Chapter 59: chapter 59

MADHAVI must be dreaming. There is no other possible explanation for the situation unfolding before me. Sruthi asking me to share a bed with her? Oh, Gods in heaven. Can this night get any more interesting than this? She has no idea of the amount of self-control I am exercising now. “Are you sure you would be comfortable with  sharing a bed with me?” I ask. “I will be,” she answers with a firm determination. Oh! Honey but I won’t be comfortable.“What did you dream about Sruthi?” I ask wondering what kind of nightmare makes her seek me.“It is the same dream. Someone stabbing me or trying to do so. I know I am asking too much from you. But, can you do this?”“No,” the word escapes me and Sruthi’s face falls. Before, she could misunderstand, I close the gap between us. I tip her chin up to make her look at me. Her eyes are glazed over and hurt. “No, Sruthi. You are not asking me much. I am glad that I can be useful to you. If sharing a bed with me will help you sleep better, then I am ready for it.”“I don’t move in my sleep,” Sruthi says looking freaking oblivious to the thoughts I have when Sruthi and a bed are concerned. She is nervous and keeps on talking, “So, you won’t have any troubles. The bed is big too. You will have enough space and I don’t snore. Neither do I talk in sleep.”God! Can she be any cuter than this? I tuck a stray curl that falls on her face behind her ears. She stops talking as soon as my fingers graze her ear. I meet her eyes to find them already pinned on me. There is a look of nervousness and curiosity in them as she gazes at me. I lean toward her and whisper, “It is a sad thing that you are not a crawler.”Saying that I move back a few steps putting a gap between us before I could do something crazy like kiss her breathless. A look of confusion is on her face as she tries to decode what I whispered. It is funny and sad to see her oblivious to my feelings. Having her nearly die and return to life has made me realize that I gained nothing by staying silent and hiding my feelings. I realized I was a coward who gave up even without trying. I feel like this is a second chance with her. I am not going to outright confess and scare her away. I am going to do things slowly and show her that I can be more than the killer that she thinks I am.I pick up my blanket and phone. Sruthi is still standing where she was with a frown on her face. I put my finger on her forehead and smoothen the frown out. “Frowning doesn’t suit you,” I tell in an explanation when she raises her eyebrow.“What suits me then?” she asks. I place my fingers on the corners of her lips and push them up gently.“Smiling suits you,” I answer. “Hmm,” Sruthi says thinking about something. “I will keep that in my mind and try to smile more.”We enter her room together and I mentally prepare myself for the long night I am going to have. I don’t think I can sleep a wink today with her so near me. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that things would change between us like this.“I will take the right side of the bed,” Sruthi says pulling the pillow onto the right side of the bed. She meekly gets into the bed. I am grateful that she is wearing the usual baggy pyjamas that cover her from head to toe. Thank heavens! She is not wearing sleep shorts and a sleeveless top to sleep like some women. If she had been, then I wouldn’t be able to stand here all casually and watch her make herself comfortable on the bed. I walk slowly to the bed and put my blanket on the left side along with my phone. I look for another pillow and remember that Sruthi uses only one pillow to sleep unlike me. When I first entered Sruthi’s room, I noticed that she had only one pillow which is why, I put only one pillow in her room. She never complained to me about it or asked me for another pillow. “I will be back with my pillows,” I say and when she nods, I make a quick dash for my room. I grab my pillows and walk back to her room.“Woah! That is too much for a single person, Madhav,” Sruthi exclaims in surprise.“No, it is not much,” I say dropping the four pillows on the bed. “It is not even half of what I usually use.”Sruthi’s eyes widen in surprise, “Wait! Do you mean to say that you still have pillows in your room?”I rub my neck and look away feeling a little shy. I do have a strange fetish of surrounding myself with pillows when I sleep. It started as a way to tackle the emptiness I felt when I lay alone on the bed. Over time it became a habit. “Are you blushing Madhav?” Sruthi's voice is loud and I find her looking at me with amusement. I gasp and deny, “No, I am not.”She smirks at me, “Then why are your ears turning red?”I touch my ears. Sruthi starts laughing, “God! You should have seen the look on your face now. It is okay Madhav, I am not going to judge for sleeping with these many pillows. Good night.”“Good night,” I say putting three pillows between us and placing another one near the headboard for my head. Sruthi nods in the direction of the switchboard and closes her eyes. I turn off the lights and the room is plunged into darkness. My trained eyes quickly adjust to the darkness and I scan the room once for some sign of intruder. I check if the window is locked before going to bed. Sruthi has drifted to sleep as I fall beside the pillow wall between us. My head hits the pillow and I am surrounded by Sruthi's smell. I take a deep breath to calm myself down but that only makes me inhale more of the lavender smell. Her bedsheets smell like her and I have a strong urge to break the pillow wall I created and then pull her soft body into my arms. I want to cuddle and comfort her to sleep. Too bad, she doesn't have the habit of crawling over in sleep. So, there is no way she would accidentally end up in my arms during the night. Imagine having your favourite desert before you but for reasons, you aren't allowed to devour it. How painful would that be? To have the very thing you want before your eyes but you can't get it still. That is exactly how I feel. Sometimes, the universe just conspires to test the amount of self control I have. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥