Standing near the door of the office is Nikhil, with clenched fists and gritted teeth, but as he walks towards me, his eyes soften.

"You okay?" He asks, concern laced in his tone, as Ved awkwardly stands up.

"Thanks Ved." Nikhil mutters grudgingly—surprising me—and Ved simply nods in reply before giving me a parting wave as he walks towards the exit. 

"Yeah, just a cricket match injury." I assure him after waving back at Ved for which he slightly scowls and seats himself beside me.

"Just a cricket match injury? Are you fucking kidding me Ritu? Almost half of the skin on your knee is scraped and yeah, maybe it's just the skin and nothing internal but the blood?" He rants.

"Hey, hey, it's nothing, really. I'm fine. I just feel this...kind of burning on my knee but you know how um...physically rugged I am?" I reply trying to lighten him up.

He still looks somber, shoulders slumped with his hair sticking up in all directions probably the aftermath of running his hands through them repeatedly.

But still he looked hot as hell.

Aye, true that.

The nurse finishes up and I get up to go back to class which earns me a glare from both the nurse and Nikhil.

I pout and sit back on the bed while the nurse leaves Nikhil and me alone now.

"Nikki don't wor—"

My consolation is interrupted by Nikhil grabbing my face and kissing me, all his worries and fear put into it.

Pulling away, he inhales deeply before sternly saying, "You better be careful, okay?"

"Sure. But tell Darsh to notify me of him not being ready earlier." I shrug and my comment finally gets a smile from him.

"Seriously though, how did you find out about this?" I express my doubt.

"I was about to go to the ground when I saw Mia, Harsh and Darsh rushing somewhere and I just stopped by to say hi but then they told me what happened. You must have gone for a really fast delivery if you had taken this big of a hit from skidding."

"Sort of, yeah. Darsh didn't even look like he was getting off after a few overs!!"

"Yeah, Harsh told me." He chuckled while I roll my eyes but then, at Harsh's mention, I remember what DQ had commented about me and Harsh earlier in the day.

"Nikki, I— about that, today while working on the posters for the exhibition...me and Harsh— we were— we were just laughing because of—"

"Aaaaand Mia already told me about that. Shaina doubting you and Harsh. That was what you're gonna say about right?" He asks calmly.

I nod, gulping in fear.

"Seriously, Ritu, I trust you and Harsh is a friend of mine too. And I know how friends are kind of a big deal for you. You know I regret mentioning about you getting manipulated by your ex-bestie, even if I was angry and that was not an excuse," He pauses before continuing, "so no, I don't think of it as anything except good friendship. Oh and what's with the 'DQ'?" He asked confused.

"That's the name we've gave for Shaina. She's such a drama queen, so instead of calling her 'Drama Queen' which might be too obvious, we call her 'DQ'. We can call her 'DQ' even in front of her this way, y'know." I shrug with a grin.

He hums in reply and then turns to me.

"You know, I'll admit, I was jealous that a boy—Harsh in this case—talked to you, laughing and all, but who wouldn't be with a girlfriend such as mine?" He wiggled his brows.

I smack his arm with the back of my hand for which he overdramatically winces while rubbing the spot where I hit him.

"You're a meanie." He pouts.

"Yep. But your meanie." I say, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Damn straight." He affirms, intertwining our fingers and resting his head on top of mine.

***

Few days after my knee injury, like the past few days, with the help of Mia, I'm sitting under a tree in our school's ground, watching Nikhil play cricket with his friends, while I drool over how he looks so hot with sweat glistening from the Sun rays that fall on him, making him look like—

"Adonis?" Mia suddenly butts in.

Observing my confused face she elaborates with a solemn nod, "Yeah, you said that out loud."

Well, it isn't like Nikhil's listening to this conversation, so I settle with the truth.

"Nope. He looks like Nikhil. He looks like himself." I reply with a cheeky grin.

Sighing she retorts, "You know what I meant."

"Okay, okay, yeah. I really don't know how I didn't see this earlier..." I finish with a sigh.

"You did, but you were just too stubborn and stuck up with an oak tree too far up your ass, no offence, to admit that to yourself. You just needed a push, from someone great like me." She finishes with a shrug, popping another gummy bear into her mouth, offering me one which I decline.

Not that I don't like them, just that I had eaten mere minutes ago.

I let the last part of her statement slide and think back to those times I had learnt self-defense from him, his sweat drenched, shirtless self, teaching me moves with precision.

I had changed into a grey t-shirt and black shorts for the session and was walking towards the mat while putting my hair into a tight bun.

Which took a lot of effort, considering my hair.

Nikhil noticed me and he eyed me from head to toe, lingering a bit longer on my legs and looked away gulping.

Must be my repulsive, unfit, thick legs.

"You ready?" He asked after clearing his throat.

"Yep" I nodded while appreciating his shirtless body.

Just like how I appreciate Jensen Ackles, yes, just like that.

We stood facing each other on the mat and he started briefing about a basic punch.

"Okay so you gotta stand straight—feet must be shoulder width apart." He said, lightly nudging my feet to spread as he held my shoulders and straightened me.

Following his lead I came to the stance he told me to make and he proceeded to tell me how the thumb must be folded over the other four curled fingers to prevent the thumb from getting damaged.

We went over my stance and my fist positions to perfect it and he also gave me pointers on how to maximize the impact on the person whom we're punching.

"So, let's see what you got." He steeled himself in front of me, beckoning me to take a swing.

"Oh and don't worry, you don't have to go all soft on me and neither will I, on you." He added a bit smugly and gave me the go.

I tried my best and faked a swing with my left fist then went for a punch with my right fist.

Unfortunately, he was the more experienced one here.

With quick reflexes, he caught my right fist and my left arm, locked them behind me as he pulled me to his bare chest.

My breath hitched as our chests brushed and he leaned down.

Would've you felt the same if Jensen Ackles did this?

Yes, totally.

Uh-huh, sure.

"Tricking me, are we?" He whispered lowly in my ears.

I managed a nod while squirming in his hold.

He let go, abruptly pulling back while running his hands through his hair.

"Just go over this, I'll be back." He said hoarsely before leaving me to punch his punching bag for some time.

"Heyo, I'm gonna go to the restroom. Will you be okay here by yourself?" Mia asks from beside me, pulling me out of my memory.

"Uh...yeah, sure. I'll be okay." I reply hastily.

"For sure?" She asks me uncertainly.

"Ugh, yeah. Please, I'm not made of porcelain." I groan.

"Okay, okay. I'll be back soon." She says before leaving.

I turn back towards the game and find Nikhil jogging towards me.

"Hey, what's wrong Nikki?" I ask.

"Why'd she go leaving you alone?" He asks with a frown while he sits beside me.

"She went to the restroom. You know, excretion is important." I comment, earning an eye roll.

"Fine, but you're not moving okay?" He says, the frown still intact.

"I will. Don't fuss, now go and play, don't let me hold you back." I lean in and peck the corner of his frowning lips.

Huffing, he mutters something about 'stubborn girl' and gets up, walking towards his friends.

I watch the game; currently Nikhil's team was fielding and was in the lead with only a few wickets left with very less score for the batting team.

Three deliveries later, Nikhil starts bowling.

He goes for a slow spin, which gets hit up high and finally it falls perfectly into the hands of a fielder.

His teammates start shouting, holding up the 'out' sign while some settle with a pat on Nikhil and the catcher's back.

I find myself smiling and clapping my hands wildly.

The next batsman comes and gets ready and since it was Nikhil's over, he bowls again.

The first ball just gets defended, no runs, making the batting teammates to shout at the batsman to hit higher for a six or four.

Desperate times.

Of course, with this score, even after several sixes and fours their chances of winning are less.

Nikhil tries a Yorker and the batsman swings wildly, desperate to score, hitting a full toss.

The ball goes up high, a fielder following it, while others look at it nervously with hands on their heads.

The fielder runs with wide eyes and stretched hands, trying to catch it.

And catch he did.

Cheers erupt as the ball falls in the fielder's hands, deeming the current batsman out and since he was the last wicket, Nikhil's team won the game.

They all pat each other's backs and do the bro-hugs. Even the opposition team joins their victory cheer.

All of them take the bats and the balls while bidding farewell to their friends.

Nikhil turns towards me with a shit-eating grin, mouthing 'We won' from where he was standing.

I return his grin with my thumbs-up.

But what I didn't notice in the heat of the cricket match going in front of me was that there was a football match going somewhere beside me too.

And that the ball had been kicked haphazardly, leading it to fly towards me.

Nikhil's eyes suddenly widen and he starts running towards me shouting my name.

I turn towards the soccer-ball flying towards me and due to my bad knees, I'm unable to get up and move out of the way quickly.

What is it with you and sports injury?

I close my eyes and put my hands up to prevent my head from taking too much of the blow and wait for the impact...

Which never comes.

I turn expecting to see probably Nikhil's hands or something that stopped the ball.

But what I saw made me want to go to the opticians and check if my eye-power had changed, again.

DQ stands with her legs blocking the ball and she bends down and takes the ball in her hands.

With a fierce glare, she throws the ball—hard—towards the boys.

Pointing at me, she shouts at the boys, "Are y'all fucking blind, dickheads? Can't you see her sitting there?"

The boys look at me apologetically, mouthing 'sorry' and run back to their game.

DQ sits beside me with a poker-face and asks me, "Are you okay?"

A/N: Thoughts? Vote and comment, please and thank you!