Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 31: Regression

It definitely felt different without her motherliness here. Can't miss training when she's in the house, can I?

She pulls me off the bed gently and speeds to the kitchen to grab me some water. I trudge to my bathroom in the meanwhile, ignoring the cacophony of screams outside the door. It's too early to be fighting people, and it's definitely too early for yelling too.

My morning routine drags on for how much it has to, and I quickly pick out the closest thing to workout gear. I grab an oversized gray school shirt with some black sweats, and I tie my hair into a ponytail. The first time taught me that shorts are a big no-no. I guess Vaibhav wasn't kidding when he said that pants are the way to go in training.

I don't even care about looking presentable at this point. Just let me get my ass kicked again.

***

After a quick visit from the twins' older brother Manoj and Tushi's older sister (and Sam's older cousin) Tripti, which definitely made my morning, Divya teleports us to the training center. Seriously, even gyms look like 5-star hotels here.

The entire building is made of wood. Shaped like a helix, it looks around 7 stories tall. The morning sunlight hits the twists perfectly, and the beams shine through the windows that are built in the middle of each compartment of the helix. These buildings and their shapes... it's like they never run out of ideas.

After shaking it off a bit, we walk inside the building to go into the rustic yet modern lobby. This is where the others have to check in with their pack's database for their training sessions. Combat training is mandatory for every creature up to 25, and since no one is near that yet, here we are. While it's not required to come everyday, they get free smoothies for a month if they check in enough times. So, they're definitely taking advantage of it.

While we stand at the desk for a minute, Vinnie stays chatting with me.

"So, how did you and Nivedit happen?" I ask her innocently, but she raises an eyebrow at me. 

"Is that so hard to believe?" she taunts me sneakily.

It turns out, Vinnie's secret boyfriend is Prashanth's best friend Nivedit from London. Apparently, they only started dating back in May, but they've been keeping it a secret from everyone for months. And when we caught them making out? They were on a date because Nivedit came to visit her all the way from London. They call each other everyday!

So now we know where those mysterious voices in her room came from.

Also, Sam and Tushi already knew they were dating because they also caught Vinnie and him making out in her room. How much do those two make out then?

Who knows how much Nivedit and Vinnie did in the house when they were all there?

"What?! No, no. You know-" she quickly puts her hand on my mouth. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You're so cute," she chuckles while she tries to calm me down. She lowkey made me hyperventilate for a second. I'm still not used to how much she trolls me sometimes.

"But anyway, we've been friends for a while. I met him through Prashanth during his grahapravesam, and we kinda grew closer over time. We're both Tamil, so we bonded over that. Too much, clearly," she laughs adorably while playing with the end strands of her braid.

"He-" she stops talking for a couple of seconds. Her smile fades slightly as she looks to the ground. "He helped me through many things. Especially with my mate. And honestly, I put him through so much because I was scared of being with him. But, he's genuinely the sweetest guy. A literal marshmallow. He stuck by me, and I was... I was ready for him to love me, and I was ready to love him too," she finishes softly as I smile widely at her.