Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

1.6 + 1.6.5 | Save Myself + Pure Intentions

Dedicated to Amha076. Thanks for joining tapas!

Edited on March 28th, 2018

| . . . C H A P T E R . . . 1.6 - S A V E - M Y S E L F . . . |

I watched as Arnav stepped out of the car parking it just as I had closed the passenger door after getting out myself. "Where are you going?"

I hope he didn't plan on staying.

He answered, "You very well know the answer to that, sweet pea."

I was about to chide him again for calling me that when I deemed it best not to. The more I continued to react, the more he'd keep on calling me that to irritate me. As much as it affected me and I hated it, I decided the best thing to do was try and ignore it long enough for him to think it wasn't bothering me anymore. Hopeful then, he'd stop calling me that.

I stepped in the elevators refusing the take the stairs even though our apartment was only on the third floor. I was glad when he didn't follow and instead took the stairs. Reaching the floor and stepping out of the elevator, I noticed the door was already unlocked.

Great. Now he had keys too. Day by day, it felt like it wasn't Kripa, but him, who lived here.

I muttered walking past him on the couch and towards my room, "Well, good night." He could plan on staying but that didn't mean I was going to stick around and entertain him.

"Wait, Khushi?"

I let out a sigh for I had been hoping to retire to bed but he kept dallying.

"You aren't serious about that silly resolutions game, are you?"

"You care because?"

He asked back, "Shouldn't you?"

I was starting to understand this trick of his. He never directly answered. He almost always turned it into another question.

"No," I lied and turned to leave.

I heard him say, "Fooling yourself, I see."

Without turning again to look at him, I said. "Please, can we just go back to the time when we would pretend like the other wasn't around?"

Not sticking around for his reply, I left for my room hoping he'd get the message. I would very much like for things to go back the way they were a week ago. The time we didn't have these many private conversations. The time we didn't talk at all, to begin with.

I'm not asking for much, am I?

I still have tons of questions about him though. It was still tough to grasp that he helped me again tonight. When no one, not even my best friend had noticed - too taken away with celebrating - he noticed. Despite it all, he still wasn't asking any questions. Why? It made absolutely zero sense.

It was sure to drive me insane.

Let's not forget... there was the fact that I didn't lose my sanity this time when he held my hand. I couldn't feel it and at the same time, I could. I had stared at my palm for the longest trying to understand. That feeling I had felt only for a few seconds, unlike ever before. When he'd held my hand, somehow, I had used him as a tether to the real world. For only those seconds, why did I feel that sense of... safety. The way he held my hand as if he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me.

And that was an enigma for me. How could I ever have felt that emotion with him around? Because I felt it from the last person I expected it to come from, I couldn't help but be angry.