Short update since I took a break to write "A Promise" because I don't have a problem with finishing stories. I wish I could actually keep my brain on track. Enjoy.

"Are we planning a hit?" Kilik eased into his regular spot on the sofa, eyeing the other borderline serious faces in the room. Kim was trying to look bored, but he could see the keen focus on her face that told him a little anxiety was eating at her. Black Star was closer to a pouting child, arms crossed and sunken into the armchair.

"Soul said serious business talk," Kim frowned a little before glancing back at Soul's door. "Maka's not here though, so I don't know what that means."

"Maka, Maka, Maka," Black Star griped.

"You're turning a little green, there, buddy," Kilik laughed back. "Sure, he's a little obsessed, but the boy's in love for the first time. Let him have it."

"Seconded," Kim chirped. "And I actually don't mind her. I think if you actually talked to her, Black Star, you might actually like her."

Black Star firmly shook his head. "Impossible. I'm the only one who should be worshipped in this house and Soul has been seriously falling short thanks to that blond little vixen."

Soul finally ambled out of his room and Kim hushed them with a wave of her hand. He made it to the doorway, hands wringing in front of him. "Sorry about this, just… I know stuff has been changing and I want you all to know…"

"Did you knock her up or something?" Black Star barked.

"What?" Soul's laugh started off genuine and trickled into terrified. "We're not, definitely not. We're not even, it's not possible."

Kim always enjoyed a good Soul stutter and jumped into the conversation. "You mean you haven't even fucked her? Soul, seriously?"

"Of course we have!" Soul was suddenly incredibly happy that he'd asked Maka to stay out of this conversation altogether.

"Oh, man, he is in love," Kilik's voice was almost a cheer. "I can't believe you finally caved. That's big, man."

"For fuck's sake, Kilik," Soul growled.

All lights fired in Kim's brain, connecting the dots. "You mean that was your first?"

"No way," Black Star's jaw dropped to the floor, his hands flying up in the other direction. "What the fuck do you mean? You've been with like a million girls!"

"No!" Soul shot back before turning an angry glare at Kilik. "You weren't supposed to tell a soul that!"

"It's a safe space," Kim tried to help but the hysterical laughter accompanying it didn't do anything to calm the mood.

"Yeah, we love you, Soul, it's OK," Kilik's was only slightly more convincing, keeping himself in check with a smile.

"It's not OK!" Black Star bleated, "What about the blond from the coffee shop? Or that hot brunette from the tutoring center? Or-"

Soul was on top of him, crushing a hand into his mouth. "No way! And can we please get back on the fucking topic."

"I don't think we got to the topic," Kim crooned.

Wasn't that exactly how every serious conversation in this house went? One of them started off in an agonizing panic that was easily dissipated by the ridiculous teasing, bringing them all back to the reality that while Kim had said it jokingly this was, in fact, a safe space. "Look, I know I bring Maka over here a lot."

Black Star grunted behind Soul's hand and he willfully pressed it harder.

"And you two are pretty serious," Kilik added, making sure Soul wouldn't get away without saying it.

"Yeah," Soul smiled in spite of the anxiety. "I… yeah, I love her."

Kim tried to rein in her squeal, only letting it hum in her throat. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Soul could finally laugh a little. "So, I was thinking I wanted to try the whole living together thing. I get that this place is already crowded as is and adding another person, well, I know we'd make it work. She's ready to pay her share and everything, too. Just… if it would work better, she and I could move out on our own." Soul shrugged, letting go of Black Star's mouth to see a frown appear.

"You want to leave?" Black Star's voice was a little softer, the over-the-top antics finally fading away.

"Yes and no," Soul put an arm around his friend, feeling the blue-haired boy resist just enough to maintain the appearance he was angry. "I thought it'd always be us, you know? Didn't expect much love in my life besides this. So I obviously don't want to leave you guys, but I don't know if it's weird."

Kim shrugged, "Not weird for me. I vote yes to Maka staying with us. Black Star, think long and hard like a regular human being before you answer. Kilik?"

Kilik's thumb was under his chin, the rest of his fingers sagely rubbing at a non-existent beard. "I vote no. The two of you should move out on your own."

"What?" Kim's voice fluttered up an octave. "Come on, Kilik! Maka's really nice, and she's-"

"Not a problem with Maka," Kilik smiled. "Soul just needs to be a big boy now, not relying on us to keep him grounded. Stuff with Maka's only going to move forward if he's not in a safety net."

Kim sighed, her lips pressing into a thin line after the exhale. After a beat of silence, she relinquished the tight hold of her jaw and breathed again, "You're too logical."

"It's my curse," Kilik laughed. "Black Star?"

Soul locked eyes with Black Star, tightening that arm around his neck somewhere between threat and comfort. "I hate the whole thing," he muttered.

"Black Star, use your big boy feelings," Kim called.

"I am!" He huffed. "It's stupid that you're in love, and it's stupid that you want to leave us, and I hate it. End of story."

Kilik waved a hand at Kim who had opened her mouth again to tease, "Give the guy another second."

Black Star let out a long exhale, frowning up at Soul's watchful face. "But you should go, move out. I don't want your romantic shit around the house anyway." Black Star planted a hand on Soul's face, pushing him enough to get out of the stranglehold so he could reverse it, rubbing a fist into Soul's hair. "But if I get lonely over the summer I have an all-access pass to your place, anytime I want and that girl can't say shit."

"You will but I can't guarantee she won't," Soul grunted as he tried to stop the revolution of Black Star's fist. After enough fussing and fighting, Soul freed himself. "I do love you guys, though. This doesn't really change that, OK?"

"Gross," Black Star muttered.

Kilik took off his shoe, throwing it straight for Black Star who barely dodged. "The idiot means the feeling's mutual."

"Love is a strong word," Kim leaned into the edge of the couch. "You're all tolerable."

Kilik clutched at his heart, "Thanks, Kim."

She shot a smile Kilik's direction before focusing back on Soul. "Then when are you out?"

"I mean, I…" Soul shrugged. "We didn't find anywhere but maybe May. Before the summer, probably once school ends."

"That's coming up," Kilik dissolved back into his serious self. "Start looking now, and maybe look for something you could afford on your own, just in case."

That ending thought hit him like a truck. He was jumping into unknown territory, no safety net, no guarantee that love was going to last or save the day or do anything but get him hurt. Just in case. That thought terrified him and at that moment he was almost begging for her to be there, to smooth her fingers through his hair and tell him it was no big deal, that there was no reason for just in case.

Maka hadn't been surprised by the verdict, imagining that the house already felt close to bursting and putting her in the middle would have been just stress for all involved. And if she had heard Kilik's rationale which Soul decided to keep to himself, she would have agreed: this quickly banded together love needed a test or else they'd never find out what the reality was for them. Tonight, for Maka, was the first hurdle.

Telling Spirit would most likely be a disaster, and while she wanted to rely on Soul as a crutch, she forced him to swear he'd go to work, no surprises, right after dropping her off at the restaurant where she was meeting Spirit. After that she'd meet him at the bar, hopefully avoiding Spirit offering to drop her off. This was the plan, but things rarely went to plan.

Because promises were forgotten and Soul had wheedled his way into sitting with Maka for the main piece of the agenda.

Soul had done the right thing and extending his hand to Spirit as if he were on a job interview as soon as he was in range. "I'm Soul Evans."

"I know," Spirit was quick to answer, but less so when taking his hand. Maka had to throw him a signature glare before a few pumps were exchanged and Spirit managed, "Spirit Albarn."

Now the three of them sat in a booth at a bar a little less sophisticated than Reapers. The stretch of silence that started after they sat made his skin crawl and Soul started to search for something to say. He brought his water glass to his lips, eyes darting between the two of them until settling on Spirit's iron glare.

As soon as they locked eyes, Spirit's moved to his daughter. "Are you pregnant?"

Water shot from Soul's mouth, most of it thankfully caught back in the cup with only a medium dribble down his chin and into his lap.

Maka only blinked for a moment as if the words were alien. "What?"

"I can't imagine another reason why you'd call me here with him unless you were." Spirit made a grand, annoyed waved in Soul's direction.

"Are you serious?" The grip of Maka's hand on his tightened and Soul considered pulling away in an effort to save a finger.

Spirit sighed, "Maka, if you are-"

"No!" Her voice came out as a wail, turning some of the eyes in the room their direction. "And if I was a bar wouldn't exactly be the place that I planned on telling you."

His eyes fell on Soul again and, regardless of the watery mess down the front of his shirt, Soul felt almost ready for him. "I thought it would be better if you had the chance to meet me before you and Maka talked. I didn't think we started off on the right foot."

"Oh, really?" Spirit narrowed his eyebrows. "You mean you assault someone, run off with my kid over Christmas, and keep her spirited away until after New Year's."

Maka was squeezing his hand again but it was his anger that was threatening now. "Look, I fought, sure, but she and I made those decisions. I didn't just-"

"Maka doesn't just make those kinds of decisions, she's smarter than that," Spirit shot back. "And it's not like you're some long term romance, you two are kids and-"

Soul couldn't take another word of it, cutting Spirit off for his own sanity. "I love Maka."

In the next moment, there were a million things that Spirit could have done and all of those things would have been a better choice than the one that he did. Looking Soul straight in the face, Spirit laughed. Not just some cute little 'father realizes daughter's boyfriend isn't so bad' type of way, this isn't a sitcom, but one of those laughs that embodied the 'yeah, right' with such an intensity that Soul found his blood hitting a boiling point. Maka saw it, too, and while she got a hand to his chest, holding his shirt so tightly that he had no choice but to stay seated, she couldn't stop the words from spewing from his mouth.

"I do love her, you jackass, and if you took half a second to actually talk to your daughter instead of abandoning her whenever you feel like it you'd realize it!" His voice was straining and he'd drawn the attention of most of the people in the bar while Spirit just sat dumbfounded. "Maka was right, I should have just left her with the job of talking to you since I can't help but feel hating you is still the right thing to do. I haven't seen you do a thing for her but hurt her and I can't fucking let that go."

"Soul, stop, please." Maka was pressing that hand to his chest, trying to stop the way he heaved for air, ready to throw out another sentence he shouldn't say.

Spirit finally came back to himself, his fingers gripping white-knuckled at the table. "You-"

"Papa, don't!" Maka was seriously contemplating reaching across the table and clacking their heads together. "Both of you just… shut up." Her eyes alternated between the two of them, watching as they swallowed the words on their tongues. "Soul, you have to go to work."

"Maka-"

She gripped him a little tighter, giving him a shake. "Don't. Just go, OK?"

Soul studied her face for a moment, feeling all of his power draining away. "You need me, you call me."

"I know." Regardless of her father's stare, Maka leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek, giving him a little extra shove out of the booth. Soul begrudgingly stood, eyes avoiding Spirit as he turned and began his stomping walk out of the bar.

"You let him talk to me that way?" Spirit spat as soon as Soul was out of earshot.

Maka sighed, leaning back in the seat before running her fingers through her hair, an unfortunate habit she was picking up from the proximity to Soul. "He's overprotective when it comes to me. It doesn't make what he did right, and I'll let him know later, but you didn't give him much to work with, Papa."

Spirit grimaced, "I'm supposed to?"

Maka let that question sit while the waiter came over to take their order. Spirit had his usual beer and while Maka would normally wait until she was in the comfort of Soul's bed to have a nightcap, she decided a glass of wine might be the only way to get through this conversation. Maybe a double. "How's work?"

He rolled his eyes a little at the subject change before sighing, knowing this whole evening was a losing battle. "You know how it is, never calm for too long. Not half as busy now as it was over the holidays. That always seems to bring out the homicidal tendencies in people."

"I bet." Spirit wasn't amused by the smirk that spread across her face but it quickly faded as she took the next breath. "But you were busy, over the holidays?"

"I tried, kiddo, I did, but you know how it is. Homicide doesn't stop just because you put up a tree." Spirit reached a hand across the table, watching as Maka hesitated to take it. "I wanted to be there with you, you know that."

"Sure." Maka let a finger touch his, keeping the rest of her hand away. "That's why Blair said you were still going to the club, right?" An answer wasn't necessary, the grit of his teeth, the short exhale of air between them as they clenched telling her the story she already knew. "And you know Mom called me. I'm glad the two of you can get along when it means ganging up on me."

"Maka, that's not fair." Spirit pulled back the reach of his hand, crossing his arms over his chest instead.

"No, it's not." Maka sighed, her eyes drifting across the restaurant, following the waiter as he brought over their drinks. They hadn't even bothered to open the menus and thankfully the waiter didn't ask, offering the few more minutes and quickly dodging away. It was probably the screaming that clued him in that this wasn't going to be his quickest moving table this evening. Maka restrained herself from taking a gulp but managed a long, drawn-out sip before looking back at Spirit. "Papa, Soul's important to me."

"Well, he loves you, right?" That word was offered as a curse.

"And I love him." Maka was almost surprised by her own calm and found it comical how Spirit's eyebrows raised for just a second. "And don't start with 'you've only been dating a few months' please."

"It's a solid line, Maka, especially since it's the truth." Spirit took a slow sip of his beer, clanking the glass a little harder than expected against the table. "I just wish you were more careful, running off like that with him. You're still in college and now with work, you should be making sure you're not wasting your time with him when you could be studying."

Maka snorted softly into her wine glass, taking another swallow. "Don't worry, Papa, still all A's and truthfully, Soul's not that far behind and he works a lot, too. We're responsible. And that's why, well, that's why we're going to move in together this summer."

If the glass had been made of any softer material it would have exploded in Spirit's grip. "Maka, seriously? You barely know each other. What's going to happen when this explodes and you don't have the dorm to come back to? Did you even think of that?"

"No," Maka resisted the way he fed into her anxiety, but only just barely. "Papa, if it doesn't work, it doesn't and I'll figure it out but I'm not making contingency plans. I'm trying to just assume we'll be fine."

"Are you insane?" It was almost a shout again and Maka watched as the waiter, who had been on his way back to them, turned tail and ran at the volume. "What's gotten into you? You used to be careful, you used to think-"

"I used to be scared!" Maka was surprised by her own tone, sure now that the waiter would never come back. She pressed a hand to her lips for a moment, steadying her breath. "I used to be so scared that history just repeats itself. Regardless of what happened to you, to Mom, that doesn't mean that's where I'll end up, where we'll end up. That doesn't mean that Soul is going to end up being anything other than what he is - caring, truthful, dependable."

Maka swirled the wine in her glass, trying to concentrate on the way it flowed around the corners of the glass. "I didn't expect you to like this, but you have to understand that this isn't about you and me, Papa. I'm not punishing you, I'm not trying to make you angry, I'm just trying to live my life." She finally let her hand reach across the table, opening her palm to him. "And that life is with Soul."