A/N: I didn't have a beta for this chapter, so sorry if it's not perfect, I tried my best to edit it, but I'm a bit lazy so I'm not sure. But I think it's fine. Enjoy!

"Morning, sleepy head!" Soul's voice ringing with amusement as Maka walked out of her bedroom

She had changed out of her pajamas and just threw on some sweatpants and a baggy band t-shirt she found in the laundry hamper. She figured Soul had tossed it in with one of Maka's loads of laundry, and she hadn't gotten around to giving it back to him.

"Why am I so tired?" Maka yawned making the words barely understandable, even to her own ears. "What day is it, again?"

"Monday," Soul shrugged as he turned back to the scrambled eggs he was preparing for breakfast.

"Monday… Monday… Monday?..." Maka felt like something was important about the word? the day? the sound? Something was significant about… "Crap! Isn't today the day that Wes is coming?" She shouted, instantly going from tired and ready to fall back asleep to completely awake and stressed.

"Yeah, so?" Soul was wiping his hands off on a towel hanging from the oven handle, and moved the pan of eggs onto a pot holder on the counter and turned the stove off.

"Soooo, we need to clean! We need to get the house ready. Wait, where is he going to sleep? When is he getting here?"

"He didn't tell me."

"Well that doesn't matter right now, where is he going to sleep? Not on the couch. He can sleep in your room and you can sleep on the couch."

"Why do I have to sleep on the couch? Why can't he sleep in your room and you sleep on the couch?"

Maka ignored the clear irritation in Soul's voice as she frantically started straightening up the coffee table.

"Soul, please? It's just for a week. Come on, pleeeaaaaasse?" Maka stopped cleaning to stare at Soul from across the room, making her eyes as big and pitiful as she could, to get him to cave in.

Soul walked over to her, "I don't know. You'll have to owe me one."

"What will I owe you?"

"Haven't decided. But, if I sleep on the couch, you have to owe me something. Be it a favour or just anything. Deal?" Soul extended his hand.

Maka eyed his hand as she mulled it over. She took hold of it and shook it, sealing the deal. "Fine. Now help me clean. This place is a pigsty."

"No, it isn't, and breakfast first." He still had hold of her hand and pulled her over to the kitchen to eat some food. Maka didn't fight it, knowing that Soul was almost as stubborn as she was, and she didn't feel like arguing.

She pulled out her chair, sat down, and Soul scooted the chair forward so she was closer to the table. He went over to the counter and grabbed two plates and the pan of eggs.

"So, what time is Wes coming over?" Maka called over to Soul as the sounds of scraping the pan rang through the air.

He stepped out from behind the counter and walked towards the table carrying the plates of food. "I already answered that question. He didn't tell me." He set the plates down, one in front of Maka, the other in front of his seat, and he sat down in the chair.

"Well, how about you call him?"

"Can I eat fir-"

Soul was interrupted by his ring tone of some song that Maka could never put a name to. Soul pulled the phone out of his pocket, looked at it and winked at Maka.

"Gotta take this." he said as he stood up from his chair, pressing the phone to his ear, only turning away from Maka instead of walking to another room.

"Hello," his voice giving a casual greeting.

He seemed very suspicious to Maka. "Who is it?" She whispered.

Soul put up his index finger signalling her to be quiet and be patient. "Oh, I'm doing great, I was just sitting down to have some breakfast with Maka when you called." He turned and gave Maka another sly wink, getting under her skin even more.

"Who is it, Soul?" she asked, her irritation in her voice sounding more clear than she intended.

Soul positioned the phone away from his mouth and whispered "Hold on, I'll tell you in a minute." He put the speaker back up to his lips and spoke into it, "You know, she and I were actually just talking about that."

"What? Wait, is it Wes?" At this point, Maka was already standing up trying to get close enough to overhear the conversation, but Soul kept pushing her away.

"Alright, that's great….I'll be sure to tell her….See ya then." Soul pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the "end call" spot on the touch screen.

Maka hung on his arm, looking at him with eyes wide with expectancy. "Well?"

"Wes says 'Hi!'" Soul said putting the phone back into his pocket and shook Maka off his arm so he could sit and enjoy his breakfast.

Maka whacked him on the arm. "Soul! When is he coming over?" Maka enunciated each syllable marking them with a point of irritation.

Soul just laughed. "He's coming over at 5. Now, sit down and eat your breakfast."

"5? Well, that's not much time! We've got to get this place cleaned spotless!" Maka turned to go get a broom but Soul caught her arm faster than she could blink.

"Cool it, Maka." he said as he pulled her arm gently telling her to turn back to him. "It's only 11:30 right now, we've got plenty of time. Besides, this place is already clean. We just need to straighten up a bit, maybe sweep, and we'll be fine."

"No but we also need to-"

"Eat breakfast? I agree. Sit down and eat." Soul seemed to speak with genuine care in his voice.

Maka sat down with a huff, stuffing a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

"So, how is your breakfast." Soul spoke up as Maka was about three quarters of the way done with her food.

"Delicious as always." The stubborn girl muttered the words through pursed lips with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"'S'that all I get? So much for gratitude."

Maka just rolled her eyes as she stuffed the remainder of her food in her mouth and scooted her chair back. Soul grabbed her hand as she tried to stand up.

"What's the big rush? Come on, Maka, calm down. Sit and have pleasant conversation."

"No, I'm going to start cleaning. The kitchen needs lots of work." She jerked her hand away from Soul's grasp and ran off into the kitchen.

"Hey, you know what's best for cleaning?" Soul called out to her as he stood up and started walking over to the kitchen.

"What's that?" She shouted above the sound of the faucet filling the sink with water so she could clean the dirty dishes.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Music. Music is the best way to get motivated to clean." He turned his head resting his ear on her shoulder and whispered into her neck, "And you know what the best music for cleaning is?" He placed a quick kiss on her neck.

Maka tried hard to ignore the warmth of both the closeness of their bodies and the soft lips on the bare skin above the collar of the t-shirt she wore, something she normally would enjoy immensely. "No Christmas music, Soul. You already know this."

Soul pulled away from her and place his hands on her hips, spinning her around so she could face him.

"How about that be what you owe me?"

Maka looked at him, confused, "Huh?"

"I have to sleep on the couch this whole week, and because of this, you owe me something. Well, I want to listen to Christmas music. You shook on the deal, you said anything. So, either I get to play Christmas music out loud, or you have to sleep on the couch."

Maka looked in his eyes, his gaze showed victory. He had cornered her and it was a win-win situation for him, and she had to decide which she wanted more; her strict policy of no Christmas music before Thanksgiving, or her comfortable bed.

"Fine." She spat out the word, the single syllable ringing clear with hurt pride and angered defeat. "I'll go grab your CDs." She reached forward and wiped her soaked hands on the shirt he wore. and jumped out of his reach so he couldn't get back at her for it.

She walked into her bedroom, looking back to make sure Soul didn't follow her, before reaching under her bed to grab the shoebox that held the forbidden Christmas music. She pulled out the stack of CDs and-having them piled in her arms, trying hard not to drop them-she walked out of the room.

Soul grabbed all the CDs and hugged them to his chest. Whether it was so they wouldn't fall, or because he missed them, Maka wasn't sure.

"Now, which one shall we listen to first?" He asked as he played them all across the, now clean, kitchen table.

"I don't know, put on TSO."

"Trans-Siberian Orchestra, it is!" He snatched it up off the table and made a three quarter spin and made his way over to the stereo; suddenly walking with a lot more pep in his step than Maka had seen since a few days before Halloween when he had gotten the final piece of his costume.

Maka walked back to the sink filled with soapy water and put a large bowl into it as loud piano music started to fill the air.

Soul looked at her and she could just barely see his hands tapping the table, his fingers moving as if he was playing the piano.

She just shook her head at his silliness as he started air guitaring once it got to the chorus, the strong voice of the singer singing about the cold winter air.

She washed all the dirty dishes that had been piled up on the counter, because Soul hadn't fixed the dishwasher like he said he would. Soul went over to her and held out his hand.

"Dance with me?"

"To 'A Mad Russian's Christmas'? Come on, Soul, this isn't a very good dancing song." She said as the electric guitars came into the song then stopped once it got back to the almost eerie, getting progressively more dramatic piano playing.

"Just try it." He reached and grabbed her hand from her side and pulled her over to dance.

He pulled her in, placing his free hand at her waist, and started swaying to the echoing piano keys, dipping her, or spinning her out when the electric guitars would jump in.

"Listen to the piano, Maka."

"What about it?"

The music made a big crescendo, then a decrescendo.

Soul smiled at her.

A small silence fell in the music

"There's insanity in that piano"

The song picked up again, louder and much faster this time

Soul pulled her in and spun the two of them around. He was very good at dancing, and he managed to keep up with the beat, spinning them in circles, practically trotting to the music, dipping her or picking her up and spinning around at the perfect points in the song.

The song started to slow and quiet down, and Maka was ready to stop, but after a half rest in the music, it picked back up and Soul was spinning her again. Although tired and not the best at dancing, Maka was always able to keep up with Soul. No matter which way he went, she would go as well.

The song ended with a big finish as Soul spun Maka out and they ended with their arms spread out.

Maka collapsed, sitting down on the floor, exhausted and giggling.

Soul held his hands out to her.

"Not another dance." Maka's voice sounded tired and almost hopeless.

"No, I want to help you up."

"Oh," she shrugged and looked away to hide the slight blush she felt creep onto her cheeks. She reached to grab his hands and he pulled her up. She didn't quite catch her balance at first and she fell against Soul.

"Dork," Soul laughed softly, as he wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace.

Her arms were tucked in against her chest and the hug was too tight for her to move them to wrap around him in return, so she just stood there revelling in the warmth emanating from him.

He broke away after what felt like an eternity and, at the same time, not nearly long enough. He looked at her, "Are the dishes done?"

Maka felt as if those words woke her up, bringing her out of a trance and bringing her back to the real world; the world where she couldn't spend hours in his arms and instead she had to clean the rest of the apartment.

"Yep, unless there are some in the dishwasher."

Soul lifted his arm and placed his hand at the back of his neck, he stretched his mouth wide, avoiding eye contact.

"There still is, isn't there?" Maka crossed her arms and gave him a scolding look.

"Maybe a few…" Soul's eyes were making circles around the room, avoiding her gaze like the plague.

Maka turned around and walked into kitchen. She opened to the dishwasher to see it full of dishes. She stood up to see Soul trying to sneak away into his bedroom.

"Soul Eater Evans!" She called out and he froze in place. "I told you not to put the dishes in the dishwasher until it was fixed! And weren't you going to fix it last week?"

"Yeah, about that…" Soul started rubbing the back of his neck nervously, as Maka crossed her arms in front of her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. "I was going to fix it, it's just with Thanksgiving preparations and all, I couldn't get around to it."

"Soul, I was the one preparing for Thanksgiving. Not you. That is not an acceptable excuse."

"I will fix it tomorrow, okay? I'll even get Wes to help out."

"Only if he's okay with helping out. Otherwise you're not making him, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." He said walking away into his bedroom.

"Hey, you need to help clean as well!" She yelled through the just barely cracked door.

Soul poked his head out, "I know, I was going to clean in here." He disappeared into the room and the door flew open with a push from his foot.

After the CD was over, Soul walked into the kitchen and reached into the fridge. "I'm reheating some pizza."

"In the oven?" Maka was brushing the crumbs off of a counter.

"Is there really any other way to reheat it?"

"Well, make sure you clean the dishes you use, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How many pieces will you eat?"

"One is fine. Or… yeah, just one."

After ten minutes, they ate their lunch of reheated leftover pizza, and then Soul set up another CD, and they got back to work.

"Why are all the DVDs on the floor?" Soul was taking the last CD out of the stereo, looking down at Maka who was sitting on the floor with a mound of movies around her that reached up to her waist.

"Well I bumped into the bookcase they were on, and they all fell. Don't worry, I'm putting them all back.

"No!" Soul demanded in a slight panic. "This is a very precise matter, let me show you." Soul lowered down onto the floor sitting close to Maka.

He then spent fifteen minutes explaining which movies are supposed to go in chronological order and which ones have to go in alphabetical order. And there was the section where special movies and movie series' go.

"That's way too much work, Soul. Why are you so specific about this?" Maka was stretching her legs that she had been sitting on during the entire process.

"Because movies are special, and they need to be taken care of." Soul was running his hands across all the DVDs, smoothing them out, making sure they were all pushed in all the way.

"You're just too picky."

"I'm not picky, I'm meticulous."

"Persnickety!" Maka called out in a sing-songy voice as she walked away from him.

Soul caught her in his arms, swinging her around in her circle. She picked her legs up, turning into a small ball of giggles.

"Hey, it's almost my favourite song. Shall we dance again?" Soul whispered down her neck.

Maka did half a giggle more, "I guess 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman' is a better song to dance to. If you insist."

He let go of her and she spun around putting her hand on his shoulder, and grabbing his free hand just as the song ended.

The dramatic brass instrument playing the melody and the low piano in the background filled the air, and Soul took her spinning, stepping in perfect time with the music like he had rehearsed it a thousand times over. It being his favourite song that he had been listening to all his life, Maka wouldn't be surprised if he did rehearse it.

The music picked up and Soul was dancing so beautifully all Maka knew was the music and the man before her eyes. That was the only thing in the world, everything else faded away. The only thing that mattered was the song filling the air, the face in front of her, and which direction her feet were going next.

The danced and danced, the 4 minute song felt like an eternity. Their souls were in perfect sync, their eyes were locked with each other's, their feet moved at the same time, in perfect unison.

This song, instead of reaching a dramatic finish, it slowly faded out, leaving them standing in their dancing position, looking into each other's eyes, slightly short of breath. Soft, slow, piano music playing "Silent Night" replaced the previous dramatic song.

Maka's chest heaved with a big inhale. Soul pulled his hand out of Maka's grasp, bringing it up and placing it softly on her cheek. He leaned in for a soft, passionate kiss.

They broke away, their eyes locking in place again.

"I…"

*Knock* *knock* *knock*

Soul was cut off by a rapping on the door.

"I'll go see who it is." Maka whispered, not yet wanting to break the meaningful silence that spoke a whole new language.

She walked over and opened the front door to see a tall young man, with light blonde hair over mahogany brown eyes. He carried a large duffel bag in his hand a had a leather briefcase/messenger bag type thing hanging at his hip, the strap going across his chest.

"Maka, is it?" He said with an unmistakable deep voice with a posh ring to it.

"Wes? What are you doing here so early? Come in, come in!" She reached to take his bag from him but he just moved it out of her grasp with a polite, "Oh, don't worry, I've got it."

"Soul! How are you doing, little brother?"

Soul gave him a quick wave 'hello' and walked over to the stereo to take the CD out.

"So what are you doing here so early?"

"What are you talking about? I told Soul I was getting here at 2:00."

Maka's snapped her head around to look at Soul, her eyes shooting fire. "Soul, you said 5:00." She spat out the sentence, each word dripping with anger.

"Whoops, I must've heard wrong." Soul's voice was completely void of any remorse.

"SOOUUULLL!" Maka growled, her face burning red with anger as she marched over to the white haired boy still smoothing out the DVDs.

Maka grabbed a book off the coffee table and just as it was about to make a connection with Soul's skull, he caught her arm and leaned forward and placed a peck on her cheek.

"Cool it. I lied to you knowing that, if I did tell you what time he was coming, you'd spend time so much time rushing to get ready and you would've dressed up nicer. This way Wes gets to meet the real you."

"And, might I say, you look ravishing, Maka!" Wes's voice chimed in.

Maka turned around to face him, dropping the book on Soul's head, hoping it caused at least a little bit of damage.

"What? No, I don't. I'm wearing sweatpants and some baggy old T-shirt that isn't even mine."

"Yes, but it's only the truly beautiful people who can look amazing no matter what attire they're wearing." Wes grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

Maka looked away, trying to hide the blush she felt creeping onto her cheeks.

Soul wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Hey, she's mine, you can find your own beautiful girl."

Maka's cheeks grew warmer than ever with a blush, as she hid her face in Soul's shirt and he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Don't worry, brother. I wouldn't steal her from you."

Maka pulled her head away from Soul, feeling her blush had passed. She looked up at Wes and he flashed a charming smile to her.

"Well, I'd show you around the place, but this is just about it. You'll sleep in my room, let me show you where that is." Soul pulled away from Maka and walked past Wes, waving a beckoning hand. Wes smiled at Maka again before turning around, picking up his bags, and following his brother.

Maka sat down on the couch as she listened in on Soul telling Wes what not to touch in his room.

"Hey, what are you doing with that?" Soul snapped.

"I didn't know you play guitar, Soul. Could you play a song for me?"

"No. I barely play it, and I'm not all that good at it, either." Maka could hear an edge to Soul's voice.

"Oh come now, I doubt that's true, you're an Evans after all, you should be-" Wes stopped mid sentence.

Maka jumped up from the couch to walk over to the two of them, feeling something in Soul's soul wavelength, it was hard to describe what exactly she felt, it was a mixture of a lot of things, all she knew for sure was it meant he would need her over there.

She walked into the bedroom to see Soul turned away form Wes, his jaw was tensed, and he was clenching his hand into tight fist, his face showing a degree of anger she couldn't remember seeing him ever express.

"Soul?" She spoke up, breaking the tension filled silence. "Soul, calm down." She stepped in front of him, taking a quick glance back at the regret filled face of his brother.

"You know, I need to use your restroom. I'll just step out." Wes whispered, his excuse obviously fake, and he walked out, closing the door behind him.

"Soul, calm down. Look at me." Maka grabbed his hand and he softened his gaze slightly, turning his head to look into her green eyes.

She pulled his arm and led him to sit down on the bed. They both lowered and Soul started taking deep breaths as Maka grasped his upper arm, her other hand rubbing his back to soothe him.

"Soul, what's up? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine. I'll be fine. Just give me a minute to myself. Okay?"

"Okay," Maka stood up from the bed and walked over to the door. She looked back at Soul, hunched over with his arms resting on his knees, his fingers entwining themselves and twisting around with nervous energy.

She turned around and walked out. Wes was sitting on the couch, his face still showing a trace of the regret he felt from saying what he did.

Maka sighed loudly, and turned to Wes putting on a big smile, not sure how sincere it was. "Can I get you a drink? We've got tea, juice, coffee, would you like anything?"

"Oh, I couldn't make you do that."

"No, it's fine. You're the guest here, stop being too polite and let me be hospitable. Sheesh!" She threw her arms up in melodramatic exasperation. She turned to him with a big smile and a sweet voice "Now, would you like something to drink?"

"Tea is fine."

"What kind, silly? I expect you know there are many different kinds of tea." Maka walked over to the cupboard where they kept their collection of tea that mostly only she drank.

"Surprise me." Wes called out.

"I try to be hospitable, and he's too polite." Maka mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes. She pulled out the green tetsubin, a Japanese cast iron teapot that Tsubaki had given her for Christmas and set it out on the counter. "How does green tea sound?" she shouted into the other room as she placed a normal pot filled with water on the stove, turning the burner on.

"Sounds wonderful!"

Maka walked over to the main room to see Wes looking at the book of knitting patterns that Maka had left out on the coffee table. "It'll take a bit for the water to boil, and then I'll have to boil some more water after that. I'm using this Japanese cast iron teapot my friend gave me, and it's a long process making tea in it, so, bear with me."

"That's perfectly fine. I don't mind." Wes reassured her.

After a considerable pause in conversation, Maka asked "So, do you knit?" she pointed to the book in his hands for clarification when he looked up at her.

"I learned once, years back. I made a scarf and an afghan, but then I lost interest in it."

"Oh, well it's not for everyone." Maka felt an awkward tension fill the air. It was so strange, someone who looked so much like Soul but was so unlike him. She could normally make conversation with anyone, but with him, no words or topics were coming.

A moment passed in dreaded silence before Maka could no longer take it. "I'll go see if the water's boiling." She walked over to the kitchen, escaping the horrid discomfort of the lack of conversation.

Soul, I'm going to kill you if you don't get out here soon. Maka poured half of the boiling water into the teapot, rinsing it out and warming it up which was the protocol for using a Japanese tetsubin. She repeated the process with the remaining water from the pot on the stove, and then filled the teapot with approximately enough water for two servings of tea.

She heard a door open followed by Soul's voice asking, "Where's Maka?"

"I'm in here Soul, why?" Maka let a hint of concern appear in her voice. Why? she didn't know. She had no reason to be concerned. Did she?

"What? No reason. I was just wondering." Maka felt overwhelming nervousness in his soul wavelength.

This is going to be a long week…

That afternoon went by slowly with awkward conversation. Wes insisted on making dinner that evening and since it was Soul's turn, he was all for that, and let him have the kitchen all to himself.

Maka was in her room finding a book to read while she waited for dinner. She heard the murmur of the two voices on the other side of the partially closed door. The two of them sounded very similar, except that Soul's voice was more gruff and Wes's was clearer, so without paying too much attention, it was easy to mix up the two. Soul was in the kitchen helping Wes with dinner, upon Maka's demand, and she was exhausted and wanted some time to herself, relaxing with a good book.

"Maka looks so familiar, I can't put my finger on it." Maka's ears perked at her name coming from Wes's voice, she was fairly certain.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Soul sounded about as bored as could be.

"She looks like someone. Help me out here, Soul. Does she remind me of an old family friend, maybe?"

"Like hell she does!" Maka could hear Soul throw a dish down on to the counter. "No fucking way she'd remind you of some snobby rich friend of… No. She doesn't." Soul was angry.

"I meant nothing by it, it's just that I could swear I've seen her before and I'm trying to figure it out. Calm down."

"You know what, Wes? I'm damn sick and tired of being told to 'calm down' every two fucking minutes. I'm not calm, I don't want to be calm, and I'm not going to be calm." Maka heard the front door open. "I'm going for a walk."

Maka jumped off her bed and ran out her bedroom just in time to see the front door close. She grabbed her coat from a hook on the wall and Soul's jacket from the back of the couch. She waved off Wes's incessant apologies saying how he didn't expect him to blow up like that.

"Don't worry about it, Wes. When's dinner gonna be ready?" She asked, as she was pulling her arms into her coat.

"About an hour, maybe?"

"Well, we'll be back by then. If you need something to do, there are books everywhere, and plenty of things to occupy your time. Just don't touch the movies, and the bookcase right next to my bed is off-limits. See ya!" Maka rushed out the door and quickly moved on to try and catch up to Soul.

She walked through the cold crisp November air, down the street dimly lit by street lamps to find Soul sitting on a bench about two blocks from their apartment.

"Hey," she spoke up just soft enough for him to hear. He looked up at her, his red eyes still burning with anger. "It's cold out, you really should have something warmer on."

"Like that jacket of mine you're holding behind your back?"

Maka smiled softly and tossed him the jacket before taking a seat next to him, grabbing his hands in hers.

They sat there in silence for a few moments. It was nothing like the silence they had experienced so many times that afternoon. This was comfortable and normal, and it spoke hundreds of languages, without anyone saying a single word.

"Soul, are you okay?" Maka spoke up after a few moments, her words barely audible

"I don't know. I'm fine, don't worry."

"If you don't want me to worry, then you've got to to stop doing things that make me worry."

Soul let out a small laugh through his nose, letting the slight smile remain on his face.

"Sorry about that. So I guess you're gonna make me head back to the apartment, now?"

"Actually," Maka looked down at the watch she wore on her wrist. "We've still got about 45 minutes 'til dinner. We could stay out here and hang out, we could go for a short walk."

Soul's smile grew bigger and he leaned in, giving her a warm kiss, which, although chaste, felt good and made Maka want more. Soul stood up and took her hand as she followed suit and they made their way farther down the street.