Chapter 19

Third person point of view

It was Sunday and it was laundry day again for Dev. He was hanging the clothes along with Aravind. Unlike last time, their mothers were inside the house saying it was a bit hot. Dev had no comments. They just went up with the clothes and got to work. Dev turned to the side and noticed Aravind starting to turn red because of the sun. 

Aravind wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and continued hanging the clothes. Dev was also sweating a little. It was indeed a bit hot. Dev frowned seeing Aravind's flushed face. He put the jeans on the wire and went to Aravind. He took Aravind's wrist taking him away and stood him in the shade. 

" Stand here ". He took the shirt in Aravind's hand and continued to hang the clothes. " What is this ? " Aravind asked and Dev glanced at him. " I will do it. So just stand there in the shade ". " It is fine- " " Just stand still ". Dev said sternly. Aravind gave up and stood there watching Dev do it all by himself. 

It took more time as he did it alone. Aravind stood leaning against the wall. Dev was done and walked up to him. " It won't kill me you know ? " Aravind said and Dev shook his head. " Cute boy, you know how red your face is ? How can I let you be ? Let's go ". They took the baskets and went back down. 

They saw their mothers chatting and laughing. Dev scoffed. They heard them and turned in their direction. " You're done ? " " Yes ". " Good ". Dev rolled his eyes and they walked from there and put the baskets away. The both of them went and sat on the chairs. " Want to drink something ? " Dev's mother asked and Dev nodded. 

" Fine ". She walked to the kitchen and poured some juice in four glasses. " Dev ! Come help me ". She called for him but Aravind got up first. " You wait here ". He went to the kitchen and came out with two glasses and Dev's mother carried two of them. He gave one to Dev and took one for himself. 

The mothers took one each. They drank the juice while the mothers continued their discussion. After drinking the juice, Aravind and his mother went to their home. Aravind sat down on the sofa beside Atharva who was watching some movie. He also watched it and it was some cliché love story. 

He couldn't help but think of the thing between Dev and himself while watching the love story unfold. " Isn't that selfish ? " Aravind commented on the actions of the main lead. " Isn't love supposed to be selfish ? " Atharva said still looking at the screen. Aravind turned to him. " You think so ? " Atharva shrugged. 

" If you have the choice, why not ? Not everything might have a happy ending but not everything also has a sad ending ". Atharva said and Aravind nodded. " Right ". They continued to watch the movie. Once it was over, Atharva started to look for something else to watch. Aravind went to his room to take a bath. 

He knew Dev was being considerate of him and not really mentioning about it but he thought about it more times than he could count. He didn't like the fact that he left Dev hanging like that either. He walked out in a towel and picked up some clothes. He dried himself and put them on. He went out and saw Atharva watching another movie. 

He went and took the remote from him changing it. " Why ? " Atharva asked. " There is a match today ". He put the cricket match. " I forgot about it ". Atharva said leaning back. " That is why you should watch less movies ". Aravind said and Atharva flicked his arm. Aravind let out a hiss. " Amma~~ he is hitting me ". 

He complained to his mother. " What did you do ? " His mother asked back and Atharva smiled in victory. Aravind sneered. " What would I do ? " He grumbled and continued to watch the match. They watched the match till the end and their team won the match. They turned the TV off and went to their rooms. 

Aravind let out a sigh. He was thinking about what Atharva said. He asked himself if he can also be selfish. After all these incidents, it was as if he was rediscovering Dev whom he had known for so long. A lot of things felt novel and to say he wasn't moved in the least would also be a lie. He was too stuck for a while.

And Dev looked so serious that it left him flustered from time to time. Both of them were going through a different type of torment during this period. Aravind let out a huff. It was enough. He decided to tell his decision to Dev the next day. He turned to the side and closed his eyes to fall asleep. 

-MG