I sat in the now empty house, staring blankly at the ceiling of Soul's room, thinking about what he had told me a few days ago before he left.

He said his mom called, asking him to come home for a while. But he had said, when we first spoke, his parents died and that he only had his brother left, I thought.

I stood up and rushed to my room and grabbed my phone. I dialed him up and waited impatiently for him to pick up. Every second seemed to go by at an agonizingly slow pace while I listened to the rings.

"Maka?" Came Soul's voice.

"Where are you really? You told me you went to see your mom but you told me your mom died!" I almost yelled into the phone.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. I paced my room, becoming impatient waiting for his response.

He sighed, "I'm sorry I lied to you. I didn't want you-"

"You didn't want me to what? Worry about you?!" I yelled. "Soul I'm freaking out because I don't know where you are or if you're safe or, or..."

"Maka...I just needed to get away from you for some time. I don't want to hurt you."

My breathing became ragged and tears started flowing down my cheeks. "S-Soul...I need you," I said in between sobs.

"I know, Maka, I know. And I really do miss you. It's just..."

"Just what? Soul don't leave me...I...I n-need you!" I bawled.

"I just don't want to become a burden to you."

I hung up on him, tired of hearing his excuses as to why he left me. I slid down the wall and cried myself to sleep. The floor was hard and cold, but better than sleeping in Soul's bed surrounded by his sent.

I woke up at around noon, curled up in a ball. The house was still silent, but a new feeling had made itself known. It clawed at my body and tangled itself in my hair. The air became thick with it, making it seem difficult to breathe. I let out a shuddering breath as I felt it closing its hands around my neck, choking me.

"I'm alone..." I whispered into the emptiness of the house. "Alone and afraid and cold..."

I skipped school and ignored my phone when ever it rang. Wether it was Black Star or Soul checking up on me, it didn't matter anymore. My sence of right and wrong no longer existed, my grades fell, and I began to starve myself. As the days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months draged into slow and painful years, I spiraled down further and further into deprssion. I soon accepted the fact that he might never come back.

Knock! Knock!

"Go away, you can't get me out of this house Star!" I yelled from the kitchen, pushing my food around.

"That's no way to welcome back your partner," called a husky voice from outside the door.

"S-Soul?" I asked as I approached the door to see who it was.

"Who else would it be you bookworm?"

I flung the door open, almost snapping it off its hinges. Tears were starting to fill my eyes, bluring my vision. His laugh rippled throughout my body as he brought me into a tight hug, my face buried in his shoulder as tears soaked his jacket.

"I got you something while I was gone," he whispered.

"Y-you did?" I asked as I looked up at him.

"Yeah. I'm not sure you'll like it much, but it's the thought that counts. Right?"

I shook my head weakly before I put my head back on his shoulder, taking in deep breaths of his warm, sweet and spicy sent.

"I was so lonely...I thought you'd never come back," I mumbled.

"How could a cool guy like me forget about his partner?" he whispered as I felt his arms tighten around me, making me feel safer than ever.

He picked me up and set me on the couch, taking care not to bonk my head on the wall next to it. When he let go of me I whimpered, fearing that he would leave me again and never come back. He reasured me that he wasn't going anywhere as he leaned over and grabbed a bag off the ground and set it on my lap. It was a little heavy and fell onto my legs.

"Open it dork," laughed Soul.

I tore the issue paper from the bag and shoved my hand in. I grabbed a hard covered rectangular object, imeadiately I feeling myself smile. I looked up at Soul, beaming as I removed the book from the bag. It was covered in a dark blue cover with a beautifully accented deep purple binding with Inkheart written in gold.

"I've always wanted this book," I breathed. "But never got to it because my mom took the majority of the books after my parents split."

"Glad you like it," replied Soul as he tried to hide his happiness from me.

I leaned over to him and brushed my lips across his, teasing him. He became flustered and his cheeks were dusted with a light pink blush. "Thank you," I muttered.

"Y-you're welcome," he replied, using all his control not to drag me into another heated kiss.

I shifted myself on the couch, propping one arm up on the end of it and started reading. I heard Soul scoff as he got up to go who knows where.

"I'm not alone anymore," I muttered under my breath, as I felt a smile form on my lips.

As I lay in bed that night, the days events playing in my mind. From waking up to when Soul came home. I'd never felt more relieved to see him than I did when he was standing in the doorway.

Soul's kinda hot, I guess. But weapon and meister are only supposed to work together to create a new death scythe for Shinigami Sama. Yet, I can't help but blush when he's around or at even the slightest touch. There's no way I'm falling this hard for my weapon. He was gone for 3 years, and I'm nothing more than happy to see he returned home safely, I thought to myself. Ugh, he's so...no! Stop thinking that way about Soul!

I growled into the darkness of my room and scolded myself out loud for thinking about Soul the way I was. My light flicked on, momentarily blinding me and throwing off my sences. When my eyes finally adjusted, I looked over to where the switch was and yanked the covers over my face. I guess I should have expected to see him standing there, after all I was kind of loud when I was scolding myself.

"You okay?" he asked. "I heard yelling from my room and thought I should check on you."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. "Just remembered that I have plans to meet up with Star tomorrow morning so I can finally meet his partner."

"Okay, as long as you're okay, that's all I care about."

I felt heat rush to my cheeks at his statement. He said it so calmly, as if he said it to me on a regular basis. After an awkward silence, he flicked my light off, closed the door, and went to his room.

XXX

"SOUL!" I screamed. "DONT LEAVE ME! DON'T DIE!"

I woke in the middle of the night screaming and sweating from my nightmare. My heart was pounding in my chest, fast and hard. Down the hall, I heard Soul bounding towards my room. When he flicked on the light, I was sitting on the bed with my knees pulled into my chest, rocking back and forth with only my eyes visable.

"Maka?" he asked with concern as he walked over and sat on the bed. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I-I dreampt that you died, l-leaving me forever," I blubbered as I felt two strong arms pull me closer.

"I'm not going to leave you any time soon, I promise," he gently cooed, rubbing my back to get me to calm down a bit.

I grabbed a fist full of his shirt and twisted my hand into it, making sure he was really there and not just something my imagination conjoured up. My bawling became a gentle whimper as Soul rubbed my back, with his face burried in my hair. His breath sent chills down my spine, but made me relax.