Second Chance At Love - [MANAN] #Book2

twenty six

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Manik heard Nandini scream all of a sudden making the boy worried. Leaving the damned pizza on the table and rushed towards upstairs from where he assumed he heard the voice coming from while the baseball bat tightly clenched in his hands, just in case someone was trying to break in.

"What happened Nandini? Where is the thief? Tell me-" he hurriedly entered inside the room and swung the baseball bat in the air while his eyes roaming around every corner of the room to find the suspicion person. But he lowered the bat and a frown appeared on his face as he found no one in the room expect Nandini with lots of stuff thrown on the floor.

"Nandini what happened? Why did you yell? And what is all this mess? " Manik asked with confusion clearly evident in his voice with frown still etched on his face as he took in the state of the room and Nandini's distorted condition.

What the hell happened in fucking 1 minute?

The boy had no idea.

" There... There... There is..." Nandini stuttered while pointing at something on the floor in between the pile of verious different stuff which just made it harder for Manik to see exactly what Nandini was pointing at.

"Where Nandini? I have no idea where you want me to look." Manik sighed while still staring at Nandini as if she had gone mad and to be honest you can't even blame the man for it.

"Ahhhh-!! Shit it's moving" Nandini shouted and ran towards Manik startling. She hid behind his back and peeked from behind him.

"Is there a bug or something?" Manik questioned calmly finally catching onto Nandini's fear.

"Ermm- yes there is a cockroach." Nandini muttered quietly while her fists grabbed Manik's shirt tightly. He could literally feel Nandini's warm breath falling on the back of his neck and unconsciously an electrifying shiver ran down his spine and it absolutely wasn't because of a stupid roach.

"Can you... Umm.. Do something about that thing?" Nandini muttered to Manik in a plea while hide herself completely behind Manik's body, her hands tightly clutching onto his shirt as if her life dependent on it. And maybe it did.

"Nan---- Nandini did I ever tell I hate bugs!" Manik retorted with a gulp as his eyes fell on the cockroach who seemed to have a filed trip right now.

"You- what?" Nandini stared at Manik in amusement as she tried to register what the hell Manik just said. But the words he had uttered seemed to foreign for her comprehension because who would believe that this gigantic, cold monster was scared of those tiny, little things. That was just way to absurd for anyone to be able to digest and Nandini was no exception.

"You aren't telling me you are scared to those-" Nandini questioned again in disbelief while peeking a bit from behind Manik while slightly pointing at the floor where the roach was.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!" but before Manik could even say a word the cockroach crawled towards them making both Manik and Nandini screaming in unison as they quickly rushed out of the room and hurried down the stairs.

While panting heavily both reached the drawing room and sat at the couch to catch their breath. It was just comical as to how the whole scene had unfolded which made both of them turn and look at each other. Their eyes met and the next moment, they bursted out laughing hysterically like maniacs.

"You should have seen your face. You have turned totally pale." Manik retorted in between his laughter.

"Hahaha the one you screamed like a teenage girl shouldn't be saying that." Nandini commented with a smirk etched on her face and the way Manik's ear tips burned red would even put a tomato to shame. The boy was indeed very embarrassed never in his wildest dreams he could have thought that a freaking stupid bug would be cause of his humiliation but then again he had never thought he could burn a pan while frying bacon but here he was.

Both of them laughed like crazy for few mintues as the situation did seem as disgustingly horrifying instead the tension had been lifted and both felt at ease as the air was filled with their giggles and grins and honestly it was a nice change because for once they weren't glaring or shooting daggers at each other, rather they had their lips stretched in a full blown smile with their mouths wide open as they laughed hysterically.

"Nandini... Wait! What's this?" Manik wasn't laughing anymore instead he grabbed Nandini's hand and started inspecting it with his eye brows furrowed.

"How did you get this? It looks old." He asked with worry clouding his eyes.

Manik examined Nandini's hand, his expression shifting from amusement to concern as he noticed an old scar.

"Nandini, wait! What's this?" Manik questioned, his brows furrowed with worry. "How did you get this? It looks old."

Nandini's gaze followed Manik's to her hand, and a shadow crossed her face as she remembered the source of the scar. She hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to open up.

"It's from a long time ago," she began, her voice carrying a hint of vulnerability. "I got it when I was a kid, trying to rescue a stray cat stuck in a thorny bush. Got scratched in the process."

Manik's concern deepened, and he gently traced the scar with his fingers. "You never mentioned this before. Why did you keep it to yourself?"

Nandini shrugged, a faint smile playing on her lips. "It's just a part of my past. I never thought it was worth mentioning."

As they sat there, the atmosphere shifted from laughter to a more introspective mood. Manik realized there was more to Nandini than he had initially perceived. The shared moment of vulnerability created a subtle connection between them.

"Sometimes our scars tell stories we're not ready to share," Manik remarked, his tone softer now.

"But you can always trust me, Nandini." He lightly held her hand in assurance to let her know that he was here and he would listen to whatever she had to say and whenever she would be ready to say it.

Nandini looked into Manik's eyes, and for a moment, the playful banter and bug-induced chaos faded away. They shared a silent understanding, acknowledging that everyone carries a history, some parts hidden beneath the surface. Looking at him Nandini felt like she was drawning into his dark chocolate eyes his gaze held her captive and the words were on her lips.

"Why don't we watch a movie?" but she didn't had the courage.

+ + +

Hehehe I am finally back!!! Did you guys miss me? At least the story?

I am extremely sorry guys but stuff happened so I couldn't write for a while but here I am again and like I always promise you guys that I will never leave my stories yeah my updates might get late at times but you can count on one thing that there will always be an update and that I will always complete my stories.

Anyway so... What are your phobias? Are you afraid of cockroaches too? (btw I am not afraid of them but my mom is 😂😂)

And one more thing today I am gonna give you guys double update so yeah hurry check out the next chapter.