Elijah's POV

The evening went on as he kept talking about himself. 

"So which ruler did you choose to do your project on?" He suddenly asked grabbing my attenton. Finally!

"Well, I was thinking of working on Akbar." I replied sitting up straight and gaining some interest in the conversation which was so far very one-sided. "During my short research that I have done, he came out to be the most kind and just ruler." I said feeling proud of my long and hard research.

"I see." He replied as he leaned back on his chair with one hand supporting his chin, while the elbow rested on the chair's armrest. "And where did you come to know about him being a just ruler?" He questioned in a manner which suggested that my research was all wrong. Well, there goes all my research down the drain!

"My research was very brief, so I apologise if I haven't been very thorough with it." I said.

"Oh don't apologise." He said sitting up straight and looking more interested. "I think your research is quite alright! But the thing is, there is always more than what meets the eye."

He spoke with several hand-gestures, something I have learnt to relate with him getting passionate while teaching. When he feels like he is truly imparting wisdom beyond the books and the mandated syllabus, he has this spark in his eyes, his hand gestures get more frequent, and there is this almost excited smile on his face, which a little kid would have on discovering something new, something innovative.

"Do you know who Abul Fazl is?" He questioned.

"Most certainly, in Akbar's court, he was-" I started.

"M-Hm!" He interrupted me. "What did he write?"

"He wrote Akbarnama." I replied.

"Exactly!" He snapped his fingers excitedly. "That was basically a biography of Akbar which was written by Abul Fazl and comissioned by Akbar himself. And most of what we know about him today, comes from that very book. So imagine, if you paid someone to write about you, wouldn't they only mention the good things, and skip out on the other questionable things!"

"Wow, that does make sense." I said feeling surprised. Just when I thought he's a self-centred jerk only trying to waste my time!

"And that is not to say that Akbar didn't have any good qualities, he most certainly did. In fact, I agree that he was one of the most sensible rulers of the Mughal Empire." He said sipping his coffee again. "His achievements certainly surpass most of the other rulers, plus it is also a great topic in the sense that there is a lot to write about. With good research, you could produce a project that can stand out among the rest. Usually when people do projects on historic personalities they often paint them as good or evil, but it is important to note that people are often shades of grey and not completely black or white. I just wanted you to have a contadicting view so that you can create a complete overview of the character and not just one aspect."

"Wow." I said taking in all that information, that too in his accent, which suddenly seems more attractive than annoying, like it did before. 

"Did I overwhelm you?" He asked.

"No, it was quite a good discussion actually." I said. "I didn't take any pointers but I think I'll make a one hundred percent better project after this conversation. I was just gonna write about his conquests, the territory expansion under his rule, and a little about his character and vision. But now I have more to research. And certainly a lot more to learn." 

"And are you excited to learn all that new information?" He asked.

"Yes, Sir!" I replied with conviction. I was all charged up by this conversation. This is the first time someone matched my frequency while discussing academics. It felt good to talk to someone who was this passionate nerdy about a certain subject. I always categorized history as more of a boring subject on my list, but I guess it can be quite interesting too. 

"And I already told you you don't need a notebook. I can't give you pointers, unfortunately, but I can give you insight. Most people think history is all about noting down events and memorising dates, but it truly is about retrospecting about those events and figuring out how things went down back then versus now." He spoke.

We spent the rest of the evening having discussions about several historic events. It was both stimulating and invigorating. In essence, it was fun! We exchanged ideas, theories, and had heated debates. He also suggested me a few movies which I might enjoy. 

~

Cole's POV

"Where have you been all evening?" I asked as Elijah enterted my room. Honestly, I sound like his overly possessive girlfriend sometiemes. 

"I was researching about our topic for the history project." He replied. 

"But I thought that wasn't due until 2 months later?" I asked confused.

"Well it's hardly one and a half month, plus it's good to get a head start on this before the other teachers start giving out their projects. You know how hectic it gets." He replied unmindfully. 

"Okay..." I replied. "So you wanna eat?"

"Oh, I've already eaten." He replied. I knew it! I knew there was something he was hiding.

"Who did you go out to eat with?" I asked.

"Why did you suddenly assume I was out with someone?" He questioned.

"Why are you being so secretive?" I asked unable to hide my frustration. "Did you eat alone?" I asked even though I knew he didn't.

"Well, no." He replied.

"Who then?" I asked again.

He paused for a while and gave it some thought. "I had a discussion about our history project with our teacher over some coffee and then we decided to get some food." 

"What?" I asked exasperated. "Why would you hang out with a teacher?"

"See! That's exactly why I don't tell you things." He said looking mad. "You always judge me for everything. You know what, I was in such a good mood, but you somehow found a way to ruin it all." He stormed off to his room with that. 

We do have our own rooms but we usually end up sleeping in one room together. And we only sleep separately when either Eli needs to study, or when we fight. 

Elijah's POV

I do not know why I reacted that way. I mean, I know it is weird to hang out with a teacher, but why did Cole have to point it out that way? Plus, we were just discussing academics; is it really that weird? More importantly... am I weird? I have crushes on people who are already taken, I hang out with teachers and I live with my best friend. I mean how many people do you know who are like that?

 I was having this almost meltdown about my life's situation when there was a subtle knock on the door. "It's me." Cole said in the softest voice ever from the other side of the door. 

"Come in." I replied.

"Hi." He said as he opened the door and walked in. "I just-"

"I'm sorry." I said before he could say anything. "I overreacted, I know."

"Hey." He said as he came and sat beside me on the bed. "You don't have to apologise. I'm here to apologise to you."

"I know that." I said sniffling. I don't know why I teared up out of nowhere. "But it's my  fault. I should apologise."

"Eli, don't cry. Please." Cole said hugging me from the side. "Can you tell me why you reacted the way you did?" He asked after a while. "I know you didn't mean to."

"I just-" I don't know how to phrase it. "Do you think I'm weird?"

"What? No. Why would you say that?" He asked turning me to face him.

"I mean, I know I am weird." I said avoiding his eyes. "But others thinking that doesn't bother me as much as you thinking that I'm weird."

"I don't think that you're weird, Eli." He said wiping off my tears. "You're my best friend, and I love you. I cannot possibly think you're weird."

"But you do though." I said burying my face into his chest and sobbing against him. "You had that weirded out look when I was talking to our teacher in class earlier. You hated Jamie and never understood why I dated him. You don't understand why I like Jason. You think I make poor life choices. That I'm weird." 

"Eli, honey, no." He said trying to pull me up but I hugged him tighter. "Elijah, I am just overprotective of you. That's why I'm skeptical of anyone and everyone you're involved with. It's not because I disapprove your choices. I always respect your choices regardless of what I think."

"Then?" I asked finally pulling back and  looking at him. 

He sighed. "I may disapprove of your choices sometimes, or like most of the times, but that's not because I think you're weird. It's because I care for you, a lot. You're the most precious person in my life."

More tears welled up in my eyes as I heard Cole speak. "I love you too, Cole." I said hugging him again. "I love you the most."

"Me too, Eli. Me too." He spoke as he pressed a kiss on top of my head. 

________________________________________________________________________________

So... what do we think about the Cole-Elijah dynamic so far? 

Also, what do we think about Cole being so overprotective of Elijah? 

Is Elijah justified in hiding stuff from Cole, or should he just be more open with him?

Lemme know in the comments what you think of this chapter and the story so far. Love you guys. Bye!

~ Millie.