My playlist for this chapter:

Skeleton Key by Margot and the Nuclear So & So's was my song of choice for this chapter.

AN:

I'd like to thank everyone for supporting this story! It's a pleasure to write.

MissieMae; Thank you so much! Roommate stories are some my favorites, too. I played with this idea for a while and I really enjoyed how it turned out. I've seen enough and been in best friend/love/like relationships before and know exactly how these characters feel. There's something endearing about the endurance of those relationships that just make for good reading material, too. And, yeah, the InuYasha in my head is pretty hot stuff. Lol! Glorifying him is part of the fun!

iaminlovewithcoffee; quickly updated per request! :D

Say0mi Saki; bad news isn't always bad news. Kagome's totally going to have some opportunities arise that'll help her out. And thank you very much for your review, hon!

k.a.a-inu; Kagome is so stubborn! I do that when I write and read it after I post. Hormones! All of the hormones running rampant are going to totally going to make them explode. Hehe.

Warm-Amber92; Yeah, I realized that afterwards that this is probably the most sexually frustrating situation I've ever written. They want to be jerks about it and torture themselves! Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Fingers crossed for this chapter!

Saria Forest14; I would have probably ran away crying if that happened to me. Then ran back. Lmao.

All of Kagome's assumptions had been justifiably correct as she skimmed through her phone, finding about thirty missed calls from her mother, Ume. Preceding protocol stated, that before any greetings and tires of goodwill and mirth were to be given, she had to answer the rapid fire line of questions in her mother's arsenal - mostly as to why no one had called in weeks, or sent an RSVP for the mandatory harvest shindig.

All of that pretty paper wrapped up a whole lot of contempt when the invitation had finally been opened after sitting in the mailbox for, what, two weeks?

The conversation with her mother had gone fairly well, until Ume brightly announced that Kikyo, her darling sister, was overjoyed to see her baby sister and company. It was everyone's clearly rooted assumption that Kagome had far exceeded expectation and lived in the lap of pseudo luxury with her sibling's cold leftovers.

All of those years of schooling had sure paid off, hadn't they? The girl glowered at that thought as she stared at her closet. The week since that turbulent talk with her mother had passed with a flurry of buzzing sound and static, muting out the awkward prowling that she and her room-mate did. It was an awkward dance to begin with and neither of them wanted to take the lead.

Keeping their mouthes shut would have saved the vast majority of all of this trouble, but Kagome had somehow managaed to keep her cool around InuYasha. She completely ignored the phantom touches he gifted her when her guard was down, or how he made cheeky comments about her walking around in a t-shirt and underwear. That was a ritualistic habit that she would give up for no one.

InuYasha had certainly been around long enough to see it a million times. And, he'd known there was absolutely nothing sexually explicit about a pair of Hello Kitty panties, Dragonball Z shirt and a vat of ice cream.

Still, they spent most of their evenings in separate rooms, probably both going mad at the sheer volume of silence radiating through the vacant space. The living room was like a treacherous swamp of comfortable couches and the big TV. All of this tension was really cutting into weekly television time.

And, for InuYasha, he wasn't too thrilled to attend the impending party. There wasn't anything that he could really say, or do, to deter his attendance. Ume was like a second mother and she would have pulled him by the ears back to her house. It didn't matter how disasterous the outcome, her word was the overriding code to the core meltdown.

Needless to say, the mention of several text messages and voicemails being absent had never been brought up. It was just as well to have left Koga as a heaping pile proverbial trash on the proverbial curb.

Truth be told, InuYasha wasn't entirely sure as to why the woman hadn't said anything. Koga wasn't the type of person to just stop persuing her - unless that text message he sent did the trick.

As he rolled the victorious idea of her head, InuYasha merely stood with his arms laced across his chest as he rested against Kagome's doorframe. Now, he merely had to merely watch her dissolve and regress into a fifteen year old girl, too afraid to wear a red dress because of the public connotation and the fear her mother would mark her with a scarlet A.

"You know, Kagome..." He cleared his throat, shifting his feet from side to side as he watched her fidget. "You could just suck it up and be an adult about this. I don't want to deal with any of this shit, either." Trying to sound casual was a little bit difficult, but he was getting better at it. Besides, she finally sent him the only remotely engaging look she'd given him all week.

Sighing, the girl lolled her head back. "I'm just not sure if Jii-chan would keel over dead if I didn't dress properly. I haven't worn any kimono in months. He would have had my head for being so inappropriate. I think he's still mad that Miro and I didn't want to take over the shrine." Kagome glowered, finding the nervous sweat on her brow to be utterly revolting. And, the fact that he was watching didn't make any of this better.

It would have been so much more simple if Sango had just came over, but no... Miroku had her locked away in his tower, doing God knows what to her.

"I don't think it will matter, seriously." The man quipped, perking his brows childishly beneath his bangs. "The only thing I'd worry about is the shark infestation. How long do you think it'll take it becomes the most awkward holiday we've ever had?"

The girl clattered in her closet, keeping her hair as a barrier etween his roaming eyes and the flush it had burned onto her pallid flesh. "As soon as the door opens, I'm prepared for about ten different scenarios to arise, and they all involve me cleaning up vomit, or drowning myself in the really nice bathtub in mom's room."

Nudity wasn't something that needed to be brought up, and somehow she managed to always say the right words to make her brain corrolate fashionable imagery; most of which, she tried to expunged. Excellent job, Kagome... Excellent job.

She huffed, inwardly.

A faint grin kissed InuYasha's lips as he slithered into the hear of her room, somewhat stalking a territory he knew like the back of his hand. "Better safe than sorry. I figure I'll be persuading Miroku to murder me, or at least denounce our friendship." The man furrowed his brows and paused, tilting his head slightly. "We are the most socially awkward people. Huh?"

The woman leaned back, letting her exasperation vividly protrude along her features. "It's pretty pathetic of us to plan suicides just because we don't like to be around people." She said with a bit of a sigh, still boring holes into her lackluster wardrobe. "I've planned that we'll be there at least an hour late. I'm blaming it on overcrowding on the train, and we will be present for at least two hours, no more than five. I will become far too exhausted to stay, and will have to come home to prepare for work."

"What about me?" InuYasha said, leaning his lanky body against her back absently. He pulled his glasses down and began sifting through the hangers filled with dresses and pinned skirts.

Kagome let out a small laugh, and pointed to the far corner of the closet for him to hand her a kimono. "I'll be far too drunk to walk and you will have to escort me home. I think it's a pretty fool proof plan." She said bemused.

They had almost forgotten about their closeness, and all of the stresses of the past week when InuYasha smirked and pulled out the plastic covered kimono. "I'm not opposed to that. I don't know how I feel about hitting it when you'll be vomiting in my trash can, but it's totally doable." He shrugged, finding her expression wrought with embarrassment.

"God, I hate you sometimes." Kagome seethed, dipping under his arm, savoring the sweetness of escaping the sweetness of his smell. "And besides," She said, keeping her eyes glued to her bed as she shucked down a handfull of dresses. "Who cleans your trash can?"

The man crossed his arms and towered over her, placing a soft kiss upon her cheek. "You do."

The girl felt the numbness in her toes spread to abdomen, recurrent every time she tried to move her cheek. She was silent, still. Waiting for him to move away from her felt like a century of alertness, taking down her formiddable bastille walls.

It wasn't long before he ruffled her hair and left her to inspect her clothing. But, before he left, he reached into her stack and pulled out a wild card from the middle. Tossing it carelessly on top, he pushed a cigarette into his mouth. "I like that one, you always look nice in it."

The mottled rashing that cut across her skin made her feel itchy, restless as she watched him skulk out of the room. Her fingers palmed her cheek, feeling the oozing warm tingling that remained in his absence. He knew all of the buttons to press. He didn't have to try to make her feel like she was a sinking ship with no hope of salvage.

Looking down at the mess on her bed, she flinched when she saw the dress he picked. Her hand smoothed over the soft fabric and she let out a damning sigh. "Bastard." She muttered as she picked up the whimsical red dress.

Running her hands through her hair, she held them against her shoulders. She stared emptily at the parted door, barely seeing him shuffle about the living room as he ate a sandwich. God, she closed her eyes, she had it bad.

Getting out the apartment seemed like the best idea. Some new shoes would help, she sighed somewhat victoriously. Grabbing her purse from her desk, she pressed the lines out of her shirt and grabbed a thin black pullover. She hastily pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. There was no way that she wasn't going to be frazzled.

InuYasha had barely noticed her stealthily sneaking out, until she opened the door. That damned lining was a tattle tale.

Wiping his hands off on his jeans, which she utterly abhored, the man frowned. "Where you going, Kagome?"

The girl clenched her hand around the handle of the door, staring into the hallway that lead to the resolution to her horrendous hormonal overload. "I'm going to buy some shoes. Is this a problem? Do you need anything, want anything?"

He mulled it over and grabbed his coat off the rack. "Actually, yeah." Was the response she received. It wasn't exactly the list she had been pining for, but she would have to make do with the company.

Honestly, outside of their living space, they could functioning somewhat normally. Being out in the open meant focusing on the life bustling around them, not the quiet inlay of inner mechanics controlling every aspect of their lives on the inside.

Somewhere between the elevator ride and the cool air that bleached their skin with it's soft breath, they had distanced themselves from their troubles. InuYasha, in particular, was not a fan of the chilly fall day and grimaced at the sound of leaves crinkling beneath his feet.

His hands wove into his pockets, fumbling around with the smooth metal covering on his lighter as Kagome's phone blared its sickeningly sweet tune. At first he tensed until he heard Sango's voice blaring through the speaker. He endured about twenty minutes and four cigarettes worth of planning.

Apparently, it takes a woman about thirty minutes to decide on which color goes with a red dress. Whether Kagome had been trying to appease him, the fact that she was oblivious to the fact he was smirking at her, made him feel like he had the upper hand.

Maybe this little ordeal would be fun, at the very least. Teasing her had always been adventurous and amusing, so why not enjoy this affair while it lasted? Part of him wondered if her feelings were truly warranted, making him question his own. He did love her, he just wasn't sure how far those feelings ran.

Sure, when Koga came bustling through, he was jealous. It was obvious. On occasion, painfully so. Yet, as he heard her slip her phone into her purse and blow a hot breath into the crisp air, he felt his cheeks flutter with heat of their own.

He was fairly lost in thought when he felt the pinprick of her nails tapping his hand as they ended up admist the high rises and flashing lights that crawled in Shinjuku. "Hey, InuYasha what did you need anyway?" Kagome asked lightly, keeping her eyes level with other pedestrians and their plethora of shopping bags.

The man shook his head, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Um, I need to get some socks and underwear." He said with a shrug.

Kagome palmed her face, brushing back her bangs. "You have got to be kidding me." She sighed, blaming her rosy cheeks of the frosty wind. The sidewalk became far more interesting as she stepped off the damp crosswalk. "You know I'm not helping you buy your designer wares, so you can call me if you need me."

"I hardly think that the dollar store has anything that fancy, Kagome." InuYasha bit, struggling to keep up with her. He watched her skinny jeans crease with each step she took away from him, and he scowled. "Seriously, Kagome, since when have I ever bought my own underwear since we've lived together." He whined.

The girl whipped around, purse slinging around her body. "InuYasha." She bit through her unease. "I'm not your girlfriend, or your mother."

"Kagome." He challenged, crossing his arms over his chest while bystanders watched out of the corners of their eyes.

After a moment, Kagome narrowed her gray eyes and shook her head. "Fine. Call me when you're done stuffing your face or whatever." She pouted, feeling his hand idly pop against her bottom as he stuffed it back into his long jacket.

The man shot her a knowing glance through his whisping hair as he scampered off down the busy street. He knew what he was doing and it was overwhelmingly trite. Kagome couldn't believe that she did his bidding wherever they went together. Maybe this was why everyone thought what they did.

In any event, the girl took care of her own shopping excursions, bottoming out her own wallet for the sake of glamourizing herself for her family. Her mother would probably end up killing her on sight if she knew she didn't do anything with that Physics degree.

She'd spent most of her time staring at push up bras and fitted pin-up dresses, seeing as how she had filled out a little since the last time she'd visited home. Being justified in a pencil dress seemed more appropriate than explaining she liked cake and vendor burritos.

When it came to buying the nondesciminating underwear, Kagome's cheeks were alive with a forest of color to match the offerings cast aside by the trees. The tiny shop was burning and bright beneath the lights, bleaching her skin and making her feel as though she were spot-lighted.

Each package cried beneath the plastic as she finally plucked his size and shoved the boxers in a hand basket as she checked out. She would end up killing him before the party. She knew it. Yet, as she breathed a sigh of relief into the freshness of the evening, as all of the neons began to flicker beneath the blackening sky, she relished the cool hands caressing her skin.

The street was far less congested, but as she reached for her buzzing phone, she collided with a sturdy body. All of her bags emptied upon the slick sidewalk and she panicked, lowering her head shamefully as she apologized profusely.

Hesitantly, she winced, peering through her bangs to see a young man ruffling the back of his short hair. "I was in a hurry, I should have watched where I was going." He said, kneeling down beside her to help her replace her lost belongings. "I hope that you're alright and nothing was damaged." He said through his teeth, trying to keep from staring at her flushed face.

"It's alright. I was trying to answer my phone and wasn't paying attention, either." Kagome smiled, flicking her hair to the side. She couldn't help but giggle at the bewilderment on the boy's face. He looked young, terrified that he was probably on his own for the first time. "Thank you for helping me. I probably would have never found all of this."

"Oh? It's nothing." He said, biting his lip as he fumbled with the ties on his hooded jacket and smiled a little. "Well, I, uh, best be on my way-er?" The man bowed slightly, hoping that this pretty thing would give him her name.

Kagome smirked and adjusted the bags on her shoulder. "Kagome." She responded softly.

"Kagome. That suits you. You don't see someone as pretty as you, or have a name that matches." The man laughed. "My name's Hojo."

The girl felt pretty smug when her phone rang several times, and each time she rolled her eyes. InuYasha would find her eventually. Besides, this kid seemed really sweet and even offered to take her to dinner to make up for all the trouble. The decent part of her said yes to be polite, whereas the spiteful part was more concerned with erasing these feelings for InuYasha.

An escape would be nice, and this dark eyed, dimpled wonderboy seemed pretty sweet. Kagome was about done giving her his number when she heard it. "Fuck, Kagome, do you know how hard it was to find your ass?" InuYasha berated, holding a brown sack of dumplings he'd bought for her - and the bottle of peach schnapps she liked. "You have fingers to answer your phone."

Kagome's color drained as she looked over her shoulder to see InuYasha stumbling towards her. He hadn't noticed Hojo, and part of her didn't care. "Oh, sorry. I was talking to my new friend." She grinned, seeing the gruff man's expression wind into a calculated glare. His mouth pursed and eye brows became arched in curiosity as he handed her the bag.

"Well, did you get my underwear?" He ask blankly before pressing a cigarette in his mouth.

Hojo looked between them and pointed a confused finger at no one in particular. "So, is he your boyfriend?"

Kagome waved her hand in front of her face, "No. He's my room-mate." Dead. Dead. Dead. Murder.

"Keh." InuYasha quipped, grabbing her hand. "And, that being said, we've gotta go home." The girl stiffened beneat his grasp, finding her stomach tying itself into knots at the contact.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Kagome." Hojo beamed, holding his phone to chest in his whimsy.

The girl nodded and waved joyously as InuYasha dragged her along the street. Neither of them spoke for the duration of the trip - just a bunch of sighs and grunts that weren't all too attractive. When they finally made it back home, Kagome threw his boxers at him with a scowl. She was starting to think it was just the loneliness that made him seem so damn attractive.

"I bought you dumplings, you ass." InuYasha smirked, sitting his pack on stained counter.

Kagome plopped face down on the couch and let out a heaving sigh. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You're doing it to yourself."

"No, I'm not. It's all you." She retorted, raising up as her hair fell across her face. The way she looked at him...

"See," InuYasha said, leaning over the arm of the couch as she turned over onto her back. His hair fell around his face like a curtain while he watched her intently. "You went and got yourself a date. I bet he's a catch. Maybe you'll move out if things get serious so I can have double the room."

Kagome leaned upon her elbows, knitting her eyebrows. "Are you serious?" How incredulous was he? Really?

"Are you?" InuYasha blanched, sweetly grinning at her knowingly. It worked every time she'd tried to date. It was like shooting the fucking ground.

For a moment, Kagome chewed at her lip and wriggled against the sofa. "I hope he's super rich and has a pool. Or, at least his parents."

"Then I could come over and hang out with your spoiled kids and play Soul Calibur on a fancy ass TV." He mocked her, finding the tint on her cheeks adorable as he always did.

Sighing, Kagome brushed a hand through her messy hair. "I just said I'd go out with him because he insisted and he seemed really nice, so I didn't want to be that much of a bitch."

Grabbing her toes, InuYasha watched her squirm beneath his grasp and chuckled. "You know, just do what makes you happy, Ka-go-me." He breathed, letting go of her as she slithered into a sitting position. Her head was as cloudy as the night itself and it made her tired just thinking about how simple things could have been.

Yet, in her ire, she reached a hand towards InuYasha as he polished the lens on his glasses. "Come sit with me and we'll watch something. I'm too tired to move."

"You want me to carry you to your room?" He asked idly. It wasn't like he hadn't done it countless times before.

Kagome rubbed her eyes, leaving mascara smeared across her cheek. InuYasha eyed her yawn and pucker her lips in a half-hearted frown. He couldn't stand when things bothered her, and now, he knew it was conflicting with everything he believed in to just be so distant. This little waiting game had gone on years, and if it happened to be a little crush on her part, then he would wait until that passed over, too.

With a sigh, he pulled off his wrinkled t-shirt and tossed it haphazardly on the floor as he retreated to his room. When he returned, the girl was thumbing through channels as he flipped off the light. She barely glanced at him when she felt his body weight down the cushion her feet rested on, and he propped them on his lap as carelessly laid a blanket over them.

Closing her eyes, Kagome nuzzled into the crook in her arm, hoping he wouldn't see how flustered this had made her. This is what they always had done. If they wanted any semblance of what they had before, they had to at least force themselves through the motions, didn't they?

It was satisfying down to her toes to be so close to him, letting the day roll off her sleeves and into the cumbersome darkness that enveloped her. She ached for him, his closeness, his hands to wind in her hair. Clenching her jaw, she imagined what those ghostly breaths would sound like whispering her broken name into her ears.

It was sacchariferous.

Every roll of his fingers over her ankles - just those imperceptible accidents - made her abdomen quell with more warmth than the sun had spread upon the day. It made her knees quiver as she thawed from the cool in the apartment.

InuYasha rolled his eyes over her small form, thanking the darkness for the shelter. She didn't see the longing in his dark eyes, or the way his mouth was pinned beneath his teeth. It was as if they molted, allowing, almost accepting, the new prickling emotions inching from the deadend pores.

Kagome was about dead when he heard the softest beating of her vibrating phone, which was lost amidst the sea of bags on the table. Looking down, he flinched as she jerked beneath him. Smoothly, he shimmied as far back as he could, arching as he extended a hand behind his head. He was so close when it stopped ringing and he finally slid out from underneath the drooling girl and staggered to the table.

Fishing out the device, he slid it open and sighed. "So, you're back at it are you?" InuYasha rasped at the damn thing. The night had ended up being fairly calm and then this prick had to start his shit.

Patting his jeans, he felt his pack of cigarettes and slipped outside onto their seldom used balcony. The autumn air soothed his flushed bare skin and he propped against the railing as Tokyo beamed like a neon garden.

As he swallowed his nerve and returned the call, he felt that swell of jealously curtling his blood. Even the nicotine couldn't satiated the itch that crawled in his bones. As the ringing resounded in his ear, he knew that he was the only man he had ever felt threatened by. No one was taking Kagome away, and that was for damn sure. That Hojo kid didn't stand more than a week before he was cast to the wayside, as brutally honest as that was.

Yet, the endless stream of purring rings ended leaving his stomach hollow as a familiar voice prickled with contentment as he answered the phone. "Oh, Kagome...I've been hoping you'd answer!" He exclaimed.

Disappointment rang out in his voice when that raspy voice responded. "Oi, you dick, why do you keep bothering her?"

"Christ," Koga sighed into the speaker. "Formalities really go a long way, don't they?"

"Listen to me," InuYasha said darkly, brushing a hand through his long hair as though it was the only thing keeping him from sending the phone flying into the street below. "I don't give a fuck if you think that you're trying to make ammends, or rekindle whatever flame you had with her. You need to leave her alone. It's been, what? Two years since you saw her and you think you can just blow through here and make everything better after that?"

"I think you've got this whole story all wrong, InuYasha." Koga sighed grumpily into the phone, trying his best to keep his cool. If there had ever been anyone that pissed it him off that badly, it was InuYasha. "You can pretend to be the big brother, the knight in shining armor, but you're just a bystander and you really hold her back. Shit, you were the whole reason that our relationship went to shit, you know you that you jackass?"

InuYasha scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not getting blamed for the fact that she did and probably still does love you - for some ungodly reason. Jumping ship doesn't really show that you're man, Koga. I just want you to leave her alone and let her move on with her own life and let this shit settle. That's not asking too much. Actually," The man cleared his throat, readying another cigarette. "You just need to back the fuck off."

Koga snorted, "You've got to be kidding me. There's no way in hell I'm listening to you, especially when you've taken it upon yourself to act like a big shot and defend every little thing that woman does. She's a mess to be with and you fucking know better than anyone, I'm sure."

"Where in hell do you get off talking about her like that?" InuYasha hissed. He was relatively calm and beneath the swelling and condensating sweat on his chest.

"I'm simply going to say that you have no right to her. You couldn't have her when you wanted her and you did what? Took her sister and ran until that was about as good as play money." Koga responded evenly. He was being realistic in his mind, and it just wasn't sinking through InuYasha's thick ass skull.

For a moment, InuYasha was silent. That was something that hit a nerve. Koga was a friend until he weaseled his way into Kagome's life and stole her. Glowering, the man sighed. "Fine. I suppose you've got the upper hand in this, like you do everything else. So, now that there's an open wound, I guess you have no use but to hang up and have a victory beer."

"No. I just think I'll be seeing you in a few days." Koga said blankly. "It's too late to bother reasoning with you. All I can say, is that you had your chance and chances after that, and probably now. You've never been one for relationships that are actually worth a damn, and I'm not watching you ruin anything else in her life."

InuYasha bit his tongue as he gripped to the railing, turning his knuckles white. "Fuck off." He sighed, hanging up on the bastard. A sour taste filled his mouth as he looked back through the parted door to find Kagome standing with her arms wrapped around her waist.

Her eyes were barely parted, but the expression was seared into his memory. He was startled by her silence. It was heavy and empty as she rubbed her eyes like a child. "InuYasha..." That small voice trembled, trying to comprehend if she was imagining the world around her.

Holding his breath until his lungs could no longer bear it, the man exhaled a white plume into the cold night. "What is it, Kagome?"

The wary girl's mouth fell into a pout. She was staring vacantly through him when she murmured something inaudible. It dawned on him that she was sleepwalking, and he inwardly thanked whatever god was listening. The last thing he needed was her crying over his meddling.

"You should go inside, it's cold." The man said, feeling the wind lick his hair. A shudder ran down his spine as Kagome stumbled into the door, nearly falling over. Naturally, he walked over to her and picked her small body up and carried her inside. He closed the door with his foot and held her close as she wriggled.

A welcomed warmth slithered through his body, curling his toes with delight as he peered down at her round cheeks and wrinkling nose. Every word that Koga had said lingered with him as he stood at the juncture of their rooms.

Her room seemed sterile, lifeless as the city light crept in through her window. His seemed vibrant in comparision and relented to habit and his overall comfort. He needed to be close to her, and that awareness made him melt.

Kagome's fingers climbed up his neck, loosely holding on as he closed his eyes and walked quietly into his room.

All of those times she thought she'd slept walked into his bedroom had been an excuse for his own want. Every time he'd pick her up and dance with her until they were tangled in his sheets.

At least, the story she was going to be told was going to be a good one, he mused as he slid out of his pants and crawled into bed. For a moment, he lay facing her, brushing her soft hair from her eyes. Even in the low light, she was beautiful.

It was too much. That throbbing in his chest, his veins, his stomach made him draw closer. Even the callouses on his thumbs could feel her supple skin. Closing his eyes, he leaned in until his nose brushed against hers and his hand cupped her cheek.

He begged for this.

Parting his dark eyes, he watched her swollen mouth as she breathed. He had to have her. This ache was unbearable. His jealously beseiged his judgment and relevance as he gingerly bridged the gape between them.

Trembling, he felt the way her lip clung to his as he pulled away; electrified by the sheer volume of his actions. Disbelief was appropriate, but he wouldn't accept it - couldn't.

Breathing deeply, the man could no longer hold his resolve.

And as his mouth tumbled down upon hers, he felt her hands reach for his, pulling his arms over her back. Instantly, he flinched at the resolute crescendo of his heart's thunderous beat. His eyes widend when he pulled away, finding the girl's gray eyes lazily staring at him. The emotion was wanton as she nuzzled into the sheets.

He couldn't think of anything. There was absolutely nothing left in the back of his mind to make him speak. His gaze was locked with hers when she finally spoke up. Hoarsely, Kagome wiped away his bangs and brushed her hands over his stubble, feeling her legs tighen with the needy ache in that rested in between.

"Come here." Kagome whispered, lethargically. "If you want a kiss, you've got to meet me half way."

AN: So, how was it everyone? I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I'm so excited to write the next chapter. Thank you for reading!