InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Sweetest Escape ❯ PDA ( Chapter 18 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi does.

Author's Note: I think you're gonna like this one…

Chapter 18: PDA

“I don't really see a reason to celebrate the beginning of school…dread, more like,” Inuyasha muttered under his breath, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorjamb.

“It's more of a celebration of the beginning of the culmination of our high school career. We're seniors, Inuyasha. Can you believe it?” Kagome breathed. She leaned towards the mirror of her bureau as she affixed tiny jeweled studs into her ear lobes. “Seniors. We're almost done with high school.”

“Thank Kami.”

“It's kind of scary, you know? I mean, after this, it's like stepping into the unknown. It's adulthood after this, Inuyasha.”

“Yeah…” There was a dark train of thought he didn't need to travel down…where would he go after high school? `What would I do? Become a professional squatter?' he thought with a slight frown.

“But there's no need to worry about stuff like that tonight,” Kagome said quickly at seeing his frown. “We're out to have fun. No worries about the future,” she added lightly. He grunted his agreement, but the pensive, brooding expression didn't leave his face. Kagome frowned. He'd been so tense lately—on edge and seemingly withdrawn. She couldn't help but think that something terrible had happened at home, but she wasn't positive. She didn't want to press him—she knew that would only make him crab up and then clam up. Kagome sighed. She could only hope that things hadn't worsened for him at home—and that he'd cheer up tonight.

She brushed her hair smooth and rubbed a bit of lip gloss onto her mouth, rubbing her lips together in the mirror. Inuyasha bit his lip and sighed wistfully.

What did it take? Was he being too subtle? Or was he being too obvious? Was he giving bad vibes? Was he giving any type of vibes at all? Because, she knew, right? She had to know…even Inuyasha now knew that he was obvious in his fawning over her; and Kagome wasn't dense, for crying out loud. What was it? What did he have to do?

In all honesty, he didn't even know what he was waiting for. He had no idea how to go about this `relationship' thing, so he wasn't sure exactly what was supposed to happen after he realized he liked the girl.

Inuyasha wondered why Sango and Miroku thought Kagome liked him in the first place. It wasn't as though he were exactly smooth. He didn't think he was all that intelligent, and frankly, he didn't think he was all that good looking either. He was quite sure that Kagome knew all of that—so he wondered what she could possibly see in him…if she even saw anything at all for that matter, because he was going purely off of Sango and Miroku's suspiciously demanding encouragements. `What the hell do I have going for me, anyway?' he thought with distaste.

Truth be told, Inuyasha felt quite inadequate whenever he went out anywhere with Kagome. She was so unbelievably beautiful, and brilliant, and witty, and fun…and him? He was some lowly hanyou, silently pining away for her. He wondered if he would always feel so blaringly inadequate around people he admired…

He uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched her put on her makeup, which, in his humble opinion, she didn't need. He was only half-listening as she blathered on about the movie they were going to see. He occupied his wandering eyes with watching the enticing muscles in her calf move as she shifted her weight from one bare leg to the other. The little jean skirt didn't look like it would offer much protection from the chill in the night air, but hey, if she wanted to wear it…he sure wasn't going to complain…

“Inuyasha? Did you hear me?” she asked.

“Huh?” he grunted, snapping out of his thoughts.

“I said can you pass me the phone?” she repeated, jerking her head in the direction of her bed, while she fixed her ponytail for the fifth time. Inuyasha grabbed the cordless wall phone that rang insistently on her quilt and handed it to her.

“Hello?” she said, hitting the `talk' button. His eyes scanned the straight lines of her arms and the soft curve of her neck against the shiny, satin material of her sapphire blue top. She pulled the elastic out of her ponytail and shook her head, the alluring scent of her hair hitting him in the face. “What do you mean you can't come?” she whined. Inuyasha snapped to attention, suddenly listening in to both ends of the conversation.

“Well, Kohaku has a cold, and my mom needs me to stay with him,” Sango explained. Kagome frowned to Inuyasha, pointing at the phone.

“Sango, Kohaku is fifteen years old,” she said bluntly. Sango faltered.

“Uh—er…yeah, but…he's really, really sick, and…um…I have to…um…bleach the drains in the kitchen…and Miroku's helping,” she stammered. Kagome pulled the phone away from her ear to frown incredulously at it.

“Okay…Sango, if you guys don't want to go tonight, you can just say you don't want to go,” Kagome told her.

“We don't want to come,” Sango said bluntly.

“Well, jeez, Sango, don't sugarcoat it for me,” Kagome drawled sarcastically.

“No, no, no! It's not like that!” she backpedaled. There was a fumbling and a `thump' as the phone apparently changed hands.

“We just want to give you and Inuyasha some…time alone…” came Miroku's smooth voice, a purr of sorts. “Kind of like a date…” he suggested off-handedly. Kagome's stricken gaze slid over to Inuyasha, only to find him beet-red and staring back at her with wide eyes. She drew in a breath through tight lips.

“Okay, then…Miroku, Sango, um…bye,” she said awkwardly, and punched the `end' button with an ominous beep. She cleared her throat, laying the phone down on her dresser top with all too much care. “Well, then…” she started. “I guess it's just me and you tonight then.” Inuyasha nodded mutely. “Unless…unless you don't want to go anymore,” she added quickly. “Because we don't have to—I mean, we can reschedule, or just drop it entirely—”

“I want to go,” he managed to choke out gutturally. Kagome nodded briskly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Alright-y then…we'll go,” she said needlessly.

“Keh.”

“We'll still have a good time…” she said to herself.

“Keh.”

“It'll still be fun…It'll kind of be…” Kagome steeled her courage and looked him in the eye. “It'll kind of be like a date.”

Inuyasha cursed his sweat glands. The eccrine ones, specifically. He cursed them once, twice, thrice, and then once more for good measure. He'd lost count of how many times he'd scrubbed his palms on his jeans in futile attempts to keep them dry. He sent every kami he could name a grateful prayer that his armpits weren't having the same problem.

If he'd known that a date would be this amazingly nerve-wracking, he might not have wished for one. At the time of Sango and Miroku's phone call, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to thank them or curse them. He was fast leaning toward the latter…

She was looking at him again. How many times, during the course of the drive, had she glanced over at him and given a tiny smile? He didn't know. How many times had he wondered exactly what was going on in that pretty little head of hers? He didn't know. How many times had he gripped the door handle, prepared to launch himself from the moving vehicle, if only to escape the palpable tension that he could feel building? He didn't know.

What he did know was that he wanted her to stop looking at him, because she was making his nerves that much worse. He could only imagine the sight he made; he was practically hyperventilating. In those ten minutes that it took to drive to the theatre, Inuyasha could confidently say that he was more afraid of Kagome's next actions than those of his father.

`Well. Now at least you won't have to worry about what to do if she gets close to you; she won't want to now,' he thought sourly as she pulled into a parking space and cut the engine.

Kagome fiddled with her keys idly as she watched Inuyasha across the dark interior of the car. She smiled to herself. He was so intensely adorable. She just wanted to hug him senseless…among other things…

He bit the inside of his cheek, his lips twisting to one side as his fingers drummed against his knees, which were crammed up against the dashboard in their usual way. He looked everywhere but her face. She knew that she was the direct cause of his discomfort. It wasn't that they'd never gone anywhere alone. They had many times. But it was definitely the first time she'd ever suggested that the outing would have any deviations from anything purely platonic. Now that she'd basically said that they were on a date, her poor friend seemed to have lost all sense of everything.

He was so pale and silent, so obviously nervous and tense that she would have felt guilty for putting him through what she had if it weren't for two things:

One, she was ready to be more than just his friend. She wasn't stupid. She knew he liked her. She could see it in the way he'd watch her as she did even the most miniscule of tasks, in the way he'd shyly, almost silently compliment her at the most random moments, in the way he was so careful touch her as little as possible for fear of doing something he thought might anger her. She could tell he liked her, and she tried to drop hints that she felt the same…somehow she got the feeling that he wasn't quite catching on to her subtlety…

And two…well. He was just too damned cute.

She reached out to place a hand on his thigh. He jerked, his eyes snapping to her hand, then to her eyes, and back again.

“Inuyasha? Are you alright?”

“Y-yup…I'm fine,” he croaked. “I'm good.”

“Okay. You ready to go in? Or do you just want to sit in the car all night?” she joked. He seemed to seriously consider it, though.

“No…I'll go in…” he mumbled, fumbling with his seatbelt buckle.

Outside of the car, Kagome hunched into her jacket before slinging her arm through Inuyasha's. He stiffened and she could feel the breath he was holding.

“It's okay. Relax, alright? It's just me,” she soothed.

“That's not as much of a comfort as you think it is,” he said with a tight chuckle and a self-conscious grimace. Kagome affectionately nudged into him and tugged on the knot of his bandana.

“It'll be fine. Just relax, okay? I'm not going to jump your bones,” she smiled.

As they stood in the ridiculously long line to purchase their tickets, Inuyasha began to realize two very important things:

One, Kagome attracted the attention of many other men.

Two, he did not like it. At all.

He very well aware of the fact that it wasn't the first time Kagome had been stared at, ogled, or sent what Inuyasha felt were overly appreciative glances while she was with him. He hadn't liked it then either. However, the simple fact that they were on a date, as she'd said herself made his lower left eyelid twitch insistently at every wayward glance, comment or tick of the eyebrow that was sent her way.

“Hey, check her out,” a boy in the next line over said to his friend, jerking his head in Kagome's direction. His friend pursed his lips, his eyes trailing her figure appreciatively.

“I'd hit it,” the second laughed. Inuyasha's nostrils flared at the implications of that statement, and he unwittingly tightened his hold on the girl. He managed to catch the first boy's eye, and sent him a glare so frigid, the air temperature dropped three degrees. The boy glanced from Inuyasha to Kagome, and back again. He challenged Inuyasha silently, daring him to say something.

Kagome, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to the silent war that waged on between her date and the complete strangers. It was a good thing she was such a chatterbox; she hardly noticed Inuyasha's lack of contribution to the conversation she was apparently having with herself.

“Just try something,” Inuyasha mouthed to the boys. “I dare you.” The pair smirked at each other, sized Inuyasha up, and looked as though they wanted to start a confrontation. Inuyasha casually slipped his hand out of his jeans pocket, and flexed his fingers, giving the boys a good look at the five weapons that tipped his fingers. He set his mouth with satisfaction when their eyes widened and they turned away, giving him the reaction he knew they would—one of fear. They'd give him wide berth now.

His throat constricted. His flesh tingled with gooshflesh. His breathing quickened. And his palms…well. They simply continued to sweat. He'd scooted as far on the tiny bench as he could, and there still wasn't enough room for Kagome to sit. In all actuality, he wasn't quite sure why they were doing this anyway…

Kagome had pointed to the tiny cubicle no sooner than they had stepped into the theatre.

“Hey, look! They must have just added that—it wasn't here last time we came,” she mused. “Come on, let's go take pictures,” she urged.

“Huh? Why?”

“Because it's fun,” she said simply, walking across the crowded lobby of the Cineplex towards the photo booth.

“But…but you have cameras at home. You take pictures of us at home all the time—and that's free!” Inuyasha argued, confused. Why in the world would she want to pay for something she could do whenever she wanted for free?

“Yeah, but I can't add the cute little backgrounds to it unless I go digital. Besides, it's just fun, Inuyasha,” she insisted, a persuasive little smile slipping onto her lips. “Please?” Inuyasha cursed. Well. He couldn't very well say no to that, now could he?

“Okay, okay,” he said grouchily, not truly feeling that way. She grinned at him in her victory and urged him before her. “Can't risk you bolting on me, so I'll be by the exit,” she explained playfully.

Inuyasha pushed the small curtain aside, ducking his head to enter the confining space.

“I'm not gonna bolt,” he muttered with a weak smile as she entered after him. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and smiled at him. She turned to sit…and a good three-fourths of her landed on his thigh.

Inuyasha inhaled sharply. He became very, very still, and waited for her to right herself and sit fully on the small bench. It was hopeless. There wasn't nearly enough room for two people.

“Shoot,” she muttered under her breath. “Damn tiny seat.” Inuyasha tugged at the already shapeless collar of his t-shirt. He was almost certain that the booth was ten degrees hotter than the rest of the theatre. He was about to tell her not to worry about it. He was about to tell her to just forget the whole thing and take some digital photos when they got home. He was about to tell her that he'd stand, and she could sit, if the pictures at the booth really meant that much to her. He was about to tell her to switch him spots.

“Can I just sit on your lap?”

Inuyasha stopped breathing for so long, spots danced in his vision. He stared at her as she waited expectantly for his answer, half bent over under the low ceiling of the booth. `She's serious,' he realized. `Answer, moron. Open your mouth and speak. Say something,' he commanded himself.

“Sure,” he wheezed. She smiled a bit, and then seated herself on his right thigh. While she slipped coins into the money acceptor, Inuyasha took a moment to absorb the situation.

In his current position, he was jammed into a tiny two by two rectangle seated on a tiny plank of wood with the girl of his dreams atop his right thigh, her bare legs dangling between his own, and her left arm draped around his shoulders so that she could steady herself. Inuyasha had reflexively put a hand on her hip so that she wouldn't slip off. His left hand sat uselessly beside him; he was unsure of where to place it.

His heard gave way to wild spasms in his chest. She was so close…so very, very close. Wisps of her hair brushed against his highly sensitive lips, drawing breathy gasps from him that he hoped went unnoticed. His nose was working in overdrive, seeking to inhale as much of her scent as possible to store away for later, more leisurely analysis.

He grunted an absent `Uh-huh' at her inquiry as to what background he wanted. He couldn't have cared less. Didn't she know that? Or did she truly not see how their quite intimate position was affecting him?

Kagome twisted around in Inuyasha's lap, and, reaching her other arm around to the back of his head, deftly unknotted the bandana.

“Take this off. I want to see your ears in these,” she said softly. Inuyasha's intense gaze never left her own, though his face was almost fluorescent in its blush. She smiled softly at him, pulling the fabric away from his head slowly, the white hairs ruffled underneath. She was all too aware of their proximity; if she had to hazard a guess, she'd have said that the tip of her nose was only a scant three inches from his own. She could feel the slow, shallow breaths he allowed to escape glancing across her lips, sending chills up and down her spine.

She shifted a bit on his thigh. She'd never noticed quite how hard Inuyasha was…his thigh underneath her, his bicep around her middle, his chest and stomach against her side…Kagome wondered if it was due to hanyou physiology that he was able to maintain what she was sure was an incredible physique when his body was constantly under so much stress. It didn't take her creative mind long to wander and begin to conjure up images of him shirtless and stretched before her.

Her eyes moved to the top of his head where his ears were leaning towards her, completely attuned to her voice, attentive to whatever she might choose to say. She moved her hands from his scalp where his bandana had been tied to the crown of his head, and gently cupped them, one in each hand. His eyes fluttered shut, and he let out a long sigh.

“Inuyasha,” she murmured absently, for no real reason—only to say his name.

“Hm…” he hummed. His eyes slid open again, and he seemed to stare into her very soul. “Kagome…” he whispered.

“Yes?”

“Are…are—are we about to kiss?” he asked nervously, still whispering; his voice held a telltale quaver laced through it. If she hadn't been so desperate to do just that, she would have laughed at his child-like, innocent bluntness. Instead, she simply looked back at him, just as intense, just as serious as he.

“If you want us to,” she whispered. “Do you want us to?”

“I…I mean…ye—n….I—only…only if you want to,” he stammered. Kagome swore the blush was beginning to color the roots of his hair.

“I want to. But I'll only do it if you want me to,” she said, a slight teasing tone seeping into her voice. Inuyasha didn't notice.

“I want you to,” he breathed, in a whisper so low that she could barely hear him. “I just…I've never…” he stopped. He took a deep breath and attempted to collect himself. “I might…I'm probably really bad at it. I might…disappoint you…”

Of course, Kagome already knew that he'd never been kissed. She had to admit, despite his shyness when it came to all things female, she'd been surprised to find that he'd never been with anyone.

“It was pretty gross, actually,” she said with a wry smile on her face. Inuyasha shifted where he sat on her bed, his back against the wall.

“What was gross about it?”

“Well, if the fact that his breath smelled like radishes wasn't enough, there was the fact that he had braces too…and well…I think the rest is obvious. Needless to say, I never played Spin the Bottle ever again,” she mumbled with a chuckle.

“That is pretty disgusting…” Inuyasha agreed.

“The one with my first boyfriend was a lot better though,” she added, thinking back. “But that's enough about me. Your turn. Spill it. First kiss, what it like?”

“Um…well…I—”

“Don't you even try to squirm out of his one, Inuyasha. You have to tell me. I told you about mine,” she reminded, holding up a finger.

“But I didn't ask you to,” he pointed out. “I don't even remember how we got on the subject.”

“Even still,” she whined. “Come on. Spill. I want details too,” she smirked, nudging his calf with her toe. She settled more fully against her pillow and popped a few more kernels of popcorn into her mouth as she waited for him to tell.

“I…I've never actually…” he trailed off, giving her a pointed look. She waited with anticipation, looking at him expectantly. He sighed, his cheeks reddening. “I've never…you know…” he said leadingly. Kagome frowned before realization dawned on her face.

“Are…are you serious?” she squeaked. Inuyasha flattened his ears in embarrassment.

“Keh! Dunno what you were expecting!” he snapped. “I'm a hanyou, remember?”

“Well, yeah, but…” Kagome trailed off, for a rare moment, at a loss for words. “But…I mean, Kami, never? You've never been kissed?”

“No,” he muttered.

“Have you…have you ever had a…girlfriend?” she asked hesitantly. He gave her an intensely sour look.

“No.”

“What about…what about a date?”

“Kami! No!”

“Oh…wow…”

“I don't know why you're so surprised. Who wants to go out with a hanyou? Nobody in their right mind, that's who.”

“But…but…couldn't the girls at Asahara see how absolutely gorgeous you are?” she asked in wonder. Inuyasha flushed, and shot her a wide-eyed, incredulous look.

“Keh!” he gulped. “Yeah right…”

“I'm serious, Inuyasha,” Kagome insisted. “You're hot…”

“Keh.”

“I'm not kidding. I don't know, I guess…I'm just kind of shocked that a guy like you has never had a girlfriend or anything…” Inuyasha fisted his hands in her sheet, looking away from her. Kagome smirked at his antics. “What? You don't think you're cute? I'm telling you, Inuyasha…the girls at your old school must have been blind. Or just stupid,” she assured him.

She would have given him his first kiss then…but she'd been afraid that perhaps she would inadvertently give the poor boy an embolism instead.

Kagome smiled at the memory. She'd truly enjoyed making him blush that hard. Just as she was enjoying it now…how the skin on the bridge of his nose would go pink first, and then spread to his cheeks, until his entire face was a healthy, vibrant red.

“You wouldn't disappoint me,” she whispered her assurance.

“H-how do you know?” he whispered back. “I…I'm telling you…I'm warning you that I'm probably really, really bad at it, and—” He was cut off by her pinching his lips shut between her thumb and the knuckle of her index finger.

“And you call me the chatterbox. You talk too much sometimes too,” she informed him. He watched her, calculating and waiting, yet so openly nervous and tense that she wanted him all the more. “Just shut up.” Tilting his face upwards between her cupped hands so that she had a better view from her elevated position in his lap, she smiled softly down at him, stroked his chin with her thumb.

Inuyasha couldn't move. He was paralyzed, physically, mentally…he could have sworn that all higher functions had ceased. He held his breath; he couldn't have let it go if he tried. Right then, his entire world consisted of a two by two plywood box, and the woman on his lap, in his arms, in his heart. His eyes remained open as hers began to close. They remained open as she moved towards his face, and even as her full lips parted slightly, his eyes remained open, half-lidded and heavy.

She stopped a hair's breadth away from his lips, the moist warmth of her breath dancing across his trembling mouth as he waited. She was so close to him, he could feel her smile as she closed the less than a millimeter gap between them and kissed him.

Half-mast eyes flew open and his skin broke out into a fresh smattering of goosebumps. A shudder rammed through him with such fierce intensity that his hand gripped reflexively against her hip. Kagome's soft hand stroked his face gently, from his temple to the corner of his mouth and back again, never pulling away from his lips.

His head was spinning, shapeless mush; he never thought anyone would touch him with such gentleness, with such care. How was he to know it could feel like this? How was he to know that he'd ever be touched by something so delicate, so tender? How was he to know that anything could feel like this? How was he to know that the soft, warm pull of her lips would threaten to drive him crazy?

Her lips moved expertly over his, opening and closing at rhythmic intervals. Inuyasha lost the battle with his eyelids and allowed them to slip closed. He sat there, taking everything she gave him and enjoying it immensely. He felt bad that he wasn't doing anything, but he had to admit, he had no idea exactly what to do. She absolutely robbed him of breath.

Kagome's arm tightened around his neck as she pulled away from him. She opened her eyes to regard him and smiled. Even with his eyes still closed, he looked amazed, astonished, flabbergasted. It was priceless.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking rapidly, and glanced at her self-consciously before looking away.

“I think that's been building up for a really long time now,” she murmured as she rubbed a length of white hair between her fingertips. He cleared his throat and nodded jerkily.

“Mm-hm…” he mumbled. “I…I've wanted…to do that for…a while,” he added with a blush.

“I guess we can make up for lost time, then, hm?” she quipped. Inuyasha gave her a suspicious look just before she ducked her head to grace him with a truly magnificent, consuming kiss.

For his part, Inuyasha, a bit emboldened at Kagome's blatant encouragement and obvious eagerness, made his first attempt to respond in kind. He hesitantly tilted his head to kiss her back this time, and was rewarded handsomely for his efforts. Kagome pulled away, and he was disappointed for a moment—he wondered if he'd done something wrong. She came back to him, however, and slowly, leisurely kissed his top lip, then his bottom. Inuyasha flushed with embarrassment as he released a moan of pleasure that he simply couldn't restrain. He felt her smile against his mouth, and in an instant of rare courage, he lifted his left hand, ready to cup her face delicately as she'd done to him so many times before.

A sudden, angry banging on the side of the booth broke the intimate peace they'd had, froze them both on the spot, and opened their little cocoon to the sounds of the rest of the Cineplex. The curtain to the little space was roughly shoved aside, and a beet red, perfectly round and balding head poked into the door.

“Excuse me!” the squat man snorted. “This is not a make out booth! It's a picture booth! This type of smut will not be tolerated at this theatre!” he spat.

“Sorry,” Kagome said meekly. Inuyasha peeked at her. She didn't look sorry. And she surely hadn't moved; her arm was still wrapped around his neck, and her hand still cradled his face against her palm.

“Out! Out, out out! Get out of this booth!” the man commanded.

She slipped off of his lap, and he quickly stood, unthinking as he did so. His head connected quite soundly with the booth's ceiling.

“Ow, shit!” he hissed, a hand flying up to rub his bruised skull. The young couple stepped out of the booth to face a line of angry-looking moviegoers.

“If you must act out your uncontrollable hormonal impulses, you must do it elsewhere! Certainly not in the same photo booth where families take pictures, and certainly not on my watch,” he said snottily. He flipped a shiny piece of paper at them. It fluttered to the floor, and Kaogme bent to pick it up.

“We're very sorry,” she repeated emotionlessly.

“Y-yeah…” Inuyasha added helpfully. The man glared at him, his beady eyes scanning the boy from head to toe.

“Half-breed,” he sneered disgustedly. “Young lady…you should be ashamed of yourself. Reducing yourself to slutting around with a hanyou. It's shameful,” he emphasized hatefully. Inuyasha felt his blood boil and his skin prickle, and suddenly, his throbbing head was forgotten. That was it. He was not about to allow this stump of a man to insult Kagome. He would not have a repeat of that day he'd found her sobbing in the parking lot.

“Listen, dumbass,” he began hotly. “If you think you can just—”

“Inuyasha, it's alright,” Kagome said calmly, putting a hand on his forearm.

“The hell it is!” he exclaimed. “He just—” She cut him off when she gripped the back of his neck and pulled him down to her level for a deep, lingering kiss. Inuyasha squeaked in surprise, all of the words he'd been ready to spew seeping out of him. He didn't have time to close his eyes before she relinquished her hold on him. She grinned at him devilishly.

“He just doesn't know the pleasures of hanyou kisses. That's all,” she said brightly, acting as if the man weren't there, as if they didn't have an audience of about twenty teens, adults, and staff members. Inuyasha gaped at her. “I pity him really…come on. We've got a movie to see,” she said casually, and took his hand in hers, leading him away from the gawking onlookers. Inuyasha tossed them an incredulous look over his shoulder, then glanced at the girl at his side, looking as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

He couldn't help but flash a smile to those they'd left behind.

He didn't know if Kagome seriously expected him to have followed the movie after what they'd shared in the photo booth. After coming down off of his high from the exhilarating kiss she planted on him in front of the crowd, the enormity of the situation descended upon him.

They'd kissed.

They'd kissed on the lips.

He sat beside her in the darkened theatre, replaying the scene over and over in his mind, his tongue occasionally flicking out to taste the bit of grape-flavored lip gloss she'd left on him.

The only thing he knew about the movie was that it was supposed to be a comedy. He hadn't been paying it any attention…although the giant, goofy smiles that occasionally crossed his face might have fooled Kagome into thinking that he was…

She laced her fingers through his as they exited the theatre with a contented sigh. Inuyasha allowed himself to revel in the peaceful feeling that had been pressing at him all evening. He had so many things he wanted to ask her, yet restrained, not wanting to disrupt the calm mood. They passed the darkened interiors of the strip mall's closed shops on the way to her car.

She suddenly shook, her soft giggles breaking him out of his reverie.

“What?” he asked quietly. Was she laughing at him? He couldn't stop the unbidden question from rising to the forefront of his mind.

“Look at us,” she said, her head nodding to the reflective glass of one store. Inuyasha studied their hazy reflection, smiling at the sight. They really looked…like a couple. His normally icy heart warmed and he squeezed her hand. “Who would have thought, hm?”

“Mm-hm.”

“I mean, think about it. Just a little less than a year ago, you hated me.”

“I didn't hate you,” he argued. She gave him a dry look.

“Okay, you didn't like me very much,” she amended.

“Okay…”

“Look at how far we've come. It's strange, isn't it? We went from a grouchy, closed off guy and a noisy, nosy girl who sprayed you with toxic snow to this,” she marveled quietly as they both watched their reflection. She nudged him. “I think we're pretty damn cute.”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“I didn't show you these, look,” she said suddenly, pulling out the shiny paper from earlier from her small purse. Inuyasha squeezed her hand as he looked at the four tiny frames. In the first one, he was simply staring at her as she stared back at him, having just removed his bandana. In the second one, they were just millimeters away from each other's mouth. The third, they were fully kissing, his eyes wide and watching her with awe and shock. In the fourth, she'd cupped his face in her hands, and he'd finally joined her fully, his eyes closed. Inuyasha bit his lip and let out a sigh.

“I think…” he started, shutting his eyes.

“You think what?” His eyes slid open to regard her seriously.

“I think we should do that again,” he said hesitantly. Kagome smiled.

“I think that's a good idea.” Inuyasha waited. Kagome waited. “But you have to kiss me first this time,” she whispered. He gulped.

“But—”

“Just kiss me, Inuyasha,” she commanded with a sultry little smile. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Come on, you can do it.”

He took her other hand in his and interwove their fingers. Pulling her close so that the front of her body just barely brushed against the front of his, he languorously kissed each of her cheek bones twice before softly touching his mouth to hers, his kiss lighter than air and more gentle and loving than any she'd ever had before.

Perhaps it was because he'd never kissed another before her. Perhaps it was because he was simply shy by nature with anything having to do with romance. Or perhaps it was simply because he was naturally good at it, and seemed to have a knack on how to please her. Whatever the reason, Kagome's heart went all aflutter under his attentions, and she returned them with equal care.

“You know…for someone who's never done it before…you're really, really good at that…”

Author's Notes:

They finally did it! This is the first time I've ever written a kiss, so please, don't hurt me! I'm only an 18, and quite inexperienced! LOL Tell me what you think. But before you do, ponder this:

You know what's funny? I'll tell you what's funny.

Inuyasha's pants.

Does he have a pump in those things or what? They inflate and deflate all the time! Sometimes it's by episode, and sometimes it's by scene! It's so strange…I can't figure them out. It just makes me want to nickname him `thunder thighs'. Oh, man…I feel a possible one-shot coming on!

Oh, wow, I am rolling on the ground laughing so hard right now!!!

Anyway, enough on that little tangent.

Review!

Wowzer313