Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe or any of the popular name brand apps, products, services, etc. The rest is mine.

Chapter 21

Kagome rolled over in Inuyasha's bed, turning her head to block out the sunlight filtering in through the window. She felt an arm pull her closer against the warm, hard wall she was pressed against. Fingers started to run through her hair, massaging her scalp as she tilted her head and caused her nose to brush against the velvety soft barrier. She felt a kiss being pressed against her temple as memories from the day before began flooding her mind.

The joyous beach day. The romantic Ferris Wheel ride. That passionate kiss...that horrible fight.

Her eyes snapped open and she was met with a wall of his bare flesh, rhythmically moving with each breath he took. She felt his arm flex against hers as he moved his hand away from the middle of her back and up to her bangs, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

It was then that she was reminded of the passionate, emotional sex they shared the night before. Her cheeks lit up when she realized they were both still naked.

"Good morning," he whispered, hooking a finger under her chin and tilting her face up to place a tender kiss to her lips.

"Good morning," she whispered back, moving an arm up to cover her breasts. He pushed himself up onto his arms and towered over her, trapping her in a cage of him and making his top sheet completely disappear from around her as it bunched against his waist with his movement.

"Damn straight," he whispered, leaning down for another tender kiss. "Last night was…"

"Painful?" she smiled smally, and his face instantly saddened.

"Eye-opening and passionate was what I was going to say," he whispered, moving back to her side and flopping down onto his back, throwing one arm over his head and the other across his chest. His fingers tangled in the chain of his dog tags and he closed his eyes.

"That too," she agreed in a whisper.

"Are we ok, Kagome?" he nervously asked after a moment, turning his head to look at her with worried eyes.

"Yeah," she breathed. She wanted to be. She only had two more weeks with him. She wanted those two weeks more than anything.

"Are you sure?" he asked seriously, and she finally removed her arm from around her breasts and moved to hug the right half of his body. Her head nestled into his chest as her leg wormed its way between his thighs, her knee gently brushing against his genitals in the process.

"I'm very sure," she sighed, pulling herself closer to him and tangling her fingers with his around his dog tags.

"I adore you, Yash," she breathed, and he let out a shaky breath.

"I adore you too, Darlin'."

They were snuggled up on the couch on his balcony drinking coffee and enjoying the early morning breeze when the text from an unsaved number came. He didn't hide it from her. In fact, he showed it to her as he read it himself, and for that she was appreciative.

He was right - honesty was their thing, and he was doing everything he could to be transparent about this since he knew how she felt about the matter.

Kikyo had said she was still in the area, and she wanted to know if he would be free to meet up with her that day.

He immediately replied with a negative.

"I'm not giving up time with you for this. It's waited this long...it can wait a while longer," he shrugged.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Positive. I want to spend the day with my girlfriend before I can't see her until next weekend," he reasoned, typing out as much and hitting the send button.

She was shocked but grateful, and she pulled him down for a passionate, lingering kiss. He tasted of black coffee...intoxicating and completely delicious.

His teeth gently scraped along her bottom lip, making her moan as his hands wound themselves into her hair, still damp from the shower they had shared together. When they parted, she curled up against him and wrapped his shirt around her fingers, breathing him in.

"I adore you," she whispered.

"I adore you," he instantly replied, allowing the phrase to stand in for the one he realized he was starting to want to use. "I do. I really do. You know that, right?" he asked, looking for her reassurance.

"I do," she smiled warmly, running her fingers up his neck to his scalp.

He leaned his head down to touch his forehead to hers, and she sighed as his arms tightened around her.

"Good," he breathed. "Because it's true. I adore you so damn much. I don't want you to leave..." he whispered.

"I know, but I'll be back next weekend," she reasoned, and he smiled wryly. He wasn't talking about today...but now wasn't the time to discuss that.

"It's too far away," he replied instead before pulling away to cup her cheek and press one more lingering kiss to her lips. "What do you want to do today? I want to enjoy you while I still have you."

"Enjoy me, huh? Is that your way of asking for sex?"

"No...but I'll also never turn down the offer," he grinned roguishly before roughly pushing her down onto the couch and attacking her neck, causing her to let out a squeal of surprise. He began pressing hard, wet, rapid, smacking kisses up the column of her neck, making her laugh and then squeal again when he firmly pressed his lips to the junction of her neck and shoulder and blew.

"Yash!"

"Yes?" he replied, looking innocently up at her.

"Behave yourself," she giggled before squealing again when he gave her a long wet lick up the side of her neck.

"How can I when I have this sexy as hell woman here with me?" he purred into her ear, taking her lobe between his teeth and giving it a gentle nibble. She sighed at the feeling and pulled away from him, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning up to press a kiss to his lips.

"You're getting off topic," she breathed against his lips when she pulled away from him.

"Am I?" he smirked, leaning forward to capture her lips in another kiss.

"Yeah," she giggled. "How about brunch?"

"Are you brunch?"

"No! I mean real food," she laughed, and he let out a dramatic sigh.

"You're sure? Because I could live off of eating you…"

"Yash!"

"Fiiiiiine," he grumbled in mock frustration, pushing himself up and pulling her with him. "Let's get real food. And then maybe I can eat you later."

"Behave yourself!"

"That's not as much fun. You coming?" he asked with a smirk as he stood.

"Later."

"Try this," Kagome moaned, cutting off a piece of her avocado toast with a poached egg and fresh tomato salsa and bringing it to his lips.

She had found a little restaurant just off of the beach that was about three miles away from his apartment. It was in a small, seaside looking town and had great Yelp reviews. She had shown it to him on her phone, and the next thing she knew, they were parking on a side street and asking for outdoor seating. It was a quaint little restaurant with the most lovely view of the ocean. Long, tall sea grass grew up and around the ivory wood latticework of the railing, helping to frame their view.

"It's avocado toast," he complained, wrinkling his nose.

"I know. I ordered it," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"It's so...pretentious...and...Californian."

"We're in California."

He glanced down at her fork and grimaced.

"You really like it?"

"Yeah...but if you're going to die from eating it…"

"I'll try it," he sighed, leaning forward to take the bit she offered him.

"It tastes like avocado and toast and egg and tomato," he shrugged.

"It's so good!"

"Meh."

"Meh?"

"Meh."

"Not just meh!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes again. "It's good, it's delicious, and it's healthier than that monstrosity," she admonished, pointing toward his steak and eggs.

"First off, this is a real breakfast," he disagreed. "Second, I'm not too concerned about healthy. I have a PT day tomorrow, and I go to the gym often enough that I can afford to eat like this when I want to. Third, I eat healthy enough when you're not around anyway!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. It's just gone by the time you come here on the weekends."

"Sure it is," she giggled.

"What?! I'm a big guy! I don't let food sit around."

"Is that why your fridge is mostly filled with beer when I get there?"

"That, and I know how much you like it. Is it so wrong to have a supply of it on hand for when you show up? I thought I was being considerate. If you'd like, I can just drink all of it myself…"

"I won't stop you from keeping some for me," she smiled, taking a sip of her mimosa.

"Ok, then why are we complaining about my eating habits?"

"I'm just concerned, is all," she shrugged.

"This coming from the woman that hates cauliflower?"

She dropped her fork and held her hand up to her chest, gasping in faux abborhance. "I told you that in confidence!"

"That was your mistake - you can't trust me with a secret like that," he smirked, cutting off a piece of steak. "Now hush up and try this, and you'll see why mine is better."

She stuck out her tongue, but still allowed him to feed her the bit of his steak.

"Not bad...but mine is still better."

"You're such a snob," he laughed, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Excuse me? I'm a snob?"

"Two words: Avocado. Toast."

"Oh my god, it's not pretentious! It's delicious! Did you get dropped one time too many as a baby?"

"Dunno. Ask my brother. He could've done it intentionally," he shrugged, and she giggled.

"How is he doing?"

"Good. Mission: Replace Jaken was a success...to an extent."

"Oh?"

"Rin noticed that it was a different frog. I told him he needed to just come clean."

"No! Oh, that poor girl! How did she take it?" she asked as a breeze swept past them, gently tussling her hair. She cut off another piece of her toast and swirled it around in the runny yellow egg yolk on her plate.

"Well enough," he shrugged. "She wanted to hold a memorials service for it, but otherwise, she's bounced back just fine. She's keeping the name Jaken The Second, though. It's both a badge of honor and a dig at her father to remind him of what he did. God, I love that girl," he grinned, shaking his head. Her heart instantly warmed.

The look he got on his face when he talked about those kids...it melted her.

He really did want that. She knew that he had told her as much several times before...but it was just more proof to her.

"You really are ready for that life, aren't you?" she smiled softly, and he tilted his head to the side in confusion. "The wife, the kids, the house, the dog…" she elaborated, and he smiled wistfully.

"Yeah...I am," he answered softly as he raised a hand and scratched the back of his neck, his mind wandering as he began to imagine what that might look like with Kagome. He stopped himself before he could go too far down that vein, though.

Those were dangerous thoughts. Especially after last night.

Last night had made him start to question if he should ask her to stay. He selfishly still wanted to, but he was worried that she would think that he was just trying to prove a point or pacify her...when that really wasn't the case at all.

He wasn't sure what to do now that her insecurities had come to light.

How did you prove to someone that they were wanted and that they were enough?

By asking, sure...but how did he make her believe that it was what he really wanted?

And besides, she was three years younger. She honestly probably wasn't there yet. He remembered what being twenty five was like - he was just finding himself and figuring out his life as an adult.

Three years didn't sound like a big difference, but it could be.

He let out a sigh and shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"So, what do you want to do after this?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Can we just walk around for a bit and check out the area?" she suggested, and he nodded his approval.

"I like how you think, Babe."

Inuyasha groaned, staring at his reflection in the mirror in the thrift store dressing room.

How had he been talking into this again?

Right.

Kagome.

They had found a thrift store on their walk, and she just had to go in. The store had some...interesting...random things. Like a piece of whale vertebrae (because who doesn't need one of those in their home?), a whole box of creepy doll eyes, and a plate set printed with dogs constructed out of vegetables.

Sure, there had been some cool things too - like the vintage, unassembled, unopened model airplane. He used to put models together with his father when he was a kid, and couldn't remember the last time he had actually sat down to enjoy one. He had been tempted to get that, but had decided against it at the last minute. It wasn't something he needed...just something he really liked and enjoyed seeing.

After that, however, Kagome had decided that she wanted to play a game with him. Not one to turn down a game, he heard out her idea, and he now found himself stuck in this wonderful position.

The game was simple: she would look around in the men's clothing section, and he would look around in the women's. They each got to pick out an outfit for the other to try on, and there was no saying "no". What the other found, you had to put on. No questions asked.

She had been rather pleased when they had met back up after the agreed upon fifteen minutes, and now he was stuck in this - a pair of bright red parachute pants that would have made MC Hammer jealous, and a cropped jean vest with a bedazzled panda on the back wearing enough chains on its neck to make Mr. T proud. All of the edges were frayed, and the vest was just big enough to let him button it.

The only thing that pacified him was that what he had given her to wear was just as bad. Debatably, worse. It would depend on who you asked, he was sure.

"No time like the present to get this over with," he grumbled to himself, and he opened the door to the dressing room.

"Kagome?" he called, stepping out into the store and knocking on the door next to his. "Are you ready?"

"No," she replied, her voice muffled behind the dressing room door. "I'm having a hard time with the suspenders."

"Well, why don't you come out anyways and I'll see if I can't help you?" he grinned excitedly.

"And lose the shock value the complete outfit would have?"

"Yeah - why not? I'm sure it will still be plenty shocking."

"Not. Laughing."

"Please?" he tried, noticing that a middle aged woman had stopped to stare at him. He gave her a weak smile and wave before she turned around, going back to browsing the men's clothing nearby.

"Ok, ok...I'm coming. I just got the darn thing fastned. I just need those shoes and then I'll be good to go."

He heard a few grunts coming from the other side of the door and the sound of hard soles clacking against the tile floor as she struggled into them. Finally, at long last, the door opened and revealed her on the other side.

"Well hey there, good looking," she purred as she raised an arm to the top of the frame and swung a leg up and out to wrap her body around the side of the door frame "seductively". He couldn't help himself - he burst out laughing.

"Oh my god," he wheezed, and she unwrapped herself and straightened back up before carefully exiting the dressing room.

He had picked out a green and blue sequined bomber jacket covered in a peacock feathers pattern, and a white t-shirt to go with it. He had also managed to find a pair of incredibly short black and white plaid overalls that somehow showcased her legs in just the right way...but the piece-de-resistance were her shoes.

They were two sizes too big, had a heal on them that was way too high, and they were covered in white fur. If that wasn't enough, there was a long horn attached to the tip of each shoe, and a long flowing tail was featured in the back.

That's right.

He had found fucking unicorn heels, and he was dying at the picture she made.

"What...you don't like it?"

"I love it," he replied, holding his hands out to her as she carefully wobbled over to him.

"I'm not so sure," she disagreed, trying to pull her overalls down more in the front. "I think these belonged in the children's section."

"I'm pretty sure this belonged in the women's section," he countered, tugging on his vest and raising his brow.

"Yeah, but you wear it well," she smirked, her eyes raking over the exposed length of his abdomen.

"The pants actually aren't all that bad," he shrugged. "They're actually pretty comfortable. Gives everything room to breath," he explained with a wink, and she giggled.

"Would you grab my phone? I think we need to take a photo of this."

"You want proof of these atrocities?"

"You bet your sweet ass I do, Takahashi."

"Alright," he shrugged, ducking into the room and picking it out of her purse on the back of the door, just as she had instructed. "If you really want to remember these, I can't stop you."

"But can you guide me over to the full length mirror? I don't think I can walk well in these. I can't believe they even exist! When would someone wear these?"

"Right now," he smirked, leading her to the mirror and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she snapped one regular photo of them smiling before they moved on to the silly faces. He noticed a few eyes on them as they laughed and giggled, and he internally rolled his eyes. They weren't hurting anyone.

"Hey," Kagome softly called, drawing his attention back to her. "Thanks for doing this with me."

"Of course, Darlin'," he grinned, pulling her up for a sweet kiss. "I adore you."

"I adore you, too."

"Say you don't have to go," Inuyasha breathed, pressing kisses into the crook of her neck as he pinned her down to the couch.

"You know I have to," she groaned as his tongue made its way up the column of her neck to her jaw.

"Call in sick," he argued, pulling her earlobe between his teeth.

"You have work tomorrow, too."

"I'll call in sick," he reasonably replied. "It's just PT."

"Mmm...and as I recall, you need to work off that steak and eggs from breakfast."

"I can think of more fun ways to work it off…"

"I'm sure you can," she sighed as he found her lips again and pressed slow, long, sensual kisses to them that made her heart and core ache for different reasons. "Yash, I really do need to go. I can't call in many more favors at work," she reasoned, pushing his shoulders to get him to sit back up with a sigh.

"Yeah...I know…" he smiled weakly. "I just don't want to wait another week to see you."

"You won't. I can make it back Friday night. I already traded Jak my shift on Saturday. I just have to close for him on Friday."

"That's still too far away," he complained.

"It could be further," she smirked, pressing a kiss to his nose. "Walk me out?"

"Of course," he agreed, and he helped her gather her stuff together before locking up.

If he had known...if either of them had known...they never would have left his couch.

They would have stayed curled up together on it for forever, never letting their perfect moment end.

"You'll call me when you get home, right Darlin'?"

"Don't I always?"

"You do," he smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before trailing his lips to the tip of her nose and finally to her lips. "I adore you, Kagome," he breathed against them.

"I adore you too, Yash. I'll see you next weekend."

If only they had known that next weekend would never happen...then they never would have parted.

A/N: Can't believe this fic is almost over… Two more chapters and an epilogue…

Just waiting on Saucy! Thanks as always for all of the love and support…You guys ROCK!

-LL