Updated (Ch 17) Aastha and Shlok FF - Match Made In Heaven *pg51 - Page 25

Originally posted by: Operaqueen

Ashwini, don't let the professionals distract you 😆 Update pleeese😊

Here is the next chapter guys. I applologize that it took too long for me to update and due to that fact I have made this chapter extra extra long. LOL .Hope you like it.

Match Made in Heaven - Chapter 16

*******

"I love you so much, Shlok,"Astha mimicked to herself as she slammed the door shut behind her and leaned up against it, breathing hard. "Astha Kiloskar, don't you have any pride? God"

She squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment, fighting to slow her breathing, her cheeks feeling hot and tingly as she forced herself to think about what she had just said.

She could hear her voice in her mind, saying it over and over again, until she felt so humiliated she wanted to go knock herself over the head with something heavy and preferably large, so as to do the most possible damage!

'Am I ever going to grow a brain?' She mentally asked the ceiling when she finally opened her eyes. 'Maybe even just a half of one?'

Oh God, why had she said that? There was no way she could still love him, after what he'd done. He'd used her! They weren't even 'friends'! She just felt sorry for him and then of course there was the fact that she was just a big, fat, hopeless liar!

Shlok wouldn't love her. He couldn't, he'd said.

**

The whole day was swiftly turning into The Nightmare Before Diwali!

Astha breathed a huge sigh of relief as she moved back down the upstairs hallway, rounding a corner and reaching blindly for the door to her room.

"Just shut-up Abhay! There isn't anything going on between Ajay and I, and you know it! This isn't about Ajay!"

Astha paused with her hand above the door knob. Her eyes widened as she heard the raised voices coming from inside her room.

"Ajay isn't the man I'm in love with!"

She felt her jaw drop for the second time in five minutes. Joti had told Abhay she liked him! And from the frustrated, over-stressed sound of Joti's voice, they'd been talking in there for quite some time.

"Joti I"

"Don't you think I know you resent me for just jumping in and telling you the truth? Well, someone was going to have to take the initiative, and the odds are, by the time you ever got around to it, we'd both be old and silver-haired!"

"Joti-"

"I know, I know! You don't want our friendship to change! I don't either! But I can't just stop having feelings for you - and...a-and I know you feel something for me too!"

Complete silence. Astha rolled her eyes - she wanted to go and strangle her new appointed brother. Couldn't he see Joti was insanely, madly in love with him? And that he felt the same way about her?

"Abhay, I - you are 'fond' of me, aren't you? I mean, everything we say, all the ways we act around each other, it all points to one thing, doesn't it? It makes perfect sense. There's something between us, something connecting us right?"

"Er, but, Joti, - " Abhay stuttered weakly, his gruff voice pitched so low and soft Astha could barely catch words here and there.

Joti, clearly at the end of her tether, finally snapped, "Fine, don't admit that you have feelings for me!"

Joti all but shouted, and Astha winced as she heard the other girl stomp across the room toward the door.

That hadn't gone well at all...

To her surprise, when the door opened, it wasn't Joti who came trudging out, it was a red-faced, bewildered looking Abhay.

The door slammed hard on his heels.

Astha took a step back, crossed her arms, and looked up at her brother with a raised brow. "I bet you're happy now you've made a proper ass out of yourself in fAbhayt of poor Joti again."

Abhay growled something that sounded remotely like, "not you too sis," and shouldered past her, walking into the boys room and slamming the door shut even harder and louder than Joti had, as if to prove a point.

Astha sniffed and knocked hesitantly on her bedroom door. "Joti?"

For a moment she was sure the other girl wasn't going to answer. Then there was a miserable sounding, "What?"

She bit her lip, feeling bad that she'd been eavesdropping. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Joti responded in an angry tone.

Astha sighed. "As much as I'd like to tell you Abhay's dreadfully thick --"

A loud snort came from the direction of Abhay's room. "Eavesdropper."

"-- and to just forget all about him, I think the little sod really does love you, and that you should talk this out."

Joti made a loud, garbled snarl.

"Please?" Astha asked in a tiny voice. "And I'm not eavesdropping, Abhay! You can't eavesdrop in your own bloody house!"

"I'd rather chew glass!" The older girl snapped, making sure her response was loud enough for Abhay to hear.

Abhay was wise enough not to respond. He did stomp around an awful lot, and then something heavy crashed against the wall. Astha winced, hoping whatever it had been didn't belong to Shlok.

"Hey, Astha! Ask Abhay and Joti if they want to play a game of poker!" Varad called up the stairs.

"NO!"

Astha found herself nearly deafened by the denials shouted in unanimity. Well, at least they were agreeing on something.

"Abhay, what did you do now?" Varad shouted back, his voice teasing.

She looked between the two rooms, decided she wasn't going to get anywhere with either one of them tonight, and plodded downstairs to her certain doom. After the scene outside, and the excruciatingly embarrassing fact that her father was no doubt warning Shlok off, she didn't think she'd ever be able to look him in the eye again!

"Ah, the prisoners have been released from the tower," Varad said with a smile as he looked up from his cards and witnessed the seemingly simultaneous arrival of Shlok and Astha in the opposite entrances to the crowded, comfortably cluttered living room.

Astha wanted very badly to disappear in that moment or go and find a small, dark hole to crawl into and die of humiliation. She carefully kept her eyes averted.

"You two playing?" Varad asked as he dealt out cards to Raj and Sojal.

Astha gave her head a shake, and wandered over to the pillows before the fireplace to take up the book she'd been reading earlier.

She saw a pair of lean, black denim clad legs walk past out of the corner of her eye, and heard Shlok's low voice as he settled himself at the table.

She was trying to focus on the book when she heard him speak directly to her.

"Sure you don't want to play, Astha?"

Her tongue twisted on her reply. "Er, no thanks. This book is, uh, really interesting." She still refused to look at him. Just listening to his voice was making her practically melt into a messy puddle at his feet.

Shlok's tone turned silky in an instant. "It must be - you are, after all, attempting to read it upside-down.."

**

Astha, snuggled deeply into the pillows on the floor before the fire, giggled softly to herself. She tugged the worn green chenille throw tossed over her closer to her chin and tried to pretend she was well hidden from Shlok's eyes.

She'd given up on the book long ago, and contented herself with closing her eyes, and pretending to fall asleep, just so she could lay still and have the luxury of listening to Shlok's voice as he bantered coolly with his brothers and Raj across the table.

Warm, sleepy, and incredibly comfortable, she was dozing off when she felt a tug on her ankle.

"Go 'way," Astha murmured, a slight frown creasing her forehead.

The tug came again.

"Please stop, I'm so comfy," she protested softly.

"Come on, Astha - you'll rest better in bed."

"No, want to stay here." She gave the warm throw being slowly pulled from her grasp a protesting yank.

"Astha," the voice came again, arrogant, but soft, and gently coaxing.

She sighed and stubbornly refused to answer.

After a long moment, in which she managed to slip back to sleep, Astha felt a pair of hands slip under her back and knees, and then she was being lifted against something far warmer then the pillows she'd been resting on.

"Ain't that sweet, he's acting all Prince Charming like," she heard Varad mutter laughingly from somewhere.

"She looks really - heavy why don't you let me have her?" her dad offered.

Astha frowned harder and turned her face away. She wasn't fat!

"I think I can handle her," she heard someone drawl above her in amusement.

A strong thudding sounded beneath her ear, like that of a heart-beat, and Astha smiled briefly in contentment as she drifted off.

Her blissful sleep was soon interrupted by the fell of cold sheets against her skin. She gave a shiver as chilly feeling linens were drawn swiftly over her, and buried her nose in her pillow, it smelled like Shlok's cologne, and she remembered vaguely that he'd been lying across her bed earlier.

"Goodnight, Astha," came a warm whisper just over her ear, and she felt a pair of warm fingertips brush across her cheek, before the door clicked shut, and muffled voices faded outside in the hall.

"G'night," she managed to mumble before hugging her pillow and falling into a much needed deep sleep.

**

Shlok closed the door quietly behind him, and turned to see Raj standing behind him, his green eyes narrowed behind his specs. "What's wAbhayg Raj?"

"What are you trying to pull, Agnigotri? Carrying Astha up to bed, like she bloody belongs to you or something."

"As far as you're concerned, Raj, she does belong to me," Shlok responded tightly. "Don't think I haven't noticed you watching her all year."

"Astha and I are just friends - "

"Yes, you are 'just friends', Raj, and you'd better keep it that way."

Raj's jaw tightened visibly. "You don't have any kind of claim on her, Agnigotri - and if you do anything to hurt her, the Kiloskar's are going to be the least of your worries."

Shlok was prevented from responding as Astha's dad appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Well, good night boys - going to bed, are you?" He looked as if he hadn't heard a word the two of them had exchanged. "

"Yes sir," they both muttered tensely, eyes shooting daggers at each other.

"All right, then. See you in the morning," the older man said cheerily, and headed back down the stairs.

"I'm warning you, Agnigotri" Raj began shortly.

"What Raj? Going to turn me out? Oh, I forgot, this isn't your house, is it?" Shlok shook his head tiredly and deliberately turned his back. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go get in line to use the frigging bathroom."

**

After the breakfast next morning Varad along with the rest of the gang decided to go out to the town do some shopping.

Astha decided to stay home and help her mom clean the dishes.

"Come on Shlok, lets go" Varad called.

"In a minute, sure. I'm going to help clean up."

Astha started and looked up, and Varad and Joti paused in their flight towards the door.

"You're what?"

"Go on somebody has to help Astha," Shlok said smoothly.

Raj was already taking his shoes off "I'll stay"

"No, it's all right, you go on, too, Shlok," Astha said protesting.

"You two go on, I'll come by in a while" said Shlok quickly.

The others left and Astha frowned at Shlok when he made no move to leave.

"They weren't going to leave me alone with you," he told her, rolling up the sleeves on his velvety black shirt. "So - how exactly does one do dishes?"

Astha would have laughed out loud had she not known Shlok would have been greatly offended.

His long black hair was slightly wilted from the heat of the dishwater he'd been bent over, and fell limply across his furrowed brow. A slowly dissolving pile of bubbles was dabbed across one shoulder, and more frothy white bubbles dusted the fine black hair on the backs of his forearms.

Astha slipped the last dish into the cupboard, and threw a hand towel over his shoulder as he let the dirty water out of the sink.

"So - would you make dishwashing a profession?"

Shlok rinsed his hands, scowling with displeasure at the wrinkled state of his fingers, and then dried them and his arms with the towel. "Certainly not. That had to be one of the most tedious, disgusting jobs I've ever had the misfortune of doing. Touching other people's plates, revolting."

Astha shrugged. "I suppose you'd look at it that way. You've got servants to do all that for you."

"This is servant's stuff," he agreed, but then he caught her around the waist and gave her a swift peck on the lips. "Just being with you made it worthwhile, though."

"I've heard that one before," she replied breathlessly.

"But I meant it then, too," Shlok answered, and released her. She abruptly busied herself wiping down the table and counters.

Shlok was watching her intently when the back door banged open and Abhay, looking blue tinged and damp from the rain, stuck his head in. "You comin' or what, Agnigotri?"

When they all came back from shopping, all were dredged due to the pouring rain. They all ran to the sanctuary of the room to change into something warm and cozy.

When Astha tried to open the bathroom door it wouldn't budge.

With an angry growl at being thwarted, Astha kicked the bottom of the door viciously and then gave an agonized wail as pain shot up her big toe to her shin. "Damn, damn, damn! Owww!"

She had limped a few feet away when the bathroom door opened, and she turned back to send a murderous glare at whoever was exiting, and her mind went blank - again.

From within a thick, swirling mist of white steam, Shlok stepped out into the hall, a pair of threadbare blue denims resting low on his slim hips. Unbuttoned threadbare blue denims, she corrected herself mindlessly, forgetting all about the throbbing pain in her stubbed toe.

Her eyes swept down the long lean length of his legs encased in the ratty jeans, down to his extremely perfect looking white bare feet, and then up again. Despite her best efforts, her eyes lingered for far too long on the unzipped front of his jeans, and she gulped. Loudly.

"Need the bathroom, Astha?"

Her eyes snapped up to see him walking towards her, slim-hipped and sexy, and they settled on the flat, smoothly muscled, pale skinned expanse of his abdomen.

'Oh, God, I'm staring at Shlok Agnigotri's belly-button!' she thought in a panic as he drew near.

"Astha?"

Astha made herself look up - but she only got as far as his upper body. She felt her eyes grow round, and bit her lower lip hard, but she couldn't stop staring. Goodness...did all boys look like this?

Light, incredibly soft looking black hair sprouted sparsely over his chest, and then narrowed into a silky line down his abdomen, around his belly-button, and then, farther down - oh, no, she wasn't looking down again...her eyes flew up.

'Oh, God, now my eyes are glued to his - chest!' She made a small, completely absurd sound of distress, and felt her heart give an answering, frenzied thud. It almost would have been funny if he hadn't been staring right back at her.

Then he moved, and two ends of a frayed white towel fell on either side of his neck, and Astha gave a great, relieved sigh. At least he was wearing the jeans. No chance at inadvertently getting a look at his - er - manly bits.

Was that disappointment she was feeling? Eeep!

"Are you all right?" His lazy drawl purred in her ears, and she began backing away out of self-preservation. His black gaze drifted over her, and she watched him raise one hand and pushed the long, spiky wet ends of his hair out of his eyes, smoothing it back against his head in what seemed to be a gesture of long habit.

With his longish hair slicked back, she could see the aristocratic planes of his face, the high cheekbones, the firm, sharp jaw, the straight, narrow nose, the finely arched, dark black brows - and the disdainful, glittering black eyes that were watching her coolly from beneath his lashes.

The boy practically screamed the name Agnigotri.

Yep...Shlok Agnigotri -oh, God - was her mouth really watering that much? Was she actually, finally drooling over him? She dumbly lifted her hand to check her chin. Nope - dry. For the moment anyway. Now, if she could just stop panting -

"Did you hurt your foot?"

Astha jumped and took several steps back, shaking her head. "Er - no." She wanted to smack herself. But she was limping a bit, she finally noticed, and winced as she put her weight on her right foot. "I, uh - I need to go away...now." She turned around and hurried off back down the hall to her room, where she collapsed on her bed and lifted her foot into her lap. She prodded her big toe with a hiss, and figured she'd better go and get some ice for it - but she couldn't make herself get back up just yet. She was too busy recalling in her mind's eye what she'd just feasted her eyes on.

"Feasted," Astha snorted in self-disgust, poking at her injured toe.

A few minutes later, as she was agonizing over her embarrassing moment in the hall, a soft knock sounded on her half-open door, and Shlok walked in, making her heart give a painful lurch again. He'd pulled on a velvety looking silvery-gray shirt, which was half open over his chest, and he was still barefoot. A quick glance showed that his jeans were indeed buttoned.

Thank God.

Astha realized her feet were in full view and hastily curled them beneath her on the bed, despite the one still throbbing like mad.

Of course he noticed she was trying to hide them. "What are you doing?" he asked softly, in amusement.

"Er, nothing, really. Did you need something?" She grinned up at him nervously.

He walked over to sit next to her on the bed and her skin prickled in awareness. "Let me see."

She turned her head to look at him in horror. "What? No!" Shlok, look at her feet? It wasn't happening! Ever!

"Why don't you want me to see your feet?" Shlok snickered.

"What -I mean, no! Shlok, I just don't think you should be looking at my - feet. Naked." Astha squeezed her eyes shut. Oh, lord. "I mean, bare."

Suddenly his fingers were on her sides, and she yelped. "Stop! I'm - hee-hee, I'm tick-ticklish! Ha!"

"I know you are, Astha." He laughed lowly and dug his fingers harder against her ribs, making her laugh hysterically.

"Stop! Don't! Hee-hee!"

She was on her back, howling hopelessly, when she realized he had her feet in his hands.

"No - don't look at them!" Astha tried to sit up, but he only arched a brow and coolly brushed his warm fingertips down the underside of her foot. She shrieked, and tried to yank her foot away.

Finally, after a full minute of examining her feet, he let go and smirked at her.

Hiccupping from having laughed so hard, she sat up, slugging him in the arm. "That was mean!" She was near tears from the fact that he'd seen her ugly toes.

"There's nothing wrong with your feet," he told her, shaking his head.

Astha pushed herself back against the headboard and wrapped her arms around her pillow. She buried her face in it, again smelling his cologne. "They're awful," she told him, her voice muffled.

He snorted. "They are not. They're - ahem - delicate."

"No they aren't! My toes - they're long!" She sniffled. Astha hiccupped again, feeling miserable.

He coughed, and she carefully looked up from her pillow to see him trying to hide a grin.

The sight of it made her lose her breath - a slight dimple was winking at her from the hollow of his cheek.

Shlok Agnigotri was alone in her room with her, half-dressed, joking and grinning.

He looked up from her toes to see her watching him, and his face froze. The grin fell from his lips as if it had never been, and he stood up, his expression instantly became guarded.

"You're toes are - perfect," he said in a sort of gruff tone she'd never heard from him before, and then he stood up, spun around, and left.

Astha giggled, not quite sure why, and buried her face back in her pillow.

**

Later that evening, feeling much better after a nap, and a long, hot shower, Astha appeared downstairs to find no one but her mother about.

She learned the other's had gone to buy fireworks, and that Shlok - of all people - had volunteered to stay and help find the decorations in the attic.

Astha was reluctantly half-way up the stairs when she spotted Shlok coming down with several boxes - she turned right back around and trotted down the steps.

"Where do you want them, mom?"

"Just pile them on the sofa there, dear."

Astha's cheeks began to burn when he at last looked up from the boxes at her.

"Thanks for getting these," she told him shyly. "I just can't believe you found them so fast - it always takes my dad forever."

"No problem," he said easily, tucking his hair behind his ear. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, caught her staring at him, and chest aching, she quickly looked away.

She wasn't sure what else to say after that, and the silence dragged on, only occasionally punctuated by the sounds of her mum bustling merrily around.

Just as it couldn't get any more awkward, the others burst noisily into the house.

Joti entered behind the men, looking pink-cheeked from the cold air and still a bit subdued from her argument with Abhay the night before. She held in her arms several boxes of sweets.

Astha hurried to take them from her, and leaned close. "Joti, do you want to talk?"

The older girl only shook her head and then walked away into the kitchen.

She looked after her friend, distressed. She was going to have a long talk with Abhay later, see if she didn't!

She looked over at Shlok and he stared back, unrepentantly.

"All right then," her mum declared happily, rubbing her palms together, "let's get to the decorating!"

"Which part of the house you want decorated first?"

**

"Apologize? Me? To her? I didn't do anything!" Abhay stood glaring angrily in the doorway of his room, and then slammed the door shut in his sister's face.

"Abhay, I swear you can be as thick sometimes!" Astha hissed at the door, and then she opened it up and walked right in.

"God, Astha- since when did you start studying ambush tactics?" Abhay looked up from where he lay face down across his bed.

"What - did I violate the boy code?" she marched up to her brother stubbornly. "Not supposed to stick my nose in it, when my best friend's wandering around absolutely miserable?"

"What do you mean, miserable?" Abhay narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Ah.

"She's been crying her eyes out!" Astha half-lied. "Joti has been in love with you for years you ignorant git! And then, when she finally gets the nerve to tell you, you start spouting."

Abhay closed his eyes and sank back down onto the edge of his bed. "What if I do admit that I have...feelings for her? What if we start going out, and something," he stopped and swallowed audibly. "What if something happens to her, what if I'm not good enough? I-I couldn't stand it, Astha. I don't know what I'd do."

Her anger left her immediately. "Oh, Abhay," she sighed, and dropped back down beside him. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and stretched an arm across his back, patting his shoulder with her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought you were just being dumb."

"Thanks, cheers for the vote of confidence," he mumbled crossly, but rested his head against hers for a moment.

After a long silence, Astha lifted her head to look at him seriously. "You can't spend your life being afraid of losing her, Abhay. Take a chance, get a move on! I mean, come on - do you really want someone making an unexpected visit in a couple of years, and sweeping an 'unattached' Joti off her feet? Hm? Because she loves you, but she can't wait around forever for you to get off your bum and admit it back. Life's too short."

"That's a dirty pull, Astha, bringing that prat into this." He smiled lopsidedly, and then stood up and took her by the shoulders. "All right, I'll go talk to her - but maybe you should take your own advice, Astha."

Frowning, she cocked her head to the side and stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Who am I talking about, is more the like. Agnigotri." Abhay's eyes hardened. "If he won't take the hint, then maybe you need to move on. You can do better than him, Astha. He doesn't deserve you."

**

Outside in the hall, Shlok paused with his hand above the doorknob as he heard voices inside.

He'd long since come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as privacy to be found at the Kiloskar's - he could barely turn a corner in the place without knocking into someone.

He'd come up to try and get away from the chaos below stairs - he was far from being used to so many people invading his personal space.

Most of the time no one dared to come within feet of him, and he liked it that way. But for some bewildering, infuriating reason, Astha and her family didn't seem to perceive him as being very much of a threat anymore. Even Abhay, the person he'd least expected to behave agreeably towards him, had formed a grudging 'amity' of sorts with him. It was disturbing, all of it, and he found he didn't care for it in the least.

He was becoming too comfortable with the unconditional acceptance of the Kiloskar's.

Of course there was also the part where he was finding it extremely difficult to leave his hands off of the youngest member of the family.

" - there's nothing going on between us - "

Shlok's ears perked as he caught the snippet of conversation from within. He leaned closer to listen, and soon wished he hadn't...

Astha shook her head, not liking the turn of the conversation. "No - how many times do I have to tell you, there's nothing going on between us - "

"Come off it, Astha. I've seen the way Joti looks at me." He flushed slightly. "If that's the look of a girl in love, it's been written all over your face since that day I met you."

She began to protest again, but everything just suddenly went flat. She dropped her eyes, and took a shaky breath, cursing at the tears that sprang up. Why did he have to bring it up?

"All right, I admit it. I do love him. I love everything about him, even when he's acting like a total rat. There's something...about him, I can't explain it, and it keeps telling me I'm supposed to be with him. But - he doesn't love me, Abhay." Her throat tightened, making it impossible for her to go on, and she felt the hurt she'd been pushing away surge over.

Abhay cursed softly, and took her in his arms, and she tucked her head into his hard shoulder as she cried, the pain in her chest making her have to take small, gasping breaths.

"A-and I keep hoping like an idiot. But he doesn't - he doesn't even want to try..."

Outside the door, Shlok straightened up, but didn't seem to be able to tear his eyes from the door knob.

There was agonizing twisting in his middle that was getting worse with every little sound of distress Astha made.

Had he ever really heard her just actually break down and cry?

He felt his throat constrict, and swallowed, finally taking a slow step back from the door as he unwillingly listened to the scene inside.

"I'm telling you, Astha - he's not gonna change - "

"But Abhay, I don't want him to change!" Astha sniffled loudly.

"Listen, Astha - I don't what exactly has been going on between the two of you, but - he's not who you think he is."

Shlok felt his hand curl into a fist. If Abhay said one word to hurt her -

"He's - I mean, he's really, er...experienced." the boy finished gruffly.

"Abhay, I know about that already! Joti told me at the beginning that he had - well, a reputation. But he's hasn't been seeing anyone!"

"Yeah? And how would you know?"

"I-I guess I don't...but at least he's been honest about his feelings toward me, and that's a start."

"Feelings!" Abhay exploded in his usual way after a long pause. "He doesn't have any bloody feelings! He's like a frigging ice sculpture, Astha! He's - evil, he is, I'm telling ya!

Astha surprised him by laughing brokenly. "He's not evil," she said simply, with a poignancy that had his chest acing again. "He can be underhanded, and downright vicious - but he's not evil, Abhay."

"So what are you going to do, Astha? Just wait forever for him to stop faffing around and realize you've been under that bloody stuck-up nose of his? Life's too short, just like you said."

There was a very long silence in which Shlok realized he was holding his breath, and forced himself to release it with an angry tightening of his jaw. What the hell was he doing? Hanging on every word Astha Kiloskar had to say...as if he actually cared. He felt his lips curl in self-disgust as he was at last able to turn away from the door - and that was when he heard it. The single word that ripped his supposedly non-existent heart out as surely as if some creature had clawed it straight from his chest

"No."

**

Astha had managed to get a hold of herself by the time it came to go down and help her mum with setting out dinner. With help from Joti and a cold, damp cloth, she escaped her eyes looking red and puffy, and dressed carefully in her one nice outfit - a green and gold saree.

As she nervously brushed her hair, she looked over at Joti, who was dressed in blue saree.

"I don't know, Joti - do you think it's a bit much, just for dinner?"

"You're mother said 'saree' and she meant it," the older girl said sternly, biting her lip.

Joti shook her head with a small twist of her lips, and then turned back to Astha, who was moping.

"What do you think I should do with my hair?" She sighed again. It wasn't as if it matters anyway, how she looked. Abhay had been right - she needed to just give up on Shlok, really - even if it did take about a million years to get over him...

"Nothing - leave it just as it is," Joti insisted. She stood back then, and gave her friend a measuring look.

"You are perfect!" She looked Astha up and down again, and then took her by the hand and began to lead her out of the room. "I can't wait to see the boys go non-verbal when they see you."

The boys were in a bloody brawl, and anything but non-verbal.

Astha had been descending the stairs behind Joti when she saw, in the little view she had of the front door, Abhay dragging Shlok - or Shlok dragging Abhay - through it, and outside. Raj moved into sight and hurried after them.

"Oh, I've gone and done it now - quick, move Joti!" She nearly knocked the other girl over getting past her, and threw open the door, not even hesitating when the night air blasted against her.

"Abhay - this isn't what you want to do" She heard Raj's husky voice call out from nearby.

"Oh, I wanna' do it all right," Abhay all but snarled back, and Astha could envision him rolling back his sleeves. "Look's like I'm finally about to get my wish! You made Astha cry, and I'm going to kick your ass, Agnigotri!"

"Abhay, no- "

"Try it Abhay." Shlok's voice rag out coolly in the cold night. "I'm warning you, I'm in no mood for it."

Astha heard a rustling, and then a loud, meaty crack, and Abhay cursing.

"Abhay, stop it!" She skidded to a breathless stop around the corner of the house, just in time to see her brother's fist ram into Shlok's jaw.

"If you really wanted a fight, you could have just said so, Abhay" the tall man growled when he turned back from the blow. "You didn't have to twist my arm."

"I'll twist your frigging arm right out of its bloody socket!" Her brother snapped, and made another lunge, but this time Shlok ducked and spun, and came up behind him, grabbing him in a choke-hold.

"You were saying?" He asked Abhay in cold, harsh voice.

"Shlok, let him go!" Astha ran forward, just as Abhay drove an elbow back into the other boy's ribs.

"Raj, make them stop!" She shouted pleadingly, and Raj took a hesitant step forward before his features hardened, and he arched a brow at her in the near darkness.

"Stop them? Agnigotri's finally getting what he deserves - why should I stop them?"

As if to emphasize Raj's words, Abhay landed another fist in Shlok's stomach.

Gaping at Raj, she bit her lip, and then resolutely charged forward - which proved a very unwise thing to do. Intent on pulling the two apart, she ended up getting a sharp jab on the underside of her chin from her brother's flailing elbow, and got knocked silly. She landed none too gently on her bum in the grass. She was too stunned to move.

"Astha!" Abhay's face appeared above her. "Oh, crap - I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that, honestly - damn it, Agnigotri, this is all your fault!"

Astha opened her mouth to talk and tasted blood - she'd bit her tongue. Hard.

"Bite me, Abhay - I wasn't the one who hit her!" Shlok's rapidly bruising face came into view on her opposite side. He actually looked a bit panicked. "Astha, are you all right?"

She was afraid to talk, her mouth was slowly filling up with blood, and so she just nodded.

He started to help her up, but Abhay snarled, "Leave off her, Agnigotri! She doesn't need you!"

Astha winced and got to her feet, and felt a tickle of blood run from the corner of her lips.

"Hell, you're bleeding, now!"

"Astha - "

Feeling nauseous, and embarrassed, Astha pushed their hands away and made a blind run for the house, past a shocked looking Joti.

She went straight to her mother, making up some excuse or another about tripping.

"Just rest here for a moment, dearest - I'll go call the boys to help set the table. Dinner's almost ready, though I don't expect you'll be enjoying it much with your tongue like that, poor thing."

Astha rolled her eyes. It was no problem. She wasn't feeling terribly hungry after seeing all that blood anyway.

Shlok and Abhay soon made their inevitable appearance in the kitchen, and Astha saw that Abhay didn't have a scratch on him.

Shlok wasn't looking as bad as she'd worried he might - there was a slight bruising on his jaw, but that was it - his hair wasn't even ruffled.

Hmmph! Of course it figured that they'd been the one's fighting, and she'd ended up being the one getting smacked around!

Abhay looked at her sheepishly, and opened his mouth to speak - but she held up her hand and fixed him with a vehement stare. "Go talk to Joti - now."

He narrowed his eyes. "Later - "

"Now."

He finally took the hint and left, albeit reluctantly, and she was left alone with Shlok.

"Are you okay?" His voice was very soft.

She felt of her chin with another wince. "Fine. Well, better, anyway."

He sighed almost shakily, and she looked up at him in surprise. He'd taken up pacing on the stone floor before her, and as usual, his long, loose hair hid his expression from her.

"A-are you okay?"

His unsteady laugh made her frown. He shook his head slowly, and halted in mid-step. "No, I'm not okay. I've completely lost it, in point of fact."

"Shlok, what on earth are you - "

In one smoothly executed move, he turned towards her and pinned her in her chair by leaning over her and resting his hands on the arms.

Lips open on a gasp, Astha stared into intense, troubled black eyes.

"Um," she stammered, "maybe we should - "

"Quiet." He continued to watch her warily, as if searching her face for something.

Remaining as still as possible, she continued to stare back at him, her nerves jumping. What was he doing?

"You are in love with me, aren't you?" He asked at last, his voice low and resolute.

She could only nod.

"Then I feel sorry for you," he continued unevenly.

Her heart hammered inside her chest.

"You - you know who I am, Astha. You know what I'm like. I'm not a good person." He dropped onto one knee, gradually, and then took her hands, which were freezing cold.

"Shlok - "

"I'll be...honest, with you, Astha. I-I don't know what it is I'm feeling for you...but I do know I don't want you to give up on me. I do - care about you," he almost choked on the confession, and looked more awkward and uncomfortable than she'd ever seen him. She saw his throat move as he nervously swallowed, and she tugged one of her hands free to touch his cheek.

"I'm really not even sure that what you want is in me to give," he finished in a rough whisper.

A hot tear trickled down her face and Shlok reached up to brush it away. "Don't cry."

"A-are you telling me you're willing to try?"

He smirked at her, but its effect was ruined by the unusual sincerity of his expression.

"Only for you, Astha."

To be cont...