A.N.: I'm finally updating! Hooray! I want to thank everyone who's stuck with me for this long. I'm going to be updating a lot over the next few weeks - I'm making the next chapters part of soma week 2016! So there will be 11 chapters total by the end!

This is yesterday's, and I'm writing the next chapter as we speak!

This chapter is day one - "Types of Kisses"

August

"Listen to me," Black Star says, ankles crossed as he sits perched on Soul's kitchen counter, "you need to just kiss her. You've been dating for what, a month? Two? Plus you're literally soul mates, so it's not like you're not gonna be doin' a bunch of kissing in the future anyway."

"We've been going on dates for the past month, yes." Soul rolls his eyes, laying his head on the counter opposite Black Star. He presses his toes against the island in front of him, slightly spinning his barstool back and forth. "But we aren't dating. So I don't know if she even wants me to kiss her or not."

Black Star snorts, leaning back against the cupboards. "Dude, if you don't kiss her soon she's probably gonna just divorce you."

Soul scrunches up his nose, cheek cool against the laminate as he stares at the wall to his left. "We're not married."

"That's beside the point."

"How would I even kiss her? Like, how do I not screw it up?" he lifts his head, resting his chin in his palm instead. "Is there a specific time I'm supposed to kiss her? Where should I? The forehead? Cheek? Just kind of go for the lips right off the bat?"

He makes finger guns in Black Stars' direction, raising one eyebrow and pulling up the corners of his lips. "'Hey Maka, I'm totally going to kiss you now'."

He huffs out a breath, shaking his head. "Lame."

Black Star sighs. "Yeah it is. Geeze, man, you're really overthinking this."

Soul holds his arms out in front of himself, a panicked look settling across his face. "What am I supposed to do?!"

"I dunno man. I never had this problem. I say just go for it - if she doesn't kiss you back by now then she's just crazy."

September

"I should just kiss him, shouldn't I?"

Liz nods, poking her head out from the top of the clothing rack she's sifting through. "Yes. Definitely. It's been way too long already."

Maka sighs, rolling her eyes and pulling a top from the rack. "I guess. I'm just worried he might not like it."

"He might not-? Maka. He's a guy. If you show him your boobs, he'll love you whether you're terrible or not."

Maka sighs even louder, mixing it with a small groan. "Too bad he doesn't like by boobs." She held out her wrist, frowning at Liz as if to remind her.

"Mm. True. Well, looks like you're screwed." Liz shrugs, grinning wildly, and Maka throws a balled-up t-shirt at her.

"You're not helping, you know."

"Shouldn't have asked for help if you're going to shoot down every piece of advice I give you."

Maka hums, making her way toward the register with a small stack of clothing folded over her arm. "Fair enough."

October

Maka's legs shift a bit beneath him. Soul lifts his head from her lap, letting her adjust her position. She straightens out her legs, heels finding the coffee table, and she pats her thigh to signal he can return.

He's watching a Tarantino film while she reads a book he's never heard of. It's hard for him to focus with the feeling of her skin on his - she's wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a large t-shirt, and he's never been more in love with an outfit in his life.

She hums as someone on screen gets shot, blood spattering with over-done effect. "Is this necessary?"

Soul gives her a look from his place in her lap. "Is what necessary? One of the best cinematic directors of the current decade? Because if so, yes."

Maka scrunches up her nose, making a face at the television. "He is most definitely not the best cinematic directors of our time."

Soul nods, his hair static against her thighs. "Yeah, I know. That's why I said one of."

Maka snorts. "Shut up. All he does is blow stuff up."

"No, that's Michael Bay." Soul counters, though he snorts a bit too. Maka only rolls her eyes and runs her fingers through his hair, and he melts back into the comfort of her lap.

It's been three months since they met, and he hasn't worked up the nerve to kiss her. He isn't sure why.

Black-Star's words pass through his mind - they are technically soulmates. This kind of thing really shouldn't be that hard. They were supposed to stay together forever anyway, right? They might as well spend part of that time kissing.

But honestly, he's not sure if she wants to be kissed. It's not like he hasn't made a move; in fact, he's made quite a few. But every time he has, something else would interrupt, and sometimes that thing would be Maka herself.

She would change the subject, or take a step backward before he could move in.

It's not that he minded (if she didn't want to kiss him, he wasn't going to force her). Of course he respects her boundaries - the only problem is that he isn't exactly sure where her boundaries are.

There's another death on screen, and Maka hums as she watches.

"You know, I do enjoy the writing of his movies. I just don't really understand the whole point of the violence."

"It's just there because it can be." He says, and she hums again, scratching his scalp a bit with her fingernails.

He smiles, turning his head a bit so she can get a better angle.

"You're like a cat," Maka says, and Soul laughs.

"Don't compare me to a cat. That's the worst."

"No it's not! Cats are cute."

"Ah, so you think I'm cute?"

Maka's nails still, and he whines a bit as she pulls her hand away.

"I- well it's just- Okay, so I didn't mean-"

Soul laughs, shaking his head and pulling her hand back onto his head. "It's fine, Maka. I was just teasing."

She lets out a small squeak, and he smiles as she begins petting him again. He turns his head a quarter of an inch, and brushes his lips across her thigh.

It's so light that he thinks maybe she didn't feel it. Her hand doesn't stop its movement and she doesn't put her book down, but he knows that she felt it by the way her torso shivers, and by the way goosebumps appear on her legs.

She felt it.

And as Soul turns his head back in the direction of the television, he can see her smile reflecting at him through the glass.

December

It hits her while she's in the shower.

She's not sure how it happens. Maybe it's the stress of the fall semester ending. Maybe it's the panic of knowing that her lease is up soon, and she needs to find another place before then. Maybe it's the lack of food in her pantry, the lack of job that she has, and the lack of ambition she has to continue with school.

Maybe it's the fact that even though she sent Mama a letter telling her all about her and her life and how she met Soul five months ago, she'd only gotten the same letter back, marked RETURN TO SENDER.

Whatever the reason, her first panic attack in three years hits her when she runs out of shampoo.

She stares at the empty bottle for a few seconds, water bouncing off of her back as she stands in silence.

The bottle becomes blurry, and she frowns as she tries to scrub the water off of it. It takes her a minute to realize that the bottle is blurry through the tears forming in her eyes, her body becoming heavy as it becomes hard for her to breathe.

She lowers herself to the floor, shampoo bottle cradled to her chest, silent sobs shaking her as she curls up in the bottom of her tub. She can't see, can't breathe, can't hear anything except the water hitting her skin and the wails of sirens in the distance.

Maybe someone called the police. Or maybe someone called an ambulance.

An ambulance would be good. Maybe they could bring her some air.

She's choking, coughing and hacking and holding the empty shampoo bottle to her chest as she squeezes her eyes shut, her chest not able to expand enough to let air in.

She can't get any air in.

She hears something banging on her door, hears someone call her name, hears the sirens in the distance, but she can't focus. She can't say anything, can't cry out from the lump in her throat and the coughing that she's doing, coughing so hard that she might just end up puking, hacking until she's nearly gone blind, brilliant spots of white clouding her vision.

Cold air hits her, the person calling her name sounding closer. The water stops, the beating on her torso disappearing with it. The curtain to the shower is thrown aside, and she can feel something soft hit her where the water once was.

"Maka?"

She's still sniffling, unable to breathe as she takes in short bursts of air, whatever the wailing was seeming to die down a bit.

"Maka, I'm going to pull you out of the tub. Do you want me to do that?"

She can feel her head fall forward, and roll to the side a bit. She doesn't know what she wants, and she doesn't know how whoever this is can help her. She's always gone through this alone - she doesn't want someone to see her like this now.

"Maka listen to me. I'm pulling you out. Okay?"

She feels arms wrap around her, strong and solid and warm as they pull her up and out of the tub, carrying her to her bedroom. Her hair falls over her shoulders, dripping onto the carpet as they move. She shakes a bit from the cold.

She doesn't open her eyes until she's set on her bed, mattress sinking a bit below her weight. She takes in a shuddering breath, opening her eyes to see Soul sitting in front of her, eye level with her as she lays on her comforter.

"Hey."

And then she's crying, rolling forward to the edge of the bed so Soul can place his hand on her cheek, wiping her tears as they fall. She pulls the towel that he's wrapped around her tighter, curling her knees toward her chest.

"Do you want me to get you a change of clothes?"

She nods, her crying continuing as he rifles through her bottom dresser drawer to find her some pajamas. He brings a pair of flannel pants and a big t-shirt back with them, and turns around while he gets changed. When he hears her crawl under her covers, he turns back around.

"Are you okay?"

She shakes her head.

"Do you want me to lay with you?"

A nod.

"Okay. Do you want me to throw away your shampoo bottle?"

Another nod, this time bitter.

"Okay. I'll be right back."

She feels him crawl under the covers with her a few minutes later, sliding up behind her and pulling her toward him. She flips so that she can bury her face in his chest, and she sighs into him as she focuses on his heartbeat.

"I heard you from the living room."

Shit.

She had forgotten that he was over, staying for the weekend while they took care of a spider problem in his apartment.

"I got worried, and came to check on you. I didn't see anything though," he's quick to add, and Maka lets out a shaky laugh. "I only opened the curtain enough to turn the water off, and then I put a towel over you. I promise."

Maka nods, and he seems to relax.

"Did you call an ambulance?" She asks, and her voice is hoarse and broken.

"No, why?"

"I thought I heard sirens."

Soul laughs, though Maka isn't sure what about this situation is funny.

"That was you."

Oh.

He laughs again, and pulls her head close. Her eyes are heavy, and she's half asleep when he asks, "Do you want me to leave?"

She shakes her head, and Soul nods in return.

As Maka's eyes close, she swears she feels him kiss her forehead.

March

"Did you punch him in the face?"

"Of course I did." Maka is fuming, pacing around the kitchen in her work uniform.

It's been three months since she moved in with Soul after her lease was up, and two since she started her new job as a waitress at a local diner. She lets out a noise of frustration as she stomps her foot, rounding on Soul, who sits at the counter across from her.

"I'm lucky my manager didn't fire me. He could have gotten me fired! I could have gotten myself fired! God, I'm so angry!" She makes another strangled noise, marching past him and into the living room. He follows, amused.

"But you didn't get fired. That's what's important, right?"

Maka throws her arms in the air, sputtering a bit as she backs into the hallway. "Who knows what's important anymore?! Not me!"

Soul stifles laughter as she makes her way into her room, tossing her apron onto her bed and pulling her hair out from the bun it had been in.

"Some asshole comes up to you at work and makes fun of your Sentence, who knows what you're supposed to do?! Not Maka Albarn! She doesn't know anything but blind fury and hatred, and doesn't know anything except how to put her fist straight through someone's face!"

Soul gives up on trying to hide it, his laughter breaking out from his place in the doorway. Maka frowns at him.

"What are you laughing at?! This is your fault, you know!"

He struggles to stop laughing, leaning against the doorframe and shaking his head. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. Really. It's just that you're really cute when you're worked up like this."

Maka opens her mouth to argue, but stops. Her cheeks turn pink, and she whips around to dig through her closet instead. Soul laughs again, quieter this time, and steps into her room, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"I am sorry though," he says, staring down at their hands, pulling them up to look at their Sentences.

Maka stiffens a bit in his arms, sighing after a moment of silence.

"It's okay. It was bound to happen. I'm just lucky my manager understood."

Soul frowns, turning her to face him. "It's not okay. And it shouldn't happen."

She rolls her eyes, holding up her left wrist at his eye level. "Listen to me, okay? I don't care what some drunk says to me after he's had way too many drinks. It's bound to happen, and I've known that since I woke up with this on my wrist."

He grabs ahold of her wrist, running his thumb over her Sentence. There's a heaviness in his chest that he doesn't like, and as he runs over the nickname his stupidity had given her, his stomach turns.

He brings her wrist to his lips, and kisses her Sentence.

"Yeah, but because I said something stupid, you have to live with the consequences.

Maka's cheeks turn pink and she turns back to her closet without saying anything. Soul takes a few steps back, falling onto her bed. Maka pulls out a tank top after a few seconds of searching, carrying it with her as she sits beside Soul, the mattress sinking even lower.

"Shut up, you always say stupid stuff. You just happened to do it with a sentence that showed up on my skin, is all."

Soul makes a face. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Maka smiles, nodding. "Yeah, because it means I like you no matter what stupid things you say."

He snorts a bit, rolling his eyes. "Thanks."

"You can be as sarcastic as you want, it's true. I like you. And I like my Sentence, because it came from you. So stop worrying, please. I'm not going to leave you just because one guy made fun of my boobs."

Soul laughs, though it's more bitter than he'd have liked. "Yeah, that's my job."

Maka hums, leaning forward and kissing Soul's cheek.

"It is."