Is It Me... Or Have We Grown Up? #VariaSquad

Chapter 21

Varun P.O.V.

After Alia left, I stayed in bed for about twenty minutes before deciding I wasn't getting anymore sleep today. I dragged myself out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Once I was done with my usual morning routine, I went downstairs to get some breakfast. My brother was already sat at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal.

'You're up early.' He said to me, sounding quite surprised.

'Yeah. I got up when Alia left.' I told him, setting the kettle to boil.

'You know, I will never understand why you two always share a bed.' He got up and put his bowl in the sink then leaned against the counter opposite me.

'We don't. It's not like we live together, bhaiya. We share a bed on occasion.' I said, pouring water into my tea.

'It's not just "on occasion" Varun. Anytime you two are sleeping in the same house or hotel or whatever, you share a bed.' I rolled my eyes.

'That isn't true. We don't share when we're at the cabin. Or most of the time when we're at a hotel together. It's only when we need to. If there isn't enough room, then we share because nobody else likes to.' I explained.

'There are plenty of rooms Alia could stay in here but she always stays in yours.' He pointed out. It's true, there's at least three spare rooms but Alia never stays in them. She never has and I've never even thought about telling her she could.

'That's because we mostly stay up and watch movies or TV or talk about random crap when Alia stays the night. In fact, usually Shraddha is here when we have our sleepovers.' I reminded.

'Shraddha never shares a bed with you, Alia does.' He said, smirking slightly.

'Shraddha doesn't share a bed with anyone. It's practically impossible for her, she takes up most of the bed.' I justified.

'You're missing the point, little brother. You and Alia willingly share a bed whenever the opportunity arises. How many other girls have you shared a bed with?' He asked.

'None. But I don't have any other girls who are my best friends.'

'There's Shaheen.' He said.

'Yeah, but Shaheen is like my sister. That would be gross.' I said, shuddering at the mere thought of it.

'But Alia isn't like your sister? That makes zero sense.'

'Alia is... she's different. You know that. Me and her have a undefinable relationship. Saying she's my best friend doesn't fit, I don't see her as my sister, what else do I call her?'

'How about your girlfriend?' He asked, grinning.

'She isn't my girlfriend.' I lied.

'How much longer are you two going to deny it? If you don't admit you're together soon, I'm going to lose the bet.'

'Bet? You're betting on us getting together?' I questioned, eyebrows shooting up.

'Yep. Me, Shraddha, Shaheen, Rahul, Siddhanth, dad, Mahesh uncle, Shakti uncle, even Emraan is in on it I think.' He answered.

'You guys are unbelievable! What kind of family are you? Betting on our love lives!' I exclaimed. 'But, just so I know, who exactly is betting what?'

'We're all betting you'll get together, it's just when. Speaking of, hurry up and make a move please. If you two aren't together by Diwali, I lose.'

'Why are you so sure we'll get together?' The fact that we are together is irrelevant, people shouldn't just assume that it'll happen.

'Varun, the whole world can see it, open your eyes! You two are perfect together. And you're mad about each other, you have been for years. You can barely go a week without talking to her. The way you two are so comfortable together, the way you look at each other, the silent conversations, you should have realised by now that you love her!' I hadn't seen my brother this riled up in a long time. I would have tried to placate him, calm him down, but my mind was stuck on the one thing he had gotten wrong.