So, so sorry for the wait! You may love and hate me for posting this chapter lol

WARNING: There may be some triggers in here for some readers, as there is mention of bullying, but I personally don't think it's all the bad. It's just important for later chapters.

Anywho, without further ado ...

Chapter Ten: Cheers

"So, what suits your fancy, itty-bitty?"

"Mmm..." Maka looked from the pool to the slides and then to the Jacuzzi, no longer being phased by the endearing nicknames. "Let's just swim a bit first; I haven't been swimming in ages!" she answered excitedly.

"As you wish," Soul chirped as he turned away from her to take off his shirt. She giggled, appreciating the Princess Bride reference. Maka turned as well, putting down her towel on her chair of choice and decided she'd leave the sheer dress on for now.

"Ready?"

"Yes!~" came her cheerful reply, a closed-eyed smile forming over her features before surprise replaced it. Soul had picked her up and closed the distance between them and the deep end of the pool. Maka was laughing and screaming, aflutter as she pleaded him to put her down before literally being thrown and rapidly submerged in water. Luckily, she had had a chance to take a full breath as she had been flung up into the air. Coming up soon after, she playfully glared up at Soul who was currently laughing his ass off.

Fine. If playing dirty was his game, then so be it.

Maka began to skillfully feign a coughing fit, effectively ceasing Soul's enjoyment to be replaced with worry and growing guilt.

"Are you okay?" he asked hurriedly.

"Ye-eah," she coughed out. "just got some water down the wrong pipe." She began to swim towards the now very much displeased Soul. She could tell he felt like a total ass hat right now and she kind of felt bad, but only for a moment because revenge was sweet. She came up to the edge and stuck out her hand, still faking a cough now and then. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand with his right, preparing to pull her up gently. Maka braced herself against the wall as she held his hand with both of hers. Pulling this giant into the water would be no easy task, she sighed internally. After quickly yanking him with all of her strength, she found that it wasn't exactly difficult. He had let his guard down, the silly, handsome doofus. Once she had pulled him without notice and he lost his balance, that was it. Soul went plummeting into the pool head first with a loud "A-aaa-ahhhh!" and a splash. It was satisfying, to say the least.

Maka began to laugh maniacally as Soul's head resurfaced slowly, only coming up far enough to breath through his nostrils as he glared. His hair, now soaking wet, stuck easily to his head and was long enough for the tips to dangle in the water. She continued to laugh, blissfully stating that 'karma was a bitch' and 'payback was her best friend,' until she noticed that the white mop and ruby reds were closing in on her. She quickly turned around, planning on lifting herself out of the pool, but hadn't made it far when strong, muscular arms wrapped around her middle. They were so long and warm as they pulled her forcefully into a broad chest. She giggled as Soul lightly tickled her and swam back toward the middle of the pool.

"Touchè," ceased her laughing, though, as Soul had placed his mouth over the shell of her ear to whisper his admittance. She was a formidable foe, but he would most definitely take on the challenge. He realized after a moment that he didn't much care for the awkward silence that his somewhat sadistic gesture had brought about. So naturally, tickling her once again and then proceeding to lift and throw her to splash in the water was the only logical choice.

A gleeful "Eeeep!" echoed off of the walls before it was swallowed up by Maka making an impact with the mass of H2O. After coming up as soon as she could to catch her breath, her head whipped toward Soul, accusing eyes conveying betrayal.

Damn, her eyes were piercing. It gave him chills.

"You better watch your back, bud." He could only chuckle huskily at her statement. "Your height allows you a farther fall... which you'll deserve." Maka huffed out. His eyebrows rose in amusement as she began to swim back to him with a pout on her lips. Had she just made a jab at his height while skillfully threatening him? She was certainly dangerous.

It was hot.

No. Bad Soul. Stop that.

Once she made it back to him and playfully shoved his shoulder, he couldn't hold back the laugh anymore. Her hair was a mess. What used to be a ponytail was now some form of swamp creature.

"What are you laughing at?" She smacked him again, secretly wishing he'd never stop.

His laugh, his smile ... they forced her to hold back a swoon. This was dumb. She was acting like some love-struck teenager.

Dumb.

"I'm sorry, it's just..." He grinned at her, completely enthralled by the way her moss interrogated his lava. "Your hair is everywhere," he chuckled. An adorable blush forced it's way across her cheeks as her eyes became wide; hands coming out of the water to touch the mop lightly. Another pout placed over her features at the realization that it was quite disheveled.

"Crap..." was her only spoken acknowledgment as she began to attempt the gruesome process of untangling her tresses from its restraint. After watching her wince a few times and then huff in slight irritation, Soul offered his services.

"Here. Allow me." He reached forward only to be halted abruptly by Maka. Looking down at her, eyes questioning, he found that a small glare had formed.

Looking at him skeptically, she asked, "How do I know that I can trust you?" He laughed again and resumed eye contact.

"I'm not gonna pull your hair out. That's not fair game..." He smirked before finishing with a warning. "and neither is mine." She smiled at that, which pleased him, making his stomach twist in delight; a few butterflies flitting up to his chest to give him goosebumps.

"Okay, just ...-"

"I'll be careful," he assured. Sighing in defeat, she conceded, beginning to turn around until he reached out and grabbed her hair. They were shallow enough for them to stand, bringing Soul to hover over her as he stretched to his full height. His lower chest moved closer to her face, forcing her to bring her hands up in insecure self-consciousness. Her face must be glowing like Rudolph's nose.

She relaxed after a while, feeling Soul carefully pull her hair tie out and release her long tresses. She found herself sighing in content as he began to lightly massage her scalp and run his god-like fingers through her hair. It felt fucking amazing.

"Feel good?" he mused, to which she simply hummed. He had pulled back to study her face. Her eyes were closed now, a blissful smile swept over her lips. She was basically purring and Soul - being the naughty boy that he was - was captivated, unconsciously thinking of other ways he could make her purr.

He was most definitely on Santa's most wanted.

He briefly pondered over how much his bounty would be before he noticed his head had begun to lean in - without his permission.

Rude.

He was his own traitor.

Thankfully, he pulled back enough before Maka opened her eyes, which almost made him lean right back in to take her breath away. Looking up at him innocently, she obviously was unaware of the effects that her exquisite lips had on him, or her mesmerizing shamrock orbs, or her long champagne locks. He could go on and on about the bridge of her nose and the constellations of freckles that swept across her face, or the way her eyelashes were so long that they almost touched her brows. Maybe he could just talk about the way she blinked up at him as she tucked some fallen hair behind her ear. Aahh, her ears. Those cute, small, dainty things on the sides of her head. He wanted to whisper sweet, meaningful everythings into those ears. They were perfect little ears. He realized that his hands were still entangled in the hair of his dreams, golden-ashen and lengthy with just a bit of wave. It pooled around her, floating in the water. He thought back and noticed he had never really played with her hair when it was dry, not that he had any right to, but he made a mental note to ask her permission to later.

"Soul?" And then there was her voice. Oh, God, it was so creamy and smooth. Literally better than Cool Whip.

"Hm?" He slowly continued to massage her scalp. Her head must be perfectly round.

"What-cha doin'?" she giggled at his dazed look. What was going on up there? Maka wasn't sure why, but she felt conflicted. On one hand, the way he was looking at her gave her hope that perhaps he found her attractive and might be interested in maybe slowly progressing to something above friendship. She had already admitted to herself that she was most definitely attracted to him and that she would be more than willing to entertain the thought of a romantic relationship with him. But then there was the other hand, the one that gave her hope. The kind that was always crushed and burned at the stake; the kind that gave her false security and then blew up in her face. She did not like that kind of hope. So, yeah, she needed him to stop looking at her like that. Now.

Shit. Fucking shit. What in the motherfucking world was he doing?! He had been blatantly taken with her, obviously admiring her face. He had to fix this. He had to fix this now.

"Sorry, I thought you had something on your face..." he stated. Maka's eyebrows drew close together in confusion as she lifted a hand to swipe over her features to try and wipe anything away. "but it was just your face." Well, … that was embarrassing. How old was he to use such an outdated and ridiculous phrase? Stupid. He stepped back and began to swim, only looking over his shoulder to find Maka's mouth agape at his rude remark. He had to admit, he wasn't fond of this getaway plan, but it seemed to work for the most part. Except for that pang of deep regret and sorrow that had started to bubble and fester. That part sucked. And the look of complete horror over her face. That kind of sucked, too. Yeah. This was a dumb plan, but redemption was nowhere in sight, so he would have to play this out, he supposed. Dumb. Ass. Plan.

Motherfucker.

"You did not just ..." He started chuckling as she swam after him, cursing as she threatened him repeatedly with a menacing smile laced over her lips, but he managed to keep away from her until they continued their chase out of the water. That was bad idea numero dos. She was absolutely a land animal. One hundred percent. He thought that maybe, with her legs as short as they were, she wouldn't catch him, but damn. She was fast. They carefully ran to the slides, trying their best not to fall, her slowly gaining on him until he began taking two steps at a time once he reached the stairs.

"That's cheating!" she exclaimed.

"Not when there's an angry and scary fast gnome after you, it isn't!"

Oh.

Oh, no.

Gnome?

Sickeningly salty saliva began forming in her mouth, to which she swallowed loudly.

Did he just call her a gnome? She could take all of the other cute 'little' nicknames he had bestowed upon her, but gnome was one she couldn't stomach. She hadn't been called that since high school, and it brought back a shit load of bad memories. She gulped hard again. She hated this fucking flavour.

With her hand over her mouth, Maka stopped and turned around, making her way down the few stairs she had climbed and toward the bathroom.

She didn't feel so good.

"Maka?" It sounded close, so she walked faster, not bothering to turn to look at him because, damn it, she was tearing up. Swallowing was harder when everything wanted to do the exact opposite. She wasn't mad at Soul. It was the name. 'Gnome.' That was what upset her. She couldn't blame him for her past, and she knew that he wasn't aware of it either; of how she had been bullied and had to transfer schools. It sucked. It fucking sucked balls. Hairy, sweaty, wrinkled old man balls.

"Maka!" Tears were streaming down her face now, so there was definitely no turning around. She seemed to make it to the lady's room just in the nick of time before she heard Soul knock at the door.

"Maka? Are you okay? I'm sorry if I did something to hurt or offend you. Are you okay?" He sounded genuinely worried, so Maka decided to acknowledge him with a response. That and she was afraid he might come in and see what was about to unfold.

"I'm fine!" Shivers erupted over her body, bringing with it cold sweats and a pitchfork-like feeling to turn her stomach. "Just need to potty. I'll be out in a few!" Silence. But she held it in, she had to wait until she was sure he wouldn't hear her. This part was never pleasant.

"... Okay. If you're sure... I'll make us some drinks?"

"That sounds wonderful!" She hoped he meant something with alcohol. She swallowed deeply a few times, counting to ten and then skillfully checking to make sure he was nowhere near the door. She peered out, finding him over at the bar, mixing something. She saw him add rum. Good. Alcohol was good.

She closed the door softly and ran back to the toilet, finally allowing all of the contents of her stomach to make its way into the bowl. It was ridiculous the way she let just one word affect her body and mind. It was a trigger word for her. Ever since high school, when they first started to use it to describe her formerly chubby and short self and stuck their fingers down her throat to forcibly make her vomit, she would do just that. Vomit. Puke. Throw-up. Regurgitate. Barf. Whatever you want to call it.

She was humiliated. And now it only took the one word to get what they wanted; for her to become anorexic. How that was a satisfying goal for anyone, she'd never know.

For a short time, she had tried to just fast, to not eat or drink anything, hoping that maybe that would somehow cease the acid reflux. Instead, it just made it worse. Vomiting up nothing but her natural juices and not consuming any healthy substance, or any at all for that matter, led her to become malnourished. Once she was finally discharged from the hospital, refusing food until a few weeks prior, she had lost over eighty pounds. She transferred to another school and cut off everyone from the last. Not a soul knew who she had been, and everyone who had couldn't recognize her anymore even if they tried.

It was sad, really. She had had one or two really good friends, but she had let depression and negativity consume her; allowed herself to see what they saw: a short, fat, ugly girl who everyone hated. And after several years, she was still a victim to it all.

After the queasy feeling had subdued, she flushed the toilet and took her time to stand and make her way over to the sink to wash out her mouth. This was her second least favourite taste: partially digested food and stomach acid. Yummy.

She looked herself over in the mirror. Other than being slightly pale, she looked decent. Hopefully, Soul would just hand her the much-needed alcohol and they could get tipsy. Yeah. Maybe even completely wasted. Sounded good.

She turned from the mirror and made her way out to the bar. Soul stood leaning back up against the counter, waiting for her with worried eyes.

"You okay? It sounded like you were ... uh, throwing up?"

Shiiiit. That's just great.

"Oh, ..." She couldn't avoid it now. She tasted salt begin to fill her mouth again in that unpleasant way that it did, warning her of what might come.

"Yeah," she finally answered as she tried to decide whether or not to run back and prepare to throw up again. "I was."

"Are you feeling alright?" He could see goosebumps rise over her skin. She was probably cold.

"I'm okay ... it's just um ... " She should tell him. What if he calls her that again? He would soon realize it was a trigger word for her, might as well get it over with.

"We did eat a lot of crap today, but I didn't think you'd throw up so easily. Was it something I did? Are you still sick?" He looked so guilty. It made her gut churn as his eyes scanned over her, obviously worried. She had to tell him, but she felt that some part of him would blame himself even more, even though it was most definitely not his fault.

"No. It wasn't you and I'm not sick ... It was just a ... trigger ... " He was confused now, his eyebrows knitting together. She swallowed again, but the salty taste seemed to have dissipated for now. "Gnome, that is." and the salt was back. It felt even worse coming out of her own mouth. Soul, though, still didn't seem to understand until sudden realization swept over his features, which took her aback.

"No way ... " He pushed himself from the counter, coming to stand close to her. His gaze bore into her, full of sorrow for her. How did he seem to understand? She hadn't explained anything yet. "You weren't once known as 'Makayla Albain,' were you?"

Her eyes widened. How did he know that name? She hadn't been called that since she was in the hospital and she had changed her name when she transferred, so how ...

He sighed, the look on her face giving him his answer. "I've heard about you. I know Kiddrick Death." He knew ... Kidd? She became teary-eyed at that. He had been one of her only friends, he had stood up for her throughout it all, and she regretted never keeping in touch with him.

"You know Kidd?" she found herself asking.

"Yeah., uh, he and I met in college, we're still kinda close … I can't believe you're her." Soul unconsciously stepped back. Kidd had been in love with her back then. Knowing this left Soul unnerved.

"You still talk to him?" She was hopeful, getting back in touch with him would mean a lot to her.

"Often," Soul nodded and awkwardly turned to grab their drinks. Seemed they would both be needing them.

Maka had cried already and Soul had consoled her with a hug and a few gentle encouragements, mostly just letting her cry. Luckily, she didn't have to explain anything except that the trigger word was indeed 'gnome'. He promptly apologized and promised to never use the word again. The subject was decidedly dropped after that.

They had then grabbed a bottle of rum and made their way to the hot tub because, why wouldn't they? And now, after quite some time, they were beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, thank God. What had happened was most certainly a travesty, but they were both content with not talking about it. Ever again.

"So." Soul looked to Maka as she attempted to start up a light-hearted conversation. He smirked lightly at her, enjoying her nervous fidgeting for a moment.

"Cheers, to the young, accomplished, and beautiful Maka Albarn." Soul raised his glass to her, waiting for Maka to do the same. She was slightly surprised but smiled gently, touched by his statement.

"And cheers to you, as well. The gallant and brilliant … Soul." She said as she mimicked him, clunking their glasses together before they both downed the hard liquor. Laughing as she began to feel as though she were floating in the air, Maka poured herself and her companion another drink. Who had ever said that chocolate was a girl's best friend?

So, there it is. I do apologize that that took so long. I'll try to get the next chapter out much, much faster.

Missed you all! More updates to come!

Much Love~!

K.T.