One Shots #VariaSquad

Of Talking... and Not-Talking

A/N: Those of you who know me will probably have seen this warning coming 🙈: Mature content ahead

Varun spends the rest of episode six hardly paying attention. Given that they've spent the previous five episodes making comments on pretty much everything, his lack of interest doesn't go unnoticed. 

Before the seventh episode can get more than 30 seconds in, she hits the pause button and climbs off his lap. He protests, reaching out to try and pull her back but she's already out of arms reach, turning to face him, and he realises that they're about to have a conversation. Despite the fact that he is very much aware that they need to have one, he's not sure how he feels about having it right now, while he is still trying to sort through everything they need to talk about. 'What's up with you?' she asks. 

'Nothing. Just... zoned out for a minute there.' His tone is dismissive, breezy. To most people, it would seem like he's being honest, like there's nothing more to it. But Alia has spent too many years dealing with his evasiveness, knows him far too well, to believe that. 

'Really?' she questions, eyebrows raised. 'You just zoned out? In the middle of a drama-packed show like this, you just zoned out?' He sighs, wishing that maybe she would just pretend to believe his lie, just once. 'Come on Vee, be real.' 

He doesn't say anything, can't even begin to find the right words to explain what he's thinking. 

They sit in silence for a few long moments until, realising that he's not planning on speaking anytime soon, she lets out a long breath and decides to go for another tactic. She gives him a gentle smile and shuffles towards him, clambering back onto his lap once she's close enough. His hands automatically go to her waist, resting there gently as hers go to his shoulders, steadying herself. 'You know you can tell me anything right?' 

'I know,' he whispers, 'but knowing that doesn't help when I can't figure out how to say it.' Her hands move to cup his face, thumbs gently stroking along his skin until he relaxes into her touch, leaning into her hand. And then she moves one hand, letting it travel down to his neck and around to the back of his head. 

As her fingers curl in the soft strands there, she comes to the rather belated realisation that this may not have been the best idea. 

Her intention had been to comfort him, to put him at ease, it really had been. It's something she's done countless times, having long since realised that showing physical affection, being as close as they can be, is one of the best ways to help him relax. And the more relaxed he is, the easier it is for him to focus. 

But, in all the times she's done something like this in the past, it had never been quite like this. The tension between them feels different somehow. Yes, they've always had great chemistry, electrifying even. There's always been something simmering under the surface when they're together, always an undefinable energy they they thrive off of. And over time, it's only increased, become harder to resist. 

Until this moment. 

And now she's pretty sure that this is the moment it's been leading to. All the flirting and the fighting, the kisses and the touches, the late night talks and the laughter. All of it has been to get them to this moment right here, the moment where they stop dragging things out, give up on this insane game of theirs and give in without anymore dancing about it. 

She's not sure what drives her to wind her fingers more securely in his hair, if it's a choice she makes or simple instinct that has her leaning down as she tugs gently on the strands in her grip, tilting his head up so that her lips can meet his. 

It's soft, gentle, chaste even, barely even lasts for the space of a heartbeat before she pulls back to look at him, a question in her eyes. 

His eyes are dark, the expression on his face one she's seen only a handful of times before. It's something beyond the simple desire she's seen on the rare occasions when they simply cannot stop themselves from giving into the pull between them for even a minute longer, a far cry from the light playfulness that he often radiates - the one that has often led to her kissing him purely because his mood is so infectious that she can't resist.