Day 3: Catharsis

Bad Blood

Soul makes his way downstairs, the Valentine's card feeling burning in its position in his back pocket, but he's more determined now. He knows exactly what he's going to do and say to Maka. There's a plan brewing in his mind as he walks across the living room. Nothing's going to stop him from confessing his love to his best friend. Not even him. This is a moment he has been building himself up for for months. Since he first realized his pining wasn't because he missed his best friend.

It was because he was head over heels in love with her.

His hand grabs the doorknob, and as he turns it, his brother enters the hallway and stares at him.

"What're you doing here?" Wes asks. "I thought you'd be at Maka's birthday party."

Sighing at the new obstacle, Soul drops his hand and turns around. "That's where I'm going now."

"But didn't you leave an hour ago?"

"Yeah," he says, irritation coating his voice.

Did his brother honestly have to bother him now?

"Then what are you doing back here?"

"I had to grab something from my room."

Wes crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans against the archway. "Let me guess, it's that card Maka gave you when you two were kids, huh?"

Soul blinks. "How do you know about that?"

"Because, little brother, I am the all knowing Wes Evans, and I know you've kept it hidden in your underwear drawer for years. Probably pull it out to read her message over and over. Right?"

"Shut the hell up," he growls.

Wes' only response is to chuckle and shake his head as he pushes himself off the wall and walks toward his brother. Ruffling his hair - much to Soul's dismay - Wes fondly smiles at him.

"I think it's cute that you've kept it after all these years."

Soul violently pushes Wes' hand away, and glares up at him. "I don't need your opinion!"

His brother stuffs his hands into his pockets, and ignores what he said. "You and Maka make a cute couple. I don't think I've ever told you that before."

"What?"

"You two have always been there for each other which makes you both good for the other person." Wes smiles like he knows something Soul doesn't. "I'm sure she'll still mean what she wrote in that card years ago."

Soul blinks. "The fuck are you talking about?"

But his brother ignores him as he turns around and walks up the stairs. "Good luck, little brother. Be sure to use protection!"

Soul's face burns as he catches the implications of his brother's words, and he fights back the urge to run up there and kick Wes where the sun don't shine. But he decides against it as he leaves the house. There are better things he needs to do with his time, more pressing matters than beating the shit out of his brother.

And they all have to do with Maka Albarn.

Xx.

The Albarn and Evans family had become quick friends right off the bat after their first meeting with each other, much to Soul's surprise.

Soul hadn't originally expected his dad of all people to enjoy being around Spirit Albarn. Spirit was the epitome of everything his father hated, and everything he believed was wrong with society. The man didn't dress himself like the normal men his father befriended. Nor did he speak in the same mannerisms. But despite that, they had somehow become friends, and as Soul grew older, he began to understand why.

It was because they were both businessmen, and Spirit was the director for Death Enterprises, the same company his father worked for. And when it came to friendships, money always talked the loudest for Edward Evans.

His mother, however, was an entirely different story. She had become instant friends with Rei Albarn based on purely how similar their interests were. Elizabeth Evans didn't much care for money and creating connections with those who were at a higher level than her. She had always preferred to have friendships where she genuinely enjoyed the other person's company, and was able to spend a day out with them. Which was why Maka's mom had become one of her best friends in a short amount of time, and why Maka and Soul had found themselves as each other's best friend in less than a year.

The two families had always spent time over at each other's house. Whether it was for a summer barbeque or over to watch the Super Bowl, their weekends were always spent together. They had grown close to each other, and their kids did as well. Which was why when the fight happened, they knew about it right away.

It wasn't really a surprise to his parents that Spirit and Rei's marriage had been on the rocks for some time. Soul remembered coming home one day to find Maka's mom crying in his living room and complaining about her husband's exploits. His best friend had confided in him many times before about the same issue so it wasn't that unexpected. He had treated it like a normal situation: said his generic greeting, made his way up to his room, and holed himself in there until Maka called.

Not even the divorce surprised him.

What had been unexpected, though, was the fact that Rei had left without a trace or word or letter to her family. One day she was there arguing with Spirit, and the next she was gone.

If Maka had been hurt or upset about it, Soul never saw it happen.

But he did know his best friend had been affected by it somehow, even without her telling him straight out if it did or not.

As time went on and Maka grew older, she seemed to take it in strides and put her anger over the situation onto other things. She blamed her papa all the time, was cynical at the worst of times, and was always cautious with relationships. He had seen her guard her heart so many times, never wanting to fall to in love in case the same thing happened to her.

Not once did she ever blame her mom, though. Instead she had worshiped the woman and wanted to be just as good as she was in high school. Maka wanted to be valedictorian, be captain of the rugby team, and a mathletes champion exactly like Rei had done. She was probably an even better person than her mother ever was. At least that was Soul's opinion. Because unlike Rei, Maka didn't give up when things were tough. She had persevered through all her obstacles.

Maka was strong as a rock when it came to her mother's departure. Soul had believed she was fine with the entire situation. At least, he did until the incident happened.

The only time Soul had ever seen Maka so wounded and distressed was the day she received a wedding invitation in the mail.

Soul was sitting on the edge of his bed playing a video game with his online friends when his door suddenly burst open. Jumping about ten feet, he quickly turned his attention to the door to yell at his brother, but when he saw it was Maka, he thought against it. Instead his first reaction was to drop the controller and remove his headset. Her pigtails were disarrayed as pieces of hair stuck out, her face red and splotchy, and her eyes were puffy.

Something was wrong.

"What happened?" he asked as he stood up to turn of hix Xbox. He didn't even bother telling his friends he had to leave. Maka was more important than angered people he barely knew.

"This."

He noted how scratchy her voice was as she handed over a white envelope. Opening it, Soul pulled out a pretty cardstock invitation with silver swirls along the sides and black lettering in the middle. In bold print it said what the purpose behind it, and Soul's heart dropped for his friend.

Glancing back up at her, he saw Maka in a new light. Her eyes looked wild like she was ready to murder someone, but there was a frail child hiding behind them as well. A child that had hurt over this for far too long, and was ready to release the pent up anger she had felt for years. The heartbreak was clear as she raised her hands to twine them in her hair, causing the pigtails to become even more loose. Even her shaky sigh was distressed.

"How can she be getting remarried?" Maka whispered. "How can she do this to me? She leaves without telling me anything - no goodbye or explanation - and the first I hear from her in four years is that she's marrying a man I've never meant? This isn't fair!"

Soul blinked, read the card again, and looked back up at his best friend. "I don't know."

For the first time in his life, he wasn't entirely sure what to tell her. In the past, it had been easy. Maka did came up with an idea that was stupid, and he'd be there to tell her how idiotic it was while also reluctantly following her. But this was different. This wasn't her fault. She wasn't the one who was doing something wrong in the situation. This was her mother. A person he barely knew, and had been absent from both of their lives since she was twelve and he thirteen.

There were no words to say.

"This isn't fair!" she said again. Maka dropped her hands, folded them across her chest, and paced in front of his bed. "And there was another letter that came with telling me that I was gonna have a new step-sister soon. So she can spend all her time with someone's daughter, but she can't even try to keep in contact with her own daughter? That's just so stupid! What kind of mother does that to her kid?!"

She stopped in front of Soul, who was still sitting on the edge of his bed, and glared down at him. After a short moment of silence between them - his brother cursing in the next room as he dropped something - Maka finally spoke.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Well, do you have anything to say?! You're my best friend! I was sure you'd have something to tell me about this! That I'm wrong to be angry at her, and that I should forgive her because I haven't spoken to her in so long. That this is my chance to make amends. Something!"

Soul shook his head, mouthing slightly open. "I don't think you're wrong to be angry at her. Your mom hasn't tried to contact you in four years, she left without telling you anything, and the first piece of contact is to tell you that she's marrying someone you've never met before. She could of at least brought him into town, and introduced you two. Spend a day with you in the city, or something." He looked back down at the letter still in his hand.

"But instead she sends you a wedding invite telling you you're going to have a new step family. Oh, and that she's getting married in Paris so you better save up your money for that unexpected expense." Sighing, he looked back up. "Honestly, this is a really shitty thing for your mom to do to you, and you don't deserve it."

"I hate her," she whispered.

But the spite and pain was still present in her small voice, and it sent a small shudder down his spine. Out of all the times that they had fought throughout their friendship, he had never seen her this furious. None of the moments that she had been pissed off at him even amounted to this. Maka was wild, ready to rip some heads off, and Soul was genuinely afraid of her.

Standing up from his bed, he walked over to the shelves against his wall, grabbed a few trophies he had won from music competitions, and went back toward her. They weren't that important to him. They were mostly from winning second place or for participating because his piano playing had been shit. The only real sentimental meaning they had behind them were the fact that Wes had cheered him on from the stands, but other than that, they didn't matter. And right now, Maka needed to take her anger out on something that wasn't a human body.

"Here," he said as he handed over one of them.

Maka took it, stared at it for a few seconds, and then back at him. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"Break it."

"But aren't these-"

"Just do it. Trust me, you'll feel better once you do it."

She licked her lips as she thought of what to do before raising her hand to rip off the musical note that sat precariously on top. It seemed to spark something in her because afterward she threw it on the ground and stomped down it. Her foot squished the plastic into his carpet, and a small growl escaped from her throat. Taking another trophy, she did the exact same thing, except this time instead of pressing down on it, she kneeled down to beat it against the other. Curses flew from her mouth as she repeatedly bashed the trophies against each other, and yelled out her mother's name.

Several minutes passed in which none of his family members came to see what the hell they were doing up there before she finally stopped. Her breathing came out ragged, and her chest pumped up and down as her anger started to subside. It made way for the next emotion he knew his friend was feeling, the one he had mentally prepared himself to care for as she broke the trophies. This situation wasn't only physically hurtful for her, but it was also emotionally painful. Years had passed with Maka admiring the women she had called Mama, praising her for every exploit she had in her younger years, but this was a low blow.

To realize your ideal was complete shit as a hard reality to face.

"I still don't feel better," she sobbed.

Soul kneeled beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder, pulling her attention toward him. Silent tears fell down her face, staining her cheeks and flowing into the crevices of her mouth, and he wrapped his arms around her. He cradled her against his chest as she started to cry harder, the wet and heat seeping through his shirt. Carefully, he stood them up, maneuvered them over toward his bed, and sat down on the edge. Not letting Maka go as she wept on his chest, he laid down and placed a blanket on top of them.

Her cries began to get louder and her sobs more infrequent as she buried her face into his shirt, and his soul reached out to comfort her. This wasn't fair - it really wasn't - and he hated seeing his best friend like this. Out of all the people in the world, she didn't deserve this. She deserved a mother who had been there to explain things to her, to help her through the emotional turmoil of being a teenager, do things a mom was supposed to do for her daughter.

But instead she received this.

God the universe was one fucked up place. Even the nicest and sweetest people experienced the short stick of life.

Soothing back her bangs, Soul slowly forced Maka to glance up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, cheeks stained with pink, and a bit of snot dripped from her nose. His heart lurched at the sight of her. The desire to kiss her and remove her pain was strong, to tell her promises that everything was going to be okay as he rid her tears. She was the most beautiful person in the world, his best friend, and the girl he had fallen in love with.

But he didn't do any of that.

Instead, he rubbed his thumbs across her lids, and smiled. "Feel better now?"

"A little."

He ruffled her hair, making it messier than it was already. "Don't worry. I'll be here until you do feel better."

Maka's smile was small as she stared up at him, her gaze grateful before she snuggled back into his chest. They laid there for another hour or so, Soul soothing Maka as she released her pent up frustration. His brother came in and gave them chocolate and hot tea, claiming he had a feeling they'd need it, and left them alone once again.

The rest of their day was spent sitting in his room playing Call of Duty online. Maka seemed to enjoy slaughtering the opposing team a little too much, but there was a noticeable change in her demeanor that made Soul warm with satisfaction.

Two months later, they found themselves in Paris standing in a church full of strangers as they watched her mother remarry. Soul held her hand throughout the ceremony, keeping her feelings at bay as he felt her body buzz with irritation. She wasn't fine during the whole ordeal, a small sliver of anger still lived in her body, but he knew as long as he was there she was going to be okay. This was something they were going to get through together no matter what because that's what friends did for the people they loved.