Raavi got down from Shiva's bike, and waved at him, as she walked into her campus, glancing towards him over her shoulder.

"Kya chal raha hai?" Richa wiggled her eyebrows.

"Kya 'kya chal raha hai'?" Raavi shrugged, holding the straps of her bag.

"Woh, engineering campus ka launda, that hottie, kya scene hai?"

Raavi choked on her own saliva at her friend's description of Shiva. "What?!"

"Itne dino se uske saath bike pe aa rahi hai. You don't know? Pagal ladki, dhundhne pe bhi na mile aisa bandha. He's hot, he's smart as hell, he respects all the ladies, AND he's good at sports." Richa fanned herself as she saw him walk across the far end of the campus to reach his building.

Raavi stifled a laugh, wondering how long her friend would ramble until she allowed Raavi to speak.

"Naam bhi pata hai uska?" Raavi asked, hiding her smile.

"Of course. Shiva. Kabse I've been trying to ask him out, par bandha milta hi nahi hai." Richa pursed her lips.

"Pura naam pata hai?"

"Nahi."

"Shiva Pandya." Raavi said, and waited to see the expressions on her face.

"Ab woh Pandey ho ya Pandya mujhe kya-" Richa rambled on, until it struck her.

She turned to look at Raavi, her eyes widening in surprise, as Raavi finally laughed at her incredulous expression.

"Ye... Ye engineering campus ka hottie tera bhoothnath hai?! Tu uski roommate hai?!" She asked, her mouth agape.

"Haanji bilkul. Bataya toh tha tujhe, bhullakad." Raavi knocked her friend's head.

"Isliye bike pe aayi uske saath. He's nice. Waise, tu uski dost hai toh meri setting kara de na, please. Pleaseeeeee!" Richa poked Raavi's arm.

"Woh mai kar deti, but ek problem hai yaar." Raavi pursed her lips in a pout.

"Kya?! Mai tera saara homework karungi ek hafte ke liye, tera favourite halwa bhi banaaungi-"

"Usse mai date kar rahi hoon."

Richa stared at her friend for 15 seconds straight, not believing what she said for a long time. "Oh shit."

"Yep."

"Matlab, boyfriend? Woh tera boyfriend hai? KABSE?!" She screeched, and Raavi covered her ears.

"Abhi kuch 2 hafte. I mean, we are dating. Pata nahi if I should introduce him as my boyfriend? I haven't asked him. What are the dating rules again?" Raavi asked her friend, who just laughed.

"Meri bholi bacchi," Richa looped her arm through Raavi's, as they walked to their first class. "Agar tum date kar rahe ho, toh woh tera boyfriend hi toh hai, right?"

"I think so." Raavi shrugged, and sat down to take notes for her first class, deciding she'll ask Shiva that later.

.....

Raavi kicked a random pebble around, waiting on the other campus near the lockers. Shiva has asked her to meet him here at the end of the day, so that he didn't have to bring his bike all the way around.

Isme se Shiva ka locker kaunsa hoga?

Raavi turned towards the lockers, looking at each one, each looked a little different than the other due to personalisation.

Maybe 2nd row, 4th column? No, no that's so close to the door. Ooh, second last column? Nahi, waha toh dustbin hai. I think 3rd row, 6th column. Haa. Ye perfect-

"Excuse me?"

Raavi whipped herself around, startled at the deep voice she definitely did not recognize.

A group of 5 students, 3 guys and 2 girls, were standing behind her, wondering what she was doing.

"Who are you? Tum ye campus ki lagti nahi ho."

Raavi gulped once. "Mai actually arts waale campus se hu. I'm Raavi. First year. I'm looking for Shiva."

"Kaun, Shiva Pandya?" The girl asked, and Raavi could bet she was sneering at her.

"Haa. Usne kaha he'll meet me here so-"

"Why would he meet YOU here?" The other girl sneered, and guy no.2 pulled her arm, asking her to can it.

"Relax. Par woh toh ground pe hai. Uska practise hai aaj cricket ka." One of the guys mentioned, and Raavi looked around for the ground. "It's that way."

"Oh. Thank you!" Raavi turned to leave, and bumped into a really hard-bodied human statue.

"Tu theek hai, chipkali?" His voice came, along with his hands in her shoulders, steadying her, and Raavi sighed in relief, because she was sure the girls were going to eat her alive had he come 2 seconds later.

"Huh? Haa, theek hu. Tune bataya nahi practise hai, waha directly aa jati. 20 minute se idhar hi ghum rahi thi." Raavi said, shaking her head.

"Sorry, bhul gaya tha. Practise ka aadha ghanta hi bacha hai, you'll wait ki ghar jaana hai?"

"I can wait. Aisa kuch nahi hai. You look pale." She looked over him once.

"Nahi, woh toh abhi khelke aaya na, aisa kuch nahi hai-"

"Aree bhai, introduction toh karwa." One of the guys from earlier said, smiling.

"Raavi, ye mere classmates hai." Shiva introduced them one by one, "And this is my girlfriend, Raavi."

Raavi looked at him, his hand resting on her lower back as he introduced her to them, and she couldn't help but smile.

He looked at her, and nodded with an expression that asked 'what?' and she just shook her head, saying 'nothing'

Well, he saved her from what would have been a terribly funny conversation to have.

"Ohooooo!" His friends teased, and... Did she just see Shiva blush?

"Anyway," Shiva gave them a pointed look, and they all stifled their laughs, "hum jaa rahe hai ground, tum logo se kal milunga. See you!" He ushered Ravai around, leading her to the ground and asked her to sit on the bench while he ran to take his place on the pitch.

Raavi sat back and observed Shiva play. He was one hell of a batsman. Not that she knew much about cricket, but what she had observed from all the matches she watched with her Mausapa back in Somnath, Shiva was hitting some amazing shots, one which she definitely identified as cover drive.

They had been practicing with a season ball, just to warm up for the college level matches that were coming up, and Shiva was the skipper of his team. Raavi felt proud of him, he was the skipper of a winning team, from what she had heard. And he was a firm and strict, but very good captain, from how he was coaching his team along with their mentor.

Just then, the ball bowled zoomed past his head, and in attempt to dodge it, Shiva whipped his head around, the suddenness and force causing him to fall down.

He should have gotten up almost immediately but he didn't. Raavi didn't understand what was going on, as his team surrounded him. She stood up to see what was going on, why did he flop like a fly onto the ground?

The players took off his helmet, and carried him near the bench Raavi was sitting at, and she rushed over to check.

"Shiva, uth!" His coach tapped his cheek, but he lay unconscious on the on the ground, and Raavi pushed through.

"Shiva?" She shook his shoulders, and the coach just looked at her pointedly, "Jaanti hu isse."

She ran her fingers around his head to check for a concussion, since the season ball could have hit his head, but didn't find one.

Ball didn't hit, then. No concussion. No possible blood clots.

Raavi reached for the nearest waterbottle, and sprinkled some water on his face, relieved to see his eyes fluttering open, but closing in exhaustion.

She shifted his head onto her lap, continuously tapping his cheeks. "Kya hua hai tujhe, Shiva? Aise behosh ho gaya."

"Pata nahi. I'm okay, rehne de." Shiva groaned, holding his head.

Subah bhi kuch tired sa lag raha tha. Aur ab behosh....

"Can someone go to the medical centre and get me a packet of ORS please? Thank you!" Raavi turned and said to whoever was listening.

"ORS?" One guys asked, and Raavi clicked her tongue.

"Oral Rehydration Salts. Science class mein dhyaan de diya karo na! Jaldi, please!" She ushered him, and he ran off to do as instructed.

"Paani nahi piya na tune? Gadheda, ullu, aur ho dehydrate. Idiot." Raavi tapped his shoulder, and helped him sit up, his back resting against the bench.

When the guy returned with the satchet, Raavi grabbed her bottle and added the ORS to the water, shaking it well and handing it over to Shiva.

"Now drink. Dheere se, sip by sip. Ek baari mein gatak mat jaana."

If Shiva would say he wasn't intimidated by Raavi in that moment, he'd be lying. So he did exactly as he was instructed, his headache and fatigue slowly dwindling away the more he drank whatever she handed him.

"You guys play sports, you should have these handy!" Raavi said, proceeding to explain to them what they didn't py attention to in science class.

"Shiva," The coach said, keeping a hand on his shoulder, "you take the day off. Vikram will handle the team, you get some rest."

Shiva nodded, and when he felt better, he grabbed his stuff and proceeded towards the gate.

"Shiva, tu apna dhyaan bilkul nahi rakhta. What kind of harqat is this, baby?" Raavi clicked her tongue, and he immediately turned and pinned her to the boundary walls, away from anyone's sight.

"Baby? Baccha hu kya mai?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked, as her eyes widened and cheeks flushed.

"Woh.... Matlab... I didn't know...." Raavi stammered, and Shiva enjoyed teasing her like this, "If you don't like it, nahi bolungi next time. Woh toh bas aise hi-"

"Maine toh aisa nahi bola. I think it's quite cute." He simple shrugged, and she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Really? Thank god." She sighed and placed a hand on her chest, "Mai toh tujhse ye bhi confirm karne waali thi if I can call you my boyfriend-"

His bellowing laughter interrupted her tirade of words, and she just stared at him.

"You thought tu mujhe boyfriend nahi bula sakti? Gadhedi." He chuckled, before looking at her and laughing some more. "Dobi hai tu. So adorable."

Shiva placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, still laughing to himself at her statement while he put on his helmet and motioned for her to sit.

"You're sweaty." She said, when she sat behind him.

"Tu gir jaayegi."

"Mujhe phir nahana padega."

"Soch ke bol."

"But-"

"Chipak gaya tere se, toh pakka nahana padega. Baith dhang se." He warned her, and she grumbled, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Saath bhi du aur saza bhi lu. Hmph." She stuck her tongue out at him and grumbled, unaware he was looking at her through the mirrors.

Cute dobi. Check.