This, was a bad idea.

Maka stared at the bottle in front of her with a grimace, hoping if she stared at it long enough it would just disappear. She watched as BlackStar poured a row of shots.

One, two, three, four.

This was a very, very bad idea.

"Alright Maka." His mischievous grin was faced in her direction, and it made her uneasy. The dark fluid in the shot glasses mocked her, the potent smell of alcohol wafting through the air. "You have to do all four shots in 10 seconds, or you lose. Think you can handle it? Or do you admit defeat?" She grimaced at him as he cackled, babbling on about his godliness. Out of pure spite, Maka took him up on the challenge. Surely enough, she downed the shots in the time allotted, only hesitating once.

It was rare that either of them got the time to just let loose. Admittedly they hadn't been the best of friends, but they understood each other better than most. The biggest issue was their tempers. Their friends like to say they weren't compatible, which may be true, but they'd say otherwise. They happened to get mad at similar rates, but that didn't mean they didn't care for each other any less. If they were completely honest, they may as well have been siblings.

"How's Tsubaki? I haven't seen her in a while. I miss her." She watched him pour another shot, noting the bottle was nearly gone at this point.

"She's good! Her old man is happy to see her again, and she says Japan is nice." He inspected the shot glass for a second before tossing it back swiftly. "She misses you too."

Maka could have sworn his eyes faded a shift distant look to them. One he only wore when he thought of said woman. Tsubaki had been a very important part of both of their lives, but most notably BlackStar's. For as long as Maka knew him, he was always rough around the edges. Tsubaki softened him. Made him more open. He was still an egotistical maniac, but he was much more tolerable to be around. For her, Tsubaki was simply her best friend. She always told her the truth, even when it wasn't what she wanted to here. Tsubaki kept her grounded, which was not an easy feat.

"When is she coming home? I've been craving her miso soup." A small pot formed on her lips as she spoke. "I've tried a few places, but they don't make it the same." Her friend responded with hearty laugh, and their banter continued through the night. By the time 3 am rolled around, they were both incredulously drunk.

"I have a question." Black Star lay on the floor, Maka next to him. He turned to his head to her, a serious expression on his face.

"Shoot."

"Do you love Soul?" She could feel the air leave her body, her blood running a little cold. She looked back up to the ceiling, her brow furrowed as she thought of the right words.

"I want to say yes." She could feel his gaze on her still, not daring to look back.

"But?"

"But I don't think I can do anything about it."

"Why?"

"I know it isn't fair to blame them, but everything that happened between my parents definitely impacted my outlook on life in general." He hummed, letting her continue as he listened. "Whether I want to admit it or not, I'm emotionally stunted. Love is not, and probably never will be, an easy word for me to use or understand." He lay quietly beside her, a rare occurrence. Maka would've assumed her were dead if he weren't blinking.

"Tell him that." She turned to face him abruptly, disbelief plastered on her face.

"What?"

"Tell him exactly what you just told me. He should hear it for himself." BlackStar did not give advice, let alone good advice. The very premise of the idea was absurd, and Maka would say she didn't believe it if she wasn't hearing it for herself.

"As appealing as that sounds, I think I'll pass." He shot up next to her, a wicked grin appearing.

"What about a good old-fashioned dare."

"I refuse." She spoke with a bite, but he remained unfazed.

"Your God does not accept that answer." She groaned as he stood up, pulling her to her feet as well.

"We aren't children BlackStar. This is ridiculous." Her groans fell on deaf ears as he pulled out his cellphone and started tapping. She could hear the faint sound of the phone connecting, before an all too familiar voice resounded from the speaker.

"Hey Star, what's up?" Soul.

"BlackStar what-" Her protests were ignored as he walked away from her, quietly snickering into the phone. The conversation was short, but Maka knew he was up to something.

"Alright, minion." His arms were crossed triumphantly as he spoke. "Time for your dare." Maka was now hyper aware of how drunk she was, the room spinning viciously as her anxiety rose. "You're going to tell Soul exactly what you told me, and have a nice heart to heart."

"That's why you called him? To get him over here for a heart to heart? What the hell kind of a dare is that?" She was slurring her words at this point, but she wasn't sure she cared. Soul was on his way, and there wasn't any getting out of this. Not with BlackStar there. "What exactly did you tell him?" Her eyes were narrowed as she stared daggers his way. A mischievous smile made its way onto his face and laughter erupted from his mouth. She definitely felt uneasy.

"I told him you were drunk off your ass and need a ride home because you can't handle a little booze." If embarrassment could kill, she would definitely be six feet under right now. Her partner, a Death Scythe, was coming to get her at 3 am under the notion that she's too drunk to function. It wasn't fast from the truth, but the real reason he was on his way was much worse. BlackStar was forcing her to confront feelings she has buried for nearly a decade. Blackstar, one of the densest people she knew, was meddling with her love life. This was probably the lowest she could get on the totem pole of life. Nothing about the situation unfolding around her was okay, and she wanted to jump out of the window. "And if you don't do it, you're covering my patrol for the next week."

Now that wasn't fair. BlackStar's capabilities made it easier for him to cover more ground quickly, so he was in charge of patrolling Death City. Maka couldn't say the same for her own abilities, and the thought of patrolling an area that large was exhausting in itself. It'd take her the whole day.

It wasn't too long before there was a knock on the door. "That was fast! Almost as fast as me!" BlackStar opened the door emphatically, the same shit eating grin still plaguing his face. "Heya, Soul! Come on in!" He led him in by the shoulders rather forcefully before planting himself on his sofa. Soul's eyes wandered to the two empty bottles of vodka and the many shot glasses strewn about.

"When I said get out of the house, I didn't mean give yourself alcohol poisoning." His hand dragged though his hair, and he turned to BlackStar. "You could have held back a little, dude."

"Gods don't hold back, Soul! I have to do everything a hundred and ten percent!" Soul rolled his eyes, turning back to Maka. "You ready to go?" A slight grunt could be heard from BlackStar, the dare still hanging over her head.

"Yeah but um-" a blush crept its way up her neck and she could feel her skin getting hotter. "Ihavesomethingimportanttotellyou." Her sentence came out incoherent, even to her. Soul gave her a quizzical look and she could almost feel BlackStar's wicked grin.

"One more time, but in English please." Now this was embarrassing. Bearing her emotions to him like this was bad enough, but BlackStar watching was just cruel.

"I have something," the pause was longer than it had been meant to be, and the air was suddenly thick. "I have something to tell you." Suddenly BlackStar stirred, pulling the attention his way for a moment. Maka could almost think again.

"I'll leave you two be for a moment. A star such as myself will only steal the moment." He stretched as he stood, walking into his room with a wink at Maka. She was thankful he had the mercy to give them space, but irritated that he put her in this position to begin with. The world was still spinny, and she knew her speech was slurred and slow. Regardless, she was determined to get the dare over with. Liquid courage was slightly helpful, giving her the false sense of confidence to say what she needed to.

"I am very bad at feelings." It did not come out the way she wanted it to at all. Soul was patient, though, and let her continue. "I feel things but it's confusing and I am emotionally challenged so I never understand." She was speaking slowly, over enunciating the words as she said them. Soul came closer, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. She felt a little steadier, but the world was still spinning.

"I already know that, Maka." His red eyes looked into hers fondly. "Why don't we get you home." He turned so he was standing beside her, one hand on the lower part of her back and the other holding her hand to guide her. He nudged her gently, ready to walk her out, but she stopped him.

"I can't go yet. I didn't do the thing." His brow was quirked in a way that fascinates Maka. Each of his facial expressions was so intriguing and they were always so intense, so Soul. She really liked his face.

"What thing, Maka?"

She tried to speak, but the words didn't formulate the way she wanted them to. Why was it so easy to explain to BlackStar before? What did she say then?

"Words and stuff are really hard, and I'm not good at this. Maybe I should try a different approach?" She wasn't really speaking to him at this point, more so just voicing her thoughts. She wanted to express the feelings she had, but it's hard when you don't understand them. She knew she felt differently about Soul than she did other people, but love was such a terrifying concept to her. Was that really what she felt?

Why don't we-" she cut him off, pressing her lips to his roughly. She lingered for a second before pulling back, leaving a little space between them. The initial shock of the kiss was still there, but Soul snapped himself out of it. "You wanna tell me what that was for?"

"I'm not really good at feelings." She was repeating herself, but this time she had an idea of what she was wanted to say. "I know what I want to do, but J never really have the answer why. I wanted to kiss you, but I don't know why." She held the next part in, but she knew she had to say it. "I think I'm scared of what it all means."

Arms we wrapped around her, pulling her into a warm embrace. The room was silent as he held her, rubbing her back soothingly. She let her head rest against his chest comfortably as they stood together. The moment was broken by laughter, and Soul whipped his head in the direction of the noise. BlackStar stood in his doorway with his phone recording the entire exchange.

"Dude, not cool!" Soul glared incessantly as BlackStar fell to floor in a fit of laughter. Maka was still clad against Soul's chest, unable to focus on much else other than the steady beat of his heart. She felt a gentle tap against her back and looked up at Soul. He was clearly agitated by BlackStar, but there was still a noticeable softness to his expression. "Come on, let's get you home."