The wooden steps leading up to the porch slept under white frosty sheets. On the third step from the top two pairs of hiking boots — one pair small, dark brown, laced tightly and coming up over the ankles of its owner, the other one sturdy, tongue slightly hanging out, the hooks that usually held shoelaces, empty and hanging down in shame — had crushed the snowy blanket and made smudges of dark wood visible in the early morning light. The right sturdy boot and the left smaller one, as well as the jeans-clad legs that protruded from them, were set so close to each other that neither snow nor wood was visible between them. On the knee that belonged to the leg in the sturdy boots, two hands were resting, fingers intertwined. One small and one bigger one. Neither protected from the cold by gloves.
And it was still cold. A deep cold, peaceful and quiet, almost an apology and an attempt to make up for the violence and noise of the storm that had passed this way before.
The storm, that was finally over. Now, in the light of the morning, the damage it had caused and the amounts of snow it had carried, were clearly visible. It had taken Vansh's and Riddhima's combined efforts to completely open the front door against the mountain of snow blocking it. They had stumbled out into the new day, breaths already steaming in the morning frost, hands getting cold again, as soon as they touched the frosty and snow-covered banister on the porch. But the sight was quite spectacular. A bright blue sky was visible above them, the last storm clouds hastily retreating into the west. All around them was white. Not a single branch or tree trunk, not a stone or bush, not even the small gravel road leading around the bend and probably to a bigger road beyond, had kept its shape or colour. There was not a single hard edge to be seen, everything was soft curves and round shapes and made of a thick frosty white, glistening in the slowly rising morning sun. Riddhima had secretly waited for Vansh to suggest building a snowman to pass the last minutes before their "rescuers" got here, but then flinched at the thought, remembering they had already had their fair share of winter sculptures. Instead of running into the winter wonderland or even commenting on it, Vansh had brushed away the snow from the first step of the stairs and sat down with a sigh, eyes fixed on the end of what was — beneath the snow — the gravel path.
"How long did they say it was going to take?"
"About 20 minutes."
"That leaves ten more minutes then."
There was regret in his voice and she knew her own voice didn't sound much happier either. She sat down next to him. It felt weird being outside, the world — and not just for the sheer amount of snow and white and blue — seemed unreal. She felt like she wasn't even here, like drifting into someone else's dream. To reconnect with her reality, she slipped her left hand into Vansh's right one. He placed them carefully on his knee without looking at her. She laced her fingers through his and followed his line of sight into the winter morning. Suddenly he smiled.
"We could come back, you know. For a vacation. One day."
"Yeah."
She turned her head and looked back at the front door, wanting nothing more than to get up and head back inside. Neither had said so, but the moment Karan's voice had announced that rescue was on its way, they had both silently decided it would be best to wait outside. To make the goodbye to this place of sanctuary and comfort a little less painful.
Vansh shuffled his feet and pushed some more snow down the steps, almost angrily.
"I don't really want to be rescued", he said.
"Me neither."
"Why don't we just tell them to pick us up in a day or two?"
The corners of Riddhima's mouth twitched.
"And what reason would we give them?"
"That we finally managed to sort ourselves out and need some privacy to celebrate."
"Oh, that reason will go down very well with all of them."
"Kabir won't mind", Vansh quipped, then tilted his head. "Okay, Karan would probably spontaneously combust, Sam would be either intrigued or furious, Sara and Angre would be upset they weren't here to witness this, Natasha would be massively disappointed…"
"Because she's got a little crush on you…?"
"No, because she'd finally understand that the only person who should work with me — because she actually can control me — is you."
Riddhima gave his shoulder a shove.
"As if."
He grinned. "Well, I'd say there is at least a greater probability now, since you clearly have a shiny new arsenal of creative rewards and punishments at your disposal to keep me in line."
He leaned over and pressed a short, soft kiss to her lips. When he drew back, the grin on his face faded, once he noticed the tiniest of concerned flickers in her eyes.
"I take it that not only is talking to friends and colleagues about a romantic weekend out of the question, but you don't really want them to know at all, do you?", he said. She didn't scoot away, but turned her hand in his and held on tighter. She shrugged and stared down at their hands, not meeting his eyes.
"Not… yet. At least not until Karan is gone. I don't want him to think…"
"…you were leaving him for me."
"Or worse."
He squeezed her hand back reassuringly.
"Okay. Not a problem. This might actually be fun for a while."
She looked up in alarm at that tone of voice. He grinned at her, that wonderful wide boyish grin that always crept into his face, when he was about to do something childish or silly. She'd always pretended to be annoyed when it showed up, but secretly she had loved it, because of the way his eyes had lit up, even on the darkest of days, if only for a second. Like a flickering light-bulb in an otherwise dark room. But now that the switch had been flicked on for good, that room was shining bright blue 24/7. Almost too bright to look at for longer than a few seconds. She knew this was going to take some time to adjust to. And it probably wasn't the only thing.
By a mile.
And they still had quite a few things to work out. Especially that. Work. Working together would be different, now that they were more than partners and she knew, as long as they kept this a secret, it would be not only different but probably at times very difficult, frustrating and annoying as hell. This was not going to be easy for her. Worth it. But not easy.
This was, after all, still Vansh Raisinghania.
"Could you do me a favour and define "fun" in this context?"
"No." He pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her temple.
"Because I wouldn't like it", she deduced with a frown and pushed him away. He contemplated it for a moment, then wrinkled his nose.
"Proooobably not, no."
"Vansh…"
She could practically see his mind shifting into next gear, creating, building, planning the most elaborate setups to steal a kiss from her during working hours or to justify them arriving together on Monday mornings or how to trick Sam into letting them go on cases as a duo, preferably far away, where no one else knew them or, once the fun of it was gone and he was tiring of this game, how to accidentally spill the news about them without getting the blame for it.
"Relax. It's fine. I'm good at keeping secrets and pretending I don't care."
He gave her a grave look and frowned. "You on the other hand…"
"Yeah, until you decide, you are bored with it", she interrupted him, before she could stop herself.
He looked offended. Drew his hand back.
"No. Until we decide it's a good time to tell everyone."
The tension in his body rose and he sat up straight, his voice now clearly showing an offended and hurt undertone.
"Assuming you want to tell everyone at some point."
She flicked some snow off the stairs with her boot, the movement ending in her rearranging her position on the steps. The side of her thigh and calf that until now shared the warmth of his, were now exposed to the cold winter air. She shivered a little.
"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"
Another shuffle of a nervously twitching foot. A frown. Tension in the side of her neck, eyes focusing anywhere but him. He watched. Saw. Noticed. Tried not to be angry at what he saw, but somehow couldn't avoid it, a wave of exasperation and impatience and frustration washing over him. He tried to keep his voice steady, but knew she could hear his anger simmering between the words.
"No you don't. You think being with me might reflect badly on you. Professionally and personally. And even though you try not to worry about it and don't want to feel that way, you clearly do."
Riddhima scrambled to her feet and jumped down the steps, boots disappearing in the deep snow at the end of the stairs. She snapped at him:
"Get out of my head."
He wanted to get up, too, but forced himself not to. If he stood up, he'd be towering above her. And he knew it would make things worse. So he clasped his hands around his knees until it hurt, trying to release the angry pressure through the pain and, instead of jumping up, just leaned forward.
"I am not in your head. It's not my fault your thoughts are so loud. Can't help but overhearing them."
"Then just don't listen to them! Ignore them!"
"That's actually what I wanted to suggest to you", he said quietly.
Riddhima looked up at him, anger slowly retreating, her face suddenly showing concern. He had no idea what she saw on his, but suspected it was something close to tiredness. Because he was tired. Of being a man who, in the end, even those who loved him, felt uneasy with, ashamed of, always in need to apologise for. He didn't want to be that man. But however he defined and redefined himself, in the end this was always what it came down to. He closed his eyes. A warm body pressed itself into his side. Then a hand slid back into his. A head leaned against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Vansh."
Lips moved against his neck. He smiled. The hand slid out of his again, the lips left his skin, the warm body retreated. He opened his eyes again. Looked into serious green ones.
"And that's good advice", Riddhima said. "And we will tell them. Just not yet, okay?" He nodded and pulled her back towards him. She didn't resist, instead, put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat under her fingers. Then she grabbed his fleece and tugged at it.
"Hey, what did you mean by "you on the other hand"?"
He cleared his throat.
"Well, we both know you are really not good at putting up a front…"
She tugged at his jacket again in protest.
"I am! You just keep saying that to mess with me."
He rolled his eyes at her.
"No, love, you're not. Which is actually one of your many amazing qualities."
She was about to protest again, but he cut her off. "Just try not to act too suspiciously when they get here."
"Excuse me?"
She stared at him. He tilted his head, had actually the nerve to wink at her. She felt her cheeks getting hot. And not in a good way.
"You know. Don't start standing ten feet away from me all the time…"
"I'm getting a real strong urge to do that right now actually…"
"… don't wince or flinch or jump, when I touch you…"
"Then don't touch me. Why would you anyway? I mean, if we pretend… oh, you know."
"… or blush if anyone makes a comment about how romantic it is to be stranded in a cabin like that…"
"Only you would ever do that and if you do, I'll kill you."
He shrugged and nodded. "That would solve the whole problem, actually."
"Vansh…"
Before he went on, he wrestled free from her grip on his jacket, afraid if she gave it another hard tug, she would actually send him tumbling down the stairs and into the snow. For a moment he had contemplated making her do it, hoping it might be comical enough to get rid of the tension and make them both laugh. On second thoughts he decided against it, because if he managed to get hurt she'd blame herself. And guilt was the last thing he wanted her to feel. He had enough of that for both of them. He took a deep breath.
"I mean it, Riddhima. If you want to keep this between us. Don't. act. weird."
"I never act weird — and if you say "high voice" I'll kick you down the stairs."
Or maybe she wouldn't feel guilty about it after all.
She glared at him now. "This is all your fault anyway."
He raised his eyebrows at her. "How is this my fault? I didn't start this. That was you."
"Excuse me? You kissed me."
"You had romantic dreams about me before I kissed you."
"Nightmare more like…"
She swore, she'd never forgive him for the embarrassing squeaky noise that he made the rest of the sentence turn into.
Because suddenly she was lying down against the stairs, the snow on the steps acting as a soft blanket, keeping her back from getting hurt by hard wood. Which she probably wouldn't have cared about. Or felt at all. Because Vansh's hands were in her hair now, one on the back of her head, one behind her ear, a thumb brushing over that spot just below that made her whole head spin. Though that might also be a result of the look in his eyes, just before he leaned down and kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth, turning the words of protest on her lips to moans when he kissed her deeper, hands holding her head, his body pressed against hers so closely, she could feel his heart beat fast and hard, despite the layers of clothing between them. A foot moved slowly along her calf, a hand now sliding out of her hair and coming to rest on her neck, fingers softly tracing her jaw-line. He broke the kiss for a second to brush a thumb over her cheek and to look into her eyes again, then leaned back in. But before he could kiss her again, she had drawn his head down and started her own advance on his mouth, while running her hands greedily through his hair. For one ridiculous moment she really felt tempted to call Kabir and tell him they were taking the next two days off. Or weeks.
Kabir.
Shit.
She drew back, ignoring the tiny sound of protest he made. Or was that coming from her? Before she could find the answer to the question, Vansh hauled his body into a sitting position again and pulled her up as well. Grinning like a kid, cheeks red from the heat and the cold. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he explained.
"I promised myself last night, I will never let any morning, any night, any day, any argument or any conversation we have, ever end in anger."
She laughed at his adorably serious expression and wiped snow from her hair and jacket.
"Okay. But I wasn't that angry."
He shrugged and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear.
"The day isn't over yet. Consider it advance payment."
She glanced at the road. The sound of two car engines shattered the silence. Just as the beam of strong headlights crept around the corner, she leaned back in and pressed a short kiss to his lips.
"We might have to discuss your credit limit at some point."
Then she got up, straightened her jacket and walked down the steps and towards the approaching cars.
Vansh got up, but stayed where he was. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched the cars come to a halt. Kabir got out of the first one, eyes already scanning the area. When his gaze met Vansh's, he smiled briefly and nodded once. Vansh smiled and nodded back. A few seconds later Karan emerged from the second car. Their car, Vansh noted. So they had managed to repair the damage the sheriff had done. Vansh clenched his fists in his pockets, while he watched Karan striding towards Riddhima and enveloping her in a hug. But just seconds later he rocked happily back on the heels of his boots, when he saw her body go tense and her arms hanging limply at her side, eyes darting around almost panicky at the awkwardness of the moment. She really wasn't good at putting up a front, but in this case it was fine with him. Karan stepped back and scratched his head, then looked up at the cabin, for the first time registering Vansh's presence. Vansh nodded to him. Karan nodded back. Vansh went slowly down the stairs.
"Rescue! Finally! We were getting bored up here, guys. There's only so many time I can beat Riddhima at Scrabble."
Flinch. But only a tiny one. Before he could wink at her, she flashed a warning look at him. So he resigned himself to a broad, relaxed grin. When Kabir, Karan and Riddhima reached the stairs, Vansh leaned down and said to Karan in a conspiratorial whisper.
"She was pretty angry after the last game. My last word was "Jape". Means "joke" and is both a noun and a verb… Oh, and in the 15th century, it was used as a slang word for sex. Scored me 26 points. And won me the game."
Riddhima laid a hand on Karan's arm and nodded her head towards Vansh. "Oh, but I was good though, you should have seen him. He was worried. I had a good last word, too. "Cockalorum", which describes a boastful and self-important person. Shame it only scored me 20 points."
Kabir crossed his arms in front of his chest, unimpressed and — unlike Karan — also unconfused.
"So, you two are ok", he summed up the conversation.
Vansh nodded. "Right as… snow. But the law enforcement community of Barnes Hollow wasn't so lucky."
"We know. We found the bodies", Karan said and raised his head to cast a glance up the porch and into the cabin. "Took some time to dig them out. Was quite a heavy storm. You were lucky."
Vansh took a step to the side, effectively blocking Karan's line of sight.
"Yes, we were. We found this place on the map and got here before the storm really started to get nasty. No one was here, but thankfully the lock wasn't that complicated to…"
Karan raised his eyebrows. "You broke in?"
Vansh rolled his eyes. "Yes. It was an emergency. We really didn't want to freeze to death."
"Forget about the lock", Riddhima said. "Okay. Short version. What happened was…"
While she told them about the sheriff and the ravine and the frozen dead people, Vansh sat back down on the stairs, stretching out his legs across them. Karan, who had made a move to climb up the steps, stopped and leaned against the railing instead. Riddhima could sense he was still curious about the cabin. Not necessarily because he wanted to check if they had actually been playing board games. She knew his father had owned a cabin and he used to spent his summer holidays there, so this was probably just an attempt to access happy memories through new experiences.
God, she sounded like Vansh.
When she saw Karan contemplate his chances to slip past Vansh on the narrow stretch of the tread currently unoccupied, she quickly sat down there. She felt she didn't want him to go into the cabin either. Even though it was irrational and childish, this was their place. A part of their memories now. And she found she was as reluctant as Vansh was to share it with anyone.
Vansh was surprised when Riddhima sat down next to him, especially given the fact, that the only tension he read in her was the same he felt. Not letting Karan — or Kabir — go past them into the cabin. Kabir shot him a curious glance, at which Vansh, seemingly unaware of doing so, brushed some snow off the railing. When Kabir looked at his watch and then stuffed his hands into his pockets, Vansh smiled. He'd gotten the message.
Not brushing it off, Kabir.
Ok. If relevant, tell me later. If not. Don't bother.
Well, a lot later, probably, Vansh thought. But eventually we will, my friend. And definitely relevant.
"So that's it basically", Riddhima said a few minutes later. "We looked at the map, found this place, came here and waited for the storm to pass."
"Smart", Karan said.
"Thank you. But just lucky, mostly", Vansh said.
"The sheriff, huh?" Kabir said, before Karan could notice the teasing in Vansh's words and act on them. The last thing he wanted in all this mess, was those two getting into a fight. "Never saw that coming."
"Me neither", Vansh said, rubbing his hands together. The cold was slowly seeping back into his bones again.
"Which is odd. Someone this crazy? I should have spotted something."
"Meaning you were not on top of your game, Vansh?"
"No, meaning when we met him in his office he wasn't crazy yet, Karan."
"How do you go insane overnight?", Kabir asked.
"You don't. I thought of hypnosis, but there were no signs."
"We checked his place yesterday. The wife is gone. Left a note and took the dog", Karan added.
"Knew it", Vansh mumbled under his breath.
"Sorry?"
"Never mind. Did you find anything occult, pagan, new age at his place?"
"Elementary, you mean." Karan grinned at Riddhima. Vansh rolled his eyes.
"No. The place was pretty empty. And dull", Kabir replied.
"DVD collection? Books? Games? What about his computer? Was there something on his computer?", Riddhima asked.
Kabir and Karan looked at each other. Vansh suddenly got up in a fluid movement that was way too elegant for anyone trying to get up from a slippery staircase with open boots and without grabbing a handrail for balance. Riddhima smiled. She could feel excitement radiating from him. He was on to something.
"Where is his computer?"
"There was none."
Vansh blinked. Smiled. That smile that told her he had just figured out something really important.
"That's what's been missing. That's what I didn't see on the photos."
"Missing?"
"Did you find a computer? A laptop? At any of the other crime-scenes?"
"At their work-places, yes. At their homes, no."
"Interesting."
"Except for the sheriff, they were all new-age nutters. Maybe they didn't believe in technology", Karan suggested.
Vansh tipped a finger against the side of his nose, seemingly lost in deep thought, then tilted his head.
"Maybe… We'll see."
"We pulled some resources from the nearest field office and forensics are finally here. Sheriff never made the call", Kabir said.
"Figures", Riddhima replied.
"So. I suggest we wrap things up here for now and then we'll head back to HQ tomorrow, re-group, re-evaluate everything we have so far and take it from there."
"Hello, sunny Texas", Vansh gave a little hoot and waved at the blue sky.
"I'm really glad to get out of this cold", Riddhima agreed.
"I could use a long hot shower", Vansh said and this time he did wink at her.
But she didn't scowl or frown or glare at him. Just smiled sweetly and replied:
"You could use a shower. Full stop."
And then she got up, stretched her back and jumped down the last step into the snow. Vansh wanted to run after her, spin her around and kiss her until the end of the day. Hell, the end of time, if she'd let him. Which she probably wouldn't if he gave into this urge right now.
He sighed and made a face.
"Don't worry, man. You don't smell", Kabir reassured him.
"Thanks, Kabir."
"But it's a good idea anyway. Go to the motel. Get a shower. Get changed. And then we meet up at the sheriff's office. Karan and I, we'll head back to the crime-scene. See how the tech guys are doing. But before you go…"
Kabir pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket. The contents seemed quite heavy and made a metal clinking sound. He tossed the bag over to Vansh, who caught it easily.
"Fix that lock, will you? And put a seal on the door. Until we can send someone up to deal with this properly."
Kabir said, turned around and headed towards the car. Karan was already in the passenger seat and even though the sun made it impossible to see through the windshield, Vansh knew the man was looking at him. He gave him a cheery wave. Behind the windshield nothing moved.
Vansh and Riddhima watched the white car melt into the white morning, leaving nothing but a few light grey tracks in the fresh snow around the cabin. Riddhima came slowly up the steps, scanning the road ahead, waiting until she was sure the car was gone. Then she turned towards Vansh and hit his arm with the back of her hand.
"Idiot!"
Vansh laughed at her furious expression.
"It's not funny! This is exactly what I was afraid of!"
He reached out a hand towards her, but she dodged him and stepped away. He stopped laughing and looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry."
"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist!"
She gestured wildly with her hands, until he caught them and brought them to his lips to soothe her.
"And I knew you would rise to the challenge", he replied.
She gave him a sour smile.
"Oh, so this was a test, was it?"
He tilted his head, let go of her hands and sat back down on the steps, smiling up at her.
"A small assessment to see if we needed to work on your skills. But I have to say, I'm impressed."
Riddhima sat down next to him, grumbling.
"I'm not sure if this is a compliment or an insult."
She let out a long breath and folded her hands in her lap.
"That was awkward. And a little unreal. Weird", she admitted in small voice.
He had to agree. Somehow now that they were actually outside, talking to other people, time somehow moving on again, the world moving on, it felt… unreal. Vansh decided to make it real, though. Right now. He pulled Riddhima back into his arms with a fierce intention to re-affirm everything in the light of the new day. She felt the urgency of his kiss mirrored in her own feelings, pushed him back on the steps, straddling him, kissing him, sliding a hand inside his jacket, battling layers of clothing with a tiny impatient frown, until she finally reached warm skin. She felt Vansh's breath hitch against her lips, felt his hands grabbing her waist, sliding under her own jacket, then — naturally much faster than she had managed — feeling his cold fingers on her own skin, fingertips tracing her abdomen softly, teasingly. He moaned, when she moved against him. Then his right foot hit the plastic bag and it tumbled down the steps with an offended metal cry. They broke apart, panting. Riddhima half-turned and cast a curious look at the bag in the snow.
"Kabir insists I fix the lock. No idea how he knew I'd broken it. He scares me sometimes" Vansh said, voice hoarse and just a little breathless. "And he wants us to put an FBI-seal up before we go. Like this was a crime-scene. I hope forensics don't snoop around in there, otherwise we might be faced with exposure a lot sooner than we want to…"
His voice trailed off and he looked up towards the cabin. Now she was the one who could hear his thoughts loud and clear.
"I don't think Kabir is going to believe us, if we tell him it took you longer than five minutes to fix that lock…"
Vansh sighed. Five minutes was not merely enough time for the things he'd had in mind. And apparently not enough time for the things she'd had in mind either. They sat a few more minutes beside each other in silence. Finally, when a solitary cloud blocked out the sun and the cold was getting worse, Vansh got up, grabbed the plastic bag and shuffled off towards the door. Riddhima turned, so her back was now resting against the railing and watched him. It took him three minutes to repair the lock. And another ten seconds to tape the door off. When he was done, he put a hand on the dark wood and patted it lightly. She smiled.
"What now?", she asked him. He took her hands in his and pulled her up.
"Deal with the remaining case stuff today and then… home."
He slid an arm around her and smiled. Her hands were resting over his heart. She looked at them, head low.
"And where exactly is that?"
Vansh pressed a kiss and a smile to her forehead.
"Where the heart it. Wherever we want it to be."
She gave a snort and pushed him, just a little.
"That sounds like an awful valentine's postcard. Stop being so soppy."
He rolled his eyes at her, lips still brushing her skin.
"Fine. Your place then", he mumbled. She patted his chest lightly.
"I thought you wanted to show me something."
"I thought you didn't like the bedroom."
"I never said I didn't like the bedroom. I just didn't like the thought of you living in it."
He shrugged. "Well, see, about that… I have the feeling I won't for much longer and in that respect it does make things a lot less complicated."
"In what way?"
He grinned.
"Well, I figured that in the end it wouldn't make much sense to have two houses with two sets of everything only to waste an awful lot of time on merging everything back to one household again."
She blinked confused at his happy grin and the amused sparkle in his eyes. It took her a second, then she shook her head.
"You are kidding me. You were thinking this far ahead?"
He shrugged.
"Well, obviously I wasn't sure and there were other factors to consider, but…"
He leaned back against the railing, tightening his hold on her.
"yeah… the thought had crossed my mind. You know me, Riddhima. I play the long game. Always the long game."
She laughed, then tapped a finger against his heart.
"Speaking of games and home ownership…"
"Hmm?"
She traced a finger slowly down his chest, biting her lower lip.
"I was wondering. Does my new property extend any further than your heart?"
"Probably."
"In that case, I think I might need to explore the… boundaries in more detail then... Just, you know, to get more familiar with the whole area."
He nodded gravely at her. "Always a prudent course of action."
"Action? Yes. Prudent? I don't really think so…"
He laughed, then kissed her. A long, deep kiss, full of love and promise and everything he was, not hiding, not holding back. When they finally broke apart, Riddhima cast her eyes once more to her hands on top of his heart. Then she looked up at him with a flicker of insecurity so small, he'd almost missed it.
"Before I forget. Can we make a quick stop on the way home?", Vansh asked
Riddhima frowned at him.
"Where?"
"Shopping mall. Doesn't matter which."
"Why?"
The flicker of insecurity was now making way for a rather less subtle flicker of panic.
"Insurance."
"What? Why?"
"For you. So you have physical evidence that this is going to last 20 years. Or more."
"Vansh, you don't have…"
He felt her leaning back, struggling to get out of his reach. He held on tight, pulled her back, rested his forehead against hers, waited until she finally stopped fidgeting nervously in his embrace, his calmness slowly pushing the nervous energy out of their combined personal space. When her hands released his jacket from their iron grip and lay flat on his chest once more and she closed her eyes, he gave her nose a nudge and whispered.
"Sweater."
"What?"
"I need a sweater with a smiling reindeer on it. See I thought…"
And then she hugged him so fiercely, he didn't really have enough air in his lungs anymore to finish the sentence. Oxygen depravation continued to be a slight problem for quite a while longer, although for a different reason. When forehead was resting against forehead again, when his hairs were brushing against dark straight hair, when breathing finally returned to normal, she nudged his nose back without opening her eyes.
"Vansh?"
"Hmm?"
He smiled, eyes still closed, and simply tapped a finger against hers on his chest.
"It'll be fine, Riddhima. More than fine. It'll be great. Trust me."
She smiled back at him. And did.
To Be Continued.....