InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Favorite Mistake ❯ The morning after ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: The morning after

Kagome awoke at the crack of dawn. For a minute she thought she was in her room, in her flat, then she glimpsed at the handsome young man peacefully sleeping beside her, and tried stifle a shout as the events of the previous evening came back to her in a rush.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” she recited as she tucked the blanket to her like a toga and jumped from the bed, immediately wincing at the pain it caused her. Great, aside from being a first class idiot, she also had a nagging headache to deal with. She retrieved her clothes, which were piled on the floor, and hurriedly locked herself in the bathroom to put them on.

When Kagome saw the marbled bathtub beckoning to her, she was sorely tempted to soak her aching muscles in a long, hot bubble bath, but quickly decided against it. One stupid act in the last 24 hours should be more than enough. Foregoing the need to brush her hair, she caught it in an unceremonious ponytail and opened the door. She saw the stranger still asleep, apparently undisturbed by the quiet commotion she had made. Against better judgment, she approached the bed and stared down at him.

Long dark lashes rested against his cheeks, and his white hair formed a halo around him. In the morning light that was slowly seeping through the windows, Kagome saw that he was even more startlingly good looking than he was the night before. Scooting at the bed beside him, Kagome smoothed a few wayward strands of his hair. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For giving me a night I'll never forget.” With one last smile for the young man, she padded to the door, holding her shoes so as not to make any noise, and quietly closed the door behind her.

She wanted to tell him more. She wished she could wake him up and thank him properly, but there was just no time. She had to get back to her own life.

*****

Inuyasha cracked his eyes open and immediately uttered a vile curse. “Shit, my fucking hangover is killing me.” He looked at the clock on his bedside table and vaguely registered that it was a little over eleven in the morning. He sharply turned to his side and saw the vacant space. The girl was no longer beside him. Undaunted by his nakedness, and ignoring the nerves that screamed in protest, he padded around his apartment, looking for her. “Hello, are you still here?” he called, going from the bathroom to the living room, and even the kitchen, but he couldn't find her.

He felt stupid asking the same question over and over again to his empty apartment. It's not as if the walls would talk and tell him what he wanted to know. Heaving a sigh, Inuyasha retraced his steps and lay down on his bed again. He could still picture her very clearly on his mind: the sound of her laughter, the sincerity in her eyes, the way she responded to him, the touch of her bare skin against his. He felt the lower part of his body react at the direction of his thoughts, and he looked for something to quell his frustration . “Damn it!” he shouted, hurling a pillow violently across the room.

Taking deep breaths in an attempt to strive for calmness, Inuyasha dragged himself to the shower and turned the knob full force. With hot water pouring over him, he continued to ponder the situation. He was more than a little puzzled at his behavior where the girl was concerned. For one thing, he hardly brought any women to his apartment. There were a few things that annoyed him more than being stalked by girls he'd had flings with, so he usually went to the girl's place, or checked into any of the luxurious hotels his family owned. But last night, it didn't even enter his mind to shuffle options; he automatically drove straight home. Somehow he sensed that the beautiful girl beside him was not like most women he hung out with. There was just something about her that drew her to him, making him reveal a side of himself he barely showed to anyone.

He frowned. Here he was, marveling at the special connection they shared, but she was so damn impatient to get the hell out of his apartment that she didn't even have the decency to wake him properly before she left. And then a thought struck him. Perhaps she was just being thoughtful. One look at him was all it took to discern that he was dead to the world, and needed as much sleep as he could get to counter a terrible hangover. Yes, that's right, she may have left a note somewhere. Excited at the prospect of finding a note from the mysterious stranger, Inuyasha shrugged into a bathrobe and practically flew into his bedroom. Minutes later, the unmistakable sound of drawers opening and closing could be heard.

`It couldn't be the last time I ever saw her,' Inuyasha thought grimly, inspecting each scrap of paper he deposited on the bed. `It just couldn't.'