With a steaming cup of hot coffee, I sat on the living room couch, still not able to talk about what had happened a few hours ago. Noah was quiet as well, not talking about this morning. He pretty much left me to my own thoughts.

So much had happened in a matter of hours, it felt like the Christmas party happened a decade ago. Now, I couldn't go out anymore, without always looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was following me. I suddenly wanted to be back in India, in our home, away from all this madness.

It was well over lunchtime when Noah finally came back into the living room.

"Can I interest you with a lasagna?" He asked with his hallmark cheery grin as though nothing had happened. He stared at me sometimes and deciding he was not getting any response from me, he continued his monologue.

"I'm going to make it with the secret Carlson recipe my grandmother taught me. Get ready to have your mind blown."

He padded into the kitchen searching for the ingredients and talked some more but I was hardly paying any attention. I placed the cup against my cheek wanting the sting of hotness against my skin. I could hear a sigh from the kitchen and in a few moments, Noah was kneeling in front of me, gently moving the hot cup away from my cheek. He took the cup from my hands and placed it on the table.

"You have to get out of it. You are safe now." Noah said emphasizing the word safe. I almost let out a cynical laugh at that word. Safety was a relative term now. I was safe for the moment, but who knew if a killer was going to apparate straight into my bedroom while I was sleeping and slit my throat. But Noah's concerned expression snapped me out of my fatal thoughts. I put a smile for his sake. I recalled this very morning when I was sure he was a traitor. But now he saved my life and was asking me to be strong. My life had truly become a rollercoaster ride.

"I haven't thanked you yet for this morning." I kissed his cheek, "Thank you for saving my life."

I had this urge to move my target to two inches left but I controlled myself. It was strange how my brain could switch from killing to kissing in a matter of seconds.

"You would have done the same for me. He shrugged and pulled me up by my hand, "If you really want to thank me, keep me company while I am cooking delicious lunch for you."

I followed him quietly and took my place at the breakfast counter watching him move around the kitchen, like an expert chef. A smile formed on my lips involuntarily. He was wearing a white t-shirt which was barely hiding the rippling of his muscles while he was moving.

Why is it so hot to watch a man cook?

I realized that we never cooked in the kitchen after his arrival. We always ordered takeouts. The college has a way of sucking the life out of you at the end of the day and I was grateful for not having to cook. But seeing him now made me think this cooking business could be interesting. He finished cooking and arranged the dishes on the counter without allowing me to touch anything.

"Just be my guest today." He said. He was doing all this just to distract me and I couldn't explain how grateful I was to have him today of all days by my side. He served the lasagna on my plate before sitting and putting some of it on his plate.

"So, how's it?" He asked expectantly, as soon as I put the lasagna in my mouth.

"It's......"I stalled, just for the kick of it.

"Just tell me already." He asked genuinely, waiting for the result. I couldn't torture him further

"It's excellent. You have to teach me." I said truthfully. I never tasted such delicious lasagna and after living on takeouts for so many days it actually tasted like home. Noah didn't know what he had brought upon him today. He was going to cook every day for us from now on.

But he smiled at my compliment and gave a bow in response. It was a perfect moment. I wanted to freeze it forever.

********

It was five o'clock in the evening when my phone rang. It was my mom. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. It would be early morning in India. Noah and I were sitting on the couch each one reading a book. Noah looked up from his book to see my brows furrow in thought.

"What is it?" He asked, definitely expecting another crazy episode.

"It's my mom. Remember our deal? You don't exist while my mom is on the phone." I threw Noah a warning glance who raised his hands in defense, laughing more with relief, I think. He didn't know half of the mess that would happen if my mom found out I was living with an American boy.

"Hello maa!" I wished her extra cheerfully to compensate for my less than honest behavior with her. I lost count of how many things I had been hiding from her. I kept all the recent, extraordinary things to myself. She knew about Mitchell's death, but after that everything had been a lie. According to her, I was living with a Korean girl who was not very good at English and not comfortable with video calls. She, fortunately, fell for my lie and didn't ask to speak with the imaginary girl as she did with Mitchell. I felt like such a horrible person for lying to my own mother but there was no better option. The lesser she knew, the happier she would be.

"Hello...." my mom said. But her voice sounded funny like she was weirded out. I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit. I heard a funny voice on the phone today and it didn't go well. They couldn't get to India this quick, could they? They didn't even know I hid that damn pearl there.

"Maa, what is it? You sound funny." I said barely keeping the panic out of my voice.

"It's nothing. But your aunt is behaving weirdly. She wants to talk to you immediately." My mom said. I took an audible sigh of relief. The aforementioned aunt is my mom's younger sister, who lives two streets away from us. She was ten years younger than my mom, so she was less guardian and more partner in the crime. She was the fun aunt who took me to places and read a lot of stories for me. She studied engineering in the US and she was the reason I was here. I always followed her footsteps. You could say I worshiped her. She was always so cool, so it came as a surprise when I heard, she had to talk to me immediately.

"Why?" I asked my mom.

"About that, you know we are repainting our house. I didn't want my hand-carved wooden locker to get spoiled. So, I kept it at your aunt's house. I may have shown her the pearl you sent us. She was freaking out to talk to you since then and made me promise that I would make you call as soon as possible. I don't understand it." My mom said suspiciously.

"Maa, I specifically asked you to not tell anyone about that. Why would you go on exhibiting it around?" I asked, suddenly furious. My mom didn't realize what danger she was getting herself into. I didn't think it was safe for my family to keep it around anymore. It would be better if it was me than them.

"Do you have the pearl with you now?" I asked her.

"Yeah. We brought the locker back." She said.

"Send the pearl back to me. I have to give it back to Mitchell's parents anyway." I lied.

"Fine." My mom said, maybe with a hint of shock. I never talked angrily with her before. We talked for some more time before I hung up and called my Aunt Myra. It has been so long since I have talked to her. I was just so caught up in everything since college. The phone rang three times when she picked it up.

"Hey, Mausi. Maa said you wanted to talk?" I asked, still wondering what would be so urgent. It would be so early in the morning. And my aunt was not exactly a morning person. I still remember the fights between my mom and her about her bed timings.

She didn't follow any niceties nor sounded like my easy-going, cool aunt. She asked only one question as soon as she lifted the phone.

"Naina, why the hell did you give your mother the blood pearl to hide?"