I groan softly feeling the hot water streaming down my shoulders and back. My shoulder muscles contract and relax, I rotate my shoulder a bit hearing the slightly cracking noise. This pain comes randomly since the basketball finals when I fell

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and just standing under the water after having a bath. My body is a bit tense after the flight, maybe because I was sitting for hours.

Tomorrow is more travelling. I sigh, running my hand through my hair and pushing them back. I hear a faint knock making my eyes shoot open.

Jasmine?

But she might be asleep by now. Then what's that noise? No one is here except us.

Maybe I am just hearing stuff

I turn off the shower to hear properly. “Lucas? It's me” I shudder hearing the familiar voice along the knock - it's her. What is she doing here at night? Is she alright? Did something happen again?

Without thinking I grab the towel from the handle and drape it around my hips while making my way out of the bathroom.

I almost trip over the may but balance myself. Taking a deep breath to calm down I hurry towards the door and swing it open.

I see Jasmine standing there, dressed in a simple oversized t-shirt and her printed pajamas - her comfort clothing of all the time. She looks up at me, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something but doesn't.

I wait for her to speak first. She doesn't look tensed or worried so I can relax as it's nothing bad.

I watch her eyes trailing down my body, her eyes wide and shocked. A frown appears on my face in confusion, I follow her gaze - only to deliver the same reaction as hers.

I was in such a hurry to even borther to grab some pants or atleast wrap that towel properly! What's wrong with you Lucas!

My grip tightens on the door as i quickly shut the door. The embrassment flooding over my mind that fades away her words “Actually I-” I hear her faint words which stops as soon as I close the door

I lean my head on the door and groan in frustration. “Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! What were your thinking!” I mutter to myself, I gently bang my head against the woode before stepping back.

She is waiting for me

I hurry through the room, opening the drawers, the cupboards and my still half unpacked luggage. Finally, I find a t-shirt and sweatpants. I quickly put them on, not borthering to even fix my hair or dry myself.

I swing the door open, more gently this time. “Hey” I greet her, my breathing still heavy and my face feels warmer than usual. My heart races as I find her staring at me, “Hey” she says more playfully, stepping forward and leaning against the doorframe.

I blink in surprise at her cool demeanour. Her eyes flickers across my clothes and suddenly I feel under the spotlight. Her eyes narrows as she observes me carefully “Lucas” she mutters softly

I inhale in a deep breath and nod when she takes my name

“Your t-shirt is inside out” she points out, looking away from me. I look down at myself - cursing internally at my stupid stunt. “How embrassing can this get?” I mumble to myself.

I am making a fool out of myself!

✄-------

“I wanted to thank you. If you hadn't advised me to talk to my father I would have just ignored it. It really helped me” Jasmine mutters softly “and also for comforting me. I really needed it” she adds, her eyes meeting mine

My expressions softens at her words, I was worried if she had talked to her parents or not. But knowing that she did and I was able to help her gives me relief, I smile softly “I am glad-”

As I was about to complete the sentence, the lights flickers before blacking out suddenly surrounding us in sheer darkness.

I hear a feared gasp from Jasmine, already moving to hold her close “Lucas?” she calls out.

I try to navigate her hand through her voice, gently brushing her hand against mine so she could realise my presence “it's okay, Jasmine” I assure her. I know she is scared of darkness and this wasn't the right time “I am right here” I add, keeping the ice cream bowl on the counter.

I turn to look out of the window, only to be met with darkness and the dim light of moon illuminating through the glass.

“Probably the fuse or a black out? Do you have a generator?” I ask, trying to identify the reason. I am not aware how the electricity circulation works here

“Yes but I think it's switched off as we are leaving tomorrow” she replies. Oh, right. We are going to Rajasthan tomorrow.

“I hate darkness” I hear her say, it's a really small whisper but enough for me to understand her discomfort. I step closer to her, my hand gently grasping her elbow while grabbing my phone to turn on the flashlight

“let's go and check the fuse first” I suggest. Either way it's better to check for both and maybe the problem is with the fuse? I really hope so that we can fix it.

Jasmine guides me through her home, while I make sure to point the lighting correctly. She stops infront of a door located in the last corner of the ground floor. She opens it but doesn't step in first, seeing the darkness and the hint of dust smell that comes along the air

I step inside first, looking around with the light and finally finding the board. I open it careful and fumble with the switches up and down to check their connectivity. They seem fine and there is no burning smell

“I think it's a black out” I comment, even through the window the surroundings seem darker so there's a higher possibility of that “should we switch on the generator?” I ask just in case

If she wants me then I could try to turn it on. I have no idea about these stuff but maybe Google can help?

“No it's alright, let's wait for the lights” she says quickly, I can notice the hesitation on her face. I know she doesn't wanna trouble me but it's more troublesome for me if I see her discomfort.

“Let's go back” she says, turning around. I don't budge, scrolling through my phone so I could search about this generator. My fingers hover over the screen as I read through the instructions given, I look up to inform Jasmine about it when I see her frozen in place

I step forward to ask what happened. Jasmine looks down making me follow her gaze. We both hear a familiar noise - it echoes through this room. I frown in confusion, what is that?

Suddenly, Jasmine sherik making my muscles tenses up. I was about to calm her when she starts bouncing on her toes. The spoon that she was still holding fell down with a crinkle. I hear that noise again and finally spot a small mouse between her feet.

Where did this come from!

“Chuha! Chuha! Chuhaaaa” Jasmine cries out, before I could react she jumps on me.

“Woah-” I gasp out, stumbling back with the sudden force upon me. Again my centre of balance somehow, I wrap my arms around her to hold her.

Oh lord what just happened

“LUCAS! USKO BHAGAGO!” she yells more, the fear and panick radiating off her. I couldn't understand but I know it's related to this mouse somewhere around. I didn't even realise that my phone has fallen from my grip and laying down, the light has diminished.

I feel Jasmine's grip tighten on me. Her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. My breath hinches as I slowly realise her position.

This isn't good

“What! Calm down” I manage to blurt out, my arms holding her securely - preventing her from slipping any lower. “Lucas! It touched me!” she buries her face in my shoulder

My heart rate fastens as her breath falls on my neck, a shiver runs down my spine. Her lips grazing over my skin that makes my mind go blank for a few seconds

She needs to step away from me right now

“Jasmine, you can't just climb on me like that” I mutter, almost breathless. She doesn't realise how dangerous this position is. She doesn't know what she is doing to me right now

She leans back to look at me, her face drawn with pure confusion “what do you mean? What was I supposed to do! It could climb on me or bite me!” she exclaims like that small mouse could have eaten her

I would tell her that but i can't be insensitive about her fear. Everyone has those and i should understand that no matter in what situation I am in.

I feel her grip loosen on me, quickly I trail my hand to her lower back to steady her against me. “It's a mouse, not a monster” I comment, trying to be as gentle as possible. I watch her open her mouth to counter me, I prepare myself for a hearing but the mouse sqeaks again.

What is his problem now!

“Woh yahin hai” she whines holding me tighter. She speaks in Hindi whenever she is too scared of too anger but right now it's different. Her hips buckles up against mine and I am done.

A groan escapes my mouth despite me trying to hold it in, my head falls back “milaya”

She needs to stop for the sake of my dignity and control because I am losing this.

I love her, yes. I respect her with everything but I can't deny how my body is reacting towards her. The way her body is pressed against me. The way she squirms in my arms and her body brushes against several places it shouldn't have - runs a voltage of electricity through me

“No!” she shuts me up sharply, her expressions serious “there's a rat here which means that I am never setting my foot on the floor!” my eyes widens as I realise she ain't letting me go.

I have no choice now

I tighten my grip on her with one hand while bend down to grab my phone. The mouse nowhere to be found and i hope it remains that way “alright, I have got you”

I walk out of the room carrying her, trying to ignore the inner turmoil. I make sure to stand away from the room, in case that mouse sneaks out.

Standing still in my position, I let myself calm down along with Jasmine. Jasmine's breathing even outs but she doesn't let go of me. I sigh softly, slowly relaxing.

This mouse has either been sent by my guardian angel or Satan himself because I don't know if I am happy or anger with what happened

A few seconds pass by in silence when the lights turn back on, eloping the darkness away. Jasmine pulls back with a smile “Finally I-” she stops looking at our closeness. Feeling each other's breathing. She blinks in surprise, her face drains as the realization paints across her face.

Her grip loosens on my neck but she holds my shoulders instead. Her cheeks gets covered in the colour of embarrassment making her look adorable.

God help me

I couldn't let her go now despite my earlier reaction

I smirk, pressing my palm against her lower back making her arch into me, “If you wanted me to carry you so badly, you could have just asked,” I whisper, brushing my lips against her ear. Her grip tightens on my shoulder as I feel her shudder against me.

A taste of her own medicine doesn't sound so bad

Slowly she releases her grip, unwrapping her legs from my waist and slipping down. I hold her until her feet are touching the ground but I don't let her go just yet.

“Look, I was just scared. I didn't realise it. I hate rats and-” My expressions flattered at her words hearing the hurried and panicked words. “Are you alright now?” I ask softly, making sure she is comfortable now. I should have been more considerate of this.

She was genuinely frightened and surprised due to the mouse and her reaction is almost reasonable if she is scared of them. I don't need an explanation, I know she wouldn't have done this intentionally

“We, we should finish our ice-cream” she shutters nervously, taking a step back. Watching her reaction, I let her go and shove my hands back into the pocket of my sweatpants 

“Let's eat in the living room” she suggests without waiting for my reply she rushes back to the kitchen.

I sigh scratching the back of my neck. Don't think about anything Lucas, just focus. Taking a deep breath, I walk over to the living room and sit on the couch. Grabbing a cushion on putting it over my lap.

After a long ten minutes, Jasmine comes back with our bowls of ice cream, handing one to me while she keeps the other one. She turns on the air conditioner, sitting cross legged on the couch beside me - maintaining some distance

I gawk her reaction from the corner of my eye, she seemed normal. Completely unaffected from whatever that happened earlier.

Maybe she doesn't feel the same way or she doesn't understand my feelings?

I am approaching her the wrong way, I should be more direct and straightforward.

A direct confrontation is better than baseless assumptions.

We have decided to communicate our way through this

I turn to face her, before I could speak. She leans forward and grabs the remote from the coffee table and switches it on “Hm I like watching news this time. It's very important” she stresses on the word ‘very’ making me suspicious

She never watched news back at my house

Jasmine's gaze flickers to me and back at the tv as she puts on a new channel. I force my attention to the screen, watching whatever news is playing without understanding much.

I should study that dictionary more attentively. Learning a new language isn't easy at all.

I notice Jasmine just stirring the spoon in her bowl, melting the ice cream a bit before eating it. I glance at my bowl, it's still full as I haven't taken a bite from this one.

I clear my throat “Take some more if you want” I mutter, extending the bowl towards her direction without looking at her. She looks at me surprised, “you sure?” She asks cautiously

I give her a small nod

“Thank you!” She smiles, takes a few spoons of ice cream and transfers it into her bowl. A small yet excited smile forms on her ice cream covered lips.

My gaze lingers on her lips longer than it should. I should have looked away, focus on my own bowl but I couldn't

“Tomorrow we will leave for Rajasthan, at udaipur. We have a day to settle” she starts talking while her eyes are on the tv. I don't know if she finds the news interesting or if she just wants to avoid my eyes.

My chest tightens at her ignorance

She scooped small amounts of melted ice cream, eating it with pure bliss. Her lips slightly parted as she talked unaware of the effect she is having on me. She talked for a few long minutes - I try to remember a few important things she mentioned.

She glances at me, catching me mid stare. I would have turned away but it's too late “you aren't eating” she notices, tilting her head and looking at my bowl

I smirk at her, playing nonchalantly “yeah” I somehow manage to string words out together “just taking my time”

Taking my time to admire you