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 Three

His parent's house was just as she remembered it. It was a quaint, two story farmhouse with white siding and a wraparound porch. His grandfather and built it years ago, and it had been passed down to their only child when he passed - Inuyasha's father, Touga. Kagome hadn't been well acquainted with his grandfather at the time - she had only been eight when he passed - but she had remembered seeing Inuyasha when he came to visit him before they had moved in.

He was the cute little half demon boy that would play in the creek running from behind his house to behind their house because he had wandered too far from his grandparent's land. Eventually, when they moved in, he became the cute little half demon boy who would climb their tree and throw rocks at her window to get her to come outside and play. The cute little half demon boy who fell out of that same tree once and landed on his arm the wrong way and broke it.

She remembered that day well. He picked out a red cast and was so downtrodden...she made her dad drive her over and brought him the last of the ice cream from their freezer. They sat on his porch, splitting it from the same, waxy paper box while their parents sat inside, drinking decaf coffee and talking. She could remember how the setting sun washed over them, making his gold eyes shimmer as she had the honor of being the first person to write on his cast.

And then…

Then she had given him his first kiss. It was only on the cheek...but the look on his face…

That had sealed their fate together.

"It hasn't changed," she commented as they got closer to the house.

"Don't tell Ma that," he snorted. "She had us out here a few weeks back repaintin' the whole damn thing."

"Is that why it looks so clean?" she joked, but he didn't reply. "Well...you did a lovely job."

"Thanks," he whispered, and she felt him pull her closer as if forgetting himself for a moment as he guided Bessie over to the porch. They came to a stop, and she waited for him to move, but he didn't.

"Inuyasha?" she breathed, silently asking him what was going on.

"I...I know it'll be hard," he began, swallowing, "but let's try 'n be civil when we go in. Please? For Ma?"

"Of course," she whispered, turning around to look at him. He looked so...sad and shattered, like that little boy who fell out of the tree and broke his arm. Her heart ached to comfort him and kiss away his tears...but she couldn't.

That wasn't them anymore.

"You…" he began, his eyes landing on her lips before he shook his head.

"What?" she pressed.

"You still smell good," he admitted, and she felt herself soften. She knew how big that had always been for him. Dog demons had such sensitive noses...and even though he was half human, he hadn't been an exception to the rule. "It...it would be so much easier if I didn't…" he sighed, dropping his head for a moment. Finally, having composed himself, he let go of her, swinging his leg around to dismount before reluctantly offering her a hand.

She took it and ignored the way her body still sung at his touch, accepting his help to step down from the mare.

"Why don't you go on in?" he encouraged once she had her feet on solid ground. "Ma will kill me if I don't wash up a bit first."

"Ok," she nodded, smiling. It was nice to know that she hadn't changed either. "Do you want some help," she asked before her brain could stop her, almost as if on reflex. It was like she had slipped back in time to seven years ago. She hadn't even thought about what she had said until the words were out of her mouth.

"I...No," he replied awkwardly, his chest letting out a hurt sigh. His pain was tangible...she...she hadn't meant it. She hadn't wanted to rub salt in the wound. "I can hose off just fine on my own now."

"Of course," she nodded, turning on her heel and heading inside. She carefully opened the storm door, the old hinges squeaked noisily as she entered - the plastic clattering shut behind her.

She hadn't realized how much she missed that sound. Or how hard her heart would clench when she heard it.

It was the sound of her childhood.

The sound of them running in from the yard for a popsicle after playing during long, lazy summer days. It was the sound of Inuyasha chasing her to the family room before they started working on their homework together. It was the sound of his parents returning when they were upstairs in Inuyasha's bed with their hands and lips all over each other's bodies.

Good lord. How they had never actually had sex, she still had no idea...Only, that wasn't true.

It was...it was too scary at the time.

Too big a step.

They were young and adventurous...and...while he had made it clear that if she wanted to go further, he absolutely would...she hadn't quite been that adventurous. She had been shy and nervous and…

She sighed.

She would have much rather slept with Inuyasha than waste her first time on that blind date who never called her back.

Hindsight was 20/20.

She looked around the kitchen and got out two glasses to fill with cold water from the pitcher in the fridge, knowing that Inuyasha could use a drink whenever he came back in. It was hot out there, and he had been working hard and—

"Boys? Are you back already? That was faster than…" Izayoi gasped, clearly not expecting to see the raven haired woman now standing in the middle of her kitchen with two glasses of water. "Kagome?"

"Hi Mrs. Takahashi," she greeted weakly. She was sure she was giving the poor woman heart failure right about now. It wasn't like...things weren't what they used to be. Seeing her wasn't as normal or as common an occurrence as it once was.

She watched as Izayoi blinked hard and long as if she had to have been imagining the woman in front of her.

"Kagome," she whispered still in shock. "What are you doing here?"

The sound of the storm door creaking open and slamming shut again drew their attention to Inuyasha as he walked in, rubbing his face with the hem of his shirt. Water beaded up on his skin, making it shimmer in the kitchen light.

Kagome tried to not let the view affect her.

She really did...but he had really matured since she last saw him and...well...she was only human ok? A human with eyes. A woman with red blood, and it was all working against her right now.

The fucker. The way he smirked at her told her that he was doing it intentionally, too. Like he wanted to remind her of what she had given up...and how much better it was now. It was like he was saying, 'and to think...all this could have been yours'.

He let the hem of his shirt fall as he greeted his mother with a hug, barefoot from ditching his shoes outside the door so he wouldn't track mud in. She always yelled at the "boys" for tracking mud in.

"Her rental car broke down just outside the ranch," he explained, raising an eyebrow at the glass of water she offered him. She wanted to roll her eyes and tell him that it wasn't poisoned...but they had agreed to be civil for the sake of the woman in front of them. "The engine overheated. We have to wait until it cools down before we can do something about it."

"So you came here?" She asked tightly.

Oh.

Good.

She was thrilled to see her too.

Had she pissed off everyone in his family?

"Yes Ma," he sighed, downing the glass of water. "It's closer than her family's ranch, and the car broke down here. It made sense."

"I see…" Izayoi replied, glancing between them.

"It's ok, Ma," he gently reassured her. "Imma big kid now. I can make adult decisions," he tried to joke lightly, but it didn't ease his mother too much.

"Well Mr. Big Kid - Kikyo called while you were out," Izayoi informed him, leaning against the door frame leading from the living room into the kitchen.

Kagome watched his puppy dog ears perk up and felt her heart sour.

Kikyo? Really?

Were they...were they dating now?

She tried to mentally shake herself, but it was hard. Kikyo had always been interested in Inuyasha. She shouldn't have been surprised...Yet…

Was he really replacing her with Kikyo?

Whatever. He wasn't hers anymore. He could do whatever the fuck he wanted. It didn't matter. But...why the hell hadn't he brought it up when he was asking about her "pet cat". That was just…

Rude? Deceptive?

It wasn't fair that he seemed to know a hell of a lot more about her than she did him.

"Oh yeah? What did she want?" He asked, drawing her out of her thoughts. His smirk grew at the mention of Kikyo as he went to refill his glass of water.

"She said something about going to the Rusty Bucket after you go to the high school to help set up for graduation tomorrow. I thought I'd let you call her back and get all of the details."

"Yeah. It sounds fun. I'll call later after we get her situated," he grinned tilting his head towards Kagome.

He was loving this, wasn't he? This was everything he could ask for...being able to show off his new life. Show her how fine he was without her. Show her how much he didn't need her. She was sure it was all kinds of fucking satisfying for him.

"Rusty Bucket, huh? I haven't thought of that place in a long time."

It was their local bar. Well...local being the operative word. It was the bar in the closest town...the truest definition of a dive bar. Dark lighting, pool tables, a mechanical bull...top it off with sticky furniture and greasy food? Perfection.

"We weren't exactly old enough ta get in when you were here last," he grinned.

"I've been a few times."

His smile faltered at that.

"Huh. Shame I didn't run into ya."

Running into him wasn't exactly her goal when she went. Running into him was never her goal.

"Have you called your mother yet, Kagome?" Izayoi asked, running interference between them. "I'm sure she must be worried sick about you."

"No...not yet. I was going to do that after I got him some water," she confessed, causing Izayoi to raise a suspicious eyebrow in her direction.

"Well. No time like the present. You're welcome to stay for dinner...sounds like it will be a while until the car cools off. Touga and Sesshomaru have the truck right now and the sedan needs to be looked at."

"I...dinner would be lovely. Thank you," she replied awkwardly, and Izayoi nodded her head.

"I'm going to finish up folding the laundry and then I could use your help making it. Baby, are you gonna go back out there and help your father and brother? Or are you done for the day?"

"I think they'll be fine without me," he smiled smally. "I wanted to take a shower if that's alright. I smell like an ogre's armpit."

She wanted to ask how that was different from normal...but…

She mentally sighed and held her tongue instead.

"Go on Sweetheart," she encouraged, and he finished his glass of water before disappearing, squeezing his mother's shoulder as he passed.

The second he was gone, Izayoi nailed Kagome with a hard look, making her shift uncomfortably in her shoes.

"Seven years," she whispered, looking her up and down. "You've changed quite a bit in seven years. Turned into a very attractive woman."

"Thank you, Mrs. Takahashi."

"Mmm...seven years can do a lot to a person, can't it? It can make them grow up. Mature. Move on."

Kagome suddenly got the feeling she wasn't going to like where Izayoi was going with this.

"You know, it's taken my baby a long time to learn how to smile again after you had your way with him. He's finally laughing. Looking forward to each new day. The darkness you left in his eyes and his heart has finally disappeared...and he's turned into a fine young man.

A respectable young man.

A young man with a new twinkle in his eye and a respectable, good woman on his arm.

Kagome Higurashi...I swear to God and to all things Holy...if you hurt my baby, or try to get between him and Kikyo...you could move to New York and I'd still hunt you down and pull your teeth out your ass. We clear?"

"Y-yes Ma'am," she stuttered, the vehemence in her words and the ice in her stare freezing her blood.

"Good. You know I always thought of you as the daughter I never had...but after what you did to my boy?" She paused to tsk her and shake her head. "You come for your lil' visit and then you get outta here. You understand me?"

"Yes Ma'am," she whispered, trying to ignore the feeling of her heart shattering into a thousand pieces.

What was she expecting though? A warm hug and a kiss on the cheek?

All of this was a giant mistake. She should have just...just asked him to take her home. It would have been easier than facing her past. Then again…maybe she should be.

Maybe it was time to face her demons, once and for all.

Pun only slightly intended.

A/N: Again…If you've read this before, please read it again. I changed a few things about Kagome's past.