I'm convinced I'm torturing you, so I apologize. I really have to wrap this one up, so after this we may have a little of a time jump. I promise I'm working towards the ending that I think we all want, but at the same time I'm starting the new AU just like I promised I wouldn't. Let me know if you want me to release it before I finish this one.
Maka woke up to his fingers softly grazing over her arm. They weren't touches filled with intent, closer to half-asleep wanderings as they tiptoed hand to shoulder and back again. "Good morning," she murmured.
"Hey," came gruffly back.
She rolled over slowly, seeing those scarlet eyes still refusing to open but a knowing grin coming to his lips. "I'm really ready to go home."
He grunted half of a laugh, "Just have to make it through breakfast."
Maka groaned in reply, scooting on top of him as she sunk her face in the crook of his head. "The food better be good."
That birthed a real laugh from his mouth as his arms moved to wrap around her and crush her to his chest. "I love you."
"I'm glad my love of food amuses you," she muttered into his neck.
"Top ten things to love about you." Soul kissed her shoulder before patting at her back. "Come on, time to get up."
"Since when are you the punctual one?" she grumbled.
"The sooner we're there, the sooner we leave, the sooner we're back in the apartment." Soul tapped a finger on her back for each thing on the list. "And that's technically what you want, hence me trying to get it."
"Thank you," but she still punctuated with a sigh as he started to ease out from underneath her.
"I'm gonna shower, then I'll throw you out of bed," he laughed as he finally got out of her grasp and stretched off the end of the bed.
Maka watched the muscles of his back as he leaned, a soft smile curling her lips. In a way, this was her favorite time of the day, when he was lazily preparing himself for the world, stretching and sending half-dreamy glances her way. Watching him until he disappeared into the bathroom was enough to invigorate her to the point where she could slip out of bed and start unwinding her hair. The shower started in the background as she moved achingly slow through the process, untangling her thoughts along with the golden tresses.
The wedding dreaming is over, right? We'll slip back into real life, work, and soon school and it'll all drift away. He'll stop thinking about it and so will I. The breath that followed did little to convince her that any of that was the truth. It'll be good to take a step back, take a breath, just look at it logically instead of clouded by all the romance in the air. Another shaky breath broke her lips. Especially since we're just young, dangerously in love, more likely to act foolishly and…
She sucked in air, letting her chest puff up. What I can be sure of, what I know I'm going to change is Catherine. She can like me, she can hate me, but I'm not going to shed another tear. She turned her head to hear the click of the bathroom door, shocked by how long the thoughts must have revolved around her head.
"Guess I don't have to throw you out of bed," Soul chuckled but it fell away as her head turned and wide, almost confused eyes blinked back at him. "What is it?"
"Nothing," she gave her head a quick shake and her eyes softened to usual. "Guess I just got lost in my thoughts. Spaced out."
Soul narrowed his eyes at her, "You sure?"
"Yup, back to Earth," she offered the best grin she could before turning her head back to the window and trying another breath to clear whatever else was left.
Soul blew out a huff of air before continuing to the bed. He dropped the damp towel on his side before reaching into his bag and starting the suddenly slowed process of putting on his boxers. He didn't like it, the eyes, the crawl back to reality that came to her face and he found himself wrestling through possible scenarios. Finally, he put forth the one that made the most sense, "Look, if you're worried about my mom-"
"No," Maka cut it off quickly.
"Then…?"
Maka could finally throw an amused smile over her shoulder to him. "You can't let me have one mysterious thought, can you?"
"Well," Soul's open mouth snapped back shut, his lips pressed into a thin line. No, he wanted to answer, since nobody enjoys the unknown.
"Well?"
"Fine," he grumbled.
"Good, because you can't have all of my thoughts," Maka chided as she got up from the bed and started to the closet where dresses were hung to avoid wrinkles. She could imagine the snide remarks from Catherine already if something so simple was ignored. Maka let her hand rest on the hanger, gliding the silky summer dress she'd brought specifically for this occasion. Among many other things, their relationship had brought an uptick in her purchasing of new dresses, mostly just for the simple satisfaction of watching the way his eyes bugged out of his head every time as a triumphant reminder that she was beautiful to him.
Lucky for her his current attention was on his belt, his mind probably still churning over the thought she wouldn't let him have. Maka slipped out of her pajamas and into the dress, a simple wrap dress that didn't threaten immodesty in the front but did perhaps give too much of a peek at her leg. As she was tying the front closed his eyes finally wandered to her and she sweetly savored the way his face lit up, the playful smirk coming to his lips as he instantly started the walk towards her.
"That's new," he murmured as he slowed the last few steps, taking his time to look her up and down.
She hummed the affirmative before putting a hand to his chest. "Don't wrinkle it, please."
"Wouldn't dare." Soul jammed his hands in his pockets because the temptation was obviously there, the fabric looking like it would be barely there under his fingertips.
"Soul…" came as a warning from her mouth.
"I know," he grumbled as he took a safe step back, hands still firm in his pockets. "Looks soft."
"It is," she pushed him another step back. "And you can feel it all you want when you're manhandling me into the apartment later. Now you only get to look." Soul turned with a huff, letting her hand now fall to his back and easy him another step forward. "Let's go, I'm sure everyone's downstairs by now."
Soul continued his grumbles with each step, detailing under his breath the cruelty that Maka seemed to enjoy so much. All he got in reply was joyful giggles and that hand pressing him all the way down to the same hall as the reception. Most of the party was already there though not all of them looked as well-rested as the others since Susanna certainly hadn't badgered any of the girls out of drinking last night. Elena seemed to be most certainly nursing a hangover that Susanna was not far behind, leaving them both delightfully quiet and uninterested in the usual playful bickering.
A short wave of greetings came from the table as they got close enough, Wes instantly out of his seat to pull Soul into a hug. "Didn't think you'd beat us down here," Soul laughed as he kept the embrace short, the physical affection still leaving a lingering feeling of disarray.
"We're in good form today," Wes chirped happily, sending a glance Lizzie's way.
"And everyone knows you two lovebirds are always so busy with each other that you can't manage to get anywhere on time," Lizzie teased.
"Lovebirds," Soul scoffed but sucked the air back in as Maka leaned into him, her cheek pressing against his shoulder.
"For once it wasn't his fault this morning," she chimed and Soul's cheeks flared red.
Lizzie motioned Maka over, giving Soul a moment's reprieve to get his face in order. He sat quickly, still surprised by how she could produce that tingling redness on his face. His eyes darted along the table, settling on his mother and her sour face. "Mom, you feeling alright?" he offered with half a smile.
"Fine," she replied tightly before letting her eyes flick to the girls.
Lizzie was still whispering happily into Maka's ear, their eyes both sparkling with secrets. She seems, I don't know, sure of something now after that space-casing this morning. What was that thought she had today? He blew a frustrated breath from his lips, the more they giggled the less sure he was that it wasn't about him. When she finally joined him, Soul wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pressing his lips close to her ear. "You have a good chat?"
"Fine," Maka smiled as she tried to press against his chest to no avail.
"Want to clue me in?" Soul kept that iron grip on her.
"Later," she murmured. "You'll definitely want to wait until later." Those green eyes weren't filled with tortuous amusement but a sweet, soft concern and he left it, slipping his arm down the back of her chair and coming back to his lap. Carefully, she turned her head, leaving little space between them. "But don't think it's a bad thing, alright?"
"Right." His eyes focused on hers, desperately wanting to seal her promise with a kiss, knowing she wouldn't lie but wanting to taste it on her lips. "Later."
Maka turned her head, focusing in on Catherine and Lewis. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Good morning, Catherine, Lewis."
"Good morning," Lewis offered but Catherine only pertly nodded her head.
Soul was ready to reach for her, to squeeze an 'I love you' into her hand but found the smile strong on her face.
Not only that but she continued to barrel right though, "Did you two sleep well?"
Lewis had to keep his eyebrows in check rather than let them crawl up his forehead. "Fine, thank you."
Catherine seemed to hate that answer, but the emotion quickly squashed from her face before letting her eyes glance over Maka. "I suppose you two slept fine."
"Like always," Maka sent a shining smile Soul's way and he felt the heat on his cheeks again.
That certainly wasn't the answer Catherine wanted and she inhaled deeply before continuing, "Soul, have you given any thought to transferring?"
"Mom," Soul groaned.
Catherine was picking at the napkin in her lap. "Really, the fact that your brother teaches there is the only elevation and you won't even bother to be in his program…"
"I'm staying where I'm at," Soul enunciated each word.
"Especially since we just got an apartment close by," Maka added nonchalantly, her eyes blinking almost innocently as Catherine's face dropped.
"You what?"
Soul's gut churned. That's right, you chicken, you didn't tell her like you promised Wes and now Maka's walking right into it. He turned his head to her just in time to watch the feigned ignorance come to her face.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Catherine," Maka simply gushed the sentiment. "We completely forgot with all the planning for the wedding. I should have forwarded you the new address since Soul and I moved in together."
Oh! Soul was instantly trying to quell the smirk that wanted to explode from his lips. That's a giant 'fuck you,' Maka, so gently delivered that I could fucking kiss you.
Without even waiting for the reply Maka was adding on, "Remind me when the waiter comes around to ask for a pen so we don't forget now. We've been living together for a few months, after all. Maybe you and Lewis should visit before the semester starts and we get too busy."
"Living together?" Catherine hissed in Soul's direction.
"We are," Maka beamed. "And I'm so glad we found a suitable spot. Any day now I should hear back from the graduate program and that'll mean an extra year at university for me while Soul settles into whatever work he wants." Now Maka was gushing, the excitement bringing her closer to leaning across the table, making sure the words had a short trip to Catherine's ears. "I mean, we're not engaged or anything, but I think we're settling in just fine. Who knows, maybe the marriage bug will take us eventually. Either way, we needed a good place for a long-term stay and I think we found it."
That's dangerous, Maka, he wanted to grab her and mutter in her ear, knowing that most of this was a show, a steady, brave play to put Catherine in her place. At the same time, that tugged on his heartstrings a little too much for his liking. That's teasing me almost as much as her.
Catherine's face was turning an interesting shade almost bordering on violet as she primly excused herself, shoes clapping against the ground as she threw etiquette to the wind to stop away. Lewis grunted some kind of vague approval and then stared absently at his plate, knowing better than to venture after his wife.
Soul couldn't decide what was more of a thrill, the way her face held onto only the triumph with none of the pain or that soft promise of eventually.
Soul got behind the wheel, put the car in drive, and let the silence hang for a good ten minutes before the words practically galloped off his tongue. "Tell me what Lizzie and you were talking about."
Maka sighed and pressed her hand over her mouth, gathering the words until she turned her head slowly to him. "She asked if we'd gotten engaged."
It hadn't necessarily been what Soul had expected at all, but the word still sputtered from his mouth, "What?"
"She had expected you'd do something last night."
Fuck did he ever want to know what tone of voice that was. Was that exasperated? Annoyed at the idea that another person was tossing the idea of a wedding at her? Was it hopeful? Was it forlorn like he should have done something last night? A shriveling breath in his throat was all he could offer.
"I told her that you hadn't, that we weren't, that…" Maka turned her face to the window, letting the glass cool her cheek. "There's no pressure."
"No pressure," Soul echoed nervously. There isn't. It's not like some green card marriage, she's not going anywhere and as far as you know she's still not ready, just thinking. But as his mind relived the moment he couldn't help but question, "Then what were you smiling about?"
It was her turn from the choked sound to eke out of her throat. "Soul, you have to understand…"
His stomach turned into a knot as she tugged on his sleeve.
"Pull over."
"What?"
"Pull over." She pointed to the side of the road and he acquiesced, that knot becoming a complete wall, blocking the air from hitting his diaphragm. As soon as he put the car in park, her hands were on his face, turning his eyes to hers. She was studying him until she leaned in slowly, her lips just brushing his.
"What do I have to understand?" he asked breathlessly.
"That maybe…" Her face settled back, her lips pressing to suppress some of the trembling that had started. "You keep hearing that I don't want to marry you. I don't know why that's what this keeps translating to so please, listen this time. Before you, it's not something I thought about, dreamed, made myself comfortable with. Even after you came along, it was something put far to the side because I wasn't even sure you'd stay with me. But, honestly, I don't think it's ever been a never. I'm not sure there's a time when you would have gotten an exasperated or anxious 'no' unless maybe you tried during Halloween."
Her fingers clutched tighter into his cheeks. "So I smiled because I…" Maka tilted her head to the side, her eyes veering to his shoulder. "Maybe I like it, too, when other people assume. When they think we're so much in love that nothing else is possible. Because I'm hopeful, Soul. I'm hopeful that I'll get to a place where I don't worry about it, where I don't feel unsure, and when you ask I won't have to hesitate and tell you to wait, but easily say yes." His cheeks were burning, the pink there offering him at least a little satisfaction.
"What do I have to do?" He hated the begging quality in his voice but had no choice.
"Just keep being you," she murmured with a smile.