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 14

"Hey um...thanks for the ride, Inuyasha."

He merely nodded his head at her, taking a sip of his coffee. She had drug him to some town two hours away for a light store.

A light store.

Because they needed to look at them in person.

What the hell had he gotten himself into? Other than apparently spending his day with the woman...A part of him had been looking forward to this all week. Hell...he even woke up earlier than normal to shower and shave before picking her up. And yes...He did offer to drive. Didn't make much sense for the two of them to go separately when the joint was two fucking hours away. But. That was the part that made him apprehensive as fuck.

Two hours in the car...with Kagome Higurashi.

It hadn't been...bad...Maybe a little awkward at first, but then he just turned on Garth Brooks and the two of them were singing and laughing their heads off like it was old times. Or...almost old times, at least. He didn't know if things would ever be the same between them, but that car ride had been...nice, if nothing else.

He parked down the block from the light store, and as soon as they were out of the car, Kagome was dragging him to a Starbucks.

He was just gonna get a cup of coffee - black, of course - but she had insisted on buying him breakfast so…

Here they were. Him eating his breakfast wrap, while she was going to town on these little egg things with her caramel venti frapi something or other that had a pound of whip cream on it.

"Least I could do," he mumbled, taking another sip of his coffee. "Only made sense - heading out this way anyways."

"I know...but still," she smiled shyly, running her fingers up and down the side of her iced coffee, playing with the beads of condensation on the side of the glass. He absently watched her fingers...the way she tenderly brushed them against the glass...For a second he found himself remembering what those fingers felt like across his heated skin. How they used to tease him in the same way when he stood hard and proud before her. He wondered if it would still feel the same as he remembered it...

"Interested?" She asked, making his gaze snap from her fingers to her eyes.

"Huh?"

He blinked slowly, his mind trying to process what she was asking. There was no way she knew what he had been thinking...It was just...too coincidental…

Fuck...and...what the hell had he been thinking? What the hell was wrong with him? They had one conversation. One time. To try and mend broken bridges…

Their bridges were never going to be that mended again. No way in hell. He was just...Hard up. Only explanation for it. Hard up and insane.

"In trying," she clarified, drawing his attention back to her. He watched as she picked up her cup and tilted it from side to side, the ice cubes softly tapping against each other with the motion. "You might like it."

He eyed it warily for a moment before reaching out and taking the cup, sipping from the straw.

The sweet taste of caramel and sugar struck his tastebuds, drowning out the bitterness of the coffee he was so used to.

"Oh my god - it's so damn sweet! How can ya drink it?" he pressed, wrinkling his nose as he handed the cup back to her. Kagome's mirthful laugh filled the air as she took it, placing it back onto the metal bench's surface.

"Easily! I don't think of it as coffee - just...sweet caffeine."

"Sweet caffeine huh…"

Well if she put it that way…

He snatched the glass back from her, ignoring her yelp of indignation. She tried to grab it from him, but he just held a hand to her shoulder, keeping her and her searching fingers at arms length, away from the cup. Inuyasha took another long drink, scrunching his face in thought before taking another smaller sip.

"Yash! Leave some for me!" she whined - an empty, hollow complaint. He knew that tone. God...She used to sound just like that when he was teasing her as a kid, just before he kissed her.

And then...then she called him Yash...

It was all too much. He felt his whole body freeze - his heart beating painfully in his chest.

Yash…

"I...Sorry, Inuyasha."

He wordlessly placed the cup down in front of her, picking up his own as he tried to wash away the feelings in his chest. Tried to ignore the erratic beating of his heart.

"It's fine, Kagome. Just—"

"—I know. I...Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her lap. "Guess I forgot for a second. It felt almost like…"

She didn't need to finish her sentence. There was no point.

He felt it too.

And he found his heart wishing that they were old times.

Or that the old times had just...never stopped.

"So," he coughed, trying to dispel the awkwardness that had fallen over them at her unintentional gaff. "I think you're right. It's not bad if ya don't think of it as coffee. 'Cause that ain't coffee."

"Y-yeah," she agreed, taking another sip from it. "Just...some really sweet caffeine."

"Yeah," he agreed, his spine snapping upright as his phone began ringing in his pocket, the generic ringtone blessedly interrupting whatever...this was. "Hey, is it—"

"—Yeah! Please…" she awkwardly encouraged, gesturing with her hands that it was fine.

He had no idea who was on the other end of this call, but frankly, even if it was a scammer he was picking up. Just to try and break out of whatever had just happened between them.

Inuyasha quickly stood from the bench, striding over to a tree a good distance away and slipped his phone out of his pocket. Kikyo's name flashed across the screen, and he felt a wave of guilt crash into him...He just didn't know why.

He pushed those feelings off to the side and slid his thumb across the screen, picking up.

"Hey you," he greeted cheerfully. Or at least he helped it was cheerful and not slightly panicked. Why was he even feeling panicked? Fuck his emotions were all over the place since…

"Yash…"

God...it sounded so sweet hearing that word from Kagome's lips. Sweet and painful. He knew it was an accident. He knew she didn't mean to do it...so why did it fucking hurt so much?

"Inuyasha!" Kikyo warmly greeted, and he tried to focus on the woman on the other end of the phone, instead of the one twenty feet away from him, looking guilty and like she was baratinging herself from here to New York and back.

"Hey you," he repeated, turning away from Kagome to try and pay attention to Kikyo. "What's up?"

"Oh not much...Just finished up some gardening at the church, and now I'm hot and sweaty and totally disgusting...I was going to take a bath in a few minutes…"

"Oh…" Inuyasha coughed, trying to clear his throat. "Well, that's very nice of you to help the church out with that Kikyo."

"It was nothing!" she laughed airily. "I just wish it wasn't so darn hot out...Hold on...let me put you on speaker while I get ready for that bath…"

Inuyasha knew that he wasn't always the brightest bulb in the box, but he did know what she was trying to do, and he didn't know how he felt about that.

"Hey, sorry about that," she purred into the phone. "You wouldn't believe how good a bubble bath feels after spending all that time working in the garden...getting all sweaty…Mmm…" she moaned, and he found himself turning around and looking at Kagome as his throat constricted.

He couldn't be doing...this right now…

"Well Kikyo, it sounds like you're having a very productive morning—"

"—I am. I feel...amazing from all of that...hard work. Are you working hard today, Inuyasha?"

"I…" He swallowed, trying to find the words to diffuse the situation without offending her or hurting her. He just...They hadn't even slept together yet, and she was trying to—

"You sound awfully strained, Inuyasha. Are you having a hard day?"

Lord have mercy on his soul…

"Kikyo—"

"—I...sent you a little something to help with that," she continued, her voice slightly hesitant as he heard his phone chime and felt it vibrate.

It was a text.

Oh god.

Ooooh god...Oh god oh god oh god…

He pulled his phone away from his face, closing his eyes and sighing. He was both curious and afraid to look. Like when you squished a bug under a rock. Did he wanna see whatever...this was? Well, of course! He was...well...she wasn't his girlfriend or nothing, but he was still dating her, and he was...Look. He was a man, ok? He was curious!

But here...now...with Kagome right over there…

He could feel his thumb twitch, as if it wanted to tap on the messages. Get rid of that big ol' unread red circle. See what was on the other side of that text…

"Did you get it?"

He could hear the nervousness creeping into her voice, and he honestly didn't know what to do anymore.

"I'mnothomerightnow," he finally blurted out, his words becoming all jumbled together into a slurred mess as the mounting pressure became too much.

"I...Sorry?"

"I'm not home right now, Kikyo," he tried again, a bit more calmly, his heart still racing a bit in his chest from sheer panic over the situation. "I'm sorry, Kikyo, I...Listen—"

"—Oh! No...it...was silly of me to just...assume…" she replied, her voice strained, and he could tell that she was unraveling a bit on the other side of the phone right now. She had really put herself out there...was trying ta start something with him...and he just… "I should really let you go...if you aren't home."

"Kikyo!" He tried again. "Listen...I...I'm out doing some shopping for ma house. Really...I'm in Brooksville."

"...That's...a good two hours out…Why…?"

"I'm going to a lighting store," he sighed. "Look...don't...get me started on it, I just...It ain't a good time, Kikyo. I...I'm sorry. If I were home…"

"No! It's...I shouldn't have assumed. I just thought...Jeeze...I'm really dumb, aren't I? Making assumptions…"

Well...He didn't want to argue that, exactly, but he could hear the tears in her voice. Fuck!

"Hey...What are ya doing tonight?" he asked softly, his voice warm and soothing.

"Nothing...I was going to go to my parents house for dinner. Check in with them."

"Do ya...maybe wanna...grab a drink later? If ya have the time after your parents?"

"...Will you be back in time for that?"

"Yeah. I don't think this will take all day."

"I...I'd like that, Inuyasha."

He could hear the smile in her voice again, and he felt himself relax a little in response.

"Me too…"

"Do you...maybe want to come to my place for it?" she asked hopefully, and he found himself internally swearing and glancing back over at Kagome. Her drink was empty now, and she was chewing on her nail as she looked through her phone. Whatever she was doing...she was in deep thought...completely focused on that, and that alone. She used to chew on her thumb nail when she was a kid too when they were studying for math class.

The amount of times he ended up sucking on her thumb after because she chewed her nails down to stubs…

"I can't, Kikyo. I...Shit, I wish I could say this ta ya in person...but...I don't think I'm...ready for that yet, ya know?" he confessed, watching Kagome run her fingers through her bangs. "I just...This sounds so fuckin' stupid, but I want us to be more than...this before we go there, ya know?"

"It doesn't sound stupid, Inuyasha," she murmured into the phone. Her voice was still slightly disappointed but… "I think it's romantic. I didn't know you could be such a sweetheart."

"I'm not a sweetheart," he grumbled into the phone, and Kikyo giggled in response.

"I think you are. You aren't like most guys I've ever been with. You aren't jumping into bed with me at the first opportunity…"

Because it just...didn't feel right.

"Yeah," he swallowed thickly. "I guess not…" Kagome glanced up at him, and their eyes met. His heart lodged itself in his throat, and he shifted his gaze away from hers, unable to hold those beautiful cerulean eyes of hers. "Listen, I...I'm gonna go so I can wrap this up and get back sooner," he began thickly. "I'll see ya tanight?"

"I'm looking forward to it, Inuyasha."

He pulled the phone away from his head and resisted the urge to grab his hair and pull. What the hell was wrong with him? One minute, he was fantasizing about...things, and the next, when the opportunity was all but shoved into his face, he was saying no thank you.

No thank you!

"Fuck me," he groaned, rolling his head back onto his shoulders. Why was everything inside him telling him to just...not. Not with Kikyo...No matter how hard up he might be, doing that with her just...It didn't feel right, right now. It felt like...If he had sex with Kikyo, it felt like he would be using her just for her body, and that didn't sit right with him.

His hand was good enough until whatever this...feeling was that he was having went away.

And, for that matter, the fuck was this feeling...

He sighed and pocketed his phone as he walked back over to Kagome, wanting to just...put the whole matter behind him for now. Worrying and thinking about this wasn't gonna help anyone, especially him.

"Hey...everything ok?" Kagome asked, her voice falsely chipper.

"Yeah...Just Kikyo," he mumbled, and her smile became a bit more strained.

"Oh...well...Everything ok?" she asked again, and he really had to give her credit for all of...this. The fake smile, fake cheerfulness...She...she didn't like it, but she was trying. He could tell she wanted to be happy for him and support this.

"Yeah, everything's fine," he sighed, picking up his coffee and staring into it for a moment. For the briefest of seconds, he felt his mouth moving to tell her about the text and Kikyo's attempt at phone sex...but he caught himself. He didn't know why some part of him thought that was a good idea - she might be his "friend", but she was still his ex-fiance. Telling her was just…

A poor life choice all around.

"We're gonna meet up for a drink when we're done here today."

"Rusty Bucket?"

"Yeah…"

"Huh…" she mused, her fingers absently playing with the side of the glass.

"Huh?"

"Huh."

So they were playing that game, eh?

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" she replied defensively, and for some reason, it only raised his hackles that much more. It sure as hell didn't mean nothing, that was for certain.

"Kagome…"

"I...Look," she sighed, beginning to move the straw up and down in the cup. The scratching sound drove him crazy and set his teeth on edge, and he took her hand off of it, holding it on the metal bench's top.

She glanced down at their hands for a second before looking up into his face, and he mumbled out an explanation about the sound.

"Oh...sorry," she smiled sheepishly, and he told her it was nothing.

"Just…What were ya saying? Why is the Rusty Bucket bad? There another bar in town I suddenly don't know about?"

"I just...I would have assumed, that if you're getting a drink together, and you've been dating for...awhile now...that perhaps you wouldn't get it...there."

"Where else would we go?" he pressed, his eyes narrowing slightly. Where on earth was she headed with this?

"Somewhere a bit more...private?"

"Such as?"

"Her place comes to mind," she mumbled, shifting her eyes away from his.

Inuyasha pursed his lips, slightly baffled that everyone in his life thought that he should just be...plowing Kikyo. Well, surprise! He didn't wanna do that yet! Was it that hard to believe that he didn't just...wanna fucking jump into bed with her? Was it really that shocking that maybe he wanted a sturdier relationship first?

"First of all, it's none of your business where we get a drink," he started slowly, because dammit...it wasn't!

"I know—"

"—Second of all," he interrupted. "Since you did bring it up...and this seems to be a hot topic of conversation today…I don't plan on 'getting a drink' at her place for a while."

She looked flabbergasted - her mouth slightly dropped open and her brows shot to her hairline. Her eyes...those big, beautiful blue eyes...were larger and wider than usual.

"Close ya mouth, Higurashi. You're gonna let all of the flies in."

"I just...I...why?"

"None of your business," he shrugged. And it wasn't. He didn't owe her an answer.

She opened her mouth again, as if she had a question, and snapped it shut again, shaking her head and shouldering her bag.

"You're right. I'm sorry I intruded. Are you ready to go?"

He looked down at his cup of coffee and quickly downed the rest before nodding and rising to his feet.

"Yeah - let's look at some lights."

Inuyasha didn't know what he was expecting when he walked into a lighting store...but...well...shit, he had 0 expectations when talking into the damn store, honestly...but feeling like he was gonna go blind wasn't something he had expected.

"Shoulda brought my sunglasses," he mumbled, as Kagome set hers on her head. She raised a brow at him in slight confusion before understanding crossed her face, and she took her pair off her head.

"Here...want to borrow mine?"

"They're women's glasses," he mumbled and she rolled her eyes.

"Aviators are gender neutral...but if you really don't want them, I'm sure we can ask John to turn some of the lights off."

John? Who the fuck was John?

"Speaking of the devil," she smiled warmly as a balding man in his late fifties appeared. He had a full white beard and round belly. All the man was missing was the cherry cheeks, and he could have been a mall santa. "You must be John!"

"And you must be Miss Kagome," the man replied, flashing her a toothy smile. Inuyasha swore he had to be a mall santa in the winter. He had to be. He just needed him to laugh...

"Yes," she beamed. "It's a pleasure to meet you...This is Inuyasha," she introduced, placing a hand on his back between his shoulder blades. He didn't think she even noticed that she did it. She just...did it. He could feel the heat of her skin permeating the material of his tshirt, and did his best to ignore it.

"I've heard a lot about you," the man smiled, offering Inuyasha a hand. He hesitantly took it, and shot him a nervous smile.

"I'm sorry...I've heard nothing about you," he replied, and Kagome blushed sweetly.

"That's my fault," she apologised. "John here owns the store. We've been in touch."

She needed to be in touch with a guy at a lighting store? That made no sense...it was a store. With light fixtures.

"He's agreed to let me write about our time and experience here, and the lights you pick for your house, in exchange for selling them at cost to you," she explained nervously, and he felt his gut twist.

He didn't know how he felt about that, honestly.

And she could see it on his face.

"John, would you mind turning off some of these lights?" Kagome asked, turning back to the man. "It's a bit bright for Inuyasha, he's getting a bit of a headache from it. We're going to step outside for a moment so he can readjust."

"Of course," John beamed. "It's not a problem at all. You two take your time," he encouraged, receding back into the depths of the store.

"Kagome—"

"—Outside," she whispered, turning around and leading him back out the front door to the store.

When the door closed behind him, she rounded on him, arms crossed under her breasts as she pinned him with a hard look.

"Why are you suddenly against this?"

"I haven't even said two words yet!"

"You don't have to - I know you, Inuyasha. What's wrong with buying your lights at cost?"

"It…"

"It what?"

"It just...it don't feel right, ok? I...I ain't some charity case," he mumbled, shifting his eyes away from hers.

Kagome inhaled deeply before slowly exhaling, as if she were trying to calm herself.

"Inuyasha, no one here thinks that. No one here ever thought that. This is just...how things are done. When people are written about for magazines...or blogs of notoriety...it's not unheard of for them to offer certain...perks as a thank you. I'm about to bring a lot of business in for John. I'm writing that you and I came here. To his store and bought something from his stock. He was about to give away some of his lights, but I told him you wouldn't like that for this exact reason," she finished, her voice becoming softer the longer she spoke. He could tell that she was still a little frustrated, but…

"Guess you really do still know me, huh?" he smiled weakly, and she returned it, running her fingers along the strap of her purse.

"Some things never change," she whispered, shrugging and shifting her gaze off to the side.

"Yeah…"

"Inuyasha, if you really don't want to do this, I won't make you. Hell, John won't either...but...Look. Think of this not as charity or whatever, but rather, as earning them at like, half off a different way. You're going through this process for me and for the magazine. You're letting me follow you around, take your picture, allowing it to be in the magazine...You're working for us and for him. This is how we're going to pay you...With a massive discount so you can get some really nice lights for your amazing home…"

When she put it like that...It...actually didn't sit as badly with him. He was still buying them...and it wasn't like he hadn't gotten those countertops any different…

Well…

Maybe that was a bit different...those had already been paid for in full…So he didn't feel like the owners were getting stiffed. And they were the ones who had said that they were free…

"Yeah. You're right," he mumbled, his lips twitching up at the corners.

"...I'm sorry, could you say that a bit louder?" she teased, and he rolled his eyes at her.

"I said you're right."

"I'm sorry...just a bit louder…"

"I swear Higurashi," he laughed, pulling her towards him and ruffling her hair. She squealed and hit his chest, trying to wiggle out of his arms, but he just held her a bit tighter instead.

"Inuyasha!" she whined, smacking his pectorals as he laughed at her.

"What...Something the matter?"

She just glared at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine! I'll fix it," he sighed dramatically, running his fingers through her hair to smooth it again, and he felt her melt in his arms as his claws brushed against her scalp. God she still smelled so damn good...And her hair...he didn't remember it feeling like silk, but fuck if it didn't now...It felt nice, running his fingers through it. It wasn't until after he noticed John reappear in the windows that he realized what he was doing.

Breathing her in.

Running his fingers through her hair.

Holding her tightly.

So tightly, he could feel every inch of her body pressed firmly against his.

He pulled away from her, coughing awkwardly, and mumbled that they should go in and start shopping.

"Yeah," she agreed, allowing him to open the door for her as she pushed her hair back behind her ears.

He needed to get a hold of himself.

He took a deep breath, following her back inside the store. It wasn't as bright as it was before, and now he could actually make out what he was looking at. Lights hanging from every nook and cranny of the giant establishment. Concrete floors reflected the light back upwards, while tags hung down from the lights.

"Good lord," he mumbled under his breath. There were so many more options here than the hardware store, that was for sure.

"Hey," she began softly, pulling his attention away from the overwhelming scene before him and back to the small woman beside him. "Are you ok?"

"It's a lot," he replied, running his fingers through his hair.

"Didn't think there could be so many, huh?"

"Not even a little…" He hadn't really been able to see the scope of the place before but...fuck. He would be lying if he said he wasn't suddenly feeling the pressure. He felt like he was drowning and didn't know where to start.

Kagome smiled sweetly at him, and he felt his heart race a little in his chest.

"Don't stress," she soothed, taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze. "We're just going to wander around and take it one room at a time, ok?"

"Yeah," he breathed. "Ok."

"Ok then," she comforted, running the pad of her thumb over his knuckles and he held her hand a bit tighter, giving her a reassuring squeeze to silently tell her thank you. For being there for him. For helping him. For doing alla this for him.

She smiled brightly back at him, and reached into her purse, taking out a DSLR camera.

"Why don't we just...meander around. If you see something you like we'll talk and discuss, ok?"

He nodded, letting her lead him by the hand as they looked at everything. Pendant lights, chandeliers, sconces...modern, classic, rustic...Had he mentioned how overwhelmed he felt by it all? And yet...Kagome said nothing. She allowed him to set the pace, look at each one in his own time.

"What do ya think about this?" he asked, pointing up at a smokey grey pendant light. The base of the light was shaped like a mushroom cap, and it was suspended by a thin, black metal rod. Inside, it was lit up by an edison bulb.

"Where would you put it?" she asked, turning to him as he scratched the back of his head with the hand not still holding hers.

"Bedroom?"

"I think it's too modern," she replied, wrinkling her nose.

"Dining room?"

"You need something bigger."

"How 'bout this - do ya think it would look good anywhere?"

"...No?"

"Then why don't ya lead with that?" he smirked, his eyes dancing in amusement as she flushed with embarrassment.

"Well...You just...Looked so hopeful…"

"Yeah but you're here to help me pick out shit that works, remember?"

"I know," she smiled weakly. "It is nice though...in the right setting."

"Just not in ma house…"

"It's too...modern but rustic. I could see your dining room with something more like…" she trailed off, craning her head to look around the store. Finally she saw something and excitedly pulled him off to examine the mystery light closer.

"What about something like this?" she pressed, standing under a large wire framed light. The shape reminded him of a wrought iron bird house, honestly, and nothing covered the bulbs from view.

"This," he replied, tilting his head to the side. It was...huge. Like...massive.

"Yeah...Do you not like it?"

"I...I dunno," he replied honestly. "It's...big."

"You need big."

"This big?"

"It's a large room!"

"That's 'cause I…" he snapped his mouth shut, a blush rising over his cheeks, and Kagome turned to shoot him a strange look.

"Because you…" she prodded gently and he found himself looking down at his feet.

"I wanted it to be big enough for a large family," he mumbled. "Big enough for the kids and me and the Mrs and the grandparents…Wanted to be able to put them all at one table for Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter...Birthdays and stuff..."

He glanced back up at the light, refusing to look at her.

"Ya think it's big enough for that room? Not too big?"

"Yeah," she replied thickly, the smell of regret radiating off of her. "I think it's perfect."

"Then let's do this one."

"Ok then," she nodded, her voice falsely chipper as she turned on her camera, releasing his hand for the first time since they had reentered the store. Inuyasha watched as she stood under the light, cupping the tag in her hand as she took a photo of it, and then several of the light fixture itself.

She looked silly with her face screwed up as she concentrated on taking the shot. So deep in concentration.

It was too easy.

He snuck behind her, reaching his hands out to slowly inch closer to her sides while she was preoccupied. He heard her take one last photo, and then he struck, his fingers attacking her sides. She squealed loudly as he tickled her, the sound of her laughter echoing off the walls around them. Kagome struggled in his grasp, trying to wiggle free, pleading for him to stop, but he had her trapped in his arms. She wasn't going anywhere any time soon. She collapsed against him, her body trembling against his as her head rolled back onto his shoulder, and he couldn't help but smile at her.

Couldn't help trying to remember the last time his heart had felt this…

Happy and light.

The thought made the smile on his face falter, and he slowly stopped tickling her, allowing her to catch her breath.

"Inuyasha," she breathed, her body limp in his arms. "Why…?"

"'Cause I wanted to," he shrugged, already regretting it.

"Jerk," she mumbled, her eyes teasing as she pealed out of his arms. "Come on. Pose with this thing for me, will you? I need to get some shots of you with the lights too."

"I don't see why ya need that," he grumbled, standing under the light and crossing his arms over his chest. Kagome just rolled her eyes at him and sighed.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Try and look a bit happier than that."

He grimaced and she smirked, shaking her head.

"You really aren't going to make this easy for me, huh?"

"I hate getting my picture taken," he mumbled and her smile softened. He really only did it when the "adults" asked him to do it...otherwise he had always tended to shy away from cameras.

"Just a few - humor me. I'll buy you lunch!"

"We're gonna be here long enough for lunch?" he pressed, raising a brow and he could smell the nervousness radiating off of her. "Higurashi, what did you do…"

"...Don't be mad…"

"Oh hell…"

"Please?"

"Tell me what ya did first?"

"...Made an appointment with a tile guy?"

He groaned and rolled his head back onto his shoulders.

"Fuck...we're really doing this all day, huh?"

"I figured you'd rather get it all over with at once rather than doing this piecemeal! It means that…" she snapped her mouth shut, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"It means what?" he pressed, hooking his fingers under her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"...That you can spend less time with me, if we did it this way," she winced, and he felt his eyes soften.

"Kagome…"

She wasn't wrong. And maybe before today, he would have liked that idea...but…

"...What if I don't want to spend less time with you?"

He watched her chew the inside of her lip, her eyes hopeful.

"...What if I don't want to spend less time with you, too? I...I like getting to know who you are now," she admitted softly.

He felt a smile stretch across his face, and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well...I like getting to know you too."

She blushed sweetly and glanced away from him before bringing her camera back up to her chest.

"Well. Do we have a deal? Lunch is on me if you actually pose for some of the photos? Nicely?"

"...Wait. We're still going to the store?"

"We're in the neighborhood."

He bit the inside of his mouth to keep from sighing.

This was all happening one way or another, wasn't it? He may as well just suck it up and do it.

Inuyasha relaxed his hands at his side and smiled under the light, internally wincing as she snapped a few photos of him with it.

"Can you maybe stand off to the side?" she prompted, flipping back through them, and he moved a bit to the right. He slipped his hands into his pockets and smiled again, but she wasn't too crazy about it.

"Don't like 'em? We can skip it."

"No...I need something...None of them look that great though."

"Gee thanks…"

"It's not you," she sighed. "It's the composition."

"Well...do you maybe…" he began, a genuine smile spreading across his face as he jumped, kneeling down onto one knee and holding his hands out, gesturing towards the light. "Need me to take up more room?"

She laughed, and actually snapped a few photos of him like that before he lifted his arms into the air, pointing towards the light.

"Does this have a better composition?"

"Try going down on both knees," she snickered, and he did, lowering the second to the concrete. He widened his arms, keeping them pointed towards the light before laying down on his stomach and kicking his legs up into the air, resting his chin on propped up arms.

"Better?"

"It would be if you had a bearskin rug," she smirked, still taking his photo anyways.

"Oh you didn't tell me you were after that kinda photo, Higurashi," he grinned, laying onto his side and resting his left arm along the length of his body. His right propped his head up as he bent a knee inwards, and she shook her head at him.

Still, he heard the echo of the shutter as she snapped the photo.

"Ok you...off the ground," she giggled. "I can't with you today."

"You're the one who said ya didn't like the photo composition!"

Her laughter made him smile.

"Ok...How about a few more serious ones," he replied, shoving his hands back into his pockets and smirking. He could feel the tip of his fang poking out the corner of his mouth as the shutter snapped, and when she was done, she grabbed his hand again and they kept meandering through the store.

When they finally left, having picked out all the lights for his house, he knew deep down that doing this with her was the best decision of his life.

A/N: Thank you as always to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic! It means the WORLD to me!

Chapter 15 is due to be released publicly on Sept 8, but you can catch teasers and find out how to read it early on my tumblr!

Till next time!

-LL