His Dusk, Her Dawn

Chapter 25. Trust

"Share it with your friends if you want to," she said.

I eyed the candies in my hand, dropping a few of them in my mouth and keeping the rest of the packet in my pocket. Her smile grew wider, and I looked down as I sensed myself staring at her lips too intensely.

Don't dig your own grave, Ved.

I noticed Sandhya stepping back, so I looked back at her. She had an expression on her face which I had seen on my own reflection when I think about her non-stop. Both of us stood in silence, the sweet flavour of candies spreading throughout me.

"Well... I think I should get going since we are both standing like idiots without saying anything," she said in a low voice.

I gave her a short nod, my feet unwilling to move. I wanted to hug her as an excuse to say thanks for the Just Jelly she gave me. Even though Sandhya said that we should part ways, she also didn't budge from her spot. She kept repeating that Surbhi and Parth must be waiting for her, but she didn't move even a bit.

"Don't you have a lecture to attend?" she asked.

"Don't you too?" I questioned back in amusement.

She narrowed her eyes, her lips tugging up. "Why aren't you leaving then?"

"After you."

I shot her a huge grin as her face turned a bright red. Some strands of hair caressed her cheeks, making my gaze follow the movement of her hands which began going up to move the strands away.

I want to do it.

Before she could move her hair strands away from her face, I raised my hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. The way her eyes widened made me want to pull her cheeks. I internally laughed but felt relieved that she didn't push me away. I could feel the air between us getting hot, so to avoid her feeling more flustered, I flicked her on the forehead.

"Ved!" she scolded.

She moved forward to take her revenge, but I caught her hands. With her wrists still in my grip, I pulled her closer, and observed her closely. Seeing her distracted, I suddenly left her hands and pulled her cheeks. She punched me on the chest, and I laughed as she cursed without filter.

"You sure know a lot of cuss words, monkey," I commented.

"You are the reason," she said.

"Don't you have any nice stuff to say about me?"

I stopped pulling her cheeks, my hands moving down and resting on her shoulders. She looked up at me, the small distance between us making my heart pick up pace. The area around her eyes wrinkled as I sensed mischief flooding her mind.

Why did I ask her that stupid question? Sure she would say something weird and have the best time of her life making fun of me. But still I want to hear what she has to say.

She opened her mouth, my gaze settled on her lips, waiting in anticipation for her next words.

"Ved!"

Huh? That didn't sound like Sandhya.

Within split second, Sandy Pandy lightly pushed me away from her and stood at an arm's length from me. Her whole demeanor changed, a blank expression replacing her carefree and playful attitude. Seeing her keeping her distance broke me, but I very well knew the reason behind it.

Ayush reached from behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder as he made his presence noticable. I turned my attention on him, noticing Sandhya taking her leave the moment Ayush arrived. My eyes tracked her as she shot one glance at our childhood best friend before she took out her phone and got merged with the crowd.