˗ˏˋ soft eyes and brief goodbyes 'ˎ˗

➷

The sound of hurried footsteps echoes inside the house, while Amoli sits at the end of the stairs with her face cupped between her palms, elbows set on her thighs.

Sakshi is right beside her, and they're both watching everyone hustle past to get the last bit of their packing done, quietly laughing to themselves.

"This is why they should have packed early," Sakshi comments loudly, getting Naina's attention who just barely gives her a glare before speeding past them both, and then straight into her room.

"Yeah, but you were all out for a long time yesterday, so I guess it makes sense."

"Mhm," Sakshi hums, turning her head around in the direction of the room upstairs. "Where's Mahi?"

Amoli looks around, brows furrowed in confusion before the realization settles in. "Ah, she's in the middle of a meeting. I think."

Sakshi clicks her tongue, leaning back and stretching her arms above her head. "Poor baby. You'd think work could wait until we got home, at least."

Amoli watches Arnav toss a shirt in Akash's direction, snickering when it lands on the latter's head and he lets out a, 'Get out of my sight right now' before snatching the shirt off his own head and throwing it right back in his younger brother's direction.

"She didn't look like she minded," Amoli says, turning to give Sakshi a smile. "Guess Mahi's just one of those rare people who love their work."

And it's heartwarming, really. Amoli has her focus on studying for now, but if there's anyone she looks up to when it comes to how to feel about what you do for a living, it's Mahika. Even when it tires her out, there's not one time Mahika has ever looked like she'd be anywhere else. It's like she was born to design. Amoli truly does aspire to feel that passionately about her career choices very soon in the future.

She can only hope that Mahika is right beside her when the time finally comes.

"Going back to our regular schedules after this is going to be so hard."

"Yeah," Amoli whispers in reply, eyes following Naina who is now laughing at something Keerti just said in her ear, a piece of clothing hanging over her shoulder. "It really is," she adds with a sigh and a shake of her head, although her breath is stuck in her throat for entirely different reasons.

"Hey, Amo?"

Amoli looks at Sakshi. "Hm?"

She's a little taken aback when Sakshi puts an arm around her shoulder, pulling Amoli to her side. "Don't be a stranger after this, okay?" Her voice isn't stern, but it reminds Amoli a bit of the way her brother talks to her sometimes when he's trying to act like it. "Now that you're a bit closer with everyone, I'm expecting you to be around way more."

Amoli's head is now on her shoulder, so she just lets it stay there. "Won't it be weird once Naina isn't around?"

The said girl stops in the middle of the hall at the mention of her name, raising her eyebrows in question. Sakshi sticks her tongue out.

"Why would it be weird? The fact that Naina's leaving soon is the point. We're replacing her," Sakshi jokes, getting an index finger threatening thrust in her direction from Naina herself.

"We're leaving you here, you bitch."

Sakshi scoffs. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Where the hell is my charger," Keerti growls from her room, interrupting whatever Naina was about to say next. The aggressive slap of her flip flops grows louder when she comes into the room, and with the way her expression looks, Amoli is surprised her nostrils aren't flared. "Samay!" she shrieks. "I swear to God—"

"I returned it!"

"You didn't return shit."

Naina looks at Amoli and Sakshi with an amused glint in her eye.

"They're always like that, right?" Amoli asks, eyes following a now running Samay. Keerti follows right after, and they disappear through the garden door. Samay yelps and then an echo of loud laughter follows right after.

"Yeah, but it's usually Dhruv that's on the receiving end of Samay's bullshit," Sakshi replies, letting go of Amoli so she can tie the laces of her shoes. "Occasionally, as you can already see, when Dhruv isn't around, Keerti suffers."

Amoli just shakes her head with a fond smile.

"Mahi still hasn't come down?" Naina asks, eyeing the closed door at the top of the stairs. Sakshi and Amoli both shake their heads in reply. Naina hums, leaning back to glance at the wall clock. Then she looks at Amoli, and maybe Sakshi doesn't see the sly twinkle in her eye, but Amoli does. And sure enough, she adds, voice innocent but intentions anything but, "Amo, do you think you could check up on her to see if she needs help? I don't want her to rush through her meeting in case she still needs to finish packing up."

Amoli looks at her with a, Naina, I know what you're doing, please, expression, and Sakshi, as clueless as everyone else in the hall, just nods in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea."

Naina is well aware that Mahika had been the first one to finish packing. She doesn't like the anxiety of leaving things like this to the very end. So Amoli just makes a face at Naina, assuming that the older girl is just teasing her.

She pushes herself to her feet and walks up the stairs, trying to pretend like she didn't just think a million thoughts in a heartbeat before lightly rapping her knuckles on the door.

A muffled 'come in!' comes through the wood, and Amoli can't help but pass a nervous glance back down, where Naina and Sakshi still are. She quickly turns back around and twists the knob open, poking her head in to find Mahika sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"...I would personally advise you to go for a wall-mounted bookshelf," Mahika is saying on the phone right as she meets Amoli's eyes, brows raising in surprise only for a split second before the corners of her lips stretch back in a small smile. "Mhm. It'll take up less floor space." She beckons Amoli in, gesturing to close the door behind her.

"Yeah, that would definitely work. Mahogany is a great choice," she continues, raising a finger. "One minute," she mouths at Amoli, who just nods with a smile.

Unable to help the gloom that fills her chest at the sight of the empty room, Amoli sighs to herself. She leans her back against the wall beside the door, watching Mahika scroll through her laptop. "No, I actually recommended three separate seating areas with small scale furniture because of the length of the living room." She rolls her eyes, and Amoli can't help but chuckle when she does a yap yap yap puppet gesture with her fingers. "Did you seriously miss everything I said about breaking down the space?"

Amoli watches her rub her temple with her fingers. "I'll discuss the light placement with Farhan. I seriously have to go." There's a pause, and Amoli assumes the person on the other end is apologizing because Mahika playfully adds, "You should be!" with a laugh, dangling her legs down the bed and getting to her feet. "I'm kidding. It's fine. It's what I'm here for."

And then she's walking in Amoli's direction with no warning whatsoever. "Mhm, yeah, we're about to leave in a little bit." With every step she takes, Amoli's eyes widen a little more. "I don't mind." Then she chuckles and jokingly adds, "I don't trust you guys with this project. You bet I'm coming to work tomorrow."

She stops barely three feet away from Amoli, a small smile gracing her features, hand outstretched in front of her. "I'll see you then," Mahika murmurs as a goodbye, pulling her lower lip between her teeth to keep her smile from widening when Amoli timidly gives her her hand.

"What are you doing?" Amoli whispers, eyes following Mahika's movements as she hangs up the phone and tosses it back on the bed. She turns around and reaches for Amoli's other hand too, thumb lightly brushing over her knuckles.

"What are you doing here, hm?" Mahika asks instead, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

Amoli wonders if Mahika can feel her hands shaking. Or maybe they aren't and Amoli is just thinking too much yet again. "Naina asked me to check up on you. Just... just in case you needed any help. Since you were... y'know in the middle of a meeting and all..." She sounds just as breathless as she feels, but she doesn't take a step back when Mahika takes one forward. Amoli can smell the slightest hint of perfume on her, and she wonders how she's supposed to act like a normal person around this girl when just her delicate, soft scent is enough to make Amoli's knees feel weak.

Gesturing around the empty room with her eyes, Mahika says, "Well, I finished packing yesterday." Her tone suggests that she's well-aware of the fact that Amoli already knew. "And we wrapped up the meeting over twenty minutes ago," she adds with a roll of her eyes, but there's no hint of annoyance evident in her expression. "My co-workers just like to think I have all the time in the world." Amoli just looks up at her with big eyes when she lets go of her hand and reaches out to brush wisps of hair off her forehead with the tips of her fingers. "Amoli?"

Refusing to trust her voice right now, Amoli just hums in reply.

"Is it okay if I hug you?"

It's Amoli's throat that bobs up and down first, and then her head. Mahika gives her a second or two to ease up, and then her arms wrap around her waist, Amoli's head automatically coming to rest on Mahika's chest as the taller girl places her chin on top of Amoli's head.

"This couldn't wait until later?" Amoli asks jokingly, even though her heart is pounding harder than ever inside her chest and she's pretty sure she would melt on the floor with embarrassment if she finds out that Mahika can feel it.

"You wanted me to do this in front of everyone?"

Amoli's cheeks flush at the thought. "No," she says quickly.

"I just wanted to say goodbye properly before we leave." Mahika's voice is soft, and Amoli all but disintegrates at the words. "Since we won't be able to see each other for a week or so after this."

Amoli pulls back a little to look Mahika in the eye, brows furrowed. "A week?" She can feel the sulk in her own voice.

Mahika nods with a little grin, subconsciously reaching out to tenderly smooth out the frown lines between Amoli's eyebrows with her thumb. "I like that you sound just as disappointed as I feel."

"But why a week?"

"Oh, my God," Mahika drawls with a laugh in her voice when Amoli's expression grows more sullen, pulling her back into a hug. "Don't pout. Stop." She presses her cheek against Amoli's hair. "I just feel like I took more than I was supposed to on this break, you know?" she explains gently, rocking Amoli from side to side in her arms. "The people I work with were so sweet about it. Technically, I was just on a Uni leave. Not work. I want to give them more in return when I go back since they were so generous with my time off."

That does make sense. It makes too much sense. But Amoli can't help but feel a hint of childish frustration with life for coming in their way after they're finally beginning to get somewhere. She doesn't want to say that out loud, though. Because she knows that wanting to spend time with Mahika might be okay, but wishing to have the girl all to herself right away would be a little selfish.

"Are we going to see each other directly when we get together to see Akash and Naina off?" she asks in a small voice.

"Mhm, I'm afraid so," Mahika replies, and then chuckles. "Speaking of Naina, you know she didn't send you up to help me, right?"

Amoli feels the back of her neck heat up. "Yeah."

"Oh? So you knew."

"Naina isn't very subtle."

"Ah." The smile in Mahika's voice is more evident than ever. She pinches a loose curl of Amoli's hair between her thumb and index finger and playfully tugs at it. "Yet you were willing to go along with what she said?"

Amoli blinks once, and then again. Oh. She's sure that the flush on her neck has now spread all the way across her cheeks. Oh, no. Peeking up at Mahika through her lashes, gauging the playful, easy look in her eyes, she wonders if this is how it's always going to be.

If this is how they're always going to be.

Because if it is, then she can't help but let the longing for their future show on her face. Maybe Mahika sees it, maybe she doesn't. The expression on her face doesn't change, so Amoli can't tell.

"We'll text every day if you want," Mahika whispers.

Amoli nods, already beginning to feel the gloominess in her chest grow until she can feel it alongside the staccato of her own breath, as prominent as her heartbeat and as visible as the downward quirk to her lips.

Mahika scrunches her nose at her expression, and then reaches out to cup her face between her hands.

"Wait for me, okay? Just for a little bit," she says, tilting her head to one side and leaning in to brush a kiss so soft on Amoli's forehead, she feels the ghost of the lips fluttering like tiny, eager butterflies against her skin even after they're gone. "And then we'll have all the time in the world."

Amoli takes hold of her wrists, pulling her lower lip between her teeth to keep her emotions in check before she asks, "Promise?"

"I promise."

➷

a/n

arodynamics made me such a gorgeous aesthetic please praise them loads for this bec they deserve it

and now i'm off to bed. at five in the morning. uwu.

have a good day, y'all! thank you so much for reading. take care of yourselves, stay warm, and don't forget to catch breaks!