A/N: It's still not a love story. And it's still not over

Soul stood in the hallway with Maka cradled in his arms. A couple of quick kisses were stolen before he placed her on the floor and looked between their two rooms. Both doors were open, and there was a small part of him that was hoping she would allow him into her room. When she took his hand and lead him into the dark cavern of his own space, his face fell a little.

She noticed. Of course she noticed.

Warm hands reached up to cup his cheeks and she raised herself on her toes to kiss his nose before she spoke.

"We're not in here because I don't trust you in there. We are in here because I feel safe."

Warmth blossomed in the young male's chest and he nodded gently before moving to close the door. Maka remained in her spot, gripping her fingers and staring at the floor. He did much the same, raising a hand to idly scratch as his nape.

"So, do you wanna…I mean, we don't have to…" he mumbled awkwardly.

"No! I mean, yes! I want to…with you…" she answered, equally awkward.

Shy laughter escaped them both and then they heard the rumble of thunder outside Soul's window. Maka visibly cringed. She hated storms. There was something ominous and unsettling in how a serenely blue sky could turn dark and roil with anger. When she was young, her father had told her it was angels bowling.

Sweet idiot.

A crack of thunder struck near enough to make the windows shake and Maka yelped before hiding herself in Soul's arms. He reacted on instinct, as he always did, using his own body to shield her from terror. It both amazed and amused her that she could stare down a slobbering monster that was intent on ripping out her innards without a second thought, but the friction between some clouds reduced her to a trembling mess.

He was smart enough not to comment on it.

Another crash had Maka shivering in Soul's grip and he kissed her temple gently, fingers caressing along her lower back as he whispered to her, low and even.

"S'ok, Maka. It can't hurt you any."

"I know that!" she snapped. But there was no malice in her tone.

"Come on, come here."

Soul tugged her to his bed, flopping onto the mattress and pulling her into his body, her face to his chest. His fingers carded through her hair and skimmed along her back, his own chest rumbling with a noise that was awkwardly akin to a purr. He pulled away slightly when he heard a small sniffle, brow furrowing in concern.

"Maka?"

"I'm sorry."

"Hmm? For what?"

"I ruined it. We were…I wanted to…I…"

Soul huffed and then tucked her head back into his chest, casually throwing a leg over her hip. A quiet reassurance that he was neither angry nor disappointed. Maka's comfort would always come before his own, and the reality was that he wasn't uncomfortable now anyway. He already understood what it felt like to be desperate for sex; for his hormones to be out of control and the itch in his palms able to be sated only when his hands were on her smooth flesh.

That wasn't how he felt now at all. He felt…serene. Protective. Needed. There was a strange sort of calm that settled over him and he sighed, hugging Maka more firmly against himself. He felt her breathing slow and even out and he realized she had fallen asleep. It didn't take him long to join her, well at ease knowing she felt safe with him.

The pair woke roughly an hour later, Maka blinking the blurriness from her eyes while Soul stretched and turned his head to yawn. He kissed her forehead and rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone, a stupidly fond smile easing the normally lazy lines of his face. Maka didn't know how others couldn't see that he was so incredibly…

"Handsome."

"Eh?"

She shook her head gently before pressing her lips to his. The pressure was light, strangely shy when one considered the activities the two had engaged in over the last several weeks. But Soul didn't question it. He welcomed her warmth and the press of her body against his own. Reveled in how she didn't shy away when he pulled her against him. And he was elated when she rolled onto her back and pulled him atop her.

Cautious fingers worked their way beneath her t-shirt, skimming along soft skin. He nosed at her jawline to tip her head up and expose her throat, teeth gingerly pinching sensitive flesh. Her contented sigh and the spread of her legs made him bolder, and Soul settled his weight more securely over her. He felt her fingers curl against the waistband of his sweats for a brief moment, a slight hesitation, but then she sighed again and rolled her hips against him and he continued his teasing.

Maka's hands didn't remain idle for long, opting to slip under Soul's shirt as well to mirror his actions. First they slid up his sides, over his ribs, and then they drew forward and down, over the ridges of his abdomen before curling up and around to the small of his back. When she slid her palms over his belly again, he groaned.

"Is this ok?" she whispered.

"Mmm, yeah…feels good. You don't have to stop."

Maka worried her lower lip for a short moment before she tugged the hem of Soul's shirt upwards. She chanced a glance at his face to ask passive permission to remove the article of clothing. He only chuckled low in his throat, removing the first physical barrier between them. She just stared.

"Earth to Maka? You ok there?"

She nodded a little, dusty strands of loose hair falling in her eyes.

"Can I just…look…for a minute?"

He laughed, soft and light. It was unusual for him to be so carefree, but it felt fitting in the moment. She knew he was just trying to ease his own anxiousness.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before, Bookworm."

"I know. But, I like to look at you," she murmured. It wasn't something she'd ever admitted to him before, but it was true. She thought he was sinfully beautiful, and she loved to look at him. His resulting blush was also adorable, and she told him so.

"Shut up!" he laughed at her, even as he turned his head away, embarrassed. When he dared to look at her again, he pressed his forehead to hers, ghosted a kiss across her lips, and rumbled, "I like to look at you, too."

Maka's hands were roaming again, sliding over the contours of shoulder blades and lat muscles, dipping into the curve of his spine, lightly scratching her way back up his body to grip the hairs at the nape of his neck.

"Right there, feels nice," she gasped as Soul bit at her collarbone.

One hand was braced against the bed to keep from crushing her with his weight, but the other had found a breast, the pad of his thumb repeatedly brushing over a nipple. The push of his body was delicious, the heft of him reminding her of her own small size, the way he shivered when she touched him filling her with a strange sense of power. But this wasn't enough. None of it was enough. She needed more, but voicing it was difficult.

It turned out she didn't need to. Soul's fingers were curling into the waistband of her pants, and then they were shoving her shirt up, and then he was tugging at the bedspread again. He didn't know what to do with his hands. There was a growing desperation in his wavelength and he whimpered at the woman beneath him.

"Maka, can I? Please?"

She nodded fiercely, shucking her nightshirt as he pulled off her pajama pants. Quick work was made of his sweat pants and boxers, and then they were both completely bare. This wasn't the first time they'd been naked together, but the weight of what they were about to do settled heavily between the pair as they exchanged shy glances and cautious touches.

The two of them were bruised from their latest mission, splotches of purple and blue dotting arms and stomachs. There was a cut beneath Soul's eye and a long scratch along Maka's ribcage. Faded silver lines adorned Maka's hips and the gnarled reminder of their fight with Crona stood out prominently against Soul's skin.

They both cataloged the injuries of the other, embarrassment giving way to reverence. Fingers trembled, their breaths shaky as they intermingled, kisses frequent but based more in reassurance than arousal.

Soul buried his face against Maka's neck, inhaling deeply as his hands slid down her hips and underneath to cup her ass. He smiled as she gasped against him, groaned when her fingers tightened in his hair.

"You ok, Bookworm?"

"N-nervous," she stuttered.

He nodded, though she couldn't see it, and placed gentle kisses along her jaw and over her throat.

"S'ok. Don't know what I'm doing, either. I don't…I don't think this is going to last very long," the weapon admitted, flushing straight down to his chest.

Maka pushed him back then, just enough to look him in the eye before she said, "I don't care," and pulled him down to join their mouths together.

"I love you," she murmured against his lips, chest going tight and ears glowing red.

"I know," was his soft response, followed by a swell in his wavelength that begged her soul to melt into his.

There was no need for him to say he loved her too. It bled into her very being every time he touched her, breathed her name, tended her wounds. She knew. He knew she did. Because love and trust had them bound to each other.