This is the 100 Theme Challenge on DA. I decided to have a go at it with Soul Eater, since that has been my obsession for a while now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Just this story.

Enjoy!

33. Expectations

Coming out from the shower, Maka had heard some noises from outside the door. She could hear Soul's familiar voice, but then there came another voice; a male voice that she didn't recognize. She toweled herself down and was just about to reach for her clothes when she realized that she didn't bring any clothes with her. Maka panicked and tried to slow her breathing. She wasn't about to have a panic attack while company was over. But, it was hard to compose herself when there was an unknown guest outside the bathroom door, just standing there.

"Oi, Maka. When you're done come outside. There's someone I want you to meet." Soul yelled into the door.

She was about to creak the door open and ask Soul if he could move the guest to the living room, but both were still standing in front of the bathroom door, waiting to meet her. She had nothing but a skimpy towel to cover herself with. There wasn't much left to do except go out there and try her best to not scare the company away. Maka slowly opened the door to reveal herself, clad in only a white towel, which barely covered her body. She tried to sprint across the hallway and down to her room before anyone noticed. Soul was the first to notice her and he immediately felt a nosebleed coming on. Just as Soul was about to open his mouth to tell their guest that they should move, he turned around and looked at Maka. Said guest stared down at Maka and didn't move a muscle. He simply looked at her and then turned back to Soul.

"Soul, you didn't tell me you were dating someone." He smirked, similar to Soul's smirk minus the shark-like teeth.

Maka froze at those words and unconsciously held the towel closer to her body. She slowly turned around to look at the man who was staring at her. She looked at his face and noticed how similar it was to Soul's. Heck, even his hair was the same color. The only differences were his deep voice and taller stature.

"She's not my girlfriend, she's my meister!" Soul instantly blushed at the comment. He looked down and tried to hide his embarrassment. Maka's face went from confusion to embarrassment to anger. Her vision was directed at the shorter of the two Soul's in the room.

"Oh yeah? Well, who said I wanted to be your girlfriend?" She stomped to her room and slammed the door shut. Rustling of clothes could be heard coming from the room, and several thuds coming off the wall.

Soul's look-a-like turned back to Soul and raised his eyebrow up. "Looks like you hit a sour spot, brother." He walked down the hallway and into the living room, stationing himself on the couch. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to entertain himself until Maka came out of the room. Soul continued to stand in the hall, trying to absorb what had just transpired in the last thirty seconds of his life. His eyebrow was twitching and he couldn't stop from gaping his mouth wide open. Finally, he heard the door to Maka's room open, and there she was, fully clothed. She ignored Soul's presence and walked straight to the couch, where there was room for two.

"Hi. I'm sorry I wasn't able to properly introduce myself. My name is Maka Albarn, and I'm Soul's technician. I also apologize for the way Soul behaved just a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, he's always like this." She smiled at him, hoping to appeal to him.

"It's nice to meet you, I am Wes Evans, Soul's older brother. And please don't worry about Soul's behavior. He was such a gentleman when he was living in the house, but that's the exact type of person he wasn't interested in being." He smiled back and pat the seat next to his, motioning for her to sit next to him.

"Well, it would've been nice if he was more like you. Then maybe I'd forgive him for a couple of the things he says." Maka looked at Soul out of the corner of her eye.

"Oi, don't talk about me like I'm not here." Soul finally decided to join the rest of the gang in the living room. He sat in the chair adjacent to the couch and faced the two of them.

The talking commenced for a few hours with Soul and Wes doing most of the talking. Maka added in her two cents every now and then and tried to lighten the mood when painful subjects of the past were brought into the conversation, or when Soul loss his temper a couple of times. Finally, the clock signaled that it was midnight. Wes looked at the clock and then reached his arms up to stretch.

"It seems as if I've overstayed my welcome. It was great seeing you, Soul. I'll have to come by again. Hopefully in the near future." Wes smirked.

"Yeah. I won't hold you to that. I know how busy you are all the time. Besides, it would be unbefitting for someone like you to converse with commoners like myself, anyways. At least, that's what mother always said." Soul scoffed at that last remark.

"You know mother is always looking out for our best interests, Soul. Don't worry yourself with family matters. I know you don't like to, anyways. Just leave that to me. I'll take care of everyone, and let them know that you're doing well." Wes got up from the couch and started making his way towards the door. He put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door and stepped past the threshold. "I'm glad we had this talk, Soul." He nodded his head towards his younger brother. "And you, dear Maka." He warmly smiled down at her. "Take care of my little brother. He doesn't know it, but he needs you more than you and him know it." Wes winked at her and walked down the hallway, never looking back once.

The couple stood at the door and watched Wes leave. They waved one last goodbye at the older of the Evans brothers and close the door behind them. Soul was the first one to lounge on the couch. He outstretched his hand to grab the remote when Maka swatted Soul's hand away from it.

"Tch, what did you do that for, Maka?" Soul looked up, half-lidded and a little irritated.

"Soul… your brother…" She couldn't find the words to express what she was thinking.

"What about my brother? You have the hots for him or something?" Soul lifted his eyebrow up at his own question. Although, why she would like someone like him is beyond his understanding.

"He's… so refined. It just… kind of makes me wonder why you're not like that, that's all." Maka sat on the couch next to her weapon. She was idly playing with her thumbs and looking down at the ground.

Soul breathed in, then out. He closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead. "You want to know why I left my family, don't you?" The silence ensued for a couple of minutes, with only the couple exchanging glances at each other. Soul tried to avoid this topic from the very first time he met Maka. It wasn't very hard, seeing as Maka wasn't the "prying in to your past" type. Now that Wes came over, it seems that Maka's question would later start of an avalanche of questions. He might as well satisfy Maka's curiosity now and never bring it up in the future.

"My family is the prestigious Evans family. Not only is my family filthy rich, but also we're all talented at something. For example, my brother is an excellent violin player. He's played worldwide at different functions for many different rich societies. So, it was only natural that I be good at something." Soul took a deep breath and continued. "I was chosen to play piano and become a pianist for the rest of my life. My…mother sent me to many different private instructors to train harder and harder for my debut when I turned 12." Maka noticed that Soul's voice had become harder, and more rigid than usual. It was as if he was solidifying his feelings and emotions about his family. She continued to stay quiet and listen intently to what Soul was saying. "My whole life, I tried to please my mother by going to lessons without so much as complaining once. It was hard, but I had this… stupid idea that maybe, if I did really well on the debut then she would actually love me." Maka scrunched her eyebrows together and frowned. She bit her tongue and refused to interrupt Soul. "A couple of nights before the event, I was having dinner with my family as usual and I asked my mother the question that had been bugging me for quite some time. All I wanted to know was if she would treat me like her son instead of her puppy she could train. Her response was, "Child, do not ask me such silly questions. Focus on your piano playing and maybe you will make our family proud." Soul paused and looked up at Maka. "I felt so horrible. It was as if she wasn't paying attention to me, her child. She simply wanted to create another legendary Evans to showcase to the world. It was then, that I knew I couldn't live with my family and their hypocritical expectations. So, I packed my things and left the night before my debut. The next night, I assumed that my mother was looking left and right for me, so I felt a little guilty about leaving. When I returned to apologize for my behavior, I looked through the Crimson Room's window and spotted my mother speaking with my brother, Wes." Soul sat up straighter in his seat and leaned closer to Maka. His breathing was a bit shallower as he continued with the story. "From the looks on her face, I'd say that she was furious with me and she couldn't handle my relaxed attitude. I noticed that the window was cracked up just a slightest, so I tried to pry it open further without making a scene. What I heard was…" Soul squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to let his emotions take over.

"Soul…" Maka looked at him with worried eyes. Tears were starting to build up, threatening to fall down her face. Minutes later, he continued the conversation.

Soul was breathing heavily. "What I heard killed me from the inside out." He paused again and turned his head in the opposite direction of Maka. "She told my brother that there was a search party looking for me and that neither she or Wes needed to worry about what could possibly be happening to me. She told Wes to calm down, and worst case scenario he would take over my spot for playing at the concert the next night…" Soul scoffed. "I mean can you believe it? It was like she wasn't worried about my wellbeing. She wasn't worried that I could've been captured by a mass murderer, or killed by a hit-and-run accident. She just wanted her precious fame to be upheld in the Evans household."

Maka's tears were flowing down her face from the confession that Soul had just revealed. It had never really occurred to her that Soul's past was so horrible and cruel. He had a mother that didn't love him and care for him when he was a child. And she thought her papa was bad. "Oh, Soul. I'm so sorry…" Maka wiped the tears from under her eyes. She felt helpless because there was nothing that she could do to take the pain away from him.

For what seemed like an eternity, Soul finally looked up at Maka and smiled. He took a long, deep breath and continued his speech.

"And then I met you. Like myself, you also had a troubled past, but to you it didn't matter what my past was. As long as we could be partners in the future, then we didn't have to worry about anything else." He stopped smiling and balled his hands into fists. "You may not be as cool as I am, but we definitely make a cool team, Maka. I'm glad that you're my meister."

Maka looked at Soul and smiled back at him. She finally understood why they were partners. Apart from them being from two totally different social classes, they both were scarred from their past and learned to create a fresh beginning with each other. She grabbed Soul into a breathtaking hug and stayed like his for minutes. She continued to cry into his shoulder, and all he did was pat her back.

Soul looked down at Maka as she was sniffling into his shoulder. He smirked down at her and grabbed the remote to the turn the TV on. In his mind, he knew that they were perfect for each other. As friends they were compatible, but as partners they were unstoppable. "I am such a cool partner for putting up with you, you know that Maka?"

End.

…So what did you think? I honestly think the ending took a weird turn. You tell me!