Okay, so, I missed my deadline, by like a lot.
Remember when I procrastinated? Yeah it got worse, and it caught up with me as far as papers, and I failed chemistry. ;-; Long story short it was a HECTIC semester. So I'm sorry about not updating in literally two months. ;-; I have two chapters for you today, and I'll be publishing the second one shortly after this. You guys deserve more, but they're pretty long (2,000-3,000 words), and writing them literally took me forever. Hopefully, though, it still makes somewhat of a good apology gift.
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
No one spoke, no one moved. I could even tell Liz had been holding her breath for awhile, wondering where this would lead. It could only end well, though, right? They shared the same feelings; even though Soul didn't know she reciprocated them, Maka knew now. There was no reason to be afraid, so why was she giving him that look? I turned to Liz, who also turned to me with the same confused expression I was giving her. Maka didn't look happy; she didn't look relieved; she looked angry.
Ah! My hand flew to my mouth as the burning feeling I felt earlier came back ten-fold. It seared in my chest.
"Kuro?" Liz whispered next to me, concerned.
I shook my head, "I-I'm okay," I managed to whisper back, my chest still ablaze.
"Do you think this is funny?" Maka's voice shook towards the end of the sentence.
"What?" Soul asked, confused.
"How do you two think messing with someone's feelings is entertaining?" she shook and bowed her head, not even wanting to look at Soul.
Soul narrowed his eyes at her, taken aback by her question, "…Seriously?" he inquired. Maka clenched her fists then bolted up the stairs opposite of us, causing Char, Patti and Tsubaki to stand out of her way.
"Maka!" I heard Patti & Tsubaki, along with three sets of rapid footsteps following.
"Well that didn't end well." BlackStar said, as Liz hurried downstairs and I followed slowly, still recovering from my chest pain.
What's going on with me?
Liz sighed, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she turned to Soul.
"You guys were spying on us?" he didn't hide the annoyance in his voice.
"Nevermind that!" Liz pointed in the direction Maka ran, "Go to her!"
"Why should I? She actually thought I said all of that as a joke!"
"You would rather her think you're an asshole than just tell her it was a misunderstanding?"
Soul didn't answer, but averted her gaze and stared at the wall beside us. My eyes stayed on him as Liz turned around, her arms crossed, too irritated to continue, "Soul?"
After a second he turned his head toward me, his eyes resigned but reserved, I pressed my lips together not knowing exactly what to say even though I had called his attention. I really wanted to tell him that Maka liked him too, but that was never our intention. We were just going to give either of them a push, that way they could admit their feelings to each other on their own. This situation wasn't anticipated.
"Yeah?" he said after I hadn't answered yet, and I climbed out of my thoughts with the only thing I could think of.
"What could you lose that's more important than Maka?"
There was silence after my question; Soul's eyes didn't waver from mine, but Liz turned her head to look at me, probably mentally praising me, and BlackStar's eyes were on Soul.
"You know what else is uncool?" BlackStar asked, "Being afraid."
"Shut up, BlackStar." Soul mumbled, looking at the floor and dragging his fingers through his hair before making his way upstairs.
The first thing I saw when I reached the top of the steps was Patti and Char by the door.
"She locked herself inside and won't open the door," Char said, glancing at said door then at Patti, who stood hopelessly in front of it. Liz walked next to her sister and put an arm around her, not liking the sad expression on her face.
"Do you think she'll ever come out?" Patti asked.
"Of course," Tsubaki said with a hint of doubt in her optimistic tone.
"Eventually," I added, stuffing my hands in my pockets. No one really spoke since no one really knew what to do. Maka wasn't going to open the door, not now.
It was a long time before I broke the silence, "You guys go back downstairs," I said, walking closer to the wallpapered wall and leaning beside the door, "I'll wait until she decides to come out."
I felt their eyes meet each other, a silent question in the air as they hesitated leaving, but then Liz finally said, "If you need anything just call us, Soul."
I nodded and the six of them slowly filed down the stairs.
"Where the hell is Kid?" I heard Char as she and the others reached the bottom, but the answer that followed didn't reach my ears clearly. He was probably still fixing himself up; sometimes it'd take him hours to get ready. I don't know how Liz and Patti do it; living with Kid would probably drive me nuts. Maka doesn't usually take that long; in fact, she's the one rushing me around most of the time, as annoying as it gets. I really wish I was annoyed right now; it'd be better than how I really felt. Did she really believe I'd do something like that to her for fun? Sure, sometimes I annoyed her for the hell of it, but not to actually hurt her.
Is it that hard for her to believe that I like her? I sighed, tilting my head back and staring at the ceiling as I lifted my knuckles to the door with a light knock. She couldn't keep herself in there forever.
"Maka," I said gently, but got no answer, "Maka."
"Go away," I heard faintly from inside.
"Come on, open the door," I turned my head to look at the door.
"Go away!"
The irritation I wanted to feel started to bubble up in the pit of my stomach, "I'm not going to leave until you let me in. Why are you so damn stubborn?"
Her voice rose to a quivered shout, "Because of assholes like you, and you're one to talk about being stubborn!"
I took a deep breath, knowing this was no way to get her to understand. As annoyed as I was getting, it did nothing to ease the hurt I felt and did nothing to fix the problem.
"You know, Soul," the crack in her voice when she said my name caught my attention, "I get it. I'm not… voluptuous or cute or whatever; you call me flat-chested all the time, but it's seriously messed up to say things like what you said back there and not mean them."
"I'm not Spirit." I said, immediately thinking of him when she said that. It may not be the same situation, but he is where this stemmed from. She needed to stop comparing other guys to him; stop comparing me to him.
There was a pause, then she spoke so low I almost couldn't hear her, "All men are like Spirit."
"Look, I'm not going to lie to you. Curves are… nice-"
"Yeah, that's why you get nosebleeds whenever Blair decides to let loose, because they're nice."
"Sorry I'm not used to seeing a naked girl skip around our apartment." I narrowed my eyes at the door as if I were looking at her, "And besides, some guys – like me - don't see that as something a girl needs to have. There are things a lot more important than that."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Like smarts, and courage, and the ability to kick someone's ass."
"Soul, she has and can do all of that." She sighed, "Just go away."
"No, it's different when it's you. It's cooler when it's you."
"What's your point?" she asked; annoyed, but I knew she was just masking how she really felt.
I didn't know what to say or do anymore. Nothing I was saying she seemed to want to listen to, "Do you really think I'd joke about something like that?" I wasn't expecting an answer.
"…No," her voice was so low I barely caught what she said, but it was an answer.
It was silent for a long time until a sniffle broke it, coming from inside the room. I sighed softly and stood up, leaning my forehead on the wood of the door, wishing I could go inside and do something to comfort her. Instead she kept me out here.
"You wanna know what I like about you?" she didn't answer so I continued, "You never give up even when things look bad, and you have the motivation I could never have. The excited look on your face when you're reading a good part in a book," I chuckled, "Or the devastated look when it's a bad part; but that face is funnier." I heard clinks from inside and it took me awhile to realize it was her boots, "Your pigtails are cute; they make you look like a little kid, but you're a badass little kid," I paused, listening to her footsteps stop just at the door, "You know what I probably like the most? Your smile; you have a nice smile-."
I glanced at the doorknob when it started to jiggle, and looked back up just as the door opened. She wiped her cheek with the back of her sleeve then greeted me with a small smile and slightly red eyes.
"You okay?" I asked, just before she came into my arms, hugging my waist. I blinked, caught off guard, my heart skipping a beat. I cleared my throat to make sure my voice wouldn't do anything stupid, "You probably don't want to hug me right now," I chuckled, "I'm still covered in food."
I could feel her cheeks lift into a wider smile, "It's okay. Your room smells worse sometimes."
I couldn't help the smile from my face as I hugged her back, "You've got jokes," I said, taking in the sweet smell of her. Funny how I ended up liking a girl who hated guys when I first met her, and she probably still does with a few exceptions. Still, she chose me as her partner, and that had to mean something, didn't it? She backed up and I let her go.
"You okay?" I asked again, looking at her eyes to see if she was still crying.
She nodded, looking at me before the floor, "You… you meant everything you said?"
I smiled at her, knowing she meant what I told BlackStar about my feelings for her, "Yeah, I did."
She smiled, but it wavered, "I do trust you, you know. I trust you more than anyone." I didn't say anything, "I'm just… scared."
"Have I ever given you a reason to be?"
She leaned her forehead against my shoulder, "No," she sighs, "You're right."
"I'd never hurt you intentionally. Piss you off, maybe, but never hurt you." I chuckled before putting a hand on her waist and gently pulling her closer to me.
"You're such a pain," She laughed softly before muttering something I couldn't catch.
"What?" I asked, tilting my head to the side to catch her eye.
She moved her head so that it was on its side and looked me in the eye with a shy smile, "I… do too. I, um, I like you too."
I looked at the ground as my face started to heat up, Crap. Blushing was so uncool.
"Soul?" she lifted her head, concerned about my actions.
"It's nothing," I flashed a smile without looking at her, my face still warm.
"Did I misunderstand?" she asked with a hint of worry in her tone.
"No," I sighed, looking at her for a brief moment and seeing realization hit her face, "You didn't misunderstand anything, okay?"
"You're-" I didn't let her finish; I just leaned down and kissed her lips. I knew I was still blushing, and my actions didn't help, but this seemed like a much better thing to do than hear her say it. It took her a second, but when she kissed me back it was soft, her hand resting on my chest as my heart beat rapidly. My other sought after the back of her neck towards her hair, and then I pressed lightly as she went slightly on her tiptoes to kiss me harder. She moaned softly, just a small hum in the back of her throat, but it made me want more.
She pushed back gently, making us part as she caught her breath. I smiled softly, her face ablaze, and I knew this had to be her first kiss. I kissed her forehead, and she smiled at me, taking my hand. "Sorry, I- I'm new to this."
"I know," I said, nodding, "It's okay; it's actually kinda cute."
She smiled before looking down and shrugging. I let go of her hand and put an arm around her shoulder.
"You ready?" I asked her, inclining my chin, gesturing to the stairs.
"Yeah," she nodded, resting her head in the crook of my neck as we started down.
End of Chapter XVIII
Hope you enjoyed this chapter SoulxMaka shippers! :D
- Limiterlys