April 3rd, The Monk's Vice Pub & Bar, nearly midnight
"Just one mooore, Sangoooo," Kagome pleaded with a slur, pushing her empty glass on the bar toward the woman in question.
"No." Sango continued to wipe down glasses, racking them behind the bar for the next day's use. "You've had quite enough."
"Inusshaaa," Kagome turned drunkenly toward him, one of the few people left in the bar, "Make 'er gimme anotherrr. I promise I'll never go to Russiaaa with that stupid jerk-face…" She leaned over him, nearly falling off her stool and into his lap. "Pleeeeaase?" She tugged on a lock of silver hair that had fallen over his shoulder, boozy breath fanning his face.
Inuyasha grimaced. He felt bad for Kagome, had listened as she complained to Sango about Kouga's incompetence, his sexism, his general disregard for her wellbeing. It pissed him off that he treated Kagome, and people in general it seemed, so poorly. But for the time being, there was nothing he could do about it besides make sure that Kagome didn't drink herself into a night at the hospital with alcohol poisoning.
"I think you need to go home," he said, gently disengaging his hands from his hair. Under normal circumstances, he very much liked the feel of her hands on him, but right now, while she was utterly drunk and emotionally distraught, it just made him feel squicky.
"No one looooves meee," Kagome whined, throwing her elbows down on the bar and resting her chin on her forearms. She blew her bangs out of her face.
Sango rolled her eyes. "Of course we love you Kaggie. That's why we won't let you have any more booze. You'll put yourself in the hospital. As it is, I know you're going to regret this in the morning." She put down the glass she was wiping and put her hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Inuyasha's right you know— you should go home."
Kagome sighed heavily. "Fiiiine. But only if he walks me home," she demanded, jutting her chin at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha flicked a questioning gaze at Sango, who nodded.
"I think that'll be just fine, Kaggie," Sango agreed. "Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha slid off his stool and held a hand out to Kagome, as Sango pressed her to sit up straight and stand up. Kagome wavered, and Inuyasha gripped her shoulders to steady her.
"C'mon, Kagome," Inuyasha grunted, leading her toward the door.
Sango met them at the end of the bar with Kagome's jacket, wallet and keys. With some struggle, they managed to get Kagome into her coat, with her keys and wallet stowed securely in the pockets. Sango held the door open with a sigh and shake of her head.
The walk home was fairly short, and in her drunken haze, Kagome greatly enjoyed being pressed up against Inuyasha as they navigated the sidewalks home. When they reached her apartment building, he helped her up the stairs, steadying her from behind so she didn't take a tumble down the twisting flight. They arrived at the door, and Kagome fumbled with the key and the lock, unable to get the two to properly align. Finally, Inuyasha took the keys from her and unlocked the door, pushing it open. Kagome wobbled inside, tripping over the doormat. She'd have fallen if Inuyasha hadn't caught her. Gingerly, he helped her over to the sofa where she could sit down.
"Thanks," Kagome muttered.
"Yeah," Inuyasha replied. His eyes roved over her, concern playing at the edges of his expression. She was very drunk, potentially more so than she had been at New Year's. "I'm going to get you some water. Wait here." He turned and closed the front door, then went off to the kitchen to find a glass.
When he returned, Kagome was leaning back against the gray sofa cushions, looking him over with an odd expression as he approached, glass of water in hand. He handed it to her, and she drank, never taking her eyes off him. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. Unsure what to do as she stared at him, Inuyasha eventually moved and sat down on the sofa next to her, putting a little over a foot of space between them.
Given the cause of this evening's bout of tearful drunkenness, Inuyasha was keenly aware that Kagome was both emotionally, and now physically vulnerable. But the way she kept looking at him… it was an expression that he recognized in his core, but very much did not want to acknowledge. Hunger. Inuyasha knew he should leave, but he also didn't want to abandon Kagome by herself until he was sure that there was no need to take her to the emergency room.
"Inuyasha." Her voice broke into his whirl of thoughts. She was suddenly much closer than he recalled her being. Whiskey and beer mingled on her breath.
"Kagome, what are you—" But he knew what she was doing. And he knew he should have moved away. But her warmth rooted him to the spot. Her lips closed on his.
The kiss was aggressive. And it was what he had wanted for months. Something primal reached into his center, pulling all of the breath from his lungs in a moan of desperation— desire and revulsion comingled. He reveled in the feel of her, her lips and tongue meeting and tangling with his, and yet it was wrong. All wrong. One part of him felt like a cad, like he was taking advantage of her. Another part raged that she was taking advantage of him in order to vent her emotions. And underneath it all was a current of lust that ran between them, shunting them closer and closer to the edge of the waterfall.
Her breasts were pressed against his chest, and somehow she had made into his lap, where she ground herself against his achingly hard cock. His blue button-down shirt was open, her hands roaming over his firm pectorals, leaving trails of fire in their wake. Straining under the tension of his emotions and indecision, Inuyasha was rapidly coming undone.
Kagome moaned into his mouth, pressing her lips harder to his, her hands diving into his luxurious silver hair. I don't care, I don't care if this is wrong, she thought harshly. Kouga— Kouga is an asshole. And—and Inuyasha— my god, I want him. She gasped as she felt him squeeze her breast. Yes. She pulled back just enough to allow some space between them so she could reach down and pop open the button on his jeans.
Inuyasha's eyes snapped open as he felt the button on his fly come undone in Kagome's suddenly surprisingly nimble hands— she was still quite drunk after all— and his internal war was abruptly resolved. He pushed her hands away and broke the kiss.
Kagome stared at him in confusion. "Why—"
"We can't," Inuyasha said simply. "I can't. It wouldn't be fair to either of us."
"But—"
He shook his head. "You're drunk. You're upset." He surveyed her, taking in her disheveled appearance. He probably looked similar. "I won't be the reason you break up with Kouga. You need to figure that out on your own."
Kagome scowled. "What? You're not—"
"Listen, Kagome." Inuyasha shifted her off of his lap and back onto the couch. "This isn't just about you. This is about me too. I really, really like you. A lot." His golden eyes searched her brown ones, willing her to understand. "I can't be around you without wanting more of you than you can give while you're still with Kouga. And it would be wrong of me to ask you to break up with him. But…" He sighed. "I feel like you're stringing me along, whether you mean to or not."
Kagome's expression fractured and she opened her mouth to object, but Inuyasha held up a hand.
"I would love to keep seeing you. I really would. But I don't think it's a good idea." He began buttoning his shirt. "Tomorrow, when you're sober, you're going to regret all of this, and you'd regret it even more if it went…further. I don't ever want you to regret me, Kagome. So— if—if you ever do decide to break things off with Kouga, I want it to be for the right reasons. Don't break things off with him for me. Do it for you, because you've decided it's what's best for you." Inuyasha stood up, shirt now fully buttoned.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, watching, frozen as he moved toward the door.
He smiled sadly. "I can see that you won't need me to take you to the hospital now. I'm glad." He paused, his hand on the doorknob. Then he turned it and pulled the door open, stepping over the threshold.
"Good night." And then he was gone.