Shay was beyond livid when she burst through the front door of Tripathi Villa. Both the twins were huddled inside the open kitchen across the hall when she finally found them. Aarav held an ice pack against his split bottom lip while Ryan washed his bloody knuckles by the sink. One look at their current state was enough for Shay to piece the puzzle together.

"What the fuck did you guys do?"

Shay spoke at the top of her lungs, throwing her purse on the kitchen island and crossing her arms over her chest. She was shaking with the impact of her previous encounter with Ivan and the impatience due to the twins' silence.

Aarav only scoffed at her and proceeded to mend his bruises.

Her eyes shifted from Aarav to Ryan, who gazed at her with an intense look, leaning on the counter. The top two buttons of his shirt were missing, and she could see a glimpse of black ink underneath. Shay wondered when he got the tattoo. And more importantly, how did she miss such a detail about him? Didn't they promise to share every little part of their life?

A sudden wincing sound from Aarav caused both Shay and Ryan to rush towards Aarav in wonder, but he waved them off. He was in his soccer jersey and athletics shorts, and Shay's eyes lingered on his built frame more than she'd like to admit. She shook her head dismissively, trying not to lose herself in his charm.

When the boys fell silent once again, she lost her patience. "Can one of you assholes answer my goddamn question? What happened with Ivan?"

Aarav threw the ice pack on the floor and twisted in the barstool, one arm braced on the kitchen island, his black eyes blazing. "Do not fucking utter his name." His angry tone confused her.

"Did he ask you out?" Ryan's voice was calmer, but it carried the thunder of his brother's anger. Shay snapped her head towards Ryan to see his eyes were as dark as his brother's.

The intensity of both the Tripathi twin's eyes and voices caught Shay off-guard. "Yes, he did." Shay felt her breath hitch at the way Aarav gritted his teeth and tried to take in her answer. "But why are you guys acting so weird about it?"

"You don't know why I am-" Aarav snapped his teeth together, then paused to scrub his face with his hands. "You've no idea, do you? That guy can't take you out, Shay. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever."

The rumble of his voice made her falter a step back when Ryan's warning voice echoed in the room. "Aarav! You can't talk to Shay like that."

These were the moments when Ryan showed he was ten minutes older than Aarav, contradicting his otherwise ignorant behavior. She looked at Ryan's calm but flaming face as he gave a warning look to Aarav.

"I don't understand." Shay quickly recovered from the initial shock of Aarav's angry response, and hurt replaced the anger in her tone. "You guys can't decide who can ask me out. Ivan is the only guy who has ever asked me out. So, if anything, you guys should be happy for me, not breaking his nose for that. And why can't he take me out ever, Aarav?"

Aarav cursed under his breath, his face twisting as his midnight eyes took in the hurt on Shay's face. Shay could see a myriad of emotions dancing across his handsome face. Aarav opened his mouth, then closed it as if he couldn't find a good enough reason to give her. His expressions spoke some hidden signs that he couldn't voice out. Her eyes followed the movement of his tense jaw, his lips as they muttered some curses, and they lingered on the deep cut over his bottom lip. Within seconds, he let out a rough groan and then stormed out of the kitchen without looking back, though Ryan called after him. Then, they heard him walk out of the house with a loud slam.

Shay took a deep breath, trying to reason out the sudden flash of jealousy on Aarav's face. Yes, it was jealousy. She knew the twins enough to exercise their emotions through their eyes. Her shoulders slumped with the memories reeling fast in front of her eyes.

For a year, Shay and Aarav had been closer than ever before. They skipped classes to go on long drives across the outskirts of the town. They ate lunch together and held hands during the long walks in the evening, eating the same flavored ice cream. They stole his father's collection of wine and got drunk on the dock behind his house no matter how unethical it was.

Maybe these were the silent reasons, sufficient not to go out with Ivan.

Shay suddenly started contemplating their friendship. Ryan and Aarav were her only best friends. Sure, she had her girlfriends Ayesha and Shreya in her life, too. But the twins were her lifeline. Shay couldn't paint a future without them. With her parents constantly leaving town for work, she needed someone who could fill up the gap in her family, wipe the tears of her failure, and celebrate the joy of her victory. It was always them, her soulmates, the Tripathi twins.

But then, there were moments when Aarav needed her. They had spent multiple lazy evenings running movie marathons and had fallen asleep on each other's lap. Sure, Ryan had been part of some of those moments, but most of them belonged to Shay and Aarav. She had never held Ryan's hand or slept against his chest. Shay had not shared these affectionate touches with anyone but Aarav.

Could she share those moments with Ivan? Certainly not. She didn't think about it when she agreed to go out with him.

"We saw you. Walking out of the library with Ivan," Ryan pushed off the counter, his gait a little heavy as he came to her side. He picked up the ice pack from the floor and tossed it into the trash bin. "Hand in hand."

Her eyes flickered towards his bruised knuckles, then she looked up at him. His brows knitted together as if he was trying to read her mind.

"So what? It doesn't allow you both to pick a fight with him. And it certainly doesn't allow Aarav to get pissed at me."

"Are you sure about that?" He scowled at her, leaning against the counter beside her, their shoulders touching. She could feel the tension through his arm pressed against hers.

"I don't understand-"

"You don't understand what, Shay? I think you do." Ryan slid away from her side, closed his eyes momentarily, then turned. "Jesus! Just go, talk to Aarav. He lost his shit when he saw you and Ivan together. And don't tell me you don't understand why he felt that way."

"We are best friends, Ryan. I don't think that's enough reason for him or you to beat up guys I decide to date." She threw a glare at his heaving back.

"Are you sure about that friendship, Shay?" Ryan's voice had a controlled timbre as he gritted those words. "Because Aarav surely didn't start a fight with Ivan just for his friend. It was more like he was fighting for his girl."

"His girl?" Her heart pounded in her chest. So, her assumptions were correct. Shay started looking at all of her moments with Aarav differently with Ryan's mention. Did those affectionate touches mean more than friendship?

Was it so obvious that even Ryan could feel it?

God. What a mess.

A million thoughts rushed through her mind, with the realization dawning on her heart. She didn't think about Aarav when she agreed to go out with Ivan. Hell! She was even excited to go out with him. But as Ryan's words echoed in her mind, she pictured Ivan in all those cute little moments she shared with Aarav and Ryan, and she had to stop herself from screaming out a big 'No' with the mere images.

Her mind steered back to Aarav. To Aarav's angry and broken face. To Ryan's mention of Shay being Aarav's girl.

And just like that, her mind drifted to the memories of them holding hands, him kissing her cheeks when she cried. Shay could feel Aarav's arms around her as she snuggled up against his warm chest, her ear pressed against his heart as the slow melody of his heartbeats lulled her to sleep. She could feel the sinful desire to kiss a guy on the lips for the first time and want those lips to belong to Aarav.

Her cheeks turned a deep hue of scarlet, and she could feel light sweating in her palms. When she regained her senses, she could feel Ryan's charcoal black orbs gazing at her intensely. Shay had to look away to hide the slight blush on her cheeks.

As Ryan's eyes didn't waver, she strode over to the freezer to grab some ice and wrap it in a dishtowel. Shay walked back to him, took his hand, and pressed it to his knuckles, careful not to hurt him.

"Why did you fight with Ivan? Did he ask out your girl too at the same time?" She scoffed as he hissed from the pressure against his busted knuckles.

Ryan remained silent for a long minute before groaning out and placing a hand over her hand. He took the ice from Shay, and gave her a soft smile as he said, "Something like that."

Shay blinked at his response, trying to find the hidden humor in his words. But Shay knew very well that humor wasn't Ryan's strength.

She needed to get out of the Tripathi Villa and reason out her newborn feelings towards one of her best friends while not affecting her feelings for the other. After all, they both were identical, and she never once imagined a life without either one of them. But they weren't kids anymore, and maybe, just maybe, their feelings were complicating their friendship slowly.

***

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Another chapter into the story! If you are enjoying it, please add your comments and votes. They always motivate me to write further. I'll be updating this story twice a week, but I'm not giving up.

Let me know who is your favorite character so far?