Chapter Thirty-Seven

~ Maka ~

James placed his hands on his thighs, inhaling deeply and then pushing himself up from the chair he sat on.

Both Kid and I watched him as he grew in front of us, and as he tucked those loose black strands of hair behind his ears, and as he finally turned round to face us.

"Come on you two," he said, attempting a smile. "I'll drive you back to Kid's house."

Kid smiled back up towards him, removing his arm from around my shoulders to then push himself up from where he sat beside me, then handsomely reaching his hand out towards me, to pull me to a stand beside him.

"I think someone needs to sleep," he then smiled at me.

I smiled back, squeezing my hand tightly in his own, as if the space that rested between our palms was enough to separate us once again.

Soul stood up also, eagerly placing his hands in his back pockets as he faced us, tilting the corner of his mouth slightly as if he tried to work a smile also.

"I'll go turn the car around," James said, grabbing his car keys from the table.

Kid quickly pressed his lips against my forehead, before turning back round to James. "I'll go with you."

Kid slowly dropped my hand, and walked after James he was already stepping outside of Soul's apartment and into deserted corridor.

Once the door shut behind them, both Soul and myself were left to stand there in a lingering silence, that was occasionally shattered by that of a barking dog, who continuously yelled from outside.

I nervously tugged at the collar of Kid's shirt, removing removed the damp strands of my sunshine hair that repeatedly tried to forever stain themselves against my throbbing neck.

Staring at him out of the corner of my eye, I saw him staring back at me, in a way that seemed he was questioning everything about my appearance as well as my existence. But I genuinely believed it was because he had no idea what I was.

I stammered, "we should probably go with them."

I turned round to face the exit, already eager to take my first step, but before I could fully place my foot against the ground, he grabbed my wrist.

"Wait," he sighed, stepping closer towards me.

I did. I turned back round to face him, and watched him as his red eyes stared down on me with the same look I noticed not even half a minute earlier.

"Liz," he hesitated. "She didn't want to hurt you."

I nodded – slowly. "I know..."

"Its just..." he looked away from me, biting his lip. "Black*star's been blackmailing her, all this time, using her, to get to you."

Kid had already explained this to me, but I could tell that he was trying to lead on to something, by stating all of it once again.

"She's not a horrible person, but Black*star is, and I know that as long as he's around-"

"She's still going to be afraid and most probably blame me the way he wants her to," I interrupted.

He nodded, "yeah."

He eventually let my wrist go, stepping back once again as if the little space between us was attempting to consume that of the air sitting silently inside of his lungs.

The high moon seeped through the curtains behind him, his silhouette hesitating nervously in front of me, as if the cause for his slight fear was being pressured onto his existence by that of the moons power.

"Will you," he averted his eyes away from me, "meet with her?"

Once again, I nodded, "I will."

His body relaxed slightly, a hint of a smile growing upon his cheeks, as if I was the sun that stood before him, and I reflected some form of comfort onto his existence, and completely defied that of the pressurising moon.

"Understanding that you won't be able to meet with her in the hospital, is it okay if we meet here?" He asked, his nervousness slowly creeping up on him once again.

I nodded, closing my eyes and releasing myself into darkness, only to open them again and watch as the hesitant smile on his face had bloomed into none other than a beautiful grin.

I smiled back, "thank you, Soul."

His smile faded and was replaced by a look of concern as he asked, "for?"

"Tonight," I giggled. "And more importantly saving me from those guys, who knew what the hell they wanted."

"It's fine," he chuckled. "And trust me, they wouldn't have done jack shit."

My smile widened, not only because of the rays of sunshine I now knew that powered from inside of me, but because of my sudden realisation of the people I now had around me, and how a month ago, I was no one to everyone.

I felt my eyes water slightly, and feeling nerves begin to develop in the pit of my stomach, I was eager to hide my face from the blonde haired boy who remained standing still in front of me.

So quickly I dove towards him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist and burying my face into his jumper, just as a tear carelessly slipped from the corner of my eye.

I felt his chest tighten slightly as he chuckled, and his collarbones grew as he too, wrapped his arms around me.

"We'll never let anything happen to you, Maka," he said warmly. "Kid will always find you."

I giggled, tightening my grip around him.

"And even when he can't,"

Another tear began to bleed down the left side of my face.

"he'll never stop looking..."