"I don't got this."

I voice out my thoughts shakily, turning to look at Mia who was standing beside me.

"Oh my God! Did my soliloquy go in vain?!" She exclaims, throwing up her hands.

"It's not a soliloquy technically, 'cause you didn't exactly prepare it and all y'know." I say.

"Do I look like I need vocabulary lessons here? You're here to talk to him. I don't care. 'Mission like like' is a go and you're sure as fuck gonna accomplish it." She said and mumbling 'screw this!' under her breath she pushed me towards...where you ask?

We are standing by the main gate of my apartment and Nikhil is waiting in our usual bike parking spot.

After the pep talk, Mia had called Nikhil and made me invite him to my house to talk—because we might want to, and I quote, 'sit and talk'—before I could change my mind about talking to him and to my utter bewilderment, Nikhil agreed without questioning me.

And Mia dropped me home today since she wanted to make sure I don't bail out in the last minute.

Her push catches me off-guard and to avoid falling down, I do a little jump and jog towards the direction in which she pushed me.

This movement catches Nikhil's attentions and he looks at me with a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

There's no backing away now.

I walk towards him, take a deep breath, and greet him.

"Hi."

He surprises me by pulling me to a hug and my heart went haywire at his touch which I missed a lot.

Though his hug was a bit unsure, maybe because of the confusion between us, I cherish it since it has been weeks since we even talked.

Once we pull away, I look around awkwardly and decide to go to my house instead of standing here.

Gesturing him to follow, I go to my house, unlock it and go to my room.

I keep my bag on the desk and free my hair from its ponytail, running my hands through it.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I turn to see Nikhil walking into my room.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" He asks, clearly knowing the answer.

"About...us?" I speak out as a question, walking to the edge of my bed and sitting on it.

Nodding, he comes and sits beside me. Neither of us speaks for a while and I finally decide to break the silence with the truth.

"I don't regret it."

"Regret what?" He asks, a bit confused.

"The kiss...that day..." I trail away.

He gives a nod and taking a deep breath spoke out something that surprised and relieved me.

"Neither do I."

A tiny smile graces my lips at his words and I turn to look at him as he takes my hands in his.

I never noticed before, but they fit perfectly.

Looking up at his eyes, my heart skips a beat at their intensity.

"I lo— like you very much Ritu. More than you can even think. More than just a friend or a best friend and as you would say it, I like like you."

His words bring a warm feeling inside me.

"Since when?" I ask curiously after a few beats.

"Since when I was five and I saw a girl about my age standing on the stage during our school's Annual Day Celebration and singing in the most beautiful voice I've ever heard, completely immersed into the song without caring about anyone or anything.

"I'll admit, as a boy, those events bored me, but one thing that kept me in my place that day was you. And considering our school's student population I never got a chance to meet you after that other than the occasional competitions in which you would participate in our school and sometimes in the campus with your ex-best-friends, laughing and chatting."

Tucking a loose strand behind my ear, he continues softly, "Little did I know I would be shuffled and put in the same section as you in eighth grade or that I would find you different than you were when I first saw you in the auditorium. Yes, you were a tough girl to approach initially, but fortunately you let me in. And my feelings for you only grew after that."

I'm beyond shocked at his revelation. He's liked me all this time.

No wonder he hates Ved-related topics.

"I...I had no idea." I say after a few seconds of silence.

"How would you? All you ever saw was Ved." He said, clenching his jaw, anger laced in his words.

Oh you have no idea what I saw boy.

What's that supposed to mean? I scowl internally.

Yeah. Like you didn't eye-rape this poor guy when he taught you self-defense a year back or when he played cricket while you were having lunch in school which I'm very sure happened when you were...12 or 13? My brain retorts.

Shut up! I appreciate boys 'kay? I even ogle at Jensen Ackles! I reason with—

Wait. Reason? No, I'm definitely not reasoning. I know I didn't mean it that way.

You got your answer right there bitch. My brain cheers.

"Hey! Ritu, you zoned out." I snap out as Nikhil's voice calls me out.

I stick to speaking the truth.

"What about that mystery girl?"

"Mystery girl?" He asks confused.

"Yeah, that girl you always say that you like and all..."

Nikhil bursts out laughing, so hard that tears start coming out of his eyes while he clutches his sides.

Feeling a bit insulted, I pout and turn away as his laughter dies down slowly.

"Oh my god! I love you and all but, sometimes you're too oblivious." He wheezes.

"What?" Now it's my turn to be confused.

"It's you Ritu. It's always been you. I've left out some too obvious features while describing but I thought you should've known. But you obviously haven't." He says, turning me to face him.

Wow, you really are dumb.

It ain't my fault that he left out all the nuances!

Well, do you expect him to just point out the features of this girl when all she ever does is talk about "the cute boy in music class"?

Letting that thought slide, I tell him what's on my mind.

"I— I think I like you too Nikki. I'm not sure...the whole feelings I used to have for Ved and now—"

He shushes me by placing a finger on my lips.

"You don't have to tell me anything now. The fact that you think you like me is enough hope for me. Just...don't give me the silent treatment anymore. We'll figure it out—your feelings, towards me or Ved and we'll figure it out together okay?"

All this time, he strokes my lips with his thumb and I hear only few of his words as my mind was distracted by his thumbs moving against my lips.

I figure out that he has finished speaking with a question and I fumble for a few seconds before answering.

"Okay." I say breathlessly and he must have noticed my momentary distraction because his strokes started becoming slower and softer.

My breath hitches as he started leaning in slowly, his eyes flickering between my eyes and lips.

I close my eyes, thinking he was going to kiss me, but he stops once our noses were touching and simply rests his forehead against mine.

"I'll...wait. I don't want your decision to be biased just because we kissed. As much as I hate this, you must explore your feelings first. I don't want you to feel suffocated."

Inhaling deeply, he continues, "I'll be happy and stand by you no matter what decision you make. But in all honesty, I really didn't regret the kiss."

"You're my first kiss." I blurt out idiotically.

I close my eyes, embarrassed, and bite my lip to avoid my stupid mouth from opening again.

I feel him chuckling lightly as he whispers, "And you're mine."

I open my eyes quickly and see him staring at me smilingly.

"Really?" I ask, surprised.

"What? Just because I look good, am arrogant and cocky about it doesn't mean I go whoring around. In fact, I'm just as virgin as you." He says teasingly, but that doesn't stop me from blushing ferociously since I had never talked about this topic with him.

We completely pull away and he wraps his arms around my shoulder, tucking me to his side.

"I actually sorta saved my first kiss for you if you ever developed feelings for me y'know?" He says making me chuckle.

"I missed you." I sigh as I bask in his warmth.

"I missed you too. Don't ever give me that silent treatment, like, never again please." He says, planting a tiny kiss on my forehead.

"And you don't know how sorry I am for—"

"It's okay. I broke a promise and you became angry. And um...that too with Ved, so...you're forgiven." I interrupt his apology with a smile.

After silently enjoying each other's company, I ask him the big question that's been bothering me ever since we kissed.

"What are we Nikki?" I look up at him.

"Anything you want us to be." He replies, offering a smile.

"I'm not sure about my feelings yet and if this is all just some petty crush I have on you, you might get hurt. I don't want to hurt you. It's the last thing I would do to you." I say.

"Then we'll take this slow. I...I'll support you even if you have feelings for Ved—"

"One thing at a time please. What are we now? Just answer that." I pause before continuing, "I still don't know about my feelings for you, I don't wanna lead you on."

After explaining, I look up to see Nikhil suppressing a yawn and imitating as if he was falling asleep while he asks, "You done?"

I slap his arm for which he chuckles and pulls me closer, placing his chin on my head as he rubs my arms.

"You won't hurt me Ritu. And even if you don't like me back we will be best friends okay? I don't plan on letting you go any soon."

This statement brings back what my mom told about me changing school next year due to our monetary issue.

I wonder if we would survive a Long Distance Relationship.

So you like him and you'll get in a relationship with him huh? 

God I liked it better when my brain shut up.

What if we never meet each other after changing schools?

What if we lose touch and—

No don't go there. Just enjoy the moment with him.

Should I tell him?

I let go of my thoughts as I hear light snores and I look down to see Nikhil sleeping with his head on my lap like he would, whenever we hung out together while he was tired but he wouldn't admit it to me.

Slowly stroking his hair and moving some of them from his forehead, I observe his peaceful face with that tiny little pout he always has on when he sleeps.

I come to the conclusion that he doesn't need to know about the problems.

Maybe, maybe this would all work out one day.

Nikhil slightly stirs and snuggles closer to my stomach, murmuring incoherently in his sleep.

We'll figure it all out.

And like he said, we'll figure it out together.

A/N: Thoughts? Vote and comment, please and thank you!