Welcome to fluffsville. Most of the angst is over. (P.S. thank you all for commenting because, honestly, I'm going through some shit right now and I really appreciate you validating my existence.)

The click of the door opening was what woke him and it was completely disorienting especially as, after a few long, slow blinks, Maka's face hovered over his. "Good morning," it was that regular old sing-song greeting he'd desperately missed every morning for the past year.

"Still too early," he croaked. Instead of the usual reaction of throwing his arm over his face, trying to block out the sun and the temptation of her smiling face, he let that hand reach up and gently draw a line along her jaw. A blush blossomed under his touch and his heart leaped into his throat.

Maka took his hand and tugged. "Come on, get up."

"Tempting, but no," Soul muttered. "First night I've been able to sleep through 3 AM."

"Which means you should definitely be well-rested enough to get up," Maka chimed as she pulled at his arm again.

"What's the rush?" he whined but allowed her to get him to sit up, his other hand moving to clasp over hers, now effectively in a tug of war.

Maka shrugged, "You know I always like cardio early. And then breakfast, then training-"

Soul answered with a groan as he threw his head back.

"-because something tells me you've been neglecting it," Maka finished through giggles.

"That's what you want to do?" Soul griped.

"Why, did you have something in mind?" Maka raised her eyebrows.

Did I? Soul let his chin slowly dip back, locking eyes with her. First morning together, taking it slow, just… "Nah, just as long as it's with you."

"Of course it's with me," she was beaming a smile through the blush, and Soul was eating it up. "I'm your partner, after all."

Soul's heart was fluttering around in his chest, his hand clutching hers a little tighter. "Always."

That blush exploded on her face, a soft, unexpected laugh coming from her mouth. "Are you trying to butter me up to get out of running?"

"Maybe," he chuckled back before giving one last tug. "Did it work?"

"Of course not," she shook her head with a giggle.

Soul's sigh was long but entirely content. Slow, taking it slow, was a constant reminder playing in his head even though every time he looked at her was the time he wanted to kiss her. I'm going to show her first. I'm going to show her I can still be the guy she fell in love with.

"Um," her lips slipped from the smile to a press. "I heard you don't mix the two, dating and meistering."

The warmth that had been settling into him felt like it was suddenly slipping from his fingers. "I had a rule," he murmured. "Doesn't apply here."

Maka's eyebrows furrowed, "Because we're not dating?"

Soul shook his head, "Because you were the reason for that rule if you couldn't guess." He quickly put out a hand, hushing the addition that she was ready to give. "No one was going to be both so I didn't bother letting anyone try. No one was going to replace you. No one is." That pensive look on her face forced him to action, pulling her close enough that he could get his hands on her hips as his legs slipped out of the bed to trap her closely next to him. "What else did she say to you?"

"How do you know it wasn't Liz?" Maka murmured, a little breathless from the way he was holding her.

"Stuff Liz says doesn't make your eyes look like that." He was peering up at her, red focused on the verdant green as she stared down. "Tell me what she said to you. And I'll tell you the truth."

Maka rolled her eyes, letting out a huff of air. "That you didn't talk about me as much as she expected."

"True," Soul nodded. "That was across the board though. For a while, no one could say your name to me. A little bit of overkill in hindsight, but," Soul shrugged, letting the motion come down his arms to tug her hips a little closer. "You were never off my mind. I have a little self-respect left so I won't say how much or when, but just that not talking about you didn't mean not thinking about you."

"Not even my name?" she murmured.

"Melodramatic, totally uncool, but yeah," he managed half a smile.

"That I didn't keep you up at night." Maka was trying to suppress a smirk, the lines of her mouth trembling.

Soul did it for her, letting that grin along with a laugh break across his lips, "We both know that's not true. I haven't missed a 3 AM phone call until you came home."

There wasn't a need to fight anymore, the smile leaving her face again. "Even made one when I was."

"I'm not proud of that, either," Soul let the humor fall away. "I should have stayed that night."

He watched her jaw work, waiting for the tears or the next words. "She said," Maka put a hand on his cheek, fingers tentative against his jaw, "that I was your first. That with her you… you took work to…"

Soul sighed, filling in where her voice drifted off. "That you're the reason I can't fuck anyone." Maka's hand dropped from his face as she tried to pry his hands from her hips, get a step back. Instead, he stood with her movement, careful to keep his hands from hurting but enough to hold onto her as he grabbed her biceps. "I didn't. Not with her, not with anyone before. I couldn't. Even the other stuff, the kissing, the… you know. I'm not proud to say it but I thought about you and could barely get through it. Couldn't imagine how terrible I'd feel trying to have sex and thinking about how much I wished it was you, so I didn't. I was depressed enough."

Maka was quiet, her hands coming to her face and pressing there.

He ran his hands up and down her arms, giving another second for an interjection before continuing, "So that's technically all true, well, except for you being my first. Maybe my first love, sure, but as far as I can remember the furthest we've gone in bed was you getting a hand on my chest." Soul reached for one of the hands covering her face, prying it off and moving to press it back to the spot he'd memorized. "And that's what I remember the most. How good this feels. How much I wanted to kiss you to make that promise that I was your family. So no matter what anybody says, you should know that you're the only one in my head. Memories of you and me are what stick and everything else just falls away."

Her hand fell from her face, meeting others at his chest. "Do you… think about that with me?"

Soul snorted out a laugh, "That's a loaded question. One I can only guess is coming with a Maka-chop one way or another."

"I promise I won't," she murmured as her eyes focused on her fingers.

"We're taking it slow, remember?" he sighed. "But you have to realize, and I'm only saying this once because there's no cool way to say it, that a glimpse of anything from you, when your shirt rides up and a little bit of your back shows or when you started growing out of your old skirts, gets my heart going." Soul could feel the burn on his cheeks but he didn't hesitate when her eyes finally locked with his. "So, yeah, it'd be nice if that first was you."

He was relieved to see the same pink come to her cheeks accompanied by motionless hands that weren't about to crack his skull. "We're taking it slow," she echoed as her teeth worried at her bottom lip for a second. "But I think I'd like that first with you, too."

It wasn't surprise that he felt since he hadn't exactly envisioned her taking the leap with guys, not because she wasn't given the opportunity but more because who the hell out of any of them would she trust with that kind of thing, but a relief that he instantly felt guilty about. "OK," he managed to squeeze from his throat before resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his own eloquence. "And please tell me that was it, the only things she said because-"

"That's all," Maka murmured.

"Good." He took one last opportunity to run his fingers over hers before releasing her. "Let's get running, then." Because I've got a lot to work off right now.

When he got out of the shower, every muscle felt sore. It wasn't just his legs from all the running but it was every last inch of arms, his shoulders, his back because she'd hit the nail on the head: training had taken a backseat to his sorrow. Kid could definitely be a pushover, too, and easily distracted with some kind of question of symmetry, but Maka couldn't be torn from her task of whipping his back into shape. His only wish at that moment was to curl back up in bed with a quick secondary hope that maybe he could talk her into following, even if it just meant that hand on his chest.

Instead, he found himself pausing at her doorway, watching her as she was once again engrossed in the letters that were nothing more than his heart on a page. She hadn't finished them that day at Spirit, Soul just basically packing her up after everything was decided and carting her back to the apartment. In a way, he almost wished she'd never finish, forget the words that undulated between love-sick and angry, some that he was sure had the potential to hurt her. "Hey," he pulled her out of her reverie as he stood in the doorway.

"Hi." She let the paper she was reading fall to her lap, her shoulder still hunched as she sat in the middle of the bed.

"You don't have to read all that stuff," he murmured.

"I want to."

He sighed, his feet shuffling as his mind tried to make the decision. "Then can I be with you while you do?"

A fragment of an amused smile pulled at her lips. "You mean, watch me while I read? Isn't that a little creepy?"

"No, just…" Soul moved forward slowly towards the bed. "I was going to nap, so can I just do it here?"

"OK…"

He felt her eyes watching him tentatively as he slunk into the bed. First, it was heaven, the idea of being in her bed in the first place, since she'd only ever come to his room to ask to sleep and his sheets weren't saturated in her scent. There wasn't time to enjoy it though as his worry swallowed him back up as soon as he was sitting against the headboard, looking at the back of her head. "Grab the box," he murmured.

Maka did as she was told, moving the box into her lap. "Why?"

"Because." Soul swung an arm around her, arm across her chest and solid hand on her shoulder as he pulled her back against him. Her head plopped perfectly against his chest, a few stray blond hairs straying on his t-shirt.

"You going to strangle me?" it sounded like she was supposed to laugh but she was breathless.

"No, I'm going to sleep," he murmured as he closed his eyes, tightening that arm around her. "But I want you to feel me with you while you read."

"You're in the letters," there was a little more energy to that laugh.

"More than that," he grumbled back. "Unless you don't like-"

"No," she immediately stepped on his words. He felt her head turn on his chest and when he opened his eyes and tilted his chin he was practically face to face with her. "I like this."

"Me, too," just barely choked out of his mouth. Oh, I want to kiss you. "Wake me up if you need me."