《Short Recap》

'Did you meet your roommate?'

'Yeah about that, I think you...' I started typing, before changing my mind.

I'll tell him later. I'll call and explain everything to them when I had my stuff sorted out.

Instead I sent a smiley emoji, to avoid answering that question. That would have to do for now.

'Kinda busy right now. Will call later.' I finally messaged and stuffed my phone into my pocket.

I had grocery shopping to do.

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'Do I really need an entire carton of flavoured yogurt?' I mused.

Actually, yes. One for each day and six cups for the bad days. The twenty cup super saver yogurt pack was a perfect buy for two weeks of a happy tummy.

The only catch though, it was bulky and I was finding it rather hard to balance it in one hand as I climbed the stairs with a bag of groceries in my other hand, to my second floor apartment.

I fumbled for my key and stuck it into the lock. Just as I twisted the key and pushed the door open, I was greeted by a low moan from the kitchen. My eyes widened in alarm.

I set the groceries down hastily and rushed in to see what the matter was, only to see a girl wrapped in a tight embrace with Vinay .

Vinay was slowly trailing short, wet kisses on her neck and the girl, Lara, who I recognized as one of the girls from my class, bent her head away to give him better access. She moaned in contentment, and I felt weird standing there and watching them.

It felt like I was intruding something very private, so I tried to stealthily make my way across the small hall to my room. But for some reason, Lara opened her eyes at that instant and saw me.

"Oh my God! What the hell are you doing in here?!" Lara screamed, as she hurriedly jumped out of Vinay's arms and patted her hair into place.

Closing my eyes, I bit my cheek on hearing her voice. Here I thought I could just slip into my room undetected. Today certainly wasn't one of my lucky days.

I exhaled loudly as I turned to face them. Lara was glaring at me like I was some piece of shit and I offered her a small smile hoping I could slip away unscathed.

Vinay radiated a cold rage. Clenching his jaw, he ran his fingers through his mussed up hair.

For a moment I was too scared to say anything. I was used to conveniently shrinking away from the limelight in such situations.

"I live here." I said finally to Lara, swallowing hard as I fought to control the even tone of my voice.

I might as well acknowledge the fact right? It truly was my apartment as much as it was Vinay's and honestly I as tired of people walking all over me because I never spoke up for myself.

Lara scowled at me.

"We were kind of in the middle of something here." She said haughtily, pointing between herself and Vinay.

"And I was on the way to my room. To be honest, I would prefer not to spend this wonderful evening with you guys doing whatever it is you were about to do and the next room. But if you're feeling desperate, by all means go ahead. I'll just grab some food and keep to myself in my room." I answered staring back intently.

It felt good to speak out my mind for once. The innumerable times that I had held myself back just to maintain peace with other people had been exhausting. Sure, it was easier to keep quiet, but I'd taken far too many blows to my pride than was normally healthy for a human being.

I felt liberated, like I'd just gotten rid of weight from my chest.

Lara stomped her foot angrily and turned to Vinay for support.

"Lara, I think it's best you leave." Said Vinay simply. He was still fuming.

His words instantly set off a series of red signals in my mind.

Lara- I wasn't afraid of her at all. The most she could do was scream and stamp her feet on the ground like a little girl who wasn't getting her way. She was nothing but a bitch who was all barks and no bite.

Vinay on the other hand- I was terrified of what he would do. Not necessarily to me but in general. I didn't want o be in the house alone with him. I'd never been the subject of his fury before and I certainly wasn't keen on facing it today.

"Vinay baby, maybe we can go over to my place. You know you don't want me to leave, right?" Lara whined.

"Not today Lara. Maybe some other time." He replied, with finality in his tone.

"You're an asshole." She snarled.

Vinay shrugged indifferently.

I was taken aback by how aloof he was being and for a moment I forgot how terrified I was. His indifference towards Lara disgusted me.
Vinay led her to the entrance and showed her out.

He slammed the door hard, before huffing and going into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He didn't so much as even acknowledge my presence.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

I mentally cursed myself for my boldness. My better judgment seemed to have taken the evening off.

I was literally baiting the lion inside his own den, in spite of being well aware of the worst possible consequences.

Vinay ignored me as he rinsed his glass and set it aside, but I could see his chest rising and falling from where I stood. He was clearly using all his will power to calm himself down.

But for some reason my stupid brain wanted to see him tip over the edge. I wanted to see if he would go so far as to hurt me.

"Vinay Karthik!" I shouted.

He wordless walked towards his room with slow, deliberate steps as if to goad me.

"Don't you dare walk away when I'm talking to you!"

That's it. I darted forward and moved in to block his room door with my palm covering the handle.

"Don't test my fucking patience, Akira." He gritted out through his teeth.

He wrapped his fingers tightly around my wrist , causing me to flinch. Vinay let go of my hand immediately on seeing my reaction and closed his eyes in defeat.

"What do you want me to say?" Vinay seethed.
He leaned so close to me that our faces were almost touching and I could feel the anger radiating from his dark eyes.

"That I was pissed to find out that a girl was going to stay with me. So pissed that I invited the girl who's been desperately sexting me for a couple of weeks now."

I shuddered under his steely gaze.

"Or do you want me to say that I have an embarrassing hard-on right now, all because of you."

"Oh don't you dare blame me for the fact that you didn't get laid. How could you just call her over when you knew I could have come in anytime. You were in the kitchen for God's sake, not even your room." I said, my face setting into a deep scowl.

He simply shrugged. "Your note said that you'd be out the entire day. It said you would probably come back late."

"I did come back late. It's eight."

"You seriously call that 'late'?" Vinay laughed humorlessly, "The night is still young. In my dictionary , late is after eleven so you see why I didn't think it would be a problem?"

I studied him silently. What was I to say to that?

"Well, that's hardly an excuse. I live in this apartment too now so you should have foreseen something like this." I stated.

"I'm aware of that. You don't need to rub it into my fucking face every opportunity you get." He shouted, running his fingers through his hair.

"Don't shout Vinay." I said calmly.

"You're the one who asked for it." He replied, his nostrils flaring.

"Step back."

"You know what, you're right. I don't want to be anywhere around you." He said stepping backwards.

He grabbed his keys from the hook next to fridge.

"Where are you going Vinay?" I asked.

He ignored me.

"You do know that college starts tomorrow right?" I shouted after him as he opened the main door.

"Fuck it." He replied loud enough for me to hear before banging the door shut.

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So that's the fourth chapter!!
Please vote and comment, because that motivates me to write faster and better.

Don't be a covidiot, stay at home and be safe!
Love you!!