Hello Fam :)

Okay since it's a bit confusing, let's go with single or double updates a day. Let the chapter sink in. According to this plan, the book will be completed by the end of the week. :)

Happy Reading...

The week has passed in a blur. For all the excitement about the event, Nandini and Manik were too busy to relax and enjoy it. But at the end of the day, when they compared the notes or when some student appreciated their work, they shared a content smile. Nandini needed the pressure. It took her mind off the unwanted thoughts.

Finally, Friday has come. It was an astronomical night event. The professors, who had accompanied them to the venue, stayed at a nearby hotel in order to give the students their privacy to enjoy their last night to the fullest. Abhimanyu had helped Nandini set up the bonfire while Manik gave a brief lecture about the history of Astronomy from the perspective of ancient Indian culture. She made Manik read a book which he was eager to oblige. After the lecture, the students cozied up around the bonfire and a few of them approached Manik with some of their doubts. Cabir was setting up his camera and the telescope required to snap some photographs of the night sky. Mukti was beside him.

Once they were done, Abhimanyu and Nandini joined Cabir and Mukti. Navya was with the group that was interacting with Manik and as she asked a question to him, Manik got excited and launched into an elaborate explanation. Nandini noticed the fond smile he gave in their direction. Abhimanyu had his hands wrapped around his girlfriend as they chatted with a few other friends he had made during the event. Nandini slipped beside Cabir once he finished setting up the camera.

"I need magazine-worthy pics. If I find the pictures of only your girlfriend, I would make sure this would be the last time you would be touching the camera", she warned.

"I am insulted", protested Cabir. "I am too professional when it comes to my profession."

"Yeah, I noticed", she told, "how you were making heart eyes at your girlfriend."

Cabir grinned. "Girls like it when their boyfriends make heart eyes at them. You wouldn't understand. Anyway, how do you find us together?"

"Made for each other. Jungli", she told.

"I am serious."

"How does my opinion matter?", she asked. How does it matter who dated whom?

"Please? It matters", said Cabir. He made his best puppy dog eyes that always worked on Manik.

Nandini rolled her eyes. She isn't affected by his dog eyes but she could definitely spare herself by answering the question instead of watching him being a baby. "You guys are okay. Abhimanyu and Mukti. You and Navya. You are fine. Not overbearing."

"You find Mukti and Abhimanyu okay? Just okay", he asked incredulously.

Of course, it's just okay because it's not permanent. Nothing is permanent and they were just in their teens. They were dramatic to think they would be together forever. But Nandini didn't tell him that because teenagers don't want to acknowledge the harsh realities of life. They ignore and ignore until life happens and then wallow in their misery as life mocks them with a 'told you so'. Nandini shrugged.

"So who according to you is the perfect couple?", asked Cabir.

'No one' she wanted to say but she knew he wouldn't agree with her and unlike his brother, who took disagreements with harmony and intellect, Cabir would fuel the argument. After working endlessly for almost two weeks without proper rest, Nandini didn't have enough energy to spend on arguing with him. She was glad when Manik called her, saving her from answering the boy.

"Murthy", shouted Manik from wherever he was talking to the students.

Nandini nodded at him. It was one thing she had noticed since the start of the event. When they were amidst their visiting students, he referred to her by her last name. She was startled on the first day and then they were in the canteen with their friends, when Nandini forced the book out of his hands and ordered him to eat something, she was Nandini again as he whined to let him finish at least one chapter. A day later when she casually mentioned it to him, Manik shrugged. It's professional, he told her. Now it was one more thing that amused her about the nerd.

She grinned at Cabir. "That's what you call a professional. He doesn't even take my first name when it isn't required. Learn from him", she told and went towards Manik ignoring the daggers she was sure Cabir was sending in her direction.

XXX

"What's up, bro", greeted Abhimanyu to Cabir as soon as Nandini left him.

Cabir narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Weren't you actively ignoring my presence", he accused.

"What do you want me to do?", retorted Abhimanyu. "She informed me that I was secretly conspiring with you and threatened to kill me if anything's against her."

Cabir waved him off. "She threatens me daily. Did I back down? No, right? Have some courage, bro. Do you want me to put up some motivational song?"

"You know all the motivation goes on a vacation in front of that girl. It wouldn't work."

Cabir nodded solemnly. It was true. On a good day, Nandini could manage a whole college. On a bad day? Well, the college would be grateful if it doesn't end up in ruins. And no. Motivational songs don't work with her too unless you are Manik. Manik doesn't even need a motivational song to talk to her.

He looks at his brother who was talking to a bunch of students along with Nandini. Once upon a time, when Cabir was a few months younger than his present self, Manik used to run a mile away from any girl he had to talk to unless it's really important. Now, he was having joint conversations with the head girl. Not a surprise there. He was the head boy after all. Interestingly, when Nandini was talking something, Manik was adding his own comments, making the head girl laugh. This was definitely new.

"She calls me Jungli when I make a joke but Manik is all professional. I am damn sure he is cracking some joke about how the bonfire was invented or the constellations were drawn", muttered Cabir, absentmindedly. He didn't realize Abhimanyu was still there and listening to him.

"Love is all about exceptions, Cabir", he muttered.

"And Nandini will exceptionally kill both of you if she listens to your conversations", pointed out Mukti.

They both stuck their tongue out at her. Mukti was not in favor of their plan to get Manik and Nandini together. She wanted them to fall in love with each other naturally. Of course, with the stubborn head girl and the boy who wouldn't even realize if a girl pulls up a hoarding in front of his face declaring her love, Cabir wasn't sure they would acknowledge their feelings in this century at least. Hence, he made a team with Abhimanyu and removed Mukti for not supporting their bro code. Mukti rolled her eyes and said she would rather stay alive and live to watch Nandini and Manik fall in love than dying early. She was so confident that Nandini would kill both Cabir and Abhimanyu. At least Mukti didn't deny that they were on their path to fall in love. Probably, it was obvious to everyone except the oblivious idiots.

"Cabir", called Navya, the love of his life.

Cabir wrapped an arm around her, pulled her close to give a small peck on her lips. "Hi, babe. Are you enjoying?", he asked.

"Cabir, I lost my mobile, yaar", she told.

He groaned. "Not again, yaar, Navya. How many times would you lose a mobile?", he asked. "You are breaking records there, love", he added when he saw her sad.

Manik jogged towards them. "Navya, your mobile. You left it there."

Navya sighed and smiled at Manik. "Thanks, bhai. You are the best."

Manik smiled at her and when his eyes landed at Cabir, his smile widened. Cabir pulled Manik into a brief hug. "You aren't overworking yourself, right?", he asked in a tone audible enough only for Manik.

Manik shook his head. "I am fine." He jogged back towards Nandini where they were sorting out the sleeping bags.

He glanced at his head couple and cleared his throat. "Guys, I have an idea."

XXX

Nandini was sorting through the arrangements of the sleeping bags. It was getting difficult since everyone wanted to share it with their friends or partners. It was wearing(check) her patience but Manik whispered to her to let it be since it was their last night. He had a point and she had agreed. Just a matter of a few minutes and she can go back to sleep forever. The thought felt too comfortable. Manik went to help the students to arrange their sleeping bags when Cabir appeared beside Nandini.

"Nandini, I need a favor", he asked. He looked a bit tense. Isn't that a miracle now?

"Where is the damn canteen when you need one?", she teased.

"Nandini", he whined.

She chuckled, raising her hands. "Fine. Anything and you owe me a cheeseburger. Deal?"

Cabir thought for a minute and Nandini stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "How about two cheeseburgers and two favors?", he asked.

"Fine", she told.

"Navya is leaving tomorrow and I want to spend some time with her. Can I bunk in with her?", he asked.

"Done. Next", told Nandini. She saw that coming.

"Same with Abhimanyu and Mukti", he told.

"Why? Is Mukti going somewhere too?", she asked sarcastically. Abhimanyu smiled at her, a bit uncomfortable. She felt bad instantly. Abhimanyu had always made sure Nandini doesn't feel like a third wheel in his relationship with Mukti. They both had always put their friendship above their relationship. "Sorry", she muttered to her best friends and nodded at Cabir. Abhimanyu tackled her into a hug before disappearing with Mukti. She was slightly suspicious at his eagerness to escape but brushed it off. Cabir, for some unknown reason, was still standing in front of her.

Nandini narrowed her eyes at him before going through her student list to tick over Cabir's name. "You and Navya. Abhimanyu and Mukti. Who else is left in here then?", she mutters and squirms through the list. "Wait. That leaves me with MANIK?", she screams. "What the hell, Cabir?"

"Please, Nandini", he said, "I don't know when I will meet Navya again. Please adjust with Manik. It's just a matter of one night, right? I promise my bhai will behave."

She grabbed his collar with her free hand and gritted her teeth. "How can you do this to your own brother?", she asked, "He will be scared to death, you idiot."

Cabir grabbed her wrist to free himself from her hold. "He has to come out of his fear, Nandini, and I trust only you with my bhai", he told.

Nandini felt gobsmacked. In her entire life, she hasn't trusted anyone including herself but here was a boy who was trusting her with his most precious brother. Cabir had always been overprotective of Manik, jumping to conclusions even without listening to the situation, since Nandini had known him. She didn't know what had changed for Cabir to trust Manik with her and she wasn't in a state to thinking about it. Every single thought was draining her already exhausted energy.

She would have to share a sleeping bag with a boy who was shit scared to talk to girls a few months back. True, they were friends now but it was one thing to be working with your fellow head student and entirely different thing to laying vulnerable and prone to any attack and discomfort while sleeping. Nandini felt overwhelmed and furious all at once for Cabir's stupidity, for leaving his precious Manik so casually with her and she wasn't ready at all.

"Nandini, are you okay?"

She glanced up at Manik. She glanced around the place for Cabir but they were the only two outside at present, the others already inside the sleeping bag and enjoying the rest they all deserved. Cabir might have slipped off when she felt her thoughts attacking her.

"Is it so easy to trust someone?", she asked Manik.

He shrugged. "It builds over time but once you trust someone, I guess, it's easier after that than actually trusting someone."

"What if they break your trust, Manik?", she asked. "What if you trust someone and they break your trust?"

He frowned. His forehead creased as he thought about the question. Nandini didn't know why she had asked the question to Manik but they were past the stage where they feared the others' judgment. Manik always had his set of questions when he was around Nandini and she had started asking her doubts to him too. It felt normal after getting the textbooks taught by Manik every day for three weeks before the exams.

"If you love them enough to keep them in your life, you forgive them. If not, they aren't worth hurting you again. You forgive them and turn your back to them", he said softly.

"That's what you believe?", she asked.

Manik nodded. She let herself ponder over his words. He makes everything simple. Getting your trust broken wasn't easy but as he had put it, it's simple and comes down to how important the person is to you.

"Nandini, what's wrong?", he asked when she stayed quiet for some time. "Aren't you tired?"

"We are supposed to share a sleeping bag", she told. She saw the moment her words had hit him and his eyes widened but then surprising her, he took a few breaths before nodding. "Manik, don't force yourself. We can stay up here passing the time or take turns to sleep. It's just a matter of a few hours, right?"

"Is this what is making you uncomfortable?", he asked. "I promise I will stick to my side. You told me earlier that you were tired. Or maybe I will stay here if you don't want to share it with me. I know you don't trust me."

"Manik, stop panicking. I trust you, okay?", she told, but it took her a minute to realize what she had blurted out. At least it helped Manik to stop his rant but now he was gaping at her. She tried to smile at him but it came out as a grimace. "It's fine. We are legally adults. I guess we can share a sleeping bag and not be childish about it." She tried to joke around but Nandini would have been nervous if she allowed herself to think about it which she didn't. Instead, she turned around and went inside the sleeping bag.

It wasn't bad. It was spacious enough for two people and still had a room between them. Manik, who came a while after Nandini, muttered a faint good night into the air and fell asleep pretty soon. Maybe the exhaustion caught up to him but even if Nandini was pretty exhausted herself, there was a lot going on her mind and she didn't quite know how to close her mind or whom to turn to for answers.

Did she really trust Manik? How could she trust him but not know about it? Because she had never allowed herself to trust anyone and her words earlier felt more like an instinct. She knew Manik couldn't hurt a person. Is it the same as trusting him? She was sporting a headache by all the thoughts that were surfacing through her mind. She hadn't ever completely trusted Abhimanyu or Mukti, whom she had known almost all her life. Somewhere inside her heart, she knew they would leave her like everyone else or something would happen and it would ruin their friendship. Both of them knew it and they had never questioned it.

Nandini didn't want to think anymore. She had always thought the universe was somehow against her because just when she wanted to stop her mind, it gave her another topic to think about. Thunderstorms. Nandini was scared of lightning and thunderstorms. It was her secret and she was the only one alive who knew about it because when you feared something, someone would always use it against you. When she had lost her grandfather, during the initial days she demanded her parents to get him back and that she missed him. Nandini regretted that moment till date but she was just a kid and she had learned to live on her own since then.

She saw the lightning flash again and shivered when the sound followed. The battery of her mobile was dead long back and the only option of blasting her ears with the music wasn't feasible. There were sweat beads forming on her forehead and she hated herself for panicking for such a silly thing. Who the hell even said the lightning doesn't strike twice? They were flashing continuously now.

She didn't know when she had allowed her brain to crumble all her inhibitions as she followed her instinct and crawled beside the only person near her. It took a few minutes when Nandini felt Manik freeze beside her. She had her hands pressed against her ears, her eyes tightly shut, her head on his forearm and she held her breath as she waited for the boy to push her away.

"Nandini", he whispered.

She could hear the panic in his voice and it sent another shiver through her. He felt like the last hope. She didn't want to go out of their closed tent. "I am scared", she admitted. She felt betrayed by her own voice as the words came out.

"It's waterproof. I checked with Cabir. You won't be drenched", he assured her even though she could still feel him rigid.

"Thunders. I am scared", she repeated. She heard the sound again. It probably was somewhere near judging by the intensity of the sound.

There were suddenly hands around her as Manik shifted and pulled her close such that now her head was on his chest, her right ear pressed against his heart. He wrapped his hand around hers that was clutching his shirt and used his other hand to cover her left ear. "Concentrate on my heartbeat. Cabir said it helps. He used to be scared of thunder too. Dad used to do this", he explained.

Nandini tried concentrating on his heartbeat but the sounds were distracting her.

"Don't worry, Nandini, it's just a mixture of reactions of pressure, temperature, and some expansion of air."

Nandini heard him explain but she didn't think about a comeback. She felt Manik tighten his hold on her as he recited something, some story. She couldn't decipher his words but instead of searching for his faint heartbeat against the loud thunderstorms, she concentrated on his voice. It was soothing. She felt the cool breeze passing somewhere outside and allowed herself to drift to sleep.

XXX

Nandini felt disoriented when she woke up in the morning. It took her some time to recollect the thunderstorms from last night and how Manik's voice soothed her. She didn't wake up again. Which reminded her of Manik and realized there was a body against her or she was half lying on top of someone. She woke up with a start that disturbed Manik's sleep.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to sleep. I closed my eyes just after dawn", he was ranting.

Nandini grabbed his collar to gain his attention. "You wouldn't speak about this to anyone. Either us sleeping together or that I am scared of the thunders. And that includes Abhimanyu, Mukti and your brother", she hissed in warning.

Manik nodded in agreement. If he felt scared at her tone, he didn't say a word and Nandini didn't bother to point it out. She stuffed her things into her bag before storming out of the place. 

I will post the next one after sometime since this is an important chapter. :P