My veins buzzed at the thought of having this newfound knowledge that only I had. That Maya had told me, only me, about her sexuality.

I had walked into her house with the most sour mood. But I left feeling quite energetic. After staying at Maya's for a few more hours, I started the journey back home.

But going back to my house meant having to face my father again, and I wasn't at all in a mood to ruin my temporary happiness.

It wasn't unusual of me to drop into Andrew's house unannounced. So I did exactly that. Instead of passing by his house, I pushed the gates open and walked up the roadway leading to his house and rang the bell. Andrew opened the door.

"Oh, hey," he said, a little surprised. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Neither was I but hey, I was in the neighbourhood," I shrugged, cracking a smile. Andrew smiled back and let me in.

"Hello, aunty!" I waved at Anita when I noticed her casually sitting on the sofa, watching the television.

"Oh, Koko! When did you come?" She asked.

"Just now."

"Wait, I'll get you some snacks." She got up from the sofa hastily.

"No, no! It's fine. Actually, I was just at Maya's place and her mother already fed me half of the items in her fridge."

Anita laughed. "All right. But at least have some sherbet."

After having drunk Anita's famous mango sherbet, I looked out the window towards the prussian blue night sky.

"The sky is clear," I murmured.

"What?" said Andrew from where he was sitting in front of me.

"The stars are out," I said and looked at him.

He gave me a cheeky grin. "You want to lay on the grass? There are insects."

I threw a pillow at him and he laughed. "I just want to go outside and stare at the stars."

Andrew abruptly stood up and offered me a hand. I looked at him, confused.

"You want to look at the stars? Let's go."

I grinned and took his hand.

We navigated through the house, climbed two flights of stairs, and reached the rooftop. A small bed, or should I say, a big cot, was situated there. It was the bed that people used to get fresh air in the evening on the rooftop, when temperatures were high. Something that we had come to do.

Andrew let go of my hand and dropped himself on it. He was so huge, he took up almost the entire space. And then he patted the tiny area beside him and beckoned me to join him with a huge smile.

I gave him a puzzled look. "Are you telling me to lay down beside you? In that minuscule place?"

"You're going to fit, okay? Now come."

"Andrew—"

"Come!" He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me. I let out a squeal and fell on top of him.

He smiled a huge, cheeky smile at me, winding his arms around my waist and attaching me to him. "Hi," he said.

I gave him an angry look and pushed off him, landing beside him on the cot. I made a few distressed sounds as I tried to fit in. Eventually, my head rested on his broad biceps as he curled his hands behind his head. Our legs were entangled with each other as we stared up at the sky.

The silence was deafening. Once in a while, I could hear the soughing of the waves as it crashed against the shore, smell the salty air of the sea. A few crickets chirped in the distance. The sky was sparkling. It was peaceful.

"It's so beautiful," I murmured in a low voice.

"What is?"

"The sky."

Andrew sighed, and I felt his breath tickle the hairs on my forehead. "It sure is."

I was going to miss this when I went back to America.

"Sometimes I wonder, you know?" I said, staring at the stars and trying to join the dots.

"What?" Andrew asked.

I glimpsed at him once. "What would happen if you didn't ask me that day, to be in the band—if you'd chosen someone else."

He remained silent.

"I wouldn't be Keighlah D'Cruz, singer and instrumentalist, one half of the Urban Mantra then," I continued. "I'd just be Keighlah, that girl next door, forgotten by the world as she drowns herself into books and music sheets."

A bigger wave crashed on the shore and I heard the water slosh.

"So dramatic," I whistled at myself and laughed. "Our lives have changed so fast, Andrew. We were simply making some music and boom! We were famous. Feels like a dream. We kind of suddenly just . . ."

"Just?" Andrew prompted. I twisted my neck upwards to glance at him.

"Just. There are too many words, and I cannot bring them down to one sentence."

"It was never a choice." He whispered in a small voice. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You." He said, his voice a little more confident. "You were never a choice." He pulled his arm from under his head and gently placed his palm on the curve of my neck, looking straight into my eyes. "It was you all along."

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

My heart did a tiny somersault when his thumb brushed along the throbbing pulse in my neck. I stared, amazed, as a million emotions danced across his face. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking conflicted. My eyes bounced between his, trying to decipher what is going on in his head, but failed.

He took in a deep breath. "Keighlah, I—"

But I didn't get to hear it, because at that second, a big, fat droplet of water fell onto his face, making him blink in surprise. I looked at the sky, and it broke down on us.

"How did this happen?" Andrew said, astonished. "The sky was completely clear."

"Goa weather is never predictable, Andy!" I laughed. The rain was soaking into our clothes, making them stick to our skin. My hair got plastered against my forehead as I let out a free laugh. It had been so many days since I last got wet in the rain.

I moved my eyes away from the pitch black pouring sky and looked at Andrew, the same time he looked at me. I watched as the droplets travelled down his cheek to his nose, falling over those lips that I couldn't stop thinking about these days, then finally falling off his chin, travelling through the thick stubble that I wanted to brush my fingers through.

I goggled at myself. What was I thinking?

His hand reached out and pushed a few strands of wet hair away, and held my face. It was dark, the rain making it harder for me to see. From here, I could only see his silhouette.

"This is so clichéd," I whispered, letting out a low, soft laugh.

He gave me a crooked smile. "I know, right."

Then we got silent. The sound of the pitter patter was soothing.

Andrew didn't look away, and neither did I. He stroked my face with his pointer finger and I let out a soft sigh. He leaned into me, our noses meeting in a butterfly kiss, and titled my face towards him—

"Andrew!" Anita yelled from the entrance of the roof.

Andrew jumped away from me, so fast that he pushed both of us out of the bed, and we fell on the cement floor with a thump.

"Oof," a gush of air left me as I rubbed my back in pain.

I heard Andrew curse under his breath. "Keighlah, are you okay?" He called out from the other side of the bed, getting up on his feet.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. But I don't think my ass is." I groaned a little. The fall was a bit hard.

"Oh no!" Anita came rushing towards us, carrying an umbrella over her head. "Are you two okay? Does it hurt? Should I bring the Volini?"

"It's getting better, aunty," I said. The pain had, indeed, started to subside as I rubbed the spot. Andrew nodded along.

"First, come into the house," she shook Andrew's hair with her hand, and water sprinkled out. Tsking, she murmured, "all wet."

We quickly went back into the house; Andrew and I left a pool of water on the nice marble floors.

I started shivering as we walked through the house to Andrew's room.

"Shit," I murmured. "I can't go home like this. It's all wet. I'll catch a cold."

"Then where some new clothes," Anita suggested the obvious.

I looked between Andrew and his mother, and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's?"

• • •

gah that scene took me a whole day to write. Idk why lol

Penny for your thoughts?

Next chapter - next Wednesday at 10pm IST.