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 15

Kagome sighed as she leaned back against the seat of Inuyasha's car - the driver's door shutting as he got behind the wheel and buckled in, before attaching his phone to the air vent. That was a hell of a day and she was exhausted. She hadn't meant to do all that they had...but...well…

Things sort of snowballed, and he didn't exactly say no to it anyways…

They picked out all of his lights, then she treated him to lunch at a local burger joint...Lunch turned into walking through the tile store she had mentioned...which turned into picking out back splashes for his kitchen and tiles for his bathroom and what have you...And when they were finally done with that...He decided to take her out for dinner as a thank you.

Now she was stuffed and exhausted and couldn't remember a time when she had felt more…

Happy.

Was that weird to say? That she was happy?

She had thought she was, all these years. Had thought she had found it after him, but…

Maybe she had just been lying to herself as she tried to move on with her life. It was a hard pill to swallow, but when John had commented on how sweet a couple they were, they hadn't exactly denied it. They had been, at one point, and...for the briefest of moments, it felt like everything was fine again.

Even if they weren't.

God that had been a moment though. They had just finished finding all of the lights they had picked out...well...she had picked out? It was a little strange - Inuyasha didn't really fight her too much on what she thought would look good in there. He kept saying "I trust ya" and "If ya think it will look good in there, then let's just do that one". Regardless, they hunted down John, and let him tell them a bit about the lights Inuyasha was interested in. When Inuyasha kept looking back to her for approval or input, the man chuckled and said, "You're a smart man, looking to her. Take it from me - it's always best to let the wife do what she wants. Happy wife, happy life is a saying for a reason, son. You're a sweet young couple though - I haven't seen a pair so smitten in years."

They must have looked like fish after that...But they didn't say anything. It was too awkward and...again. It was true that they had been a couple...once. Besides...John gave all of the lights to Inuyasha at a very generous price, and who were they to argue?

"Hey, thanks for dinner again," Kagome smiled as Inuyasha started up the car, shifting it into drive.

"Thanks for your help," he replied, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze. "Was a hell of a day...I don't think I could have done it without ya or gotten as much done without your help."

"Yes you would have," she replied, turning in her seat to look at his handsome profile. "You just would have done it with someone else."

"Someone else who doesn't have your eye," he smirked, quickly glancing at her before returning his attention to the road.

"Oh come now...Your mom has a lovely eye…"

"Do I need to remind you of her cabbage teapot?"

"With the vegetable tea cups? Oh my god I forgot about those!"

"Yeah...family heirloom my ass," he mumbled and she laughed at that.

"What, not quite your taste?"

"I don't think they should be anyone's taste, Kagome."

"Well...it's your mother's…"

"And that'd be why she didn't come with me for this."

Kagome smiled, settling back into her seat as they reached the edge of the city, the wide-open road looming before them.

"So...when I get home I'm going to look over all of the photos I took today, and then I'm going to start on the article. Should have something done by Friday latest, if you want to read it before I send it off to my editor…"

"Do...you...want me to?" he asked hesitantly, shifting his eyes away from the road for a moment to look at her. The irises of his golden eyes glowed faintly in the dark light, and felt herself getting lost in them. She'd always loved his eyes...how ethereal they are…

"Only if you want to...Since it's about you and your house. You don't have to if-"

"-I'd like that," he smiled shyly at her. "I've always liked your writing, Kagome. You know that. Been reading your stories since we were kids."

"Until I left."

He didn't reply for a moment, his eyes shifting back to the road before them as the silence became heavy.

"Even after you left," he finally whispered, and she felt her heart jump into her throat.

"You…"

"Kagome Higurashi isn't exactly a hard name to Google, ya know," he confessed. "I read your stuff from time to time when you were in college, working for your paper. Then your internship. Then your job…"

"Have you...been keeping tabs on me?"

He ground his teeth together, keeping his eyes planted firmly on the road before them as the darkness surrounded them. Nothing but wide, flat, empty roads before them.

"Love of my life, Higurashi," he whispered. "Yeah. I kept tabs on ya, from time to time...more often after we first split. Then less over the years. Occasionally on anniversaries, I'd find myself looking at your linkedin page. Reading your articles with a beer or two beside me. I think I hated myself, to do that…It made ya feel closer though..."

"Inuyasha…"

"So anyways," he coughed, clearing his throat. "Yeah. Send it my way. I'd like ta read it, if you're offering."

"I…"

How did she respond to that? To know that despite everything, he had kept an eye on her? Read her stuff? Just to feel closer to her? To maybe fill in the giant hole she had left in his heart. God she hated herself. To have done everything she had to him…

He hurt her too though.

A small voice in the depths of her brain was screaming at her to remember all of the pain he had caused her too. The sleepless, tear filled nights, even before they broke up. The pressure he had put on her shoulders…

His phone lit up with a text from Kikyo, snapping her thoughts out of the direction they were headed down.

"Hey," he coughed awkwardly. "Would ya mind looking at that and telling me what she said?"

"Sure," she nodded, grabbing the phone off of the magnetic vent holder and asking him for the code to unlock it.

"Well damn...Do I gotta change it after?"

"Inuyasha," she groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Fine...It's my birthday. Month and day. Do ya remember it?"

Did she remember it…

She had his phone unlocked before he had even asked. Kagome flipped the phone around to show him, a smirk on her lips, and he raised a brow at her.

"What! Dates can be hard to remember!"

Said the man who, apparently, still remembered their anniversary…

She rolled her eyes and tapped on the button with his text messages, pulling up his unread ones from Kikyo…

...And proceeded to scream bloody murder, dropping his phone onto the floor and terrifying him.

He swerved the car off the side of the road before finding some semblance of control and slammed on the breaks, making them shoot forward in their seats - their seat belts locking to hold them in place as much as they could.

"What happened?!" he yelled, looking at her frantically, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Shit, are you ok?!" he demanded, turning to check her over. Her hands, her arms...he gently pushed the neck of her shirt to the side and his thumb brushed against some light bruising on her collarbone from the seatbelt. "Kagome?" he demanded again, his eyes wild. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," she choked out, picking up his phone and shoving it back at him.

"Kagome, that didn't sound like it were nothing. Are ya hurt?"

Emotionally.

"I'm fine, Inuyasha," she snapped. "Just...Can you respond to Kikyo yourself."

"Kikyo...Is she ok?"

"Well her breasts certainly seem like they're cold, but otherwise, yeah. I'm sure she's fine."

She watched his face pale before it reddened, his lips pressing together into a very thin line.

"You scared me half to death...screamed...nearly got us killed…'Cause Kikyo sent me a titty pic and now you're upset over it?"

"Well at least you don't seem surprised about it. Sexting earlier, were we?"

"Oh for the love of…" he growled, rubbing his face with his hands. "Couldn't do it, huh? Couldn't go one day without fighting...And it had been such a damn good day…"

"Yeah. It had," she agreed, her voice rough as she turned away from him, tears gathering in her eyes. It wasn't right. The way she was acting...she knew it wasn't right. He could send Kikyo all the dick pics he wanted. Could look at all the tit shots Kikyo sent. It wasn't her place to be angry or upset. She gave that right up the day she gave him his ring back.

She knew that.

And yet...looking at his phone...seeing the actual proof that he was doing this...That he was being...a man with needs...Fuck it hurt. She never thought that she would ever be subjected to his sex life after they broke up and yet...When she opened his phone to look at that text there they were.

Perky nipples and all, staring straight back at her.

She had been so shocked and abhorred all at the same time that she freaked out.

She pinched her eyes together as he chewed the inside of his cheek, head leaned back looking at the ceiling of the sedan.

"Is the car ok?" she whispered, and he rolled his head towards her.

"Hope so. Haven't checked yet. If not, we're gonna have to call someone to handle this. Probably get a room in town for the night."

His tone told her that he was really hoping that wasn't the case. From a financial standpoint, she understood it. That didn't keep her heart from clenching a little at the harshness of it though.

"Do you want to…"

"Yeah," he sighed, already opening his car door, and hopping out. She followed suit, turning the flashlight on her phone on to examine the car.

"Wheels all look good," he confirmed. "Think the engine should be fine - flat road at least."

"Good," she whispered, and he looked at her again, his lips pursed in thought.

"Kagome-"

"-I know, Inuyasha. I know," she sighed, crossing her arms under her breasts and looking away from him. "I don't have a right...but knowing you're...doing things with another woman, and seeing them first hand...It's hard, and it was unexpected, ok?"

He sighed, but said nothing, and she turned to look back at him. His eyes were a mix of different emotions, and honestly, she couldn't make them out.

"I didn't mean for my relationship to hurt ya, Kagome. You gotta know that…"

"I do."

"And...ya gotta understand...I'm...I can...Kikyo and I are adults now, in a consenting relationship...or whatever you would call it. So...If she wants to send me those kinda photos...It's...well…"

"I get it, Inuyasha. Really. I do."

"Ok," he replied, sliding his hands back into his pockets. The silence stretched on between them for a moment, and she was about to open her mouth to tell him they should get back into the car when he continued. "I didn't ask her to send me that, ya know. And I didn't respond to it neither. She just...did it. Outta the blue this morning."

"She sent you a picture of her boobs this morning?"

"Well I didn't look at it or nothing!"

"When this morning," she demanded, her heart thundering in her chest. She didn't know why she needed to know...didn't know why it was important to hear...but it was. It mattered to her for some reason.

"When we were at Starbucks and she called me!"

There it was.

Literally all fucking day, that had been just sitting in his phone. While they were holding hands and laughing and he was tickling her and making it feel like old times...he had a reminder of the woman he was dating sitting in his pocket. A little something something for later, after she was gone…

She didn't know why, but it fucking hurt like hell. It felt like…

...It felt like she was just a stand in, and he was using her because he couldn't do this with Kikyo.

God...was it irrational to be thinking like this? To feel her eyes welling up with tears?

"Ok then," she murmured, slowly nodding her head, rubbing at her eyes. "We should get going."

He said nothing. Instead, she just felt his glowing golden eyes on her back as she hopped into the car, closing the door as she waited for him to hop in after her. The door to the driver's side opened a moment later, and he slid in, placing his hands on the steering wheel. He drummed his fingers against it, chewing the inside of his lip in thought before he took his phone out. Kagome watched his fingers fly across the screen as he typed something, then turned his phone off and put it down in his lap.

He said nothing for a moment, staring out the windshield, his shoulders hunched inwards and his hands pressed against the seat between his legs.

His phone chimed a moment later, and he looked at the screen before turning it off.

"We ain't going no where, Kagome."

"I thought you had a date with Kikyo?"

"Canceled it."

She looked at him in shock.

"Y-you...why?"

He turned and shot her a knowing look, raising his eyebrow at her.

"Really, Kagome? Is it that hard ta figure out?"

She looked away from him, feeling shame pool in the pit of her stomach.

"Kagome…" he sighed, cupping her face and turning her to look back at him. "It was hard for me too, ya know. Knowing you were with someone else. Knowing you were curled up in bed at night with the cat."

She couldn't help but smile a little at how he spat out "the cat". He really hated Zack, didn't he? He'd never even met him, and yet Zack could drop dead tomorrow and Inuyasha would probably be walking around looking like the cat who caught the canary.

Perhaps a poor analogy. And yet...true all the same.

"You never had to see it, though."

"...No. I didn't," he agreed, resting his arm on the shoulder of the driver's seat as he shifted his whole body to face her. "I don't know how I'd react, seeing some guy's pecker on your phone."

"Pecker?" she smiled, and he rolled his eyes.

"That's the part ya wanna focus on? Pecker?"

"You're the one who said it," she replied, a small smile tugging at her lips, and she watched him respond in kind.

"Yeah...I did. And I meant it. I don't know how you're feeling, but I know it can't be easy?"

"Since when did you care how I feel about this stuff," she asked, genuinely curious, and he looked a little taken aback. Probably because he knew she was right. He hadn't cared what she thought before. Had paraded his new life before her. His relationship with Kikyo. Had done it happily and with glee.

Now he was canceling his date instead of rushing back to go on it.

"When we decided we wanted to at least try and be friends again," he replied honestly, and she turned to face him, mirroring his posture in the car. "I think...when I decided I missed us too, that's when...and...when you finally told me about the truth of our break up…" he shrugged. "I don't know. It was like...knowing that you didn't hate me like I thought you did, freed me ya know? You were finally telling me the truth about this big huge thing that happened when we were kids...And I finally heard that I was enough. I just...sucked," he smiled smally.

"I sucked too…"

"We both sucked equally," he smiled, cupping her cheek, his thumb tenderly wicking away the tears she hadn't realized were spilling down them.

"Inuyasha…"

"Hey...you wanna hear something completely and totally embarrassing? Like...so embarrassing, I ain't ever told no one. Might make ya feel better?"

"Really?" she perked up a little. "Sounds like it's a hell of a story…"

"Well...It don't paint me in the best light but...Yeah, it's a story alright."

"Ok...Now I have to hear," she pressed, biting the inside of her lip.

"Alright...now...shit...this might now actually help, now that I think 'bout it…"

"No - no way! You can't back out like that, Inuyasha!"

He narrowed his eyes at her in thought before saying, "Fine, but ya can't be getting all mad and shit, ok?"

"Ok," she replied warily.

"It's 'bout the first time I...well...First woman I…"

"I get the picture," she replied, her cheeks burning bright red. Suddenly, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear this story…

"Ok...well then...Miroku, Kouga 'n' I were all going to the rodeo in Treeport a few years back. Do you remember Russell Davidson?"

"Bull rider? Of course I remember him!" she replied, suddenly a bit more intrigued by the story.

"He was coming out this way for the rodeo - gonna preform at it, and the guys and me just had ta go. So...we decided ta make a weekend of it. Bought tickets, got us a hotel room...took turns on the pull out and everything. Shit...It was a show Kagome...damn...ya woulda loved it…"

"I probably would have…"

It was true too. They loved Russell Davidson. Used to watch him compete on the TV, and then the internet...They had always said if he came out their way, they were going to go see him. It looked like Inuyasha had that chance.

She was both happy for him and bitter all at the same time. She would have loved to have gone with him, but that was neither here nor there at this point.

"So, Kouga 'n' Miroku 'n' I are all at this bar the day before we're gonna go back, and there's this woman there...And she's super hot," he mused, his lips tugging up. "Like...had to have been the hottest woman in there, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her when we walked in there. Same with the guys. Miroku was...well...he was filthy and a little drunk and I swear he could have made a sailor blush with the things he was saying. She didn't want him though - she kept looking at me. I didn't believe it at first. I thought she mighta wanted Kouga or Miroku, but they somehow convinced me to go talk ta her.

Mirokusaid that if he couldn't do it, I had fucking better, because one of us had to leave with her. Kouga just smacked him upside the head and tried to hype me up instead. Gave me one of those cheesy lines...I don't even remember what it was. I don't even think it was all that funny, but I musta done something right because she was dragging me back to her car about an hour later. I don't know what I was expecting...Maybe to make out with her a little? Being pushed into her back seat was definitely a bit of a surprise. I weren't against it or nothing. I was just...unprepared, and I had a lot of alcohol at that point, so things were a bit fuzzy.

Next thing I know, this beautiful sexy woman, was tugging my pants down and...well…" he coughed awkwardly, as if he were trying to figure out exactly how detailed he should be.

"She...um ah...She had a real talent with her...mouth," he winced. "It was different from how ya did it. Not that how ya did it was bad or nothing!" he rushed to clarify. "Just...different woman, different...preferences. So...ah...anyways," he coughed. "She's...doing her thing, and I try telling her that I'm gonna...and...well...She either didn't hear, 'cause of the loud music, or she didn't care, 'cause she just kept going...Next thing I know, I'm...I'm busting a nut in her mouth, and...She was so damn confused and choking on my cum...It was leaking out of her mouth, and just dripping down her chin and onto her tits and her dress..." he gestured, waving his hands down his body. "I thought she was gonna throw up. Meanwhile, I'm just lying there freaking the fuck out because I just got off and I called out your name…

I scrambled out of that car with my jeans and underwear around my ankles. Pretty sure I gave a few people quite a show...It was a good thing I got outta there though cause not even ten seconds later, she leaned over the edge of the car and spit it all out...Shit, I really thought she was gonna puke. I scrambled to get ma pants on and made sure she was ok, and then got the hell outta there. I couldn't...I was too embarrassed to stick around.

I couldn't tell the guys all that happened. Told them that we kissed a little, and that she...blew me," he blushed. "But I didn't tell them the rest."

"Wow," she breathed. "Like...wooooow…"

"Yeah, yeah...I know…"

"I just...wow Inuyasha…"

"I ain't say it was ma proudest moment! Just a really, really embarrassing one!"

"Oh you weren't wrong about that," she snickered. "I mean...I just...wow…"

"Would ya stop saying that already?" he grumbled.

"I mean I would, but...wow!"

He rolled his eyes and shifted away from her, and she reached out to take his hand, drawing his attention back to her.

"Thanks though...for that…"

"Yeah?"

She nodded.

"Yeah...I mean...I knew...but...It's kinda...nice to know that you had some sucky encounters too."

"Sucky? Really?"

"It was too hard to resist!" she giggled, and he just smiled, running his thumb over her knuckles.

"Well...I'd like ta say you were wrong but…"

"The cum stained dress says otherwise?" she snickered, and he rolled his eyes.

"I gave her fair warning!"

"I hope it didn't stain…"

"Hey!"

She laughed outright at that, her whole body shaking at the...well...absurdity of everything. And the thought of Inuyasha scrambling out of a car, dick swinging in the wind...She could almost see the terror on his face, and it made her laugh a little harder.

"Alright chuckles, let's get ya home," he grumbled, letting go of her hand, finally turning on the car. They both let out a sigh of release when the engine turned over, and he pulled it into drive, heading back down the road.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" he replied, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Did you...really cancel your date with Kikyo?"

Inuyasha sighed and his ears lowered as he reached between his thighs and handed her the phone.

"Go 'head," he mumbled, as she nervously glanced back up at him. At his insistence, she took the phone from him and opened it, this time bracing herself for what was on the other side. Only...the photo was gone. Had he…

He must have deleted it.

Why…?

You know what? That wasn't something she was going to ponder right now.

Instead, she read the last few messages he had sent, and felt her jaw drop slightly. He had really canceled his date with Kikyo...All because…

"You didn't have to do that, you know," she whispered, her chest filling with remorse.

"Says who?" he demanded, arching one of his thick brows.

"Me."

He snorted.

"Welp. Glad you think I didn't hafta do that."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, turning to look out the window.

"Why did you?"

She was afraid of the answer, but she didn't know why…

"'Cause ya needed me."

"That's not exactly a reason to cancel…"

Inuyasha sighed and reached out, taking her hand again.

"To me it was."

She looked back over at him, and her heart jumped into her throat. He was dead serious. His jaw was set firmly. His eyes were intense, a thousand different thoughts and emotions showing in them. She was still important to him, wasn't she?

At least...at least a little, if nothing else.

Silence fell over them again as the gravity of his words fell over her, really taking root in her brain. You wouldn't think that four little words could mean so much, and yet...She found herself replaying them over and over and over again. She was worth it to him. After all these years...after everything...she still meant something to him…

"I insisted on giving him something for his time, but he didn't want anything other than…" She trailed off and closed her eyes, sighing.

"Other than what?" Kagome swallowed.

"Other than the occasional update on how you're doing. I think...I think a part of him still loves you, Sweetie."

...Her mom couldn't be right…

...Right?

He was dating Kikyo! He had moved on!

...But…

He was also canceling his date with Kikyo for her. He was holding her hand and teasing her and…

...And she couldn't read into anything. She would be an idiot to. But why did she want to? It was all because they had one good day together, wasn't it? One good day didn't mean anything though. One good day was exactly that. One good day. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yet, why tell her that story? Why tell her about the first blow job he had after her, where he called out for her when he came. He might not have meant to tell her that little morsel of information...it sure as hell felt like a slip of the tongue...but he had. Was he just...trying to tell her that he still loved her?

No.

No.

This is stupid, and irrational.

"So," she coughed, trying to get her mind off of the tail spin it was going down. "Russell Davidson, huh? Was he as good in person?"

"Better," Inuyasha grinned. "I swear it was the best damn rodeo I've ever been too. I mean it - ya woulda loved it Kagome. I don't know how, but we got some amazing seats - could practically see the sweat beading up on his forehead. I could definitely smell it," he remembered, wrinkling his nose as if he still could. "He was the only one to stay on the bull - the man is a born natural!"

"It's a shame I missed it," she mused, toying with the edge of her shirt.

"Well...You...I…"

Inuyasha snapped his mouth shut, and she raised her brow at him, prodding him to go on. She stuck a finger into his side, and he glared at her, his jaw moving around as if he were chewing on the words first before uttering them.

"Do ya wanna come?"

"Excuse me?"

"Russell is coming back to Treeport in a monthish. If ya think you're gonna still be in town. A bunch of us are going," he rushed to add, almost so she wouldn't mistake his invitation as a date. Which...she wouldn't. Because why would she?

"Kouga, Miroku, Sango…" he continued. "Got the tickets just last week. Gonna make another weekend outta it - get a hotel again and everything. It's going to be one of Russell's last shows. He's retiring."

She was shocked. Russell was like a part of her childhood. To hear that he was retiring...

"If...Yeah. If I'm still here, I...I think I'd like that."

She meant it too. She really would like that.

"Me too," he replied shyly, glancing at her before switching his attention back to the road.

"Is Kikyo going?" she pressed, and she watched him stiffen.

"I...I dunno," he shrugged, and she felt both of her eyebrows raise in surprise.

"You didn't ask her?"

His silence was all the confirmation she needed.

"Why not?"

"'Cause it's...If I asked her, it would be a big deal. It would mean we're...more."

"Asking me isn't a big deal?"

"We're friends, aren't we?"

Kagome pursed her lips together, not entirely sure she really wanted to open this can of words with him right now. Then again, they were trapped in a car together for two hours. They couldn't run. Couldn't escape. Maybe she should open the can.

"Yes, Inuyasha. We're also exes. So what does it mean that you're asking me?"

"That I'm trying to rebuild our friendship. Extend an olive branch. Sometimes an invitation is just an invitation, Kagome."

"Then why not invite Kikyo?"

"Because I don't wanna take the next step with her yet, ok?" he snapped, and she felt like all of the air had suddenly been knocked from her lungs.

She heard him take a deep breath of his own and flex his fingers against the wheel as he chewed the inside of his lip.

"You ain't gonna drop this, are ya?"

She didn't know how to respond to that, and he didn't wait for one either.

"Kikyo and I aren't there yet. For me, at least. Asking her to go to a rodeo in Treeport - spend time at a hotel - it's sending out commitment vibes I'm not sure I'm ready to give. It's stepping things up, and I'm not sure I want to do that. I know where we stand, Kagome. Asking ya ain't the same thing. You're not gonna think I wanna jump in bed with ya, or date ya, or anything else 'cause we already did that."

"But we're exes, Inuyasha...How do you think that's going to make her feel?"

He pressed his lips together, and she could tell that he hadn't even thought of that before she had said it. He had just...done. Jumped head first before thinking about the consequences again. How typical of him.

"I think...I should decline, Inuyasha," she whispered and she watched his hands tighten around the wheel. "I think if you want to have a chance with Kikyo, we shouldn't tell anyone that you invited me, and I shouldn't come."

"Kagome," he whispered, his face dropping. "You love Russell Davidson…This is your last chance to see him..."

"Yeah but...I love you more," she replied, looking down into her lap. "And I don't want to hurt you more. Besides. I can always go with Souta."

He didn't reply. Just kept his eyes on the road instead, and a heavy, awkward silence fell over them again as his jaw twitched. Her fingers played with the hem of her shirt, her rings...They kept her busy and preoccupied so she didn't have to look at him. Then they could pretend that this whole conversation had never happened, right?

"So," Kagome began awkwardly after a time. "You canceled on Kikyo. How are you going to make it up to her?"

Inuyasha glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and a small part of her couldn't help but laugh.

"Hadn't thought about it yet. Was thinking about flowers?"

"The woman sent you nudes, and you canceled your date. You can't make it up to her with just flowers."

"I didn't cancel it because of the titty pic!" he shot back and she gave him a knowing look.

"Maybe not, but that's now how it's going to come across to her…"

"Fuck," he sighed, as Kagome pulled up the GPS again and put his phone back onto the air vent.

"Yeah...I'd say…" she agreed. "Why don't you offer to cook her dinner? And bring the flowers too? A man cooking me dinner is pretty sexy. I think she'd like it," she shrugged, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head asking why the hell she was telling Inuyasha to cook dinner for another woman.

"Unless she wants PB&J or frozen pizza, I don't think she'd like what I can cook for dinner."

That was a fair point...He didn't live alone. The likelihood of him knowing how to cook anything from scratch was...well...Let's just say she doubted his mom enjoyed sharing the kitchen.

"I could help you," she suggested, the voice in her head groaning as soon as the words left her lips. If the bewildered look he gave her after that was any indication, he was just as shocked.

"You wanna help me cook her dinner," he pressed, his words slow. Calculated. Almost as if he was clarifying what he had heard the first time...and was stunned that he had heard it at all.

"Yeah. Why not? It will be good for you, and it will impress her and make her feel special and important…"

"If...You're really ok with that…"

"Of course I am," she replied weakly, even though she felt like the world's biggest liar right now. "It will help you, won't it?"

"Yeah," he sighed, reaching out to take her hand again. "Thanks, Kagome."

She swallowed thickly at the genuine appreciation she felt from him.

"Of course, Inuyasha. I'm happy to help. I want you to be happy."

Even...even if it wasn't with her...

A/N:

If you weren't aware...

I issues a challenge to people on tumblr - get this fic up to 100 reviews, and I'll post chapter 15 early, and give reviewer number 100 an early peak at the full next chapter!

Mission accomplished.

I wonder what I will do when we get to 150 reviews...

Thank you to everyone for playing! I hope this was worth it!

And if "Sexey Stranger" would hit me up, I can send you a linky link for that new, unreleased chapter!

Chapter 16 is also now available elsewhere to others! Find out where on my tumblr!

Until next time!

-LL