MOO. Shout-outs to: andysixxrules, On3 Time, Oni's Insanity, CrazyCreator33, Artistic-Resonance, SoulxMakaBitches, Depyriouse, FruityUnicorn01, Anime-Ice-Princess, and A-kousik. :3 I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER! It took awhile to write because writer's block is slowly creeping upon me... ;3;

A mass of kids screamed out as two obviously distressed parents clung to the tassels of their hair at the dinner table. There was a fray between two little girls over a Barbie doll and Markus was clearly embarrassed by his noisy home. It seemed like the rotunda wasn't messy at all, even though there were a few thrown toys and candy wrappers. Maka had the suspicion that the mother was a neat freak. The man who appeared to be her husband was sort of hoary as only a few bits of fluffy, grey hair peaked from his head. "Well, this is my family..." Markus chuckled above all the racket.

"It really is...um..." Maka didn't know what to say. Would you have known what to say if a horde of crazy children were hurling toys this way and that?

"I really am sorry," Markus blushed, "but we should probably go to my room to avoid any confrontation..." Maka nodded and followed Markus through the circular house. She really admired its modern design and decor, but she couldn't get over how incredibly reprobate his siblings were.

Now that they were in the safety and quiet of Markus's room, a wave of peace washed over her and her anxiety had disappeared. "Sorry for that..." Markus apologized, blushing.

"It's okay, really. I've never known what it's like to have siblings," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, "but it seems like fun." Markus laughed a little.

"Fun?" he asked, shaking his head. "My family is far from fun." Maka shrugged and looked around his room. Markus flopped down on his bed and patted the space next to him invitingly. Maka was wary at first, but it seemed like it was only a friendly gesture and he wasn't coming on to her. But still, she felt as if there was something wrong about laying next to this boy on his bed that she had just met. Even so, she settled down onto the bed and was glad she did for it took a lot of stress off of her shoulders for some reason.

Markus put his arm around her and said, "You know, at first I thought that you would reject to coming over because of Soul." A puzzled look appeared on Maka's face, hinting to him that he should continue.

"Like, I thought that it wasn't official, your breakup, I mean, and that you'd be scared to come over or something because he really lives like, right down the road," he chuckled softly. Maka nodded and stared at his blank ceiling. The house was fairly small, but Maka liked that. His room was pretty clean, besides a few tee shirts on the floor. There weren't any windows; something that would've made Maka uncomfortable if she lived there. An arrangement of Playstation games was sitting on a shelf. His desk was cluttered with drawings, homework assignments, and a few broken pencils. The carpet was really soft and a light grey color, as were the walls. His closet door was shut and an elegy was taped to it. Maka read it from across the room as it was very short and suddenly felt a bit sad for him.

"Who is that about?" Maka asked, pointing to the paper. Markus frowned and said, "My father; that guy you saw in the kitchen was my mother's boyfriend..." His solemnity was making her uncomfortable, so she decided to change the subject. She turned on her side to look at him. His dark locks of hair were brushed out of his eyes and falling onto the pillow as he turned towards her as well.

"You're house is really neat," she said. He nodded.

"My mother has an inclination to clean, non stop; all day," he chuckled. Maka smiled at him. The light shone on his face just perfectly, highlighting his best features. He wrapped his arms around her suddenly, pulling her into a hug. Maka quickly put her own arms around him as well, as she hadn't had a hug in a while. She figured it was more of an arbitrary hug than one that actually meant something, but that didn't bother her at the moment. The hug didn't last long; he let go of her after about eight seconds or so.

"S-Sorry, but I haven't exactly gotten to hug anyone in a while," Markus gushed.

"Neither have I," Maka giggled, noting how estranged Soul was to her now. He gave her a shy smile and looked up at the ceiling again.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" he asked. "We could go for a walk or something." Maka thought for a moment.

"Sure," she said, nodding. Markus sat up, his arm still around her, and got off the bed. They walked down the hallway and to the door, where Markus pushed his little brother out of the way and slid out, Maka right behind him.

The sun was warm, but the air was cool as the stepped out and looked around themselves. Markus took the reins and led Maka down the street in the direction of Soul's house, which actually made her kind of uncomfortable.

"So you're doing that huge language project with Soul?" he asked, turning to her. The way his black curls of hair whipped around in the wind made Maka want to just run her fingers through it and-wait, what on Earth was she thinking?! She couldn't date this guy! She still wasn't over Soul! Maka mentally hit herself in the head and shakily replied, "Oh, y-yeah. I didn't choose him, the teacher did." Markus nodded.

"That must suck, getting paired up with your ex and all. I heard you guys were really close," he replied. As they passed Soul's house, Maka could see him sitting on the couch in front of the window, just his bare back and head of snowy hair showing. Suddenly, Maka felt guilty. She didn't know why or how, but she did, and it didn't feel good. She stopped walking.

"M-Markus, I can't do this..." she sighed, wiping her forehead.

"What?" he asked, turning to her with a puzzled look on his face.

"It's just...I'm not ready, and this is making me feel guilty..." she sighed. Although she knew Soul couldn't hear them, she felt as if he were watching. Probably because she could see his face in the window, as could Markus.

He suddenly grinned deeply, making her feel uncomfortable as he said, "What's to feel guilty about? My only objective today was to kiss you and make you mine." Maka furrowed her eyebrows.

"Make me yours? What do you mean, 'Make me yours'?" she asked in a slightly angered tone.

"Well it's obvious that I like you and you're intrigued by me, so I figured a kiss would be all it took to wrap you around my finger," he chuckled. Maka didn't like the sudden version of Markus that showed itself. She wondered why all Soul did was watch when he took hold of her arm and brought her in close.

"I-It's not going to work," Maka stuttered, trying to break free from his grasp. He only chuckled again as he firmly gripped her chin and brought her head towards his own.

"What the..." Soul muttered, peering through the window. "Why would Maka...?" Then he realized. She wasn't doing this for her own gain. "Maka!" Soul exclaimed, jumping off the couch and running outside. The cold wind hit his face and he shivered, but ran after the two.

It was too late, though. Their lips had interlocked for what seemed to Soul and Maka like forever. Soul furrowed his brow and grit his teeth. Markus reached a hand up and grabbed Maka's left breast and clutched it, being sure to stare Soul right in the eye as he did so.

"What the hell are you doing, Mark?!" he shouted, capturing the attention of a few neighbors. He only grinned as she held onto Maka's wrists tighter and brought her in closer.

"She's mine, now, Soul. You can't have her for yourself anymore."

"She isn't mine anyways!" Soul shouted. "I only wanted to protect her from freaks like you!" The grip Markus had on Maka's wrists was started to hurt her, so she did what any sensible girl would do: kneed him in the balls and ran. Soul ran alongside her and put an arm around her waist to lead her into his own house. Panting, he shut and locked the door.

Well, Maka thought, that escalated quickly...Soul nodded as if he had read her mind and brought her in for a hug. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that all along, this was what he had been trying to warn her about.

"H-He raped me!" she stammered, her knees shaky as she leaned over to sit on the couch. Soul helped her and slung an arm around her shoulder as Maka put a hand to her forehead.

"I feel light-headed..." she moaned. Soul got up.

"Do you want some ice or something?" he asked, unsure of what to do. She shook her head.

"N-No...Just sit with me," she sighed. He obeyed and looked out the window behind them to find Markus slowly getting up and looking around. Once their eyes locked, they read fury. Soul narrowed his eyes at his long-term foe and clutched Maka's shoulder firmly, but not too hard as Markus pulled himself off the ground to start the walk back home. Once he was out of sight, Maka's tears were nearly gone and she was doing nothing more than breathing shakily.

"It's alright Maka, he's gone. You're fine now," he soothed. Maka buried her face in his chest and sighed.

"Th-Thank you, Soul," she muttered. He nodded.

"I was only doing my job..." he sighed, instantly regretting it. That statement was going to make her wonder later, and he knew it, but it was too late to take it back.

"Soul?" she said, looking up at him.

"Yes?" he retorted.

"I love you."

And so, the L-bomb was dropped. There wasn't anything he could do but fight back tears since, cool guys don't cry. Instead, he nodded and smiled at her, pulling her into a hug and whispering, "I love you too" in her ear. They simply sat there for about an hour, just holding each other and taking in their scents. After a while, Soul walked Maka home and rolled his eyes when Spirit started yelling his head off about how irresponsible and arrogant he was. He couldn't pay attention to his spiel, though, because his mind kept drifting off to what tomorrow would be...

And he guessed it wouldn't be something good.

DUN DUN DUNNN! Surprise plot twist, anyone? IT WAS ALSO A CLIFFHANGER! MWAHAHAHAAAA! Anyways...review, follow, or favourite for a SHOUT-OUT! :))