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Now he’d gone and done it.
The nurse’s words swam through Maka’s head as she stormed down the halls of the school hospital.
“Professor Stein did everything he could to patch him together. He nearly lost both his legs. Does Soul normally ride his bike late at night like that?”
Maka gritted her teeth.
“You never loved me, did you?” That’s what she told him, face to face in their tiny kitchen, the sink dripping behind his clenched fist.
“How can you say that…!?”
“You’re bored with me. I can see it in your eyes.”
He stepped up to her with a glare, “What do you see in them now? Go on. Tell me.”
Maka held her breath.
Soul continued, “You don’t even know what I’m feeling, do you? You’re too busy with Crona, and Tsubaki.”
“That’s not true!”
“It IS!” He slammed his hand down on the countertop, “You’re the only one I have eyes for, Maka, but—” his voice broke, “You don’t even wanna look at me.”
“Soul—”
He snagged his keys from behind dish rack and went for the door.
“Soul, wait!”
The look in his eyes before he closed the door made her heart fall out under her. He didn’t slam it. He closed it gently, with a click. Outside their apartment his bike’s engine was muffled, like a dying bee, quieter and quieter, till nothing was left but the darkness and the drip of that damn sink.
She reached his hospital room intending to barge straight in. But something about the metal door stopped her in her tracks. Did he even want to see her?
Maka took a deep breath, then she opened the door just a crack.
“Soul?”
He was in bed, eyes closed. Asleep? She crept in. The morning light made him look pale, like all the blood had been drained from his body. His self harm scars were barely visible, forgotten ruins next to the vicious red of his new injuries.
“I’m sorry, Soul,” she said as she flopped into the chair beside his bed, “I did this.”
“You weren’t the one riding the bike,” he grumbled, turning his head to look at her with his blood red eyes. He look tired. Then, and now.
She reached out and clasped his hand, “Remember when you stole a bottle of beer from that liquor store?”
“Hey, I didn’t steal it,” he corrected her, “I paid for it.”
“You paid for a bottle of cola.”
“He got his money,” he grinned, “What difference does it make what I took?”
Maka giggled, “That’s not what I’m saying. Do you remember afterwards?”
“Ahh,” he looked up at the ceiling, smiling, “That’s when we climbed up the side of the school. Man that was a pain in the ass.”
“You can see right across the mountains from there. It was beautiful.”
“It was a pain in the ass.”
She smiled, “You wanted to look cool by drinking beer in front of me. All day you’d been hyping up how much of a delinquent you were. Then you took one sip and spat it straight out.”
He tutted, still grinning, “You came here to embarrass me, then?”
She rubbed his hand, “That’s when I knew I loved you, Soul. I never stopped loving you.”
His grin disappeared, “Yeah, well…”
“Listen to me,” she leaned closer, “That day, on top of the school, you lit up the whole sky. I was so glad you were my partner, Soul. Then when we started dating, it’s like I fell in love with you all over again. But I took it for granted. Having you by my side became so natural that I forgot what brought us together in the first place,” she could feel tears on her cheeks, “So much stuff piled on top of my heart. You were right, Soul. I couldn’t see you. And I thought you couldn’t see me. So…”
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, a soft smile graced his lips. His pale face suddenly looked so alive.
“C’mere,” he said gruffly.
She leaned over the bed, crying into his shoulder, “I’m sorry, Soul.”
He kissed her cheek, “You’re an idiot. But you’re my idiot.”
“I’m sorry.”
His voice was so quiet, “Don’t be.”
“But—”
“No. You listen to me this time,” he held her tight, “I’m not your partner because it’s easy. I’m not your partner because you’re always fun to be around. Cos you aren’t.”
She laughed bitterly, “I figured.”
“No, it’s— Maka. I… I didn’t really think anyone would love me. Like, love me love me. But you see me as I am, and you love me anyway. It scared me so fucking much when things changed between us. You’re my meister, my partner in everything. I didn’t even wanna think about it all ending. I didn’t wanna think at all. So I got on that bike and just, rode as fast and as far as I could. I figured I couldn’t convince you to love me back, so…”
“Oh Soul…”
“You’ve always been real, Maka. I don’t have to pretend with you. Even when I’m being a fucking idiot, you think I’m cool.”
She ran her hands through his hair, “That’s because you are, you dummy. You are to me. ”
“I feel the same about you. Could never be bored of you. You’re way too crazy for that.”
She stifled a sob, “I nearly got you killed.”
“But I’m alive. Now I have some cool scars to show off too.”
She laughed into his pillow, “Soul you idiot.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Maka pulled her head back and looked into his eyes once more. Those beautiful red eyes, red as the sunset, as bright as the stars in the night sky. “How did I ever become blind to this view?”
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re here now, and so am I.”
“I’m just glad you’re alive.”
“Hey,” he brushed a tear from her cheek, “Next time we decide to be stupid, let’s talk about it before one of us drives a bike off a bridge.”
Maka kissed his hand, “That sounds good to me, partner.”