Chapter 2 - -Hour 2-

It seemed that right as she had fallen asleep, Chrona had been forced to wake up. She couldn't have slept for more than twenty minutes, she was sure of that. She often found, though, that once on a schedule, she could not find it in herself to break it. She would always wake up at around two in the morning thanks to having to get up early so they could sneak back to Chronas home in privacy. She normally didn't mind, they would always get a decent amount of sleep, but today was different. She wished she could just close her eyes and go back to sleep, but she knew better than that. Plus, Spirit, it seemed had gotten up already so she supposed it would only be right to go see what he was up to.
She slowly got out of the bed, searching for her extra set of clothes she had brought with her. They had decided it was best for her to stay the night after the incident with Maka so they could try to figure out what to do about it. Originally, she wasn't going to get to stay with him this weekend due to a pervious scheduled appointment with Maka. Unfortunately, they hadn't ended up coming up with anything to tell Maka to possibly calm her down. In fact, for half the night they seemed to downright ignore the fact that anything had happened. She doubted they would find anything to help the situation today, but she just wanted to be near him again.
Unable to locate her extra cloths in her exhausted state, she prompted to instead go out in her pajamas. She would just find it later. She walked out to the living room, dragging her feet, shoulders slumped. The lack of sleep was getting to her more that she was moving. She spotted Spirit on the couch, eating a bowel of cereal and watching TV. This wasn't much different from any other day, but for some reason, it seemed to upset her today. Maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to her or maybe she was just having a wild mood swing, but she didn't know how to deal with her feelings.
She tried to ignore it as she sat down next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders and she opened her eyes to look up at him. "Rough night?" he asked looking down at her. She nodded wordlessly. He gave her a sympathetic smile and rubbed her shoulder. "Just try to rest for a little bit." He said. She nodded again and closed her eyes again.
She tried to gather her thoughts to figure out what was bothering her. The first thing that came to mind was the thing with Maka, thought that didn't seem to be the big thing weighing on her mind at the moment. It was still there, it just seemed small in comparison to the question that she couldn't seem to find words for. It was starting to get frustrating. "What are you thinking about?" Spirit asked, causing her to jump in surprise.
He was good at telling when she wasn't feeling her best mentally. She thought, though, that she could have passed off for simple being sleepy. She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but in all honesty, she wasn't sure herself what she wanted to ask. She opened her eyes and looked around the room, trying to find something to jog her mind into giving her an idea of what was on her mind. Finding nothing, she simply closed her eyes and sighed. "You...you really do want to be with me right?" she asked, almost unconsciously. She had surprised herself with the sound of her own voice, but what she had said did ring true in her mind. She had been thinking of this.
She opened her eyes to look up at Spirit who was giving her an odd look. "I-I mean...you...you really want to be with me because...well...because I'm me, right? Not because...because I'm friends with Maka..." she asked, blushing and looking down. As much as she didn't want to believe it, she sometimes thought that he was only with her so he could get in good with his estranged daughter. She knew that because of the secrecy of their relationship, the notion that he was using her to get in good with Maka was absurd (especially now when it had been made so clear that Maka hadn't known), but she couldn't help but think it.
Spirit hugged her closer to him, gently rubbing her shoulder. "First, no I would never do something like that." He said smiling at her. "And second, why would you think that I would do that?" he asked, his smile turning sad. Chrona shyed away from his touch, looking down at her knees. She felt guilty when she saw that smile. She didn't like upsetting anyone, let alone her lover.
"I-I don't know..." Chrona mumbled, still looking down at her lap. "I'm sorry." She said closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Don't worry about it, it was a stupid question." She said looking back up at him, opening her eyes and smiling nervously. Honestly, it hadn't left her mind. It stayed at the front now, screaming at her to talk it out. It would be that easy and her mind could rest. She, however, could not force herself to say anything more to him.
"If you asked, than it was bothering you." Spirit said shaking his head. "So tell me why you would think that."
Chrona looked down again, frowning. "I j-just don't want...I don't want for the on-only r-reason for y-you b-b-being with me to be f-for you t-t-to get in g-g-good with Maka." she said clenching her hands into fists nervously. She was stuttering again, something she had learned slowly but surely not to do with him. "I want you to be with me...because I want you to like me." She said taking a deep breath, controlling her voice.
"And I do. I love you." Spirit said. She looked at him, brows furrowed in confusion.
"But why?" she asked. "Why me? Why not someone pretty or more feminine? Why not someone older with more experience? Why me?" she asked, shaking her head. The words she had spoken had run across her mind for a long time, causing her some grief that she often just pushed it to the edge, forcing herself to think of something else instead. Now, however, she needed an answer. She needed reassurance. Maybe if he told her, she could feel at ease.
Spirit stared at her in shock for a minute. He had never heard her say such things before and he had never known they were on her mind. "Chrona, I love you because your you...I can't really explain it."
"Please try." Chrona practically begged, slowly reaching over to hold one of his hands tightly within her own. "I just&I just need you to try. Even if its just nonsense."
Spirit sighed but smiled at her. "Alright, if it will make you happy." He said. "I love you because, no matter what, your there. You make me happy. You aren't perfect; I'm not going to lie and say you are. But than again, neither am I. I think I might be farther from it than you. But I think maybe within all out imperfections there is that speck of perfectness that makes it so that when I see you, I know that you can look past all that and that means more to me than anything else. I love you because we are perfect together." He said gently holding her face in his free hand.
"But...but what about Maka? She is your daughter and she might hate you now!" she said looking away and squeezing his hand gently.
Spirit cringed but his smile never left his face. 'As much as I hate saying it, I don't think she ever much cared for me before this." He laughed sadly. "She had nothing to do with my decision to ask you out."
"I want to believe you...I really do...so I will." She said looking back at him and smiling softly. "Don't let me down please..." she said and leaned up and kissed him. As he kissed her back, she felt better about the whole situation suddenly. Her heart felt lighter and her mind was clear. He loved her, he honestly did. Now if only they could make Maka understand that.

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