Best Friends and Cousins? (An Indian Love Story)

Chapter 18

We set off walking to the town square where the streets would be lined with shops trying to sell warm and cozy things for the (not so far away) winter.

The chilly air picks up in a breeze, making us pull our coats tighter around us. Ashton and I are almost huddling together. It is only now that I notice his face is more masculine. Ever since I stepped out, his hair was inside the stupid beanie. I just assumed she would still look feminine. Well, looks like she's making an attempt to make herself feel more manly. His face looks more chiselled, his eyebrows darker and lips lighter than when compared to his female form. 

"What do you suggest we do first?"

"I don't know. We're out of food supplies anyways, so maybe just get those first? We can come back later if you want to do something else first."

"I don't know. I don't want to have to carry the groceries all around with me as we go through this square. Maybe we'll just go around and then buy the groceries on our way back. What say?"

"Sounds good to me. I was just about to suggest the same. We'll go look for some clothes." I hesitate for a moment before I add, "for you."

"For me? Why? I don't want to go shopping."

"You need clothes and a better haircut, Ashton." I emphasis on the name Ashton to try and hint at what I am trying to get through. Luckily, after two minutes of intense glaring and eye-narrowing, I see realisation replacing the look of disgust for shopping that had occupied Ashton's face.

"But-"

"No buts and ands. We're going shopping for you, and that's final." I normally hate shopping for myself, but when it came to others, I liked helping them out.

I pull a complaining Ashton through the doors and into a  Wrangler store. (A/N: Lowkey regretting this development in this story. I'm running out on fillers. Any help would be heavily appreciated.)

I pull Ashton around the store, pulling random shirts off the racks. Where we stopped to pull something from the back, Ashton faced a few curious stares, but otherwise, nobody spared him a second glance. Good job, Society!

Forcing him into a stall, I make him go through every single shirt in my hands, until we picked 10 shirts that made both of us happy.

"Is all of this really necessary? We've got to shift in about three weeks and you look like you are going to make me buy a suitcase's worth of clothes. Why can't we go shopping there?" I stop in my tracks.

"Hang on, if we can go shopping for you after we reach Toronto, why can't we just buy one set of winter clothes, for the first week," I say, mentally slapping myself for not thinking of this before.

"Hello genius. And I thought you were supposed to be the brains here."

"Shut up. If you did think of it before, why didn't you mention it?"

"I thought you wanted to buy some seasonal pieces."

"Me? Shopping for myself? To buy stuff I don't need?"

"Uh...yeah, I guess...?"

I roll my eyes and pull Ashton over to the diner. It was a quaint café of sorts, with Italian, Greek and French food. "Hi, I'm Kyle, you're waiter for today. Are you guys expecting anybody else?"

"Thank the gods. It triggers me when people ask if we want a table. Like, no, I came here to eat on the floor. 'Carpet for two, please' is my comeback. Thank you for not asking that." Kyle laughs at Ashton's rant. "Oh, sorry, I didn't even answer your question. We're only two people for today."

"Okay cool. Come along, Mister and Miss." Ashton's eyes widen in surprise. 

He called me a 'mister', he mouths to me. I roll my eyes. Of course Kyle would call him 'mister', he did look like one, with the killer make-up skills. Just a very beautiful man.

We order the traditional Greek salad that comes with Feta cheese for starters, Pasta Arrabbiata for our main course and Chocolate soufflé for dessert. Ashton fangirled when something happened with Kyle as he brought the Pasta.

"Please be careful. The pasta's hot too," he had said.

"Too? What else is hot?" I mused, trying to set my best friend up with someone who clearly saw through his façade and respected him for who he was. Kyle touched Ashton and hissed, winking and walking away after serving us.

"Did you see that?" Ashton did not shut up about Kyle unless he came back around. Kyle just shot us a smile, well, more specifically at Ashton, whenever he walked around.

"How would you like to pay? Cash or Card?" Both of us hold up our cards, indicating that we were going to split the bill. 

"That was a good meal. It wasn't even that expensive," I said as we walked out of the café.

"Agreed. Kyle was nice too, don't you think?"

"I'm glad you guys liked both me and my café," a fairly familiar voice quips up from behind us. We whirl around to face Kyle.

"Your café? You own it?"

"Yeah. I set it up after I travelled to those places and loved the cuisine. I like interacting with my customers, so I also wait on them."

"Wow. The food is really good though. All the cuisines, and it wasn't as expensive as we thought they'd be." I say.

"I'm just glad. If you don't mind me asking, where are you guys headed to?"

"We actually don't know. We're moving in a couple of weeks, so we were going to buy stuff to take. Then we realised it would be easier if we just bought stuff there, so I think we'll just get groceries for the rest of our time here."

"Cool. I'm shutting for the evening. You guys mind if I tag along?" He asks, but more specifically staring at Ashton. I smile to myself. "Why not? More the merrier. What say, Ashton?"

"Hmm, what did you say Neha? Sorry, I was preoccupied." I smirked as Kyle re-proposes his idea, looking like he really liked the way Ashton's name rolled off his tongue. Ashton agrees almost immediately, exchanging numbers so Kyle could join us after closing his café.

"That guy's got some really smooth moves, huh?" Ashton blushes at that. "Come on. We need to get you a haircut."

Despite his protests, I pull Ashton into a salon and hand him a couple of catalogues, for both males and females. Although he was initially refusing, he decided on a pageboy haircut, much like Hazel Grace Lancaster from "The Fault In Our Stars", and he sits at a booth.

"Hi, I'm Linda." An elderly, brown woman with one of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen walks up to us. "I'm going to be your hairdresser for today. Have you decided on what you want to get, sweetheart?"

"I...uh...I want a pageboy. Can you do it like Shailene Woodley has in 'The Fault In Our Stars'? It looks really cool and non-gender specific." Linda just smiles down at him.

"Sure! What pronoun do you want me to go with you for today?" Ashton's smile grows so wide I am afraid it will cause a split lip. I can practically feel the happiness and acceptance radiating from the booth.

"I'm Ashton"

"Of course! As a member of the society, it is my job to ensure everybody feels included, and I am just trying my best to do my part." Linda then launches into the haircut, keeping up a healthy conversation with Ashton. At least now I don't have to worry about my friend being shamed by the society for some time. I pull out my phone to pass the time, and see a text from Nikhil.

My❤️ ~ Hey, baby. You wanted to talk. I just texted you to tell you I am going job hunting right now, and I should be free in about three hours. I hope you would be free then as well, because you seemed pretty shaken when you said that yesterday. I know you need to talk, and I want to help you calm down, so please text me when you are going to be free, and we can talk. I miss you already. (2.30 pm)

Me ~ Hey sunshine. I really miss you too. I'm sorry if I got you worried, but yeah, I really need to talk to you about this. I would be free by the time you get off your job hunting. (3.00 pm)