Author's Note: I'm glad people enjoy my story so much it actually surprises me! I really appreciate hearing back from you guys' thanks for reading!
Chapter 18: Heartache That Lasts Into The Night…
"Miss are you alright you seem to be a bit tense." The masseuse stated as she massaged Maka's shoulders.
"I'm fine I just have a lot on my mind that's all." Maka replied back still thinking about what Travis had told her.
"Is there any particular place you want me to focus on massaging maybe that will help?" The masseuse asked.
"Um I guess my head since I have a slight headache right now." Maka stated rubbing her forehead.
"Okay well just try to relax and ease your mind and I'll do my best!" She stated as applied lotion to Maka's back and rubbed it in.
After about an hour had passed and Maka had received the hot stone treatment and full body massage, it was time for her to meet back up with Liz in the salon area to have the manicure and pedicure.
"Hey Maka did you enjoy your massage? I bet your headache is gone now huh?" Liz asked as they both took a seat.
"Yeah it barely hurts now actually I feel really refreshed!" Maka lied. 'The truth is though that the massage and even the small bit of time I spent in the whirlpool bath didn't really help my headache it still feels the same, but I don't want Liz to worry about me.'
"That's great! I knew it was a good idea for us to come here!" Liz stated happy Maka's headache seemed to be gone.
As two new therapists came over and set Maka and Liz's toes into warm water to begin the pedicure, Maka sighed and resisted the urge to rub her head in irritation.
"This headache is just not going away! I guess I should just take some medicine that I luckily packed with me and take a small nap before we meet up for lunch again." Maka mused to herself.
Once Maka got back into her room, she immediately searched through her suitcase for the Tylenol that she had packed. Maka took out two pills from the container and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge to swallow it down.
As Maka climbed back into bed, she took a side glance at her watch. It was currently 11:24 am.
'Okay Liz and the others said they wanted to meet up for lunch at 1 pm. So that gives me a little over an hour to at least get some sleep in.'
Maka tossed and turned for a while, trying to make herself comfortable in the sheets, it was hard to get to sleep when her mind was keeping her awake with silly thoughts.
"Why can't I get what Travis said out of my thoughts?! Soul wouldn't hurt me like that, not after all we've been through together, Travis is just jealous…
~X~
A loud banging at her door jolted Maka out of her sleep. Maka jumped up from her bed in fright as she took in her surroundings and realized she was just back in her hotel room.
Maka wiped the cold sweat from her face and placed a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.
"Oh thank goodness. That was just a dream, even though it seemed so real." Maka thought to herself in relief.
Maka turned her attention back to the door and realized someone was still banging on it. Maka looked through the peephole and realized it was Liz in the others.
"Why are they at my room right now?" Is it already time to eat lunch?" Maka thought to herself as she glanced at her watch.
To Maka's surprise, it was no longer now late in morning, but the afternoon with the time currently being 1:05 pm.
"Oh crap I was supposed to have gotten up and changed by now!" Maka whispered to herself as she opened the door.
"Hey Maka what took you so long to open the door? We're ready to eat lunch now, but it looks like you still haven't changed out of your swimsuit yet." Tsubaki stated as she took in Maka's appearance.
"Yeah sorry about that. As soon as Liz and I finished up at Spa Toscana I just went back to my room to take a nap and I guess I lost track of time." Maka said feeling a little embarrassed.
"It's okay we'll wait for you, but you should wash your face too while you get changed I can still see a bit of drool by your lips!" Patty said with a laugh.
Maka quickly wiped her lips and the area around her mouth of any leftover saliva. "I'll be out in like 10 minutes I promise!" Maka said closing the door behind her to try and find a quick change of clothes.
After Maka washed off her face, she changed out of her swimsuit and decided to wear just a simple light blue shirt with some tan shorts. Maka put back on her sandals and grabbed her hotel room key as she headed back out the doors to greet her friends again.
"Sorry I kept you guys waiting!" Maka apologized as all 4 of them walked back down the hallway to go back to the elevators.
"It's no problem Maka. You must have been having quite a nice dream about Soul though to be drooling like that right?!" Liz asked teasingly.
"Ooh Sis good point! I bet Maka's dream involved Soul and her in a make-out session that we interrupted!" Patty added in with a giggle.
Maka blushed and pouted. "Tsubaki make them stop teasing me! My dream wasn't even like that!" Maka huffed out looking to Tsubaki for support.
Tsubaki tried to hold back a grin, but failed. "I don't know Maka we were knocking for a while, but you didn't answer. I kind of think you were having a 'nice' dream about Soul also!"
Maka sighed and shook her head. "Why are they all assuming that I dream about Soul that way?! Well I have before, but that's not the point! That dream I just had was more like a never ending nightmare I thought I would never wake up from…"
~X~
"So since we went to Oceano's last time, where should we go this time?" Maka asked once they were back in the lobby of the hotel.
"Well I picked the restaurant last time, so you guys can decide what you want I'm not in a particular mood for anything." Liz stated glancing around.
"Would you guys like to try Biscotti's Café, they seem to serve a good variety of international foods." Tsubaki suggested.
"That sounds fine with me let's go check out their lunch menu." Maka said while Patty nodded next to her in agreement.
Once everyone had made themselves comfortable and ordered a meal and drink, Liz spoke up again.
"So ladies how should we spend the rest of our weekend here at the Peppermill Resort?" She asked.
"I still want to check out the fitness center and do some shopping at the stores." Maka said thinking about the areas of the hotel she hadn't explored or been to yet.
"I'm going to check out what they have for entertainment for tonight, but in the meantime I guess I'll hang out by the pool and try and work on my tan." Liz mused.
"Since I didn't earn that much money by playing at the casinos, I'm going to try and see if I can win myself a giraffe from the arcade center!" Patty stated in excitement.
"Um I still haven't gone shopping yet either, so we can go together whenever you are ready Maka." Tsubaki stated.
Maka smiled and nodded her head in agreement and winced slightly when she felt her head throb again in pain. Luckily none of her friends had seemed to notice her distress and were still talking happily about how the resort offered so many activities.
~X~
Maka had been running on the treadmill for about 30 minutes, when she noticed Travis walk in the doors out of the corner of her eye.
Maka growled and cursed under her breathe as she tried to ignore Travis get on the treadmill next to her and begin a simple jog.
"I see you're working up quite a sweat there Maka! That's good I'm glad you like to keep in shape even when you are on vacation!" Travis stated with a smile.
Maka scoffed and looked away from him. "Don't you have other people you can go bother?"
"Hmm No! Anyways I'm just trying to be nice to you Maka and give you some advice is that so wrong?" Travis questioned with a pout.
"Yes because I've told you to leave me alone multiple times! I only hang out with you when I'm Emerald and I'm Maka right now! Even when I'm Emerald the only reason I hang out with you is because you're blackmailing me!" Maka snapped.
"I noticed that you treat Emerald and yourself as different people even though you're the same person. Emerald is pretty, talented in music, and popular. She seems to be everything you're not!" Travis mused with a chuckle.
Maka cracked her knuckles, but didn't respond back immediately. "What's your point?"
"My point is maybe you should try and be more like Emerald as Maka or else you're going to lose Soul to someone who has all the qualities that Emerald has!" Travis finished with a grin before turning off the treadmill and walking away.
"What was his point in coming here? Did he honestly just come inside here just to spite me and make fun of the fact that Emerald has skills that I don't have?" Maka thought in confusion and frustration before feeling her head pound again in pain.
Travis smirked as he left out of the fitness center and returned back to his room. "I see that the pill I developed has already been giving Maka headaches that will only increase the more I stress her out. Good, the pill's effects grow stronger the more the host experiences stressful situations and emotions. I'm sure by tomorrow evening the pill's effects will reach their highest peak, and once that starts the next symptoms will start to appear that will eventually lead her to me…"
Once Maka had finished her workout and took a quick shower, she met up with Tsubaki again to go shopping. They decided to first browse around Bella Bottega, which specialized in women's clothing and accessories.
"Hey Maka what do you think of this hat? Do you think it matches well with this purse?" Tsubaki questioned trying on purple hat with a white ribbon wrapped around it.
"Huh? Oh yeah it looks great on you Tsubaki and it goes well with that cute purse!" Maka said slightly distracted.
"Are you alright Maka? You seem like you've been having a lot on your mind lately. Is it anything that you might want to talk about?" Tsubaki asked with concern.
"Uh well not really I'm just wondering what Soul is up to at home that's all." Maka stated partially telling the truth.
Tsubaki smiled and nodded her head in understanding. "You shouldn't worry about him. I'm sure he's just hanging out with Black Star right now playing basketball or video games."
"Yeah you're probably right, it's just that Soul and I recently became a couple so I really want it to work out you know?" Maka stated twiddling her fingers and looking down in embarrassment.
Tsubaki squealed slightly. "Oh well no wonder Liz's teasing was making you blush so much! Come on let's go check out the souvenir shop and the Men's store. Maybe we can find something you can get for Soul and I can get for Black Star."
Maka smiled and followed Tsubaki's lead into the nearby stores. Unfortunately after about shopping for over an hour, neither Tsubaki nor Maka found anything in particular that Soul or Black Star would like. The shirts they had were either too expensive or were simply not the style of clothes they would like to wear. Eventually Maka just settled on a black headband she found and Tsubaki picked out a simple white shirt that she knew Black Star might use to work out in.
Maka looked over their gift wrapped items in worry.
"Do you think Soul is going to even like this gift?" Maka asked not wanting Soul to just throw it into his closet.
Tsubaki shrugged, but gave Maka an encouraging smile. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure Soul will be happy with any gift you got him!"
~X~
The rest of the weekend that Maka and the girls spent at Peppermill Resort was relaxing. Maka was able to enjoy swimming in the pools, trying her luck out at the slot machines, and even appreciate the musical entertainment all without having to deal with Travis popping up out of nowhere again.
By the time it was Sunday at 3 pm, Maka was partially even wishing that the weekend could last just a little bit longer, but unfortunately all good things come to an end.
As Maka slept in the limo ride back to Death City, a sudden bump in the road caused her to jump slightly and look around in alarm.
Maka frowned. Everyone was already sleeping peacefully and here she was awake again just from a small jerking of the car.
"It's going to be hard for me to get back to sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping ever since I had that nightmare yesterday and this constant headache. Maybe getting some sleep in my own bed tonight and seeing Soul again will help me feel better…"
The first stop once the limo made it back to Death City was Maka's apartment. Maka got out of the car and grabbed her luggage with the help of the driver.
"Thanks for the great weekend you guys I really had fun!" Maka said once she made sure she had all her baggage.
Liz rolled down the window and smiled. "Yeah it was an awesome weekend we should do it again real soon, but for now we'll see you tomorrow at school!" And with that they all waved goodbye to her as the limo drove away.
Maka made her way inside her apartment and looked inside. It appeared nobody was home at the moment.
"Soul? Blair? Are you home? I'm back now!" Maka yelled out into the apartment, but got no response back.
Maka sulked a bit. She expected Blair to be out possibly at work, but it wasn't like Soul to be out on a Sunday evening.
Maka sighed and went into her room to unpack her clothes. "Maybe I should send him a text or call him just to see where he is." Maka thought pulling out her phone to dial Soul's number.
Maka waited a few minutes listening to the dial tone before she got sent to voice mail. Frowning, Maka decided to text him since he wasn't picking up his phone.
Hey Soul I'm home now, so when you get this message just text me back or call me.-Maka
After Maka finished unpacking her clothes, she walked back out into the living room. It seemed that at least Soul had done the chores he needed to do while she was gone because the dishes were washed and food was in the fridge.
"Well I don't want to just sit in here alone. Maybe I can find where Soul is by going out to look for him." Maka reasoned aloud grabbing her keys and heading back outside.
Maka tried every place she figured Soul might be at, she tried the music stores, the mall, and even called Kid and Black Star just to ask if he was at their places, but nothing.
By now it was little past 6:00 pm and Maka still had no answer from Soul and was about to give up and head back home when she suddenly heard a familiar voice at a restaurant nearby.
~X~
"Damn it will you just tell me already if you know anything about Travis and Maka or are you just going to keep yapping away about crap I don't care about!" Soul snapped angrily at Rachel.
"Oh come on Soul lighten up! I mean I dressed up so nicely for you and all you've been doing is complaining!" Rachel said pouting and trying to entice Soul by having worn a tight skirt and top that barely covered her breasts.
Soul scoffed and resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. "I'm complaining because you won't tell me what I want to know! I'm starting to think you don't know anything about Travis or Maka and just wanted a date; well it's over now I'm going to home." Soul spat out getting up from his seat.
"Wait Soul don't leave yet!" Rachel cried out grabbing him by his leather jacket.
"Let go of my jacket!" Soul snapped out coldly. 'I bet Maka's gotten home by now anyways and is wondering where I am.'
Rachel still wouldn't let go of his jacket, so Soul was forced to turn around, but as he did his heart practically stopped when he saw Maka staring right at him and Rachel in shock.
"Maka what are you doing here?! Wait I can explain this situation don't run off!" Soul stated jumping off the patio of where he was to get close to Maka.
Maka broke out of her stupor and moved away from Soul's touch.
"Why are you out with her right now?! Don't you know I've been looking everywhere for you and here I find you out on a date with one of your fan-girls." Maka stated coldly.
"Listen to me Maka. I wasn't out on date with her, I just wanted to ask her a question." Soul stated.
Maka looked skeptical. "Oh really? It didn't look like that to me. I've been watching her coming onto you and you weren't stopping her!" Maka replied back with a hiss.
"And what did you need to ask her about anyways that was so damn important?" Maka added on.
"Err well I just wanted to know if she knew anything about you and Travis because she said she had seen you two talking to each other before and Black Star was no help so I-" Maka suddenly cut Soul off with a slap.
Soul touched his stinging cheek as he looked at Maka's hurt and disappointed expression.
"Soul I told you already I don't spend time with Travis on purpose. I do it not only because Professor Stein asked me to, but because I don't want him to cause trouble to any other students. He's my problem to handle alone." Maka whispered quietly as she felt tears coming into her eyes, but continued on.
"I can't believe you! Not only did you go behind my back to do this, but you had to ask Black Star to follow me around and ask that slut for help of all the people you could have gone to!" Maka finished with a sigh.
Soul frowned. "I did it for a reason though! I'm just worried about you! You never did give me the full story when I ask you about Travis or you just avoid the topic!"
Maka glared at him and clenched her fists. "Well sorry I want to keep some things in my life personal! I don't try and pressure you to talk about things that I know make you uncomfortable like your family particularly, your brother!"
Soul grew quiet and said nothing. A part of him wanted to retort that it wasn't the same, but Maka knew him better than that.
Maka huffed and was about to speak again with Rachel piped up.
"Humph. Soul came here out of his own desire to go out with me Maka. It's not my fault that you're just an ugly flat chested nerd. I'm not sure why Soul even continues to spend time around you when he could have a girl like me!" She sneered out.
Maka's eyes widened as Rachel's words reminded her of what Travis had told her. 'If only you were more like Emerald, pretty and talented in music, maybe then Soul would like you better…'
Maka's head spun as she turned away from Soul. 'Maybe Travis was right. Why did I ever think Soul would like me as Maka, everyone would probably be happier if I was more like Emerald.'
"Stay the hell out of this conversation!" Soul yelled to Rachel who immediately backed off in fear of Soul's wrath.
Soul tried to approach Maka again, but Maka only moved away once more.
"What's wrong with me? Why won't my head stop pounding? I need to get away from here. Away from this situation before I do something I regret." Maka thought in distress.
"Sorry I interrupted your date Soul. You can go back to Rachel now." Maka managed to utter out weakly before running off.
"Wait Maka come back!" Soul cried out running after her, but unfortunately Maka turned a corner and disappeared from his view amongst the crowds.
'Shit. I really screwed things up this time; I shouldn't have tried to meddle in Maka's business…' Soul thought, pissed at himself.
~X~
Soul had assumed that by the time he got back home Maka would have holed herself up in her room, but he found the apartment to be just as empty as when he had first left it.
Soul peeked inside Maka's room and found she had already unpacked most of her stuff, but there was no trace of her in room except the lingering scent of the perfume and lotion she liked to use.
Hours passed and Soul stayed up waiting for Maka to return back home, but by the time the clock had struck midnight, Soul realized that Maka probably wasn't going to come back home tonight.
'There's no point in trying to reach out to her now. I just hope I can make it up to her and that she is at least safe right now…'Soul thought tiredly to himself before going to bed.
Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 18, tell me what you think with a review and as always thanks for reading!