely lost at this point. 'What now?' she thought, not planning on revealing so much. 'What am I going to do now?'
She was surprised when thin arms wrapped around her shoulders. "It's ok," whispered Soul, gently starting to rock them back and forth. "It's alright." That increased Maka's crying more.
Maka didn't know how long they stood like that, Soul offering comfort as best he could while Maka just continued to cry, letting out emotions that she had held in for so long. When she finally calmed down, she hiccuped before pulling back enough to look up at her weapon. "I'm sorry," she said again.
"Nothing to apologize for," Soul said with a big smile. "Do you feel better?"
Maka paused; her chest didn't feel as heavy anymore and she felt a little lighter all around. "Yeah...," she said quietly. "Yeah, I do."
"Cool," he said, pulling away. When he did that, Maka had the sudden urge to ran back into his arms. She held off though, even if she did like having his arms around her.
"Thank you Soul," she said quietly, wiping away the tears from her face.
"It's cool," Soul said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pj's. "Sooo... you feel like talking about what happened with your dad?"
Maka thought about it for a moment. "If you want," she said, nearly laughing at the surprise look on the weapons face.
"Ah... Alright. That's cool." The two of them then sat back down on the couch. It was silent for a moment, both of them unsure of how to begin, before Maka quietly started.
The two of them continued to talk through the night, discussing things that should have been said long ago. Maka explained what had happened with her father, telling why it upset her so much. Soul listened to every word, putting in his own two bits here and there. That talk eventually led into their home life and Soul, though a little bit reluctant, did finally talk about his family. It didn't surprise Maka that he came from a family of musical geniuses but was surprised at how... cold they seemed to Soul. She vowed then, even though he tried to play it off as not being important, that she would do her best to make sure that he was appreciated no matter what.
The two of them continued to talk and laugh, bringing them closer than they ever were before. They hadn't realized that they had scooted closer together until their hands touched. Maka's first reaction was to pull back but Soul's hand caught hers and she looked up to see a huge smile on his face and she couldn't help but to let him see a smile of her own. The two of them didn't let go as they continued to talk, growing closer than they had ever before.
Maka wasn't sure how long they stayed there or even when they both fell asleep. All she knew was that the next morning, she was suddenly awoken by a loud squeal. She jumped up ready for an attack but was piled drive by Blair, congratulating her something while being squashed by her boobs "Blair!" she yelled. "Get off!"
"Nyah! I am so proud of my Kitten! Finally going after her man!"
"For God's sake Blair! It's nothing like that!" Soul yelled trying to break the two up.
The three of them did an awkward tango until the weapon and meister finally kicked Blair out of the apartment, both of them hoping to explain later that nothing happened between the two of them- or whatever Blair thought might have happened. Maka looked over at the clock on the wall, horrified that it was almost ten am. Thankfully they didn't have school today so she didn't hit full panic mode.
She looked away and caught Soul's eyes. The two of them smiled at each other. "Last night was fun," he said. "It was nice."
"I was," Maka agreed with a nod. Suddenly, she yawned. "I'm still sort of tired though. I hate to waste the day, but I think I am going to bed."
"Right," Soul said, shrugging. "I might as well too." The two of them stood at the front door for a moment, neither of them really wanting to leave each other after having the heart to heart last night. Finally though Maka did pull back and start to head to her room.
"Well, good night- I mean good morning," she laughed.
"...Hey Maka?" The meister stopped to look at Soul, caught unguarded at the uncertainty in his voice.
"What is it Soul?" she asked, a little worried.
"Do you think...," the weapons started with grimace. "That we could keep this night between the two of us?"
Maka was unsure about what he was asking, though it slightly hurt a little. Slowly though, she caught on that she almost laughed. The thing that happened last night was just between them. He was trust her not to ruin his 'cool' image and likewise, she would trust him not to tell anyone about her moment of weakness. "Sure," she replied.
Soul stared at her for a moment before nodding with a smile and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Cool," he said starting to walk to his door. "But if I get the feeling that you did tell, I'll tell the entire school that you read romance novels."
"Soul!" Maka said horrified. "How the hell do you know about that!" She started to move towards him to give him a good chop to the head but he was fast and able to escape into his room, laughing.
"That's my secret!" came the muffled reply. Maka stood there, glaring at the door but she soon dropped it and smiled. Her partner was so weird.
Though sleepy, she felt extremely happy. 'Thank you, Soul,' she thought as she headed to her room. 'Thank you for allowing me to trust someone again.'
Much love to all who read!