ShraMan SS: Meant to Be [AU][Complete] - Page 10

Great work Anjali ! Thanks for the PM and do PM me when the next chapter is up.

"It's your house too, Shravan." Sumo grumbled as he sighed and fell onto the couch on display in IKEA, with two cushions in his hand. They had just moved into their new house, it was way too big for her liking, but Ramnath uncle had insisted on buying it and her mother had agreed. Their families were well off and they were used to such things but they both had to admit that the house was still a bit over the top. But Ramnath uncle had cited that the family would probably visit them during their years at Oxford and having a house that could accommodate more than the two of them would be beneficial. So they had caved, Ramnath was a good lawyer after all.

"Why does everything have to match perfectly? This table is completely fine." Shravan whined.

"It is not Shravan!" She groaned, this was her first time setting up a house by herself and she wanted it to be nice, if not perfect. She had spent a good portion of the summer looking at dcor options and watching home renovation shows.

"This is so annoying." He mumbled closing his eyes, they had been shopping for furnishings for the past few days and they were still not done.

"Well then maybe you should rethink this whole living together plan." She snapped looking at him.

"That's not what I meant." He sighed looking up at her.

"We just moved into the house a week ago and you already regret it."

"Sumo, yaar, I don't regret it, why would I? I just didn't realize how much work goes into furnishing a house."

"It'd be easier if you cooperated." She mumbled taking out her list again. They had gotten mattresses for both their rooms along with a mattress frame. They had both gotten extra cabinets since the closets weren't spacious, along with night tables, lamps and curtains. Sumo had stocked up on toiletries, towels, bedding, curtains and linens as well. The kitchen was easy, all they had to do was stock the cabinets with food and buy pots and pans.

The living room was also quite easy, they got a comfy grey sectional to go with light grey walls, and they were currently deciding on tables. It didn't really matter to Shravan, he thought everything looked okay, but Sumo was insistent on having the house tie together perfectly. She hated it when she walked into houses and each room looked like it belonged in a different house.

"I think we should change all the tables and the TV cabinet to white, and use the white-grey chairs. It'll tie in better with the kitchen and grey walls." Shravan said and Sumo gave him a thankful smile as they picked the right styles.

"We need posters and paintings, things to make the space our own." She announced.

Of course, they got a glass chess board to put on the coffee table, Sumo rolled her eyes at his excitement when he found it. After another two hours in IKEA that involved picking out paintings, posters, bookshelves, wall decorations and kitchen supplies, they set up a delivery date and grabbed lunch at Jamie Oliver's, Sumo had a fascination with Italian food.

"I am glad we came back early." Shravan said. "I didn't think setting up a house would take this long."

"Spending time on this now means you can relax and feel at home after." She shrugged.

"Watching those home renovation shows paid off didn't it?" He laughed as they waited for their food, Sumo was chewing on garlic bread and nodding.

"And redoing our own house also helped." She smiled. The Tiwari family had done a comprehensive renovation of the Tiwari villa a few years ago and redecorated. It was a lot of work but it had paid off.

"Suman Tiwari, interior decorator extraordinaire." He laughed.

"You're a horrible assistant, I would have fired you if you were on a show with me." She teased.

"Well sorry for not knowing the difference between periwinkle and powder blue." He rolled his eyes.

"Actually, women apparently have more colour sensing cones in their eyes and are better able to distinguish between colours." Sumo said.

"Why do you know this Sumo?" He laughed.

Sumo just shrugged and smiled as their food was placed on the table. Shravan smiled back, glad to be back in England and back to normal again, he had missed her even though they spent some time together while back home.

"Housewarming party?" Shravan asked confused as he chopped a cucumber, he was helping Sumo with dinner as he usually did, he had learnt how to do certain things, one of them included perfectly slicing salad. The other was washing dishes, he insisted that if she cooked, he would clean up.

"According to Riya we need to have one, but everyone is so busy right now, so I am thinking we could do something around Christmas time after exams." Sumo said stirring the sev ki sabzi, his favourite.

"She just wants you to cook for her." Shravan laughed.

"Because you keep telling everyone that I am an amazing cook." She laughed. "So are we going to do it?"

"I guess, if you want to."

"A straight yes or no answer please."

"I don't really care, you're going to end up cooking for everyone, I'll help though. It's just going to be a few people anyways right?"

"I don't mind. And yeah, just Rishi, Riya, Melissa, Mark, Eric and Amelia." She said listing of their close friends.

"Sounds good." He said walking towards the kitchen table and setting it. "Do you want to watch a movie?" He asked.

"Can't, I have to finish some readings." She sighed and he nodded sitting at the island where his own book was placed, he grabbed his highlighter and tried to start reading again but his eyes kept going to her as they seemed to these days. Living together was a blessing and a curse, he loved being around her all day but his feelings seemed to grow to a point where they were hard to handle. They were used to spending loads of time together, but living together was different.

He had laughed the first few times she had walked around the house in her fuzzy bunny slippers and Disney pajamas and she had turned fire engine red when she learnt that he liked to sleep in just his boxers. He was also amused by how she acted first thing in the morning, sometimes she was all preppy and happy and other times she walked around like a zombie, and even with her messy hair and droopy eyes he thought that she was adorable.

She loved to blast music and clean the house, and he had come home early one day to find her dancing around the house in a pair of shorts and a tank, standing on the table to dust the ceiling lights, he hadn't really noticed how nice her legs were until they were right at face level. And the legs were not the only thing he noticed, this one time she thought he wasn't home and walked out of the bathroom in just a towel - he had the image ingrained in his head. Also, he noticed that she didn't like wearing bras under her baggy t-shirts, especially at night, it took a lot of effort to not think about what was or wasn't under her t-shirt on most days. It was getting harder and harder to think of her as just a friend, no pun intended.

"Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?" She asked wiping at her cheeks.

"No, I was just- uh- did you need help?" He asked looking at her but she shook her head with a suspicious look on her face.

[CENTER]X-X-X-X

"I miss India." She sighed falling on the couch beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. She loved how perfectly she fit against him, she could lay her head on his shoulder comfortably and had taken to doing so, often.

"Why?" He asked confused putting down his book and giving her his full attention, that seemed to come out of no where.

"It's almost Diwali, if we were in India there would be so much going on, and here I am, studying on a Friday night and watching the rain." She said sadly .

"Lets go somewhere." He said trying to cheer her up.

"I don't feel like it, Oxford does get boring after a while, you were right." She sighed, they weren't the type to go clubbing...it just got hella awkward due to the people hitting on them, she was okay with going with the girls alone but when the guys joined them, all the other people seemed to pair off, leaving the two of them, and best friends definitely did not grind against each other like couples seemed to. The other option was to go out and eat, but she wasn't really hungry. They had gotten through most of the museums and historic sites around the city and as pretty as Oxford was, Sumo was not in the mood to just go walk around in the rain.

"What do you want to do then?" He asked.

"I don't know. Nothing seems fun right now."

Shravan was bothered by the sadness on her face, she seemed really out of it these days for some reason. He didn't really know what to do, so he did what seemed to work best in situations like this. "You are a pretty boring person, so that doesn't surprise me." He said trying to rile her up.

"Rudeee! That's funny coming from you, you're the boring one here Shravan." She retorted moving away from him and glaring at him, Shravan held back a smile, it was so easy to distract her.

"I am not the one going around sulking, plus I am great company, I can make everyone laugh."

"HA! You? You can't even make me laugh." She snapped back.

"Wanna bet?" He asked, and she blanched when she was the devious look in his eyes.

"Shravan, don't even-" Sumo tried to say as she slowly started backing away from him, but he was faster than her and had closed the distance between them, almost pouncing on her and started tickling her. "NOOO! SHRAVAN! STOP!" She got out between laughs but he didn't relent and continued tickling her, laughing just as much as her. Her face was flushed and her giggles intermixed with gasps now as she squirmed under him trying to get away, for some reason she lay down on the couch rather than getting off, trying to shield her stomach away from him, but he was a step ahead of the game and tickled her even more because she was under him now. "Shravaannn!" She groaned. "I am going to k- kill you." She got out between her laughter.

"We'll see about that." He whispered coming to a stop, she took in a deep breath of air and looked up at him, her eyes growing wide when she realized that she was under him. There was a look on his face that threw her off, his eyes were swimming with something as he peered down at her, and pushed her hair off her face with the hand he was tickling her with before. Her breath hitched in her throat at his touch, and she peered up at him trying to figure out what was going on.

He had meant to get off her as soon as he stopped tickling her, but something about her flushed face and her messy hair while she lay underneath him threw him off, he didn't know when his hand went to her face to push away the soft-silky strands of her hair.

A sound coming from one of their cell phones broke them out of the moment, Shravan literally shot up and scrambled off the couch leaving Sumo to collect herself and sit up. Sumo felt the awkwardness seep through the room, but she didn't want his effort to cheer her up go to waste.

"You are lucky you are my best friend or I would beat you up for tickling me." She said to him with a smile, and she noticed the moment the tension left his body, he rolled his eyes and sat beside her again.

"You are half my size, I don't think that would work."

"Puh-leaseee. Everyone knows that you are terrified of me."

"Yeah, terrified that you're going to fall and break your nose." He quipped.

"See, this is what I meant when I said that you weren't funny." She said before grabbing a cushion and whacking him with it.

"Stop abusing me woman." He screamed as she continued hitting him with the powder blue cushion.

"I am backkk!" Sumo yelled from the front door of the house, taking of her coat and hanging it in the closet.

"Ah-achooo!" Shravan's loud sneeze resonated through the air followed by the sound of him blowing his nose causing Sumo's face to fall. She had only run out to hand in her assignment and grab the ingredients to make him chicken noodle soup and get Gatorade for him since he was unable to keep anything down. She had been mildly sick the previous week, but he seemed to have picked up a nastier bug and was really out of it.

Sumo walked into the living room to find him laying on the couch, he was pale and looked horrible. It made her heart clench painfully.

"No better?" She asked and he groaned out a no. Sumo sighed and put the Tesco bags on the counter before taking out all the ingredients for chicken noodle soup and pouring them into a large pot. She grabbed the thermometer and ran it under water for a second before walking into the living room and sitting on the white table and sticking the thermometer in his mouth without warning. He gave her a glare but she just shrugged and smiled waiting for the beep.

"38.4C." She murmured. "Better, still not good though." She sighed running her hands through his hair and pushing it away from his warm forehead. "You're sweating Shravan."

"Really? I feel so cold." He murmured, she could tell because he had both the sofa throw and a quilt over him. She remained sitting on the table and running her fingers through his hair. His usually perfectly styled hair was all over the place but she had to admit she liked the way it looked.

He groaned when she stopped her ministrations and got up to check on the soup before grabbing a mug to put ice water into and a clean cloth before returning. "Sumo, go to class, I'll be okay. I'll just have some soup and go to sleep."

"Shut up." She murmured dipping the cloth into the water and squeezing the access water out before placing the cloth on his forehead. "You could barely get downstairs this morning Shravan." She murmured, she almost had a heart attack thinking he was going to fall down the stairs if she was a second too late.

On any other day Shravan would have argued but he really didn't have the energy to do it today, so he lay on the couch and let her play doctor. Sumo ran into the kitchen and took the soup off the stove before putting it in a large bowl for him and grabbing his medication.

She helped him sit up and sat right in front of him on the table, holding the bowl between them and taking a spoonful of soup and bringing it to his mouth. "I can feed myself." He tried to argue.

"Yeah, and then it'll end up all over you, again." She said giving him her best just listen to me look. He sighed and blew on the soup before drinking it, she smiled and continued to feed him. "You're such a baby when you get sick." She smiled causing him to give her a glare as he continued to devour the soup, it was good, and he wondered how she could make chicken noodle soup taste so much better than it usually did when other people made it.

She put the bowl to the side and handed him his antibiotic pill which he downed with the glass of water, then she grabbed the NyQuil and he groaned. "I don't need it Sumo." He whined.

"Yes you do, you need to soothe your throat and open your nasal passageways, plus it will help you sleep."

"It tastes so bad."

"Deal with it, you're not a baby." She said grabbing his chin and forcing his mouth open as she brought the cup to his lips, he glared at her but downed the medicine and then shuddered, she passed him the glass of water to get rid of the supposedly horrid taste.

"I hate you." He sighed.

"I sooo believe that. Go to sleep." She said getting off the table but stopped short when she felt him grab her hand.

"Can you play with my hair please?" He asked with a sheepish sleepy smile that made her heart flutter, as if she could say no to him.

"Give me one minute." She smiled and picked up all the dishes and dropped them off in the kitchen before running back into the living room. She sat on one side of the sectional, stretching her legs out in front of her and he lay his head down on her lap, stretching his legs out on the other side. She ran her fingers through his hair, softly and he let out a happy hum. He was asleep minutes later with small smile on his face as she peered down at his face wishing that he got better soon. She hated seeing him sick as much as she hated being sick herself.

"Sumo, get up!" He said as he sat on her bed and shook her awake. "Sumo!"

"Let me sleep." She groaned turning over and pulling the covers over her face.

"Sumo!" He said pulling the covers off her face and smiling at how adorable she was.

"Shravan, it's Saturday morning, let me sleep." She groaned.

"I have a surprise for you." He teased and smiled in triumph when one of her eyes opened and she peered up at him with a inquisitive look on her face.

"Surprise?"

"Yes, surprise. And it involves you getting up and getting ready now, so we don't miss the bus."

"Where are we going?" She asked, curious, she sat up in bed.

"It's part of the surprise, stop stalling, get up and get ready, now." He said walking out of the room.

"Sadu." She mumbled with a smile before hopping off her bed and going to the bathroom to shower.

Half an hour later, the two of them boarded a bus to London, she kept asking where they are going and he kept refusing to tell her.

"Shravannn." She whined as they sat at the back of the bus, the bus was almost empty yet they sat right next to each other leaving all the other seats unoccupied. "Please." She pouted.

"Don't look at me like that, can you please just let me surprise you for once?" He groaned, he hated it when she pouted and looked at him with those chocolate brown eyes because he melted quicker than ice-cream on a hot day.

"I want to know what it is now." She groaned.

"You'll find out in due time, you're such a kid sometimes Sumo." He murmured with a smile.

"I am angry at you." She said.

"You're not, you're just annoyed that I can keep something from you for once."

"Why are we going towards Ealing, wait Southall?" She asked noticing where the bus was going, she turned to him to see that he had a smile on his face, he looked at her and motioned that his mouth was zipped.

She waited until they were off the bus to ask him again. "Now that we're here, do you want to tell me why we're here?" She asked.

"We are here to celebrate Diwali, this is Little India after all, you said you missed home." He shrugged and the smile on her face grew as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him causing him to let out a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You're amazing you know that?" She said with her arms still around him, she pulled away a bit so she could see his face.

"I need to record you saying that." He teased. "Couldn't have you sulking for the whole month." He shrugged.

"So what's the plan?" She asked.

"Well first, we feed you all the Indian food you're missing-"

"JALEBIII!" She screamed before he could even finish the sentence.

-----------

"My stomach feels like its going to burst." Sumo groaned.

"I told you to slow down." He laughed as they walked past the numerous shops in Southall, there was a lot of commotion with it being Diwali today, the street was littered with people in traditional clothing and the stores were filled with colourful lamps and sweets.

"Where are we going now?" She asked smiling up at him.

"We're going to watch a movie."

"Movie?" She asked confused.

"A Bollywood movie, with Hrithik Roshan in it." He smiled as she squealed, she thought Hrithik Roshan was God's gift to the world.

-----------

"Today has been a good day." Sumo said with a content smile on her face as they boarded the characteristic double-decker bus.

"It's not over yet!" He answered with a smile of his own.

"Wait what? I thought we were going back?!"

"Do you not read the bus signs, you do know that they have destinations written on the display board, right?" He asked, and wondered how she got around without him for a minute.

"That is what you're for Shravan." She pointed out, she just blindly followed him wherever he led her because she trusted him to not get lost, and even if he did, they'd be together and he'd figure it out eventually.

"Now is the real surprise!" He said responding to her earlier question.

"What is the real surprise?" She asked firmly.

"You'll find out in about twenty minutes." He laughed as the bus drove away from Southall.

"Can I guess?"

"You won't be able to, but you can try."

"Are we going back to Oxford?" She asked.

"Nope."

"Are we staying within London?"

"Yes."

"Within West London?"

"Yes."

"There is nothing here though." She groaned trying to rack her mind. "What can you surprise me with?"

"You'll find out, soon."

Sumo let out a huff and sank into her seat wondering what he was up to. It still didn't click when the two of them got off a bus, they weren't anywhere special but in a Ealing suburb with huge mansions. He grabbed her hand and dragged her down the street to one of the mansions. "Where are we going?" She gasped as he walked up the driveway. "Who lives here?" She asked as he rang the door bell. "I swear to God, Shravan Malhotra, you better tell me-"

"Can you two not go a day without bickering?" A voice came from the door.

"Riya?" Sumo asked shocked causing her to laugh.

"You managed to keep it a secret." Riya said looking at Shravan, impressed that he hadn't melted and told Sumo everything.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?" Sumo asked as Riya pulled her into the house.

"Diwali bash silly, my parents throw a huge one every year, we pray, then eat, and do fireworks and dance the night away. I mentioned it to Shravan because I wanted to invite you two, but he said something about a surprise so I didn't tell you." She laughed.

"I don't have any clothes! Shravan, how could you be so dumb! You should have told-."

She stopped short when Shravan rolled his eyes and Riya laughed. "We went shopping for clothes for the two of you, as part of the surprise." Riya said. The two of them hadn't brought any traditional Indian clothing with them...because they didn't really have a reason to, so Shravan and Riya had taken a few hours to fix that.

"When?"

"The day of your economics test." Shravan smiled as Rishi walked over.

"They are finally here!" He laughed looking at Sumo and Shravan.

Sumo looked between Riya and Rishi and arched her eyebrow at Riya. "He's here to meet the parents!" Riya said nervously, they had been dating for a few months now. "Okay, now we're already short on time, so lets go get ready, Rishi take Shravan please."

"Can I have a minute please?" Sumo asked Riya who rolled her eyes but nodded with a smile.

"Upstairs, first room to the right." She said to Sumo before turning towards Shravan. "Downstairs, the third door by the stairs." She told Shravan before disappearing along with Rishi leaving Shravan and Sumo standing in the corridor.

"Thank you." Sumo said smiling up at her best friend before hugging him tightly. She wanted to say so much more, she wanted to tell him how much this all meant to her, how much she appreciated him and how much she loved him but the words weren't coming. So she just hugged him tighter and placed her head against his chest, hearing his heart hum underneath her ear.

"Dinner is almost ready!" Sumo piped up from the kitchen as the door bell rang yet again.

"It smells bloody good in ere." Eric groaned stepping into the house with Amelia as Shravan opened the door. "And this house is niceee." He added looking around, the open concept was a rare find in Oxford unless the house had been recently renovated.

"They've been holding out on us, a house warming party after they've been living here for what, 4 and half months now?" Melissa laughed.

"Yes, four and a haaalf months." Sumo said copying Melissa's accent and shaking her head with a laugh.

"I've got to admit that you two have good taste." Riya said looking around the house. "Very minimalistic chic."

"That is all Sumo's doing, I couldn't even tell the difference between periwinkle and powder blue." Shravan said as he walked past Sumo to get glasses out of the cabinet, he winked at her with a smile when she laughed at his comment, it was a running joke, they always referred to the cushions as "powder blue cushions".

"If he were my design assistant, I would have fired him." Sumo said causing everyone to laugh.

"I doubt that." Riya smiled coyly looking between Shravan and Sumo, Sumo rolled her eyes and continued to stir the butter chicken.

"How come you two were so late?" Sumo asked Eric.

"Yeah, you missed Shravan and Sumo's cute bickering." Riya piped up and Rishi groaned.

"She had a meeting with Professor Irwin." Eric said answering the question as Amelia groaned.

"Ah, he's horrible mate." Shravan shuddered causing Sumo to let out a laugh.

"You know of him Sumo?" Amelia asked.

"Oh I've heard all about him from Shravan, apparently he could use a good scolding from yours truly." Sumo said causing everyone in the room to laugh.

"She can be really scary when she wants to be." Shravan defended as he walked to the kitchen to help Sumo.

"Salad?" She smiled and he nodded grabbing the cutting board.

"The two of you look very married couple-y." Riya piped up from her seat on the kitchen island, Rishi rolled his eyes, his girlfriend was obsessed with getting Sumo and Shravan together.

"I think living together does that to people." Shravan smiled.

"Or being in love with each other." Riya mumbled under her breath causing Rishi to elbow her and move the wine bottle away from her.

"Any plans for Winter Break?" Rishi asked everyone trying to distract his girlfriend, if she had it her way Sumo and Shravan would be married already.

"We're heading to Australia!" Eric said looking at Amelia.

"My mother is dying to meet him." Amelia laughed looking at Eric.

"Australia sounds like a lot of fun." Melissa smiled.

"It's my mom's current fancy, I swear she'll have lived in half the countries around the world by the time she retires." Amelia laughed.

"What about you guys?" Eric said looking at the rest of the crew.

"I am going home for the holidays." Mark piped up.

"Same here, mum has blackmailed me into a family reunion with oodles of cousins." Melissa said sadly.

"Why does everyone else's holiday sound so much more exciting than mine? I am going to stay home, sleep and watch Netflix." Riya laughed. "You two still going to Scotland?" She asked turning to Sumo and Shravan.

"For a week, and then the mums are visiting." Shravan smiled.

"I can't believe that you have been here for two and half years Shravan, and Sumo for one and a half, and you're only starting to explore outside of England now." Melissa exclaimed.

"I know, I think we're going to do France, Spain and Italy for the first half of the summer before India." Sumo smiled excitedly.

"Sounds fun." Rishi smiled.

Dinner was delicious as expected, and everyone couldn't stop going on about how good Sumo was at cooking, which left her to smile and blush and Shravan to beam with "I told you so". Rishi and Riya watched Sumo and Shravan intently throughout dinner trying to figure out what was up with them. Although the two of them were always touching and comfortable with each other, things seemed to be changing and it made Riya really happy. The two of them were sitting right next to each other; they had pulled their chairs in extra close. And although they were interacting with the rest of them, you could tell that they were still hyperaware of the other, every time one of them moved even a bit, the other one did too. Riya shook her head with a smile and prayed that the two of them would man - or woman- up and admit that they were in love with each other so she could attend their wedding in India.

"I am going to miss you two." Sumo sighed hugging both her mom and Nirmala goodbye at the airport, they had spent New Years with them, mostly sightseeing around Oxford and London, and were now returning back home.

"She's going to start crying." Shravan said causing Sumo to whack him and both Priya and Nirmala to laugh.

"A few more months and you'll be back in India." Priya smiled at the two of them.

"In the mean time, take care of each other. And stop annoying her Shravan." Nirmala said looking at her son who gave her a sheepish smile.

"He's gotten less annoying over the years, don't worry Aunty." Sumo said covering for her best friend.

"That's good to hear." Nirmala laughed.

"Call us when you land." Shravan smiled hugging both his mom and Priya goodbye as they announced their flight over the intercom. The two of them nodded and waved goodbye to their kids before proceeding through security.

"I am going to miss them." Sumo sighed.

"You just said that like two minutes ago." He pointed out and she rolled her eyes again.

"I don't want classes to start again."

"Me too."

"Lets go back to Scotland."

"We paid a lot for these classes Sumo."

"True."

"You want to go somewhere or go straight back home?" He asked.

"Straight back home, movies and popcorn?" She smiled up at him.

"No more Christmas classics!" He warned.

"Fineee." She rolled her eyes as they boarded the bus back to Oxford.

"Want to grab dinner before going home?" He asked and she nodded.

"Chinese and movie nights go well together." She beamed as they sat in the back of the bus.

She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes as he pulled out his iPhone and listened to his music all the way back to Oxford.

"I asked Suman if she wanted to go to the Winter Formal with me today, and she said that she would let me know." Karan Nanda's words hit Shravan's ear causing him to stop mid-rep, he almost dropped the weight on the gym floor.

"Let you know?" Karan's friend asked confused.

"I don't know mate." Karan shrugged.

Shravan was seething internally, if he needed more reasons to hate Karan Nanda. He was Sumo's partner for some presentation in her Economics class, and he had been spending a bit too much time with her recently. Shravan knew that Karan was smitten with Sumo, that much was obvious to him but when he brought it up to Sumo she had just said that he was just friendly. She didn't realize how beautiful she was, both inside and out, and how easy it was for a man to fall for her charm.

He wondered why Sumo had said that she would let him know, that wasn't a no or a yes, did she want to say yes to him? Karan Nanda wasn't bad, he was quite good looking and intelligent, plus he seemed to be a nice guy. Shravan's dislike for him mainly stemmed from the fact that Karan liked Sumo, if that wasn't the case, Karan could have been someone that Shravan would be able to see as a friend.

Shravan's mood was off as he walked back from the gym to the house. His equation with Sumo was constantly on his mind, especially after Scotland, where there was a moment that they almost kissed, much like on the couch when he was tickling her. He liked her, and he sometimes felt that his feelings were returned. But the next step was one that he was scared to take, because if something went wrong he would lose his best friend, and he didn't know if that was a risk he could take.

"Hey, how was your workout?" Sumo smiled as he walked into the kitchen, she was sitting at the kitchen table doing her readings.

"Okay." Shravan said looking at her, wondering if she would bring up Karan.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sumo asked picking up his tensed body posture and a lack of a smile on his face that was always present after a long workout. She had noticed that something seemed to be off about him these days, like he was thinking about something really hard.

"Yeah." He replied but she didn't believe him for a minute.

"Shravan-"

"I am tired, I am going to go nap."

"But dinner-"

"I am not hungry." He said walking towards the stairs without making himself a protein shake.

"Shravan Malhotra, turn right back around and tell me what's wrong!" Sumo said getting up off her chair, she wasn't going to have any of this childish behaviour, they were adults and they were going to act as such.

"Nothing is wrong Sumo, I am just tired." He mumbled not turning around.

"I know you well enough to know that you're lying to me."

"Then you must know what's wrong too." He said finally turning around and looking at her.

"Shravan, I am not a mind reader." She sighed walking up to him and looking up at his face. "What's wrong?" She asked staring into his sad light brown eyes.

Shravan let out a sigh and wondered if he should bring it up, she would know if he said anything else. "It's nothing Sumo." He said walking back into the kitchen.

"Shravan-."

"Can we talk about something else please?" He pleaded causing her to sigh and nod, she left the topic for now. "What are you up to?" He asked.

"Working on the presentation." She said rolling her eyes. "This assignment is so stupid."

"Why? Karan left you to do all the work?" Shravan asked hoping she would say something about him but she didn't.

"No, it just seems pointless." She said warming up their food in the microwave. He nodded and didn't say anything.

"Thank you." He said when she handed him a plate and sat down beside him.

"I was wondering if you thought about going to the Winter Formal?" She asked between bites.

"Why, are you going?" He asked trying to act nonchalant.

"I want to, yeah." She said looking up at him hoping he would ask her to go with him, but he didn't, he just nodded. His heart sank with the words; she was planning on going with Karan. "Karan asked me if I wanted to go with him." She said after a few minutes when he didn't say anything, hoping that would prompt some kind of reaction from him.

"Oh, and what did you say?" He asked taking another bite of his food, Sumo's face fell at his lack of a reaction.

"That I would let him know." She said.

"You should go with him then, since you want to go." He mumbled, wondering why she had said that she would let him know in the first place if she wanted to go with him.

"Are you going to go?" She asked wondering why he wasn't getting the hint, she wanted to go with him but he told her that she should go with Karan even though she made it blatantly obvious that she didn't really want to go with him.

"Maybe." He answered.

"Oh." She said thinking he probably had someone else in mind to ask.

Girl are you in real or I jus read this in my dream. Loved it loved it and loved it

As soon as I came to edkv forum anf first thing noticed is your ff title on first page and I left my work and started reading it. If was time to go home and I was so temptedto read finish it while waiting on traffic lights lol

Amazing chapter. Loved powder blue pillows staying together sharavans awareness of her as a girl diwali dinner plan. Karan was a bonus as I would get to see jealous duman and jealous shaeavan.

BTW almost kiss part, are you gonna include in future?

Really excited to read about the Winter Ball, and how Karan's characters going impact ShraMan. :)

OH I'm so excited to read the Part 2 can't wait for the next update. Amazing work, love reading each and every piece of your work.

Please update soon :D & PM me when is up.

Eagerly waiting...