HAZEL ARORA

"No, seriously? You want me to fill my stomach with something called escargot? What the fuck is that even?" Ayushmann laughed. I couldn't help but join him.

We had just finished a mission that surprisingly didn't involve blood and curses. The dinner with Mr. Colleili went smooth, except for the dinner, which seemed barely edible. I swear, these rich people would even eat cow dung if served at a five-star restaurant. The only good thing in the meal was the champagne, which had now made Ayushmann and me a little tipsy.

"I haven't had a pizza for so long, I think I don't even remember how good a pizza tastes like." I said in a dramatic tone.

"Y'know, why don't we go get some pizza? The pizzeria is opposite this establishment." Ayushmann suggested.

I happily agreed, even though I was shocked at my own response. The champagne did really loosen us up a bit.

We had a nice long chat at the pizzeria. Ayushmann told me all about his childhood days and his pranks.

"Once I almost killed a person who broke my friend's heart." He said flatly all of the sudden, in between eating the slices.

I choked on my pizza, "You what?"

"Eh yeah! I mean she had the audacity to cheat then proceed to publicly harass him. So, I did what a true friend's ought to do." He said, grinning. "I accidentally hit her with my car."

"God, you're evil." I said with a laugh. I told him all about the pranks I pulled when at school. "Once I fakeseduced my Chemistry teacher because I was bored. But that landed me a month long suspension at eighthgrade, so I stole his car one night." And he was laughing like what not.

 We continued chatting. He told me about how his roommate Justin, somehow always woke up in Malcolm Torr's bed, instead of their room. He suddenly asked me the unwanted question I had been running away from.

I opened up to him a little about myself, my family and my sister, Zoya.

"I was always the black sheep of the family, and my sister was the golden child. I would often get into troubles and ended up getting grounded. Slaps and abuses had become my common friends," I opened up to him as he patiently understood my world. "So, I left my home till I couldn't take it anymore." 

"So you and Zoya ran away from the home together?" he asked.

"The one person I always found my comfort in is Zoya. She is my ray of sunshine. I asked her to come with me, but she denied, so I had to leave her alone. But what hurt me the most was when she was kicked out of the family just for wanting to be with a man she loved." I sighed, not really wanting to go in depth of my life over a slice of pizza. But it felt surprisingly warming when I told this to him. As if he could understand all of my feelings.

"And what about you? What landed you in here?" I asked him, changing the topic.

"Well...." He started before I realized what I was doing. "Oh, I meant, only if you wanna talk about it." I said in haste.

"Oh, it's not a problem, you are actually the first person to ever ask this." He said, as I smiled sadly. He continued, "My father always thought that I was a lost cause, so I have given up in not being a disappointment for him. My mom has always been supportive of me. She has loved me even in my darkest days. I owe it to her. I cannot just sit here and do nothing about it. I miss her though. I cam here in the hopes of making her proud, at least. But I feel like I have achieved absolutely nothing here." He said, mindlessly playing around with the straw of his drink, "maybe I really am a lost cause."

Before it could get any more emotional, the waiter brought us the bill. But I didn't think he was a lost cause.

***

"You know, I never really thought you would be laughing at my jokes." Ayushmann stated, as I almost reached my room.

"Nice way of saying that you missed the asshole side of mine, lil' dick guy." I said, winking at him.

Suddenly, he came dangerously close to my face. My breathing completely stopped as shivers ran down my spine and my eyes slightly widened. "Don't you dare call me that, ever again! You get it in the pretty head of yours?" He said, in a deep voice. I swallowed thinking how quickly the tension built up in a matter of seconds.

My reaction to whatever he was doing was too obvious. He smirked.

Fuck.

That infamous smirk on his face. It made me completely breathless. I just wanted to run away from there.

He came to my right ear and whispered, "What happened? Cat got your tongue, darling?" He asked.

Darling.

I felt my knees go weak.

What the fuck was he doing to me?

I gathered courage so he couldn't see the further effects he was having on me, "Yeah sure. Whatever you say, 'lil' dick guy'." I said in a mock tone. Now it was my turn to smirk, as his ear tips went pink from anger.

"You seem too eager to know how 'small' my dick is, don't you?" He asked, sarcastically, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, I don't have to see it, to know how small it is, based on the reactions you give. For starters, you never deny this fact." I said with a smirk.

"Oh how I wish to show it to prove you wrong, sweetheart." He cocked his head with a smile. He replied quickly. Almost as if he had been wanting to call me that nickname.

Sweetheart.

I felt my neck and cheeks flushing up with red. Not to mention the goosebumps in my body, which even Ayushmann could see.

"Don't got no hoes for yourself that you have to fuck me, eh?" I asked with suspicion lurking over my eyes.

He just chuckled. OK.

"I could get as many girls, but I love to see the effects I have on you, darling."

Darling. Again.

My face couldn't turn any less redder at his response. I blinked furiously to kill the butterflies erupting on my stomach.

What the fuck was happening to me?

"Oi, you lot. You aren't allowed to fuck at corridors"

What the heck.

The voice belonged to none other than Xavier. It was 3 in the morning, and we were 'creating fuss' here. Of course, Xavier's little ass couldn't sleep in the ground floor due to some commotion on three floors above.

But I was nothing more than glad from Xavier's presence. At least I could escape Ayushmann now. I excused myself and ran inside my room only to find Kaia and Peter snuggled up in a warm blanket.