《Short Recap》

I sucked in a breath incredulously. What the hell was Vinay talking?

"Calm down man." Neel intervened quickly, pulling Vinay away from Harsh, who had a satisfied look masking his face.

Vinay's chest heaved as he breathed in short pants as he snatched his arm out of Neel's grip.

"Go home while you can, fucker. I'll deal with you later." He ground out.

"Uhuh, no violence," Harsh tksed at him, "Let's not involve any more people in our problems. Good night brother."

●○●

"Is Harsh actually your brother?" I leaned forward so that Vinay could hear me.

"Cousin." He replied over the wind, choosing not to elaborate.

We were heading back home after the awkward standoff in the college parking lot. I was bursting with questions about Harsh but I was trying not to overwhelm Vinay, especially when he was pissed.

Pissed Vinay was pretty much like a PMS-ing girl tending to infinity.

He stopped the gleaming Royal Enfield 350 in front of the iron gate of our apartment complex, the orange street light shining over us like a spotlight in a Broadway show.

The lane was deserted, save the occasional taxi that passed with old Hindi music blasting from specially upgraded speakers that added unnecessary bass to the songs.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, getting off Vinay's motorcycle, when he showed no signs of pulling out the key from ignition.

He shook his head slightly in response, staring straight ahead.

I stood in front of his bike and placing my hands on my hips, I cocked my head to the side. "And why?" I prodded.

"I just need to clear my head a little. I need to vent." He replied in a low, hoarse voice as he twisted the bike handle, making it roar like a wild beast in the quietude of the late evening.

I rolled my eyes on hearing his excuse.

"By clearing your head, I presume you mean to say that you're going to go and drink yourself silly like you've been doing the past week?" I snapped.

"I don't have time for this, Akira. I'll do what I fucking want. I won't have one person more trying to tell me what to do and I expected you to understand that. So move out of the fucking way." Vinay replied coldly, boring his gaze deep into mine.

"Are you freaking serious, Vinay? I'm surprised your poor liver hasn't given away yet with the amount of abuse it has to face." I said, throwing my hands up shaking my head in disbelief.

"Why do you care anyway?" Vinay twisted his mouth, "I've told you before and I'm telling you again that you don't know fucking shit about me so please just leave me alone."

I rolled my eyes. Not this again! This was Vinay being rude in order o push me away.

"I might not know, but I sure as hell don't mind listening in case you haven't noticed. So get your ass off that fancy bike of yours and come home like a good boy." I said, reaching out to pull the key out of the ignition slot.

"Give it back, Akira!" Vinay growled, "Give my fucking key back."

Why do I put up with his shit again?!

"Nope." I replied, popping the 'p', "And while your at it, buy a dictionary and work on expanding your vocabulary. Variations of the word fuck can get slightly overbearing after a while. Some writer you are..."

I turned and strode towards the apartment lobby, not sparing a glance at the fuming mess I was sure Vinay had become.

As I reached the door to our flat and unlocked it, a strong hand pushed me in following close behind, shutting the door with a loud thud.

I stifled a gasp as Vinay trapped me between the wall and his towering body, his hands coming to rest on either side of my shoulders.

"You are such a frustrating woman, Akira." he ground out from between his teeth, his eyes glancing down at my chapped lips.

I swallowed, shuddering beneath his smoldering gaze.

"I uh...Did you know that children of identical twins are genetically siblings and not cousins?" I blabbered nervously.

Vinay drew back a little and looked at me with narrowed eyes.

Phew!

Shaking his head incredulously, he lowered his hands and stepped back.

Mental note #234: Did you know facts can be used to distract Vinay in times of distress.

I slinked to the side as slowly as I could, my eyes still holding Vinay's burning gaze as if in a trance.

Before I knew it, he grabbed my hand and pulled me flush against his body and caged me within his arms.

He tilted his head and leaned in to smash his mouth against mine, gently pushing me backwards until my back hit the wall as his large palms reached up to cup my chin possessively.

"I hate you, Akira." He growled against my mouth, nipping at my lower lip, "I hate your need to control everything around you. I hate you."

"I know." I smirked cheekily, before he attacked my mouth again.

It was like a wanton spirit had consumed my soul because in that moment I forgot myself. All I wanted was to be as close to Vinay as possible, to let him hold me and keep me safe.

Remind me why I always stopped Vinay whenever he tried to kiss me?

I kissed Vinay back with all the emotion pent up inside me, my hands moving from my side to his neck instinctively, and my fingers getting lost in his silky locks.

"What are we doing Vinay?" I whispered, as we paused to catch our breath, our sweaty foreheads touching.

He was breathing in short pants, his chest heaving up and down with the rhythm of my heartbeat.

"Playing with fire. I told you I needed something to make me forget, to clear my fucked up mind. Well, now I know that you're a million times better than any kind of liquor or drug out there." Vinay answered, his eyes failing miserably to hold the vulnerability they held.

It was like the world came crashing back as I registered his words. Pulling my swollen lips into my mouth, I stepped back.

I shook my head as I ran my fingers through my slightly disheveled hair, "No! Shit, what did I do!"

I looked up to see Vinay's resolve cracking into smithereens, as I rejected him yet again.

"I'm sorry!" I managed to croak out as tears started to roll down my cheeks, my lips quivering, "I have no idea what got into me."

Sighing deeply, Vinay pulled me into a tender hug.

"No Akira, I'm sorry. Somehow I always manage to fuck up things between us." He said almost inaudibly, rubbing my back.

I buried my face into his warm chest, fisting the material of his t-shirt in my small fingers as I cried my eyes dry.

This time I wasn't crying because I felt guilty that we kissed, but because I was afraid of breaking Vinay more than he already was.

Despite hurting him so many times he was always there for me and I every single time it was like I could feel my heart breaking a little more as it thudded erratically under my chest.

I always felt a myriad of emotions when he was around. It was a weird mixture of happiness, doubt, anger and...I don't know how to describe it.

Vinay expressed them unmindfully while I stowed them deeper, afraid to let them out. I'd kept my insecurities hidden for so long that I couldn't even remember what they were.

Honestly, I didn't see any problem in letting myself feel what I wanted to feel. But something was holding me back.

What could possibly go wrong?

The worst I could get was I wounded heart, right? But that sounded far better than an incognizant heart and a misplaced mind.

Yet I couldn't put myself out there and tell Vinay what I wanted.
So once again, I asked myself the question that I hadn't found the answer to yet...Why me?

●○●

There you go...don't worry Vinay and Akira's relationship is slowly going to move forward from here now...

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QOTD: Who's your favourite onscreen or book couple?
Mine is Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices and Bunny and Naina from Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani...XD