When Dreams Fade By: Scarletmoon

Hey! I didn't get a review but that's ok. The first chapter is boring. I'll admit that my self. Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this one better than the other one. Please review after. ^_^

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Chapter 1: Happy Birthday, Kagome

As I woke up I could feel someone around my bed. The sun hit my eyes. The sun was so bright. I moved the other direction where the sun wasn't hitting my eyes. I slowly opened them and as I did I could hear . . . . . . . . .

"Happy birthday to you." I looked around and found my mom, my brother Sota around me. I smiled.

"I hope you always wake up with a smile like that, Kagome." Mom said as I looked up and saw her standing next to me. I had my mom's brown hazel eyes and I guess I had my dad's raven black hair. I never got to meet my dad since he died when I was just a small baby.

"Happy birthday Kagome." Sota said as he gave me a hug.

"What have you two been doing here? Waiting for me to wake up?" I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, we were watching you the whole night." Sota said with sarcasm in his voice.

"No, but I know that your grandparents have been waiting for your birthday to come."

"Are they here all ready?" I asked my mom.

"They've been here since yesterday once you went to bed." Mom said. "They were practically up all night to prepare your birthday party for you and for them to come early in the morning and set up all the preparations quietly for you. Look outside."

I jumped out of bed and looked outside. My mouth hung open. All the trees around here had bright colored ribbons. A lot of branches had balloons too. Tables were covered with green, pink and yellow paper tablecloths. Even a dance floor was being laid out as I watched. There was also a small stage for the musicians.

"Your grandparents wanted this to be your best birthday ever." I stood there shocked. Finally I found my voice and shrieked.

"Thank you mom." I said as I gave her a hug. "Is gramma and grandpa downstairs?" I asked. I really needed to thank them. My mom nodded. I quickly went to the restroom, brushed my teeth then ran downstairs.

As I walked down stairs I could see our housekeeper downstairs talking with my grandma and grandpa.

"Gramma, grandpa." I gave them a big hug. "Thank you so much. It's so beautiful."

"Good morning to you too." My grandpa said.

"Good morning Edith." I said as I gave a hug to our housekeeper. She was more like family then our housekeeper.

"Happy birthday. Now your 18. Wow, you're getting older each year." Edith has been working for us since Aunt Stella married Uncle Tucker. She was a very cool lady to hang out with. We treated her like family. Edith was like my second mother. Always telling advice and telling me what to do.

"You'd better get dressed and come down and eat breakfast." My mom said as she came downstairs.

"I'm too excited to eat." I said but I did run upstairs and got changed. For now I wore regular jeans with a tight white tank top. Then I walked to the kitchen.

"You better eat girl. I don't want you to go outside with an empty stomach." Edith said as she prepared breakfast.

"I all ready said I wasn't hungry."

"Well at least drink something." She gave me a cup of orange juice. I sighed but drank it.

"Happy?" I said as I gave her the cup. She smiled.

"Yes. Now go outside. I think your uncle's outside." I smiled then ran out the door.

As I walked outside I was thinking about my birthday party. I invited my bestfriend Sango and other friends. I also invited a boy that I have been seeing for a while. I didn't really look at him as my boyfriend but everyone else did so I do too. I guess. His name is Hojo. He's a very attractive guy. Hell, I won't lie to you he's hot but too conceited.

Even if some of my friends wouldn't admit it, they were jealous of me. Sango thought he was a jerk. She didn't like Hojo. I could understand why. Sango had a crush on one of Inuyasha's friends. I'm trying to convince him to invite Miroku to my party. Inuyasha didn't like any of my friends.

He thought that they were all stuck up people. The only people he liked from my friends was Sango. He said she was sincere. Not like my other friends. Inuyasha didn't like Hojo neither. Inuyasha wasn't doing well in school. He wasn't passing his classes. I told him I'd help him. He usually just shrugged since he thought he'd never pass.

Inuyasha had long silver hair with the most beautiful golden eyes ever. We grew up together but we never see each other as cousins, because were not cousins anyway. Mostly like best friends. When he has problems at home he always comes to me. Some times I think what I would do without him. Inuyasha is a hanyou. Hanyou's these days are very rare. Mostly there's always full youkai. My Aunt Stella never talks about Inuyasha's dad, but she told him he was an amazing man. Inuyasha is way better looking then Hojo. When my friends come over there always over him. Hojo hates it.

You can tell he says things like 'Why are they over him.' 'What's he got that I don't?' That type of stuff. He hates it when they are all over him. I have to admit I hate it too. As I walked further ahead I saw Uncle Tucker yelling at a guy who's setting up the stage. I saw my grandpa talking to guys telling them if it was fine or not fine where the things were getting set up. I smiled to myself. I was really excited.

I walked up to Uncle Tucker. He was over by the dance floor making sure it was laid down properly. I looked around expecting to see Inuyasha too, but he wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Hi Uncle Tucker." I said as I approached him. He looked towards me and smiled.

"Hey there Princess, Happy birthday." He has been calling me that as long as I can remember.

"Thanks Uncle Tuck."

"The way you kids dance these days why bother putting up this dance floor."

"It'll be fine." I told him.

Mom told me often that she always felt safe when Uncle Tuck was with her. I understand what she means. When your around him he has this aura that's strong but makes you always feel safe and that nothings going to happen to you. His aura sometimes scared me since it was so powerful.

Like what Hojo told me once. 'He looks at me like if I'm going to rape you or something. He makes me nervous. Did he work for the secret service or something?' I laughed.

'He's a wuss.' I said even though I agreed with Hojo as well.

"Where's Inuyasha?" I asked Uncle Tuck.

Everytime I mentioned Inuyasha's name he would tightened his lips and lifted his shoulders as if he was ready to get punched. Uncle Tuck and Inuyasha didn't have such a great relationship.

"I don't know? He didn't come down for breakfast, which isn't unusual. That boy can sure sleep for hours. Soon he won't be able to. He'll have to work for a living. If he doesn't get into a college," He said as he put his attention back to the dance floor.

Uncle Tucker was referring to the fact that Inuyasha might not pass his finals. He attended public school. Inuyasha has been in trouble most of his senior years. He has been suspended 4 times for fighting. He's been accused for starting fights and stealing but that was never proven.

Inuyasha was being far from unintelligent, he was far from being lazy, and especially when he was doing something he liked. He had artistic abilities. He liked to draw, but mostly buildings and bridges. I told him he could take a career in architecture. But when they told him that he would say ' Yeah and I'll be the president.'

Uncle Tucker wanted to enlist him in the army. But Inuyasha didn't want to he refused. Inuyasha yelled at Uncle Tuck for even considering it. It really amazed me how fearless Inuyasha was when he got into fights with Uncle Tucker. Inuyasha was around 6 foot, with a nice built body and long silver hair with the most beautiful golden eyes ever. I always melt in those eyes. Since he was an Inu-hanyou, he had the cutest white dog-ears on the top of his head. When he smiled or snickered or grinned, it drove all the girls insane. Especially his lop-side grin.

He always talked about my friends about how rich they are and stuck up but he always refuses to put me in that category. Same with Sango. I asked him once 'Why am I different?' I would ask. 'You just are,' he insisted. 'Why though.' 'Because you just are.' He would get up and walk away.

From all the people I have meet Inuyasha always or somehow makes me so mad yet . . . . . . . . . yet there were times when I caught him looking at me with different eyes, softer eyes, almost loving eyes. It was all too confusing.

I looked towards Uncle Tucker's house. I was disappointed. I had hope that Inuyasha would almost be as excited as I was right now, and would be standing outside here . . . . . . . . . with me.

"I'm going to see if he's eating breakfast." I said to Uncle Tucker.

"Don't waste your time. He won't be there." Uncle Tuck told me. "Hey you're putting that in the wrong way!" He yelled at one of the workmen. He walked away and I walked towards Uncle Tuck's house. Uncle Tuck's house was just as huge as mine was. Two-story nice built house. Their porch was bigger than ours was though. Since Sandy died Aunt Stella has become very religious.

Above their front door Aunt Stella hung a bronze crucifix. Once a week she would polish it. As I walked closer I realized that the front door was open but the screen door was closed. I knocked on the door. I could hear gospel music, which is what she usually did when she cleaned and stuff. She didn't hear me so I just opened the door and stepped in.

There was always an aroma of something that just got baked. This time I smelled bacon made for breakfast. I didn't see her in the kitchen so I walked to the small living room. She had turned it into a shrine for Sandy. There were pictures of her everywhere. Everywhere that a picture was a religious items were placed beside them.

She wasn't in the small living room so I figured she'd be in the dining room. I saw her in there but she looked like she was asleep so I decided to just leave her there and I walked up to Inuyasha's room. I put my ear by the door to listen to any sounds to see if he was awake. I couldn't hear anything.

"Inuyasha," I called. "Are you awake?"

"No," he said right away. It made me smile.

"Talking in your sleep again?"

"Yes," he said. "Don't wake me up."

"It's late all ready." Inuyasha and I hadn't grown up like brother and sister or like cousins, just like two best friends living in that same place our whole lives. We spent so much time together in our younger years. When I ever asked, 'What would you say if I thought of you as a cousin.' It would bother him when I asked him that so I stopped. But I never looked at Inuyasha as a cousin.

"Your not naked are you." I asked.

"Am I naked? Depends who's asking." Inuyasha replied with a chuckle. I laughed too. I opened his bedroom door and walked in and closed the door behind me. He was still in bed, lying on his stomach, the pillow over his head to block out the sunshine, the blanket down to his waist. I knew from other times, that he liked to sleep in his boxers. Inuyasha's room was a little bigger than my room. I looked around his room and it was a mess.

There were paper scattered on the floor, two-book's opened and face down and a small pile of notebooks. As usual, his socks were on the floor beside his bed and not to far from his socks were his shoes. His jeans were draped over his desk chair and the dark blue shirt he had worn yesterday was crumpled on top of his dresser.

"I was hoping that you would be up and down stairs eating breakfast." I told him. He didn't turn. I could see his eyes closed like if he had a headache. When he sighed, his entire body lifted and fell. Finally, he turned, put his hands behind his head and looked towards me.

"Tucker," he began, "came in here and set down another fucking rule. He told me that I should make myself invisible on your birthday. Not to annoy anyone, or embarrass you, him, or the family. He makes it sound like I'm some kind of wild animal. Believe me, he would prefer if I stayed in my room all day."

"Your no animal, and I would much rather you come down," I told him. "This is my birthday, Inuyasha, and you had better come out. You put on your nicest clothes too." I ordered. He laughed.

"My nicest clothes? What are you stuck up friends coming around?"

"That's not what I meant. I know what you have and what you don't," I told him and walked to his closet. "You should learn how to hang up your clothes. Look at this mess."

"Yes mother."

"Never mind." I said as I grabbed a light blue shirt I like to see him wear and a pair of slacks. "After we go swimming, come home and put his on," I told him. "Don't forget to shave. And put on some after shave too."

"Why do you want me there anyways? You got your stuck up friends. You also got that Hobo guy and his mushy buddies."

"You can call Hojo all the names you want but let me tell you one thing. He ain't mushy."

"Yeah I guess you would know," he muttered.

"Besides," I said ignoring what he said, "you know your one of the most important people to me. My birthday party wouldn't be a party without you." He looked at me then outside.

"From all the noise outside it seems like were having two birthday parties."

"Wait until you see what gramma and grandpa have done," I told him. "The tree's have balloons." He laughed.

"Edith has made my birthday cake. I haven't seen it she won't let me. But I'm sure it's pretty." He nodded; looked down then let his lips fold into a soft smile.

"What?" I asked, expecting he would say something that would make me mad.

"Remember that one time when, before the guests arrived, I put my fingers in your birthday cake and pretended they were your candles. Tucker nearly exploded." He laughed.

"Sometimes I think that you do bad things just to get Uncle Tucker mad."

"No. Me?"

"You know you're hurting your mother when you get him upset." His smile disappeared.

"She's beyond getting hurt," he said, "You've got to be able to see and feel to know when you're in pain. She is beyond that."

"That's not true Inuyasha."

"It's true," he said. "Fine, I'll rise, but I don't know if I'll shine." I stepped closer to his bed and grabbed a part of his hair. He looked up at me in surprise.

"You'll rise and you'll shine and you'll help me make this the best birthday party of my life or I'll kick your ass." I said shacking him.

"Ow," he cried reaching for my hand. He held my wrist a moment and looked up at me.

"You know, you still haven't told me happy birthday, Inuyasha." I let go of his hair, but he held on to my wrist.

"Happy birthday Kagome," he said and sat up, pulling me closer so he could kiss me on the cheek. His lips were very close to mine, so close that when he began to pull away his lips softly brushed mine with his mouth. For a small moment, our eyes locked, and then I rubbed my cheek.

"Shave," I ordered. My heart was thumping. He let go of my wrist.

"And get dressed and come out to help," I said. He just stared at me. "Okay," he said, his voice breaking. He recovered it quickly and gave me his famous lopsided grin, "Your majesty." He added that quickly.

He started to get out of bed. I couldn't really recall when I had become self-conscious about him seeing me half-dressed, but he never seemed to care when I saw him. Maybe it was because he was a boy or because, we were brought up being undressed in front of each other. Whatever the reason, it made me catch my breath.

When he walked in the bathroom, I breathed out.

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Well that's chapter 1. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review and tell me what you think. I told you that this chapter was going to be long. Please, please review. I need review! Thanks! ^_^