I'm sorry this took so long, definitely got writer's block on the pre-wedding activities. I'm still not sure I like what I wrote but... please be kind.

Maka hadn't expected the phone call, hadn't expected Lizzie's voice to be so bright, so inviting, nor to expect that she'd be in town and want to meet. There was just an assumption that Lizzie saw Maka as part of a package deal with her future brother-in-law, someone that had to be present when he was. The idea of the two of them having coffee together alone without the boys never seemed to occur to Maka. But as Maka left the museum that day, that was exactly what they had planned to do, Lizzie waiting patiently at the cafe Soul had taken her to eons ago.

There was already a second coffee sitting in front of Lizzie and Maka thought for a moment she had been mistaken, that it wasn't one on one. "Hello, Maka!" Lizzie waved her over to the small cafe table pressed by the window. "Coffee black, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Maka eagerly took the cup as Lizzie slid it to her. "It's wonderful to see you."

"I know, and I'm sorry that we've been missing in action for the most part since the holidays." Lizzie used her sigh to cool her coffee. "Catherine's been a complete beast, my own mother coming in a close second, and both have been running us ragged with planning."

Maka tried to stop the smirk from curling her lips. "Catherine, a beast?"

Lizzie's laugh was low and throaty. "Horrid. All of them. But I'm afraid I'm about to be just as horrid."

"What do you mean?" Maka sipped carefully at her coffee, watching as Lizzie pressed her fingers to her lips to keep back another laugh.

Her other hand came to Maka's, gently resting on top. "It's not entirely fair, and I know we're only a few months away, but would you mind being in the actual wedding party?"

Maka was lucky her sip had been over, the word shooting from her mouth instead of the hot liquid, "Me?"

"Well, Soul's best man, and while I can't offer you maid of honor, my sister Susanna has promised herself that position, I'd love for you to be a bridesmaid." Lizzie gave Maka's hand a little squeeze before letting a hopeful grin stretch across her face.

Maka's first reaction was to laugh as if this were some practical joke or a nefarious plot with Catherine waiting in the rafters. She found herself biting her lip, trying to hush those thoughts. "Well, of course, Lizzie. If you really want me to be."

Lizzie's excitement was practically oozing through her fingertips, sending a morse code of joy tapping over Maka's fingers. "I do, and not only will Catherine be mortified but you'll have the luck of very limited interactions with her because you'll have the easy excuse of being too busy helping me."

"Well, if it'll bother Catherine," Maka teased only half-heartedly. While she was sure Soul would find some kind of joy in it, too, it felt empty to her.

Thankfully Lizzie seemed to read it right off of Maka's face. "It's not just for Catherine, though. You're genuinely wonderful, Maka, and Wes and I really want to make sure you do feel like an accepted member of this family or at least the tiny segment of this family that has any sense."

The words trembled in her mouth before tumbling out quietly, "Thank you, Lizzie." The idea of them as a family had sent her heart into a fluttering mess. It's one thing to love Soul, physically and emotionally, but it's another thing altogether to be a family, to let your love be a bridge to something bigger. Saying I love you hadn't been that hard for her, but this would be her hurdle blocking the road in her heart that she knew she wanted to travel.

"Then, it's settled." Lizzie slipped her phone out of her pocket, scrolling around on the screen before turning it to Maka. "This is the calendar. Let's plan and see what you'll be able to make it to."

Maka took out her phone, starting to put in dates and times and places. Dresses, shoes, hair, makeup, parties and showers. She wondered for a second if Soul's calendar looked like this but that thought broke into a laugh, knowing that the closest he got to planning was usually a day or two ahead of time. This was going to be the entirety of her spring into summer.

"I've purposefully kept Catherine out of the shopping parts," Lizzie sighed, "but for the parties, she will be there. I guess it'll ease us both into the misery of planning a wedding."

Maka laughed as she put the last date, the rehearsal dinner, into her calendar. "But the actual wedding itself will make all of this worth it, right?"

Lizzie leaned onto her elbow, a wistful sigh breaking her lips. "I don't know, sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier to just disappear for a weekend and come back married. Wes is a tad bit too old fashioned to do that, though."

"We can try to get Soul to convince him," Maka laughed.

"Soul is anti-wedding? Somehow I'm not surprised," Lizzie rolled her eyes playfully, eliciting another laugh from Maka. "But doesn't that bother you?"

"Me?" Maka blinked at this, the implication slow to settle into her mind. Even when it finally dawned on her all it could bring forth was a shrug. "When I think of marriage I think of my parents, their failure, and well, it's not that I'm against it but… we're fine just as we are. I don't know if that'll change, but right now I have everything I want."

Soul was still lounging in her bed as Maka dressed, his eyes following the last bits of bare skin. "You're beautiful, you know that."

"Stop it," she chimed.

"Never." He was grinning like a fool as he crawled to the edge of the bed, his hand grabbing at the hem of her skirt to pull her back towards the bed. "I don't say it enough to begin with."

"If I had a dime for every time you said it…" She playfully slapped at his hand, finding it completely ineffectual at deterring him. "We both have things to do today."

Soul let go of her hem but let his hand drift down her thigh. "You're going to be alright?"

"Fine," she realized the shortness in her voice only after the word escaped her mouth. "Maybe. I hope." Maka sidestepped his hand, moving instead to sit on the bed next to him as her fingers instantly moved to run through his hair. "Lizzie is going to pick me up so at least I'll have her."

His fingers softly caressed her lower back. "I hear her sister's interesting but her best friend's supposed to be tolerable."

Maka leaned over to press her grin to his. "Is this what girl-talk with Wes has scrounged up?"

"The best I could do." Soul slowly brought himself to sitting, his shoulder nudging against hers. "Honestly, I still don't know why you agreed. You're too good, Maka."

She shook her head slowly before turning her eyes from his, not sure she could the words could even come from her mouth. "It's selfish, really."

"Selfish?" The word was almost punctuated with a laugh but as he focused in on the tremble of her lip he silenced himself, bringing his arm instead to wrap around her waist. "Why would you say that?"

Maka let her fingers run along his forearm as a shaky smile twisted the corner of her lips. "It's your family and all I want to do is be a part of it."

"I, uh…" Soul couldn't pinpoint the dizzying giddiness, the way those earth-shattering little utterances threw his entire mind into a tailspin. He bought himself time by bringing his lips to hers, feeling her smile strengthen as he was anything but gentle. After stealing as many kisses as he could in the time he had, Soul pulled away with a sigh. "I can't really complain when all of your so-called selfish actions always seem to benefit me in the long run."

A huff of air loosely resembling a laugh exited her nose as she touched his cheek. "I'm going to be late." As if on cue, her phone buzzed alive on the desk. "That's probably Lizzie."

Soul let her slip away from him completely as she stood to grab the phone off the desk, concentrating on the screen. "Have her drop you off at the house tonight." He turned so his feet planted on the floor, considering the option of following her.

"We both have class tomorrow," she reminded him between clicking on Lizzie's message and typing a reply.

He huffed, "Consider it training for living together."

Maka firmly shook her head. "Between finding an apartment today and then studio work tonight, you'll be snoring by the time I get there anyway."

"Slander," he grumbled. Soul leaned over the side of the bed, grabbing his shoes and beginning the process of putting them on.

"Tomorrow, after work, you and me in bed with a movie and I'll tell you all about bridesmaid dresses and you'll tell me about the apartment that you'll magically find." She caught him at the end of tying his laces, leaning over to press her lips against his.

He stood up, pulling her into one of their old lingering hugs, his hands sinking into her sweater. "I guess that can be a compromise." Really, he had to admit she was right. He was going to run himself ragged today, trying his damndest to find a place for the two of them, a task that she'd so easily trusted him with.

"Walk me down?" It was a nonsensical request, something he'd have to do anyway as she was leaving the dorm, but the softness in her voice made his heart skip a beat.

Soul hated to let go, but let her slide out of his arms. "Of course."

They started through the door room, both making sure to say goodbye to Tsubaki before heading out into the hallway. Maka was walking a little too fast for him to slip an arm around her so he had to content himself with stretching out his hand to grab just her fingers until she slowed enough to get her entire hand. Everything in him was screaming about protecting her, about going along and making sure all of those girls played nice and that none of them tried to pull any Catherine like behavior. Instead, he knew he was going to have to keep that in check, knew that she was strong even on her own and didn't need her overprotective boyfriend sulking about in the background.

As they exited the dorm, Lizzie was already waiting, idling at the curb in a boxy 90s Volvo. Soul finally matched her speed as they got closer to the car, allowed him to grab at the door before Maka could. "Thank you. Hey, Lizzie." Maka dipped into the car as Soul leaned after her, just sticking his head in far enough to show off a smile.

Lizzie amused smile darted between the two of them. "Hello, Soul, Maka."

"If you two need anything, call me," Soul punctuated the sentence with a kiss on Maka's cheek. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"Same goes for you," Maka laughed.

Soul closed the door and took a step back onto the sidewalk, sending a little wave their way.

Dress shopping was decidedly not a nightmare as Maka had thought. It occurred to her, of course, that each one of the girls there were on their best behavior, a group that seemed to know little about each other besides their close acquaintance to Lizzie. First, it was Susanna, Lizzie's younger and much more talkative sister. Susanna looked absolutely nothing like Lizzie, keeping her hair long and a brunette so highlighted that it may as well be called dirty blonde. Best behavior was also probably not a term that many used for Susanna, who was the one most likely to be a little too free with her opinions.

Elena was the second in the group, Lizzie's long-time best friend, a title she had kept since early grade school. Her hair was dyed to a deep wine color, strangely accenting her bright blue eyes.

Finally, Flore, a fellow aptly named botanist whose hair was as dark as night with eyes almost just as dark. She was technically from Hong Kong but had spent most of her adolescent life in France where she and Lizzy met.

All three seemed in strange contrast to one another as if Lizzie didn't have a set type of friend and preferred having a group that in no way matched. Maybe that kept life interesting. Maka tried to compare her own friend group but, to be honest, she didn't have much besides Tsubaki to make a comparison. Being with this many ladies at once in a social setting was actually something completely new. This was yet another thing that she assumed would be anxiety-producing but as they sat around, sipping champagne in some high-end boutique that Maka couldn't even pronounce the name of, she was oddly content.

She had sandwiched herself between Flore and Elena, rightfully assuming that she would need at least a little space from Susanna to keep her sanity. "So you're dating the younger brother?" Elena leaned in, eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Soul," Maka tried not to necessarily beam, but she failed miserably.

"Soul? How did they get that name after Wes?" Elena directed the question more towards Lizzie who had been sliding through a few dresses.

Susanna started to earn Maka's assumption, whispering to Elena as if Maka still wasn't close enough to hear, "Just some experiment, I bet. They had him ten years after Wes, you know. Probably an accident."

Elena stiffened a little, her mouth twisting as if she could taste the bitter words. "I'm suddenly reminded why I prefer your sister."

Susanna rolled her eyes and this time made her voice loud enough for Maka. "But I heard he's cute, maybe even better looking than Wes, but I can't believe that."

"They're both handsome," Maka offered.

"And even if he is the black sheep, he'll still get half the estate," Susanna chimed.

"I'm sure that's exactly why Maka likes him, too," Elena smirked before giving Maka a nudge. "Please tell me he's at least a little less uptight than his brother."

"I don't think Wes is uptight." Maka's shrug only got a laugh from Elena in reply. "But Soul is, well, he's different. Definitely not Wes."

"Try this on," Lizzie interrupted by pressing a gown to Maka's chest. Slowly gowns were handed out, reminding each girl that it wasn't gossip but dresses they were there for. Lizzie had them all lined up, each woman in a different style. "What do we think?"

Maka normally would never have an opinion, mostly because this was for Lizzie, not for herself, and as every good bridesmaid knows you usually just grin and bear whatever you're put through. Thankfully, all of the choices were tasteful, nothing so avantgarde that Maka would rather die than be seen in public. Secretly she hoped for the current pick that Flore was wearing, a lace v-neck top that gathered at the waist with a long flowing skirt, the slit just above the knee, but all Maka would do was send her hopes out into the universe.

Susanna, of course, had a voice, one that was only matched by Elena while Flore looked more interested in the flowing movement of her own skirt. Lizzie was attentive as Elena and Susanna vied for the biggest opinion while Maka took the opportunity to peruse the room with Flore. "I honestly think we're friends because she needs peace and quiet every now and then," Flore murmured as her fingers danced through the drapes of fabric.

"Isn't that why she likes working with flowers in general?" They laughed together, finally drawing Lizzie's eye from the other two that had fallen to bickering.

"What about my quiet ones?" Lizzie had leaned into Flore, throwing her arms around her shoulders. "Thoughts?"

"Whatever Susanna doesn't like," Flore replied with a cool smile.

"My baby sister is unbearable," Lizzie sighed. "Maka?"

"Oh," Maka shook her head. "I don't know anything about dresses, really, and-"

Lizzie batted out a hand, pressing into Maka's shoulder. "That's a blatant lie! The dress you wore the night we met was lovely."

"Well…" Maka took a moment to study Lizzie's smile as well as the one on Flore's face. They were gentle, waiting for her opinion as if those words mattered. It was a dizzying thought and she was struck by the absence of loneliness even without Soul there. "The one Flore's wearing is lovely."

"That means two votes for Flore's dress from this side of the room." Lizzie released Flore to glance back at Elena and Susanna who still seemed to be locked into their argument. "And those two are too busy with each other, so Flore's it is. I think this deserves more champagne!"