~There She Goes~

Chapter Five: Here With Me

"Stay with me…."

She couldn't keep a little tremor from her voice; she knew this was probably too forward, knew she was crossing a line set in the ground for a reason, but she didn't care. All he'd done was look at her with those soulful amber eyes, and she fell to pieces.

"I should go back home soon" he responded, his voice low and raspy as her fingers played with his baggy shirt. "The old guy's gonna wonder where I am."

"I'm sure he knows you're here" she said, moving slightly to sit closer to him on her mattress, "he knows you can handle yourself."

"Hell if I can…" he whispered under his breath. Clawed hands fisted in the mattress beside her, but he didn't make another move. "Kagome… you don't gotta keep doing this."

"Doing what?" she asked back, her brow furrowing. Was he pushing her away? Did he… did he not really want her after all?

Closing his eyes, a tired sigh passing his lips, Inuyasha morosely answered "You don't gotta force yourself to go out with me."

She gawked, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find words. He made use of her silence to continue sadly "Look, I appreciate you goin' out of your way to talk to me and all, but there's no reason you gotta put yourself through this. I don't need your pity."

"Wh-why are you saying this?" She could barely get the words out of her constricted throat. Hadn't all of this meant something to him? Hadn't it been real?

"You don't have to keep pretending, Kagome," his tone became harsher, a growl underlying the words as he continued "You know as well as I do that it don't make any sense for you to like me. It aint' your responsibility to babysit the loser. You've… done enough already. So… so if you're waiting for me to let you go… I guess… this is it."

"You… you think that's what this is?" Her eyes welled with tears, her whole body shaking with his rejection. "You really think I'm that cruel?"

She turned away, unable to hold back her tears any longer, and Inuyasha panicked. "What? No, Kagome – don't you get it? I get why you're doing this, and I don't blame you. Everyone knows you're a nice person."

His last statement caught her attention, her reddened eyes opening wide as she suddenly realized what had happened. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she turned back to him, noticing his dismayed expression as she said angrily "Everyone, Inuyasha? Since when do you care what 'everyone' thinks?" He flinched at her harsh tone, his eyes dropping sheepishly. "Well guess what: no one knows me, Inuyasha, not like you do. But I thought you knew me better than this."

His yellow gaze flicked up to meet hers, hurt warring with the familiar anger. "Yeah, well… I thought so too… I mean… I didn't believe it at first, but…."

"But everyone's been saying it, right?" His guilty expression and drooping ears told her she'd been right on the money. "Of all people, Inuyasha, I can't believe that you would listen to stupid gossip."

"They're right though, ain't they?" he said quietly, turning away from her, "you're too good for me. I'm just ruining your rep, driving away your friends, making everyone talk about you behind your back… you don't deserve that."

"I thought we'd been through this – I don't care about any of that!" She bit her lip to keep from snapping at him again. They'd been through this dance so many times that Kagome knew the steps by heart. He'd push and she'd pull, and they'd never get a step beyond a petulant agreement to disagree. Inuyasha was letting the silence pose his argument, and Kagome clenched her jaw in a retaliating counter-attack. But his offence was weaker than usual; he wasn't digging up old bones just to wave them in her face like he usually did. This went deeper than him trying to rile her up. Watching his downcast expression, his knuckles turning white as he tried to keep himself from reaching out, Kagome finally got what he was trying to hide. "Oh Inuyasha… you really think I don't know you better than they do?"

Her hand came up to his cheek, leading his wide eyes back to look into hers as she said "You've been so concerned about me, you started believing their lies, because you thought it would be better for me. Oh, don't you get it?" She said fiercely, "You're so much better than anyone could ever know."

He scoffed, fangs showing as he sneered "Idiot, what kind of bullsh-" he couldn't finish as suddenly Kagome's lips were mashed up to his. She took advantage of his gawking mouth to snake in her tongue, swirling it against his in a way that had his previous argument vanishing in a puff of smoke. Reacting of their own accord, his arms wrapped around her back to hold her tighter, squeezing her to his chest like a life-line. Grasping handfuls of his shirt, she pulled him toward her, and he pulled away as he heard her back hit the sheets. Strands of white framed his nervous face as he leaned over her prone figure, fangs barely peaking past his lip as he caught his breath. His tan cheeks were slightly flushed, and Kagome was sure that her own were probably worse. "Stay with me" she said again, tugging him down a little more, his arms going out to brace himself against the bed. Her fingers left his collar to ever so lightly trace his jaw, and his eyes fluttered shut at the tender contact.

She could feel how tense his body was, as if forcefully holding himself back. "Don't let them in, Inuyasha." His eyes opened slowly, confusion seeping in as he looked at Kagome's insistent expression. "No one else gets to be here. Don't let any of those idiots from school or their lies ruin this for you. Don't let them keep us from being happy."

He watched her silently as her words sunk in, his intense amber stare making her feel open and vulnerable in the best way. She always wanted to feel this way with him, baring her soul and holding nothing back… she hoped one day he'd be comfortable enough to feel the same with her. Painfully slowly, he leaned down over her, and after an eternity his lips brushed hers with barely enough pressure to really be called a kiss.

"You're the truth then, aren't you." She didn't say a word as he bent to kiss her again, a little more forcefully, a little rougher. "Guess I shoulda realized… of all the people to believe, I chose the ones who've made my life hell, instead of the one who…." He kissed her again, his tongue plundering her mouth, one of his hands moving to cradle her head and angle her just right. Pulling away with panting breaths, he looked Kagome right in her hazy eyes and whispered "Sorry."

She smiled up at him softly, her black hair spilling out around her on the pillow, as his eyes roamed her face, glancing down occasionally to her chest as it rose and fell with each breath.

"Your mom's almost home" he said hoarsely, tapping his nose to let her know he'd caught a scent, "My guess is she's coming up the hill now."

Kagome didn't respond with words, only grasped him about the neck to drag him fully atop her as she kissed him purposefully. She squirmed a little bit beneath him, grinning into their kiss when a ragged moan left his throat. Wrenching away from her mouth with a frustrated "Kagome…", Inuyasha ducked to nip and suck at her neck before leaning away, leaving the girl in as frustrated a state as himself.

"Now I really gotta leave."

Eyes still hooded, Kagome gave her best mischievous smile and said "If you ever need more proof of how much I like you, you know where to find me."

Inuyasha groaned as he sat up and shifted his weight on the bed beside her, gripping a handful of hair as he said through a grimace, "Damn Kagome, you're making it hella tough to leave."

"Bye Inuyasha" she said with a laugh, nudging his seated form with her foot, not bothering to get up from the bed. "I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha stood and went to her window, sliding it open to make his escape, but before he could jump away, Kagome called out to him. Poised with his foot on the sill, Inuyasha looked back at her as she craned her neck over her pillows, her hands fiddling with the neck of her roomy sweater, legs twisting as she turned to face him more. "Please… don't listen to what anyone says. I'm with you because I want to be."

He swallowed, looking as though he wanted to say something in return, but the opening of the front door caught his attention, and before Kagome could say anything else, he'd left.

*Author's Note:

Inspired by "Here With Me" by Dido. CLASSIC 90s. Also I saw an InuKag amv with this song way back in the day, and ever since I always associate that song with them. Hopefully I'll be adding more to this fic in the future, but it'll probably be pretty short drabbles. I do enjoy writing for this little universe though! :D

By the way, this one's set a little later in the story - they've been dating a few months or so now, and are definitely past the 'awkward' kissing stage ;3