"Lakshya bhaiyya?"

Nikhil quickly got off his bike followed by Karthik when he saw his brother get down from the Jeep and stride towards us. His face was red with fury and he made no attempt to hide it.

He stood in front of Nikhil and Nikhil flinched a little. Lakshya didn't even move a single finger and his little brother was scared to the bones. Lakshya observed the state of his brother and shook his head. Karthik was also fidgeting in his spot and glancing here and there to find an escape route.

"We will talk when we get home," Lakshya said in a cold tone and went back to sit in his Jeep. He motioned for me to take the backseat and though I knew that he wouldn't unleash his anger on me, I was still scared.

Nothing is scary than a pissed off elder brother. I did as ordered while Nikhil got on his bike. Karthik found his chance and ran away like Road Runner. Lakshya didn't stop him and I almost laughed at Nikhil's baffled expression. He called his friend but Karthik didn't stop and left Nikhil all by himself.

Nikhil cursed under his breath and started his bike. He went ahead of the Jeep so that Lakshya could follow him and make sure that he didn't run away too. Through the ride, I could feel the tension and imagined what would happen to Nikhil now.

But how did Lakshya got to the den? He didn't know the location. Was he following me? But if he was following me then he could have busted the den and dragged Nikhil outside by himself.

Then, how? Hm? Oh right! He had asked for my number before I left and Nikhil said that he left his phone at home. Lakshya must have tracked my location by my phone.

Yeah, that might be it or otherwise, how would he have known where we were? He must have suspected something by my unusual behaviour and my hurry to get out of their house earlier.

I need to work on my spying skills. Then again, he was an Army Officer. How could I have underestimated him and thought that I had fooled him?

"Sandhya?" Lakshya called.

"Yes, bhaiyya?"

"Don't think I am letting you off so easily. I have already called your parents. So, you better prepare yourself too."

W-What?!

I opened my mouth to protest but decided to keep it shut. What if I angered him more and made things worse for myself? He called up his mom and told her he was bringing us home.

I was officially fucked up. My parents were going to be there and if they got to know about my antics, they will wreak havoc on me. Most importantly, mom. She would be so angry.... No! I didn't want to imagine it.

I tried to run away when we reached Nikhil's home but Nikhil caught me and dragged me along with him.

I knew he didn't want to face the wrath alone. He must be blaming me for all of this. But it wasn't my fault, was it? I didn't know Lakshya would find out and my plan would fail.

Once we got in the house, I felt a chill run down my spine. Our parents were sitting in the living room, waiting for our arrival anxiously. As soon as they heard Lakshya announce our presence, all of them turned their heads toward us.

Mom was glaring at me while dad was clearly disappointed with me. None of them said anything and continued staring. Then, Lakshya came and stood in front of us. I looked beside me and noticed that Nikhil was shivering. He kept his head low and kept mumbling to himself.

"Why don't you tell us where you were, Nikhil?" Lakshya asked and Nikhil took a step back.

Lakshya was towering over him and I felt bad for Nikhil. Lakshya rolled up his sleeves and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I asked you something!" he boomed.

He was so scary that I almost stumbled on my feet. I thought Lakshya would handle the situation calmly but he looked so pissed off. I took two steps back and ducked my head down. Just don't make eye contact with him and everything would be fine. Just relax, Sandhya.

"I was.... I..." Nikhil tried to answer but couldn't.

Lakshya uncrossed his arms and went to pick something from the centre table. He came back and held up a plastic bag which had white and brown packets. He held it in front of Nikhil's face and his little brother averted his gaze.

Lakshya threw the bag away and stood mere inches away from Nikhil. He was trying to intimidate his little brother and make him speak up. I nudged Nikhil with my elbow and when he looked at me, I was shocked.

He was crying! Was he that scared?

"Bhaiyya, he was coming home when you got there. I promise he wasn't doing it intentionally. There must be a reason behind it. Right, Nikhil?" I tried to reason but Lakshya held his right palm up which made me shut up instantly.

"What kind of reason?" Lakshya asked.

"Speak up, Nikhil," I said in a low voice.

But that idiot looked like he didn't know how to talk. He was just standing there like a statue while tears rolled down his cheeks. Man, I wanted his family to know but this was going in a completely opposite direction.

"We didn't raise you to be so irresponsible," Aunty spoke up and came to stand beside Lakshya.

Lakshya moved to the side and his mom took his spot. She kept yelling at Nikhil and soon, Uncle also joined her. They were accusing him of being careless, how worried he made them, how he should focus on his studies instead of hanging out with bad company; how he should have listened to them and followed the rules, how he should be more like his brother, etc., etc.

Nikhil seemed to be shrinking by every complaint thrown at him and when I went closer to him, he moved away. He looked at me with so much hurt in his eyes that I started feeling guilty. He wiped away his tears and kept on apologizing to his parents.

Dude, don't apologise. Say what's troubling you!

"You are grounded. No more hanging out till late nights, no parties, no bike and most importantly, no more basketball," Lakshya announced and snatched the bike keys away from Nikhil.

Say what? Everything else was fine but no basketball?! How could he do that?

Uncle and aunty also agreed with him and I just stared at all of them in shock. Shouldn't they be more considerate towards him? Why wasn't anyone asking about why he did that?

"Bhaiyya, isn't that too harsh?" I spoke up.

"Sandhya!" Mom yelled and pulled me away.

"Mom, atleast listen to-"

"No! Not a single word from you. How could you go behind our backs and pull that kind of stunt? Did you even think about how worried we were for you? We didn't even know where the hell you were!"

I had never seen her this angry before. I glanced at dad for help but he shook his head. I would have to deal with her alone. Save me!

"Aunty is right, Sandhya. What were you thinking, going at such a place all by yourself? What if something had happened to you?" Lakshya asked and now the gun was pointed towards me.

"Sandhu beta, you should have told us. You are a girl! We couldn't have forgiven ourselves if something bad had happened." Aunty came and caressed my hair.

"But I am fine Aunty. Nothing happened," I said and noticed that everyone was looking at me in worry.

"You should be more careful. I know you can defend yourself but you shouldn't have gone there alone. It was good that Lakshya found you or what would you have done if someone had attacked you?" Uncle asked with concern.

Dad also came and hugged me, and told me to tell them everything next time and not play hero all by myself. Lakshya bhaiyya also voiced out his worry and blamed Nikhil for dragging me into this.

Nikhil was left all alone while I was surrounded by everyone worrying about me. Aunty and Uncle were praising me while mom was scolding me. Dad was thanking Lakshya for bringing me home safely. It was a complete chaos. No one was listening to me when I tried to tell them about Nikhil.

He was staring at us with a longful look and fisted his hands when his eyes met mine. He ran upstairs and banged his room's door loudly. It got everyone's attention and Lakshya told us that he would handle it. Nikhil was just throwing tantrums.

But what if he wasn't? What if he was actually struggling to share his problems?

I moved to go to him but mom held my arm. She told me that his family would take care of it and we should better get going. My share of lecture was still left. My parents again thanked Lakshya and his family while I was worrying about Nikhil.

After ten minutes, we left the Avasthis' house. I looked up in my friend's room's direction. What would he be thinking now? He was grounded but most importantly, he was banned from playing basketball. For how long, I didn't know.

I was so scared for him. I thought Uncle was scary but Lakshya bhaiyya was on whole another level. I just hoped he wouldn't be more harsh on his brother. Everyone had high expectations of him but no one was thinking about why he acted like that.

Instead they were all blaming him and accusing him of wrong behaviour. Damn. What did I do? I should have told aunty about it way earlier. That way she could have handled it better. Or not? Would she have reacted differently if I had told her? Who knows?

Mom interrupted my thinking when we reached home. She made me sit on the sofa while dad and she scolded me about how I was taking advantage of the freedom and doing as I pleased. I listened to all of it without arguing back since I knew whatever I would say in my defence wouldn't be of any use.

I agreed to whatever punishment they had for me and went to my room to change. I messaged Nikhil asking him how he was doing but he didn't reply. He read the messages though. He must have been really pissed off at me.

I kept the phone on my study table and changed into pyjamas. I went in the washroom to get cleaned when I heard a Ping sound. I quickly picked up my phone to check the message. Nikhil had replied to me.

"Don't talk to me. EVER."

I quickly messaged him but he blocked me on WhatsApp. Shit. I called him up but he didn't pick up. I kept calling him but he kept cutting the calls. I must have called him like forty times but still he didn't receive any of my calls.

I threw away my phone on bed in frustration and started pacing in my room. I knew I fucked up badly but I had no bad intentions. I just wanted to help him and nothing else.

Why do my plans always backfire?

Damn, Sandhya. Atleast do one thing properly. Now after all the efforts you took, Nikhil is still mad at you. Nothing changed.

Can I do something about it? Umm.... What to do?

I looked at my books on the study table and curled up my lips in a small smile. I rushed to the chair and took out the notes I was making for Nikhil from my bag. I was almost done with the subject he had asked me for.

So, I decided to make some for Maths and Physics also since he struggled with those. Maybe, these would help. I checked the timing and estimated that I might be able to complete them by morning if I pulled through the whole night.

I would just refer to my own notes and add some extra points here and there for him to understand easily.

Okay, let's get started. We got lots of work to do.