January 16, 8:36 pm, Magnolia City Airport

Kagome waited apprehensively in the baggage claim area of the airport, reading and re-reading the text she had received from Kouga 15 minutes before.

Hey babe! My flight's landed. See ya soon! :-*

She had texted him back a single smiley face. It was all she could manage right now. Her heart was in her stomach as she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned, hoping her internal turmoil wasn't completely obvious as she cemented a smile on her face to greet him.

Kouga dropped his carry-on bag and swept her into his arms, burying his face in her hair and inhaling deeply. "Kagome…" he breathed.

Kagome froze, unsure how to respond— her arms hung at her sides, stiff with indecision. He seems so happy to see me… She felt his hand run through her hair, and then cup her cheek, lifting her face to look into his unfathomably blue eyes.

"I missed you," Kouga whispered. Then he kissed her.

Kagome could feel the hunger on his lips as his fangs nipped gently at her mouth, his tongue seeking entrance. Out of sheer habit, her lips parted beneath his. The physical sensation of his mouth moving against hers and their tongues sliding against each other remained strangely outside of her self, as though she was watching someone else kiss Kouga.

What am I doing? I…I don't… Kagome pulled abruptly away from Kouga's insistent kiss, expression fractured and full of confusion.

Kouga looked down at her in surprise, annoyance flashing across his mind before internally rolling his eyes as he saw her expression. Women, he thought with irritation. What now? Instead of voicing his thoughts though, he gently brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, eyes searching her deep brown gaze for answers.

Kagome looked away, unable to hold his penetrating stare. "I'll be okay. I'm just… overwhelmed a little." There. An answer that Kouga could interpret however he saw fit. She couldn't bring herself to confront him here at the airport, when he had just greeted and kissed her the way she remembered he had when they first started dating two years ago. It had been so long since she had felt that kind of passion radiating from him. Did he really cheat on me in Russia? The doubts that had crept in as he kissed her finally crashed in, filling her up and making her wonder at her conviction when she'd spoken with Sango the day before.

Kouga gave her a lopsided smile. Figures, he thought. Seeing me after so long has made her all emotional. I wonder if she's realized she should to come back to Russia with me after all…

"Let's pick up my bags," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Then you can drive us back to your place."

She flinched as the weight of Kouga's arm fell across her like a heavy yoke, but he didn't seem to notice. That's right, she thought, beginning to panic. He's staying with me for the next six weeks while he's back in the US… Shit. As they meandered through the crowd of people to the carousel with bags from Kouga's flight, Kagome tried desperately to figure out how to get him to stay with his friends Ginta or Hakkaku instead.