ch.3: Free Day
For the second time in my life, I woke up next to my best friend. He was also holding me close again, though this morning he seemed to be holding me just a little closer. I felt so welcomed here. So loved. The way that until a few days ago, Black*Star had made me feel. I was glad I could find that feeling somewhere, especially though such a terrible ordeal.
This time however, I learned from my mistakes. I did not move a single inch. And I found that this morning I did not want to, for I was perfectly content with my position. Soul, for some reason, had one hand under my head like a pillow, the other was on my back, the arm laying lazily on my left side and his forehead was pressed to mine.
The window behind me was leaking bright sunlight. For some reason, I'd been to distracted to notice small things yesterday morning. This morning however, the most insignificant dust bunnies in the room seemed beautiful. Until my stomach twisted in pain.
Why did it have to do that, seriously? I hadn't even moved. I didn't scream like yesterday morning, but I did groan in pain. That was, it appeared, enough to wake Soul, who must have been in watch-dog mode. He immediately shot up, taking his arms away from me, and his concerned red eyes fell on me again.
"S'ok Soul, it's just my stomach. It hurts pretty bad. And my back feels stiff and sore again." I paused for a moment before, "Scratch that, It's not okay. Guess you're going to have to do me in Soul." He smiled, sensing my good mood and knowing I was joking. "Seriously though, can you help me off the bed and get me an aspirin?" I requested.
And he complied, gently taking my hands in his, and lifting me to my feet slowly. The sickening nausea that had been lurking for a while now was swirling around dangerously inside of me and a swayed slightly, Soul at my side instantly to steady me.
"You going to be able to stand on your own now?" I nodded quickly. "Okay, stay here and try to stretch out your back like you did yesterday, I'll run down the hall to get you an aspirin and some Ginger ale okay?" That was Soul for you, always giving you the best so you'd be the best. I loved that about him so much, but I believe I've already told you that.
I noticed him take something from the little stand by the bed before walking off, but I ignored the minor movement and started stretching myself out. Or rather, I began moving one centimetre at a time. It took about ten minutes again before I could fully move side to side, by which time Soul had returned with the Ginger Ale and the Aspirin.
I gladly walked over to accept both, and gulped down the pill in a heartbeat, the Ginger Ale instantly helping to sooth the tsunami-like state my stomach was in. "Mm, thanks so much Soul!" I muttered, finishing the drink and handing him the empty glass.
"Maka..."Soul was hesitating. But I could guess what he wanted. He wanted to see the state of my stomach. Actually, so did I, because I'd not gotten a proper look at it, and I was sure it'd be worse then it was the night before.
"Yes, hold on a second..." And I lifted up my shirt enough to show my stomach. Dark bruises were covering the area around my belly button and a short shallow cut decorated the skin on one spot. I mildly wondered how that had gotten there, but then I remembered that I'd tripped once on the way here. Least I didn't have more cuts, in fact, I was rather lucky.
I felt like throwing up from the sight, but the Aspirin was beginning to work miracles on my nausea. Soul however, had to leave. I dropped my shirt as he exited the room at full speed and looked back up. I suddenly realized, this is the same outfit I'd been wearing since the first time I'd been beaten. I also hadn't showered since, and I felt rather dirty suddenly.
When Soul came back a minute later, rubbing his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, I looked to him. "Soul, can you do me a huge favour?" He nodded, probably still too shocked from my stomach to speak. "I need you to go grab some clothes for me from home while I shower, okay?"
"Sure thing Maka! I'll leave them by the door of the bathroom, so just grab them when you finish okay?" With that, and a small nod from me, he left. I walked down the hall, past the kitchen and small family room, to the bathroom door, and went inside. The door clicked quietly and I walked over to the shower.
It felt nice to remove the clothes I'd been wearing for a few days now, and to have fresh water and soap wash the sins from my body. Almost like I was a clean person. The water was so warm, it made me feel good. I heard a door shut at some point of my shower, looked like Soul was home finally.
I was surprised to find that there was still some of my shampoo left here. I had brought a bottle here one time and forgotten it, deciding I'd leave it for my frequent stays. But my stays were so frequent I'd have expected it to have run out by then. I was pleasantly surprised.
I washed my hair with the strawberry scented shampoo and rinsed it out, then stepped from the shower. My brush was still here too. I briefly wondered just how often I was here. '...A lot' I concluded after finding my spare toothbrush. Then again, I had spent a whole week here once when I just couldn't stand being home.
I brushed my hair until it looked smooth and soft, then brushed my teeth so I felt one hundred percent clean. Then I wrapped a towel around myself before opening the door a crack. There were my clothes. Soul was so reliable. I dragged them into the bathroom and slipped them on, opening the door all the way once I was all dressed. I found Soul in the living room.
"Hey Maka! You feeling better now that you're all clean?" I nodded. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a shower too." He got up and left the room, peeking back for a second to tell me the
remote was on the coffee table and that I should really make myself at home.
And I did. This was my second home anyways, so I was used to it. I actually was hungry so I went to the kitchen, made some toast, spread peanut butter on the slices quickly, then went back to the family room to sit on the couch and flick on the T.V. I turned on some cartoons, because I was in the mood for a laugh, and ate my toast while waiting for Soul to come back.
I glanced at the clock when I finished eating. It was 1:46pm and I hadn't gotten a call from Black*Star yet. That was good, I could rest up and recover here before the next wave of abuse. I went and put my plate in the dishwasher, and as I was walking back into the living room, I noticed Soul was on the couch, hair all wet, and wearing a new change of clothes.
He looked over as I plopped down on the opposite side of the couch from him and smiled. I felt really good now, today was turning out great. Soul's eyebrow raised and he smiled too. I loved his smile, it was crooked and showed off his odd sharp teeth.
"Someone's happy today. I'm glad to see you smiling again, I've missed that smile a lot over the past few days you know." I smiled even more and looked at him. As our eyes met, I felt a jolt go right through my heart. Not a bad one, don't get me wrong. The feeling was ecstatic. It was like my poor broken and abused heart was filling up with hot chocolate.
"Soul..." He leaned forward, I could see a blush on his face. "Can you make us some hot chocolate? Damn I could go for some of that right now!" I hid a laugh as his eye twitched and he jerked backwards quickly.
"Yeah! Sure! Two hot chocolate coming right up!" And he sprung from the couch I couldn't hold it in any longer. I began laughing. I'm sure he was smiling as he walked to the kitchen. It felt good to be laughing. Amazing how much you can miss it when you haven't for a couple days.
As I waited, I began to hum to myself while watching the cartoon on T.V. I didn't know the name but it suddenly seemed a whole lot funnier. Or maybe I was just addicted to laughing. I liked that theory, so I went with it. I began to giggle at the smallest thing, reminding myself of The Mad Hatter, and tried to stop, but hell, I was an addict after all. And I never wanted to go to rehab, because this was so much better then the sobbing I'd been doing a lot lately too.
Soul came in with a questioning stare directed my way, and I continued to giggle while he handed me my mug. I noticed his smile again. It was still there, if not bigger. He began to chuckle lightly. "What's so funny Maka? It's just a cartoon, they aren't that amusing!" He laughed out, but I got the feeling that he wanted me to carry on.
I did stop however. I blamed it on him. I was able to drink my hot chocolate then though, so I lifted the mug up to my lips and drank a small bit. I'd like to state that they don't call it hot chocolate for nothing. I could feel my lip heat up way too quickly, and I swallowed the hot liquid quickly, hurting my raw throat a little, and I gasped.
Soul looked at me, amused. "You know Maka, it is called HOT chocolate, not lukewarm or cold chocolate. I wonder if they'd taste the same or better even?" He trailed off, lost in thought. That was a typical Soul, talk about something and then get lost in conversation. I lightly laughed at him, and he looked at me, giving me that feeling once more as our eye locked for the second time.
I took another sip, this time it didn't burn, and swallowed, breaking the eye-contact. We stayed there for a while just sipping our hot chocolate and enjoying the company of each other, and I felt like nothing had ever happened, like I was here just for a normal visit. I felt loved again.
The sun was going down by the time I was bothered to check the time again. It was a little past 8, not too late but far too early to go to sleep. So I started thinking of things we could do for the next couple hours. I'm sure had I asked Soul, he would have had a few suggestions, but none that I would have been interested in at the time.
But I did get an idea of my own. "Soul, let's watch a movie!" it was a reflex idea of mine. I always asked Black*Star if he wanted to, and we always did, but now I wanted to watch one with someone I could trust at the moment. I'd watch them with Black*Star when he calmed down again.
Soul looked at me and nodded. "What movie? I don't own any so it'll have to be pay-per-view. I'll have to rent one that comes on next, so we have a few minutes to pick on and rent it." I nodded and picked up the remote, going to the pay-per-view channels. I soon quit looking though, because something rang in my head. I threw the remote at Soul and picked up the phone next to me. He looked at me. "Maka who're you calling?" Such a watch-dog indeed.
"I'm calling Papa, I said I'd call him every now and then to let him know I'm fine. I think I owe him that, he did let me stay here as long as I want to." Soul grinned and nodded, taking the remote into his hand and flicking through the channels. I dialled Papa's number. Ring. Ring. Ring. Click. "Hello?"
"Papa, hi it's me, Maka." I said into the receiver.
"Oh Maka baby, how are you? I was thinking about you all day!" I smiled very lightly.
"I'm fine papa." Soul nudged me and pointed to the T.V, the screen showing the movie he wanted to order. I gave him the thumbs up, and went back to my conversation. "Listen, me and Soul are going to watch a movie now so I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"
"Okay baby, have fun! And remember, if Soul makes a move on you, use those defensive tactics I taught you."
"Don't worry papa, Soul knows I have a boy...friend." The hesitation was missed by my papa, but Soul the watch-dog sure noticed. He hit 'order' and put the remote down, then as soon as I hung up, he held his arms out.
I sighed, he knew me way too well. Yes, it had hurt to call Black*Star my boyfriend. Not that it mattered once I was in Soul's arm's. He held me close, and placed his head on top of mine and I felt comfortable. I didn't even move when the lights went out and the T.V went black, indicating the start of the movie. How did the lights go out? Soul had those awesome clapper lights.
The entire movie started and I don't know why but we both moved so that he was laying down behind me, with an arm over my side and the other holding his head up. I had my arm's cross underneath my chin. It was nice, but as the movie progressed my eyes began to droop.
I somehow managed to stay awake through the whole thing, but as the credits rolled and Soul climbed over me, I was far too tired to get up to walk to the spare room. Soul, sensing this and seeing my eyes, lifted me up bridal style and carried me to bed. We fell asleep together again, and I swore I heard him say he loved me once more, but I really was tired, so I pushed it off as my imagination for the second night in a row.
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