A woefully short update but I wanted to make sure you didn't think I'd forgotten about you!
That weekend, we met Regina at Arthur's rehab, a place that looked more like a rolling estate than a hospital. I talked Soul into buying flowers, something he'd huffed at but eventually agreed on and for the most part, the trip was nothing more than an easy drive. He made me stop at a convenience store, coming back with two cups as if he actually enjoyed gas station coffee. I let him be quiet about any other motives since he'd been thoughtful since the morning since I proposed this little trip to begin with.
Regina was waiting outside, waving as soon as I slipped out of the car. Soul was slow to get out and I waited for him mostly for the view since Soul had forced himself into an almost completely different skin, khakis and a blazer over a band collared shirt. Seeing him dress this morning was amazing, more so because I had no idea he actually owned such outfits but also because he let me, watching him from boxers to finished product. He didn't say a word, just sported a cheesy grin as I blushed into my hands.
"Don't forget the flowers," I murmured, seeing that default, produced annoyance crossing his face. Why he had to fake being grumpy in the face of social niceties I'll never know, but there he was, faking his scowl long enough to reach back into the car and produce the bouquet.
As if he needed to be more adorable today he perked up almost immediately as Regina walked up to us, offering her soft eyes and a wide smile before displaying the flowers for her approval.
"Soul!" There was that pleased undulation to her voice as she clutched the flowers to her chest but still grasped his chin to pull his cheek close enough for a kiss.
"Totally Maka's idea, Mom," he chuckled away any more compliments from her.
"The outfit, too?" She touched his lapel before raising eyebrows at me.
I raised my hand in innocence before he smirked back, "No, but I'm taking her out tonight so I had to look the part."
That left me blinking since while I had copied his style, pulling one of the few dresses from my closet, there hadn't even been a second's mention of the reasoning behind our dapper looks.
Regina's smile at this point had blossomed to glowing. "Another date? Did you need reservations or…?"
"All taken care of," Soul sent a playful glance my way, that smirk exploding on his face. "Can't say anymore though or there goes the surprise." Soul took her elbow, turning her back towards the building and leaving me enveloped in pleasant confusion. Regina turned, reaching out her hand to me and I jogged to catch up, taking a tentative grip of her fingers.
"How have you been, darling?" The question came to me, her eyes shining with that motherly adoration that I almost couldn't stand. It was a fight with myself to enjoy it.
"Busy," I put on a good show of a sigh but it was hard to be exasperated with her fingers tight around mine. "We were traveling and even at home it feels like all we get to do is train."
Soul snorted out a laugh, "But still good, Mom." He made sure to focus that smile on me for a moment. "Life's really good."
"A comfort to hear…" Regina looked from him to me, raising her eyebrows again in a soft question at her son's behavior as if I knew anything better. This Soul was a complete turn from the one I'd driven here in the car, and the fun that he seemed to be having was absurd.
"How's Dad?" Soul tugged her attention back as a modicum of seriousness came back to his face.
"Well, his speech is completely back," Regina's voice started strong but wavered slightly. "The fine motor control has been a little of a struggle for him, though. He's trying not to be disheartened."
"No big deal," Soul squeezed his hand at her elbow. "Dad's always been better at talking anyway."
Regina tried to offer a soft smile in agreement as we breached the doors to the hallway of Arthur's room.
I tried to remember Soul's words and instead of reaching through our skin contact I leaned towards her and whispered, "How have you been holding up?"
"It's strange to not have your husband at home," Regina sighed. "You miss even the simplest things."
I tried to imagine an apartment without Soul, the idea that I would have to see him separately from my everyday existence making it almost feel hard to breathe. Even with the imaginary quality of the terror I felt it hard to comfort her. "He'll be home soon, right?"
"I'm practically counting down the hours!" With that Regina dropped her touch from both of us, using her hands to open the door to Arthur's room.
It was a surprise to see him standing at the window, a person I'd only ever seen lounging in a bed. He was tall and slender, just like Wes but with a surprisingly dark head of almost pitch black hair, hints of white sticking out at his temples. The boys obviously had his form but their mother's coloring since his eyes were a soft grey that in some lights had a hint of blue. "Soul," Arthur seemed genuinely surprised, though the happiness in his voice was still evident.
"Hey, Dad." It was surprising to see the lack of hesitation, the smooth step to his father, the ease that he wrapped his arms around him. I guess the hospital bed had kept them from this before but it was unrestrained now, the two holding onto each other in a shaky embrace. "I, uh, brought you something." Soul detached from him, bringing one hand to his face to wipe at his eyes, a poor attempt at covering the tears that he'd begrudgingly let fall down his cheeks, while the other reached into his pocket to produce, of all things, a Payday candy bar.
Arthur let out a comfortable chuckle before waving me over. "When Soul was little, we used to share one of these every time I came home." He unwrapped it, taking the second piece and handing it to Soul. "Regina, would you like some?"
"No, that's a tradition for the two of you," Regina smiled as she sat down in the armchair next to the bed, watching her husband carefully as if that candy bar was a Master's thesis.
Arthur put the candy bar to his lips, taking a bite as he rested a gentle hand on Soul's head, smoothing back his hair in a way I assumed he'd done since Soul was a child. To watch Soul melt, to see him give in to the touch and relish it, the candy bar almost forgotten in his fingers as he was transported to another time, made my heart fill to the brim. I've heard others called him cold, something I quickly learned to be a misconception, but to watch him now was closer to a revelation. He'd hidden his love under so many layers of hurt that finding it had taken until now until he was a man in his mid-twenties still longing to be his father's and his mother's son.
"Thank you for remembering," Arthur whispered to him before letting his hand fall back to his side.
Soul had to rub at his cheeks again before clearing his throat. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," Arthur sighed before moving past the two of us back to the bed. "And honestly a little bored. They won't let me do any work here, and while your mother is fine company…" He offered a shrug before easing himself down to sit.
"Just another week, right?" I tried to chime happily and was rewarded with Soul's arm around my waist, pulling me next to him as he finally started on his half of the candy.
"Not soon enough." Arthur leaned back, eyeing me for a moment. "Maka, right? I apologize, the last time we met, well, I wasn't exactly at my best."
"Oh, please," I tried to wave off the apology. "Don't worry about it, I'm just-" I cut myself off, about to downgrade myself to just his partner, nothing significant even though the past week had been littered with significance as Soul had girlfriended me around school and took his time to prove that connection at home. "I'm just glad you're feeling better."
"Still ashamed of myself. Not every day my boy comes home, let alone brings his girlfriend with him." Arthur motioned for us to move towards the bed and we obeyed, my eyes glancing between a beaming Regina and a still residually tearful Soul. "You actually remind me of Regina when she was that age."
"Dad," Soul snapped out of the bliss just long enough to complain at the comparison.
"Hey, your mother was, is beautiful. It's a compliment." Arthur risked a smile at Regina who returned it as a smirk, slowly moving from the chair to the side of his bed so she could rest a hand on his arm. "When your mother and I met I was just as quiet as you were, too."
"I had to ask him out," Regina sighed as she fixed Arthur's hair, brushing it off his forehead.
Arthur laughed, grabbing at her hand to stop it's fiddling and bring it to his chest to press there. "It helped that I'd been pining over her for a couple of months."
I leaned into Soul, whispering to him, "Like father, like son."
He blew out a huff of air, a thin pink coming to his cheeks. "You didn't ask me out," he muttered.
"Technically, I did." My fingers found his hand on my hip, running over them gently. "And don't tell me you didn't pine."
Soul let a soft chuckle leave his lips before flexing his fingers into my hip. "I guess I'll take the comparison." He brought his attention back to his parents even though it was unnecessary, Regina still fiddling over Arthur as he basked in the attention. It seemed like love was soaking in from every angle, whether it be between the two of them or the two of us, or the myriad of little moments between father and son, mother and son as the afternoon dragged on. We all ended up crowding the bed, listening carefully as histories were recounted, more so for Arthur and Regina but even a few tales about us, about the Soul that they missed along the way.
The hours marched along until the light had started to dwindle from the windows. I was surprised by Soul's hand on my face, a quick but soft touch to snap my attention back to him. "We have a date to go on," he murmured, moving that hand to start pushing me off the bed. "Mom, Dad, we have to go."
"Will you be staying at the house tonight?" Regina offered hopefully.
"If that's what you want, Mom." Soul tried to sew as much desire into that as he could, taking the time to walk around the bed and pull his mother into a hug that was now becoming well-practiced, smooth and sincere.
"Please," it had a needless begging quality as she clung to him. "Just let yourself in and I'll see you in the morning."
"See you in the morning." He detached from her and reached his hand out for his father, less of a shake and more of a grab, one more soft touch before they parted.
"Goodbye, Regina, Arthur," I waved softly as I heard their goodbyes in return. Soul ushered me out of the room, a firm hand pressed to my lower back as he seemed to hustle me through the hallway. I waited to definitely be out of earshot of the room before turning a quizzical glance at him. "Who are you, and what have you done with Soul?"
He snorted a laugh before opening the front door for me, waving me through. "OK, sort of deserve that, I guess."
"Sort of? You cried, you hugged your dad and your mom like it's old news, and you've got some secretive date planned for me that I guess I should have suspected because you decided to look like a GQ model today." I picked at his blazer before he playfully batted away my hand. "This is like alternate reality Soul. Next, you'll tell me you appreciate my taste in music."
"Oh, no, never," he shook his head firmly before lowering himself into the car, waiting for me to climb into the driver's seat before continuing, "Yeah, it's weird." He grabbed my hand off the steering wheel, pressing it to his chest. "But it's… Maka, this thing with you, all I had to do was be open about what I wanted, right? I told you, I asked for it, and I got it."
I blinked, trying to follow his logic. "Well, it helped that I was in love with you, but, yes, if we're going to boil it down to the simplest form: you asked, you got what you wanted."
"I just…" He laughed while he thumped my hand against his chest. "What if I just keep doing that? Making it simple? I show my dad, my mom that I love them and I get it back, right? I show you that I love you and I get it back."
It was by far the cleanest argument and while I could say there would be times where that philosophy might not work, it was overall what I'd wished for him all along. He was free of the quiet, the forced solitude of keeping everything to himself as a secret. "So what love am I getting today?"
The grin exploded on his face before he pointed up the end of the driveway. "First, you're going to make a left."