Ishan’s POV

The kiss was slow.

Warm.

And very distracting.

One moment we were arguing about Lara vs Sara.

The next moment I was sitting on Shubman’s waist, legs wrapped around him, fingers tangled in his hair.

His hand was on my back, pulling me closer.

Completely forgetting the world.

Which was a very big mistake.

Because the front door of Gill House suddenly opened.

And two voices entered.

“Bhai darwaza khula kyun hai—”

“Arre shayad Ishan uth gaya ho—”

The voices froze.

So did we.

Very slowly…

Very painfully slowly…

Me and Shubman pulled apart.

I turned my head.

Standing in the doorway were Abhishek and Mayank.

Both completely frozen.

Abhishek’s brain clearly stopped working.

Mayank blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then Abhishek pointed at us.

Still sitting on Shubman.

“Main… hallucination dekh raha hoon kya?”

I jumped off Shubman immediately.

Almost slipped.

Almost died.

Almost wished the floor would open and swallow me.

Shubman cleared his throat and straightened his shirt like a very calm criminal caught at the crime scene.

Mayank slowly raised one eyebrow.

Then looked at Abhishek.

Then at me.

Then at Shubman.

Then said very calmly—

“Interesting.”

Abhishek was still pointing.

“You… you… you were—”

“Yes,” I said quickly.

He blinked.

“YES??”

“Abhi shut up,” I snapped.

He placed both hands on his head.

“Oh my god.”

Then he started pacing the room.

“I knew it!”

“I KNEW IT!”

Mayank crossed his arms.

“When were you planning to inform us?”

I rubbed my face.

“This is not how this was supposed to happen.”

Abhishek pointed again.

“You kissed him in the washroom yesterday.”

I froze.

Mayank turned slowly.

“You kissed him yesterday too?”

“ABHISHEK!” I shouted.

“WHAT??” he shouted back.

“You did!”

Shubman finally spoke.

“Can we calm down?”

Abhishek looked at him.

“You are the calm one here??”

“Yes.”

“You were literally—”

“Abhishek,” Mayank interrupted.

“Focus.”

Abhishek took a deep breath.

Then pointed between us.

“Explain.”

I sighed.

Then sat down on the sofa.

“Fine.”

“Yes,” I said.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Abhishek slowly sat down too.

Mayank didn’t react much.

Just nodded once.

Abhishek’s head snapped toward him.

Mayank suddenly remembered something.

“Oh right.”

He reached into his bag.

“We actually came here for something important.”

I blinked.

“What?”

Abhishek also looked confused.

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

Mayank pulled out his phone.

“News.”

My stomach tightened slightly.

“What news?”

He showed me the screen.

A message.

From my mom.

About Anika.

My sister.

The one who ran away from the wedding.

For a moment the room went quiet again.

Shubman stepped closer slightly.

“What happened?”

Mayank read the message.

“They found her.”

My heart skipped.

“Where?”

Abhishek leaned closer too.

Mayank continued reading.

“She didn’t run away because of fear.”

Pause.

“She ran away because she had a dance competition.”

I blinked.

“What?”

Mayank nodded.

“She chose the competition.”

“She didn’t want to miss it because of the wedding.”

Silence filled the room.

Abhishek looked surprised.

“That’s… actually bold.”

I leaned back slowly.

Processing.

Everyone probably expected me to be angry.

Upset.

Embarrassed.

But instead—

I started smiling.

Shubman noticed first.

“You’re not angry?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

Then I laughed softly.

“I’m proud of her.”

Everyone looked at me.

I shrugged.

“She chose her career.”

“Against marriage.”

“That takes courage.”

Mayank smiled slightly.

Abhishek nodded.

“Your sister is dangerous.”

“Runs in the family,” I said proudly.

Shubman looked at me for a moment.

Then shook his head slightly.

“You two siblings are chaos.”

I smirked.

“Now you know.”

Behind us Abhishek suddenly raised his hand.

“One more thing.”

We all looked at him.

He pointed between me and Shubman again.

“We are still discussing the kissing scene later.”

I buried my face in my hands.

Of course we are.

Of course. 😌