Hola! Sorry for the lateness, I've been busy, and not feeling the fluffy-feels lately with the way the show is going rn. But I got around to writing, finally! I am glad you are all liking it!
X-X-X-X Chapter 5 - Oxford, Year 3 September
"Off." She murmured unzipping his hoodie and sliding it off his arms as soon as he walked in the door to their house, he watched amused as she put the hoodie on herself, it looked like it could fit about 2.5 of her.
"Well hello to you too." He laughed pecking her lips as she tried to zip the hoodie up.
"You can't wash all your hoodies at once, I need something to wear." She mumbled against his lips.
"You could have taken any of them." He said confused as he backed away, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"The whole point is that they smell like you." She beamed up at him.
"I don't get it."
"It's like you're here when you're not here, and I am in a big bear hug." She smiled rolling the sleeves of the hoodie up. He smiled at her shaking his head at his cute girlfriend.
"You're adorable." He murmured kissing her nose.
"Did you bring me chocolate?" She asked with a smile and he nodded grabbing the Tesco bag he had put by the door to take his shoes off.
"Chocolate, pads with wings this time, green tea, chips and bananas." He announced handing her the bag of things she had requested.
"You're the best boyfriend in the world." She smiled and kissed his cheek before walking towards the living room, with him behind her. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and she climbed into his lap with a bag of chips.
"I missed this." She smiled as he pulled the throw over her. They had only gotten back a few days ago and hadn't left the house since, they spent most of their time talking and cuddling, and making out, catching up on lost time.
It had been hard to meet and spend any time together when they went back home, they were busy within their own families and someone was always around when the two of them were together. So they had been well-behaved children in order to let anyone learn about their relationship. And they succeeded, they argued as usual - sometimes taking it up a notch for effect - and no one even questioned them.
"I know." He mumbled placing a kiss on the top of her head, he resorted to playing with her hair as she watched the movie intently.
[CENTER]X-X-X-X
November
"Hello?" Shravan asked picking up his phone, he was sitting at the kitchen table working and waiting for Sumo to get home.
"Shravan?" He heard Riya's voice come over the phone, there was a lot of background noise, loud music and people talking.
"Everything okay?" Shravan asked wondering why she was calling him.
"All okay! You just need to come pick Sumo up though...she's not listening to me." Riya giggled.
"You got her that drunk?" Shravan asked, Sumo didn't drink apart from the occasional glass of wine or champagne, and he couldn't think of another reason why he would have to go bring her home from girls' night out.
"Maaybeee." Riya admitted sheepishly.
"Where are you guys?" He asked with a sigh.
"Lola Lo!"
"Magdalen Street?" Shravan asked making sure, but there were only a few clubs/bars around Oxford since the city was so small and the girls refused to walk further than that in their heels.
"YEPPP." Riya yelled before hanging up. Shravan ran up to his room and pulled on a pair of black pants and grabbed his beige overcoat, wallet and cell phone before walking out the front door. The club was only a short walk from the house and as he walked he wondered how drunk Sumo was if Riya had to call him for back-up.
Shravan reached Magdalen Street in no time, and paid the cover charge before walking into the club, he was immediately accosted by the smell of strong perfumes, alcohol and sweat. People were dancing away in the dark, if you could call grinding dancing, and loud music was playing. Shravan scanned the crowd looking for a familiar body in a long sleeved velvet maroon dress, but the sheer amount of people in the club made it difficult to spot her.
"Shravan!" Riya's voice came from his right causing him to turn towards it, Riya was by the bar and his girlfriend was standing on a table by the bar while her friends were begging her to get down, Shravan laughed as he approached them. He knew Sumo was a bit filmy sometimes, but he had yet to see her drunk, a little buzzed, yes, but not drunk. She had a huge grin on her face, her eyes were wide and she had tied up the hair she had curled earlier in the evening.
"Shravannn!" Sumo squealed when she saw him approaching the table. "GUYS MEET MY GORGEOUS BOYFRIEND!" She yelled to Riya, Melissa, Amelia and some of her other friends with a huge grin, the pride evident in her voice causing Shravan to smile at her.
"We've known him for years Sumo, get down!" Riya laughed holding her hand out asking Sumo to come down but she shook her head no like a little kid.
"Hell nooo, this is fun!" She beamed causing Riya to turn to Shravan exasperated.
"What did I say before you left?" Shravan asked Riya, his eyebrow raised in amusement.
"To make sure she didn't drink too much." Riya mumbled like a child who was being scolded. "But she didn't drink a lot! She hated the beer, and took a liking to the fruity cocktails, and they have a higher alcohol content, she barely had three and a half."
"Half?"
"She dumped the rest on some guy." Riya murmured. "Before you go all caveman, he backed away and you don't need to beat him up." She added.
Shravan sighed and stood right in front of the table that Sumo was dancing on. "Sumo." He said gabbing both of her hands in his, causing her to look down at him with a huge smile.
"I AM TALLER THAN YOU FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE." She yelled happily.
"Yes you are, now, baby, I need you to come down so we can go home." He pleaded softly.
"I love it when you call me baby." She smiled with a smitten look about her face and he heard the giggles around him but rolled his eyes.
"Lets go home please." Shravan tried again.
"But I am having fun Shravan, we should dance!" She said her eyes growing wide with excitement.
"Not today, we need to go home now."
"Why?" She whined.
"The club is going to close soon."
"NO IT'S NOT DON'T LIE TO ME." Sumo yelled pouting and letting go of his hands and crossing her arms across her chest.
"Sumo, baby please, lets go home." Shravan tried again.
"Nooo."
"Yes."
"Nooo." She whined.
"Yes. No." He said hoping to confuse her.
"Yesss." She said falling right into his trap.
"See, you agreed, we should go home." Shravan smiled in triumph.
"I agreed?" She asked looking around at her friends who all nodded really enjoying the scene.
"Stupid boyfriend making me agree to things." She murmured holding her hands out to him, he smiled and helped her off the table, her coordination was a bit off so she ended up slamming into his body and her hands gripped the material of his coat to stabilize herself. "You're so gorgeous." Sumo sighed looking up at him with a lazy smile.
"Thank you." Shravan laughed, she said that when she was sober as well.
"So so so gorgeous, and so so so sooo tall, and yummy."
"Okay baby, we should go home now." He said when he heard all her friends laughing.
"But you're so beautiful." She sighed. "You should get arrested for being so beautiful...and you know what your fine should be?" She giggled loudly at the words that were about to leave her mouth. "WALKING AROUND SHIRTLESS." She yelled. "Because you're so so so so sooo sexy. Your arms, your chest, your abs-" Riya's eyes grew wide as Sumo's eyes took on a dazed look and she continued. "Your face." Riya sighed in disappointment but continued listening.
"Sumo, we really need to go home." Shravan murmured, as funny as this was to him, he knew that she was going to regret saying this in front of everyone the next day, and Riya was definitely not going to let this go.
"I don't want to die a virgin." Sumo suddenly said, her face fell and she looked sad all of a sudden causing Riya to burst out laughing. They had a brief conversation earlier and Sumo had found out that everyone except her was having sex, which sober Sumo didn't have a problem with, but drunk Sumo apparently did. Riya found it almost comic how Shravan's eyes seemed to grow wide for a second before he collected himself and decided that he needed to expedite this process.
"Sumo, I am going to pick you up and take you home, don't scream." He said holding her face between his hands and speaking in a low voice. Sumo nodded, her eyes wide.
"Wait, what are we going to do when we get home?" She asked, her voice sounded excited, causing Riya to burst into giggles at her best friend and her predicament.
"Sleep." Shravan said.
"Like sleep-sleep or sleep?" Sumo asked stressing the third sleep with an eyebrow waggle, Riya's giggles turned into laughter. Shravan glared at her knowing that she probably had something do with what was happening.
"Take her home Shravan." Riya laughed as Shravan tried to figure out how to pick her up without creating a scene. He would have thrown her over his shoulder and carried her, which he did sometimes, playfully. But he was afraid that she would throw up if he did that today.
"Sumo-."
"Baby." Sumo said shaking her head side to side.
"Baby." Shravan started again. "I am going to pick you up and take you home, and if you're a good girl, and don't scream and ask questions I'll tell you what we are going to do when we get home." He said and Sumo nodded fervently, her eyes wide.
Shravan smiled at how adorable she looked bobbing her head up and down and kissed her forehead before picking her up bridal style. Sumo smiled happily and wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder as he walked away from the girls who all yelled goodbye to them. Everyone in the club and even the bouncers looked at the two of them with a smile as they walked out.
The walk home was thankfully short, and in no time Shravan was putting Sumo down by the front door and opening the lock with his keys. They both stepped into the house and Sumo's hand automatically raised above her head as if she wanted to ask a question. Shravan laughed at her antics. "Yes Sumo?"
"Can I talk?" She whisper-yelled and Shravan nodded laughing. "What are we going to do?"
"You are going to drink some water, eat something, and sleep."
"Like sleep-sleep, or sleep." She said waggling her eyebrows at the third sleep again causing Shravan to laugh.
"Oh, I hope you remember this in the morning." He chuckled before wrapping his arms around her and walking them to the kitchen. Sumo let out an exasperated sigh as he stood her by the island and popped the cabinet open to find her favourite Maggi noodles.
"Why won't you sleep with me?" She groaned.
"We sleep together all the time." Shravan said putting two cups of water in a pot and setting it to boil.
"NOOO!" Sumo groaned hitting her forehead with her hand. "You're sooo nave." She said grabbing his face between her hands and forcing him to look at her, he had a grin on his face. "Like sleep-sleep, we just make out, and then put our shirts back on...why?" She pouted.
"We're taking this slow remember?"
"But it's almost been a year since we started dating and practically forever since I've been in love with you." She sighed. "Why don't you want to have sex with me?" She asked pouting.
"I do want to have sex with you, when the time is right." He smiled pecking her nose.
"When is that?"
"When we're ready."
"I am ready right now."
"We can talk about this when you're not drunk Sumo." He whispered.
"I am not drunk." She whispered.
"Yes you are, now we're going to eat and then go to bed, and sleep-sleep, and we'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?" He asked and she nodded with a sigh.
---------------
"Oh no!"
Shravan woke up to the sound of Sumo groaning, he opened his eyes, letting out a yawn and rubbed his eyes trying to get accustomed to the light in the room. His arms felt empty so he looked around and saw Sumo sitting on the armchair in her room, by the bed, staring back at him.
"Good morning." Shravan smiled sitting up in her bed, the sheet that he had atop his body rolled down to expose his bare chest.
"Tell me I didn't try to force you to have sex with me last night." Sumo said her eyes wide.
"I wouldn't say force...more like tried to seduce." Shravan said and then burst out into laughter as she covered her face with her hands.
"I am never drinking again." She groaned.
"I thought it was quite amusing." He laughed and she uncovered her face to glare at him.
"Shut up."
"I have never felt more wanted in my life." He teased causing Sumo to let out an exasperated groan as she picked up a pillow and threw it at him, she missed, badly. "Come here." He asked patting her side of the bed but she shook her head causing him to sigh. "I'll come there if you don't come here." He warned and she sighed before getting off the arm chair and climbing back into bed, keeping her distance from him.
He crossed his legs and turned sideways so he was facing her before forcing her to look at him. "What brought that on?" He asked referring to her insistence about sleeping together last night.
"We were all just talking and sex came up, and I said that I hadn't had sex yet, and everyone just made such a big deal out of it because we've been together for so long, and it was just weird." She mumbled.
"What was weird?" He asked curious. "That we're not having sex or that there was a conversation about it?"
"Both? I mean I get why we're not rushing into this, but at the same time, it's kind of like why aren't we? Melissa was pointing out how we literally had every other aspect of our relationship worked out for years and it's kinda true but-" She stopped speaking and just shrugged.
"But?"
"I don't know." She shrugged, and she really didn't know why she was so bothered by this.
"On the contrary, I think we're still working on these other aspects of our relationship." He said grabbing her hands and holding them between his. "We are good at being best friends, and we're getting good at being in a relationship. But you know just as well as I do that we're still learning Sumo what works here and what doesn't. And trust me when I say that once we start having sex, we're not going to do much else for a while, and then we're going to miss out on this, just talking and understanding the other person, and I don't want that to be the reason why this doesn't work."
"So you're not having sex with me because once you start you won't have the self-control of a saint anymore?" She teased.
"I have the self-control of a saint?"
"It seems like that on most days."
"Trust me, it's harder than it seems." He said then immediately regretted his word choice when she burst out into giggles.
"I-I am sorry." She got out between giggles.
"So are we good?"
"We're good." She said leaning in closer and pecking his lips. "You are a pretty amazing guy you know that right?" She smiled leaning her forehead against his.
"Am I now?"
"Yep, but you need to stop being so scared all the time Shravan. I love you and no matter how many times we fight or piss each other off, I am still going to waddle over here in the middle of the night when I can't sleep to cuddle with you." She beamed.
X-X-X-X-X December
"Are you two still fighting?" Amelia asked.
"She's wearing sweats, her hair is tied up and she is eating cake." Melissa said looking at Amelia and giving her an obviously look as they all sat eating their desserts, they usually grabbed dinner together after their classes on Wednesday.
"Wait, why are they fighting again?" Amelia asked looking at Riya who was staring at Sumo.
"Karan is Sumo's partner for her class again, he was hitting on Sumo again, Shravan got annoyed and really possessive, and then Sumo got annoyed because he literally punched Karan in the face and Professor Rawle found out and told them to work out their differences because she couldn't change partners this late and Karan is giving Sumo attitude now." Riya summarized for Amelia who nodded.
"I think possessive guys are hot." Melissa mumbled causing Sumo to glare at her.
"A little bit of jealousy is cute, but punching someone sounds a bit extreme, unless Karan was being really touchy-feely." Amelia spoke.
"Yaar, Sumo, why are you so mad?" Riya asked. "It's Shravan, if one of us even says something to piss you off he glares at us for so long, he's protective when it comes to you and Karan has been low-key in love with you for what seems like forever now."
"Shravan is being an idiot. That is what is bothering me, like yeah, I realize that Karan has feelings for me, I hate it. But we have to work on this stupid project together, it's worth 50% of my mark in the class, so I need to work with him even if he is the last person that I want to work with. And Shravan knows that I am in love with him, I don't care about Karan or anyone else, so why can't he just trust me and lay off? It's like this f**king piss war between the two of them is more important than my mark in this class, and this class is a pre-req for the MBA program so I can't mess up in it." Sumo vented stabbing her chocolate cake with her fork.
"Did you tell him that?" Melissa asked.
"They are not speaking to each other." Riya sighed.
"Why is Shravan not speaking to her?" Amelia asked confused.
"Because this one went off on his ass about punching Karan, and then he got all pissed." Riya informed them.
"Wait did he yell at you?" Melissa asked Sumo and she shook her head no.
"Shravan doesn't yell at her, he just broods and glares." Riya laughed. "And looks really hot when he does, I don't know how they aren't having angry make-up sex already." She murmured causing Sumo to kick her under the table. "Ouch, I was kidding!" Riya said reaching down and rubbing her leg.
"I need a drink." Sumo groaned pushing the empty plate away, that was her second slice of cake in two days, she hated fighting with Shravan.
"No you don't, you need to go home and talk to Shravan." Riya said.
Sumo sighed, she knew that Riya was right. They had been avoiding each other for more than 36 hours now, and she couldn't even sleep last night without him beside her, and she was tired - she could barely pay attention in class. And he didn't look any better when she had walked by him this morning before leaving the house.
------------
The house was quiet when she stepped inside even though it was only 9:00pm, she hung up her coat in the closet and checked the kitchen and living room but he wasn't there. She knew he was home though, because the shoes he was currently obsessed with were in the shoe rack, all his jackets were in the coat closet and his key was hanging by the door.
She walked up the stairs and towards their rooms, the door to his room was closed and she pouted before stepping into her own room and changing into her pajamas. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, she hated how she looked in the mirror, her face looked so dead. She waddled over to her bed and turned off all the lights, but the room was illuminated due to the full moon outside her window.
She lay in her bed for a few minutes staring at the ceiling and even though she was tired, sleep evaded her. She tossed and turned, got up to get water a few times, browsed her phone for half an hour and sighed, a lot. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but a few minutes later she heard the door to her room open and his footsteps. She kept her eyes closed as she felt the bed sink next to her as he lay down on it.
She heard him moving around getting comfortable, but he didn't put his arms around her like he always did, but she could feel him breathing so she knew he was close. She opened her eyes and turned towards him to find him looking at her, she could make out his face despite the darkness, there was enough light coming from the window.
"I am sorry." He whispered looking at her.
"Why did you do it?" She whispered back.
"I don't know what came over me, he just annoys me so much, he's like obsessed with you." Shravan murmured.
"I get that Shravan, but the thing is that I am obsessed with this other stupid guy that goes around hitting people." She said and he sighed. Sumo moved closer to him and ran her hands through his hair. "I love you Shravan, and you know that there is no one in this world that can change that right?" She asked.
"I know that, but sometimes it's just hard to not get jealous."
"I am not mad at you because you were jealous." She murmured and he looked taken aback. "I was mad because you jeopardized my mark in that class Shravan, you know how important this project is, you know that I can't change partners and what you pulled...it just made me feel like your ego and hatred for Karan was more important than me."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
"I am sorry, I didn't know that you felt that way. I just - I didn't really think it through, it was just the way he was looking at you and he made some offhanded comment about how he was getting to know you, and I snapped."
"I know, but the thing is that he stays within his limits most of the times Shravan, and we're almost done this project and then we can pretend that he doesn't exist." She smiled.
"So we're good?" He asked hesitantly.
"We're good." She smiled pecking his lips. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. She tucked herself under his chin and sighed contentedly. "I can actually sleep now." She murmured against the skin of his neck.
"Sleep-sleep or sleep." He teased with a laugh causing her to groan.
"You need to let that go!" She said whacking his arm.
X-X-X-X-X March
Sumo tip toed down the stairs at 6am on a Saturday morning, hoping that Shravan didn't wake up. He had been overworking for the past few days because he had an assignment due last night, and he had gone to sleep pretty late so she was sure he wouldn't wake up easily but she was still cautious. She rolled the sleeves of his shirt up her arms, it served more as a dress than a shirt on her but she found it really comfy.
She walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the cabinet all the way in the corner of the kitchen, taking out her cake-making supplies and getting to work. She hummed and danced around the kitchen while she baked and made the butter cream frosting for the cake from scratch.
It took a while to bake the cakes to perfection and let it cool down before she iced it to perfection. The end product was cute so she pulled out the tube of blue icing she had bought and stashed in the fridge and wrote "Happy Birthday" on the cake followed by a smiley face. She smiled and ran to the powder room and washed her face before taking her hair out of the ponytail it was in, it fell down her back in soft waves.
She ran back to the kitchen and grabbed the cake, and a knife before making her way back upstairs. She walked into his room really slowly, he was still sound asleep. Sumo put the cake on the table at the side of the room where his books were carefully placed. She looked towards the clock and decided that she could wake him up now since it was 8:00.
She smiled deviously and walked towards the bed, getting on it standing up, carefully. She put her legs on either side of him and sat down so she was straddling his waist lightly, the fabric of the shirt she was wearing lightly brushed his bare chest. She didn't put any weight on his unsuspecting body, rather she supported herself on her knees before leaning over him slowly and pressing her lips to his soft pink ones, gently at first, then she applied more pressure to force him to wake up.
He let out a content hum and his lips curved into a smile against hers, and one hand came to her thigh caressing the soft skin, while the other tangled in her hair pulling her face closer to his as his tongue sneaked out to touch hers.
She pulled away knowing that if she let this go on that they would remain right where they were all day. "Happy Birthday." She whispered excitedly looking into his eyes, she knew that he had forgotten because his eyes lit up.
"Thank you." He smiled and she pecked his lips again
"I love you." She mumbled with a smile.
"I love you too." He said with a grin. She pecked his lips yet again before trying to get off him to get the cake.
"Nooo." He whined pulling her back. "The birthday boy wants you to stay right here." He said when she arched her eyebrow at him, she laughed and grabbed his face between her hands feeling the stubble against her soft palms.
"There is a surprise for the birthday boy that I need to get." She told him with a smile before moving away from him and getting off the bed. He propped himself up on his elbows so he could see where she was going, and he let out a groan.
"Tell me you're not wearing something underneath that shirt." He said looking down at her bare legs and his shirt on her, she was wearing pajamas when she put it on last night.
"Maybeee." She laughed teasing him.
"I only have so much self-control you know, you can't go walking around looking sexy like that." He mumbled propping himself up against the headboard as she grabbed the cake and walked towards him.
"Next birthday, I promise there won't be anything underneath the shirt." She winked making him laugh.
"Did you make that?" He asked when he grabbed it from her so she could sit on the bed.
"Of course, I wasn't going to get you store-bought cake!"
"When did you wake up?" He asked suspiciously.
"Just a while ago." She shrugged before handing him the knife.
"Are you going to sing off key?" He asked, his voice teasing.
"You know what, give the cake back, you don't deserve it!"
"I am kidding!" He laughed. "I love how excited you get for birthdays."
She rolled her eyes but started singing when he started cutting the cake, there was a lot of giggling and laughter, and cake ended up on their faces before Sumo screamed about getting the sheets dirty, which had led into another fit of giggles as they put the cake back on the table and rushed to clean the icing off their faces.
Sumo sat on the counter as he stood in front of the sink trimming his beard, he would have shaved but she was being overly dramatic about missing the beard when he shaved so he left it. "You need to hurry up and get ready so we're not late for your surprise." She said smiling at him.
"Well if you hadn't tried to smear cake all over my face we would have been faster." He mumbled.
"Stop being a crybaby." She said grabbing the trimmer from him. He sighed and placed his hands on her knees, urging them apart and stepping between her legs, his hands rested on her bare thighs. He pressed closer so his legs were up against the counter as she gulped up at him, she could feel the heat seep from his rough hands into her thighs and feel his breath on her cheek.
Her finger shook slightly as she brought the trimmer up to his face. "Look up." She whispered, her voice sounding foreign to her own ears. He complied and looked up, she took the trimmer and carefully worked on lining up his beard around his jawline. She had done it before, once, but it wasn't while she was sitting on the counter like this. Heat was emanating from his shirtless body and his hold on her thighs seemed to tighten whenever her hands grazed his upper body as she worked, he unconsciously kneaded the muscles of her thigh, his fingers moving and leaving goosebumps in their wake. Sumo let out a shaky breath as she felt the, now familiar, tightening feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She put the trimmer down when she was finished and he looked down at her, his eyes now open and a shade darker than before, filled with what she knew as desire. She ran her hands over the now sharp stubble on his face, and let out a quiet moan when she noticed his eyes flicker to her lips as he gulped. He leaned in and hungrily took her mouth his own and her legs wrapped around him, her hands slid over his bare back before she latched her fingers in his hair, their tongues sweeping against each other. Shravan's hands continued a circuit from Sumo's knees to her thighs, over her hips as he pulled her even closer so she was barely resting on the counter, his mouth still firmly moving over hers.
His hands moved up the side of her clothed upper body and grazed the side of her breasts causing her to moan. His hands moved confidently, cupping her breasts, as they did often. But this time Sumo was the one to stop them. "We're going to be late." She murmured against his lips and he sighed pulling away and resting his forehead against hers.
---------
"NO WAY!" Shravan exclaimed as things clicked, they had jumped on a bus to London and had just gotten off the Tube, he saw the huge banners lining the streets and people in colourful jerseys. "How did you get tickets?!" He asked.
"I've been looking for a few months." She beamed up at him, she felt euphoric due to the excitement on his face.
"Liverpool vs. Manchester United!" He said happily with a laugh causing Sumo to smile. She knew he would love this, she had overheard the guys talking about football back in January and she knew that Shravan was obsessed, he made time to watch the games when they were on - especially if Man U was playing, so she snatched up these tickets. "You're amazing." He smiled down at her wondering how she always just knew what would make him happy.
"I know." Sumo laughed as they walked towards the entrance hand in hand.
X-X-X-X-X May
"You don't have a boyfriend?" Preeti asked Sumo suspiciously as the two of them lounged around the Tiwari Villa enjoying their summer vacation.
"Uh, no." Sumo said looking down at her phone wondering why Preeti was interrogating her like this.
"But you're so pretty! And you live in England!" Preeti exclaimed.
"So?" Sumo asked confused.
"Di! Guys with yummy British accents!" She exclaimed causing Sumo to roll her eyes.
"Don't really care anymore." She shrugged, at first she was mesmerized by British accents but now it seemed like nothing exciting. Plus, there was just one deep voice that she liked hearing next to her ear, a voice that she was currently missing, she had started to dislike summer vacation.
"Ugh, Di!" Preeti pouted at the lack of information her cousin was giving her. She wanted to live through her vicariously because her life was pretty boring since her mother kept such a strict watch on her. "Does Shravan Bhaiya have a girlfriend?" Preeti asked hoping that his life was a bit more exciting than Sumo's.
"Nope." Suman said refreshing her Twitter feed.
"You guys are so boring...wait, are you two in love with each other? Is that why you're not dating other people?" Preeti teased and Sumo blanched wondering if that was just an off handed comment or if they had done something to indicate as such. They still hadn't told their parents, worrying about the hyper-vigilance, she doubted that their parents would be okay with the two of them living in the same house if they knew.
"Oxford is not an easy place to study at." Sumo covered not looking up at her cousin, but thankfully, Preeti was oblivious as usual and didn't pick up on how nervous Sumo seemed.
X-X-X-X June
Knock. Knock Knock Knock. Knock Knock. Knock.
Sumo gasped and sat up in her bed at the sound coming from her window, she looked at the clock on her bedside and realized that it was 1am. She slowly sat up in bed and prayed that the whole house was deep asleep and wouldn't wander over to her room.
She walked over to her window and opened it, and found her boyfriend standing outside it with a sheepish smile. "Hi." He whispered.
"Hi." She smiled back before moving out of the way and motioning for him to come in. She watched amazed as he navigated himself inside the room easily.
"Naanu is going to have bars put up in my window if he ever finds you here." She murmured as he pulled her into a hug.
"I missed you." He said before placing a kiss on top of her hair. She sighed and nodded against his chest and buried herself closer to him, holding him tight. She hadn't seen him for a whole week, hadn't hugged him for two more than that - someone was always around even when they were together.
"Did you bring your car?" She asked.
"Yeah, parked it down the street though." He answered.
"What time do Ramnath Uncle and Nirmala Aunty get up?" She asked.
"They are out of town, something came up with a client." He said.
"And everyone else?"
"Won't notice that I am gone."
"Good." She said pulling away from him and dragging him towards her bed, she peered over at her own door making sure it was locked as he lay down on the bed. She smiled and lay down next to him, curling herself up around him and letting out a content sigh. "I was getting tired of sleeping with your sweater." She murmured placing a kiss at the edge of his jaw because she was too lazy to reach up and kiss him properly. She just wanted to sleep next to him.
She felt him chuckle before he turned and moved closer to her, they both fell asleep with smiles on their faces for the first time in a long while.
------------
"Suman!"
Sumo let out a yawn and opened her eyes wondering where the sound was coming from.
"Suman! Come eat breakfast!" She heard her mom outside her door. She was about to answer but then she felt the arm around her waist, a hand against her stomach and a hard body pressed against her back. She suddenly remembered that Shravan was here, in her bed. Her eyes went to the clock and grew wide, it was 9:30am, they were supposed to be up before 6:30 so he could leave. Shit Shit Shit.
"Suman! Are you okay beta?" Her mom's voice came again.
"Yeah mom! Just slept in...uh, I am going to take a shower before breakfast, I'll drop by at work later to see you." She yelled.
"Okay beta." Priya Tiwari answered, and Sumo noticed the confusion in her voice. Sumo was always up early to help with breakfast and see the family off to work. Sumo breathed a sigh of relief when her mother didn't ask her to open the door to check on her. She could feel his rhythmic breathing against her back and he hadn't moved an inch, despite all the yelling.
"Shravan." She whispered trying to turn around in his hold, but she couldn't. "Shravan!" She tried again, her voice a bit above a whisper, she didn't want to risk talking loud in case anyone heard her. Shravan did not move. Sumo let out a deep breath before trying to wiggle down rather than away from him, it was a bit easier, and with a few moves she managed to turn in his grasp so she could see his face. She had meant to wake him up immediately by hitting him, but his face took her back. He looked so peaceful, his hair was all messed up and there was a small smile on his face. But his eyes had dark circles underneath them, he was complaining about missing her all of last week, and it was hard for her too, especially the first week back, she could barely sleep a wink without him next to her at first, she had resorted to wearing his sweaters to sleep despite the heat because they smelled like him.
Sumo smiled and pushed his hair away from his face, her fingers trailed down his face lightly before she pecked his lips. As much as she wanted to leave him sleeping, she knew he had to go. "Shravan." She whispered caressing his face, he let out a small groan but didn't open his eyes. "Shravan Malhotra, you better get up now unless you want to explain to Naanu what you're doing in my bed." She whispered and watched amused as hit eyes shot open, he unwrapped himself from around her like he was on fire. "Calm down, no one is here yet, Mom was, but she left from outside."
"Shit! What time is it?"
"9:42." Sumo said.
"Should I leave?"
"Someone is going to see you, almost everyone is gone by 11:00ish, but I have to make sure." She sighed.
"I can just jump out the window."
"It'd be better if you just walked out my room then, it will be less suspicious than leaving through my window." She sighed.
"We have an hour to kill." He murmured, his hands going to her waist and pulling her closer.
"You're incorrigible, you know that right?" She smiled up at him.
"I haven't kissed you in like three weeks." He murmured rolling her over and pinning her under him. "Plus, I've always wanted to make out on this bed, every time we sat here doing homework." He murmured while peppering kisses down her neck.
X-X-X-X July
"Suman, can you check if I left the sarees on my bed please? And find Pushkar and Shravan, I told them to check in with Varun but I haven't seen them since." Nirmala asked Suman as she walked by with a tray of ladoos in her hand.
"Sure Aunty!" Suman smiled putting the bowl of haldi down, carefully, she was dressed in a cream and gold saree with a gold blouse, the last thing she needed was a huge dab of haldi on her outfit.
"Kamini! Where is Varun? We need to get going!" Nirmala said walking into the kitchen.
Sumo ran into Nirmala aunty's room, the house was upturned since Varun's wedding was a few days away, the house was decorated and everyone was running around doing last minute things before guests started coming over. The sarees were on the bed, thankfully, so Suman picked them up and dropped them on the table with all the others before venturing up the stairs to find Shravan and Pushkar.
She knocked on the door but got no answer, she figured they were probably engrossed in a conversation and walked straight in only to find the room empty. She closed the door behind her and stepped inside, and almost let out a scream when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from the back but his smell and the feel of his large hands against the bare skin of her stomach clued her in about who it was.
"You should wear sarees more often." He murmured against her neck, his hand still splayed against her bare stomach causing goosebumps to appear all over her skin.
"You need to stop staring at me like that in front of everyone." She replied leaning back into his touch. She had walked into the Malhotra mansion with her mom to help out with the preparations, and Shravan's mouth had literally dropped open when he saw her, she looked stunning in the saree she was wearing, and her hair was half up in soft curls. He had never seen her in a saree before, so of course he was shocked. He stared at her for a bit too long though because Pushkar seemed to catch on.
"Your fault, you should have given me a warning." He sighed pushing all her hair to one side, his hand tracing down the skin her blouse left bare.
"You're a tad touchy today." She said with a shiver.
"Have you seen the way you look?"
"I thought it was pretty normal."
"You look like a goddess." He murmured pulling away from her and coming around to stand in front of her.
"Damn." Sumo whispered. He was wearing a cream kurta-pajama with a little but of gold thread work, he was wearing sweats when she had first gotten here.
"Like what you see?" He teased.
"Definitely." She laughed, she loved what she saw. "Now get your ass downstairs before your whole family comes to look for us."
"I can't touch you or look at you for too long downstairs, I think we should stay right here." He said leaning down and pecking her lips.
"Nooo!" She said moving away from him. "Don't mess up my lipstick!" She chided wiping away red lipstick that was at the side of his mouth with her fingers.
"This sucks." He murmured with a pout.
"Control your hormones Mr. Malhotra."
"Oh, how the roles have switched." He teased with a smile causing her to roll her eyes.
"Shut up." She said whacking him.
"Why are you two matching?" Pushkar asked walking into the room and arching at eyebrow at them.
"How long have you been there?" Shravan asked.
"Long enough to see that Sumo still loves to abuse you." He smiled, he had walked in when she told him to shup up, but he was intrigued at how close they were standing, peering at each other with smiles on their faces. "Did you two plan this?" He asked pointing between the two of them.
"No." Sumo answered turning towards Pushkar. "Cream and gold is a popular combination Pushkar."
"Mhmmm." Pushkar beamed at the two of them skeptically.
"What?" Shravan asked.
"Nothing, Badi Mama is calling you." He said, but he was certainly wondering what was going on between the two of them.
X-X-X-X-X August
"Shravan!" Ramnath's voice came from downstairs causing Shravan to open his eyes, he looked over at the clock to see that it was 4am and wondered why he was being awoken at this time. He got off the bed and popped the door to his room open to find Ramnath pacing the living room.
"What happened dad?" He asked worried.
"Tiwari ji...he's had a heart attack, we're heading to the hospital, I thought we'd let you know-."
"Let me go change, I'll be down in a minute." Shravan said, his eyes growing wide. Ramnath nodded although he didn't expect Shravan to come with him, he was just letting him know where they were going. Shravan ran back into his room and changed into track pants and long-sleeved t-shirt before grabbing his phone. "Shit." He mumurred when he realized he had a missed call from Sumo. He was annoyed with himself for missing the call, he knew she was probably freaking out right now. Shravan ran down the stairs to find both his dad and Mom standing by the front door. They all left in a hurry and reached the hospital in no time.
Shravan heard her before he saw her, she was sobbing, although quietly. His heart broke for her when he saw her, she was leaning against her mother, tears streaming down her face, her nose was pink and her eyes bloodshot. The rest of the family lingered in the waiting room as well, Preeti was half-asleep, tears dried on her face, Mami wasn't there since she was probably at home with Daboo. They were all in their pajamas, Sumo was in his oversized Oxford sweater and leggings, her hair atop her head in a bun.
Nirmala went straight to Priya and Ramnath went straight to Sameer who was conversing with the doctor. Sumo looked up when she realized that Nirmala was there and saw Shravan looking at her with a sad face. At that moment she didn't think, she just did what felt right, what she wanted to do. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head against his chest and crying. He sighed sadly and wrapped her up in his arms, resting his head atop hers.
"Shravan, Naanu..." She sobbed.
"Is he okay?" He whispered.
"They are o-operating on him now."
"Shhh, he's going to be okay Sumo." Shravan whispered, rubbing his hand in soothing circles across her back trying to calm her down. He gave Priya Tiwari a sad smile, she was looking at him with a soft, thankful smile, she also looked shaken by what was happening, the whole family did.
Shravan and Sumo stood there for a while, wrapped up in a hug but no one batted an eyelash at them.
"Shhh, Sumo. How about we go and grab something to drink for everyone, okay?" He asked trying to calm her down, the sobs had stopped now, but she still didn't let him ago. A small smile came to his face when she nodded against his chest and moved away. He wiped away the tears that lingered on her cheek with his sleeves and gave her a small, hopefully reassuring, smile.
"Maa, we're going to go get something for everyone." Shravan said looking at Nirmala who nodded at her son as she sat beside her best-friend, Priya. Shravan and Sumo walked towards where they knew the cafeteria was, they turned a corner and disappeared out of the family's sight. Shravan grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am sorry I missed your call." He said.
"I- I just didn't know what to do for a minute." She admitted with a sad smile.
"When did you guys get here?" He asked.
"About an hour ago. I-I don't know how long Naanu was in his room...no one- no one would have known if he hadn't dropped a glass." She said, the tears streaming down her face again. Her grandpa could have died today and no one would have known considering that they got home late and wouldn't be up until 7am the next morning on a normal day. Daboo was crying so Mami was rocking him to sleep in the veranda when she heard a glass drop upstairs in Naanu's room. If it wasn't for that, they would have not known, at all.
"Sumo." Shravan whispered turning towards her and shaking his head no. "It's okay, it's not your fault baby, there was no way you could have known, you guys did your best."
"Wh-what if something happens to him Shravan?" She cried looking up into his eyes and his heart clenched, he wanted to tell her that nothing would happen, but he couldn't and the pain in her eyes killed him.
"He's a fighter Sumo, lets just hope for the best okay?" He smiled wiping away her tears yet again, she nodded sadly and took in a deep breath trying to calm herself down. He brought the hand he was holding up to his face and placed a kiss on the back of her hand with a smile before pulling her towards the cafeteria again.
They returned to the family with tea and small snacks since they figured no one would really want to eat considering it was only 6:30am. Everyone sipped on their tea and watched the floor or the wall, or the ceiling, their eyes occasionally went to the operating room.
Sumo sat beside Shravan, leaning against him for support. He didn't seem to process what he was doing, but his arm was around her, and his hand was rubbing her arm up and down, reassuringly. He didn't realize that Nirmala and Priya were looking at the two of them, seemingly trying to figure out if what they were seeing was more than friendship but this was neither the time, nor the place to ask so they didn't say anything, rather they just watched.
Priya couldn't help but notice that Sumo had calmed down a lot more when Shravan had walked into the hospital, she wasn't crying anymore, and she seemed to derive a lot of comfort from him. She had hugged him, and was still wrapped up in his embrace. But then she figured that they had been friends for long, and had literally become each other's family while away from home - so she wrote it off to that.
Nirmala knew her son front and back, she felt like she was missing something but at the same time she felt like she was overthinking. Shravan and Sumo had been best-friends for years, and living together in a different country brought them even closer, friends comforted each other like they did, it wasn't a big deal. But a part of her thought and wished that there was something more there, because a part of her always knew that the two of them would eventually get together.
The next hour was a blur to everyone, a calm happiness took over the waiting room when the doctors came out of the operating room and said that the surgery was successful. They were keeping Nana ji under observation for a few days to make sure that everything was fine. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thanking God that for the good news.
Shravan gave Sumo a reassuring smile, and he was around a lot more for the next few days, often lounging in the hospital room playing chess with Naanu, and later at the Tiwari Villa. Sumo really didn't want to go back to England come September, but Naanu insisted that he was okay, and that if anything happened they were just a flight away.
Edited by astonm - 9 years ago
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