Lover Is A Day

Chapter 13

Shubham is at my doorstep... and he is drunk?
He reeked of alcohol. He stood with one hand on the wall for support. As soon as I opened the door, he took some time to examine me, and then lost his balance. I held him by the shoulder.
'Did you drink?', I asked him, but he couldn't have seemed to understand. He simply looked up at me and smiled.
'..hello...', he bluttered.
I lifted him up, and put him on the foot of my bed. I closed my door, when I turned back and saw him- he had already fallen asleep.
I went up to him and patted his cheeks.
'Wake up', I said but to no avail
This is useless. It is 10 in the evening and this guy straight out drunk and passed out ON MY BED!
Did he drink because he got rejected by Neha? What should I do now?
I called Zenna.
'Look who has called me first', she said. I could sense her smirking.
'Listen, this is about Shubham', I said
'What about him?', she asked in abit serious tone
'He in drunk, and passed out'
'What!? Where are you guys?'
'In my room', I said
'...'
'Shubham is drunk and passed out?', she asked
'Yes'
'In your room?'
'Yes'
'Then make sure to use protection and don't go too hard on him-'
I cut the call.
Talking to her would be useless anyways. I will try to sober him up, I guess.
I went to the kitchen and brought half a lemon. I looked at him. He was fast asleep. He looked very submissive. No hard feelings, I said to myself. And pressed both of his cheeks to open his mouth. Then squeezed the lemon in his month. He tapped his tongue, but didn't react., nor did he wake up. I squeezed the lemon in my mouth, to see if it was sour or not. It was very bitter. But he didn't wake up!
Now what should I do!?
Suddenly a phone started ringing, it wasn't mine. It was his. It was coming from his pocket. I carefully took out the phone from his pocket. It read "Mummy".
His mother is calling. She won't know that he is drunk. And he won't want her to know that either, I suppose. I picked it up.
'Hello Shubham, where are you?', she said in Marathi
'Hello aunty this is Raj, Shubham's friend?', I said
'Haan, Raj beta, Is Shubham there?', she switched to hindi
'Yeah, he is um... busy right now', I lied. I looked at him. His brown, wavy hair wavered by the wind of my fan. He looked like a lost puppy.
'Where are you both?', she asked
'We are at college... there was- is a fest tomorrow, so we volunteered for the preparation and he left his phone here...', I made up. That doesn't even make sense!
'Oh, how strange, why didn't he tell me that. So when will he come back?', she asked
'I don't know, how long it will take, aunty' I said and looked at him. He had turned his head to his right and was fast asleep. 'We might have to stay here all night'. I added "We" to sound more realistic.
'Accha, I see... okay then, tell Shubham to call me when he's done', she said
'Yes aunty'
I ended the call. And sat on my bed. I will need to deal with him tonight, I guess.
I opened WhatsApp; I had a few messages from Zenna.
Zenna: Neha told me what happened
Wanna know the details?
I don't want to know how he got rejected.
But I for one was relieved that he got rejected. I looked at his face. His hair flickered. And his body heaved up and down as he breathed. He was peacefully asleep, like a tired child after a long day.
I don't stand a chance with him. Is it wrong to get my hopes up...?
No, I won't think about this anymore. Whatever happens, Happens.
I took off his shoes and pulled him up on the top of the bed. He was wearing a brown and beige pullover hoddie which was oversized for him and jeans. I placed his head on pillow and put a blanket on him. Despite being drunk he smelt good, like something sweet... Chocolate maybe. I went back to on my desk.

'Where am I?', he whispered '...raj?', I heard from behind me. I was 2 in the night, and I was studying up till now, he had finally woken up. I turned my study chair and faced him. He sat upright on my bed and was squinting his eyes, looking at me. I had turned off the lights in my room so he could sleep, the only light was coming from my desk. But even in dark I could tell that he was tired.
'You woke up', I said
'Why am I here?', he asked
'That's what I should be asking you'
He held his head in his hands, and massaged his temples. I got up and poured water in a glass for him. He sipped a little bit.
'What time is it?', he asked in a heavy voice
'Its 2...', I looked at the clock on my wall '2:20'
'Fuck', he searched for his phone. I pointed at the table stand beside the bed. He hurriedly took his phone and flashed the light at his face. Which made his eyes hurt, so he lowered the brightness of his phone.
'Your mom had called', I said
'What did she say?'
'She asked where are you and when will you come back'
'And what did you say?', he asked
'I said that there is a fest in college tomorrow, and you volunteered to prepare for it and so you'll have to stay the night'
'Did she believe you?'
'I don't know', I said
He looked uneasy and scrolled on his phone.
'Don't call her now, she must be sleeping', I said
'You are right', he said as he kept his phone down, he held his head in his hands.
'Stay the night here, go back in the morning', I said
'Is it okay for you?'
'Yeah', I walked back to my desk. I sat backwards on my chair, facing him.
'Now... tell me how did you know where I lived?', I said. Because I had never given him my address. He paused for a moment.
'I don't know dude... I was walking and then I saw some guys from college and we went drinking and the next thing I know is that I have woken up here', he said
'Who did you go drinking with?', I asked
'My friends and some guys from the cricket team'
'Okay', I nodded and turned, and went back to studying.
Shit he's awake now what do I do!? Act unbothered.
'...'
'Aren't you going to sleep?', he said
'Not while you are on my bed...'
'What?'
'Nothing. I am not sleepy yet'
'Oh-Okay...'

'When are you going to sleep?', Sometime later he asked again
'I'll sleep later', I said
'But you sleep early... I am the one who is awake at this time', he said
'Ok fine', I turned off the study lamp and got up.
It was dark now. But I could see everything clearly. Moon light peeked in through the kitchen balcony and into my room. I could see him through the floating, moonlit particles. And he stared back at me. It felt as if I was looking at him through a filter.
I walked to the bed and sat next to him. He looked at me. I lay next to him. He looked away; he was quiet now. I closed my eyes. I could feel his body's warmth next to mine.
We both faced the ceiling and lay down quietly. This all felt like a fever dream.
Sometime later he turned to me and asked, 'Are you sleeping?'
'No', I said and opened my eyes. I couldn't focus or think straight because he was right next to me. His body heat was high, and he smelt prominently like his shampoo now, this all kept me awake. I atleast tried to act calm on the outside.
'You know why I drank?', he said in a low voice
'Because Neha rejected you?', I said
'...Yes'
We both faced the ceiling.
'I really loved her...'
'...I liked her since junior college...', he continued
I turned in his direction.
'She reminded me of my father... he was a very kind person, and he took great care of us., he passed away when I was 15. He died of lung cancer', he said in a low and soothing voice.
'...'
'When he died, I had become very quiet and lonely, and I was new to the college, and I knew no one there, I had no friends back then. Then Neha came, she became my friend and I-', he stopped
'Somewhere along the lines I started liking her. But I guess she doesn't feel the same way about me...', he continued
'I am soo sorry...', I said
'For my father's death or Neha's rejection?', he asked, jokingly
'For both, I guess', I said
He faced the ceiling again.
'I was such a different person back then. I could barely stay in my house...face my mother and sister., so I would give fake reasons, to just to get away from my house, just like now., You know I had even gone to Delhi once' he chuckled
'!!!'
'Everyone must have been worried about me'
Does he not remember?
'Anyways, we should really sleep now', he said
I faced the ceiling. It was chilly but I was avoiding to get in the blanket with him. But I couldn't take the cold anymore, so I slipped in. It was very warm and comfy. I stuck my leg out. I had to retrain myself from hugging him, so I faced the other side. But I could feel as if he was staring at me from behind. I turned to face him. He quickly shut his eyes and pretended to sleep.
I looked at him. Does he really not remember me?
He turned around. I looked up at the ceiling and fell asleep.

♡Author's note♡:
Yea no spice for you yet. But here's a kiss ( ˘ ³˘)♥
And if u liked this chapter then please like and comment, it means alot! Until next time Bye~