An Unexpected Love Story

Chapter Four:

Part One: Vegas

Chapter Four:

I wake up once again on his couch. I have absolutely no recollection of getting here. Once again, there is no one here.

I stand, blanket still around my shoulders and shuffle into the kitchen. Sesshoumaru sits stoically reading the paper and drinking coffee.

"Good morning." His greeting shocks me. Everything aches.

"Morning." I mumble, he puts the paper down while I gather my thoughts. I'm still standing in the open doorway.

"Thank you, for letting me stay here, again. You didn't have to, it was very kind." He just looks at me.

"I think it was wise of me to take you here when I did." He lifts up the paper as if to say he's done talking, but the conversation is not over. I sit across from him, helping myself to a cup of coffee from the still warm carafe.

"Now why do you say that?" Memories of the men following us out of the bar skitters across my scattered brain.

"Neither of you saw the looks you were getting from those men?" He's talking to me from behind the paper, as if looking at me will anger him more. I nod my head in recollection of our followers.

"Oh I saw the looks alright. They followed us right out of the bar."

"I could smell their hormones raging." I hear his teeth grit together, the noise sending a chill up and down my spine.

"Ah! Stop that noise! My poor head." I hold my temples, shaking my head violently, causing myself to become dizzy. In defeat I place my head on the table.

"That's your own doing. Help yourself to the fridge if you wish." With that we slip into our usual silence.

xxx

Melanie doesn't call me until late in the afternoon, so Sesshoumaru and I spend most of our day hanging out with one another. I bring him outside to play ball with Moichi.

I can see the neighbors peeking from their windows at us. At his beauty, he reclines beneath a maple tree as I toss the ball to Moichi.

"I don't think you choose not to talk to the neighbors. I think they're discriminating against you." His eyebrow twitches.

"They don't like you because of the way you look." He shrugs from his position on the grass, he seems to have never given it a second thought.

"I guess so."

"Doesn't that bother you?" He shrugs again.

"Not even a little bit?"

"They're giving me what I want. Privacy. I do not want to be bothered by pestering humans." It dawns on me. I am a pestering human. The poor demon is trying to live a 'normal' life amongst these people and I'm here kicking up dirt and digging a hole that was just buried.

"No. You are not a pestering human." He says answering my unspoken question. I suck in a breath and throw the ball I had been holding.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" He taps his nose. That would make sense. Worry causes adrenaline. His keen sense of smell must be even better than Inuyasha's.

I see an apparition, a hallucination, in the corner of my eye. Inuyasha in his horribly red garb, harrumphing in the corner. All I want to do is reach out. All I want to do is grab hold.

I melt into the grass, the weight of my thoughts dragging me down into the earth. I want nothing more than to lie here and sleep forever.

Moichi prances over, wet nose all over my hand still clasped around the tennis ball. He tries his hardest to get the ball from my hand, nipping and pawing at my fingers. I feel Sesshoumaru hover over my crumpled form on the perfect lawn.