Somewhere on Autumn Woods Drive
By Rikku Minouke
Disclaimer: If I owned YYH… imagine the other things I would own too. Like my own car or a house. Or a litter box that cleans itself. Oh that would be nice.
Chapter fourteen
I had to deal with a lot of change in a short period of time. Some things I expected like my diet, sleeping habits, and even my body image. But there were things I had not expected to change, like the relationships of the people I had come to know and those I had known most of my life.
"Kurama?" I called from the kitchen. Given it was a little after noon, I knew he was home and should be getting up any minute. I decided to take my chances and just call out to him.
"Yes?" I guess I woke him up.
"You did the grocery shopping last night, right?" I asked
"Yes." His bed squeaked and I heard a small thud before he appeared in the hallway. In order to hold back my giggle at his appearance I bit my lip, but I knew there was no stopping the smile.
"You look adorable," I told him and met him at the hall entrance. Reaching up, I smoothed out the strands of hair poking up.
"I have no doubt that that is not a true statement." He blinked a few times trying to erase the grogginess from his eyes. "What did you want to know about the groceries, Botan?"
Taking a step back, I decided to lean my back against the granite breakfast bar, rest my elbows at either side of my hips on the edge. "No gushers?"
Lowering his head momentarily, I could see him almost laugh to himself. "No gushers. I bought you some snacks that you should be eating right now. Healthy snacks. Also, I knew you had cut caffeine out right away, which is amazing. But I bought you some apple juice and a container of V8."
"You're killing me," my jaw was slightly ajar. "I don't drink v8. I can't even drink tomato juice in a bloody mary."
"I'm sorry Botan," Kurama didn't look sorry to me. "Dried fruit is going to be a great snack. Also, I got you some cheese and crackers. You like the ones with the white cheese."
"Yeah…"
"Don't be upset," Kurama took a step forward and held out one hand to me. He started doing this about a week after our big fight. It was like the whole 90/10 thing. Almost as if it was his way of asking permission to touch me. Really, it was nice knowing he let me take control.
Grabbing his hand, he pulled me to him and I let Kurama wrap his arms around my shoulder. "It's going to be good for your body and your baby."
"My boobs hurt," I mumbled.
He pulled back suddenly. "Excuse me?"
I almost laughed at the shocked expression on his face. "Sorry. They are extremely sore and even though that wasn't a crazy, sweep me off my feet hug, it was still too tight right now."
"Don't apologize," he loosened his hold putting more distance between us, while still hugging me. "You apologize for everything, do you realize that?"
I was silent for a moment while thinking about his comment. "I suppose I do. But it's been kinda burned into me by now that everything is my fault."
"I guess that is just something we will need to work on," he told me like it was no big deal. I smiled at his positive attitude.
"Did I wake you up?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Not really," he admitted. "I was on the edge of consciousness anyways."
"Good," I said and stepped out of arms. "Now, you should get me one of the snacks you bought for me."
"Really? Should I get you a snack?" His eyebrows rose in a challenge.
Giggling, I said, "Yes, please."
He shook his head and walked around the bar to open a cabinet and pulled a green box down. From there he handed me a pack of six cracker and cheese sandwiches. "Just remember, you are supposed to be a grazer now. So no giant meals while you are at work."
"Are you calling me a cow?" I asked slightly raising my voice.
"What? I said no such thing," Kurama his eyes became defensive at my tone. "It's to keep your blood sugar up and stop you from fainting or feeling dizzy." I kept silent at his words. "I swear I would never call you a cow."
I looked at him skeptically for a moment. "Fine, I believe you. I need to get ready for work, though."
"I'll pack a bag for you to take some food to work."
"Thanks Kurama," I told him, meeting his eyes with a smile. "I appreciate it. Really I do. Even if you called me a cow."
I turned to head to my room as he called after me, "I didn't call you a cow."
"Botan!" I turned my head enough to notice Keiko walking in the door. The bell chiming as she strode through the door.
"Keiko," I greeted her back.
"Oh hey George," Keiko waved at the man.
"A pleasure as always, Keiko," George smiled and turned to grind some more coffee beans.
Bringing myself back toward my task, I emptied the container of espresso grounds. I tapped it on the edge of the garbage can before sliding it back into the machine. "You totally bypassed George for your dark roast." She placed her hands on her hips and when I looked at her, her mouth was a straight line and her eyebrows were raised. This was a challenge, but I didn't know what it was for. "What did I do?"
"Two things actually," Keiko nodded to herself. "One, I haven't talked to you in over two weeks. What is up with that? And two! I ran into your mom at the grocery store…"
"Oh," I knew where this was going.
"Yeah, you forget to call me and tell me you were having dinner with your parents AND Kurama?" Keiko all but shouted. Luckily there were only a couple people in here at eight o'clock at night. "This is a new development."
"Keiko, please," I tried to have her lower her voice. "I was going to call you, but I've been very busy. A lot has been on my mind."
"Fine, you don't want to talk about it at work," Keiko said and dropped her hands to her sides. "But I don't want you to cut me out again. So tomorrow we are meeting up for lunch, and you are going to spill the beans."
I licked my lips slowly as I thought about my answer. "I'm not cutting you out."
"Tomorrow, lunch. Perkins?" Keiko said. Her eyes were abnormally dark right now.
"Let's not do Perkins," I mentally went through their menu in my head. Everything was so salty. "How about Applebees?"
"That works," Keiko nodded. "Noon, don't be late Botan."
"I will be there," I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but her face remained unchanging. She was slightly mad at me.
"Can I have a dark roast, George?" Keiko called over before leveling me with a serious stare and walking to the register.