YOU ONLY FALL ONCE

CHAPTER 7 : You Will Always Have Me .

Knock . Knock .

I knock the door again, same , no response.

It's Friday night , 10 :00 PM .
Currently I'm outside Zaheer's house , it's been two days since he has abandoned college and refuses to pick up my calls .
So I turned to Zaheer's only and best friend Kunaal for his address . Being Friday, his mother is at the hospital for some illness Zaheer never explained , so Zaheer is alone in his house . This is the best time to confront him. I knock again, this time there is shuffling of footsteps , seconds later Zaheer opens the door it looks like he was sleeping but he still looks tired. He looks relieved for a second before shock settles on his features .
" What the hell are you doing here ?" He says and looks in his house towards a wall and turns to me with his eyes wide , " What are you doing here at this time ? Oh My God !"
I push past him in the house .
" I hope you're hungry , I got us some dinner  . " I show the two big bags of takeout I got from a Mughlai Restaurant .
He closes the door and walks towards me still shocked .
" How did you even come here ? How did you leave your house ? What did y-your parents say-" His face has turned red now .
" Calm down , I'm staying at Disha's for two days because my parents are out for a wedding in our family . So I sneaked out of her house , and she helped me . "

He resumes looking tired and says ,      "Why are you here ? You shouldn't be here . What if someone saw you ? " I sigh and walk towards what I think is the kitchen .

" I'm here to fill you in on the two days that you missed and if you feel comfortable you can do the same . Where are the plates and glasses ? Please tell me you have something to drink here." He opens a cabinet and hands me two plates and glasses.
" You can't drink , you're underage . " He says that like it's the most normal thing to say .
" I wasn't talking about alcohol. " I say , horrified that he would think that .
He walks over to the fridge and removes two glass bottles of soft drinks and exits the kitchen with a slight smile .
We remain silent while opening the container containing chicken biryani, another favourite of his .
After finishing half of the contents on my plate ,I started telling him all about the lectures that he missed .

" - and you missed the announcement of our freshers party dance. I registered us both for the passes . It's on the 27th of September..." I trail off as I see he's not listening to me anymore.

He's  just staring at his untouched pizza . I move in closer and place my hands on his face urging him to look at me .
" You can talk to me about anything.  You know that , don't you ?" He leans into my palms.

" I know but -"
" No buts . If you are in a problem I need to know it to give you a solution. " I interrupt him.

"I'm not in a problem right now , just stressed . " He gives a reassuring smile but his smile doesn't reach his eyes .
" Okay ." I give in with a sigh .
" Let's go out for dessert , shall we ?" I say standing up and picking up the empty boxes and cans .
" I'm not really in a mood , Avya . " He says , taking the boxes and bottles  from my hand .

" No , I won't take no for an answer . Come on , Zaheer . Just one pastry. " I say as he is throwing them in the dustbin.
" Okay let me grab my wallet . " He sighs . I squeal.
" No , treats on me . " I practically dragged him out of the house .
We enter a bakery and order our pastries .

I take the pastry in my hand and hold it to Zaheer like I'm holding a beautiful rose instead of a chocolate pastry . He looks confused for a second .

" Will you Zaheer Ali Qureshi be my date for the freshers party dance ?"
He laughs at that and takes the pastry from my hand .

" I gladly accept your offer , Ms Avya Krishna Murthy. " He offers me a bite of the chocolate pastry and I take it hastily . He looks amused and that confuses me .

He wipes something off my face and licks it from his thumb , he looks around us but the shop is almost empty so he plants a small kiss on my mouth and groans .

" You're so sweet , like literally. " He mutters having tasted the chocolate on me ,while I go to the counter to pay for the pastries .

We exit the shop and walk to the block which separates our way to our houses .
Zaheer turns towards me , holds my hands and says ," Avya , I know I don't talk about my problems much but I'm glad that I have you . "

I close the distance between us and place a kiss on the back of his hand that's holding mine .
" You will always have me , be it in one way or another . "
He nods and we part our ways then .
I walk away with a smile on my face and think about the dance .

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