Hello Fam :)

The first half of the chapter might feel a bit unrealistic but I met people like that. So, not at all exaggerating about it. :P

Another important one. ;)

Happy Reading...

Cabir 'was' the happiest person when the idea of forcing his head couple to share a sleeping bag occurred in his brain. He didn't expect a miracle to happen but at least he was looking for some signs to tease them. What was out of the understanding of his nerve range was the head couple to completely avoid each other.

It had been a week. During the first half of the week, he didn't find any difference in Manik's behavior but Nandini avoided him as much as possible until his brother noticed it. They might have had a conversation or two, no proof there, but since Thursday Manik had locked himself up in his room, bunking his classes. Someone had to force him out of the room for food which he shoved whatever was available within ten minutes before escaping to his room again.

After two days of avoiding all the human world, on Saturday, Cabir sneaked up on him multiple times during the day and found him reading books. It wasn't new but he was being secretive whenever Cabir asked him about the genre or the name of the book. Manik slept the whole day on Sunday and read some more on Monday morning.

It was around noon when he came to Cabir's room. "Cabir, I need to meet Nandini. Can you please drive me to college?"

Cabir glanced up at Manik and the look on his face frightened him. Instead of kicking his overprotective brother mode on, he concentrated on his decision of giving Manik his space and chance to take his own decisions. "Manik, are you freaking out?", he asked while grabbing his car keys.

"Yes, but no time to discuss that now. Drive me to Nandini, please", he asked again.

Cabir nodded. His plan of not freaking out was failing badly. Thanks to his racing skills, they were in the parking area of their college within half an hour and without any incidents. Beside him, Manik was bouncing his leg continuously. Before he could escape out of the car, Cabir pulled him by his wrist. "You are scaring me, Manik. What's going on?"

"Nandini is pregnant", he told.

Cabir laughed. It was ridiculous. When he last met Nandini two days back, she was fine. "Bhai, are you joking?", he asked between his laughter but Manik was biting his lip and the frown on his face worried him. "Manik, are you serious? It's not something to joke about", he told carefully.

Manik shook his head. "We slept together. I need to talk to her, kid." He didn't wait for Cabir and stormed off inside the building.

It took a few minutes for Cabir to process the news before his resolve cracked up and he let himself worry about his Manik.

XXX

Nandini was having the time of her life. Her parents were on an exotic vacation with some of their friends and Nandini had the house to herself. After two weeks of nonstop hard work, she felt she deserved the freedom of having the house to herself and the cheeseburgers in her canteen were heaven which was her priority at present. Abhimanyu and Mukti were bantering over some stupid topic and Nandini ignored them for the food.

Hence, she thought she was justified to punch the person who pulled the burger away from her hand. It was a quick reflex which stopped her hand when she saw Manik in front of her. "Manik, what the hell?", she asked softly. She noticed the panic on his face and it wouldn't do him good if she screamed at him now.

The boy pushed the plate further away from her and pulled her on her chair before taking another chair in front of her for himself. "Nandini, you can't eat all that greasy food", he told.

She looked at the grim face of Cabir, who just joined them. She raised an eyebrow at Manik's hand which was holding her. "Manik, what the hell?", she repeated. "Have you lost your mind?" She narrowed her eyes at Cabir for anything suspicious but he was concentrating completely on his brother.

Manik shook his head, gaining her attention again. He squeezed her hand. "Nandini, I agree it was a mistake and we aren't ready for this but you don't need to worry at all. I am there. I am as much responsible for this as you are and I am not backing out. We can talk to our mom about the baby and if she doesn't agree, I will take up a job."

What even was going on? The boy was panicking and Nandini replayed his words for any sort of clue. "Do you want to take up a job?", she asked. Was it all about being independent?

"If mom is kicking me out of the house, we would need money for raising the baby", he told.

She heard Cabir snort in the background and glared at him into silence, not that he was paying attention to her. He looked like he was restricting his hands from wrapping around Manik. She shook her head. Manik was important right now. "Manik", she said, "which baby are you talking about? Did Cabir force you to participate in some stupid reality show?"

Manik looked offended on Cabir's behalf and gave her hand a shake. "Nandini, you can't make a joke about our baby", he told.

What? "When did we have a baby?", she asked him.

"Aren't you pregnant?", asked Cabir.

Pregnant with what? Food? Manik's baby? Nandini could understand the eagerness in his voice as he looked even tenser than before. She opened her mouth to answer but Abhimanyu exclaimed in front of her.

"When did this happen? Am I going to be an uncle?", he asked.

Had he lost his mind? Why was the idiot smiling? Mukti might have kicked him under the table because he yelped in pain and glared at his girlfriend. Nandini sent a grateful look to her best friend. "Manik, it's not funny. Where did all this crap come from?", she asked both the Malhotra boys.

"Nandini, don't deny it. The baby is unplanned but it's our mistake to sleep together and we can't abandon it. We can't neglect our responsibilities and kill an innocent soul", he told.

Nandini thought if it was pushed further, Manik would even cry over killing a baby. She took her time to frame her words. She had never thought she would have to confront someone about her baby, which she had no idea about, so early in her life. "Are you talking about the bonfire night?", she asked quietly. She couldn't think of any other situation when they had 'slept together'.

Manik nodded and Cabir sucked in a breath, probably due to confirmation.

Nandini rubbed her face. She glanced at the concerned glances her friends were sending in her direction. "Guys, yes, we had slept together but it's not what you are thinking", she told. She had to tell the truth and she felt exposed in doing so. She didn't want to but there wasn't any other way to explain it. "I am scared of thunders. He sort of held me close and that's it. I am not pregnant", she muttered. Nandini looked up when she heard collective sighs.

Abhimanyu was quick enough to walk around the table and pulled her into a hug. "Did you think we would think of you any less if you confess your fears to us? You are stupid and human and it's normal, Nandini."

"I am sorry", she whispered as she clutched his shirt.

He pulled back to look at her face. "How did you manage all these years?", he asked.

"Music and headphones", she told.

Abhimanyu dropped a kiss to her forehead and wrapped his hands again around her. "You would never be alone during a thunderstorm again", he promised.

She knew it wasn't possible but the thought made her feel warm. When she broke the hug, Mukti blew her a kiss, making her smile. She was too lucky to have these two in her life. Coming to the other two, she found Cabir's face hidden behind his hands, his previous tense figure sagged in his chair. Manik, on the other hand, was calculating something on his fingers with a huge frown on his head.

"Bhai, which idiot gave you this information", asked Cabir.

"Books, Movies and the symptoms matched", he argued.

"What symptoms?", asked Nandini.

"You were avoiding me and it rained on that night. We slept together", he argued.

Nandini was glad there wasn't much crowd in the canteen. Probably the break was over and they didn't notice. She decided it was pointless to talk to Manik and turned to face Cabir. "Malhotra, you are going to have 'the talk' with your bhai. I don't want him to announce all his brainless bookish stuff in front of the college."

Cabir nodded. "He almost gave me a heart attack. I can't even imagine having a baby when I am this young, let alone raising it."

"Me too, bro", said Abhimanyu. "I completely feel you."

It struck a chord in Nandini's mind. Wasn't Manik the same age as them? He had his plan sorted to take up the responsibility even. She shook her head. The boy in question was staring at his lap, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Manik, I need a few signatures from you regarding the event. Can you finish them now so that I can submit it in the office?", she asked him.

He gave her a nod and stood up to follow her, his gaze strictly on his shoes. She took him to the nearest empty classroom, gave him the papers, and waited for him to sign them. There was an awkward silence until Nandini cleared her throat.

"Did you really mean whatever you said there?", she asked him.

He snapped his head at her. "I apologize for all the embarrassment I have caused you."

Nandini waved him off. "No, imagine if it were true. Would you still take up the responsibility?"

Manik frowned and looked at Nandini. It was his 'Are you stupid and what else do you think I would do look'. "If I am at fault, I will have to."

Nandini wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him to a hug. There was a time when this precious boy used to run a mile away from a girl. She was sure, he still freaks out when an unknown makes a move towards him, and yet here he was in all his 19-year-old self ready to take up the responsibility of a baby only because he doesn't want to kill an innocent soul. This boy deserved the world, thought Nandini. She pulled back from the hug and blinked her tears away but she wasn't too successful.

"Why are you crying?", asked Manik.

She shook her head. She was smiling and she knew her heart was bursting with unknown happiness but the boy in front of her had a frown deeper than the earlier as he saw some external tears. "You are the best person I could ever meet in my entire life, Manik. You have the purest of hearts and you always, always manage to restore my faith in humanity. I think I have done something really good some time to have you in my life."

He looked like he was about to argue but Nandini pulled him into another hug. She didn't want to let him go. The thought was the strangest one she had ever had but she didn't care. It was Manik and he was the strangest person compared to everyone she had in her life. I promise I would try my best to protect your innocence, Manik. When she broke the hug, there was her favorite shade of red on his face. She laughed. She couldn't stop the happiness out of her face.

"You know what", she said, "I don't care if you break my trust ever in future but at this moment, Manik, I trust you with all my heart. I haven't ever trusted a single person completely but if I couldn't trust you, I guess I can't trust anyone in the whole world." Trust was the most important and difficult thing for her. If she believed Manik deserved the world, she thought it was normal to give him her most important feeling.

She trusted him and unlike all the times before, she wasn't scared about it.

"I promise I would never knowingly break your trust", he muttered.

"I know, Manik", she assured him. "Do you want to attend the class or not?"

"I am in my sweatpants and without any books", he told.

Nandini shook her head. With a huge grin on her face, she went to submit the papers.

Nandini officially trusts Manik. How about that? :P 

How about a proposal? (Don't let your hopes go high. Just teasing there) :P