I love you, reviewers (and readers), I swear, but I have to torture you a little longer.

Maka had listed out the flight instructions for the third time before she sighed, "Papa, seriously."

"Just making sure. Don't want to ruin the whole homecoming," Spirit complained half-heartedly. "Speaking of, the kid asked to come with me to pick you up."

"Soul?" She didn't like the yelping quality to that but it couldn't be helped. He hadn't offered in any of their phone calls to be there and actually hadn't even mentioned again that she was coming home. Was it supposed to be a surprise? Did he want to surprise me at the airport? Maka pinched herself with an unsteady breath. Don't fantasize.

"Yeah, is that OK?" This was a softer, genuine worried father voice.

Maka tried to sound commanding but found it withering as soon as she uttered the first word. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Look, Maka, about this thing with Soul…"

"Mama's calling me." It was the lamest excuse in the book and she could hear him balk on the other end but before there was an argument she was resting the receiver back on its housing.

"How is your father?"

Maka practically jumped out of her skin, sure that now she had summoning abilities since her mother was there, Dameon balanced on her hip. "Fine. Him and… He's picking me up at the airport." The edit didn't go smoothly and her mother raised an eyebrow.

"New girlfriend?" she asked disinterestedly.

"No…" Maka shrugged. "Just, Soul said he would be there."

Rin's lips pursed as if she'd bit into a sour grape. "You'd think if he was so excited to have you home he would have called while you were gone," she shook her head flippantly.

We talk every night, Maka corrected in her head. He sounded like he actually wanted me to come home, too, but if I say that, what will you say back? "Why don't you like him?"

"Maka." Rin's sighed to punctuate was aimed to dismiss any further conversation.

Maka took another step, grabbing onto her wrist because she knew the next thing was the step away. She had studied enough of those tough conversations between Rin and Spirit to know each of their exit strategies. "No, really, Mama, why don't you like Soul?"

"I never said I disliked him." Rin was trying to twist her wrist out of Maka's grasp. "It's just the way you talk about him, some of the things he's done, said, they're not entirely good for you. He's just not good for you."

"He's my partner," came trembling out as her mind screamed, That should be a was, shouldn't it? "He saved my life more times than I can count and, sure, sometimes we're not good to one another but that's both our faults. I'm not the best to him either. That doesn't mean-" That I don't love him.

"He was your partner," Rin echoed her correction and it tore another hole in Maka's heart. "And please don't tell me you plan to go back to that as well. There are probably many better-suited partners out there-"

She was bleeding out and all she had left was that modicum of hope, the fact that he hadn't denied her coming back to him. "I'm going back to living with him," it was the most defiant sentence she could muster and it did its job, leaving Rin blinking.

"Maka, no-"

Maka hated the begging quality in her voice, "Mama, you're wrong about him."

Rin's eyes were rolling with exasperation, "Darling, you just don't know. You're so young that you think this is what love is, what being with someone should be like, but you'll find out that both of you will grow apart, change."

"You're wrong," she repeated as her hands trembled into fists. "We only grew apart because of you!" The eruption slapped them both in the face, even Maka as she could finally see it, the dim light of reality behind the curtain. "I listened to you. I stood on my own, and I hate it because even though I can, I'm strong enough, I don't want to be. I want to lean on Soul, and I want him to do the same." The next sentence left her lips without a second thought, a surety there that she thought hadn't survived the year. "And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure things go back to the way they were."

Soul wished Spirit actually looked nervous, but he was the only owner of sweaty palms, shuffling feet, and shortness of breath. He hid his hands in his pockets and forced a deep breath but there was no fix for the tiny steps, the need to move because he was going to have to run one way or another. It was just a matter of whether it was going to be to her or away. Either makes me a coward.

As soon as the status had changed on her gate he couldn't tear his eyes from the walkway, blinking from each face to the next while looking for splashes of blond hair.

"You know you look pretty pathetic," Spirit offered.

"Fuck you," Soul grumbled.

Spirit sighed, "You should at least smile when she comes out. The face you're making right now looks like you're waiting on the funeral procession."

Soul just dipped his head for a second, long enough to feed Spirit a glare before looking back up to those green eyes he knew so well. Those nervous feet had their momentum, pushing him a few steps forward, just enough to catch the entirety of her and the one thing in the world that brought everything in him to a sudden halt. It was that smile, the same smile she'd given him a million times with no less luster than usual. With everything else so tarnished he wondered how that could stay the same especially since he was disgusting now. Even with that thought, his body gave him no choice, his own smile coming back to him as she finally made it through the bustle of people.

"Hi-" The word wasn't half as strong as her smile but Maka didn't get the chance to get anything else out, the air knocked from her lungs with the force of his arms thrown around her.

There were a million reasons why he shouldn't, why he couldn't touch her but none of them mattered. He knew his grip was too tight but he couldn't relent as the tears started in his eyes. Why can't I stop loving her? Why is it every time she opens her mouth, every time she looks at me, everything about her just brings it all back? Why can't I ever just let it go?

"I think this is the longest hug I've ever gotten," Maka laughed against his chest.

"Yeah, sorry," he murmured before releasing her, his hands shaking as he brought them back into his pockets.

"I wasn't complaining." She was still smiling softly but her hand came to her face to wipe some of the tears from her eyes. "I missed you."

Soul's lips trembled on the return, "Missed you, too." He thought for a second she was moving forward to hug him again and his whole body ached for it. Instead, she moved past him to Spirit, and Soul turned his back on their embrace to give him the time to catch his breath. He had to wipe at his own cheeks, rubbing his eyes red as he tried to get the last of the liquid free. Let it go, you idiot. And that's the last time you should hug her, at least for a while. That thought brought another wave of tears. And don't look at that smile. It's not for you.

"Come on, Soul, let's go."

All the breath left his mouth as her hand slipped into his.

The hand holding had started at the airport, revived first by Maka and then to feed her growing hopes he'd taken it again as he led her up the stairs, each with a bag in the other hand. I'm going to keep doing what we always did. He can tell me 'no' but I'm not going to tell that to myself anymore.

"You hungry?" he muttered as he let go of her hand to take out his keys.

"Depends, are you cooking?" Maka produced a snort of a laugh, relieved to hear him echo it.

Soul slid the keys into the door and opened it, moving out of the way to let her in first. "I'll order your favorite."

This is what she missed and Maka could feel the loneliness flaking off of her. "Which means you're ordering your favorite."

"No, this time I'll be good." Soul took the other piece of luggage from her and started down the hallway towards her room.

Maka watched him, her heart thundering in her ears. I'm home. We're here together. It feels comfortable and real. "Do you mind if I take a shower?"

He had just dropped the suitcases in her room and had to take a step to stick his head far out enough to meet eyes with her. "You're home. Why are you asking me?" Then the grin cracked his face, the one that Maka was sure she needed to see every day.

"Right," she laughed softly but could feel the heat coming to her cheeks. "I guess I'm going to then."

Soul nodded, "And by the time you're out, dinner will be ready."

Maka started the trek down the hallway, still smiling and laughing as she shuffled down the familiar floor. "If this is the kind of treatment I get, maybe I should go away more often."

When she got to the doorway, his hand shot out, grabbing at her bicep to stun her into freezing. "Don't, OK?"

She turned her head painfully slowly and her heart sank as his eyes weren't there to meet hers. Soul was focused completely on the floor, his white mop of hair obscuring those red orbs she wanted to read like a book. Maka tried to unpeel his fingers from her arm but found him immovable. "I was kidding, Soul."

"I'm not," he murmured. She didn't have to play at his hand anymore because it dropped as he pushed past her, moving back down the hallway and disappearing quickly into the kitchen.

Maka stood motionless for another few seconds, only hearing him shuffle around the kitchen. When he didn't return, she moved towards the bathroom, making sure to turn on the water to the point where it was obviously scalding. It didn't matter since Maka needed to wash away the last of her doubt while she picked apart his tightened grip. He's hiding it. He wants to bury it under layers of something. And there's always… Maka sighed, letting the name she'd held back come to the forefront. Nova. He has her and what am I other than that old jealous ex who technically wasn't even an ex?

The answers to that question filled the rest of her shower into dressing. When she made it to the living room he was already there, two pizza boxes placed side by side on the coffee table. "Compromise," he laughed as she raised her eyebrows at the spread.

"Two?"

"My favorite and yours," he shrugged. "Come on, the movie's ready."

She tucked herself next to him on the floor, legs bumping into his without excuses under the table. This was pure nostalgia flecked with warming joy. His pick for the movie wasn't even that bad and Maka found herself bordering somewhere back on feeling alive. They ate their fill and sat close, his arm eventually wrapping around her shoulder until the credits rolled.

Then the spell broke, Soul bringing his arm back and staring at his hands as if he had the script written on them. "I have to go."

"It's late," Maka murmured.

"Yeah, uh," he rubbed his hands together. "I was kind of supposed to be at Nova's like an hour ago. Almost forgot with you coming home and all, but, yeah."

"Oh," Maka let the sound tremble off her tongue. He has her. This was just an interlude, an old memory, but he has his new life to get to. "Yeah, of course."

He shuffled to his feet, grabbed the pizza boxes, and started for the hallway only just stopping shy of gone. "You going to be OK by yourself?"

Maka couldn't bring her eyes up from the hem of her t-shirt where her fingers worried at the fabric. "I'm home, Soul, I'll be fine."

"Of course." He rocked toe to heel as he tried for a step but failed, planted in the moment. "I, uh, usually stay over there so I'll just see you in the morning."

She couldn't bear to let a sound out of her mouth, just nodding as he finally freed himself with a step into the hallway.

Soul felt each minute tick by like the beat of his own heart. There wouldn't be an ounce of sleep tonight so the clock was all he had, waiting for the right time to do the wrong thing.

She hugged me.

She held my hand.

I told her I missed her.

I recreated our old date night.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

I wanted even more than that.

He let out a long, slow breath, his head turning to see the purple hair splayed across the pillow next to him. But I'm here now because Maka can't just decide to come home and make it all different, can she? She ignored my letters, she said 'sorry' to the closest to 'I love you' I was ever going to get, she forgot about me. So how can she come home and act like nothing's changed? Like we're still together but not together. I should be angry. I should hate her. She can't just break my heart and change her mind.

One more glance at the clock and he was out of the bed. He dressed silently in the dark before letting himself out into the dimly lit hallway. Nova stayed at the dorm since she wasn't technically a stationary entity, traveling wherever that hunt for intelligence took her, and it was one of Soul's least favorite places to stay but he would never bring her back to the apartment. Not with Maka there, which brought with it a resounding disgust with himself.

This was the regular walk to the bathroom but he passed it, making his way to the unlit lounge that housed two phone booths. He slipped into the hard, plastic chair and shut the door, trapping himself in the tiny cubicle. The keypad of the phone was the only illumination in the darkness and he punched in the numbers before pressing it to his ear and flopping his head back against the wall.

It took three rings before the click and her tentative whisper, "Hello?"

"Hey," he murmured back.

"Is everything OK?"

The ugly disgust reared in his gut again. No, nothing's OK. I left you to go be with a girl I shouldn't be but I can't be with you either and I hate all of it. Every last minute of it. Not to mention I'm starting to hate myself. "Fine, just still not on the right sleep schedule."

"Me either," she laughed softly.

"Does it feel weird?" His voice was hoarse and he suddenly realized how much he wanted to cry.

"What?"

He cleared his throat, "Being back in the apartment, does it feel weird?"

"No." Her deep breath fluctuated over the line. "It just feels weird that you're not here. Is Nova…?"

"Sleeping." And what would she say if she knew what you were doing? He hated the silence that followed as if Maka was trying to give him the space to answer his own question.

Just as he was about to fill it with something, anything that wasn't another thought in that vein she shot out sharply, "Why did you call?"

"Wanted to check on you." He was slightly comforted by the fact that this was technically the truth. There was a deep seam of fear in him fed by the idea that she was gone again, that every action he did or didn't do was bound to drive her off.

There were a few taps like morse code on her side of the line, probably her fingernail against the casing of the phone. "I don't like being on the phone with you." That felt like a punch to his gut and she must have heard the 'oomph' that it created. "I mean, I just, I only want to talk face to face from now on. So, just talk to me tomorrow when you come home. Try to sleep."

"You, too."

"Good night."

"Night."

The click broke another little piece off of his heart. There was a part of him that was ready to get out of that damn box, go to the apartment, and sit in the darkness with her and whisper until everything was fixed. There was something else in him that was too heavy though, planting him in that cold, unyielding chair as he finally let the tears come.