A/N: Second piece so far, it's only a tad bit longer than the first chapter. The piece after this one will definitely be longer. I'd like to thank the people that have read and reviewed thus far. I commonly listen to music as I write anything so if you'd like to hear some of the things that helped possibly influence this story, check out SZA's Babylon, her single with Willow Smith called 9, as well as FKA Twigs' LP1 album, (my personal favorites to listen to while writing this are FKA Twigs' songs Kicks, Closer, and Pendulum.) These songs really have a melancholy feel to them with a really strong sensual edge. They're pretty good if you're into stuff like Massive Attack, Bjork, or Portishead. I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors.
Much love,
Shrieker.

I, in no way, receive profit from this, nor do I own the Soul Eater franchise.

Part Two: Dissension

Maka awoke to once again hear faint knocking on her door. She uncovered her head and glanced over at her clock. It was nearly half past two, meaning she wasn't asleep for very long.

Her door cracked open, an alabaster head of unkempt hair peeking through. "Maka, you asked for some porridge. I knocked earlier and you didn't answer." He scowled at her and snapped. "Do you still want to eat or what?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second…," her tone grave.

He mumbled something under his breath but continued to close the door.

She sat up in bed and pulled the cord of the blinds to allow the sunlight through, a grimace clear on her face. 'Why did it have to be Soul, of all people? It couldn't have been someone, anyone, else!' She stopped her train of thoughts, knowing that it truly couldn't have been anyone else. It had to be Soul.

She raked her fingers through her hair, hoping to improve her otherwise disheveled appearance. Once finding mediocre satisfaction in her hair, she straightened her shorts down, hoping to maintain some of her modesty without having to actually change. Stalling to her best ability, she walked over to her vanity and studied herself. She wasn't really that unattractive was she? She still appeared the same way she did when she was 14 to herself, but she supposed watching yourself grow from a day-to-day basis made you oblivious. She still had long hair, it having since grown a little past her mid back. She no longer wore her iconic pigtails, instead wearing it down her back with her bangs trimmed shorter, now skimming her eyebrows in choppy pieces. The only difference in her facial features that she could notice was that her face had lost the once child-like roundness, and that she was now only slightly more feminine, with medium to long lashes that framed her emerald shaded eyes. She was so impeccably plain it hurt, her only notable growth, besides her figure, being that she was now more vulnerable to her partner's lack of romantic interest.

Deciding that she had better finish quickly before Soul decided to come back to her room with more of an attitude, she deemed herself presentable enough to leave the sanctuary of her room and braced herself to Soul's scrutiny and probable questions.

Soul was sitting at the table, facing away from her with his trademark perpetual slouch. His shoulders were tense, giving the impression that he was still irritated with her but he had a bowl sitting across from him, the spoon and napkin alongside it.

"Thanks for dinner," She proceeded towards him with caution, feeling guilty for falling asleep and then having an attitude. While grabbing her spoon, she glanced over at him to assess his expression, which was surprisingly blank though he was pointedly looking away from her. "You're not going to eat?"

Instead of answering her vocally, he simply shook his head.

Maka felt a pang of regret in her chest. He seemed really upset that she had fallen asleep. It had probably only reiterated the possible assumptions he had made about her avoiding him. The internal debate continued inside herself as she absent-mindedly stirred her spoon around in her bowl. What could she even say or do to rectify the situation?

She peeked at him, noting how the years had aged him flawlessly in opposition to her. His hair had grown, and he always looked as though he had just risen from bed. His vermilion eyes seemed to glow, even in complete darkness, and had the habit of drawing her in as if she was being sucked into a vortex, such as now though their gaze was pointed away from her. His jawline was defined, seeing has he had lost the baby fat in his face, far before she started maturing physically. Her eyes traveled along the course of his body, taking mental notes on it as if her life depended on it. He wasn't extremely muscular, at least not in the sense of mass; he was simply lean. She didn't know many details concerning how defined his body was, seeing as recently Maka would avoid any chance to see much of Soul's body, whether subconscious or not. He would often walked to his room after a shower clad in only a towel or would sit in the living room in a pair of jeans or basketball shorts when the heat would flare, during these times she would make herself as scarce as possible. Her eyes traveled further down his body only to stop herself in embarrassment while Soul appeared to remain oblivious.

She cleared her throat, "I really appreciate this, Soul. I know it seems like I've been avoiding you a lot lately-."

He scoffed, finally turning his attention to her. "Yeah, I've noticed."

She cut her eyes at him, her guilt redirecting itself as irritation. "Well, I've had a lot on my mind, recently."

"Like what?"

"I told you not to worry about it, Soul," her tone borderline threatening.

"I'm going to worry about it, Maka. You're my meister, and I feel like I don't know who you are anymore. No one ever sees you anymore, you're constantly shut up in your room, and if I do see you, you're either pissed off or depressed."

She knew he was just worried, she knew that they were both blowing this out of proportion for whatever reasons, but her nerves were shot and she was on edge. In short, she was sick of always feeling like she wasn't good enough. "I told you that I don't want to talk about it! If all I am to you is a meister, shouldn't you only concern yourself to my mood if it's concerning the battlefield?"

His scowl faltered, transforming into confusion. "What are you even talking about?"

Without missing a beat, "figure it out for yourself, idiot," that being said, she grabbed her bowl and proceed back to her bedroom, slamming the door in the process.

She knew that she was just taking her own insecurities out on him, she knew it was unwarranted and that he didn't deserve it but she was still angry; angry at him for worrying, angry at him for always being there for her, angry at him for knowing her so well; but most importantly, she was angry at herself for letting herself fall in so deep. She had never been in this position before; it was always herself against the pigs known as men, and she refused to break her promise to herself over a stupid man. At least she thought that she refused. She wasn't so sure anymore. If given the chance for something less than platonic with him, she wasn't even sure what her decisions would be.

Her realization in short had muddled up a lot of the ideals she held about herself. She had always been defenseless against self-doubt and angst, Soul almost always being the one to pull her out of the darkness, even in the more literal sense, but now she wasn't just defenseless, she felt conquered by this doubt. Were her feelings for Soul more than simply wanting to be with him, to connect with him physically, to feel him moving about and within her? She was unsure but she had the lurking suspicion that it was far more than what she had earlier come to realize.

She could hear the TV in the living room blaring but then it was shortly turned off. Then Soul's quick footsteps could be heard as he marched to his room and slammed his door. She could feel her heart sinking, knowing that she was the cause of his distress. Having lost her appetite from the argument, but not wanting to somehow insult him further, she ate in silence, the entire time staring at her door.

Once finished she laid in bed, staring emptily at the ceiling. What could she possibly do? Was it even worth it to try and fix their relationship? Should she let her feelings be known and make a move, or simply focus on fixing their friendship to avoid the risk of destroying their partnership completely? She couldn't imagine her life without Soul, he had been such a corporal element to it for so long, how could she ever go back to being alone? She could feel tears spilling down her cheeks, not understanding when she started or why she was even crying. She wasn't sure how to stop, so she gave in to it, letting these bewildering sentiments wash over her, until she was sure she would drown in it.

She woke up again to her door being opened. It was sometime after one o'clock in the morning. Assuming first that it was Blair, sneaking into her room after a late night at work, Maka closed her eyes. Only to shortly realize that Blair no longer lived there.

She sat up quickly, calling out to Soul in pure panic, not even registering whose name she was calling before it had slipped out.

"Calm down, it's me." The voice sounded like it belonged to Soul much to her chagrin.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, allowing them to adjust enough for her to make out the sight of his stark white hair glowing in whatever light was being illuminated in her room. "Soul?" she sighed, relieved but also ashamed at having exposed her dependence to him. She paused her thoughts of humiliation long enough to wonder, "What are you doing in here?" aloud.

He studied her momentarily before answering quietly, "I think I understand now why you were so upset earlier…

A/N: Yes, I know, I ended this segment at a bit of a cliffhanger but that's because I actually have a question for the readers thus far, as well as a bit of an announcement. Would it be well received if I continued this story for a few more chapters (I'm think making this a 3-5 chapter sort of thing)? Also I've decided to change the rating to M, because the next chapter will have more adult suggestions. If I decide fully decide on a lemon, I'll post a warning in advance. Let me know your opinions.