Chapter 10: 08

Chapter Eight

"Please Rano, I'll find you your Birdman "

✧  P R E E T ✧

"Devennnn." I slid towards him with a lovely smile on my face. He looked at me rather suspiciously raising his one eyebrow.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Let's sleep together-" His eyes widened as his mouth was wide in shock which he later covered dramatically with his hand. Now he would cut my sentence in half and make it sound very bad.

"I know I'm hot but-"

"Shut up and let me continue. I mean in one bed. Beside each other." I added later and he closed his mouth in understanding.

"I'd prefer the first-"

Shameless.

I threw my white-coloured claw clip at him before letting him complete. He caught it and started scrutinizing the soft fur stuck on the top of it. He looked like a little kid, totally amazed who saw something for the first time.

"This is so cute." He mumbled sliding away the main topic of discussion.

"I know right? It's my favourite one." I threw my pillow and blankets on the bed being too tired of holding them.

"It's mine now. Buy a new one." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What are you going to do with it?" He bit his tongue and kept a finger on his chin wondering about the same.

"Good question. I'll think about it later but this is mine, thanks wifey." I scowled.

Let him keep that, I'll steal it again from him in the morning.

"Okay. Keep it. But I'll sleep here today." I said meekly trying not to look at him, awkwardly. He has offered this before but I was the one who had to throw tantrums.

"Why this sudden change of mind?" It's because I always end up on the bed in the morning. Yesterday I slept on the couch as well but in the morning I woke up in the bedroom. Deven did try to tell me that I woke up and came here by myself which could be true but I can't recall it.

And the fact I can't sleep on the couch at all is also one of the reasons. It's too uncomfortable there, many times my leg falls unknowingly. Yesterday in my sleep, I tried to turn and ended up on the floor the bump on my forehead is still visible.

But only to me. Because I like to exaggerate things.

"We are two adults and this is a huge bed for two people. It's not a big deal anyway. And we can put up the pillow walls as well-" I stated explaining to him my whole plan after jumping on the bed on my front, swaying my legs.

"No!" He yelled loudly making me flinch. He added later. "This is what you said when I suggested this."

"I learned my lesson and so did my back. And my sleep. I unfortunately regret not listening to you." I shrugged while pouting lightly.

"Say sorry then. You yelled at me." He muttered and I kept staring at him in disbelief. Seriously? So many tantrums?

"Nope." Why should I say sorry?

"Okay, then the couch is calling you." I gasped at this mean behaviour. In reality, he was just messing with me, we both knew that he'd let me sleep beside him.

He's been begging me since the first day to not sleep on the couch.

At times Deven can be irritating and teasing or mischievous but at the same time, he's very caring and soft-hearted. He loves to mess around with everyone and make jokes sometimes even dirty ones but he would rush in the middle of the night if you call him. Even if you knew him only for a day. He is a good human.

And an irritating roommate.

Once back in India, like four years ago I stayed at my brother's for two months. There at midnight, I was lost and mistakenly went into the wrong area like the bad one. I was studying in Delhi in a hostel and that was my first visit to Mumbai. There Abhinav Bhai sent him to save me from trouble because it was near his house. It may be one at night but he came rushing to get me out of the chaos.

He didn't yell at me like Abhinav bhai for being so stupid but instead just tried to stop me from bawling my eyes out. Later we went to eat something just to lighten my mood.

All I mean to say he has a good heart and is a nice man.

"Go sleep on the couch." He pointed his finger to the door when I laid back on the bed. I kept ignoring him and collected pillows.

"Pass me that pillow." He aimed it right at my face while his head was buried in the phone. I let out a frustrated sigh and arranged the pillow one below the other.

"This is our pillow wall," I announced and he looked least interested and unbothered in whatever I was instructing him. I smacked his arm with my phone to get his attention.

"What?" He glanced up and looked at the pillow wall narrowing his eyes. The bed was divided in the ratio of sixty-forty. I was in the bigger proportion.

"Cheater." He shifted the pillow towards me and now it was in a seventy-thirty proportion, the only difference was that he had the bigger part. "It should be like this."

"I'm literally at the edge of the bed." He shrugged and muttered 'Not my problem.

"Fifty-fifty," I mumbled after adjusting the pillows exactly in the centre. He picked up a pair of glasses kept at the table beside him and wore them. Later, he scanned the pillows and shifted them a little by my side from his finger as if touching them would burn him.

"Now, it's fifty-fifty." He replied and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever floats your boat." I phrased it while passing a half-shrug. "Now good night, roommate. I have to wake up early tomorrow, I'll probably leave before you know it and also, I'm coming late tomorrow so I'll probably have dinner." I looked at his eyes softening with displeasure for a second, yet he was quick enough to cover it.

"Fine. Have a good trip." Removing his glasses, he kept them aside while my eyes focused on his muscles visibly moving.

"Pach tera." What's with him? He's never going to forget that or what?

"Oh please. I wasn't looking at you." I replied.

"My biceps are a part of me as well, wifey." I bit my inner cheek.

What a cunning man!

"Sojao." I softly said and covered my head from the blanket while my back hit the soft bed. Oh, the way I missed this.

[Sleep.]

"Preet." I heard him say after a few moments. My tracks of overthinking stopped and I opened my eyes. The lights were turned off now, I removed the blanket from my face and turned my head sideways. I raised my one eyebrow with the trick I learnt in seventh grade.

"Speak," I said after losing my patience when he didn't say anything but kept staring at me instead.

"I know you fancy me or my body to be more specific but..." He said this in a neutral tone and then asked me to come closer by his finger. I, being a person who was born without brains, went closer only for him to raise his voice a little and say, "Do not cross this pillow wall and take my advantage."

"Oh my god, I was going to do that. How do you know?" I faked a gasp before asking him this. He has a smug look all over his face.

"I just know it all. Girls usually take advantage of hot guys. I have to be aware and save my dignity for my future wife." He covered his front from his hands dramatically and I was at a lack of response.

"You keep calling yourself hot, Who told you that?" I asked him.

"The mirror, duh." His accent took a literal shift while speaking as he tried to look cool. A small smile out of amusement appeared on my face while looking at him. Slowly, the smile grew larger and within another second I was chuckling inaudible.

"Why are you laughing?" He asked and turned to my side as well. Now we were both lying on the bed sideways and looking at each other.

"You're cute." He looked a little taken aback at my remark and turned his head to the ceiling. At first, I could see his small awkward smile in the dim lights eventually a broad grin showcasing his teeth was visible to me.

"What?" I asked when he still didn't let his eyes meet mine.

"This is the first time a girl called me cute like I've been called hot, handsome, dashing and blah blah blah but cute? Let me process it." One thing I like about him a lot is that he doesn't have this extra ego some men roam around carrying on their heads.

His aura is very intriguing, I mean it when I say this. But if you spend a day with him then you'd understand that he's...just a guy.

A fun, chill and safe, a little hot, guy to be around.

"Continue, Continue. I'm going to sleep now." I was about to cover my face with the blanket again but he held my hand.

"Wait," He turned his head again to look at me properly.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"Did you ever not like me flirting with you? Like I just do it for fun, not like I'm in love with you or something. But it doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it? " I shook my head with a soft smile.

"It doesn't. I would have told you if I didn't like it. And like you said, it's just for fun, not like you're in love or something. So no big deal." I shrugged and he passed a quick nod before sighing.

"Right." He muttered. After a good ten seconds, he added, "If I even cross the limit and you don't like it na, just let me know. I'll try my best though but right now I'm not aware of your boundaries so if you ever feel bad just communicate it. I'll stop."

"Take a chill pill and don't overthink. You're my hubby, remember?" It was my time to have a teasing grin dancing on my face.

"Hubby sounds so cringe now. Create something new." He replied while scrunching his nose.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Pati parmeshwar." The old Deven's back, guys.

"Chup rahiye." I kept a finger on my lips with the only purpose of showing him.

[Shut up.]

"Aap karvaiye." Blood rushed to my cheeks while I tried to control my smile at this lame flirting.

[Make me.]

His flirting is anything but lame.

"There's one more thing," Deven said, this time in a serious voice. The atmosphere of laughter suddenly vanished as he created tension in the air.

"Now what?"

"Come closer." I hesitated first but followed and went a little closer to him. His face was so near to mine that he turned my head back to the front from the side and came closer to my cheek. I gulped at the proximity.

"Don't dream about me in your sleep." He whispered in my ear.

This is what he created all this tension for?

"I won't." My reply was curt and short. I pulled the blanket over my head before he could stop me. "Go to sleep now. Goodnight."

"But I will dream about you. Night, Wifey." I smiled inside my blanket before shaking my head and trying to sleep.

and I need to wake up early tomorrow morning. And for that, I need to sleep.

✧

It was three in the morning.

Fucking three.

And I was doing everything but sleeping. I had created a brand new storyline for a short video, thought about all the possibilities and chances of me and Connor, the Canadian crush of mine, and wondered what would happen if the ceiling fan fell right on my face, will I be able to survive?

I could not sleep no matter what I did. I counted the sheep till thirty-five I lost my concentration and began thinking about everything else. I chanted God's name asking, no, begging him to give me some sleep or else I won't be able to function tomorrow but he seems to quite ignore my requests.

I could feel my eyes hanging out but I was unable to sleep.

I hate this problem of mine. I cannot sleep in new places. It takes me a lot of time to adjust and sleep somewhere which is not my home. The same happened when I slept on the couch, but at least I was tired after working the whole day so therefore I slept late.

Today the whole day I have been lying around in the house so now it makes the task of sleeping more difficult.

At this point, I would probably cry if I didn't get to sleep now. Especially when this man beside me is snoring. Way too loud. And it's irritating the hell out of me.

His loud snores feel like a mockery to me. I wish to cover his face with the pillow but instead here I am covering my ears. I kept staring at him in envy mixed with helplessness.

My eyes met his closed eyes, the same ones which look breathtakingly good when they are open. I wish I had his blue eyes. It's so rare to find an Indian with blue eyes and skin as fair as him.

I wonder if he's half-American or something?

I made a mental note to ask him that tomorrow morning.

My gaze fell on his longboard, sharp and long nose. A fly could easily slide on the bridge of his nose with a hoverboard, it was that sharp and long. Later the soft acne bumps on his cheeks, probably from his teenage years but that made him a lot more handsome.

I've always been a fan of acne bumps until it comes to me.

His lips were plumpy and naturally pink, right now were slightly opened and moved while he snored like a Desi old uncle. He had a little subtle beard on both sides of his cheeks, above his upper lips and on his chin added grace to him.

I think, Now I agree when he says that he's hot.

I wonder how many girls would be dying to be with him. Because he's everything a lady wants, he has the charms as well. He's definitely the type who can pull any girl he wants, let it be the biggest supermodel because he has the looks.

But he's just not my type.

I broke my trance myself when it clicked that I was supposed to sleep and not check out every detail of his face.

Another fifteen minutes passed while I just kept turning and changing positions. I'm legit going to cry at this moment. Even his snores aren't helping me.

"Deven," I whispered out his name softly, seeing no other option in front of me. I even texted Naeva that I wanted to sleep but was unable to but she didn't reply which only meant that she was asleep as well.

I freaking texted my mother asking her what to do. She called me and ended up lecturing me on how I should not have used my phone the whole day.

I'm so done with this now.

"Deven," I said a little loudly this time but he didn't even budge a little. I'm so jealous right now. And a little guilty for waking him up as well. Or trying to.

"Deven," I whined which almost came out as a cry. He immediately woke up as his body jerked. He looked at me with panic all over his face.

"What happened?" His hoarse voice asked.

"I can't sleep." I cried out in a very low voice.

"What? Is something wrong? Are you okay?" He kept questioning simultaneously trying hard to keep his eyes open and not squint them.

"I can't sleep." My face probably looks like a Panda, no worse, Raccoon. "I need to wake up at six."

He was taking a little time to register my words but we can't blame him as well. I woke up a man who was in deep sleep.

"Why can't you sleep?" He asked me softly.

"I don't know."

"Do you have insomnia or something?" He asked me and I shook my head. "Did you get a bad dream?Nightmare?"

"One needs to sleep to get a nightmare, brother." I watched him pull the blanket over his head while I gasped.

Shouldn't have called him a brother even if that was casually.

"Go and ask your brother for help." He shows so much attitude even when he's asleep.

"Kaha se laate ho etna attitude?" I asked and removed the blanket from his face.

[Where did you get your attitude from?]

"Niche wali Dukan se." He replied sarcastically and wasn't ready to sit. I pulled his hand trying to make him sit and find a solution.

[The shop down here.]

"Sorry for calling you brother. Please help me, Pati Parmeshwar." Even my tone was filled with sarcasm but his smug look said that this idiot didn't understand it.

"Ek pati ka farz hota hai uski patni ki sab zarurat puri karna-" He started the speech as if he were the new prime minister.

[It's a husband's job to provide his wife whatever she needs-]

"Chup rehne ka kya lete ho aap?" I asked him and kept my hand on my stomach.

[What will you take to shut up?]

"Ek kiss chalegi. Aapko chahiye toh do dedena-" I joined my hands in front of him and bowed my head down. I regret waking him up. He isn't helping at all.

[One kiss would be fine. If you want you can give two-]

"Sorry Maine uthaya aapko."

[Sorry, I woke you up.]

"Maaf Kiya." He replied casually and I glared at him so hard that even he had to sit back in fear and mutter an apology to me.

[You're forgiven.]

"Okay. Lay down, I'll try to make you get some sleep." I obediently followed him and laid on my back because I had no choice. Either he makes me fall asleep or my whole day is fucked up.

"Close your eyes." He instructed and I followed him. The air was filled with silence for a while and then I heard him holding back his chuckle.

"Soja Rajkumari...." He sang and I opened my eyes and sobbed audibly, the tears though weren't coming out of my eyes. His one chuckle escaped from his mouth and I glared at him again.

[Sleep princess...]

"Okay, sorry sorry. Now On a serious note, I'll help you. I feel bad for irritating you while you have that face right now." Soon he started patting my head lightly, he kept a hand on my eyes for a few seconds taking the signal I closed them.

Turning towards him because that position felt more comfortable, I felt him patting my cheeks lightly. The bed dipped and I assumed that he laid on it too. He kept running his finger through my head softly, in patterns, in circles until he was back to patting my head.

This kept going on till I felt darkness consuming me and my mind losing consciousness for a while.

My alarm rang along with some birds chirping loudly. I slowly opened my eyes only to see Deven's Rano sitting on the table far away from me. I don't know if I was dreaming or not but she has this angry expression on her face.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned until it took me a while to realise a strong grip holding me and someone's presence around me. My eyes widened as I saw my one leg was all over Deven's legs while my hand was lying on his stomach. His hand held my waist tenderly and his face was lying on the crook of my neck.

Where are the damn pillows?

Rano kept on shouting while I glared at her. I swear if Deven wakes up, I'm going to shoo her away from here forever.

He'd tease the hell out when he gets to know about this. He can't seem to forget the door incident where I was staying at his body and now if he gets this as well I will die out of embarrassment.

Especially when he is exactly at his side whereas I was the one all over him and his side.

I slowly removed his hand trying not to wake him up and harshly tapped on my phone when my alarm started ringing loudly.

Why do I have to keep fifteen alarms?

Rano let out something like a whistle while looking at me continuously while I looked at her amazed. She can do that as well?

"No.," I mouthed her while shaking my head lightly when she went near Deven.

"Please Rano. I'll find you your Birdman." I whispered it to her and it seemed like she understood it and stopped.

She is a girl. A cunning and desperately wanting man one.

After finally succeeding in getting away from. the bed without disturbing his sleep, I found the pillows lying on the ground. I bit my tongue and picked them up, adjusting them like they were previously, I went towards Rano.

"Thanks, bro." I forwarded my hand for a clap, she looked confused at first but later she hit my hand with her beak.

This was such a nuisance. I'm thankful he didn't wake up.

✧

A long ass chapter. I need some good comments and votes on this one 😭