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 1

"Godfuckingdamnit! Don't you do this to me you fucking piece of shit rental…We're so close! FUCK!"

This was not her day. Her flight had been delayed three hours, and when she finally landed in Montana, the rental car company only had the shitty, might-die-on-you-if-you-gave-it-the-wrong-look-esq cars left.

And.

Naturally.

The sedan she picked out was a lemon.

"Why here…" she whined, looking out at the land the fucking "rust bucket" (yeah whatever - it didn't have rust on it but it was still a piece of shit) had broken down in front of.

Takahashi Ranch.

This place brought back some bittersweet memories. It didn't look like it had changed much. Then again, she couldn't see the house from here anyways. She'd have to go at least another two miles first.

Still.

She knew this place like it was the back of her hand.

There had been a time even when she had almost thought—No!

Now wasn't the time to get sentimental and mopey.

Now was the time to try and figure out what the hell she was going to do. Takahashi Ranch was about ten miles away from her family's, but they were their closest neighbor.

She could walk it…but that was stupid.

Then again, so was looking for the main house here to ask for help. She had been hoping to avoid them, same as she always did when she came back home.

Well, maybe not them so much as him.

She sighed and got out of the car, kicking the wheel in the process out of sheer frustration at the smoke rising up from under the hood of her stupid lemon car. Nervously, she lifted the hood up and swore.

Oh yeah. The engine had overheated.

Fuck!

She did not have the time to be dealing with this…and with shitty cell phone reception, it's not like she could easily call her mom and tell her what had happened. Kagome bit her lip and looked up at the sky, trying to weigh her options.

1 - She could walk the ten miles to her house. It would take her about three hours and a hefty amount of change…but it would also spare her from her other option. Which waaaaas…

2 - She walk the two miles to the main house on Takahashi Ranch.

She honestly didn't know which one was worse. And if she hadn't been spending so much time debating them, she might have actually noticed that she wasn't exactly alone anymore.

"It is you…"

Kagome placed a hand over her heart, trying to calm its racing as she jumped and yelped in surprise before she turned to address her surprise…intruder? Guest? Acquaintance? Would have been lover? Almost husband?

It's hard to come up with a word to describe your childhood sweetheart and the love of your life…yet here she was, trying to do just that.

God he hadn't changed.

Inuyasha was still as handsome as ever.

Maybe that wasn't fair. He used to have a boyish charm to him. Now…now he was anything but "boyish". His jaw had sharpened over the years, much like the rest of his body - hardening with the hard work that came with being a cattle rancher. He hadn't shaved in a bit, and the lower half of his face was peppered with a fine stubble. It used to grow in patchy…that's just another thing that had changed with time…just like his eyes.

They used to be such a beautiful, warm golden color. Like honey. He could melt her with a look…had almost seduced her more than once with just his eyes and the purr of his voice. She could almost feel the slide of his fingers dipping below her pants to tease her…

Now, his eyes were cold. Hard. Just like his tone.

She took it that he was just as thrilled to see her as she was him.

The white horse he sat atop let out a snort, and his gaze softened a little, comforting the mare and rubbing her neck.

"There, there, Bessie," he soothed.

"Bessie? What happened to Suzzie?"

He shot her a dark look as if to say she should know better than to ask.

"It's been seven years, Kagome…"

Yes. It had been.

She should have known better. She loved that mare…He used to take her riding across the ranch on her. He would hold her so tight…keep her pressed firmly to his chest while Suzzie kept on, wind blowing through their hair. They'd stop once they got to the cliff and hop off, rolling around in the grass as he pinned her down and kissed her deeply.

Passionately.

But…that was before.

"I heard you mighta been comin' back…didn't think ya actually would."

"Not welcome?" she asked raising her brow, crossing her arms over her breasts. He looked away from her, pained.

"Are you looking to be welcome, still?"

"This is still my home, Yash…"

"Don't call me that," he whispered, turning to look at her again. "We…we don't use those names anymore, got it?"

"Yeah. Sure…" she agreed.

Fuck why did this hurt so much? It was all in the past. It should be all in the past.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, and he shot her a withering look, tapping his nose with a claw tipped finger.

"Pops and Sessh and me were out fixing the fence. I caught your scent in the wind. I thought I might have been crazy, but they said they smelled it too. Didn't think you'd stop here intentionally…"

He was certainly right about that.

"So you came to play the big ol' knight in shining armor?"

He arched a brow, smiling wryly as he gestured towards his dusty, muddy clothing.

"Only thing shining about me right now is my belt buckle, and even that's pushing it."

She couldn't help but laugh, and his face relaxed a little before his eyes saddened and hardened again.

"So…what's the problem?" he asked, nodding his head towards her broken down shit bucket.

"Engine overheated," she shrugged. "All the good rentals were gone already," she continued before he could ask and his tongue kissed his teeth in understanding.

"Mind if I look?"

"Knock yourself out," she encouraged, and he gracefully swung a leg around Bessie, stepping off of her like it was second nature to him. He hopped over the fence and came towards the car, and she suddenly found herself swallowing hard.

Why did it have to be so difficult? Why couldn't…why could it have never happened? Then maybe…

She shook her head and sighed, watching him silently appraise the ruins before them. He wore a white tank top, exposing his arms and his long silver hair had been pulled up and away from his neck into a bun to help keep him cool from the early summer heat and hard work repairing the fence.

She couldn't help but admire him as he looked over her car, before tipping his worn ten-gallon hat and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. Why did he still have to be so attractive? Why couldn't he have gone bald or gotten fat or developed some sort of skin condition?

She internally sighed and shook her head.

As a half demon, she didn't think any of those things were possible. At least not with Takahashi blood running through his veins.

"It's over heated alright. Only thing you can do is wait for it to cool and pour some water on it and pray it starts up again."

"Fuck," she moaned, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms, and when she looked back up, she saw him smirking at her. "What?"

"Nothin'," he shrugged, leaning his hip against the side of the car. "What do ya wanna do about it, Kagome?" he asked, raising a brow.

"What do you mean "what do I want to do about it?"? I have to do just what you said."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But I mean am I taking you to your Mom's, or are you gonna come back with me?"

Oh God…

Neither was a good option. But she loved his mother almost as much as she loved her own…

"Guess I'm going back with you."

A/N:

If you read this story….bring tissues. And wine. I've been told I cut your heart out and make you watch. Saucy is NOT joining me on this one, so I apologize in advance. I have no emotional gage for this…I'm sorry.

This story was inspired by Clearwillow's "New Moon Ride", written with permission and for the March 14, 2020 White Day celebration…and slowly uploaded much sooner to tumblr…Thank you for being my muse. Even though I'm constantly screaming, it's out of the deepest love and respect and awe for your talent. You're a Goddess - NEVER FORGET IT!