Author's Note- I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. I am so sorry for the extremely long wait. Life got in the way and I needed to deal with it. I'm sorry for the poor quality of this chapter. Also, please excuse any mistakes. I didn't have time to edit. I'm not exactly happy with this story, but I do want to finish it. Next chapter is the last.
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It took Rin a few seconds for it to sink in that she had asked Sesshomaru on a date.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I asked him." she said burying her face in her hands.
A second later it dawned on her that he had said yes, so she let out a small scream of excitement. Sesshomaru had to at least like her a little bit to agree to a date. Good. Things were finally starting to look up for her. Feeling inspired, Rin decided to go work on the mural. Close to the time Sesshomaru was to call, she cleaned herself up and then went into her room to work on some smaller art projects. Once nine o'clock came and went, Rin began to suspect that Sesshomaru wasn't going to call. A few hours later, she gave up waiting and went to bed. She was awakened some time later by an annoying buzzing sound. Still half asleep, it took her a few seconds to realize that it was her cell phone vibrating on the nightstand. She opened it and saw that there was a missed message from Sesshomaru. She clicked on the message icon and played the message.
"The meeting is running later than anticipated. I should return home later today."
She quickly called and left him a message.
"No need to explain to me. I understand."
And she did. She had attended a few business meetings with her father, so she knew that they sometimes ran longer or shorter than scheduled. That's why she didn't automatically assume that he had lied to her when he hadn't called like he promised.
"I'll see you later then. Call me if you can't make it."
Rin clicked off the phone and lay back in the bed to go to sleep.
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The next morning, she woke up late and then went to run a few errands. Afterwards, she went to the office and worked on that mural. She got home late that night, but instead of resting, she grabbed her camera equipment and went to the roof. She was so into taking the pictures that she didn't even notice that Sesshomaru had come up behind her.
"Rin."
He touched her shoulder and she jumped. Rin gripped her camera to use as a weapon when she turned around and saw who it was.
"God, Sesshomaru don't sneak up on me like that." she said taking off her headphones.
"I called you twice but you didn't hear me."
"How did you know I was up here?"
"I saw my chair holding the door open. Why are you out here?"
"My advisor convinced me to take a photography course. I needed to take some pictures before the actual course started so I decided to take some from up here. It's clear out tonight so I've got a good shot at the stars in the sky."
Sesshomaru didn't say anything, but he did look up. Instead of looking up, Rin looked at him. Not for the first time, she acknowledged how absolutely gorgeous Sesshomaru was. He could make supermodels weep and hide their faces in shame. At least he'd always have a backup plan if he failed as a businessman, which he wouldn't since as he was a genius at it. Rin could almost see it now, The Great Sesshomaru: Male supermodel. She imagined him doing one of those romance book covers, half naked holding some damsel in distress with the wind blowing through his hair and nearly lost it. Now that would be utterly hilarious. Maybe one day I'll draw that, she thought to herself. Of course it would have to forever remain a secret because he would kill her for just thinking about it. Then again, it would make a wonderful birthday or Christmas present. In the mean time, she could just take a picture of him like that. Rin quickly lifted up her camera and clicked some pictures. She was so busy clicking away that she hadn't noticed that Sesshomaru was now looking at her. She quickly lowered the camera and grinned.
"Just finishing up the last of the roll." she explained.
She quickly turned around before he noticed that her camera was digital.
"It's late and I'm ready to turn in." she said as she then began gathering up her things.
"Rin, we need to talk about the date."
She tensed slightly, but didn't stop what she was doing. She wasn't ready to talk about that just yet but apparently Sesshomaru wanted to. And if his tone was anything to go by then she wasn't going to like what he had to say. If he had changed his mind, then so be it. Better to know now than later.
"If you changed your mind just say so. Trust me, I'll understand."
It was a lie naturally.
"I haven't."
Rin let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.
"Then can we talk about it tomorrow? It's late and I'm about ready to drop."
She was actually wide awake, but didn't want to talk to him about the date, or at least not about why she asked. At this moment, she didn't know how she was going to answer. Obviously he could assume that she somewhat like him because she asked him out. But was she ready to tell him how much? One part of her was ready to get everything out in the open. That way there would be no more guessing and she would know where she stood with him. Another part thought telling him would be a foolish thing to do. She would only be opening herself up to even more hurt. Sesshomaru looked at her for a second. Seeing as he waited this long to discuss what was going on with them, another day wouldn't hurt.
"Fine."
"Good. You can make me breakfast and we can talk." she said with a smile.
"I have an early morning meeting."
"Lunch or dinner then. You choose. Besides, knowing your almost nonexistent sleep habits, you've probably only had two or three hours of sleep."
Rin slung her bag and camera over her shoulder and grabbed his hand.
"Come on, to bed with you too."
They left the roof. Once in the apartment they said goodnight and then went to their bedrooms. Instead of going to bed Rin grabbed her phone and dialed Inuyasha. She needed to do one last thing before she had her talk with Sesshomaru. The voicemail picked up so she left a message.
"Yasha, I know you're busy tonight and not going to get this until tomorrow morning. If you're free, come see me. I need to talk to you."
She clicked the phone off and then got ready for bed.
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It wasn't until the next afternoon that Inuyasha showed up. Rin was working on a painting when he walked in. She pulled off her headphones and looked at him.
"I didn't hear you come in."
"I would have been here sooner, but I just got your message."
"That's okay, there was no need to rush."
"So, what's wrong?"
Rin frowned to herself. How the hell was she supposed to start this conversation? She needed to know if she still reacted to Inuyasha like she always did. Was she just trying to push her feelings for Inuyasha off onto Sesshomaru? She honestly didn't think so, but not too long ago she truly felt that she was in love with Inuyasha. Totally blank for any ideas, Rin threw all caution to the wind and leaned forward to kiss him. Right away she realized the main flaw in her plan. The fact that you can enjoy kissing someone even if you're not in love with them. It made it hard to judge with Inuyasha because she did have feelings for him. In fact, if it wasn't for her feelings for Sesshomaru, she probably would still believe that she was still in love with Inuyasha. For his part, Inuyasha froze in shock. What the hell was going on? Rin was kissing him, and it definitely wasn't one of their friendly pecks. His mind was screaming at him to pull away, but his body just refused to listen.
"For so long I thought I was in love with you." she said as she pulled away.
For some reason Inuyasha's mind just seemed to focus on the "in love with you" portion of Rin's sentence. Inuyasha felt his heart sink. This couldn't be happening. The kiss was bad, but this was so much more worse. He didn't even want to begin to deal with what it meant. He wanted this to be a joke or nightmare but he knew it was neither. The last thing Inuyasha wanted to do was hurt Rin, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't let her think that he returned her feelings. He loved her, just not romantically. And what about Sesshomaru? Inuyasha was sure that she liked him. He must have been wrong because she wouldn't have kissed him otherwise. Rin watched Inuyasha's face and was incredibly happy that she wasn't in love with him. Otherwise, she would've been devastated. His expression told her everything she needed to know. Inuyasha didn't love her like that, probably never even thought about it. She would admit that it did hurt a little especially for the Rin who had honestly believed that she had been in love with Inuyasha. At the same time, she was relieved that he didn't return her feelings. She could just imagine the trouble that would've been stirred up if Inuyasha had returned her feelings. Rin was in love with Sesshomaru now and she would never wish unrequited feelings on anyone.
"But I'm not. I'm in love with Sesshomaru, evil bastard that he is."
"Rin, I'm really sorry. As much as I..." he trailed off as her earlier words sunk in.
His eyes widened as he stared at Rin. She was in love with Sesshomaru. Inuyasha had thought that there was something could be going on with the two, but this was more than he thought. He had to sigh in relief though. If she was in love with Sesshomaru, then she couldn't be in love with him. A lot of heartache and pain would be avoided.
"So why did you kiss me?"
Rin sighed and knelt down beside him.
"I needed to make sure, but I shouldn't have used you like that. I'm sorry for that."
"So...uh, did you feel anything? When you kissed me I mean."
Rin quickly thought over the kiss. It was nice. Not earth shattering, but not repulsive either. If they did it again she would happily do it, but if they didn't, she would be okay with that too. In all honesty, she felt more just thinking about kissing Sesshomaru.
"It was nice." she said with a sigh. "Sesshomaru tried to tell me, but I just thought he was being his usual bastard self."
"Sesshomaru knew?"
"Just about everyone did. You're probably the only one who didn't know."
"Damn. This is going to take some time to sink in. So, what are you going to do about Sesshomaru?"
"I asked him out on a date, and he said yes."
"Good. You know, I don't get what you women see in him. He's a cold, arrogant bastard."
"He's an extremely sexy, cold, arrogant bastard. His hair is gorgeous and his body is..."
"That's enough!" Inuyasha said covering his ears. "Hearing you talk about him like that is making me sick."
"You know, I can also be describing you. The two of you look alike."
"Now that was just cruel of you to say."
Rin laughed and then sighed.
"Are you okay with this? Me being in love with Sesshomaru I mean."
"Yes. He's cold, ruthless, an asshole, and not to mention..."
Inuyasha was cut off as Rin reached out and playfully hit him. It was only as she saw the stain on his shirt that she remembered that she had paint on that hand.
"Sorry. If I get it in the wash right now, it shouldn't set in."
He pulled off the shirt and handed it to her.
"This means I'm going to have to wear one of Sesshomaru's shirts." he groaned as they walked toward Sesshomaru's room.
"Or you can wear one of mine."
Rin came up behind him and wrapped her arm around him so she could poke his stomach.
"With your body, I think you could totally pull off looking hot in one of my tight pink shirts." she said jokingly.
She had just finished poking his stomach as the front door clicked and then opened. Rin froze as Sesshomaru, followed by Kagome, walked in the door. They too froze when they caught a glimpse of Rin and Inuyasha. Normally either Rin or Inuyasha would have made a comment but they both realized how bad they actually looked. Inuyasha was shirtless while Rin was still in her pajamas. From the way her hand was now placed, it looked like she had been caressing his stomach with the intention of moving lower instead of poking it. And to top if all off, Rin's lip gloss was smeared and some was still visible on Inuyasha's lips. Kagome stared for a few more seconds and then left. Inuyasha cursed and immediately took off after her. That left Sesshomaru and Rin alone together. Why do these things always happen to me, she thought miserably. Rin shifted slightly. She was afraid to look Sesshomaru in the eyes. She could only imagine what he was thinking. Probably something along the lines of her still wanting Inuyasha and sitting back and waiting for the right moment to get her chance with him. When she finally did glance at him, she instantly regretted it. His expression was completely blank. She had seen his face like that before, and had always hated it. That blank expression always seemed to scream, "you're too insignificant to be acknowledged by me." And the last thing she wanted was to be not acknowledged by him.
For his part, Sesshomaru really wasn't thinking much of anything, other than telling himself that he shouldn't have been surprised. From the beginning Rin had made it clear that she was in love with Inuyasha. He had been the one trying to convince her otherwise. He had been surprised, and he would never admit it to himself, hurt. He actually thought that Rin had let go of Inuyasha. And when she had asked him to go out with her... Sesshomaru stopped that line of thought quickly. How utterly foolish of me to think that she did, he thought to himself. No matter, he would push his feeling for Rin to the back of his mind and then put all of this down as a hard lesson learned and move on.
"Don't jump to conclusions." she said.
He completely ignored her and started to walk past her.
"I can explain."
She grabbed his arm so he stopped and looked her. Rin quickly let him go at the sight of the cold look he was giving her. In all of the time that she had known him, she had never seen Sesshomaru look at anyone that way.
"Whatever you and Inuyasha get up to is none of my business. Now, I have a multimillion dollar business deal that needs to be closed in a few hours. I don't have time to play games with you right now."
Rin flinched like she had been hit.
"A game? You think that's what this is?"
"Isn't it?"
When she didn't answer, Sesshomaru walked to his office. Part of Rin wanted to follow him, but she decided against it. If he thought this was a game, then she wasn't going to go in there and lay her heart on the line. Or what was left of it because right now it sure felt like it was breaking. A minute or so later, he came out of the office. Without saying anything or even acknowledging her, he walked passed Rin and went out the door. Rin couldn't do anything except look after him. Her heart clinched painfully and she had to will herself not to cry.
"I am done with this." she said to herself.
She walked into her room and quickly changed clothes. As she made her way back through the living room, she stopped and looked at the mural. After staring for a few moments, she walked over it and picked up a paintbrush.
Hours later, Sesshomaru returned home. He had gone to his office to work but his mind was on the Rin situation, so it was hard for him to get anything done. He had finally given up trying and came home. Besides, he realized that he needed to talk to Rin, possibly offer her an apology. After he had time to calm down and think, it became clear how irrational he had acted. Inuyasha and Rin had always been extremely close and had frequently been caught in questionable situations. At first it had raised a few eyebrows, but then it got to the point that both their families just paid it no attention. There really was no reason for them to sneak around. Both families openly welcomed and encouraged a relationship between the two. Why else would they let two unaccompanied minors share a hotel room with only one bed? So what was so different this time? Simple, Sesshomaru was jealous. For the first time in his life he had been jealous and had acted like it. He couldn't help but to frown slightly. Such a display was beneath him. Once he got to his door, he noticed that there was an envelope taped to his door. He pulled it off and opened it. There was a key, that he recognized as his, and a slip of paper in it. Ignoring the key for a second, he read the slip of paper.
I didn't want to further waste either of our time by pretending to continue.
Sesshomaru stared at the letter for a second. She wouldn't, he thought as he quickly rushed inside. He walked into the livingroom and paused. She would. Even the usually expressionless Sesshomaru couldn't stop the look of surprise from showing on his face. The wall that had once housed Rin's vibrantly colored mural was once again painted white. Not even a second later the true meaning of the now blank wall hit him. This was Rin's goodbye. She was gone and didn't plan on coming back.
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Another AN- As you can see, I took out the date part. I was having trouble writing it. Not only that but I don't have much inspiration for this story. I want to finish it so that I can work on my other stories.
