A/N: Written for SoMa week 2016 on tumblr for the prompt Stuck in the Rain.

While Maka helped Soul tend to the horses, she heard the distinct sound of something hitting the roof.

At first it was light and soft like chicken feed being poured above, but then it steadily picked up speed drawing her curiosity toward it. She already knew what it was before sliding the barn door open. Rain – she found – was fairly common in Texas especially during the spring and summer months. Though, that didn't particularly mean that she was entirely used to the event. For someone who grew up in Arizona, rain still felt slightly foreign to her.

It also didn't help that when it rained in Texas, it really rained.

Staring out across the ranch, her view was blocked by sheets of water cascading from the sky above. It moved and swayed in time with the wind that blew from the storm. A stale smell of wet dog filled the air causing her nose to wrinkle, and she felt drips of it hit her legs as she stood there. Her heart dropped at the sight before because it meant that her and Soul were going to miss out on Evelyn's fresh baked apple pie.

A strong hand touched her side sending an electric shock up her spine. Maka glanced up to see Soul standing behind her.

"Really pourin' out there, huh?" he asked.

"Mmm," she hummed. Dropping her gaze, she leaned against the side of the barn and sighed wistfully. "I was really looking forward to tasting some of your mom's apple pie, too, but it looks like we'll miss out on it."

"Ma will save us a bite."

"Yeah. If Wes doesn't eat it all beforehand."

The warmth of his hand disappeared as he moved to the opposite side, and the urge to join him crept in the back of her mind. It was silly, she knew that, to want to be with him all the time. Usually Maka was a stronger and more independent woman when it came to relationships. Except with Soul it always felt different somehow. He didn't complete her like all the fairy tales and love stories romanticized. He was home. Her home, to be exact. Soul made her feel loved and cared for and comfortable; all the things she didn't have with her pay boyfriends.

Not to mention the rain enhanced the intimacy of the moment. The serene calm of the rainfall held a romantic air to it, and all she desires to do was lay with him curled up on the couch.

"Wes isn't that evil," Soul said, folding his arms and leaning on the door. His face twisted into doubt, though. "Maybe. He does love Ma's food. You could always ask Ma to bake you a pie later. I'm sure she won't mind."

"I'll remember that if it turns out Wes can't control himself," she smiled.

A moment of silence fell between them as they both stood there. The rain started to pick up, larger drops falling to the ground than before. She barely saw the outline of the main house let alone the fence that was a few feet away. Maka's gaze drifted over toward Soul who stared off into the distance with a thoughtful look on his face. His brows were furrowed together and his mouth sat in a tight frown. White tufts of hair peeked out beneath his hat.

With him standing there like that, she was reminded of when she had first met him. How he had polished his words to sound proper around the cameras and did everything he could to give off the vibe he hadn't been raised on a ranch. She also remembered how much of a jerk he had been in the beginning. He had definitely been trying far too hard then because he was anything but a douche. Soul had shown her enough through all his actions and words during the show as well as afterward.

Soul was the man who took her out on nice dates and touched her in the most chaste manner. He was the man who knew how to curl her toes with a simple kiss. Whispered the sweetest words against the nape of her neck that sent heat crawling on her skin. He was the man who made her feel safe and secure when he hugged her. The man who made her laugh before bed, spooning in bed and telling each other the most awful jokes ever. Somehow Soul had gone from being the new source of her hatred toward men to being the most important man in her life. A fact that she was more than happy to admit.

Suddenly, Soul turned her and gave her his signature lopsided grin. Her stomach lurched and twisted in response, and a light blush blossomed over her cheeks. She wanted to look away – to pretend she hadn't been caught watching him – but she couldn't. Rose red eyes had locked her gaze in place.

It was a few seconds later that she noticed her own smile.

"Why are you smilin'?" he asked. "I ain't got somethin' on my face, do I?"

"No," she quickly said, a small laugh mixing itself in with the word. "I was thinking about how we first met and everything that led us here."

His gaze fell from hers, a glimmer in them in which she imagined he too imagined the path that led to where they were now, before he met her eyes again. A light laugh escaped his lips that triggered a warm liquid to pool in her abdomen. She hugged her arms around herself as the blush on her cheeks deepened with a thought she never imagined herself to have. Soul's sanguine eyes were soft when he stared at her; a softness that she recognized immediately.

It was the same one she had witnessed on the night of the final rose ceremony and nights and days that followed. The same one that had been present the night he told her the same three little words that floated to her tongue.

The only difference was that she bit them back.

"Two idiots that didn't wanna be on a datin' show in the first place. Who woulda thought we'd end up together?" he asked.

Shrugging, she said, "Definitely not me. Ranch boys were never my type."

He pushed himself off the door, and leaned out toward her with his hand extended, His fingers curled around her arm as he pulled her toward him. Her hands splayed against his chest immediately, a little 'oof' leaving her mouth while her brain attempted to catch up with her body. Maka felt his own heart echoing hers as it pulsed beneath her touch. She didn't have much time to think about it, though, because the next minute he cupped her chin between his fingers and tilted her head up.

"And now?" he asked in a low, husky voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

Being the little butt that she was, though, she said, "Well, considering I'm here now, in your arms, Ranch Boy, what do you think?"

"That I really know how to rope a girl in," he smirked.

"God, that's so cheesy!" she said, half-heartedly pushing away from him.

"You like it, though."

"No I definitely do not."

But the smile tugging at her lips told a different story.

"I love you," he said.

There was a split second where Maka almost said it back, and she would have if it weren't for him pressing his lips against hers. She relaxed in his arms, humming as his mouth molded with hers. His hands gripped her hips at the same time hers drifted up to bury themselves in his hair.

The only thought that went through her mind during the kiss was I love you, too.