A/N - Sorry this chapter came out late. I had it written a few days ago, but then the site wouldn't let me upload a file until today. Cheers!
Disclaimer - I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

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Grocery Store

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Chapter 9 - The Wedding

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The next night, Friday, the night before the wedding, Kaoru walked into the laundry room in the basement of their apartment building. Then she ran back out again because she'd seen Kenshin. His back had been turned to her as he took out his clothing from the dryer.

He hadn't called her.

She hadn't dared call him. She'd gone to his apartment earlier, but she hadn't been able to knock on the door.

Now she stood in the basement hallway with her basket of dirty clothes and she was suddenly breathing hard. Kaoru sat her laundry basket on the floor and blinked rapidly, but drops of stray liquid slid down her face. She wiped them away. There was no way she was walking in there. She'd come back in half an hour. By then he'd be gone. She picked up her laundry basket and tiptoed past the door, glanced in. Kenshin had almost finished pulling his clothes from the dryer.

All she had to do was hurry to the elevator and go up to her floor before he finished. She hadn't told Megumi about the situation between her and Kenshin. The wedding was tomorrow and Megumi couldn't take anymore stress. Kaoru hoped to avoid Kenshin at the wedding reception. If she got this worked up just seeing his back, she dreaded what would happen when she saw him face to face.

The elevator hadn't come yet. Kaoru frowned. Kenshin would walk out the door of the laundry room soon.

She wondered if he'd told the woman he was in love with how he felt. She'd thought, for a while there, that'd he'd moved on. But no. Kaoru should have told him to be honest with the woman a long time ago. Then none of this would have happened. Kaoru had been so happy for eight and a half hours; apparently too happy for fate to allow. Damn fate. She'd also started swearing a lot more than she usually did.

The elevator door opened. She heard someone step out of the laundry room. Had Kenshin been the only person in the laundry room? She couldn't risk turning around to look.

Kaoru stepped into the elevator and pressed number ten for her floor. She hid in the left corner of the elevator so the person in the hallway wouldn't be able to see her face, only the side of her clothes basket.

"Hold the elevator, please."

Shit. That was Kenshin's voice.

She pressed the 'door close' button. She'd have to spend hours looking at him tomorrow, but at least there'd be people around. She wouldn't be alone with him if she could help it. The door closed agonizingly slowly.

"Hold the elevator!" he said again, alarmingly close.

Kaoru held the button down and prayed, because if he managed to get in the elevator she'd die of mortification on the spot.

The door closed and the elevator rose. Yes. God did love her.

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It was Saturday afternoon, and being the maid of honor was wonderful. She got a front row seat to the wedding. The best part was that Kenshin wasn't in the ceremony. He sat somewhere behind her. She'd seen the back of his head when she'd walked into the church on the best man's arm. Kenshin was the only redhead in the room. When the time had come for the best man to go right and Kaoru to go left, she'd had to face the seated guests, but Kenshin was seated on the groom's side and she was facing the bride's side. She'd kept her eyes directly on the guests in front of her and kept up a smile. She hadn't let her eyes stray farther to the left than the aisle.

Megumi was beautiful. Sano was handsome. They both looked a little scared at first, but now Megumi at least was serene. Sano kept grinning. The church was decked out according to Megumi's sophisticated taste. Kaoru's dress was actually flattering. The best man was hot. And yet there was no one in the room but her and Kenshin.

Even turned to face the altar, she sensed him behind her. He probably wasn't even looking at her. He was probably still disgusted with her, probably still angry. It hadn't been forty-eight hours since their fight and Kaoru already wanted nothing more than to have things right between them. When he'd mistakenly kissed her, Kenshin must have looked at her and saw the woman he loved. Kaoru wasn't her, could never be her. He couldn't help it, really, loving her. The least Kaoru could do was sit back and let him do it.

She'd just have to be on her guard, and that was all. She'd have to concentrate, make the wedding her whole world. And when it was over and the bride and the groom and all the people in the wedding party lined up to shake hands with everyone else, she'd handle it. Because there was no way she was going to cast the slightest dark shade on Megumi's wedding.

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It was later Saturday afternoon and somehow Megumi had shoved Kaoru in Kenshin's car before hopping blithely into a limo with Sano. Kaoru hadn't been able to bring herself to simply open the car door and get out again.

Megumi was too perceptive for her own good.

Now they sat silently in Kenshin's car, driving towards the wedding reception. The scenery through the passenger window had never been so interesting.

Tree after tree went by and Kaoru forced herself to keep her senses tuned to the view and the songs on the radio, not the smell of Kenshin's cologne or the feel of the leather seat of the car under her fingers. That simply brought to mind the person to whom the car belonged. She was supposed to be happy. Her best friend was finally married to the man she loved, to a good man.

Kaoru had never had to pretend around Kenshin before. It wasn't working very well. The content smile she'd managed to pull off during the ceremony wouldn't make an appearance again no matter how hard she tried. If he happened to glance over, he'd see that she was miserable. She wished it was Thursday morning again, or even better, Wednesday night. She wanted a do-over. Kenshin sat right next to her, but he was as unattainable as her childhood dream of skydiving into cotton candy clouds.

"Do you remember if it's a right or a left here?" he asked. He was leading the caravan of wedding guests to the reception hall.

"Left." She'd been to the hall a few times with Megumi to pick out silverware and furniture. Megumi had made sure Kaoru could drive there in her sleep.

"Thanks."

Was this how they were going to spend their lives until she got another job, or until he moved away? She wasn't planning on getting another job, but what if Kenshin moved back to Missouri? What if Hiroshi's visit had made him want to be home again, where he'd be close to the support network his family provided?

She bit her lip and turned her head to look at Kenshin. His eyes remained focused on the road. He absently tapped out the beat of the song on the radio on the steering wheel. Kenshin might leave. He wasn't attached to his job. In Missouri, he'd make friends easily; and he loved his family, despite the fact that they frustrated him. Yes, he might leave, and they'd still be like this, as far apart as if they stood on opposite sides of the railroad tracks with a never-ending train passing between them.

She traced her eyes over his profile, tried to memorize what she already knew. Red hair, violet eyes, fine features. He looked like his brother.

He made a left turn into the parking lot and glanced over, caught her looking. Her face burned, but the car was still in mid-turn so he looked away again. He parked at the edge of the lot. She wondered how long he planned on staying. Would she see much of him again after tonight?

"Did you mean it?" she blurted.

He turned off the car engine and kept his gaze steady on his hand at the ignition. "I meant it." He unbuckled his seatbelt.

Kaoru sighed and unbuckled hers. She felt whatever small hope she'd had left dwindle. Most of the cars drove past them to park closer to the reception hall, but a few pulled into the spots near them. "I'd hoped you didn't." The words drifted unbidden from her mouth.

He turned his head sharply and met her eyes. "What?"

The intensity in his violet gaze startled her. Kaoru forced herself to swallow. "Never mind," she said louder.

He blinked in confusion. "I thought this was what you wanted, like last time." He had heard her.

"Last time?" she echoed.

He glanced away. "The last time I kissed you."

Was that it? Had Kenshin thought she'd push him away again once she had eight hours to think about it? If that was true, then all she'd had to do was smile and take his hand.

"I want to be able to talk to you," she said.

He wouldn't look at her. "You told me to leave."

"You wanted to go." He wasn't going to blame all this on her.

He snorted. "This is just like you."

"Excuse me?"

"Making the wrong assumptions," he said. "And refusing to make others."

"I don't do that."

"Yes, you do. If it doesn't fit in your little world view, then it's not happening. For what it's worth, I don't think you do it on purpose." His eyes forgave her for something she knew she hadn't done.

"What false assumptions have I ever made?"

"How about the one where I'm in love with some random woman you've never met?"

"That's not an assumption," Kaoru pointed out. "You said you were."

"I never said that."

"But-"

"You assumed. You were wrong."

That silenced her reply.

"I can't decide whether you've got low self-esteem," Kenshin continued, "or a fear of relationships."

"So what are you going to do? Sit here and insult me until you figure it out?"

He met her eyes. "I think it's both. I don't know what happened to make you feel that way, but I think it's both."

"Oh. So suddenly you're the authority on relationships? You? Mr. 'oh, if I don't ask them out for more than two dates, then it's not dating.' Please."

"I never said I was Dr. Phil, but I know you, Kaoru. I've spent at least an hour a day with you all year."

"That doesn't mean you know me. What do you want me to say? That you're right? That you're wrong? That isn't going to change anything."

"I do know you. That's why I was so worried Thursday afternoon. I knew you were going to shove me away again."

"I wasn't going to do anything!" Kaoru denied hotly. He started a little and she knew she'd caught him off guard. "Have you ever stopped to think that maybe you're the one making the wrong assumptions? You don't know me as well as you think, Kenshin. You're sitting here convinced that it's your duty to save me from myself, from my low self-esteem and my fear of relationships and my 'little world view'. But I've lived just fine for two and half decades with those handicaps. I've thrived. So don't sit there and tell me there's something wrong with me."

Kaoru opened the car door and left.

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She made it halfway across the parking lot before he called her name. She kept walking. He said "Kaoru" again and her hold on her anger started to weaken. He grabbed her arm and stepped in front of her. She halted to avoid walking into him.

Kenshin spoke quickly. "You're right. You're right. You're right. Please don't walk away."

His words hung in the air between them. That hadn't been how she'd wanted things to turn out. She'd had an idea that she'd waltz in and apologize and he'd accept and they'd be friends again. She hadn't expected him to put her faults on display. She forced herself to swallow and take a calming breath. "I shouldn't have gotten self-righteous."

He watched her warily. "Don't apologize. I just said you were right."

Kaoru glowered. "Do you want this resolved or not?"

Kenshin's eyes widened; then he relaxed and took his hand from her arm. "I'd like to date you, Kaoru," he said, stunning her. "I kept trying to tell you, but nothing registered. I'm sorry, but I can't be just friends."

She needed somewhere to sit down. With a whoosh, the air expelled itself from her lungs. She hadn't known she was holding her breath. "But you weren't happy when you came to pick me up from work."

"I was too nervous," he said simply. "It hurt the first time, so I was steeling myself for the second time. And then you walked outside and you weren't happy either."

"Because you were upset," Kaoru said slowly. "I saw you holding that cigarette and I decided it was because you regretted it. I'd already convinced myself it was too good to be true and I was waiting for you to prove me wrong. But you didn't."

He snorted. "I hit on you everyday, and you couldn't tell?"

He had? "You have to be blatant."

"Kaoru, I make you dinner. I go shopping with you. I even said I'd rather look at you than Playboy."

She couldn't help laughing, mostly with relief. An eternity of tension and the train on the tracks between them hadn't been there after all, only an illusion. "I thought you were joking."

"Kaoru, many married men don't choose their wives over Playboy."

"Yes they do!"

He tilted his head at her skeptically. "If you say so." He smiled at her and she smiled at him and that excited, bubbly feeling was back. "We're like a soap opera," he said. "I liked you, you liked me, and then we both talked ourselves out of it."

Kaoru started to shake her head, but it was true.

"You do like me, don't you?" For the first time, he seemed nervous. "Like me like I'm talking about, I mean."

Kaoru blushed. "I do."

His eyes softened. "I think we're making up," he said.

"I think you're right," she said.