The diner was full.

At first, when her Papa called and asked her to help, she had thought he wanted nothing but to go take care of some business a few hours earlier than usual. So, as she climbed down the stairs of their apartment, right above the diner, she cursed him and his despicable habit of frequenting the strip club on the other side of the city as often as he did. But when she opened the door that separated their house from the restaurant, she was completely blown away by the amount of people, and the almost excruciatingly high volume, that met her.

"Maka, dear. I'm glad you're here!" Her Papa exclaimed as soon as he saw her, wide-eyed. "It's Black*Star's anniversary," he offered, as an explanation, "It's going to be chaotic tonight."

And it was. Maka didn't stop for the whole evening, except for some short conversations with those she knew. As soon as Black*Star had seen her, he had engulfed her in a bear hug and demanded she bowed before her God. She was used to him, they were about the same age and had played together many times as kids, when Star moved there to live with his uncle after both his parents died.

Maka used to feel sorry for him, she knew what it was like not to have one of her parents and couldn't imagine what it was like to not have both. But as they got older, and in one of the very rare moments that Black*Star was actually serious, he had confided in her that he didn't miss them, because he didn't remember them. Maka thought it was even sadder, the fact that he didn't have any memories of his mom and dad, but she hadn't said anything because he seemed like he wasn't bothered by the tragedy of it all.

So they continued friends, although most of the time she felt like punching the god damn idiot in the face, and Maka grew fond of him as one would grow fonder of an older brother. An older brother with blue hair and obnoxious habits. An older brother she had always wished for, because despite all his playfulness, she knew she could count on him.

All in all, the night was busy, of course, (Maka was delighted, they had so much work that her Papa didn't dare to leave) but the atmosphere was so filled with joy and laughter that Maka wondered if that was what happiness felt like. Everywhere she looked there were people mingling, laughing, enjoying themselves and Maka tried her hardest to imprint the image in her brain. She knew happiness, of course, but she wanted to tuck the warm feeling that was engulfing her right now, so that when dark days came, she could resort to it and remember what feeling good felt like.

And then, "Soul, amigo!" A loud yell, from none other than Black*Star, as he jumped down from the table he had been standing in (her Papa was absolutely livid, that brat is going to ruin the table. Again) and pierced through the crowd to meet the white-haired, bored looking boy that stood by the entrance. Now that was a sight. Maka would've never thought that someone as vivid and flashy as Star would be friends with someone as quiet and reserved as Soul, but the arm thrown around Soul's shoulder and the lazy grin he sent towards the blue-haired boy seemed to leave no doubts. She had never seen Soul look so happy.

But the happiness was, apparently, short lived. It only took a few minutes for Maka to take a tour around the dinner, filling any empty cups and scribbling down the orders, before she found herself standing in front of him. He was sprawled out in a chair, away from the rest of the people.

"Quit sulking." She admonished, placing a hand on her hip as the other held the small notepad in which she wrote down what people asked.

"Don't like parties." He replied, scrunching his nose and looking up at her. She noticed how, this time around, his eyes didn't seem hazy with sleep. He stood straighter. "You're Star's friend as well?" He asked, pointing to said birthday boy, who was in a heated argument over who could lift more. "I don't we've ever met, I'm S-"

"Soul." She cut him off, cheeks heating, but determined to make him feel at least a little bad. Did he really not remember anything? "We've met." She added, sour.

"Oh?" His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated, trying to remember her. "I mean, I've seen you around, but… We never talked, did we?"

She chuckled lightly, although her chest felt empty. "We've talked plenty." As soon as she answered, she knew she shouldn't have said anything because she could hear the hurt in her own voice. "You come here a lot, but you always look like you're ready to pass out from sleep deprivation." She continued, hoping he wouldn't notice how hollow she was feeling.

"Shit." He murmured and closed his eyes, opening them a bit later. "I wish I remembered that." He said, and he looked genuinely disappointed, so she gave him an opening.

"Name's Maka." She said, astonished because her voice sounded weak, even to her ears. "And I've got people to serve." She continued, wanting to put as much distance as possible between them.

He made a move to go after her, but she swiftly melted in the crowd that was now laughing loudly at Black*Star's compilation of terrible, terrible jokes.

She avoided seeing him for the rest of the evening and he apparently left before the party was over. Star only left when it was already morning and he had to be dragged by two other guys, because he was a blundering mess, shouting incoherent things and acting foolishly. Maka felt like she couldn't reprehend his behavior. It was his birthday after all.

They were starting to clean up when her dad told her to go to bed, he would work the morning shift and she shook her head, saying she could do it, and for him to sleep until it was lunch time. It took some convincing but the man eventually left, leaving a kiss on Maka's forehead and promising he would wake up on time and thanking her for taking his shift, since he was so tired. Maka nodded and didn't tell him that the real reason she decided to work in the morning was that she knew, as soon as she laid her head on her pillow and ran out of things to do, her thoughts would wander back to him.

And when she opened the register and saw the bill with his handwriting, she cursed under her breath because even though he didn't remember it, he had kept his promise. She just hoped next time he came back, his mind wasn't a blank slate again.