Tantalizing love

Chapter 3:

~Rude Awakening~

Morning came too soon. Light filtered in through my bedroom curtains causing me to burrow deeper into my comforter and pillows. Maybe if I blocked out the light, I could continue to pretend it was 3AM. Unfortunately, sleeping in is impossible when Maka is demanding my presence.

For the second time in less than 4 hours, Maka flung open my bedroom door and stepped in. "Soul, time to get up! We're supposed to give Wes a tour of Shibusen today."

Cringing, I lazily pulled my comforter over my head and rolled away from the sound of her voice. I groaned, hoping maybe she would get the message and leave me alone. "Soul I'm serious!" Maka said warily.

I wasn't fazed. No way in hell am I going to give him a tour with only a few hours of sleep. Then again, Maka can be pretty persistent. I listened as Maka's footsteps continued further into my room and stopped beside my bed. The next thing I knew, I was blinded by light as I tumbled to the floor in a heap of blankets and pillows. What the hell. I squinted against the glare of light coming from the window and looked up at my bed. There stood Maka, holding up my mattress with an innocent smile on her face. Great, she dumped me out of bed…

"Good morning sleepy head!" Maka said gleefully as she set my mattress back on the bed frame. I sat up exhaustedly and gave her the best glare I could muster after being woken up so abruptly. She laughed.

"You look so disheveled!" She said trying to stifle her laughs. "What did you expect? You dumped me out of my bed." I grumbled. looking around, I took in the mess of blankets and pillows littering my floor. Aside from the few crumpled papers that missed the bin, my room was usually quite clean. However, with the contents of my bed now on the floor, I loathed the thought of having to pick everything up later.

Maka flopped onto my bed on her belly, "so are you going to come out now? I made some toast, maybe that'll help you wake up?"

I stared at her tiredly, weighing the benefits of going back to sleep with the consequences. "Sorry Maka, it's gonna take more than just toast to get me out of bed this early." I then happily flopped backwards into my cushy pillows and attempted to sleep once again. The sound of Maka's flustered voice brought a sense of peace to my soul. Almost comforting, like everything in the house was as it should be and Wes was gone.

"What's it gonna take hmm?" Maka asked taking a deep breath. Her patients must be wearing thin if she's already doing breathing exercises. I grinned.

"Orange juice."

"Orange juice?"

"yes, orange juice… We're out of it, so you'll have go get some from the store… I'll wait here."

"… "

I cracked open an eye, curious as to how Maka was taking the news. She was seething. She ripped off my blankets and I scrambled to cover my boxer clad form with a pillow. "H-hey!" I shouted as her rampage continued. She towered over me, glaring and holding her ultimate dictionary in a threatening manner. "You can have milk." She grumbled out. I looked up at her from my position on the floor. "Damn, your chest looks flat even from this angle on the floor. There's literally nothing there."

What was that old saying? Old habits die hard? I guess habits and I are like two peas in a pod cause I'm still wondering how I'm still alive.

I was Maka chopped on the spot and drug into the kitchen in my underwear. Wes probably enjoyed every second of it.

Finally seated in the kitchen, I sipped on a glass of milk and munched on some toast. I half heartedly listened to the light conversation Wes and Maka were having simply because she was inquiring about his music. Funny, she never asks me about the music I play or listen to.

"Ahh, so you must practice quite often huh?" Maka asked as she took another bite of toast.

"Yeah, but after going through a piece a few times—"

Ugh, listening to him talk was unnerving and boring. I could be catching up on my sleep right now. I looked out the window, it was a pretty dreary morning with puffy grey clouds swirling overhead. Looks like we're gonna get rain. Now that I think about it, we rarely get rain here in Shibusen, considering we're in the middle of a desert.

~Flashback~

"Do we have anymore pasta for spaghetti Soul?" Maka asked holding a package of pasta in her hand. "Uh. I think I used the last box last week." "Ok, here's a new box then." She dropped the box in the basket I held and continued looking up and down the various aisles.

"I think we have everything." Maka said as she glanced at the shopping list she had on hand. "alright, let's get out of here then, I feel like I've been holding this basket forever." I swung the basket into my free hand, giving my hand a much needed break. I looked at my watch curious as to how much time we had spent in the store. Maka can be pretty indecisive when it comes to comparing products. "Huh, we spent an hour and a half in here." I looked up at Maka who had stopped to read a few headlines on some magazines. "It's not like you have anything better to do. I just want to make sure we get stuff we'll like." She smiled and turned toward me, rocking back on her heels. " Ready to go?" I smirked back at her. "Yeah."

It didn't take long at the check out counter and before we knew it, we were on our way home, carrying groceries.

"So soul, it's your turn to cook tonight. What are you going to make?"

"Eh, I dunno. I guess some soup."

"Soup? Why Soup?" Maka asked with a small smile lighting her face.

"It looks like it'll rain soon, if it does then it'll probably get a little cold tonight." I shrugged, watching her body language carefully. I always carefully inspected her reactions when I made suggestions. If she seems like she isn't in the mood for something I intend to cook then usually I would just make something else.

"Oh, good idea," Maka said smiling up at me. I grinned back, it's really hard not to return her smiles.

As we continued walking down the winding cobblestone side walk, Maka stopped suddenly, holding out a hand and tilting her head toward the sky. A few drops of rain landed on my forehead as I turned my head upwards as well. The sky had darkened significantly since we left the store. "We better hurry or we'll get soaked." Maka said as she picked up the pace a bit. However it was in vain, for it seemed like the droplets increased with our pace. Before we knew it, we were running for shelter as rain pelted down and thunder roared overhead.

Maka Sighed in disappointment. "Who knows how long we'll have to wait for this to let up." She looked up at the dark clouds from the small overhang we found in front of a closed fruit stand. God I hate it when she's disappointed. I handed her the bags I was carrying and she accepted them with a look of confusion.

"If you think I'm going to hold all the bags while we wait, then you're horribly mistaken." Maka said giving me a disapproving look. I rolled my eyes as I took off my jacket. "Nah, you just have to carry them home. I'll keep you and the groceries dry."

Maka gaped at me.

"but you'll get wet."

"No big deal."

"but you might catch a cold!"

"Pfft. I'm not that weak."

"Weakness has nothing to do with it."

"Whatever, let's just go ok?"

With one last disapproving look, Maka began walking forward. I held my jacket over her and the groceries as we made a run for home. Ironically, I did catch a cold that night and Maka never let me hear the end of it.

~End Flashback~

I was disrupted from my thoughts by the sound of shattering porcelain and a frantic Maka.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine Maka-chan, it was an accident." Wes said sounding humored.

Maka looked at me with wide eyes and a flushed face while Wes was busy wiping what looked like spilled tea from his shirt.

"What just happened?" I said eyeing the broken cup on the floor.

"Maka accidentally dropped the cup of tea she was handing me. I'll go change real quick." As Wes excused himself from the room, I looked back over to Maka who was now stooping over to pick up pieces of broken porcelain. I sighed as I stood and knelt down to help her.

"Normally you just pour tea for people. What made you decide to try and hand it to him?" I asked feeling a little sorry for her.

Maka flushed more. "Shut up Soul, I really don't need this today."

I blinked. Need what? It's not like I'm trying to give her a hard time. Frowning, I walked over to the counter to grab some paper towels.

Wes came back wearing a red T-shirt, sporting a logo advertising some company he toured with. Maka stood as he entered the kitchen again. My frown deepened as I continued cleaning the mess on the floor.

"I'm really sorry Wes. I didn't mean to—"

Wes laughed lightly. "I already told you it was fine Maka-chan."

"Surely it burned you though, at least let me have a look." Maka said obviously still feeling guilty.

Wes ran a hand through his hair. "I promise I'm fine Maka, no need to worry." He then smiled and placed his hand on her head. "It's too cute that you worry so much."

Maka blushed.

I could feel jealousy's sweet venom running through my veins. How the hell does he make it look so easy to tell her that she's cute when she's worried? I glared at Wes as I finished mopping up the tea.

"Cu-cu-cute?" Maka stammered, her face nearly as red as Wes' shirt.

"Certainly, I'm sure you hear such statements from Soul all the time though." He laughed.

Maka gently shook her head and I stared hard at the floor as I made my way to the garbage to throw away the tea soaked paper towels.

"So how about that tour of Shibusen?" I said trying to change the subject.

Wes glanced out the window. "Seems we'll have to save it for another day. It's raining."

I looked out the window myself. "oh… it is." The rain was coming down hard, making an escape from the awkward conversation at hand impossible.

"How about a movie?" Wes proposed turning toward the living room.

I guess Wes picked up on my mood, he's always been pretty perceptive.

"Sure." I said, turning my attention back to Maka. She still had that stupid look on her face and hadn't moved from where she stood in the kitchen. It bothered the hell out of me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.