IN LOVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND

15

When Ankita got a grip on herself, she let go of Punit and trudged a bit away from them to be alone for a while.

Punit watched her intently as she stood with her back to them. All of this felt unreal. The brutal assault Sibal and his cronies belted out on him, Ankita's rampage on the bullies and now this... Something rolled over in his guts, infuriating him. His hatred for Mr Shah had reached an all-new level. How could the man be such a coward, such a puppet as to punish the victims instead of the culprits, and that too, in the most painful and humiliating manner?

It was then that he realized why his back hurt as if scalded with boiling water. Mr Shah had whipped him like a horse. Anyhow, he was glad that she didn't have to take that.

Despite knowing that she was furious and needed time to cool off, he went ahead and joined her. Cautiously, he stole a glance before meeting her angry glare.

She studied the bruises on his face for a moment. When she did, an inferno stirred in her eyes. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and tugged him along.

"Hey! What?" He cried in surprise.

She led him to the wash area close by, opened up the tap and wet her hanky under the running water.

"What? What're you doing?" he asked, wondering what she was up to.

Without a word, she dabbed the wet hanky over the bruises on his face.

"Ow!" He winced and glared at her, dumbstruck.

She ignored him and continued to tend to his bruises, this time, on his lip.

Hissing in pain, he blocked her hands and tried to stop her. "Stop it yaar, leave it, it's hurting," he tsked.

She slapped his hand away and mopped the dried blood off his lips.

Through scrunched eyes, he stopped to study the very serious look on her face and concern boiling in her angry red eyes. He couldn't help but smile at how hard she tried to look tough but ended up showing how soft and sensitive she really was inside.

Noticing this, she paused, looking angrier than ever. "What're you laughing at?" she spat crossly.

"Nothing," he shrugged innocently.

She tore her eyes off him and resumed attending to his face. "He's got himself fucked up as usual and then finds the whole thing funny," she muttered under her breath, but he heard that.

"I didn't get myself fucked up," he asserted.

"You did! Okay? Now shut up!"

"I didn't..."

"Then why the fuck didn't you fight back?" She grew louder.

"Babes, there were six of them," he cooed in an attempt to calm her down.

"So? So what!!!?" She grew even louder, making her band mates turn heads. "And don't 'baby' me!!!" she warned through clenched teeth.

"Okay..." he said quickly and pursed his lips.

"Just be honest Punit. Did you try, at least try to land one punch on any one of them?"

"They knocked me out before that," he sighed.

"You allowed them to," she retorted.

"I didn't."

"Oh, shut up! If you'd at least tried, Punit, things would have been a lot different."

He pondered over her words. Maybe she's right? If only he had stood his ground and defended himself. He might have taken a few extra hits but maybe it wouldn't have gotten this worse. But knowing her, she was bound to get back at Sibal any time of the day.