Them - The Terrace

She made her way to the little mat that was set up. He was following her with a mug in his hand when he stopped. He reached out and held her wrist to stop her. Unaware of her flippity-floppity heart, he asked, "Why don't we sit there?"

She looked up and saw him pointing at the water tank area. She replied uncertainly, "I don't think we're allowed to sit there."

"Oh, is there a rule?"

"Uh...no. But...I've never sat there."

He smiled and said, "Well that's no reason to not start now. There's a perfectly good staircase there, see?"

"So...like Ranbir and Konkona in Wake up Sid?"

He laughed and said, "Sure. Like Wake up Sid. Now come on."

The next thing she knew, they were sitting atop the water tank. It was a completely different vantage point to the sights she was so used to seeing before.

He sat next to her, cross-legged, almost as though he did this every day, hanging out with a fan on the terrace of her building, sipping tea.

She sat next to him. All was quiet for the next few minutes. Just the wind passing by and the low hum of traffic. He then quietly asked, "May I ask you a question?"

She looked at him quickly and then looked at her knees to nod quietly.

"Why is this so hard for you?"

He was looking at her. She knew she wouldn't be able to meet his gaze. At least not right now while she tried to formulate an answer to this question. An answer that she could actually give him.

After a seemingly long time, she responded.

"I guess...Because you've always only existed in my head? Or on a screen. I never ever expected to actually see you or meet you in this lifetime. Now I have to try and ensure I don't sound stupid or boring. See, such kinds of problems don't exist when you're not in front of me."

He laughed lightly. After a brief pause and a sip of the tea, he said, "Okay. First of all, don't worry about sounding stupid or boring. That's too much pressure you're putting on yourself for me unnecessarily. Trust me. And second of all... Tell me whatever you'd tell that version of me. The one in your head. Or the one across the screen. Maybe then it would be easier."

She chuckled and looked up for a brief moment. There he was again. All beautiful and real. He was just as kind as she had imagined though.

He then nudged his shoulder with hers and asked, "Do you have any questions for me?"

"So many..."

"Why don't you ask them?"

She drank a sip of the tea before responding, "I feel like you must be tired of answering questions all day long for interviews. And I understand tired very well."

He looked at her suddenly with such an intensity that she quickly looked down at her feet again. He shined too brightly in that moment.

He smiled and looked away, realizing his effect on her.

He then said, "It's okay. Go ahead. Just don't ask me about my gym routine."

A laugh escaped her. She then scratched her nose. After a few quiet moments, she asked, "Why did you choose to come here today?"

"Because it felt right. And it felt even more right after I read your sister's letter. Her writing put your quirk on full display." He smiled goofily.

She felt warm hearing that. She had always known how well her sister wrote but hearing it from him made it feel all the more cemented in her heart.

She then asked, "Are you having a good time? Am I boring you?"

"Yes and no."

She baulked, "What??"

He looked at her quickly, flashed a smile and said, "Yes to the first question, no to the second."

"Oh!"

They then sat in silence. And oddly, so oddly, the silence didn't seem stifling. It felt comfortable. She quietly looked at him. There he sat, on her building terrace, looking at an expanse of the city, so blissfully unaware of all the things she had ever felt for him. Of all the prose pressed between the pages hidden from the world. Of the days he brought a smile to her face. Of how he brought peace to a chaotic mind. Of the shockingly different worlds they were from. Of the immense joy she felt sitting next to him but the tiny drop of sadness that this day would end eventually and then everything would go back to exactly how it was.

He looked back at her and asked, "What is it?"

She broke eye contact and looked away to say, "Nothing."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"You go sit next to your celeb crush and try to not stare at him."

He burst out laughing at that. Oh, the laugh. The beautiful sound that made her day so often.

As he laughed, she felt like this universe had shifted on its axis. And for one day, she had slipped and fallen into another universe. One where this day actually made sense. For now, she would go along and stop trying to figure it all out.

He kept his empty cup aside and asked, "So...are you feeling better?"

She looked at him, smiled and nodded. He grinned back and said, "That's good! Okay, so now that we have the whole day in front of us, what do you want to do?"

She blinked. Then she answered honestly, "I...don't know. I thought we'd be in a studio so I didn't think ahead of that for today. I have a birthday cake in the fridge. We could eat that?"

He frowned and asked, "Why do you have a birthday cake in your fridge?"

She scratched her nose self-consciously again and said, "Because it is my birthday today."

He turned around to face her, a look of incredulity on his face. He exclaimed, "Wait, it's your birthday?? Oh God! Happy birthday!"

He extended his hand and she looked at it. A moment later, she realized he meant to shake her hand. She hurriedly grasped it.

He said with a flourish, "Today's plans are of utmost importance then! What do you want to do?"

With her hand still in his, she said quietly, "Well, I've got everything I could ever wish for."

He looked down at her hand in his and looked up to smile.

"Come on! We've got to do something. We can't sit here and eat fridge cake. And to think, I almost didn't make it."

She replied, "That would have been more realistic."

He got up and pulled her hand to make her get up as well.

"Come along now. What shall we do?"

As she got to her feet, she mumbled, "I honestly haven't got a thing in mind. What do you feel like doing?"

"You know we can start with a good cup of coffee. I'm craving one. Then we'll figure the rest. What do you say?"

"And it can't be at home?"

"No! Birthday = Stepping out and having fun. Where will we find the best coffee in the city?"

She thought about it for a bit. Then she raised her eyes to meet his and smiled.

They made their way back to her house. She had to grab her car keys. He went back to looking at all the posters. She quickly filled a bottle of water and headed into the hall. He looked up and asked, "Hey, can I ask you for something?"

"Of course!"

"It's kind of cold. Do you have a jacket or something that I can borrow?"

Her eyes dropped to his massive shoulders and then met his eyes again. He looked down and back up to ask, "What?"

She smiled slightly and said, "Nothing. Um, let me see if anything I have will fit you."

After rummaging in her closet, she made her way back to him and handed him something.

"I think this...might just fit you. I purposefully ordered a giant size and I think it'll be the perfect disguise for where we're going."

He unfolded the garment to see that it was a college sweatshirt. He pulled it over his head and put it on. He threw his hands up in a dramatic fashion and asked, "How do I look?"

It was a rhetorical question of course. She would float in this hoodie but him? He looked just like he always did. Even in an old, slightly faded sweatshirt, he could turn heads. She shook her head with a smile and said, "Wrong person to ask." But she went ahead and pulled the hood over his head. Great, now he looked cuter as well.

He looked down at her, chuckled and said, "On the contrary. The perfect person to ask."

She looked at him. Nope. Still very, very him. He needed to hide. She looked around for a minute and then pulled open a drawer. There was an old biker scarf there. She pulled it out and handed it to him.

"Here, put this on."

He obliged with a hint of amusement in his eyes and then looked back down at her. Ugh, those eyes. A true fan would recognize him instantly with those ridiculously beautiful eyes looking back at them.

"Hold on a minute. I need to figure this out."

A moment later, she picked up a pair of sunglasses from the drawer and slid them onto his nose.

There. Now, you could just see the forehead. She could work with that.

Behind the scarf, a muffled voice went, "Where on earth are we going?"