Ruin In Royals (Royal #1: Book 2) | ✔

62

-• a date •-

The twins, Agastya and I head downstairs. My eyes fall on Vivaan first. He sends me a comforting smile. I smile back. Then my eyes shift to the person sitting on the couch, knees spread, fingers interlocked, he looks distant even after being so close. I cast my eyes down guiltily, it nibbles at my conscience painfully. I wring my fingers, looking over my shoulder when another set of footsteps join us. Yuvaan meets my eyes for a flickering moment before looking down fondly at his dog. Perry is calmly settled in his master's arms, unaware of the tensed air around him.

"How's Dad now?" Yuvraaj asks.

I stand at the end of the staircase, Agastya settles down near my feet, his back to the wall. The twins walk over to the sofa chair. Ayush sits down, while Arush supports himself on the hand-rest. Yuvaan leans against the front wall, gently caressing Perry's fur. I wonder if he brought the dog to keep himself busy. He had so much to say last time, but now that Yuvraaj is here, he's suddenly putting up the old walls.

"He's fine." Vivaan answers. "He's resting right now."

Yuvraaj nods. "Loosen up, kids." He addresses us together. Then he smiles. It appears forced. I'd rather he only smiles when he feels like it than force it for our sake. My heart feels like it's breaking all over again. "I'm not mad."

"I'm sorry, Bhai," I step forward. "I- I should have remembered." My voice comes out trembling.

He shakes his head. "It's not your fault. It's no one's fault." He embraces silence. His head lowers and he intertwines his fingers together, clasping them shut tightly. "Remember you once said," he looks up at Vivaan. "When they stop noticing, I'll be the first to know."

Vivaan sighs.

Yuvraaj nods. "You were right." He inhales a deep breath and gets up from the couch. "But it's okay, they have you." He places a tender hand on Vivaan's shoulder. Then he pats it gently. "And you have them. That's all it takes for me to never worry about you guys." He smiles at us.

We glance at each other timidly. I see Perry get restless in Yuvaan's arms, causing him to lower the dog on the floor. We watch in surprise as Perry scrambles on his feet to approach Yuvraaj.

The eldest of us blinks awkwardly.

"I didn't think you like me." Yuvraaj crouches to Perry's level. The forced smile on his face turns genuine. He runs a hand down the golden retriever's back. Perry turns his head and tries nuzzling the broad hand. "You've grown up a lot." He whispers. "Remember he was just a puppy when I got him for you?" He looks Yuvaan's way.

The latter nods slowly.

"You brought Perry?" I ask in disbelief.

Yuvraaj meets my eyes. "Yeah, I had a client whose daughter had a female golden retriever. She had given birth to a bunch of puppies. Yuvaan fancied dogs a lot when he was a kid. So I asked them if they're open to give away the puppies. They said yes, so I adopted one."

"He also got me my first baseball bat." Agastya smiles, a faraway look in his eyes.

Yuvraaj nods, "You said you dreamt of it. The same day on my way to the office I noticed a sports store. I brought it on a whim."

"And the basketball court?" Arush asks. "Did you transform the auditorium into the basketball court on a whim too?"

"It was for marriages primarily. But after we had one built in the hotel, I had to figure out a way to put it to a different use. And you used to stay up until late in the school to play basketball so I just thought why not have one in our palace?" He shrugs.