This is too short but I'm going to post it anyway, mostly because this is getting suuuuuuuper sweet and fluffy. Enjoy the mindless romantic drivel.
"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Liz grimaced. "You're not in love, but you're going to be? You two are impossible. Just make out, rip your clothes off, and get it over with, please." Her mug hit the table with a hard clank. "Which is actually exactly what you should be doing now, not having coffee talk."
"Liz," Maka laughed. "I just think we're happier this way."
"Sure, of course," Liz rolled her eyes. "As if you two haven't been dying to kiss each other and you definitely haven't ever fantasized-"
"Hey!" Maka chided. "Trust me, happy. It's not some worried kind of waiting, it's…" She drifted off with a smile.
Liz shook her head as she snorted out a laugh. "Ridiculous, but OK. Just stay happy, please? Both of you."
"Not hard," Soul butted into the conversation as he slipped into the room. "Hey…" There was a second of hesitation before he placed a soft hand on her head, his fingers absently playing at her bangs.
"Don't mess up my hair." Her voice was a grumble but her smile betrayed her, shining as she tilted her head up to him.
"You guys are sick," Liz sighed as she added another eye roll.
Soul let out a chuckle before leaning in to murmur to Maka, "Gonna go get stuff for dinner, OK?"
"You're cooking?" Maka raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, got a problem?" He smirked.
Maka let out a sharp laugh before shaking her head.
"See ya." He tousled her hair before disappearing the way he came. A moment later the front door slammed, leaving the girls to themselves again.
"Again, sick," Liz echoed.
"He's getting touchy," Maka shrugged. "It's only day two, after all."
Liz leaned closer as if she needed it to keep the secret. "Did you two at least sleep in the same bed last night?"
"No," Maka elongated the vowel. "I don't know if that's… well, I mean, what order are things supposed to go in? I guess we're figuring that out."
"The order is: you kiss, you tear off your clothes-"
"Liz," Maka begged.
Liz let out a huff of air as she took another sip of her coffee. "You used to sleep together sometimes, so if you're going back to before you left, then sleeping together is fair game."
"On missions," Maka corrected.
"Or at your mother's wedding," Liz added on. "Or any other time when you needed him because that love-sick dolt wasn't saying no."
"Hey, be nice," Maka chided. "That's my love-sick dolt now."
Liz faked a heave before laughing, "He was always yours, Maka. Just took you two long enough to realize it."
Soul hadn't planned anything fancy, Death knew he couldn't, but he could at least boil water while watching a few pots simmer away.
"What are you making?" There was a giddiness in her voice that he enjoyed, but it was the next part that made his diaphragm almost refuse breath. Her arms wrapped around his waist as her hands searched up his chest, her face pressing to his back.
"Stuff," he answered breathlessly as he wiped his hands on the kitchen towel so he could place them on hers, pressing them into his chest. "I like this."
Maka let out a warm breath into his back, sending an electric zing up his spine. "Good, since it's pretty easy to do."
He wanted to laugh but there wasn't air left for it especially as he turned in her arms and those green eyes batted up at him. "You don't… you're not… fuck," he grumbled off.
"I'm not hesitant?" Maka offered as if she read it off the back of his mind.
"Yeah," Soul tried to find the right spot for his hands as hers sat resting on his hips. He settled on running them up her arms, surprised by the goosebumps his fingers left behind.
"I mean, before, sometimes we used to hug." Maka paused to eye the movement of his hands, the soft way his fingers played along her skin. "I assume everything from before wasn't off-limits, so why should I debate with myself?"
"Because you're not me," he sighed.
"You're still overthinking." Maka twisted her fingers a little tighter into his shirt as if Soul didn't feel anchored in place as it was.
"Open, right?"
"And truthful," Maka added.
Soul took a hand back and wiped at his mouth to unblock his lips. "I'm trying to be good with this slow thing, but it's hard. I look at you and I want to kiss you and I try to tell myself that it's too soon, you're probably still hurting and I have a lot to do to make up for things and-" When her hands let go of him the air cut out from Soul's lungs, sure she was backing out, that his honesty was too much. Instead, her hands shooed the one still hovering near his mouth and cupped his cheeks. He was breathless as she leaned against him to steady herself on tiptoes, her lips just brushing against his. "You kissed me," he whispered.
"For three reasons," she murmured as she patted one finger against his cheek. "One, it's still taking it slow. We're still dressed, after all." A second finger tickled his cheek. "Two, you sounded worried and I wasn't going to miss that opportunity again." The third turned into a complete caress, her entire hand drifting down to his chin. "And three, was because you're still definitely you, Soul. Still protecting me from every little thing, whether it's letters or you." Maka laughed sweetly, "Hopefully that'll give you a little less to overthink."
"I can't think," he barely choked out.
"Maybe that's better." The grin that spread across her face went unseen as she pressed her lips against his for another soft brush.
Soul was ready this time, his lips catching hers as his free hand sunk into her hair. "I missed you," trickled from his mouth as he choked out an unsteady breath across her lips.
"You don't have to anymore," she tapped her hand softly against his face.
Even with the urge to kiss her again trying to overtake him, Soul wrapped his arms around her instead, pressing her to him as the thoughts of everything else drifted away. She's with me, she's here, and I think she loves me.
Maka heard the phone trill and started to put her book down on the coffee table. By the time she reached the hallway, Soul was already there, pressing the receiver to his ear.
"Albarn-Evans residence," he answered in his usual flat tone.
As she took another step, Maka watched his shoulders tighten and her heart threatened to skip a beat.
Soul turned, his jaw grinding together as he refused to move his mouth from the receiver. "It's your mom."
Maka pursed her lips, trying to weigh all the odds. If she says anything about him, I'm going to lose it, and I'm not sure…
It was as if he read it right off her face. "I don't think she's ready to talk to you."
She waited for him to hang up but watched instead as he held on the receiver almost as tightly as the clutch of his jaw. "Soul…"
"Listen," the word snapped sharply from his mouth. "It'll probably take her time, but not that much. She's too good like that and before long the two of you will be right back to talking like you were after the wedding." He sighed deeply, "Or at least I hope so because when you weren't, back when you forgot about her, you hurt her more than anything."
There was a pause on this end but Maka could hear the tinny sound of her mother yelling without yelling on the other end.
Soul waited patiently until there was a breath that he could cut into, "And I know it probably doesn't mean shit to you, but don't ever, ever expect for me to look at you with an ounce of respect for the rest of the time we know each other. She can love you, and I can love her, but we're not going to meet in the middle. If we get married, if we have kids, you'll be there, I know that, but don't expect a second of attention from me. You almost ruined the only thing I actually ever wanted for me in my entire life and I can't forgive you."
Her knees felt weak and she leaned into the wall to support herself especially as his eyes never fluctuated from hers, those words meant just as much for her as for her mother. Marry me? Kids?
"So call next week. She'll probably be ready by then." Soul paused long enough to scoff, his eyes turning to the ceiling. "And I promise I'll never tell her you didn't call. I'll never keep you from talking to her, from telling her you love her because I know how fucking hurtful that is. And last but not fucking least, know that I love her and even though I don't have to, I'm going to promise you to take care of her." He didn't seem to wait for a reply, just dropping the receiver down on the base.
"Soul…" But more than that was impossible, all the air gone from Maka's lungs.
"Sorry, overboard, right?" He shrugged before laughing weakly. "I just… kind of started and couldn't stop."
Maka shook her head, "For somebody who you usually can't get to talk, that was a lot, Soul."
"Yeah, but…" he lessened the space between them with a few steps, just within her reach to touch but still keeping his hands to himself. "I thought I'd be more angry than anything else, thinking about what she did, but it just felt sad. I felt sad that she'd hurt you, hurt us, for no reason other than because she was scared. And I hope you're not scared like that anymore, Maka."
"No, I'm not." There was no way she could be especially after each one of those words saturated into her heart, watching him be the same old protective Soul who'd taken her hand from that piano bench. "But you threatened marriage, kids?"
Soul turned beet red, a laugh tumbling from his lips, "Yeah, yeah I did." He scratched at the back of his head as he cleared his throat. "I'm not in a rush or anything, not looking to become like your parents, but… could be, right? Maybe a someday sort of thing?"
"A someday sort of thing," she echoed as she reached her hand out and grabbed his.
As soon as their fingers connected he pulled her forward, scooping an arm around her waist and getting her close enough that he could rest his forehead on hers. "But that loving you, that's a right now sort of thing."
"Right now," she repeated before his lips met hers. Day three and their kisses were getting almost long enough.