Love in the Time of Corona | drabble series ✅

12

Annika sulked as she sat on the couch in front of the TV, waiting for Shivaay to finish with his call. The popcorn was going cold, and Annika was starting to lose patience. He had gotten a call just as they were about to start the movie, and it had been 20 minutes since then. Annika wouldn't usually mind, because she knew he was a busy man. But what annoyed her was that this was a call from a girl – she had seen the name on his caller ID. He had picked up with a smile, but as the person on the other side began speaking, he had retreated into his room with a worried look and had been locked in there since then. Of course Annika was jealous. Who would want their crush to choose some other girl over them, right? Besides, Annika realized that she had never asked Shivaay if he had a girlfriend. She knew he had dated in the past and it didn't seem like he was seeing someone at the moment, but you never knew with Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Getting more anxious by the minute, Annika waited for Shivaay to return. When he finally did, he settled down beside her with an apologetic smile.

"All okay?" Annika asked. "Was that, uh, your girlfriend?"

Shivaay smiled. "No, an ex-girlfriend, actually," He replied. Annika scowled.

"Oh, you're still friends with your ex?"

"Yeah," He replied nonchalantly. "Aren't you?"

"I have only one ex and no, we're not on good terms. I mean, not since he found out that I was the one who painted his car yellow, anyway," Annika shrugged. Shivaay threw his head back in laughter.

"Why am I not surprised?" He asked. Annika rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Shivaay continued, "This ex of mine actually has frequent panic attacks. It helps her to talk to someone when it's happening, and because right now everyone in India must be sleeping, she called me. We're good friends."

"Oh." Annika felt stupid now for assuming things. "It's really nice of you to help."

"It's nothing," Shivaay mumbled, blushing a little. "Shall we start the movie?"

Annika nodded and hit play. Because of his taunt the other day, she had asked him to choose the movie this evening, but he had sheepishly admitted that he actually liked her picks. They were watching Annabelle: Creation. It was Annika's favorite horror movie and since Shivaay had never watched it; he wasn't fond of horror, and so Annika was all the more determined to make him watch.

Halfway through the movie, things started getting intense. Annika was really enjoying it; they had turned off the lights and the room was entirely dark. When a particularly scary scene came, Annika turned to Shivaay to gauge his reaction and found him looking at the screen with only one eye open, that too barely. She burst into laughter.

"Oh my God," Annika clutched her stomach, "I can't believe the great Shivaay Singh Oberoi is scared of horror movies."

"I'm not," Shivaay muttered as he avoided her eyes. "It was just – my eyes were hurting."

"Sure," Annika wheezed out, not being able to stop laughing. Annoyed, Shivaay pressed his palm against her mouth.

"Stop it, Annika," He all but pleaded. When she was nowhere near being done, Shivaay instead held her wrists and pinned her on the couch, leaning over her. Annika stopped laughing within a second.

"What happened, laugh na," Shivaay grinned, unaware of the effect his proximity was having over her. Annika tried to compose herself.

"You know, some might say that you're manhandling me," She narrowed her eyes. Shivaay only grinned wider and leaned even closer.

"And what do you think?" He asked, his voice almost a whisper now. Annika cleared her throat and tried looking away, lest her eyes linger too long on his mouth. Which, by the way, looked very delectable up close. Unfortunately for her, Shivaay seemed to be enjoying their current situation a little too much and did not move.

"I still think you're a scaredy-cat," Annika smirked, to which Shivaay frowned. There went his attempt to regain the macho stature.

"You take that back," Shivaay warned her. Annika giggled. How cute could he be?

"I won't," She said. This entire exchange was giving fuzzy feelings in her tummy and the closeness sure wasn't helping. She waited for some snarky remark from him, but it never came. Instead, Annika almost died when she saw Shivaay's eyes flicker to her mouth. The pretense of acting unaffected ended her, and she swallowed visibly. Shivaay, however, seemed too fixated on her mouth to notice her nervousness.

"Annika," He spoke softly, his eyes earnest as they looked into hers. "Would you mind if I kissed you right now?"

Oh God, Annika thought as her heart melted into a puddle. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, not knowing how to reply. As Shivaay waited patiently, she finally mumbled a barely coherent won't mind. That was all her brain could produce at a moment like this, but can you blame the girl? To her delight, Shivaay's face broke into a handsome smile and leaned in. Annika was almost sure he would back off at the last moment, saying this was some sort of joke, before she felt his soft lips over hers.

And all other thoughts flew away from her head.

Shivaay's lips explored hers slowly, as if savoring the taste. This wasn't Annika's first kiss, but she really felt like it was because the last one had been nothing compared to this. Shivaay loosened his hold on her wrists, instead placing his palms on the sofa on either side of her to hold himself up. Annika's hands went to his hair just as he traced her lower lip with his tongue. Annika was about to open her mouth when a sudden shattering scream from the TV made them jump apart. They had, of course, left the movie on.

"Oh fuck," Shivaay placed a hand over his chest as he sat up and tried to slow down his heartbeat. "That had to be the worst interruption in history."

"Tell me about it," Annika mumbled, clutching her hair. "I have a headache now, thanks to that scream."

Shivaay gave her a concerned look. "Should I make you some tea?"

Annika nodded gratefully. Shivaay's special ginger tea would be lovely right now. As he went to the kitchen, Annika mouthed to herself what was running to her head – what the actual F?

Were they just going to ignore the fact that he had been this close to shoving his tongue down her throat?

Not happy with how this turned out :/