Ananth arrived at his home. The front door was open and his mother was watching a TV serial sitting on the sofa. Seeing her, he was filled with a trace of bitterness. He could simply guess what she would have told Vandana fifteen years back.

He walked in, silently ignoring her.

He went to his room and put his bag down and took off his wristwatch. His eyes fell to his scar. A faint line on his wrist. He moved his finger over it. He changed his clothes and lay on the bed. His mother came in, "Anandu," she called his home name, "Don't u want dinner?"

"No," he was not in a mood to talk to her.

They were on a train. They were fifteen and scared.

The night train moved fast along the railway lines. Vandana was sitting in an empty train compartment with her head on Ananth's shoulder. He held her hand firmly. They were both scared. "Nandu..." She called him.

"Hm?"

"I am hungry." She said.

"A little bit longer, Nandu. Let us buy something to eat from the next stop."

She nodded. He hugged her shoulder and pulled her closer securely. She rested her head on his shoulder and went to sleep. He kissed her forehead. He kept holding her hand.

The train came to a stop at a station. It was around 11 pm. Vandana woke up. She looked around. Her hair was stuck to Ananth's skin because of sweat. She parted it away. "Are we out of Kerala yet?" she asked.

"No. Still in Kerala. We are at Shornur station," He told her. "Let me go and buy some food." He began to get up, but Vandana held on to his hand. "What happened?" He asked her affectionately. "Scared?" She nodded. "Don't worry. I will be right back." He said.

"No. Don't leave me alone." She said.

"Then you want to come with me?" He asked. She nodded and got up. "If people see us together at this time, they will be suspicious," Ananth warned her.

"I don't want to sit here alone. It's scary,"

"Okay... Come then. Let's figure out something."

They got out of the train. Ananth made sure that they both had their backpacks with them. He did not want to risk theft.

"Stay here where you can see me," Ananth told Vandana as they were on the platform, "I will go to that shop and be back in a jiffy." He indicated the snack shop ahead. Vandana nodded. She felt scared to stand alone, but she did not want to be unreasonable.

She waited as Ananth walked to the store. They had boarded the train in the evening. She had to sneak out of her house. She had packed the essentials in her school bag. In the evening, the train compartment was filled and they had to sit separately. But luckily by night, almost everybody got down and they were alone in a compartment.

While she was standing alone, Vandana noticed a man a beggar or someone living on the platform approach her. He had a creepy lustful smile on him. Vandana almost screamed. She ran to Ananth and clutched his arm. He was getting biscuits and chips. "What happened?" He asked, panicked. She just indicated the stranger.

Now the shopkeeper looked at them with suspicion. "Are you two alone?" He asked.

"No," Ananth said automatically. But the guy did not believe him.

"Where are you headed to?" he asked.

"Nowhere," Ananth automatically said, which put him more suspicious.

"Kid, how old are you?" he asked.

"None of your business," Ananth told him. "Come, Nandu..." He began to turn to the train. The train whistled. But the shopkeeper was already calling out to the police. The police at the station police station began to come out of the room.

"Quick..." Ananth pulled Vandana to the train and the train started to move. By the time the police came to the shopkeeper the train had left the station. Ananth and Vandana breathed in relief.

"I thought we will get caught," Vandana said and smiled in relief.

"Yeah. Me too." Ananth said. He parted her hair with his fingers.

Vandana suddenly hugged him. They were still standing at the door of the train. "Hey..." he called her with all the love in the world, "All okay?"

"I am just glad that I am with you," she said. She had been stopped from going to school by her parents. They refused to let her meet him. They had not met each other for over a month.

"Me too," he kissed her forehead.

Vandana looked up. Ananth could not control himself. He kissed her lips. She was surprised but laughed. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing..."

"What? Tell me..."

"Hm... if we live together...." She hugged him again and pressed her head to his chest. "What will we be doing?"

"I don't know... We probably would be kissing a lot more, right?" He asked her naughtily.

"Just kissing..." She looked up.

"Why? You want more?" He asked, teasingly, "You naughty..."

"Hey, who was the one who got excited when I wore half-saree for the function."

"Your stomach was showing. How can I not get...?"

"Hmm? Is that so...?"

"I don't know... Your stomach is kinda..."

"Kinda what?"

"Hot..."

She giggled.

"Can I touch it?"

"What?"

"There..." he moved a hand over her top where her stomach is...

"Nandu...?" She called him scoldingly.

"What? We are going to live together from now on." He edged closer to her ear and whispered, "We are going to do a lot more from now on." She giggled. "So?" he asked. She nodded. But now Ananth gulped. He was suddenly excessively nervous.

"What happened?" She asked.

He shook his head. He was looking so cute that Vandana went forward and kissed his lips. He got lost in that kiss that he pushed her to the wall of the train and kissed her deeper. Vandana opened up and their tongue graced each other. She felt like melting away...

Ananth waited and his hand traced the edge of her jeans... he made his way up to her naked stomach.... Touched that soft skin. Vandana did not know that his touch could feel so good. She made a negligible moan. That broke all control of Ananth. He pushed himself closer to her, and kissed down from her jaw to her neck... "Nandu..." he hissed.

She held him closer... His hand moved up to her boobs as he tasted her neck. She could feel the throbbing passion between his legs against her waist. She closed her eyes to the feel of it. She could feel the need in both of them. She wanted him closer. As close as he can be. Yet she feared it. She felt she was too young.

He felt nervous too. He wanted it more than anything at this moment... "Nandu, I will go mad..." He hissed in her ear.

"Me too..." she said.

"We should stop, right?"

"Yeah..."

But they did not move away from each other...

"Ananth..." Vandana called him the next day in the office. "I have sent you the designs for the setting window." She casually turned to him. He was biting onto his pen.

"Sure, I'll check," he said.

For him, he still could not forget what he felt on the night he dropped her home. He was getting distracted by her thoughts. But he managed to hold himself steady and not waver.