Trinkets - Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Convinced that she isn't going to feel down for at least the rest of the trip, Mahika lets herself flop back on the bed, sighing at the ceiling in contentment.
She almost had reality slapped into her head when Amoli had let go of her hand as soon as the attention of the camera wasn't on them, and avoided her eyes after. But they had somehow ended up in the same car, and if the light, permanent dusting of pink on Amoli's cheeks was anything to go by, Mahika would say she was just embarrassed.
"You sure you don't want to join Naina and I in the garden?" Keerti asks, standing by the bed and looking down at Mahika as she works on tying her hair up in a bun.
Mahika shakes her head. "I'm going to call Dhruv for a bit."
"Okay," she sings, turning around, and adding, "If you change your mind, come find us downstairs" when she's at the door. Mahika nods, thankful that Keerti doesn't ask her to just bring her laptop with her instead.
Mahika might be close to all of her friends, but she shares a special bond with Dhruv and Naina. They all know that and respect it, and Mahika couldn't be more grateful.
She pushes herself out of the bed to grab her laptop from the bedside table, looking around the room while she waits for Dhruv to pick up. The walls are lined with paintings that Akash had told them were all done by indie, small-scale artists by his mother's demands, and there's an undeniable ambiance they bring to the room that adds to its serene air.
There's no way she isn't going to miss this place.
Absolutely no way that she wakes up in her own room once they all go back home and doesn't think about the little windchime by the large, curtained windows that fills this room with sweet tinkles every morning when the air touches it with its cool fingertips.
This place has made Mahika realize that she could feel high from happiness.
She's certainly feeling it right now.
Which is probably why when Dhruv's face appears on the screen, his hand already raised in greeting, Mahika doesn't think too much — or at all, really — when she tries to clear her face of the nervousness that's beginning to bubble in her stomach and says, "Hi, Dhruv. How are you? I like women."
She had said it as a half-joke, half-attempt at 'casually' coming out to him because she already knew that the one person in the world that she could trust to not be homophobic was Dhruv. The only reason why she hadn't told him before was because she didn't think it was important. It still isn't as important, but she needs to talk about Amoli before her chest explodes with all of the words she's been keeping trapped inside it.
Dhruv, being Dhruv, raises his eyebrows at her, but the expression stays on his face for a total of two seconds before he replies, in a tone just as blank as hers, "Hi, Mahi. I'm okay, and you? I'm asexual."
"What the —" She blinks in surprise, leaning back to take his words in.
He shrugs, leaning back as well and trying to act nonchalant. The slight twitch to the corners of his lips gives him away. "What?" he says, and as soon as his lips part to let the word out, the smile too, becomes more obvious. "You started it."
Mahika gapes at him. There had been only one scenario inside her head when she had imagined herself coming out to Dhruv, and inside her head, his reply had been a simple, 'Yeah, I know' before they would go back to living their lives like they always have.
This wasn't what she had prepared herself for.
"Did we just —"
"Come out to each other in the most bizarre way possible? Yeah." He gives her a boyish grin, and Mahika is reminded that he's one of the biggest reasons why she's been well-aware of the fact that she doesn't like boys for a long, long while now. Because if she did like men, she would have ended up with the biggest, most miserable crush on him.
"This sure is an odd change from when I told Naina," she jokes, shaking her head a little. Honestly, why had she expected any other reaction from Dhruv? Guess she still doesn't know her friends as well as she thought she did.
His mouth parts, eyebrows drawing together in mock-offense. "You told her before you told me?"
She knows he's just joking around, so she plays along, dramatically placing a hand on her chest and leaning forward to stare straight at the camera with what she hopes is sincerity in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she breathes, shaking her head. "She just made me feel so safe and comforted and loved. I couldn't hold myself back." Then she leans back and lets her hands drop back on her lap. "Maybe, in another life, you would be my first."
Dhruv scrunches his nose, the expression making his eyes smaller and hiding away the amusement in them. "Yeah, that does not sound right," he declares. "It never would have, but now that you've told me you swing the brighter way, it's even weirder."
Mahika throws her head back and laughs, exclaiming, "The brighter way! You're ridiculous."
They joke around about it for a while, and Mahika attentively listens to Dhruv when he answers her questions about how long he has had himself figured out. He mentions that it's been a while, but he never said anything about it because labels don't matter to him. In turn, Mahika gets a little teary-eyed telling him about how gentle, warm and easy Naina had been on her during the entirety of their conversation, but it's okay. Because they're happy tears.
And Dhruv seems to know. So instead of saying anything, he just looks at her with a faint smile on his face as she rambles on and on, not sure whether her words make sense anymore. She just knows she's content.
Knows that in this moment, she feels more like herself than she has in a long while.
"Do you wanna say hi to everyone? We missed you today."
"Oh, yeah, of course," he replies, now absentmindedly looking for something on his desk. "Samay sent me pictures, I think? I didn't get a chance to look at them and now I can't really find my phone..."
He trails off while Mahika makes her way to the stairs, the device balanced on her palm almost getting thrown on the floor when she sees Amoli standing at the end of the stairs, fiddling with her nails.
She looks up and lets out an audible gasp when she sees Mahika standing on top, and they both stare at each other wide-eyed for a few seconds before letting out similar, breathless chuckles with their hands on their chests.
"Everything okay?" Dhruv asks from behind the screen, and Mahika can only hope he doesn't notice the immediate color in her cheeks under the dim light.
"Oh, yeah, I was just a bit startled," she replies, peeking over her laptop to ask Amoli, "Is everything okay?"
Amoli looks like she's deciding whether or not she wants to actually say it, until Dhruv asks, "Wait, who is it?" That seems to break the girl out of her reverie and she ends up not saying anything at all, and before Mahika has the chance to repeat her question, more seriously this time, Amoli says a loud enough 'hi' so Dhruv can hear it.
Mahika turns the screen in her direction as she makes her way down so he can return her greeting, eyes fixated on Amoli's face for a few seconds, only looking away with a sigh to herself when her expression doesn't give anything away.
Was she going to come upstairs? she thinks, unable to concentrate on what it is that Dhruv and Amoli are now talking about. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it and when I was about to come downstairs, Amoli just happened to be standing there.
"...Mahi?"
She blinks.
"Mahi."
Her head snaps in the direction of Amoli, with the screen of the laptop now turned in her direction. His eyebrows are raised in question and he's looking at her with concern and a questioning look in his eyes.
She meets Amoli's gaze to find the same look in his eyes before she quickly looks away.
Thankfully, Dhruv doesn't get the chance to ask her anything because they've reached the garden, and Naina all but jumps out of the swing to take the laptop out of Amoli's hands.
Akash smiles fondly, only getting the chance to greet the screen with a tiny wave before Naina is bombarding Dhruv with questions. Mahika's distracted state is put to pause when she sees his smile slowly fade.
Stuck between whether or not she should go check up on him, she sinks her teeth into her lower lip.
They might not be close, but they're still friends. And anyone in the world that makes Naina happy is automatically in Mahika's list of people that she appreciates. In all of the time she has known him, he's always had a smile on his face. Seeing him look so visibly blue doesn't sit right with her somehow.
"Don't worry too much."
Mahika turns to Amoli when she hears her soft voice, only to find the girl looking up at her with a small smile.
Hesitantly, she asks, "Is he... okay? What's wrong?"
Amoli looks at her brother, crossing her arms across her chest with a sigh. "He's just worried Naina is giving up too much for him."
Confused, Mahika tilts her head to one side.
"Naina grew up here," Amoli explains, a weak shrug following her words before she continues. "Moving away with Akash would mean leaving everything behind. Her job. Her parents. The familiarity of this place." Amoli looks up at her again, this time with a feeble smile. "Her friends."
The familiar, dull throb in Mahika's chest at the thought of saying goodbye to Naina returns. This time, stronger than ever. She resists the urge to clutch her chest and asks, "Has he talked to her about this?"
She looks at Amoli just in time to see her nod. "A few times now, I think. They got into an argument about this before we came here." She shakes her head, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh as if recalling it. "Naina always tells him that this is what she wants but..." She rolls her eyes. "Akash is a worrywart by nature. I get where he's coming from, but we all know Naina can decide for herself."
Naina can decide for herself. And she has.
"Should I talk to him?"
Amoli hums under her breath. "Maybe he'd listen if it comes from her best friend."
Mahika only hesitates for one more moment. And then she takes a deep breath and makes her way over to her best friend's husband, smiling in assurance when he meets her eyes.
"Saw you talking to my sister over there," he says, shifting away a little further to make space for Mahika to sit on the swing beside him. "So I hope you're here to give me a pep talk, because I could really use one right now."
Mahika laughs a little, shaking her head before following his gaze to see Naina now settled on one of the garden chairs, the laptop resting on the tiny coffee table in front of her. Her finger is raised accusingly at the screen and Mahika can make out Dhruv's laugh all the way from where she's sitting, a fond smile playing on her own lips.
"I wouldn't call it a pep talk," she says finally, meeting Akash's eyes and trying to muster all the comfort that she can in her smile. "You just looked like you could use some reassurance."
He doesn't say anything for a minute, eventually breaking eye contact with Mahika and looking over to where Naina is sitting yet again with a conflicted look in his eyes.
Eventually, he speaks and his words tug at Mahika's heart.
"Mahi... what if she hates me for this?" His voice is low, words soft but holding the weight of the world in them. "Not now. But later. When she starts missing everything she's leaving behind?"
Mahika thinks about all of the times Naina had talked about Akash with a twinkle in her eye. About all of the times Naina had proved over and over again that impulse wasn't something she lived her life by. About all of the times Naina took decisions only when she was completely sure about them.
"My parents made decisions for me all my life, Mahi," she would say. "Now that I finally have the control, I want to take my time looking at the options."
"This is coming from someone who has known Naina for over thirteen years now, Akash," Mahika says seriously, but then chuckles a little when he jokingly mutters a soft, 'yeah, show off', continuing when he gives her a smile. "She would never do this if she didn't want to." Her hand gently pats his shoulder and the vulnerable look in his eyes dims right when on a lighter note, she adds, "You make her happy. Just remind yourself that every time you feel like this. You make her happier than I have ever seen her."
Finally, he looks away from where Naina is sitting, meeting Mahika's eyes and nodding slowly.
"Now, will you stop looking so miserable about this? You aren't throwing her in a box and sending her to another country against her will. She wants to do this. This is her decision."
He looks down at his lap, his smile turning a little sheepish. "Yeah."
"Yeah?"
He nods and presses his lips together like he was just scolded, and a grin slips upon Mahika's lips at the childlike gesture.
When she gets up to leave after a shake of her head, the smile still on her lips, he raises his head to meet her eyes, his own shining with gratitude, and mouths, "Thank you."
She just smiles at him before making her way back to where Amoli is now standing with a smile on her own face, the light of the moon reflecting in her eyes.
"Welcome back," she says, and Mahika breathes out a laugh.
Honestly, Mahika isn't quite sure how she's supposed to act around Amoli. They aren't close, but they aren't just acquaintances or people who simply happen to have mutual friends either.
On one hand, being around her makes Mahika feel warm in ways she hasn't experienced before, and talking to her — as little as their conversations are — brings her joy that she hasn't been able to put into words yet.
On the other, there are galaxies in the space between them that they refuse to address.
"Thank you," she replies just as breezily to Amoli's words, smile still in place. "I think your brother should be fine now." Sticking her nose in the air, she adds, "I have liberated him from his distress."
Amoli lets out a laugh, and Mahika knows that the goosebumps on her arms and the back of her neck aren't from the slight chill in the air. She subtly rubs her hand down her arm in a weak attempt to make her skin stop prickling.
"I admire Naina for this," Amoli says after a moment, and Mahika turns in her direction to find her eyes downcast, eyebrows pulled together in a frown. "Even though she would have to get adjusted to an entirely new life, she didn't ever look scared of the idea."
Mahika stares ahead again, taking in the sight of Naina returning to sit beside Akash on the swing — his arm stretches out, as if on instinct — and placing her head on his shoulder. He presses a kiss to her hair and asks her something in a hushed voice, and she replies with a simple nod before they both settle in what seems like comfortable silence.
"The things we do for love," Mahika breaks the short-lived silence, trying to keep her voice light but cursing herself inwardly when it comes out a little weak. Shaky. Unstable.
"The things we do for love," Amoli repeats in a barely audible whisper.