A/n This is for another challenge. "Lyrical Stories" Not sure if it's good enough to win but it is a last minute thing. Lol I seem good at pounding stuff out at the last possible second. This was a bit sad for me but fun to write. Bit OOC but alas. Best if read at ¾ view or whatever is more comfortable for you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin. The lyrics are from Hinder or Jack Ingram. Whoever you prefer.

Kaoru scrubbed the tears from her face as she hurried down the hall and into the dojo kitchen. She didn't bother to flip on the bright florescent light. Instead she navigated the kitchen in the darkness. Panic made her chest ache and her lungs heave for air. She knew everything was alright but she had to make sure; no matter how silly it sounded. She grabbed the phone from its cradle and blindly punched in the memorized number. It had been many months from the last time she dialed the number, but her fingers moved with practiced ease. She cradled the phone to her ear.

The phone rang once.

Kaoru didn't let herself think. If she did, she would hang up and chastise herself for even thinking about calling. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she sat on the floor; she drew her legs up under her nightgown.

The phone rang twice.

Please be okay, please be okay, please…

…. . …

Kenshin cracked his eyes open at the trill of musical beeps. Instantly he woke and pulled away from the warm body he was curled around. He cursed softly under his breath as he snatched his cell phone from the bedside table.

Someone better be dead. He thought as he quickly left the room before the ringing would wake his bedmate. If it was his partner Sano calling to ask for a ride home from the bar again…so help him. Kenshin growled to himself as the phone trilled a second time in his hand. He waited until he was down the hall and in the small kitchen of his apartment before punching the answer button. He cleared his throat incase it was the chief at the station. Perhaps someone did die tonight.

"Hello? Himura speaking." He said in a professional yet still groggy voice.

… . …

Kaoru couldn't help it. She forced herself to be so calm, yet when she head his sleepy voice answer the phone, she couldn't hold back the tears. She sobbed into the phone.

"Kenshin, thank god."

… . . ..

Kenshin blinked. "Kaoru." He didn't dare say her name above a whisper. He glanced at the stove. The clock glowed electric green numbers in the darkness of the kitchen. Three forty-five in the morning?! He groaned softly and leaned heavily against the countertop. "Why are you calling me so late?" he gently inquired.

"It must be a bad time." Her weepy voice answered, she then chuckled weakly…"of course it's a bad time, it's too early in the morning."

"No, it's just kinda hard to talk right now." He glanced down the hall. He heard her sniffle and he stiffened up. "Why are you crying? Is everything okay?" His mind flashed though possibilities. "Is it Yahiko?" The boy could hurt, or missing, he was a young teenager after all. He hadn't seen him in months but Kenshin could still see the stubborn set of the boy's jaw as he practiced. He missed those days.

… . …

Now Kaoru felt stupid. Her panic was gone now that she was sure Kenshin was perfectly fine, she felt ridiculous for calling him. "No, Yahiko's fine, everyone is fine." She twisted the phone cored nervously between her fingers. Would Kenshin be mad that she called at such an un-godly hour for little reason at all?

"What's the matter then? Why did you call?" he whispered into the phone.

Kaoru sighed softly. "I had to make sure you were alright." She whispered back. "Why are we whispering?"

"I gotta whisper cause I can't be too loud." He answered back in an even more hushed voice.

Kaoru blinked. "Is someone there?" The ache in her chest returned, but it was deeper, more painful. She felt the blood rush to her face; she felt heat and then coldness as the blood drained away

"Yeah. My girl's in the next room. She's asleep."

Ah yes…Kaoru forgot she moved in with him a few months back. "Tomoe."

"Yeah," He breathed into the phone.

… . …

What he wouldn't give for it to be Kaoru that was curled up in his bed right now. "Sometimes I wish she was you." He blurted. It was a bad thing to say, but it was the truth and he couldn't hide it from Kaoru. Kenshin heard her sniffle again. Damn, he started her up again. He covered his eyes with one hand.

"Yeah?" The hope in her voice nearly shattered his heart. She was hurting just as much as he was.

"Yeah… I guess we never really moved on." Their breakup was hardly what he expected a breakup to be. It wasn't a fight or misunderstanding each other…no one cheated. Kenshin rubbed a spot on his bare chest in memory.

Kenshin was a cop. Though his job was dangerous, he loved it. His partner Sano had called him for a case early one morning. They ended up going after a few gang members that started a shoot out with each other, and Kenshin ended up getting shot. His bullet proof vest was the only thing that kept the bullet from punching through his chest and lung. The force did break a rib though and Kaoru sobbed at his bedside in the hospital for nearly an hour. It was all he could do to comfort her. It was then that he realized that Kaoru couldn't handle the life as a cop's wife. They called off their engagement and stopped seeing each other not long after that. Not a very satisfying break up. They just needed some time apart, but ended up permanently separated.

He glanced down the hall again to make sure Tomoe hadn't woken up. If she found out he was talking to Kaoru again…he didn't even want to think about it. "So what had you all worried?" Her weak chuckle told him she was embarrassed. He smiled to himself; he could almost see the blush crawl up her face.

"Ah well, I had a dream about you." She started.

"That's funny."

"It is?" Kaoru sounded surprised.

"Yes, I dreamt of you too." He admitted. It was half the reason he was in such a sour mood when the phone woke him up.

"Ah, well I hope it was far better than the dream I had of you. In my dream, something horrible had happened to you at your job. That you and Sano were in a high speed car accident because you were chasing someone. It seemed so real that I had to call you to make sure you were alright."

Both of them were silent for a moment.

"I guess it was just a silly thing."

"No, No I understand Kaoru, that I do." Kenshin reassured her.

Her voice dropped and Kenshin heard a hint of despair. "Saitou says I let my imagination run away with me too much."

Saitou's name had Kenshin clenching the cell phone until the plastic creaked. "Does he know you're talking to me?"

"No, but he might if he takes a look at the phone statement and it has your number on it. He pays the phone bill now for half that reason." She spat with bitterness.

Not out of the goodness of his heart, the jealous little bastard. Though Kenshin shouldn't be talking, he was just as jealous as that narrowed eyed wolf that now had Kaoru in his arms. "Do you think it'll start a fight?" Kenshin hopped it did, he realized with shame. He remembered the last time he ran into Saitou. He was jogging at the park and ran into Kaoru who was there with Yahiko. He hadn't seen Kaoru in weeks so he stopped to talk to her. She brightened up at the very sight of him. She was thin,…he remembered being worried. And then a tall, whip thin, narrowed eyes man slid up to her. His accusations told Kenshin he knew just who Kenshin was and Saitou wasn't too happy that he was talking to Kaoru, not at all.

They got in a fight. Kenshin ended up with a black eye, but was glad that he gave Saitou a fat lip and bloody nose. He would have gladly gone to town on the man but Kenshin was a cop and he wasn't going to jeopardize his career over some petty fool like Saitou. Plus Kaoru was nearly throwing herself between them. That was the last time he ever saw or heard from Kaoru…that was nearly four months ago.

"I'm not sure." She whispered "I'll have to wait and see."

Kenshin paced in the small kitchen. "If he hurts you…"

"Oh, no I don't think Saitou will do anything like that." She said quickly. "A bit of yelling maybe, but nothing like that."

Kenshin didn't care. If Saitou made Kaoru cry… by hurting her or yelling at her or shooting down her hopes and dreams…"I'll kill him if he does anything stupid to you Kaoru." He growled possessively, his hand tearing through his mane of red hair.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru chastised. "Well what about Tomoe, do you think she knows?"

The calm, almost mousey woman in his bed. She was the opposite of Kaoru, extremely so. But she had a temper on her that put Kaoru's to shame. But Tomoe had a deep trust in Kenshin. He shook his head before realizing Kaoru couldn't see him "No I don't think she has a clue."

He had made his way to the small dinning area and he rested his head against the cool glass of the window. His eyes tipped upward to the half moon in the sky. "It's really good to hear your voice saying my name." His tone dipped lower, his voice raspy. Kenshin was talking to his lover after all, even if she was his ex, even if she did say his name in exasperation.

"Kenshin." Kaoru protested weakly. Kenshin could nearly see the blush that would be on her face now.

"Can't help it. It sounds so sweet, That it does." He hadn't heard from her in months, her voice was like music. A sad lullaby that had him wanting to pull her in his arms. "I don't want to say goodbye." He dreaded it. When would he hear from her again? Would he ever get a chance to see her?

"I don't want to say goodbye either." She admitted.

"Hearing those words makes me weak, Kaoru." He wanted to get in his car and race down to her dojo and take her in his arms. He knew Saitou didn't stay with her at the dojo. "God Kaoru, you make it hard to be faithful." He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hand into a fist as he leaned against the glass. He couldn't hurt Tomoe no matter how much he loved Kaoru still.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "I'm pretty sure it was a bad idea that I called."

So she did know what she did to him. "It's alright Kaoru. I understand."

"I guess it would be for the best if I didn't call again, huh?"

No, that was the worst thing she could do. He didn't want to go months without hearing her voice again. He missed her, and he missed Yahiko. He missed the life he had with them. But that life was over now…

"Yeah, it would be for the best." Damn his heart. He heard her sigh softly in agreement.

"Goodnight Kenshin."

"Goodnight Kaoru." He waited until the line went dead before turning off his phone. He looked at the small rectangle of plastic for a moment. "I love you."

A/n thanks for reading! Cross your fingers for me. Reviews are loved very much!