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Writing on the Wall
Chapter 32: Silver Linings
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He finds her in the attic, curled up in the corner beneath one of the trusses. Outside, the storm has calmed—the pattering of rain soft against the shingles. "Kagome?"
She hides her face against her tucked knees, shifting her body away from him. "Go away."
He winces. Yeah, she's still pissed alright. He hoists himself up onto the attic floor even though he knows the dust is probably going to be murder on his nose. He doesn't miss the layers of footprints stamped into the dust as he crawls over to her. When he gets close enough to sit beside her, she turns her head and Inuyasha sighs. "Look, I'm sorry. Alright?"
She's quiet for a long time—long enough for him to start thinking she isn't going to answer. "You're the first," she whispers.
Inuyasha hates that he can hear the tears in her voice. "First what?"
"The first to speak to me." She gives a watery, vulnerable laugh as she turns those blue, blue eyes to him. "The first to see me that wasn't..."
She trails off. Inuyasha thinks of bloodied teeth smiling with her mouth.
His heart splinters—another wave of self-hatred crashing around him. Of course he's the first. No one has lived here since she died. No one has stayed long enough to care. She's been alone for twenty-seven years with no one but herself for company, and like a fucking asshole he had gone and thrown it all in her face.
"I'm sorry," he repeats, but it doesn't feel like enough. Sorry doesn't do shit to make make it better. Maybe it's just instinct, or maybe he just wants to feel her too, but he rests his hand on top of hers. Beneath his palm she isn't nearly as cold as he remembers, and her skin is soft but solid beneath his touch.
When her stuttering, pleased sigh reaches his ears—when her hand turns to return the embrace—he fights to keep the flush from his cheeks. His pulse is pounding in his ears, and he almost loses his courage until she looks at him with so much hope that it just about tears him apart. He can't not tell her. "I don't want you to go."
Doesn't want her to be silent; doesn't want her to be gone.
Her face crumples and for a split second Inuyasha thinks he fucked it all up again, but then her arms are over his shoulders and her face is buried in his neck. He can feel phantom tears rolling down the skin beneath his collar. Somehow, he knows if he touched it his fingers would come back dry.
"I don't want to either," she whimpers. "I like talking to you. I like being seen."
He holds her tighter, pulls her into his lap and rocks her as she falls apart. There's no storm outside, but the attic is dark and the floorboards creek with every shift, and he thinks of what his mother whispered to him in between the loud claps of thunder.
Don't be afraid.
AN: And Inuyasha makes things right again. Also I have no idea where I'm going from here. *hysterical laughter*
Also also, it's come to my attention that I'm super terrible at self promotion! :D If you're trying to find my original novel you can find use this universal link (just remove spaces):
mybook . to / Everlong
If you want to stay up to date on the ghostly paranormal romance WIP I'm on schedule to publish next Spring (and any other original work), you can find me on Twitter or Tumblr at RRaeta or subscribe/check on my website at w w w. rraeta . c o m where I'll be posting release dates, cover reveals, deleted scenes, and all that fun stuff. :)
As always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing! You're support means everything!