Exile

16. TAKING LIBERTIES WILL ONLY HURT!!

"I did."

"See! I made sure you are not wasting money on the wrong things. Give me some credit, bhaiyya!" Akshat raised his collar.

"Acha beta! Mere paise bacha raha tha?" Agastya placed his hand on Akshat's shoulder.

Akshat stepped back safely "Ab kisi ko tho bachana padega na, bhaiyya! Aapse tho nahi ho raha hai. Bhaiyyu ki baat nahi karte hai. And the only smartest one here is ME! So.." He stopped and started running for his dear life while his brother chased him around.

"What's happening, Boys?" A voice boomed in the living room making the boys stop.

Agastya and Akshat turned around with a smile. Akshat walked to her and hugged her tightly "I missed you, Bhabhs!!"

"Awww! Missed you too Kiddo." She ruffled his hair with a bright smile. Akshat pulled back "I hope your schedule is free for this week?" She nodded.

"Yes!! And I am staying here for the next week. We will have fun! But for now, Let's have this!" She lifted the ice-cream tub she was holding. Akshat ran away to get some spoons and bowls while she walked towards Agastya who was just staring at her, with a soft smile on his handsome face.

She walked to him and raised on her toes before kissing him. Agastya cupped her face when she pulled back and kissed her forehead. She melted in his embrace and hugged him "I am going to drag you with me the next time. I missed you so damn much, Agastya!" She mumbled in his chest.

Agastya smiled and kissed her shoulder "I promise I won't complain." He said softly.

She pulled back with a smile "He is 18 now Agastya. Can you stop thrashing him?"

Agastya rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch "Exactly My point! He is 18!! Can he stop himself from doing things that can get him thrashed."

She gave him a look and he sighed "I hate being a control freak Ammu. I would rather beat some sense into him than stretch this for eternity in the name of consequences! You know me!!"

"Because he is a guy, Itna haath chal Raha hain tumhara...Behan hoti toh dekhti kaise deal karte tum? You are having it fairly easy with the boys yaar." She countered

"I have enough things to worry about, my love. Aur add mat karo. At least is Janam mein I am happily stuck with my boys." He shook his head "Scope hi nahi hai. Not even hypothetically!"

"Never say never mister!!" She warned playfully.

Agastya smiled to himself, a bittersweet one, as he held on to the memories. He slowly drifted off to sleep, with the magazine in his hands.

The next morning, Harika dragged Pratyaksha to her college and Agastya didn't get time to think about anything else because everyone kept him busy much to his pleasure. He could survive being busy. He is now currently going to the college.

When Raghav Sharma approached him, in the morning, asking to be the temporary professor for a subject, he wanted to deny. But the man didn't give him much of a choice. According to Raghav, College Principal personally called Raghav asking for Agastya to temporarily replace a professor who is on leave as he is getting married. And why on earth are they conducting classes after the Final exams?! To teach students who failed and also who got caught, cheating in the exam. It is both a punishment and a chance for students to not get rusticated. As much as he hated teaching a bunch of uninterested teenagers, he decided to help them!

Pratyaksha and Harika walked out of Principal's cabin. Harika was in a rather foul mood. The whole idea of Extra classes when she was supposed to sleep extra time, got on to her nerves. And the fact that this was all part of the punishment under the name of compensation was just too much!! She was cursing herself and everyone who put her in this situation that she got startled when she walked into someone. She looked up but got shocked when she saw Agastya. She stepped back and reached for Pratyaksha.

Pratyaksha raised her eyebrows when she saw Agastya. Oops. This is the worst way he could have known the truth. She wanted to offer an explanation right away but Harika reaching out to her confused her. The worried look on her sister's face got to her. She couldn't understand why it was such a big deal for Harika and the fear.. she was completely clueless about that fear!! Shouldn't her opinion matter more to her own sister?

Why does Agastya have that impact on Harika? Let alone Harika, he had such impact even on her, which made her want to offer an explanation. And this fact grated on her more than anything that she retraced any steps of offering explanation! The guy always evoked wrong emotions!

Agastya who already heard everything, looked dismayed. Harika stepping away from him didn't help as well. He wanted to confront but he stopped himself, as they were in college premises. Moreover, he wanted to see if Harika would tell the truth is he asked. He really wanted to know why she bypassed him on this. But he somehow controlled himself and walked past them into the Principal cabin.

Harika sighed in a momentary relief when Agastya walked away but she is still worried. She wanted to stay away from his anger as much as possible. She in general hated getting scolded but she loathed getting pulled up by him. But now she realized, she has been messing up things, constantly. He got angry just because she forgot to inform someone and now she just chose the easiest way, bypassing him completely. What a Royal Mess, Harika!! Keep it up. She chided herself.

Later that night, Sharmas and Agastya were sitting at the dining table having their dinner. Raghav Sharma kept his family indulging talking something or the other but Agastya didn't respond to any one of them. He just chewed his food as fast as he can, not wanting to waste the food, his mother cooked for him, and took his leave. He wanted to talk to Harika but Harika kept dodging his every move, ever since they came back from college. He was angry that she bypassed him, and found a way out of it, without even trying to rectify her mistakes and no guilt whatsoever. But when he saw Harika taking Pratyaksha as her shield all over the day, he stopped trying. Maybe, the sisters sorted it out and if Pratyaksha, who slapped the girl, was helping her, Harika might have realised her mistake. He wanted to believe in the theory he formed, but he knew it in his gut, that he was wrong.

Anyways, he can't blame Harika for choosing her sister over him. It was her right. That was what his brothers did too. No matter how angry they got, they stuck to him, until... he pushed them to their extremes. Just the thought and a glimpse of his past, he already felt his heart constricting. There is no place or time in the world, that the remembrance of that fateful night won't hurt him. He stumbled over a rock, getting out of his thoughts. He stopped and took a deep breathe before he shut his mind off and walked straight into his house. He couldn't understand why but what Harika did, hurt him.

TAKING LIBERTIES WILL ONLY HURT HIM. He needs to stop himself. He checked the bolt of his door twice before he started what he had to finish that night.

I just wanted you guys to read this and also the chapter was ready!! So, Early Update!! Leave your opinions and Share your thoughts!!

Lots of Love!!
Sathvika!!