"Okay, that's enough!," said Ishita glaring at Vivaan who gave her a smug smile.

The five friends were playing carrom in Ansh's room. Well, four of them. Vivaan and Somya in one team, Ishita and Ansh in another. All of them were sitting on the carpet. Shreshth hated the game so he just sat on Ansh's bed sipping on his soda as he watched his friends play. Vivaan and Somya were kicking Ishita and Ansh's ass in carrom. Ishita being as competitive as she was, gave her best but it looked like in carrom, luck favoured that smug asshole Vivaan. So after five rounds of carrom, since Ishita did not want to give up so easily, she had had enough.

Vivaan sat back feeling smug and while Ishita glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that, Ishi. You know no one can defeat me in carrom," Vivaan said, enjoying Ishita's frustration.

Ishita narrowed her eyes at him and then smiled at him sweetly as she said, "Ansh, please bring out the chess."

As soon as the words left Ishita's lips, Somya's mouth opened wide in amusement and Vivaan froze. His smugness went poof in the air as he stared wide-eyed at Ishita's smiling face. His gaze then landed on Ansh.

"Ansh, y-you don't have that abomination in your home now, do you?," Vivaan asked, his voice laced with fear.

Ansh frowned, confused, "Um, what?"

"You don't have chess, do you?"

"I do, why?"

Vivaan looked at Ansh as if he had betrayed him in the worst way possible. He placed his palm on his heart as he, in a sad, broken voice, said, "And I thought we were friends, Ansh."

Ansh was baffled at Vivaan's reaction. He looked towards Shreshth who had switched from sipping sodas to munching chips, enjoying the show. Noticing Ansh's gaze, he shrugged and kept on enjoying Vivaan's misery.

"Ansh," started Ishita, "what are you waiting for? Bring out the chess."

"NO!!," exclaimed Vivaan. "You can't. You can't bring out devil's plaything. It will bring bad luck."

Ansh's frown deepened. "Vivaan, are you ok?," asked Ansh, genuinely concerned for his friend.

Somya could not hold her laughter in any longer. She burst out laughing while holding her stomach with her both hands. Shreshth followed next, Vivaan stared at them with his mouth open unable to believe how his friend and fiancee are enjoying his misery.

"Somya!," Vivaan exclaimed causing Somya to fall down on the carpet while laughing.

"Ok, seriously, what's going on?," Ansh asked confusion lacing his voice at his friends' behaviour.

Shreshth sobered up and answered, smile still playing on his lips, " It's chess, Ansh. Vivaan hates it with all his being."

"No matter how hard he tries, he can't win. Once he played it with a kid and lost spectacularly," said Somya. "It was such a sight to behold seeing Vivaan wail and thrash."

Vivaan, red with embarrassment, said, "Suraj did NOT defeat me. I let him win."

"And I am the Prime Minister of India," Somya said.

Vivaan glared at her.

Ansh looked at Vivaan, amused. "You know, I can teach you how to play chess," Ansh suggested.

"I know how to play chess!," said Vivaan affronted by Ansh's suggestion.

"If you say so."

Vivaan was about to retaliate but was stopped with Ansh's bedroom door opening revealing a blushing Anshika.

"Food is ready," she said.

Vivaan breathed in relief before smiling at her sweetly. "You heard her. Let's go." Vivaan quickly got up and followed Anshika out.

"Lucky bastard," Ishita grumbled under her breath as everyone made their way downstairs to the dining room.

All of them made their way downstairs to the dinning room. The food was served on the table. They all sat down and took a look at the food served. Vivaan, Somya and Ishita turned their heads to give a stink eye to Ansh who was quite busy putting everything in a blushing Shreshth's plate. Ananya and Devansh were hiding their smile and Anshika was focused on stuffing her plate to the brim.

Ishita sighed in defeat and shook her head before digging in. Vivaan and Somya, on the other hand, were lost in a quiet battle between themselves.

"Ansh knows Shreshth's favorite dishes," Vivaan whispered. "Do you know mine?"

"Of course, I do. It's, um, noodles," Somya whispered back.

"It's not. I like gol gappas. How could you not know this?"

"Oh, you're talking as if you know my favorite dish!"

"It's cheese sandwich."

"Actually, it's dosa."

Both Vivaan and Somya huffed and looked away from each other and stuffed food in their mouth before looking back at each other only to huff away again.

They all enjoyed the meal, making small talk, teasing Ansh and Shreshth causing them to blush. Right now, all the friends were sitting in Ansh's room, watching a horror movie, the lights of the room dimmed to match the atmosphere. Somya and Vivaan had their arms wrapped around each other, Ishita was hiding under a blanket, occassionally peeking at the screen. Ansh and Shreshth, meanwhile, were distracted. They would steal glances at each other and when their eyes met, they smiled at each other before turning back to the screen.

It was 2 a.m. when the movie ended. Ishita was already in the bed, blanket drawn up to her face. Somya, too, hurriedly got inside the blanket. The guys were going to sleep on the floor. But, Vivaan was scared as hell. So, he too got in the bed, squeezing between Ishita and Somya. He hid his face in the crook of Somya's neck, his hands close to his chest, leaving Ansh and Shreshth standing alone with bedrolls in their hands. Shreshth and Ansh stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do next.

"Um, uh, we should, um, lay down our bedrolls," Ansh stuttered.

"Yeah, you're right. We should," Shreshth agreed.

Both of them laid out their makeshift beds side by side and awkwardly settled down in their bed. Shreshth was lying on his back while Ansh laid on his side, facing the bedroom door. It was quiet for a moment before both Ansh and Shreshth spoke up.

"Shreshth-"

"Ansh-"

Ansh turned his whole body around to look at Shreshth, who glanced towards Ansh before averting his gaze again.

"You go first," said Shreshth.

"Nono, you, you go first."

"Um, are you comfortable?"

Ansh was surprised by the question.

"I should be the one asking that question?"

"Well, I am. But what about you?"

"Me too."

Shreshth nodded. "Okay. Um, what were you going to say?"

Ansh looked at Shreshth and whispered, "Um, tomorrow is Sunday. So, um, are you free tomorrow? If not, it's okay. But if you are, we could do something together, you know, just the two of us?"

Shreshth smiled at the suggestion.

"Okay. It's a date," he said.

Ansh's eyes widened in surprise.

"Is it? Really?"

Shreshth's smile diminished a little.

"Um, sorry, I did not want to make you uncomfortable."

"Nono. You did not. It's just, you took me by surprise. I would really love to go on a date with you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's just, you know, you are you and I am me."

Shreshth looked at Ansh, confused.

"What are you trying to say, Ansh?"

Ansh took a deep breath as he started, "Shreshth, you, you are such a handsome guy. So strong, confident and so pretty. You are the most popular guy in our college. But me, I am an awkward, introvert who now has got social anxiety because of... that day. I fucking have mental breakdown in public now. I know I am going to embarrass you and trust me I don't want to. I am just such a mess now. Why would you even think of going on a date with me? You will become a laughing stock for others."

After Ansh was done talking, there was a moment of silence for few seconds before Shreshth spoke up.

"I have my own shortcomings too, Ansh. I am not perfect."

"I know."

"Then there is no need for you to worry. You are a handsome guy as well, Ansh. You are kind and sweet. You are always landing a helping hand to those who need it. So please, don't only focus on what you think are your flaws. Being awkward or introvert is not a flaw. Having anxiety of any kind is not a flaw. Having mental breakdown will embarrass you and it's okay for you to feel that way. But it does not embarrass me. So, I am going to ask you in the proper way. Ansh, will you go on a date with me?"

Ansh was smiling with his mouth open, touched by Shreshth's words.

"I, I don't know what to say. I-"

"OMG! Just say yes!," came Vivaan's voice causing Ansh and Shreshth to jump. Both of them looked towards the bed and found their three friends looking down at them with eager eyes.

Ansh blushed deep red and answered, "Yes."

Shreshth smiled happily and Vivaan, Somya and Ishita cheered in low voice.