FF : Curiouser and Curiouser!(Ch17pg104)DISCONTINED.See Pg106 - Page 70

Piya blinked. "H-hello, Abhay." His eyes flashed, and then, abruptly, he smiled. "Good afternoon, Ma'am. May I carry your things?"

"Oh- yeah, sure." Piya wondered if she'd mistaken him. He seemed quite pleasant now, and why shouldn't he be? You have done nothing wrong, she told herself. Nothing at all.

"Are you angry with me?" The words blurted out almost without conscious thought.

Abhay turned to her. "No. Why should I be?"

Relief hit her. "Oh, right," she said. "Sorry- I was mistaken."

"It's all right," he said easily. "Here you go."

They had reached her classroom, and he handed over his load. "See you next period."

She smiled at that. "Yes."

And so went by another day in college. Piya's favourite class was with the third years : they were an uncommonly sharp batch and were enthusiastic about Chemistry, too. And she had two classes with them that day.

When the day got over, she made her way to the parking lots, where Abhay was standing, speaking to T, her hand on his arm. The casual familiarity made her irritated. They had hardly been friends that long, had they?

"Hey- Piya!" She turned at the voice. Arjun was jogging to her. She smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," he said as he came up to her. "I've been thinking - do you really like going out to a movie? I never really asked you what you like. You like books, don't you?"

She stared at him in surprise. "Arjun, I don't mind going to the movies," she told him gently. "It's all right."

He shook his head. "I know you don't mind," he said. "I want to know what you like."

Piya smiled. "I like ice cream. And books."

He smiled. "Okay. We'll do that, then. Tomorrow?"

"Sure. Tomorrow."

He smiled, but then glanced sideways with a frown. Following his gaze, she saw Abhay watching them from across the parking lot. "He's your cousin, isn't he?" said Arjun.

"Oh, yes," said Piya. "He's a little protective."

Arjun shook his head. "He's a good student. He really shouldn't get his head turned by girls right now."

Piya laughed, hoping it didn't sound as forced as it felt. "I'll talk to him about it, but, well... You know students this age. He's hardly likely to listen to me."

"I suppose..." Arjun shook his head. "I'm sorry. I know it's not my place. I've watched him in the lab. He's very sharp."

His praise of Abhay warmed her from the inside out. "I'll tell him that. See you, Arjun."

She waved to him and walked over to where Abhay was standing by his car. T nodded to her. "Have a nice day, Ma'am."

She tamped down the irritation and forced a smile on her lips.

In the car, she kept glancing at Abhay, wondering how to tell him to focus on his studies without sounding like a jealous hag. In the end, she said nothing.

What Arjun didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Something the matter?"

She was startled by Abhay's voice. "What- no, of course not."

"Are you sure?" He asked her, his voice gentle. "Piya- you can talk to me."

"You can talk to me."

Flashback :

She was attending a party thrown by one of the nobles in her father's court. Attending, physically, but not mentally.

She didn't like dancing, least of all with strangers who only wished to ascertain her fortune. What being a royal would entail. It disgusted her no end.

As soon as she could, she made her excuses and hurried out of the ballroom, to a deserted balcony where she stared outside into the night and took deep breaths to calm herself.

"Princess," said a quiet voice from behind her.

She knew that voice. She whirled around, but he had moved again, so that his face was concealed by the draperies.

She had accepted his reservations in showing his face - everyone had their own problems to deal with. Even so, a pang of disappointment hit her.

"Good evening," she whispered, a smile spreading across her face. "Are you well?"

"Physically, yes," he said. She liked his voice. Strong, sure. "And otherwise?" She asked.

She imagined he shrugged. "Not so very different from you, I imagine."

She smiled, her heart aching for him. "I would take away your pain."

"Careful, Your Highness," he said, a teasing note in his voice. "You could tempt a man to sell his soul for that."

She blushed. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Flirting?" The word seemed to surprise him. "No, indeed. I am not. I speak the truth, that is all."

She shook her head repressively, but she was smiling. "You exaggerate, stranger. It is I who must thank you, for in a few short moments, you have made me smile. You are greatly treasured to me. If I could but know your name-"

"I cannot." She heard the real pain in his voice. "I cannot. I wish I could. I wish it more than I wish to exist."

Piya exhaled. "I understand. It is a stray thought, you understand. I do not intend to force you into anything."

"If I ever thought you intended to force me," came his reply, "I would not stand here, talking to you, when I know I must not."

He could not be of the nobility.She'd suspected it from the first, the way he spoke, as though he had no right to be standing there, talking to her...

"You're Faye, though, right?" She asked. "You're not Ricardian?"

"What?" He sounded surprised. "No... I'm not Ricardian. I live in Faye, but... I apologise. I cannot speak of it."

She turned away then, facing forward, her hands on the ornate, bejewelled railing of purest silver. A silent promise, that she would not look at him.

He came to stand by her. "Something has upset you. Tell me."

His kindness, ironically, brought tears to her eyes. "I... I am not sure that I...can say it."

"You can talk to me," He insisted. She looked down, seeing his hands, gloved in black, a stark contrast to her pale skin. Inches from her, and yet she must not see his face.

The moon shifted, and fell on her : she sensed him look at her.

"You can talk to me. I would never betray your confidence."

"I want to be wanted," she whispered. "I want to be accepted. To be loved. For...for real."

The gloved fingers flexed.

Then he said, "I would take your pain. If I could."

Piya closed her eyes, fighting tears. "I know. That's what makes it difficult to bear. I know you have your problems. You never speak of them."

"Don't cry." His voice held real pain. "They don't deserve it."

And yet, his words broke the dam, and she pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to force the sobs back into her throat.

"No!"

And then, quite shockingly, he was holding her in his arms, holding her face to his chest. "There," he whispered to the top of her head. "Now no one will see. Not even me."

She let herself go, and still he held her as she clung to the scratchy fabric of the robe he was wearing, tears falling, her mouth open and gasping in silent screams. He held her shaking body gingerly till she subsided and gained control of herself, and then he let go of her, facing away from her instantly.

"Are you better?" So polite, she thought. As though nothing happened.

"Yes," she said. "Better."

He exhaled, a harsh sound. "I should leave," he said. "I... Will you see me again, Princess?"

She stared at his back. "Of course I will. Whenever you can find me."

"Close your eyes," he said quietly.

She obeyed him without question.

"Fare well, my friend."

And she knew he had gone, and still, she smiled. He had called her friend.

*****************************

"Piya? Piya!" Abhay's voice jerked her back to the present. "Are you all right?"

She blinked, smiled. "Of course. It's just - I was just remembering. You always took care of me. Even back then. Sometimes I still wonder why."

"You cared when you saw... When you saw me that night," he said. "You cared, and I was lower than your servants."

"So it was paying off a debt?" She asked lightly.

He did not answer immediately.

She sat in silence, as they turned a corner. Eventually, he said, "Piya - caring for me made me remember who I was. That I wasn't...a soulless, emotionless being. You made me remember who I was, what I believed... For so many years. That isn't a debt I can pay, I guess. Ever."

Her throat closed. "Thank you," she said. "You were my only friend for a long time. I missed you terribly, every year. Every ball. Every party, when I would wonder where you had gone, even when Kabir was there... He was a good man. He took care of me then, and yet..." She shook her head.

"I wish you had come."

"I wish I had, too," he said, glancing over to her, blue eyes clashing with brown for a split second before he looked away. "I thought... I believed that you didn't need me anymore, never would."

Piya sighed. "And here we are again."

"And here we are again," he echoed wryly.

They had reached home, and there was nothing more to say. He opened the car door for her, she swept out, as elegant as ever.

Abhay allowed himself an amused smile. She would always be a princess, no matter where she was.

*****************************

He hadn't expected to see Chand that evening, that too in his own room.

"I'm sorry ; did you want something?" He asked.

Chand looked at him, then shook his head. "May we speak?"

"Of course."

Abhay stood back and let him enter the room. Chand's dark eyes roamed over the neatly made bed, the ordered desk - on which rested a pile of books, a chair in which a textbook was lying, half open, a dark bag resting unobtrusively in a corner. A framed photograph on the bedside table.

It was a picture of Abhay and Piya, smiling at the camera, sitting on a bench in the garden at sunset.

Abhay watched in mild apprehension as Chand strode forward, picking up the framed photograph in his hands. He had the odd whim to explain himself ; but really, what had he done wrong?

Chand studied the picture, then the Mutant's face. Abhay, oddly enough, was keeping his eyes averted from his.

"Haseena took this picture, did she?" He asked.

He glanced up and away again. "Yes...yes, she did. Dad."

"I see. This is a good photograph. She looks happy."

Now he saw Abhay look up, first at him, then at the picture. "Yes," he said slowly. "She looks happier."

Chand set the picture back in its place. "We lost her when we lost Vikrant," he said, his voice low. "She gave up all her memories. She stared at us when we left, not even recognizing us."

Abhay saw the pain flash in the older man's eyes. He didn't say anything. Didn't think anything was appropriate.

"He was my nephew, you know," said Chand. "Vikrant. My brother's son, and both of them perished in the battle. She was...she was like a daughter to me. And for the duration I stayed back in Faye... She was lost to me as well."

Abhay knew what he meant. He had gone through the same thing.

"She loved him very much," he heard himself say, as though from the end of a tunnel. "When her memories returned, she...was a little insane."

"Piyashree never did do anything in half measures," said Chand. "It was always everything or nothing..for her."

The loss in his voice echoed Abhay's own.

"Were you..." He cleared his throat. "Did you have any children?"

"Children?" Chand shook his head. "No. Elders do not Bond - marry. And... We were old fashioned about these things in those days."

"I thought you were a general," Abhay found himself say. "I thought it was Haseena who..."

His voice trailed off as he realized.

"Yes," said Chand. "She would not have me, and I... I never found another woman suitable enough to take her place."

"Are you...married...now?" He asked, and regretted it at once. "Sorry - I apologize."

Chand smiled, looking amused. "We are both Bonded and married, Abhay. Haseena is no longer an Elder."

"Right. Of course."

There was a silence, then Chand said, "You have feelings for Piya."

It was a statement, not a question.

"I care for her."

"Deeply," said Chand. "Unusual, being a mutant, perhaps?"

"She is an unusual woman," he found himself saying.

Chand nodded. "Of course she is. But the question is... Are your feelings for her merely platonic, or is there something else?"

Oh. That was awkward. Abhay cleared his throat. "I will not fail to keep her safe."

"Are you quite sure?" Chand asked him. "Feelings, especially of the romantic sort, are problematic, especially in a situation like this."

"I won't see her hurt," Abhay reiterated, and it was a quiet vow. "My feelings are of no consequence in the matter."

Chand stared at him, then smiled a sad, almost pitying smile. "As you wish."

He touched Abhay's shoulder - the equivalent, Abhay supposed, of a hug - and walked out of the room. At the door, he paused.

"Don't break her. Not now, when she's just been put together."

His words echoed in Abhay's ears long after he'd left.

*****************************

Piya was catching up on a missed episode of the vampire television show she liked, when she saw Abhay enter her room.

"Hi," she said, smiling. "Come. Sit."

He sat on the floor, next to her, as they watched a particularly intense scene in silence, till a commercial came on.

Then he spoke. "You seem to be getting new friends these days." He made his voice perfectly normal, but felt her tense anyway.

She covered it up with a light laugh. "Arjun? Yes, he's a new friend. We're hanging out tomorrow."

"Really? That's nice," he said. "Where?"

She gave him the name of a cafe. "It's near a bookstore," she added. "So we'll find books...and have coffee. It's nice, isn't it? I've hardly been able to go out."

"Oh, yes," said Abhay. "When are you hanging out with Arvind again?"

"It's Arjun, not Arvind- and late morning, I suppose," she said. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Just asking."

The commercial ended, and both quieted down to watch the episode again.

When it ended, Piya sighed. "Well. That wasn't so bad."

"So bad?" Abhay repeated. "It was worse." She shoved him. "Shut it. Just because you're not interested in watching anything-"

"I am interested in watching stuff," he interrupted. "Just not factually incorrect ones."

She smacked him on the arm. "Don't be mean! It's not supposed to be factually correct, it's a fictional thing! Besides- come on, how would they know the truth? It's not like we go parading it about. Can't you enjoy something without nitpicking it?"

Abhay scoffed. "You only enjoy it because you like looking at the older brother."

Piya went pink. "That- that's not true!"

He smirked. "You're a bad liar."

"I - I-" She fought to create a defense. "I don't like looking at Damon! I like the character - and besides, he's fictional!"

Abhay snorted. "I see - that's why you have pictures of him saved on your laptop."

"I can't believe you went through my laptop!" She said, shocked. "How dare you!"

Abhay raised an eyebrow, smirking. "So you do admit to it, do you?"

Her colour deepened. "Look - that's not what- wait. I never rag you about Erin Brokovich! You watched that movie three times! On loop!"

That didn't make his grin disappear. "At least it was a meaningful movie."

She huffed, getting to her feet. "Go away."

Abhay was still smirking. She picked up Advanced Chemistry and threw it at his head. It didn't touch him : he simply caught it in one hand.

"Aargh!" She screamed.

The door opened and Haseena entered - just as Piya threw a cushion at Abhay's head. Which went a little wide, and hit her in the face.

"What on earth is going on here? Piya? Why are you throwing cushions willy nilly?"

Piya pointed a finger at Abhay. "Ask him!"

"I didn't do anything!" He protested at once.

Haseena held up a hand. "Abhay, stop provoking her and go to your room. Piya, no throwing of upholstery."

Abhay left, and Piya sheepishly picked up the cushion off the floor.

*****************************

The next day was a Sunday so Piya woke late. She almost panicked seeing the time. She was supposed to meet Arjun in an hour.

Just when she opened her closet to find a suitable dress, Abhay walked in.

"Piya, can you please help me with-" He stopped talking when she turned to him. "Oh, is it time for you to go? I'm sorry - I shouldn't have. I'll try myself."

"Wait!" She found herself calling after him. "What- what is the problem?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Just the assignment you gave yesterday- I'm sorry. Chemistry is still new to me sometimes, so..." He trailed off. "It's okay. I know you have to go."

He left.

Piya stared after him in worry. Abhay never asked for help - it must have been really difficult for him.

She weighed the options and came to decision in two minutes. Taking out her phone, she texted Arjun. "Sorry Arjun, family emergency. Can we please hang out tomorrow?"

Shoving it into the pocket of her denim capris, she hurried to Abhay's room.

He was at his desk, absorbed in something.

"Hey."

He looked up at her. "Piya?"

"I'll go out some other day," she told him. "Here - let's discuss what the problem is."

Her phone vibrated, and she checked it to see Arjun's message. "Sure. All ok with you?"

She typed a confirmation and an apology, then set it in the silent mode and slipped it back into her pocket.

Abhay was showing her the points she'd asked to be included in the assignment and what was bothering him.

She settled down to explain it all to him.

At the end of two hours, Abhay's assignment was complete, mostly of her doing.

She leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "I'm not sure I ought to mark you for this, Abhay."

Abhay didn't look too perturbed. "Maybe you could give me extra work to do. As punishment."

She laughed. "Are you trying to make me do more work?"

He shrugged. "Just pointing out the options."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll think about it."

She retreated to her own room and began pacing it, wondering what to do. She was debating between watching a movie or reading one of the books which had been delivered, from the online site where she'd bought them.

Eventually, someone else made the decision for her.

"Do you feel up to a hike?" Abhay asked her, leaning against her door.

"Are you offering?"

He shrugged. "You couldn't go out because of me - I thought it was only fair."

"Wow, thank you so much," she said sarcastically. "Feel free to take me out whenever you pity me. Poor Piya, all alone in her room with no one to go out with!"

She saw regret in his eyes, before he blinked. "I'm not pitying you," he said, voice gentle. "I'm going out for a hike - I thought I'd ask you. That's all."

A hike.

"With you?"

"With me," he confirmed. "So...?"

She considered it. She hated being cooped at home, and besides, it was only fair that Abhay make up for being the reason she had had to cancel with Arjun.

But to be completely alone with him...

Her indecision must have shown on her face, because he said, "Nothing will happen to you, you know. I'm quite safe."

She took a deep breath. There was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.

"Sure."

Abhay smiled then, a real one. It lit up his eyes.

"You should...probably go wear jeans, then. And a less fancy shirt than that."

"Right, of course," said Piya. "Give me a minute."

*****************************

Abhay suppressed a pang of guilt at her obvious happiness. He hadn't realised how badly she wanted to go out. He should have let her go with Arjun, of course. He could have watched over her. But he wouldn't. Every fibre of his soul screamed in protest at handing her over to another man - without doing a single thing. She wasn't close to Arjun, but she was his friend. Surely it wasn't a bad tradeoff, if she went out with him instead?

You should have given her a choice, he thought. You should have.

Except...what could he have said? Don't go with Arjun, go with me? She would never have agreed. And he needed to watch himself around her anyway, or she would realise...

She came out of her room, dressed in a sleeveless black tee and jeans, her hair tied back in a ponytail. "Well?" She asked him. "Appropriate enough?"

He nodded, forcing himself to stop looking at the curves delineated by her clothes. "Come on."

He led her outside the house, and up a trail he had used often, at night, when he wanted to stop thinking consciously.

Piya followed Abhay's lead, walking two steps behind him. She couldn't help looking around herself. The forest was lush and green, echoing with the warbling sounds of birds. She spotted several trees she could not identify. And ferns. So many ferns, they almost made a carpet on the forest floor.

She discreetly plucked one of the fronds, missing Abhay's look as he turned to check on her.

She didn't speak, and neither did he. They walked on and on, deeper into the forest. It became steadily darker and denser, not that it troubled Piya. Quite the opposite, actually.

She spotted a small waterfall in the distance and craned her neck to see more of it - which caused her to trip over a lying root.

"Oh!"

Her exclamation had hardly left her mouth when Abhay was there, holding her up. "Sorry," she muttered at he righted her. "I wasn't looking."

"I think you were," he said dryly. "Here- hold my arm. It'll be helpful in averting more mishaps."

She didn't want his arm. She drew level with him and slipped her fingers in his hand.

Abhay went very still.

She didn't move her hand from his. Please don't pull away, she found herself repeating over and over in her head. His hand felt so right. So...safe.

He looked down at her, his eyes a dark grey, the blue almost gone. His expression was veiled - she had no idea what he was thinking.

And then, his fingers locked with hers. A hard squeeze.

Her heart stopped, and then jump-started again.

"Come on," said Abhay, his voice a rasp of a whisper, facing forward again.

She tried her best to continue looking at the beauty around her, but her concentration was shot, and her gaze kept going back to him. He didn't look at her, but it didn't matter. Something was happening, she thought. Something was happening to her. Something that made her nerves tingly and her throat dry and her heartbeat erratic.

It had happened before, she thought. Six decades ago...but the memory had dulled now. And all she could think of how sharp this...present thing was, a finely honed blade juxtaposed against the head of a nail.

She should feel horror, she thought, as they kept walking, hand in hand. She should feel afraid.

But she didn't. She felt alive, as alive as the waterfall she had seen before. She felt the thrill in her veins, the knowing of a delicious secret that was all hers.

She could not put a name to it - nothing seemed appropriate enough right now. For now, all she could do was process how she felt.

"We've reached," said Abhay, pulling her out of her trance.

She blinked. They had come to a clearing somewhere at the top of the hill. She could see the sun now, filtering through the vegetation.

The chirping of birds was louder now, as was the warbling of a stream.

The ground underfoot was thickly covered with vegetation.

"You should take off your shoes," said Abhay, watching her. She turned to him, her face soft and welcoming, and it was as though he was looking into the sun, without sunglasses.

She cleared her throat. "I- this place is beautiful. Thank you, Abhay."

She took off her shoes, delighting in the feel of the soft, springy grass under her feet.

"Hey!" She pointed to him. "You take off yours, too."

He grinned then, and let go of her hand, sitting down on the ground and pulling off his shoes.

She joined him moments later, letting out a delighted laugh. "This is amazing, Abhay!"

His hand squeezed her shoulder. "I'm glad you like it."

She caught his hand, kept it against her shoulder when he would have taken it away. "How long have you known about this?"

He shrugged. "A while."

"No one else knows about this, do they?"

He shook his head. "Of course not."

That nameless feeling intensified, making her toes tingle. "I'm special, then."

"Of course you are," he responded - then she let out a startled squeak.

He'd caught her arm and given it a yank, so that she tumbled backwards on the ground.

"Abhay! Are you- oh."

Abhay lay down next to her, his gaze to hers, questioning...a little hopeful, perhaps?

"It feels nice," she said in surprise. "Like a pillow."

"Yes," said Abhay. "It does, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

She looked up at the dark green canopy above, the rays of sunlight filtering through. The forest was almost quiet now.

She closed her eyes, the turbulent emotions inside her gentling, becoming less turbulent.

"Abhay?" She asked him, not opening her eyes.

"Yes?" His voice, deeper than usual.

"When did you find out about this?"

"A while ago."

He'd given her the same answer. Well, damn.

"Come on, Abhay," she pleaded. "Give me some specifics."

There was a pause. "I come here during the nights. Sometimes."

She opened her eyes, twisted her head to look at him. "During the nights? Why- I thought... Don't you sleep?"

He exhaled. "No, Piya, I don't. Most nights. Sometimes, I work out...sometimes, this."

"Why can't you sleep?"

He made a movement that might have been a shrug. "Sometimes I think it might be what I've been conditioned to behave like. Sometimes I wonder if I can't sleep because I fear what my dreams will have."

She reached over, took his larger hand in hers.

"I understand," she whispered. "I- I have nightmares, too. Sometimes."

"I know."

He knew he'd given himself away when realisation sparked in her eyes. "You've been there, haven't you?" she said. "Every time I've had a bad dream? You keep coming."

"It's what anyone would do," he said defensively.

She shook her head. "You're always taking care of me. Have you ever let me take care of you?"

He turned to her then, the blue overriding the grey in his eyes. "Piya, you haven't forgotten, have you? You saved me twice, when I was nothing to you. No one you knew."

"That's because I'm a healer," she protested. "It's my job, Abhay. I can't help it."

He smiled then, his fingers locking around hers. "Then it's my job to take care of you, too. You see - I haven't had someone to take care of for a long time. And you...you were my friend when I had nothing, when you didn't even know my name."

Piya had nothing to say to that.

"Tell me about Kabir," he said suddenly. "Tell me what he was to you."

Strange, how the name did not hurt her anymore.

"I loved him, as a friend," she said. "But I was not... I was not in love with him. I was never attracted to him."

It sounded too much like a justification to her, so she marshalled her throughts and continued.

"He was one of the few people in Faye who was nice to me without asking for anything," she said. "I liked that...and when you stopped coming, and I..." She broke off. Now was not the time to tell him how badly she'd missed him.

"He was there," she finished. "He made me content. But it wasn't..."

He wasn't you.

The words stayed unspoken between them, and Abhay felt the knot in his chest begin to unravel. To hear it, from her lips, that she had never been in love with Kabir...

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice choked. "I'm sorry."

She scooted closer to him, so he could smell her unique scent. Temptation beckoned him, teased him to bury his face in her neck and inhale more of it.

He resisted it, focusing instead on the softness of her hand.

"Abhay?"

"Yes?"

"Will you try to sleep today?"

"I will."

"Will you...will you call me if you have bad dreams?"

He couldn't help touching her face then, her cheek. She inhaled sharply ; he removed his hand.

"Yes, Piya. I will."

She smiled, then. "Will you bring me up here again?"

"I'll take you wherever you want to go, Piya."

That something in Piya's chest expanded painfully. She took in a breath as she realised it.

She had not been attracted to Kabir, but Abhay...?

He was a different matter entirely.

Heaven help her.

Now what was she to do? Her hormones were damned inconvenient buggers. No manners at all, she thought, with a sense of fatalism.

Yeah, so.. I apologise if the update seems jerky and not flow enough.no excuses- I havent written for a while, so... Please give your thoughts, and I hope I haven't totally ruined the story.