Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha or any of the characters. I do NOT make any money from this or any other story.

This is the first novel length story I have ever tried writing, and actually only my second FanFiction. I promise that I will continue to work on it and update as often as I can, but unfortunately real life does have the driver's seat.

Chapter 1

Seven years. Seven very long and hard years. Seven years since she had last seen him, since she had met him, fallen in love with him. Seven years since he had left her. Seven years to the day since she had been hurt by him.

It had been seven years since she had been with anyone, seven years since she had loved anyone. All her friends had told her that she should move on, find someone else, someone better, but her heart wouldn't let her. She knew it was foolish, and she could not explain why, but she couldn't help but compare any guy she dated to him and she couldn't help that they all failed to measure up to him. She had given him her heart and soul seven years ago.

It was a warm April day; Kagome Higurashi had been driving for several hours and she needed to stop, get some gas, and maybe some lunch. The reunion had been fun and it had been great to see all her old boarding school friends. They had talked and laughed long into the night, celebrated Kagome's 24th birthday together, which had been a week earlier, and all cried when they said their goodbyes, but it was time to go back to the real world now, back to work, and she still had several more hours to go at least. With the music from her iPod blasting she took the next exit she saw and pulled into a gas station that had a restaurant attached. Out of pure habit she glanced at the people closest to her, but saw nothing of interest, just a couple of fox youki, and a few humans; that was until she reached the last one. It was a young man, a Hanyou, standing next to a beautiful BMW SUV. He was over six feet tall, with what appeared to be silver hair, and what was more, he looked strangely familiar, but she passed it off as her imagination and lack of food. There is no way she could know this guy, she had only ever known a few people with silver hair and that was a long time ago. She finished pumping her gas and pulled her car around to park while she went in to pay and get some lunch. She had just gotten her meal and sat down when someone bumped into her. She heard him apologize and looked up at him to tell him it was alright when she caught a glimpse of silver hair. She smiled and looked up into his face, but when she did her heart stopped. There standing before her, holding a bag of his own, was her ex boy friend, the only one she truly loved. There was a long pause as they both studied each other but neither spoke.

Until finally, "Inuyasha", she said quietly "it can't be".

The man was still looking at her as if he had seen a ghost, and he still hadn't said anything. He just stared as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Kagome studied him a little closer and noticed that he still had the same golden eyes and when she looked on the top of his head, there were the same cute ears. Yep this was her ex boy friend. She was drawn out of her studying when Inuyasha finally found his voice to speak.

"Ka-Kagome", he paused "what…no it couldn't be…what are you doing here?" He finally asked through his surprise.

Kagome just smiled, seeming to gather her wits enough to notice people beginning to stare, and said in a semi-nervous tone, "Well don't just stand there like an idiot, sit down and eat with me" and waited. Once he had sat down she answered his question, "I'm on my way back home, to Jackson, from my high school reunion, but what are you doing here? Last I heard you were in Texas."

Inuyasha just nodded his head and answered, "I had my reunion too, and I am on my way home, well sorta." He finished his last statement with a really nervous look on his face.

Either Kagome didn't notice it or chose to ignore it, but she did raise an eye brow at his statement. "What do you mean sorta?" she asked.

He looked for a moment as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to answer but finally shrugged and said, "I'm actually on my way to Jackson for a job interview." She just looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face but didn't answer, so he spoke again, "I can't believe I'm seeing you here, it's just too strange."

Kagome looked up at the soft expression on his face and gave him a very large smile, "I know" she said, "but it's great seeing you. I always wondered what happened to you after…" but she trailed off unable to finish her thought.

Inuyasha seemed to know where she was going but didn't finish it just the same, he just smiled and nodded, "yeah me too" he said, "so how have you been?"

They sat for about an hour talking about their high school reunions and all the friends they had seen and the ones they had both known. They both discussed their college choices and their majors, but nothing too serious; it was obvious that they were both a little nervous.

Kagome just couldn't figure out why she was nervous. True it had been seven years but it was no different than seeing her old friends again. Then again, she had been in love with him, but that was years ago, and he had ended it. It had hurt her, but she had long since given up being mad at him over what happened, she was over it, wasn't she? True a part of her would always love him, he was her first love, but it was only that, nothing more than a lost love, wasn't it? As she stared into his eyes, only half listening to him talk about the guys they had both known from his school and his roommate, who couldn't make it, she felt something, a twinge deep inside her. She hadn't felt it in seven years, but she remembered it well, she use to feel it every time he looked at her, with those eyes that could pierce her soul. She was drawn to him just as she had always been, since the first time they had met. "Damn", she thought "there is no way I still have feelings for him."

The longer they talked to easier it became. Slowly their nervousness faded and by the time they got ready to leave it was almost like no time had passed at all. She was quite and smiled as they threw their things away and headed to their cars, but when they reached them Inuyasha seemed to stop mid sentence, as if he was searching for the words. She looked at him for a minute and smiled "here hand me your cell phone", she said quietly and waited for him to hand it over. When she had it she entered her number, saved it and then looked up.

"Have you ever been to Jackson?" she asked.

When he shook his head she went on. "Well then", she said with a slight smile "why don't you follow me? You have my number now and you can call if you fall behind or when we get close and tell me where you are staying. I'll take you to your hotel and maybe we could get some dinner and keep talking?"

He looked at her for a moment and then smirked, "That sounds great, but I don't think I'm the one who needs to worry about falling behind."

Kagome just laughed and then got in her car. As he was shutting his door she rolled down her window and said, "Keep up if you can, dog boy" and with a laugh she drove away, music blasting.

She could see him shaking his head and laughing as he fell behind her. She drove for a few minutes before she turned down her music, put on her Bluetooth, and dialed her phone; she really needed to talk to her best friend.

She listened to the ring back tone her friend had chosen this month and just started to sing along, that is until it ended at the best part and her best friend, and sister answered the phone.

"Hey babe," The other girl said with a laugh "how's the driving going. We all miss you here. Your, brother is a loser you know that Kagome?"

Kagome just shook her head and laughed, "I've missed you too Sango, but I didn't called to talk about my brother, I need to tell you something."

"Go ahead", Sango said, "I'm all ears"

So Kagome told her all about running into Inuyasha and the conversation they had. Of course Sango had never met him but she had heard the stories, and been there when Kagome was at her lowest, she knew what he had put Kagome through. When Kagome ended the story by telling her about giving him her number and offering to have dinner with him to catch up, she got quite waiting for Sango's response.

Sango was quite for a long time, so long that Kagome was about to say something, but Sango beat her to it, "I'll kill him" she hissed, "I can't believe you ate with him, and you gave him your number, are you crazy…."

She went on for a while before Kagome finally laughed and stopped her saying, "Chill Sango, it was a long time ago, I'm over it."

"Sure you are" was her friend's only and very sarcastic response.

Kagome first instinct was to rebel at the comment, to argue and tell her friend she was wrong, but she stopped herself before she even started. She knew deep down that she had never completely gotten over Inuyasha, forgiven him yes, but she could never forget. She would always love him, and would always compare any other guy she dated to him. She had never completely understood why he had ended it, but she knew that it hurt her and that she would never completely get over him.

"Fine" she said agreeing with Sango, "I'm not over it or him, but I forgave him a long time ago and it's not like I will have to see him much. I'll be fine"

They talked for about 45 more minutes and said their goodbyes only after Sango agreed not to tell Sota about Inuyasha and Kagome agreed to call Sango when they got close so she could come over and meet the guy.

Kagome had just turned her music back up when she heard her cell phone going off. She couldn't tell who it was but figured it must be Sango, so she turned the music off and pushed the button to answer the phone.

"What the hell do you want now?" she asked, half laughing.

There was a short pause and then she heard a familiar and sexy voice ask, "What did I do to deserve that?"

Kagome just shivered at his voice but laughed a little and said, "Sorry, Inuyasha, I thought you were a friend of mine. I just got off the phone with her and I just figured it was her calling me again." She paused for a minute and then continued, "What's up, you couldn't have gotten lost already" she teased. Though for some reason she couldn't help but looking in the rear view mirror to make sure he was still there.

Inuyasha smiled to himself and chuckled, "Of course not…you're driving like an old woman"

"Well I just wanted to make sure that the old man behind me didn't get blown away." Kagome lightly threw back. She couldn't believe how easy it was to still joke around with him. It was like nothing had changed, like they had never split. But she had to remind herself that they had split, that he had broken her heart. "Still", she thought "it just seems like we're picking up where we left off. It's like we are still together and nothing ever came between us." "So Inuyasha, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call."

"Well it does get extremely boring driving, but I also wanted to know if you knew of any hotels I can stay at when we get to Jackson?" Inuyasha offered as an excuse for calling. It was true, he did need a place to stay but he also just wanted to talk to Kagome some more.

Kagome laughed and shook her head, "It's just like you to make a long trip, for a job interview, to a place you have never been, without finding a place to stay. You really haven't changed have you?" She asked the last part more to herself, but didn't make an attempt to hide the question either.

"Hey…" Inuyasha shot back, "That's not it. I was going to stay with Miroku but the bastard called me a few days ago and said that his girlfriend was staying this weekend and he didn't have room to put me up."

"Wait, Miroku as in your old roommate, he lives in Jackson now, and he never tried to get in touch with me. Tell him I'm hurt. Who's he dating now anyway?" Kagome just couldn't believe it. Miroku was in Jackson too, this was just too weird.

"Kagome, I'm sure he didn't know that you were living there, or he would have tried to contact you." Inuyasha offered as an excuse. "He still gives me a hard time about the fact that we aren't together anymore." Inuyasha said, so quietly that Kagome almost missed it but before she could respond he went on "He's been there for a few months now, and he is actually the one who sent me the information for the job opening. As for whom he is dating. Well all I know is that he's been dating this girl for about a month and a half now, I believe he said her name was Sango"

Kagome about spit out her drink, oh this made perfect sense now, she couldn't help it as she started laughing, and it was just too much. She had been wondering for a while about Sango's new boyfriend. Usually she meets them much sooner, but if she was dating a pervert like Miroku that explained everything. Inuyasha waited until she calmed down enough to draw breath before he asked.

"What the hell was all that about?" needless to say he was confused.

"No…Nothing", Kagome finally managed to get out and taking a second to compose herself she continued to explain "Sango is my best friend, well more like my sister, I knew she was dating someone, but I haven't met him. She just keeps telling me he is too much of a pervert to introduce to me. I never guessed that it was the same pervert Miroku that I knew in school, but it all makes sense now." She finished but then added almost to herself, "This is just wired, she must not have mentioned me or he would have known who I am."

Inuyasha thought about how he should respond, he didn't want to give anything away, not yet, but in the end only came up with, "yeah it is strange, but what about a Hotel, know a good place to stay?" he asked again, he would worry about the other later, right now he was going to enjoy talking to Kagome.

"Yeah I know somewhere, My Place" Kagome answered without even thinking. It took her a moment to realize that she had said it out load, she had been thinking about it, but had not meant to actually voice her thoughts. She could not understand why it had come to her so easily, however, she also knew that once she had said it that she would not mind having him stay with her, they were both adults after all.

Inuyasha heard her, but didn't know if she was serious, he hoped that she was, it would be nice to get to spend more time with her and make things easier for him, but was afraid to get his hopes up. What should he say, he couldn't decide so in the end he decided to give her a graceful way out. "Kagome, I wouldn't want to impose on you. I mean I might be here for a while and I wouldn't want to trouble you for that long." He ended a little uncertainly.

Kagome caught what he was doing, she knew that he was giving her a way out, but it only took her a minute to decide and instead of taking his offer she decided to stick with her plan. "A while huh, well it won't bother me, but I guess I should warn you, I live in a one bedroom and the only place I have for a guest to sleep is on the futon, which isn't very comfortable, but at least you wouldn't have to deal with a hotel. So I guess as long as you don't mind staying in a one bedroom with me and a cat, and sleeping on a futon for a while you are welcome to stay." She finished the last comment hopefully; after all it would be nice to be able to catch up with him.

She could tell he was thinking about it, maybe he would just be too uncomfortable, staying that close to her after all that had happened between them? She was about to tell him he didn't have to when he spoke, a little hesitantly, "Well the futon doesn't bother me, you know me I can sleep anywhere, so as long as you don't mind I'll stay and if it ends up being too much I can always find a hotel later." He stopped then added as an afterthought, "after all we are both adults, aren't we"

"Of course" Kagome said brightly, "and if you want after driving so long we don't have to go out to supper like we planed tonight, we can just order in. After all you will be here for a while so we still have time to go out if we want."

"Why don't we just wait and see how tired we are when we get there to decide?" He suggested.

"That sounds great." Kagome said then she started to ask him about the company he was interviewing for, but her phone beeped telling her that she had another call coming in. She took a quick look at the caller ID and saw that it was Sango, "Shit" she said, "Inuyasha let me call you back, I've got to take this call."

"Ok I need to call Miroku and tell him I found a place to stay." Inuyasha laughed, and then said, "I'll call you back in about thirty minutes alright?"

"That's cool I'll talk to you then" Kagome said before flashing over to Sango, "What's up Sango?" she asked cheerfully.

Sango we surprised for a moment at the happy tone in her friends voice, but chose not to let it show. She would find out sooner or later what had her friend so happy. So instead she just answered, "Nothing Kags, I just got to your brother's and we were wondering how far away you really were. Hitome is working at the restaurant tonight so we were thinking we would take you there to celebrate your return. How about it, want to go out?"

Kagome debate for a minute what to say, but it didn't take long, they would learn the truth anyway, "Sango get my brother into the room and put your phone on speaker, you might as well both hear this at the same time." And waited while her friend did what she was asked. She was a little afraid how her brother would take the news. When they were dating her brother had idolized Inuyasha but he had hated the guy for what he did to Kagome.

"Alright Sis" she heard her brother say, "What's this all about?"

Kagome took a deep breath and then started, "Sota, Sango already knows this, but I ran into Inuyasha today on my way back, and he is headed for Jackson for a job interview." She could here Sota almost growl on the other end but continued before he could say anything. "What neither of you know is that I invited him to stay with me while he was in town. I know that you both think that I'm not over him, and maybe I'm not, but we are both adults and we are both capable of handling the situation. We want to catch up on old times. So I expect both of you to be nice to him when you see him. You understand me"

"But sis after what he did…" Sota started, but strangely enough Sango cut him off before Kagome could.

"Sota, Kags is right, she's old enough to take care of herself, don't worry about her, it will be alright." Kagome couldn't see the wink that Sango, who knew what her friend was thinking, gave Sota, but was happy to hear her brother agree, although a little reluctantly. Then Sango went on, "However, I do want to be here to meet him when you show up, but if he hurts you I will kill him." She finished the last statement and Kagome could almost see the look on her friends face.

Kagome just laughed and said, "That fine Sango, we are a couple of hours away, so why don't you hang out at Sota's and you can meet him when we get there, on one condition, you call that mysterious boyfriend of yours and make him come. It's about time I meet him and we might as well get it over with at one time, agreed." She was glad that they couldn't see her smirk, this would be fun.

Sango hesitated for a moment and then relented. "Alright you have a deal I'll call Miroku and invite him over."

"Good now if you don't mind I need to go, someone else is calling me" She lied, but she needed to get off the phone before Inuyasha called her back.

"Alright Kags," She heard them both say; "We'll see you soon."

No sooner had she hung up the phone than it rang again. She was about to yell at whoever it was until she saw that it was Inuyasha. She looked at the time, "thirty minutes, yeah right." She thought with a smile, and answered the phone.

"I thought you said thirty minutes. Did you miss me that much?", she teased, not really expecting an answer, but was pleasantly surprised to hear his response.

"Of course", he said then asked "so how was your phone call?"

"Good, it was my brother and Sango, they are waiting for us to show up, Sota lives in the same building, and Sango is determined to meet you. I told them to be nice, and that the only way she could meet you is if she brings her boyfriend. It should be interesting to see the look on Miroku's face when we pull up together." She said laughing. "Did you talk to him?"

"Nah I just left him a message, he didn't answer," he said, "but I did talk to the guy I'm interviewing with about who would be there and when and where to meet him."

"Oh yeah that reminds me, what company are you interviewing with?" Kagome asked.

"It's called SNT Corporation. It's only been operating for 10 years or so. Have you heard of it?" He asked curiously.

This time Kagome really did spit out the drink that she had just taken.