I do not own Soul Eater. Also, the characters may be a tad OOC. (I meant to say that in the first chapter) AU as well. Hope you all enjoy the chapter. The entire fic is written but I'm working on editing it. I will be updating next Thursday.

Chapter 2 WYRW

For a while things got a whole lot better for Maka, and subsequently a lot worse for Soul.

Ever since the whole Soul Hiro meeting, Hiro had become the boy that she had fallen for that summer, always taking her on dates and just being there for her. She didn't know what had caused this change but Maka was extremely pleased with it. It was so good to be doted on again as well as simply appreciated by her boyfriend. However, there was one downside to this situation. She saw Soul less than ever before.

It wasn't as if they hung out a lot outside of class, besides him tending to wait with her for Hiro to show up for their dates. But all the same, Maka couldn't help but regret the fact that over the last month Soul and her hadn't had a really good chance to just sit and generally talk. She found herself really missing it too. Something about Soul just made her feel completely comfortable and she liked that. Maybe it was because he called her weird so she knew she didn't need to try and impress the guy, it was too late for that. Or perhaps it was because their banter was always so much fun and stimulating. He somehow managed to make her feel calm. Being with him felt like she was breathing normally again after holding her breath for hours.

However, she felt like he was pulling away from her. Soul had seemed… off, to put it lightly, for the last few weeks. He still grinned at her, but it wasn't the same as before. Something was wrong with him, but she didn't know how to ask him about it. Frankly, every time she was about to bring up the subject, he would get this look in his eyes that told her not to ask, that it wasn't any of her business. She would have never admitted it, but it hurt more than he knew.

Soul was sad for some reason, and for whatever reason, he was blocking her out as if to keep her from knowing why. Maka didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

The only good thing about seeing Soul less, that Maka could think of, was Hiro wasn't nearly as pissed. Not only had he become a complete gentleman for the last few weeks, but he had been trying to be a bit more understanding of Soul and Maka's relationship… and failing. The moment that Maka would mention Soul, Hiro would wince slightly, or god forbid Hiro saw the guy, he immediately started to glare at him. Soul seemed unperturbed by these actions, but Maka was more than a little annoyed with it.

She had tried discussing it with Hiro, but frankly he shut her down every time she brought it up. This merely served to upset Maka more than piss her off. She found herself steaming and thinking that if Hiro couldn't handle being friends with or even just being civil to her friends, than he shouldn't be her boyfriend. She'd always feel guilt immediately afterwards though. After all, the boy had showed her time and time again just how much she meant to him and of all the faults that he could've had, this wasn't that bad… right?

Simply put, Maka was confused and she didn't like it. The way things had been going, she felt like she should have been happier than ever, and instead she found herself getting angrier and angrier with the littlest things the Hiro did.

Suddenly him opening the door for her made her feel weak as if he thought she couldn't do it for herself. The way he would do anything she asked without argument perturbed her. She didn't feel like he spoke up about any of his desires except for her to drop all of her guy friends and only spend time with him. Then he was keeping her so busy with dates that she had hardly found any time with Tsubaki to hang out like they usually did. And when she tried to tell him she already had plans with her best friend, he'd smile that blasted smile and talk sweetly to her until she had called her friend and canceled giving one excuse or another. Everything with him just felt wrong, and she didn't know what to do about it. He had also taken to leaving her apartment really late at night and then returning the next morning before she had class. While she had found it sweet and surprising the first time, it was now getting on her nerves because not a free moment went by for her that he wasn't there trying to engage her in some sort of conversation, and frankly she just wanted some privacy. She wouldn't have been surprised if he even started to try and spend the night at her place, something she was far from ready for.

Worst of all, she didn't know who to talk about it with. She had always gone to Tsubaki for help, but between Hiro monopolizing all of her time and the fact that Tsubaki was in this mind blowing new relationship, she wasn't being able to talk to her best friend at all. It was getting to the point that she started going to school hours early with the excuse of studying, which wasn't a complete lie, just to get away from Hiro for a few hours in the morning.

"You look like shit."

Maka immediately jumped at the voice, not expecting anyone to talk to her as she hid out in the far corner of the basement of the school's library. She looked up, "Soul." A small smile made its way to her lips. "What brings you down here?"

He raised an eyebrow at her before sitting down across from her at her table. "Okay spill, something's obviously up because I just insulted you and all you did was ask a polite question in reply. Where's my short tempered tiny friend?"

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but quickly closed it not knowing what to say. She looked back down at the paper she was working on. "I'm not that short," she whispered half-heartedly under her breath.

"That's a better response but not quite up to the standards that I'm used to. Maybe if you tried it with a little force next time."

Maka knew that Soul was just being cheeky, but frankly she couldn't handle it at the moment. After staying up late the night before trying to catch up on her school work, she was exhausted and really didn't have time to humor Soul. She quickly began to gather her things shoving everything into her bag haphazardly while refusing to look up. She knew that she would break if she did. "If you actually want a proper conversation with someone then perhaps you are looking at the wrong person okay!" she snapped, starting to walk away.

"Hey hey hey," Soul quickly ran to catch up with her as she stormed past him.

She whipped her head up in response and he was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. "What!" she snapped, oblivious to how Soul had just frozen wide eyed staring at her.

Maka gestured for Soul to hurry up and say whatever it was that he had been so adamant about saying, but she just watched as he opened his mouth and nothing came out. If she hadn't been so pissed, she might have actually been amused. Still, she couldn't help but soften seeing the confusion in Soul's eyes as he struggled to find the right words to say to her. However, she didn't have time to simply stand here and do nothing all day. Knowing that her cheeks were probably puffy now and her eyes red from the tears that were still threatening to continue to flow, she decided to take her leave.

Sighing to herself, Maka said, "Look I'll talk to you later okay?" and started to turn away from Soul.

That's when he finally managed to spit out something. "You're such an idiot."

She froze and she could feel her throat clench painfully tight as she tried not to let anymore tears form. Why couldn't she move?! She just wanted to get out of there, now that Soul was apparently mad at her for some unknown reason. Her mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour and she couldn't seem to slow it down. She couldn't manage to view what was going on objectively, and that Soul wasn't mad at her at all. Maka couldn't help but rush to conclusions, because quite frankly, she was exhausted.

Just as she opened her mouth in hopes of sarcastically telling Soul that he really knew how to charm a lady with such lovely compliments, she felt her wrist being grabbed, and the next instant she was pulled against a hard chest as two arms wrapped lightly around her.

Of all the things Soul could have done, Maka had most certainly not expected a hug, and suddenly it was as if the floodgates had opened and unadulterated tears streamed down her face as she buried her nose in Soul's shirt and clasped on to him with her hands as if her very life depended on it.

She cried because she was so tired and staying awake in class was becoming a battle. She cried because she thought that she was on her way to falling in love with Hiro, and now she couldn't wait to get away from him. She cried because she hadn't had a real conversation with Tsubaki, her best friend, in over a week, and quite frankly she felt as if she had been replaced by the girl's new boyfriend. She cried because she had just been so terrible to Soul and while he did call her an idiot, he was now having to suffer through her tears. Hell, she cried because of her parents' divorce from years ago. She cried because she simply couldn't take it anymore. Everything was too much and now all she wanted to do was cry it all out.

Maka could hear herself sobbing about everything to Soul as she continued to bury her face in his chest, but even she couldn't make out what she was saying. She knew she was babbling, but frankly she couldn't stop even if she had wanted to. Thankfully, Soul didn't seem to mind.

Soul simply waited for Maka to essentially pour her soul out to him. He mused that he should have suspected that something was wrong with the girl a hell of a lot sooner. In fact, he was rather annoyed with himself for having not noticed. Sure, he had been avoiding seeing Maka for any extraneous amount of time, but could you really blame him for it. After all, the only thing he could think of when he was around her was that she was a taken girl and he had no right to want her for himself.

But now she was hurting, and he couldn't help but think that he might have been able to help had he been paying a bit more attention to her.

All he could do now was be there for her as she sobbed harshly on his chest. Soul didn't know how long they were standing there, but it became pretty clear to him very quickly that Maka was no longer actually supporting her own weight. He had given up fairly quickly making out what she was ranting to him about, knowing that she would explain better and more calmly when she simply got it all out, but feeling her body practically go limp in his arms, Soul knew that he wasn't going to get any explanation any time soon. It was clear that she was severely exhausted, and more than anything else, she simply needed sleep.

Therefore, the moment he felt her knees buckle unable to hold her own weight anymore, he quickly scooped her up into his arms and swiftly carried her over to one of the few couches in the library basement. She didn't even seem to notice as he placed her sitting between his legs still pressed against him.

Thankfully, for Maka's sake, she went still pretty quickly after that, and he could only assume that crying had simply been the last straw before the poor girl had simply passed out. At first, Soul couldn't help but stare at her, especially when she nuzzled him lightly with her head in her sleep. But as he became more and more comfortable with the position, he realized he had a few things to do.

Moving as little as he possibly could, Soul managed to dig his cell phone out of his pocket without waking the girl in his lap and he quickly dialed a number.

"Hey Tsubaki, I'm gonna need a favor."

Warm. That was Maka's first thought as she slowly drifted into consciousness. However, upon realizing she was most definitely not in her bed, and that this was not some kind of dream, Maka quickly sat up with a start banging her head into something rather sharp.

"Damn it!" she hissed under her breath as she clutched the top of her head in pain.

"Holy shit you have a hard head," she hear someone sharply reply, and her eyes popped open in surprise. Emerald met crimson and for a moment neither of them broke eye contact not even realizing that Soul's hand was still touching his chin while Maka's rested on her head.

She blushed. Soul noticed but didn't say a word as he was pleasantly surprised but knew it was inappropriate.

Finally Maka, unable to take the tension between her and Soul, looked down and away. Although that was when she became acutely aware of the fact that she was in Soul's lap. She quickly scrambled to get off of him and almost managed to wipe out when her legs got tangled with his own. Thankfully, Soul had quick reflexes and managed to steady her in time before helping her situate herself next to him on the couch.

He might have been upset with how quickly she had wanted to remove herself from him, if it hadn't been for the permanent blush staining her cheeks as she tried to calm back down. He couldn't help but think she was adorable. And then he wanted to kick himself in the shins as he remembered not only that she was very much taken, but that he was being really sappy, even if it was just in his head.

"So…" she began, taking a huge breath, "What exactly happened… uh… here?" She refused to look up at him, instead she chose to stare at her hands in her lap.

"I teased, you got upset, tried to walk away, I stopped you, you cried, and then you passed out," Soul quickly recounted wishing he could touch her again but knowing better than to…yet.

Maka took a deep breath closing her eyes trying to calm herself back down as she remembered her complete breakdown in front of Soul of all people. Though she didn't know why she felt like it was so much worse having done so in front of him. Maybe it was just because he was a boy. Yes, she was sure that was why.

"Sorry," was the first thing she said after a couple of minutes.

He didn't answer right away, but when he did she was surprised. "What the hell are you apologizing for?" It came out more sharply than he had meant it to, but frankly he was a little pissed that she could possibly be taking blame for whatever just caused her to break down.

Maka looked up at Soul slowly. "I shouldn't have snapped at you when you first tried to talk to me down here."

"Forget about it," he quickly interrupted before she could say another word. "I was acting like a douche and obviously pushed you over the edge. If anyone should be apologizing it's me." Neither spoke for a moment. Maka didn't know what to make of Soul's half-ass apology and opted to simply stare at her hands once again, and Soul was hesitant to say more. However, anything was better than the current awkward silence.

"So what made you get to the edge in the first place," Soul quickly muttered. Maka glanced over once again only to see Soul deliberately looking anywhere except for at her. It was almost cute. And as soon as the thought came, it left.

"I thought that I already told you," Maka said, hoping that Soul might drop the subject.

He chuckled. "If you mean you spluttered incomprehensible and scattered thoughts into my shirt, then yes, you already told me."

She tried to keep a grin from spreading on her face, but Soul caught her when she glanced up at him. When he raised an eyebrow, she couldn't resist any longer. A small giggle escaped her lips. Soul couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as a small smile settled on his face as well.

"So you gonna tell me what happened now?" he asked gently placing a hand on top of Maka's which was resting in her lap.

Maka took his hand in hers, happy for the comforting gesture, and then she told him everything.

She told him about Hiro being overbearing. She told him how she was super stressed with all of her classes. She told him about her worries that Hiro might be ready to sleep with her. She told him how she hasn't been able to talk to Tsubaki in weeks. She told him how she was a tad jealous of BlackStar. She told him how she's missed talking to him after class. She told him how tired she was. She told him how her parents got divorced when she was a kid, and she's never really been able to get over it.

She told him everything.

And he listened to it all, making comments here and there, but for the most part just letting her pour out her soul about anything and everything that was on her chest at the moment. Tears came to her eyes once again, but he simply wiped them away each and every time and she felt herself pushing to keep talking.

Maka was almost disappointed when she hit the point that she had nothing else left to say.

"So what do you think?" she asked suddenly feeling her stomach tighten up with nerves.

Soul looked her directly in the eyes as he responded. "I think you need to take care of yourself before you worry about anything else."

"But Soul!"

He held up a hand to stop her. "You told me everything that's been going on, and now I want you to listen to me without interruption okay?"

Maka nodded, having noted that Soul wasn't being mean; he just obviously had some things to say about her situation.

"I'm not trying to lecture you like a parent, but I'm beginning to think that you worry so much about your grades, relationship, and making sure you don't offend anyone, that you forget about making sure that you're okay."

Maka nodded, unsure if she really believed him but knowing he was trying to help. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "Here's a question, when's the last time you had a full meal that wasn't a date with Hiro."

Thinking back slowly, her eyes began to widen slowly. "How long?" he repeated.

She looked back down into her lap before answering. "About a week…" Soul was silent. "Or two."

"Damn it Maka!"

His voice made her jump in surprise and she couldn't help but notice several people in the room looking over at the two of them. She had to get him to sit back down as he had stood up violently and was now proceeding to pace back and forth. "Soul calm dow-"

"No Maka," he whipped his head to stare directly into her eyes as he froze directly in front of her. He stared at her frozen when he saw that she was wide-eyed as if in fear of him, and Soul immediately felt guilty. He ran his hand down his face, trying to make his features relax. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten Maka.

"Look, we're going to get lunch right now and I'm going to pay for it okay?" and with that he quickly scooped up Maka's bag along with his own and began to walk away.

Maka caught up fairly quickly. "Okay," she answered so quietly that he wasn't even sure that he heard her.

They silently made their way up the stairs and out of the library before just what they were doing hit Maka. "Wait, we're going to lunch!?"

"Yeah."

"What time is it Soul?! I have class, and I had class this morning, and oh my gosh how could I have missed that. Where am I gonna get notes for class and holy shit I have to go to my next class right no-"

She went silent the moment that Soul grabbed both of her shoulders. "Calm down Maka."

Together they took a deep breath, but Soul could still feel how tense Maka's shoulders were under his hands. He hoped it was just the stress of missing class and not because he was touching her again.

"I called Tsubaki while you were asleep and she's gonna make sure to take extra good notes in class today for you, and together the three of us will find someone to borrow notes from for your other classes, okay?"

Everything in Maka's head was telling her to grab her bag and run; that she had to go to class no matter what anyone else said. Maka had her routine, and part of that included always going to class. To skip, and for no apparent reason, it was wrong and frankly a terrible idea.

"You're not skipping for no reason Maka," Soul suddenly interjected himself into her thoughts.

"How did you know what I was-"

"Maka," he interrupted, "It was written all over you face. Plus, you're pretty predictable, at least when it comes to school."

"But I am skipping for no reason."

Soul sighed. "No you aren't. You're skipping because frankly if you push yourself any harder you're just going to seriously hurt yourself or get sick or something." He squeezed her shoulders lightly, trying to portray some sense of comfort in his actions. "Look, we're just going to get lunch and some food in your system while I tell you what I think of… well everything you told me."

Maka would not have been convinced, except for the way Soul looked at her. He was smiling slightly, but much more prominent to her was the sense of nervousness yet eagerness behind his actions. She could admit to herself that she needed a day off easily, but more so than that, she really did want to hear what Soul had to say about it all. She needed a second opinion, and frankly after he listened so intently to everything she had to say, she wanted to specifically hear his opinion.

So she gave in. "Okay."

Not ten minutes later Maka and Soul were sitting at a corner table in the food court eating two burgers and fries, courtesy of Soul. Maka hadn't even realized how hungry she was until the moment he set down the food in front of her and its fumes engulfed her nose making her mouth salivate in anticipation. She quickly gulped down the food not even bothering to really taste it, just enjoy the sustenance it brought her.

"Geez, maybe you want to slow down a little. You eat like a guy," Soul commented dryly.

Maka swallowed a particularly large bite. "Sorry, I didn't realize how hungry I even was," she said grinning.

Soul felt his features soften. He realized that the girl in front of him really needed someone to take care of her. And he was finding that he enjoyed the rather ridiculous job, which he was beginning to feel rather cheesy for.

"So what exactly are these thoughts that you wanted to share with me," Maka asked finishing her food and proceeding to steal a couple of Soul's fries.

Shoving his fries over to the girl, Soul sighed. "First you have to promise not to say anything until I explain completely."

She was hesitant, but nodded all the same, gesturing for him to continue. "You need to talk to Hiro," she nodded in response agreeing completely.

"Maka, I don't just mean talk to him and work things out, you need to tell him everything, and I mean everything that you just told me."

Her eyes went wide. "But if I did that I might-"

"No talking!" Soul quickly cut her off, but he went ahead and answered her fears anyway. "Yes, you might hurt his feelings and his pride, but honestly he's a big boy and he should be able to handle it." Soul paused, "And if he can't, then frankly he shouldn't be in an adult relationship."

For a moment the two sat in silence, Maka knowing better than to speak, and Soul trying to figure out exactly what to say next. "I don't want you to misinterpret me Maka okay? I'm not saying to simply break up with the guy. I'm saying that the two of you need to communicate better and maybe even take a step back in your relationship."

Blank faced, Maka simply nodded along with Soul's words. He took it as a sign to continue on. "You also need to talk to Hiro about the sex thing."

Maka's eyes immediately widened as a heavy blush stained her cheeks. "But-"

"No buts Maka," Soul took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. Talking about sex with Maka had definitely not been on his to do list for the day, or every honestly. "If you are going to be in a long term relationship with someone, then issues like sex are going to come up."

"Can we please not talk about this," Maka begged whipping her head around obviously afraid that someone might have overheard them.

Soul chuckled at her apparent embarrassment. He'd have to remember that Maka really couldn't handle talking about sex next time he wanted her to blush. However, he did have one thing more to say on the subject that was a bit more serious. He quickly shifted into a stern look as he proceeded, "Yeah, but one last thing. Don't let him pressure you into doing anything that you don't want to do okay Maka? Cool guys don't force the girl to do anything she doesn't want to do."

Feeling how serious the conversation had suddenly become, Maka nerviously tried to lighten the mood. "Cool guys like you," she responded back grinning at Soul.

He didn't smile and simply answered, "Yeah."

The smile slowly faded from Maka's face as she processed Soul's words. Eyes intensely locked together, Maka could practically feel how serious Soul was about what he just told her. Suddenly she felt her heart speed up a notch. Just the thought of doing something so intimate… with Soul. She felt her cheeks heat up even more than they already were. She was thankful that Soul's expression didn't seem to change despite her obvious blush.

One thing was for certain. If she hadn't already trusted Soul, she certainly would now.

True, she was never one to really trust something that someone said seeing as her father was such a liar and cheat to her and her Mama, but looking into Soul's unwavering eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. And honestly, she couldn't even fathom Soul trying to pressure anyone into sex. While he didn't seem like the pushover type that did anything his girlfriend or date might want him to, he certainly was a gentleman, something that Maka was aware of being rather rare.

Suddenly, the two of them realized just how long they had been staring intensely at one another rather seriously. Both quickly sat up, unaware when they had even leaned forward onto the table between them, and proceeded to look anywhere except for at one another.

"So, umm, you should probably talk to Tsubaki too," Soul started, desperate for a topic change.

Maka quickly followed suit latching on to anything that wasn't sex related. "Yeah, I think I'll call her tonight and fill her in on everything that's been going on lately."

"Sounds good to me," Soul nodded. "But make sure you tell her everything, even the stuff about Black Star."

Maka shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "I will, but I'm worried that she'll be sad."

Soul gave her a half smile, "I wouldn't be surprised if she is, but at the same time I know her well enough to know that she'd probably be more upset if you kept something like that from her for very long."

She nodded, "Yeah, she'd blame it on herself honestly, which is far from the truth."

"Yeah we both know it's Black Star that's the blame," Soul added jokingly.

Maka giggled, "Ehh, who knew someone so loud would also be so demanding."

Soul leaned back in his chair, "Actually, this is the first time I've seen Black Star like this, and we were best friends all through high school."

"Me too," Maka added. Soul shot her a curious look. She waved her hand as if dismissing his thoughts, "I mean with Tsubaki. She's never been this into a guy before."

He smirked at that. "That's good to know. Makes me feel better that my best friend isn't falling head over heels for someone who's just casually dating."

"Yeah," Maka agreed.

For a moment the two of them just sat in comfortable silence, simply happy to know that their friends were doing so well and obviously happy with one another. It was nice, talking with Soul, Maka quietly decided. He made her feel… at ease with herself.

"Hey Maka?"

Maka hummed in response looking up at Soul.

He looked nervous. "I know you've got a lot of shit on your plate right now and like you're worried about your past, Hiro, classes, and friends and stuff, but I'm not really worried about all those things for you."

Maka was surprised by Soul's quiet admission. She didn't know what to say in response, so she said the only thing that came to mind. "Why?"

"Because from the day that I met you, you made it clear that you were not a force to be trifled with."

She couldn't help but smirk at that.

"But you know what?"

"What?"

"Who's gonna save Superman?"

Maka stared at Soul in obvious confusion over his words. "What do you mean?" She asked slowly.

"I mean you spend so much of your time worrying about things and other people, that sometimes I worry that you don't ever worry about the most important thing."

"What's that?" Maka quickly asked, baffled over what else she could possibly worry about besides what Soul had just listed for her.

"Yourself," he answered smoothly.

Maka didn't know how to answer to that, probably because she realized Soul was right. She did tend to forget about herself in the grand scheme of her life.

"Can I ask you something?" Soul didn't even wait for a response before pushing on. "When was the last time that you did something just for yourself?"

Immediately Maka began to rack her brain for anything she did specifically for herself. Well there was studying.

"And you can't say studying because that's for class no matter how much a nerd like you enjoys it."

Damn, Maka cursed internally. But that's when she realized she could actually win this conversation… not that her and Soul were competing or anything. "Right now," she said plainly. "This lunch with you right now is something that is fun and just for me and no other reason."

"Doesn't count," Soul murmured gruffly.

Maka's smile quickly turned into a frown as she stuck out her lip a little. "Why not?" she wined childishly.

"Because I made you do this," he answered back simply.

"Well then maybe that's your job."

"Huh?"

Maka blushed having realized just where she was going with this conversation. "You asked who's gonna save Superman," she looked down into her lap clearly embarrassed, "and you made me do something for myself, so maybe it's your job to save Superman from himself… or herself… or me. Whatever!" Maka ended louder than she meant to, and immediately looked around and noticed that quite a few pairs of eyes had drifted over to where her and Soul were sitting. She idly wondered if the blush on her cheeks was now going to be a permanent part of her expression.

For a moment, Soul just sat there staring at her, and then he laughed. He laughed loud and hard as he processed Maka's words. Maka frowned as she continued to feel her cheeks heat up. "Maka, you are such an idiot."

She made a face in response glaring at her supposed friend rather annoyed. "Fine then, I have better things to do than sit around here and have you laugh at me all day," she snapped not exactly mad, but certainly not happy with Soul's reaction.

Standing up, Maka began to make her way out of the university's cafeteria, only to be stopped mere seconds later when something grabbed her wrist. She didn't even have time to squeal before she was pulled against someone's chest smoothly for the second time that day. The scent of leather immediately warned her exactly who it was. "Soul?"

Soul simply held Maka even tighter in his embrace. He knew that she wasn't really annoyed with him, probably just frustrated, and he hadn't really helped by laughing at her. "Maka, just promise me that you'll try to take a little better care of yourself."

Maka wasn't able to control herself as she buried her head deeper into Soul's chest nuzzling him lightly. "And if I don't."

He smiled gently before planting a small kiss on the top of Maka's head. "Then I'll be here to save Superman."

Neither noticed someone else blatantly watching them and steaming in pure fury.

Keep writing- FFG