Long time no post! But - two lovely people have a birthday today and I wanted to do something for Wulfintheforest and Nartista :) It's not much but I hope you guys enjoy the update!

The walk back to the office was met with coworkers smiling far too much for comfort. It's like everyone knew that they passed, and Kagome wasn't sure which part of what they thought they knew was the truth. It had been such a good weekend too…

Outside of standing before her family and friends at an exorbitantly priced wedding venue and flaying her fiancé with all the evidence of his infidelity and plans to abuse her family's social status to continue to stick his nose in circles where it didn't belong. Once she got past the shame of being dumped after the last four months of being happy and in a relationship, only to make it known that she had a thing for her coworker, yeah it was a good weekend.

"At least we didn't get The Talk."

Inuyasha snorted. "Bit late for that."

It wasn't like the conversation wasn't expected. Once the start of the week rolled around, both of them made a b-line for Touga's office without being prompted. They were adults. They knew that it would be awkward to work next to the person they were sleeping with. Only…this wasn't really awkward for them. It felt natural.

Touga was surprised to find see his youngest son and newest hire step into his office, and so early at that. He had barely taken a sip of his coffee when the door had opened. "We're doing this early, I see," he sighed, setting the cup back down.

"It felt like it was better to talk about it sooner rather than later." Kagome shot a look at Inuyasha.

"I'll quit before I let you transfer Kagome or fire her."

"Inuyasha –"

"No, I ain't backing down from this. I just got you back in my life and I'll be damned if you're leaving it –"

"Where am I going, really? Do you have to be so dramatic? If I'm getting fired I'm not up and moving out of town –"

"You ain't gonna be fired because I'll quit –"

"And you know how that'll look? Everyone here will look at me like I'm a disease that forced out one of the boss' sons!"

Why were they doing this in his office? They had come to speak to him, right? Touga reached out for his coffee. If they were going to keep going, he was going to enjoy his drink. Two sips in, and they stopped. He sighed again. This was not how he expected to start out a Monday, but then again, when his family was involved he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Are you two done?" he asked. Kagome at least had the decency to look embarrassed, mumbling an apology. Touga waved it off, too used to hearing people get into screaming matches with Inuyasha. "Alright, here's what's going to happen. No one is quitting. No one is getting fired. No one is transferring. For the first time you can't run to HR because you got felt up son, and I'm sure they'll be thrilled that you're dating your assistant –"

"I did not run!"

"Kikyo told me otherwise, but that's besides the point," Touga grinned. "As I was saying, whatever you two do outside of work is your own business. I trust that you won't let any arguments hinder your ability to work together. If you could fight like cats and dogs in middle school and still get high marks on your science project you can do it again here."

"Of course, sir."

"You may as well drop that," Inuyasha told Kagome. "He ain't gonna let you say that unless it's formal."

"He's right, you know," Touga cut in, shooting his son a look before he could start crowing about it. "I think we've covered everything, yes? As I've told anyone else that has begun dating a coworker, affairs of the heart stay outside the building, along with any sickening pet names, safe words, and sexual activities –"

"Dad!"

"I went through this with your brother, and I told him that if you happened to start dating in the company I would extend the same courtesy to you."

"Okay I think we're good, let's go Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice went higher than normal, and it was all Touga could do not to laugh outright.

Before he had reached the door, Touga called out. "One more thing. If anything were to happen, keep it to your office. Preferably with the doors locked. And try not to do anything during work hours, son. I promise it won't fall off, despite what your brother told you when you were seven –"

Kagome was struggling to hold in her laughter until they made it back to the office. As soon as the door shut she turned loose, doubling over wheezing. She could feel Inuyasha pass by her as she tried to catch her breath.

"Get it out, don't hold back," he said dryly.

"You have to admit it's funny," she sighed. "That conversation could've gone so much worse."

Inuyasha sat down behind the desk, letting his head fall back against his chair. "I know," he groaned. "I meant what I said though, and my old man knows it. I won't let him fire you, and if you were to quit I'd still walk."

"You enjoy working here."

"I enjoy working you more," he smirked. "Come on, you made that too easy, 'Gome."

Okay, so she walked into that one. Kagome shrugged, walking over to sit across from him on the other side of the desk. "I gotta know. Was what your dad said true?"

"About..?"

"Your brother telling you your penis would fall off if you didn't use it." The way Inuyasha's face went red told her everything. She wanted to laugh so badly. "I can't believe you bought into that, Inu!"

"Yeah – well – it's not one of my proudest moments, okay?! Doesn't help that demons start experiencing puberty early. Sesshomaru, asshole that he is, claimed he was helping me out by telling me things that our dad told him. Thought I'd rather hear it from my brother, you know?"

She didn't have an older sibling – well, Kikyo was a year older – but she could understand the intent. "But he told you it'd fall off…"

Inuyasha should've been red up to the tips of his ears. "I know that now," he mumbled. "but back then I kinda needed some reassurance, okay? My brother started telling me about things I could expect to happen in the next couple years, and I started to panic cause…some of those things I was starting to experience then…"

"Really?"

"Don't go getting invested," he sputtered. "There ain't nothing to tell!"

"Your blush says otherwise," Kagome smiled. "How about you share something, and I'll return the favor? Deal?"

He hesitated, and the blush wasn't going away, so this must have been good. "F-fine. I…started noticing girls as girls… and it was starting to freak me out, cause I shouldn't have."

"Who?" Kagome was curious now. "I'll tell you if you tell me."

"I don't wanna play this game," he said quickly, talking over her protests. "It doesn't matter who it was. The point is, I started to wonder what it'd be like to kiss her when I knew good and damn well she'd never look at me like that."

"How do you know that? Did you ask her?" When Inuyasha shook his head, she groaned. "Why didn't you?"

His eyes settled on her, and Kagome felt a chill run up her spine. "Cause by the time I got up the nerve, she wasn't there anymore."

That intense look, a mixture of sadness about the past and relief about the present, hit her in the chest. For a moment, Kagome couldn't breathe. "You… all this time? Oh Inu…" He had thought about her all the way back since they were kids. It was so sweet and heartbreaking. "Not for nothing," she said, willing herself not to cry. "You weren't the only one that wondered."

"Please don't cry," he begged. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

Kagome shook her head, taking a deep breath. "We're a mess," she laughed. "We had crushes on each other since we were kids and had no idea. I…used to think that you'd have wanted to kiss my cousin whenever she came to visit. I mean, why me? You saw me every day, and if my hair was pulled back I'd fit in with the rest of the boys. Kikyo got lucky being an early bloomer. All the boys talked about how cool she was."

"I also remember them getting disappointed when she told them how it was," Inuyasha pointed out. As a kid he remembered thinking that Kagome's cousin was cool, but she wasn't the one he wanted to kiss. He appreciated her attitude, probably because it reminded him so much of his best friend. So when Kagome moved away and Kikyo had transferred to their high school, she was the replacement. "You know, I still have that last picture you mailed me. It sat at my bedside until the day I got my own place. Now it sits in the guest room-turned-office."

"How have I not seen it?"

"Cause you're too focused on getting my pants off?"

Kagome went bright red. "I'm not that bad!" she squeaked. "But…I do have your picture sitting in my room. I was so happy to see that you started to grow your hair out again. W-What's that look for?" she asked, noticing that faraway look in his eyes.

"Nothing," he replied quickly. "Just…I don't think it's sunk in that you came back to me. I'm scared I'm gonna wake up and realize I lost you."

"You can't lose me." They'd already had this discussion, right? He'd said he'd walk first –

"I did before."

She frowned. "We were kids, Inuyasha. I couldn't help that. I couldn't very well live on my own at fourteen…"

"I didn't mean when you moved away. I meant you walking down the aisle."

Oh. That. "Even…even if I had, even if I hadn't known what I had known, I don't think it would've lasted a year."

"Or it could've. I could've lost you for another twenty, and what then? I don't know that my heart could've taken that again."

"Inuyasha…"

"You could have given it a shot," he suggested, and Kagome knew he wasn't talking about the almost marriage again. Which, frankly, was fine with her. The only good thing to come out of that was learning that he loved her.

Kagome's brow furrowed. "Inu…I was fourteen. I couldn't support myself then. I'd have had to move in with someone –"

"You could've moved in with me."

"And where would I sleep?" she asked, but as soon as the words left her mouth she knew it was a mistake. Inuyasha was giving her an exasperated look. "My parents would not have been fine with me sleeping in a fourteen-year-old boy's room –"

"Funny, they don't seem to mind that he's thirty-four."

"We barely sleep –"

"We do," he insisted. "When we wear each other out, we sleep. I'd have been good, Kagome. The bed was big enough we could have shared it, or I could've slept on the floor –"

She couldn't believe they were actually having this conversation. "You just told me that when you were seven you wanted to kiss me, Inu. I'm not sure I even want to know what you were thinking at fourteen –"

"The same thing I think about at thirty-four, only I get to act on it now," he grinned.

"So…how's it going?"

The way the blond woman drew out that sentence in such a…Kagome wasn't sure how to describe it, but it set off a billion alarms in her head. The biggest one? Trying to remember what in the hell this woman's name was.

She was really sweet and had been so welcoming when Kagome started, and for the life of her she couldn't fit a name to the face. They didn't cross paths a lot, but she often saw her in the break room or when Kikyo would pull her in to work on something. She was spacy and intelligent at the same time, could gush about celebrity gossip and turn around and build a complete campaign plan in an afternoon. She'd gotten high marks in college, graduated with honors, and could easily start up a competing company if she took a notion. She just…didn't. Said she liked working with everyone there and couldn't dream of leaving the "family atmosphere".

"Louise!" That was it! "You startled me," Kagome laughed, hoping it sounded genuine. She really had been spooked, but she didn't want to make the woman feel bad because her memory lapsed. "It's…going?"

Louise smiled big, as she did, and began to search the cabinets in the break room for a to go cup. "You know I do that a lot?" she mused. "Maybe I need to start doing some kind of calling when I enter a room? How about…doo doo de dooo?"

"I…think that actually really suits you." Kagome blinked, realizing that now that it was out there she could expect to hear doo doo de dooo before she even saw Louise come around the corner. It was bizarre how that odd little sound clicked with her, and a small selfish part was glad that now she'd have a cue to remember her name.

Really, how many times in a day do you actually address each person by name? Not as common as one would think.

"Anyway," Louise was setting her cup under the machine, picking out a coffee pod flavor. She was in full-on gush mode, and Kagome was a little worried. "I heard that you had an eventful weekend."

Kagome winced. "Yeah…sorry you missed out on that drama," she replied. She had sent out invitations across the floor, and Louise had a family emergency that had her weekend filled. Even worse was that she was on her own through the whole thing. "How's your nephew doing? Feeling better?"

"Charlie's doing fine now. They have him back at home resting; was a bit scary to hear that his appendix was about to burst but those doctors know what they're doing." When Louise turned to look at her, her happy expression had slipped away. "I don't know if half of what I've heard has been facts, but I am so sorry honey. All of that planning, all of that work, and he goes and hooks up with a goat? I mean I know the laws in some places don't forbid it, but that's bestiality…"

She nearly spit her coffee across the break room. Through her nose.

"G-goat?!" she wheezed. "You heard that – that Bankotsu was –"

"Oh no…I think I might have gotten that confused with the acronym… See I thought that sounded uncouth, so I wanted to talk with you!"

Kagome didn't know if it was Kagura that started that rumor, but clearly someone had said that one of the other women on the side must have resembled a goat, because from what she had been shown, none of those women should have qualified as the "greatest of all time". She couldn't decide if she should be mad that gossip had taken off to this level of ridiculousness or laugh at her own expense, but she knew what she was telling Inuyasha when she saw him next. In the meantime, she filled in Louise on what actually happened, right down to the moment that Inuyasha kissed her right there in front of everyone.

"Oh you did have a weekend," the blond commented, taking her cup from the machine and gave it a quick sip. Her face wrinkled in disgust when she realized that she hadn't added anything to it and turned to seek out the creamer packets to fix that. "I'm still so sorry that it came to that. I mean – and stop me if you've heard this a billion times already – but you got lucky in that you found out now rather than later."

She had heard that, even said it herself, but she wasn't going to tell Louise that. The woman meant well; no way was she going to burst her bubble. "You're right," she agreed. "I got very lucky I could avoid that mess."

Louise leaned in and Kagome almost knew what was about to come next. "Pardon my French, but I bet you got lucky in so many other ways too!"

Flashes of the hotel suite filled her thoughts. Then back at his apartment. Waking up in his bed again. The morning shower. Cooking breakfast with him. Spending a lazy Sunday in their underwear. Just being with him, laughing and feeling completely at peace. Kagome's cheeks warmed as she smiled into her coffee. "Yeah…yeah I did luck out, huh?"

"I've seen so many women try to be where you're at," Louise continued on, and she had to wonder if the woman realized how many ways that could be taken. "Inuyasha is very…reserved, compared to a lot of men I've met over the years. Not saying that he doesn't ring my bell – oooo-eee," she laughed. "but I also knew that when I started working here that there was someone he had his heart set aside for, so I didn't even try to ask him out for coffee."

While Kagome appreciated Louise's blunt honesty about having the hots for her boyfriend, the realization that multiple women that had worked with him hadn't been as observant. It made her a bit…territorial wasn't the right word for it, but she was curious how many still worked elsewhere, or was it simply past personal assistants that couldn't keep their hands to themselves?

Not like she could talk, but she could say with pride that she hadn't palmed him at work.

Yet.

Maybe once it sunk in that she was his she'd give it a shot.

Louise didn't seem to notice that she had tuned her out and just kept talking. "I think it's so great that Inuyasha has who his heart has called for at last. That Yura gal he was dating way back? I could smell the liar on her the few times I saw her come by. But there was something in his eyes…it was so…sad, and I'm not sure he even realized it. I don't think he was looking for it to be a long-term thing, but since you started working here? Haven't seen it since."

What could she possibly say to that? Yura had done some damage, and then she had started up that mess with Bankotsu… God, and knowing now that he had wished that he could be with her since they were kids? Kagome felt the coffee turn over in her stomach unpleasantly. Probably should stop with that once she finished this cup.

"You okay?"

"Huh?"

Louise frowned. "You look like you swallowed a sour grape, honey. Been feeling like everything has sunk in at once?"

"I…yeah. Yeah, it's…exactly that," she nodded. "Everything this past week moved so fast, and this weekend was just… a lot."

"I can imagine. Well, maybe this weekend will be a little quieter, and you two can hit the town and do all kinds of date night things!" Louise patted her shoulder before leaving the break room, saying that she needed to go see Kikyo about the next batch of events that were being scheduled.

Kagome stood there, alone in the room, holding her now lukewarm cup of coffee. Date nights? She hadn't thought about that. At all. With everything going on, and the promise that they weren't letting the other get away, she hadn't given any other couple-like activities any consideration. It was just…implied that they were set, right?

How do you go about telling your boyfriend, who you slept with days before your wedding and hooked up with the day of after you called off the wedding, that you wanted to do a date night? What would you even do?