Under the Mistletoe Manan SS: Part 5 P.24 (Mar.14th) - Page 8

Originally posted by: navk

Awesome update

Poor nandini

Arre pehle usse kuch kane ko dedo lol

Originally posted by: AMEKHA

Aww really cute story and really sweet manik

Originally posted by: nehageet

Lovely update 👏 👏

Heeey :)

Thank you so much for your lovely comments!

I hope you enjoy the coming part as much as the others!

It is so inspiring to read such beautiful comments, and so I've decided to make this a Short Story instead of a ThreeShot. Therefore you can expect a couple of more parts to this story :)

Hopefully you guys don't think I'm stretching the story.

So do let me know what you think :)

Without much further ado, here's the next part:

~~ Under the Mistletoe ~~

Part Three

"Trust me Nandini; you're anything but an intrusion."

He had caught me by surprise with such a statement. I stood there, trying to comprehend what all this meant, not even realizing that the elevator had come. He grabbed my hand and led me inside the elevator; but the whole time, my gaze didn't shift from him.

Even after coming inside, he didn't let go of my hand.

"I've liked you ever since the beginning of last year, Nandini. Our eye contacts, they weren't random," he confessed.

It would be an understatement to say I felt giddy. There was a rush of hormones surging through each vein in my body; almost to a state of pure ecstasy.

We reached the basement, and I pulled my hand away from his in a jerk as I walked away. I could almost feel him smirking behind me as a small smile erupted on my face.

He grabbed the macaroni pie from Alya's car, and we both headed back upstairs after warming it in the dorm's oven for a bit. We began talking to each other more comfortably in the meanwhile. From complaining about our courses, to our favourite thing to do on campus. I felt interested in every little thing that had to do with him. And by the questions he was asking, it really felt like he was interested in knowing everything about me as well. Or maybe I was just reading too much into everything.

After reaching his room, we all sat down to eat while watching a movie that Dhruv had set up on his laptop. I was seated on a couch beside Manik with Cabir on the other side of me, whereas the others were on Dhruv's bed.

Although the movie we were watching was one of my favourites, I couldn't help but pay more attention to something else, or rather, a specific someone.

My hands were on my side, and slowly but surely, I felt his hand slipping into mine, intertwining his fingers with mine. I turned to look at him, but he seemed to be focusing solely on the movie. I found it hard to avert my gaze from him, but when I finally was able to, I felt his thumb making circles on the top of my hand. It felt oddly comforting to have him by my side, especially considering that I had been imagining such a scenario since so long now.

I leaned further back in the couch, going as close to him as I could without making it too obvious. In response, he turned himself so my back rested on his chest. It felt perfect; almost ethereal to a point.

I didn't need to look at him to feel him smiling into my hair. Placing a kiss there, he hugged me from the sides. And to think today was the first time we actually spoke to one another. It was rather intriguing to feel the tranquility seeping through the air. I suppose this is why we didn't need words to realize the connection between us; our feelings spoke for us. Strings of syllables could not even begin to express what I felt; it was indescribable.

It wasn't long after until the time Dhruv turned the Christmas lights on; I hadn't even realized the movie was over. Before the others could notice our position, I shifted out of the hug awkwardly. He tried to hold me back, but I elbowed him to get away, eliciting a slight groan on his part. Cabir looked at us with raised eyebrows, but he also had a smirk on his face. Either he knows what we were doing, either he... Actually at this point, I couldn't even think of another possibility. I could feel my cheeks warming up, so I let my hair cover the right side of my face.

Manik finally straightened up on the couch, meaning he could see my stupid blush. Ughhh. Aiyyappa, this is so embarrassing. Why am I blushing?

Actually, that was a bad idea. The more I questioned myself, the more I blushed.

I quickly got up to use the washroom, not giving him any chances to make me blush even more. As I came out, I noticed they were all sitting in a circle with a bowl of chips and popcorn in the middle.

Cabir patted the spot beside him, which was also co-incidentally beside Manik. I sat down in between them, closer to Manik though.

As mean as it sounds, I was so glad Navya hadn't stayed back for the break this year. I wouldn't have been able to find out what Manik actually felt about me had she been with me. I'd probably have been stuck with her at the old-sweater themed Christmas party.

I shuddered at the thought; there was nothing that could be better than this. I turned to look at Manik, only to see him already looking at me. His eyes were captivating; made you want to drown in them, drown in oblivion from everything around us.

I wasn't sure if the others knew what was going on, but no one seemed to mind. Until Cabir gave me a slight push, making me lean towards Manik, who by the way held by safely and didn't let go even after I caught myself.

Mukti laughed at the sight, and it was then that I realized they were all looking at us.

"Nandini, you have nooo idea how long he's been wanting to do that! Honestly, I'm so glad you guys are finally together," Mukti said.

My eyes widened. Was I actually in a relationship with Manik? THE Manik?

I looked at him in surprise, to which he just grinned back and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Cabir!" I called out, turning myself to him and offering my arm. "Please pinch me right now."

I was serious but I guess they thought I was just joking, because the whole room erupted in laughter. They didn't know I was serious. Damn serious. Like how? Aiyyappa! Is this really happening?

Mukti broke my train of thoughts; "Guys, I need to go pick up Abhi. Cabir mind coming with me? It won't be long."

"Yea sure," he responded.

"Okay, we'll be back!"

And with that, they left Dhruv's room, leaving me with Manik, Dhruv, and Alya.

"So, what do you guys want to do now? It's still only 10pm," Dhruv questioned us.

I looked over to him to give an answer, only to realize he was looking only at Alya, their hands bound together. Seeing them like this brought a huge smile on my face.

"Ahem ahem," Manik coughed to grab their attention. "It's okay if you guys want to ditch us, we don't mind. Right Nandu?" he added.

My eyes widened as he called me that; and then I replied with a slight shake of the head, "Yea of course. I don't mind."

Alya blushed, "We'll just go for a short walk and come back".

Dhruv offered his hand to her, and off they both went, leaving me and him. Alone.

Aiyyappa, please don't embarrass me this time. I've had enough of such moments today.

"So..." he spoke out, breaking the silence. "What do you want to do?"

I looked around Dhruv's room, observing every little detail. From the Fab5 picture he had framed on the wall, to the guitar picks lying on the floor. To be honest, I was looking at everything but him. All of a sudden, I felt conscious and couldn't bring myself to meet my eyes with him.

"Nandu..."

And my breath hitched again.

"You live right across from Dhruv's room right? Why don't you show me your room?" he questioned.

I finally gathered the courage to look at him, and silently agreed. I was leading the way, when my foot got stuck on the blanket that was sprawled across the couch.

In anticipation of meeting the hard floor, my eyes shut close. But the ground never came. Instead, I felt his one hand around my waist, and the other supporting my back. I slowly opened my eyes, blushing a little more again. I could almost feel the sparks between us. Getting out of that position, I straightened myself up.

"Do you always blush this much?" he said in a teasing tone.

A little slap on his shoulder was all it took for him to start laughing. I tried keeping a straight face, but who was I kidding; it was pretty funny. And so, I too started laughing as we both headed towards my room.

- End of Part 3

Do let me know how you found the story :)

And don't forget to like the very first post if you want PMs!

Take care!!

Lots of love,

Hinal 🤗

Originally posted by: vidhi_1998

Great update!! 😉

Originally posted by: PrincessAshVik

Aww this was so cute<3
Thanks for the PM:)

Glad you are continuing it, but you must update soonish:):)<3

Originally posted by: appy111

Adorable...I couldn stop having a huge smile plastered on my face while reading dis d entire wall...nice update... Pls update regularly