Best Friends and Cousins? (An Indian Love Story)

Chapter 1

I sigh as I toss my toothbrush into my bag. I have to spend the coming week with that one guy I do not want to see. Also, I don't want to be around him during my periods, when I become a total mess. Perfect. Just perfect. My sister, Megha pops in to search for her watch. Something she always misplaces.

"What is wrong with you? Why don't you ever take care of your stuff?"

"Not taking care of my stuff is not my problem! Apparently, Mom thought mine was yours and she said she put it in here! Oh, by the way, if you want to go to gramma's now, move your butt. We're leaving in five."

After she left, I pull out my phone and open WhatsApp. I am greeted by a hurricane of messages from him, him being my cousin, Nikhil.

Did u start?

Pls answer

I need to tty asap

Neha

Neha

Neha

DUDE ! ANSWER ME !

These are a few that caught my eye in the spam. Just as I am about to reply, I receive a call from him.

"Dude! What the hell! Why don't you answer my texts?"

"Chill! I was packing. My phone was charging in Megha's room cause my laptop was plugged into the plug point in my room. Stop shouting now. I'm coming!"

"Okay fine. Did you leave yet?"

"I'm carrying my stuff down. Have patience bro, I'm not running away, right?"

"I want you to meet someone. Come quickly!"

I don't know what it is, but I've always had a thing for Nikhil. When he said he wanted me to meet "someone", I felt a tiny tug on my heart. And something in my gut told me that this someone might to pull him away from me.

.......................................

I feel a rush of emotions as we pull up into the drive of Gramma's house. I had not been here once in the past five years. I get out of the car, drag my bag out of the car and head over. I drop my bag as soon as I see Gramma and Grandpa and run over to hug them.

Nikhil comes down the stairs and picks my bag up, leading back me up, into the room I share with him and Anya whenever we visited Gramma. He opens his laptop and starts a video call with a girl.

The profile picture showed her, in pretty curves, with a beautiful dress on and, technically everything I wasn't. I understood why Nikhil wanted to talk to her. She looked really pretty, definitely the type he goggled his eyes over. My heart just slips down into my stomach by a couple more inches, when I see that her name is just a plain and simple heart.

She answers the call in a couple of rings. Nikhil looks so happy to just talk to her, I put on a happy face for his sake. When he introduces her to me, I realise why she looks so familiar. Vaishnavi. A close friend I made in one of the survival camps I attended in highschool. I see hint of recognition in her eyes, but she pretends not to know me, so I played along.

As they talk, I notice some minor changes in Nikhil, that break my heart. He no longer looks me in the eye. He doesn't put his arm around my shoulders. I don't know why this affects me so much, just now.

He had been like this for a long time before we found out we were cousins, but after that, we slowly became best friends. I had moved on in 9th, because I had changed schools, and had absolutely no chance of being with him, but I fell for him again after we became best friends.

"Hey, you guys carry on. I think Gramma is calling me. I'll catch you later Vaishnavi!" I can no longer stand their mushiness. I never thought of Nikhil as a mushy person. He always seemed to be a possessive, dominant type of a guy, kind of like the Alpha.

I walk out of the study, and slump against the wall near the stairs. This time, I actually hear Grandpa calling me, and I go down to help them with whatever it was. Turns out, Anya and Naina are coming tomorrow instead of the next week, and he wants me and Nikhil to go pick them up.

I quietly nod and go back to my room, stopping at the study on the way to tell Nikhil about tomorrow's plan. He is still talking to his girlfriend when I come up, making it a whopping hour video call. I feel a pang of...I don't know...jealousy? I don't know how to explain it. I just feel like ripping her throat out with my bare hands.

.........time...skip.........

Nikhil was locked in the study until dinner, when Gramma called us downstairs. Cause Nikhil wasn't down yet, Megha volunteers to go up and call him. Coming down, I see an expression of alarm on Nikhil's face as he has his hand clamped over Megha's mouth. Her face, on the other hand, lights up with every passing second as she tries to tell us something.

She looks me dead in the eye and starts screaming something. "I..SH...A...I! I...SH...A...I can make out nothing, because Nikhil's palm is big enough to cover her entire face. Perks of being a handball player, I guess. He whispers something into her ear, to which she demands he take her to the park every day. He must've agreed because they sit at the table quietly and start eating.

Megha looks at me again and mouths something. My mouth forms the words "tell me later" because I don't want to know anything about what Nikhil was doing. She nods and goes back to picking her food.

After dinner, me and Megha go to do the dishes while Nikhil cleans up the table, something that had always been decided between us. She whispers the name Vaishnavi. I just hope she doesn't notice how rigid my body is. She looks at my face to see my reaction, but I'm really good at masking my face, and I am wearing a tracksuit, so she doesn't notice anything suspicious.

Today, Megha is to sleep with us, but from tomorrow, she would have Naina to keep her company. We just pile up onto the bed. Megha missed Nikhil so much that she practically stole him from me when I tried to talk to him. She wants to get as close to him as possible, because she wouldn't see him again for almost two years after this trip, so she sleeps in the middle, while me and Nikhil sleep on either side of her.

Her back was against Nikhil's chest, and her head fit perfectly under his chin. He had his arms wrapped around her, and she had her face snuggled into the crook of his arm. He looked so relaxed when kids were comfortable around him. He was staring down at Megha with the kind of brotherly love that comes when you are reunited after a very long time.

Finally, when her breaths even out, he looks up at me. Frowning, he stretches his hand out. He brushes my cheek, and pulls back to show me that it is glistening. "Why are your cheeks wet?"

"I didn't notice it. It must've happened when I was blanketing you both. I felt like something got into my eye then. I didn't know what, because it stopped hurting soon enough."

"If you think you can convince me with that bullshit, you are deceived. Now tell me what happened."

"I just did!" I try to sound as convincing as possible. "If you think I would lie to you, you are the one who is deceived." I turn around.

I feel the mattress lift behind me as Nikhil picks Megha up and lays her down on the mattress on the floor. I feel the bed dip down as he climbs in again, but I am surprised to feel warmth against my back and strong arms around my waist.

"What the hell are you doing? You have a girlfriend, for goodness' sake!"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Plus, we're just seeing each other. We're not dating yet." We are technically spooning now. All I want to do right now is melt into him and relax, but my respect for his private love life keeps me from it.

"You mean to tell me is that you are not telling her about this, and you don't want me to tell her too." He tucks my head under his chin and pulls me in closer. I am forced to relax.

"Mhmmm. Now, tell me what happened." I slowly turn around and bury my face in his chest.

"Can we talk about this tomorrow, in the car, when we go to pick up Anya and Naina? I don't want to talk about it now." I feel his hands tighten around me. I gulp down my tears.

"Uh, okay, but one last thing. Are you okay?" I nod into his chest, gathering some of his shirt into my fist.