Hi guys. I thought not to update this chapter anytime soon. But that'll be an injustice for my readers who vote regularly.
So let's go ahead with the chapter and have a look at the note at the end of this chapter.
Happy reading!
Target: 155 votes
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"Dev, can you please leave my hand. I'm not going to run anywhere", said an irritated sonakshi.
All the three have been walking along the rocky path for about an hour but Dev was in no mood to leave her hand.
"No baby! Once I promised you that I'll never leave your hand", he said and she twitched her nose. "Baby? Stop being dramatic Dev", said an highly irritated sonakshi.
She very well knew that Dev was doing all this just to show John that she belongs to him and that irked her more. She never wanted to PDA their love infront of others.
"There is nothing dramatic here. It's just my love, pure love for you", he said kissing her knuckles while she looked at him astonished.
"Did you even forgot that there is someone with us?", she asked and looked back to find John, who was almost 10 meters behind them, struggling to climb. He waved his hand at her while she gave him a tight lipped smile.
"Let's wait for him", she said stopping in her traces. "I don't like to waste my time in stupid things", he said dragging her from there. "Then you can go ahead", she said shoving his hand away and stood there rooted. He huffed in dismay.
"When did that stupid john whom you met a day before become more important to you than your boyfriend?", he asked hipping his hands. "I don't have any boyfriend", she said looking away from him and Dev gawked at her open mouthedly. "Then who am I?", he asked wide eyed. "A rude, stupid, crazy, insane.." "lover!", he said interrupting her. "No lier!", she yelled back while his head hung low.
"Thanks for waiting sweety!", John said as he finally reached them while sona gave him a warm smile. "And thanks for disturbing us", said an irritated Dev. Sona gave him a death glare and walked past him.
"It's my pleasure", John murmured to Dev and walked ahead leaving a fuming Dev behind.
***
"So, what's your plan for today?", Ritwick asked as he stood behind ragini. "It's none of your business", she said and moved away but he blocked her path. "Following you is my business", he said proudly. "Stalker!", she said irritatedly and walked pass him.
***
"River rafting!! Are you sure you wanna do this?", Dev asked to Sonakshi who was jumping in joy. "Why not? It's so cool isn't it?", she asked excitedly while Dev gave her a blank look.
"Don't worry Mr. Dixit, I'll accompany her if you are scared", said John chuckling over his own words while Dev's face filled with horror. He was definitely not a fan of those adventures but he should do this atleast to protect his girlfriend from this stupid John.
"She is mine and I know to accompany her. So you please stay out of this", Dev said holding her by her waist. Sonakshi was looking blankly at both of them and wondered why is Dev so possessive about her!
But she wanted to irk him more and she thought he deserved this after what he did already. "Let's all go together. It'll be fun", she said and rushed in, leaving a fuming Dev behind.
Dev's POV:
The instructor asked us to settle inside the raft in a group of four. But since there were only 3 of us, a boy from another group of foreigners joined us.
I saw sonakshi already being seated inside the raft. I was about to settle beside her but before that, that stupid jerk John sat down beside her and smirked at me.
I felt like taking the oar and beating him up until he bleed profusely. But I don't want to make any scene there. So I just went and took the seat opposite to them.
It was then, that boy came and sat beside me. He gave me a warm smile and I reciprocated the same. He looked quite younger than us.
"Mathew, from London", he said forwading his hand. "Dev Dixit", I replied shaking my hand with him. He was quite good looking but I should admit that he looked a little weird!
"She is Sonakshi, my girlfriend", I said authoritatively, ofcourse to irk John. His face was worth watching then. She mouthed a hi to him and all were ready to put on our life jackets. "You know what Mathew, Mr. John is also from London", I said to him and I could see his eyes glistening. What? Wait, what was that? Is it just because they are from the same country? May be yes. But I could sense that something is different with him. "Mathew can you please help me?", I asked him and he nodded. "Can you please sit that side, letting sonakshi here. Please?", I requested and he smiled in affirmation. He is sweet.
"Ms. Sonakshi can you please come this side. I'm not comfortable being seated this side as the raft will move backwards", he asked making a good excuse and sonakshi accepted it without any other thought. She came and sat beside me and it's now my chance to smirk at John. He looked at me with all his hatred and I enjoyed it silently. "Hi Mr. John. It's good to meet you", Mathew said and shook his hand with him. He mouthed a hi and I could see him becoming uncomfortable with the hand shake. Seriously? What is there to become uncomfortable in shaking hand with a boy. This John only loves to be with girls and even touch of a boy makes him feel bad. Strange!
And finally, now it's time to move. All of us took the oars in our hands and were ready to fight with the violent currents of the river.
As the raft started moving, it was constantly pushed by the waves and it almost shook us. All of us were losing our balance.
And the best thing happened then. Sonakshi lost her balance and fell on me completely. Though she struggled to get up, she could never able to do that. I was holding her securely in my arms, mentally dancing without caring about the surroundings. To be honest this was the thing that I enjoyed the most in this river rafting!
After a while, she composed herself and settled down on her seat. She looked a little nervous and I could see the blush on her face that she was trying to hide. It proves that even if she is angry on me, she could never be unaffected by me.
It was then I realized that there were two other people with us in the same raft. I turned around and was shocked to see the scene infront of me. I saw Mathew completely upon John and John trying to push him. Now, though our raft is in a balanced position, they both were still it an bad position. I saw john struggling under Mathew, and eyeing me to help him up. Or should I say pleading me? I enjoyed seeing his pity state for a few minutes and then helped him in getting up. The rest of the ride was comparatively peaceful one for us but not for John as Mathew kept clinging on him throughout the journey. As the ride came to an end, we got out of the raft one by one. I came out and gave my hand to sonakshi. Though she hesitated at first, she eventually gave in. But the most surprising thing was even after getting out, Mathew was never ready to leave john. Strange!
Soon after that, Mathew's friends too arrived after their ride but he was hesitant to leave John. "You go guys. I would like to spend some more time with John. Can I baby?", he said blinking his eyes numerous times in his not-so-boyish tone making John go pale while sonakshi and I looked at them blankly. It was then I realized the truth about Mathew's strange behaviour towards John. Though I felt bad for him, I wanted to teach him a good lesson for flirting with my Sonakshi. So I interrupted them, "Why not Mathew! We would be glad if you join us, especially John", I said smirking at John while he looked at me gobsmacked. "Oh Thank you bro! And I know about my John", Mathew said making me chuckle. John's face was worth watching then. Sonakshi looked at us wide eyed. I could sense from her expressions that she could hardly understand anything.
It took some time for John to realize what happened recently and he was still in shock to even respond.
Soon Mathew's friends left the place and I held sonakshi back leaving John and Mathew to go ahead alone. Sonakshi was still confused over the happenings and she finally thought to clear it up.
"What's happening here Dev? Why is Mathew clinging to John!", she asked and I chuckled at her innocence. "He is interested in him may be", I said and I could see her jaw dropping on floor. "You mean...", she struggled to say. "Yes", I said and she looked at them wide eyed.
"Atleast now I'll get some alone time with my girlfriend", I said pulling her by her waist but she escaped from my hold. "In your dreams", she said and walked forward leaving me alone.
But she is cute, isn't she?
I chuckled at my own thoughts and followed her like a lost puppy.
***End of POV***
"What is this!", Ritwick said as he and saurabh stood dumbfounded as the sight before them made them shiver. "It's dangerous", he shouted at Ragini but little did he know that she was an adventure freak. "It's cool!", she said wearing her helmet. "One must have some courage to do that", she said smiling sarcastically, thus irking him.
"I'll show you how courageous I'm. Come on Saurabh", he said turning behind but alas Saurabh was missing. Ragini and her friends giggled over Ritwick's state but he was not ready to give up.
"Go! Run like your friend", she said giggling but instead he moved forward. "I'll show you who I'm", he said wearing his helmet while ragini smirked at him.
Only he knew that he has acrophobia and he never wanted her to know his weakness. Praying god, he took the first step and climbed up. He was a little behind Ragini and so she couldn't see his fear dripping face.
As he moved up he could see his leg shivering. He felt as if he will fall down at any moment. Though there were so many people with him he felt like he was only one standing at the top of the cliff.
He composed himself and moved ahead. The next thing he saw made him shiver. He should walk on the wooden plates that were hanging with the help of a rope. He stood there in confusion, fear overpowering him. He took a long breath and placed his leg on the wooden plate.
His legs started to shiver very badly with his every step forward. He stopped in the midway and saw ragini completing the level. Her taunts kept repeating in his mind and he couldn't bear it anymore. So he made his way forward and completed the level. It was then he realized that the most challenging task was awaiting for him.
He stood rooted in the place, seeing ragini moving swiftly, holding the rope. Soon she completed the task and got down. Then he realized that ragini and her group of friends were impatiently waiting for him to complete his challenge. Praying for the last time, he held the rope, trying to move his body along the other side. But with his eyes closed, he didn't even move a little.
"Hey hero! Scared uh?", she teased him as everyone laughed. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was hanging in the mid air. Though there were so many safety measures, the thought of him being in that height created havoc inside him. He shivered a bit, losing his balance and left his hand from the rope as his belt loosened. "Aaahhhhh!", he screamed at the top of his voice and everyone shot their head up on his direction.
***
"Beautiful!", Dev whispered in Sonakshi's ear coming from behind thus scaring her a little. "Tumi ekdom impossible", she yelled at him and he chuckled.
"I already know that I'm beautiful. You don't have to say that", she replied smirking at him.
"In your dreams Ms. Bose! I'm talking about the young couple infront of us. How beautiful they are!", he said pointing towards Mathew who was clinging onto John with both of them sitting on the rock alone.
She rolled her eyes off him and sat down immersing her leg in the water.
It was calm, serene yet beautiful. She sat there silently absorbing the nature's beauty while she felt another pair of legs sinking in water beside her. She saw Dev sitting beside her, grinning from ear to ear.
"What's so funny here?", she asked him who was all in smiles.
"Everyone could find peace in something in their life. Like mom finds peace in treating her patients, dad finds peace in his work, nikki in her mobile phone, you in nature but me?", he said while sonakshi raised her brows. "I wonder how I find my peace in you. How a single smile of yours make me feel as if I'm the luckiest person on earth. What did you do to me sonakshi?", he asked looking straight into her eyes.
Sadgi acchi lagi hai mujhko teri
Sachchi lagi Pyaar Ki adaayein ye teri
Kuch Toh tera Pyaar hai
Kuch hai teri shokiyaa..
Mere Dil me bas gayi
Teri Saari khoobiyaa'n
Pehli dafa hai
Ke mujhme toh chhalka hai
Mere rango me kuch dhang hai
Tere jaise bhi..
Kuch rang Pyaar ke aise bhi..
Kuch rang Pyaar ke aise bhi
She felt his intense gaze and tried looking everywhere but him. He asided her flicks falling on her face, that were blocking his view.
"I love you sonakshi", he said making her blush. This was not the first time she is hearing it from him, but still those three magical words from him made her go week in her knees.
Suddenly reality struck her, and she jerked a little much to his dismay. "Stooppp.. Stop being dramatic Dev. Dramebazz", she said covering her blush which didn't go unnoticed by him.
"If being dramebazz will make you blush like this, then I'll be a dramebazz for my whole life Ms. Tomato.. Look at your face", he said giggling at her, while she dug her face in her palms trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Bro! Bro!", Mathew shouted thus breaking their bubble. They both hurried up and saw Mathew running towards them.
"What happened mathew? Why are you running like this?", Dev asked him who was now breathing heavily. "John.. John..", he murmured. "What happened to John?", sonakshi asked nervously irking Dev. "Sonakshi.. John.. John fell into a pit" "Pit!!", both said in unison.
"Yes, we were just playing running behind each other. But he fell into the pit. It's too deep. I can't help him in getting out", he said almost on the verge of crying while sonakshi tried to console him.
"You guys were playing? Seriously?", Dev asked doubtedly. "Dev is it that important now? Let's get him out. Let's go Mathew. Show us where he is", she said as they both followed him.
After about 10 minutes, they reached a secluded place inside the forest area. They can't even see a single person out there. Mathew rushed and showed them the place where john fell into. All they could see was a narrow opening and it looked like a cave.
"Don't you guys have any other place to play? Why are you always troubling us?", Dev asked irritatedly to an already crying Mathew. "Dev, be a little softer to him. He is already scared", Sonakshi said while Dev rolled his eyes off her. He wondered how she is showing her sympathy on everyone except him. Pushing his thoughts aside he peeped into the opening. "John, are you alive?", he shouted and his own voice echoed from the rocks. There was no reply then, so he stood up dusting his hands. "Sonakshi, I think he is dead. We should get ready for his funeral. Come lets go", he said walking away while sonakshi gave him a are-you-serious look. Mathew's sobs grew louder and sonakshi facepalmed herself.
"Hey dev! Help me man", a voice echoed from the opening making Dev stop in his traces. Mathew's face brightened with happiness and sonakshi mentally thanked God.
"Why are you alive.. I. mean.. you are alive! Great! What is the need to play hide and seek here?", Dev asked sarcastically. "Who was playing? I was running away from Mathew but on my way I slipped and fell into this cave", he replied making Mathew sob more.
"Help me to get out of this please", he pleaded. He hesitated a little but finally gave in and forwarded his hand from the top. But it was too deep that he couldn't lend him his hand. "Dev, let's try this", said sonakshi giving him her shawl from her backpack.
He led the shawl inside such that it reaches him and started pulling him up. He tried pulling him up with all his strength but in vain. Soon sonakshi and mathew too joined him but the floor was very much slippery and they ended up falling into it.
"You stupid! We tried to save you but you pulled us in", Dev shouted at John. "What can I do Mr. Dixit? I'm more stronger than you",he said showing his arms. "Can you both just shut up", sonakshi shouted. "I'll call someone for help",she said dialling elena's number but there was no signal. She shouted "Help!", but there was no one to help them. She texted a message to elena and waited for the signal to come but it didn't.
Inside the cave, it was comparatively large and cool too. Dev and sonakshi disappointedly sat on one side while mathew stuck himself on John.
With each passing minute, Mathew's sobs grew louder irritating him to the core. "You! It's because of you that I'm struck up here", John yelled at him and walked to the farthest corner.
"I'm sorry John. It's my fault. But don't go away from me please", mathew ran towards him. They heard the noise of some rocks rolling and Dev and Sonakshi stood up. "Mathew stop running", Dev shouted but he didn't hear anything.
Soon a rock glided from their left and stood in the middle thus separating the cave into two halves. In which Dev and Sonakshi were on one side and mathew, john were on the other.
Everything happened so quickly that they took a moment to register them. Sonakshi stood rooted in the place holding Dev's hand.
"Oh god!! I'm stuck.. Stuck again! That too with this idiot!", john yelled from the other side. "Can you just shut up John. Even we are stuck inside", Dev yelled back and looked at sonakshi who was holding him, completely scared by the happenings.
He cursed his fate for bringing them here but the only good thing was that he was with sonakshi and that too alone.
"Relax Sonakshi", he said hugging her, trying to calm her down. She calmed a little but soon pulled herself out from his embrace. She went to the farthest corner and sat there quietly while Dev looked at her astonished.
"You are truly a tough nut to crack Ms. Bose"
He thought and settled himself down.
***
Everyone gathered around Ritwick as he fell on the ground with a thud. "Are you okay?", ragini asked him feeling guilty about her behaviour. "Yeah.. I'm..fineeee", he said unable to move from his position. Soon saurabh rushed there and helped Ritwick in standing up. Though he tried a lot, he ended up falling down.
Ragini felt guilty for his state and was about to help him but he stopped her. "It's okay ragini. I want you to show your love on me not your sympathy. I'll manage myself", he said as he stood up with saurabh's support. "I would have failed many times, but I'm not a coward", he said walking with Saurabh as she stood there dumbfounded.
***
Elena reached back to her tent and found it empty. She thought of calling sona and picked her phone. It was then she saw a message from sonakshi.
Elena, I'm struck inside a cave in sholayar forest. Dev is with me. We four of us are struck here. Please come soon. We need help.
As soon as she saw the message, her eyes popped out. She rushed to tell the news to ritwick and saurabh. As she was about to go she saw ritwick in such a bad state, walking with the support of Saurabh.
"What happened to you?"
"Nothing it's just an accident. What happened to you why are you nervous?", he asked her.
"Sona.. Sona and Dev are in danger", she said as they looked at her in shock.
Vicky who was standing far, rushed there, "What... What happened to Dev?"
She narrated everything to him and he rushed from there with Neil.
"Saurabh you take care of Ritwick I'll go with vicky", she said and followed them.
***
"How to escape from here?", Sonakshi asked Dev worriedly, who was seated on the farthest corner of the rocky cave.
It's been more than an hour, and they were struck inside the cave but no one came to their rescue.
"Why should we escape? It's beautiful inside here, right?", he said winking at her as she rolled her eyes off him.
Seeing her annoyed by him, he continued, "Just two of us and no one to disturb..", thus moving closer to her. She kept moving backwards for his every step towards her, till her back hit the rock and she was caged between his arms.
"Don't try to take advantage of the situation", she said not meeting his gaze. He lifted her chin up, making her shiver with his intense gaze. "Am I the only one having advantage of this situation Ms. Bose?", he asked huskily and she could sense her cheeks heating up.
"Hey man, what are you doing?", came a voice from behind the rock, thus breaking their trance. Sonakshi pushed dev off her, making him irritated. "You stupid John! Don't you have any manners?" , he yelled, took a stone and closed the hole, through which john was looking at them, since he was on the other side of the cave which was now separated by a rock. "Why did you close it? What if I died of suffocation?", he shouted. "Please die soon. I'll be grateful to you if you do so", he yelled back. "Devvv, It seems like we are the one who's gonna die", sonakshi whispered. He turned around and saw sonakshi standing frozen at her place, looking pale, and eyeing him towards his left. He turned to the direction and saw a pair of eyes reddened with rage, looking at them vigorously from the darker side of the cave.
He slowly moved towards her and clutched her hand tightly. "Don't... don't get scared. I'm there for you", he said taking a stone in his hand and standing before her, thus making her hide behind him. She clutched his hands tightly and peeped from his back. He gulped down as he saw the pair of eyes moving towards them. Sonakshi shut her eyes in horror. "Aahhhhh", they both shouted as it almost jumped on them. "Dev.. Devv... We shouldn't die. Please god please. He won't lie hereafter. Please save us. We need to graduate, get married and have 2 babies. One girl and another one boy. Nothing.. Nothing more than that",she murmured hugging him in fear. She sensed that they are still alive and opened her eyes slowly. She looked up and saw Dev smirking at her. "Dev.. Where is that..", she fumbled and looked at the direction he eyed.
"Rabbit!", she shouted and facepalmed herself. She tried to get out of his hold but he was too strong for her. "Sonakshi, but I want both of them to be girls. Just like you", he said as she lowered her gaze unable to meet his. She mentally cursed herself for blabbering everything in fear.
As he loosened his hold, she quickly retrieved herself back and sat down near the little rabbit while Dev chuckled at her antics. Her fear came true as he started teasing her.
"A khargosh with a khargosh!", he said giggling while she gave him a death glare. "So we'll have two tiny miny khargosh. Mama khargosh, papa khargosh and 2 tiny miny khargoshes. Happy khargosh family!", he said making her go red.
"What's khargosh?", John asked them confusedly. "Mathew will explain it to you... Mathew", Dev said calling him out. "No.. No. Let him sleep. I don't want to know anything", he said while Dev smirked. "Sonakshi, Do you want to know what is khargosh?", he asked winking at her. She shook her hear from left to right haphazardly making him giggle.
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4204 words! That was the longest one till now.
Precap: Devakshi alone in a Cool night 🌌🌜Will anyond find them?!!
NOTE:
To be honest I am highly disappointed with the number of votes for last chapter. Usually the target gets completed within a maximum of 2 days. But the previous chapter was updated 2 weeks ago and still the target is not completed. I can understand that the votes have reduced because I made the chapter private but still the number of reads is twice than that of my followers which means many of you are reading it more than once. But the votes are half the number of my followers.
We are spending hours to write a single chapter but it's disappointing to know that you guys are not even ready to give a single vote for the story that you enjoy.
I'm almost free for a week and so as soon the target gets completed I'll update the chapter. So if you want next chapter, please do vote. But I'll update the next chapter ONLY IF the target of this chapter and previous chapter gets completed.
For more updates and spoilers follow my instagram account 'mishti7593'
~See you soon❤️