For a moment none of us say anything. "You can count on me on that from now on," he whispers back and smiles at me.
Aditya turns to me slowly. His expression is half amused. Half something else. For one strange second the world narrows to just the two of us.
The lights.
The night air.
His hand still loosely holding mine.
He leans slightly closer, he's so close that I can feel his breath on my lips—“DIDI I DROPPED MY CHOCOLATE!”
The moment explodes into chaos. And I stumble back but Aditya stablizies me as he grabs my waist and pulls me towards him. For the first time in my life I want to shout at Neel, because damn he has interrupted this kiss for the second time now. But instead I burst out laughing so hard my stomach hurts.
Aditya drops his head back with a groan. Neel stares at the melted disaster in his hands. “This is tragic.”
"Agreed." Aditya sighs and I laugh again.
For a second the laughter refuses to stop.
It spills out of me uncontrollably, my shoulders shaking as Neel mourns the melted remains of his hot chocolate like something deeply tragic has just happened. The poor paper cup hangs sadly in his hands, a thin brown trail dripping down toward his shoes.
Aditya presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose.
“This,” he says slowly, “is the second time in you have interrupted something extremely important.”
Neel looks up immediately. “More important than chocolate?”
Aditya opens his mouth to answer. Then pauses. Then sighs like a man who has realized he cannot win this argument. “Yes,” he says eventually.
Neel gasps like he has just discovered betrayal. “You are cruel.”
I laugh again, leaning slightly against Aditya without meaning to. The warmth of his arm around my waist is still there from when he steadied me a moment ago, his hand resting lightly against my side.
Neither of us moves.
The contact is simple.
But it makes my stomach flip in a very inconvenient way.
Neel finally climbs off the bench, still looking heartbroken about the spilled drink. Aditya buys him another one from the nearby stall and the crisis is resolved quickly enough.
For the next twenty minutes Neel insists on riding the Ferris wheel three times.
By the time we finally start heading toward the park exit, the night has deepened into something softer. The loud music near the entrance has faded behind us, replaced by the gentle hum of distant rides still spinning in the dark.
Neel walks ahead of us swinging the giant pink teddy bear by one arm like it’s a trophy.
I glance at Aditya.
“You didn’t have to buy him another hot chocolate.”
He shrugs.
“He looked like he might stage a protest.”
“That’s possible.”
We walk in silence for a few steps. My hand is still in his. I’m not sure when that happened again. Or why neither of us has let go. The warmth of his fingers feels steady and grounding. My thumb brushes lightly against his knuckle without thinking.
