An Escape. (A Soul Eater fanfic)

Sleepless Nights.

Chapter Thirteen: Sleepless Nights

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Maka rolled over in bed, hiding her face in her pillow as if it would stop the countless 'what if?'s running rampant through her mind.

It didn't.

'What if my dad goes to court?'

'What if he wins and takes me back?'

'What if I'm stuck with him, forever?'

Eventually, she drifted off to sleep-although the lingering hypotheses never quite left.

She awoke not long after, forehead drenched in sweat.

Nightmares were not a favorable occurrence.

Her fingers clenched the sheet and she took large, deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself.

It didn't help.

She tossed and turned for hours until light shone through her window. She groaned.

Pushing herself up and rubbing her eyes, she yawned and looked at the clock.

5:49

Her alarm would go off in forty-one minutes. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she touched her feet to the floor and stood.

She took her time getting ready, but by the time she'd finished, Kidd was just waking up.

'Might as well make breakfast,' she decided, needing some way to pass the time.

Half an hour later, Kidd came down the staircase, raising his eyebrows upon seeing Maka.

"You look like you woke up early."

"I did. Sit down, I'm making breakfast."

Saying nothing (as it was morning and neither of them were really morning people), he obeyed, pulling a chair out and sitting down at the table.

A few minutes passed, and Maka brought bacon and eggs to the table. She took the seat adjacent to Kidd, wasting no time in digging in. He yawned before beginning to eat as well.

It didn't take long for them to finish, and Maka quickly took their dishes back to the kitchen and disposed of them in the sink, where they'd be tended to later in the day.

"Ready to go?" Kidd asked, grabbing his keys off of the counter. She nodded in response, jogging over to the front door and lifting her backpack up off the floor.

"Yup."

School seemed to drag by-even Maka found her mind wandering away from the lectures. Though, she supposed it could be partially attributed to the amount of sleep she got the previous night.

She meant to nap during lunch hour, but ended up listening to Liz's boy fantasies and Black*Star's constant interruptions. ("Psh! Why fantasize when you can get a real god right here?!")

So, naturally, by the time she arrived home with Kidd, she was exhausted.

Maka glanced at one of the wall clocks in the living room-it only read four o'clock.

They usually didn't get back until five, but they'd been asked to leave the library after Kidd had a symmetry 'mishap'.

"I can't get the K right! I'm a failure of a human being!"

She sighed at the memory, before announcing her leave and heading up to her room to take a well-earned nap.

If napping was consisted of tossing, turning, and wishing for sleeping pills, then Maka nailed it on the head.

Around evening, she finally gave up and went downstairs to make a quick dinner.

"Look who decided to join us," Kidd mused, pausing his 'still-in-progress' homework to acknowledge her entrance.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm hungry. Want any-are you still doing homework?" She stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"I may or may not have taken a few breaks..."

Maka sighed. "You'll never finish at this rate."

He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Were you always doing homework until this time of night, before I came around?" She crossed her arms.

"...Well, it depends..."

"And how is that?"

He blinked and suddenly she was brandishing a very thick book, and he knew that the fate of his skull depended on his answer to her question.

Unfortunately, his reservoir of knowledge failed to inform him that he'd been backed into a metaphorical corner and that there was no way out.

"...on how motivated I felt that day?" He winced, anticipating a book to the face, but was surprised to hear a simple sigh and a mumble of "whatever".

She resumed her voyage to the kitchen. "As I was saying, do you want me to make you anything?"

"No, thanks, I'm good."

"You're on your own for dinner, then."

"It's not like I can't cook."

Maka shrugged, dropping it.

Kidd frowned. Maka seemed to be...out of it. She wasn't acting like her normal self. The Maka he knew would never drop an argument like that without a clever retort or passing comment.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, turning away from his work again, to find her busying herself making some kind of sandwich in the kitchen.

"No, why do you ask?" she swiftly replied, twisting around to look at him.

"You just seem...off."

"Oh. I'm a little tired, that might be it."

He accepted the answer, reluctantly turning back to his asymmetrical science homework.

...

Two days passed, and Maka had yet to get a wink of sleep.

'This is getting ridiculous,' she thought as the sun rose again.

She doubted she'd be able to stay attentive in class during the day, so she decided to feign illness and finally go get some Tylenol or something.

So, she curled up in bed and waited. Her eyelids were heavy, and she let them fall closed. She knew she wouldn't fall asleep-she couldn't.

And as for why-she had no clue.

An hour and a half later, there was a soft knocking on her bedroom door.

"Maka? Can I come in?"

Maka forced a small coughing fit before, in the hoarsest voice she could muster, uttering a "yeah".

He opened the door and she coughed again, followed by a sniffle.

"Oh dear, are you sick?" he asked, maneuvering over to her bedside and moving to feel her forehead.

Again, she coughed, causing Kidd's hand to miss and he ended up checking her hair's temperature.

"Yeah...I think it's just a-" she interrupted herself with a cough, "a cold. I'll stay home from school today, if that's alright..."

"That's fine. Do you need me to stay home, too? In case you need anything-"

"I'll be fine. Could you take my homework from yesterday and turn it in for me?" she asked, attempting a 'puppy-dog' look.

It must've worked, because Kidd sighed in defeat. "Alright. Do you want me to pick up medicine or something on my way back?"

"Tylenol would be wonderful, thanks," she said, adding in yet another cough for good measure.

He patted her head. "Then I'll be going now. Get some rest; I'll be back before you know it." With that, he exited the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Maka rolled over, glad she didn't have to go out herself to get something to help her sleep. She felt around blindly for her phone; needing something to occupy herself with.

She didn't really have the attention span for books at the moment.

Kidd returned in the early afternoon, and quickly made his way up to Maka's room.

He entered, smiling as a greeting whereas she simply grunted. He set a bag from the local pharmacy down on the nightstand, sitting down afterwards.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Sick," she grumbled, followed by a cough.

He frowned. "Well, you'll get better soon. You just need healthy food and plenty of rest-I'll go make something for you, what would you-"

"I ate a little while ago. I'm not hungry," she said; and it wasn't a lie. She'd eventually dragged herself out of bed to make a half-assed 'brunch'.

"Okay, if you say so...I'll let you get your rest, then. I'll be downstairs if you need me." Kidd rose to his feet and made for the door, but paused halfway-

"Oh, I also got you copies of the homework, if you're feeling up for it later tonight."

"Mmkay. Thanks." She sat up, reaching for the bag on her bedside table. Inside was a bottle of pills that looked strikingly like the commercials.

'I hope it's what it's all cracked up to be,' she thought bitterly, checking the dosages before dumping two pills into her palm.

Maka wasn't a big fan of pills.

It took a while, but soon Maka felt even sleepier, and she hoped that now she could get some well-deserved shuteye.

She did.

Kidd passed the time by reading instead of doing homework like he should have been.

He worked best when Maka was there to scold him whenever he whined about not writing symmetrically (not that he'd admit it).

Just as he was beginning to get into a paragraph that described the process of cryogenic freezing of humans, he heard a yelp from upstairs. Maka's room, to be precise.

He immediately dropped his book and ventured upstairs, not even bothering to knock on her door.

"Are you alright? I heard a yell-" He paused, taking in her appearance.

She was sitting up, hugging her knees to her chest, and shaking. Her hair was disheveled; her eyes were wide and unfocused, and held dark spots under them. She looked exhausted.

"Jesus, Maka, when was the last time you slept?" He scolded himself for not noticing earlier-she'd outright told him for Pete's sake!

"J...just now..." she muttered, eyes now glazing over and her shaking coming to a stop.

"Before just now."

"...Monday night...?"

"Three all-nighters? In a row? What the hell is the matter?" He seated himself next to her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I can't sleep. I keep having...nightmares." Maka would bet anything that she sounded like a child.

He sighed, exasperated. "I can get keeping quiet for a day, but three nights? You really should've said something."

"I figured they'd go away eventually, so there'd be no point," she mumbled. "I guess, in retrospect..."

Again, Kidd sighed. He stiffened his hand and lightly brought it down on Maka's head. "Reaper chop," he whispered.

She looked up at him, amused. "Reaper chop?"

"Reaper chop."

"No book or anything?"

"I feel like that's copyrighted, in a way."

"Hmph. You're right. Remind me to patent it."

He chuckled. "I have an idea. Try sleeping in my bed, tonight. Maybe you'll be able to sleep soundly."

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'o'. "Do you think that'd help?"

"It's worth a shot."

She rubbed her arm, averting his gaze. "I guess..."

"I presume you'd like to go now?"

"If that's fine with you..."

"Of course it is. Come on, then, you really need some sleep." He stood, offering a hand to Maka. She shook her head ("I'm fine") and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, rising to her feet.

She followed him down the hall, into his room. She then realized she'd never really gotten a good look at his bedroom-but that could wait. She was probably far too tired to take it all in, anyways.

After making sure that Kidd was absolutely positive that it was alright, she all but collapsed on his bed, curling up into a fetal position and closing her eyes.

He almost smiled at her laying there-she looked kind of cute. It only took a few minutes for her breathing to even out and for her pose to slacken.

He sighed and glanced at one of the few clocks in his room.

It was only half past seven.

So, he did what he did best: pick a book off the shelf, sit down in a chair, and read.

Maka awoke in a panic, with beads of sweat on her forehead and her breathing erratic.

She glanced around the room before she remembered where she was. Kidd sat in one of the chairs in the corner, arms crossed and head leaning slightly to the left as he dozed lightly.

Shaking, she crawled across the bed and slowly stood on the floor, and walked over to him.

She bit her lip, wondering if she should wake him-if she didn't, she figured, he'd only be upset with her for not waking him.

He was selfless like that.

So she took a deep breath and shook his shoulder gently. "Kidd?" she whispered.

His neck straightened and his eyes blinked open, hazy for a moment before focusing on Maka.

"Hm? What is it?"

"I...can't sleep...I had a nightmare again.."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He adjusted his posture as all of his consciousness woke up.

Maka thought over her next answer, and even when she had decided, she hesitated.

"Could...could you maybe lie down with me...?" Her face flushed red (and even Kidd's cheeks turned a little pink) as she looked down, her fingers interlocking and separating repeatedly.

"Are you sure..?" He stayed rooted in his chair, hoping she wasn't forcing herself to do this.

She nodded, this time without hesitation. "I'm sure...besides, I feel bad making you sleep on the chair," she added as an afterthought.

"Alright..." He rose to his feet, and the floor creaked quietly, showing resistance to the weight shifting.

Kidd yawned, making his way over to the bed, with Maka shuffling close behind. He laid down and quickly rolled over to the other side, as to make room for Maka.

She settled herself in as well, worries soon escaping her.

"G'night, Kidd," she mumbled, eyes drooping shut.

"Goodnight," he replied, his soft, velvety voice lulling her to sleep even faster.

Death the Kidd awoke the next morning and had no idea what to do.

Somehow, during the night, he'd rolled over to face Maka. Not only that, but she'd cuddled up to him, and his arms were currently wrapped around her.

He could not move without waking her.

And the worst part?

He had to pee.

'Mind over body, Kidd,' he chastised himself. 'You can wait until she's up.'

It wasn't long until Maka awoke.

She'd groaned softly before her eyes fluttered open, her green irises immediately met by a golden gaze.

"Good morning," Kidd greeted her.

"..Morning," she said, stretching her face into a yawn soon after. She made to sit up, but tensed upon noticing Kidd's arm draped across her waist.

"I figured it'd probably wake you if I moved, and you really needed some sleep, so..." he trailed off, gazing at the ceiling. It took a few seconds before a realization struck him. "But you're awake now! So I can-" He immediately recoiled his arm, sitting up with his face tinted red. "S-sorry."

She giggled, and dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "I wasn't complaining or anything."

"I'll, er, go get ready, now." In the blink of an eye he was on his feet, and then into his bathroom.

She sighed, before sitting up and stretching. She lingered there for a few moments more, but soon left to tidy herself up as well.