Making Her Mine- An IPKKND story.

Chapter 12 - Distance

They stood at the sink side by side. Arnav scrubbed the dishes with soap and passed them to Khushi, who rinsed and dried them and placed them back inside the cabinets.

When the last dish was done, he stood with his arms crossed beside the counter and watched her place it in the cabinet.

She turned around and looked at him and around the kitchen, both feeling the awkwardness between them.

"Do you want tea?" she asked finally.

"Huh?"

"I'm going to make some tea. Do you want some as well?"

"Oh. Uhh. Sure."

He continued standing by the counter with his arms folded, watching her as she moved around him, making spicy tea in a little saucepan. They didn't exchange a word until after she had poured the tea into two little cups, rinsed the saucepan, and handed him his cup.

"Thanks," he said, taking the cup from her hand, letting his fingers brush hers.

She looked away, and picking up her own cup, went outside.

It was a muggy night. The streets had quieted now, and there was a sweet scent in the air—a jasmine shrub was in full bloom nearby. She sat on a bench on the porch and gazed into the distance, hands cupped around her teacup. When Arnav sat next to her, she didn't look at him, but she didn't protest.

The tea was spicy with pepper and ginger and strong. He didn't miss the sugar.

"You didn't add sugar to your tea?" he asked her.

"I like it like this."

They stared ahead, listening to a cricket chirruping somewhere. Arnav felt a sting on his arm and slapped his palm over it.

"There are mosquitoes here; you better go inside," she said.

"It's okay," he replied. He felt another sting on his toe and tried to scratch it with his other toe discreetly.

Khushi sighed, and taking the now-empty teacup from his hands, went back inside.

Her room was hot, too. Khushi was opening the windows. "What are you doing? The mosquitoes will get inside," Arnav said, watching her with horror.

"It's hot," she replied. "I'll bring a mosquito net; you'll be fine."

Arnav looked around the room. "Where will I sleep?"

Khushi gave him a look. "On the bed."

"And where will you sleep?"

Another look. "On the bed."

"Um..."

"Unless you want to sleep on the floor. If you don't mind the mice that run around at night."

"What?" Arnav looked around nervously and then glanced back at the bed. Khushi had taken out some netted thing from the cupboard and was hanging it up on the bed, making a canopy. He examined it. It smelled like mothballs.

This bed was smaller than the one in his room at Shantivan, which they had never shared. And the stinky mosquito net covering it made it seem even more... intimate.

"I can sleep on the couch outside..." he began, but she silenced him with a glare.

"No, you can't. Amma and Buaji will see you in the morning, or if they get up to use the bathroom at night."

He went to the bed and lifted the net.

"That's my side," Khushi snapped. He frowned at her and walked to the other side. He found a spare sheet, and rolling it up into a tube, placed it along the middle of the bed. Khushi watched him, her expression sour.

He went to the bathroom to change and got into bed feeling more uncomfortable than he had ever felt in his own room. He wondered if she felt like that there. Trying to lie as straight as possible and as near the edge as possible, he turned to his side, crossed his arms, sighed, and closed his eyes.

He heard her bangles clinking and the tinkle of her silver anklets as she made her way to the bed. She switched off the lights and tinkled her way to the bed, and then there was an enormous creak that made him jump. "What the—"

"My side of the bed is noisy," she said belligerently.

"Of course it is," he muttered.

She wiggled, making the bed creak some more, and even though Arnav was lying as far away from her as he could, he thought he could feel the warmth of her body radiating towards him, past the rolled-up sheet between them. It was going to be impossible to sleep.