MY AVERAGE LIFE

Part 52

Sharath Pov:

As soon as I brought the food inside, Shivani's friends began to shuffle awkwardly toward the door. Siddhu stopped for a moment, looking a little tense. "Can I have a word with you?" he asked, his voice low. I placed the food on the table and followed him to the balcony, the cool air brushing past us as I leaned casually against the iron railing, tapping my fingers.

He eyed my tapping and blurted, "Do you smoke?"

I raised a brow, smirking at him. "You know Shivani doesn't like that," he replied, "really" i asked sarcasm dripping from my tone. Like, duh. It's the one thing about her I noticed right away when we met. She always steps back, whenever there's a smoker around. It's because of her that I've been avoiding it since then. I can't risk anything that could make her pull away from me. It's hard, but I'm doing it for her.

"Where'd you go?" Siddhu's voice snapped me back to reality, pulling me from my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes. "Get to the point."

He sighed, clearly gathering himself. "Look, I know I'm not super close with Shivani, but I care about her like a sister. She means a lot to me, and I just want her to be happy. I'm not here to justify what Jyothi or Swathi did. I get it, it was wrong. But I need you to know I'm on her side now. Since she accepted you as her fiancé, I trust that she knows what she's doing and that you love her. But don't screw this up. Because once you lose her? Trust me, you'll regret it. We already do." He paused, glancing down before adding, "And if you hurt her, I'll punch you myself."

He turned to leave, but I wasn't about to let him go without a word of my own. "I'm not like you guys," I said, my voice low, full of warning. "I know what I want, and I'm never letting her go. Even if Shivani wanted to walk away, I wouldn't let her. She's mine. Forever. And if anyone hurts her—well, let's just say I won't be punching. I'll do worse."

I let the smirk curl on my lips, watching as his face froze in shock before walking back inside, leaving him speechless. Good. He should know where I stand.

When I stepped back into the room, Shivani was setting plates for dinner, ignoring her friends' lingering presence like it was the easiest thing in the world. Her focus was on the task at hand, but I could tell by the tension in her shoulders that she was holding back. Her friend looked hurt—probably deserved more than just the cold shoulder—but I wasn't going to interfere, not when it came to Shivani.

I walked over, sliding my arms around her waist. "Baby, let me handle this. You rest," I whispered softly.

She shook her head, determined. "It's done. We just need to eat."

I frowned. "If you were hungry, you should've told me. I would've ordered food earlier." I felt a small pang of guilt—so wrapped up in everything that I'd forgotten to ask about lunch. I needed to take better care of her, to make her my priority.

"First, sit down and eat," she insisted, smiling up at me like it was no big deal.

We both pretended not to notice when her unwanted guests finally left without further drama. As we sat side by side, digging into the food, I couldn't help but notice how little Shivani was eating.

"Baby, eat more," I coaxed, placing more food on her plate.

"Sharath, I'm full," she murmured, pushing her plate away gently.

I raised an eyebrow. "You said you were hungry before."

"actually I'm not hungry. I had a huge breakfast this morning," she admitted with a shy smile.

I couldn't help but grin at her. "Then why did you order so much food?"

Her smile widened. "Because I knew you hadn't eaten all day, and you must be starving."

A warmth spread through my chest at her words. The care in her voice, the way she was always looking out for me—it hit me harder than I expected. "Now, eat," she teased, pointing at the food, and I couldn't help but chuckle, continuing to eat as she urged me on.

This—being cared for by her—felt so right, so natural. I couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to spend every day like this, with her looking after me, and me doing everything in my power to protect her.

We finished eating and packed up the last of her things. Once we reached my penthouse, Shivani offered to help unpack, but there was no way I was going to let her lift a finger. "I've got it, baby," I told her, taking charge as usual. I wanted her to feel comfortable, and to settle into our home.

She wandered around the apartment, taking it all in, her eyes bright with curiosity. "This place is so nice, Sharath," she said, smiling as she admired the view from the window.

Relief washed over me. I was glad she liked it. "Which room is mine?" she asked, eyeing the three doors in the hallway.

I pointed to the door on her left. "That's the office."

She nodded and moved on. "And this?" she asked, gesturing toward another door.

"That's an empty room," I said with a chuckle. "But the one across the hall? That's ours."

She blinked at me, her expression confused. "Wait, you mean my room is the empty one?"

I shook my head, smirking. "No, baby. Our room is right here," I said, dragging her luggage toward it.

"But Sharath, you have an empty room! I can use that one," she protested, trying to grab her suitcase back from me.

I grinned mischievously. "Sure, you can have it. But, fair warning—there are mice and spiders all over that room. I'm not sure you'd want to share your bed with them."

Her eyes widened in horror. "You're joking! There's no way you'd let that happen."

I shrugged, trying to keep a straight face. "I'm not kidding. I rarely stay here, and when they are cleaning I came here suddenly because of the fight, so they haven't touched the room yet"

She stared at me for a moment, clearly torn between disbelief and panic, before finally grabbing my arm. "Okay, fine! I'll stay in your room. But you better get that room cleaned, fast!"

Oh, my sweet Shivani. The room's spotless, but she doesn't need to know that. She's only going to be sleeping in my arms anyway.

As I started unpacking her clothes, she tried to stop me. "Sharath, I can do it."

I shot her a teasing glance. "You either kiss me, or I'll do it myself. Your choice."

Her eyes widened, clearly not expecting that. "Shameless! You do all the work. I'm going to watch TV and relax," she said, sticking out her tongue playfully before bouncing off to the living room.

I chuckled, shaking my head. She was finally opening up to me, and I knew, deep down, that she would be mine soon enough. But first, I had a few things to deal with.