Somewhere on Autumn Woods Drive

By Rikku Minouke

Disclaimer: this might come to a shock to some of you, but I honestly don't own YYH

AN: omg I'm already on Chapter 7! Oh boy seems like yesterday I started writing this. Jesse would be so proud of me (He's been pushing me write this for months now) He keeps telling me that I can be a published author someday. Jesse has helped me every step of the way to get my butt writing again (I'm sure at this moment he'd ask if my butt cheeks were actually doing the writing) Thanks Jesse!

Chapter seven

There were a lot of times when I wanted to rip the sun from the sky and bury it forever so that the rest of the world could feel the same misery as I did. You changed me though, for the better. If not for you and your need for me, so many more people would be hurt. But it's not just my life you've changed for good.

"Botan, what are you doing?" a booming voice echoed down the hallway behind me. Stilling, I stopped and turned to see a rather large man with a grumpy face. "Here, let me take that for you."

"No," I shook my head with a slight reassuring smile. "I got this one. Go get your own."

"But let the men do the work," he straightened his back like his broad shoulders would change my mind.

"Kuwabara, stop being sexist," I noticed Keiko coming up behind him with a bag of what I assumed was Culvers. "It's her stuff, she can help out too."

He huffed a little before responding, "But –"

"Stop being a macho ginger," I said before he could start.

"Someone's a little cranky today," Kuwabara said with a little whine in his voice. "I'm just trying to help. Jeeze guys."

Shifting my feet for a second, I held out my box to him. "Ok, I'm sorry. Thank you for helping." That brought a smile to his face and he happily took the box and headed the rest of the way down the hall to Kurama and my apartment. It was weird thinking of it like that. My parents weren't too thrilled when I told them I was moving out of their house and in with a boy. Mother wasn't because I was leaving and my father because I was moving in with a boy I barely knew. He even made a comment about what the relatives would think.

Rolling my shoulders, I walked slowly down the hallway with Keiko. "You feeling ok?" She asked me, looking concerned. "You seem a bit off today?"

I shrugged. I mean, do I tell her? A lump grew in my throat as anxiety started to choke me. There was no way that I could yet. I'd have to wait until I knew if that one test was a false positive or not. Monday morning I had an appointment at Planned Parenthood or as we called it at school, 'Un-planned parenthood'. I knew they'd draw blood and run some tests. If what I heard from the girls in the dorms were true, it shouldn't take very long.

"Ok" I could tell she knew something was up, but she wasn't going to push it right now. "Well I got you a grilled cheese." Just the words made my stomach growl, which made Keiko laugh. "Alright, let's go eat while we let the men work."

We approached the apartment and could hear the guys from inside. Pushing the already a jar door open further, Keiko and I stood there in shock. Kurama stood by the balcony with one hand rubbing at his right temple, probably to help with a headache. Yusuke and Kuwabara were shouting at each other over the full size box spring. I sighed slightly.

"Just prop up your end Urameshi," Kuwabara yelled.

"What the hell difference is that going to make? We aren't going up stairs," Yusuke snapped back. "Move your ass to the right so I can slide this through the door."

"It doesn't go any further to the right," Kuwabara defended.

"Hey isn't that the same bed they grabbed for you in St. Cloud?" Keiko turned to me and I raised my eyebrows at her comment.

"How'd you know that?" I asked. Keiko pointed to the mattress top that was standing up against the refrigerator.

"I remember us joking about the giant red stain in the corner," she laughed. "We assumed it was on the corner because she one was murdered on it and they were trying to get rid of the evidence.

That made me laugh, which drew Kurama's attention. He didn't walk over to join us but I did meet his gaze with a quick innocent smile. "The bed is comfy still. Surprising after a couple years, but it feels like a brand new bed. I just had to go get a mattress cover and you forget about the awkward stain."

"I'm really glad your home," she said suddenly. I looked at her, meeting her gaze, it was the color of our Sunrise Roast, a light amber brown.

I stayed silent for a minute looking at her face. "Yeah, me too. I think it was the best decision I've made in a long time."

"Kurama will make sure you're taken care of," she added and I couldn't help the tilt of my head, feeling the blue ponytail sway against my back.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked. "We aren't together. We are barely acquaintances."

"I didn't mean it that way," she defended and moved forward toward the breakfast bar in the kitchen. Setting the bag on the black and grey speckled counter, she turned to look at me, her back now to the men in the room. They were too busy dealing with the box spring still to notice. "I just mean, that he's a great friend. Like you, where if he sees you struggling, he will be there for you." I nodded at her words but didn't say anything. "Ready to eat?" She called over the boys booming voices and miraculously the arguing stopped. Everything went silent for a minute before Yusuke quickly scooted around the bottom of the mattress to punch Kuwabara lightly in the shoulder and headed to his girlfriend's side.

"Let's grab some grub, then try again," Yusuke hitched his chin up when him and Kuwabara made eye contact.