chapter one
“if you need anything just call us up, alright? her food’s in the fridge, third shelf, in the little tupperware box to the right, with a note inside.”
peter drawled absent mindedly, tending to mj’s handbag, fumbling for something lost.
pavitr only nodded back, which in itself was hard to do with mayday squishing his cheeks with the palms of her small, chubby hands, forcing a pout on his lips.
“mj and i will be back by… 1?” peter said, looking towards a clock on the wall, pursing his lips as he added the numbers on his fingers.
mj put on her coat, reaching for her husband’s hand, nudging him to tell him it’s time to go. “we’re gonna be late.” she says to peter and he gives her a peck on the cheek, asking for a minute.
she offers a smile to him before she sits down to slip on her heels.
peter walks towards pavitr, who’s sitting cross legged on the rug, and spreads his arms to let mayday fall back into his arms from the ceiling she was previously clinging onto.
peter sits beside pavitr on the rug and he tousles her hair. bringing her close to his chest, about to whisper a goodbye until hobie invites himself into the house, putting one red laced boot through the window, and then the other.
“sorry i’m late, traffic’s a bitch.” he announces, using his palms to brush off the soot of his skirt, immediately heading off to find mayday, who giggles when he walks near to peter, his eyes only on her.
which is what explains why hobie hasn't run off yet.
or maybe that was the spite in pav’s head speaking.
but maybe.
no, maybe later.
peter laughs to himself, handing over mayday to hobie going to shut the window and preferably lock it.
hobie throws her in the air and catches her, making her laugh.
he didn’t recognize the fact pavitr was there as well until their faces were facing each other. him standing above pav, letting out a soft “oh”.
yeah. oh
mj breaks the silence.
“sorry hobie. pav got in touch last minute and said he‘d babysit. you mustn't've got my message.”
hobie pats down the pockets of his skirt, looking for his phone. “no, doesn't seem like it .”
he places mayday on the rug, next to pavitr, who tried his best to put on an unbothered face.
“it’s ok, i could go.” about to raise an awkward hand to bid a goodbye.
he moves to head out to head to the window again, but is stopped by mayday clutching on to his legs.
“ obie don't go.” she says, giving him those eyes.
pavitr sucks his breath in.
for mayday’s sake, he tells himself
“stay. mayday wants you here and i can barely keep her still.”
pavitr coaxes himself into thinking this is ok. they could talk about… whatever had happened before.
“all harbour then.” hobie says, bending down to pick up mayday, giving her a smile.
pavitr misses that smile. he hadn’t seen that smile for ages (read: six days). god knows how he got by without seeing hobie smile.
oh and how he wishes he was smiling at him.
he remembers the smile that hobie upon his face a week ago. he also remembers almost dying. yet it was truly happy.
he likes it when hobie smiles. when the white of his teeth contrast the dark chocolate brown of his skin.
when he smiles, it is like being kissed by the moonlight. it is radiant. it makes everything feel poetic. like there is a prose, muse and purpose to life.
he’d have hobie’s smile tattooed to his eyeballs if it meant it could be the first thing he’ll see when he wakes up and the last thing he’ll see when he dies.
as you can see, pavitr kind of likes hobie.
hobie told pavitr he kind of liked him too.
maybe it was the result of a high from death moving forward to close you in it’s arms.
it seems like it.
pavitr doesn't hear whatever mj had said, so he assumes it’s a goodbye. he only recalls the jingling of the keys and the click of a turning door knob. he brings his hand up to wave goodbye as peter and mj move out of the door.
hobie places mayday on her feet and bends down, palms resting on his knees.
“what you wanna do kid?”
for an hour it was just them playing hide and seek (mayday always hid in the same spot, which was the corner of the ceiling. pavitr and hobie had to pretend they couldn’t find her ten times in a row.) and watching abba and a few over exaggerated bollywood music videos.
It’s carefree. everything. just like how it was before.
pavitr awkwardly dancing, mayday following along and hobie, smiling at them, twirling her around every once in a while.
hobie sat mayday down on her seat at the dining table, handing her a paper and a coloured pencil, before walking to the kitchen where pav was crouching next to an open fridge door, squinting his eyes muttering the words 'third shelf’ over and over again.
“need ‘elp?’ hobie asked pav, leaning against the counter.
“peter said her dinner’s in the third shelf”
“yea, and?”
“did he mean from top to bottom or bottom to top?”
“you’re over thinking it”
“yes , but then again-”
hobie walked over to fridge, nudged pav to the side and began looking for it himself.
“what i’d look like again?”
“those little plastic tiffins with like a note inside.”
hobie hummed, pulling out a tupperware container, handing it to pav, him opening it, checking for a note and putting the lid back on when he couldn’t find it.
they were like that. grooves and gears in well oiled machinery. clicking together. they were like that before and they were like that now. but they weren’t like that a week ago. maybe because how much they tried to avoid each other. maybe that.
they did that for the entire shelf until pavitr groaned.
“how much tupperware do they own, yaar?”
“i don’t know mate, guess it’s jus’ a white people thing?” hobie offered in deadpan.
pavitr almost giggled. giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl with a grade long crush they still haven't moved on from.
but that was true, word to word, on pavitr’s part.
he wondered if what hobie said was genuinely funny or not.
but if it was genuinely funny, pavitr would’ve giggled, no matter how embarrassing it sounded a week ago. because they were best friends. best mates. twin flames.
pavitr tells himself that he should’ve thought about that before he went and kissed his best bro.
“you’re allowed to laugh, you know?” hobie says, snapping pavitr out of it.
hobie shuts the fridge door and places himself against the kitchen counter, standing beside pavitr.
“i know.”
“good.” hobie says,trying to hide his concern. “ i just want it back the way it was.”
hobie finishes his sentence hesitantly, almost not meaning it.
pavitr takes a breath, then another.
“what if- ”
what if i don’t want it back the way it was?
“what if we- ?”
what if we don’t pretend?
“hobie, i l-”
hobie listens, and brings his hand close to pavitr’s, brushing his thumb against pavitr’s wrist, asking if he could hold his hand.
hobie lulls pav to continue.
pavitr takes his other hand and drapes it over hobie’s cool palms.
“hobie i-” he starts, promptly being stopped by mayday crying.
pavitr drops hobie’s hands and swears that he saw disappointment in his eyes.
hobie i really like you too.
no. pavitr was lying to himself.
hobie i’m in love with you.
“i better get going.” pavitr says, pointing with his thumb the to the dining room.
“mhm” hobie says in reply, a little too quickly, and obviously flustered.
please love me too.
please?