~Sanvi's POV~
"See, I think... And to clarify it first that in no way am I the person that should advise you or anything...but I think you should live in the apartment from now on." My heart skipped a beat at his remark and my fists tightened.
"And I am saying this only for the sake of the Championship ahead. I know I shouldn't meddle, but I... This whole thing... Damn." I could clearly understand his insinuation even if he was struggling to find words to express his thoughts.
Hell, I was waiting for him to address the elephant in the room eversince he had barged into the house like that and heard the ruckus firsthand.
Especially after he had nursed my fresh wounds with his own hands without asking a single question.
But he hadn't.
He hadn't until the very last moment when he had to leave.
I didn't know how I should take all these.
"I am sorry, I wouldn't have come down here if I knew this would trouble you so much. For god's sake, the only reason I broke into your room was to apologise for kissing you in the parking lot. And now...you had to go through so much shit for me."
He spoke in an alien tone. Mellow and calm as his eyes slid down to my wounded wrist.
I felt a jolting dip in my stomach as if I was accidentally sliding down a slippery slope at warp speed.
Warmth embraced my cold shivering palms as he stood there, shielding me from the harsh chilly breeze through the window.
He still wasn't addressing it.
He still wasn't.
What was up with him? He would usually jump on any situation to insult me or make fun of me if he was handed the string. And there, he was handed the entire rope. Why wasn't he tugging at it?
To maintain the peace for the Championship? Yes, that must've been it.
He didn't want trouble and I was the epitome of trouble for him right then.
Why didn't he then revoke the plan of partnering with me after seeing my state?
"I just think that you should stay in that apartment during the Championship days...and I don't say this for any other reason but for my own selfish desire of saving the petrol for my bike. It's almost a day-trip to reach this part of the town, Sanvi!" A tiny smile broke out instantly on my face and he surely noticed that before continuing with a pause.
"I would very much prefer that you use the apartment since it'll be too hard to catch you here in case of any emergency. There's also the thing with your health and stuff and mind you, it'd be better for us if we stay in high spirits during this period." He sighed trying to mask his soft voice with a stern exterior.
"It is going to be as hard as it is, with juggling studies for the exams and the Championship... it'll be way easier for you in the apartment and I know that. But mind you, I am not trying to advise you, okay? It's all upto you... If you want to take up on my suggestion... "
I scoffed as his usual Rathore tone returned sooner than it had surprisingly disappeared. I looked up to see a faint guilty smile playing on his lips.
He was talking as if he was planning on moving in with me in that apartment.
He was going to speak some more when I briskly placed my finger on his lips, shutting him up for good.
"I get it. I'll think about it. I wouldn't want St. Louis to suffer for my own personal problems." He stared at me with such appealing eyes that it almost made my heart flutter.
No, no. Don't sway, Sanvi.
He was just worried about all the troubles you might cause him through the alliance.
Mind.
Almost.
My heart was fortified. Nothing could enter it. Not his eyes. Not his words. Not his weirdly sympathetic intentions.
"I'll send you a copy of the clauses I've written down. It's a contract and we got a deal. I'll keep my side of it, and I hope you keep yours too." I said before sliding the door down and turning my back on him as he kept standing there, staring at my back for half a minute.
By the time I turned around, he had already vanished into the night-fog outside our little gate.
And he had come down all the way to my house in cold to apologise for his misbehaviour or coax me into partnering with him? I didn't know which and I honestly didn't want to know. I was indifferent either way. Or wasn't I?
As I scurried up the stairs before I could wake anybody, it suddenly hit me. I couldn't believe I was such a brainless knob that I let him go without asking him not to talk about my weird living situation with anyone.
I had always been keen when it came to things like this,—mostly because I didn't have any other choice. It was embarassing and I feared the attention I'd be showered with if any of those gossip mongers get a hold of this piece of information.
But Rishabh wouldn't tell anyone, right?
I practically saved his ass from falling two storeys down that night! He better be grateful. I could have just pushed him off after what he had done that evening.
He did ask Dhruv about my address before coming that night. What if he said anything about it to Dhruv?
Hell, what if it became the hot topic of the school after vacation?!
Those vultures would eat me alive!
I didn't care if they gossiped within my earshot but what if I became the topic of their gossip for the year-end?
What if...he wouldn't. Rishabh, wouldn't right?
The Championship was his first priority so he possibly wouldn't indulge in something as petty as that, right?
He was a jerk, of course, but would he go to that extent of blabbing about my miserable plight to everyone? Weirdly enough, my brain eagerly intercepted with a big no at this question.
Wow, did I trust him now?
While I was still thinking about the sudden change in Rishabh's behaviour, my eyes fell on the year-end picture of the previous year placed on the bed. It was the same one where I had taken ill with chicken pox and the one Rishabh was doodling on ever since he had arrived in my room.
He had thrown it on my face proclaiming it to be a present of some sort. What did he mean by that?
I picked it up to inspect it and that was when I was presented with yet another masterpiece of Rishabh Singh Rathore.
I swore I snorted so loud at the sight that I heard my parents stirring with the sudden sound in their sleep downstairs.
Soon, I found myself muffling my giggles with my palm as I laid on the bed on my back and admired the picture.
Apparently, Rishabh had a knack for sketching as was evident from the very questionable figure of mine that he had drawn, standing on the last row and a step above where he stood in the actual photograph.
He had made it appear so as if I was looking down on him with a sneer. The two googly eyes that he had drawn on his own face seem to make him appear scared of my stringy hands coming down to strangle him.
Hah, that jerk.
I didn't want to kill him, although he did do stuff that made me want to make that a reality.
He had to go and do that, didn't he?
Include me in the class photo and make it appear like I committed homicides on the regular?
But what cracked me up the hardest was the miserable little figure of Aakash sitting on the right of our class teacher in the photo with two gigantic horns coming out of his head and he appeared to be flipping the teacher off.
Well now that I knew his actual face, he might be capable of doing that, who knew?
But Rishabh being this petty with his caricature of Aakash went to showed that he had perhaps attempted to pour down all the wrath he had against him right on that plastic paper. And it simply made me laugh.
So silly.
I hadn't laughed so hard in days and I just couldn't help but smile gratefully when I thought about Rishabh Rathore after recovering from my giggles.
He had, in his own way, managed to tunnel in a ray of light amidst the brooding darkness that had shrouded my heart.
I felt relieved and I figured it must've been at the idea of someone...even if the despicable Rathore, atleast someone knowing about my miserable situation at home.
I have been burdened with the knowledge of my own abuse for way too long, without a single soul to turn to.
It was a far-fetched thought but I did feel heard and that made me feel so relieved that I didn't even realise when my eyes began fluttering close and I slipped into the darkness with the photo clutched to my chest.
**************
To Be Continued.