Somewhere on Autumn Woods Drive

By Rikku Lin Minouke

A/N: It has been 2 years. I am sorry. I have never forgotten my reviewers. I have never let this story stray from my mind for long. It is important to me, as you all are important to me. I don't like to do this, but part of me would like for those that are still here to understand. You may not know me more than the words on these pages, but I do hope that you are able to still connect with this short tale.

Within the last 2 years, I have been in and out of therapy and hospital program after program. I went through a semi civil divorce which lead me to deal with being homeless for a short time with no mode of transportation. During all of that, my grandfather had a health scare and almost passed away. One month later, when I still had not located a place to live, my best friend unexpectedly and tragically died. Jesse was my push to be the best writer that I could be. He would ask me every time I talked to him if I'd written today. When he died, I wasn't able to write. This chapter, below, is the first thing I have been able to write since his death. I have been working on this for the last few weeks and today is the anniversary of his death and so I wanted to post today in his honor.

Chapter fifty- three

Sometimes I struggle trying to find the right words to say to you. There are times when I pick at that heart on my sleeve until it's raw before I can muster up my courage. I want to be that person you can lean on when you need someone. I want to be that person that you know will always be there, even when times get tough. I need you to know that I will always love you. No matter what happens.

Somewhere beyond the selves and tables around me, I heard the consistent beeping of a register. The small chatter of an elderly couple behind me about the correct type of tomato for their salsa and the young blond hair boy in a green hat stocking shelves barely caught my attention. My eyes were barely focused on the object in hands as concentrated on the even breathing in my chest. There was a smooth melody playing over the loudspeaker of a tune I was hearing for the first time.

"I got the tuna salad," Kurama's voice made my mauve eyes blink in surprise. His soft chuckle filled my ears and I couldn't help the small smile lift my lips. There was something about his laugh that made it hard to not be in a good mood. "Normally, Yusuke asks for potato salad. I hadn't even had potato salad until I moved down here. Now, during the summer, Yusuke asks someone to bring it to every gathering."

"Why didn't you grab that then?" I asked and looked up at his face. I felt his left hand rub a small circle at the small of my back. It almost felt like my muscles purred under his gentle touch.

"I got both actually. Because your doctor said that you needed more fish," he told me and the eye roll I gave him couldn't have been stopped. "It's supposed to help from doing a premature labor."

"I know, I know." I shifted my feet from side to side and looked at the table in front of me again. My voice felt a little to snippy. "It's supposed to help with the depression as well." He didn't respond to my retort. There was a moment of silence and I glanced over momentarily to see his raised eyebrow before looking forward. A small sigh sunk my shoulders slightly down. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," I could hear the smile in his voice. "However, I do want to ask what you are doing with that pineapple." His right hand, holding the basket with our two salads, pointed at the fruit in question in my arms.

"What?" I was sure at that moment that I couldn't pretend to be innocent around Kurama. He knew me better than I knew myself most days. A few strands of my light blue hair few out of my loose bun and into my eyes. A bobby pin had been secured in my hair to try and prevent this during the hot memorial weekend. The blue of my hair had definitely lightened over the last week in the the almost summer weather.

"You are cradling that pineapple," he said matter-of-factly. Letting the basket hand drift back down to his side, he tilted his head like a puppy does when it wants what you're eating.

A blush of embarrassment crossed my cheek bones as I refused to meet his eyes. "Because," I shuffled my feet again. "He is as big as a pineapple this week."

There was a moment of silence before I felt his lips tenderly press against my temple. "You are cute." Biting my bottom lip with my front teeth, I extracted the fruit from my arms and returned it to the pile on the table. "Ready?"

Kurama took a step back and held out his left hand for me to take hold. Smiling broadly, we turned toward the registers and walked side by side in that direction. "Do you think Yusuke actually bought that puppy he was showing you the picture of the other day?"

"I think there is a good chance that he did," Kurama nodded. His red hair tied back in one of my black ponytails. It had reached that stage where we are sharing items. Not only was he using my hair bands, but with men's deodorant being cheaper and bigger, I have started using his as well. We have officially surpassed the 'she gets the closet and he gets a drawer' stage.

"I wonder how Keiko took the surprise," I laughed as I pictured Keiko dropping to floor covered in little puppies, giggling like a child on Christmas. "I can only imagine her joy. Her parents never let her have a dog when she was little. They always said they were too busy with the restaurant to take care of a dog."

"My mother was allergic to animals, so we never had pets growing up," Kurama told me and I internally cried for him ignorance. "

"You missed out on so much joy!" I let go of his hand to clasp both of my hands together above my belly as we stood in line. The woman waiting in front of us in line at the pay station looked back with an annoyed expressed. Maybe my exclamation was a little too loud and joyous for her today. Glancing at Kurama next to me, I saw his lips pressed together in attempts to hold back his laugh. I wasn't sure if he was laughing at the confused expression on my face or that I'd annoyed someone so easily today.

We stood in silence and waited for the woman with the A-line haircut to depart. The type of haircut we would call at the coffee shop the 'Can I speak with your manager?' hair cut. Shrugging lightly, Kurama placed our two tubs of salad on the conveyor belt and set the basket in the stack at the end of the lane. It didn't take long for us to pay for our two items before leaving the store and heading to Kurama's Toyota.

"So, Kuwabara and Yukina are bringing the fire wood. Yusuke and Keiko are supplying the hot dogs, hamburgers, and all the breadings. Hiei is bringing fruit or veggies. Shizuru and her boy of the week are bring alcohol for those that can drink and then something for me?" Kurama unlocked the car and I awkwardly lowered myself into the cloth seat of the passenger side.

"Yes, they told me that they would be bringing cranberry Seven-Up for you," he said and turned the key. Death Cab for Cutie started mid song from our speakers as he put the car into gear.

"If you want to drink," I started and looked out the window. "You can. I can drive home." I felt his palm on my thigh as we started down main street towards the edge of center square.

"We will see how the night progresses." I glanced at him and smiled when I caught his eyes momentarily. I placed my left hand on top of his as we drove the short distance to a nearby lake in silence.

The radio continued to sing as we followed the curvy road around the lake to a small little gate tucked between large houses. Slowing down, we crept through the gate and down the gravel slope to the patch of grass where we settled the car out of the way of the drive. It wasn't a big plot of land, but it had enough room for a shed, a large bonfire pit and a decent size dock. The land was owned by Yusuke's grandmother on his dad's side. When she passes away, it was no secret that Yusuke would inherit it. Especially, given that he was the only grandchild within a four state distance.

Kurama's hand left my thigh to reach for the door handle. Quickly, I reached out to stop him. When his eyes met mine with a questioning haze, I gave him a small smile.

"I love you."

He returned my smile and leaned closer to me. I knew he would kiss me and I greedily met him over the middle console. The lips that pressed against my own made me sigh in want. I wanted to feel more. I wanted him pressed tighter against me. Not only did we have the car between us, but we had the baby that made this a bit more difficult. That was only thing I was excited for after the birth. Well, maybe, a bit further down the road. But to be able to experience more intimate moments with Kurama.

A loud crash shook the car and I gasped and moved back from Kurama. One free hand grabbed for the door handle as laughter surrounded us.

"Are you done eating each other's faces yet?" Yusuke said and I glanced back to see him sitting on trunk with his back to the window. "Come see Keiko's puppy!"