Okay, y'all ... It's been a long while and I apologize. I had lost inspiration for this story and was having trouble coming back to it, here I am! I hope you enjoy this short chapter. I promise I will try my best to update a longer one in the near future!

Not proofread what-so-freakin'-ever

Get'a'readin'!

Chapter Thirteen: Sweet Dreams

"Soooouuuul~" Sweet music was her voice, like birds chirping in the morning. He could listen to it for hours. Soul felt her small finger poke his cheek, resulting in his lips parting slightly to allow a small amount of drool to drip onto his arm. Of course, he couldn't have that but - much to his chagrin - movement was required to wipe it away. He refused to open his eyes, however; merely turning over to hopefully fall back into a deep sleep. "Soul~." Maka sat down in the space left behind Soul's bent knees, her hand gently squeezing his bicep.

"Hmm…" The firm skin-on-skin contact brought him closer back to the living world, his eyes finally slitting open to peek up at her as she hovered over him modestly.

"I made dinner~." She sang such beautiful words of truth; he could smell the scent of well-seasoned meat and steamed vegetables in the air. She was a siren and he a pirate captivated by her enchanting song and glorious cooking skills. Soul's eyes slowly blinked open to find an amused Maka sitting next to him. "Wake up sleepy head, you need to eat something."

"How long have I been out?" he grumbled, pulling himself up with the help of the back of the couch.

"I'm not sure. You've been snoozing away since I woke up, though, and that was about five or six hours ago." He was taken aback by the statement, his pools of deep maroon shifting to gaze upon her, eyelids still heavy.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Oh, believe me, I tried. I think you were just having such a good dream that you didn't want to get up," she laughed, her smile like caffeinated coffee. His eyes were still tired, though, and his body hosted that slight numbness one feels upon awakening from a deep sleep. Soul rubbed his hands up and down his legs to try and get more blood flow. Really, how long had he slept? Soul began to try and think back over the past day. It was all kind of fuzzy. The kiss that had happened in the kitchen came flashing back to his mind and he smiled, but he oddly couldn't remember what had happened after that...

"So, how did you busy yourself for the five or six hours I was dead to the world?"

"Well, I was able to check my phone. I had a few missed calls and emails from my dad to make sure that I was doing okay, some from work updating everyone on when they expect us all back. Then I played a few video games, watched a movie, took a short nap, and made food. That's pretty much it."

"Well, I apologize that you had to entertain yourself. I'm not sure why I slept so long."

"You look like you needed it … after last night."

Soul's eyes widened as his brain began to work. He began to think back … what day was it?

"What day is it?"

"Friday, why?"

… What?

"So, … last night. What all do you remember?" he asked softly, his voice still somewhat scratchy from his slumber. His nerves woke him right up, every hair on his neck standing on end because this couldn't be happening.

"I remember getting drunk, mostly I just remember giving you a hard time. Thank you for not letting me drown, by the way. Very much appreciated." It had been a joke, but Soul couldn't find it in him to let out anything more than a snort in response. How the hell could that have all been just a dream? The piano playing, the sobbing embrace, the smooth kisses that had felt so real to him… was made up in his head, all of it. This was unreal … but now thinking back, his dream had begun with Maka waking up, almost as if he were there with her as she took in the fact that the winter storm had passed or when she had heard him playing the piano. It had been so surreal that he thought it would be a memory to last forever - as cheesy as that sounds - but here they were in real life, nowhere close to the level of intimacy that he wanted them to be. This was what Soul would call a rude awakening.

"There's something that I wanted to ask you about, though…" Soul - pulled from his wallowing - turned to the side to look at her, her gaze focused on something across the room to avoid eye contact.

"And what's that?"

"I, uh, kind of have this feeling that I'm missing something. I woke up with swollen eyes as though I had cried or something … and then I found you sleeping on the couch. I just, I don't know, it seemed as though something important happened that I can't remember." He gulped, the memory of the jacuzzi and elevator incidents playing in his head like he was watching it at a drive-in theater. So, that had been real, at least. Now, how to go about telling her about it all. He sighed and sat back as his stare fell parallel to hers, both looking to the far side of the room at nothing in particular. He decided that the best way to go about telling her this was to just do it, to be straightforward about it and not hide or leave out anything. He readied himself by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the words preparing to come forth being halted by a beeping coming from the kitchen. It had startled them both, averting their attention from the elephant in the room. He watched as Maka stood, making her way to the kitchen quickly to turn off the timer on his stove. He heard some clanking before deciding to follow her, the smell of the food becoming denser the closer he got. By the time he stepped into the kitchen, his mouth was watering in anticipation. She had cooked steak. She was glorious. He watched her for a moment as she went about placing the freshly oven baked bread into a cloth-covered basket. It seemed to be already cut and buttered, the crunch sounding at each grasp making Soul look forward to it that much more. He found that she had sauteed asparagus along with some mashed potatoes and what had to be homemade gravy because he sure as hell didn't have any stocked.

He went to sit at the counter where everything was set up perfectly, red wine that they had opened a few nights ago prepared alongside the clean setting. She had taken the liberty to turn on some soft music, allowing the lights to stay dim as she left the thick curtains closed to block out what little light the day had left to offer. They were almost always closed anyway, she probably didn't even know that there were huge glass windows hiding behind them.

Soul was still in a daze as he silently watched Maka prepare their plates before bringing them over and setting them down. She sat next to him, not yet noticing his stare fixed on her person. He decided to dig in before the dreaded conversation was to take place. Soul wasn't sure how she would take the news that she had kissed him multiple times in her intoxicated state. He also couldn't get his mind off of the dream that he had had. He was pissed, to say the least. But maybe … it could be more of a daydream? Soul found himself staring at her as she cut her steak. How would she react if he were to kiss her as he had in his dream? The sound of her soft moans echoed in his memory and he averted his eyes quickly, feeling the heat in the lower half of his abdomen ignite.

"So, how is your dad?" he asked, figuring that it was the best topic to simmer his yearning.

"Good," she answered between chewing. "He wants me to come visit soon. Not sure when I'll be able to."

"Why's that?"

"Why does he want me to visit?"

"That and why don't you think you'll be able to?" Soul takes a sip of wine, the warmth in his stomach refusing to deplete. His glance finds its way to her again, only just noticing that she had chosen to wear one of his nicer sweaters. It was deep maroon, soft and huge on her. So huge in fact that - though her hair was somewhat hiding it - her left shoulder was exposed, creamy and inviting. The sweater was long enough on her to be a dress. Soul was caught by surprise when peeking down to find that she wasn't wearing pants underneath it either, her slender legs grabbing his attention. So much for trying to cool down, his furnace has only been turned up by his wandering eyes.

"Well, I haven't been back home for a little over a year now, so he wants me to visit for the holidays, but with my schedule, I don't think it'll be possible… though, that's somewhat of an excuse."

"What do you mean?"

"I … don't really want to visit. I love my family, but my hometown is … not very welcoming."

"Mm, I understand that. I don't visit my family much either. Where is your hometown, if you don't mind me asking?"

" … Idaho."

"Good God," he snorted. "I'm sorry." Soul shook his head as he attempted to stifle his own laughter.

"Oh, shut up, Mr. Rich Kid."

"Woah, woah, I didn't choose this life."

"I'm sure you would've anyway."

"… I can't argue with that." They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes only for the air to thicken again as they ate. He knew why: she wanted to know what had happened the night before, but he was still caught up with how his dream had been just a dream. It was ridiculous!

"... Hey, Soul?"

"Wanna watch a movie later? Or perhaps we could make use of the bowling alley." Soul stood, his food mostly gone as he carried his plate to the sink.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, but first-"

"I warn you, I'm pretty good at bowling. I know you beat me in gaming, but I'm determined to kick your butt this time around."

"Oh, really, now?" Good, challenging her had worked. He knew that she was competitive, so he had hoped that it would divert her attention for now. He wasn't ready to talk about the whole 'you kissed me but I pushed you away because you were drunk' thing. He knew from how much it had cleared up outside that she would be leaving soon, be it tonight or tomorrow. Something in him found this fact very upsetting ad it was affecting every bit of him. He kept telling himself that he shouldn't feel this way, they've only known each other for a week, but … he wouldn't lie about how he felt for her. It was dangerous, though. It had gotten to the point where his inner weapon was almost … possessive of her. It had never reacted to anyone like this before. There had been times where it reacted strongly in a negative way toward certain people, alerting him of a threat, but this … it had taken an extreme liking to Maka. He had, too.

"Really, really." She stood, eyes narrow as she stared at him.

"You're on." He began to laugh as she quickly cleaned up their leftovers, leaving the few dirty dishes in the sink because she was too fired up for either of them to clean them apparently. She grabbed ahold of his wrist and dragged him to the hall and up the stairs to the small bowling alley. He continued to chuckle the whole way, watching as her strides were full of purpose. That and she still adorned his dark red sweater that made her legs look more appealing with each swish of her hips. He bit his lip and forced himself to look elsewhere, clenching his fist as he shook his head. How could she be so unaware?

They entered the bowling alley, Soul going to turn on all of the lights and machines. He turned to find her stretching her arms, a serious expression on her face.

"Don't mope when I win," she stated flatly, making his mouth drop open before a bark of a laugh left his mouth.

"No! I won't let you get into my head! I'm winning this if this is the only thing that I win at against you ever!" His left arm was stretched backward, his index finger pointing at her as he goes to pick out a ball. He seemed like a child throwing a fit.

"In your dreams." She followed him to do the same, as all of the bowling balls were on the same wall. Soul began to set up one of the lanes for them to use while Maka tested out almost each and every ball, swinging each one with her arm before finally finding one that suited her fancy.

"Would you stop stalling?" Soul joked, a smirk on his face as she made her way over to him.

"I'm not going to go easy on you."

"I don't doubt it." Soul rolled his shoulders jokingly. "But how about we make things more interesting?" The suggestion was laced with mischief, but whether she ignored it or hadn't sensed it, he didn't much care because she unknowingly agreed. "Loser does anything the winner wants."

"Deal."

He tried to let her go first, but Maka was stuck on going after him, so when he scored a strike and turned to see her wide-eyed expression, he couldn't help but smirk.

"What the heck was that?" she asked, her gaze still set on the pins that were getting swept away.

"Oh, come on. I have an actual bowling alley in my home; you really think that I wouldn't be any good at it?"

"You're no good at gaming, so I just assumed." His laugh drew her eyes away from the lane as it reset itself.

"Okay, okay. Well, I rock at bowling."

"Obviously…" She had no words, there was only the slight chance that she could possibly, maybe win. It was soon revealed that she could not, no against a bowling god like Soul. The guy was getting strikes left and right. It was ridiculous! Maka soon called it quits after being utterly demolished in one round, leaving them to go sit at the small snack bar in the bowling alley.

Though they had been joking back and forth, as they had become accustomed to, the short periods of silence were filled with static that left them in a cloud of discomfort. It was happening too often for Maka to handle any further.

"Okay, I can't take it anymore," she sighed, placing her drink down and turning toward him. Her eyes pierced right through him and he almost choked on the popcorn he had been munching on. "You won't look me in the eye, and when you do you quickly look away. The topic keeps getting derailed, but I have to know … what happened last night?"

Don't be too mad at me...?

Love you guys! Hope everything is well!

Much Love~!

K.T.