Chapter Five 1/2: Forgotten Fireworks

There it is! Hope to hear all of your thoughts! Enjoy!


The majority of the people had made their way outside in the past hour to wait for the fireworks that were to come. It was hysterical to watch all of the poor drunks swaying around, falling down, and running into each other. Maka, however, was still nowhere to be found and it was beginning to worry him.

A sharp, high-pitched sighing sound captured the crowd's attention before a large burst of blue and pink lit up the night sky.

"It's starting, motherfuckeeers! The fireworks show is on!" Soul heard someone yell from inside, summoning almost everyone to exit the house. The music still blasted loudly as everyone watched the mighty display in celebration of the American people. Yay. Freedom and all the shit. It was great. The smell of meat hit Soul and he looked over to find that Kidd had started grilling hot dogs and hamburgers and bratwursts, and his mouth was watering. He walked over to stand by the grill, waiting patiently to snag a dog or two.

"Where did you and Maka go?" Kidd asked. Soul glanced over at him, not meeting his eyes as the amber orbs of his friend were directed at the sizzling food.

"We went to get some fresh air, but she disappeared when we came back inside. Haven't seen her since." He took a drink of his water.

"Without saying anything?"

"Mhmm."

"Odd." The conversation ended with just that before Kidd handed Soul a plate and placed two hot dogs into their buns. It was weird how well he knew him. "Condiments are in the kitchen."

"Have you seen her?" Soul found himself asking. He hadn't meant to, but his worry and curiosity had taken control. It was a dumb question, seeing as Kidd had just asked him where they went, which hinted at the fact he didn't know either. Soul really needed to pull it together.

"I haven't. Though, … have you checked the garage?"

"Isn't the garage full of shit?"

"Not anymore," Kidd answered spitefully. "I was forced to lave and arrange it for the sake of beer pong."

"Thompson sisters taking advantage of your organizing and cleaning skills, I see."

"When do they not?" Kidd cracked an amused grin.

Soul chuckled before saying, "Thanks, I'll check." He turned to walk away, hot dogs in hand and ready to find a certain blonde.

"Oh, and Soul." He swiveled around to acknowledge his friend, put a little on edge by the tone in his voice. "Don't fucking mess this up." Soul nodded and gulped as he walked away briskly. Kidd could be scary sometimes. He walked through the back door, finding a few stragglers still within the home, some sucking someone else's face, others passed out in various areas. He went and opened the door to the garage only to find it empty. She wasn't here either. Did she go home or did he just miss her outside? This was a crazy feeling, not knowing where she was. It was making him a little more than a little paranoid. What if she was with some other guy … nope! He will not think that thought.

Sighing, he closed the door and went back to the kitchen, covering his food with ketchup and mustard, topped with sour relish. He was almost tempted to throw the sweet relish away. He gagged slightly at the thought of it and made to go find a place to sit down to eat. The fireworks were still going on, so he decided to go back outside to watch before continuing his quest. As he exited the house, Kidd met his eyes, the question obvious to only them, before Soul shook his head in the negative. He went to sit down on the edge of the deck, his maroon stare roaming over the crowd as he looked for a particularly beautiful champagne coloured head. No such colour was seen, so he focused on eating his meat and filling his stomach.

He spotted Blake amongst the cheering drunks, his arms wrapped around the young woman from earlier as he held her from behind. He hadn't managed to get into her pants yet, it seemed, though the blush she adorned as Blake whispered something in her ear told him that he might be closing in on it.

"Sup." Soul shifted, startled as Justin made himself comfortable next to him. He wanted to glare at him. This guy was too close with Maka, or at least it seemed that way. Soul knew Justin had a thing for but had yet to do anything about it. It was fear, Soul supposed, that kept him at bay. Fear of Soul himself or being rejected by Maka, he wasn't sure, but whatever the reason, he thanked God for his hesitance.

"Hey …" Soul mumbled as he shoved half a hotdog in his mouth.

"How're the wieners?"

"Cooked and covered to perfection."

"I might get myself one then."

'Please. Do.' Soul thought, mentally shooing him. Justin wasn't a bad guy, but sometimes one comes across someone that they just can't and won't get along with. Well, that and Soul had overheard Maka once as she were on the phone, saying how nice Justin's ass was. First of all, ew, second, boo hockey. Complete and utter poo. Soul had a way better butt...

"Maka is surprisingly good at beer pong," Justin stated after an awkward, drawn out silence.

Soul's chewing halted at the mention. "Pardon?" Maybe he hadn't heard him correctly.

"Maka. She's a pro at beer pong." The poor, poor drunk idiot hadn't a clue of the hole he was digging for himself. If this whole conversation turne into some form of bragging fest about Justin and Maka having done something sexual in her drunken state while Soul wasn't near enough to aid in keeping her purity, he'd wring Justin's neck. Soul finished swallowing the last of his hotdog about ready to strangle the twat. The way he was talking almost made it sound like he was gloating, and Soul was having none of it.

"Is she now?" Was all that left his mouth.

"Yeah, Patty had roped her into playing with us earlier, but she left for the bathroom and never came back," he laughed for a second. "She can't really hold her liquor, though. She had to drink a small shot of pure vodka and it went straight to her head."

That was odd … if she had left for the bathroom at some point, he should've seen her.

"When did she go to the bathroom?"

"Right before the fireworks started I think. She could still be in there?" And that's all Soul needed to know. He quickly stood with his plate and walked inside, leaving a slightly confused Justin to sit alone. If she were still in the bathroom, she would have been in there a while. He must've just missed her when he went outside. He went to the first bathroom, closest to the garage door, and knocked. When he heard no answer, he opened it to find it empty, but reeking of barf and shit. He immediately closed the door because … no. He threw his plate away and went to the second bathroom near the front door. He knocked.

"Maka? You in there?" Nothing. He opened the door and peered inside, another empty bathroom. The only other powder rooms in the house were the ones upstairs, so, ignoring the sign in hopes of a validated search, he climbed up the stairs quickly. He went to the guest room, the adjoining shower room open for him to find it empty. He traveled back out only to hesitate at Liz's door. She would kill him right where he stood if she knew he was about to enter her bedroom. He took a breath and opened the door just in time to witness a drunk Maka stumble out of the bathroom door. Thank God.

"Maka," he sighed out in relief as his head hung backward.

"Soul! There yer 'rrrre." She made her way to him, feet bare as she had discarded her shoes next to the bed. "I missed yoouuu, where have you beeean?" she giggled out as she all but crashed into him, squeezing him hard enough that he became very aware of her breasts pressed up against him. Now she was drunk. No question about it.

"I could say the same." His arms came up to encircle her lightly, patting her head and rubbing her back up and down. "You just ditched me."

"Awwwee, dwid I? I'm sawwwrryyy, babyyy." Soul couldn't hold back the chuckle at her words as she looked up at him, a sort of childish glint in her beautiful basil distractions.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you will be in the morning. Come on, let's go get you some fresh air." Soul attempted to detach her from himself to get her shoes, but she had a much stronger grip than he had originally thought. He glanced back down at her as she clung to him, following him to the bed to be sat down. She kept ahold of his sleeve as he kneeled down and slipped the first sandal on, pulling the strap around her ankle and securing the clasp.

"Suuurrnderalla!" she shouted gleefully, earning herself a deep, guttural chuckle.

"Cinderella?"

"Yeesh! I'm a princess and yerr my prince." He couldn't help but laugh, she sounded like a pirate. He grabbed her other foot, putting on the sandal and standing up. He really needed to get out of here, seeing her sitting on the bed like that was swarming his mind with inappropriate thoughts that stirred his desire for her flesh. He knew better than to act on those urges, they would get him into trouble.

"Come on, your highness. Time to go watch fireworks." He helped her stand only to be forcibly pulled down to land overtop of her on the bed. "Woah, Maka, quit … that …" She looked absolutely stunning with her hair scattered about her messily, the smile on her face as she laughed in triumph, the slight blush gracefully spreading across her cheeks from either the alcohol or their close proximity. It had him feeling those urges much stronger now, he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to just hold her there roughly against the sheets and kiss her senseless as he seeped every ounce of passion he held within himself into her. He wanted her to feel it, to know how much he cared for her and her eyes were drawing him in unconsciously once again as she lifted her head toward him as well, set in meeting him halfway. He was fucked.

"We should make our own fireworks." How rude. Here he was trying to hold himself back and she was saying things like that. How could he resist her like this? Before he knew it, their eyes were closed and their lips were in a beautifully messy intertwining of tastes and feelings and, God, did it feel right. He had - regrettably - kissed many girls, but this. Wowza. Indescribable. His hands came up to grab at her wrists earnestly, pinning her to the bed as his aggressive, feverish need at her plump lips had her head pressed firmly into the mattress. He was losing control, but the urgency in her own actions wasn't helping. He pulled away mildly only to be pulled back in with her delicate moan vibrating into his mouth. She was beginning to squirm under him in explicit excitement and it was turning him on like he'd never known. His vision was becoming blurry as he trailed sweet, sensual kisses down her neck, being rewarded with a sigh of content and tightening of muscles in her shoulders and arms as she tried to fight his strong hold on her wrists. A loud banging sound scared him from his intense trance, and as he pulled away in shock, he could see it had awoken her a bit as well. He quickly reeled himself back, emotionally and physically, jumping off of her after being met with her wide eyes. Damn fireworks and their loud noises, always bringing his conscience back to life.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry …" He began to slightly pace the room. "That's on me, you're drunk and I took advantage, I'm sorry." Maka was still very intoxicated and she only knew that she was cold and wanted him back on top of her, doing the things he had been doing only a few moments prior. "Come on … uh, we should go outside." He stepped toward her a bit hesitantly as he put his hand down to summon her grasp. She sat up slowly and took ahold of his hand, allowing him to help her stand up before following him out of the room and carefully down the stairs. His hands were big and warm, so tender and caring. She held it with both of her hands as he led her through the house and out onto the back porch where an array of bright flashes of sparkling glitter and tinsel lit up the clear night sky. She didn't even let go of his hand as she jumped excitedly and pointed up at the fireworks.

"They're so pretty!" she exclaimed.

"I see you found her." They both looked over toward a smirking Kidd as he hugged his girlfriend.

"Uh, yeah. She was upstairs. Sorry, I ignored your sign, Liz." He slowly pulled his hold on her hand away before they could comment on it and ushered Maka toward the couple.

"Mm. It's okay! You found Makaaa." She let go of Kidd to pull Maka into a hug, nuzzling her head as they both erupted into giggling fits.

"She's drunk, I see," Soul commented as he and Kidd watched the pair leisurely.

"I could say the same of Maka," he smiled, the love for Liz gleaming through his eyes. Soul merely nodded before turning to watch the fireworks again, but only able to think of what had happened in Liz's bedroom. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to kiss her hard and with depth. His molten gaze shifted back over to her and he could feel the heat begin to prickle his cheeks, because, God, he was realizing how comprehensive this attraction was and that he was a sappy dork. He just … wanted to hold her hand.


Okay, I'm sorry that this update took so long. The chapter ended up being almost 7,000 words ... so I cut it where I felt it was most appropriate, BUT I plan to update the second half during the first week of September since it's about finished! I hope you all will look forward to it!

Please review! I love to hear all of your opinions on the progression and such. I hope you enjoyed!

Much Love!

K.T.