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Soul didn’t make a habit of saying it, but the simple fact was that he was lucky to have Maka. He was lucky to have her as his meister, lucky she trusted him to help keep her safe in a fight, lucky their souls matched each other so well that they were like two halves of a whole. He was lucky to have her as a roommate, lucky she cared enough about him to nag about his grades and if he was eating and keeping their apartment neat. He was lucky to have her as his best friend, lucky she felt comfortable enough with him to tell him all the jokes she usually kept to herself, lucky she worried about him enough to sit by his bedside when he was injured, lucky she let him do the same.
So he didn’t say it, partly because he didn’t know how and partly because he didn’t want things between them to change, but everytime he looked at her, all he could think was how lucky he was.
Which, unfortunately, had turned into Something More, sometime along the way. Well, not really unfortunately, because he spent most of his time thinking about how lucky he was to have her in his life and thus felt lucky to have fallen in love with her, but. Still. It was unfortunate in the sense that now, when it was just the two of them, it was even harder to stamp down on the urge to tell her how grateful he was for her.
‘Why don’t you just tell her, then? Clearly you want to,’ Tsubaki had said with wide eyes when he tried talking to her about it, hoping maybe she’d have some great wisdom for him- after all, she was partnered with Black Star, so surely she had a wider emotional range than the rest of them. But no. All she’d suggested was telling her, which he couldn’t do, because what if it messed things up!
‘What do you need her for, when you have the biggest man in your corner?!’ Black Star had boasted when Soul had mentioned his crush to him, which… No. Black Star may have been his best friend after Maka, but Soul was smart enough to know when to look for advice elsewhere.
Kid was, if possible, even less help, going green at the idea of giving out relationship advice, so Soul quickly left that alone- he didn’t want to deal with a Reaper’s vomit, thank you very much.
Patty just giggled and swooned when he mentioned Maka’s name, spinning in a circle and singing about Soul and Maka sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, so she was no help either.
But finally, he managed to find someone who genuinely helped. Finally, finally, he got some actual advice from Liz. Really, he probably should have thought to go to her first, since she was the only one of them with any common sense (besides Maka, of course), but ah well. Live and learn, and all that. But either way, it was Liz who finally knocked some sense into him, with a plain, ‘Why does it have to be some big thing where you tell her how you feel? Just show her. You know Maka and how she is- she doesn’t want to hear words anyways. She’s all about action.’
(It was a bit embarrassing, actually, that Liz understood Maka better than he did when he was the one with feelings for her, but he maintained that he got a little stupid and love struck when it came to her, so he could be excused. It was a weak excuse, but it helped him sleep at night, so he stuck to it.)
And so, that’s what he did. He stopped worrying about saying anything, and just started doing what he could to make sure she knew how much he appreciated her. Nothing big, cause he didn’t want her to catch on too fast, but… Simple things. Like picking up a croissant from her favorite bakery on his way home, or leaving her a little note wishing her a great day, or getting Blair out of the house when Maka was studying so she could have some actual peace and quiet.
Today’s little thing was a book he saw while he was out, one he knew was Maka’s favorite. He had no clue what it was about but he knew she loved it- her copy was tattered and falling apart on the spine from how many times she’d opened it and flipped through its pages, strips of tape the only thing keeping it together in some places. So when he saw this copy in the store, a special edition with gold edged pages and an elaborately detailed hardcover, he knew he had to get it for her and bought it without a second thought.
But now, as he pushed open the door to their shared apartment, he could feel it burning a hole in his jacket pocket. This was… This was perhaps the most obvious thing he’d done for her yet. Those other things could be passed off as just thoughtful things, nothing that was too far out of his way or too inconvenient. But there was no motivation for this book, no way to make it seem like he was getting anything out of it other than seeing Maka smile.
If she didn’t know before, then surely she would now.
And Soul had fought off witches and Kishin, had seen Maka bleeding out after a fight, had landed in a hospital bed unsure of his own fate more times than he could count, but somehow this was the scariest thing he’d ever done. Still, there was no going back. He had to do this.
Especially when he stepped through their doorway and saw Maka curled up on the couch, asleep with all of the pillows piled around her and her homework set aside. Her pigtail had fallen over her mouth while she slept, and as she breathed out, the blonde strands fluttered gently. It was one of the cutest things Soul’d ever seen, and he smiled softly to himself as he reached behind himself to close the door, trying not to wake her up with it.
His efforts were in vain, though, because as soon as the door shut with a barely audible click, he saw her eyes slowly blink open. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she looked at him, a half smile on her face.
“Hey sleepyhead,” he said, clearing his throat and toeing his shoes off. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“No worries,” she waved his concerns aside. “I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep. I guess I was so tired after I finished my assignment that I passed out… But you’re home late. Did something happen?”
The book burned even hotter, and he shoved his hands into his pocket to drum his fingers against it. Awkwardly, he meandered over to sit next to her. “Uh, no, nothing happened. I just, um… Well I-"
“What is it, Soul?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
Soul gave in immediately, pulling the book from his pocket as he blurted out, “I got you something! I saw it in the shop window and remembered it’s your favorite but your copy is falling apart, so…”
She stared at him in shock for a minute, her lips parted and eyes wide, before her gaze dropped to the book and with gentle, trembling hands, she reached out to take it. She traced over the cover design with a thumb for a long minute, her expression still awestruck, until she looked back up at Soul.
To his surprise, there were tears in her eyes.
“Soul, this is-“ she sniffed slightly. “This is beautiful. Thank you so much.”
“Of course,” he shrugged, sending her a lopsided smile. “I hope you like it.”
“It’s perfect,” she asserted, pausing for a moment before lunging forward and capturing Soul in a tight hug.
He wasn’t expecting it, but Maka was so warm and her arms were tight around his neck and she smelled like paper and ink and mint, and he quickly sank into her embrace with a happy sigh.
When she finally pulled back, Soul had to remind himself to look unfazed and nonchalant, and not to go chasing after her warmth (he didn’t hug her casually too often anymore, and this was why- because once he started, he didn’t want to stop).
“I’m glad I finished my homework, because now I don't have to wait to read it!” she smiled, settling back into her mound of pillows.
He preened, pleased at how her smile hadn’t dipped since he got home, and got to his feet to give her some privacy; Maka liked it to be quiet when she was reading, and his chattering and jittering often got on her nerves. “Well, I’ll leave it to you then.”
He was just brushing past her when her hand shot out and she grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.
“You don’t have to, you know,” she said quietly, not quite meeting his gaze. “I mean, there’s plenty of room here. You could stay. If you want, that is.”
He stared down at where she still held onto his wrist, those hands that wielded him ruthlessly against their enemies but held onto him so gently, and he found himself nodding before he knew what he was doing.
“Sure. Yeah, okay. I can stay.”
“Great.”
“Cool. Let me just…” He sat down, an awkward space between them, and looked away as Maka opened the book and started reading.
He tried not to move, to just sit and be still like she was (except for when she turned the page), but he couldn’t. After only a few minutes, he couldn’t take it anymore, and started to bounce his leg up and down. And then he began drumming his fingers on his legs, pretending he was playing the piano. And then he whistled-
“Soul,” Maka interrupted, her voice cutting him off.
“Sorry, sorry. I know. I’ll be quiet. Or I can go if I’m bothering you too much,” he sighed.
“No, it’s not that. You’re just all tense. Why don’t you lay down or something, and relax?”
There was a bit of a desperate edge to her voice and he blinked once- it wasn't like her to sound so desperate. He glanced at her in surprise, then did a double take. Because her eyes were shining and she was chewing on her lip and her pupils were wide and hopeful, almost as if… As if maybe she didn’t want him to leave, as if she wanted him around as badly as he wanted to be around her. Which… He wasn’t about to pass that up.
“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe laying down will help.”
Then, in a sudden burst of boldness, he shifted his back to her, swung his feet up onto the couch, and laid down so that his head was resting in her lap.
She was staring down at him with wide eyes, her arms raised by her head from when she moved them to let him lay down, and she blinked when he grinned up at her.
“Hi,” he smirked, trying to pretend as though he was actually relaxed and his entire body wasn’t crackling like a live wire just from being so close to her.
“Soul. What are you doing.”
She didn’t sound mad, mostly just confused, so he settled into the couch further and closed his eyes so that he didn’t have to see her staring at him so intently- otherwise he might do something stupid, like blurt out that he just wanted to be close to her.
“You took all the pillows, so I’m using you as one.”
There was no response, but a few seconds later, he felt her arm settle across his chest and heard a page turn, and then she was still again.
Tentatively, he cracked open an eye to look up at her, taking in the soft curve of her cheek and the intent in her eyes as she read and her smile as she reached a funny part, and realized once again just how lucky he was to be able to call the most beautiful girl in the world his best friend.
He must have made a noise, or maybe she felt his eyes on her, because she looked down as she turned the page again, cheeks going pink when she noticed him staring.
“What?”
“Nothing. You’re just… A comfy pillow, is all.”
She couldn’t quite stamp down her smile, and she just shook her head at him. “Well, you don’t make too bad of a blanket, yourself.”
He barked out a laugh, as he often did when her wittiness made a rare appearance, and shoved her arm. “Go back to your book, nerd.”
She did as he said, but she did so with a smile, and Soul didn’t know much about her book, but a part of him thought maybe it wasn’t the only reason she was smiling.
If just maybe, she understood what he was trying to say.