his intoxication

6

It had been three days since that horrifying encounter at Caroline's party, and Kagome had spent no shortage of time overanalyzing every last detail of that whole messy situation. Her heart also insisted on doing this obnoxious little flutter every time she remembered the way Damon's eyes had sparkled with mirth, or how dazzling his smile was, or how...

She shut those thoughts out as best as could. She was never one to be swept up by good looks and muscles, but that was all she new about Damon, so she couldn't think of anything else that could be causing her to react in such a way. She supposed there was no use trying to figure it out now, so she continued to get dressed to go to Elena's and have dinner with her and Stefan. She was genuinely excited for tonight, it was a chance to form a new friendship AND get her mind off of that embarrassing display from the other night. She had made cookies to take with her, and though she knew this was probably a ploy to figure her out and determine her motives for moving, she was more than happy to dispel them of any fears and move forward with a friendly relationship. She could surmise that some intense things had most likely happened in this area recently, so she didn't hold their caution against them. If it was her family at risk, she would be just as cautious.

She took a final look in her mirror and headed downstairs to roundup her brood of youkai to drag them with her to dinner. The invite had been for all of them, after all. But when she reached the living room she found all three of them in pajamas or underwear playing video games with pizza boxes scattered around. Kikyo was perched on the couch ignoring everyone and reading a book.

"EXCUSE ME!"

All three of them tensed and froze at the sound of her raised voice, slowly turning to face her with wide, fearful eyes, mouths agape, the explosions on the TV foreshadowing their coming fate in this very living room.

"What is going on here?! We're supposed to going to have dinner at Elena's! None of you are dressed! And you're completely filled with pizza, aren't you? When did you even order pizza?!"

"Awwww come on Kagome, none of us wants to go! It's just a girly dinner party and it's going to be no fun!" Koga whined petulantly, crossing his arms after tossing the half eaten slice of pizza that had been hanging from his fangs back into the open box in front of him.

"Girly? Stefan is going to be there!"

"Feh! We met that guy wench, and ain't none of us wants to hang with him. He's a broody little punk. I prefer the mangy wolf's company."

"Oh Inuyasha! Whatever! And I suppose you'd like to stay too, Shippo?" She turned her frown toward the nervous fox and tapped her toe, waiting for his answer. He smiled sheepishly but met her eyes and his honesty made her aggravation at him melt away.

"I'll go if you really want me too, but If I have the choice..."

"Oh alright Shippo, I'll just go by myself. Maybe not having to deal with you bakas for once will be nice. What about you, Kikyo, do you want to go?" She figured her offer would be rejected, but she also knew it was the thought that counted. Kikyo's barely uttered "no" was all the prompting she needed, and she walked outside to make her way to the address Elena had provided. It was a beautiful evening, so she decided to walk and make the most of the fresh air. It also help to calm her nerves, and she was nothing but serene happiness when she arrived and knocked on the door. She should have anticipated that she wouldn't be allowed to remain in such a peaceful state for long, but she still hadn't learned that lesson even all these years later. No sooner had she knocked on the door to the house Elena had given her the address for, chaos descended on her life again as she was greeted not by Stefan or Elena, but by the beautiful face that had haunted her relentlessly these last few days. She was gaping, and her mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish before she snapped it shut for good. He was smirking at her, and his eyes glittered with obvious humor as he crossed his arms over his chest.