⋆ —————— shaurya ⋮ ⋆

"HEY, MY NEW favourite person!" A familiar voice greeted rather enthusiastically from the other side of the phone.

"Sitar?"

"And here I was hoping you would've saved my number by now. You wound my heart, Shaurya!"

I still couldn't believe I was hearing her voice in the middle of the day. It was a welcomed change and it felt surprisingly good. I played along. "I wanted to but I forgot. I'm sorry that I wound your heart. Maybe you could tell me how to mend it back?"

"Do you know something? I might be the talkative one out of us but you definitely are the one good with words. Like seriously, how do you say the right thing every damn time?"

"I don't really make an effort," I admitted honestly.

"Now, now, don't turn me jealous with your self-praise," she said, and I imagined her gaze low and her lips pressed.

"So, what's up, my favourite person?" I asked, playing along.

"Ah, you know, just avoiding going home because my parents came back yesterday. All the gossip they heard will be fresh in their mind and I don't want to fall prey to that bugging. Anyway, I have nothing to do right now. Are you busy?"

I really wanted to tell her I was not. Her offer was tempting me and I wanted to do nothing but spend time with her. But, the number of emails this morning alone warned me that I had heaps of work to do. The deadlines stretched from today until tomorrow so I had to start working.

"Sitar," I started slowly. God, I hated that I had to turn her down. "I have a lot of work that needs to be completed. I am so sorry."

A few seconds of silence followed. "That's totally okay," She said but the pep in her voice was gone. And to think I was the reason for it, broke my heart.

"Wait. Maybe you can come to my place and just hang out?" I suggested hurriedly.

"And distract you? No thanks. I really appreciate the idea, though," She said.

"No, you won't distract me. Come over, Sitar. I like spending time with you," I whispered the last part under my breath.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you — Ishaan, get the hell away from me. Deepika, tell your brother to stop torturing me!"

"I know you are talking to your boyfriend!"

"No, I am not. Go away."

"I'll see for myself!"

I heard two hard slaps on the back.

"Aeii!"

"Eruma maadu, phone a kudu!"

I chuckled at Sitara's desperate attempt at getting back her phone from him. I could hear Ishaan's loud laughter through the phone.

After a few seconds of shuffling sounds, Sitara came back on the call. "Sorry. This boy is one shameless nut case. He loves to annoy the hell out of me."

"Anyway, um, what were you saying?" She asked.

"Nothing," I quickly said. "Just come over. I'll send you the address."

"Fine, I'll come. On one condition, though."

Of course. "Yes, Madam. What is it?"

"You have to promise me a hug," She said, "Because I need one."

Taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't see me, I grinned like an idiot.

"As many as you want," I promised her, a little too bravely. It's just that the past week, I had visited Sitara a lot, bringing her milkshakes and then just chatting until either I decided to return home or just fell asleep. She let me sleep in her room and a room fully representing her and her alone — the smell, the feel, the vibe, the colours- only brought me closer to her. I felt like I knew her better.

"Someone is extra-cheesy during the day." She commented.

"Only for you."

"Stop. You are making my heart race so fast that I feel I might die any second if you don't quit it," She whined.

"See you soon, Sitar," I chuckled. In between all those late-night conversations, somehow this trend of shameless flirting had inserted itself. I loved watching a rosy hue creep up on her cheeks and how she would find anything to hide her face behind.

"Don't blame me if I distract you. I am warning you," she said in a much serious tone.

"I won't blame you even if you do."

"Shaurya!"

I howled in laughter, wishing I could see her red face.

⋆ -—————— sitara ⋮ ⋆

I rocked on my heels just outside Shaurya's door, waiting for him to open it. I was half-excited and half-nervous to see him. Somehow, he had weaved his way into my life and now he was an integral part of it. I talked to him every week and thought of him every day. Those sneaky flirtings, the light brushes of fingers and then looking away after someone caught the other staring — these were the things that made me go crazy.

The door opened and I immediately grinned when I saw Shaurya. But in addition to that, my jaw went slack when I noticed him wearing glasses. "You — " I pointed to it and he laughed.

"Yes, I wear glasses when I work online. Why are you so surprised?"

"Don't mind me. I was taken aback by how handsome you are, again. No big deal," I said hurriedly and slipped past him into his house. His rumbling laughter followed me after he shut the door.

"I am touched that you like me in glasses. I'll try to wear them more," He said.

"No!" I said, before I could stop it. He raised his eyebrows in question and I swallowed. "Um, it's just... they are kind of distracting."

His face broke out into a smile and I quickly added, "Don't you dare laugh at me."

"I'm not," He said, sitting in the chair in front of his laptop. "I'll get to work. Make yourself at home."

"Even if you didn't say it, I was going to anyway. I'll go explore your house and try not disturbing you. Don't miss me too much," I grinned, pinching his cheeks. He swatted me away and I left him to do his work.

Shaurya's house reminded me of Trisha's. She had her living room wall painted in pale violet, contrasting the light pink paint of her house. Similar to that, Shaurya had one wall painted a shade lighter than teal and the rest others a dull white. It was simple and aesthetic. He had a nice wall-mounted TV and a collection of DVDs stacked in a shelf under it. The tea table was wooden with a glass pane that looked a little expensive, especially considering the sleek wood.

I moved to the kitchen. I guessed Shaurya was a neat and orderly person and his kitchen confirmed my suspicion. It was an open kitchen facing the dining table and that's what I liked most about it. In addition to this, I've always wanted one with a counter and high-chairs connected to the kitchen; like the one that came in American movies where the kids were seated beside the counter and their parents just flipped a pancake onto their plates. I thought it was super cool.

I noticed that most of the crockery he had in there were teal as well and I realised Shaurya was trying to make everything match the theme. I smiled at that.

There were three rooms apart from the puja room. One room was completely empty except for a few random pictures of the beach hung onto the wall and a well-made bed.

The next had a king-size bed and photo frames all over the side wall. I saw a picture of a grey-haired woman hugging Shaurya with the most beautiful smile on her face. I realised she was his mother. She looked so graceful even when old.

There were other pictures of the two, and her with another girl with brown hair. I assumed she was Shaurya's sister Amara. Then I spotted a picture of his mother's younger version and a handsome man hugging in front of the Taj Mahal. Shaurya's father.

I suddenly felt as if I had intruded into a very private space so I quickly slipped out of the room and walked into the other one, already knowing it was Shaurya's. Surely he wouldn't mind if I went into his room without his permission, right? Afterall, he had slept in mine; not once, but thrice.

It was a stark contrast to mine. His room was organized, when mine was definitely nowhere near it. He had a lot of books and magazines stacked in one corner. I sat on the bed and looked around. My eyes widened when I saw a painted tyre, modified into a seat with stuffed cushions in it. He had a designer's mind while mine was just all data and statistics. If I ever went furniture shopping, I was going to drag him along.

I was about to leave the room but a stack of papers in a mug on the bedside table caught my eye. I took one and realised it was a collection of my milkshake bills. My palms covered my lips and I laughed, going through each of it in awe. Just how cute can he get?

After placing everything back in its place, I decided to make coffee for the both of us. Conjuring my best coffee-making skills, I got on with it. When I was done, I poured them into two mugs and turned around.

"I like seeing you in my kitchen."

I jumped at the voice, spilling hot coffee over my hands and almost dropping the cups. "Shit, I am so sorry," Shaurya rushed to my side and took the mugs from my hands. I pursed my lips to stop the hisses of pain from slipping out. My eyes burned with the tears I was trying to hold back. My vision blurred.

Cool water gently poured over my hands and I tried to keep still. I breathed through my mouth. "I am so sorry. It's my fault," Shaurya apologized but I shook my head repeatedly. I couldn't speak.

The water kept running over the red and swollen patch of skin. "Is it still hurting?" He asked.

"It's a little better," I admitted, switching off the tap and pulling my hand away. Shaurya took my hands gently and inspected it for a while.

"It looks superficial. I think I might have some antibiotic ointment somewhere. That should help," He said and blew over the burnt skin. "Or I can take you to the hospital."

I smiled through the pain. "Shaurya, I'll be fine. Don't worry," I assured him, squeezing his wrist with my better hand. "That ointment would do."

"I am so sorry," He said, blowing on my skin. The fact that he had worry etched all over his face warmed my heart.

"It's not your fault," I patted his shoulders. "I'll just get this cleaned up and maybe you can help me put that ointment on?"

"Let it be. I'll clean it later," He said.

"No, coffee stains are hard to remove. I am going to feel so bad if I ruin this beautiful kitchen."

"Fine. Just wait in the living room. I'll clean it up," He said.

"But, I can - "

"Sitara," He stressed, a little mad.

I nodded, taking the hint and shifting myself to the living room. I sat on the couch and inspected the burn. It was ugly red and a little swollen. When I blew over it, I remembered Shaurya's cool breath soothing my skin just a few seconds ago and I fought my smile. This man really cared for me like no one, I thought, giddily.

A few minutes later, Shaurya came in with a transparent plastic box filled with medicine. "Show me your hand," he said. I obeyed silently and watched him take a seat beside me and gently apply the ointment on the burn. It stinged a bit but when I winced, I saw him tuck in a smile.

"Something funny that I should know about?" I asked dryly.

He shook his head and rolled in his lips. "It's just that your face is funny when you wince. Your eyes look like they want to be closed and open at the same time and you suck your lips in."

I shoved his shoulders. "You, mister. You are the one who caused this."

"I thought you said it wasn't my fault," He smirked.

"Uh, that was when you were begging for my forgiveness. Now you are acting like a jerk," I mumbled, watching him wrap my hand with a dry gauze bandage.

"There is just one last thing to make you feel better," He said, packing everything back into the box and closing it.

"What is that?"

"Come here," He said, opening his arms. God, this man. Where was he all this time?

I fell into his arms, and immediately they coiled around me in a tight wrap. I was smaller than him so it was easy to rest my head against his chest while he balanced his chin on mine. I took in his scent — a mix of his laundry detergent and his strong perfume. I wasn't very accurate with scents so I couldn't really tell what his perfume smelled like. Sometimes I got the mint notes of it and sometimes a mix of pineapple and musk. Today he smelled like the latter.

"I ended up distracting you," I mumbled.

"I don't mind."

"Don't lie, Shaurya. I feel bad," I said. "I mean, I was planning on distracting you at one point of time eventually but not so soon. I wanted you to at least push in some work before I got chatty."

His fingers twirled a strand of my hair. "It's not like I didn't do anything. I finished a few. There are three minor bugs I need to fix and the rest I can do it tomorrow." He said and quickly changed the topic, "Why do you like these hugs anyway?"

"The same reason you do," I grinned.

"Who said I liked them?"

I snorted. "Even a blind person could see it, Shaurya. Shut up!"

We fell into a comfortable silence before I popped the question that was on my mind for quite a long time.

"Shaurya?" I started.

"Hmm?"

"What are we?"

His fingers stopped playing with my hair and he looked down to meet my eyes. "Something," He answered.

I was glad he didn't say we were friends because we clearly were not. That was the answer I needed. The assurance that we were something more which can lead to something even more.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I think that it's not necessary that we fall under labels. I like what we are," I said, honestly. I glanced up at him to meet his eyes and he smiled, tightening his hold just a little.

"I like what we are too," He repeated and I rested my head against his chest with a smile.

⋆ —————————— ⋆

glossary:

aeii: hey! (in a frustrated/protesting tone)

eruma maadu, phone a kudu: buffalo, give me the phone.

puja room: a room dedicated to prayers and worship

⋆ —————————— ⋆

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