"Wes, I'm going to marry her."

No preamble, no "hello, how are you?", no nothing. He opened with "Wes, I am going to marry her." Well, his little brother wasn't beating around the bush with this one. Usually to get any information out of him it was like pulling teeth! But nope not this time.

"You're gonna marry her. Maka her, right? Cause if it's someone else-"

"Of course it's Maka! Who else would it be!" He shifted his phone to between his shoulder and his ear while he poured more coffee.

He could hear his brother chuckle and he could guess that Wes was shaking his head too. "Just wanted to make sure. So. You're gonna marry her, huh? Still haven't even met her yet, little brother. Hint hint. Gotta make sure I approve!"

"Fuck off dude. She's perfect. And yeah, I'm bringing her home for Christmas."

"Ma is going to lose her shit."

"Yup. Ma is going to lose her shit." Soul agreed. He was and he wasn't looking forward to that. Because yes, it was going to be hilarious, but that the same time…well…his mother was kind of a lot.

"Okay. So. Explain. You're going to marry her."

Soul looked at the clock on his cable box, Maka was out getting a new book or something and was meeting up with a friend for an early dinner, she wouldn't be home for hours. The apartment felt kind of empty without her but he was determined not to miss her. She had only been gone for a few hours! He was trying to avoid the whole "sad puppy left at home" thing.

He'd figured calling Wes would be a good distraction, they hadn't spoken in a while and his older brother was always good for a distraction. To be honest, he hadn't really expected himself to blurt out that he was going to marry Maka.

"What's there to explain? I'm going to marry her."

"Gee asshole, have some romance to it if you want her to say yes! Do you even have a ring? Cause I'm pretty sure that if you propose with a ring pop she might beat you and then laugh at you."

That actually sounded about right. He knew that Wes and Maka had spoken a bit here and there. Damn, maybe they had been speaking more than Soul really anticipated. He was going to have to make sure that the Whopper Story was never ever under any circumstances told. (Knowing his brother, it had been the first thing Wes brought up. Fucking asshole.)

"Yes I have a ring!" And then he groaned. Because yes he had a ring. A ring he bought on a whim (seriously, who impulse buys a ring?!). "I have a ring. It's kinda….fuck. She likes it. She picked it out. Doesn't know that I bought it."

Wes whistled, which didn't translate well over the phone. Seriously, all this technology and phonecalls still weren't actually very good. "Daaaamn, little brother, I'm kinda impressed. That's pretty smooth."

"It's even the right size, like, she tried it on, Wes. It just…it looked right. It felt right." Fuck, he sounded like such a sap but it was so good to finally be able to talk to someone about just how much he loved her.

"Ha! Nothing worse than an engagement ring that just falls off. Pretty sure that's bad luck or some shit. Doomed marriage and whatnot. How are you going to propose? Romantic dinner? On vacation? In bed?" Wes was a little shit and wow, he could nearly hear the obnoxious eyebrow wiggle his brother was giving him.

"I…don't know yet. I've got a flight out to see her dad next weekend. Not looking forward to that. I've been here when he's called her, just listening to him is grating. And then he literally yells at me through her phone for being too close to her. It's weird, it's like he knows. He called once while we were in the middle of something kinda…private."

"She was giving you a blowjob wasn't she."

Soul didn't answer.

"Yeaaaaaaah. She totally was. Ha! Yeah, remember that boyfriend I had a while back? His mom did the same thing. I was going down on him and she calls, course his phone was still in his pocket, and it was vibrating-"

"Wes! Come on dude gross!"

"Actually mom did it to me once too! My girlfriend was going down on me!"

"Oh my god, can we not talk about your sexploits? Please?"

"Oh riiight, cause you want to talk about your wedding and how in looooove you are! Pffft, you're adorable, Soul. Don't ever change."

Soul sputtered indignantly, something that Wes made him do an awful lot really. Why had he called his brother again?

"Fuck you!"

"So spring wedding? Summer wedding? What are we thinking here?"

"Fuck if I know! I haven't even asked her yet, Wes! I still don't even know how I'm going to ask her! I'm gonna be lucky if I don't puke all over her shoes! I just want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"You really love her, huh? Just tell her that."

Soul sighed and sat down in his usual spot on the couch, looking at where Maka usually curled up next to him. "It cant be that easy, can it?"

"Well, just don't fuck it up. Or like call her someone else's name."

The groan his little brother let out was, in his opinion, hilarious. He obviously hadn't even considered he'd do that. And now he would worry about that too. He was such a good brother!

"Wessssss." Soul whined.

"You'll be fine. She's put up with your shit this long and obviously isn't going anywhere. You guys fucking live together. Work together. Hell, you grocery shop together. That says a lot. Promise."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah.

Right. This is why he had called Wes. Because as annoying as he could be, he was damn good at talking Soul down.

They key jingled in the lock and Soul looked at the door startled. Maka burst in, hair wild, nails some god awful sparkly color, and panting, "You would notbelieve the day I just had! I had forgotten just how doting Tsugumi could be! Oh! Sorry you're on the phone."

Soul snorted and grinned, "Wes, I've gotta go. Thanks. I'll talk to you again soon. Maybe. Fucker."

"Love you too, little brother!" Wes sang.

"Oh oh! Tell him I say hi!" Maka said as she walked by and to the coat closet.

"Maka says hi." Soul made sure to make it sound like as much of a chore as possible. "Later, Wes." He hung up and watched Maka move around their apartment. It was oddly comforting to see how easily she navigated the space, she didn't stub her toes or bump her hip against anything.

She sat down next to him, curling into his side once she was settled. Maka kissed him hello and he could taste the sugar on her lips.

"So, the hell kinda day did you have? Wasn't expecting you home for a while."

"Ugh, okay. So."

Maka explained her day, comically detailing her adventures at the nail salon, the bookstore, the froyo place, and everything in between. And yeah, he didn't propose, but eh. He needed to talk to Spirit Albarn first. Damn it. He kind of settled on just kissing her senseless.