Nanon's POV:
I came back home late after finishing my work. Recently due to Ohm's interview and shoot, I had an extra assignment to take care of. So it took me long time to finish the submissions. I looked at the window and saw the lights up. The Ape is back home.
I will finally have to face him. I had told him we will talk in the evening. But I don't know where to begin. Rith is no more than a friend now. But does that change anything between the two of us? I don't know. Since the time I fell for Ohm, Rith was long gone from my heart anyway. But the tension between Ohm and me has been due to my insecurities due to Ohm's carefree attitude towards relationships.
As soon as I opened the door I saw Ohm on the floor, sitting beside the couch, looking lost, drunk. I heard footsteps approaching and to my utmost surprise I saw Tay.
"Tay?" I asked bummed.
"Oh, hi Nanon." He said and greeted me with a slight smile. He was holding a glass of water. He then walked towards Ohm and gave it to him. "Hey, have a glass of water first."
"Hmmm?" Ohm mumbled in his not very conscious state.
"Have some water dude. I'll leave for home then."
"What is going on here?" I asked Tay.
"He drank a bit too much today. I came to drop him home."
"Ummm, I... I'll look after him." I said.
"Tay nodded and turned to look at Ohm. "I am leaving bro. Will call you tomorrow." He then turned to me. He looked at me for a second and said "Even after he apologized, I am still a bit pissed at him for what he did in Vegas. But what I heard today made me feel that maybe this was bound to happen. I was just the medium."
"I don't understand." I said confused.
"It's not my place to say anything. I guess you both need to start communicating with each other. I'll take your leave now." He patted my shoulder and left.
I went near Ohm who was lost looking somewhere else.
"Ohm..." I said holding his shoulder.
"Nnn... Nanon. How are you my friend?" he said with a slight smile. Eyes red, movements clumsy.
"Why did you get drunk like this?"
"I was toooooo late."
"Late?"
"I am soooooo stupid."
"Ohm, I am not able to make sense. Let's go to your room. You should change and and go to bed. We can talk tomorrow."
He held my hand when I was about to get up and pulled me back.
"Ohm!"
"No more running away. Please don't run away anymore. You and I are running from each other since the very beginning."
I looked at him and he smirked. I was ready to talk to him today, but not like this. Not in this state.
"I am not running away. I am saying we will talk tomorrow morning. I promise." I held his hand to promise.
He looked at our hands and made a pouty face.
"This is how you held his hand too. Was that to make a promise too?"
"Whose hand? What are you..."
"I saw you today evening with Rith. You were both so happy. Holding hands... Pinching cheeks... Caressing hair... Did you kiss too? Did I leave too early and missed your PDA?"
"Ohm! You are drunk. Let's talk tomorrow."
Again my attempt to get up was futile. He pulled me back near him and made me sit beside him. One hand over my shoulder now.
"C'mon my friend. Am I not worth sharing your good news with? You guys became official right? I am sooooo happy for you."
I looked at him, upset.
"If I date him, will you be happy?"
"Of course I will always be happy to see you happy."
If this doesn't concern him then why is he like this today? Have I been misreading him? Doesn't it bother him at all?
"Then why are you drunk today?" I asked.
"Because I am sad." His expressions changed. His eyes got a little teary.
I would lie if I say I didn't feel bad looking at him that way. I wanted to hold him. Hug him. Console him.
"Why are you sad?"
"Because I lost you. I was too late to enter your life. Isn't it? From the beginning I had no chance right?"
Stunned, I watched him laughing and crying at the same time. My eyes getting teary too. But he then said.
"You don't worry though. I am happy for you. I like you too much to hold a grudge. You have my blessings."
Ohm's POV:
It is all hazy. And I can't see him properly. Coz my eyes are teary. But I am trying my best to not make a scene. I want him to know that I can be a better person too. I will be happy for him. I will not bound him to this contract. No matter what my heart desires. I once spiked his drinks and got his life tangled with mine. But not anymore. I won't make mistakes that will make him suffer.
And I even confessed what I feel. It was that simple. I just had to say this to Nanon sincerely. But I couldn't say it because I was thinking about everyone and everything except for a fact that I like Nanon. I like him much more than my sanity can take.
I looked at him and he was sad. Maybe I made him sad by saying this shit. So I smiled.
"You don't worry though. I am happy for you. I like you too much to hold a grudge. You have my blessings." I said.
"What did you say? You like me?" He asked.
"I do. I like you... A lot."
He looked at me for a while before asking again.
"And you are blessing me to be happy with Rith?"
I couldn't hold my tears. I simply nodded, choked.
Something in his expressions changed. He doesn't look sad now. He looks rather angry. He got up and looked at me.
"Blessings? You are giving me your blessings? How dare you? What do you think of yourself? I don't need your blessings."
Tripping clumsily, I somehow managed to get up and stand across him.
"Do you hate me that much?"
He looked at me and took a deep breath.
"You don't know anything. Nothing."
"What do you mean?"
He looked away. This is so frustrating. He always chooses to keep quiet. Never finishes the conversation. I walked near him and turned his face towards me. "I asked what do you mean?"
He held me by my collar. "Ohm Pawat, you think you can decide everything for me and I will always agree? You decided to spike my drink, you decided to be nice to me, you decided to change yourself for adjusting with me, you decided to make me addicted to our coffee breaks, you decided to share meals with me and now you even decided what my happiness is?"
I looked at him. Our faces inches apart. He was so angry that his eyes were burning red.
"What is your happiness then?" I asked. All effect of alchohol gone. I was too awake now. So much that I could not sit, lie down or sleep without knowing what he is feeling. I can't move or breathe till I know what is it that this guy has to say. Something tells me that I may survive. I may be able to be myself. I maybe able to get back my happiness.
"YOU. GOD DAMMIT!! YOU OHM PAWAT. I LIKE YOU, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"
He yelled. And I couldn't process it. His voice echoed in my head. I was standing there speechlessly gawking at him. He slowly left my collar and was breathing heavily to calm himself.
After a few seconds that felt like hours I managed to open my mouth again.
"You... Like me?"
"Yes!" an absolute answer. "If it wasn't obvious from my behavior then it's fine, I can admit. I don't know why but I can't think about anyone else now a days. It is all you on my mind. Only you."
He likes me. He wasn't officially with Rith. He too thinks about me. He too feels the same way for me. I was too happy to think about anything apart from all affirmatives ticking off the negative checklist in my head. The checklist I created for myself explaining why I don't deserve him. The checklist that is destroyed by this one sentence of his.
I turned him towards me and held his face in my palms.
"Nanon..." I whispered and he did not budge. He was looking straight in my eyes. "Stop me if you want to but I can't control myself anymore... I am going to kiss you now."
I looked at him once again and found his eyes staring at my lips.
In an instant I pressed my lips on his. And then I had no idea what burst of emotions I felt. I could taste his tears on his lips and maybe mine too. But I don't care. Nanon's lips were soft and warm. I could feel his breath on my face too. Both our hearts were stomping. I could hear it clearly. We were partly shaking.
Nanon didn't push me away. So I started nibbling his lower lip. He too followed the rhythm. I love the feeling. It's warm. I want to go on and on without stopping.
Slowly I tried to find a passage. Nanon took the hint and parted his lips slightly. I took the opportunity to slide my tongue in there. The taste of his mouth was as similar as his scent. Soothing, minty, sweet. He too started cooperating. His tongue twisting with mine in synchronized motions.
My hands slid up his hair and I held his head tight to drink him all in. Nanon held my face too. His fingers felt cool against my hot flushed face. Our eyes closed and opened in between but mostly we were lost. We don't know for how long we went on when we realized we need to breathe and our lips parted. Panting we looked at each other, hands still holding onto the other person with the fear of not losing the moment. I wiped his tears and he wiped mine.
I slowly kissed him again and he didn't push me away. I pulled him up and he wrapped up his legs around my waist and hands around my neck. I walked till the dining table and made him sit on top of it, all the while not breaking our kiss.
What made me happy was Nanon was not ready to leave too. His hands were all around my back and my hair while I was slowly caressing his face. I couldn't believe that I was finally kissing him.
Nanon's POV:
I don't want to stop. I have been dreaming about this for so long. I don't know what is going to happen to both of us after this. But I am happy in this very moment. With him. I am not even grossed out by him being drunk. I must be crazy. But I don't care. This is perfect. It is perfect how he caresses my face, how he tugs my hair, how he pulled me up and how gently he made me sit back. How our wet mouths are moving in sync and how I am loving his taste, his scent, his eyes and his hands on me.
It is like we are pouring our rage and desire in those kisses. We are conveying all that we couldn't since the time we met in Vegas. There is so much that I don't know about him and there is so much that I want him to know about me too. But before anything... Before everything comes the fact that we have fallen for each other. The madness has now reached its limit and there is nothing more important for us than this very moment.
We continued for God knows how long till we both needed air to survive. Till we went short of breath. Still Ohm kept holding my hand and we were looking down at our entangled hands on my lap with our temples touching. Our body temperature had increased and we were a bit breathless.
Finally, Ohm met my eyes and left my hand. We sat at the table across each other. We were both looking in the eye and were trying to control our breaths.
"Pinch me and tell me I am not drunk or hallucinating." He said finally after an eternity.
I slapped his hand. "You ARE drunk but you are not hallucinating. Asshole! "
"Ow. That hurts."
I shook my head chuckling.
"I guess we both are idiots." He said smiling.
"Speak for yourself. You even got this drunk and blessed me to be happy with..."
"Time out. Don't take his name please. Ever again"
"Huh! You are impossible." I said grinning.
"So... What now?"
"What now?"
"I mean, are we together now?"
"I don't know."
"WHAT?!?!" Ohm squealed.
"Relax! Let's talk ok?"
"We just kissed. Like THAT. What is there to talk? You are scaring me."
"You have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions. I am just trying to sort things."
"Ok I am all ears."
"I am skeptical... Listen to me first before interrupting." I warned him when he was about to say something. "I like you, you like me. But there is a lot that we both are unaware about each other."
He nodded. "We only know what we have seen. But we don't know much."
"Correct. And what if we regret this? I am in this too deep. And so I'll get hurt a lot."
"Hello? Me too ok?"
"Yeah, so that's what I am saying. I am doubtful about making it official."
We sat there looking at each other. Both thinking about what to do or say next. If someone will look at us, they will feel what a bunch of idiots we are. We were crying and fought, then argued. Then jumped on each other and kissed like crazy. And now we are skeptical about taking it further. Maybe, we are made for each other. Same breed of stupid should be together, right?
"I have an idea." Ohm said interrupting my thoughts.
"Idea?"
"Let's make a contract."
"Another contract?"
"I mean a deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"We are bound to be together for next 4 months anyway right?"
"Right."
"So let's try to date each other genuinely till then. Let's get to know each other. Foreground, background everything. And then once the contract ends..."
"This relationship ends?"
"No silly. If by then we are still not sure about each other then we can discuss or decide then. It is much better than having all these emotions riled up and getting hurt looking at each other."
As ridiculous as it sounds, the idea does make sense.
"Ok fine. I am in."
"Great. Deal?" he raised his fist.
"Deal!" I bumped my fist with his.
He got up and pulled me in his arms.
"What are you doing?" I asked confused.
He smiled the same crooked smile and said. "I'm sealing the deal."
And we sealed the deal with our lips.