ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʟʟᴇɢᴇ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ [ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ]

• Chapter 12: Roy Brothers •

[University Campus, 9pm]

"Ohhhh God! I'm so tired!" Aisha said, almost dozing off.
After a whole day of roaming around Mumbai, all the girls were tired, but they had loads of fun.
"My highlight of the day was Nikita's picture in front of Mannat!"
"I swear! Love of my life!" Nikita said.
"Guys! Let's go! I'm so sleepy!"
"Wait wait! We need to eat dinner guys!"
"I'm too tired now."
"No. I'll get us something from the restaurant, you guys carry on in the room okay. Please don't sleep off, one dinner please." Nikita requested.
"Okay don't worry. We'll freshen up. Meet you upstairs!"

Nikita smiled and walked through the campus to get to the nearest restaurant. The campus was silent, and she was surprised. It wasn't supposed to be this quiet. Nonetheless, she was glad. She didn't want to become another center of attention again. She continued staring at her phone, smiling at the Mannat pictures.

"Hey. Do you know where the restaurant is?" She asked a man with her back towards her.
He turned around, "Hey."
Her eyes widened, "You..." Ved Roy was looking at her.
"What happened? Need something?" He asked.
"I... I'm.. no.. I got this. Thanks." She hesitated and walked ahead, but he came in front of her.
"Nikita. You don't need to be embarrassed or scared of me." Ved said, relaxed.
"I... I'm not."
"Nikita," Ved said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I can read people, and you are very easy to read."
She chuckled slightly and he smiled.
"Thank you for today." She said.
"You don't need to say thank you. I... I should apologize for... her."
"Why?" Nikita asked.
"She uses her title too much."
"You guys can as well, right?" Nikita asked. She sensed he isn't reply and his face got a bit strict, she got scared, "I... I'm... I'm sorry.. I didn't..."
"Relax. Don't be scared."
"I... I'm gonna go. I need to get food."
"Okay, and by the way, the restaurant is right ahead." Ved said smiling and clutched her shoulders and walked away.

Nikita was surprised as this little encounter. She didn't know how to feel. She felt a very brotherly connect with him, like she got with her brother. She felt sweet but she knew he's a Roy and she didn't want to get in the middle of that.

She walked ahead and entered the restaurant and noticed it was full. "Wow." She muttered.

She saw Riya sitting with her group and she was shocked, the fear of the morning rushed through her as she tried to run away before Riya sees. She walked backwards in haste until she exited the restaurant until she was alone.

She leaned against the railing of the stairs as she caught her breath, her balance almost slipping. She was about to fall when she was caught by steady hands, wrapping around her waist.

"Careful, love." A deep voice echoed in her ears.
She looked up and her eyes widened, "You?"
"Are you okay? Why are you panicking?" Mayukh asked, his arms still secured around her waist.
She got up and instantly let go and tried to walk away when he caught her and held her waist again.
"Where are you running?" He asked, his eyes glued onto the girl in front of her.
"N..Nowhere."
"I can see that." He came closer, "What's wrong?"
"No..Nothing... I..." She glanced up and saw Riya sitting inside still then looked back down, "I need to go... Goodnight."
Mayukh had followed her eyes and understood what her issue was. He sighed, "I'm sorry."
She looked at him in confusion, "Why?"
"For the morning. I don't know if you wanted things dealt with silently or not, but I didn't want you taking every step with fear because of her."
"Hmm." She looked down.
"Hey?" He said, gently lifting her chin to make her look at him, "Don't worry about her."
"I.. I'll try." She whispered.
"Why are you out at night?" He asked.
"I... I need to get food."
"You didn't eat? Do you skip all your meals?"
"What?" She asked, then she remembered him giving her a sandwich when she had skipped breakfast, "No... I... I was out."
"Why aren't you getting food then?" He asked.
She was tongue tied. She didn't want to tell him the reason, but she didn't know that he was already aware.
"Come." He said, gesturing her to lead the way.
"What?"
"Come with me, love." His husky voice said.
"I...." Her voice stopped in her throat when he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the entrance of the restaurant. Then, he opened the door for her and let her enter. She looked at him and entered slowly.

All eyes went on her, people started gossiping, Riya started giggling and giving her death stares but within a second, everything went silent as Mayukh followed on behind her, standing behind her. "Come." He whispered to her.

She was scared. She didn't want this attention. She quickly did as she said and ordered food for her and her flatmates. Then, she stood next to the food receiving area, her eyes glued to the ground in fear. Mayukh walked towards her and stood in front of her, "Look at me."
She looked up slowly, "Yes."
"Don't be scared of them, it'll scare you more."
She nodded, looking down.
He could see Riya walking up to them and before Riya could approach Nikita, Mayukh stood in between, "What do you want?"
"I... I just wanted to talk to you."
"You can text me later. I'm busy right now."
"Busy escorting this girl? What happened to your standards, Mayukh?" She scoffed.
"What I do, is none of your concern."
"Mayukh, we are friends. Why are we letting this girl between us?"
"Because you slut shamed her yesterday, and I don't want to stay friends with someone who goes around slut shaming other women. Now, if you'll excuse me, her food has arrived, and we are heading off."

Mayukh glared at her, and turned to Nikita, who was collecting food. She hasn't heard this conversation since he had walked ahead. He approached her again, "let's go?"
She nodded; he followed her as she left the area.

Once they were outside, she was heading off when he caught her arm and called another helper and handed him the food, "Please drop this off at Tulip Towers?"
"Sir, apartment?"
He looked at Nikita, "Apartment?"
She was confused as to what was going on but she answered, "203."
"Sure Sir." The man said and walked off, leaving just her and Mayukh alone.
"Let's go." He said, holding her hand.
"Whe.... Where are we going?" She hesitated.
"Trust me."

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