"Hola! Writing this in Ola!

I told you I'll be travelling on 3.1.18 but didn't tell you where am I going. I am going to Mathura for a day via Yamuna Expressway. So I've made it a point to click pictures on my journey to add it in this ff!" - Riti, 3/1/18 13:17

Thanks to those who vote and those who don't, have you seen Gangs Of Wasseypur's poster! That's what I want to do to you guys sometimes😑

Happy Reading!

Sonakshi shoved Dev's head off her shoulders the nth time.

"Dev... Dev ... Oh Dev... You are sleeping on my shoulder." Sonakshi shook him and he woke up finally.

"Oh was I? Don't tell me you didn't like it!" He slowly shifted his weight from her side. "Damn"

"No need to be apologetic." Sona said

"Nahi. That's not the matter. My hair! Saare kharab ho gaye hain" He pushed her aside and began adjusting his hair looking at his faint reflection in the glass window.

"Oh God! You are imposssible" She rolled her eyes and he chuckled slightly at her remark.

Sonakshi was about to interrupt but she heard a faint snor.

"Who's that?" She asked. Dev turned around and there he saw the culprit. Karan was sleeping and snoring, totally ignorant about his whereabouts. The bus met a bumper on the road and with that jerk Karan's head was down on Dev's shoulder. Sonakshi began laughing. Dev raised his eyebrows in a what.

"That's called a taste of your own medicine" Sona said trying hard to control her growing chuckles.

"Yaa right" He looked away. He was always the one making fun of others. He didn't like being the one on whom people would laugh. He didn't like this spot, certainly.

"You don't like being the reason for a joke. Am I right or am I right?" Sona partially turned towards him and asked.

"Kind of. I mean ... "He tried to find points in his defense but it was of no use.

"You are daddy's spoilt son aren't you? Jo chahiye hoga wo ek plate me ready. Lavish life, super huge ego. That's how boys of your type are. I know." She turned towards the window again with a victorious air around her

"Daddy's spoilt son... I used to be one." Dev began blabbering out of the blue, oblivious to the fact that he was still in Sona's hearing range.

"Why 'used to be'?" She spontaneously asked him

"Because Papa is no more."

"I'm sorry. I didn't knew" Sonakshi mentally cursed herself for not watching her words. This is how she was. She would speak just anything randomly and would regret it later.

"Its ok." He whispered. A wave of sadness ran down his eyes. Sona could make that out. Her guilt grew a little stronger. He was clearly close to his dad. She couldn't even imagine life without her Baba. The mere thought made her shiver with fear. Here, this guy was living with this reality each day. He must be brave or maybe he is just pushing all the pain down. Baba JOHN GREEN said pain demands to be felt and BABA DUMBLEDORE said numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. Is he acting to be what he seems to be? With these thoughts she decided to lift his spirits up.

"Dev" She called him a little louder, to draw his attention towards her. "You are lucky your friends don't mock you for everything. With me, Neha and that Ele its different. We laugh at everything we do. We bully all three of us and support each one of us."

He smiled at her vague chat.

"Do you want to listen to something?" She forwarded her phone and earplugs.

"Please. Mercy. I slept last time thanks to your ghazals" He said "Haa if you want me sleeping on you again then I will surely listen to your music"

He clutched her phone and she took it back swiftly. She nodded her head in a frantic no. Her hair swayed due to movement. She pushed them back immediately.

"You're cute" Dev laughed

"Th-an-k you" She wasn't sure if that was a compliment.

The bus met another bumper and with that jerk, Karan's head was back on his seat. Dev's hand slightly brushed with Sonakshi's and she pulled it back with like a flash of lightening.

"Lage 440 Volt chune se mere?" Dev was back in the teasing mode again.

Sonakshi turned her head back to the window. Dev laughed seeing her reaction. The touch had lasted for barely a second and here she was behaving as if they had shared another level of intimacy. He thought of telling her this but then decided against it. He knew if this idea reached her ears she would break his head into two before he could conjure an apology.

On the other hand, for some strange reason, Sonakshi was smiling about what just happened. She looked at the finger that had just touched his hand and caressed it slightly. Her lips sprouted in a smile but then she realised what she was doing and stopped her growing mush. She composed herself.

"I am not a spoilt brat Sonakshi" Dev began speaking again "Yes Papa treated me no less than a prince. I wanted to become an actor but after he passed away I am little loaded with responsibilities. I have to take care of Maa and my 2 sisters. With friends, I am free. Sorry for that accident."

He lifted his hand to pinch his earlobes to say sorry but then ended up pulling Sona's ear.

"Ouch" She screamed

"Sorry sorry" Dev laughed again. Sona rubbed her ear. When her eyes fell on him she saw him in a new light. He was different. There was nothing common between him and her but still she felt a strange connect with him. She had never been too friendly with boys at school and her college was an all girls one. "All boys are dogs" This was her mentality till date. Dev was breaking through that wall she had build around her. He was a jerk according to Sonakshi but he wasn't bad at heart.

Dev categorised girls like Sonakshi as the players who "play hard to get" but Sonakshi wasn't being rude or snobbish to gain his attention. She was being herself and he liked her somehow. Afterall she was different.

Sonakshi pulled her Durjoy Dutta book out again. She was back to reading and listening to music. Dev saw her drift away into her own land. She wasn't even moving or paying attention to her surroundings. He could bet that if the bus caught fire she would be the last one to realise. He felt ignored, neglected. He poked his finger in her forearm and she shot an angry glare back at him. A riled Sona was his favourite. He pulled his side of the earphones back again and began listening to the music.

Baatein kuch ankahi si
Kuch ansuni si hone lagi
Kaabu me dil raha na
Hasti humari khone lagi
Woooah wo ho ho hooo
Shayad yahi hai pyar(*2)

Dev looked at Sonakshi through the corner of his eyes. She seemed unaffected then why was he finding the song apt for them.

Keh de mujhse dil me kya hai
Aisa bhi kya guroor
Tujhko bhi to ho raha hai
Thoda asar zaroor
Ye khamoshi jeene na de
Koi to baat ho
Woo wo ho ho
Shayad yahi hai pyaar
Baatein kuch ankahi si
Kuch ansuni si hone lagi
Kabu dil pe raha na
Hasti humari khone lagi
Wo wohoo hoo
Shayad yahi hai pyar

The music was reaching Sona's ears too but she was too absorbed in the book to pay heed to anything, anyone.

Tu hi meri roshni hai
Tu hi chirag hai
Dheere dheere mit jaayega
Halka sa daag hai
Ye zeher to yun piya hai
Jaise sharab ho
Wo woo hoo hoo
Shayad yahi hai pyar!
Shayad yahi hai pyar!

Short chapter.
I know.
Can't help it

Precap-

Dev: Kyu tang karna hai tumhe Sonakshi ko?
Karan: Are you scared that you'll be proved wrong
Dev:No I know I won't lose.
Varun: Then? Challenge accepted?
Jatin and Dev: Accepted
Umang: This is going to be fun.