Chapter 7

*Abhilash Pov*

"It would have been nice to meet your parents too." Vikesh commented stepping into her house after she finally succeeded in stopping him.

"No! Uncle scares me a bit." Kavitha said shaking her head.

"He was talking to his subordinate and kind of raised his voice." She explained when I stared at Kavitha in surprise hearing that because her Dad is really sweet.

It still surprises me how can he be a police officer when he is that sweet regarding everything and he cares for everyone too.

Maybe that's why he gets too involved in the cases which caused all the disturbance in her family on the other hand.

"I heard you scored well in internals, Mihi." Vikesh commented when she passed food to us after we sat down on the floor.

"Just lab marks are good. I need to score well in externals too which is kind of hard." She mumbled sighing.

"She is good at handling computers." Kavitha praised her.

"Shouldn't we all be? We are computer science department students, aren't we?" she asked frowning but I hit her head looking at her confused expression.

"She means about the way you handle it. We all are learning everything about it but you are already too involved that it feels like you are an expert." I explained and she gave a surprised look before smiling at her friend.

"Really? I want to be best at that and make sure my Dad accepts my dream." She said smiling and I leaned back when they started asking about her dream.

I heard about it already and that too many times as it was her long last dream for like a few years already. But what makes me feel good is that she is getting closer to everyone.

It didn't feel nice when she tried to not join us and even preferred others but everything is good now which is enough for me.

"I want to learn all the technical stuff and join the investigation team as IT professional. You know I want to get involved in solving cases and helping the police department." She explained dreamily.

"Really?" Rekha asked smiling at her before covering it but I caught it as I was observing all of them.

"Her Mom still feels sad that she didn't choose medicine but is following her Dad." I said making them smile.

"Nope! Blood and I should stay away from each other. I hate going to hospitals." She shivered saying those words.

"Just because you are good at computers, don't forget basic knowledge. You have blood flowing your whole body." I hit her head again and she hit me back this time.

"I am not talking about blood generally. Like... ugh! I don't know how to explain." She sighed rubbing her head.

"Did you forget that we are girls?" Rekha asked in a serious tone but she is teasing her too.

"Maybe she did! I am suddenly feeling bad for your present boyfriend and future boyfriend." Vikesh made noises while saying that.

"Ex-boyfriend!" Kalyan and Rakesh said at the same time.

"Already? Not even a month this time?" Vikesh asked in a surprised tone.

"He was shouting at her when she said we are at the theatre." Kalyan mumbled and I sat straight hearing that.

"He got angry that I didn't call him before going to watch the movie. Then I asked would he have been free to come with me and he said no as he was busy. But he was only angry that I didn't inform him about it. I let him say everything and then asked whether he really wants to continue this and he said no. So, it was mutual." She explained shrugging.

"Wait! You were right that he wouldn't have been able to join you guys but he was still mad that you didn't ask him. What logic is that?" I asked her frowning.

"He was her boyfriend and it is fair if he wants to know her plans." Rakesh pointed out.

"She has her own life. It's not like she lied to him or something. Wouldn't he have felt guilty to not be able to join her if she had asked? You all are friends and what's wrong with not informing ahead." I pointed back.

"He shouldn't have shouted at her but still she could have messaged him about her whereabouts. The point is he must have realized she was not that serious about this relationship in the first place." He didn't back down.

"She was honest about it. And look who is talking here." I shook my head and he immediately glared at me.

"At least I am better than a player like you." He shot back and I glared at him hearing that.

"Wait!" Mihi and Kavitha shouted before I was dragged away from the living room by Mihi to her bedroom no matter how much I tried to stop her.

"I need to finish this conversation." I pointed out but she continued to drag me with Kalyan's help and we stepped into her room.

"Nice room!" Kalyan commented totally unbothered by what just happened.

"Thank you! Whenever I get bored, I change everything depending on my mood." She said smiling while looking around.

"Is that his room?" he asked gesturing the window he can see from hers while I stood aside folding my hands.

"Yeah! Our rooms are closer even though there is space between the buildings. I heard these were constructed by brothers to live closer but then they both had to go to different cities for their kid's studies. Uncle and Dad bought them at a low price too." She continued to give Wikipedia about the buildings.

"Why was I brought here?" I asked frowning at them.

"To save your face." She replied shrugging while Kalyan chuckled.

"Were they always like this?" she asked glancing at him but he shook his head.

"I never heard Abhi crossing line like this even though we all are used to fight with our words. He must be very protective of you." He replied and they both glanced at me like I am an animal they are going to research on.

"You guys are not at all helping right now." I said rubbing my head feeling irritated with the fact that Kalyan is right.

"Rakesh was not wrong completely but thanks for taking my side. However, I already told you to treat all of us similar and not to take elderly protective instincts over me." She said frowning at me.

"Elderly?" I asked in a shocked tone and Kalyan laughed before stepping out of the room.

After that, she sat down on her bed while I continued to stand and didn't relax my posture while she stared at me with a smile covering her face.

"Thank you for being friends with them, Abhi. If not then I wouldn't have been able to meet them and even know about them. I already thanked Kavitha for liking Rakesh. Somehow within this short time, I started to feel every one as an important part of my life which is a huge surprise for me." She started expressing and that made me relax a bit.

"If there are any conflicts I want to handle them myself. I don't want it to be like they are my friends just because of you." She added making me frown.

"And I realized one thing already. I thought I am not hurting the other by accepting their feelings instead of rejecting them. But just because I am honest while expressing my feelings doesn't mean they will take them on face value and must be thinking I like them too. It was my mistake and it is reasonable too. I rushed into all this and next time I will be careful. At least they don't hate me and that is enough. So, don't get worked up too much like this." She pleaded standing up before walking closer to me.

"You didn't get hurt when he shouted?" I asked frowning and she nodded smiling.

"I didn't! He must be the kind who wishes to get more involved in his relationships. It is not his mistake and it was mine to stop understanding him the moment I found about his job offer last week." She explained and I sighed understanding her point but I still don't feel it is right for her to get shouted at like this.

"I will apologize!" I whispered looking down.

"Abhi is really growing up. I am so proud of him." She teased pinching my cheeks and I pinched hers back like we did when we were kids.

"Let them go!" she whined frowning and I repeated her words but we both didn't let go until we heard someone clearing their throat.

We turned to see Rekha standing near the door along with Vikesh. Mihi cleared her throat before walking out of the room saying she will talk to Rakesh and warned me to apologize immediately.

"I am sorry about that." I mumbled realizing I ruined everyone's mood with that fight.

"You are apologizing too much these days." Rekha commented.

"You mean I am making too many mistakes?" I asked but she shook her head in negative.

"You already apologized for shouting at me that day but I didn't apologize for being rude to your friend. Can I take some time to apologize?" she suddenly asked and I frowned hearing that.

"I think she already forgot about that. Why to even think about that incident? Let's go and cheer me up to apologize properly." I said walking out of the room along with them and found him laughing at something Mihi is saying.

"Why is he laughing?" Vikesh asked rushing their side.

"Mihira just praised him saying she is not as lucky as Kavitha to find the one and that's why all this is happening." Kalyan explained and I laughed hearing that because she was being sarcastic.

"I am sorry, Abhi. Kavitha and I fought for this matter because of different opinions during the movie time and I took it on you too." He said smiling.

"I am sorry too. I guess I was really being too protective and forgot you all are her friends too." He nodded listening to that and we continued our party after she found a movie for us to watch.

"By the way, I think Mihira surpassed Abhi completely. Already her score is two while he got three after a whole year." Vikesh teased her but she rolled her eyes.

"Today on... what should I use? Yes! On this cooldrink, I promise that he will get four Ex-Girlfriends before I reach three. I should respect my elders and shouldn't try to suppress them. If I break this then I will give up drinking cooldrinks for my whole life." She said holding the bottle.

"Are you sure this is a soft drink and not hard? Did you bring your stuff?" Kalyan asked Vikesh who looks hurt hearing that question.

"There are two babies. How can I bring out that stuff?" he asked back gesturing Mihi and Kavitha.

"Wait! You guys drink already?" Mihi asked covering her mouth.

"Of course not! He is just joking. Anyway, only he is legal enough to drink in this group for now." I replied and she continued to look shocked.

"You are older than them?" she asked glancing at him which made him groan.

"Yeah! It is not against law to be older than them." He replied glaring at her.

"It's not! But you just behave younger than me. That's why I am shocked." She explained making all of us burst out laughing while this time he is the one looking at her in shock.

"I bet she is not drinking any soft drink." He complained but she ignored him before turning towards me.

"Don't forget to score four soon. I really love these as you know and I don't want to give them up." She pleaded while holding the bottle and my smile slipped.

"Okay?" she stressed and I gave her a nod sighing after which the conversation turned back to our match and I calmly watched the movie listening to their conversation at the same time.